An epistle of sai[n]t Bernarde, called the golden epistle, whiche he se[n]t to a yo[n]g religyous man whom he moche loued. And after the sayd epistle, foloweth four reuelations of Saint Birget — Epistola de perfectione vitae. English

An epistle of sai[n]t Bernarde, called the golden epistle, whiche he se[n]t to a yo[n]g religyous man whom he moche loued. And after the sayd epistle, foloweth four reuelations of Saint Birget — Epistola de perfectione vitae. English

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Title page

The golden pystell. ¶An epystell of saīt Bernard / whiche he sente to a yonge relygyous man whom he moch loued / that is called the golden Epystell.

¶That nothing pleseth god so moche as that he be beloued aboue all thing / as our lady sheweth to saynt Byrget by example of a pagan woman / whiche optayned great grace for the great loue she had to her creatour / as it appereth in the .vi. boke of saynt Birgettes reuelations / the l. chapitre.

¶Our lorde Jesu Christ gyueth to his spouse saīt Birget a notable doctryne of the lyues Actyue & cōtēplatyue / which he notably sygnifyed by Martha & Mary magdaleyn / yt is to say how a man shall begyn & profyte in the lyfe spūall & in grace & vertue that he may finally ascēde to ye high degre of ye loue of god & of his neighbour / which doctryn apperith in the .vi. boke of the reuerlaciōs of saynte Byrget / the .lxv. chapytre.

¶Christ sayth / that the deuotion of thinfydeles in tyme to come / shall be moch more than the deuotyon of the christen men / and they shall all singe ioye be to the father / to the sonne / & to the holy ghost / and honour to all his 〈◊〉. Amen. The .vi. boke of the reuelations of saynt Birgette the 〈◊〉. chapitre.

¶What thyngꝭ be necessary to him that desyreth to byset the landes of the infydeles, The .vi. boke of the reuelations of saynt Birget / the .xli. chapitre in thende of the chapitre.

¶That it is a great maistrye to loue mennes persons / & wyselye hate their synnes. Cap. lxv.

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An Epistle of saīt Bernarde / called the golden epistle / whiche he sēt to a yōg religyous man whom he moche loued. And after the sayd epistle / foloweth four reuelations of Saint Birget.

The golden pystell.
¶An epystell of saīt Bernard / whiche he sente to a yonge relygyous man whom he moch loued / that is called the golden Epystell.

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THat the wildernesse of thy religion may waxe swete & pleasaunte vnto the / and yt thou shalte nat be founde vnkinde in ye syght of him that was most mekely crucifyed for the. I coūsayle ye that now thou hast taken it vpon the thou cast it nat lyghtly away / lest happely an other more acceptable to god than thou / take it and occupye thy place / & that thou be cast out as a stinking careyne. Consyder therfore how moche thou art bounde to the very true lambe / that is Christ / whiche was ledde to be offred in sacrifyce for the vpon the auter of the crosse / and suffred many repreffes and most harde scourgīges of them / of whom he had suche compassyon that he wepte tenderly vpō them. Therfore that thou [Page] mayst atteyne to lyke thingꝭ / call vnto thy lorde Jesu wt deuout prayer / beseching hym that thou maist as a true membre be onyed through gode vertuous workes / to the very trewe heed / that is Christ. But thou maist nat come to that poynt without hys grace do helpe thē / as wel before as after. For without grace al thy workyng shalbe vnprofitable & vayn / lyke as he watcheth in vayn that beleueth to kepe a cyte without our lord

Therfore if thou wilt finde his grace and be truely solitary / two thingꝭ be necessary to the. The first is / that thou so withdraw thy self fro all trā sytory thinges / that y• care no more for thē than if ther were none such / and that thou set thy selfe at so vyle a price in thyne owne syzt / that thou accompt thy self as nought / beleuīg al men to be better thā thou art / and more to plese god. Also what soeuer thou here or se of religyous persons thinke that thei do it to a good intēt though it seme nat so / for mānes suspytion is oft disceyued / and therfore [Page] iuge ye nothing in certeyn / speke neuer any thing that may soūd to thin own preyse / but labour rather to kepe thy vertue secrete than thy vices. In no wise speke no euyll of no man how true & manifest soeuer it be / and more gladly giue hering whā a man is praised thā whan he is dispraised Also whan thou spekest [...]et thy wordes be true / sobre / apte / weighty / & of god. If a seculer man speke with the & aske of the many questions / as sone as thou canst breke of the tale / and set the to those thīges that be of god. what worldly thyng of euer be happē to the or to any other / how dete beloued soeuer he be vnto the / care nat for it / if it be prosperous and lyking ioye nat in it / and if it be mistyking sorow nat for it / but thinke all as nought / and laude and prayse almighty god. Seke solytarines asmoche as thou can / so y• thou maist dilygently take hede of thyne own gostly helth. Fly talking & vayne iangelyng as moch as thou maist / for it is more sure way to kepe scylēce thā to [Page] speke. After complyn speke nat tyll masse be done on the day folowinge / but it be for a gret cause. whan thou seest any thyng that dyspleseth the / cōsyder wheder ther be nat lyke thīg in ye that displeseth other / & if ther be cut it lightly away. And if thou se or here any thyng that pleseth the / consider wheder it be in the / & if it be holde it warly / and if it be nat take it to the / and so it shalbe to the as a glasse to loke vpon. Grudge at nothing toward no man / but whan thou belenest it maye profȳte his soule helth / how greuous so euer it be to the / neuer afterme nor deny any thing hedily / but let thy denyenges & affirminges be alway tēpred with discretion Absteyn thy self alway fro al mockī ges and fro al dissolute laughīges / In all thy sayēges behaue ye so that thou haue a certaynte of al thy dedꝭ and wordꝭ that they be true / & those that be doutful / let thē go as thingꝭ that be cuyll. The second y• is necessary to the is / that y• shalte so fully offre thy self to god / that thou shalt [Page] say nothing nor do nothīg / but that thou beleuest verily wyl please him / and take hede of thy seruice wt great deuotyon / so yt / that thou saiest with thy mouth be also in thy hert. Haue these thre thingꝭ always in thy mynde / what y• hast ben / what thou arte and what thou shalte be. what thou hast ben / stinking corruption. what thou art / a vessel ful of donge. what thou shalt be / meate for wormes. Also thīke on the paynes of them that be in hel / and that they shal neuer be ended. And y• for a lytel delectatiō in this worlde they suffre tho paynes. And lyke wise thinke on the glory of the kingdom of heuē the which shall neuer haue ende / & that lyghtly and in shorte tyme it may be wonne. And than remēbre how gret sorowe and wailyng shall be to thē that haue loste so gret a glori for so lytel a thing Also whan thou hast any thing that displeseth the or greueth the / thinke that if yu shalt come to hel thou shalt haue alway that dysplesur and al other also that y• most dredest / whan [Page] any prīcipall feest cometh / thinke on that saynt that than is worshypped in the church of god / what thīges he suffred for Christ for they were but short / & what he wanne therby for they be euerlasting. Thīke also that as well the turmentes of good men as the ioies of euil men in this worlde be past & gone / & that neuertheles good men by their turmētes haue receyued eternall glory / and euyll men by their shorte worldly ioye eternall payne / & though thou be neuer so slothfull / yet take this lytell writing & remembre & imagen all these thingꝭ dilygently that I haue said / & at the lest bethīke ye on the tyme that thou thus lesest / & that they that be in hel wold gyue all ye worlde for it. whan thou hast any trybulacyons / thynke that they that be in heuē want thē / & that they that be in hell haue many mo. Euery day at the lest whā thou goest to bed / cramyn dilygētly what thou haste thoughte the day before / what y• hast done / & what thou hast said / & how thou hast spent the precyous [Page] tyme that was gyuen the / to wyn therin the kyngdom of heuen. And if thou hast past it well / thanke god & laude him for it / & if thou hast spēde it euyl & neglygētly be sori for it & deferre nat ye next day to be confessed / thā I put this in the ende / to thētent that yu shalt dilygētly imagī as it wer two cites afore the / one ful of all turmētes as hell is / the other ful of al cōsolaciō as is the kīgdom of heuē / & that it behoueth the of necessyte to ētre & come in to the one of thē beholde thā what mizt draw the against thy wyl to the euyl cyte / and what mizt let the fro ye good cytie / & I trow that thou shalt fynde nothīg that might do it (if thou woldest wt all thyne heet turne the to god / & put tyng away al neglygēce / woldest mekely cal to him for grace & merci) the which he yt is most blessed aboue all vouchsaf to graunt vnto vs. Amen.

¶That nothing pleseth god so moche as that he be beloued aboue all thing / as our lady sheweth to saynt [Page]Byrget by example of a pagan woman / whiche optayned great grace for the great loue she had to her creatour / as it appereth in the .vi. boke of saynt Birgettes reuelations / the l. chapitre.

THe mother of god our lady saynt Mary speketh to the spouse of her son saint Birgit / sayeng thus. Nothing so moch pleseth god / as that a man loue him aboue al thing / as I shal shew to the by a symilytude of a pagan woman / which knowyng nothīg of the faith thouzt to her self thus. I know said she / of what mater I am come in to this world / & of what thingꝭ I came in to my mothers wombe. And I beleue that it had ben impossyble that I shuld haue had my body so knyt togyther as it is / and my reson & vnderstanding / but they had be gyuē vnto me / and therfore I know wel ther is some creatoure & maker of me / that hath made me a resonable creature / nat deformed me lyke to wormes or [Page] serpētes. wherfore me thīketh yt though I had many husbādes & al they called me / I wold rather com at one callīg of my creatour / thā at the callyng of them all. I haue also many sōnes & many doughters / and neuer the lesse if I saw them haue mete in their handes / & I knew my creatour to want meate / I wolde take ye meat fro my chyldren and wold gladly gyue it to my creatour / I haue also many possessyons whiche I order after myne own wyl / and neuertheles if I knew the wyl of my creatour / I wolde gladly leue myne own wyl & dyspose thē to his honour. But my doughter / se what god did wt this pagan woman. He sent vnto her one of his elect seruauntes yt enstructed her in the faith / & god hym self visyted her hert / as thou maist wel knowe & vnderstande herafter by the answer of the woman. For whan that man shewed vnto her that ther was one god without beginyng and without ending / that is the creatour & maker of all thinges / she answered & sayde. It [Page] is wel to be beleued that he that hathe created me / & al thīges / that he hathe no treatour aboue him / & it is lyke that his lyfe is euerlastīg that mizt gyne me lyfe. And whā the woman herd farther that the same creatour toke māhode of a virgyn / & that he preched in this world & tauzt the people in his own person / she answered. It is to beleue god ī euery thīg and thā she sayd further. I pray the shew me what be the wordꝭ that my creatour dyd speke & cōmaūde / for I wyll holly leue myne own wyl & fully obey to him / & to euery worde that he hath spoken. Than whā he declared vnto her of ye passion of our lord of his crosse / his deth / & of his resurrection / The woman wt great wepīg answered & said. Blessed be my creatour y• so paciētly sheweth his charyte in the worlde / that be hathe to vs in heuen. And therfore if I loued hī fyrste bycause he created me / I am now more boūdē to loue hī / bycause he hath shewed me the streight way to heuē & hath redemed me with his [Page] precyous blode / & I am boūde therfore to serue him with al my strēgth and al the partes of my body / and I am boūden also to remoue al my desyer fro me yt I had fyrst to my possessyōs & to my chyldren & kinsmen / & only to desyre to se my creatour in his glory that neuer shall haue ende Thā sayde our blessed lady to saynt Birget. Lo doughter. How great reward yt womā had for her gret loue. So is dayly gyuē gret rewarde to euery mā after the loue that he hathe to god whyle he lyueth ī this world.

¶Our lorde Jesu Christ gyueth to his spouse saīt Birget a notable doctryne of the lyues Actyue & cōtēplatyue / which he notably sygnifyed by Martha & Mary magdaleyn / yt is to say how a man shall begyn & profyte in the lyfe spūall & in grace & vertue that he may finally ascēde to ye high degre of ye loue of god & of his neighbour / which doctryn apperith in the .vi. boke of the reuerlaciōs of saynte Byrget / the .lxv. chapytre.

[Page] THe sōne of god speketh to his spouse saynt Byrget / sayenge thus. There be two lyues which be lykened to Martha & Mary Magdaleyne / and who so euer wyll folow tho two lyues / must fyrst make pure confessyon of all his synnes / taking very contricyon for them / hauynge full wyll neuer after to offende. And the fyrst lyfe / as I do witnes my self in my gospel / Mary magdaleyn did chuse whiche ledeth a man to cōtemplacyon / that is to say to the beholdynge of heuenly thynges / and that is the best parte & is the very way of the lyf euerlastyng. Therfore euery man that coueyteth to folow the lyf of Mary / that is to say / ye lyfe cōtemplatiue / It suffiseth to hī to haue only the necessaris for the body / that is to say clothīg without vanyte / mete and drinke in scarcite / and nat in suꝑfluite. Chastyte without any euyl delectacion / fastyng & abstynence after the ordynaūce of the churche / and he that fasteth muste take hede ye he be nat ouermoch enfebled & made weke [Page] by his vnresonable fasting / lest thorow that wekenesse he be enforsed to lese his prayers & his counsayle gyuīg / or other good dedꝭ wherwith he myght both profite him self and his neighbour also. And he must also dyligētly take hede that he be nat through his fasting the more slow to iustyce nor more slacker to the workes of mercy / for why / to punissh rebels & to bringe infydeles vnder the yoke of the faithe is required gret strēgth as wel of body as of soule. Therfore euery syke person yt wolde rather to the honour of god fast thā ete / shall haue lyke reward for his good wyll as he y• fasteth of charite. And ī lyke wise he that for obediēce eteth / desyryng rather to fast than to ete / shall haue lyke reward as he that fasteth. Seconde the cōtemplatiue man shal nat ioye of the honour of the worlde nor of y• prosperite therof / ne sorowe for his aduersite / but he shal ioy specially in this / ye wicked men be become denoute men / that louers of the world be becom louers of god / & that [Page] good men profyte in goodnesse / and be through good labour & dilygence in the seruyce of god made dayly more deuoute than other. Of this also the cōtemplatyue man shall sorow / that synners be made dayly worse & worse / that almyghty god is nat beloued of his creatures as he oughte to be / and that the cōmaundemētes of god be dispised and set at nought. Thirdly the cōtemplatiue man may nat be ydell / ne no more may he that vseth the actyue lyfe / but anon whā he hath taken his necessary slepe / he shall ryse and thanke almyghty god wyth all hys hert / for that he hathe created & made all thinges / and that of his charyte by takyng out nature he hath reformed and renewed man kynde / shewyng by his passyon and dethe the loue that he hathe to man / whiche is so great that none can be gretter. Also the cōtemplatyue man shall thanke almighty god for al thē that be saued / & for all thē that be in purgatorye / and for them that yet be lyuynge in the worlde / prayenge [Page] mekely for them vnto our lorde that he suffred them nat to be tempted aboue their power. The contemplatyue man also must be discrete in his prayers / and be well ordred in hys laudes and praysynges of god / for if he haue suffycient to lyue with / with out labour or busynesse he must make the lōger praiers. And if he be wery and temptacyon ryse in his prayers / he may labour with his handes some honest and profytable werke / eyther for hym selfe / if he haue nede or for other. And if he be in maner yrkesome with bothe / that is to saye with prayer and labour / that he may haue some other honest occupacyon or here some good holsom wordes or profytable counsayles / in all sobrenesse / all scurrilytic and vnclene wordes set a parte tyll the body and soul be made more apte / and more able to the seruyce of god. And if the cōtemplatyue man haue nat suffycyent to lyue withal but through his labour than may he make the shorter prayers for his necessari labour / and that [Page] labour shall be the perfection and encreasynge of his praier / and if he can nat labour nor may nat / thā let him nat be a shamed / ne thinke it nat greuous to begge / but rather that he be ioyous for it / for thā he foloweth me the sonne of god / that made my selfe poore to make man ryche / and if the contemplatyue man be vnder obedyeuce / than he must lyue after the obedyence of his prelate and his rewarde shall be double / more thā if he were at lybertie. Fourthly the contemplatyue man may nat be couetouse / no more may the actyue man / nor he may nat be prodygall / for as the actyue mā distrybuteth temporall godes for god so the cōtemplatyue mā must dystribute his spiritual goodꝭ. Moreouer if the cōtemplatyue man wyll haue almyghtye god inwardly in his herte / let him be ware to saye thus as many do. It suffyseth to me if I can saue myne owne soule / for if I can do so / what haue I to do with the dedꝭ of other mē / or if I be good my selfe / what is it to me how other [Page] lyue. O my doughter / they that say or thynke so / if they sawe their frende dyshonested and troubled / they shulde renne with all their power to the deth / that theyr frende myght be delyuered out of his trouble / so shal the contemplatyue man do / he must sorowe that almighty god is offēded that his brother which is hys neighboure hath occasion to offende. And if any fall in to synne / the cōtemplatyue man shal endeuour him al that he can to helpe hym out of his synne with al dyscretyon. And if he haue trouble or persecution for it / set him leue that place and seke another place that is more quyet. For I my self that am very god / sayd to my discyples thus. If they ꝑsecute you ī oue cytie flye ye in to another: and so did Paule / the which bicause he shuld be more necessarye another tyme / was let go by a walle in a basket. Therfore y• the contēplatiue mā may be lyberal & pitious / ther be .v. thingꝭ necessary to hī. The first is a house / in ye which his ghestes may slepe. The [Page] secōd is clothyng to clothe ye naked. The thirde is meate to fede the hungrye. The fourthe is fyer to warme thē that be colde. The fyfth is medisyns for them that be sycke / that is to say good cōfortable wordes with the charite of god. The house of the cōtemplatyue man is his hert / wherof the cuyl ghestes be al tho thinges that trouble his hert / that is to say / wrath / heuynesse / couetyse / pryde / and many other lyke. Therfore all tho vyces whan the come / they shall in maner lye as ghestes that be a slepe / and as they that be at rest. For as an host receyueth euyll ghestes & good with pacyence / so the contemplatyue man must suffre all thynges for god through vertue of pacyence / and in no wyse to consente to vyces / nat to thē that seme leest / ne to delyte in them / but as moche as he may be lytell and lytell through the helpe of grace / to remoue them clerely out of the herte. And if he can nat clerely remoue them / he muste suffre theym pacyently agaynste his wyll as enemyes [Page] / and neuer to assente to theym knowynge certaynly that they shall profyte him to the greatter rewarde in heuen & nat to dampnacyon. Seconde the contemplatyue man muste haue clothes to clothe hys ghestes / that is to say mekenesse / both inwarde and outwarde / and compassyon of mynde for the afflyction of his neybour. And if the cōtemplatyue man be dyspysed of the worlde / lette hym thynke how I the god almyghty beynge contempned and dyspysed suffred pacyently / and whan I was iuged I helde my peace / and whan I was scourged & crowned with thornes I murmured nat. The contemplatyue mā also must take hede that he shewe nat to them that reproue hī or rebuke hym any sygnes of angre or impacyēce / but that he blesse them that persecute him / that they that se it may blesse god whom the contemplatyue man dothe folowe / and almyghtye god shall gyue blessynges for the maledictyons. The contemplatyue man must be ware also that [Page] he do nat speke euyll of them nor rebuke them that do greue him / for it is dampnable to bacbyte other and wylfully to here them that do bachyte or throughe impacyence to reproue or rebuke his neyghbour. Than y• the cōtemplatyue mā may haue ꝑfytely the gyft of mekenesse and pacyence / he must study to admonysshe and warne them that do bachyte other / of the gret peryll that they stā de in / and that he exhorte them in all charyte wyth wordes and wyth exāples to perfyte mekenesse. Also the clothyng of the contemplatyue man must be compassyon / for if he se his neyghbour do any syn / he must haue compassyon of hym / prayenge to almyghtye god to haue mercy vpon him. And if he se him suffre any wrō ge or hurt or reproue / he must be sori for him / and helpe hī with his prayers / and with his ayde and dilygēce and that if nede be / before the great men of the worlde / for the trewe per fyte contriciō seketh nat that is his / but that is his neyghbours. And if [Page] the contemplatyue man be suche one that he is nat herde with prīces / and that it profyteth nat that he go oute of his cell. Than be shall pray hertely for them that be in trouble / and almightye god that is the beholder of mannes herte / for the charytic of hym that prayeth / shall tourne the hertes of the people to peace and quietnesse of hym that is in trouble / so that he shall either be delyuered out of his trouble / or he shall haue pacience sent him of god to suffre it / and so his reward shalbe doubled. Therfore suche clothynge / that is to say mekenesse and compassyon muste be in the hert of the cōtemplatyue man for nothynge so myghtely draweth god in to the hert / as mekenesse and compassyon of the neighbour doth. Thirdly the contēplatyue man must haue mete and drīke for his ghestes / for somtyme euyll ghestes do lodge in the herte of the cōtemplatyue mā that is to say / whan the herte is drawen fro be holdyng of it self / and coueyteth thīgꝭ delectable / to se worldly [Page] things / to haue possessyon of temporall goodes. And whan the eares desyre to here his owne honour / the flesshe desyreth to delyte in carnall thynges / the spyrite leyth excuse of his fraylnesse / and that synne is but lyght / and whan ther cometh a painfulnesse and a hardnesse to do good bedes / and a forgetfulnesse of thingꝭ to come. And whan he thinketh his good dedes gret / and forgetteth his euyl dedes. Agaynst al such ghestes it is necessarye for the contemplatyue man to haue good counsayle / and nat to dyssemble as though he were a slepe / but that he armed strongely with trewe faithe / answere to suche ghestes / sayenge thus. I woll haue nothinge of themporall goodes / but barcly for the sustaynynge of my bodily kynde / and I wyl nat spende no hour nor tyme / but to the honour of god / nor I wyll nat take hede what is fayr or foule in ye worlde / ne what is plesant or dysplesaunt to the flesshe / or sauoury or nat sauoury to the mouthe / but to the pleasure of god [Page] and helthe of my soule / for I wolde nat lyue one hour but to the honour of god. Suche a wyll is meate and drike for the ghestes that come / and that answere extincteth and putteth away all inordinate delytes and plesures of the worlde and of the flessh.

Fourthly the contemplatyue man must haue fyre to warm hys ghestes and to gyue them lyght / this fyre is the hete of the holy ghoste / it is impossyble any man to leaue his owne wyll / or to forsake the carnall loue of his frendes or the loue of rychesse but through the instynte and here of the holy ghost. Also the coutemplatyue man / howe holy and perfyte so euer he be / may nat of hym selfe beginne nor contynue in good lyf with out helpe of grace in the holy ghost. Therfore that the cōtemplatyue mā may set a lyght before hys ghestes / Fyrst let him thinke thus: Almightye god hath created me / that I shulde honoure hym aboue all thynges / And in honourynge him / that I shulde loue him & drede him / and he was [Page] borne of a vyrgyn / to teache me the way to heuen / and that I shulde folowe that way in all mekenesse. And with his deth he opened the yates of heuen / that I shulde wyth great desyre hast me thyder. Also the contemplatyue man must examyn dylygently al his dedes / all his thoughtꝭ and all his affectyons / that is to say how he hath offended god / and howe pacyently god suffreth man / and howe many wayes he calleth man vnto hī such thoughtes and such gh [...]stes of the contemplatyue man / be in maner but as they were a slepe / but they be illumynate with the fyre of the holy ghost: the whiche fyre than cometh in to the hert / whan the contemplatyue man thinketh how resonable it is to serue god / and whan he thynketh that he had leuer suffre all payne / thā wyttyngly to prouoke god to wrath / by whose goodnesse his soul is create and made / and is also redemed with his precyous blode. Than also the herte hath here of this heuē ly fyre / that is the holy ghost / whan [Page] ye soule thīketh & discerneth to what intente euery ghest / that is to say / euery thought cometh. And whether it moue the mynde to coueyte ioye ꝑpetuall or transytory / and that he leue no thought vndiscussed ne vncorrected wyth drede of god. Therfore that this fyre may be gotten / & whā it is gotten that it may be safely kepte. The contemplatyue man must ley to drie stickes / that is to say he must dilygently take hede of the motyons of the flesshe / that it rebell nat agaynst the spirite. And he must put to all his dilygence that the workes of pytie and good prayers may be deuoutly encreased / wherwith the holy ghost may haue delyte / but he muste specyally knowe and consyder that where a fyre is made in a close vessel that hath no auoydaunce / anone the fyre goth out and the vessell waxeth colde. So it is wyth the contemplatyue man / if he wolde nat lyue to no thinge elles but that he myghte do honoure to god / it is expedyent that his mouth be opened / & that ye flame [Page] of his charite go forthe. Thā is the mouthe opened whan by his spekīg whiche procedeth of feruent charitie he getteth spirituall children to god but the contemplatyue man must take good hede that he opē hys mouth to preche / wher good men shalbe made more feruent / and where euyll mē may be a mended / where right wysenesse may be encreased / & euyl customes maye be put away: For the apostell Paule somtyme wolde haue spoken but the holy ghoste dyd prohibyte him / and so somtyme he helde his peace / and whan tyme conuenyente came / he speke / and somtyme he vsed softe wordes / and another tyme more sharper wordes / and alway he ordred hys words to the honour and glorie of god / and to the confortinge and strengthuyng of the faithe. And if the contemplatyue man maye nat preache / but he hath good wyll and connynge to prech and lacketh good herers / he must do as the fore dothe / the which goth about many mountayns and sercheth with his fete in [Page] many places / and where he fyndeth the softest place and most apte for hī there he maketh a denne to rest hym in. So the contemplatyue man must assay with wordes / with examples / and with good praiers / the hertes of many people / and where he fyndeth the hertes most apte to here the wordes of god / ther he must tary in coū saylyng and in enducyng the people to god all that he can. The contemplatyue mā also must labour al that he can / that conuenyent auoydaunce may be had for his flame / for ye gretter that the flame is / the mo be illumyned and made hote therby. Than hath the flame cōuenyent auoydaunce / whan the cōtemplatyue man neither dredeth rebukes / ne coueyteth nat his own prayse / whā he neither dredeth aduersyties / ne delyteth him nat in prosperyties / and than it is more pleasure to god that he do hys good dedes openly thā preuely / that they that se them may glorifye god. And it is to vnderstand / that the contemplatyue man must put forth two [Page] flames / one secretely / another opēly / that is to say / he must haue a double mekenes. The first must be wt ī forth in the hertꝭ the seconde must be with outforth to the worlde. The fyrst is / that ye contēplatyue mā thynke him selfe vnworthy & vnprofytable to al good workes / & that he preferre nat hym self in hys own syght aboue no man / ne y• he couete nat to be lauded nor to be scene in the worlde / that he slye pryde / & desyre god aboue al thinge / folowyng his wordes & his techiges. And yf ye contēplatyue mā put forth such a flame wt good workes / thā his hert shalbe illumined wt charytie / and all the contraryous thynges that come to hym shall lyghtely be suffred and ouercome. The secōde flame muste be openly / for if perfyte makenesse be in the hert / it must also appere in hys apparel without forth and be herde in hys wordes / and be performed in his dedes. Trewe mekenesse is in th [...] apparell whan the contemplatyue man concyteth, more to haue clothyng of small pryce / whiche [Page] is profytable / than clothynge of gretter value / wherhy he may fall in to pryde / & in to a desyre to be sene in the worlde / for that apparell that is lytell worth / & is called in the world vyle and abiecte / is verye fayre and precyous before god / for it ꝓuoketh mekenesse. And that apparel that is of grette pryce and is called fayre in the worlde / is very foule and vnsemly before god / for it taketh away the fayrenesse of angels / that is to saye mekenesse. But yet if the contemplatyue man for any resonable cause be constrayned to haue an habyt somewhat better than he wolde / let hym nat be troubled therfore / for his rewarde shal therby be encreased. Also the contemplatyue man muste haue mekenesse in hys mouthe / that is to say in spekyng meke thynges / eschewynge all rybaldry and superfluytie of wordes / nat spekinge subtelly ne disceytfully / ne preferring his sentence before other. And [...] the cōtemplatyue man here hym selfe praysed for any good dedes / let him nat be lyfte [Page] vp in his herte therfore / but that he answere thus. All laude and honour be to god that gyueth all thynges, what am I but dust in the wynde / or what goodnesse cometh of me / that am nought els but as drie erth withoute water? And if he be reproued in the world / let him nat be moued ther with / but that he answer thus. I am worthy all this and moche more / for I haue so oft offended god / and haue nat made amendes therfore agayne. Therfore pray ye for me that by suffrynge of suche temporall reproues / I may escape the shames and reproues euerlastynge. Aud if the contemplatyue man be prouoked to angre or wrath / by the vnskylfulnes of his neybours / let him be wel ware & take good hede that he answer nat vndiscretely / for cōmenly pryde foloweth angre & wrathe. Therfore it is good counsayle that whan angre or pride come / that he hold his peace so long tyme / tyll the wyl may aske helpe of god to suffre / and to take good auysement / howe & what to answere / that [Page] he may fyrst ouercome him selfe / and thā [...]he wrath shal be abated in the herte / so that he may answere wisely to them that be vnwise. Thou shalt know also that the deuyll hath gret enuye to a contemplatyue man / and if he can nat hinder him by breaking of the cōmaundementes of god / than he wyll styrre hī to be either lyghtly moued with wrath / or to be disposed to some vayne & vndyscrete myrthe / or elles to haue some vayne & vnprofitable wordes. Therfore the cōtemplatyue man must alway aske helpe of god / that all hys wordes & dedes be gouerned by him / & be holly directed vnto him. Also the cōtemplatiue man must haue mekenesse in all his workes / that is to say / that he do no thyng for worldly prayse / ne that he attempte no newe thinge of him self and yt he be nat a shamed of no worke howe vyle so euer it be / so yt he maye therby please god / that he flye singularyte / that he do good to al that he can / and in euery good dede that he doth / thīke yt he myzt haue do better [Page] Also he muste chuse to sytte rayther with poore men than with ryche / rather to obey than to cōmaunde / to kepe scylence raither than to speke / to be solytary than to be with myghty men or with his worldly frēdes. Also the cōtemplatyue man must hate hys owne wyll / ofte remembre his dethe / flye curiosyte / all murmurīge and grudgynge / alwaye remembre the rightwysenesse of god / and take hede of his own affections. Also the cōtemplatyne man must ofte vse confessyon / be slable and dylygēt in his temptations [...] to desyre to lyue / to none other entent / but that the honour of god & helth of soules may be encreased. Than if the cōtemplatiue man that hath suche affectyons and suche de [...]y [...]es / as is sayde before / be chosen in to the offyce of an sletyue man / and of obedyence & charyte to god / he taketh vpon hym the rule of other he shal haue a double rewarde / as it may appere by this similytude

There was a mighty mā that had a shippe charged with precyous marchaundises / [Page] whiche sayd to his seruauntes thus. Go ye with this ship to such a porte / for ther I shall haue ryght great encrease / if the wīde rise labour manfully and yrke nat at it / for youre rewarde shalbe great.

After as the seruaūt sayled / a great wynd rose / the stormes wered great and the shyppe was tossed & broken greuously. Than the gouernoure of the shyppe wered wery & slowe / and all that were in the shyppe dispeyred of their lyues / & agreed to go to some other porte / whither as the wynde wolde dryue them / & nat to that porte that their lorde had appointed thē to. And that hering / one of the most faythfull seruauntes & most feruent / sorowyng through a great zele and loue yt he had to his lorde / toke vpon him the gouernaunce of the shyppe / and with strength brought the shyp to the porte that the lorde assygned thē to go to. Is nat that man that so manfully brought the shyppe to the porte / worthy to haue gretter rewarde / than any of his felowes? [Page] yes trewly. So it is of a good ruler that for the loue of god and helth of soules / taketh vpon him the charge of gouernaunce of other / and careth nat for the honour / & trewly he shall haue a double rewarde. First he shal be part taker of the good dedes of al them that he brīgeth to the safe porte Seconde his glorie shalbe encreased without ende. And contrarywise it shall be of theym that come to honoure & prelacy by theyr ambytion / for they shalbe parte takers of al the paynes and offences of al them / that they toke vpon thē to rule. Seconde their cōfusyon shall neuer haue ende for prelates that coueyte honours / he more lyke to strumpettes than to prelates / for they deceyue theyr subiectes by theyr euyll examples and their euyll wordes / and be nat worthy to be called neither Cōtemplaryue men / nor Actyue men / but they amende and do due peuaunce. Fyftly the contemplatyue man muste gyue medicyns to hys ghestes / that is to say / he must confort them with good [Page] wordes / and to al thynges that come lykyng or mislyking / plesaunt or displesaunt / he must say thus. I wyll euery thinge that it pleaseth our lorde that I shulde wyl / though I shulde go to hell. Aud trewly such a will is a medicyn to all thīges that come to the herte / & is a delyte in all troubles that come / and a great temperaunce in all prosperite. But bicause the cōtemplatiue man hath many enemyes / therfore he must oft make confessyon / for as longe as he wylfully abydeth in synne / hauing tyme and oportunyte to be confessed / and is neglygent or hebeth it nat / he is rather to be called an Apostata before god / than a contemplatyue man. The Actyue lyfe. Also of ye dedes of a mā that lyueth in the actyue lyfe. Thou shalte vnderstāde that though the parte of the contemplatyue man be best / that yet the parte of the actiue man is nat euyl / but it is very laudable and moch plesaūt to god / therfore I shall shewe the nowe how the actyue man must ordre him self. He [Page] must haue as the cōtemplatyue man hath / fyue thīges. The fyrst is trewe fayth of holy churche. The seconde is that he knowe the cōmaundementes of god / and the counsayls of the Euangelycall truthe / and theym he must performe / in wyll / worde / and dede. Thirdly he must refrayne his tonge fro all euyll wordes / that are agaynst god and his neighbour / and his handes fro all vnhonest and vniaufull dedes. And his mynde fro ouermoch desyre of worldly goodes / & fro ouergret delite of worldly pleasures and [...] to be contente with that god hath sente him and to desyre no superfluous thinges. Fourthly he shall do the dedes of mercy resonably in all mekenesse / so yt for trust of the good dedes / he in nothing offende god. Fystly he must loue god aboue all thynges / & that more thā him self as Martha dyd / for she gaue her selfe gladly to me / folowyngeiny wordes & dedes / and afterwarde she gaue all her goodes for my loue / and lothed all temporall thinges desyring [Page] onely thynges euerlastyng / & therfore she sustayned all thīges pacyently as they came / and cared as well for the helthe of other as of her selfe / thinkynge alway of my charytie and on my passyon / and she was gladde in troubles / mery in aduersyties / & loued all people as a mother her chylde. She wolde also ofte folowe me / whan I was in the worlde desyringe nothyng but to here me. She also had cōpassion of them that were in trouble. She cōforted them that were in heuynesse / releued them that were sycke / she cursed no mā ne sayd euyll to no mā / but dissymuled the euyll maners of her neyghbours all that she myght / & prayed alwaye for them. Therfore euery man that desyreth to lyue charitably in ye actyue lyfe / must folowe Martha / louīg his neybour / to the ende that he may come to heuen / but nat to fauour his synne or euyll lyfe / flyeng his owne prayse / and pryde / & doublenesse of herte / and wrathe and enuy he maye nat folowe. But thou shalte vnderstande / [Page] that whan Martha prayde for her brother Lazar that was deed she came fyrst to me / but her brother was nat raysed forthwith vpon her cōmyng / but afterward Mary was called / and whan she came / thā at the prayer of them both togyther / theyr brother was raysed fro dethe. So it is spyrytually / for he that desyreth perfytely to come to the lyfe contemplatyue / must fyrst exercise him selfe well in the actyue lyfe / labouring all that he may to the honoure of god in good bodily labours. And lerne first to resyst all fleshly desyres / & to with stande myghtely the fendes temptations / and than he maye afterwarde with good delyberatyon ascende to the hygher degree / that is to say / to the lyfe cōtemplatyue / for he that is nat proued & well assayed with tēptations / and hath nat yet fully ouer come the euyll motions of the fleshe / may nat holly sette him selfe to heuē ly thynges. But who is the dedde brother of thactyue man / and of the contemplatyue man / but their vndiscrete [Page] dedes / for many tymes a gode dede is done with an vndiscrete ē tente and of an vnconstaunt mynde / and therfore it is but as it were deed wherfore that a good dede may be acceptable to god / it is raysed agayne and cometh to lyfe by the actyue m [...] and by the cōtemplatyue man / that is to say / whā the neibour is purely loued for god & to god / & god is only desyred for him selfe aboue al thīgꝭ. And than euery good dede of man or woman is plesaūt to god. Therfore I sayde in my gospell / that Marye had chosen the better parte. The lyfe of the Actyue man is good / whā he soroweth for the sīues of his neybours / but his parte is better whan he laboureth all that he maye that his neyghbours may do well & perseuer well vnto the ende / & that he do all that he doth for the loue of god. But the parte of the contemplatyue man is best / whā he onely beholdeth heuenly thingꝭ & the helth of soules. whan the mynde is fulfylled wt good affections / and whā he is wel at rest [Page] fro the clamorous noyce of worldly busynesse / and thynketh alway god present vnto him / & setteth his meditations fully in the loue of god / and laboureth fruitfully therin both day and nyght.

¶Christ sayth / that the deuotion of thinfydeles in tyme to come / shall be moch more than the deuotyon of the christen men / and they shall all singe ioye be to the father / to the sonne / & to the holy ghost / and honour to all his [...]. Amen. The .vi. boke of the reuelations of saynt Birgette the [...]. chapitre.

THe sonne of god speketh to his spouse saynt Birget / sayeng. Thou shalt knowe yt yet ther shall be so moche deuoryon in the infydeles / that christen men shal be as there spirytuall seruauntes / & scripture shall be fullfylled that sayth. The people [...] understādynge shall glorifie me / and desertes shall be buylded againe and they shall sing all / ioye be to the [Page] father / and to the sonne / and to the holy ghost / and honoure to all hys sayntes. Amen.

¶What thyngꝭ be necessary to him that desyreth to byset the landes of the infydeles, The .vi. boke of the reuelations of saynt Birget / the .xli. chapitre in thende of the chapitre.

THe sone of god spekith to saynt Birgette / and saith. He that desireth to visyte the landes of the infydyles / oughte to haue .v. thynges. The fyrste is / that he discharge his consyence with trewe confessyon & contrityon / as though he shulde forthwyth dye. Seconde that he put awaye all lyghtnesse of maners & of apparell / nat taking hede to newe customes & vanityes / but to suche laudable customes as his auncesters haue vsed before tyme. Thyrdly / that he haue no temporall thynge but for necessyte & to the honoure [Page] of god / and if he knowe any thyng vnrightwysely gotten / either by him self or by his auncestres that he restore it / whether it be lytell or great. Fourthly that he labour / to the intent that the vnfaythfull men may come to the trewe catholycall faythe / nat desyrynge theyr goodes ne catell / or any other thinge / but to the onely necessytie of the body. Fyftly that he haue full wyll gladly to dye for the honour of god / & so to dyspose him selfe in laudable cōuersation / y• he may descerue to com to a good and a blessed endynge. Amen.

¶Here after foloweth the .lxv. chapiter of the fyrst boke of Scala Perfectionis.

¶That it is a great maistrye to loue mennes persons / & wyselye hate their synnes. Cap. lxv.

[Page]

IT is no maistry for to wake & faste tyll thyne heed ake ne for to reune to Rome / and to Iherusalem vpon thy bare fete / ne for to sterte about & preche / as if thou woldest tourne all mē by thy prechyng. Ne it is no maistry for to make churches / chapells / and hospitals. But it is a maistry a mā to loue his euenchristen in charytie / and wisely hate the sinne of him and loue the man. For thoughe it be so that all these dedꝭ afore said ar good in them selfe / neuerthelesse they are cōmen to good men & to badde. For eche man myghte do them if that he wold and had wherof. And for to do that eche man may do / I holde it no maistry. But for to loue his euen crysten [Page] in charitie & hate his synne / may no man it do but onely good mē whiche haue it of the gyfte of god / and nat of their traueile: as saint Paule saith. Ro. v. Caritas dei diffusa est in cordibus vestris ꝑ spiritū sanctū qui datus est vobis. Loue & charyte is shed & spred in your hertes by the holy ghost / whiche is gyuen to you. And therfore it is the more preciouse and the more deyntie for to come by. All other good dedes withouten charite make nat a man good ne worthithe blysse of heuen / but thys alone / and onely this / maketh a man good and all his good dedes medefull. All other gyftes of god & werkes of man are cōmen to good and to badde / to chosen & to reproued. But this gyfte of charytie is onely of god and of chosen soules.

Finis.

§

§

¶Printed of London by Thomas Godfray. Cum priuilegis Regali.

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Information about this book

Title statement

An epistle of sai[n]t Bernarde, called the golden epistle, whiche he se[n]t to a yo[n]g religyous man whom he moche loued. And after the sayd epistle, foloweth four reuelations of Saint BirgetEpistola de perfectione vitae. English

Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 91-1153.

Edition statement

1535

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Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

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Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A08865

ID [STC]

STC 1915.5

ID [STC]

ESTC S108404

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

99844063

ID [PROQUEST]

99844063

ID [VID]

8847

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A08865)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 8847)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 19:07)

Source

— An epistle of sai[n]t Bernarde, called the golden epistle, whiche he se[n]t to a yo[n]g religyous man whom he moche loued. And after the sayd epistle, foloweth four reuelations of Saint Birget, Epistola de perfectione vitae. English, Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 91-1153., Bridget, of Sweden, Saint, ca. 1303-1373. aut, Hilton, Walter, d. 1396. Scala perfectionis. aut.

Extent

[48] p.

By Thomas Godfray,. [Printed at London :: [ca. 1535]]. (An English translation of: Saint Bernard. Epistola de perfectione vitae.) (Imprint from colophon; publication date suggested by STC.) (Includes four revelations of Saint Bridget. To this edition has been added chapter 65 of: Hilton, Walter. Scala perfectionis (STC 14042)--STC.) (Signatures: A-C (C8 blank).) (Formerly STC 1911.) (Identified as STC 1911 on UMI microfilm.) (Reproduction of the original in the British Library.)

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