Prosopopeia containing the teares of the holy, blessed, and sanctified Marie, the Mother of God.

Prosopopeia containing the teares of the holy, blessed, and sanctified Marie, the Mother of God.

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TO THE RIGHT NOBLE, THE MOTHER COVNTESSE, COVNTESSE of Darby, and the vertuous and deuout Countesse of Cumberland, Charitie in life, and eternitie after death.

To the Readers.

ERRATA.

THE TEARES of MARIE the mother of Christ.

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THE TEARES of MARIE the mother of Christ.

AS soone as our Sauioure had paide the tribute of our redemption on the tree of the Crosse, and suffered in the flesh, for the offences of fleshly men, iust and compassionate Ioseph, (with his associates, who had begged the bodie, and taken the true Isaac from the pile of the sacrifice) wrapped the prison of Christs eternitie in fayre linnen [Page] clothes, addressing himselfe to beare him to his sepulchre, but Mary the maiden mother, who during the time of his passion had welnigh emptied all the riuers of her compassion, & rifled the treasures of her remorse, to lament her sonnes most tragike martyrdome, accompanying her deuotion with their duty, as they wrapt him, shee wept him; as fitie zeale assisted their hands sounding griefe wrought on hir heart; her eie grudged at that their hands did execute, and hir eyes onely griefe was so vehement, that they executed themselues in executing griefe.

Ahlas (amiable Ladie) howe satest thou like the desolate turtle weeping thy make? How many legions of miseries were armed against thy sole & singular patience? Thy dead ioyes gaue thy sorows f [...]ck, & sorrow [Page] was so actiue in thee, as if thou hadst bin wholy resolued into sorrowe. They that beheld thy griefe were amazed to beholde it, yet thou in suffring it, thoughtest all to little for him thou sufferedst. Chrisost. in Genes. Bernard Homil. 2. de virgin. Thou flaming bush replenished with fire, yet neuer burning, thou flourishing rod of Aaron swiftly springing, thou lock of Gedeon filled with celestiall dew, how neere neighbours were thy lips to the dere lips of thy sonne? How redy were thy handes to discouer thy cause of griefe, to the end thou mightest couer those lims which did cō fort thee in life. Thornes could not let thee frō kissing his torne face, frō his dead countenance grew thy disconsolate comfort: The suppose of what hee was, made thee greeue, that so he is, & the hope of that he would be, [Page] gouerned and bridled the sorrow wherein thou wouldest be. Ah faire among the daughters of Sion, hee that had seene thy cheeks (like clusters of grapes in Engaddi) become more pale than the frosty face of Apennine: hee that had seene the mother imbrued in the bloud of her Sonne, the Son bedewed with his mothers teares, coulde hee leaue off teares, except hee had for sworne them? Oh ye Angels of peace weep with this virgin, mourne heauens, droup starres, the Lord of heauen hath suffered, and Marie sigheth for him: the Sonne hath dyed for all, the mother deads her heart with sorow, for the Lorde of all: his dead bodie is the mirror of her losse: her liuely griese is the motion and spirite of her loue: she [Page] exclaimes on cuerie sense, but they forsake their offices: his eies will not beholde her, his tongue will not salute her, his handes will not imbrace her, his eares will not heare her, yet yeldeth her charitie such vigour to all her senses, that in looking on him, shee seemeth to giue his dead eie a second sight; his deaf eare, a relenting attention; his senselesse armes and hands, a habite of imbrace, only seeing the tong the vnkindest member in requiting her, she betrothed her tongue to complaint, and thus most pensiuely lamented.

O my God,Ieremy 9. lend mine eyes a well of teares, for they must weepe a worlde of wrongs. Let the voice of my complaintes pearce the heauens, and let the centre shake, to heare my shriks.

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Ahlas this day must I be tender,1: Reg: 30 hauing as many sorrows to weepe for, as daies to liue; and no daie to liue, that hath not his legion of sorrowes. Mine eyes breake my heart, when I consider what my heart must discharge by mine eyes. Oh Lord thou seest my wrong, take thou my cause vpon thee, for an infinite passion is required to lament my infinite losse. I am the tygresse depriued of her young whelp, the sacred tree that haue lost my sonne, that altar of heauen, who want my sacrifice, the throne of Salomon, Chri: ho [...]de Io: Baptist Hier. in 44 Ezechiel Greg: Nissen de nat: Dom Bernard super missus hortum condusum, &c who faile my king: the orientall gate, who lacke the bridegrome. I am the root of Iesse, the high mountain, the ladder of Iacob, the propitiatorie, the tower of Dauid, the terrestrial paradise, yet am I not [Page] in this, that I want my braunch, I lack my increase, I faile of my Angell, I am'depriued of my tenant, I am robbed of my keeper, and rest of my citizen.

Come yee daughters of Ierusalem, and weepe with mee, beholde, hee that leadeth captiuitie captiue, is nowe a captiue, and I in looking on am a caitiue: Beholde the golde that was bright, is become dimme: the doues eyes are growen darke: the growing Lillye is quite choaked by thornes: weepe yee foolish virgins, your bridegroome is parted. Feede with poore Marie on the bread of tribulation, for I haue lost a sonne, and you lost your Sauiour.

Ah looke with mee you iudiciall eyes of Israell, beholde riches apparelled in pouertye; [Page] beautie obscured in darknes, charitie exemplified in death, death crucified by charitie. Beholde him whose beautie the Sunne & Moon admire, whose maiesty the heauens and earth reuerence, whose wisedome yeeldes wisedome to the queene of Angels, by whose beautie the colledge of all happie soules are maintained: beholde him liuelesse, to get you lyfe, breathlesse, for your benefite, naked, to giue you clothing, wounded for your weal, bleeding, for your behest, and can you chuse but weepe with the mother the losse of such a sonne? Red waxe in the Sunne becommeth white: hard diamondes in vineger waxe softe:Bernard. Granaten. li. meditationū one Summer ripes many fruites: since then the Sunne of iustice hath shined vpon you, be ye mollified like waxe, lenyified like diamonds, tipened like fruite: that [Page] the water of angels may drop from your eies, that the fire of charitie may cause compassion distill from your braines, so that weeping with me so great a losse as I weepe, the world may know the want of him we weepe for.

I lifte not vp my voice with Esau to weepe, hee found a brother, I haue lost a sonne. Iacob kissed Rachel and wept for ioy to see her: I kisse the bodie of my sonne, and weepe because I see him not: Oh would my Rachel might bee his woundes, woulde my concubine were his crosse: would his winding cloathes were my wedding coats, & indiuided graue might bear to indiuided heartes. The daughters of Israel wepte ouer Saul, and hee a wicked king:2. Reg. 1 O yee daughters of Ierusalem weepe, houle, and lament, a Sauior is departed from you, a iust king [Page] hath suffered. Let your faces bee swolne with weeping, for I wil water my couch with teares. Let the voice of my mourning bee heard in your streetes, for the noise of tribulation is harbored in my heart. Weepe discomfortable teares, and I wil mingle my drinke with weeping: salme 102 with weeping conduct that Lord to the graue, who weepingly bewailed, and be wailingly wept ouer your Citie.

Inforce your selues to weepe,em. 14 whilest my eyes faile me thorough weeping: powre your teares on his heart, whilest I feede on teares daie and night. I will powr all my teares into his wounds, [...]salme 50 he will put all your teares into his bottell.

Let your teares run like a riuer, & let my teares be seas to suck them vp, only assist me in my strong weeping and teares, and he will wipe awaie [Page] all your teares. Why claime I partners in my griefe, who haue no partners in my loue? No creatute loued thee deerer in thy life, & shal I seeke associats in bewailing thee? Ah my son, could ought but death depart thee and mee? Nay, coulde there be one step betwixt mee and death, who onelye in death maye now seeke thee?

O Iesu my Father, my Sonne, see heere an indissoluble Enigma, Enigma inextricabil-Maria est virgo, mater, sponsa, filia. Benedictus in vita Marie I a Virgine, had thee a Sonne; thou a son, hadst mee a spouse; my sonne is my father, and I am the daughter of my sonne. I will then weepe for thee as my father, sigh for thee as thy daghter, die for thee as thy spouse, and grieue for thee as thy mother: & as thou art wonderfully mine, so will I weepe such a labyrinth of teares, as no mortall mourner shalbe able to tract them. [Page] I will dissolue my relenting, & yelding passions with all their fruites, to lament thee as a sonne, I will put on the roabes of dissolution to mourne for thee as my spouse, I wil gather & ingrosse al griefe, to weep for thee as my father, & beginning where I end, and ending where I began, I will make my tears famous in their continuance, and my loue more inflamed by thinking on thee.

I coniure you ye daughters of Ierusalem to looke on me, but weepe no more with me, I lament a sonne lost, to teach you to weepe for the sorowes of your children to come: but if the entrailes of your pittie, & springs of compassion must needes breake out, weepe you onely his harmes in life, & let me bewaile the losse of him by death: my confident minde and firme constancie, [Page] when the world was disturbed at his passion, made me peremptorie: when the earth trembled, I was not troubled,Bernard in Medit. whē the pilets of heauen were shaken, I sounded not, they sell, I stood: now am I drowned in the sea of bitternes, his eie of compassion (the pilot in those seas) hath lefte mee, the helme of my hope is broken,Granatensis lib de vita Christi. the sunne of my comfort is eclipsed, hee hath past the brierie & thornie paths, the scourges hath registred his patience on his backe, the nailes haue tied his triumphs, our sinnes, his bodie to the crosse, I niurie hath spit her venom, Infamie hath doone his worst, Iustice hath ransackt his right: wayle this yee daughters of Ierusalem, for your children shall wring for it, I onely exclaim on death, death hath triumphed ouer life, til glory ouercome death, the holie one hath perished, [Page] fished, & seeth no corruption: one daies, one houres, one minutes want of that I loue, maks euery day an age, euerie houre a million of ages, euerie minute an eternitie of sorrow, for that I want.

O you that passe this waie & beholde this bodie, you that looke on these wounds, & see these lims; tell me, Is not beautie oppressed? Maiestie imbased? Innocencie martired? Come neere and iudge if anie griefe may bee compared with mine? The fairer children we haue the dearer we loue them, and shuld I who bare the mirrour of all beautie in my wombe, cease to weep for him? You men of Israel that beholde this, bee not amazed at my griefe, my loue was extreame, my griefe must not be extenuate: the grace was great to beare Christ, the courage is as great to bewaile him [Page] his beautie was infinite, and shall my moanes bee definite? These thornes which martyrize his beautious browes, this bloud which bedeweth his bloudlesse face, these woundes that disgrace his blessed bodie, this humilitie in so great & mighty a monarch, 'are prickes and spurs to egge you vnto repentance; springes to washe you from your wickednesse, gates to bring you to glory: all these are but stinges to stir you to loue God, mirrors in which you see his beautie, books in which you reade his wisedome, and preachers which teach you the waie to heauen. Oh thou paschall lambe,Ambrose in Math. whose bloud hath bin sprinkled on the timber of the cross! Oh thou by whō men are deliuered frō ye thraldom of Egipt, & the captiuity of the prince of this world, whose death killed their death, whose sacrifice [Page] satisfied for their sinnes. Whose bloud deliuereth them from the chastising Angell, whose meeknes pacifieth the ire of the father, and whose innocencie deserueth for them true securitie and iustice.

Thou booke which the Prophet sawe written both within and with out,sech. 2 why striue not men by theyr sighs to breath life into thee? And why should not my cries of compassion recall thy spirit? Ahlas my God, sinne hath gotten the vpper hand, these Iewes are amazed, thy mother vnable, their zeale cold, my power small, the vnbeleeuing are many, and penitents haue too fewe teares to bewaile thee: yet while teares yeeld me anie tribute, sighes vouch safe me anie succour, tongue affoord me anie words, I will weep for thee, sigh for thee, and talke of thee, desiring rather to surfet in [Page] wordes, than to shroude my zeale, and rather die in bewailing thee to much, than liue to lament thee too little.

O thou glasse of grace, who hath bespotted thee? who hath brought thee into the shadow of death? Ah deare soule, what northwind of sin hath blowen hether al this tempest? meeknesse could not offend, patience did not insult, innocencie was faultlesse: the vvolfe shoulde haue suffered, not the lambe: the guiltie, not the guiltlesse. Oh the immeasurable reach of thy mercie, I haue spied the insearchable bent of the same, thou hast lefte life to reuiue them that loath thee: suffred death, for such as detracted from thee, borne mans infirmities, and satisfied his sinnes.

O grace beyond all conceit, O marucilous mysterie: Thou diedst [Page] for man, man declineth from thee: thou sufferedst for his sinnes, he sigheth not for thy death.Prouerb. 6 O men swift footed to run to wickednes, haue you no affects to bewaile him who suffered for your defects? Wil you not weep for the prophet that died for your profit? Haue you no teares to spend for him, whose life is spent for you? O ingratefull, O iniurious, drawe neere and behold a mother bewailing your ingratitude: a son dead for your redemption: and though you lament him not for the plentious consolations you haue reiceiued by him, yet grieue for him for my plentious griefe sake, who haue lost all my ioye for your generall comfort.

Beholde these lippes are closed which were wont to vtter oracles of comfort: those eyes are shut [Page] which neuer behelde your infirmities without flouds of compassion, the handes are maymed which were liberallye opened to all good workes, the feete are wounded that brought you tidinges of peace, eache parte of him is thus mangled, to amende you: hurt, to heale you: galled, to doo you good: pearced, to worke your profite: And haue you no one teare to tender for his kindness?

Ah ingratefull that yee are, and more insensible than beastes, more cruell than tygers, more harde than stones: the Sunne put on mourning garmentes, when my sonne suffered, and shall not the swoorde of afflictions pearce your entrayles to beholde this tragedie? The vaile of the Temple rent from the top to the bottome, [Page] and will you not rent your heartes with ruth, to regard his rent bodie? The earth trembled for feare, and wil you not weep for pittie? Stones breake in sunder, and shal not your stonie harts wax tender? The dead for sooke their graues, to grieue for him, and shal not the liuing despise their delights to lament him?.

Ah iust Abel, [...]aeseos thy bloud cryeth for reuenge, and hath pearced heauen, but it is dispersed and despised on earth. [...]enes. 37 Ah holy Ioseph, thy bloudie coate hath broached a spring of remorse in Iacobs eies, though thy brethren lament thee not. The chosen Israelites mourn for their Sampson, [...]id. 6 though the Philistians afflicte thee. Oh men, the Saints in heauen blesse this bodie, you sinners on earth will not bewaile it: the heauens shew his greatnes, yet men on earth acknowledge not his goodnes, [Page] the starres declare his diuinitie, men decline not to see his dead humanitie: the flowers of the fields testifie his beautie, but the wormes of the earth sorrowe not his obscuritie.

O you race of Adam, he that created all things without trauell, gouerned them without care, sustained them without thought, and possessed them without necessity, now lieth heere dead, trauelled by sorrow and death, blinde to make you see, senselesse to make you feel, subiect to make you soueraignes, and shall he haue so much care of you, & you so little compassion of him? Oh you hardned in heart, blinded in vnderstanding, surfeted in sensualitie, wil not then your stony harts otherwise suffer ye to weepe, come gather teares from the wel-head of his benefits, that you may assist me [Page] to bewail him: he hath drawen you from your bannishment to your blessing, from obscuritie to life, frō death to eternitie. What he punished in the angells, he pittied in you: what he persecuted in himselfe, [...]. 14 he hath pacifid for you. In the old law whosoeuer had falne into the vncleannes of leprosie, was thus cured and thus cleansed, the priest taking two sparrows, when he had slain the one, dismissed the other, & anointing the sick of the leprosie with the bloud of the dead one, hee thereby recured the sicke, & purged the vncleannes. And what figure is this, ô ye sonnes of vanitie, but the tipe of your owne imperfections: you are spiritually falne into the leprosie of sin, this noble sacrifice, this sacred priest hath taken two sparrows, his bodie and soule, to cleanse you of your leprosie, his bodie hath hee suffered to die, to bee rent, to bee [Page] torne, to bee whipte for you, his soule hee hath dismissed, and by the bloud issuing from his wounds he hath clensd your leprosy,Animā nullus potest occidere. Math 10 ratified his couenāt, shut you in the arms of mercye, shuted you with your wedding garmēts. Oh then though his sufferance touch not your harts let his benefites turne them: weep, weepe on him that praieth for you as your priest, praieth in you as your head, and must bee intreated by you as your God. Behold your phisition whom desire of gold hath not drawen to you,Ierem. 107 but intirenes of mercye hath prouoked to assuage your miserie. Beholde that Christ that hath vnited you to God, reconciled you with his bloud, & vrged compassion for you with his tears: your sins haue separated you from him,Ierem. 59 his death hath alied you to him. O hard hearted men cannot this moue you, thē harkē to further [Page] motiues, and let them amend you. God in the first lawe appointed a free citie of refuge for the afflicted, and priuiledge for the offenders, whereto whosoeuer had grace to approch before he were apprehended, hee was assured of safetie, and defended from iustice. In this new law, this Christ (oh true tipe of charitie) hath made these cities in himselfe, established this priuiledge in his body, and walled the same with his wounds. Hether, ô you sinners, repaire, heere shall you haue mercy for teares, life for repentance, remission of sinnes, for confession of sinne. Oh contrite sinner, dwell in these cities, let your memorie inhabite them, thy meditation imbrace them, thy pittie bewaile them. Thinke on these woundes, they wil heale thee, forsake them, death will follow thee, forget them, mercie [Page] will denie thee. Abuse not the priuiledge of wounds, death, and passion, least thou bewaile too late the horror of hell, death, and damnation. Will none weep with me? Will no reasons wound you? Are teares so scant, for mercies so plentifull? Come, come and learne what tears be, that you may know their benefites. The sinners teares are Gods mirrours: their penitent sighs, his incense: God heareth praiers, but beholdeth tears: praiers moue God to heare,Esay 38 Ambrose tears compell him to haue mercie. Silent teares are speaking aduocats. It was not Maries anointing with sweet balme, Maries drying, with faire haire, Maries attention with humble heart, but Maries teares, they wrought my compassion. Oh come & weepe then, & if not weepe, yet consider. Proude man, see here the patterne of humilitie: [Page] humble, learne heere whereof to releeue thee: irefull, learne here the benefite of sufferance, [...]ust. patient, receiue here the crown of durance: couetous, learne heere to affect pouertie: poor, receue here, how thou hast Christ thy companion: the only sonne of God, hath made many sons of God, hee hath bought him brothers with his bloud, approued them, and beeing approued, redeemed them beeing solde, [...] honoured them by suffering dishonours, and giuen thē life by suffring death. Let him therefore be wholy infixed in your hearts, who wholy was crucified for you on the crosse. O men loose not these blessings, forget not these bounties. This Christ subiected himselfe to the power of death that he might deliuer you from the yoake and power of the deuill: hee tooke seruitude vpon him, that hee [Page] might giue you the libertie of eternal life, hear what he crieth in your soules, and respect his summons.

O man see what I suffer for thee,Ambrose. there is no griefe like to mine, I cry vnto thee who died for thee. Behold the paines wherwith I am afflicted, see the nailes wherwith I am pearced, and although the exterior griefe be so great, yet the inward sorowes are more vehement, when I behold and find thee so vngratefull for my passion. Behold man whom you crucified, beholde God and man whome you woulde not beleeue,Hicrome beholde the woundes which you inflicted, acknowledge the sides which you wounded, all which were opened for you, but you will not enter: I gaue my selfe for you, that I might redeeme you from all iniquitie,Ad Tu. 20 I suffered with entire loue to winne your [Page] entire loue, beeing God I became man; beeing the fountaine of all plentie, I suffered hunger, I the wel spring thirsted, I the light, was darkned, I the rest of al, was wearied for all, false witnes outfaced veritie, I the iudge of the liuing & the dead, was iudged by a mortall creature, Iustice was condemned by the vniust, [...]gust. discipline was beaten, the cluster of grapes was crowned with thorns, vertue was weakned, health wounded, and life made death, my heart for sooke me in torments for you, they wounded my hands and feet, so that al my bones were broke asunder, [...]. 5 euen in that weaknesse I dyed for you being wicked. Why therefore fasten you me to a more greuous crosse of your sins, thā that wheron I was crucified? [...]gust in [...]dam ser [...]em de Iudicij. The crosse of your crimes is more irksome vnto mee than the crosse whereon I [Page] lately suffered. Taking compassion on you, I willingly ascended. Oh then weepe for me, because I suffered for you. Thou that runnest after delight, surfetest in pleasure, desirest ease, come to this schoole, and learn thy lesson, let my grace draw thee from disgrace, my sufferance, from thy sensualitie, my charity frō thine vncleanesse. Beholde the law is satisfied in my bloud, and your infirmities are couered by my crosse. I a man praide to me a God,Innocentius Iaiudge wept ouer you being condemned: to ease your temptation I was tempted for you: yet for all these dolorous deserts, you yeelde me no teares of true sorrow. I was spit vpon to wash you, I was couered, to the end that the vale of sin and ignorance shuld be taken from your hearts: my head was wounded,Hiero. super Matth. to the end that your head Adam [Page] should be restored to health, I was buffeted with fists, & mocked with wordes, to the end that you should applaud me with your lips, lifte vp your hands vnto me, and worship me both in deeds and wordes, thus louing you, and washing you from your sinnes, disdaine not to bee reconciled to me in repētance. Heare the three things figured in my passion, my head was bowed downe, in signe of remission of sinnes: water issued from my sides, in token of the cleansing of your faults: bloud, in signe of the redemption of your punishment. Oh let the effects of these signes force you, I am a medicine to the sicke, a rule to the depraued, a dwelling place to the desolate, and a light for the darkned. Oh come vnto me you hard harted, for to be turned from me, is to fall: to be conuerted to me, [...]gust. lib. [...]put. is to rise: to be [Page] grounded in me, is to florish: ô turn vnto me, whom no man loseth, except deceiued, no man seeketh vnmonished,Bernard and no man findeth vnpurged. I am the first that come to you, and the last that go from you, I being iust, came vnto you sinners, that of sinners I might make you iust: I beeing holy, came to the vnhallowed, to the end I might make you whole: I being humble, came vnto you being proud, that I might make you humble: I came not for the iust sake, but to correct the reprobate: I came not for the strong, but to heale the weake: I came not for the resolued, but to strengthen the doubtfull: my melodie is the amendment of sinners, my triumph the constancie of martirs, my desire the immortalitie of yt faithful. Thus sat [...] blessed mother, somtime personating her son, to persuade more [Page] mouingly, sometime soliciting the assistance by great motiues to bewaile him earnestly, somtime weeping, while sorow stopt her speech, sometime perswading whilest charitie quickned her tongue, somtime bemoning hir while she beheld hir dead sonne, sometime recomforting Marie that fate weeping at her feet, so that those that disdained hir fortune, were amazed at her constancie, for though shee bewayled like a naturall mother, yet indured she like a confident martyr,Bernard & therfore sayth Chrisostome, she was vexed with an intollerable agonie of griefe, because shee was touched with an vnspeakable affection of loue, whereby being vnited to God, we seeme to be conuerted & made one with him. Oh my soule consider a while, whilest the solitarie maide sitteth ouer her sonne, what [Page] she is that bewaileth him? This is the blessed amongest women that was salu ted by the Angell with Auc, as being deliuered,Libro de natura rerum. ave, from al curse: This is that Marie that by interpretation beeing the sea, retaineth sixe qualities of the same. Of the sea it is said, that it is the collection of al waters, either sower or sweet, the head and hosterie of all flouds, a helpe in necessities, a refuge in perills, an ease in trauels, a gaine to laborers: of her it is said, Let al the waters vnder heauen be drawn into one place, which gathering of waters, is the accomplishment of natures:Anselmus Gen: 1 the sea is the head and hostery of flouds, the head by the flux of waters, the hosterie by the refluxe: so the blessed virgine is the mediation and head of grace, & whatsoeuer good we receiue, it floweth from the fruit of her wombe. Thirdly, ye sea is a help in necessitie, [Page] Fourthly, as ye sea is a refuge in perills when in her maine bodie we escape shipwrack: so the immaculate maid bringing forth the fulnesse of our redemption, deliuereth vs from the shipwracke of our soules. So testifieth Bernard of Marie. Quia aperit sinum pietatis uniuersis. Fiftly, the sea is a helpe to shorten the waie of the traueller: so in this great sea of this world this holy maiden directeth vs and shortneth our waie by the staire of her humilitie. Sixtly, it is a gaine to labourers, making thē rich by trafique: so he that trafiqueth with this blessed maide in meditation, imitateth her in deuotion, accompanyeth her in sorrow, shall receiue the gaine of his labour, and the fruites of immortalitie. This is she of whom Ambrose speaketh in his booke of virginitie, Virgo erat. She was a virgin not onely in bodie but in minde, for no [Page] circumuention of decit could adulterate hir sincere affect: in hart humble, in words graue, in mind wise, in speech sparing, in readings studious. This is the rose without prickles, the flower of the rose in the prime: for as the spring is the cause of gladnes, so was her fruit the cause or redemption. This is she whose humility hath raised vs, whose virginitie hath inriched vs, & whose deuotion hath releeued vs. O how wonderfull was the fruitfulnes of this virgine, sayth Bonauenture, Anselme which no sooner receiueth salutatiō, but conceiueth saluation. Before the virgin (saith Oditius) conceiued Christ, it was winter, but after she had conceiued the word of God, it became Summer. Finally, thorough the vapour of the holye Ghost the flower sprong: A branch shall springe out of the roote of lesse, and a flower shall ascende [Page] from the roote, as faith Esaie. And what other is this braunch (O thou blessedst amongest women) but thy selfe the virgine of God: what this flower but thy sonne? O crimson rose Iesus how in all thy bodie shine the perfect signes of thy loue? Ahlasse there is no little space lefte without impression of loue or griefe. Hearke what Ambrose faith further of this virgin, She fixed not her happines in vncertaine substaunce, but fastned her hope to her son Christ, intentiue in her workes, modest in her sayinges, whose purpose was not to satisfie man, but to seeke after God: to hurt none, but to succour all: to salute euerie one, to reuerence her elders, not to hate her equalls: to slie boasting, to followe reason, & to loue vertue. When dyd this virgin hurt her parents with disobedient lookes? When dissented [Page] she from hir friends? When despised she the humble? When decided she the weake? When shunned she the needie? Accustoming her selfe to conuerse onely with that companie of men, whose conuersation shee might not be ashamed of? Whome past shee by without modestie? hauing nothing crabbed in her looks, nothing crooked in her sayiugs, nothing immodest in her actions, not wanton in gesture, not insolent in gate, not foolish in voice, but such she was, that the verie beautie, portraiture, and forme of her body, was the image of her mind, and figure of her honestie. The beautie of this tē ple of the Deity, was expressed in the Canticles, where it is sayd: O howe faire art thou my loue?Cant: 4 Howe faire art thou? Thine eies are like doues eies, yet is there farre more hidden within. This is the paradyce which [Page] God prepared to put the second Adam in. This is that virgin of whom Hierome speaketh, which passed the night in contemplation & watching the thiefe: in loue of God the most learned, in humilitie the most humble, in the psalms of Dauid the most elegant, in charitie most feruent, in puritie the most pure, and in all vertue the most perfect: All her words were alwaies full of grace, because she had God alwaies in her mouth, shee continually praide, and as the Prophet sayd, meditated in the lawe of God daie and night.Psalm 1 This is the virgin of virgins, the humble of hū blest, in whome humilitie greatned virginitie, & virginitie adorned humilitie. This is shee whose humilitie adorned her fecunditie, and whose fecunditie consecrated her virginitie. This is that Marie, into whose armes the faire vnicorne Iesus retyred [Page] himselfe after a long pursuit, by the praiers, teares, and sighs of the fathers.

This is the exalted, according to the Hebrew, or the starre of the sea, as Hierome translateth it: or the mistres of mankinde, according to the Siriake.Hier. de nomimbus. Sibil Erichea Et breuis egressus Maria de virginis aluo. Exaita est nouatua. This is she of whom the Sibils prophesied. This is she whom Euodius, Peters successour, calleth immaculate, without spot, glorious in humilitie. This is shee appointed before all ages, to beare the great fruit.

This is the animated arke of the liuing God, which brought many blessinges to Zacharie and Elizabeth, 2, Reg. 6 as the Arke of the couenant did to Obed Edom. This is shee of whom Albumazar prophesied, Albumazar li. 6 in inter. who speaking of the signe of the Virgine, sayde that there shoulde an [Page] immaculate virgine be borne, sayre, elegant, and modest, that should norish an infant in Iudea, who shoulde be called Christ. Of this virgin there was found a testimony on the tomb of a pagan; where in a plot of ground these wordes were written, & found in Constantine and his mother Irenes time, An infant named Christ shall bee borne of a virgine, and I beleeue in him. O sonne thou shalt see mee againe in the time of Constantine and his mother Irene. The like Zonoras reporteth of a certaine Iew, who in a certaine ancient book written in three languages vsed these wordes: This is shee in whome Nestorius denying the vniting of the humanitie with the diuinitie, our Lorde in iustice caused wormes to deuour and eate out his tongue. This is she in whom all vertues did concurre, all learning abound, all deuotions flowe, all comforts [Page] depend. This is she, as Gregorie testifieth, which foretolde the Iewes of their destruction, and the desolation of their citie. This is the true celestiall Pandora, decked and inriched with the whole gifts of God, the father, the sonne, and the holie Ghost. This is shee whome the Moores reported to surpasse in excellence, this is the perfectest of all perfections, as the Turkes and Arabians testifie. This is shee whome all the fathers in deuotion, the Mahumetists in theyr Alcoran, set foorth with praises, and inrich with titles. Oh sweete mother of God, who so speaketh of thee as Hierome sayth, speaketh insufficiently: humane abilitie cannot attain it, humane industrie is too weake for it. Whether art thou transported my soule? O my heart bee no more rauished with ioye, intentiue to praise: looke back to the foot of the crosse, [Page] there is more cause of meditation, more cause of moane.

Ahlasse, what seest thou? Nay, what seest thou not to bewaile? If thou seest the virgines lappe, it is bloudied with the streames that fall from her Sonnes wounded head. If thou seest her modest eies, they are almost swolne and sunke into hir head with teares. If thou looke for her pure colour, it is decaied with extreame sorrowe, her breasts are defaced with often beating of her handes, her handes are wearyed by often beating of her breasts.

If shee looke on the one side, shee sees Marie the sinner washing her sons feet with her tears: if on the other, she beholdeth Ioseph wofully preparing his funeralls: if on the other, she seeth virgins mourning: if on the other, she beholdeth soldiers [Page] mocking: if anie waies, she sees sorrowes plentifull: knowing therfore in her selfe, that true griefe correcteth the minde, salueth the offence, and maintaineth innocence, shee gan renue her teares, and thus tenderly bewailed her.

If it bee a custome in nature, that fountains return from whence they first issued, bodies bee resolued to that wherof they were first created, ahlasse why should not the same law be in my tears, which first springing from loue, must be buried in loue, & no sooner buried but renued: nothing before his fulnesse hath his fairenesse, his ripenesse, his strength, his perfection, his praise. Why then delaie I my teares, which can neuer receiue their excellence, till they bee wepte to their vtteraunce. Ahlasse, ahlas, teares are sweet weapons to wound and to winne harts, [Page] I will vse them, I will inuite them, I will maintaine them, I will triumph in them: Come my son, what now shall I weep in thee? Not thy death, for it is thy triumph: not thy contēpts, for they were thy cōtents: but thy martyrdom, which wrought my miserie. O sinfull soules, behold two altars raised by one massacre, one in the bodie of Christ, the other in the heart of the virgin: on the one is sacrificed the flesh of the sonne, on the other the soule of the mother: such a death no creature hath suffered, such a sorrowe no heart hath contained. Philosophie concents to my sorow,Cic Famil. 6 for mine eies increase in griefe, my passions are intollerable, beeing afflicted in al my senses, my loue quickens my passions, my deuotion nourisheth my loue, my teares beautifie my affection. Woe is me, nowe'am I rightly compared to the Moone; [Page] for my sunne is eclipsed, and I am confounded: now iustly am I counted a peele, being sed no waies better than by the deaw of teares: now am, I'improperly taken for a cedar, for the sweet sent of my blossome is vanished, my fruit is decaid, the leaues of my delight are fallen, onelye in this I retaine thy nature, by reseruing my griefe in force, & my compassion to eternities. Oh what a wo is mine? What a sorrow is mine? If the Angels behold this face, they bewail him; if the heauens look on this crueltie, they weepe for him: if the aire discouer it, it loureth: if the earth eie it, it renteth: What shall the mother then doo, that hath behelde her sonne martyred, and could not succour him: naked, & could not cloath him: thirsty, and could not comfort him: iniuried, and could not defend him: defamed, and coulde not aunswere [Page] for him, spit vpon, and could not wipe him: finally, weeping, and could not comfort him. Out alasse, for teares I will paie teares, teares for former tragedies, teares for after passion: teares for present miserie: tears in abundance,Gregorie teares with vsurie. Oh thou so excellent in holynesse, so mightie in power, and so merciful in pietie, how shal I more righfully bewaile thee, than in considering the wants I haue, beeing diuided from thee? I want thy presence to repayre my delights, I want thy counsell to inrich my soule, I want my ioye by wanting thee. Nay, what wanteth not the worlde by thine absence? The humble are turned to proude: the faithfull falne to Apostasie,Barnard the poore are despised: the iust, reuiled: the patient, spit at: the faithfull, afflicted: deuotion, nowe is clothed with dissimulation: sanctimonie, with simonie: conscience, with couetousnesse: [Page] hypocrites wil be humble without contempt: poore, with out defect: flatterers vnseene: enuious vnsuspected: slanderers, without cause: craftie as foxes within, humble as lambes without. Ahlasse, what confusion? What error? Thy scholers in humilitie haue forgotten their lesson, they will not learn of the bird, which before hee soareth towards heauen, humbleth his bodie to the earth, they will enter by thee as the gate, and wil not learne of thee because thou art humble. Thou hū blest thy selfe to thy equals, they despise their superiours.Bernar. li. de disp. & prec. The tree the more it aboundeth in fruit, the more it abaseth his bowes towardes the earth: but man the more he is raised by thy graces, the more hee resisteth against thy humilitie. Thy glorie is to submit, serue, and obey: mans desire is to gouerne, rule, & command. [Page] Thou sayest that all thing perisheth, if it be not kept with humilitie: they saie that nothing more breedeth cō tempt than obseruance. Thou biddest them flie honours: they affect them. Thou biddest them possesse their soules in feare: they deeme nothing assured but in honour. Oh sweet Iesus, thou sayest that the gate of heauen is so straight, that no man laden with riches, no man fatned with delights, no man decked in purple can be possest thereof before he be dispossessed of these vanities: but the worldling saith, that welth breedeth happinesse, delightes lengthen life, rich clothing bringeth credit: so that they that possesse these, they vtterly despise heauen. What shall I saie? the worlde is so fraught with pleasure, and auarice is so ful of profite, that it is helde good pollicie to heare thee preach: but no wisedome [Page] to followe thy pouertie. Oh deare Lord, thou giuest thy self wholy vnto them, and they wholie flie thee: if they are hungrie, thou art bread to them: if they are thirstie, thou art water to thē: if they are in darknes, thou are light vnto them: if they be naked, thou cloathest them: yet are they [...] grounded in vngratitude, that they forget thee. They knowe that what so euer the world is,Deut. 32 is eyther the desire of the flesh, or the desire of the eyes, or the pride of lyfe, yet pretēding to flie the world, they fansie nothing more earnestly. They knowe that a fatned, thicke, and dilated body leaueth God, and forgetteth his creator: yet follow they sensualitie, and forget thee, eāmque mortuam; sayth the Psalme, neither cordially recorde they thy benefites. They knowe with Hermes,Libro de logostileos. that thy acceptable & best incense is thanksgiuing, [Page] yet haue they learned with Iudas, to crucifie thee vngratefully. They knowe that they are blessed that haue not seene,Iohn 20 Apoc: 20 Iohn 8 and beleeue, yet hauing beheld thy passion, they despise it. They know the booke of life is opened, but they will not reade. They know that those which folow thee shall not walke in darknes se, yet take they pleasure to stumble in the daie time. Finally, they knowe that thou hast spred the light of thy coū tenance on them, yet preferre they darknes before light, to their owne damnation. The Naturalistes write, that Bats haue weake sight, because the humor Christaline, which is necessarie for the eie to see with, is translated into the substance of the wings to flie with, whereupon they haue leatherne winges, and so for their flight sake, haue lost their sight, because that is substracted from the eies, which is imploied in the wings: [Page] These bats betoken these proud neglecters, who by how much the more they striue to flie, by so much more are they depriued of the grace of the diuine light, because all their intention, which ought to bee in consideration of heauenly things, is translated into the feathers of ambition, so that all their thought is howe they may ascend by degrees the steps of dignitie, not descende in imitation of thee, to the bosome of humilitie. O man, the cause of the Angells fall was negligence, the cause of Adams fall was negligence: why then art thou summoned so sweetly, & neglectest so carelesly? If men & angels created by God, had vsed his giftes orderly, the angels had neuer striued to surpasse God in excellence, neither had man listned to the serpents perswasion, but because they were careles of his graces, he suffred thē to [Page] fall into errour by the sinne of negligence, and from the error of neglygence, into the sinne of pride & disobedience. Beware man, by mans first falling, flie man the Angels negligence, least by both thou winne apostasie, and with apostasie, perdition. Wilt thou be frind of this world: thou art enemie to God? Wilt thou follow Beliall? thou art not for Iesus. Oh cast downe thy selfe, proud soule, whatsoeuer thou hopest, trust not the weaknes of thy power, since strength it selfe hath beene oppressed. Knowe that chastitie is hardned in delightes, truth in riches, and humilitie in honours: iust, feare to fall: mercifull, feare obduration: continence, feare lust: deuout, feare negligence: with feare and trembling waxe you rich in Iesus, who wyth griefe and agonie hath indured for you.

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Oh sinners, though nature cannot m [...]e you to sighs, (which is affecte [...] [...]y her obiects) let mee winne you by reasons, to ratifie your remorse. If your friends come from far countries to visite you, you imbrace them: if they giue you giftes, you thanke them: if they counsell you, you consent vnto them: What then will you returne your sauiour & my sonne for his curtesies? Hee comming into the worlde, hath shewed you three principall signes of loue, mercie, and pietie. First, hee condescended to your mortalitie. Secondly, hee prouided messengers of your saluation. Thirdly, he gaue you precepts and admonishmentes of your welfare. He came from heauen, to comfort you on earth: hee suffered on earth to carrie you to heauen: he became the lowlyest amongst men, to make you the highest among creatures, [Page] hee hath visited you with his graces, giuing ease to your labour, comfort to your afflictions, salue to your infirmities: he hath presented you with gifts, not golde and siluer, which are corruptible, not pomp & honor, which seduce the senses, not securitie and vanitie, which corrupt the heart, but he hath broken his bodie on the crosse for you, hee hath broken his bodie in the Sacrament for you, he hath giuen you the cup of attonement (his' precious bloud) hee hath made you one with God, by being generally condemned by the world, he hath counselled you to rise from sins, to make your bodies vessels of the holy Ghost, to sanctifie your soules in the bloud of his testament, being made & approued iust: therefore you ought to loue him wholy, Americus Card: in prol: suo lib to whō you owe al what you are wholy. If you see an earthly king before you, you fal before his throne [Page] you humble your selfe before his iudgment, you subscribe to his law, and obey his ordinances: why despise you then the king of heauens?Math: 8 Phil. 2 to whom princes stoope, and whom the wind and sea obeyeth, to whom all knees both in heauen, earth, and hel are bowed. If you respect works, hee made heauen and earth: if the manner, of nothing: if the purpose, for vngratefull man, who being lord of all by him, will not acknowledge his due homage to him: if you dispose your affections by the wisdom of your gouernors, who more wiser than Iesus? Where the Psalmist sayth, Great is the Lord our God, & mightie his vertue, and his wisdom is beyond number. And again, God is the God of sciences,1, Reg. 2 & our thoughts are prepared vnto him: Who therefore is so wise & mightie as her that by wisdom discouereth al things [Page] and by power punisheth all offences? How much wisedome and seuetitie is in this Iudge? Who discouereth the thoughts of the hart,Rom: 1i knoweth whereunto our imaginations are intended, measureth the waight of our sinnes, and how iniquities are chained together. Fnally, all are of him, by him, and in him. If wonders drawe your affections, who were wonderfull, looke on his birth, it is wonderfull aboue nature, without man, of a sole virgine: looke on his name, it is wonderfull: (Iesus) by interpretation, a sauior. Yet more wō ders, a fraile man, and a strong God: a poore mans sonne, and the prince of peace, borne in time, and the perpetuall father of succeeding ages. Yet three more wonders. First, in those things which were spoken of him. Secōdly, in those things which were spoken by him. Thirdly, in [Page] those which were forespoken of him by the Patriarks and Prophets. Iacob prophesied his comming long before, The scepter shall not bee taken from Iudah. Balaam called him the starre out of Iacob: they called him the flower, and the branch, on which flower the holy Ghost should haue his resting place. And is not this admirable? Wil you more wonder? Hear Elizabeth prophesie, hear Zacharie prophesie, the shephearde prophesie, the Sages prophesie. Yet more wonders. In his infansy his answeres were admirable, all testifie of him, maruell at his answere, applaud his prudence.Iohn 1 Luke 4 Mirabantur ludei quomodo literas seisset Marke 20 Will you more wonders. The people maruelled at him, saying, He hath done all things wel, hee hath made the deafe heare, and the dombe speake. Loue him therefore as your Lorde, honour him as your king, who is admirable in his [Page] conception, admirable in his birth: admirable in his preachings, admirable in his passion, admirable in his death, admirable in his charitie.

And to this loue (O remorselesse lookers on) adde teares, for no man can truelye loue, that is not affected, to see his beloued afflicted.

Come,Anselme come and weepe bitterly with mee, for you haue much cause of lamentation. If loue can diuorce you from ingratitude, come and weep of pure loue: for my son hath therefore suffered, because he loued: if in iustice; come mollifie your hearts, behold an innocent reprochfully crucified: if consanguinitie can affect you, behold your father which hath begotten and chosen you before all eternities, reckned amongst theeues, rent by bloudthirstie [Page] men, scourged by the guiltie: if you be abashed to see God so mightily brused, bewail your deadly sins, the causes of his detriment: if you wonder at his humilitie, blame your pride: if you admire his patience, condemn your wrath. As the member that feeleth no griefe, is sayde to bee dead, and the disease which is insensible, is alwayes vncurable: so vnlesse you partake in passion with Christ, lament to see him crucified, sorrowe to beholde his woundes, you are no liuing members, but dead ones: no true sonnes of his, but bastardes: if you suffer wyth him, you shall raigne with him: if you associate him in his passions, you shall partake wyth him in his consolations.

The Philosophers write, that the Harpie is a birde (hauing a [Page] mans [...]) so fell, cruell, and furious, that beeing pressed and assaulted with hunger, she inuadeth & killeth a man: whome when shee hath deuoured, and whose bodie when she hath torne, beeing assailed wyth thirst, she flyeth to the water to drinke, where beholdin [...] [...] owne face, and remembring the similitude of him whome shee slew, shee is confounded with so much griefe, that shee dieth for dolour. Oh carelesse worldlings, except ther be lesse remorse in you than in this creature, looke into the spring of your consciences, lodge in your memorie howe much you haue crucified this Christ with your sinnes, & slain him by your offēces. & though you die not through extremitie of grief, yet let fall some teares to bewayle him tenderly.

Oh let not sinne take hold of you, [Page] idlenesse preuent you, or pride consound you, for trees that haue broadest leaues, doo soonest loose them, & men that haue proudest thoughts are soonest deceiued by them. Foolish that thou art, canst thou bewaile thy dead father that begot thee, thy sick sonne that delights thee, thy lost riches that maintained thee, & wilt not thou weepe for Iesus that redeemed thee? Canst thou grieue to see thy flockes perish, thy houses burnned, thy wise slaine, thy daughters defloured: and wilt thou not weepe to see thy God, who gaue these, confounded with tormēts, thy comforter that created these, suffer on the crosse: thy Iesus that lightneth thee, cloathed with death? Oh let not your gronings be hidden from him: praie with Iob, that thou mayest a little bewaile thy dolours, push forth thy teares of griefe, and make them [Page] flowe in abundaunce, for laughlng thou descendest to hel, but murning thou ascendest to heauen: Wilt thou haue Christ dwel with thee,Amb. hom: 1. lib. 1 mourn? Wilt thou haue Christe dwell in thee? mourne. Wilt thou haue sinne mortified in thee? mourn: Wilt thou haue grace plentyfull in thee? mourne. O remember that Peter after hee had bewayled his apostasie, found greater grace by his teares, than hee lost by his deniall.

Looke on Dauid the adulterer, hee weepeth, and is restored: Look on Agar the desolate, she weepeth, and is comforted: Looke on weeping Anne, she recouereth her barrennesse.

Looke on mourning and weeping Iob, hee ouercommeth his temptations: mourning Ieremie prophesieth, the mourning Publicane is [Page] iustifyed, and mourning Ioseph is deliuered.

Oh teares of great worth, working great thinges with GOD. By teares Marie obtayned the pardon of her sinnes: by teares shee obtained the resurrection of her deade brother: for her teares sake, the Angelles came and comforted her: for her teares sake our Sauiour first appeared and shewed himselfe vnto her.

Great is the vertue and power of teares, which tie the handes of the omnipotent, ouercome the inuincible, appease the wrath and indignation of the Iudge, and doth change and conuert it into mercie.

Hee that standeth on a profound and deepe pit, sayeth the Philosopher, seeth the stars at noonstead: [Page] where hee that standeth on the face of the earth, seeth not one starre in so great a light: In like maner, he that is placed in the deapth of humilitie, teares, sighs, and tribulation, sigheth to heauen, and summoneth God by his cries: but hee that standeth in the light of this worlde, and in the brightnesse of worldlye lasciuiousnesse, can see no star, or retaine anie grace.1 Dionisius. Shall I teach you how to bewaile Christ? First loue him, for loue vniteth things together, drawing all mans interest from himself, and placing it in another: when thou art conuerted into Christ, then mayest thou truely bewaile him. For the losse of things then neerest touch vs, when they are best knowee vnto vs. Those that are one in affection, are one in passiō, one in desires, one in teares, one in loue, one in sorrow, one in minde, one in martyrdome: [Page] mockers martyr Christ, penitents weep for him, blasphemeis crucifie him, the sorrowfull are comforted by him, O men, learne and vnderstand this, our Lord suffered of will, not of necessitie, and hee indured of commiseration, we in condition: his voluntarie passion therefore, is our necessarie consolation, that being afflicted as hee was, we may be confident as he was. Will you know the hunger and thirst of this aduocate? Ahlasse, hee scarce found one theese on the gallowes whome hee might taft: his Apostles are fled from him, and hid them in the throng: Peter that promised to perseuer till death, hath denied him. Wherevpon then shall hee feed, if all soules flie him? Nay, howe can hee hope orf loue, where none weep for him? Oh man thou art made iust by the iustice of God? Thou art saued gtatis, and not [Page] by thy graces: thou hast none to flie to, but to him in necessities, thou hast no life but it proceedeth from him: vnder the Sunne thou hast nothing but watching, sleeping, eating drinking, hunger, thirst, growth, weaknes, infancy, childhood, youth, age, and all these hee gaue thee. Aboue the Sunne, thou hast inuisible faith,August in Psalm 38 inuisible hope, inuisible charitie, inuisible bountie, inuisible feare in holynesse, which he willingly offereth thee. Oh then giue him teares for his treasures, a small interest for so great riches. Oh yee sinful race of men, what are you but a sacke of necessities? Ahlasse, what necessities are these? Not to knowe anothers heart, to thinke ill oftentimes of a faithfull friend, to thinke well oftentimes of a dissembling enemie? O hard necessitie! yet another harder. Thou knowest not what thou shalt be tomorow. O greatest miserie! yet another harder. Thou must needes [Page] die: O harde necessitie! not to wyll that which thou canst not escape? In this confusion what canst thou man? Whether art thou carried? How art thou bannished? Crie and crie out, vnhappie man that I am, who shall deliuer mee from these? Who shall aunswere thee? Who shall helpe thee? Not ambition, for it is blinde: not lust, for it hastens death: not wrath, for it subdueth reason: not the infirmities of the world, for they are all fraile: It must be humble Iesus then, that must heal these imperfectious, recouer these necessities, & determine these daungers, to whom thou no sooner canst offer teares, but he sodainly sendeth remedies. Oh what hart can bee so hardned?August in Psalm 10 What mind so obdurate? What soul so sensles, that beholding a prince in his owne kingdome, amongst his owne subiects, massacred [Page] by his owne sonne, wil not grieue at it: by how much reason then (ō you bond slaues of sinne) should you be sorrowfull, that see a prince, not slaughtered in his owne kingdome, but vniustly murthred in the world, not among his subiectes, but his brethien: not by his sonnes onely, but sonnes, seruants, and liegemen: nay, which is more, not for his owne offence, his owne default, his owne errour, but for their sinnes onely who persecute him onely. Oh wonderful charitie, Christ spreadeth his armes to imbrace those that spit at him, openeth his woūds to intertain those that will enter, offereth his bloud to ran some them that shedde it, giueth his flesh to bee eaten, to those that mangled it: he praieth for theyr offences that fastned him to the crosse,August in Psalm 41 he made their sinnes his sinne, that hee might make his iustice their iustice. [Page] Oh if there be anie kindnesse in thee (man) thinke on these benefits: looke, looke about thee, consider the waight of thy offences, which stops the Fathers cares, though the sonne crieth, Make Christ sweat water and bloud for verie agonie in bearing them, make heauen, and earth, and all creatures breake out in miracles to beholde them. Iob vppon the deuils request,Iob i was lefte to him to bee tempted, and after his long patience receiued blessinges two folde: but our Lord was whipte, and no man helped him: foulely spit vppon, and no man succoured him: lewdly buffetted, and no man regarded him: crowned with thornes, and no man pittied him: nailed to the crosse, and no man deliuered him: hee cryed, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? and was not succored. Why oh good Iesu, whence came [Page] these thinges? For what cause sufferedst thou all this? To what end are all these torments? Why cryed the Iewes, Crucifie, crucifie? Why wert thou poured out like water? Why were all thy bones dispearsed? Why became thy heart like melting wax? Why cleaued thy tong to thy roof? Why diuided they thy garments & cast lots on thy vesture? O Christ, the sonne of God, if thou wouldest not, thou shuldest not haue suffred: shew vs therfore the fruit of this thy passion: It was thy sinne (O sinner) that caused this, it was thy disobedience to God that was punished in Gods sonne: to shew the horrour of thy offence, power was made desolate. Oh stony heart be not so obstinate, let teares drop from thine eyes to recompence the bloud pouring from his wounds: sigh bitterly with him that praied earnestlye for thee. [Page] What is this sinne, sayest thou, that inforceth such a sacrifice? That which maketh all men in the world flie from their saluation,August. li: 12 de ciuitate Dei and runne after theyr owne concupiscences without anie feare: that which leadeth men downe to hell, that which blindeth the vnderstanding, that which maketh men like vnto foolish beastes: for as beastes incline themselues to earthly pleasures, so sinners betroth themselues to worldly desires: that which maketh men seeke onely those things which are of the flesh, that which maketh men esteem their belly for their God. Sinners are compared to hogs by their detracting, for as the hogge deuoureth doung, so detracting & sinfull men, other mens sinnes and filthines: For lecherie they are compared vnto a horse:Phil 30 Rom: 8 for folly and slownesse to an asse: for their solicitude & worldlie [Page] care, to an oxe: for their curious cō uersations, to an ape: for their inconsiderate boldnes, to a lyon: for their crueltie, to a beare: for their vanitie, to libards: for their crafte, to a foxe. Sinne is the trangression of the laws of God,Numquid potest Athiops mutare pellem suain aui paidus varietate [...] and the disobedience of his commandements: Sinne, is the contrarie to nature: sinne draweth vs from the soueraigne good, to make vs subiect to brittle, fraile, and mutable pleasures.Ambrose li. de pa [...]ad: ho. 32 quest. 133 art. 1 [...]ay [...]9 Plato in Gorgia Sinne diuideth vs from God. To conclude, (as the Ethnike witnesseth) the sinner is onely miserable: Sinne depriueth man of eternall beatitude, banisheth him from heauen, confineth him with hell, despoileth him of graces, exileth him from paradice. Briefely, it maketh him the most miserable amongest miserable. Sinne peruerteth the order of nature, impugneth our reason, vigeth our sensualitie: sin blindeth [Page] the spirite, darkneth the vnderstanding (ordained to contemplate spirituall things:) Sinne soileth and infecteth the solue, depriueth it of her nuptiall garment, and maketh it filthie and loathsome: according to that of the Prophet, Denigrata est super carbones facies eius. Sinne after it hath blinded the vnderstanding, hardeneth the heart, and maketh obstinate in iniquitie: whence commeth the habitude of sinne, which is the extremitie of sinne, and as Philosophers conclude, another nature. Hee that sinneth, whatsoeuer he be, either king in his diadem,Abissus abissum inuocat Psalm 41 Ex frequentatione actu um genetatur habitus Arist Categ Rom. 6 Iohn 8 prince in his purple, poore, in his miserie, he is the slaue of sinne: who therefore by sinne is giuen ouer as a praie to vices, looseth his libertie, and cannot resist his vnhappines. See sinner, see, what horror, what confusion? Look with what foes you are inuironed, [Page] that you may knowe the greatnes of your deliuerance: you are vncurable by sinne, & Christ healeth you: you are separated from God, from the Angels, from the Patriarkes, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, by sin, and Iesus restoreth you: you are impouerished by sinne, and hee inricheth you: you are made abhominable, and hee blesseth you.

O if you knewe howe abiecte & wretched a sinfull soule is, you woulde resist it, (saieth a father,) euen vnto the death. Waries, plagues, famine (the whips of God) sicknesse, dishonours, and aduersity, (the tooles of his correction) howe light trifles are these in comparison of loathsome sinne? Tyrannies, iniuries, oppressions, the fury of the fire, the danger of water, the contagion of aire, the trembling of the earth, [Page] finally, all the complements of euils which persecute man, proceed from sinne: so that rightlye it maye bee sayde,Quicquid patimur peccata nostra merue [...]t all that which the wretched suffer, their sinnes haue deserued it. Oh the horrour of sinne, oh the terrible issues thereof: wretched men take heede and looke about you, let your haires stand vpright for verie fright, and let your bloud flie to your heart, to comfort it in the extremity of your thoughts, no punishment can satisfie for it, no death can recompence for it, but the flames of hell eternall in theyr extremitie, extreame in their eternitie.

Oh harde hearted soules, solde and quite giuen ouer to your owne sensualities, beholde the issues of your euill liues, beholde your martirdomes for crucifying Christ, if you reconcile not & weep with him [Page] you shall haue perpetuall darknesse without light, you shall be depriued of Gods presence, (a greater tormēt to the damned than may be expressed) fire shall burne you vnquenchably, darknes shall blind you vnseparably, conscience shal accuse you incessantly, deuills shall persecute you eternally, cries, cursinges, and blasphemies shall hant you continually, desolation and discomfort shall detaine you perpetually. Finally, without remorse in life, there is no redemption after death. O Iesus my son, how rich art thou in compassiō, thou onely healest these wounds, & recouerest these harmes. It is thou onely that canst dull the sting of this death, thy bloud onely satisfieth for these defaults. Ah deare Lord, thou art worthie of teares, thou deseruest remorse, thou hast purchased compassion. Oh woful spectacle for men [Page] to weepe at, for angels to sigh at. Oh sacrifice for sinne, O attonement for offences, oh seale of redemption. O contemplation to extort teares, to behold innocencie martired with so many and grieuous wounds. Oh libertie taken prisoner, oh truth accused, oh innocencie whipped, oh iustice condemned, oh glorie discruciate, oh life dead and crucified: oh highnesse of charitie, oh basenesse of humilitie, oh greatnes of mercie, oh excesse of bountie. Thou hast wept for all,Granaten. & art bewailed of none: thou hast borne many hurts, to cure a few hearts: thou hast bene a corrosiue to thy mother, to be a cordiall to men: but men weepe thee not, they passe by wagging their heads at my woe, & hiding their faces, least they shuld be inforced to bewaile thee. Theyr hearts are become adamants, & loathing to spende teares themselues, [Page] they grieue to grace my teares by hearkning to them. Ah heauenly father, let me consume with sorrow till I see him: let my life passe like a tale that is told: let my soul (that mourneth within me) giue a libel of diuorce to this flesh, that I in spirit may seeke him out, who in the flesh did glorifie me. Thou that rainedst vppon the earth fortie daies, to reuenge thee on the rebellious, open the cloudes of thy compassion ouer mee, that they weeping on mee, and I with them, I may be drowned in them, innocencie may be quickned by me. All Iudah & Israel mourned for Iosiaz,Paral. 15 & shall teares want to bewaile Iesus? See my sonne, I will beare thy crosse on my shoulders, imprint thy passisions in my heart: I will beat so long vpon my breast, that the eccho therof shall pearce all eares: I will sigh so long, till the furnace of my charitie [Page] steame out my hart, and the winged chast affections of my soul, soare heauens, search earth, finde my sonne, or forsake my soule. Ah my son, no Absolon a sinner, but Iesus a sauiour. The root of my hope is waxed olde, and the stocke thereof is dead in the ground; When shal these closed eies open to warme him as his sonne? When shall thy breath quicken and cheere my barrennesse, the daies of my desolation are come. The blessedst amongest women, is now the miserablest amongst mothers. Grief hath brought mee to deaths doore, (my sonne) but death will not let me enter, oh then shewe thy deitie to helpe thy mother, and let me die in this desolate flesh, to liue in thy diuine bodie, the ioy in possessing the one, shall temper the losse of the other, and dying in my selfe to giue thee life, I shall liue in death by reason of thy lyfe. O Lorde [Page] Lord of my life, how hath zeal made mee presume? no soule meriteth to dwel in this body but thine own: thus impatience in loue, makes mee too much presume for loue: Fruites long time shut in their buds, by rain, deawe, and sunne are made to blossome: riuers closde in then bounds by huge windes, are forced to ouerlope the bankes. The Ostridge by helpe of the Sun and sand, breaketh the shell: ripen then (thou roote of mine) for the raine of remorse hath watered thee, the deaw of compassion hath wet thee, the sunne of my zeale and charitie hath looked on thee, and inflamed thee: rise & rouse thy selfe thou riuer of God, for the windes of my sighs haue summoned thee: ouerbeare death, holye spring of happines, and let the waters of life issue from thee. Breake the shell of death, thou that fastedst in the desart, [Page] and let the sunne of my desire quicken the sun of vnderstanding, be not to long in conquering death, least I loose life in wailing thy death. How long ô Lorde, howe long wilt thou delay? Shall death neuer haue end, because my life may be deuoured in death? Wilt thou not awake like a strong warriour, to conquere these passions with combat with thy mothers heart? Set thine axe to the tree of my sorrowe, let mine eyes which bewaile thee dead, beholde thee liuing; let mine eares, which are scard with mine owne clamors, bee consolated by thy counsels: let mee smell thee the rose, and see thee the lilly richly clothed: let me tast howe sweet the Lord is: let me touch him, whose absence toucheth mee at the hart: let my imagination be the vsher, to present thee, my memorie, the painter, to describe thee, my consideration [Page] the fire to kindle loue. Let hell, hunger, thirst, weepe and waile, come thou and ioy with Israel, thou hast not to doo with Aegypt. Come thou corner stone, and let me builde on thee, wed me to death, so thou returne to life, I cannot want thee. I will not misse thee, my loue is so feruent, as it neither measures iudgement, or regardeth counsel, or is brideled by shame,Bernard or subiect to reason: come yeeld me peace with a kisse of thy mouth, and let my importunacy work more with thee than all expectation can require. Lēd me the cloak of thy presence, to diuide the waters of my woes: let thy mother bee as strong as thy prophet, that by praying to our Lorde with teares, by putting my mouth on thy mouth,4: Reg. [...] by fastning mine eies to thine eies, by closing my handes in thy handes, I may make the flesh of my sonne wax [Page] warme: as he warmed the flesh of the Sunamites child, then gasping seuen times I wold kisse thee seuētie times seuen, & seeme more thy louer than thy mother. I wold expostulate with thee of thine absence, and if thy wounds fell new a bleeding, I would wash them with my teares; my hairs should dry them, my lips should suck them, thou shouldest make me more than a mother, in recouering mee an absent sonne. Well Lorde, if thou denyest that I want, I will reioyce in that I haue, I wil symbolise thy body with mine, and quicken thy passion by my sufferance: There shal no sorrow be hid from mine eies, till I see thy eyes open, and till the eies of our Lord quicken mee, the eie of poore Marie shall see no comfort: mine eie shal onely see by supposing thine eie seeth: all pleasures shal be smoake to mine eies, till thy eies doo beholde [Page] them: till thy eies bee waking, mine eies shall be weeping, and vnles they grow open,Eccles. 21 I will shut mine eies with sorrow. I will set a sure seale vppon my lips, [...] 4 till thy lips salute me, & my lips shall become white as the lilly, til thy lips grow crimson like a rose coloured riband.1. b 5 My vnsained lips shal bee tired with praier, till such time I may inioy thy desired presence: my handes shall neuer vnfolde, till the hands of my Lord be extended: I wil neuer deliuer thy bodie out of my hands, till thou deliuer my soule out of her sorrow: I will lay my hand vppon my mouth, till thou speakest, & neuer wil I cease to lift vp my hands to heauen, till thy hands haue imbraced me on earth: till thou put foorth thy hand, I will leane my head vpon my hande, and till thy fingers touch me, my heart shall bee touched with sorrow: the wings of the cherubines [Page] touched one another, ô let the wings of my charity touch the wings of my life, both are allied, both loue. They that touched the hem of thy vesture, recouered from their sicknesse, shall not I touch thy bodie to recouer me of my sorrow? The bodie which liueles touched the bones of Elisa, 4. Reg: 13 were restored to life; and shall my hands touch thee, my lippes kisse thee, my loue importune thee, and thou not liue?Arist. libro Phil. 1 All heauie thinges by nature search the center, I am in the abundance of my heauinesse, and cannot descend into the graue: I will glorie in tribulation,2 Corint. 12 so thou grace me in thy life. My soule is in bitternesse, and heauie captiuitie, oh make my burden light, by once looking on mee.Ieremy 6 The Iewes by smiting haue wounded thee, thou by absence hast wounded mee, sorrow and wounds are euer in my sight: touch I thy [Page] browe, thornes haue wounded it: kisse I thy cheekes, crimson hath forsaken them, thy sides are wounded, thy hands are wounded, thy feet are wounded, my wounds cannot bee hid till thy wounds be healed,Marke 11 and til thou liue to recure mee, I shall die thorough wanting thee. Thou hast promised that whatsoeuer wee shall faithfully aske in thy name, thou wilt grant it vs. Then ô Iesu, my sonne, my cōforter, I coniure thee by thine owne name Iesus, to blunt and abate the sting of death, to breake vp and dispearse the cloudes of darknes, and appearing like a fair morning starre, quicken the dead comfort of thy mother, and giue a light to this desolate and dismaide worlde. Shew the light of thy countenance, and I shall be whole. O Lord my redeemer, tarrie not, my soule thirsteth after thee my sonne, & as the hart desireth the [Page] hart desireth the water brookes, euen so my soule longeth after thee my God. Appeare then thou chief shepheard,2: Pet: 5 thy flocks saint without thee. Apparell thy selfe with life, to apparell our hearts with ioy: my eies long fore for thy sight, oh when wilt thou comfort me.Psal: [...] Ies [...] 9

O who will giue my head water inough, and a spring of teares for mine eies, that I may weepe daie & night for the absence of my son? Ahlas, ahlas, sorow increaseth in me, and heauinesse swalloweth vp my soule: my teares are like seede in a barren ground, the garden of my delight is become a desart of sorrow, I am like a mother bemourning her child, because he is not. Oh thou angell of peace, come and succour me: Ah my sonne, the happinesse in bearing thee, is buried through the heauinesse in missing thee: and the hope [Page] I conceiued of thy life, is preuented by thy lamentable death. Wo is me, I am sicke to the death, to see thee dead, I am sicke for loue, and desire to hasten thy life. Wilt thou lifte the poore out of the dust,Phil.23 and leaue thy mother in desolation? Oh lifte vp thine eies, and see howe the mother lifteth vp her voice and weepeth!Cant: 8 Oh loue, if thou art mightier than death, now shew thy power, lighten the lampe of his life, at the candle of my charitie: Poure the oyle of thy compassion into these wounds, and heale them, breath the breath of life into him by imbraces and kissing: as I claspe mine armes, let him gaspe & breath: as I weep on his face, let him sucke vp my teares: O death, if thou be more pittifull than loue, imprison thy dart in my heart, & ransome my sonne. Ahlas the fairest among men, loue will not lend him me, death wil [Page] not grant him me, his mother must be onely kinde, and her best tributes are but teares, prayers, kisses, and wishes. Ah Bethelem, mourn with me, and you inhabitants of Iuda, put on sackcloth, for sorrow is come vppon you, and the voice of the mourner must ring in your streetes, houle and lament Ierusalem, weepe the teares of contrition, sigh, sob, & complaine you, he that loued you lost his lyfe, he that wept for you, is dead for you: hee that praied for you, is plagued for you. Ah crosse that hast made my sonne a martyr, and mee a mourner! Ah crosse that art the meane of my griefe: Ah crosse, the cause of crosse, I must kisse thee, & accuse thee. See, see, thou art honoured by my Iesus name, his purple drops of blud dwel in thee, thou diddest kisse his bodie, his warme bodie, and for these causes I kisse thee. But cruel crosse, since [Page] all thy trophies are cause of my trouble: thy titles, the occasions of my teares: let me accuse thee, which hast honored thy selfe, and left me comfortlesse: yet art thou kinde to me in listning my complaintes, and but in bearing the name of Iesus in thy front, thou hast alreadie recouered my fauour. O crosse, the image of mortification,Bernard the tree of redemption, the bond of peace, the seal of the couenant, I will crosse mine armes to imbrace thee. Crosse, all my ioyes to containe thee, I will be a crosse to mine owne soule, if it seeke thee not, and count euerie comfort a crosse, that is not crost by thee. I will crosse the seas of tribulation to incounter thee, & whilst I hold thee holy crosse I will count no crosse too cruell: I that bare my sonne, will holde it for no base benefit to beare his crosse, [...]: 4 & the onely glorying in the crosse of [Page] Christ crucified, shal be my best blessing: my loue shall fasten mee to my sonnes crosse, and in that he vouchsafed a crosse,Col: 1 I will esteeme no glorie but in his crosse. O sonne, the words of thy wisedome were pricks and nailes to my meditation: these fastned thee vnto me in all assaultes of sorrowe, and those nailes which nailed thy handes and feete to the crosse, shall nail my soul & thoughts to thy crosse, & with my nailes I will dig my owne graue, before I forsake those nails which forced thy hands: Like as a nail in the wall sticketh fast, so fastly shall the nailes of thy martirdome sticke in my heart:Eccle. 27 I will naile vp my soule from all ioy, because the naile that issued from Iuda is broken: my flesh is torne with thornes,Zach: 16 because thy forehead is rent wyth thornes: the thornes of tribulation persecute me, because the thornes of [Page] martirdome pearceth, I will hedge in my heart with thornes, because they haue hemd in thy braines with thornes. Whether vnto extendeth my sorrowe? If it was thy loue that madest thee suffer, it becommeth my loue to suffer with thee:Iob 81 and since thou giuest mee an example of patience, why should I not preserue the same? Though the shadow of death ouerspred thine eies, hope saith they shall be lightned: though thy life be nowe like the darke night, it shortly shall be as cleere as the noone daie, yea, thou shalt shine forth and bee as the morning.

The shepheards after great storms wait for faire weather: the souldiers after dreadfull warre, expect happie peace: the sentinell after his colde watch, attendeth, and intendeth his desired and wished sleepe: pleasures are the heires of displeasures, & comfort [Page] treadeth on the heele of care. Why expostulate I then with death? who hauing a time to tyrannize, shal at last be lead in triumph: the storms of afflictions shall bee calmed, the warres of rufull wailing, shall haue a peacefull delight: these watchfull complaints and attendings to see my loue, shal at last be quieted, and I shal laie me downe and take my rest, for my Lord shall come, and cause mee to dwell in safetie. Brieftie, all teares shal be wiped from mine eies, deaths sting shall bee dulled, lifes triumph shall bee established, sorrowe shall be disinherited, and maiestie reuiued.

Oh my charitie, how much doest thou helpe mee in this? my faith onely presenteth mee wyth all these hopes, as it were vnder a vaile, my hope beholdeth my sonne (& these future prophesies of him (as the [Page] chiefest good (which as yet vnpossessed she hopeth to inioy) but thou my charitie makest all these ioyes present, so that I behold effectuallye thinges before thy bee, and craue no interest in beleefe, whereas my loue assures mee all is present. Ah that the aduersitie of an houre shoulde make mee thus forget the pleasures I had in lyfe? when I lulled thee in my lap my son, fostered thee at these teates, followed thee in trauels, fedde with thee in Aegypt: Then, ô then what sweetnes inioyed I in thy presence: what comfort in thy counsels, what courage in extreams? Ah but if it be true, that thinges the dearer they are loued, breed the more hart griefe by their losse: howe can I choose but waile, that hauing had pleasure to wrappe thee in thy swathing bands, must nowe to my discomfort, close thee in thy winding sheete: Can [Page] the want of thy companie, the lacke of thy counsells, the muficke of thy preachings, the miracles in thy lyfe, the charitie in thy death be expiated but with another death, or answered with a few sighs? Ah this aduersitie of an hour (in other mens thoughts) is an age in mine. Compare the age of thy pleasure, to one minute of the griefe, and it exceedeth it. The earth for a little trauell rewardeth the husbandman with a huge crop,Tul ▪ Offi. 1; and shal I bee more vnkind than the earth, to the king of the heauens (who as the beam in the glasse, hath inriched my wombe, and annointed me with the oyle of gladnesse aboue my felows) shall I requite his kindnesse & great mercies with a few faint teares? No my charitie shall not let me, my loue shall suffer my griefe to exceed her, and reason shall surrender his Lordship to passion, sufficeth it my son, [Page] that in spirit I assure mee of thy life; yet in flesh whilest thou art absent, & dwellest with death, let mee bewaile thee, (for humane weaknesse requireth a little more weeping. Of one spark, (saith the wise man) is made a great fire, of one kernell a large tree, of one grain of mustard seed, a great and grosse number: why then shuld not one care beget another, one tear produce multitudes, one sighe inforce stormes, wherethorough my griefe might bee endlesse in lamenting, my teares ceaselesse in weeping, and my sighs incessant in their doubling? Hanna was troubled in her minde, and wept sore to get a sonne, and shuld not Marie be tormented in soule, and weep instantly that hath left a sonne? Achsah married to Othouiel, humbled her selfe before her father, and sayd, Giue me a blessing, thou hast giuen mee a South lande, [Page] giue mee also springes of water. As Achsah to Caleb her father, so I to shee my God;Greg. libro [...] Dialog. thou hast giuen mee a South land of desolation, wherin the fruits of hope are barre, the blossoms of ioyes are blasted: Oh giue mee therefore a well spring of teares, to water this wast, that my hopes maye ripe by my ruth, and my ioyes maye bloome after their blasting. Iosiah considering the long absence & concealment of the bookes of the lawe, rent his garments for griefe, & wept bitterly: Wonder not therefore ô ye men of Israel, though Marie rent hir heart, rent her hairs, rent hir clothes, for the hath lost & long wanted, the Lord of the lawe, the maker of Moses, the father of the people, the passeouer and pledge of mans redemption. As the hand which is filled with oue thing, can receiue and containe no other thing,August. so my heart being filled [Page] with the loue of this absent Christ, the griefe in wanting him, & the woundes that wounde him) can loue nothing better than to lament him: can grieue at nothing else but his want: finally, my eyes presenting his woundes to the consideration of the same, my thoughts are wounded, by dwelling in my heart, my heart is wounded by containing my thoughts, and both are wounded in imagining his wounds: yea, they are so filled with compassion, that they yeeld no place to consolation. Why then begette not these griefefull thoughtes more griefefull thoughts: these teares, more teares: these sighes, more sighes: which hauing onelye emperie in my heart, maye giue place to no ioye, but breake the circumference that incloseth them in in the centre of care, and getting better freedome to produce [Page] more, they maye in theyr eternitie make mee more miserable, and my moane more fruitful', my sorrowe more plentifull, thorough the foisons of my misfortune. Ah Marie, thou canst not make thine abilitie aunswerable to thy will, thy life hath limites, and must limite thy teares. Hee that bindeth the flouds that they ouerflow not, boundeth thy teares. Thou hast wept to the vtterance, thou hast no more to vtter: the darknes must once come to an end, the cloudes must at last bee dissolued, and euerie thing must end at his appointed time, and as there is a time to bemoane, so lykewyse there is a time to bee merrie.

If thou weepe tyll thou weepe awaie lyfe, and crie till thy dayes bee consumed and quite wasted, a daie shal come to determine both? What [Page] shall I become a comforter? or giue a lawe to my remorse, who cannot comprehend my losse? No mine eies weepe on, whilest I haue a time to liue, giue no tearme to your teares: as fast as you weep them, my braines shall distill them, the fire of my loue shall helpe to distill them, they cannot cease till I die, and beeing dead, what need I seeke to bewaile, his absence, being assured of his presence? Th̄e til I die I wil not cease to weep, that being dead, I may behold him, & whilest I liue, I will count all food vaine, till I feede on his presence. If mine eies growe wearie, my sighes shall assist them, and when both of them are infeebled, my cries shall be inforced: in the hollow of his sepulchre I wil execute these drirements, and I will exclaime so long on death till I make him deafe with hearing me. Make him deafe poore Marie? [Page] Ahlas, he is alwaies deafe and insensible, it were a second death to assault him: hee is not tamed by intreaties, tempted by perswasions, bribed by benefits, or allured by lamentations, tearmes please him not, tears pearce him not, it were an endlesse labour, a fruitlesse worke. Oh my sonne, how am I discruciate for thee, I woulde worke, I know not what, to win thee I know not how, I wold end my sorrow, and desire to begin it, I woulde beare thee to thy graue, could I cease to imbrace thee, I would complaine of my desires, so I might appease them, and conquer my affections, so I might command them: but flames that are 'quickly kindled, are hardly quenched, and where oyle seeds the lampe of sorrowe, it will hardly bee extinguished. My sighs preuent my teares, and inforce them to issue, my teares preuent my thoughts, & make [Page] them impatient, my thoughtes preuent my reason, and admit no moderation, my reason would preuent all this, but loue preuenteth it: my loue beeing of it selfe firie, will not cease burning till it imbrace thee, flaming, till it find thee out: my charitie is soueraigne of all my delights, she wils mee die to liue with thee: And as in Salomons temple there, there was nothing that was not couered with golde, so is there not anie parte, sense, motion, or action in me, or the liuing temple of my soul, which is not inuested with loue, clothed with charity, which hauing the nature of fire, (which is the most actiue of all elementes) is neuer idle, but reuiueth teares when they are extinct, quickneth sighs when they cease: armeth thoughtes, when they are dismaide: and forceth reason when shee fainteth. As the roote is [Page] to the tree, the soule to the bodie, the sunne to the worlde: such are thou to mee, O my sonne: the boughs are not clothed with green, except they bee vnited to the root: the members inioye no lyfe, except they be imformed by the soule: the worlde partaketh no light, excepte the Sunne illuminateth and lightneth the same: so my bodie inioyeth no lyfe except thou liue in mee, mine eyes no delight, excepte thou loooke vppon them, my thoughtes no cleere and perfect vnderstanding, vnlesse thou beautifie and beholde them. Briefely, I cannot bee mine owne without thee, I cannot liue, thou beeing dead, I cannot leaue weeping teares, vntill thou come and wipe awaie my teares. Hee that truely loueth (saith the Philosopher) is dead in his owne [Page] bodie, and liueth in anothers: then how commeth it to passe my sonne,Arist: Polit: 1 (if this reason doo holde) that I liue not in thee, who loue thee so dearly? If it be true, that ther are two tearms in all motions, the one from whence the thing parteth, the other whether it is resorted: why is it not this lyfe that hath lefte thee, incorporated in my bodie? and my life which should forsake my bodie, possessed of thine? Our loues are in the highest degree perfect, why haue not then these causes their effects? Why liuest thou not my sonne? Why moue not these handes with mine? Why stirres not this hart with mine? Why open not these eyes with mine? Why speakes not this mouth with mine? Oh my God, except it bee imperfection of my bodie, I know nothing can withdrawe thy lyfe from me. By it I liue, [Page] by thy spirit my spirit breatheth, only my life is not in thy body, because it is vnworthie to expresse it, vnworthie to animate thy heart, open thine eyes, quicken thy handes and tongue: and thy life is not in mine, because my bodie is vnable to contain it: yet a sparke of thy spirit is my loue, and a beame of this loue is my desire, which by kisses I breath into thy lippes, which though it actually worke not in thee, yet by effectuall wil, I wish it in thee. What I can giue of my life, I lauishly haue spent on thee, my life liueth in my bodie, though my body liue not, til thy bodie inioy life, the life of my bodie is liuelesse, onely my charitie which is in me, taken from thee (who art the tree' of life, and fountaine of charity) maketh my bodie liuing in spight of my will, and inforceth all my senses [Page] (through vehemencie of my spirit,) to worke theyr offices in a liuelesse body, and a hartlesse creature, which liueth onelie by thee, and cannot liue but in thee: so if I liue, I liue forcibly, till thou liue. And to verefie this philosophie (in that I loue thee truly) I leaue my selfe to liue in thee, & onely by the liuing charity which is in me, my handes imbrace thee, as they doo, mine eies bewaile thee with teares, and euerie other parte worketh as thou wouldest. Ah Lord now see I the reason of my deadlie lyfe, and thy wounding death: thou the hope of the disconsolate, art crucified. thou the fountaine of life, art troubled: how can my life then bee fruitfull, who was ingraffed by thee, Or thy death bee but wounding, when thou the fountayne (by whom I liue) art dried vp by death? [Page] If of contraries, there growe a contrarie reason, why shoulde I feare? The wicked (sayth Iob) shall neuer departe out of darknesse, the flame shall drie vp their branches, with the blasts of Gods mouth shall they bee taken awaie. What then shall become of the godly? If the wicked dwell in darknesse, they shall inioye light? If the flame dry vp their branches, the children of the righteous shall bee like Oliue branches: if the godlesse be blasted by Gods mouth, the innocent shall bee blessed with his benefites: Then what shoulde I feare? And what not hope? Thou knowest me (ô Lord my father) how I have conceiued in' innocencie, and hated the workes of darknesse: thou knowest my sonne hath suffered in innocencie, let therefore the fruit of my wombe florish, let thy promises be accomplished in Iacob, & thy couenant in Israel.

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Though death hath blasted the branch, by a winter of others sinne, let the spring of thy mercie comfort the roote, and animate the bowes, so shall thy terrors and promises be accōmplished in both sortes. The waight of their shames shall weigh downe the euill: the workes of the iust shall preuaile before thy mercie seate. There are two teares, O Lorde, wherewith thou art pleased, the one of ioy and praise, the other of sorow and lamentation: I wepte the teares of ioye when thou blessedst my wombe, I weepe the tears of sorow, because the hope of my daies is decaid. Quicken him O Lord, and incourage mee, and as I receiued him with delight, nourished him with care, wept for him with ioy, and lost him with griefe: so let mee recouer him with cōfort, who wept for him through discontent & losse, and behold [Page] him in his resurrection, and triumph in his ascention, that pleasing In either sort of teares, I maye praise thee for both sortes of mercie. O my bodie, thou hast passed the wildernesse of woe, no rocke hath beene so kinde to yeeld thee an eccho, my only breast by often beating on, hath ecchoed my stripes, so that in my self I haue had the cause of complaint, & report. Oh my soule, thou hast been sifted by incessant sorrow, all thy intellectual powers & discurfiue parts, haue beene plagued by themselues, and supposing their weale lost, they intertaine no hope to come.

Thus plagued in bodie and distressed in soule, sate poore Marie (a holy and happie virgin) enacting hir griefe with her armes, when she had ouerforced both her tongue and eies with compassion: briefely, her paine & impatience beeing so great [Page] as her wordes could not expresse it, hir desires so importunat, as they exceeded all her delightes. The image of her griefe before her, and the domage of her losse within her, shee sownded on the senselesse earth, and being conueied to her oratorie by the holy assistance, the sacred bodie of Christ was bound vp and borne to the sepulchre.

FINIS.

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§

§

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Prosopopeia CONTAINING THE TEARES OF THE holy, blessed, and sanctified Marie, the Mother of GOD.

Luke 2.

And moreouer, the swoord shall pearce thy soule, that the thoughts of many hearts may be opened.

LONDON, Printed for E. White. 1596.

TO THE RIGHT NOBLE, THE MOTHER COVNTESSE, COVNTESSE of Darby, and the vertuous and deuout Countesse of Cumberland, Charitie in life, and eternitie after death.

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Right noble Madames (and more noble in that deuout) I haue made you patronesses of a iust cause, the teares of a matchlesse mother, shed for a Sauior & a sonne: If to begin your new yeere you shall but peruse these in deuotion, I doubt [...] but they wil proue holy motiues of meditation: in shedding one teare with Marie, you shall confesse with Barnard, that you purchase much interest in Iesus. I ioyne you in this greatest of your honors, not for your births [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] sake, (for wee may disparage our selues) neither your wealth sake, (for riches are as the deaw in Aprill) but for your vertue sake (which retaineth this qualitie of the Sunne, communicating his beames to all things, inriching euerie one without impouerishing himself.) Good Madames, accept these teares in their nature, and hold it better to weepe many times with Iesus and Marie, than to laugh with Belial and the world for the world hath deceiued you long, but pietie will eternize you for euer. If you shall but grace what I giue, my desires are satisfied: if giue what you owe, you shall grieue when you reade, if as you reade you consider, you haue the end of true consideration. For to lament sinne, is to redeeme sinne.

Noble Ladies, vse not these giftes as the Romane Matrones their puppies, spit not in their mouthes to make them waite at your heeles: neither cocker them at your breastes, least Caesar holde you more [Page] careful of your whelpes than your sonnes: but vse them as the goldsmith his mettal, trie them at the test of your contemplation, and so prise them. God worke that in your hearts, that my deuotion intendeth to your soules, and blesse you in giuing mee grace to serue him.

Your Honors most bounden, T. L.

To the Readers.

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IT was a custome amongest the Cretans, (gentle readers) when they intended to vse their most bitter and vehementest execratitio, to desire that those whom they hated, should fixe their whole delights and likings on an inueterate and euill custome. This Cretan course, I feare me, is fallen vppon our age, wherein men are so accustomed to vanitie, that nothing is pleaseth which is not pleasant, nothing is sought after which is not amorous. Which lamentable error and sicknes of our time, beeing so ordinarie, I almost waxe in despaire of the happie issue of my deuotion: for some I know will condemn me, & that iustly, for a Galba (who begat foul children by night, and made fayre pictures by daie:) To whom I answere, that I paint fair [Page] things in the light of my meditation, who begot the soule forepassed progenie of my thoughts, in the night of mine error. Some other, (and they superstitiously ignorant) will accuse me for writing these teares, desiring rather with Brentius, to impaire the honor of the mother of God, than with Bernard to inhance it. To whom I answer, that it is better imitating many holy mens deuotion, than cleauing to a few mens foolish and gracelesse contemptes. For other that haue wept (as Peter his apostasie, Marie her losse & misse of Christ,) their teares wrought from them either for repent or loue. But these teares of Marie the blessed, are not onely ratified by a motherlie compassion, a working charitie, & vnstayned loue, but by a manifest prophesie, wherein Zacharie tolde her, Et tuam ipsius animam pertransibit gladius, And the sword of sorrow shall pearce thy heart. And the reason is anexed, To the end that the harts of many may be opened. This swoord of griefe, sayth Beda, is the swoord of sorrow for our Lordes passion, Chrisostome and Bernard, the sword of loue. To good men therefore let this suffice, that in imitation [Page] of no lesse than fiue & twenty ancient, holy, and Catholique Fathers of the Church, I haue enterprised this Prosopopeia: to the bad I yeeld no reason at all, who wanting deuotion, can haue no feeling at all. Some there bee that will not onely gybe at this complaint, but impaire the person, drawing from Maries demerite all that which the fathers in her life helde marueilous, to whome beside the speciall testimones of Iohn Damascene, and holy Gregory, who haue written largely of her dignities, I oppose that of Bernards, Quod seminae obtemperat, humilitas sine exemplo, quod faemina Deo principetur, sublimitas sine modo. Some there be that will accuse the stile, as to stirring, some the passion, as too vehement. To the first I will be thankfull, if they amend mine errours: to the next I wish more iudgment, to examine circumstances. Some (and they too captious) will auowe that Scriptures are misapplied, fathers mistaken, sentences dismembred. Whome I admonish (and that earnestlie) to beware of detraction, for it either sheweth meere ignorance, or mightie enuie, for [Page] the detracter first of all sheweth himselfe to be void of charitie, and next of all extinguisheth charitie in others. To leaue them satisfied therefore, let this sussise, I haue written nothing without example, I build no wares on mine owne abilitie. If therefore they hold it mistaken which they haue not read, let them acquaint mee wyth their mislikes, I will further their readings and establish their iudgements.

Finally, whosoeuer Turke like, seeketh to kill mee with reproofes, for cherishing him with meditation, let him beware of ingratitude, least according to the opinion of the Platonikes, hee proue Corpus obliuiosum, a forgetfull and fantastike bodie.

Hauing thus preuented the captious, I turne to you curteous and vertuous readers, to whome I commit and commende these labors, wherein if you exercise your selues you shall gouern your senses, which as Gregorie witnesseth, are certaine windowes, whereat the waters of temptation doo enter. In meditating with Marie, you shall finde Iesus: in knowing Christs sufferance, you shall be instamed in his loue: in hearing his wordes, you shal partake his [Page] wisdome, which who inioteth, leaueth the world as transitorie, and seeketh after heauen for immortalitie. Heereon Augustine exclaimeth, Vnhappie is he that knoweth all things, & knoweth thee not: blessed is he that knoweth thee to despise all things. If these stirreanie fire of deuotion in you, then shal I not greue to see the Baalits, my reprouers, mangle themselues for shame, whilest the fire of Gods intire loue consumeth and drieth the sacrifice, Briefly, our Lord send a plentifull haruest of teares by this meditation, that the deuout heereby may wax more confident, the incredulous beleeuing: the indifferent, more zealous, that now at last after I haue wounded the world with too much surfet of vanitie, I maye bee by the true Helizeus, cleansed from the leprosie of my lewd lines, & beeing washed in the Iordan of grace, imploy my labour to the comfort of the faithfull.

Yours T. L.

ERRATA.

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Io A 4: page, li. 18 for sonne hath died, read son died In the 6: p, li:14, for sonne, read syen: in the 7, li, 4 for rest read rest, l, 19: for lost read lest: p 8, l. 8: for queen read quiet, p. 9, l: 16 & 17, read, one indiuided graue, might burie two indiuid, p, 10, l, 16, hart, read hearse p, 12, l, 4, for dissolution, read desolation: In C p, 8, li, 3, for a tree, read fiue p, 10, li, 11, read them, beeing reproued, p, 13 l, 17, desires, read disasters In D p, 16 Od [...]tus read Odilus; E, In p, 1, l, 20, mortuam, read mortuum.

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Information about this book

Title statement

Prosopopeia containing the teares of the holy, blessed, and sanctified Marie, the Mother of God.

Lodge, Thomas, 1558?-1625.

Edition statement

1596

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

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Date

2004-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A06171

ID [STC]

STC 16662A

ID [STC]

ESTC S1587

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

20229623

ID [OCLC]

ocm 20229623

ID [VID]

23854

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A06171)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 23854)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 1709:35)

Source

— Prosopopeia containing the teares of the holy, blessed, and sanctified Marie, the Mother of God., Lodge, Thomas, 1558?-1625..

Extent

[124] p.

Printed for E. White,. London :: 1596.. (Running title: The teares of Marie, the Mother of Christ.) (Dedication signed: T.L.) (Marginal notes.) (Errata: p. [12].) (Signatures: [A]⁸(-A1) B-H⁸.) (Reproduction of original in the British Library.)

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