The life and death of the most blessed among women, the Virgin Mary mother of our Lord Iesus VVith the murder of the infants in Bethlehem, Iudas his treason, and the confession of the good theife and the bad.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE most blessed amongst all Women, the Virgin Mary the Mother of our Lord IESVS CHRIST. BEfore the Fire, Ayre, Water, Earth were fram'd; Sunne, Moone, or any thing vnnam'd or nam'd; God was, who nere shall end, nor nere beganne, To whom all ages and all time's a spanne: By whose appointment each thing fades or growes, And whose eternall knowledge all things knowes. When Adams sinne pluckt downe supernall ire, And Iustice iudg'd him to eternall fire: Then Mercy did the execution stay, And the great price of mans great debt did pay. And as a woman tempted man to vice, For which they both were thrust from Paradise: So from a woman was a Sauiours birth, That purchas'd Man a heauen for losse of earth: Our blest Redeemers mother, that blest she, Before the world (by God) ordain'd to be A chosen vessell, fittest of all other, To be the Sonne of Gods most gracious mother. Shee is the theame that doth my Muse inuite, Vnworthy of such worthinesse to write. I will no prayers not inuocations frame, For intercession to this heauenly Dame: Nor to her name one fruitlesse word shall runne, To be my Mediatresse to her Sonne; But to th'eternall Trinity alone, Ile sing, Ile sigh, Ile inuocate and mone. I prize no creatures glory at that rate, The great Creators praise t'extenuate. But to th'Almighty, (ancient of all dayes,) Be all dominion, honour, laud and prayse. I write the blest conception, birth, and life, Of this beloued Mother, Virgin, Wife: The ioyes, the griefes, the death and buriall place Of her most glorious, gracious, full of grace. Her father Ioachim a vertuous man, Had long liu'd childlesse with his wife S. Anne, And both of them did zealously intend, If God did euer sonne or daughter send, That they to him would dedicate it solely To be his seruant and to liue most holy: God heard and granted freely their request, And gaue them Mary (of that sex the best.) At three yeares age, she to the Temple went, And there eleuen yeares in deuotion spent: At th'end of foureteene yeares it came to passe, This virgin vnto Ioseph spoused was: Then after foure months time was past and gone, Th'Almighty sent from his tribunall throne, His great Ambassador, which did vnfold The greatest ambassage euer yet was told, Hayle MARY full of heauenly grace (quoth he) The (high omnipotent) Lord is with thee, Blest amongst women (by Gods gracious dombe) And blessed be the fruit of thy blest wombe. The Angels presence, and the words he sayd, This sacred vndefiled Maid dismaide, Amazed, mused what this message meant, And wherefore God this messenger had sent. Feare not (said Gabriel) MARY (most renownd) Thou with thy gracious God hast fauour found, For loe, thou shalt conceiue and beare a Sonne, (By whom redemption and saluation's wonne) And thou his (sauing) name shalt IESVS call, Because heel'e come to saue his people all. She humbly, mildly heauens high Nuntius heares, But yet to be resolu'd of doubts and feares, How can these things (quoth she) accomplisht be, When no man hath knowledge had with mee? The Holy Ghost (the Angell then replide) Shall come vpon thee (and thy God and guide) The power of the most High shall shadow thee, That holy thing that of thee borne shall bee, Shall truely called be the Sonne of God, By whom sin, death, and hell, shall downe be trod. Then MARY to these speeches did accord, And said, Behold the hand-maid of the Lord. Be it to me according to thy will, I am thine owne obedient seruant still. This being said, she tun'd her Angell tongue, My soule doth magnifie the Lord, (she sung) My spirit, and all my faculties, and voyce, In God my Sauiour solely doth reioyce: For though mans sinnes prouoke his grieuous wrath, His humble hand-maid he remembred hath. For now behold from this time henceforth shall All generations me right blessed call: He that is mighty me hath magnifide, And holy is his name: his mercies bide On them that feare him (to prouoke his rage) Throughout the spacious world, from age to age. With his strong arme he hath shewed strength and batterd, The proud & their imaginations scatterd. He hath put downe the mighty from their seat, The meeke and humble he exaulted great, To fill the hungry he is prouident, When as the rich away are empty sent: His mercies promis'd Abraham and his seed. He hath remembred, and helpe Israels need. This Song she sung with hart and holy spright, To laud her Makers mercy and his might: And the like song, sung with so sweet a straine Was neuer, nor shall e'er be sung againe. When Mary by the Angels speech perceiu'd How old Elizabeth a childe conceiu'd, To see her straight her pious minde was bent, And to Ierusalem in three dayes she went. And as the Virgin (comne from Nazareth) Talk't with her kinswoman Elizabeth, Iohn Baptist, then vnnam'd an vnborne boy, Did in his mothers belly leape with ioy: Both Christ and Iohn vnborne, yet Iohn knew there His great Redeemer and his God was neere. When Ioseph his pure wife with childe espide, And knew he neuer her accompanide, His heart was sad, he knew not what to say, But in suspect would put her quite away. Then from the high Almighty Lord supreame, An Angell came to Ioseph in a Dreame, And said; Feare not with Mary to abide, For that which in her blest wombe doth recide, Is by the Holy Ghost in wonder done, For of thy Wife there shall be borne a Sonne, From him alone Redemption all begins, And he shall saue his people from their sinnes. This being said, the Angell past away, And Ioseph with his Wife and Maid did stay: Then he and she with speed prepared them, To goe to Dauids City Bethelem, Through winters weather, frost, & winde & snow Foure weary dayes in trauell they bestow. But when to Bethlem they approched were Small friendship & lesse welcom they found there: No Chamber, nor no fire to warme them at, For harbour onely they a stable gat: The Inne was full of more respected guests, Of Drunkards, Swearers, and of Godlesse beasts, Those all had roomes whilst Glory and all Grace, (But amongst beasts) could haue no lodging place▪ There (by protection of th'Almighties wings) Was borne the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Our God with vs, our great Emanuel, Our Iesus, and our vanquisher of hell. There in a Cratch a Iewell was brought forth, More thē ten thousand thousand worlds in worth, There did the Humane nature and Diuine, The Godhead with the Manhood both combine: There was this Maiden Mother brought to bed, Where Oxen, Kine and Horses lodg'd and fed; There this bright Queen of Queens with heauenly ioy, Did hug her Lord, her life, her God, her Boy. Her Sonne, her Sauiour, her immortall blisse, Her sole Redeemer, She might rocke and kisse. Oh blessed Lady, of all Ladies blest: Blessed for euer, for thy sacred brest Fed him that all the famisht soules did feed, Of the lost sheepe of Israells forlorne seed. A Stable being Heauen and Earths great Court. When forty dayes were ended in that sort, This Virgin Mother, and this Mayden Bride, (All pure) yet by the Law was purifide. Old Simeon being in the Temple than, He saw the Sonne of God, and Sonne of Man. He in his aged armes the Babe imbrac't, And ioying in his heart he so was grac't, He with these words wisht that his life might cease Lord let thy Seruant now depart in peace, Mine eyes haue seens thy great Saluation, My loue, my Iesus, my Redemption, Vnto the Gentiles euerlasting light, To Israell the glory and the might. Hope, Faith, and zeale, truth, constancy and loue, To sing this song did good old Simeon moue. Then turning to our Lady most diuine, Thy Sonne (said he) shall once stand for a signe, And he shall be the cause that many shall▪ By faith or vnbeleefe arise or fall. He shall be raild vpon without desert, And then shall sorrowes sword peirce through thy heart▪ As Iesus fame grew dayly more and more, The Tyrant Herod it amazed sore, The Sages said, borne was great Iudaes King, Which did vsurping Herod • conscience sting: For Herod was an Id • mean base, Not of the Kings of Iudahs royall Race; And hearing one of Dauids true borne Line Was borne, he fear'd his State he should resigne: And well he knew he kept the Iewes in awe, With slauish feare not loue gainst right and law. For'tis most true: "A Prince that's fear'd of many, Must many feare, and scarce be lou'd of any." Herod beleaguer'd with doubts, feares and woes, That Iesus should him of his Crowne dispose, He chaf't and vext, and almost grew starke mad, To vsurpation he did murther adde: An Edict sprung from his hell hatched braine, Commanding all male Infants should be slaine, Of two yeares old and vnder through the Land, Supposing Iesus could not scape his hand. But God so Ioseph downe an Angell sent, Commanding him by flight he should preuent The Murderers malice, and to Egypt flye, To saue our Sauiour from his tyrannie. Our blessed Lady with a carefull flight, Her blessed Babe away did beare by night; Whilst Bethelem with bloody villaines swarmes, That murdered Infants in their Mothers armes: Some slaughter'd in their Cradles, some in bed, Some at the Dugg, some newly borne strook dead, Some sweetly fast asleepe, some smiles awake, All butcher'd for their Lord and Sauiours sake: Their wofull Mothers madly heere and there, Ran rending of their cheeks, their eyes, and hayre, The Tyrant they with execrations curst, And in despaire, to desperate Acts out-burst: Some all in fury end their wofull liues By banefull poyson, halters, or by kniues: And some to sorrow were so fast combind, They wept, and wept, and wept themselues starke blind: And being blinde, (to lengthen out their mones) They peic'd their sorrows out with sighs & grones. Thus with vnceasing griefe in many a Mother, Teares, sighs and grones, did one succeed the other. But till the tyrant Herods dayes were done, The Virgin staid in Egypt with her sonne. Then blacke to Nazareth they return'd againe. When twelue yeares age our Sauiour did attaine, Her Sonne, her selfe, her husband, all of them Together traueld to Ierusalem; The Virgin there much sorrow did endure, The most pure mother lost her Childe more pure, Three daies with heauy harts, with care & thought Their best belou'd they diligently sought. But when she found her Lord she held most deare, Ioy banisht griefe, and loue exiled feare. There in the Temple Iesus did confute The greatest Hebrew Doctors in dispute. But Doctors all are dunces in this case, To parley with th'eternall Sonne of Grace: Th'immortall mighty Wisedome and the Word Can make all humane sapience meere absurd. Soone after this (as ancient writers say) God tooke the Virgins virgin-spouse away, Good Ioseph di'de and went to th'heauenly rest, Blest by th'Almighties mercy 'mongst the blest. Thus Mary was of her Good-Man bereft, A Widow, Maiden, Mother being left, In holy contemplation she did spend Her life, for such a life as ne're shall end. Search but the Scriptures as our Sauiour bid, There shall you finde the wonders that he did: As first how he (by his high power diuine) At Canaa turned water into wine: How he did heale the blind, deafe, dumb and lame: How with his word he windes and seas did tame: How he from men possest, fiends dispossest: How he to all that came gaue ease and rest: How with two fishes, and fiue loaues of bread, He fed fiue thousand: how he rais'd the dead: How all things that he euer did or taught, Past, and surpast all that ere taught or wrought: And by these miracles, he sought each way To draw soules to him, too long gone astray, At last approacht the full prefixed time, That Gods blest Sonne must die for mans curst crime, Then Iesus to Ierusalem did goe, And left his mother full of griefe and woe, Oh woe of woes, and griefe surpassing griefe, To see her Sauiour captiu'd as a theefe: Her loue (beyond all loues) her Lord, her all, Into the hands of sinfull slaues to fall. If but a mother haue a wicked son, That hath to all disordered orders runne, As treasons, rapes, blasphemings, murder, theft, And by the law must be of life bereft; Yet though he suffer iustly by desert, His suffering surely wounds his mothers heart. Suppose a woman hath a vertuous child, Religious, honest, and by nature milde, And he must be to execution brought, For some great fault he neuer did nor thought, And she behold him when to death hee's put, Then sure tormenting griefe her heart must cut. These griefes are all as nothing vnto this, Of this blest mother of Eternall blisse: Her gracious Sonne that neuer did amisse, His gracelesse seruant, with a Iudas kisse, Betraid him vnto misbeleeuing slaues, Where he was led away with bills and staues. To Annas, Caiphas, Pilat, and to those, That to th'immortall God were mortall foes. Ah Iudas couldest thou make so base account Of him, whose worth doth heauen and earth surmount? Didst thou esteeme of • 0 paltry pence, More then the life of the Eternall Prince? O monstrous blindnesse, that for so small gaine Souldst endlesse blisse to buy perpetuall paine. Is't possible damn'd auarice could compell Thee sell heauens kingdome for the sincke of hell? Our father Adam vnto all our woes, Did for an Apple blessed Eden lose: And Esau borne a Lord, yet like a slaue His birth-right for a messe of pottage gaue: And poore Ghehezi telling of a lye, His couetousnesse gain'd his leprosie. And though the text their deeds do disalow, Yet they made better matches farre then thou. I do not here impute this deed of shame On Iudas, because Iudas was his name: For of that name there haue beene men of might, Who the great battels of the Lord did fight; And others more. But sure this impure blot Stickes to him, as hee's nam'd Iskarryott; For in an Anagram Iskarryott is By letters transposition, traytor kis.

ISKARRYOTT Anagramma TRAYTOR KIS.

KIsse Traytor, kisse with an intent to kill, And cry all haile, when thou dost meane al ill; And for thy fault no more shall Iudas be A name of treason and foule Infamie, But all that fault I'le on Iskarryot throw, Because the Anagram explanes it so. Iskarryot, for a bribe, and with a kisse, betraid his Maister, the blest King of blisse; And after (but too late) with conscience wounded, Amaz'd, and in his senses quite confounded, With crying woe, woe, woe on woe on me, I haue betraid my Maister for a fee, Oh I haue sinned, sinned past compare, And want of grace & faith, plucks on despaire▪ Oh too-too late it is to call for grace! What shall I doe? where is some secret place, That I might shield me from the wrath of God? I haue deseru'd his euerlasting rod. Then farewell grace, and faith, and hope and loue, You are the guifts of the great God aboue, You onely on th'elect attendants be; Despaire, hell, horror, terror is for me, My haynous sinne is of such force and might 'Twill empt th'exchequer of Gods mercy quite: And therefore for his mercy I'le not call; But to my iust deseru'd perdition fall. I still most gracelesse, haue all grace withstood, And now I haue betraide the guiltlesse bloud. My Lord and Maister I haue sold for pelfe, This hauing said, despairing hang'd himselfe. There we leaue him, and now must be exprest Something of her, from whom I haue digrest. The Virgins heart with thousand griefes was nipt, To see her Sauiour flouted, hated, whipt, Despitefulnesse beyond despight was vs'd, And with abuse, past all abuse abus'd: His apprehension grieu'd her heart full sore, His cruell scourges grieu'd her ten times more, & when his blessed head with thorns was crown'd Then flouds of griefe on griefe, her soule did woūd, But then redoubled was her griefe and feare, When to his death his Crosse she saw him beare, And lastly (but alas not least nor last) When he vpon the tree was nayled fast, With bitter tears, & deepe heart-wounding grones, With sobs, and sighs, this maiden Mother mones, What tongue or pen can her great griefe vnfold When Christ said, Woman now thy Sonne behold? That voyce (like Ice in Iune) more cold and chill▪ Did dangerously wound, and almost kill: Then (as old Simeon prophesied before) The sword of sorrow through her heart did gore, And if 'twere possible all womens woes, One woman could within her brest enclose, They were but puffes, sparks, moale-hils, drops of raine To whirl-winds, meteors, kingdomes or the main, Vnto the woes, griefes, sorrowes, sighes and teares, Sobs, gronings, terrors, and a world of feares, Which did beset this Virgin on each side, When as her Sonne, her Lord and Sauiour di'de. Thus he, to whom compar'd, all things are drosse, Humbled himselfe to death, euen to the Crosse: He that said Let there be, and there was light, He that made all things with his mighty might, He by whom all things haue their life and breath, He humbled himselfe vnto the death; Vnto the death of the curst crosse: this he, This he, this he of hees did stoope for me: For me this welspring of my soules reliefe, Did suffer death, on either hand a Theife, The one of them had run a theeuing race, Rob'd God of glory and himselfe of grace; He wanted liuely faith to apprehend To end his life, for life that ne'ere shall end: With faithlesse doubts his minde is armed stiffe, And doth reuile our Sauiour with an If, If that thou be the Sonne of God (quoth he) Come from the Crosse, and saue thy selfe and me: The other Theife, arm'd with a sauing faith Vnto his fellow turn'd, and thus he saith: Thou guilty wretch, this man is free and cleare From any crime for which he suffers here: We haue offended, we haue iniur'd many, But this man yet did neuer wrong to any▪ We iustly are condemn'd, he false accus'd▪ He hath all wrong, all right to vs is vs'd, He's innocent, so are not thou and I; We by the law are iustly iudg'd to die: Thus the good theife euen at his latest cast Contrary to a theife spake truth at last: And looking on our Sauiour faithfully, (Whilst Christ beheld him with a gracious eye) These blest words were his prayers totall summe, O Lord when thou shalt to thy kingdome come Remember me. Our Sauiour answer'd then (A doctrine to confute despairing men) Thou (who by liuely faith laist hold on me) This day in Paradise with me shal • be. Thus as this Theifes life was by theft supply'd, So now he stole Heauens Kingdome when he dy'd. And I doe wish all Christians to agree, Not'liue as ill, but dye as well as he: Presumptious sinnes are no way here excus'd, For here but one was sau'd, and one refus'd: Despaire for sinnes, hath here no rule or ground, For as here's one was lost, so one was found, To teach vs not to sinne with wilfull pleasure, And put repentance off, to our last leasure: To shew vs (though we liu'd like Iewes & Turks) Yet Gods great mercy is aboue his workes. To warne vs not' presume, or to despaire, Heer's good example in this theiuing paire. These seas of care (with zealous fortitude) This Virgin pas'd amongst the multitude. (Oh gracious patterne of a sex so bad) Oh the supernall patience that she had, Her zeale, her constancy, her truth, her loue, The very best of women her doth proue. Maids, wiues, & mothers, all conforme your liues To hers, the best of women, maids, or wiues. But as her Sonnes death made her woes abound, His Resurrection all griefe did confound: She saw him vanquish't and in glorious, And after saw him Victor most victorious: She saw him in contempt to lose his breath, And after that she saw him conquer death: She saw him (blest) a cursed death to dye, And after saw him rise triumphantly: Thus she that sorrowed most had comfort most, Ioy doubly did returne, for gladnes lost. And as before her torments tyranniz'd, Her ioy could after not be equaliz'd; Her Sonnes (all wondred) resurrection, Her Sauiours glorious ascention, And last the holy Ghost from heauen sent downe, These mighty mercies all her ioyes did crowne. Suppose a man that were exceeding poore Had got a thousand tunnes of golden ore, How would his heart be lifted vp with mirth, At this great masse of treasure (most part earth) But to be rob'd of all in's height of glory, Would not this lucklesse man be much more sory Then euer he was glad? for in the minde, Griefe more then ioy doth most abiding finde. But then suppose that after all this losse, The gold is well refined from the drosse, And as the poore man doth his losse complaine, His wealth (more pure) should be restor'd againe. Amid'st his passions (in this great reliefe) I doubt not but his ioy would conquer griefe. Euen so our blessed Lady hauing lost Her ioy, her Iewell she esteemed most, Her all in all, the heauen and earths whole treasure, Her gracious heart was grieued out of measure, But when she found in him triumphant state, No tongue or pen her ioy could then relate: She lost him poore and bare, and dead, and cold, She found him rich, most glorious to behold: She lost him when vpon his backe was hurld, The burthen of the sinnes of all the world: She lost him mortall, and immortall found him, for crown of thorns, a crown of glory crownd him. Thus all her griefes, her losse, her cares and paine, Return'd with ioyes inestimable gaine. But now a true relation I will make How this blest Virgin did the world forsake, T'is probable, that as our Sauiour bid Saint Iohn to take her home, that so he did, And it may be suppos'd she did abide With him, and in his house vntill she di'de. Iohn did out liue th'Apostles euery one, For when Domitian held th'Emperiall throne, To'th Ile of Pathmos he was banisht then, And there the Reuelation he did pen, But whilst Iohn ar Ierusalem did stay, God tooke the blessed Virgins life away, For after Christs ascension it appeares, She on the earth suruiued fifteene yeares, Full sixty three in all she did indure, A sad, glad pilgrimage, a life most pure: At sixty three yeares age, her life did fade, Her soule (most gracious) was most glorious made Where with her Son, her Sauiour, her Lord God, She euerlastingly hath her abode, In such fruition of immortall glory, Which cannot be discrib'd in mortall story: There mounted (meeke) she sits in Maiestie, Exalted there is her humility, There she that was adorned full of Grace▪ Beholds her Maker and Redeemers face. And there is she amongst all blessed spirits) (By imputation of our Sauiours merits) She there shall euer and for euer sing Eternall prayse vnto th'Eternall King. When she had payd the debt that all must pay, When from her corps her soule was past away: To Getsemany, with lamenting cheare, Her sacred body on the beere they beare. There in the earth a Iewell was interd, That was before all earthly wights preferd, That holy wife, that mother, that pure maid, At Getsemany in her graue was laid.

Lenuoy. This worke deserues the worke of better wit, But I (like Pilate) say, What's writ is writ: If it be lik'd: poore artles I am glad, And Charity I hope will mend what's bad. I know my selfe the meanest amongst men, The most vnlearned'st that ere handled pen: But as it is into the world I send it, And therefore pray commend it, or come mend it▪ FINIS.