Anselmus in his Meditations saith What greater weakenesse of maine can there bee or what greater mishap than that if I defile my selfe I cannot make my selfe clean againe if I be sicke I cannot make my selfe whole againe if I ray my selfe I cannot wash my selfe againe yea and if I sinne I cannot repent of my selfe if our Lord doe not first giue mee his light as hee did the good theefe on the crosse and if hee doe not first looke vpon mee as hee did looke vpon S. Peter from the piller Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee made whole Saue me and I shall be saued saith king Dauid as if he would say No man is able to heale mee O my good Lord if thou doe it not nor no man is able to saue me if thou dost not saue me O my redeemer because no mā knoweth my wound but thou nor my felicity consisteth in none but in thee Cassiodorus vpon the Psalme saith That we should note how that the Prophet doth first aske of our Lord that he would make him whole before hee saue him for if our Lord doe not first wash the fault from vs it is in vaine to thinke that hee should giue vs his glory S. Basil vpon this place Sana me domine sayth That if thou doe not goe vvith me nor I with thee the more I goe about to heale my selfe the sicker I grow when I think to goe forward I turne backward vvhen I imagine that I goe streight then I find my selfe most out of the way when I labour to goe most cleane and neat I find my selfe then most of all vncleane and that vvhich is the worst of all is that I know not vvherein I doe best nor cannot guesse vvhen I doe amisse Anselmus vpon the same place Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee vvhole saith Who but thou O my sweet Iesus can cure mee and giue mee any temedy to such hidden wounds and such manifest offences to faults of such quality as mine are to such carelesse care such vncleane thoughts such wicked crimes such damnable bowels and such inconsiderate speeches Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee made vvhole for it auaileth me very little to vse helpe and not bee made vvhole to fight and kill my selfe to swimme drowne my selfe 〈◊〉 to studie and not profit to take a iourney and neuer come to the end to aske and neuer haue any thing giuen mee to serue and neuer deserue any thing Heale me good Lord I shall be made vvhole of the pride which ouerthroweth mee of the enuy vvhich rotteth in me of the anger vvhich vvasteth mee of the gluttony vvhich disquieteth me of sloth vvhich dulleth me of couetousnesse vvhich maketh me cruell and of all sensuality vvhich neuer leaueth me Heale me Lord I shall bee free from the world vvhich deceiueth me from the deuill which tempteth me from the flesh which pampereth mee from my enemies which persecute me from my friends which importune me from my euill thoughts which torment me and from malicious men vvhich diffame me Heale me good Lord and I shall bee healed not of a scab but of a sin not of blindnes but of filthines not of the members of my body but of my thoughts not of my body but wickednes not of swollen feet but of disordinate appetites Heale me Lord and I shall be healed of my vnruly desires of the wantonnesse of my eies of my ouermuch speaking of the coldnes of my workes of the stealth of my hands of the malice of my thoughts and of the worme of my couetousnes O good Iesus my only trust heale my soule because I haue offended thee in thought I haue offēded thee in delight I haue offended thee in omission I haue offended thee in consent I haue offended thee in deed therefore vnto thee my fault I confesse and therfore good Iesus take pity vpon me Sprinckle me with isope I shal be made clean Lauabis me super niuē dealbabor saith the Psalmist as if hee would say When it shal please thee whē thy son shal come into the world thou shalt sprinckle me with holy Isope wash me with thy precious hād by which sprinckling and washing I shall not only bee clean and without fault but I shal remain whiter than all the snow of the highest mountains Who is he saith Aymon who cōmandeth vs to wash our selues but only the eternal father who is he who washeth vs but only his precious son with what doth he wash vs but with his holy bloud and who bee those which he doth wash but such as are of his holy church O glorious Isope and happy washing place in the which the Angels if they had license to come down and the heauenly powers if they durst would wash themselues in There were many riuers in Samaria but Naaman was healed in none but in the riuer of Iordan there were many cesterns pooles in Ierusalem but the diseased were helped only in the Probatica There were many fountaines in Palestine but Dauid could neuer slackē his thirst but in the fountain of Bethelem Wee will inferre of all this that there hath been very much bloud shed in the world but none could euer make vs cleane but only the bloud of Christ All water washeth not euery fish poole maketh not cleane euery fountaine filleth not neither doth all bloud make whole a beasts bloud hurteth mans bloud defileth but the bloud of Christ doth make whole doth wash doth fill and content If wee looke curiously into the Scripture and especially into the Apocalips thou shalt find it to bee true that S. Iohn did not see any Saint of heauen wash himselfe in the water which did run in the riuer but onely in the bloud which did run from the lambe O of what great vertue this holy bloud is of seeing that for to wash vs and bath vs in it we need no great quantity but a very smal deale which is easily seene in that the Prophet doth not ask that he would make him a pole of bloud to wash him in but that it would please him to sprinckle him with a little Isope dipped in it A very little is sufficient O my good Iesus and it sufficeth to be sprinckled with it and not washed seeing that one drop of thy precious bloud sufficeth to fil thy glory with many and to people thy church with many good men It is much to be noted that he vseth this word Sprinckle me with Isope and I shall be made cleane for by casting water with Isope one drop falleth here and another there this man is wet with it and that man is drie euen so it falleth out in the bestowing of Christs holy bloud for although it were shed for all the world yet notwithstanding it was not emploied vpon all men The bloud of the sonne of God is sprinkled with Isope seeing that the Christian is saued with it and the Pagan condemned the inst
body because that if he had not hindered that his body had not ben passible at all It was for no other cause but Propter nostram salutë that our great Redeemer suffered the death vpon the crosse as if he had been a sinner Candolfus sayth Christ sometimes gaue place that the glory of his soule should redound and fall vpon the members of his body as it happened in the hill Thabor by reason vvhereof his precious flesh vvas so tender in suffering and so passing desirous to returne to the fruition of the same glory that the absence and delay of that diuine and heauenly comfort did bring Christ most grieuous torment Vpon those vvords of the Psalme Abyssus abyssum inuocat Saint Basil sayth for as much as the soule of the sonne of God vvas full of glory and his precious body loaden with grieuous paine and anguish O how oftentimes the depth of his trauailes and griefes did feruently desire and sigh after the depth of his comfort and consolation the vvhich his eternall Father vvould not impart vnto him vntill hee had ended the redemption of the vvorld O great goodnesse O infinite charity who but thou O my good Iesus vvas hungry vvith bread in his hand thirsty vvith vvater in his mouth naked vvith garments in his chests sad and afflicted with glory in his soule Vpon those vvords Tristis est anima mea S. Barnard sayth It is no maruell if my soule bee sorrowfull and full of anguish because the houre of my glory and felicity is not yet come but in thee O good Iesus why should thy flesh bee so wearied And why should thy soule be comfortlesse seeing that thou carriest with thee all the glory which is in heauen or in earth Vbertinus vpon this place sayth The Redeemer of the world being in the agony of death and very neere the end of his life remembring himselfe of that heauenly comfort and diuine influence vvhich from the glory of his soule was woont to bee imparted to his precious body spake this word Sitio as if he would say O how great the thirst is vvhich I suffer in this last houre and terrible agony to vvit of that influence and heauenly comfort which was woont to bee imparted from my owne soule vnto my owne flesh because this death and passion which my owne Father doth lay vpon this my weake flesh is not onely grieuous but doth also exceed all other humane punishment The great thirst that Christ suffered vpon the crosse and the cooling vvater which hee desired was not the water of the fountain of the hill Lybanus nor yet that which ran in the riuer Silo but that heauenly consolation which the glory of his soule vvas vvont to cause in him for that other humane thirst could not so much grieue him considering how neere hee vvas to the end of his life Wee haue vsed all this discourse to extoll the word of the figure which sayth Et traxit piscem in siccum It is to bee vnderstood that young Tobias did kill the fish vpon the sand vvhich would haue killed him in the water When thinkest thou did Tobias draw the fish vpon drie land but vvhen the eternall Father did leaue his blessed sonne vpon the crosse without any humane consolation O how drie was that drie tree vpon which the heauenly fish hanged vvho hauing been brought vp in the deepe sea of the diuine essence had not there so much as one drop of water to drinke What can be pitied more in this life than for a fish hauing been brought vp in the water yet afterward to die for vvant of vvater Tobias fish was hard by the vvater side and yet died vvith thirst and Christs flesh vvas coupeled with his holy soule and died also vvith thirst because the eternall Father to giue vs drinke of his water of heauen killed his owne onely sonne with thirst and brought him to die vpon the sands of this world If Tobias should not haue drawne the fish to the land hee could not haue mastered him if Christ had not become man neither could he haue died for howsoeuer it be naturall for vs to die yet it is much more naturall for God alwaies to liue What meaneth it that the selfe same fish of whome Tobias thought he should haue been deuoured lay dead afterward at his feet but that that God which all the powers of heauen did feare and tremble at we see now meek gentle hanged vpon the tree When God was nothing but God in his own diuine essence being all the world did feare him and tremble but after that hee came vpon our sandie humanity set foot vpon the drinesse of this world hee who before made others afeard was himselfe afraid and he who before did throw downe others fell himselfe and he who before enriched others became poore and he who gaue all comfort wept himselfe and hee who killed before died Desertum faciam mare eius siccabo venum eius said God by the Prophet Ieremy chap. 51. as if he would say I will make all his sea as drie and without vvater as desart and solitary mountains are woont to bee and I will cut off all the vaines and streames of his depth because there shal flow no water at any end These words must curiously be expounded for God to say that the sea shall bee as drie as a solitary mountaine and that hee will cut off all the vaines of his course throughout all the world seemeth to bee a new speech and a thing that was neuer seene to be beleeued Leauing the letter speaking according vnto the sence of these words the eternal Father doth forewarne his precious sonne that he wil not onely deale with him like one which will not he are him nor giue him any comfort but also that he will cut off all occasions whereby hec may any way receiue comfort in so much that to make the sea become a desart is to make of God a true man and to cut off the vaines of the sea is to cut off all heauenly consolation What other thing was that deepe sea but onely the diuine essence And what else was it to make a drie desart of the raging sea but to make him who was the eternal God a true mā God said by the mouth of his Prophet Desertum faciammare eius speaking of his son and as he did prophecie so he did accomplish it for when he hanged vpon the altar of the crosse he neuer made answere to any petition which hee made him nor yet to quench his thirst gaue him so much as one cup of water What a strange thing is this O eternall Father what a strange thing is this For thy bastard abortiue childrē thou didst drawwater out of the liuely rock for thy lawful son hast thou not so much as one drop Whē Agar her son Ismael were ready to perish with thirst in the mountaines of Bersabee neere vnto the Mount Lybanus
Aegypt in the red sea the which two punishments were so famous that our Lord hath not vsed the like vntill this day The sonne of God dooth not complaine of this kind of floud nor wee doe not read that he euer was in danger by water for being Lord of all the waters how is it possible that he should bee drowned in the waters The sonne of God complaineth of stronger flouds than these of more raging seas more salter waters of whose bitternesse none tasted so much of as hee did nor no man went so neere the bottome of them as hee did What waters were they then which compassed the sonne of God but onely most grieuous tribulations which passed through his heart and tormented his body In Scripture by many waters is oftentimes vnderstood many tribulations as when hee said elsewhere Saluum â—â—e facâ—domine quia intrauerunt aquae animam meam as if hee would say Saue me O Lord because I am drowned helpe mee O my great God because the waters ouerflow me because the waters of distresse enter in at my mouth and drowne my dolorous heart O in what great anguish of mind hee was who spake these words for to say that anguish went to his heart was nothing else but to bee grieued at the heart The waters of tribulation and the floud of vexation entred into no mans heart so deepely as into our Sauiours for seeing that we were the cause of them all as he did loue vs from the heart so hee did feele them from the heart It is to bee noted that hee doth not say that the water did wet him or bemite him or make him afraid for all these things doe not kill but onely put vs in feare All the perill of water is that a suddaine streame doe not carry vs away and that our life doth consist in nothing but in the suddaine growing or decreasing of the water Seneca sayth That no man can be in greater danger in this life than hee who seeth himselfe compassed with waters because that at the self same time our soule and life goeth out where the waters goe in and the waters goe out where our soules goe in To what other thing could the son of God better compare his anguish distresse than vnto one compassed about with waters It is to bee noted that he sayth Circumdederunt me Haue enuitoned mee because the water which raineth doth wet onely the water throwne dasheth onely and that which is dronke filleth but that which compasseth on euery side drowneth and therfore Christ saith they haue iuclosed me on euery side saith not they haue wet me because his blessed heart was drowned in the sea of sorrow and his sacred body in the floud of tormeÌ„ts The waters which compassed him about the flouds which fell vpon him were so great that my tongue is not able to rehearse them nor my heart to thinke them nor my fingers to write them nor my eies to bewaile them O good Iesus my soules delight how or when diddest thou see thy selfe enuironed with waters but when thou sawest one member pulled froÌ„ another on the Mount of Caluary O that it is an improper speech to say that thou wast compassed with water seeing that thou mightest with greater reason haue said that thou diddest see thy selfe drowned in bloud because that in that lamentable day of thy death thou diddest want water and flow in bloud It is nor without a deepe mystery and hidden secret that Christ saith that hee was compassed about with water although it were true that he was enuironed with bloud and the reason is because there is no man who is so greatly recreated by drinking a cup of cold water nor taketh so great contentment in it as good Iesus did in shedding his bloud to redeeme the world with it Christ sayth then they haue compassed me about like vnto water because that if he did looke vpward hee saw his Father who would not seeme to heare him if downward he saw but his mother who could doe nothing but weepe for him if hee did looke on the left hand he saw but a thiefe who would not beleeue in him if on the other hand hee saw another thiefe who could not helpe him He was compassed on euery side for if hee should haue looked behind he should haue seene the hangmen watching him and before him the Iewes a mocking him Christ saith they haue coÌ„passed me like vnto a water vpon which words S. Barnard sayth thus O good Iesus O my soules delight what pitty did moue thee what charity did force thee being nailed vpon the crosse loaden with thornes beset about with speares yet thou saiest that thou art compassed with waters Doest thou die vpon the crosse and that with great thirst couldest not get a cup of water to drinke and yet doest thou say that thou art coÌ„passed with water What loue hath transported thee or what goodnesse hath made thee past thy sence that thou shouldest thinke the bloud which issueth from thee should bee water that runneth out of thee What meaneth this O redeemer of my soule what meaneth this Doth thy hard nailes cruell speares grieuous thornes seeme to be fountains of sweet waters The loue which Christ bare vs in suffering was so infinite that all things seemed sweet and pleasant vnto him because it is a priuiledge of loue that nothing seemeth hard and painful vnto him which loueth but that which he doth vnwillingly The sonne of God doth nothing vnwillingly in this world vnlesse it bee when hee punisheth our offences for although he do many things daily being praied thereunto yet hee doth nothing being forced Christ doth complaine also that they compassed him with many flouds of waters comming together for hee sayth Circumde derunt me simul which kind of persecution is no lesse painfull than perillous nor perillous than painefull Plato to this purpose sayth That when griefes and vexations come by little and by little they seeme to bee somewhat tollerable but when they come by heapes they are vntollerable and the reason is because man had no time to foresee such dangers nor place to auoid them Basil vpon the Psalme sayth That griefes and vexations came vpon that most blessed humanity of Christ like a very great water and like many enemies which laid in ambush the which Christ would not nor did not resist nor yet flie away from but only beseech his Father to giue him more strength to endure and abide them Bede sayth in an Homily O that this thy loue which thou diddest shew in this speech of Quare me dereliquisti was vnspeakable and thy charity incomparable for if thou doest complaine to thy Father it was not because he should take away some part of the torment which thou diddest suffer but because hee would not giue thee longer life to suffer more Vbertinus sayth that Christ said very truly when he said that whole flouds of many waters had compassed him round about
and let vs cocker our selues all we can yet we shal depart with as great thirst out of this world as if we had not liued but one moment in it In this sorrowful life there is nothing but is thirsty the flesh doth thirst after daintie cherishing the soule doth thirst after longer life the heart dooth thirst for more strength the Deuill to deceiue vs and Christ doth thirst after our saluation Which of all these doe not liue in hunger and thirst What doth our flesh but complaine in euery part that we keepe it naked that we keepe it hungry weary discontented and dead with thirst What sinfull soule did euer depart out of this vvretched life so beset vvith griefe or loaden vvith yeares vvhich vvould nor haue giuen all that hee had beene worth to haue liued one yeare longer What humane heart is there on earth which watcheth not to get more and breaketh not his sleep to be worth more Why dooth the Deuill vvatch but to keepe his own and beguile the good Why are there so many sorts of vices in the vvorld and so many entisements but to quench the thirst vvhich it hath to make vs all vaine vvordly and light Why did the sonne of God come into the world preach the Gospell liue in paine and die vpon the crosse but onely for the great thirst which he had to saue the world Loe then we haue prooued how the flesh the heart the soule the world the diuell and Christ are all hungry and desire thee O my soule and that which cannot bee spoken without teares is that onely Christ doth thirst after thy saluation and all the other after thy perdition O my soule if thou haddest as great a thirst to amend thy selfe as Christ hath to saue thee or if thou haddest as great a thirst to amend thy selfe as these thy enemies haue to deceiue thee I doe promise thee that thou wouldest not liue as thou doest so carelessy nor yet behaue thy selfe so riotously The good doe inherite the thirst of our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ and the wicked doe inherite the thirst of the diuell And what is the thirst which the good doe inherite but to be peacemakers humble chast sober and very charitable And what is the thirst which the wicked doe inherite of the deuill but to bee more mighty and rich and more vicious O what great difference there is betwixt these two thirsts for the thirst of the good and vertuous goeth to bee quenched at the fountaine of life which is glory the thirst of the wicked goeth to bee quenched at the dead waters of paine and punishment in so much that such as our thirst is in this world such shall bee the water which wee shall drinke of in the other O how wel the Prophet said My soule did thirst after the liuing God because that all the water which our Lord doth giue vs to drinke is of the liuely fountaine which is cleare vnto the eie and fresh to recreat sauerous to prouide of and wholesome to tast of delicare in disgesting and most precious to keepe The water which the world giueth his followers to drinke of is deep to teach vnto troubled to see vnto vnsauery to drinke puddle in tast and stinking to keepe Let vs conclude then that the seruant of God is alwaies thirsty and desirous of God who as hee who is very thirsty doth seeke drinke with all diligence so he who is desirous of God doth seeke all the waies and meanes he can to serue and obey him CHAP. II. How the Crowes gaue the Prophet Helias meat and how the Iewes gaue Christ neither meat nor drinke REcede hine vade contra Orientem absconde te in torrentem Carith ibi de torrente viues nam coruis praecepi vt pascant te God spake these words vnto Hâ—lias Reg. 3. chap. 17 as if he would say It is my will and pleasure O Helias that thou liue no more in this land but that thou shouldest goe out of it and thou shalt goe towards the East and hide thy selfe in the brook Carith where thou shalt haue no need to fear hunger because I wil coÌ„mand the crows to bring thee meat and bread euery day and there thou hast water inough for thy drinking When our Lord did command Helias to goe out of Samaria there was a great famine ouer all the land and he was also persecuted by the wicked queen Iezabel and yet hauing an intention to succour his Prophet he appointed him a place far off where he should hide himselfe and prouided him all kind of victuals for him to eat Helias being gone to the brooke Carith there hee lay hidden a long time feeding only vpon that which the crows gaue him and drinking of the water which ran in the stream And after a few months were past and the Queens persecution was ceafed and the famine amended Helias returned to the people and the crowes were seene no more Before we doe come vnto these mysteries it is here to bee noted what great care our Lord hath ouer his seruants and how he is neuer carelesse of his friends because his naturall condition is neuer to bee vnmindfull of those which doe not forget to serue him Cum ipso sum eripiam eum glorificabo eum saith the Psalmist in the name of our Lord and his meaning is I my self and no other will bee alwaies with him in his troubles and I will bring him safe out of them and he shall escape out of them with honor and glory If wee doe well vnderstand Christ hee promiseth three thinges vnto such as suffer persecution and tribulation for his seruice The first is that hee will bee at their side in all troubles and vexations the second that they shall neuer lose their life nor endanger their conscience for any trouble be it neuer so strong the third that hee will deliuer them out of that trouble with great fame and glory If such great profite be gotten by persecution why doth any man follow the pleasures and delights of the world What tribulation is there in this world so hard and dangerous which is not ouercomed with the helpe of Christ O how happy is that soule which is tempted for the seruice of God and is persecuted for the loue of him seeing he hath giuen his word and his credit that he will not suffer any to fall in his temptation nor forsake any man in his tribulation Note gentle Reader that Christ doth not say I am with them In gaudio exultatione in mirth and ioy but In tribulatione in tribulation for as in this life he knew nothing but how to shed tears suffer temptations endure trauaile so he hath compassion of none but of such as weep and are persecuted and tempted in so much that as the diuell is the captaine and ring-leader of all which liue in pompe and iolitie so Christ is the head of all that are afflicted and in tribulation Saint
vsing thy infinite power thou didst make of the dry desart great abundāce of water why thē dost thou make vnto thy son of an abundant sea a dry desart thou didst send meat to the Prophet Daniel when he was cast vnto the Lyons although no man did demand it at thy hards wilt thou not giue thy precious son a little water at such great entreaty Cōsidering that whē the famine was at Samaria thou didst cōmand the Crowes to carry the Prophet Helias food and the riuer Carith to giue him drinke why doest thou not helpe thy owne sonne whom thou hast ingendred of thy owne substance with a little water in this his extream thirst Considering that thou diddest turn the sower waters of Marath to be sweet because those cursed people should drinke of them why wilt thou giue thy precious sonne neither of the sweet nor sowre O what great encreasing of torments to Christ are framed in the figure of Tobias ioined with the prophesie of Ieremy seeing the one did draw the fish to the drie land and the other made a desart of the sea for vpon that drie tree of the crosse Christ was exceeding drie seeing hee could not obtain a little water to drink of and hee was also in a great desart seeing that hee found not so much as one friend to comfort himselfe with The fourth mystery which the figure containeth is that Tobias did open the fish and took out his gaule and his heart both which did him his afterwards great good the one for his owne marriage and the other to cure his fathers blindnesse It is greatly to be noted that in all that fish Tobias found nothing which was not worthy of the keeping commodious and profitable in curing sauerous in eating The best that euer hath been or shall be in the world was the Creator and Redeemer of the world whose words were holy whose doctrine was profitable whose workes were maruellous and whose bowels were most louing What did Tobias vnto that fish that the Iewes did not vnto Christ If the fish was drawne out of the riuer so was Christ from the people if the fish was put vpon drie land so was Christ carried vnto the Mount of Caluary if the fish was stripped so was Christ whipped if the fishes throat was cut Christ was also crucified if the fish was opened so was Christ pierced with a speare if the fish was cast into the fire so was Christ also cast into the sepulchre This which wee haue said is but a little in respect of that which wee will say and that is that the holy catholike Church hath drawne out this blessed fishes gaule with the which hee cureth vs and heart with the which hee loueth vs and liuer with the which he pardoneth vs bowels with which hee dooth cherish vs. O good Iesus O my soules health who hath euer had or who euer shall haue a more louinge heart than thou to loue vs or so sound a liuer to pardon vs or so profitable a gaule to cure vs or such tender bowels to cherish vs What wilt thou denie me now or what wilt thou not now giue mee O my good Iesus seeing that for to shew thy clernency and mercy vpon me thou art hanged vpon a drie tree made a dead fish opened drawne and bowelled for my sake What loue can bee compared vnto thy loue seeing that for that which touched me and not for any thing that belonged to thee thou diddest consent that they should open thy heart and diddest permit them to rend and teare thy bowels What am I able to giue thee O good Iesus what can I giue thee vnlesse it be my heart which is filthy for thine which is cleane my rotten liuer for thy vvhole one my bitter gaule for thy sweet one and my wicked and hurtful bowels for thy most louing ones Which are the greatest relickes which are this day in heauen or earth but the heart liuer and bowels which Christ left vnto his church O how happy should he be who should haue such relickes in his custodie for hauing thy heart in custodie how couldest thou chuse but loue me and hauing thy bowels in keeping how wouldest thou but pardon me How is it possible O my good Iesus how is it possible that there should bee any euill thing in thee vvhen as the church hath thy precious gaule for a relicke Since the beginning of the vvorld there hath neuer been any such thing seene or heard that is that among the relickes vvhich the church dooth account for the best the gaule is one of the most precious because that vvithout that bitter gaule neither the world could haue beene redeemed nor the Prince thereof haue beene ouercome What is the gaule which the church keepeth in her treasure but only the bitter passion which Christ suffered The richest iewell which the Synagogue had was the Manna vvhich came from heauen the greatest treasure which the church hath is the gaule and passion of Christ Betwixt vvhich two vvhat great difference there is it is easily perceiued because that the profite cōmodity of our gaule doth continue vntil this day will continue for euer but the memory of that old Manna is already lost O glorious gaule O happy gaul which thou good Lord diddest leaue vnto thy catholick church for if it did kill thee it did make mee whole if it gaue thee paine it gaue me glory if it was gaule vnto thee it was hony to me if thou diddest end thy life vvith it yet my soule vvas redeemed vvith it Christs passiō vvas bitter gaule vnto Christ and yet Christs death vvas a sweet gaule for the redeeming of all the vvorld for if vnto him there fell trauell pain yet vnto vs there fell rest quietnesse if it fell to his lot to suffer yet it fell to vs to reioice be glad if the soure fell vnto him the sweet fell vnto vs in so much that hee chose the gaule for himselfe and left the hony for vs. Iurauit patribus dare terrans fluentem lacte melle said the Prophet Moises Exod. 13 As if he vvould say You shall well remember O yee children of Israel how you did agree vvith our Lord he vvith you that both of you by oth that you should neuer serue any other Lord but him and that he would giue you a land vvhich should flow milke and hony Notwithstanding this oth the children of Israel were such naughty periures that our Lord determined not to giue them a land which should flow hony but which should bring them forth gaule seeing hee made it batten for to sow in rugged and rough to trauell in vnhealthfull to dwell in vveake in defence drie to drinke in and very poore to maintaine it selfe God did make a farre better agreement vvith his Church than vvith the Synagogue for hee did not send vs a land vvhich should bring forth honey but gaule and therefore hee
art vnto the children of vanity and lightnesse who doe shew their essence and yet are nothing shew their power and yet can doe nothing shew their wisedome and yet doe know nothing CHAP. XIII Where he goeth forward with the figure mentioned before ADhue sitit expergifactus sayth Esay in the place before named as if hee would say When the redeemer of the world did awake vpō the crosse hee did awake very drie and thirsty which was so great a thirst that it continueth vntill this day it is most certaine that when a man doth suffer many griefes at one time that he speaketh of that which grieueth him most and pointeth with his hand where his greatest paine lieth The anguishes which Christ suffered in his mind were innumerable and the griefes which hee endured in his body were intollerable and that which is most of all to be meruelled at is that his torments being so many and so sharpe as they were yet he complained of none of them on the crosse but only of the thirst which he endured Saint Barnard sayth O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule hauing so many things to complaine on doest thou onely complaine of thirst Thy shoulders are naked and whipped thy hands broken thy head bleeding thy flesh brused and yet doest thou complaine on nothing but of the thirst which troubleth thee and of want of water Doest thou complain that thou art thirsty and not that thou art bloudy hast thou not greater want of thy bloud than of water Seeing the bloud which runneth from thy head doth bath thy face wet thy tongue why doest thou aske againe for water For a quarter of an houre that thou hast to liue doest thou complaine that thou wantest water O that the thirst which I suffer saith Christ is not to drinke wine or water but to see your amendment and carry you with mee to my glory for seeing that I am now taking my iourney to heauen I haue a great thirst to take my elect with mee The thirst which I haue the drinesse which I endure is not so much to drink any liquor as to redeem you and saue you and reconcile you with my Father and therefore if thou haue no pitty on mee yet at the least take some on thy selfe O that I had rather that thou haddest some pitty on thy selfe than on mee because it is a greater griefe to see thee lost than to see my self suffer S. Augustine sayth Thou diddest adde vnto all thy anguishes this word Sitio shewing thereby such a great thirst and representing outwardly the exceeding loue that thou diddest beare me inwardly and vnspeakable charity which caused thee to make but small account of all that thou diddest suffer in respect of that desire which thou haddest to suffer And he sayth further O my good Iesus I know well that thy thirst is not for thy selfe but for me and this thy anguish is for no other cause but for the saluation of my soule and when thou saiest that thou hast a desire to drinke that is as much to say as to suffer more for mee in so much that the care that thou hast ouer me is so great that by meanes thereof thou doest wholly forget thy selfe What meaneth this O redeemer of my soule what meaneth this Thy ioints being loosed one from another thy eies broken thy mother hauing her farewell and hauing complained on thy Father doest thou say anew I am a thirst What pitty may be compared vnto this or what goodnesse equall vnto this Oredeemer of my soule Wee see by this word Sitio that death was sufficient to take all thy dolors and griefes from thee and yet that it was not inough to cut off the loue which thou haddest to redeeme vs. Who is able to say truly that thy loue did end vpon the crosse considering that for the loue of thy elect thou diddest yet thirst after more griefes and anguishes All this Saint Augustine spake Chrisostome sayth When the eternall word said vpon the crosse I am a thirst I doe not beleeue that hee did so much aske for water to drinke as hee did aske for time of his Father to suffer more griefe and torment For as the candle when it is going out doth cast the greatest light so Christ the more his death drew neere the more his loue and charity doth kindle towards vs. Remigius vpon Saint Matthew sayth Although the diuine prouidence did reduce all the trauailes of his life vnto three yeares and that also hee brought all the torments of the crosse vnto three houres yet it is not to bee beleeued that Christ his infinite charity was contented with this short time and therefore I thinke for my owne part that the thirst which hee shewed vpon the tree vvas not so much to drinke of any water of the riuer as to declare and make manifest his loue vnto the world Fulgentius in a Sermon sayth The sonne of God did thinke that seeing his Father had not giuen him charity by waight so hee should not giue him torment by measure by reason whereof hee cried aloud on the crosse Sitio to let vs vnderstand by this thirst that seeing the gifts which hee receiued had no end that the torments likewise which he receiued should not be limitted CHAP. XIIII Of the crueltie and ingratitude that the Iewes vsed in giuing Christ gaule and vineger and how he satisfied for euery sinne in particular DEderunt in escam meam fel in siti mea potauerunt me aceto sayth Christ by the Prophet as if hee would say Being vpon the altar of the crosse full of torments loaden vvith griefes compassed with enemies I had scarsely spoken the word Sitio but they gaue mee gaule to eat and vineger to drinke There is much matter to bee spoken vpon this that is what drinke they gaue him when they gaue it him where they gaue it him why they gaue it him in what they gaue it him and how quickly they gaue it him The drinke which they gaue him was gaule and vineger the place where was vpon the crosse the time was when hee was yeelding vp the ghost the cause why was to helpe him to die they gaue it him in a reed and a spunge and that presently when he had thirst so that all these circumstances doe aggrauate the fault in them Wee find that the diuell made two banquets in this world the one in the terrestriall paradise vnto our Father where he gaue him the fruit of the tree to eat the other to Christ in the desert where he inuited him to stones of the field the which might haue ben ground sifted and so mingled that they might haue been eaten The Iewes gaue Christ worser meat than the diuell offered him in the desart for they gaue him gaule to eat and vineger to drinke which are bitter and soure horrible in tast and mortal in eating For as the Philosopher sayth The truest loue is the loue of children the smell
the loue of God and of the profit that this loue of God doth in the soule HAurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus saluatoris Esay 12. chapter The Prophet Esay spake these words speaking vnto good Christians of the Catholicke church and of the great good that Christ will doe in her and they are as if hee would say When the Messias promised in the law shall come into the world all such as were drie and thirsty shall receiue great ioy with great abundance of waters to refresh and recreate their persons The Prophet dooth promise foure things in this place that is that they shal not draw water but waters not out of one well or fountaine but fountaines not by force but willingly not out of euery well but of the fountaine of our Sauiour Agar wanted the fountaine how much more fountains the children of Israel found water but soure the Patriarke Iacâ—l found sweet water but he had great strife in getting it They brought king Dauid water but it was of a cesterne insomuch that the Synagogue was so poore that shee could not get a cup of cleane water The catholicke church may hold her selfe very happie and rich seeing that God hath promised her abundance of waters cleare and cleane flowing from the fountaine of her Sauior and Redeemer It is much to bee noted and also to bee meruelled at to see that our Redeemer Iesus Christ said vpon the crosse Sitiâ— and yet saith that hee hath waters and fountains to refresh and quench the thirst of all the world What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this Hast thou not one drop of water for thy selfe to drinke of and yet doest thou inuite all the world to drinke of thy fountaines It doth wel appeare O my good Iesus that thou hast all that good for me and keepest all trauailes vnto thy selfe seeing that of thy sweet water thou doest inuite all men to drinke but the gaule and vineger thou doest giue no man to tast What are the fountaines that thou wouldest haue vs drinke of but thy holy wounds with the which we were redeemed O sacred fountains O holy wounds which are so delectable to behold and so sweet to tast that the Angels are desirous to drinke of them and all creatures are willing to bath themselues in theÌ„ They are fountains which alwaies flow they are waters which alwaies run what do they flow but bloud water whither do they flow but to the Catholick church Holy Iesus did giue vs much more than Esay did promise vs for Esay did promise vs nothing but waters but he gaue vs afterwards waters of his bowels blond of his vains O good Iesus O holy fountaine from whence but from the fountaine of thy bowels did the water flow to wash our spots and from whence but from thy precious vaines did the bloud runne to redeeme our offences It is gathered in scripture that the waters of Rasim were most swift the waters of Iorda troubled the waters of Bethleem were pooles and standing the waters of Marath were bitter the waters of Siloe were soure The waters of thy wounds O my Redeemer are not of these qualities for they are safe to saile in cleane to behold sweet to tast and profitable to keepe What meaneth hee to say that you shall draw waters In gaudio but that as we were redeemed with his great loue and will so we should serue him with great ioy and mirth Hee doth draw waters of the fountaines of Christ with ioy and miâ—th who doth serue him with good will and hee doth draw bloud out of Christs wounds with sorrow and griefe who doth serue him with an evill will whose seruice is neither acceptable to God nor profitable vnto him which doth it for as our Lord doth giue nothing which hee doth giue but with ioy and mirth so he will not that any man serue him but with pure affection and entire good will With what great loue the sonne of God hath redeemed vs and with what a liuely will he wil be serued wee may gather by his owne doctrine and see it in his owne louing words Ignem veni mittere in terram quid vâ—lo nisi vt accendatur Luke 12. This high word no man could say but hee only who was the word of the eternall Father and the meaning is this If thou wilt know why I came downe from heauen vnderstand thou that it was for no other cause but to burne and set all the world on fire and therfore I bring this light with me because it may burne day night and that thou maiest blow it that it goe not out Christ speaketh to the same purpose in another place when hee sayth Non venipacem mittere sed gladium as if hee should say Let no man thinke that I came into the world to giue it peace and quietnesse but to put a gallowes and asword in it the gallowes to doe iustice on the wicked and the sword to martirize the good These words are worthy of the noting and also to be feared of all mortall men for hauing created the world what meaneth he to say that hee came into the world but to put it all to fire and bloud What man is there this day in the world so noble in birth or so rich in wealth but if he proclaime publickely that hee will burne both man and woman but they wil presently lay hands on him bind him hand foot or coÌ„demn him for want of discretioÌ„ What can be more straÌ„ger or what inueÌ„tioÌ„ may be like vnto that for our Lord to tel vs. also warne vs that he hath brought nothing else with him but a firebrand to burne and a sharpe sword to cut our throats Vpon those wordes Non veni mittere pacem sed gladium S. Augustine sayth If wee will well vnderstand that which Christ sayth in this place we should not only not bee scandalized at it but also highly thanke him for it for to say the truth with that fire he doth seare our dead flesh and with that knife he doth let out our corrupt bloud Beda vpon the Apostle sayth What is the sire which Christ brought from heauen into the world but his exceeding great loue The quality of this high fire is to heat and not burne to giue light and not hurt to burne and not consume to putrifie and not wast to warme and not to grieue O good Iesus and light of my soule what sensuality can ouercome mee or what tentation can throw mee downe if at the coales of thy fire I warme my selfe and giue my selfe light with the flame of thy loue What can hee doe what is in him or what regard is there of him in this life who doth not warme himselfe at the fire of thy loue What made S. Andrew goe cheerfully and singing to be crucified but the fire of the loue which burned in him What made S. Agnes goe more ioifully to martyrdome than
we know whether he commanded him to do these things for the sins which he hath committed or for sins which hee hath seene in the Iudaicall people Who euer saw Christ weepe or command any man to weep but he had occasion to doir and reason to command it The reason why Ieremy weepeth is Quid ablata est fides de ore corum Because there is now no faith in the house of Iacob because the goodnes truth of Israel is perished Behold how God doth not complain here of vs for that we do not offer sacrifice nor because wee pay not our tithes nor because we break the holy fasting daies nor because they are couerous nor because they are carnall glurtons because nature inuiteth inclineth vs to all these carâ—lesnesse humane frailty excuseth vs. That which our Lord coÌ„plaineth of is that they are faithlesse in heart idolaters and that they can speake nothing with their mouth but lies which two vices are perrillous for vs to be saued with very hard to ameÌ„d Ciprian vpoÌ„ the Creed saith Although the Apostle saith that faith without works is dead yet I had rather do sinful works being a faithful Christian theÌ„ vertuous works being a faithlesse Pagan because that our Lord doth easilier lighten him which beleeueth that which he coÌ„mandeth theÌ„ him which blasphemeth him and his church Damascen saith That the diuel dare neuer tempt mightily any but such as he perceiueth to be weak in faith and in that case hee careth not much to teÌ„pt him hardly with other vices if he see him weak cold in faith because the diuel is better at ease to see a man doubtful wauer in faith theÌ„ to see him coÌ„mit all other sins in the world What dooth the diuell watch at or ouerwatch but to see whether thou bee doubtfull in the faith of Christ what hast thou if thou hast not true faith what wantest thou if thou wantest not the true faith of Christ O good Iesus O the light of my soule I beseech thee that thou wouldest not depriue me of thy faith that thou wouldst not cast me out of thy church that thou wouldst not take thy mercy froÌ„ me for if thou wilt not suffer me to fall from thy faith I shal alwaies haue a hope that in the end I shal be saued To come theÌ„ vnto our principal purpose who made vnhappy Iudas hang himselfe what was the cause the good theefe was saued but only the great faith the theefe had the sinful infidelity which the other fel into because Iudas wold not beleeue that Christ was our maker and because the good theefe beleeued that Christ was our redeemer Iudas sold Christ and the other beleeued in Christ insomuch that in beleeuing knowing litle men come to offend much So much saith Gregory the faith of a good ChristiaÌ„ is more meritorious by how much the fewer argumeÌ„ts reasons it is grounded on because the merit of the catholick faith doth not coÌ„sist on that which we see with our eieâ— but in that which we beleeue with our hearts If we compare the faith of the good theef with the faith of the old fathers we shal find it to be true that he did so far exceed theÌ„ in faithfully beleeuing as they did go beyond him in good liuing How should not Abraham beleeue in God considering how God spake vnto him from heaueÌ„ aboue and vsed him as if he had beene his particular friend The thecues faith was greater thaÌ„ his because that Christ neuer spake vnto him one word of beliefe neither did hee euer see him in heauen but only hanged vpon the crosse The Prophet Esay did beleeue in God when he saw him sit on high in his throne beset with thousands of Seraphins but the the eues faith was greater because hee neuer saw Christ but crucified and accompanied with theeues The Prophet Maises had faith when hee saw the God of Israel speake vnto him out of a bush and that the bush wasted nor burnt not but the faith of the good theefe was greater than this considering that hee saw Christ loaden with thorns which burnt nor in show but in troth pierced his braine S. Peter had faith when hee saw Christ goe vpon the waters but the good theefes faith was greater considering he saw Christ not spurn the waters but saw him bathed in bloud from the feet to the head Mary Magdalen had faith when she saw him raise her brother Lazarus from death to life who had beene foure daies dead but the good theefe had greater faith then this considering how he neuer saw Christ raise the dead but only saw himselfe die vpon the crosse like a malefactor S. Iohn the Euangelist had faith when he had ssept vpon our Lords breast after he had supped vvith him in the parlar but the theefes faith vvas greater then this seeing that hee beleeued in the sonne of God not sleeping vpon stis breast but suffering vvith him by his side vpon the crosse S. Iames had faith vvhen hee savv Christ transfigured in the hill Tabor and the Fathers of the old law adore him but the good theefes faith was greater then this considering hee saw not the sonne of God transfigured but disfigured hee saw not his face shine but his body torne in pieces O happy and glorious theefe who but thou hath stoine the faith from the synagogue which of old shee was wont to haue and stolne Christ from them in whom then they beleeued not Impart and deuide vnto me part of the faith which thou didst steale from the Synagogue and Christ which thou diddest rob away on the Mount of Caluary for although I was not thy companion in suffering yet now I will bee in beleeuing That which I would haue thee impart vnto mee is the entire faith which thou hast the holy wordes which thou speakest the abundance of bloud which thou sheddest the true confession which of God thou makest and the Christian charity with the which thou doest correct the other theefe O that this theefe hath a happy inheritance seeing that with the theft of worldly things he easily got the gallowes and with the theft which hee stole vpon the crosse hee got glory Chrysostome of the praise of the theefe saith thus In whom O good Iesus in whom did thy holy faith remaine when thou diddest depart out of this life but in thy sorrowfull mother who wept at the foot of the crosse in that holy theefe who suffered on thy side O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule saith Barnard what a small number of friends thou hadst with thee on the crosse and what a multitude of enemies about thee considering that thou hadst there but two faithfull Christians that is thy blessed mother which did beleeue in thee with her heart and that iust theefe which did confesse thee with his mouth Seeing it was nothing else to be a Christian but to beleeue in Christ and serue Christ
it is to be beleeued that this theefe was a Christian and that he died a Christian for if he had not ben one he would neuer haue commended himselfe vnto Christ as wee doe our selues vnto God vnlesse hee had also beleeued him to bee God Isichius vpon Leuiticus saith That we doe not doubt whether this theefe was baptised or not but how hee was baptised and where wee know not but that which wee doe know in this case is that if there wanted water on the crosse to baptise him yet there wanted no blood to regenerate him There was but one poole in the temple of Hierusalem to heale men with but on the Mount of Caluary there are three fonts to baptise with the one was ful of our Ladies teares the other full of the water of our Lords side and the third full of the bloud of his body How could this theefe be vnbaptised hauing such great preparations to baptise him O my soule O my heart why doe you not baptise and wash your sinnes why wipe you not away your wickednes in the tears of the sweet mother in the water of his greeuous side and in the bloud of her holy sonne Ecce nunc in iniquitatibus conceptus sunt Behold now I am conceiued inherited or what offences could I haue committed which the mothers tears could not wash and the sonnes bloud could not inake clean I will not now goe with Iudith to the fountaine of Modien to wash mee nor with Naaman to the waters of IordaÌ„ to bath me nor to the poole at Ierusalem with the sick of the palsie to heale me but I will goe onely vnto the holy fonts of the Mount of Caluary to baptize me which are full of the bloud which my God shed and of the water which issued out of his side To conclude then wheÌ„ Christ was baptised there was none present but S. Iohn but in the baptisme of this theefe there was Christ and his mother S. Iohn Mary Magdalen insomuch that in the house of God they giue more honour to good theeues then vnto those which are naughty-Emperours CHAP. V. How three houres in which the good theefe was with Christ vpon the crosse did profit him more than the three yeares profited Iudas in the which he followed Christ and how some steale vntill they come to the gallews and how this theefe stole vpon the gallows ETâ—nunc domine deus Israel da seruo tuo cor docile vt discernere possit inter bonum malum said the great king Salomon in a praier which hee made vnto God Reg. 4. chap. 3. as if hee would say O great God of Israel O great God of the house of Israel I pray thee beseech thee that it would please thee to giue me froÌ„ thy haÌ„ds a hart willing to do all that thou dost coÌ„mand me beleeue al that thou dost counsell me Who is able to gouerne so rich a country if thou in teaching him do not giue him an vnderstaÌ„ding to discern betwixt the good the euil This petition of SalomoÌ„s was very grateful vnto God because he asked him no more kingdomes to enlarge his dominions nor riches to liue deliciously with nor many years to liue long with nor fauor might to be reueÌ„ged of his enemies To haue much to possesse much to liue long to be of great might are they nor the things we desire most of al with al our hearts for the which we do most of al sweat for sigh wheÌ„ Salomon asked a heart apt to learn what did he aske else but a mind which would suffer it self to be instructed to be counselled by wise men which few men are wont to ask and much lesle to do because euery man thinketh himself wise that he needeth no mans coÌ„unsell at all What better praier could that happy king haue demanded at Gods hands thaÌ„ a heart well iustructed ready to heare counsell Plato in his Timaeo saith that he neuer saw any man do amisse which followed counsel but he saw many cast theÌ„selues away by following their owne wil Seneca to Lucilths saith that the coÌ„modity of a mind well taught and of a man wel counselled is that if he hit aright in that which hee doth al men giue him the glory of it if he erre in his enterprise al men cast the blame vpon him which counselled him When Christ tooke counsel vpon the see ding of the hungry companies did he not take it trowy you of 8. Phillip which was one of theÌ„ which could dâ—â—least knew least S. Paul writeth to his disciple Philemon Sine tuo consilio nihil facium that is I wil do nothing without thy counsel without his aduise opinion he would not determine either to go to Rome or stay preach in Asia King Dauid was a for greater Prophet theÌ„ Nathan yet he consulted with the good king whether hee himselfe should make the holy 〈◊〉 or command his sonne to make it If Christ then being God and S. Paule being an Apostle and king Dauid being a Prophet would not trust their owne iudgement why should any man refuse anothers counsel and opinion Foris vastauit eos gladius intus pauor quia gens estabsque consilio prudentiaâ— said God vnto Moyses complaining vppon the people of Israell as if he would say O Moises thou hast it in thy choise which thou hast made of people to serue me vpoÌ„ those which haue neither wisdome to gouern themselues neither do ask counsell of that which they ought to doe by reason wherof they shall go al their life time sore feared with the enemies knife and alwaies beare fearfull hearts God complaineth of the Synagogue that she had litle wit and great folly and that she despised counsell and was guided by her owne wit which are two things dangerous to a Common wealth and hurtfull vnto euery particular person Chrysostome saith That God doth that man great fauour vnto whom he giueth a heart apt to learne and easie to be counselled and not hard to be entreated because there are some men so vnpleasant in their conditions so proud in their conuersation that they are hated of all men liked of none It is to be noted that the wise man saith not only vnto God giue me a heart but he addeth a heart easie to be instructed because God giueth hearts vnto many which are rather hearts of beasts then of men with the which they neither know that which they should nor chuse that which they ought nor keep that which they haue nor keepe secret that which they know S. Barnard expounding these wordes Abii post vestigia gregum tuarum sayth That it is a word of great iniury and griefe which woundeth the mind when God commanded any to go after beasts seeing that man is lord ouer beasts which our Lord doth sometime coÌ„mand because he is a greater beast theÌ„ a beast which hath the vse of reason and yet doth not
and chiefest goodnesse that was and man inclined vnto wickednesse God did command him to better and amend himselfe vnto which he answered that he would bee merry and take his pleasure by reason whereof man went euery day worse and worse and God more angry and incensed euery day against him Pope Leo sayth That God doth not weigh whether we be weake or strong in health or sicke rich or poore simple or wise but that which he desireth is that we should be good and he is angry if we be naught and therupon it is that hee neuer casteth any good man out of his presence nor hee admitteth no naughty man into his house Gregory sayth That hee could not suffer one sinne in him who was an Angell and doest thou thinke he will suffer so many sinnes in thee who art but a man And hee sayth further that God would rather suffer that an Angell should take heauen from him and man the world than suffer one only sinne either in the one or in the other because that to make a new heauē he is of sufficient power but to like and approue a sinne neither is his power able to doe it neither can it bee comprehended vnder his clemency Seeing then that God is such an enemie vnto sinne and seeing that man doth so much couet to sinne how can they bee but contrary the one vnto the other and vse one another like enemies Holy Iob doth weepe and sigh saying Non est qui possit vtrumque arguere that is there was no man who durst be a mediator betwixt them nor put himselfe betweene them to the end that man might giue ouer sinning God withdraw his hand from punishing Damascen sayth When God and man and man and God were at strife and variance and the one alwaies aboue in heauen and the other continually vpon the earth there vvas no meane to make them meet nor no court to agree them in because there came none downe from heauen to vs nor any fit person went hence from vs to heauen The son of God came thē into the world and put himself a mediator between them both that is betweene God and flesh O how much wee are bound to Christ for that which he did for vs and much more for the manner with the which he did it for the more to bind the one and the other he tooke the diuinity of his Father with the which he might pardon vs and tooke flesh of man with the which hee might suffer with vs. In so much that because he tooke his kindred and alliance of both hee was able to make them both friends O how costly this friendship and kindred was to the son of God and grieuous also seeing that it did cost him his bloud which was in him the life which hee possessed so farre forth that for to make mee friends with God he became an enemy vnto himselfe It is certaine that when two enemies doe draw their vveapons to fight if another venter in betwixt them that both their blowes do light vpon him in so much that hee vvho parreth them is hurt or slaine and those which were at debate proue afterward good friends On the Mount of Caluary and on the altar of the crosse as God and man and man and God had summoned the one the other to a place of defiance blessed Iesus put himselfe betwixt them both to cut off the strife because hee knew that if hee had not taken away all anger at that place they vvould haue remained perpetuall enemies As man threw sinnes at God and God punishment vpon man it fell out that the sinne which man fought with and the punishment with the which God did chastise fell all vpon the Mediatour who had not deserued it O good Iesus and glory of my soule vpon whome but vpon thee did thy Father lay his old anger vpon whome but vpon thee did man lay his fault Doe not then vexe thy selfe O holy Iob and saie Non est qui ponat manum suam in ambobus seeing hee is already come from heauen and already borne in the world vvho hath put his hand betwixt God and man yea and hath both his hands cut off by them Haue not they both trow you cut off his hand seeing his Father ordained that hee should die and man put the fault on him for which hee should bee crucified O diuine mediatour O holy stickeler which of the Angels could doe the like or vvhat man could attempt that which thou hast done That is willingly and vpon good and long deliberation thou diddest offer thy selfe to lose thy life to set God and man in concord and vnitie The sonne of God then doth complaine vpon his Father with iust cause saying Why hast thou forsaken mee seeing that hee did load all his wrath vpon his backe and man likewise lay all the burden of his sinnes vpon his shoulders vpon him in that place God did emptie all his wrath and in that place mans sinnes tooke their end O that this is a glorious time and a happie age which vvee of the Catholicke church liue in for hauing Christ for our Mediatour there can no sinne goe vp to the Father but it must first meet with Christ nor any punishment come downe vpon man but it must also come by him The sonne of God being a meane betwixt his Father and vs who doubteth but that hee will stop our sinne in himselfe that it ascend not to heauen and also keepe backe the punishment of his Father that it doe not descend into the world As otherwise it would if Christ should not make himselfe a meane betwixt vs. CHAP. IIII. How Christ complaineth on his Father because hee bathed his body with the bloud of his vaines and drowned his heart in waters of distresse CIrcumdederunt me sicut aqua tota die circūdederunt mesimul Psalme 88. The sonne of God spake these words continuing his complaint against his Father and it is as if hee would say What meaneth this O my Father what meaneth this Wast thou not content to breake thy anger vpon me and remoue all my friends from me but now anew thou wilt compasse mee with a great floud of water in the which my life is drowned Christ doth set foorth at large all his trauails and bewaileth the want of friends for hee sayth that the waters were great and he saith twise that they besieged him and that they came all together vpon him and that they came so ragingly that they tooke away all his forces First of all we must examine here of what kind of waters our Lord speaketh in this place whether they bee sea waters or of a riuer or fountaine or of a lake because that in all these a man may drowne himselfe and lose his life We read onely of two punishments which God hath inflicted by waters the one in the floud of Noe in which almost all the world perished the other which he vsed against the people of
because that in the compasse of foure twentie houres he was watched apprehended denied accused whipped and receiued sentence spoiled crucified and dead insomuch that if we compare the moments of times with his torments wee shall see that the torments which hee suffered vvere more than the moments and quantities of the time in which he suffered S. Ambrose vpon the Psalme sayth That no man could euer say these words of Circumdederunt me aquae tota die simul with so good reason as Christ because on that day which he suffered in there passed no houre nor moment nor minute of time in the which he was not either strockē or whipped or spit vpō or blasphemed insomuch that those ministers of wickednes were so busie hasty in giuing him tormēt that they themselues had no time to rest them in nor Christ to breath in Pope Leo vpon the Passion of our Sauiour sayth That hee had great cause to say that hee was compassed with many waters because that all kind of people and all nations conspired in one against that most sacred humanity Iews Gentiles Priests Pharisies Disciples Pontifes Kings Captains Souldiours hangmen yong old stranger and all others S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn sayth this What people were therein the world which were not at the death of Christ or what tormēt was there inuented which he suffered not In so tempestious a sea in so dangerous a floud in such sudden waues and in such distresses heaped one vpon another who would not haue the sonne say vnto the Father Why hast thou forsaken mee seeing hee did not speake one word to comfort him nor left him any one friend which did fauour him CHAP. V. How Christ complaineth of his Father because he did permit those to crucifie him which were wont to bee his friends and how he calleth them friends QVae sunt plagae istae in medie manuum tuarum His plagatus sum in domo eorum qui me diligebant sayth Esay chap. 20. These words were spoken by all the Angels vnto the Lord of all Angels who was the sonne of God and it is as if he would say O sonne of God O eternal wisedome being descended frō heauē into this world aliue whole how doest thou come now from thence with such a pittifull body and so wounded in thy hands If thou wilt know where how and by whome I haue receiued these wounds and gashes know thou that I haue receiued them in the house of such as loued me and they gaue them me who bare me good will Looke how new and strange this question is so maruellous is the answere and how maruellous the answere so strange the question for it is a very strange thing that God should goe to heauen with wounds vpon him and to say that his friends gaue them him is also a very maruellous thing because it is the part of a friend to cure our wounds and of an enemy to make them What is this O good Iesus what is this How can hee vvho loueth thee vvound thee and hee who wisheth thee well hurt thee and hee who woundeth thee take pitie on thee and hee vvho serueth thee offend thee Anselmus handling this place sayth O eternall goodnesse of thee my God and patience neuer before this time seene seeing thou doest call them openly thy friends which rent thy flesh vvrest thy sinewes vnioint thy bones To say O good Iesus that thou vvast vvounded in the house of such as loued thee is a speech vvhich sheweth thy clemency and giueth me great confidence for if thou doe call those thy friends which doe wound thee and kill thee what wilt thou doe by them which faithfully haue serued thee Christ had one house in Iury which was Ierusalem and hee had a friend in heauen which was his Father and he had another friend vpon the earth which was the Synagogue and in that house he was put to death and hee was wounded by those two friends for the Synagogue did crucifie him and his Father did determine that he should be crucified If the Gentiles which were not his friends acquaintance should haue put him to death it would haue been tollerable but to see that he was wounded slain in the city where he had liued by his friends which he had made much of by the wil of his Father which begat him did grieue him very much although he did dissemble it Barnard saith The more I think vpō thy works O good Iesus the more I wonder seeing that man hauing done the deeds of an enemy towards thee thou canst not call him enemy but friend cōsidering that thou saist I haue been wounded in the house of such as did loue me By which words hee doth let vs vnderstand that he regardeth more the loue which hee beareth vnto the world than the offences which the world doth vnto him If as good Iesus said vnto the Angels my friends haue thus wounded me hee would haue said vnto his Father that his enemies had done it what should then haue become of the poore Iewes and what afterward of vs all As when friends in iesting doe hurt and scratch one another so Christ would make the Angels and his Father beleeue that his enemies had not wounded his sacred hands but that his friends had done it as it were in sporting O how truly we may say with the Prophet Dauid Non est deus noster sicut dijeorum Our God is not like vnto their gods seeing that here vpon earth men take in earnest the words which their friends speak in iest to them and if they scratched with a pin or with ones naile they make no lesse a matter of it than if it were a thrust with a lance The which quality could not sincke into Christ seeing that before his father he called his enemies his friends his whipping scratching his deep wound a raising of the skin and earnest testing S. Augustine vpon these words Amice ad quid venisti sayth this word Enemy O good Iesus wil not enter into thy mind because thou art accustomed to call euery man friend for seeing that thou diddest call Iudas thy greatest enemy thy friend whome wilt thou call enemy Osculantes se ad inuicem fleuerunt pariter Dauid Ionathas sed Dauid fleuit amplius 1. Reg. chap. 20. These holy words are rehearsed in scripture talking of the friendship that was betwixt Dauid and Ionathas and this is their meaning As king Dauid was departing out of the kingdome and going from Ionathas his faithfull friend at the time of their departure they embraced one the other and wept and although Ionathas did weepe much yet Dauid did weepe more Mimus the Philosopher sayth That the loue which one friend beareth another is neuer better knowne than when the one departeth from the other for if the one want words the other aboundeth in teares Cicero in his booke of Friendship sayth That true friendship is knowne in going the one
is thankful vnto me for my benefites bestowed vpon him I bewaile my virginity because I haue found none to bestow my virginity on none to giue my innocency vnto none to impart my patience vnto none vnto whome I may communicate my charity nor any one with whom I may leaue my humility in keeping but if I came rich and adorned with vertues in the world so I must return rich again with theÌ„ to heauen The figure which wee haue spoken of saith further that all the maids of Sion did meet in Ierusalem to mourn and weep the death of Iephthes daughter foure daies one after another in the which they made great lamentations so that no yeare did passe in which this solemnity was not obserued It is here to be noted that although there haue beene in the synagogue many personages noble in bloud valerous in warre discreet in the Common-wealth learned in all sciences and cleane and vnspotted in life yet it is not read of any of theÌ„ that after they were dead and buried were mourned for at any other time Al the kings Dukes Patriarks and Prophets were buried by their friends and kinsfolkes and forgotten of them excepted onely the daughter of Iephthe for whose death all the virgines and maids did mourne and weepe euery yeare once by a speciall priuiledge Wee speake all this because that if the daughters of Sion thought it conuenient to thinke vpon and weepe for the death of that virgine once euery yeare should it not bee greater reason that wee should weepe for the death of Iesus Christ euery houre and euery moment of an houre Those virgines did weepe for the death of that young virgine for no other reason but because she was young beautifull and vertuous so that they were induced to make that solemne lamentation rather through compassion than reason What other reason could there bee for that solemne yearely lamentation seeing that the daughter of Iephthe died not for the Commonwealth nor yet had in estimation for any rare vertue aboue the rest Iust occasion and reason doth inuite vs to weep euery houre and euery moment of an houre for the death of Christ considering that he died for the Commonwealth and paied for our offence For the son to say vnto his father Why hast thou forsaken me is to say nothing else but to complaine of vs because wee remember not his precious death as Iephthes daughter was wept for once a yeare Although the sinfull soule doth not remember the death of Christ yet the holy church doth not forget nor omit to celebrate his death once at the end of euery year in the holy weeke And in steed that the daughters of Sion did weepe for the death of that virgin foure times in the yeare the church doth represent vnto vs the passion written four times of the foure Euangelists CHAP. VII How Christ complaineth vnto his father because they did open his wounds through malice as they did stop vp Isaac his wels through enuy HAbuit Isaac possessionâ—â— onium armentorum familiam plurimam ob hoc inuidentes Palestini obstruxerunt omnes putees eius implentes humo Genes 26. The Scripture hath these wordes telling vs of a great discouresie which the king of Palestine did vnto Isaac the Patriarke and it is as if hee would say Isaac was a great and mighty man and had many flockes of sheepe and many heards of kine and many bondslaues both man and woman by reason of which prosperity of his the Palestines did greatly enuy him and did stop vp his wels by casting much earth into euery one of them O that the Apostle said very true when hee said all things happen vnto them in figura seeing that all things that were done in the Synagogue were nothing else thaÌ„ a figure of that which should happen in the Catholicke church For if it were not so there are many things in Scripture which vvould seeme but a iest to write of and a superfluous thing to read If there should not be some deep mystery some hiddeÌ„ secret in this figure what were it vnto vs or what profite should wee receiue in knowing that Isaac had many sheepe kine and slaues What were it also vnto vs if hee had many enemies and that they did shut vp his wels enuy his riches haue an ere vnto his greatnesse considering that it is an old custome that euery rich man is enuied This figure doth lead vs vnto higher mysteries than the letter doth shew and therefore it is needfull to haue a high spirit to declare it and great attention in reading it To come then vnto the purpose Isaac in the Hebrue tongue doth signifie a man ful of laughter and ioy the which ioifull name can agree only vnto the sonne of God and hee only in this world in a high degree can be called Isaac When rhe sonne of God was in heauen aboue and before hee came downe into this world no mortall man knew any cause to laugh nor yet durst not laugh for because that they saw that God was angrywith all the world al the world was in a dump and mourned When God had said vnto Noe the Patriarke Paenitet me fecisse hominem that is I am sorry and repent that euer I made man how could any man dare to laugh and bee merry How durst holy Iob laugh seeing that hee said with many teares Vtinam de vtero translatus essem ad tumulum I would to God I had been buried as soone as euer I was borne His meaning was this O great God of Israel why hast thou brought mee out of my mothers wombe and now that thou hast brought me out why doest thou not destroy me why did dest thou not carry mee presently from my mothers bowels to my graue How could the Prophet Helias laugh seeing that running flying away through the mountains from Queene Iezabel Petiuit anima sua vt moreretur His meaning was Am I better than my predecessors that I should liue rather than they Die then my soule die for because that my life is grieuous vnto me and I would see it at an end How should the Prophet Ieremy laugh seeing that hee said with deepe sighes Quis dabit capiti meo lachrimas oculis meis fontes lachrimarum vt plorem interfectos populi mei His meaning was Who can bring to passe with the great God of Israel that he would make a sea of water of my head change my eâ—es into fountaines of teares to sigh by night and weepe by day for those whom sinne hath deceaued and the sword slaine How could old honorable Tobias laugh when he said Quale mihi gaudium erit quia in tenebris sedeo lumen caeli non video In those pittifull words hee meant to say this What ioy can there be in my heart or what laughter can there bee in my mouth seeing that I find my selfe poore and feele my selfe aged blind and cannot see the light of
at the very instant that thy enemies appreheÌ„ded thee in the gardeÌ„ thou didst request nothing else at their hands but that they would take thee and set thy family at liberty In his last supper and in his last Sermon when he said Pater Father keepe them which beleeue in mee and such as will beleeue in me hee did well shew the loue which he bare vnto his family seeing hee praied vnto his Father for those which were already borne and for those which should be born afterwards for these which were absent and for those which were present as well for the dead as for those which were aliue O happy is that soule vvhich doth dwell in the family of the sonne of God seeing that hee loueth him before that hee is borne and vvhen hee is borne giueth him iustice and after his death glory The figure sayth further that all those of the kingdome of Palestine did greatly enuy the Patriarke Isaac and all his house not because hee had done them any hurt or vvrong but because hee vvas mightier than all they Sâ—neca in his booke of Anger sayth That there is no enuie more dangerous than that vvhich proceedeth of another mans prosperitie for as long as the good lucke of the one doth last the others enuy and malice is neuer at an end All the intent and purpose of an enuious man is to turne him backe vvhich goeth before beat downe him which is on high throw him downe which â—s more fortunate than himselfe discredite him vvho is in greater honour and empouerish him vvho is richer than himselfe Hâ—race sayth That the property of an enuious man is that as anothers prosperity dooth encrease so his enuy doth also grow whereof it followeth that because hee cannot abide him hee hateth him with his heart diffameth him vvith his tongue iniurieth him vvith his hands and stirreth vp also others against him Good Isaac did neuer hurt the Palestines his neighbours hee did neuer forray their mountaines nor eat vp their pastures nor violate their vviues nor speake euill against them nor breed any discord amongst them but did succour them as if they had bâ—en his brothers and entreat them as if they had been his children Yet notwithstanding all this being besotted and dronke with enuy and obstinate in malice they commanded good Isaac to goe out of the land forsake his vvealth and breake vp his houshold And further the people of Palestine not content vvith all this agreed by the consent of the people and by a clattering of a counsell to stop vp his vvels vvhich his seruants vsed and his flockes dranke of They could not haue shewed their malice nor bewraied their enuie more in any thing than in demming vp Isaacs vvels of vvater because that vvithout the element of vvater neither men can liue nor beast sustaine himselfe To come then vnto our purpose vvhat mortall man hath there euer been is or shall bee who hath been so much enuied as the sonne of the liuing God was What was the cause of such vntollerable enuie in the Israelites but his excellency in knowledge his skilfulnesse in learning his vprightnesse in iustice and the purity of his life The Iewes raged and were ready to hurt themselues to see Christ vtter such great mysteries of Scripture as hee did preach so many sermons vnto the people doe such strange miracles in the city preach publickly against vice and draw vnto his companie those which were alwaies accounted honest The Iews malice against Christ was greater than the Palestines against Isaac because they did nothing but command Isaac to go out of the land but the Iewes did not commaund Iesus but they themselues with their owne hands drew him out and not satisfied with that they agreed afterward to crucifie him They did shut vp the water where Isaac did drinke but they did open Iesus hands and side and therefore comparing hurt with hurt and losse vvith losse it was a greater losse to take Christs life from him than to take Isaacs vvater from him Is it not thinke you a greater hurt to open a mans vaines of bloud vvith the vvhich hee liueth than to shut vp a mans wels vvhereof hee drinketh If men shut vp my wels I open others if I haue no vvater I drinke vvine if they expell me out of this country I goe vnto another but if they draw my bloud from me vvho vvill giue me more bloud and if they breake my vains vvho vvill lend me others and if they take my life from mee vvho vvill helpe me vnto another Christ then vvas vvorser handled through enuy than Isaac for if Isaac did liue in honour he vvent away vvith honour and if he came aliue into the land he vvent away aliue but vvhat shall we say of holy and blessed Iesus vvhose family they did scatter abroad through enuy vvhose mother they seperated away from him vvhose bloud they shed vvhose doctrine they contaminated and vvhose fame they obscured and al through enuy and malice Chrisostome sayth As all the riches of man doth consist in his soule his credite his life and goods so the Pharisaicall enuy and malice did leaue Christ none of all these for they tooke his soule from him they discredited him in his fame they depriued him of his life and left him no goods at all How farre thinkest thou did all his goods reach but onely vnto a torne cassocke and a bare coat And yet most cursed enuy came and tooke the garments away from him and gaue the one vnto the hangmen which did put him to death and the other coat vnto the souldiers vvhich kept him What pouerty then in all the vvorld can bee equall vnto this vvhich Christ our Lord suffered hanging vpon the crosse seeing they haue drawne his soule from him shed his bloud bereaued him of his life and diuided his garments Although the enuy and malice vvhich the Palestines bare to Isaac vvere great yet they did neuer lay hands vpon him but they did lay hands vpon the sonne of God vvhen they did apprehend him they did lay their feet vpon him vvhen they did kicke him they did lay their tongue vpon him vvhen they did blaspheme him and they did lay their hearts vpon him vvhen they did hate him The Author continueth this matter and expoundeth another figure to this purpose TVlit mulier velamen expandit super â—s putei quasi siccans ptisanas sic latuit rex 2. Reg. chap. 17. For the better vnderstanding of these vvordes you must know that there vvere sent from Dauids campe two young men into Ierusalem to know vvhat determination and counsell Absalon and Achitophel had taken against Dauid to the intent that Chusi vvho vvas Dauids true friend and Absalons fained friend and yet dwelling vvith him might let Dauid vnderstand what Absalon purposed to do And as Chusi did send to these two yong men vvho vvere Achimaas and Ionathas Absalons determination a certaine young man had spied them neere
vnto Ierusalem because they durst not enter into the Towne The vvhich yong man gaue Absalon intelligence of them presently who sent forthwith to apprehend them and they perceiuing that they were discouered ran away with all speed and came very weary to Bahurim where they entered into a house and knowing that they were pursued went into a well and the good wife couered the well with a sheet and when Absalons people were come and inquired after them shee made answere that they came thither very weary and drinking a cup of water they ran away with all speed and so Absalons souldiours not hauing any hope to ouertake them are gone back again to Ierusalem And when they were gone away Achimaas and Ionathas came out of the well and went vnto Dauid and did aduertise him of the aduise which Chusi did send him The wisedome of this Inne-keeper was great considering that through her only wit Achimaas and Ionathas escaped safe and Absalons scouts were deceiued Mimus the Philosopher sayth That a friends aduised and deliberated counsell is best and an enemies first counsell to be feared and a womans sodden wit to be followed for if shee haue time to thinke vpon that which she should say she wil direct her vow voice vnto that which her hart is most inclined vnto It is conuenient here to declare what the well is what the sheet with the which it was couered who they were which did hide thēselues in it who they were who did seek out those which were hidden in the well who the woman was which saued those which were hidden and who they were which were mocked by her To come vnto the first point what shall wee say the well to bee but the old and new Testament the which well was high because it speaketh of high matters and also deepe because it speaketh of profound matters it is a well because no man can draw it drie and emptie it and it is of water because it treateth of nothing but of most cleane and holy things Saint Ambrose vpon those vvords Puteus altus est sayth thus Although the vvels bee neuer so deepe vvith vvaters yet the holy Scripture is farre more profounde in deepe and hidden mysteries because the vvater may be emptied with a rope but the mysteries of Scripture cannot be reached vnto without grace When Dauid the great Prophet said vnto God Da mihi intellectum scrutaber mandata tua Who doubteth that seeing he craued for grace to vnderstand the scriptures but that they cannot be vnderstood without grace Christ spake many things vnto his Apostles vvith his owne mouth which they did not vnderstand for vvant of grace and if this bee so how dare any man presume to say that he doth vnderstand the Scripture without grace vnles he know himself lightned with grace there be many men which die for thirst because they wil not go for water these are Pagans which haue no faith and there bee others which goe for vvater and take not a cord with them and these are Heretikes vvhich doe not vnderstand the Scripture well others there be vvhich doe take a rope vvith thē but doe take no vessell to put in and these are simple men which can read the Bible but cannot vnderstand it He who will draw vvater out of this holy vvell ought to take the cord of science and knowledge vvith him and a pitcher of conscience because he shal neuer or very late vnderstād the Scripture who doth not study it vvith a holy purpose and meaning What other meaning hath it that the vvell vvas couered and stopped vp but that the old Testament vvas very darke and obscure This vvell was couered vvith a linnen cloth and Moyses face vvas couered with a linnen and the Sancta sanctorum was couered with a linnen to let vs vnderstād that all the old mysteries were darke hard and obscure What other thing did the breaking and rending of the vaile of the Temple at Christs death signifie but only that hee did open and reucale vnto vs the mysteries of the old Testament What dooth it mean that the vaile of the Temple was rent in two at Christs death that the vaile which Moses had ouer his face was neuer rent brokē but that the holy catholicke church is only lightened that the Synagogue lieth hidden vntill this day with her Moses According vnto that saying of the Apostle Adhuc velamē est super faciē Moisi that is vntill this present day Moses face is couered to wit the Iews are hardened with him Much good may it doe vnto the Synagogue to keepe their Moyses vvith his face couered but the holy mother the church hath her Christ bare and open vpon the crosse for as in dying he did shew vs all his holy flesh so he did discouer open all his secrets vnto vs in preaching To goe forward then vvith this figure vvhat vvas the meaning that there vvere two messengers or spies hiddē in the bottome of the wel I say messengers of the king of the Priest or princely and priestly authority for they receiued the determination which Absalon and Chusi had made by the meanes of Abiathar the Priest and so they represented the secrets betwixt the roiall and Priestly estate What meaneth I say all this but that the humanity of the Word should take vpon him the roiall and priestly estate What is the meaning that the selfesame wel vvas an occasion that some should escape others be mocked but that one and the selfe same scripture is cause that the catholickes doe saue themselues and the Heretikes condemne themselues What doth it meane that Absalons seruants did neuer meet vvith the vvell but that the poor Iews haue not as yet met vvith Christ It is much to be weighed that Absalons scouts and spies did looke no further than the sheet vvhich couered the vvell and in like manner the people of the Iewes doe looke no further than the exterior letter of the old Testament doth say vnder vvhich Ionathas and Achimaas doe lie hidden that is to say the humanity of the vvord and the vvord it selfe Remoue and take away O you Iewes take away the sheet of your ignorance take away the sheet of your malice take away the couering of the letter and vvithdraw the vaile of your obstinacy for vntill you doe forsake your errour you shall neuer meet vvith Christ shut vp in the vvel O vvhat great pitty and compassion vvee should take vpō the wicked Synagogue seeing that there is nothing betwixt Christ and her but onely a sheet the vvhich if they vvould take away they should meet imediately with Christ And vvhat thinkest thou is the sheet but the euill vnderstanding vvhich they giue of the scripture Absalons scouts went about the well and yet they neuer did meet with their enemies and the Iewes doe goe about the bible but the mysteries of it are hidden and the reason is because they will
I am making O from my selfe then God desend me When such graue and wise men doe complaine on themselues wee haue small reason to trust to our selues because a wise man should distrust none more than himselfe I will iustly say Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis for if I bee in the kings displeasure I forsake his countrey if I am pursued by iustice I flie from it if I be troubled with a naughty neighbour I remoue into another street but hauing my owne proper wil to my enemy how should I possibly flie from my selfe Who will not say I am made grieuous vnto my selfe seeing that within my owne heart I harbour loue and hatred contentment and discontment my will and my nill my liking disliking my ioies and my griefes and also my delight and my sorrow For my owne part I say and confesse that I am grieuous vnto my selfe considering that I vvillingly would that I had no such vvill for pride doth puffe mee vp enuy dooth consume mee gluttony doth wast mee anger causeth mee hatred incontinency dooth disquiet mee in so much that if I doe abstaine from sinne it is not because I haue not a vvill vnto it but because I am vveary and can sinne no more O how true it is Quòd factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis for if I bee sicke it is because I haue eaten too much if I bee poore it is because I tooke my pleasure too much if I bee imprisoned it is because I haue stolne if I bee sad it is for that I loued if I bee ashamed it is for somewhat that I haue coÌ„mitted if I be disconteÌ„ted it is through my own choise and if I haue committed an errour in my owne choise whom should I blame but my selfe If the truth bee well examined there is no man who ought to be more grieued with any man than with himselfe for as of one part we doe nothing else but complaine of the troubles and trauels which we suffer so on the other part we our selues doe continually seeke them If it be true that I am grieuous vnto my selfe with whome shall I haue a good peace if I my selfe doe make warre against my selfe Who shall deale with me that I bee not grieuous and troublesome seeing that I my selfe cannot bee content vvith my selfe By what meanes can I possibly set my neighbours at one if my sensuality and reason doe bandy one against the other Who vntill this day hath euer had more cruell enemies against him than I haue now of my owne thoughts and desires considering that they draw me to that which is good afeared and amazed and vnto that which is vvicked vvith great confidence and boldnesse I doe conclude then and say that considering the time which I lose and the small profite which I make the care I haue in sinning and careleslenes I haue in amending the great goodnesse I receiue at God his hands and how little I serue him the euill which I doe and the good which I hinder I am greatly ashamed to liue very sore afraid to die The end of the fourth word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the Crosse Here beginneth the fift of the seuen words which the sonne of God spake vpon the Crosse to wit Sitio that is I am a thirst CHAP. I. Why the sonne of God did bid all those which were a thirst come vnto him and yet said vpon the crosse that he himselfe was a thirst SCiens Iesus quia omnia consummata sunt vt consummaretur Scriptura dicit Sitio These are one of the seuen words which Christ spake vpon the crosse which S. Iohn rehearseth in the 19 chapter as if he would say The sonne of God knowing that all that touched the redemption of all the world was now finished hauing an intention that all the scripture should be accomplished he spake the fift word saying Sitio that is I am a thirst Christ did well know that it was written in the Psalme In siti mea potauerunt me aceto seeing that to fulfill the Scripture he suffered that great thirst to the end that all the mysteries should bee accomplished vvhich were prophecied of his death The Prophets had prophecied many things in Christs name which hee should doe when hee came into the world among the which they had prophecied that he should suffer very great thirst and therefore to say that he had thirst to fulfill the Scripture was to say that hee did suffer that torment to vngage his vvord Christ did deale like a friend with all the Prophets and holy men of old time considering that to the cost of his life and great trauell of his holy person he did accomplish and fulfill all that which they had laid downe in Scripture to the great credite of the Prophets and great glory of holy writ and with the great trauell of his owne person Christ said preaching that there was no tittle no point nor sentence of holy Scripture vvhich should not be fulfilled according vnto the letter The first mystery of the incarnation Ecce virgo conciptes was fulfilled litterally seeing himselfe vvas a virgine and borne of a virgine and also the last mystery of his passion was accomplished litterally Dederunt in escam meam fel in siti mea potauerunt me aceto Seeing that they gaue him vpon the crosâ—e gaule and vineger to drinke What did Christ meane when he said that to fulfill the Scripture hee had such great thirst but that hee might now freely depart and goe out of this vvorld seeing that all the redemption was ended and the Scripture accomplished The simple Reader ought not to imagine that the sonne of God would not haue come into the world nor redeemed the world nor endured this torment and thirst if it had not been written in the Prophets for hee must learne that the Scriptures are tied vnto Christ and not Christ vnto the Scriptures because that they should not haue been written if hee should not haue been borne and crucified and yet he should haue been borne and crucified although the scripture had not spoken it Venerable Beed sayth Seeing that all Christs actions are great and those of his death and passion most great it is much to be noted and to bewondered at why it was the pleasure of the sonne of God that his thirst should be his last work and that he would depart out of this life with great thirst S. Augustine sayth The last griefe and paine which Christ suffered was his thirst the last complaint which hee made vvas of his thirst and the last request vvhich hee made vvas for a cup of vvater and the last torment vvhich he endured vvas of the gaule vineger and mire vvhich hee dranke because that immediately after that hee had tasted of that cup he gaue vp his ghost vnto his Father Seeing therfore that this thirst is the last torment the last request the last complaint and the last vvorke that Christ did in
this vvorld it is conuenient that vvee tell vvho hee is vvho suffereth this thirst vvhere hee dooth suffer it for vvhome hee doth suffer it and at vvhat time he doth suffer it Hee vvho suffereth is Christ the place vvhere is vpon the crosse I am hee for vvhose sake hee suffered it the time vvas vntill death insomuch that with the same great thirst vvhich hee endured his soule vvas drawne and pulled out of his body The high mysteries of the crosse of Christ may vvell bee compared vnto the eating of Pine-apples and their kernels the vvhich the oftener they be cast into the fire and taken out the more kernels they yeeld to eat and more huske to burn That which happeneth vnto the labourer vvith those Pines and kernels dooth happen vnto vs in these diuine mysteries in the vvhich the more vvee thinke vpon the passion and crosse the more secrets vvee discouer and the more mysteries vvee find Cyprian sayth That vvhich men dispose of a little before their death is alwaies of greater importance than that vvhich vve deale vvith in our life time because it is done vvith greater heed prouided for with deeper consideration ordered vvith better discretion rated and determined vvith better conscience No man did euer dispose better of his life and soule than Christ did of his owne person and the church because hee disposed of them vvith more care than Iacob vvth more pittie than Isaac with more discretion than Iosue vvith greater wisedome than Dauid and greater bounty and liberality than Salamon Mulier da mihi bibere said Christ to the Samaritane vvoman As if hee vvould say Giue mee a cup of vvater good woman because thou seest that I am weary of the way and very thirsty When Christ said vnto the woman Da mihi bibere and also when he said vpon the crosse I am a thirst it was a signe that he had been a thirst many daies and also many yeares and very desirous to quench his thirst with water That which Christ sayth in the 7 of Saint Iohn seemeth to bee very contrary vnto this If any man bee a thirst let him come vnto mee Vpon a solemne day of Easter Christ cried publikely in the market place If any man bee a thirst let him come vnto mee O high mystery and deepe secret who is able to vnderstand that which Christ sayth in this place seeing that sometime hee asketh the Samaritane woman for a little water and on the crosse hee sayth that he dieth with thirst and yet on the other side hee maketh open proclamation that all vvhich bee thirsty should come vnto him How can these two speeches hang together Woman giue mee some drinke and this If any man bee a thirst let him come vnto mee Doest thou inuite all men to come to drinke at thy Tauerne and hast thou not a cup of water for to quench thy owne thirst For the better vnderstanding of this it is to bee noted that God doth take some things of vs and yet there are some things which God doth giue vnto vs which is easily perceiued in that hee tooke flesh of vs when hee would become man and yet if wee vvill become pure and holy hee must impart his grace vnto vs. This being so vvhen Christ sayth If any man bee a thirst let him come vnto mee hee doth giue vs to vnderstand that hee is the fountaine of grace of the vvhich vvee should all drinke of and vvhen hee sayih Woman giue mee some drinke he doth let vs also vnderstand that there are some things in vs of the which hee would bee serued vvithall When the sonne of God sayth If any man bee thirsty let him come vnto mee to vvhat vvater thinkest thou doth he inuite thee but vnto the water of his grace and of his glory And when hee sayth vnto the Samaritane woman giue me drinke what water thinkest thou did he ask but onely patience and obedience Christ doth inuite vs to drinke of his great goodnesse and fauours and hee craueth of vs of the water of the pooles of our poore seruice saying Da mihi bibere in so much that to shew the great loue which hee doth beare vnto his creatures hee faineth that hee hath need of their seruices S. Barnard vpon those wordes of the Psalme Sitiuit anima mea ad deum fontem viuum sayth O what a great difference there is betwixt the thirst of the good and the bad because the bad thirst after nothing but wickednesse and the good after vertues the bad after temporall things and the good after spirituall the one after sinne and the other after amendment so that all the thirst of the wicked is after sinne and the thirst of the good after salnation Basil vpon the Psalme sayth The Prophet vvould neuer haue said My soule hath thirsted after God a liuely spring if hee could haue found the fountayne of glory in this vvorld and the vvater of grace in this life But alasse of how many vvaters soeuer wee drinke of and how many waters soeuer wee seeke for wee shall neuer meet with the water of life vntill vvee come to enioy the diuine essence Hugo de sancto victore vpon the Psalme sayth All the thinges of this life are drie fountaines and dead waters conrary all things of glory are fresh fountaines and water of life for there and not here vvee shall liue all contented and not thirst at all All which liue in this vvorld liue in hunger and thirst because all the vices vvhich wee like of doe hurt and not profite make vs sorrowfull and not ioifull vveary and not recreate vs loath and not fill vs. What vicious man is there in the world who the more he doth giue himselfe to vice is not the more thirsty after them Let not the Deuill deceaue thee my brother in saying I vvill now cloy and glut my selfe vvith vice for the more thou doest eat and drinke and bee merry although thou doe seeme to bee fully satisfied yet thou art not so but onely a vveary Saint Barnard vpon the Passion of our Lord sayth What dooth it meane that the sonne of God went out of this vvorld dead with thirst but onely that there is nothing in this world that can quench the thirst of our soule Anselmus sayth How is it possible O my good Iesus how is it possible that I should liue in the vvorld contented and fully satisfied seeing that thou diddest depart out of it hungry and thirsty S. Ierome vpon S. Luke saith All that the vvorld doth giue vs to quench our thirst withall is but vineger and all that hee giueth vs to mittigate our hunger is but gaule the which thinges being vvell prooued doe take away our life and not our thirst Robertus vpon Saint Iohn sayth That for the son of God to die vvith thirst is to let vs vnderstand that haue we neuer so many dignities let vs heap vp neuer so much riches and let vs proue neuer so many vices
secret in them and discouer some mystery in the expounding of them Whose figure doth Ionas represent but onely the good and godly and who were the Marriners which threw him into the sea but onely wicked men Then the Marriners doe cast Ionas into the sea when the wicked doe persecute and cast downe the good because there is no greater torment to a naughty man than to heare a good man praised in his presence Of all those which were in that ship onely Ionas was a holy and vertuous man as it doth plainly appeare because there was no one which spake against the throwing of him into the sea but were all of one opinion in that fact for albeit naughty men bee sometime at variance among themselues yet in doing of mischiefe they easily agree in one O in what greater danger good mens fame and credite is in among the wicked than their liues and goods in the deepe seas which is plainly seene in that that men did cast the holy Prophet Ionas from them and the waters did receiue him into them Origen vpon holy Iob sayth What should become of the good if God had no care ouer them What would not naughty men venter to doe with their smal shame lesse conscience if their power should stretch as far as their malice If thou wilt see my brother the care that God hath to keepe thee if thou haue a care to serue him thou shalt see it in the holy Prophet Ionas in that our Lord had prepared long before a fish to saue him than the Marriners had determined to drowne him The fish which did saue the Propher Ionas did not put him by him nor on him nor vnder him but within him and so kept him so warily in his entrals that neither the fish durst kill him nor the waters drowne him O that thy goodnesse is infinit thy charity very great my good Iesus seeing that thou doest acquit all those which the world doth condemne loue those which the world hateth receiue those which he casteth off foster those which he suffereth to perish and giuest honour vnto all those which the world doth dishonour Aymon vpon Ionas saith The Prophet Ionas slept in the lowest part of the ship the Marriners did cast him into the bottome of the sea the Whale kept him in the secretest part of his bowels I mean by this that Christ dooth put vs in the daintiest part of his bowels for it is his propertie to keepe those in his hart which loue him from the hart S. Ierome saith If thou doe put Christ in thy eies to looke vpon him he doth put thee in his to looke vpon thee If thou place him in thy eares to heare him he doth place thee in his to heare thee if thou haue him in thy tongue to praise him he hath thee in his to honour thee if thou put him in thy heart to loue him hee doth put thee in his to loue thee insomuch that where thou doest put Christ Christ doth also in the same place put thee Vpon those words of the Psalme Iacta cogitatū tuū in domine S. Basil saith Yeeld thy selfe my brother yeeld thy selfe to the will of God goe whither he will direct thee do that which he commandeth thee giue him that which he asketh of thee beleeue him in that which he telleth thee for as hee preserued the Prophet Ionas in the Whales belly so hee will preserue thee in the dangers of this life By this which happened vnto the Prophet Ionas it is very euident that thre is nothing firm stable but that which God doth sustain nor nothing sure but that which God doth keep seeing that that holy Prophet was drie among the waters found comfort in danger a remedy against death and profite in his enemy Did he not find a remedy against death and profite in his enemy seeing the water did not only not drowne him nor the huge and great fish kill him but was in the Whales belly with as great contentment and delight as a Prince is in his roiall pallace We haue spoken all this because no man should omit to doe his duty or goe with the truth as farre as hee can for feare of temptation or ielousie of naughty persons because our Lord who deliuered Tobias that the fish should not deuour him and Ionas from the sea that it should not drowne him will also deliuer thee from temptations which follow thee from the enemies which persecute thee CHAP. VI. Here the Author followeth the figure which hee touched before which is declared well to the purpose and there is brought also a prophesie of Ieremy APprehende branchiam eius trahe eum ad te quod cum fecisset traxit eum in siccum Tobias 6. chapter These are the wordes which the Angel Raphael spake vnto yong Tobias as if he would say I haue told thee already that thou shouldest not feare this fish but rather as he came vnto thee so thou shouldest goe and meet him and apprehend him by the head and pull out his gilles all which I would not tell thee vnlesse I thought it conuenient for thee Although Tobias did not then know the Angel for to be an Angel but thought him to bee another man like himselfe yet notwithstanding he gaue credit vnto his speech and accepted of his counsell so that Tobias did immediately kill and panch the fish vpon the sand which thought to eat him in the vvater We doe in this place aduertise the curious Reader that he shall not be able to vnderstand this chapter if he doe not read the chapter afore going because this figure of Tobias vvas there begun and from thence is cited To continue then this figure the text sayth that Tobias did sit vpon the fish and tooke him by the sinnes neer vnto the head and by the gilles in the throat and drew him to the sand there did cut off his head and strip him and tooke out his heart liuer and kept his gaule for himselfe and did eat part of him and salted the rest for his iourney Who is Tobias but the Iudaicall people What was the fierce sea but the passion of Christ And vvhat vvas the great fish but the same Christ And vvhat vvas the sand vvhere the fish was panched but the high Mount of Caluary where Christ vvas put to death Tobias did greatiustice vpon that vnhappie fish vvhen hee panched him on the sands but the Synagogue did farre greater cruelties vpon Christ vvhen they tooke Christs life away on the Mount of Caluary for if Tobias did kill the fish it vvas because the Angell vvhich kept him did so command him but if the Synagogue did put Christ to death it was done of meere enuy and malice For the better vnderstanding of this place it is here to bee noted that it was done by a continuall miracle that Christ did neuer suffer his most holy soule to communicate and impart her glory vnto his
commanded vs to doe vvorkes vvhich should bee very vnpleasant and vnsauoury vnto sensualitie although very conformable and very profitable Christ did drinke bitter gaules and gaue vs of the same to drinke for vvhen hee vvas poore he commaunded vs to bee poore also hee vvas persecuted and commanded vs to suffer persecution hee pardoned his iniuries and commanded vs to pardon ours he suffered death being without fault and charged vs to suffer it being in fault all which things are as vnsauoury and bitter to accomplish as hony is sweet in eating O what bitter gaules our Sauiour dooth command vs to eat when he sayth The way is streit which leadeth vnto life but he turneth these bitter gaules into sweet hony-combes when hee sayth My yoke is sweet for if the way vnto heauen be bitter yet it is made very sweet by going in Christs company The yoke of the world doth make vs beleeue that he is of hony and yet he is but of gaule and contrariwise the yoke of Christ dooth threaten vs that hee is of hony for immediately as wee bow our heads to carry him Christ putteth himselfe on the other side to helpe vs. CHAP. VII Of a new thirst which King Dauid had which was a thirst not to drinke but to saue himselfe SItiuit anima mea ad doum fontem viuum Psalme 41. These words king Dauid vttered shewing a new thirst which hee had and therevpon maketh a new petition as if hee would say O what a great thirst my sorrowfull soule endureth and how shee desireth to drinke of the fountaine of the water of life for if she cannot obtaine to drinke of it she can doe no lesse but die with thirst The renowned king Dauid in very tender words doth shew vs a new kind of thirst and a manner of drinking which was neuer before seene and a quality of a water which was neuer discouered before a name of a fountaine neuer before heard of First he sayth that hee endureth thirst secondly that the thirst is in his soule thirdly that his thirst is of the water of the fountaine fourthly that the fountaine is of water of life and lastly it is called a diuine fountaine It is necessary that wee first examine what thirst Dauid speaketh of and what water he desireth to drink of for as there are many kinds of waters and many sorts of such as are thirsty so there is also many kinds of thirste and many things wherewith to quench the same If Euripides doe not deceiue vs corporall thirst is caused of the hear of the liuer or of the inflaming of choler or of eating salt things so that indeed true thirst is nothing else but ouermuch heat and want of moisture With this corporall thirst the people of Israel was troubled in the wildernesse and Dauid when he desired the water of Bethleem and the captaine Sisara when hee fled from the battaile and also Sampson when there gushed out water vnto him out of an asses iawe bone King Artaxerxes also was troubled with this thirst when flying from the battaile he was glad of water at a poore mans hands And this thirst is very common and wearisome and costly if it bee to be quenched with wine and dangerous vnto those which giue themselues to drinke too much of it The thirst which the poore Israelites suffered in the wildernesse and the water which they drank out of the roâ—k did cost them very deerly for at the same time they dranke and wept It did cost the poore captaine Sisarah very deerely also when hee did aske the Prophetesse Debora for drinke for at the same time shee gaue him a cup of milke to drinke and put a pogge in his temples to kill him with When great king Dauid thirsted after the water of the cesterne neere vnto Bethleem although his seruants did bring him of it hee would not drinke of it nor durst not tast it This materiall thirst which doth weary and molest vs daily is such that there is no wine in the world which can wholly quench it nor any water that can so coale it but it will come againe Which is easily perceiued for if we drinke at dinner wee drinke better at supper and the more a man doth drinke the more he may and although we kill our â—hirst for a time yet it is not fully taken away To come then vnto our purpose is this the thirst which the Prophet speaketh of and whereof hee complaineth This should not bee his thirst this should not be his anxiety nor yet his complaint nor that which he so feruently desired for being as he was so mighty and great a king hee wanted neither noble wines to drinke of nor dainty waters to recreate himself withal There were three cesterns of water in Ierusalem the one at the gate called Salinaria where all those of the citie dranke of the other hard by the Mount Sion where those drank which were out of the city the other at the gate of the Temple where the flesh which was sacrificed was washed Seeing then that there were so many cesternes in Ierusalem who could hinder Dauid of them or let him for drinking of that cold water If he would not drinke of these waters because they were standing had he not the riuer Iordane hard by Had he not hard by the floud Cedron which came from the Mount Lybanus If he desired water of the well in Syon he had it if fountaine water in Bethleem he had it if wine made of grapes in Larude he had it if liquor made of dates it was brought out of Egypt so that if his thirst had been like vnto ours hee had more meanes to quench it than that thirst which hee suffered This is not the thirst which molested him nor the griefe which troubled him for if the thirst which hee endured had proceeded froÌ„ the heat of the liuer or of eating of salt meats it is not to bee thought that hee would haue enregistred it in holy Psalms O renowned Prince and mighty king wilt thou not tell what thy thirst was of If you will know after what I thirsted where my griefe lay and what the paine was which I endured I let you vnderstand Quòd sitiuit anima mea ad deum fontem viuum and the meaning this O sorrowfull man that I am and comfortlesse seeing that the thirst which I endure proceedeth not of a corrupted liuer for mine is sound whole nor of burnt choller for there is no such thing in me my thirst is then not that which the body suffereth but that which my sorrowfull soule endureth The thirst which I suffer and the drinesse which I abide is so hard to bee extinguished that no liuing creature is able to take it from me nor any water to quench it O happy is the soule which thirsteth after nothing but after our Lord for looke what the thirst is which the soule hath such is the water which she seeketh to mittigate it
with O that this is a diuine sentence which the Prophet doth vtter vnto vs in this place whereby wee are plainly taught that the thirst of the soule is farre different from the thirst of the body and that the thirst of the spirit is one and that of the flesh another that of the iust man one and that of the sinner another and the heauenly thirst one and the humane another Whereby is the thirst of the body quenched but by drinking And with what is the thirst of the soule slackened but by contemplation And with what is the thirst of the spirit killed but by seruing God And with what is the thirst of the world eased but by following the world And what doth the iust thirst after but grace in this world and glory in the other And what thirst hath the wicked but to procure all meanes hee can the cockering of himselfe The humane thirst is of humane thinges and the heauenly thirst is of heauenly things and therevpon it is that what our intention is which we haue in our hearts such is the thirst which wee suffer in this world If our principall intent be to be greater in the world all our thirst is to climbe higher if to bee richer then our thirst is in gathering goods together insomuch that such as our thoughts are such are the liues we lead Tell me I pray thee what doth the prowd man hunt after but to bee of great authority what doth the enuious man shoot at but to throw downe another what doth the furious man intend but how to reuenge vpon his enemy what dooth the glutton follow but dainties for the belly This is the thirst which the wicked doe suffer and that which cannot bee spoken without teares is that their life is sooner at an end than the thirst of their wickednesse is quenched S. Augustine vpon the Psalms sayth In great sinners and obstinate hearts although the prowd man doe die yet pride dieth not although the enuious man die yet enuy dieth not although the couetous man die yet couetousnesse dieth not although the carnall man doe die yet his carnality dieth not insomuch that the vicious man is dead before that his vice is at an end Why thinkest thou doe wee say that the vicious man is dead before his vice is at an end but because that if the time in the which he sinned bee ended and past yet his desire of further sinning is not ended S. Ierom saith In damned vnfortunate persons their torments are therefore infinit because their desires of sinning were also infinit because our Lord doth make greater reckoning of that which the hart doth desire thā of that vvhich the hands doe worke S. Basil vpon the Psalmes sayth O how much more dangerous is the thirst which a naughtie mans heart dooth suffer than that vvhich the body doth endure because this is assuaged vvith a cup of cold water but the thirst of the heart is mittigated by adding sinne vnto sinne and therevpon it is that if the thirsty man take pleasure in drinking the great sinner taketh farre more in offending Let mee bee no more credited if I vvere not told of one vvhich had not left onely one vice vntried nor let passe one day wherein hee had not sinned What shall vvee thinke of him but that if hee had alwaies liued hee vvould alwaies haue sinned What a remediles thirst should he haue after sinne and vvhat a friend should he be of vvicked persons vvho left no sinne vvhich he proued not nor no day vvherin he offended not The rich couetous man which vvas in hell did not complaine of the fire vvhich did burne him nor of the cold vvhich pinched him nor of the hunger vvhich hee endured but of the great thirst which tormented him and therefore asked no other fauour of Abraham but that hee would coole and refresh his tongue with a drop of vvater it was the iust iudgement of God that seeing hee had no other thirst in this world but of wealth authority and power and treasure that hee should haue an excessiue thirst in the other not of wealth and authoritie but of a bare cup of water Loe thus you haue seene it proued how the punishment followeth the offence and how one thirst succeedeth another But alas alas the thirst of this world hath an end but the thirst of the other world shall dure alwaies without end CHAP. VIII God complaineth that we forsake him for vile base things and doth compare vs vnto old pooles ME dereliquerunt fontem aquae viuae foderunt sibi eisternas dissipatas quae continere aquas non valent These words God spake by the Prophet Ieremy in the second chapter as if hee would say My people of Israel haue run into two great incōueniences that is they haue forsaken me who am the fountaine of the liuely water and haue made for themselues to drinke in cesternes and pooles which cannot hold water in them Although the Apostle doe say that our Lord is profound in his iudgements yet in those thinges which touch the profite of his creatures he is plaine and easie for if hee bee well pleased he doth presently shew it and if he be angry he doth immediately complaine When Abraham had ended the sacrifice of his sonne Isaac our Lord did immediately thanke him for it and when king Dauid had ended his adultery with Bersabee he complained out of hand for our Lord is so farre without dissimulation and malice that he doth nether faine himselfe to bee content nor denie himselfe to bee angry What more would wee haue God to doe for vs than like a good Lord bee thankfull for that which wee doe in his seruice and like a good friend admonish vs of that which we should doe for him and like a pittifull Father correct vs when we doe any thing against him Our Lord then doth here complaine not only for that we doe forsake and leaue him but also for what vile and base things we doe it whereby we shew how little we doe account of him and how greatly wee doe iniury him seeing that no man doth vse to change his master vnlesse it be for his further profite If it were so that as we do leaue one man for another so wee should leaue one God to dwell vvith a better it were a thing to be borne vvithall but seeing that there is but one true God how is it possible to meet vvith a better God or yet any so good What other thing is it to forsake God for the creature but to leaue the kernell for the shell the fruit for the rinde the rose for the thorne the floure for the bran and the fountaine for the streame Therefore like an angry Lord and a man greatly iniuried God complaineth and sayth Me dereliquerunt fontem aquae viuae for there can be no greater madnesse in the world than to leaue the Creator for the creature the Lord for the seruant the iust
vineger although he knew it would kill him QVis poterit gustare quod gustatum adfert mortem Holy Iob spake these words in his sixt chapter As if he would say What man is hee which so much hateth himselfe or who hath so corrupt a tast or who is so weary of his life that he dare drinke or tast of any liquor which hee knoweth will presently make him yeeld vp the ghost These words are full of matter and containe deep mysteries in them For as they were prophecied by holy Iob so they were fulfilled by the sonne of God when as on the altar of the crosse hee tasted a cup of such bitter poyson that in tasting of it his life went presently out of his body The Philosopher in his second booke De generatione sayth That the life of a reasonable man dooth consist in the perfection of the radicall or naturall moisture and in the conseruation of natural heat and that is the only reason why nature doth desire meat and drinke of vs for by eating and drinking that humor is alwaies preserued Wee see oftentimes men of ninty or a hundred years die and yet neuer complaine of any griefe and the reason is because that that naturall moisture was ended in them and their naturall heat was extinguished in them and therefore we may say of such that their life did rather end thaÌ„ that they died Now that we must eat drink of necessity which of these two is most agreeable vnto nature and which lesse grieuous If Aristotle doe not deceiue vs in his booke De secretis secretorum this question was debated before Alexander the great and in his presence throughly disputed on because that at the table of that mighty prince no man was admitted to speake but his captains which sustained his warres or Philosophers which gouerned his house The conclusion which those learned men gaue was that it was farre more pleasing and agreeable vnto mans nature to drinke than to eat and their reason was because that drinke doth assuage the thirst which is a very troublesome offensiue thing to suffer and that it hath neither need of a knife to cut it nor teeth to chew it Vltimum refugium naturae est potus said the Philosopoher as if he should say The last refuge that nature doth giue to sustaine vs withal is the strength to drink which is easily perceiued in those which are sicke whereof we see some partly by reason of their long infirmity partly by reason of their old age lose their sight some their hearing some their smelling some their eating and yet none lose their drinking What old man haue wee seene in our daies in the world who hath not beene able to drinke a cup of wine Dioscorus an old Phisitian sayth that of what age or condition a man be he is easilier comforted with drink than meat And therefore seeing that is more necessary for me to drinke than to eat in times past when meats at certaine times were forbid they did not limit their cups in drinking for looke how much a man is recreated and refreshed when hee drinketh at his pleasure so much hee is tormented and afflicted when endureth thirst and therevpon the Philosopher sayth in his booke De somno vigilia That there is no torment equall vnto that when a man is denied his drinke and kept from sleepe Plutarch sayth That the great tyrant Dennis gaue his enemies no other torment but much salt meat to eat and no drinke to drinke and made them labour hard and not permit them to sleepe Cicero in an Epistle sayth That nature is a great enemy to three things that is of griefe and sorrow because it wasteth the bones of great weakenesse and of great thirst with the which choller is enflamed To come then vnto our purpose if to suffer thirst and want sleepe be two great torments who was more tormented with these than Christ was For if we talke of his sleepe we know well that he had not slept from the last night which hee slept in Bethania and if we talke when he dranke from the time that hee celebrated his last supper he neuer drunke drop of water Barnard sayth Considering the hunger which hee had suffered the torments which were giuen him the bloud which they drew from him the iourney which hee went doest thou not think that my good Iesus had great cause to want sleepe and bee very thirstie Cassiodorus sayth Why wilt thou O my good Lord why wilt thou haue mee to occupy my pen in shewing how thirstie thou wast vpon the crosse and how much sleepe thou diddest want considering that there vvas no kind of punishment vvhich vvas not experimented vpon thee Anselmus sayth Who but thou O my good Iesus who but thou diddest suffer in the manger cold in Egypt banishment on the way wearinesse in the palace scorning and mocking on the crosse thirst in thy honour infamie and in thy person death There vvere as Barnard sayth fiue torments which did most of all afflict Christ vpon the crosse that is to say the stripes of the whip which did open his shoulders the nailes which pierced his hands the thornes which tore his Temples the spettle which the hangmen did spet at him and the thirst vvhich did burne his bowels Wee must take great compassion of the thirst which Christ suffered vpon the crosse and wee are to wonder at the remedy which they gaue him for it for in steed of water they gaue him gaule mingled vvith mirrhe and insteed of wine pure vineger If wee maruell that Christ tooke these cruell drinkes wee are much more to maruell to see that Christ himselfe with his owne mouth did aske for them for if he had not said Sitio I am a thirst no man durst haue giuen him gaule and wine mingled with mirre Chrisostom sayth Christ saw those cups of gâ—ule and vineger from the crosse in the Iewes hands and he knew very well that their desire was to giue him of that drinke and yet notwithstanding he said alowd Sitio I am a thirst to the end that they might haue time and place to reach him that drinke Hilarius sayth When the maker of the world said vnto the Iewes Sitio it was to tell them plainely that they should giue it him with their owne hands although hee knew well what they would giue him because that the great thirst which hee had and the gaule and vineger which the Synagogue gaue him did signifie a greater matter and enduced vs vnto a greater mystery than any man thought of As it vvere in a maze and astonied with that that Christ did holy Iâ—b spake that vvhich hee spake vvhen hee said Quis poterit gustare quod gustatum adfert mortem The meaning of these words is this What man is there in such a desperate taking or so farre out of loue vvith himselfe which dare tast of a drinke vvith the vvhich hee knoweth that hee shall die presently The
that thou hast condemned him without iustice seeing thou doest first sit downe to verifie thy iustice O vnto how many may God iustly say at this day what can I doe more for thee than I haue done and wherein canst thou offend me more than thou hast offended me O good Iesus O light and glory of my soule what shouldest thou doe more for me than create me or what couldest thou doe more for me than redeeme mee Thy goodnesse and my wickednes do striue before thy face and thy grace and my offence thy bountie and my vngratefulnesse thy mercy and mine obstinacy thy pardon and my sinne in so much that I neuer cease to sinne and thou neuer to dissemble it But to speake more particularly it is to be cōsidered that our God was not cōtēted to redeem all of vs in general but he did also satisfie for our sins in particular laying vpon himself a particular pain which should answere vnto our particular offence Christ satisfied for the sinne of pride when hee tooke mans flesh vpon him vnto which humility there can no vertue of any Saint be compared because he made himselfe of God a man of eternall temporall of one that was immortall mortal Barnard sayth That of all those which were proud Lucifer was the greatest of all gluttons Adam of all Traitors Iudas of all patient men Iob and of all humble men Christ exceeded all Christ satisfied for fornication by his circumcision and therevpon it is that because the sinne of lechery is that sinne into which men do easiliest and most oftenest fall into our Lords pleasure was to redeeme it with his precious bloud Christ satisfied for the sinne of enuy with his incomparable pouerty which hee so streitly kept that hee had neither house to dwell in nor a penny to spend nor wealth to liue by S. Ierome sayth That the end of Christs pouerty was to withdraw from himselfe things necessary because we should leaue off things superfluous for if a Christian haue any thing in his house which is superfluous hee dooth possesse it all as stolne from the poore Christ satisfied for gluttony by his continuall fasting all his life time and oftentimes suffering great hunger which is easily seene because that after his fast in the desart he was greatly a hungred and also when he and his disciples did eat eares of corne in the field S. Barnard sayth Christ had such a great feruour to preach by day and did contemplate so continually by night that although hee had meat yet he did scarse remember to eat it Christ satisfied for the sinne of anger with his continuall patience which patience of his was so perfect that hee neuer knew how to reuenge an iniury nor neuer vse towards any man an iniurious word In patientia vestra possedebilis animarū vectrarum said Christ to his disciples Luke 25. As if hee would say The merit and reward of patience is so great that it maketh him vvho hath it lord ouer his owne soule Many possesse their eares by not hearing of backbiting and other possesse their eies not seeing of vaine things and others possesse their hands by keeping them from stealing others their tongues by keeping them from blasphemy but of all these which I haue spoken off doth Christ say that any of them doth possesse his soule but only hee who hath patience What doth it auaile vs to be lords of our feet hands and ears if the diuell do possesse our soules What is it to be lord and maister ouer a mans own soule but wholy to subdue his owne sensuality Ambrose vpon S. Luke sayth He onely hath his will in subiection who in trauaile and vexation hath great patience Christ doth say very well that you shall possesse your soules in your patience Seeing that patience is the vertue which dooth confirme friends reconcile enemies cut off passions and maketh our he arts mild and gentle Loe then thou seest it proued how the son of God was not content to redeeme all the world in generall but that hee did in particular as it were satisfie for euery sinne disburdening euery man of a particular fault and casting vpon himselfe a generall paine CHAP. XV. Here there is brought a figure of Dauid and declared to the purpose OSi quis mihi daret potum aqua de cisterna quae est iuxta portum Bethleem 2. Reg. 23. king Dauid being in the field of the giants and fighting with the Philistims in summer time and wearied with the heat of the sunne and wanting water gaue a great sigh and vttered these wordes O who would giue me now a cup of water of the cestern which is neere vnto the gate of Bethleem where I was wont to recreate my selfe when I was a young man and take my fill in drinking of the water Dauids sigh being heard and his great desire of drinking perceiued three young men which were his seruants determined to arme themselues and goe to Bethelem for water maugre the enemies with a resolution to bring some or die in the place And as they had sworne so they did accomplish it and going through the enemies camp striking and killing the end was that they shed more bloud in going than they brought water in comming againe In the letter of this figure there are two things to be noted that is that good king Dauid did not sigh nor desire sauerous wine to make him drunk with but for a pot of water to refresh himself with Whereof we may take an example that we may better ouercome our inuisible enemies with abstinence than with abundance and plenty Yet so it was that notwithstanding the great thirst which Dauid had hee would not drinke one drop of that water saying that God forbid that hee should drinke of that water which was gotten with the deaths of so many men and was bought with so much bloud Euery man may take an example to himselfe by this that no man should carry any thing to his house gotten with an euill conscience or by the preiudice of another for we see nothing more common than that men for greedinesse of another mans doe not onely lose that which was their own by inheritance but that also which of other mens they had gotten Leauing the letter and comming to the spirituall meaning it doth well appeare that Christ is the sonne of Dauid and that Dauid is the father of Christ seeing the one was thirsty in the field and the other on the Mount of Caluary the one sighting the other sufiering the one compassed with enemies and the other hanging betweene theeues the one to drinke a cup of cold water and the other to redeeme mankind How farre greater the thirst was which the sonne of God had than that which Dauid had it is easily seene in that that Dauid did manifest his thirst with words onely and the sonne of God with words and teares wherevpon wee may inferre that his true thirst was not so much to
those words that he had forsaken him and that hee will defend him no more with his holy hand and yet in this lamentable speech Christ vsed great clemency toward Iudas for when hee said Doe speedily that which thou wilt do it was to say deliuer me quickly and die thou quickly for how much the older thou doest grow in yeares by so much the more thou wilt grow in offences God of his mercy keep vs from this licence or permission for it is a great signe that this man is already foreseene to be damned whome our Lord doth permit to beginne to be naught presently Our Lord doth neuer giue this licence to a Christian religious soule but when the flesh doth moue him or sensuality disquiet him he taketh away the occasions of falling and giues him new desires to strengthen him with Woe be vnto him vnto whome our Lord sayth as he did to Iudas Quod facis fac cito that is that hee may doe that which sensuality doth lead him vnto accomplish that which the diuell persuadeth for the greatest malediction that God doth put vpon any man is to suffer to put that in execution which sensuality requireth Remigius sayth That the diuell is so great a friend vnto his friends and hath so great care of pleasing thē that they haue no sooner thought of a sinne but he doth presently lay open the way to commit it Damascen sayth also That when a man desireth to be worser than he is the diuell is by and by so busie that he doth agree that which did disagree and ioine that vvhich was farre asunder openeth that which vvas shut lighteneth that which vvas darke maketh that easie vvhich vvas most hard and giueth that that vvas not to be hoped for This being true as true it is vvhat vvill not a naughty man doe vvhat vvill hee not venter on yea and vvhat vvill hee not attaine vnto hauing so good a tutor and helpe as the diuell If a good man vvould doe any good vvorke hee findeth a thousand stumbling blockes to hinder him and contrariwise if a naughty man vvill commit any naughty fact hee shall find as many helpes for the performance of it and the reason is because our Lord doth seeme to forget his because they should merit the more but the diuell doth alwaies fauour his because he vvill incite them to sinne Wee haue spoken all this by reason of the gaule and vineger vvhich the Iewes gaue Christ for it is a vvonder to thinke vvith vvhat speed they sought it out vvhat diligence they vsed in giuing him it for surely if the Scripture did not assure vs of it it would seeme but a dreame to say that they should haue all thinges so readily at hand as they gaue him Is it not a thing much to be vvondered at that the Iewes being out of the towne and in open field as soone as he had said Sitio that they should presently haue at that place soure vineger bitter mirrhe poisoned gaule vnsauory isope and a spunge to drinke it in and a reed to reach it him If a man should haue gone into the towne to seeke all these sixe things hee would haue been sixe houres a getting them For he must haue gone to the butchery for the gaule to the Apothecary for the mirrhe to another place for the vineger to a shop for the spunge to a garden for Isope and to the riuer for a reed But vvhen Christ said vpon the crosse I am a thirst they did not stay sixe houres to seek these things but they did reach them him presently all at once kept and hidden ready for him for if his soule vvould not haue forsaken him vvith the torment of the nailes shee vvould haue forsaken him by the force of that drinke The same leaue that Christ gaue Iudas it seemeth that he gaue it also vnto the Iewes that is that they should doe by him vvhat they vvould and how they vvould and as speedily as they vvould vvhich liberty they vsed vvith the aduantage seeing that in short space they vvatched him with their eies dogged him vvith their feet laid hold on him with their hands blasphemed him vvith their tongues hated him vvith their hearts and ended his life vvith their drinkes The naughty Iewes vvent to the Mount of Caluary and there vvent also old Ioseph and Nichodemus but their intentions were farre different the one from the other the holy men carried pinsers vvith them to pull out the nailes ladders to take him downe from the crosse ointments to annoint him vvith a sheet to wind him in and a shrowd to bury him in Non sic impij non sic The wicked did not go so but to go their stacions on good Friday and meditate on the Mount of Caluary they carried vnder their clokes in one pot the vineger in another bladder the gaule in a boxe the mirrhe in a cloth the Isope in one hand the spunge in another the reed Tel me I pray thee what inward minds these wicked Iewes had seeing they did shew such outward shewes of their pilgrimages Of these bitter trauails and vnsauoury liquors we may gather certaine lessons worthy to be knowne and profitable to be kept in memory We must aboue al things take heed that we doe not offer vnto our Lord any liquor which is not pure cleare and cleane or mixed for here vpon earth men refuse mixed liquors because they doe corrupt the stomacke Cibus simplex est vtilissimus homini compositus autēperniciosus sayth Pliny as if hee would say The body is best maintained with vncompound meats because that compound meats are dangerous for the body The like condition is to bee obserued in the soule the which doth detest dissembled manners abhorre doubling in conditions for being as she is a most simple iustice she cannot endure to bee furred with malice Hilarius sayth I will say that he doth offer vnto Christ his vnderstanding mingled with vineger who occupieth his thought more on another thā God I wil say that he doth offer his memory mixed with mirrhe who troubleth his memory with nothing but how he may lead his life without disquietnesse I will say that hee doth offer his will mingled with gaule who forgetteth his creature and serueth worldly things hee dooth offer his heart vnto Christ mingled with bitter Isope who at the same time will liue at ease and yet serue our Lord he doth offer vnto Christ a good worke put vpon a reed who dooth it for no other end but for vaineglory and he offereth Christ his life soken with a spunge who doth all that he doth of hypocrisie Finally we say that those do offer vnto Christ drinks of bitternesse who in beliefe are Christians and in workes Pagans CHAP. XVI That the church of Christ hath great abundance of spirituall waters which are his grace and the gifts of the holyghost and of the fire which Christ came to put in the world which is
the secōd to make vs clean of al that which we haue already sinned O what small need Christ hath to bee so many times annointed nor by the church helped for from the first instant of his incarnation was annointed not only the altar of his most holy humanity to enioy presētly the diuine essence but also all the members of his holy body were annointed because they might neuer sinne nor neuer be seperated from God The figure of annointing the altar with all the furniture was spoke of none but of Christ nor fulfilled in none but in Christ alone because it doth easily appeare that as the holyghost left no part in his soule nor body which he did not sanctifie and make holy so there was no power in his soule nor body which to our benefite hee did not imploy Wee may better say of Christ than of Moyses hee dooth annoint the altar Cum omni suppellectile seeing that with his feet hee visited the altars of the Temples with his hands cured the sick with his tongue preached to the people and with his heart forgaue sinners The end of the fift word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the altar of the Crosse These foure chapters are all which the Author left made vpon the seuenth word which Christ spake vpon the crosse that is In manus tuus c. For whilest that he was a making it it pleased our Lord to take him out of this life CHAP. I. How God is the only and true comforter and how hee was Deus vltionum to the Synagogue and is to the church Pater misericordiarum BEnedictus deus pater domini nostri Iesu Christi pater misericordiarum deus totius consolationis qui consolatur nos in omni tribulatione nostra These are the words of the Apostle speaking of the goodnes and mercy of our Lord God as if hee should say Blessed and praised bee the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who is the father of all mercies and God of all comfort and who is the true consolation of all our tribulations With a high stile and lofty wordes the Apostle doth extoll the greatnesse and power of God in calling him Father and Father of mercies and God and the God of consolations and aboue all that he keepeth them not for himself only but doth succour vs with them in all our tribulations O how happy is the Apostle who vttereth these words and how blessed wee Christians for whom hee spake them and how blessed is Christ by whose merits they were spoken What grauer sentences or sweeter words could bee spoken seeing that by them he maketh himselfe of God our Father of a iudge our aduocate of a Lord our brother of a reuenger mercifull of him which was cruell gentle meek of him which could not be spoken with most affable and of one which was inuisible treatable Thou maist haue pitty on me and I haue pitty on thee and I can comfort thee thou canst comfort me but to haue pitty on all who can doe it but only the father of mercies and comfort all men who is able to doe it but only the father of all consolations If I be sicke one may cure me if I be naked another can cloth me if I be sad a freind can somewhat comfort mee but tell mee I pray thee who is able to helpe mee in all tribulation and distresse but only our Lord who doth cōfort vs in all our tribulations Who sayth by the Psalme Cum ipso sum in tribulatione of whom speaketh the Apostle Quod consolatur nos in omni tribulatione of who was he euer called whom he did not helpe The father of our Lord Iesus Christ is he who in calling vpon him doth open in speaking to him doth answer who being demanded any iust thing doth graunt it By peeces by patches and by crownes men can giue vs of their pleasures and the world his delights onely hee who is the God of all comfort can comfort vs in our distresses and succour vs in our necessities It is much to be noted that the Apostle doth not say the God of consolation but the Lord of all consolation whereof wee may inferre that all comfort which dooth not come of him is dissolute or fained or imperfect Wee should haue great pitty on those men which say Let vs go sport our selues at the water let vs goe walke in a garden who seeme rather to play the Idolaters then to recreate themselues seeing they put all their felicity and case in seeing a greene meddow in the running of the riuer in flourishing trees and to sit in a banketting house Seneca in an Epistle sayth Let no man thinke that consolation dooth consist in that which wee see with our eies or heare with our eares or touch with our hands or smel with our nose but only in that which the heart desireth for no man can bee at rest if his heart haue not contentment With variety of meats the tast is recreated the sight reioiceth in faire sights the hearing is delighted with sweet musick the smell is pleased with aromaticall perfumes and the feeling ioieth in soft thinges but what shall the poole heart doe which neither taketh tast in meats nor pleasure in musicke nor delight in that which it seeth nor contentment in that which it smelleth what other thing saith the church when she sayth Sursum corde but that we should lift vp our hearts vnto God seeing that there is no perfect consolation for them below in the world Al wicked men would bid God much good doe it him with his glory if they could find any perfect case vpon earth for their hearts but because they cannot find it bee he neuer so bad hee sighteth to goe to heauen We say all this because the Apostle saying that hee is the God of all consolation how can any man haue any consolation in this life vnlesse hee giue it him who is the God of all consolation How great soeuer a lord Hector was in Troy how great soeuer Alexander was in Asia and how mighty soeuer Caesar was in Rome notwithstanding Christ was greater in his church because all those Princes were such ouer their cities only but the sonne of God is the God of all consolations What greater pleasure then to giue pleasure to whom thou louest what greater contentment then to giue contentment to whome thou likest Our Lord kept this treasure for himselfe alone and reserued this segniory for himself that is Quod sit deus totius consolationis and therevpon it is that if he will not shew that which hee can doe and impart among vs that which he hath no iust mā should liue cōtētedly nor any Angell happily If as one is lord of many possessions and inheritances he were also of many pleasures and consolations what would wee not giue for them what would wee not bestow to attaine vnto them and vnto what would we not put our selues to take them
from the other because that in their embracing the one the other they change their hearts in so much that this mans heart goeth away with him and his heart remaineth with this man It seemeth that Dauid and Ionathas vvere great friends seeing that they did embrace one another so heartily and wept so tenderly Dauid did much more esteem of the friendship of Ionathas than of the hatred of his father king Saul the which was easily seene to bee so considering that when Saul made a truce betweene them Dauid presently departed out of the kingdome Dauid vvith all his wisedome and force durst neuer abide the persecution of Saul his enemie vvithout his friend Ionathas aid vvhereby vvee may inferre that there is no griefe in this life equall to the losse of a friend Bee hee saith Seneca poore or be hee rich be hee great or be hee little how is it possible for him to liue without a friend Horace sayth That if a man be in prosperous estate he hath need of one to giue him counsell if in meane to comfort him for I haue heard sayth he my maister Menander say that a fortunate man hath as great need of good counsell to gouerne himselfe by as the needy man hath need of helpe to lift vp himselfe by If then the mighty haue need of good counsell and the poore of helpe and succour who can better giue vs good counsell or supplie our vvants than a friend Eschines in an inuectiue against Demosthenes sayth That an enemy can doe his enemy no greater vvrong than take his good friend from him because hee taketh away the secret of his heart the refuge of his trauails the remedy of his necessities and reliefe and cherishing of his persecutions Plutarch maketh mention that when Denis the Tyrant did scoffe at Phocion the Philosopher for that he vvas poore hee made answere thus I confesse vnto thee that I am poore but yet Denis is poorer for although hee abound in money yet hee vvanteth friends and I haue friends inough but vvant money That Philosopher thought it a greater pouerty to want friends than to want money wherein hee had great reason because that in tribulation or sicknesse it doth ease a man better to see two or three friends at his beds head than to haue his chests coffers full of gold and siluer There are many sayth Vbertinus vvhich are poor of money not of friends and others which are poore in friends and not in money and there are some which are poore in the one and in the other of which sort Christ is the chiefe seeing that on the crosse he had no man which vvould bestow a cup of water vpon him nor any one which would giue him one word of comfort Christ complaineth of the Apostles because they fled complaineth of his parents because they did hide themselues complained on his acquaintance because they did not sticke vnto him because that in all the conflict of his passion hee had no friend which followed him no kinsman which defended him nor acquaintance which backed him Christ had sayth Rabanus very honourable and vertuous friends and valerous acquaintance but vvhen they saw him weake in strength and poore in wealth all of them left him in his troubles because they vvould not bee the partakers of his daunger Saint Barnard crieth out and sayth What meaneth this O good Iesus vvhat meaneth this There vvanteth not one in Ierusalem to defend Barrabas and dooth there vvant one before Pilate to defend thee Doth Barrabas by stealing find friends and doest thou by preaching get enemies Doth the murderer of the quicke find defenders and doth the raiser of the death find accusers Doe they condemne him who made an attonement betwixt God and man and doe they set him at liberty who disquieted all Ierusalem O vnhappy and wicked Ierusalem will there be alwaies some in thee to persecute the good and defend the wicked Venerable Bede sayth That al those which were Barrabas friends were Christs enemies and all those which were Christs friends were Barrabas enemies for with the same note and voice that they cried doe not let goe any but Barrabas they said of Christ crucifie him S. Augustine in an Homily saith That because the twife doubling of a word is the true token of loue or hatred the Iewes did well shew the loue which they bare vnto Barrabas in desiring Pilute twise to let him loose and the hatred which they bare to Christ in saying twise Crucifie crucifie him For to say twife Non dimittas nobis nisi â—arrabam what else was it then to aske with all their hearts that hee would grant that thiefe his life and send him to his house that feast of Easter And to crie out twise aloud crucifie crucifie him what else would they say to Pilate but that they aske with their tongues entreat with their hearts that hee would put Iesus of Nazareth vpon the gibbet or put him to death vpon the crosse Chrisostome saith The Prince of the Synagogue and the ruler of Capernaum Centurio the captaine Zacheus the rich and Simeon the leaper and Lazarus the knight were not all these trow you Christs friends and acquaintance and of the richest and honourablest among the people Christ did very much for euery one of these wheÌ„ he was aliue but there was none of these which did any thing for him wheÌ„ he died although he went by their gates to be crucified and with their eies they did see him die Christ then had great reason to say vnto his Father why hast thou forsaken me considering that himself had too many enemies and Barrabas wanted no friends CHAP. VI. How Christ complaineth vnto his father because they made more account of Iepthes daughter in the Synagogue than they doe at this day of his death in the church FAc mihi quodcunque pollicitus es concessa tibi victoria vltione de inimicis tuis chap. 12 of the Iudges The daughter of that famous captaine Iepthe spake these words vnto her father when her father returned from the war which the people of Israel had against the king of the Ammonites as though she wold say Do with me O my Father doe with me what pleaseth thee For seeing that thou doest come victorious from the warre it is very iust and reasonable that thou shouldest performe that which thou hast promised our Lord. Iepthe had promised and made a solemne vow that if God would giue him the victory of that warre that he would offer vnto him the first liue thing of his house which he should meet withall and although it were aliue vvhen hee should meet it yet he vvould not offer it but killed and dead Iepthe then returning from the vvarre vvith a great victory his sorrowfull fate vvas that hauing but one only daughter she vvent to meet him receiue him comming home singing and playing on a Taber Immediately as the sorrowfull Father saw his vnfortunate daughter his eies were full
of vvater and his heart brake in two vvhen hee remembred the vow vvhich he had made in the vvarre and that he could do no lesse than kill his daughter The father then said vnto his daughter O my daughter and sole inheritrize how vnfortunate vvas thy destinie and how vnlucky vvas my fortune in that I must open my mouth and make that promise to such great preiudice to thy life and hurt vnto my house His daughter answered him and said If thou hast opened thy mouth my father to make any vow vnto the great God of Israel let mee bee no hinderance for the performance of it for I vvill like it well onely because I see thee victorious ouer thy enemies And she added further and said only I aske of thee my father that thou wouldest giue mee two months space before thou doest sacrifice mee in the Temple to bewaile my Virginity in these sorrowful mountains with others my companions And when those two months were past the tender virgine bewailing and weeping the losse of her life and virginity vnbestowed the Father performed his vow and sacrificed his daughter Because Iephthe that captaine had that famous victory but yet with vufortunate losse of his onely daughter all the young maids and virgines of the people of Israell agreed a meeting to weepe and lament the death of Iephthes daughter foure daies in the yeare and although the people of the Iewes did omit thinges of greater weight than that was yet they did neuer forget to mourn and lameÌ„t those daies The holy scripture doth promise vs many great matters in this figure of Iephthe worthy to be knowne hard to expound Who is vnderstood by the famous captaine Iephthe but the sonne of the liuing God and redeemer of the world He who said all power is giueÌ„ me in heauen and earth is more valerous and mighty than Ieph the was because that Iephthes authority extended no further than the land of Iury but the sonne of Gods did reach ouer heauen earth The scripture maketh mention that when Iephthe was a yong man those of his countrey put him from his fathers inheritance banished him out of the land and how that in progresse of time hee deliuered them from their enemies and vvas captaine ouer them all That which the neighbours of Gilead did to Iephthe the inhabitants of Ierusalem did to Christ whome they banished out of the Synagogue and depriued of his Fathers inheritance and yet neuerthelesse hee deliuered them from their sinnes and vvas the redâ—emer of them all The truth doth very vvell answere to the figure in this place and the sence vnto the letter For as they which did banish Iephthe out of all the kingdome did afterward entreat him to bee their guide and captaine so those which said to Pilate crucifie crucifie him did afterward on the Mount of Caluary strike their breasts and say aloud Verè hic filius deifuit This man was truly the son of God Who was vnderstood in Iepthes daughter a virgine faire and young but only that flesh and humanity of the Word S. Ambrose vpon those words Speciosus sorma sayth Who is so beautifull who is so pure who so holy as that most sacred flesh vvas and is The daughter of Iephthe was not knowne of any man and Christs humanitie was also vnknowne of man seeing that it was not conceiued by consent of husband but formed and framed by the vvebe of the holy ghost Iephthe did promise to offer in the Temple his only daughter for the victory which hee had obtained against his enemies and Christ did promise to offer vpon the crosse his owne flesh for the victory and conquest vvhich he had against sinnes so that Iephthe did offer only the daughter vvhich hee had begotten and the sonne of God did offer his owne proper body Is it not thinke you a greater matter for a man to offer his owne flesh than that vvhich is born of his flesh Iephthe vvas very loath and grieued to offer his onely daughter and it vvas a great corrasiue to the daughters heart to see her selfe sacrificed by her owne Father but in the end shee vvas more ioyfull and glad of the victory vvhich her Father receaued against his enemies than grieued that her owne life should bee sacrificed O how vvell one mystery doth answere vnto another for vvhen the flesh said Let this cup passe from mee vvith the daughter of Iephthe hee vvas loath to die but vvhen hee said Not as I vvill but as thou vvilt hee was glad to suffer so that that sacred flesh vvas very vvilling to bee sacrificed because that the diuine Word should obtaine victory ouer sinnes Doest thou not thinke my brother that one mystery doth very vvell answere another and that one secret is very vvell compated vvith another seeing that that virgine vvas sacrificed for her fathers honour and that diuine and sacred flesh also sacrificed for the honour and glory of his father Iepthe had a great reuenge ouer his enemies but Christ a farre greater ouer sinne and yet it is to be noted that by how much the greater those two victories vvere so much the more greater vvere the prices vvhich they vvere bought for because the one did cost his daughters life and the other his owne What can be deerer than that vvhich doth cost a mans life Pellem pro pelle cuncta dabit home pro animasua saith Iob chapter 2. The Scripture maketh mention in Iob that as there appeared before the iudgement of God many vvicked men the deuill made one among them for good men doe neuer assemble themselues to doe good but Sathan is there also to doe them some hurt Our Lord said vnto Sathan from vvhence doest thou come and vvhither hast thou gone To this Sathan answered I haue gone about all the earth and vvalked through it to see whether I could happen vpon any more that vvere mine Our Lord replied hast thou seene my good seruant and trusty friend Iob vnto vvhome no man on the earth may bee compared And doest thou not know Sathan that Iob is a holy man sincere in condition vpright in his conscience fearfull in that vvhich the law commandeth vvithout malice one vvho continueth till this day in his innocency Thou hast stirred me vp against him that I should kil his sonnes destroy his sheepe and deere and that his oxen should be stolne froÌ„ him and all his vvealth taken from him and that I should depriue him of all his honour Sathan answered vnto this and said Know Lord that a man vvill giue all his vvealth substance vvith condition to saue his life Pellem pro pelle dabit hemo that is A man vvill giue al his sheepe skins all the cowes hides in the vvorld to keepe his owne flesh If thou vvilt trie Lord vvho thy friend Iob is lay thy hand vpon his owne person and fill his bodie with a leprosie and then thou shalt see that hee will bee more