A SPIRITVA'L and heauenly Exercise, de­uided into seauen pithy and briefe Meditations, for euery day in the weeke one.
The first Meditation, for Mon­day: of the miserie in which man is created.

THE Prophet Ieremy deploring the misery of his own condition, saith; How is it, Ierem. 20. that I cam forth of the wombe, to see labour and sorrow, that my dayes should be consumed with shame? If the Prophet sanctified in his mo­thers vvombe so lamentablie spake of himselfe, what shall I miserable and vvretched man say, conceaued and borne of my Mother in sinne?Hugo lib. 3. de anima. Hugo de S. Victore doth very well coun­saile vs; ô man, sayth he, learne to know thy selfe: Thou art [Page 22] better if thou knowest thy self, then if neglecting thy self, thou knevvest the motions of the starres, the vertue of hearbs, the complexions of men, and the natures of al heauenly & earth­ly creatures. For many men know many things, and know not themselues, vvhen as the knowledge of our selues is the chiefest Philosophy.

Consider therefore ô man,What man was before hee was borne. vvhat thou wast before thou wert born: what thou art now thou art borne vntill thou re­turne to dust: and what thou shalt be after death. Before thou wast borne, wast thou a­ny other thing, but an impure and vncleane matter, concea­ued of the corruption of the flesh, in the pollution of plea­sure, in the heat of lust, and that vvhich is vvorst of all, in the corruption of sinne? Ponder [Page 23] also with thy selfe, with what meat thou wast nourished be­ing conceaued in thy mothers wombe; surely with none o­ther, then with impure, men­struous and hurtfull blood, which stayeth in women from the time of theyr conceauing, that by it theyr yong ones may be nourished in their wombes. Remember that GOD hath created thee of the slime of the earth, which is the basest ele­ment. Hee created the starres and planets of fire, birds of the ayre, and fishes of water: but men and other creatures of the slime of the earth. Therfore compare thy selfe with the fi­shes and beasts bred of the wa­ter, and thou shalt find thy self of a more abiect nature, & vil­der condition, then they are. If thou beholdest the fowles and creatures that liue in the ayre, [Page 24] neyther art thou to be compa­red vnto them: if thou consi­derest the nature of the Pla­nets, starres, and other things made of fire, thou art much more ignoble. Thou canst neyther be compared to cele­stiall things, nor be preferred before terrestriall: but if thou comparest thy selfe to brute creatures, in these alone thou shalt find some semblance and likelihood with thy selfe, as the Wiseman testifieth, who sayth, That the condition of the children of men,Eccles, 3.and the condition of beasts are euen as one condition vnto them. As the one dyeth, so dyeth the other: for they haue all one breath, and there is no excellency of man aboue the beast. For man hath not, as touching his body, any more then a beast hath, seeing both of them are fra­med and created of earth, and [Page 25] both of them in like maner are resolued into earth. Remember that whē thou wast borne, thou wast brought foorth into thys miserable world howling and weeping, as it were foreseeing, and therfore bewayling the la­bours, dangers & dolors which in this worlde are to be sustai­ned: and that which is vvorst of all, deploring death it selfe. Wherefore, if perhaps thou beest borne in a noble and ho­norable place, neither remem­brest how vile a beginning and howe abiect an originall thou haddest; if the beautie of thy countenaunce, and comlinesse of thy proportion, if the linea­ments of thy body, if the fauor of the people, if the heate of youth, & aboundance of riches take away the knowledge of thy selfe frō thee, yet neuerthe­lesse, if thou desirest to knovve [Page 26] what man is, heare vvhat that most glorious Father S. Augu­stine sayth,S. Augu­stine. the star and light of the doctors of the church, hear I say what he saith; Wretched man, saith he, what am I, but a vessell ful of dung and corrup­tion? a stinking and detestable worm? poore, naked, subiect to many necessities? who knowes not whence I came, nor whe­ther I shall goe. Miserable and mortall am I, whose dayes va­nish & fade as a shadow, whose life increaseth and decreaseth as the Moone, and as a leafe vpon a tree, nowe florishing, and to morrow withering. I am earth, misery, the child of wrath, and a vessell of indignation & re­probation. I was borne in the corruption of sinne, I lyue in miserie and labour, and shall ende my dayes in griefe and anguish.

[Page 27]And Saint Bernard sayth: Flesh wyth which thou hast so great societie,S. Bernard in his me­ditations. is none other thing but froth & fome made fleshe: inuested in a fraile or­nament: but the time shall come, vvhen it shall bee a mi­serable and putrified carkasse, and the foode of vvormes. For bee it neuer so gaily garnished and tricked vp, it is alwayes flesh. If thou diligently consi­derest, vvhat goeth foorth by thy mouth and nostrils, and the other passages of thy bo­die, thou neuer beheldest so vile a dunghill. Consider ô man, (sayth hee) vvhat thou wert before thy byrth; vvhat thou art from thy byrth till thy death; and what thou shalt be after this lyfe of thine is en­ded. Certainelie, thou vvast that thou vvert not, after that thou haddst thy beeing of vile [Page 28] matter, thou wast inwrapped in a most vile filme, and nouri­shed in thy mothers vvombe with menstrous blood. Thy coate was a skin, so attired and adorned camst thou vnto vs.

Man is none other thing, but an vncleane sperme, a sacke of dunge, and foode for wormes:

Hetherto S. Bernard, with whom agreeth Innocen­tius.Innocentius of the miseries of mans life. O indignity, saith he▪ & vildnes of mans condition. Consider the [Page 29] plants & trees, they bring forth leaues, flowers, & fruites, plea­sant to the tast, & delightful for smel: but wretched man brin­geth forth pestilent & noysom sauours: & as the tree is, such also is the fruite; for an euill tree cannot bring foorth good fruit. But wilt thou more mani­festly know, what man is, after hee is borne? heare most pati­ent Iob,Iob, 14, Man saith he, that is borne of a woman, is of short con­tinuance and full of trouble. Hee shooteth foorth as a flower, and is cut downe, hee vanisheth also as a shadow, & continueth not. Why do we seek for the testimonies of men, let vs aske God him­selfe, Gene, 3, & he wil tel vs: Remēber man that thou art dust▪ & to dust shalt thou returne. This know­ledge had holy Iob,Iob, 10, whē he said vnto God: Remember I pray thee, ô that thou hast made [Page 30] me as the clay, and wilt bring me into dust againe.

O man of clay, why art thou proude? ô dust, why growest thou insolent? ô ashes, for what woldest thou be commended, vvhose conception is sinfull, vvhose natiuitie is painefull, whose life is labour, and death necessitie? Why dooest thou nourish thy body so delicately? Why dooest thou adorne that vvith so precious garments, which after a while shall in the sepulchre be eaten of vvormes? VVhy dooest thou not rather beautifie thy soule vvith good workes, which shal be carryed into heauen by the handes of good Angels? VVhy dooest thou neglect thy soule, and so extraordinarilye cocker thy flesh? Behold confusion and prepostrous order, the soule, which ought to rule, serueth [Page 31] the flesh; and the fleshe ruleth which should obey. Why suf­ferest thou the Ladie to bee the handmaid, & the hādmaid to vsurpe authoritie ouer the Lady? Doost thou not know that thy flesh is a domestical & homebred enemie vnto thy soule, which vnder colour of friendship, is more cruell then the most tirannous enemie? When thou cherishest & deli­cately nourishest it, thou bree­dest and bringest vp thine own enemie: when thou deckest & beautifiest it, thou armest thine enemy against thee: whē thou arraiest it in precious garments and outlandish skins of wilde beastes, thou robbest thy soule of all beautifull and heauenly ornaments.

Thirdly, ô sinner cōsider what thou shalt be, whē thou ceasest to liue. Certainely thou shalt [Page 32] be none other, but a miserable and corrupted carkasse, an ha­bitation & foode for wormes. If it please thee, viewe the bo­dies of them, who are departed out of this life, and thou shalt finde nothing in them, besides ashes, wormes, stinke, & loth­somnes. What thou art novve, they sometimes were, & what they are nowe, thou shortly must be: they were mē as thou art now, they did eate & drink as thou doost.Iob, 21, They spent theyr dayes in wealth, & suddainly went down to the graue. See how the fleshe nourished in delights, now beeing meate for wormes lyeth in the graue: & how the vnhappy soule descendeth, that it may be fuell for the infernall fire, without any hope that e­uer the torments and punish­ments shall haue end. VVhat shall thē theyr vaine glory pro­fit [Page 33] them? in what steede shall then the power of thys vvorlde stand thē? what shal then their carnall delights, & couetous­nes of riches help them? where are then their merry disports? where is then their boasting, & presumptiō of false ioy? O in­to hovve grieuous miseries are they fallē after a short pleasure? frō a counterfet mirth they are fallen into assured misery, & e­ternall torment. What hapned vnto thē, may also happen vnto thee, for thou art both a man, & compounded of the same dust & ashes, that they were framed of; man of earth, slime of slime, and after death thou shalt bee turned into dust & ashes, ney­ther knowest thou where, whē, or how. Wherfore, seeing that death waiteth for thee in euery place, if thou beest wise, expect him in like manner at all times, [Page 34] and in euery place. Let the lo­uers of this worlde remember, sayth Isidore,Isidore. how short the fe­licitie of this world is, how bar­ren & slender the glory of it is, and howe weake and fraile the power is. Tell me if thou canst where are the Kinges, Princes, & Emperors of ancient times? vvhere are the rich and mighty men of this vvorld? They are all passed away as a shadow, & vanished as smoake: and if a man seeke for them, hee shall not finde them.

VVhat if wee say, that ma­nie of those Kings, Princes, & Emperours, thought that they shoulde alwayes conquer, and neuer die. O blinde and igno­rant, beholde, it is not so, be­holde the matter is fallen out quite otherwise, they are dead, as other men are, theyr lyfes haue fayled them, as the lyfes [Page 35] of other Princes, that liued and ruled before them.

What the estate of man is af­ter death, Saint Bernard dooth very well teach: VVhat, saith hee, is more stinking then a carkasse? what is more horri­ble then a dead man? He that was of a beautifull coūtenance, and comely stature, whilst hee liued, after death lyeth with a gastly and fearefull face: for vvormes, putrefaction & hor­ror, follow a dead man. Which thing, seeing it is so, vvhat doe riches, delicacies, and honours profit? Riches doe not deliuer from death, nor delicacies frō wormes, nor honours from corruption.Chrysost. Epist. ad The odor. Laps. And Saint Chry­sostome sayth: Hast thou not seene manie, that haue dyed a­midst theyr delights, euen in their drunkennesse, & in other fonde pleasures of thys lyfe?

[Page 36]Where are they now, that not long since ridd through the streets brauely mounted, swel­led with pride, richly attired in silkes, garded with attendants and seruitours, smelling of per­fumes, oyntments, and spices, fawned vppon with flatterers and parasites, where is now all their pompe and vaine toyes? gone. Where are nowe theyr large & costly banquets, theyr immoderate laughters, theyr ease and idlenes, theyr effemi­nate, luxurious, and riotous lifes? All is gone. What is be­come of their bodies, that ere vvhile vvere vvayted vppon vvith so great troupes, and were kept so neate and fini­call? Behold, they are gone downe into the graue. Con­templat the dust, ashes, worms, the beauty of that pulchritude, aud thou wilt sigh bitterly.

[Page 37]Behold with diligence, and pry narrowly into each of their monuments, serch their graues and Sepulchers, tosse & turne ouer theyr bones and ashes, thou shalt finde nothing heere but ashes: nothing besides the reliques of worms, which haue eaten their bodies, and see what is the end of them, albeit they liued in this world in delights and glory. I pray God, that thou mayst diligently consider of these things, and that they may neuer slip out of thy me­mory. But (ô greefe) the vn­happy sonnes of Adam, neg­lecting true and wholsom stu­dies and endeuours, doe seeke for and hunt after vaine and transitory pleasures. If there­fore, ô my brother, thou wilt alwayes in thine hart meditate of these things, and consider the misery, and vildnes of this [Page 38] life, thou wilt be humbled, and wilt detest pride, seeing that thou art not ignorant that pride is the badge and cogni­sance,The deuil is the King of pride. by which the children of the deuill are knowne: For he is, Iob. 41. as holy Iob saith, the King o­uer all the children of pride. Gre­gory confirmeth this;Greg. lib. 34. Moral, cap. 25. Pride, saith he, is a most euident token of reprobates: but contrarily humility is a badge of the elect. Seeing therfore that euery one is knowne by that he hath, hee is easily found vnder vvhat King he warreth. For euerie one carrieth as it were a certain title of his labour, whereby hee euidently sheweth, vnder whō he serueth, that is, whether vn­der Christ, or the deuill. O cursed pride, hated of GOD and men. This tumbled Lu­cifer headlong out of heauen: banished Adam out of Para­dice, [Page 39] drowned Pharaoh with his Army in the red Sea: de­priued Saul of his kingdome: transformed Nabuchodono­zer into a beast, and destroyed Antiochus with a most horri­ble and hideous death.

The second Meditation for Tues­day: of sin, and what discommodi­ties come by it.

HE that committeth sinne, saith the beloued Disci­ple of Christ,1, Iohn, 3. is of the deuill: for the deuill sin­neth from the beginning: for this purpose appeared the Sonne of God, that hee might loose the works of the deuill. Sinne is so heauy a burthen, that neyther heauen, nor earth can beare it, but with the Author and wor­ker of it, it descendeth into hell. Euery word, deed, and thought contrary to the lawe of God, [Page 40] according to Saint Augustine, is sinne: which ought, none o­therwise thē hell to be eschew­ed of all them, who aspire to the heauenly kingdome: and that for three causes,Sinne is to be eschewed for three things. the first of which is, because it displea­seth God: the second, because it pleaseth the deuill: the third, because it is hurtfull, and brin­geth many discommodities to man.

First, I say, thou oughtest to eschew sinne, because it excee­dingly displeaseth thy Crea­tour, in which place we are to consider, what God hath done by reason of sinne. No man is ignorant that for sinne God hath destroyed the workes of his owne hands: that for sinne he hath cast Angels out of hea­uen, disparadiz'd men, and drowned with flood of waters all mankinde, as the booke of [Page 41] Genesis vvitnesseth. Other Kings and Emperours, that they may reuenge the iniury done vnto them of theyr ene­mies, doe spoyle and wast their Countries & Dominions: but God subuerted and destroyed his owne kingdome, because sinne had entred into it. Ney­ther doth God only hate sinne, but all that, which by any man­ner of way pertaineth vnto sin. Men although the vvine hath lost his vertue, doe not therfore cast away the siluer bowles, in which the wine is, but reser­uing them, they poure out the wine: but God not onely ca­steth out sinne, but also toge­ther with sinne hurleth downe headlong into the deepest O­cean of hel the vessels, in which it is, which are creatures & rea­sonable soules, made according to his owne image, and redee­med [Page 42] with his precious blood. Wherupon the wiseman saith: Vngodlines, and an vngodly man are alike hated of God. That most patient man Iob sayth: Thou doest visite me euery mor­ning, Iob. 7. and triest me euery moment. Therefore in vvhat should I hope, or wherin should I trust, but in the mere mercy of God, and in the affiance of celestiall grace? For bee it that I dwell amongst honest men, be it that I conuerse and dyet with reli­gious, deuoute, and faythfull friends, be it that I reade holy Bookes, godly Treatises, and sing heauenly Himnes, yet they little, or rather nothing at all profit mee, if the fauour of GOD forsake mee, and leaue me to my nakednes and necessity. Therefore there is none other remedy, but to em­brace patience, to deny my [Page 43] selfe, and vvholy to yeelde vp and offer my selfe vnto the de­uine will and pleasure. There was neuer any man so relige­ous, who did not sometimes feele himselfe depriued of di­uine consolation, and that hee wanted the zeale and feruour of the spirit. There neyther is, nor hath at any time been any Saint, vvhom temptati­on hath not sometimes taken holde of. Certainely, hee is not woorthy of that high and sublime contemplation of GOD, vvho before hath not for the loue of GOD been exercised in sundrie and manifolde tribulations. Al­most alvvayes the praecedent temptation is vvoont to bee a token, that comforte is at the doores. VVherefore heauenlie consolation is pro­mised vnto them, that [Page 44] are approoued and tried vvith temptations, which the Scrip­ture affirmeth, when it is said: To him that ouercommeth, Apoc. 2. will I giue to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middes of the Paradice of God. Wherefore God hath not eyther in heauen, or vpon the earth so deere and faithfull a familier friend, whō he dead­ly hateth not, if he finde deadly sinne in him. Wherfore albeit Christ loued Saint Peter en­tirely, yet he had condemned him, if he had died in that sin, when thrice he denied his lord and Maister.

Secondly, Gods hatred to sin heereby also appeareth, that he would haue his onely begotten Sonne dye for the sinnes of men, as Esay testifieth, saying: For the transgression of my peo­ple haue I strucken and plagued him. Esay, 53. And certainly the Sonne [Page 45] of God himselfe, that he might destroy sinne,Ibidem. deliuered his owne soule into the hands of death, as the same Prophet sayth. Who was euer found boyling with so great wrath a­gainst his enemies, who that he might destroy them, slewe his onely Sonne?

Thirdly,God pla­gueth and punisheth sinne euery where. Gods detestation to sinne is heereby also gathe­red, that he hath persecuted it euen from the beginning of the world, to the end, not in one place, but wheresoeuer he found it. He found it in hea­uen, and thence he banished it; when he saw it remaining vp­pon the earth, he came in his owne person, that hee might expell it thence, and at the last in the finall iudgement he vvill confine & include sinne with­in the limits and bonds of hell, as in his naturall place, as the [Page 46] Prophet testifieth, saying; And he will cast all our sinnes into the bottome of the Sea. Micah. 7.

Fourthly, how greatly sinne displeaseth God, this similitude argueth:A Simily. vvithout all doubt that fault is very odious and abhominable, that causeth a Mother to cast her beloued Sonne into a burning furnace, and not once to assay to take him thence againe: so certain­ly there must needes be some great matter in it, and excee­dingly odious vnto God, for which hee should cast his chil­dren into eternall flames, if hee finde sinne in them; vvhom notwithstanding hee so loued, that hee refused not to dye for them. Thou seest heere ô sin­full soule, how odious and ab­hominable all sin is vnto God. Wherefore if thou desirest to please God, it is necessary, that [Page 47] thou keepe thy selfe free and clean from sinne, so that it pos­sesse not the least place in thee. For shee shall be accounted a very vnfaythfull woman,A Simily. who admitteth into her bed an o­ther man besides her husband, but especially, if shee admitte one, that is his enemy, and of whom hee is to expect many discommodities and iniuries: so also vnfaithfull is that soule, vvhich of purpose and vvil­lingly giueth place vnto sinne, vvhich Christ our Redeemer the true spouse of our souls ha­teth so deadly; which wrought him so many discōmodities, so many losses, so many torments, and for vvhich, he vvas hanged naked vpon the Crosse. Wher­fore heere it pleaseth and liketh mee vvell to imitate that re­gall Prophet and svveete sin­ger of Israell, and saye: [Page 48] Create in me a cleane hart, Psal. 51. ô God, and renue a right spirit within mee.

VVee sayd that the second reason why sinne was to be es­chewed,Sinne ma­keth the de­uil merry. is, because it maketh merry our auntient enemy the deuill: vvhich is gathered by three signes and tokens. The first is, because hee seeketh for nothing in the whole world so industriously: he hunteth not after gold, nor siluer, nor preci­ous stones, but after soules, as it is figured in Genesis, where the King of Sodome sayth in the person of the deuill; Giue mee the soules, Gen. 14. and take the goods to thy selfe. Saint Gregory affir­meth the same thing:Gregory. Per­swade thy selfe, that the deuill seeketh for none other thing, then to deceaue and destroy soules:A Simily. for as an Hawke desi­reth nothing so much, as the [Page 49] hart of that bird, which he pur­sueth: so the deuill desireth nothing so much as the soule of a sinner.

The second signe, whereby we know that the deuill doth loue sin is the continuall temp­tation, by which he impugneth and molesteth men, neyther is euer wearied in solliciting man vnto sinne. For there are al­most nowe past sixe thousand yeares, in all which time hee hath onely applied himselfe to this study, that he might sinne, and make man to sinne: ney­ther is he tyred, yea hee daily findeth and inuenteth nevve kinds of sinne, hee is still nim­bler and busier in his endeuors and temptations, & daily brin­geth men into new errours, as wee see in the booke of Iob. For when as God asked him, whence he came? he aunswe­red: [Page 50] From compassing the earth to and fro, Iob, 1. and from walking in it. Hee is so busied in preferring sinne, that he hath not time to take any rest, as Iob testifieth: They that pierce me through, Iob, 30. saith he, doe not sleepe.

The third signe, that sinne pleaseth the deuill, is, that hee can neuer be satisfied with sin. For although infinit thousands of men haue descended to hell for their impiety and pollution of sinne, of whom the deuill is the ringleader, yet he is not sa­tisfied, but alwayes hungerly, Like a roaring Lyon walketh a­bout, 1, Pet. 5. seeking whom hee may de­uoure, as Saint Peter testifieth in his first Epistle generall. He so hungreth and thirsteth, as it is sayd in the booke of Iob, that he drinketh vp the riuer, Iob, 40. and ha­steth not: and hee trusteth that hee can draw vp Iorden into his [Page] mouth. His mouth is hell, and the riuer that runneth into his hellish mouth are sinners, vvho with great celerity, as swift ri­uers, hast into his iawes, whom hee swalloweth vp with great thirst and desire. It is reported in the lifes of the Fathers, that the Prince of deuils did com­mend and honour one of his traine; yea, commaunded him to sitte in his chayre of estate crovvned, because hee had brought a certayne religious man to the sinne of luxurie, vvhom hee had beene enticing fourty yeeres, and could not bring him to nibble or byte at his bayte.

Therefore mourne and la­ment ô sinfull soule, verie bit­terlie, seeing thou hast so often reioyced thy mortall enemies, by sinning so mortallie to thy greate losse and daunger, [Page 52] and in steede thereof yeeld re­pentance, and a pure conuer­sion of heart vnto God, that God and his Angells may in like manner reioyce. For there is ioy in the presence of the An­gels of God, Luke, 15. for one sinner that conuerteth.

The third principall reason,The dam­mage and hurt that comes to the soule by sinne. for which sinne is to be esche­wed, is the great dammage we reape by it. For first by sinne wee are estranged from God, I and made his enemies. This is that, which Esay saith: Your ini­quities haue seperated betweene you and your God, Esay. 59. and your sinnes haue hid his face from you, that he will not heare. If all the bles­sed Cittizens of that heauenly Country could either sinne, or would sinne, they should fall from heauen into the bottom­les depth of hell, and should vtterly loose the amity and [Page 53] friendship, which they haue with God. Heere-vpon Au­gustine saith:Augustine. If thy faythfull friend offend thee, thou thin­kest him woorthy to be repre­hended: howe much more worthy art thou to be blamed, if thou sinnest against almigh­ty God, thy most gracious and mercifull Father?

Secondly, sinne maketh his II Author guilty of infernall tor­ments. And because the diuine law doth not much differ from humaine constitutions, that which mans lawe doth to the body, the same Gods lawe in­flicteth vpon the soule. Ther­fore mark how the law of man maketh the transgressor of the Kings commaundement, and the contemner of his royall Maiesty guilty of death; as it is written in Ezra, where it is remembred that King Darius, [Page 54] when he had promulgated his decree as concerning the re­edifying of the temple at Ieru­salem, added at the end of his letter Pattens: I haue made a decree: Ezra. 6. That who soeuer shall al­ter this sentence, the wood shall be pulled downe from his house, and shall be set vp, and he shall be han­ged thereon, and his house shall be made a dunghill for this. This vvood is our owne conscien­ces. VVee haue the lyke ex­ample in Ester,Ester, 7. where Assue­rus commaunded Haman to be hanged. This is the sentence of GOD, which he will pro­nounce at the last day agaynst them, who shall bee found to haue liued in theyr sinnes; let them be hanged vp in hell.

III The third losse is, sinne spoi­leth man in this lyfe of all spi­rituall graces, and in the world to come of euerlasting glory: [Page 55] wherefore Salomon saith: Sin maketh men miserable. Prou. 19. Neither is a sinner onely miserable, be­cause hee hath not; but also because hee hath lost himselfe, and his liberty: he maketh himselfe the deuills slaue and captiue, neyther can he make any spyrituall gayne, nor doe any thing in this state accep­table vnto God. Neither doth hee liue, albeit his body breath a little.Lib. 3. de consol. Phi­loso. cap. 1. For a wicked man, as sayth Boethius, is not aliue, but dead: for by sinne hee hath seperated him-selfe from the light; and is blind. The same testifieth Sophonias:Soph. 2. They shal walke, sayth hee, as blinde men, because they haue sinned agaynst the Lorde. And Dauid sayth: They haue not knowne nor vn­derstoode: Psal. 21. they walke in dark­nesse, all the foundations of the earth are out of square.

[Page 56]Esay in the person of sinners dooth more elegantly set them out in their colours:Esay, 59. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as one without eyes: wee stumble at the noone day as in the twilight: we are in solitary places, as dead men. Sinne is the same in the soule,A simily. that rottennes is in an apple: for as that doth cor­rupt the tast, smell, colour, and the whole beauty of the apple: so sinne doth rob the soule of the dignity of grace, of the re­port of a good name, and of the comlines of all her beauty. For this cause Esay doth com­pare sinners to the mire of the streetes.Esay, 10. Augustine also af­firmeth, that a dead dogg doth not stink so filthily in the nose­thrils of men, as a sinfull soule doth before God and his An­gels. August. Ser. 144. de tempt. And the same Father in a certaine Sermon desirous to [Page 57] call a man from the way of sin­ners, saith: What doth it profit thee, if all thinges be good in thine house, and thou thy selfe be not good? Tell mee, I pray thee, why wouldest thou haue any euil or naughtines in thine actions, thoughts, or desires? & wouldest not haue naughty graine; nor an euill tree, but a good one, a good horse, a good seruant, a good friend, a good child, & a good wife? But why doe I remēber these great mat­ters, when thou wilt not haue a ragged, but a whole garmēt, & to be briefe a good shooe, and not one that is torn? Or tel me of any thing, that thou wishest for, which is naught, or that thou desirest any thing, which is not good? I thinke that thou vvouldest not haue a ru­inous house, but a good house: and wilt thou onely haue an [Page 58] euill soule? VVherein hast thou offended thy selfe? In what hast thou deserued ill of thy selfe? Wilt thou not haue anie thing euill among thy good things, but only thy selfe? Prefer I pray thee thy life be­fore thy shooes.

All thinges that are obui­ous vnto thine eies are good, beautifull, and elegant, and thou louest them, and art de­lighted in them, and hovve can it be, that thou thy selfe wilt be euill, vile, impure, and abiect? If all thinges, that are in thine house could speak, they would crie aloude, and say: If thou desirest that vvee should bee good, vvee also desire a good Maister: and they would ex­clayme against thee vnto God, and say; O good God, thou hast giuen vnto this man so manie good thinges, and so [Page 59] much vvealth, vvhen as hee himselfe is vvicked and euill, vvhat doe those thinges pro­fitte hym, vvhich hee hath, vvhen as his vnderstanding is blinded, and he possesseth not the Lord, that bestovved these things vpon him?

The fourth dammage is,IIII that sinne maketh a man a brute beast.Lib. 4. de consola. Philos. Therefore Boe­thius sayth: If thou takest goodnesse from a good man hee shall bee a beast. And Aristotle sayth in his Ethicks, that such a man is vvorse then a beast. Neyther dooth the holie Scripture dissent from them,Psal. 49. vvhen it sayth: Man beeing in honour, hath no vn­derstanding: but is compared vn­the beasts that perrish.

The fift dammage is, that sin V maketh a man the child & ser­uant [Page 60] of the deuil: hence is that of Iohn:1, Iohn, 3. He that committeth sin, is of the deuill. And our Lord saith in the Gospell: Yee are of your father the deuill. Iohn, 8. Therfore ô thou sinner howe vnhappy art thou, that feelest so great losses and dammages? take pitty therefore on thine owne soule, and doe not burden and loade it with sinnes.

These things being thus, re­member ô man, and acknovv­ledge these three mayne and huge mischiefes, which sinne bringeth vnto thee, that is, the offending of God, the reioy­cing of the deuill, and infernall torments. Consider further­more the noblenes of thy soul, and hovve daungerous thy wounds be, which could not be healed but onely by the blood, and woundes of the Sonne of God. Vnlesse the wounds of [Page 61] thy soule had been euerlasting­ly mortall and deadly, the Son of God, had not died for them. Therefore doe not sleightly prize or lightly weigh the con­cupiscences of thy soule, which that same supreame Maiesty of God did so greatly and highly account of. Hee aboundantly poured out teares for thee, e­uery night wash thou thy bed with teares, & water thy couch with continuall contrition. He shed his blood for thee: shed also thine by the daily afflicti­on of thine hart, and continuall tribulation of thy spirit. Doe not regard what thy body de­sireth, but respect vvhat thy soule willeth: for Saint Gre­gory sayth: where the body liueth a while in delights, there the soule is tortured with per­petuall torments. And by how much the body is afflicted in [Page 62] this life, by so much the spirit reioyceth in the other. There­fore Saint Augustine admoni­sheth vs very well: Let vs de­nie our owne vvills for Iesus Christ: for they must once be forsaken: neither doth it please God that for temporall things we should loose eternall bles­sings. If thou wast permitted certayne yeares to liue in the delights of this flesh, with this cōdition, that afterwards thine eyes should be plucked out, or that thou being depriued of all delicates, shouldest most mise­rably perrish through hunger and thirst, and wretchedly con­tend with famine, affliction, & misery, I perswade my self, that thou wouldest neuer wish for such manner of delicats. What I pray thee is this life? In truth it is not the space of one mo­neth; vvhat doe I say of a mo­neth? [Page 63] Nay, it is not the space of one houre, not of a minute, no not of a moment, if it bee compared to that eternall bea­titude, or to those torments of hell, vvhich haue none ende, and lyke which none can bee thought of.

The third Meditation for Wed­nesday: howe dangerous it is to deferre repen­tance.

OVR Redeemer inui­ting vs all vnto repen­tance, sayth: If any man will follow mee, Math. 16. let him forsake himselfe,Luke. 9.and take vp his Crosse, and follow mee: for who­soeuer vvill saue his lyfe, shall loose it. It is necessary, that all sinners doe take vp thys Crosse, and carry it with perse­uerance, if they desire to raigne [Page 64] with Christ Iesus. Wherefore Saint Hierome writing to Su­sanna, saith: that repentance ought to be equall, or greater then the sinnes.Hier. in an Epistle to Susanna. That repen­tance is necessary, sayth hee, which may either equalize the faults, or exceede them. And Saint Augustine saith: Who­soeuer will be saued, it is nece­sary that hee be washed at the least with the teares of the con­trition of his hart, being clean­sed before by baptisme from all those blemishes and polluti­ons, which sinne had spotted and soyled him withall. But if thou shalt say, that this is a hard saying, and that thou canst not forsake the world, nor hate thy flesh, nor chastice thy body: heare what is sayd, not of mee, but of Saint Hierome:Hier in an Epistle to Iuliana. cap. It is a difficult thing, nay it is impos­sible, that any one should enioy [Page 65] both present and future bles­sings: that hee should fill his belly heere, and his soule there: that from delicacies he should passe vnto delightes: that in both worlds he should be gra­ced & carry his head aloft, and that hee should appeare glori­ous both in heauen, & in earth. Which sentence Saint Grego­ry confirmeth: Many, saith he doe desire to flye out of the ex­ile of this present life, vnto ce­lestiall ioy, who in the meane time will not forsake the plea­sures of this world. The grace of Christ Iesus doth call them, but the concupiscence of the world doth detaine thē. They desire to dye the death of the righteous, but they wil not liue as they doe: such shall euerla­stingly perrish, because theyr works shal follow them. The austerity of holy Iohn Baptists [Page 66] life, sayth Saint Bernard, is a hard sentence of death vnto sinners: who when there arose not a greater then hee among those that are born of women, did so chastice, correct, and af­flict his most innocent body: and yee hast to be clothed with silke, fine linnen, and purple, and to fare deliciously. O wic­ked man, this is not the Kings high vvay vnto heauen. Re­member the rich glutton, who vvas the Lorde of such great wealth, who was cloathed in purple and fine linnen, & fared wel & delicatly euery day, who afterwards could not haue one smal drop of water to coole his tong, beeing tormented in the midst of the flames of hel. Cō ­sider this ô my frend, & repent, whilst thou hast time. Heare what Saint Gregory saith: Al­though God promiseth pardō [Page 67] vnto the penitent, yet he hath not promised to morrow vnto a sinner.True re­pentance. It is repentance to de­plore sins past, & not to cōmit any hereafter. Therfore it is ve­ry well sayde of S. Augustine: Vaine is that repētance,August. in his Solilo­quies. which the future fault doth pollute: lamentations do nothing pro­fit, if sins be multiplied: it no­thing auaileth to craue pardon for euils, if eftsoons thou renu­est & reiteratest thy follies.Three parts of repen­tance. We must note for the further ma­nifestation of this matter, that true repentance doth cōsist of three parts, which are, contriti­on of hart, cōfession of mouth, & satisfaction of deed. For we haue offended God three ma­ner of vvayes, by delight of thought, by lapse of tong, and by pride of works: and these three are to be cured by three contrarie remedies, delight [Page 68] of thought by the sorrow and contrition of hart: the lapse of the tongue by the confession of the mouth: and the pride of workes by vpright and vn­corupted satisfaction. Of these three parts therefore wee will speake,Contrition what it is. and first of contrition, which is a voluntary greefe ta­ken for sinne committed, with a purpose of confession, satis­faction, and heereafter not to sinne any more. Contrition must haue foure degrees ac­cording to Bernard:In his 16. Sermon vp­pon the Cant. Further­more know, saith he, that thou hast wholy recouered thy wits and sences, if thou feelest thy conscience to be bitten with a fourefold compunction, with a double shamfastnes, and with a double feare. Therfore in thy plangors and lamentations for thy selfe, think of God thy ma­ker, think of thy father, think of [Page 69] him, who is bountiful & graci­ous, & think of thy Lord: and knowe that thou art guilty in each respect; deplore and la­ment each offence; thy feare doth make aunswer to the first and last, & thy shamfastnes to the two in the midst. Be it that thy Father doth wink at thee, that he that is bountiful & gra­cious doth pardon thee: but thy Lord & Creatour will not. He that spared not his Son, wil not spare the workmanship of his hands, nor a wicked seruant &c. We offend the Lord our God the Creator of all things: we more wickedly offend our heauenly father, being so graci­ous & bountifull; who doth support, & nourish vs, in which thing we are worse then dogs, who do loue & folow them, of whom they are nourished; but most vilely we offend God, by [Page 70] crucifying againe by sinne our Redeemer, as much as lieth in vs, who hath redeemed vs by his most precious blood, and hath deliuered vs from all the snarés & entrappings of sinns, from the cruelty of deuils, and frō infernall punishments. We must bee sorrowfull for three things, for sin committed, for good omitted, & for time lost.August. Augustin speaketh of the dig­nity of cōtrition. The cōtrition of the hart auaileth more, then to go on pilgrimage through­out the world. And Cassianus vpon the Psalme,Cassianus vpon the 120. Psalm. I called vnto the Lord in my trouble, sayth, the Lord doth not knowe how to put of him, whō he knoweth to entreat him with a broken and pierced hart. And Chrisostom sayth:Chrysost. of the com­punction of the hart. It is only compunction, which maketh a man to abhor purple, to desire sackcloath, to [Page 71] worke righteousnes, to loue teares, and to auoid laughter.

Of Cōfession,Confession In his 30. Sermon to the bre­thren in the wildernes. which is an o­ther part of repentance, S. Au­gustin saith, that it is the health of soules, an expeller of vices, a restorer of vertue, an impugner of wicked spirits, a feare of hel, an impedimēt of the deuill. O holy & admirable confession, thou shuttest the mouth of hel, and openest the gate of Para­dice. And in another place: He that accuseth himself of his sins the deuil cannot accuse him at the day of iudgmēt,In his 5 [...], Sermon de tempore. if in cōfes­sing them he blot those things out by repentance, which hee hath done: neither doth renue that againe, which he hath cō ­mitted. But woe be vnto vs, that whē so many & so great bles­sings & benefits are foūd in re­pētance, & yet there are so few found, that do take it vpon thē.

[Page 72]Heereupon God complaineth in Ieremy,Ierem. 8. saying: I harkned & heard, but none spake right: no man repented him of his wicked­nes, saying; What haue I done. Heare what S. Isidore saith:Isidor. lib. de Etym. It is confession by which the lur­king disease of the soule is ope­ned to the prayse of God, in hope to obtaine pardon. Of which vertue Ambrose sayth; When confession proceedeth frō a man, then the vengeance of God ceaseth. And Cassio­dorus saith; Iesus Christ is not their Iudge, but their Aduocat, who accuse thēselues by theyr own cōfession. Leo also agreeth with these:Leo in a Sermon. that is not to be cō ­demned, saith he, in iudgment, which was purged by confessi­on. Goe too therfore, my bro­ther, & follow the councell of Esay, & first recount thine iniqui­ties, that thou maist be iustified. [Page 73] For the confession of sins is the beginning of righteousnes.

Of satis-faction,Satisfactiō. which is a third part of repentance, thus speaketh S. Augustine:Augustine in his Soli­loquities. Satis­faction is to cut of the causes of sin, and not to cherrish by sug­gestions any entrance into thē. Gregory sayth thus:Gregory. vvee do not satis-fie, although we cease from iniquitie, vnlesse, on the contrary side we persecute by opposite bewaylings, the plea­sures, which wee loued. Chry­sostome consenteth vnto thys. The reconciliation, sayth hee, ought to be equal to the prece­dent offence: thou oughtest to be as readie to lament, as to of­fend, and as thine intent vvas to offend, such also ought thy deuotion to bee in repenting; for great sinnes doe require al­so great greefe and sorrow.

Wherefore, Eusebius sayth: [Page 74] A light and slight contrition, dooth not effect,Hom 5, ad Monachos. that those debts may be forgiuē, to which euerlasting death is due: ney­ther is a transitory satisfaction, sufficient for those euils, for which eternall fire is prepared. There is neede of much vvee­ping, of much mourning, of great griefe of heart, to heale the griefes and sorrowes of the hart. We must endeuour with the vvhole contrition of the spyrite, that those olde euills, vvhich as arrowes stick in our consciences, may be pulled out. It is not sufficient, vvith the lips onely to say; I haue offen­ded, spare me, & remit my sins. But we are presently weary, & looke behind vs, as Lots vvife did; wherfore we are diligent­ly to cōsider the words of Ber­nard; He that perfectly know­eth, sayth he, the burden of sin, [Page 75] & the plagues & greeuāces of his soul, he shal litle or nothing at all feele the punishments & castigations of his body, ney­ther shall they be troublesome vnto him, certainly perswading himselfe that God wil haue re­spect vnto him, & that he shall auoyd those things, which hee was desposed and prepared to commit. Hereupon S. Augu­stine saith,Augustine in Psal, 50, writing vpon the Psalme; Haue mercy vpon me, ô God: Many there be, sayth he, that are not ashamed to sinne, but they are ashamed to re­pent. O incredible madnes, art thou not ashamed of thy wound, & art thou ashamed of the binding vp of thy wound? Is it not being naked more vg­ly? Run therfore to the Phisi­on, repent, & say; I doe confesse mine iniquity, and my sinne is al­wayes before mee: against thee [Page 76] onely haue I sinned, and done this euill before thee.

Satisfaction consisteth in three things;In what things satis­faction cō ­sisteth. In prayer, Almes­deedes, & Fasting: which are as it were certaine antidotes a­gainst so many capitall vices, by which we offend GOD: and these three vices doe arise from three principall enemies of our soules. Pride is ingende­red of the deuill, couetousnes of the world, & luxury of our own flesh: of which thus spea­keth Saint Iohn: All that is in the world, 1, Iohn, 2, is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Prayer restraineth pride, Almes-deedes banisheth coue­tousnesse, and fasting brideleth lust. Furthermore, wee alwayes sinne eyther against God, and so in like manner prayer is op­posed against all that sin, & by it we are accepted of God, as [Page 77] as the Wise-man saith: The prayer of him that humbleth him selfe, Ecclus, 35, goeth thorowe the clowdes, and coaseth not till it come neere, and will not depart till the most High haue respect therevnto: or we sinne against our selues, & against such a sinne, fasting is effectuall, according to that of Augustine: Restraine & bri­dle your flesh by fasting & ab­stinence: Or we sinne against our neighbour, & here almes-deedes are of force; of which our Sauiour speaketh in Luke, Giue almes, Luke, 11, and all things shall be cleane to you. For as water ex­tinguisheth fire, so almes-deeds quench sinne. Almes-deedes are called the water of GOD, and a precept of mercy com­maunded vnto vs of the sonne of God.

Wherefore for three causes we are bound to giue almes, & [Page 78] to exercise the works of chari­tie: The fruites of almes-deedes. First, because by mercy sin is wiped away: VVhereupon Salomon sayth: By mercie and truth, Prou, 16, iniquitie shall bee forgiuen. The Scripture maketh menti­on of that poore widdow, who hauing but a little oyle,2, King. 4. and ex­ercising mercy, filled all her empty vessels, & the oyle was so multiplied, that shee had e­nough to pay her debts, and to satisfie all her creditors. These empty vessels are the poore, whom we must bring into our houses,Esay, 58. according to that say­ing of Esay; Deale thy bread to the hungry, bring the poore that wander, home to thyne house, when thou seest the naked, couer him, and hide not thy selfe from thine owne flesh. Like vnto thys is the counsell of Tobias, say­ing vnto his sonne; Giue almes of thy substance; Tob, 4, and when thou [Page 79] giuest almes, let not thine eye bee enuious, neyther turne thy face from any poore, least God turne his face from thee. Giue almes according to thy substance: if thou haue but a little, bee not a­fraid to giue a little almes. And so a little of thys oyle of mer­cie, shall more and more a­bound, beeing increased with the augmentation of grace.

Furthermore, almes multi­plyeth our temporall goods,Lib. 18. Moral. c. 10 as Gregory testifieth, saying: vve loose earthly thinges by kee­ping them and preserue them by giuing them away; And in another place: vvhatsoeuer is giuen to the poore, if it be well considered, is not a gift, but a lone, because that which is gy­uē, is receiued again without all hazard, or aduenture with ad­uantage: as for example,1, Kings, 1 [...] where the widdowes oyle and meale [Page 80] is increased, who nourished E­lias: wherby it is manifest, that the poore doe rather feede thē that giue almes, then are fedde of them.

Thyrdly, because almes is a worke of mercie, which vvay­teth vpon the soule to heauen, as S. Ambrose testifieth, who sayth: They are not the goods of man, which he cannot carry with him. Onely mercy is a cōpanion of the dead. O how good and necessary a compa­nion is almes for the deade? Therefore do not despise such a cōpanion, which like an Ad­uocate goeth before thee, and not followeth after; as those wretches do contemne it, who will not extend their almes in theyr life time, beeing not vn­like to them that cause light to be carrryed behind them, whō the Wise-man reprehendeth, [Page 81] saying: Say not vnto thy neigh­bour, Prou, 3, Goe and come againe, and to morrow will I giue thee, if thou now haue it.

Hee that is rich ought to cō ­sider three things in giuing his almes,Three thin­ges to be considered in almes. the first of the which is: that it is God that requireth the almes, & that he will haue that mercy in the same account, as if it were done to himselfe, ac­cording to that, vvhich Christ sayth in the Gospell:Math, 25, That which yee haue doone vnto one of the least of these my bretheren, yee haue doone it vnto mee.

GOD dooth begge of the rich money for the poore, of whom the rich daily desire the kingdom of heauen. He ther­fore that denyeth almes to the poore, God requiring it, it is greatly to be feared, least God in lyke manner denie vnto him the kingdome of heauen, and [Page 82] that he will not heare him, whē he cryeth, according to that of Salomon in his Prouerbs:Prouerb, 21 Hee that stoppeth his eare at the cry­ing of the poore, he shall also cry, and not bee heard.

The second thing that a rich man ought to thinke of, bee­ing about to giue almes, is, that almightie GOD dooth re­quire that for the poore, which is his owne, seeing that hee is the Lorde of all those thinges, which wee possesse; therefore hee is without doubt most in­gratefull, that denyeth necessa­rie almes vnto the poore.

Dauid was farre of from thys ingratitude, when he said: Might, and power, and glorie, and victorie, and prayse (ô Lord) are thine. For all things that are in heauen, and in earth are thine: Thine is thy kingdome O Lorde, and thou art aboue all Princes, [Page 83] Riches and honour are thine. All thinges are thine, and wee giue vnto thee, that which wee haue receiued at thine hands.

And thys cogitation ought the more to mooue vs vnto almes, because GOD recey­ueth what we giue, and dooth repay vs not onely our princi­pall, but an hundred fold. This is that, which Saint Augustine saith:Augustine in his Epi­stles. If thou wilt bee a good Merchant, and a gainefull V­surer; gyue that vvhich thou canst not keepe, that thou mayst receiue what thou canst not loose. Gyue a little, that thou mayst receiue an hun­dred folde, giue a temporall & fading possession, that thou maist receiue an euerlasting in­hearitance.

Therfore he is not onely in­gratefull, but also madde, who dooth not giue vnto God his [Page 84] reuenues, that he may receiue them againe with so great inte­rest: when as both the Iewes, the Ethnicks, and the Moores, willingly doe it. Wherfore my deere Brother repent, and ga­ther and lay vp the treasuries of mercy in a safe place, in celesti­all securitie, and not among earthly dangers. Consider that the hart of a couetous man, is a pytte vvithout a bottome; the more it receiueth, the more it desireth, neyther is at any time satisfied as the Wiseman sayth: A couetous man is not satisfied with money. Eccles. 11. Woe be vnto them that lay vp their treasures in the earth: for theyr hearts are af­flicted, because they cannot enioy theyr riches, and they keepe them with danger, and will they, nill they, they must at the last part from them, and suffer punishment in hell.

[Page 85]Lay vp thy treasure my deer and good brother, in thine own Countrey, which is Heauen, where thou shalt liue alwayes, and neuer haue hope to enioy these, which are to bee left in the earth: perswade thy selfe that those are thy goods, which thou hast layde out & bestow­ed on the poore; for those are not properly thy goods which thou canst not carry with thee. Heare what S. Ambrose saith:Ambrose in his offi­ces. Nothing dooth so much com­mend a Christian, as commise­ration, and charity. And saint Ierome sayth:Hiero. to Nepotia­nus. I doe not remē ­ber that I haue read, that any one dyed an euill death, vvho willingly exercised the workes of charity. For they haue the prayers of many, and it is im­possible but that theyr prayers shoulde bee heard. And Leo commending this vertue, saith; [Page 86] Hee shall receiue many great blessings at Gods hands,Leo of the apparition of our lord. who letteth not the poore depart from him without comfort.

Mercy is of so great vertue, that without it, others doe not any whitte profit. Bee it that thou art faithful, sober, & chast, & adorned with vvorthier ti­tles, yet if thou beest not merci­full, thou shalt finde no mercy. And this may bee enough to moue the mindes of men, that they may readily & cheerfully take vpon thē this third part of repentance, which is Satis-fac­tion. Of this repentance, that we may return to our purpose, our Sauiour sayth; He that ta­keth not vp his crosse & followeth me, is not worthy of me. Which if it be true, we are to performe our repentance as speedily as may be, yea in our youth: for then it is more profitable vnto [Page 87] vs, & more acceptable to God, as the wise man teacheth, say­ing; Eccles, 12▪ Remember thy creator in the daies of thy youth, whiles the euill daies come not, nor the yeeres ap­proch, wherein thou shalt say, I haue no pleasure in thē. My son, defer not from day to day thy conuersion vnto the Lord, least his anger come on a suddaine, and condemne thee, & destroy thee in the time of vengeance. Be not deceiued with the sug­gestions of that cursed serpent sathan, which suggesteth vnto thee hope of a lōger life, & that thou shalt repent thee enough a little before thou dyest, that he vnwares may oppresse and subuert thee, as the Wise man sayth:Ecclus, 20, To promise vnto thy selfe longer life, is great wickednesse, & hath destroied many, and hath re­mooued them as the waues of the sea.

[Page 88]It is euill, because it is con­trarie to reason and iustice:It is wicked and naught, to promise vnto thy selfe a lon­ger life. worse, because it is against the sinner himselfe: but it is most vile, vngodly, and cursed, be­cause it warreth and fighteth a­gainst the diuine will. That it is euill, & contrary to reason & iustice, is proued by three ex­amples.

I First, it is against iustice, if a­ny one hauing many horses, a­mong which hee may deuide the weightie and heauie bur­den, will lay the whole vveight vpon one, which is the weakest and the oldest. Such an one is he, that reserueth for feeble old age the vvhole burthen of re­pentance, & all the sins which hee committed in his youth, which is vnsufficient for the burden, and can by no meanes beare it. Of such Saint Isidore sayth: They that mispend the [Page 89] time of repentance vvithout fruite, in vaine desire of the Lord, that the gate may bee o­pened vnto them. The Pro­phet Malachie denounceth a curse against such an one.Malach. 1, Cur­sed be the deceiuer, saith he, that hath in his flocke a male, & vow­eth and sacrificeth vnto the Lord a corrupt thing.

Secondly hee seemeth vnto II mee, more foolish and more vniust, who when he is strong and healthfull, will not carry a small burden, but had rather stay, till his burden bee greater, and himselfe weaker. Such an one is he, that doth not carrie the burdē of repentance in his youth, and so long as it is light and little: but putteth it of to olde age, when as hee himselfe shall be weaker, & his burden wayghtier. Wee haue an ex­ample of this in the booke of [Page 90] the Fathers: One cutting downe wood, bound vp a bur­den of it, and then made tryall whether he could carry it, but seeing himselfe not able to car­ry the same, he cut down more wood, and made him a greater burden, and by how much hee was lesse able to lift it vp, by so much he augmented it. After the same manner doe sinners, who deferring the time of re­pentance, do encrease the bur­den of their sinners.

For as S. Gregory saith:Gregory. the sinne that is not foorth-with clensed and purged by repen­tance, doth drawe on another with his weight. Thirdly, is III not hee exceeding vniust and madde, that bestoweth & con­sumeth all the time of hys lyfe, all his cost, & all his diligence, in building of houses, in which notwithstanding hee is not [Page 91] minded to dwell: but dooth pull downe with all his might and maine the house, which he hath determined to inhabite? Certainly, this man altogether worketh against the iudgment of reason, and is worthy to bee counted both a foole & a mad man. Thys doth a sinner, who proroging his cōuersion to the howre of death, buildeth for himselfe a habitation in the depth of hell, where notwith­standing, hee desireth not to dwell. Feare and dreade there­fore that auncient saying: Hee that dooth any thing against his own conscience, buildeth in hell.

Secondly,Hope of a longer life, is worse thē the former circūstances in respect of the sin­ner himself. in hope of a lon­ger life, something worse see­meth to be, then that hath been spoken, when it is to the preiu­dice of the sinner himself. And this is proued by two exāples.

[Page 92]The first is, because if any man had rather bee sicke, then sound: a seruaunt, then free: poore, then endued with some cōpetent wealth: such an one should be opposite and con­trary to himselfe. A sinner is like to this man, because he had rather liue, nay lye dead in sin, which is a spirituall sicknes & infirmity, thē be whole, strong, and sound. Wherefore a sinner is more cruel against himselfe; for he had rather be dead then aliue; sick, then sound; a ser­uaunt, then free: as it is in S. Iohn:Iohn, 8, Who soeuer committeth sinne, is the seruant of sinne. And S. Augustine saith:August. in his 4. booke of the cittie of God. A good man, albeit he serue, yet hee is free; but an euil man, although he raigne, yet is he a seruaunt: neyther of one man alone, but (that which is more grieuous) of so many maisters as he hath [Page 93] vices. The second example is, he is a debter, who taketh any summe of money vpon vsury; for by so much more doth hys debt & vsury increase, by how much he is longer in discharg­ing it; and to bee so much the more negligent in repaying it, by how much hee is lesse suffi­cient to repay, certainly it is hurtfull & vnprofitable to him selfe: Such an one is a sinner, who perseuering in his sinnes, the longer hee continueth in them, the more hee increaseth the vsury of hys faulte: and so much the more punishment shall he at the length suffer for them. Herevpon S. Iohn saith in his Reuelation;Apoc, 18, Inasmuch as she glorified her selfe, and liued in pleasure, so much giue yee to her torment and sorrow.

Thirdly, we sayd, that the perswasion of a longer life was [Page 94] most vile,The per­swasion of a longer life, is most vile, and vngodly. vngodly, and cursed, especially, because it directlie fighteth against the goodnesse of our Lord Iesus Christ: and this is manifested by three ex­amples, I the first of which is: If a seruant be disobedient to his maister, throgh the whole race and course of his life, whō not­withstanding he is bounde to serue faythfully, hauing recei­ued many benefits of him: & should serue the greatest ene­mie that his maister hath, and at the length at the end of hys life, when his strength is decay­ed, shoulde returne vnto his maister, to waite vpon him, to whom alwaies heeretofore he hath been immorigerous, dost thou thinke that this seruice would be accepted of his mai­ster? Such an one is a sinner, who after he hath offended his Lord God all his life time, and [Page 95] hath borne arms vnder the co­lours of his aduersary, would at the last return to the seruice of God in his faint & feeble olde age. Secōdly, if any one had re­ceiued mony, or other great ri­ches II of his Lord, on this cōditi­on, that he should negociate & traffick therwith, & by his dili­gence should increase the sum: and he in despight of his Lord cōsumeth the mony vainely & prodigally; without doubt he offendeth both the goodnesse of his Lord, and hindereth his own profit, & should be coun­ted very vnthankful. A sinner is not vnlike to such an one, who hauing receiued of God a soule & a body, with al the sen­ces, powers, externall goods, length of dayes, & many other benefites, dooth vnprofitably consume them all, and squan­der them abroade: and that to [Page 96] the reproch and iniurie of his Lord, Creator, and Redeemer: by sinning sundry and diuers wayes, by offending the good­nesse of GOD; and by ma­king hauocke of all his goods, but chiefely of his soule, which is committed and commended vnto him, as a most precious treasure. Wherfore, S. Grego­rie sayd; Woe be vnto mee, if I shall negligently keepe the talent committed to me of the Lorde, that is, my soule, redee­med with the precious bloode of that immaculate lambe, see­ing also, that there is not any moment of time, which I am not to giue an account of.

III The thyrd example. If any one be a Steward, whose dutie is, to dispose the goods of hys Lord: if hee shoulde giue the best bread, the best vvine, and the best meates to strangers, & [Page 97] to the enemies of his Lord; & should sette before his Lorde mustie bread, vnsauory meats, putrified flesh, corrupted fi­shes, and dead vvine: doe you not thinke that this seruaunt should badly fitte the humour of his Lord? A wretched sin­ner is like to such an one, vvho offereth to the worlde, and to the deuill, who are the enemies of Christ Iesus his lord, the best and fairest flower of his youth and strength: and to his God and lord, the worst part of his lyfe, barren and vnprofitable old age. Dauid did not so, who saith of himselfe;Psalm, 38, I will keep my strength for thee ô Lorde. And the Wise man sayth, that from his youth hee sought for wise­dome, Wised, 8. vvhich is true vertue. But of all them that deferre re­pentance, Gregory in his morals. Saint Gregory saith: Hee is farre enough of from [Page 98] fayth, vvho expecteth old age to repent in. For it is to be fea­red, least while hee hopeth for mercy, he fall into iudgement. For not any day is within hys power, & therefore euery one ought to follow the counsel of Isidore, and conuert hymselfe with all the diligence and hast hee can, vnto the Lord; for if hee lynger and loyter, he shall at the length bee willing, but not able to turne himselfe.

Which things beeing so, re­pent my deere brother with all speede and celeritie, and make no longer tarrying, least thou be reprobated and shutte out with the foolish virgins.

The fourth Meditation, for Thursday: of the contempt of the world, and with what hatred, and diligence it is to be eschewed.

THE glorious Apostle S. Iohn saith;1, Iohn, 2, Brethren, loue not the world, neither the things that are in the worlde. For if any man loue the world, the loue of the Father is not in him: and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. Saint Augustine expounding thys place,In his se­conde trac­tate vpon the Epistle of S. Iohn. sayth: What wilt thou doe? whether hadst thou ra­ther loue temporall things, and so passe away with the tyme, or Christ our Sauiour, and liue for euer? If thou shalt loue thys world, it will consume and de­stroy thee; for it cannot defend them that loue it.

[Page 100]Thys VVorlde is as an ex­communicated man:The worlde is as a man excommu­nicated. for as the Church doth not pray for him that is excōmunicated: so Ie­sus Christ dooth not pray for the world, although he prayed for them that crucified him. O how great madnes is it to serue such a lord, who at the end of thy seruice, is wont to giue no other wages, but nakednes and desolation.A speech & fact of Sala­dine. So Saladine that great Soldane of Babilon, the conquerer of Asia, being at the point of death, and seeing no hope of life to remaine, cōman­ded his standard-bearer to bee called vnto him, to whom hee thus spake, saying; Thou hadst wont to carry myne imperiall ensigne before me, whē I went to warre; nowe also carry the ensigne of my death; which is thys poore vvinding-sheete: carry it thorow all the streetes [Page 101] of Damascus, and cry: Be­hold the king of all the East di­eth, & of all his spoyles & tro­phyes, carryes none other with him, but thys worne thredbare winding-sheete. The lyke is read of a certaine young king of Lothoringia, vvho beeing readie to giue vp the ghost, ly­ing in a most magnificent pal­lace, and in a rich sumptuous bedde, cryed out with a loude voyce, that he might be heard of all; O lorde Iesus Christ, how woorthily is this world to be condemned. See in vvhat stately and royall buildings I haue lyued, & now vvretched creature that I am, knowe not whither thys night following I shall goe, what Inne I shall haue, or what manner of en­tertainement I shall find.

Therefore ô sinner flie from the world, flye I say, from the [Page 102] worlde, first, because it leaueth thee in so great neede and mi­sery. For as the Apostle Saint Iames saith; The amity of this world, Iames, 4, is the enmity of God. Who­soeuer therefore will be a friende of the world, maketh himselfe the enemy of God. And Saint Gre­gory sayth; A man is so much the neerer vnto God, by howe much he is further of from the loue of the worlde.Gregory. For thys cause the Lord would bee car­ryed without the Citty, to sig­nifie, that hee had no parte in the VVorlde: and whosoeuer will bee pertaker of the fruites of hys passion, hee must re­nounce the vvorlde, and sepe­rate himselfe from all worldlie conuersation, if not in act, yet in desire: thys is that which al­mighty GOD commaundeth by his Prophet, saying; Get ye out of Babylon, that euerie one [Page 103] may saue his owne soule. Baby­lon, Vpon the 7. chapter of Mich. according to the expositi­on of Saint Hierome, is the house of confusion, vvhich is this world, in which confusion raigneth euery where, as well in the Clergy as in the Layitie, as well in olde, as young, as well in men, as women. Therefore it is very well sayd of Saint Iohn in his generall Epistle;1, Iohn, 5, The whole worlde lyeth in wickednesse.

Saint Bernard also counsel­leth vs very well,Of conuersion vnto the Clergy. chap, 30, saying: Flye out of Babylon, flye and saue your soules. Fly to the Citties of refuge, where ye may both repent for sins past, and for the present finde grace, and safely looke for future glorie. Let not the anguish and remorse of your sins hinder you, nor the austeritie of repentance deter and afright you. For neither the passions of this time, nor [Page 104] the trybulation of thys world are woorthy, for the fault past, which is remitted; for the pre­sent grace of cōsolation which is bestowed; nor for the future glory, which is promised. To be briefe, there is no bitternesse so great, vvhich the Prophets meale will not sweeten, which the wisedom of the tree of lyfe will not make sauory. Wee are to knowe, that the worlde is to be eschewed for foure causes, the first of which is,The world is to bee e­schewed for 4 causes. because wise and circumspect men, are wont to flie and auoyd infecti­ous and contagious places, e­specially if they be weake and sickly, or feare any infirmitie. Such a place is the VVorlde, which hath in it many euills, & many diseases of sin, we see also much filthines, & many blemi­shes in it, which cōtaminate & pollute our soules: for sinne it [Page 105] selfe is a contagious disease, therefore not without cause we ought to eschew & auoyd the societie and company of wic­ked and vngodlie men; for it is not meet, that the whole and sounde should dwell with the leaprous and diseased: for the Wise man saith: Hee that tou­cheth pitch, shall be defiled with it, and he that companieth with a proude man, shal put on pride.

Certainly saith S. Ierom, no­thing dooth so hurte a man as naughty company,Tom. 9. Epi. Euseb. ad Damasum de morte Hieron. and euil so­ciety. For a man becomes such a one, as the company he kee­peth. The Wolfe dooth neuer dwel with the lamb: & a chast man doth flie the company of the luxurious. I think it impos­sible, that a man shoulde long cōtinue honest, who daily vseth the societie of wicked mē. With the holy, thou shalt be holy, sayth [Page 106] the Psalmist, with the innocent, thou shalt be innocent, and with the frowarde, thou shalt learne frowardnes. For as euill compa­nie hurteth, so good company profiteth. Nothing can bee compared to thys treasure. He that findeth good society, fin­deth life, and aboundeth with wealth. I speake truly and con­fidently; a man is made verie sildome eyther good or euill, but through company & soci­ety. The hart of a chyld, is said to bee as a Table in which no­thing is paynted. Therefore that he receiueth from compa­ny, hee keepeth till his old age, whether it bee good or euill. These things spake S. Ierome, beeing ready to yeelde vp the ghost. Therfore seeing that the worlde is so euill, wee ought to eschewe and auoyde it, as an ill neighbour, who can worke vs [Page 107] great mischiefe by hys neigh­bourhoode and vicinitie, and hurte vs very much by sinnes and sinners, of vvhich it is full.

The second cause vvhy the worlde is to be eschewed,The second cause why the world is to be e­schewed. is, because vvise and considerate men doe auoyde those places, in which they feare the intrap­pings and snares of theyr ene­mies, least they fall into theyr hands: and thys is the revvard that the world rendereth vnto her louers, that shee at the length deliuereth thē into the hands of the deuils theyr dead­ly enemies. The wordes of the the traytour Iudas are to be re­ferred hether, saying to them, to whom hee sold and betray­ed the Sonne of God:Math, 26, Whom­soeuer I shall kisse, and say peace be vnto thee, that is he, lay hold on him. VVhich vvordes the world saith also to the deuils: to [Page 108] vvhomsoeuer I shall gyue the kisse of peace, of riches, of plea­sures and honors, lay holde on him, binde him hand & foote, and cast him into hell. Wher­fore, S. Gregory saith not with­out good cause;Gregory in his morrals. It is a mani­fest signe of perdition, whē the effect and euent, dooth fauour affected iniquitie, and no con­trarietie dooth hinder, what the peruerse minde hath cōceiued. And Saint Ierome sayth: It is a manifest token of damnati­on, to bee loued of the vvorld, to enioy prosperity, & to haue all things, what the vvill desi­reth.

Certaine therefore it is, that they are exceedingly deceiued in finding out the way to feli­citie, who thinke that they may enter into glory, and into the kingdome of heauen, by riches and pleasures.

[Page 109]The third cause,The thyrd cause. why vvee ought to eschew the worlde, is this, because wise & wary men doe flie & auoyde dangerous places, such as the sea is, wherin we saile with feare. Whervpon the Wise-man saith;Ecclus, 9 They that saile ouer the sea, doe tell of the dangers of it. Dauid certifieth vs,The worlde is a sea. that thys world is a great & spacious sea, in which the grea­ter parte of the marriners per­rish. Thys is manifest, because as Bernard saith, many do mis­carry in it, and fewe are saued. The worlde is as an Ocean, in which of foure shyps, scarcelie one is saued; as the Deluge, in vvhich so many thousand men were drowned, and so fewe e­scaped: and as the Fornace of Babylon kindled with hell fire, in which a man is sette on a light flame with one word of the fire of vvrath, in vvhich [Page 110] luxury dooth burne, and coue­tousnes is inflamed by the one­ly looke and aspect.

The fourth cause, vvhy we ought to forsake the world,The fourth cause, is, because euery man that is wise, beeing admonished, ought to eschew that place, in which his mortal & deadly enemy dwel­leth. Thys place is the vvorld, which the deuill our capitall e­nemie inhabiteth; hee hath his signory and dominion in thys world, who alwayes threatneth destruction vnto vs, and thyr­steth for our deathes. Therfore let vs flye from the worlde, as from the deuill, according to the counsell of the VViseman, Keep thee far from the man that hath power to slay. Ecclus, 9,

These reasons thus beeing sette before our eyes, let vs bee wise: for we see manifestly by these things which haue beene [Page 111] spoken, that the world cannot be better ouercome by any o­ther way, then by flying from it. VVee haue an example of thys in the lifes of the Fathers, of Achrimus, who being Em­perour, & standing in his pal­lace, prayed thus vnto GOD. Lord I desire thee, shewe vnto me the way of saluation. And behold, hee heard a voyce say­ing vnto him; Achrimus, a­uoyde the concourse and so­lemnities of the worlde, entan­gle not thy selfe in the snares of humaine vanities, & thou shalt be safe. At the hearing of which voyce, hee betooke himselfe foorth-with to a strict solitarie course of lyfe. And saying an other time the same prayer, he hearde a voyce saying: Fly, o­uercome, bee silent & at rest. And surely these be the rootes, and the grounds not to sinne. [Page 112] For by flying, the cōcupiscence of the flesh is ouercome, by be­ing silent, the pride of lyfe, and by beeing of a peaceable and quiet mind, couetousnesse, & greedines of gaine are subdu­ed and ouerthrowne.

Saint Isidore admonishing vs that wee shoulde contemne the world, sayth: If thou desi­rest to lyue quietly, couet no­thing that is in this world: cast frō thee what-soeuer may hin­der thy holy purpose. Be dead to the world, and therefore be­ing deade, doe not thyrst after glory, and thou shalt lyue in tranquilitie and rest, being cō ­tent with thine owne. Despise that in thy life, which thou canst not keepe in thy death. S. Augustine speaketh thus of this deceitfull world:August. in his medita. This life is a miserable life, a fraile life, an vncertaine life, a painefull life, [Page 113] an impure lyfe, a lyfe Lady of enormities, & Queen of pride, ful of miseries & errors: which is not to be called a life, but a death in which wee die dailie, through sundry defections of mutability, and by manifolde kinds of death. A brickle lyfe, an incōstant life, which the fa­ster it goeth on, the nerer it ap­procheth to death, a deceitfull and vnsteady life, full of the snares of death. Although it be replenished with these, and o­ther greeuances, sorrowes, and inconueniences, yet (ô greefe) howe many dooth it ensnare with vanities, and howe many are deceiued with false and de­ceitfull promises? And albeit of it selfe it is so false and bit­ter, that it cannot cōceale these incōueniences from her blinde louers, yet it maketh drunk an infinite multitude of fooles [Page 114] with the golden cup, which she beareth in her hand. As they are happy, so are they rare, that refuse her familiarity; that de­spise her perfunctory ioyes: that contemne her society, least with this perishing deceiuer they bee also forced to perrish. This sayth he. Beholde, sayth Bernard,Bernard. the worlde cryeth, I shall fayle thee; and the flesh crieth, I shal infect thee: which then, ô miserable sinner, vvilt thou follow? the failing world, or the infecting flesh? Both of them are euill: therefore fol­lowe Christ, who will refresh thee. But if all these thinges, my Brother, which thou hast hetherto read of, do not moue thee, heare what the same fa­mous Doctor of the Church, Bernard sayth, of the louers of the world:In his me­ditations. Woe be vnto those vnhappy and wretched ones, [Page 115] saith he, for whom is prepared intollerable sorrow, incompa­rable stinch, and horrible feare. Woe bee to them, for whom is prepared that place, where no­thing shall be heard but vvee­ping and wayling, lamentati­on and howling, mourning & gnashing of teeth: where no­thing shall bee seene but the worme, vgly, deformed, and horrible tortures, and terrible & fearefull deuils: where they shal cal & seeke for death, but shal not find it: where there is no order, but where perpetual horror euerlastingly abideth. How great feare, how great so­row, how great mourning will there be, whē sinners are sepe­rated frō the righteous, & deli­uered to the power of deuills, with whom they shall be cast headlong into the eternall tor­mēts of hel, without hope euer [Page 116] to see the face of the Lorde, or heauenly glory: without any hope to bee euer freed from those torments; where ney­ther the torturers shal be wea­ried, nor the tortures haue any ende: where death shall neuer die, nor lyfe bring any ioy?

Tell mee ô sinner,Ierom vpō the 17, of Mathew. sayth S. Ierome, if we had the wisedom of Salomon, the beauty of Ab­solon, the strength of Samp­son, the long life of Enoch, the riches of Craesus, and the feli­citie of Octauian: what would these things profit vs, when as our fleshe at the length is to be giuen to the wormes of the earth, and our soules to the de­uils, to bee euerlastingly tor­mented with the rich Glutton in hell?

The shortnesse of time, the breuity of life, and the vncer­tainty of death ought to moue [Page 117] thee to contemne the worlde, & those vaine delights that be in the world. Wherefore Saint Gregory sayth:Gregory. Reprobates doe many things wickedly, be­cause they hope to liue long heere. Contrariwise, the righ­teous, whilst they consider the shortnes of theyr lyfe, they a­uoyde the sinnes of pride and vncleannesse. Of the breuity of this life S. Iames saith,Iames, 4. What is your life? it is euen as a vapour that appeareth for a little tyme.

And Saint Augustine sayth,August. vp­on the 56. psalme. If thou haddest lyued all that time, since Adam was expelled out of the garden of Paradice, euen to this day, certainly thou shouldest well perceiue, that thy life was not perpetuall, vvhich hath so passed avvay: but the lyfe of one man what is it? adde as many yeeres as it pleaseth thee, adde a very long [Page 118] and lasting old age, what then? Is it not yet morning? Bee it that the day of Iudgement is farre of; assuredly thy last day cannot bee farre of, therefore nowe prepare thy selfe; for as thou departest out of thys life, so shalt thou bee presented to the other lyfe. Thys sayth hee. And in another place: All the time that wee liue heere, is ta­ken from life: so that the lyfe present is none other thing, but a short way, by which wee passe vnto death,Seneca in his 59. e­pistle. in which no man can long stay nor linger, or walke softly, and at leysure; but euery day thou must finish by little and little some part of thy iourney.

All things passe away, sayth Soneca, and are in continuall diminution & augmentation. None of vs is the same in olde age, that wee vvere in youth.

[Page 119]Not any one of vs is the same in the morning, that wee were the day before. Our bodyes passe away after the manner of running riuers: vvhatsoeuer thou seest, runneth away with the time. Nothing remayneth steadie of all those thinges vve see: behold they are changed, whilst I speake, and I also am changed. And in another place;In his book of consola­tiō to Mat. chap. 22. The Fates doe ply their worke, and doe take away frō vs the sence and feeling of our death; and that death may creepe vpon vs more easily, it lurketh vnder the very name of life. Childhood cōuerts in­fancie into it, youth childhood, manly age youth, and olde age takes away manly age. The ve­ry increases, if thou doost well account & thinke of them, will be founde to be losses. If (my deere Brother) thou lettest [Page 120] these thinges into thine eares, and meditatest on thē in thine hart, & well considerest them, thou wilt say, that thou rather runnest vnto death, then that thou canst hope for long lyfe.

The fift Meditation, for Friday: of the vanitie of the glory, and magnificence of this world.

THE Prophet Baruch, detecting and laying o­pen the great and intol­lerable mockerie of vaine glory and riches, and the subtile deceits of this vvorlde, in the third chapter of his pro­phecie sayth; Where are the Princes of the Heathen, and such as ruled the beastes vppon the Earth?Baruch, 3,They that had their pa­stime with the foules of heauen, [Page 121] and hoarded vp siluer and golde, wherein men trust, and made none end of their gathering? For they that coyned siluer, and were so carefull of their worke, and whose inuention had none end, are come to naught, and gone downe to hell, and other men are come vp in their steades. Where are the in­uincible victors, and heroicke conquerours of Coutries, who by theyr conquests purchased such tryumphs, and by their ri­ches prepared such magnifi­cent feastes and banquettes? Where are the Emperours and Captaynes of huge Armies? Where are the managers & ta­mers of horses and other crea­tures? vvhere are the Iudges, tyrants, & great theeues of the world? they are novv nothing but dust and ashes. Looke and looke againe, looke I say into theyr Sepulchers, whether this [Page 122] is a rich man, or that a poore man? Whether this man is va­liant, or that man faint-harted? tosse & turn ouer their bones, distinguish if thou canst a rich man from a poore man, a vali­ant man frō a coward, a beauti­full man from him that is de­formed. Wherfore my brother, let vs be wise at the last, being admonished by this Scripture: and let vs assuredly persvvade our selues that all mans glory, whence soeuer it commeth, is to be auoided of vs.Why worldly felicity is to be es­chewed. First: be­cause of his owne nature it is vile: secondly, because it is de­ceitfull in his promises: third­ly, because it is vaine, brickle, frayle, fleeting and momenta­ny: fourthly, because it is euill and malicious in rendering a reward. First I say, that mans glory is to be eschewed, because of his owne nature and condi­tion [Page 123] is vile and base; as it is ma­nifest in the first booke of the Macchabees, where Mattathi­as dying sayth to his Sonnes; Feare not yee the wordes of a sin­full man;1, Macca. 2.for his glory is but dong and vvormes. VVhat in this world is more filthy thē dong? What more vile then wormes? Therefore if all mans glorie consisteth in dong, it is not to be desired, but auoyded. Mans glorie,A simily. as the Phylosopher sayth, is as corruption and the rottennesse of vvood. Which thing also experience teach­eth vs: for as the little vvorme Teredo, that eateth vvood, in the night shyneth, and ma­keth a crackling, but in the day time is knovvne to bee a worme & putrefaction: so also vayne glory shineth and glitte­reth vvith great pompe in the night of this world to weak & [Page 124] dimme eyes, vvhich cannot iudge but by outward appea­rances. But when that cleare and bright day of iudgement shall come, wherein God shall reueale the darkest and obscu­rest thinges of our soules, and shall manifest the secret coun­sailes of our harts: then those, that seemed happy and glori­ous, shall be knowne to be fil­thy, vile, and without any hope of saluation. Wherefore these mighty mē are like vnto Owls, which flying in the darke doe seeme to cast some light from them, but when the day ariseth they show blacke, as they are. If these gloriosoes had eyes to looke into theyr most vile ri­ches, and to behold the stinch and corruption of their owne flesh, which shall be turned in­to ashes, they that are nowe swelled and puffed vp, and doe [Page 125] despise others, through the no­blenes of their birth, theyr po­wer and dignity, should well perceaue hovve abiect, base, blacke, and corrupt they are. Wherefore I cannot be indu­ced, to thinke otherwise, but that if they would deeply con­sider and weigh these thinges, they would presently cast out of their harts al the earthly glo­ry of this world:In an Epi­stle to Iulia. chap. 4. knowing, as Hierome saith, that it is impos­sible, that any one should be happy in both worlds, and ap­peare glorious both in heauen, and in earth.

Secondly,The glory of y^e world is vncon­stant. the glory of thys world (as we sayde) is to be es­chewed, because it is fraile, and without any cōstancy or foun­dation: therfore it is like vnto a smoke, or a vapour, which the higher that it is lifted, the lesse it is seene: and to a flower of a [Page 126] good sent and fairenes, which a little Sun-shyne dooth dry vp in a short time; is vvithered with a little blast of wind, and dooth loose all the beauty and fragrancy. Such is the glory of the vvorld, of vvhich Esaias sayde: All flesh is grasse, and all the grace and glory thereof is as the flower of the field.Esay, 40.The grasse withereth, the flower fadeth, and the glorie thereof passeth away. Such are the louers of thys temporall momentany glory: vvorthily compared to grasse, vvhich grovveth on the topps of houses to day greene, and to morrow not seene. VVhere­fore the Wiseman sayth:Ecclesiasti­cus, 10. All power is of short continuance; and hee that is a King to day, to mor­row is dead. Tell me where is the povver and glory of King Assuerus, vvho gouerned an hundred and tvventy prouin­ces? [Page 127] VVhere is the glorie of great Alexander, at whose pre­sence the vvhole earth vvas husht,1, Maccha. 1 to vvhom all Kings and Tyrants payed tribute, as it is in the first Booke of the Mac­chabees? VVhere is the glo­rie of that great Empyre, by vvhich he conquered and sub­dued vnder him almost all the Kingdomes of the vvorlde? Where are all the Princes and Potentates of the vvorld, vvho raigned ouer both man and beast? They are passed and gone avvay, as a straunger or a Soiournour that tarryeth but for one day. Trulie not one of them remaineth, all their dayes vvere spente in vanitie, and theyr yeares svviftly posted a­vvay.

Death feareth no man: it swe­peth all avvay without any dif­ference or partiality: it is a [Page 128] fierce cruell beast, that spareth not any body, it taketh avvay both the king and the begger, and maketh all equal & alike.

Thirdly,The glory of y^e world is deceit­full. the glory of thys world is to be auoided, because it is deceitfull, and dooth per­forme none of those thinges it promiseth, but deceaueth all men in this life. Which of the Princes, and Emperours hath it not deluded, promising vnto them long life, peaceable ho­nours, a quiet empire, when as it cannot prolong mans lyfe one houre? VVho in earthly glory was lyke vnto Alexan­der, who was neuer subdued in any warre, who alwayes trium­phed ouer his enemies, vvho ouerthrew huge hoasts with a litle army, who neuer besieged Citty, but he tooke it, neyther was there any prouince, which did not obey his Empire? But [Page 129] now when he seemed an abso­lute conquerour, and purpo­sed to passe the rest of his time in peace and tranquillity, hee vvas on a suddaine poysoned. Tell mee why doest thou fol­low and hunt after the glory of the world, which cannot suc­cour thee in death?

Fourthly (as I said) humaine glory and applause is to be a­uoyded and eschewed,The glory of y^e world is euill and malicious in retribu­tion. because it is a very euill and naughty pay-mayster: for it promiseth glory, and payeth euerlasting perdition, and eternall confu­sion. Wherfore the Lord saith by the Prophet; I will turne their glory into shame. Ose, 4. So theyr strength shall bee turned into weakenes, their wisedome into foolishnes, and their pleasures into punishments. For accor­ding to the quantity of the falt, shall be the quantity of the pu­nishment, [Page 130] vvhich they shall be tormented vvith. Heereupon Saint Hierome speaketh thus to the louers of this fleeting and deceitfull vvorld; Woe bee vnto you miserable vvret­ches, vvho endeuour to goe to heauen by the vvay of riches and pleasures, and vnderstand not vvhat our Sauiour sayth: That it is easier for a cammell to goe through the eye of a needle,Math. 19.then for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of heauen. Re­member that this is a Diuine sentence, and the words of him who sayth; Heauen and earth shall passe, but my words shall not passe. O miserable vvretches, and more inconstant then any wind; howle & mourne; who are onely great and noble by the benefit of fortune; but in deed are base, abiect and blind vvith the smoake of vanitie, [Page 131] with deceaueable honours, and false dignities of this vvorlde. Doe yee not see the shortnes of time, howe death perhaps this might shal cut off the thred of your liues, and that yee shall be tormented for euer in hell, vvhere yee shall alwayes liue, dying without end, yea more dying, then all the men that die in the world? vvhere no rest shall be giuen, but torments shall alwayes liue to reuenge? Where yee shall not onely be tortured with men, but also with deuils? For so much the greater shall thy punishment be there, as thy glory was grea­ter here, & as thou hast liued in greater delicacies and delights. See how our Sauiour, that vn­chāgable truth, al whose deeds & words are one instruction, amōg his twelue apostles, whō he choose, would haue but one [Page 132] Bartholomew a noble man, & one Matthew a rich man: hee chose all the other poore men, and fishers: that he might sig­nifie that the noble and rich men of this world, can hardly be saued, and be made worthy of heauen. For if by one one­ly sinne man became guilty of hell fire: how shall a rich man be saued, desirous and greedy of populer applause, hunting after the fraile and mortall glo­ry of this life, which is none o­ther thing, then a filthy & im­pure vessell and receite for all sinne, full of pride and luxury, full of couetousnes in the rich, mighty and noble men of this world? These are theeues, that robbe the poore of that they should liue by, vvho eate vp their labours, killing and trea­ding them vnder theyr feete: vvhen notvvithstanding God [Page 133] hath blessed them vvith great aboundance of vvealth, that they therby might nourish the poore, and religiously rule o­uer them; who being drowned in riches, and delicats, and swol­len with costly meates, seeing the poore before their Pallace gates naked, and perrishing through hunger and cold, doe not stretch out their hands vn­to them, neyther are mooued vvith any pittie: but gyuing themselues vvholie to playes, sportings, gamings, feastings, and banquets, vtterly forget the poore, the charge of whom is so often committed and com­mended vnto thē in the Scrip­tures▪ neither doe they remem­ber God at any time, except perhaps lightly and by the way cursorily & perfunctorily. Let them certainly perswade them­selues, and remember these [Page 134] things, when they shall feele & try them, that a most strict and exact aceount shal be required of them, vvhy they haue not destributed to the poore those things, which were superflu­ous vnto them: and if they cannot giue an account, nor purge themselues, their soules shall suffer intollerable tor­ments in the deepest pit of hel. O how easily doe they offend, and howe suddainly are they envvrapped in punishment, vvho doe not consider, hovve they must dye, or howe God shall iudge them? O how vn­circumspect and vnhappy are they, that do not remēber these thinges, and doe not resist the temptations of the deuil: I dare boldly affirme, that if they did acknowledge God to be their Iudge, & think that they shold die, that they wold not sinne, at [Page 135] the least with so great security, all feare set apart. But now they come to Church, not to heare the diuine word, & to pray, but to see vanity, beuty, & the pride of womē. This is their thought, this their intent, & this their ser­mon. There they talk & con­fer, how they may heape riches together: there they dispute of the sundry fashions of apparel: there they inuite one another to feasts & banquets, & to the dishonest delights of gluttony: of whom S Bernard sayth; O wretches what do yee, who be­fore the time do slay your own soules, & corrupt and putrifie your bodies? Tell me, whence comes infirmity, whence gro­weth the sodaine death of yong men, but of great aboundance of meats, & immoderate vene­ry? Wretched are ye because ye think that ye can delude God, [Page 136] but in truth yee deceaue your selues▪ because yee neglect your soules that yee may pamper your bodies; & so yee destroy them both, before the time ap­poynted. Your pleasure and reioycing shall continue but that short time, yee liue, but af­ter death your bewaylings and torments shall endure with de­uils in hell for euer and euer: there shal be euerlasting shame and confusion: there shal nei­ther be sumptuous banquets, nor delicate wines: there with the rich Glutton, who in thys world fared delicatly, yee shall craue a drop of cold water, and it shall not be giuen vnto you: for there no man gathereth, or reapeth any thing, but that hee hath sown in this world. What then ô miserable man doest thou? Why doest thou not re­pent? Why doest thou not a­mend [Page 137] thy life? O hart harder then a rocke, why doest thou linger? Why doest thou de­ferre repentance for thy sinns? Why doest thou prorogue thy cōuersion? Behold how death commeth, running swiftly to carrie thee avvay: the deuill standeth ready, to catch thy soule, and the wormes greedily expect thy flesh, which thou hast fatted vvith so fine cates, that they may haue more a­boundant and more toothsom foode. Doth not that horrible and fearefull day of iudgment come into thy mind, in vvhich thou shalt not onely render a most stricte account of thy pride, gluttony, luxury, vayne glory, vanity, and of thy time vnprofitably spent; but also of euery idle word? Beware that thou fall not into that dreadful condemnation, which the Son [Page 138] of God not now a Lambe, but a Lyon shal pronounce against the cursed,Math. 25. saying: Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire, which is prepared for the deuill and his angels. Beholde, sayth Bernard, ô thou worldly sin­ner, how farre thou wanderest out of the way, if in this world thou seekest for honours, plea­sures, and glory: for thou shalt neuer finde that heere, which may satisfie thee. If thou desi­rest true ioy and true glory, en­deuour and labour to goe to heauen by the right way; wher the ioyes are truer and better, then euer eye hath seene, or eare hath heard, or hath at any time entred into the heart of man; I pray thee for those e­ternall and euerlasting ioyes, neglect and basely account of these transitory and momenta­ry pleasures.

[Page 139]But what shall wee say of them, who can neyther be in­duced by the feare or loue of GOD, nor by the terrour of death, nor by the horrour of hellish tormentes, to forsake theyr sinnes, yea, vvhom it re­penteth that that they haue not po­wer and abilitie to liue as wic­kedly as they would, that they might satisfie theyr lustes in all thinges? O miserable wretch­es, yee laugh in this vvorld, but yee shall weepe in the other. VVoe bee vnto you, who de­sire momentanie and fading pleasures, because yee shall suf­fer greate and euerlasting tor­ments. A lyttle tyme yet re­mayneth: fill vppe the mea­sure of your iniquityes and mi­series, that the indignation of GOD may bee more plen­tifullie powred dovvne vp­pon you. Reioyce a lyttle, [Page 140] giue ouer your selues to try­flings, to toies, fables, sportings, lyes, contentions, and enmities, and let no time passe you in vaine. What doe yee? Scrape together for your children ri­ches, honours, and dominions: purchase nobility & renowne for them, that they may doe that, which yee left to doe, and finish, what yee began: that yee together vvith them may be tortured vvith greater tor­ments.

But some man may say:An obiecti­on. God is bountifull, gracious & mer­cifull, hee receaueth euery sin­ner that turnes to him with all his hart, and he pardoneth all their faults.The aun­swer. True it is my bro­ther, he is more mercifull, then thou supposest, when he so pa­tiently suffereth sinners, and so mercifully granteth thē space to repent in, that they may a­mend [Page 141] themselues: and if they returne vnto him, he gracious­ly receaueth them.

But I would haue thee to know, that as he is mercifull in suffering, expecting, and par­doning: so he is iust in correc­ting and punishing. If thou shalt say: Albeit a man sinne all his life time▪ neither doe any good at all, if hee repent at the very point & instance of death God will forgiue him all hys sinnes. O my brother, hovve vaine is this comfort?How dan­gerous it is to defer re­pentance to the houre of death. Howe false & deceitfull is this cogita­tion? for of an hundred thou­sand sinners, that defer their re­pētance to the houre of death, scarsely one is saued, and obtai­neth remission of his sinnes. A man borne in sinne, neuer ly­uing according to the lavve of the Lord, without the know­ledge of him, neuer willing to [Page 142] heare the worde of God, not knowing what sinne is or what repentance is, drowned in the businesses and cares of thys world: afflicted with the loue of his children, whom hee lea­ueth: with the griefe of his ri­ches, which he forsaketh: tor­mented without hope euer to enioy them again, what repen­tance can he make: who if any hope of longer life or recouery did appeare vnto him, would not be any whit carefull for re­pentance? Of which I inferre, that hee that in his youth, and whilst hee is whole and sound, neither feareth, nor blusheth to offend God, is vnwoorthy to haue his sinns forgiuen him in the agony of death.Late repen­tance sil­dom true. For tell me what repentance is that, which a man maketh, when he plain­ly seeth, that he can liue no lon­ger? yea, who would liue more [Page 143] dissolutly, then he did before, if hee should recouer his former health? Truly I my selfe haue seene very few rich men, who haue repented at the houre of death, and recouering agayne bodilie health, haue not after­wardes beene woorse in theyr soules, then they were before. This I am assured and altoge­ther perswaded of, and I haue learned it by long experience and obseruation, that they that alvvayes sinne vvithout anie feare, and neuer in health will sette sinne at defiance, nor re­nounce theyr pleasures, that they sildome and very hardlie haue an happy ende, as sayth Saint Hierome. VVherefore my Brother, if thou hast any discretion, or if there bee anie light of reason within thee, des­pise and forsake the riches, ho­nours, and glorie of this world, [Page 144] for his sake who created thee, and who is ascended aboue all things. VVhat shall it profit thee, if thou gainest the whole world, and loosest thy soule? I knowe assuredly that the ho­nours and glory of this world are impediments of grace, and that which is worse, hinderers of eternall saluation. For it is no where reade, that euer any man passed vnto eternall glory by the pleasures and delights of this world. O howe vaine and false is the glory, vvhich men hunt after, and desire one of another, and not of God? He that desireth to be prefer­red before all men, it is to bee feared, least the higher hee as­cends, the greater will bee his fall. That Angell, was a Cit­tizen and an inhabitant of hea­uen, who said; I will ascend into heauen,Esay, 14.& exalt my throne aboue [Page 145] beside the starres of God: I will sitte also vppon the mount of the Congregation in the sides of the North. I will ascend aboue the height of the cloudes, and I will bee like the most high: But hee vvas made a deuill, and fell into the deepest pitte of hell. Therefore it is very well sayde of Saint Augustine; O howe happie is hee, vvhose heart onelie burneth vvith a desire of heauenlie glorie? Who is not puffed vp in prosperitie, nor cast downe in aduersitie? Who as hee hath nothing in the vvorlde, that hee loueth, so hee hath nothing that hee fea­reth? VVhat other thing is the glory of this worlde, but a tickling of the eares? O how cursed is he, sayth Anselmus, and ingratefull, that seeketh for the glorie of thys vvorlde? No honour is gotte vvithout [Page 146] trouble, no dignitie vvithout disturbance, no highnes with­out vanity. Wherfore, my bro­ther, if thou wouldest weigh­tily consider of the great dan­ger, that follovveth vvorldly glorie, vvithout doubt thou wouldest shunne and flie from all the vanity of this vvorlde: and thou vvouldest onely de­sire to enioy that celestiall bea­titude, vvhich all the Saintes haue obtayned by so great la­bours and afflictions, and now doe enioy with greater reioy­cing.

The sixt Meditation for Sater­day: howe death is to be feared: and that a Christian ought so to liue, that death may neuer finde him vnpre­pared.

BE mindfull, Ecclesi. 14. saith the wise­man, for death dooth not tarry: the remembrance of it is the mother of ma­ny good things: for the same Wiseman saith:Ecclesiast. 7. Remember the end, and thou shalt neuer doe a­misse. And Saint Bernard saith: Continuall remembrance of death is a great blessing.Bernard. Let a man alwayes carry this about with him, and hee shall neuer offend. And Saint Augustine sayth:Augustine. There is not any thing, that more forciblie holdeth a man from sinne, then the con­tinuall remembrance of death. [Page 148] This maketh a man humble & lowly: this bringeth a cōtempt of earthly things, & induceth a man to take vpon him the bur­den of repentance. S. Hierome also doth subscribe vnto these,Hierome. saying; Hee that perswadeth himselfe that he shall dye, easily contemneth all things: he de­spiseth the pride of lyfe, who remembreth that ere long hee shall be cast into the earth: for hee that knoweth that shortly, he must be put vnder all mens feet, & be troden vpon by eue­rie one, he will not desire to be extolled, or to be lifted aboue others: he that remēbreth that he must leaue all things by and by, contemneth the lust of his eies; but especially he despiseth the concupiscence of the flesh, vvho considereth that after a short time his body shal be de­uoured of the vvormes of the [Page 149] earth. I wold to God, saith S. Ie­rome, that the kings & Princes of the earth, and the possessors of the riches of this worlde, wold cōsider, how after a short space of time they shall be car­ried out of theyr magnificent Pallaces, and be enclosed & in­cluded in a very narrow corner of a roome: how they shall be caried out of their glistering & famous buildings into a darke & obscure Sepulcher: out of their golden & gilded houses, painted with most beautiful & most plesant flowers & picturs into a Sepulcher replenished with crawling worms, & intol­lerable stink: out of their Pal­laces full of all the fine furni­ture & riches of this world into an empty and hollow Sepul­cher: out of Pallaces, in which a company of children and a troup of seruants daily attēded, [Page 150] into a solitary, desert forsaken Sepulcher, seperated from all society and resort of men. Tell mee, where remayneth all that forepassed glory and pompe? Where is the multitude of ser­uants and attendants, that were wont to follow them? Where are their costly & delicate ban­quets? They ioyed heere a lit­tle time, and liued in their Pal­laces, in the midst of the de­lights of this world; and nowe worms in a Sepulcher do frol­lick and feede on them.

Of this remembrance of death,Petrus Da­mianus to a Countesse. Petrus Damianus vvry­teth vnto a certaine Countesse, saying; O that wee would re­member, deare Lady, how the miserable soule is excruciated at the point of death with hor­rible feare, cruell remorse, and sharpe piercings, it being now to depart out of the prison of [Page 151] the flesh. It shall remember vi­ces and sins committed, which are so strictly forbidden: It shall beholde the precepts of God, which it hath not obser­ued partly throgh negligence, and partly through contempt; it shall lament the time spent without fruit, which was gran­ted it to repent in: it shall mourne and bewaile, because it hath so lately vnderstood the ineuitable and immutable ven­geance of condemnation. It shall bee compelled to forsake and leaue the flesh, it shall de­sire to reuoke and recall the time past, but it cannot, neither shall it bee heard. Looking backwardes, it shall see all her life time, as the tract and step of one pace. And looking for­wards, seeing so euerlasting an age of eternity, it shall howle and cry out, that in so short a [Page 152] time it did not purchase that great glory, which the Saintes shall enioy for euer and euer: it shall lament that for so small and momentany a pleasure, it hath lost the perpetuall felicity of euerlasting blessednes. It shall blush & be ashamed, that for the flesh, which shal be cast vnto wormes to eate, it neglec­ted and despised it selfe, which should haue liued in the society and felowship of Angels. And lifting vp the beams of her vn­derstanding, and considering of those immortall riches of heauen, and seeing that shee hath changed them for the mi­series of this life, shee shall bee exceedingly afflicted, and vt­terlie confounded. VVhen she shall turne her eyes to view the vanities of this world, and the darknes of the earth, shee shall admire and vvonder at [Page 153] the brightnes of the light gli­stering aboue her, and shall manifestlie knovve that thys worlde is night and darknesse. The breaste shall beginne to pant and beate,The fore­runners of death. the forehead shall waxe stiffe, whence cold svveate shall issue: the eyes shall growe dimme, the eares deaffe, the nose shall sinke downe, the nosethrils shall bee filled vvith filth and corrupti­on, the countenance shal wax wanne and pale, the mouth shall bee distorted and pursed, the lippes shall grow blew, the hands cold, the pulse shall faint and languish, novve beating neuer a whitte, novve stryking softlie, and sometymes cree­ping lyke a vvorme or a pys­mier: the feete shall vvax cold, and the whole flesh shal turne to corruption.

Those antecedent tokens of [Page 154] death neerely approching,Who stand by him that is yeelding vp y^e ghost. and these neerer signes beeing at hand, the euil works, which she hath done, the wordes, which she hath spoken, and the cogi­tations, which she hath thoght vpon, shall also approach: and both the workes, wordes, and thoughts, shall be witnesses a­gainst a miserable sinner: they shall stand in his sight: & will he nill he, he shall be constray­ned to see them. At the one side of him there shall bee de­uils present, and at the other Angells: these shall comfort him dying, the other shall ac­cuse him, and both of them shall earnestly expect, which of them shall carry him away with them. If there be in him signes of piety and contrition, he shall be glad at the sight of the Angels, and hee shall take courage to depart vvith thys [Page 155] sweete and happie companie. But if on the left side there shal bee present so obscure and so hatefull a multitude of sinns, so vncleane and stinking, that the Iudge cannot abide the smell of them, thē the miserable soule shall forth-with faint for feare, it shall bee disturbed with vio­lence of perturbations, & shall bee compelled to forsake the prison of the miserable flesh. Then the soule shall runne to the mouth, to the eyes, to the eares, to the nosethrils; seeking which way it may get forth, & finding all thinges shut vp and closed, it shall breake through, which when it hath so done, and shall looke round about, casting her eyes on euery side, and seeing her selfe condem­ned, shee shall curse and banne her selfe, exclaiming, and cry­ing out: O the cursed soule of [Page 156] one excomunicate of a theefe, of a Church robber, of an a­dulterer, of an vsurer. And whē the wretched soule shal view the vvhite and vnspotted gar­ment, that was giuē her in bap­tisme, to be nowe blacker then pitch, she shal sigh and mourn vvith greate lamentation and howling, saying: Woe is mee, woe is mee miserable wretch; who hath changed my garmēt? it was whiter then snow, and nowe it is blacker then pitch. Then the deuill will presentlie step forth, who wil mock thee, and say; O my soule doe not meruaile, beholde it is I, that haue prepared for thee thys blacke garmeut: with which vesture the greater part of the worlde is inuested: to vvhich thou hast alwayes beene obse­quious, which thou hast credi­ted, which thou with me hast [Page 157] imployed thy selfe in, alwayes follovving myne aduice and counsaile: therefore with mee thou shalt for euer dvvell in mine infernal kingdom: where there is sorrowe without ioy, hunger without meate, thyrst without drinke, darknes with­out light, stinke without sweet­nesse, greefe without comfort, mourning vvithout consolati­on, teares without ceasing, hi­deous noyse vvithout silence, howling without melody, bur­ning fire without refreshing, a violent wind without calmnes, heat without ende, and all euill without any good. Therefore arise my loue, & goe with me; behold all the infernal spirites doe come to meet thee. Then also shall bee present the An­gel of GOD, to vvhom the soule was committed, saying; Happie and blessed are they, [Page 158] who in this worlde haue not spotted nor blemished theyr garments. O vnhappy soule, ô friend of deuils, ô the cursed creature of the omnipotent God. I alwayes stood by thee, and thou sawest mee not. I al­wayes admonished thee, and thou wouldest not heare me: I alwayes suggested good coun­sailes vnto thee, and thou woul­dest not beleeue mee. There­fore now get thee gone to hell into the handling of deuills: that is, to the place of torments, vvhich are prepared for thee according to thy deserts.

Who can expresse the mul­titude of hellish fiends, that with great fiercenes shal runne to catch the vnhappie soule, and carrie it to euerlasting tor­ments, who despitely insulting ouer it, and mocking it shall say; O how proude hast thou [Page 159] beene heeretofore? How de­licately and sumptuously hast thou banquetted? How fine­lie & curiously hast thou been cloathed? Howe valiant and prosperous hast thou alwayes been? Tell vs, why doest thou not now eate, why doest thou not drinke, vvhy art thou not gallantlie apparrelled? Why doest thou not nowe play and reioyce with thy wife, children, and friends? Then the mise­rable soule shall curse the bo­die, The soule shall curse the body. saying: O temple of the deuill, whose works haue pol­luted mee: ô cursed earth, ô habitation of sathan, arise now and goe with mee, and thou shalt see the place of torments prepared for thee: in vvhich I shall dwell vvithout thee till the comming of the Iudge: and then also shalt thou come hither, and for euer shalt bee [Page 160] tormented with mee. Cursed bee thine eyes, vvhich would not see the light of truth, and the vvay of righteousnesse: cursed bee thine eares, which refused to heare the wordes of eternall lyfe: Cursed bee thy nosethrills, vvhich disdayned to smell the most sweete sa­uour of vertue. Cursed be thy lippes and tongue, and cursed bee thy mouth, that would nei­ther taste the ioy of glory, nor prayse theyr Creatour. Cur­sed bee thy handes, vvhich denyed almes to the poore: Cursed be thine heart, vvhich brought foorth so many, and so vncleane cogitations and counsayles: Cursed bee thy feete, vvhich vvould not fre­quente the Church of Christ Iesus: Cursed bee thy mem­bers, vvhich neuer brought foorth the vvorkes of repen­tance: [Page 161] And cursed bee all thy workes, which haue deserued so cruell, and so endlesse tor­ments.

Consider therefore my bro­ther, from vvhat great daun­gers and feares thou mayst nowe delyuer thy selfe, if so novve through the feare of death thou endeuourest so to lyue, that when it commeth, thou mayst say with Dauid: Into thy handes ô Lorde I com­mende my spirite. Psal. 7. Learne novv to dye to the vvorlde, that thou mayest lyue vvith Iesus Christ. Learne nowe to con­temne all thinges, that thou mayst freelie enter in with Ie­sus Christ, and enioy all the blessings of his glory. Chastice novve thy body vvith repen­tance, that thou mayst then finde most firme assurance. O howe happy & prudent is that [Page 162] man, who laboureth nowe to be such an one, as hee will de­sire to be in that doubtfull and dreadful houre of death. Ther­fore now contend with all thy might to bee such an one: for thou knowest not when thou shalt die, neither what wil hap­pen vnto thee after death. Doe not relie eyther vppon thy friendes, or thy children; for they will forgette thee sooner, then thou thinkest: and vn­lesse now thou disposest of all thinges, who can or will heere­after dispose of them for thee? Be carefull and prouident: for it is better to foresee, and pre­uent that day with good pre­paration, then to looke for helpe and ayde of another. Therfore gather now immor­tall goods: giue almes in thys life, make those holy and bles­sed ones thy friends, that when [Page 163] thou departest hence they may receaue thee into their euerla­sting habitations.Gregor. de diuersis, cu­ius initi [...]m, dignū val­de est. For that glo­rious Doctour of the Church Saint Gregory saith; that those things are with great diligence to be considered of, and those works with many teares to bee meditated vppon, which the Iudge of the world shall exact of vs, when that houre of death shall come. And Saint Ber­nard sayth; O my soule, what feare shal there be, when all are sent away, whose presence was pleasant vnto thee, whose sight acceptable, and whose neigh­bourhood so familiar and thou altogether alone enterest into that vnknowne region, & shalt see those vgly & horible mon­sters flocking to meete thee? Who wil succour thee in a day of so great necessitie? Who shall defende thee from those [Page 164] roaring Lyons greedy of theyr pray? who shal comfort thee? who shal helpe thee? who shal conduct thee? But happie is that soule, which confidentlie and boldly shall speake to her enemies in the gate: vvhy stan­dest thou heere thou cruel and bloody beast? Thou shalt find nothing deadly in me: which shal be entertayned of Angels, defended from the rage & vi­olence of deuils, and shal bee carried into the bosome of A­braham. Of death and the way of sinners in an other place al­so thus speaketh S. Bernard: The death of sinners is excee­ding euil.Bernard in Epist 106. And heare why it is exceeding euil: It is euil in the losse of the worlde: vvorse in the seperation of the flesh: but worst of al in the double tor­ment of the vvorme, and of fire. But of al it is exceeding [Page 165] euil, because the soule shal bee seperated from the Diuine a­spect, and with great confusi­on shal bee for euer depriued of the sight of God. Consider, my deare brother, and marke, that no man can eschew death, neyther know the houre, nor change the time appoynted of God. But the death of the righteous is good, for they rest from their labours; better for the nouelty of the life; but best of all for the assurance and se­curity of eternity.

The seauenth Meditation for Sonday: of the ioyes of the bles­sed in heauen, and of the paynes of the damned in hell.

O Sinfull soule, if these earthly thinges seeme vile vnto thee, and of no price; lift vp thine eyes, and beholde heauenlie things: consider with great di­ligence, what thinges they be, and how great, which GOD hath prepared for the Elect. For they be such, and so great, that, as Saint Paul sayth, neither eye hath seene, nor eare hath heard, neyther hath entred in­to the hart of man. Therefore wee must knowe, that the de­lightes of a blessed lyfe are so many and so great, that no A­rithmetitian can number them, [Page 167] no Geomater can measure thē, neyther can any Grammarian, Logitian, or Rhetoritian ex­presse them, eyther by wordes or reasons. Seeing neither eye hath seene theyr greatnes, nor eare hath heard of them, ney­ther at any time haue they en­tered into mans heart. There the Saints shall ioy, beeing cir­cled and compassed with glo­rie, beholding the Diuine es­sence aboue them, seeing the beauty of the heauens, and of all creatures beneath them, viewing in thēselues the digni­ty of their soules, and glory of their bodies; and to bee briefe, hauing about them the socie­tie and fellowshippe of all the Angells and blessed Spyrites. Hence it is that Anselmus sayth,In his book of Simili­tudes, from y^e 47, chap­ter, to y^e 74. that there are fourteene partes of that felicity, vvhich all the Elect shall perfectlie [Page 168] haue, vvhen that generall sessi­on is ended:Seauen be­atitudes ap­pertaining to glorified bodies. seauen of the bo­dy, and as many of the soule: the first of vvhich is beautie: for in that lyfe, the beautie of the righteous shall bee equall to the beautie of the Sunne, vvhich shall bee seauen folde brighter,Beauty. then it novve is. VVhere-vppon it is written: That the iust shall shyne,Math. 13.as the Sunne in the Kingdome of God. The second shall bee theyr a­gilitie, Agility. which shall bee like vn­to that of Angells: for they shall bee mooued from hea­uen to the earth, and from the earth to heauen, sooner then we can mooue one of our fin­gers vp and downe.A simily. VVe may beholde an example of this ve­locitie in the beames of the Sunne, vvhich at the Sunne rysing in the East are in a mo­ment carryed to the VVest: [Page 169] that thereby we may consider, that it is not impossible, which wee speake of this our future swiftnesse and celerity, especi­ally, seeing that greater veloci­tie is wont to bee in all thinges liuing, thē in those things that are liuelesse. The third part of their beatitude is fortitude;Fortitude. for whosoeuer shall be accounted woorthy to be numbred vvith the celestiall Cittizens, shal ex­cell in strength, so that no man shal be able to resist them. For theyr fortitude shall be as great as that of Angells, with whom they liue in ioy: for as theyr glory shall be a like, so theyr o­ther gyfts shall bee a like. The fourth shall bee free and secure liberty:Liberty. for as nothing can hin­der Angels, so nothing shall hinder the Saints, neyther shal any element whatsoeuer bee a­ble to resist them.

[Page 170]The fift part of theyr beati­tude is health,Health. which shall bee vvithout infirmitie. Of thys health of the righteous, vvhat can bee sayd better, then that which the sweete Singer of Is­rael speaketh;Psalm, 36, saying: The health of the righteous is of the Lord. And to whom this sound and true health is giuen of the Lorde, what infirmitie can a­ny way touch them, or come neere them?

The sixt gift of beatitude, is an ineffable delight,Delight. which shal make drunke the righteous, & shal fill them full, and wholy replenish them with an vn­speakeable aboundance of in­estimable ioy. What said I, shal fil them ful, and wholy replea­nish them? yea, theyr eyes, no­strils, ears, mouth, hands, throat, lunges, marrow, and theyr ve­ry entrailes, and all and euey [Page 171] part and member of them shal be filled with such wonderfull sence, and feeling of such ex­ceeding & incomparable plea­sure & delight, that the whole man shal quaffe of the riuer of Gods pleasure, and shall bee made drunke with the plentie of his house; so that hee shall stande amazed, and bee alto­gether astonished; and those things that he shall enioy, shal be so great, that he cannot de­sire greater.

The seauenth parte,Perpetuitie: shall bee length and perpetuitie of lyfe; for whosoeuer he be that lyueth well now, then hee shal lyue as long as God. Where­vpon it is written by the Wise­man; Wise, 5, The righteous shall liue for euer, and theyr rewarde is with the Lord. Moreouer, the soule shal also haue seauē bea­titudes which are no lesse glo­rious, [Page 172] then those of the bodie.The seauen beatitudes which the soules of the righte­ous enioy in heauen. The first is Wisedome, which in that glory shall be giuen vn­to it: for there the soule of a simple Artificer, or a plaine Country-man, shall haue more vvisedome,Wisedom. then all the Phylo­sophers or Wise men of thys world euer enioyed here. The righteous shall haue such a­boundance of vvisedom in the lyfe to come, that they shall be ignorant of nothing, vvhich they ought or woulde knowe. They shall bee filled with all perfect vvisedome, and shall beholde GOD face to face. VVhich vvhen hee shall see, he shall beholde the nature of euery creature, which consi­steth better in GOD, then in it selfe.

Then likewise the righte­ous shal know and vnderstand all thinges, which God made [Page 173] to bee knowne, as well those thinges that are past, as those things that are to come.

There all shall be knovvne of euery one, and euery one of all, neyther shall any man bee ignorant of what Countrey, of what Nation, or of what kin­dred any man is, or what hee hath doone in his lyfe.

The second beatitude of the soule,Friendship, shall bee the amitie and friendship of one to another, as mēbers of one body, whose head is Christ Iesus the Lorde. For God, and all other good men in that blessed society, shal so vnfainedly loue euery righ­teous man, that they can neuer hate him. As long and as well, as a man dooth loue himselfe, so long, and so well shall hee loue another that resteth in the same fellowship with him.

But passe ouer these things, [Page 174] and contemplate him, by whō these blessings come vnto thee, and thou shalt perceiue, that hee dooth and will loue thee more, then thou canst loue thy selfe, or any other them­selues: and thou wilt loue him aboue thy selfe, and aboue all others.

The third shal be concord:Concord. for the body and the soule of euery Saint, which disagreed in thys lyfe, shall then very vvell agree, and bee at peace and v­nitie; yea, all the righteous shal haue such agreement and con­cord, as our eyes haue in thys present life. For as one eye cannot bee turned about,A similie. with out the other bee also turned, but they are alwayes turned together one way, euen so the bodie and the soule, and the vvhole congregation of the righteous, shall will no contra­rieties, [Page 175] but shall alwayes haue the same vvill. For wee shall be one body, one Church, and the spouse of Christ. The will also of almighty GOD shall not bee contrary to thine, but thou shalt wil as he willeth, & hee shal wil in al things, as thou willest; for howe is it possible that the heade should disagree with his body?

The fourth is Honor:Honour. heere wee are borne of the corrupti­on of the flesh, filled with ma­ny miseries, destitute of com­fort, subiect to many infirmi­ties and passions, and ful of the vlcers of sinne, out of vvhich GOD shall take vs, and shall heale vs, and restore vs to per­fect health, and shal adorne vs vvith the ornament of absolute righteousnesse and immorta­litie; shall adopt vs for hys [Page 176] sonnes and children, shal make vs inhearitours of his king­dome, and coheires with hys onely begotten Sonne, our Sa­uiour, and shall make vs to bee called Gods by his own name. For hee sayth: I haue sayde yee are Gods,Psalm▪ 82,and yee all are children of the most High.

The fifte beatitude of the soule,Power, is Power; for the righte­ous shall be able to doe, vvhat they will; because they shall haue the almightie agreeable to theyr wills.

The sixt beatitude,Securitie. is secu­ritie: For the righteous in that blessed estate, shall certainlie haue and enioy, what soeuer they doe desire, neyther shall they haue any feare to loose that they haue, because ney­ther they shall bee willing to loose it, neither shal God take it from them being vnwilling.

[Page 177]The seauenth and last bea­titude of a glorified soule,Perfect ioy. is perfect ioy, such as no man can comprehend; for there shalbe thousands of thousands, tenne thousand thousands, and more then tenne thousand hundred thousands of thousands of the righteous, whō none can num­ber, and all shall enioy and ioy in the same blessednesse: ney­ther shall there be anie, vvhich shall not as much ioy for an o­thers felicitie, as for his ovvne.

And aboue all this, they shal reioyce with an admirable ioy; seeing almighty GOD, whō they entirely loue, more then themselues, and whom God loueth, more then they can loue themselues. Therefore theyr ioy shall bee vnmeasura­ble ioy shal be vnto them both within and without, ioy aboue, and ioy beneath, ioy all about [Page 178] them, on euery side, and euery where full of ioy.

But as the righteous shall reioyce by reason of so great ioy and blessednesse: so on the contrarie part, sinners shall be tormented with vnspeakable tortures. For as beautie, agili­tie, fortitude, libertie, health, pleasure, and eternitie, is mat­ter of reioycing vnto the righ­teous: so on the contrary part, the vglines of sinne, the bur­then of it, imbecility, seruitude, infirmitie, anxietie, and euer­lasting death, shall with conti­nuall and most greeuous tor­ments afflict sinners. For that securitie of eternitie, & the life which the righteous shall re­ioyce in, where they alwaies in­ioy the good blessings of God, shal doubtlesse be a very great and a perpetuall punishment vnto the wicked, in which they [Page 179] shal alvvayes finde, that which they shal more and more hate. VVhat shal vvee say of vvise­dome? which as it shall bee a ioy & an honor vnto the righ­teous: so that, which the vvic­ked haue knowne, or shall knovve, shal be vnto thē griefe and confusion: the friendship vvhich is ioyned with myrth and reioycing in the righteous, shal bee great discord and af­fliction vnto sinners: for they shal haue great discord, especi­ally with those creatures, which they heeretofore loued in thys world, and the creatures shall haue the lyke with them. And in the place of the power, that the righteous shal haue, the vvicked shal haue such impo­tencie, that they shal be able to doe nothing as they would; so that by the honor of the Saints they shal haue eternal cōfusion.

[Page 180]Furthermore, as the friendes of GOD shall be secure, that they shal not loose theyr bles­sings, so the enemies of God shal loose all hope to bee deli­uered from those torments in which they lyue; who beeing created to enioy heauenly glo­rie, are now for euer to lyue in the societie of deuils. To bee briefe, in stead of the eternall and ineffable ioy of the righte­ous, the wicked shal bee filled with exceeding sorrowe, be­cause they shal continually and without end, suffer ineuitably all those miseries, vvhich they shal feele themselues compas­sed with. Thys sayth Ansel­mus, but much more copious­lie.

In this blessednes, as S. Au­gustine sayth,Augustine. God shal fil and satisfie al the sences of the elect with inestimable ioy and plea­sure, [Page 181] for hee himselfe shall bee the obiect of them all: he shal bee a glasse vnto their eyes; honny vnto theyr mouthes; musick vnto theyr eares; sweet Balsamum vnto theyr noses; a most delicate flower vnto their hands: for to this purpose God became man, that euery man might receiue by him internal blessednes for his soule, in the contemplation of his diuinitie, and external for his body, in beholding his humanitie.

Briefely,August. in his Manuel, chap, 15, according to the saying both of Saint Augu­stine and Gregorie, there shal be so great beautie of righte­ousnesse, and glory of euerla­sting light, that if wee should suffer torments euery day, if wee shoulde abide for a long tyme the paynes and tortures of hel, that wee might bee ad­mitted to see Christ in his glo­rie, [Page 182] if it were but one day, and haue felowship with his Saints, certainely it were worth the suffering, that wee might bee made partakers of so great blessednesse and glory. There­fore it is sayde not without rea­son of the Psalmographer, nor with a small desire; A day, ô Lord in thy Courts,Psalm, 84,is better then a thousand other where. And of Saint Bernard: Who can cō ­prehend in thys lyfe, hovve great the glory of the Saints of GOD shal be in the life euer­lasting, who shal see God, and shal alwaies be with him? who is al in al? who is the cheefest good? in whom is exceeding blessednesse and vnmeasurable ioy? There is truth, libertie, loue, & perfect charitie: there shal bee eternal societie, con­stant amitie, and perpetual se­curitie.

[Page 183]Rightly therefore sayth that reuerend Doctor Saint Augu­stine; O ioy aboue all ioy, for a man to see the face of God, who hath created, redeemed, and glorified him: certainely thys is the ioy of the Angels, & of the Saints. For as Saint Gre­gory saith; GOD is of so ad­mirable beautie, that the An­gels, who sitte vpon the Sun, doe stil desire to see him.

There as Saint Augustine sayth,In the sixt chap. of his Manuell. is neyther vvicked men nor any kinde of wickednesse: there is no aduersary, nor any to resist; there is no manner of enticement vnto sinne, there is no want, no reproching, no rayling, no nicknaming, no ac­cusation, no dissembling, no feare, no disquietnes, no payne, no doubting, no violence, no discord; but there dwelleth a­boundance of peace, fulnes of [Page 184] charitie, eternall praise and thanks giuen vnto God, secure rest without end, and alvvayes ioy in the holy Ghost.

Hast thou heard, ô my soule, howe surpassing bee the ioyes, how infinite the mirth, & how incomparable and incompre­hensible is the light of that heauenlie Cittie? O happy ioy, ô true reioycing of the Saints, who doe continuallie beholde the face, and alvvayes possesse the company of God himselfe. Therfore, ô my soule, let vs willingly relinquish the desire of these earthly thinges, let vs banish out of our hearts, the ioy of euill thoughts, and beeing inflamed with the loue of that celestial and euerlasting ioy, let vs returne and trauaile towards the heauenly Cittie, in which wee are written and ap­poynted Cittizens, as of the [Page 185] houshold of GOD, heyres of his kingdome of glorie, and fellow heires with his beloued Sonne Christ Iesus.

If thou demaundest howe this may be,August. in the 16. chap. of his Manuell. or by what means and helpe? Heare what I shal say vnto thee: The matter is put in the power of the willer and dooer. The kingdome of heauen suffereth violence; the kingdome of heauen, ô man, demaundeth none other price, but thy selfe: for it is worth so much as thou art: giue thy selfe, and thou shalt haue it. VVhy art thou troubled a­bout the price? Remember that Christ hath giuen him­selfe, that hee might purchase of GOD his Father a king­dome for thee, so in like man­ner giue thou thy selfe, that thou mayst enioy this king­dome, and let not sinne raigne [Page 186] in thy mortall body, but the spirite for the obtaining of life.

O sinful soule, ô soule ful of miserie; if these thinges doe not yet mooue thee, which I haue spoken of the excellen­cie and immensitie of that hea­uenly ioy, which the elect of God doe for euer enioy, that thou maist purchase it for thy selfe, both by repentance, and by diuine grace: Consider, I pray thee, with great dread & feare, the most miserable estate, the intollerable paynes, and the vnspeakeable torments of hel, that obscure and diabolical cit­tie, that by the horror and ter­ror of this consideration, thou mayst bee conuerted vvyth all thine hart vnto the Lord.

Therefore wee must first know,The paines of hell shall be diuers. that according to the di­uersity of sinnes, shal be the va­rietie of punishments. For as [Page 187] Saint Gregory sayth: VVee must knowe that there is but one fire in Hel,In his 4. booke of dialog. cap. 43, and in the 9, book of his mor­rals, cha. 27 but al sinners are not tormented in it after the same manner: for euery one shal feele so much punish­ment there, as he hath sinned heere.

And as in this vvorlde vvee are al vnder one Sunne,A Simily. yet we do not feele the heate al alike, because one is more hote, and another lesse hote: so there in that fire, there is not one man­ner of burning, because heere what the diuersitie of bodies dooth (for after one manner the fire doth burne chaff, after another woode, and after ano­ther yron) that there dooth the diuersity of sinnes: they haue the same fire, and yet it dooth not burne al the damned that be therein alike.

That fire shalbe kindled with [Page 188] the wrath of the Iudge, & shal burne euerlastingly, neither shal it neede to bee kindled the second time: as Iob witnesseth who sayth: The fire that is not blowne, chap, 20, or as Pagnine transla­teth it, the vnquenchable fire shal deuour him.

Of the crueltie and torment of thys fire, Sebastian sayth: That there is as great a diffe­rence betweene materiall fire, and the fire of hell, as there is between painted fire on a wal, and naturall fire.

Thys fire shall some-vvhat shine,The fire of hell shall shine, to the greater tor­ment of the damned. but it shal be no comfort vnto the damned, but rather a greater punishment. Where­vppon Saint Isidore sayth: In hell there shal be a certaine ob­scure shyning, by which the miserable damned shal be seen, not that they may reioyce in it, but that they may be more tor­mented, [Page 189] whilst one seeth ano­ther. See Gregory in the 9, booke of his morals. chap, 49. For then the vvicked shal see those tormented with thē, whom they haue inordinatelie loued in this worlde, that they may nowe suffer punishment according to the qualitie of the fault, and that that carnall loue which was preferred before the diuine loue, may bee punish­ment with like vengeance in theyr sight.Whether the damned doe see the Saints. Thus also is a doubt resolued, by which it was wont to bee demaunded, whether the damned do see the glory of the Saints. To which question Saint Gregory aun­swereth after this maner;In his 40. hom. vpon the Euang. That sinners may be the more puni­shed and tormented, they shall both see their glory whō they haue despised, and shal be tor­mented with theyr paine whō they haue vnprofitably loued. For it is to be supposed, that till [Page 190] the last iudgement, the wicked doe see the righteous in glory and rest, that they seeing them in ioy, may not onely bee tor­mented with theyr owne pu­ment, but with their blessed­nes. But the iust shal alwayes behold in torments the vniust, that hereby their ioyes may al­wayes increase, because they see the euill from which by mercie they are deliuered: and by so much they shall render greater thanks vnto theyr Redeemer, by howe much they see them­selues deliuered from greater torments.

Neyther shall thys sight of the reprobates miserable and intollerable punishment, anie whit dimme the clearenesse of the blessednes of the righte­ous: because where there shal bee no compassion of misery, there (without doubt) shal be [Page 191] no diminution of the blesseds beatitude.

What if it be no meruaile, if the sight of the damneds tor­ments bee vnto the righteous a cause of greater ioy: seeing that in a picture, a blacke co­loure is layde vnderneath, that a white or a redde colour, may be seene more manifestly, and beare the greater beautie? For as I sayde before, the ioyes of the righteous shal so much the more increase, as they see the paynes of the damned increa­sed, from which they haue e­scaped. A saued Father shall not pitty his damned Sonne, neyther shal the wife be sorrie for her reprobate husbande. The damned shall see till the last iudgement the glory of the righteous, not that they shal knowe what it is, but one­ly that they shall vnderstand, [Page 192] that it is an inestimable ioy; & such an vnderstanding shal be vnto them both griefe punish­ment, and enuie: but after iudgement for euer they shall bee depriued of this sight: which shall bee an exceeding greeuous torment vnto them, for they shall alwayes remem­ber that glorie, which they be­fore saw, and shall think them­selues vnworthy to behold so great happinesse.

Heere also an other questi­on ariseth,Whether the damned do see what is doone in this world. whether the dam­ned doe see what is doone in thys world? To which S. Gre­gorie aunswereth in his Mor­rals, saying; They know not whether theyr children be no­ble, or ignoble. As neyther the liuing doe knowe, what tor­ments the damned haue. They knowe not what they are, whō they haue left in this world, for [Page 193] the life of their soule is sepera­ted from their body.

Thirdly, it is doubted, whe­ther the damned doe wish,Whether the damned doe wish that all might bee damned with them. that all may come into hel to them? to which doubt it is answered: As the Saints haue perfect loue and charity, so the damned doe burne agaynst all with spight and hatred. Wherefore as the Saints doe reioyce at anothers good, so the damned doe re­pine at it, neyther is there anie thing foūd at which they more greeue, then at the glory of the Saints: and therfore they wish that all might be damned, and they boile with so great enuie, that also they enuy the glory of their own parents, although lesse, then they enuie other mens glory:For thys cause y^t rich glutton would not haue hys brethren damned. for they knowe, that the nearer they are vnto them, who are damned, that theyr ovvne punishment is so [Page 194] much the more encreased. Which albeit they know, yet so great is their hatred & malice, that they had rather suffer great torments with many, then smal discruciatements with a few.

Fourthly, it is wont to be de­manded, Whether the dam­ned shal re­member what they haue done in this life. whether the damned shal be mindful of those things, which they haue done in this life, to which S. Bernard answe­reth affirmatiuely, & saith; that this remēbrance shal more tor­ment thē, whilst they remem­ber the euils, which they haue committed, for which they are nowe afflicted, and the good things, which they haue omit­ted, by which they might haue purchased the kingdom of he­uen. Hence it is apparent that there are two kinds of punish­ment in hel:Two pu­n [...]shments in hell. one of losse, & the other of sence, as the Diuines speake. Christ remembreth the [Page 195] first, when he saith; Euery tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be hewen downe. And the latter, whē he addeth; And shall be cast into the fire. Of the pu­nishmēt of sence Gregory spe­keth, saying; In hell there shal be intollerable cold, vnquench­able fire, an immortal worm, in­sufferable stink, palpable dark­nes, tormēters with scourges, an horible sight of deuils, cōfusion of sinners, & endles desperatiō of any good. Therfore the dā ­ned shal be full of all misery, af­fliction, & griefe: for they shal haue tears in their eyes, gnash­ing in their teeth, stink in their nosthrils, houling in their mou­thes, mourning in their throats, terrors in their ears, bonds and manacles vpon their hands & feet, & eternall fire burning all their parts & members. Wher­fore not without cause S. Augustine [Page 196] calleth hel a denne, full of all kinde of punishments and miseries. For this cause the Prophet sayth; Euery one shall bee astonished at his neighbour, their countenances shall be blacke with burning: And Baruch sayth, That theyr faces shall bee pitchy and blacke, through the smoake that is in the house. The greatnes of the punishments in hel may bee also gathered, by the continuall mourning and lamentation, vvhich groweth throgh a desire of death, which shal not come at them, nor nere them, wherefore they shal bite their tongues, and blaspheme theyr Creatour, as Saint Iohn testifieth,Apoc. 16. saying; They gnewe their tongues for sorrow, & blas­phemed the God of heauen for their paines, and for theyr sores. The rigour of theyr torments shal be so great, that despising [Page 197] lyfe, which all so greatly loue, they shal desire death, which all men hate, and that very ear­nestly, as the same Iohn wit­nesseth, when he sayth; In those dayes shall men seeke death,Apoc. 9.and shall not finde it, and shall desire to die, & death shall slee from them. What then shal wee doe sayth Chrysostome. For there shall be none other thing, but mour­ning, trembling, and lamenta­tion: there all repentance shal be too late, helpe shal be wan­ting, punishmēts shal encrease, neyther is any comfort or con­solation euer to be looked for. O what terrors, what gripings, what wearines, and what tor­ments shal afflict them, that are boyled in this purgatory? No tongue can expresse, what pu­nishment it is, sayth Chryso­stome, to bee depriued of the Diuine sight. There be some [Page] of an absurde iudgement, [...] re­parat. lapsi ad Theod. who onelie are glad to thinke, that they shall escape hell. But I think it a greater torment then hell, not to haue attayned so great glorie. I doe not thinke that vvee are so much to sor­rowe for the paynes of hell, as wee are to lament our losse, in that wee are fallen from hea­uen; which is a torment in my iudgement aboue all torments. Hell, and the plagues of hell are intollerable: yet if one should say, that innumerable hells were to bee suffered, hee should say nothing, in respect of the losse of that heauenlie glory, to be hated of Christ, & to heare;Hom. 47. ad pop. Antioch. I know you not. For it is better to bee pierced tho­rough vvith infinite thunder­bolts, then to haue that milde face turned agaynst vs, and that peaceable eye disdayning [Page 199] to beholde vs. O let vs neuer suffer this, ô thou onely begot­ten sonne of God, and of the blessed Virgine; ô let vs neuer haue experience of this irrecu­perable losse, and intollerable punishment. But woe is vnto vs, in that wee doe not foresee this imminent danger: yea as secure, impure, negligent, and vvithout anie regarde wee ha­sten vvith greate celeritie, to finde out this insufferable and importable euill.

But some man vvill say:Whether it be iustice, to punish a fi­nite sinne with an in­finite tor­ment. a finite sinne ought not to bee punished vvith an infinite tor­ment. Almightie GOD is iust, and that which is finitely committed, ought not to bee infinitelie plagued.Lib. 4 Mo­ral. cap. 12. To which Saint Gregory aunsvvereth; that hee should say vvell, if the iuste and stricte Iudge should recompence & punish [Page 200] onely the deedes, and not the hearts of men. For the wicked did therefore offende finitely, because theyr lyfe vvas finite. But they vvould haue lyued without ende, that they might haue continued in sinne with­out end. For they more desire to sinne, then to liue: and ther­fore they alwayes desire to liue heere, that whilst they liue they may neuer cease to sin. There­fore it belongeth to the iustice of the strict Iudge, that they neuer want punishment, who were minded in this life neuer to haue wanted sinne: and that no ende of vengeance should bee alotted vnto them, vvho would make no ende of sin­ning, while they were able to offend. This sayth hee. Ano­ther reason is this: The grea­ter the person is, who is offen­ded, the greater is the iniurie [Page 201] and offence, and deserueth the greater punishment, as both Aristotle and Chrysostome a­uerre. Arist. 7, E­thicorum. For so great is the in­iury, as the person is great, a­gainst whom the iniury is com­mitted. If the person bee no­ble, a small iniurie becomes great; and if the person be base and vulgar, a great offence, is accounted bur smally of. Ther­fore because God is infinite in povver and in goodnes, the in­iury which is offered vnto him, is also infinite: and therefore it is requisite and meete, that it bee punished with an infinite and eternall torment. Where­fore, my deare brother, thou seeing & vnderstanding these things, & considering of them daily & diligently in thy mind, be, I pray thee carefull for the saluation of thy soule. Let thine eyes alwayes behold the [Page 202] cruelty, sharpnes, and greatnes of the tormentes in hell: al­vvayes meditate vppon those thinges, vvhich are profitable and wholesome for thy soule. For it is much better for thee, heere without intermission to lament thy sinnes, and in thys world with fruit to craue par­don and forgiuenes of God, then heereafter for euer to be­waile them in the vnquencha­ble flames of hell, without any profitte or remedy. In thys short course and pylgrimage of thy life, thou maist by teares and repentance obtayne re­mission of thy sinnes, and blot out the hand-vvryting▪ that God hath agaynst thee. Ther­fore mourne and lament a lit­tle in this world, least heereaf­ter thou mourne and lament without end: humble thy selfe a little here, least hereafter thou [Page 203] beest cast dovvne into vtter darknes, and into the euerla­sting flames of hell. Blessed is hee that vvatcheth and labou­reth in this world, that he may be found worthy in the day of iudgment, of the society & fel­lowship of the iust. But wret­ched and miserable is hee, that through his ovvne fault and negligence depriueth himselfe of this glory. For then shall God in the cloudes take the righteous, and shall carry them with him into euerlasting ioy. But sinners shall bee haled of deuills in to euer-during and euer-burning fire. VVho vvill gyue riuers of vvater to my head, and fountaynes of teares flovving night and day from mine eyes, that I may vveepe for my sinnes, and bevvayle my selfe, and that I may entreate my Sauiour, [Page 204] that hee would vouchsafe mee his grace, that I may not bee found vnworthy, when he shal come to iudgement; least I heare that fearefull and dread­ful sentence; Depart from mee yee cursed into euerlasting fire: I know yee not: But that I may be worthy to heare that happy & most sweete voyce; Come yee blessed of my Father; inherite yee the kingdome prepared for you? To the which my Lord Iesus Christ bring me, through the merrits of his most sacred pas­sion. Amen.

Laus tri-vni Deo.