DEVOUT ENTERTAINMENTS OF A Christian Soule.

Composed in French by the R.F. I.H. Quarre, P. of the Ora­tory of JESUS, and D. D.

Translated into English, by J. M. of W. Prisoner in the Tower of London.

Printed at Paris, Anno Domini MDCXLVIII.

The Translators Ad­dresse to the pious and Christian Reader.

THe most charitable and excellent title of this worke, is properly, me thinks, addressed unto you, (good Reader,) since you are the likeliest to relish and make true use of the admirable con­ceptions which are offered you in this little golden Treatise. It came to my hands, as a Missive of Charity, sent to entertaine me in my sad imprison­ment; and upon a serious perusall, the finding it of so divine a spirit, and of so universall a concernment, was invitement enough to me to propose [Page]the naturallizing these Meditations in our Countrey, by contributing so much as I am able to them, namely, an English Tongue, in which though they lose something of their native grace, yet I have reason to believe that the charity of the Authour will be content to be somewhat diminish'd himselfe, to become more beneficiall to his neigh­bours; nor need I doubt, but that the force of his heavenly spirit will break through, even my grosse language, and be not onely heard, but reverenced a­midst the noise of Drums and Trum­pets, so frequent in these unhappy times, wherein we have more cause then ever, to remember the great Trumpet of the Angell; wherefore the voice of this Author (which seemes Angeli­call) will come very seasonable, both to awake drowsie, and to advance pious soules in the ardors of their love to­wards God; for here is a loud Alarum for all sleepy and slothfull Souldiers, [Page]calling unto them to take up the Shield of Faith, and the Sword of the Spi­rit, to defend themselves by the supply of so powerfull succours, as these holy Meditations, against the furious as­saults of our common enemy, whose principall attempt is against (what these Entertainments seeke the most to fortifie, namely) the love of God.

The Authour shewes you, that this love of God is the most Essen­tiall point of Christianity. Be watch­full therefore, I beseech you, and keep this fortresse safe from the surprize of our professed enemy, and then nothing can be feared; for God expects more at your hands, and in loving him you fulfill his whole Law, and sweeten to your selves the rigour of all humane Lawes.

After he hath set you in the way of applying continually those duties, which appertaine to the preservation of you in this happy state, he presents you with [Page]some Considerations upon the whole Passion of our blessed Saviour, as a powerfull motive to invite you to this pure love, which he demands of you, and to render homage to this excessive goodnesse, for so great and inestimable a benefit, which it hath purchased for you at so dear a rate, as even the death of the onely Son of God.

And truly, when we looke upon the sufferings which Jesus Christ hath in­dured for us, ought we not to reproach our selves, for bearing impatiently a few crosses and contradictions in this short pilgrimage? for if so sacred a per­son sustained such violent pains for us, can we conceive our selves exempt from them? No, no, let us rather be ashamed at our cowardice and effemi­nate affections, in desiring to find no opposition in our way, but to tread still upon roses, thornes seeming too harsh for our dainty feet, which (if they be so tender) cannot looke like [Page]feet appertaining to a head stuck full of thornes; and alas, we cannot expect a share in the glory of our head Christ Jesus, if we (as his mem­bers) beare not willingly a part in his combats.

When we are called into the Field of the Crosse, let us then consider, how happie we are, that may make to our selves a Crowne of these thornes, whereof there are store at hand in these hard times; let us march joyfully, that we may triumphantly passe through Mount Calvary, fastned (as S. Paul saith) to the Crosse with Christ; and this is the nearest way to the heavenly Jerusalem, where we shall be refreshed after all our labours, with the sight of that soveraigne object of our love, the increated Beauty and Verity, whose first sight is no lesse then eternall beatitude.

Desiring to pay some respect to the Authour, I shall rather doe him in­jury, [Page]if I keep you too long by any dis­course of mine, from entering into his devout Entertainments, whose pray­ers you have, and mine shall presume to attend on his, to implore an effica­cious operation of his holy labours, and my charitable designe.

J. W.

The Introduction.
Concerning the necessity of the Love of God.

ALL the favours which Hea­ven showres downe upon us, are only to withdraw us out of the captivity of sin, and the world, and to place us in the liberty of the grace of Christia­nity, to the end God may reigne in our hearts. It is for this reason wee are made Christians, and receive the faith of Baptisme: Jesus Christ died on the Crosse for this end, and when he descended from the bosome of his Father to be made Man, his de­signe was only to establish the King­dome of God amongst the children of men.

And if we may be allowed to en­ter into consideration of the eternal thoughts of the eternall Father, we may easily discern, that in the whole Incarnation and Passion of his Son, and in the whole disposition of our salvation, he hath no other aime, then to seat the Kingdome of God in our soules, and to procure that our heart (which is created only for God) may be really the Throne and residence of the Divinity: In effect, all the Sacraments, which Jesus Christ himselfe hath instituted, and left unto his Church, as so many springs and fountains of graces and benedictions, are onely to dispose and place in us the Kingdome of Je­sus Christ, to produce the reigning of God in us, and to abolish the dominion of the world, the Divell and Sin.

When Jesus Christ taught his A­postles how they were to pray, he gave them the Pater Noster, and [Page]wills us to desire above all things, that his Kingdome come; that is (ac­cording to S. Gregory) to ask of God, that God may reigne in us. And Ie­sus Christ himselfe said to his Apo­stles, that the chiefest desire of a Christian ought to be, that God may reigne in his heart; Seeke first of all (saith he) the Kingdome of God. It is certain then, that God ought to reigne in us, not sin, nor the world: And evident it is, that the grace of Christianity causeth the Kingdome of God to preside in our hearts.

Now God cannot reigne in us but by love and charity; for S. Iohn saith, God is charity; and he that a­bides in charity, abides in God and God in him. His meaning is, that by love God makes his residence in the soule, he placeth there his Throne, he reignes and commands there, and quickeneth the whole soule. He is there, as the Sun to the Heavens,. which illuminates all of it; as a King [Page]in his Kingdome, who commands all; as the Father of a family in his house, who ruleth and directeth e­very thing. And even as wind dis­perses smoake, and fire liquifies and melts waxe; so Charity, which gives us God, and is even God himselfe reigning in us, dissipates our imper­fections, consumes our inordinate affections, and delivering us from sin, subjecteth us entirely to the power and direction of Iesus Christ, who reignes in us.

Whence it followes, that who­ever is willing to become a true Christian, of what condition soever he may be in this world, ought to desire that God may reigne in him; he must dispose himselfe thereunto, and render his soule and conscience worthy to be the Kingdome and habitation of God; And to arrive to this blessed condition, he ought to be in the state of love and chari­ty: [Page]whence we are to inferre, That all the true exercises of a Christian must tend unto the obtaining of love; and all that he is to doe, all that he is to learne, and the very method which he is to observe in order to a good life, consists onely in love and charity. Wherefore it were to be wished, that we would learne no other lesson in this world, nor imbrace other exercise, then that of Love and Charity.

And in effect God demands no­thing of us but love, for he that lo­veth, fulfills the whole Law of God. And Jesus Christ being ready to die, recommends nothing more to his Disciples, then love: vertue is not acceptable to God, and our whole life hath no merit, without Charity: Finally God gives not his Paradise but unto love. Is it not then very true, that the exercise and practise of love ought to be the sole enter­tainment [Page]and whole occupation of a soule that intends her Salvation? In as much as it is most certaine, that at the houre of death God re­solving to judge us will respect no­thing but love; for he will receive us, if we expire in the state of love, and reejct us, in case he finds us desti­tute thereof.

I pray tell me now, (you that read what I write) when you shall come to the houre of death, and be in that moment, wherein you are to appeare before the Tribunall of God, to receive the definitive sen­tence of your Eternity, if you find your selfe void of the love of God, what sorrow will you not feele for having passed away your life in toyes, for having set your affection on trifles, and not loved God, who is only amiable, and the true happi­nesse of our soules?

And at this last houre, which you [Page]cannot avoid, wherein you shall be constrained to abandon both this life, and all that is in this world, what anguish will you not suffer, for having rendred your selfe the slave of vanity, and unto all inordinate motions of concupiscence, for ha­ving violated and despised all holy, and divine Lawes, to satisfie your owne desires? Finally what displea­sure will you feele, for having shut your heart against the love of God, to lodge therein the love of so ma­ny creatures? Surely at the time of your death, you will (as I may say) even die for sorrow, and this griefe will be that worme which shall e­ternally gnaw your soule, for ha­ving so much studied to please the creature, and for having been so strongly fastned thereunto, as to prostrate your selfe to vanity and pleasures, and for having despised the love of God, who is your hap­pinesse, [Page]and the true delight of your soule.

But suppose that you shall be sa­ved, and that you are in the role of those Elect, whom God intends to place in his Kingdome of glory, where there is no other God, but Love, no law, but that of Love, and where the life and entertainment of the Saints, is but a perfect and eter­nall Love: Though you be (I say) of this number, and if your name be written in the booke of life, yet God will not save you without Love and Charity; for you must necessarily die in Charity, if you will be saved. Let us suppose then that you have Love, at this last houre, it will be surely a true love of God; If then you can ever Love God with a true love, how much paine will you feele, for not having loved him sooner. How much more bitterly will you detest the world, and all [Page]the creatures which you have loved, and which have diverted you from loving a God, who loveth you so much, as to give you his Paradise? It is then, yea, it is then, when you will understand the love, which God beares you, and that you will love God truly; then will it be that the more light you shall receive, and the purer your soule shall be, the more will you detest the world, and deplore your owne ingratitude; and undoubtedly in this point, will consist the sharpest: of your paines, and the most insupportable do­lours which you shall suffer in Pur­gatory,

I say all this, to recall your soule and perswade you, if you can, to pre­vent the miseries of this houre and moment, which you cannot escape, and that from this instant, prepa­ring your selfe for death, you may begin to seek and desire no other [Page]thing but love. In all your devoti­ons learne to love God, and take courage to despise manfully all im­pediments unto true love.

Let all your Entertainments and Devotions be in order to love, and in all your exercises of mercy, strive onely to root out of your heart, and remove from your life, all that di­stanceth you from the love of God.

For your assistance herein, I thought fit to present unto you some few documents, which I con­ceive very profitable for all such, as have a desire to live well. I stile them Devout Entertainments, be­cause indeed the soule ought to en­tertain and busie her selfe onely in love and charity. And I call them Devout, in as much as true devotion consists only in this point, of loving God.

It is not my intention, to discre­dit other Exercises, which are re­commended [Page]to soules, because they are good and profitable, if they di­rect unto Love and Charity: But I may well say with S. Paul, that all is nothing without Charity. Wherefore I could wish, that a true Christian had no other object, or end in all his a­ctions, then love; that he would studie nothing but love, and strive to correct all his defects, opposite to the love of God; for all being well considered, whoever hath Charity, hath all things. And indeed we see so many persons frequent the divine Sacraments, we see so many who ex­ercise themselves in works of piety, and neverthelesse little profit and change is observed in the life of Christians. If reasons may be given for it, there is no other in my opini­on, then their defectivenesse in lo­ving God. This is the reason why in all this little Treatise I speak of no­thing, but Love and Charity.

It is true also, that I treat of the Presence of God, and shew the pra­ctice of it; but I have done it in con­sideration of love, because I conceive it to be an exercise absolutely ne­cessary, especially for such as live in the world, and desire to lead a vertuous life, in the midst of the turmoyles and distractions, which are frequent in our ordinary course of life. We cannot doubt, but that the most part of Christians have their spirits still distracted, their thoughts wandring, their hearts di­vided; and if every one will consi­der in what manner he liveth, he shall perceive that the soule is but seldome within the body, wholly distracted, and as it were evapora­ted into exteriour things, which is a great misfortune to her. Now it is requisite to find out a meanes to recall her; surely I see none better then that of the presence of God, in [Page]the same manner, as I explicate it; Make use of it, if you please, and you shall find by experience, that there is nothing more profitable and ad­vantagious.

I recommend it as much as I can possibly; for if every one would but consider at leisure, the disposi­tion of his own soule, he should dis­cerne, that it will be almost impossi­ble for him to performe any exer­cise of piety, as one ought, if he place not himselfe in the presence of God; for this posture is abso­lutely necessary, to recall our soule, which is straying, and to render her attentive to what she is doing; and moreover this is necessary, in respect we cannot performe any good work without the grace of God. And when the soule is thus presented un­to God, she craves assistance and grace of him, without which she is unable to act any thing.

This is what I desire to offer un­to you; I beseech our Lord to af­fect you with it, and to favour u [...] all with his grace, to prepare ou [...] hearts for him, and to render us wor­thy of his love.

THese, or what other Erraeta's the Printer (through his un­skilfulnesse in this Language) hath committed, the courteous Reader may please to pardon, and correct thus.

Errata.

Pag. 33. l. 10. read require you. p. 107. l. 8. r. into the state. p. 111. l. 6, & 7. r. I know and you have said it. p. 114. l. 14. r. expecting.

DEVOUT ENTERTAINMENTS OF A CHRISTIAN SOULE.

Of the love of GOD, The first Entertainment.

§. 1. Of the Excellency and Necessity of Love.

1. THe first thing I desire to propose unto you upon this subject, and which I would gladly engrave in [Page 2]your heart, is the acknowledg­ing that the reasonable creature was created by God, for no other end, then to love and serve him. This is a verity which I beseech you often to consider, and if you can, call it often every day into your thoughts.

2. In order to this principle, remember that you have no right to live on earth, but to love and serve God; for all that you have in the world, whereof God hath given you the use, he hath put it into your hands, onely to testifie his love, and to oblige you to love him: so that all things ought to serve you, as motives to love him, who hath bestowed them on you: For as God hath created nothing, [Page 3]which doth not raise you to the knowledge of him, if you will consider it: so hath he made no­thing, which doth not attract you unto his love, and fastens you to him, if you bring no op­position thereunto.

3. You know very well, that we are obliged to love God above all things, with our whole heart and soule, &c. It is a Comman­dement which Jesus Christ calls Maximum, the greatest, in as much as it compriseth all the duties of a soule towards God; and if you can accomplish this, you will doubtlesse fulfill all the rest. Wherefore esteeme princi­pally this Commandment: exa­mine your selfe seriously upon this point, and omit not to ac­cuse [Page 4]your selfe of it in Confessi­on, whensoever you faile there­in.

4. As God doth nothing but to oblige us to love him, so he demands nothing of us but love. This moved the Apostle to say, that the whole law of God is ac­complished in loving God. Wher­fore all your exercises ought to tend onely unto love: I meane, that all the practices of piety, all your desires, all your prayers, and even the use of the Sacra­ments, ought to aime onely at the placing you in the love of God, to establish, conserve, and advance you therein. Finally, you are to act nothing but by love, or for the obtaining the love of God.

5. Consider this vertue, as the onely happinesse of your soule: for by charity we adhere unto God, and are united and conjoy­ned unto him: Nor can you be ignorant, that all the good, and happinesse of the soule, consists onely in her being uni­ted unto God, and adhering in­separably to him, because he that adheres unto God, (saith the Apostle) becomes one spirit. His meaning is, that Charity in­vests us with divine proper­ties, and makes us little Gods.

6. We should be very unfor­tunate, if God did not love us: Now he loveth us onely, to the end we should love him, and in loving us, he can give us nothing of greater value then love. For [Page 6]it is love onely, which renders is▪ happy: It is love onely which gives us God, and unites us to him: Love onely guides us unto God. Briefly, it is by love one­ly, that we become acceptable to God; and nothing is agreeable to him, but what is done in love. See then what that soule loseth, which wants this love, and of how little account all exercises are without this act of love.

7. All other vertues may be found amongst the good and bad, but Charity only is the cha­racter and stamp of Gods chil­dren; Finally, she is the Queen, which commands all the powers of the soule, and every thing o­beyes her: And to speak it in a word, she is the true vertue; for [Page 7]take away Love, and Charity, all that is tearmed Vertue, is so but superficially and in appea­rance.

8. This is enough to affect you with the desire of acquiring Charity and Divine Love. But to know how one may obtaine it, and by what meanes we may attaine unto the possession of this happinesse, is the subject wherewith I intend to entertain you.

§. II. Of the meanes to attaine unto the love of God.

1. TO acquire Charity which we call Love, we must earnestly de­mand it of God; besides, wee ought frequently to desire it: Finally, we must labour serious­ly therein, and act on our part what wee are able. These are three points which I am to ex­plicate,

2. To affect God with a su­pernaturall Love, is a pure gift of God: Wherefore I advise [Page 9]you to beg it of him continually. And the first thing you are to aske of him, is, that you may love him, as he would have you, conformable to your obliga­tion.

3. When I say continually, I meane that the most usual Pray­er you are to make, and the grace which you ought to de­mand still of God, is to have Charity and Love: for if you possesse this love, you have all, and if you want it, whatsoever else you may have, is of no va­lue, saith the Apostle.

4. When you heare it so often mentioned, that we ought to per­forme acts of the love of God, let not that produce a beliefe in [Page 10]you, that it is in our own power, without grace, to love God with such a love as we owe him: For it is so sublime a thing to love God, as it transcends all the po­wer of Nature. It is requisite, that God by his grace unite his power unto our whole faculties; to inable us, to forme one sin­gle act of the love of God. And indeed there is a necessity of Gods giving us his grace, & love, for our loving him, because of our selves we are unable to doe it, without his assistance, and we render our selves unworthy of it by our sins.

5. I will not then enjoyn you to make often acts of the love of God; but say onely, that you [Page 11]must often request this love, and dispose your selfe to receive it. And above all you are to annihi­late in your soule, as much as you can possibly, all that may divert God from giving you this love, or hinder the love of God from raigning in your heart. This is the most impor­tant point; for to implore the love of God, and to live quite contrary, is but to mock, and deride him.

6. It is not enough to aske it of God, but you must likewise desire it fervently: And surely I wish, that this desire may be great in your soule, that it may be the powerfullest of all your inclinations, and the most lively affection which raignes in you: [Page 12]For to desire love is a strong disposition unto love. And truly one can hardly desire the love of God, without a present concession of it.

7. Nay, I could wish for the benefit of your soule, that you had no other desire, then to love God, and please him in all things, and that every moment you did awaken in your self this desire of loving God. O what great things would he operate in you! Surely your life would be pleasing, and all things out of God indifferent to you. Endea­vour that your exercises of piety and the most usuall occupations of your soule, even when you are distributing Almes, be with [Page 13]an intention to increase this de­sire, to nourish and practice it. I meane that all your employ­ments, and exercises of vertue, should be either fruits of love, or meanes to attaine unto the love of God. Above all in the use of the Sacraments I wish you to retaine this pure intention; for if at any time you are to seek the means of acquiring the love of God, it is by receiving the holy Sacraments, principally that of Confession and Communion. Wherefore when you Confesse, and Communicate, endeavour that it may be alwayes with this love, and with an intention there­by to introduce the love of God.

8. It imports you very much, to have a good and pure intenti­on in all that you shal doe. Now the Intention which I wish you alwayes to have, is to act and suf­fer all for the pure love of God; for God ought to be the object and end of your life and actions. There are some who regard their proper interest, and doe every thing to the end they may merit. I doe not condemne them, but I advise not you to proceed in this manner; for it is a mercena­ry intention: I contrariwise con­jure you to doe nothing, but for the pure love of God. If you doe all for God, God will doe all for you; if you give all unto God, he will give himselfe entirely un­to [Page 15]you, and that ought to suffice you.

9. In few words, I desire that Charity and Love may be the object of all your actions, the subject of your imployments, & the most ordinary exercise of your life and piety. Surely if you have a fervent desire to love God, all this will be easie to you, and by the same degrees as this desire shall increase, by the same you will advance in the love of God and Vertue.

10. It is not enough to de­mand & desire the love of God, you must cooperate also in this point. I will recommend onely two things unto you, and in my opinion they will suffice.

11. The first is, that you be ve­ry carefull to keep your consci­ence pure and free from sin, and above all ingrave in your soule this disposition, which ought to remaine alwayes in the centre of your heart, to wit, that for no worldly respect you offend God, and that neither the goods nor evils of this life procure you to doe any thing against the Com­mandments of God: My mea­ning is, that neither the love nor feare of men, nor the world or mutuall complacency draw you to offend God, how little soever it be.

12. The other point which I would recommend unto you, is, the giving your heart wholly un­to [Page 17]God; for it is created onely for him. By your heart I under­stand your love, and I meane that you beware of fixing your selfe unto the Creature by love and affection: And I intend by this Creature, the world, tem­porall goods, and all earthly things.

13. I know very wel, that you cannot live without love; but that which I recommend unto you, is the remaining in the world, and in the use of crea­tures, without placing your heart and affection on them: But since you ought to love God, who is infinitely amiable, and cōmands you to love him above all things, there is nothing difficult in this, [Page 18]which I propose to you; for there is nothing sweeter or more facile then Love, and I only beg of you to prefer God above all creatures: is there any thing more reasonable?

14. Remember this principle, which is alwayes veritable, that a foule by the same degrees she fastens her selfe by love unto the creature, by the same doth she loosen and seperate her self from God; and as much as she sever's her self from the creature, so much doth she unite her self, and approach unto God. Consider well this maxime, to reap pro­fit by it; for if you will love God with your heart, and if the desire which you have to love [Page 19]God, be sincere, you will be ve­ry carefull not to adhere unto any creature; which is all I re­commend unto you.

15. But in this point of the love of God, beware of being like unto the Jewes and Phari­sees, who Fasted, Prayed, gave Almes, and bare on their fore­heads, the written Law of Moses; and yet their hearts were wholy alienated from God you must needs understand my meaning without farther explanation.

19. Take heed also, that you resemble not those who speak much, and do little: Fi­nally, be not like unto the Sa­maritans, who adored Idols and the true God in one and t [...] [Page 20]same Temple. To love God and the Creature both together, are things incompatible; for true love is neither partiall nor divi­ded; but intire, cordiall, and perfect. Still call to mind, that the heart of man is created who­ly for God, And he ought to love God alone, or if he love any other thing, let it be for? God, and in order to God.

17. I do not doubt, but that you will meet at first with some difficulties in these practices, but do not think, that before the Judgment. of Almighty God, you can be exempt from paine and labour: On the contrary you ought to animate your self; for love and charity, which gives [Page 21]us God, and opens Paradise to us, deserves well, that we labour seriously to acquire it, and that we be very careful to conserve it, if God vouchsafe to bestow it on us.

18. To assist you in the ac­quisition of charity, or rather to dispose you to receive it from the hand of God, I conceive it fit for you to practice the three ensuing Acts, which I am going to set before you.

19. The first is, that you enter into the poor & simple thought of that love and charity which Jesus Christ hath for you, or else consider, how the Son of God is all love: Then stay as little as you please upon this [Page 22]thought, adore in your heart this love of Jesus with an hum­ble respect. After this, you of­fer your self unto Christ Jesus, and give your self intire to Him; open your heart to Him, to the end he may infuse into it, the spirit of love, even as he posses­seth the plenitude thereof, and according to the intention he hath, that you should love God.

20. The second is, that you renounce cheerfully all that di­verts you from loving God, and beseech Christ Jesus to indue you with a hatred, against all that is opposite unto this love, or which may separate you from God.

21. The third is, that you [Page 23]resolve to be very circumspect, to avoide all that hinders you from loving God. Now, no­thing is a greater obstacle to it, then mortall sinne, and the love of Creatures. And to aide you herein, entertain your self some­times in thoughts which may produce love in you: At least, endeavour as much as you may, that no day passe away without some spirituall Lecture, which may incourage you in these pra­ctices of love and charity. You may perform these three acts in the form which I am going to prescribe you.

22. My Lord, and my God! I adore you as the increated love; I give my self unto your [Page 24]love, to bear the effects thereof, in what manner you shall please, and I renounce all that is repug­nant in me to the love which I owe you. Be pleased, to gives me only the grace, that I may di­vest my self of all that is oppo­site unto your love; and that henceforward, I may accept of nothing which is averse unto it.

23. I particularly recommend unto you this last exercise, in as much as the eternall Father bestows nothing on us, but by his Sonne, especially no Graces and Vertues; And because our works have no other merit before God, then what they receive from Jesus Christ, I say that in this ex­ercise, you should give and offer [Page 25]your selfe unto Christ Jesus, to the end he may bestow on you what is necessary, and set on your workes and good intenti­ons, the price and value which they are to beare in the sight of God: finally, that you may re­duce into act the desire you have of loving God.

24 Moreover when God is pleased to confer any grace on us, he would have us to coope­rate with it; & without this co­operation his gifts arc fruitlesse. Now we begin to cooperate, when we give our selves unto Jesus Christ, to beare the effects of the vertue which we desire of him, and when we renounce all that is repugnant to it, These are the reasons which invite mee [Page 26]so earnestly to recommend unto you this exercise.

These are the few entertain­ments which I purpose to pre­sent unto you, concerning the acquisition & practice of Cha­rity. Let us treat now of Prayer.

OF PRAYER, AND Of the Presence of God. The second Entertainment.

§. I. Concerning the Excellency of Prayer.

1. WE are all bound to pray; it is the duty of the Soule, it is a lesson which Iesus Christ gave unto his Apostles and Disciples: it is the practice [Page 28]of the Church, and the customs of all Christians: And God will have us to be sensible o [...] our infirmities and miseries, and acknowledge our poverty, to the end wee may resort unto him, and that he may be honou­red by our prayers.

2. Prayer is an entertainment & communication of the soule with God, and of God with the soule: And in Prayer the soule elevates her self unto God and God vouchsafes to descen [...] unto the soule.

3. Prayer well made, is a mir­rour wherein the soule behold her selfe, and where shee finde what shee is; and somtimes she learnes thereby to know God and begins to relish him.

4. Prayer obtaines all things for us; Prayer teacheth all: It is finally the food and aliment of the soule and so necessary, that as without naturall meat the bo­dy languisheth, so doth the soule without Prayer.

§. II. Of the Presence of God in Prayer.

1. I Advise you then to set your affection upon Pray­er. There are two sorts there­of, the one vocall, the other men­tall: I will not take from you vocall Prayer, because it is very good, but indeed I counsell you not to charge and oblige your selfe unto many vocall Prayers.

2 Nor will I oblige you un­to mentall Prayer, for few per­sons are capable of entertaining the inselves with it: Neverthe­lesse I conceive it usefull, nay necessary for you, to make choice every day of some point or verity of faith, to meditate on it as long as you please.

3 It is an exercise which I propose to you as necessary: for, most certaine it is, that every one hath need of recalling his spirit; and evidently your mind is the more straying and distra­cted, the more you remaine in the world. Wherefore if you have any care of your salvation, you must strive to recollect your soule, which is so much ingaged in exteriour things, as it may be [Page 31]said to be scarce in your body.

4 Now the true meanes for recalling your soule, is to place your selfe every day in the pre­sence of God, and to remaine some time in silence, taking some good thought for your en­tertainment.

5 What time you shall make choice of, I leave unto your own conveniency; at least I ad­vise you to take part of the holy Masse for your meditation, and to imploy it in this exercise; but do it with affection. As for the saying of your Beads, or other vocall Prayers, you may finde time enough. If I may be cre­dited, you will preferre this lit­tle recollection before all the rest; for it is more important [Page 32]then it seemeth, and experience will teach it you if you please.

6. What proportion of time you will imploy therein, I leave unto your own zeale and devo­tion; I beseech you onely not to faile in taking every day some good thought , and seri­ously to stay upon it, though it be but for some small time, and if it be possible doe this every morning. Affectionate your selfe unto this exercise which is briefe, and will prove more fa­cile then you imagine; howe­ver it is profitable for you, and I dare say in a manner necessary.

7. The subject which you are to take for your entertain­ment, shall be the Passion of the Son of God, or the foure finall [Page 33]ends of man; sometimes Gods love towards you , sometimes the vanity of all things; finally take some point of Faith or of the Creed for your appli­cation.

8. The manner and method which you are to observe here­in must be very naturall. I doe not require to make use of reason or discourse, but of your affection and will. Apply your whole heart unto it, and that sufficeth, procure also that your attention therein bee entire.

9. The first thing you must doe, is to place your selfe in the presence of God, because in all your prayers you speak with God, and treat of things of [Page 34]great consequence; for you speak to him of the honour and love you owe him, & you treat concerning your owne salvati­on, and the benefits of your soule.

10 This exercise or practice of the presence of God is abso­lutely necessary for you; for if you have a care of your salvati­on, and desire to live in the feare of God, surely you ought to know how to keepe your selfe continually in the presence of God, remembring still, that in what place s [...]eve [...] you are, God sees and considers you, not ex­ter [...]lly onely, but even into the center of your heart. The presence of God is an exercise which detaines the soule, and [Page 35]obligeth her to act nothing which may bee unworthy of God.

11. Moreover when you will pray, and what Prayer soe­ver you make, were it but say­ing the Pater noster, or your Beads, you still ought to doe it with respect and attention; for sure you cannot performe these Devotions as you ought, if your spirit be not recollected. Now the means of recollecting your minde, is to place your selfe in the presence of God: Where­fore I advise you to habituate your selfe in this exercise, I meane, to place and keepe your selfe often in the presence of Almighty God.

12. You will say peradven­ture, [Page 36]that you are not able to fix your spirit: to which I answer, that it is no good signe and for this reason you ought to pity your self; For how can you hear well the holy Masse, say well your ordinary prayers, use the Sacrament of Penance, or com­municate as you ought, if you know not how to setle your co­gitation? see you not that this is to be sick indeed, without dis­cerning it? Now the practice of the presence of God (as I will explicate it to you) is the true & only remedy for your disease.

13. It is a practice which is common & necessary for all good Christians, who are willing to avoid sin, & preserve themselves in grace, or desire to treat with [Page 37]God with that respect as becoms them, & this is what I desire, that in the beginning of your pray­er, you place your self attentive­ly in the presence of God.

14. You may do it in two man­ners. The first by imagination, when you recall your mind and all the powers of your soul, and when you represent God unto your self with a Majesty worthy God, and figuring to your selfe that you are prostrated before the Throne of his infinite great­nesse, and that you remain there to treat with him about the af­faires of your soule, and what concerneth the service and wor­ship which you owe him.

15. The other manner is by faith, & then you make no use of [Page 38]your imagination, but having sweetly called back your soule into it selfe, you conceive your selfe to be before God, whose greatnesse and Majestie is infi­nite and incomprehensible; that this is the same God, whom the Angells and Saints do serve and adore. You consider how faith teacheth you, that this self same God is every where; and he presides in the bottome and center of your soule with the same Majesty, Power and Love, as he doth in Heaven. Rest somtime upon this thought, and if you can, procure to enter in­to your owne heart, to adore God as you conceive him to be there.

16. This last manner of con­sidering [Page 39]the Presence of God, seems to me more beneficiall then any other, and hath more force to recall our spirit, and to bring back our soule into her selfe: it teacheth us to seeke God, not as farre distant from us, or in Heaven, but in our selves, and in the center of our heart. And for this reason I ad­vise you, to make often use of this exercise; for I promise that you shall derive from it great advantages: And if you shall persevere, you will make a little Paradise of your heart, and your soule will performe on earth, what the Angells doe in Heaven.

§. III. A manner how to recollect ones selfe for mentall Prayer.

1. AT the first entrance then into Prayer, place your self in the presence of God conformably to the manner I have newly exhibited to you. And if this thought of Gods presence possesseth your soule, and retaines you in great atten­tion, keep your selfe therein as long as you can, were it during the whole Masse; and omit without scruple the rest of your devotions; for you enter not into the Church, and apply not your selfe unto Prayer, but to remaine before God, to adore him with respect and humility, [Page 41]and to keepe your selfe in his presence as his devout servant. When you have attained unto this, rest content, since God seems to be so with you : And in this case, you are to desire no­thing more, because you have all when God is satisfied.

2. And if this thought of Gods presence will not serve to entertaine you any long time, in that case, take presently some verity or mystery for your me­ditation: For example, consider how Iesu Christ hath loved you so much, as to suffer death for you. Then pawse a while, how little soever you please, to consi­der this benefit, strive onely to ponder it with attention. And out of this consideration [Page 42]endeavour to extract some little affection, or frame some confe­rence with God upon that which you considered. Now to the end it may prove more facile to you, I prescribe at the end of this Booke some Medi­tations upon the principall points of the Passion of our Lord Iesus Christ, which will serve you for a Modell.

3. During the little time you shall employ in this manner of Prayer, if God gives you some good inspiration or pious de­sire, do not neglect it, but hear­ken unto God, and receive his grace and inspiration with re­spect and love. Resolve to put in practice what God proposeth to you, and give your selfe unto [Page 43] Christ Iesus, and his holy Mo­ther the Virgin Mary, to the end they may be pleased to preserve in your soule the good desires which you feele; and supplicate them to give you the grace to put them in practice, conforma­ble to that manner which God requires of you.

4. The profit which I would have you to make of this exer­cise, which I call recollection of spirit, is, to establish and pre­serve your selfe in the feare of God; to excite and advance your selfe in his love, and to in­duce in you a hatred unto the vanity of the world. The vertues which you ought most to put in practice, are humility of spi­rit, unadherence unto creaures, [Page 44]and the mortification of the cu­pidities & passions of your soul.

5. Now what I have dis­coursed to you concerning the presence of God, in that Prayer which we cal Mentall, you ought to practice in all your Vocall Prayers; when you will begin to say your Beads, or the office of our blessed Lady, or els when you prepare your selfe for Con­fession or Communion: Briefly, in all your Devotions let the first thing you do, be the recal­ling of your minde, the with­drawing it from all sorts of ob­jects, and place your selfe in the presence of God, in such a man­ner as I have proposed to you.

6. Chiefly when you come before God, be it in the Church [Page 45]or in your Oratory, present your self alwaies with a comportment full of respect, & strive to place your selfe in an humble and Christian reverence; for you are in the presence of God, before whom all the Grandeurs of hea­ven & earth are but dust. Princi­pally I recommend unto you the detestation of all petty wanton­nesses & levities, and all such ef­feminate fashions In a word, a­void all affectation in the pre­sence of God, before whom the Angels tremble, & live only in a profound respect and reverence. You may now well judge how much reason I have to condemn those complements which are used in the Church, those curi­osities and vain discourses. God [Page 46]preserve you from such disor­ders, which oblige God to withdraw himselfe from the soule.

7. At the end of all your Prayers, and even out of Pray­ers as often as you may, at the in­stant of your waking in the morning, I wish and desire you to performe two things, which are very facile.

8. The one is to offer your self unto God, and to give your selfe to him, to remaine wholly his, in conformity to his holy will: The other is, to renounce your selfe, and all that leads you unto evill, or diverts you from doing that good which God re­quires of you: is for example, you may say or mediate on [Page 47]these words; My God & my Iesus, I offer my self unto you as my Lord, on whom I will depend all my life time; and I renounce all that se­vereth me from you, and may di­vert me from following and ful­filling your holy will.

9 But still remember, that God is not content with words, he will have the heart, and re­quires effects: Wherefore en­deavour to put in practice all that I have proposed to you, in these few entertainments, and a­bove all, exercise your selfe in the practice of such vertues as God shall inspire you; for he will exact an account of all the graces which he conferres on you, and of all the occasions which he presents unto you of doing good.

OF CONFESSION, AND COMMUNION. The third Entertainment.

§. I.

I. THere remaines one thing to tell you, but it is of conse­quence; and I wish that I were able to fix it in the bottome and center of your heart. It relates unto Confesion & Communion. I [Page 49]will entertaine you with it, be­cause I verie much apprehend, that there are great abuses com­mitted therein and I feare that in so holy and divine a thing we are often too prophane.

2. By the Sacrament of Con­fession, it is certaine, that we de­sire to return into Gods favour; we seek to bee re-established in the charity which we have lost by mortall sinne, and which we cannot repossesse but by Pe­nance. And though we be free from mortall sin, we yet desire by Penance to remove the other sins, which freeze charity, breed a languishing in the soule, debi­litate and expose her unto grea­ter danger. And then wee goe unto Confession, to renew our [Page 50]selves in love, and to remove these sins, and all that may be opposite unto love and charity.

3. In the holy Communion we receive Iesus Christ as ours; for hee appertaines to us, and the same Iesus gives himselfe unto us in this divine and adorable Sacrament, to honour us with his presence, to inrich us with his gifts, and above all to conferre on us his love. In fine, it is a Sacrament all of love; it is a pledge of the love which Iesus Christ beareth us, and a commerce of love between Ie­su Christ and men.

4. Now if you consider in this order these two great Sa­craments, doth it not seeme just and reasonable, that we receive [Page 51]them with estimation, holily, and with a spirit of love, since both of them are holy, both of them conferre charity and the love of God upon us; both of them unite us unto God, when we come to them, as we ought, with fitting and congruous dis­positions.

5. For this reason I could wish, that when you goe unto Confession or Communion, it may bee still accompanied with a sense of love, and a serious re­collection of your soule. Be­ware of going to them by cu­stome, and of performing so holy and divine actions indiffe­rently, I meane without a good and fitting disposition, for it would turn to your prejudice.

6. That which I require of you is to retaine alwayes a pure intention of seeking God one­ly, and demanding nothing but love. Let it be your desire to forsake those vices and sinnes, whereof you seek to obtaine re­mission by Penance. Bee you sorrowfull for having commit­ted, because sin is displeasing to God, and opposite unto him, whom we desire to love. Finally, I wish that all the mo­tives which you shall have in receiving the Sacraments, may bee alwaies with respect to the love which God hath to­wards you, and of the love which you owe unto God; for let men say what they please, since in the receiving the Sacra­ments [Page 53]of Penance and of the Eucharist, you seeke nothing but the love of God and chari­ty, surely it is reasonable, that you go to them with as much love as you can possibly: This is that whereunto I invite you.

7. I doe not say that feare is not good, usefull and often ne­cessary but I say that feare ought to serve here onely for the recalling of your soule, and directing her unto love. It ought to be like the servant which opens the gate unto charity, to introduce it into your heart. Take then the motives of feare, if you have need of them; but stay not upon this feare, but passe unto love, still [Page 54]calling to minde, that in these two Sacraments you seeke the friendship of Almighty God: Thus much touching Penance: and in the Eucharist you ask and receive God onely, who is love and charity.

8. In the Communion it is re­quisite to have feare, accompa­nied with a profound reverence, and humble respect. An Ange­licall devotion and attention is required therein; for this my­stery is full of Majesty, since God is there present, whom we intend to receive. But much more love is required therein; for whatsoever wee consider, there nothing but objects of love appeare to us, and nothing is to be found there, that is not [Page 55]as a band, which ought to fasten and unite us unto God.

9 It is not my designe to en­tertaine you with prescribing you instructions for the recepti­on of these two Sacraments, since you have so many Bookes which treat of it: I will onely say, that if ever you stand in need, of all the Entertainments which I have newly given you, it ought to be in the recepti­on of these two Sacraments, which are two fountaines of love and mercy: For love and recollection by the presence of God (as I have explicated) serve us for a disposition to prepare us to receive worthily the Sa­crament of Penance and the Eucharist.

I beseech our Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world, to establish therein the Kingdome of charity, and to bring thither the fire of his love, and who died on the Crosse to draw us unto God, and withdrawn from death, the world and sin, that he will vouch­safe to give us the grace to feele and he are the effects of his Crosse; I beseech him to consume us in the flames of his love, and to fasten us so indissolubly unto himself, as wee may never more sever our selves from him, but that he would place us rather in a happy inability of offending him, and in a more blessed servitude, never more to estrange and separate our selves from him, nor to act any thing but for his fake. Amen.

MEDITATIONS Upon the Principall Mysteries of the Passion of JESUS CHRIST.

PREFACE.

IT is a great happinesse for a man to be able to entertain himselfe with God, and to speak to him as often as he desireth. He may do it by vocall and mentall Prayer, wherein he treats with his God. It is a favour which Jesus Christ hath acquired for him; for it is by him (saith the Apostle) that we have ac­cesse [Page 58]unto God: I call it a favour, in as much as man having severed himselfe from God by sinne, and be­ing expelled out of his presence and banished from his amiable company, the Sonne of God came into the world to expiate sinne, and to esta­blish both in heaven and earth, a new alliance between God and Man.

One of the meanes which Jesus Christ himselfe hath left us to pre­serve our selves in this happy alli­ance, and the way which he hath pointed out to bring us neer unto God is Prayer: for by Prayer we enter into society with God, we entertain our selves with him, we elevate and unite our selves unto him, and treat with him of the in­effable Grandeurs of his Divinity, of che effects of his incomprehensi­ble goodnesse, of the necessities and miseries of our life; finally, by a holy commerce we speak to God, [Page 59]and God vouchsafes to speak to us.

There are an infinity of objects, upon which the soule may entertain her selfe with God, and forme her meditations; for as God is an in­exhaustible sea of greatnesse, so is he the object of an infinite entertain­ment unto a Christian soule: But the most reasonable, most profita­ble, and easiest subject, wherein our Spirit may imploy it selfe, is the life, and death, the depressions, and hu­miliations, the torments, and suffer­ances of Jesus Christ.

For as much as in the misteries of the Passion, and in all the moments of the life and death of Iesus, the soule discerns therein the excessive love which God beareth us: In the sufferings and ignominies of the Crosse, she conceives the weight of sinne, and the punishments which our crimes doe merit: And consi­dering what Iesus Christ hath done, [Page 60]what he hath said, and his holy and adorable Vertues in all the misteries of his death, she learns thereby the Vertues which she ought to prac­tice, and the way which she is to follow, to attaine unto the glory which Iesus Christ himself hath ac­quired for her, at the price of life and precious bloud.

It is for this reason, devout Rea­der, that having undertaken to pre­sent you with Entertainments con­formable to the common life of all Christians, I have added the Medi­tations upon the principall misteries of the death of the Sonne of God, to the end you may make use of them for your advancement in the love and feare of God, and that by often considering them, you may learne to imitate his Vertues, and place your glory and affiance in the death of Christ Iesus. Would to God you could say with S. Paul, I [Page 61]will no longer glory, but in the Crosse of my Iesus, I will place my content and love therein; I will follow him in the Crosse, that I may possesse him in glory. This is that which I desire of you with my whole heart; and I wish that the death of the Sonne of God, may be the Spirit and life of your soule.

The Prayer of IESUS in the Garden.

Point I.

COnsider the love which God the Father beareth you, de­priv [...]ng his Sonne of joy and glo­ry, to invest him with sorrow, and load him with paines and reproa­ches, exposing him unto the rigors of tin divine Iustice for the expi­ation of your offences. Desire ar­dently, that this selfe same spirit of love may divest you of all va­nity, selfe-love, and your own pri­vate interest.

A Prayer to the eternall Father.

I Adore your goodnesse, O e­ternall Father, and the love which invited you to give me your Sonne, to set him in the opprobriousnesse of the Crosse, and to victimate him in the suf­ferances of an ignominious death, that he might be my Sa­viour, and my Jesus. The love which you beare me hath beene the cause that you have not spa­red your own Sonne, but have cloathed him with our infir­mities, and loaden him with the confusion and paines which I have merited to undergoe for my offences. After so great a benefit, is it not just for mee to [Page 64]love you? How happy should I be (O God of mercy) if you would fill my heart with this love! how happy should I be, if you would consume mee in the flames of this divine fire! It is all that I desire, and a grace which I aske of you above all the graces which you can give me. Grant then, O God of good­nesse, that I unloofe my selfe from all other love, to love you alone; grant that the power of your love may strip mee of all vanity, and annihilate my selfe-love; to the end, loving no­thing but you, I may live onely for you.

Point II.

BEhold how the Sonne of God lies prostrated on the ground, bearing the weight and confusion of the sins of the whole world, and in this sort he is made the object of the anger of God. You have your part therein by reason of your sins, beg then of him the engraving in your soule, a desire and ability to satisfie for your offences, and the granting you a true contrition for your sinnes.

PRAYER.

ALas what shall I doe! for if my Iesus, who is the Power of Heaven, if my Iesus, [Page 66]who is the vertue of God, falls and remaines under the weight of my offences, what will be­come of me? and how shall I beare them, when dying I shall be presented before the Tribu­nall of the justice of a God, whom I have so often irri­tated? What shall I doe (O God of mercy) but endeavour to prevent the day of your Justice, and from henceforth begin to satisfie by a holy Pe­nance, for all the sinnes which I have committed, ungratefull, and mserable wretch that I am! I heartily desire it, but am unable to effect it without your grace: Assist me then (O God of love and goodnesse) bestow on me a true contrition for my offences; [Page 67]Breake my heart with griefe, melt my heart in your love, li­quifie my soule in Charitie, fill my will with a hatred of sinne, and grant me the grace never more to offend you. It is what I desire with my whole heart, to the end I may give my selfe en­tirely to you, and renounce my selfe and all creatures, which se­ver me from you.

Point III.

BEhold in this mystery the love of Jesus, who exerci­seth the power and rigours of it upon his own person: this love a­baseth him even unto our sorrowes, and oppresseth him with paines and attristations so violently, as he enters into an agonie, even to [Page 68]sweat blood in ahundance; he suf­fers all this, to invest you with his vertue, and cleanse you with his Bloud. This love is what you ought to ask often of him, and with great humility.

PRAYER.

CAn it possibly be, O my Iesus, that you should love me even to such a degree, as I consider you in this misterie, and I not love you? Can I be so in­sensible as to see you lan­guishing and suffering for my sinnes, and not abandon them? Alas my Saviour, can I in­dure to see you bathed in your owne bloud, and cove­red over with so painefull a [Page 69]sweat, by the horrour which you conceive of my offences? Can I have the heart to behold you in the rigours which the Justice of your Father exerciseth on you for my sinnes; and that considering you in so pitifull a state, I should not conceive a horrour of my pravitie, and a detestation of my offences? No, no, Lord, I will hate my selfe to love you, I will detest all vice for your sake, and never more will I offend you: and for a marke of my desire, I give you my heart, I offer you my soule, I dedicate to you my life, and renounce all that is displeasing to you to the end I may no lon­ger offend you, but live in all things conformable to your ho­ly [Page 70]will. This is the intention and desire of my soule, but it will be fruitlesse if you stretch not out your arme, and give me not your grace to accomplish them. This is what I begge of you, prostrated in your presence, humbly imploring your divine Mercy.

The taking of IESUS in the Garden.

Point I.

JESUS suffereth himselfe to be taken, and deprives himself of his power, who was able to an­nihilate his enemies, to the end that being made captive for us, hee might have right to place us in the freedome of grace. In imita­tion of Jesus, who suffered him­selfe to be made a captive for you, resolve never to make use of your owne power, when there shall be a­ny occasion of suffering for the glory of God.

PRAYER.

I Do not doubt (my Saviour) of your power, but I admire your love, which triumpheth o­ver you, and worketh so great a miracle on your selfe; for love captivates your strength, re­straines your power, and redu­ceth you into a state of impo­tency and weaknesse, to the end you may be capable of suffering for mee, poore and wretched creature that I am. Who will not be ravished in the thought of this love? And who will not remaine astonished that God suffers for man, the just for the sinner. And thus you doe, be­nigne Iesus, in this mistery [Page 73]which I contemplate. Now for this love, which you expresse towards me, and which renders you captive, to set me at liber­ty, what else can I doe, but cast my selfe with heart and spirit at your feet, and become an hum­ble suitor that your love may render mee his captive; that it may triumph over my heart, to the end being denuded of all things, I may become for ever the slave of your love. Grant that it may be so, my Iesus, since it is both my duty and desire.

Point II.

JESUS perseveres in the hu­miliations and sufferances of his captivity, remaining in the [Page 74]midst of executioners in silence, without plaints, without strength or power. In imitation of him affect such things as humble you, and administer occasion of suffe­rance, and propose to your selfe never to reject them.

PRAYER.

SInce I see you (O sweet Je­sus) in the midst of executi­oners, exposed unto their ma­lice, and that in this mysterie you abandon your selfe unto all sorts of confusions, and to the false accusations of sinners, ap­pearing as criminall in the midst of these miscreants: what lesse can I doe, Lord, then annihilate my selfe in your presence, and [Page 75]humble my selfe in imitation of you in the view of all creatures. And if in the various states of your life you embraced humili­ty onely, and made choice of nothing but confusions, if you who are alone worthy of ho­nour and respect, despised the Grandeurs of the earth, and the vaine contentments of this world, to live and die onely in depressions and sufferances. Fi­nally, if you (O benigne Iesus) who are the onely Son of God, were pleased to become an ob­ject of scorne and contempt of men; alas what do I, miserable wretch, deserve to be, and what rank shall I hold in the world, I who am a sinner, criminall and unworthy of all things? Surely [Page 76](my sweet Iesus) I heartily con­demne my pride, and doe pro­test that with my whole affecti­on assisted by your holy grace, which I implore, I resolve from henceforth to affect lowlinesse, and indure for your sake, all the humiliations, and Crosses of this life: And why shall I refuse humbly to suffer them for your sake, since you have indured them so holily for mine. I offer my selfe then unto you for that effect, and I abandon my selfe with my whole heart unto your divine conduct; grant only that I may be such as you require me to be.

Point III

ACknowledge the strange a­basement of Jesus, who permits men to binde and lead him captive, and to touch him with their prophane hands, who is the Holy of Holies: Hee offers his sacred mouth to receive the kisse of Judas his greatest enemy. Offer your selfe unto him, to beare all the contradictions of men, and the con­tempt of all creatures, and de­mand of him even love for your enemies, if you have any.

PRAYER.

YOur life and the divers my­steries of your passion, your labours and sufferances, O my Saviour, give me a lesson, and teach me what I am to doe; but how shall I doe it, and how can I imitate you, if you lend me not your hand, if you prevent and affist me not with your grace? For my perverted heart, and my proud nature oppose themselves wholly to you, and contest against all that you pro­pose unto me. I see, my Lord, I see how you offer your sacred mouth to receive of Judas the kisse of Treason; how you pre­sent your hands, and abandon [Page 79]your adorable body to the rage of Devills, and to the malice of men and sinners, to dispose of you and your life in whatso­ever cruelty could suggest unto them. Alas! who is able (O my sweet Iesus) to imitate you? I fervently desire it, but ac­knowledge my owne impoten­cy; for I feele contradiction in my selfe, and tremble at this thought: However leave me not ( O Saviour of my soule) in case I am not able to imitate you in all things, at least let me doe it in what I may, and I can doe much if you give me your grace. Open then my eyes, that I may discerne what I am, change my heart, that it may affect what you love, and animate my spi­rit [Page 80]humbly to indure all con­tempts and confusions. All that I am now able to doe in the pre­sence of your Soveraigne Ma­jesty, is to accuse my malice, to condemne my pride, and to of­fer unto you my will, my heart and soule, to order them as you please. Succour my infirmity, fortifie my weaknesse, breake my obstinacy, and by the fire of your love, be pleased to con­sume all my iniquity.

IESUS is fastned, and scourged at the Pillar.

Point I.

SHead you not tears of love and compassion, beholding Jesus the Beauty of Heaven, and the Glory of Paradise, exposed to the cruelty of barbarous men, fastned all naked to a Pillar, to make you a bath of his bloud, and to cleanse the staines of your soule? Give him thanks, and render him teares of love & contrition, for the bloud which he hath given you in this mystery.

PRAYER.

MY Iesus, Grant that my heart may break with griefe, and my soule dissolve in your love; for you oblige me to it by your benefits. And to say truly, who can choose but love you, seeing that by the ex­cesse of the love which you beare us, you have expos'd your selfe to the rage of Devills, and to the malice of sinners? And why shall I not break my heart asunder with sorrow and con­trition, since by my offences I am the occasion of the pains which you suffer? How farre more just were it (O Saviour of the world) that you should remaine [Page 83]in your Glory, in the Throne of your greatnesse, and that I (who have rendred my selfe the slave of sinne, and of my passions) should be fastned to this Pillar, and torn with the scourges of your justice! But since your love is content to make paiment for mee, grant that I may love you as I ought, and no longer offend you. This is my inten­tion I desire it with my whole heart, and I beg it of you with an entire affection.

Point II.

CHrist Jesus upon the Pillar, put on the condition of a slave and criminall, to beare the ef­fects of the rage of Devills and [Page 84]men. He remaines there, in the midst of them, like a Lamb victi­mated and abandoned of his Fa­ther, deserted by his Apostles, and afflicted by all creatures. Com­passionate this state of Jesus, and beg of him, that from henceforth you may remaine abandoned, and resigned unto all that he shall or­daine.

PRAYER.

A Las! my Jesus, I have made the debt, and you have paid it, it is I, it is I who am guilty, and you are punished; it is I, unhappy that I am; who have irritated Heaven, and rendred my selfe unworthy of all your favours. I both know [Page 85]and confesse, that I deserve no­thing but hell, and for my sins to be sacrificed unto the divine Justice which I have so often contemned: but your goodnesse which seekes nothing but my Salvation, by a prodigy of love, makes an admirable exchange: For you enter (O Saviour of my Soul) into my condition, and loading your selfe with my of­fences, you are now victimated like an innocent Lambe, and left to the Justice of God, abando­ned on all sides, and plunged in­to to all sorts of sufferances. What lesse can I doe (O my Iesus) in recognition of this love, then adore your goodnesse, and a­bandon my selfe entirely to you, to be what you please. [Page 86]I give my selfe then unto this mystery, and offer my selfe unto you to beare the effects thereof in such a manner as you desire.

Point III.

THe Body of Jesus is covered all over with wounds from the very head to the feet, and ex­hausted of bloud and strength. Consider that the wounds & drops of bloud you see on it, are as so many tongues which enunciate to you his love, and teach you how you ought to love him in humiliations and sufferances. Offer unto him your life, your body and bloud, ne­ver to imploy them, but for his glory.

PRAYER.

I Am yours, O good Iesus: my soule, my life, my body and bloud are no longer mine, but yours: in respect that for my sake you make a profusion of your owne bloud, you abandon your body unto wounds and sufferances, your soule and life you give to me upon the Crosse: After all these graces and fa­vours shall I not be yours? No, no, Lord, all these drops of bloud which you shed, and all the wounds of your body, are so many tongues which condemne my ingratitude, and invite me to your love. I am willing to love, and from this very instant [Page 88]and for ever I desire to be whol­ly yours, and resolve to love nothing but you alone. Bruise, bend, breake and oppresse my soule, if you please, combat my life with a thousand afflicti­ons, make me suffer as long as you please, yet will I never ut­ter any other words, then that I am yours, and that I love you a­lone.

IESUS is crowned with Thornes.

Point I.

THe love which Jesus beares us, exerciseth on him the power and rigours thereof: love placeth him amongst thornes, and even death it selfe: love expo­seth him unto mockeries, spittings, buffets, and the contempt of his e­nemies. Consider all this, and beg of Jesus, that the selfe-same love may exercise on you the power thereof. Offer your selfe unto all the effects which he shall vouch­safe to produce in your soule, bee [Page 90]it in the thornes of Penance, or in the death of your vices and earthly affections.

PRAYER.

O How happy should I be, if your love would once take Empire over my heart! Let not the fault be mine; for I de­sire it, I seeke it, and offer my selfe wholly to you to beare the effects thereof. Grant then, Lord, grant speedily, that the power of your love may deeply wound my soule. In loving you nothing will be difficult, for me, in this world; for if love hath cloathed you (O good Ie­sus) with our miseries, and loa­den you with our sinnes; if love [Page 91]hath fastned you on the Crosse, what will it not worke on me, if it raigne there and exercise his power? Then would it be that I should truly die unto my selfe, to live in you, that I should despise all things to love you alone, and that stimulated by this love, I should satisfie for my past crimes never more to com­mit the like. But when will that blessed houre arrive, that I shall love nothing but you? It is high time, and I implore it of you; Be pleased then not to deny me this grace, (my good Iesus) since you refuse me not your owne life: deprive me of all things if you please, pro­vided that I love you.

Point II.

IN this mystery Jesus covers his greatnesse, and veiles his Majesty, in contempts and mocke­ries; and by a miracle of love, he renders himselfe capable of suffer­ing the sharpest points of thornes, filthy and unclean spittings; blowes and buffets, which bruise his body and face; and by this holy artifice, which love hath contrived, he tri­umpheth over the Devill and sin. Open your heart unto this Jesus, that he may place there the throne of his love, and triumph over your malice , and all the impure love which may reside in you.

PRAYER.

CAn I possibly behold you my Iesus) covered with spittings, bruised with blowes, crowned with thornes, and your body pierced with all sorts of do­lors, and not dissolve into teares, but remaine insensible at the sight of so sad a spectacle! Per­mit it not, O God of love, rather pierce my heart with griefe, and give me the grace to have a sense of what you suffer for me. Grant me this favour, that I may beare the effects thereof; for it is not just that your sacred body should be immersed in sorrow, and your adorable head crowned with thorns, whilest [Page 94]I bathe my selfe in pleasures, or crowne my selfe with Roses, li­ving alwayes amongst delights: I rather wish, and would gladly implore, if I had love enough, that I might no longer affect a­ny creature, and that nothing might afford me contentment, but that I might finde worme­wood every where, and every thing prove distastfull to me, to the end I may take no delight, but in you alone. This is what I aspire to, but I have not force enough to practice it, nor suffi­cient love to aske it. There re­maines one onely desire on my part, that I may give my selfe entirely to you, to suffer what­soever shall suit with your good pleasure.

Point III.

JESUS in his Passion pra­cticeth all sorts of vertues, to merit them for us, by the actuall exercise of them, to leave them unto us by way of testament, and to bring them into esteeme with the world, which contemns and rejects humility, patience, poverty, and all sufferances. Addresse your selfe unto Jesus Christ, to desire of him the love of his vertues, and the grace to bee able to practice them in such a degree as hee re­quires of you.

PRAYER.

YOu have promised me (O my God) by your Prophet, to engrave your love in the midst of my heart, and to im­print it in the center of my soule: I summon you in order to your promise, for I offer unto you my heart opened, and commit into your hands my soule and spi­rit, to receive of you the motions of grace, and the impressions of your law: But what is this law which you give me, but the i­mitation of your life, and of the vertues which you have been pleased to practise on earth? For you had no need , my Lord, of this great poverty which I [Page 97]discern in your birth, of the pa­tience which you shew in your torments, of the obedience which sets you on the Crosse, of meeknesse in the midst of your enemies, nor of the humi­lity and contempt of the world which is manifested in all your life: But you have subjected your selfe unto all this, not on­ly for my salvation, but also to teach me both by words and actions, the vertues which you affect, the way which I am to follow to obtain salvation, and the life which I ought to lead, to become the most acceptable to you. In this sort, your life and vertues, O Jesus, are the square of my actions, and the rules which I am to follow. [Page 98]Grant me then the grace, that I may know them to esteeme them, that I esteem them to love them, and that I love them to practise them, in such sort as you require of me: For I am well assured that I shall have no share in your glory, if I doe not imi­tate your vertues, and shall not partake of your triumphs, if I beare not a part in your com­bats.

Ecce Homo.

Point I.

SEe the extreme confusion and contempt unto which Jesus is exposed, since his owne peo­ple preferre a notorious Robber be­fore him, condemne him to the Crosse, and demand his death, to give life to a Malefactor. O blind­nesse of humane Spirit, which makes more account of Terrene, then Heavenly things, which ho­nours Barabas to reject Jesus. De­plore this unhappinesse; and beseech the same Jesus never to permit that humane respects or compla­cency, [Page 100]may ever cause you to pre­fer men before God, or the Creature before the Creator.

PRAYER.

LOrd, I blush for shame and confusion, seeing the little account is made of you; that they condemne you unto the Crosse to give life to a Thiefe, and reject you to receive Barab­bas. Neverthelesse, this is done in your Passion: and at present (O unhappy soule) I find even that in my selfe, which I con­demne in the Jewes; for alas! God of goodnesse, how often in my life have I rejected your grace, to obey the cupidities of my heart? How often through [Page 101]a damnable blindnesse have I endeavoured to satisfie my selfe, and please the Creature against your intentions? Finally how often have I preferred the Earth before Heaven, men before God▪ and my owne private contentment, before your ho­ly will? It is high time (O Sa­viour of my soule) that I acknow­ledge my fault, that I change my life, and open my eyes, to discerne how the world is no­thing to me and that you are my All. I confesse my crime, I accuse my infidelity, and condemn both my life and all my actions past: Be pleased (O good Jesus) to give me a true repentance of them, and grant that my heart may breake with sorrow, and [Page 102]my eyes distill fountaines of teares to expiate all my offences; for I desire (my Iesus) to satis­fie your love, and to live under your Lawes.

Point II.

THe Sonne of God abaseth his holy and adorable humanity, to become the reproach of men, the refuse of his people, and the ob­ject of their scorne and derision; And he truly saith, I am a worme of the earth. At the sight of your Jesus dissolve into humility, and affect rather to be low and humble with the humble Jesus, then great and honour'd with Pilate.

PRAYER.

IF you say that you are but a worme of the earth, the re­proach of men, and the refuse of the people, what must I be, my Iesus? For it is just, that I should be much lesse then your selfe? If you hold so low a rank amongst men, who are the Sonne of God, what place shall I find, who am but a sinner, a child of Adam, and un­worthy of your grace? O how much constrained do I now find my selfe to confesse, that I am nothing, and worthy of con­tempt and confusion? I con­fesse that I am too blame, and e­levate my selfe above reason, [Page 104]when I desire to be esteemed and honoured by men. Where­fore in view of the contempt, which you indure, I pur­pose to alter my course of life, and to imitate you if I can, and with this resolution I cast my selfe at your feet, O my Iesus! I adore your profound humility; I implore the pow­er of this vertue to come upon me, and I give my selfe intire­ly to you, to beare the effects thereof, in such sort as to you shall seem good. I know very well that I ought to affect hu­miliations, confusions, and con­tempts; I know that they are my portion; they are the most conformable to my state, since I am a sinner. But my perverted [Page 105]spirit and quite corrupted na­ture is averse thereunto: Ne­verthelesse Lord, I will love you; succour only my weak­nesse, annihilate my aversions, and fortifie my will, that I may put in practise the good resolu­tion which I have taken in your presence.

Point III.

IESUS beares the Rigours, Dolours, and Humiliations, which our sinnes have merited. It is for this cause, he presents himselfe unto the people, to suf­fer, and unto his Father, to sa­tisfie his justice. Cast your selfe at his feet (O my soule) and say [Page 106]affectionately, Behold the man, whom I seeke; for he is my Jesus, my Saviour, and my All; I see him, I embrace him, and I resolve, that he shall be my King, and reigne alone in my heart.

PRAYER.

AT the sight of what you act and suffer for me, O my Iesus, I remaine distracted, and fall into a kind of rapture; for what am I Lord? And what need have you of me, that you should seeke my salvation at the cost of so many labours? What is there in my soule capable of inviting you to offer your selfe unto your Father, to appease by your torments his Justice which [Page 107]I have irritated by my offences? Surely is is nothing but love, which (exercising the power and rigour thereof) made you become man, and suffer death for me. O Love, how power­full art thou, since thou hast re­duced my Iesus into state where­in I contemplate him, in his life and death! O Love how strong is thine arme, since thou hast drawne my Iesus from the Throne of his glory, to place him in humiliations, and to sub­ject him to so many paines? Love, if thou hast power over my God, must not thou have it over my heart? No, there is no meanes to withstand it; whatsoever it costs, I must love him, who hath loved us more [Page 108]then his own life, who in giving himselfe, requires nothing but our love. I resigne my self then unto you (ô Love of my Soule) to love you with my whole heart: Grant onely, if you please, that I may love nothing but you; for you both com­mand and oblige me to love you: I am content, but unable to do it, without your grace. Ef­fect then this work in me, of lo­ving you, and loosen my heart from all earthly affections, to the end I may entirely unite my selfe to you: And be pleased to give mee a holy inability, which may render me uncapa­ble of severing my selfe from you, and of loving any other.

IESUS carrieth his Crosse.

Point I.

COnsider the hunger and insa­tiable thirst, the extreme love and desire, which Jesus hath to suffer for us, having never said, It is enough, nor refusing any torments which are inflicted on him, allowing all persons to torture him. Ask of Jesus, that he would vouchsafe to estrange you from the pleasures of the world, and admit no longer any repugnancy in your selfe, to indure for his sake.

PRAYER.

O Amiable Iesus! How just is it that I now con­fesse the excesse of your love, and acknowledge the mercies which you shew me; for you are not satisfied in purchasing me, by the profusion of your bloud, and appeasing the divine Justice by your death, but exci­ted by the love which you beare me, and by a desire of my salvation, you expose your selfe to all sorts of confusions; and by a divine patience, you refuse no tortures, and shun no paines, which impiety invents to make you suffer. At the sight of so much goodnesse, and at the ob­ject [Page 111]of your vertues, what can I do lesse, whereby I may become the most acceptable to you, then imitate your life, and imbrace with you, all crosses and suffe­rances? For I know you have said of it, that he is unworthy of you, who beares not his crosse with you, and refuses to follow you. I purpose then (O Saviour of my soule) I purpose willingly to follow you, and (renouncing my owne pleasures) sufferance shall be my onely love and de­light. I cannot effect it without your grace; be pleased therefore to bestow it on me; for without you I can do nothing, and with you I am inabled to doe all things.

Point II.

IESUS loaden with his Crosse, sinkes under the burthen, not of the heavinesse of the wood, but under the weight of our offences, wherewith he charged himselfe before the Iustice of his Father; And in view of the whole world, he carrieth the confusion and con­tempt which our crimes have me­rited. Beg of him the spirit and gift of Penance, to the end taking part in the satisfactions of Christ Jesus, you may endeavour in some measure by your self to satisfy God, whom you have so often offended.

PRAYER.

MY Iesus, give me light to discerne the weight of sinne; the grace to detest it, as it deserveth, and love to become repentant as I ought; for I in­tend, Lord, to doe Penance. I know that you have suffered for me, and that you died to give me life, and to associate me to the number of your children: And true it is, that all that you have done was only to obtaine pardon for my offences, and to satisfie for the paine due un­to my crimes; finally it is true, Lord, that your merits are infinite: But yet, it is likewise just, and you give [Page 114]it me in command, that I alter my course of life, and doe Pe­nance to sati fie your divine Ju­stice; for otherwise I cannot partake of the satisfaction of your Crosse, nor of the merits of your sufferings. Be pleased then to bestow on me the spirit of Penance, and the zeale of your Justice, that I may exercise it on my selfe. But vouchsafe to give it me from this instant, for feare lest I be surprized, and (excepting the houre of death, and the day of vengeance) I find my selfe unworthy of mercy. I desire to prevent, lest I be pre­vented. It is a blessing which depends on you, and which I beg of you with my whole heart.

Point III.

COnsider the humiliation which Jesus hath borne in the thoughts and judgements of men, who esteemed him strucken and reproved, condemned and aban­doned even of God himselfe, judg­ing him worthy of all the tor­ments which he indured. Render him thanks for supporting all this, in satisfaction for the pride of men, and from henceforth strive to affect humility, and learn to despise the vaine judgements which may be made of you.

PRAYER.

ALl the sinnes of men (O a­miable Iesus) are the cause of your death; but pride, which is the mother of all sinnes, is the principall occasion thereof. For if you came into the world to ruine and annihilate the King­dome of death, and the empire of sinne, much more did you come, to combate the pomp of the world, and to destroy the pride of men. It was to this end you were borne, and lived so poore and abject: It was for this end, that you died in the midst of so many confusions, loaden with so many reproa­ches; it was to condemne [Page 117]pride, that your whole life, your sufferings and death were onely in humiliations: Since them (O Lord) you neither liv'd nor dy'd but to condemne pride, which is the spring of all miseries, I condemne it with you, and de­test it for your sake. Be pleased to root out of my heart, and to ingrave in my soule the love of humility. And as in this myste­ry you abandon your selfe to the false judgments of men, who esteem you worthy all the tor­tures which you indure; so vouchsafe to give me the grace, that for the combating my pride, I may affect contempt, & despise the false judgments of men. And for the completement of my blessing, I beg of you, [Page 118]that I may partake of the grace and spirit of your Passion, and that you will be pleased to form in me your dispositions, your actions and sufferings: for I shall assuredly raigne with you, if I become like unto you.

IESUS is nailed unto the Crosse

Point I.

PIlate abandoneth Jesus to the will and malice of sinners, and Jesus himselfe became obedient in every thing, even to the death of the Crosse. He is delivered up to the Jewes, and Gentiles, to be nailed and fastned to this ignomi­nious piece of wood, in such sort as they shall ordaine. Adore Jesus, who satisfieth by his obedience for the disobedience of sinners, and learne to love obedience, and to preferre the will of God before all [Page 120]things, of this world, even before your owne life.

PRAYER.

O My Saviour and my God! I remaine not in this world, but to fulfill your holy will; all my happinesse depends on this point, and the perfection of my soule consists in this vertue; hitherto both Heaven, Earth, the Elements, and all Creatures, in obeying you, teach me what I ought to doe: But the death of my Iesus (ô Eternall Father) and his o­bedience in all the mysteries of his Passion, evidenceth to me that I ought to preferre your holy will, before my own con­tentments, [Page 121]my private interest, and even life it selfe; that I must feare neither contempts nor suf­ferances, nor even labours in all occasions, which concerne that obedience, which I owe your Soveraigne Majesty; for if your Sonne hath abandoned himselfe to an ignominious death, if he hath given his adorable feet and hands to be cruelly nailed unto a Crosse, and if he subjected himselfe to the will of sinners, and executioners, what can I doe lesse from henceforward, then learne of my Iesus, the o­bedience, which I owe to all that you require of me? In ho­nour then of the obedience of your Sonne, and in homage to this vertue which he hath pra­ctised, [Page 122]rendering himself obedi­ent even to the death of the Crosse, I give my selfe unto you, (O Fa­ther of mercy!) and acknowledge my selfe your Creature and Vas­sall, and I purpose faithfully to obey you, and to live under the lawes of your Empire. Do not permit Lord, if you please, that I ever prove rebellious to you, or that to fulfill my owne will I forsake yours; but by an effect of the Mysterie which I con­template, grant that I preferre your holy will before all earth­ly things, and even my owne life; for such is my desire.

Point II.

BEhold the submission where­in Jesus the King of glory, vouchsafeth to place himselfe, for our sinnes; when as with a pro­found silence he submits to the Iud­ges, to the Executioners and his Enemies: And he even abando­neth himselfe to the power of Di­vels, obeying so humbly and readi­ly when they go about to uncloath him, to naile and fasten him to the Crosse. Subject your selfe for his sake, as much as you may, chiefly when there shall be occasion of be­ing humbled, or suffering any thing for the honour of God.

PRAYER.

GIve me the grace, O God of love and goodnesse! to know you, and under­stand my selfe; for if you im­part unto me this light, and af­fect me with a sense of this ve­rity, it will be easie for me to annihilate my selfe in the pre­sence of your Soveraigne Ma­jesty: it will be no longer un­easie for me to condemne and confound my selfe, consider­ing the little love I beare you, and it will be facile for me to suffer contempts, humiliations, and the Crosses of this present life: For (O benigne Iesus) I see you all naked in the midst [Page 125]of most cruell Executioners, stretched out upon this ignomi­nious wood of the Crosse; and if you, who are the onely Son of my God, have been pleased to endure for my sake the scour­ges, the nailes, and the Crosse, why shall I refuse for the love of you, the pains and contempts of this life? No, no, Lord, I detest my pride, I accuse my re­missenesse, and renounce the de­licacies and effeminacies of this world, to the end I may imitate you, and partake of the spirit, grace, and merits of your death and passion.

Point III.

COnsider Jesus suffering in all things which may bring him pain, humiliation, and confusion, to expiate the abuse we make of every thing, which we imploy in offending the Divine Majesty; and to condemne the inordinate love wherein we preferre the creature before the Creator. Implore his grace to make good use of all things and take an aversion to the wanton­nesse of the flesh.

PRAYER.

O Amiable Iesus, you have created me to love you, and have loved me to oblige me [Page 127]to your love, nay, all that you have done and suffered, was but to draw me to you, and to in­gage me in your service. I ren­der you thanks with my whole heart, and I beseech you to give me the grace that I may love you above all things, and love nothing but your selfe in all things. Be pleased to annihi­late in me, whatsoever is oppo­site to your love, consume in my heart selfe-love, and all af­fections to creatures, to the end I may unite my selfe to you, and live wholly for you. I know very well that my crimes and offences have rendred me un­worthy of this grace; But (O God of love and goodnesse!) you have suffered death on the [Page 128]Crosse, to obtaine for us this grace, and to attract us to your love. Fix then if you please, (O benigne Iesus) fix I say your love in my heart, and your feare in my soule, and grant that I may love you with all my pow­er, and with all my forces in or­der to your command.

Iesus upon the Crosse.

Point I.

IEsus suffers in all the parts of his body, who hath nothing whole from the feet to the head; for he is covered all over with wounds, bruised with blowes, and his bloud quite exhausted. He in­dures all these severall paines, to expiate the abuse which we make of our bodies, & to condemne the plea­sures and volupties of the world. Offer your Soule, your body and life to Jesus, and desire strength of him to despise the delights of this life, and grace to suffer whatsoever shall happen to you.

PRAYER.

BEnigne Iesus, what compa­rison can there be between the grandeurs of your Sove­raigne Majesty, and the abase­ment of the Crosse? You are life in your divine Essence, and you are life and glory to every rationall creature. Why doe you then abase your selfe (O ineffable greatnesse) even to the torment of an ignominious death? You undergoe it for me, poor and miserable sinner, and your love reduces you to a death on the Crosse, to give life to me, who am dead by sin. This state is too unworthy of your greatnesse, remaine rather [Page 131]on the Throne of your glory, and leave me in the miseries and misfortunes which I have ac­quired by my demerits: And if your goodnesse excite and in­vite you to shew me favour, let it be at least without concerne­ment of your greatnesse, or a­basement of your incomprehen­sible Majesty. But I clearly dis­cerne (O my Iesus) that it is your infinite goodnesse that invites you to love us with an infinite love, and hath procured the communication of your selfe to our soules, in an unconceivable manner; for you exhaust your owne person, to give your selfe unto men, and you even con­sume your selfe in the flames of Charity, to shew me your [Page 132]love and oblige me to love you. You suffer and die, to the end, that having purchased me at the price of your bloud, and life, I may be no longer mine, and live no more to my selfe, but remain wholly yours, and live only for you. Alas Lord! when will this happinesse befall me? it is what I desire; for I am yours, my soulde, my body, and actions are yours. I offer and submit them entirely, and eternally to your holy will, that you may do in, and by me what you please; for I am wholly yours, as you are all mine.

Point II.

JEsus thus covered over with wounds, and suffering in all the members of his body, is on the Al­tar of the Crosse, as a victime for all sinners, offering himself to his Father, to heale them of the wounds made by their sinnes, and he gives even to the last drop of his bloud, for expiation of their offences. Compassionate his Dolous, render him thankes for the love he beares you, and protest never more to offend him.

PRAYER.

ALl that you suffer on the Crosse (O amiable Iesus) and the paines which have con­summated your Passion, are but the ransome of my offences, and the satisfaction of all my crimes; for they are my sinnes which have deprived you of life, it is my pride which hath humbled you; my selfe-love, and the plea­sures of my life, have scourged you; my perverse inclinations and vaine desires have crowned you with thornes: in fine you die upon the ignominious Tree of the Crosse to deliver me from the capiivity of the Divell and sinne, and to satisfie the divine [Page 135]Justice, justly irritated against me; so that I consider you on the Altar of the Crosse, as an holy victime, which you offer unto your Father to appease him; and your death is a sacri­fice, which you make to him of your selfe, to merit life for mee, and to obtaine pardon for my offences. After so great a beni­fit, can I be so unhappy, as seeke to revive sinne in my soul, and render my selfe still a slave to it? Can I desire to enter in­to a new commerce with vice, and obey my own concupiscen­ces, which have crucified you? No, no, (succour of my Soule) I detest them with my whole heart, and hate them with all my force, for the love of you. [Page 136]I will no longer offend you by the assistance of your holy grace, which I beg of you by the me­rits of your passion. Since you die onely to extirpate sinne in my soule, and to banish vice out of my conscience: Effect Lord, effect what you desire, and give me a holy inabilitie of offend­ing you.

Point III.

IEsus sheds his bloud in suffer­ing, and expires by the effusion thereof; But the nailes and Exe­cutioners being unable to extin­guish the ardor of his love, which even in death it selfe cannot die, he conserves what remaines of it in his heart and body, to poure out [Page 137]upon the Crosse, even to the last drop, that he may evidence to us the profusion, which he intends to make of his spirit, of his graces and love. Sacrifice unto him your heart, and offer your selfe to him to beare the effects of the Crosse, as he shall please to imprint them in your Soule.

PRAYER.

I Adore you (O my Iesus) cru­cified, as the beginning of all happinesse, and as the Spring of all graces and benedictions, which either have been, or shall ever be communicated to men: I adore all the thoughts and de­sires, which you have had upon the Crosse, of giving your grace [Page 138]& love to your elect; finally (my Saviour) I adore the profusion you make of your bloud, even to the last drop, and the excesse of love, which you expresse in all the states of your life, and death. Grant me the grace to beare the effects thereof, and faithfully to co-operate with the merits of your Passion: for what will it availe me (O God, of love) that you are dead upon the Crosse, and bountifull in communicating your Spirit, and grace, if I render my selfe un­worthy of it, and oppose my selfe against it by my iniquitie? Neverthelesse it is what I feare, for I am too miserable, and shall surely remaine obdurate in my sinne, if you prevent me not with [Page 139]your grace, if you guard me not with your succour, and if you continue not your favour to me. Wherefore (O [...]exhausti­ble goodnesse) be pleased not to thinke it enough to have given your bloud and life; but bestow on me over and above, I b [...]seech you, your spi [...]it, your grace and love. And I make a gift to you of my heart, my spirit and life, and remit into your hands, the libertie wherein you have created me, to the end I may become from henceforth a slave to your love, and that my soule may live no longer, then to re­ceive the effects of your death, and the life of your Crosse.

IESUS lying dead betweene the armes of his holy Mother.

Point I.

IT is an unheard of thing to see God upon the Crosse, and life in death; yet you behold Jesus stretched out between the armes of his holy Mother. He is dead, but by this meanes he becomes the life of our Soules. This manner of death is infinitely distant from the greatnesse of God; but love hath wrought this wonder to convey life to your soule, and death to your sins. [Page 141]Give your selfe to Jesus and Ma­ry, to be are in you these two effects of life and death.

PRAYER.

IF I desire to live in God, and in order to what he requires of a Christian, I must needs die to sinne, alter my depraved cu­stomes, and withdraw my heart from selfe-love and all affe­ction to creatures. But how shall I doe it, O blessed Virgin, if I receive not powerfull assi­stance? for I am able to act no­thing, if I want efficacious grace which operates in and with me, what God desires of me. Now from whence may I have it, but from and by you, O Mother of [Page 142]grace and mercy, since God hath put into your hands, the price of my Salvation, and since you hold in your armes, the fountaine of all graces? I re­paire then to you (O benigne Virgin) and I give my selfe to you, to the end by the power which you have in quality of my Saviours mother, you may produce in my soule the effects of life and death; my meaning is, that you operate in such sort by your favour, that I may real­ly die to my vices and sinnes, that I may detest and hate them, and lead such a life as God ex­pects of me, and to which I ob­liged my selfe, when by Bap­tisme I was incorporated, and made a member of Iesus Christ, your Sonne.

Point II.

THe Son of God vouchsafed to unite pains, sorrows, af­flictions, and crosses to himselfe, and his holy Mother, with designe to render them from thenceforth pleasing, sweet, and worthy to be esteemed and desired on earth. Be­gin to esteem them because they are deified in Jesus, and honoured in his holy Mother. And if you are unable to aske them of God, at least resolve to be are them with humili­ty and patience, when they shall happen to you.

PRAYER.

YOu have ever been (O holy Virgin) the wel-beloved of the eternall Father: You are a­mongst all the pure creatures, the worthiest object of his love; You are his spouse, and the true Mother of Iesus, as he is his Fa­ther; and he gives you his Son, & with him hath put into your hands the treasures of Heaven, and earth, and all the riches of Divinitie. For this reason you are the worthiest of all pure creatures, and with my Iesus you are the happinesse of the whole world; Neverthelesse (O Mother of God) I see you in the midst of mount Calvary, and at the foot [Page 145]of the Crosse, holding your Son dead between your armes: You take off the Crowne of thornes, you wipe his wounds, you wash his body with teares, and kisse a thousand times the bruises of his flesh: You suffer likewise with him the ignominies, and dolors of the Crosse; so that hu­miliations, crosses & afflictions are both in you and in Jesus. In him and you they are become divine, sanctified and rendred acceptable; And for this cause they are worthie of being estee­med, and desired by Christians. What must I then doe (O holy Virgin) if I will love you? what other thing can I doe, but affect Crosses and humiliations with you, and humble my selfe like [Page 146]you. I desine and purpose it thus in my soule, procure me only the grace that in all occa­sions I may beare every thing with fidelity and patience, in such sort as God requires of me, and you desire I should.

Point III.

THe holy. Virgin holding her Son between her armes, offers him to God and the divine Iustice, for satisfaction of our offences; And as the Father hath given his Son to the world, and the Son deli­vered himselfe up to the Crosse to save us; So the holy Virgin both with heart and will, sacrificeth her owne Son, that she may in this sort minister unto our Salvation. [Page 147]Give her thanks for this extraor­dinary Charity, and beseech her to render you faithfull to all the gra­ces, which the death of the Son of God hath acquired.

PRAYER.

YOu have been chosen (ô Mo­ther of grace and mercy!) to be the repairer of the world, and to co-operate in a most peculiar manner to the salvation of all mankind. You did when you gave your Sonne Christ Jesus to be delivered up to the death of the Crosse, and you do it when, holding him dead between your armes, you offer him to the di­vine Justice, as a Victime and Sacrifice of propitiation, which [Page 148]satisfies God for the sinnes of the world: And in this respect you are our Repairer; for Jesus who is the Saviour of men is yours, he is your Sonne, and you are his Mother. And in this quality, you have right to his life, his preservation, and all his condition?. Neverthelesse, (O Mother of our Soules) you consent to his death, you incou­rage him to torments, you con­duct him to the Crosse, and like another Abraham you sacrifice in will and affection your only Sonne, and you sacrifice him for my sinnes, so great is your cha­rity and love towards me. But what can I doe in recognition of so sublime a benefit? Where­in am I able to acknowledge, [Page 149](O benigne Virgin) so ardent a Charity? At least since you give your Sonne for me, procure that I may be your slave, and since you resigne him to efface the sinnes of the world, and that hee may merit for us such graces, as are necessary for our salvation, be pleased to mediate, that I may be faithfull to all the graces, which he hath purcha­sed for me by his death, and that I may live no longer, but for his honour and yours, as you give him to the Crosse and de­liver him up to death for me.

Our LADIE of Compassion.

Point I.

Since the Eternall Father can have no compatency in the do­lours of his Son, he substituted the holy Virgin, imprinting in her heart, and Spirit, the vertue of the Crosse, and the Spirit of his sufferings; and, piercing her heart with the sword of sorrow, he made her suffer with her Sonne, that in some manner she might co-operate to our Salvation. Consider what Jesus and the holy Virgin suffer for you, and from henceforth take [Page 151]delight in the thought of their suf­ferings, and in the love of the Crosse.

PRAYER.

O Virgin and mother of my Iesus! I render you thanks for having contributed to our salvation, not only by giving your Sonne, but also in taking your share in his Passions; for if he indure, you suffer with him; The scourges, the thornes, the nailes and the lance, have pierced his body; but love and sorrow have transpierced your heart, and gauled your soule. Wherefore (holy Virgin, the true refuge of sinners!) I adore Iesus for my Saviour; but I re­verence [Page 152]you as his Mother, and acknowledge you for the Repai­rer of the Universe; since you co­operate doubly in the good of our soules; For you give us your Sonne, and suffer with him for us. Be pleased also to mediate ( O Virgin, spring of life and grace) that I may be from hence­forward the object of your com­miserations. And since you have loved me so much, as to give me your Sonne, and to give him e­ven for the Crosse: since your love and charity fastens you to my interests, and makes you suf­fer for mee, procure that I may suffer all for you; but chiefly engrave in my heart such a ha­tred of sinne, as I may rather in­dure a thousand deaths, then [Page 153]so much as once offend my Je­sus, your Sonne, who died for my sinnes.

Point II.

THe great love of the holy Vir­gin, hath made her suffer ex­tremely; her life is no other but a Martyrdome; her thoughts are fixed only upon the Crosse, and her eyes have no other object, then death, and the death of her Sonne: Her love is now but languishing, and her languishments cause her inces­santly to sigh after her God and her Sonne. O my soule! how hap­py should you be, if you could live no longer, but to love and suffer.

PRAYER.

Holy Virgin! how shall I attaine so light enough to conceive your greatnesse, and grace to imitate the severall dis­positions of your soule? I know and faith teacheth me, that you are the Mother of God, that your soule is full of grace; and I confesse that you are the worthiest object of love, and the most capable of favours from the blessed Trinity; yet I see your soule all immersed in the bitternesse of the Crosse, Your life is no longer but a Martyrdome, your love is lan­guishing, and the object of your sighs are fixed onely on the [Page 155]death of your Sonne. O how content should I be ( O Virgin, life of my soule!) if I could lead such a life as yours, How happy should I be, if in imita­tion of you, I had no other re­pose then in afflictions, no other delight but in the Crosse, nor other life but in the death of your Sonne! I deserve not this favour, I have not grace enough to live in so holy a manner; ne­verthelesse I desire to live no longer, but to love, and no lon­ger to love, but to suffer. I offer my selfe unto you, for all this, dispose now wholly of me, as you shall please.

Point III.

IF Love makes our Soule live, in what she most affects; sure­ly the holy Virgin lives no longer but in Jesus suffering and dying, since (he loves nothing but Jesus: And as Jesus is crucified in his bo­dy, so the Virgin is in her soule: The Sonne dies on the Crosse; The Mother swounds at his feet; The side of the Sonne is pierced with a Lance, the heart of the Mother is transpierced with the sword of sor­row; thus both of them live and die together. What will you doe (O my Soule) at the sight of this sad spectacle, since all this is done and accomplished for you? Be­seech [Page 157]the Sonne and the Mother to inspire you with true love, and to render you worthy of bearing faith­fully, the grace and effects of the Crosse and Passion.

PRAYER.

WEre I unwilling (O be­nigne Mother of my soul) yet the affection, which you beare me, obligeth me to love you. I am content, nay I desire it with my whole heart; but I am unable to effect it with­out a favour from heaven: But as it is a great mercy, that you vouchsafe to love, and co-operate to my salvation; [Page 158]so is it a great grace, that I may be able to love you, and live in your service. I beg then this favour of you ( O Virgin, Mo­ther of my soule) and I beseech you to change my heart, that from henceforward I may bee yours, and entirely dedicated to your service. Put me in a state of perpetuall servitude towards you, establish me in the true love of Jesus, and procure that I may both live and die, perse­vering in that love and service which I owe you. I remit my life (O holy Virgin) into your hands; I remit into your hands the houre of my death, because I will be wholly yours, and depend on you in such sort as my God and my Iesus desires [Page 159]it of me. Be pleased then (O Mother of mercy!) to receive me into your protection, and to looke on mee as the object of your goodnesse, and the subject of your commiseration. Accept of my good will, fortifie my weaknesse, and give mee the grace to put in practice the good purposes which God hath suggested to me by your inter­cession, and no longer permit that I act any thing, which may annihilate in my soule the ef­fects of grace: but obtaine for me a capacity of receiving in my heart such effects of the Crosse, as my Iesus shall infuse into it, and fidelity to co-ope­rate therewith in such sort, as my God and my Iesus requires of me.

ASPIRATIONS OF The Soule unto God, in forme of PRAYER.

The oblation of ones selfe unto God.

Lord Iesus! of my selfe I can doe nothing, for I am a miserable creature; but with you nothing is impossible to me. Abide then in me, (O happinesse of my soule) live and raigne over me to effect in me what is acceptable to you. You [Page 162]have all power, and I offer it you a fresh over my life, and actions, even from the bottome of my soule: I remit into your hands, the same liberty, will, and life which you have given me. Be pleased to accept and keepe them as yours; for I am wholly yours, and will depend on you.

Another Oblation.

MY Iesus, by the nature of your being, by the emi­nency of your greatnesse, and by the state of your miseries, you have been pleased to be, both my Father, my Lord, and my Judge; I implore all these a­dorable [Page 163]qualities, and I invoke the power which you have over me, by these holy properties which are in you, and I beseech you by the same mercy and goodnesse, which hath made you take on you those states, that you would vouchsafe to inspire me with that fidelity, which I owe you, that I may be by my life your Sonne, as you are my Father by grace, that I may be your slave by a true sub­jection, since you are my Lord. And as I acknowledge and a­dore you as my Saviour, so let me be your captive, being wholly yours, and acting no­thing but for you. And since you are my Judge, and that I confesse my selfe criminall, be [Page 164]pleased to distill into my soule, the zeale of your Justice, to the end by your Grace, and with vour Justice, I may exe­cute Justice on my selfe, and satisfie your just indignation, occasioned by the multitude of offences, which I have presu­med to commit against your di­vine goodnesse. Thus I desire it, thus doe I give my selfe up unto you (O Iesus, Saviour and Iudge of my Soule) to become the victime of your will, and to bear the effects of your grace, Spirit, and mysteries, in such sort as you shall please. In this manner I renounce my selfe, to enter into all the dispositions, and states, which the eternall Father will have me beare in [Page 165]you, and for your sake O Iesus.

A Resignation to the will of God.

O Iesus! Father and begin­ning of all light, illumi­nate my soule with your splen­dor, that I may discerne what is disagreeable to you, and give mee the grace to avoid it. Grant that I may both know your will, and accomplish it, in every point; for I desire to be wholly yours, and to live no longer but for you.

To put ones self into the protection of Almighty God.

SAviour of my soule, Author of my salvation! see the dangers wherein I am remaining in this life, sustaine mee with your hand, that I may not fall, and governe me by your Spi­rit, that I wander not in the nations of my perverse incli­nations. Defend me (good Ie­sus) and deliver me from my selfe, and permit me not to ad­here to my affections, nor to fol­low my owne appetites: I re­nounce them all, since they se­parate me from you; and I con­jure your goodness to annihi­late them, to the end, that ad­hering [Page 167]wholly unto you, I may be for nothing but your selfe; for such is my desire, you know it, O love of my soule!

To ask the love of God.

OBject of all Love, perfect Beauty, ineffable Goodnesse! who can choose but love you? I purpose it, but am unable. I will love to death, and will die, but in loving you. Transpierce my heart with your love, and my body with your feare, effect (O powerfull God!) effect pow­erfully, that your Spirit may consume in me, all that is of my selfe, that I may bee wholly yours, and love none but you, [Page 168]and that living in you; I may die to all other things.

A protestation of Love.

Shall I be alwaies overlight­ned in my selfe, distracted in my thoughts, inconstant in my motions? How long will you permit me (Lord) to fol­low my owne inclinations, and to be violently affected with the Creature? Recall my spi­rit, withdraw it from all things, to retaine it for your selfe. Let not your just conduct (O most amiable goodnesse) abandon me, for leaving me to my self, blind that I am, I should lose my selfe in my Cupidities, and separate [Page 169]my selfe from you, to live no longer but for my selfe. Let death rather force me away, yea, fill (O God of love) fill rather my life with bitternesse, my heart with feare, and my soule with continuall displeasure, then per­mit, that to please the Creature, or to satisfie my selfe, I may dis­please your divine Majesty.

An Act of Love.

WHy shall I not love you (O most amiable good­nesse?) You oblige me there­unto by your love, you attract me by your benefits, and you command it by your goodnesse; I will then love you because I [Page 170]ought, and I desire that my heart may love you with all his pow­er, because nothing is amiable but your selfe: But I cannot love, if you inspire me not with love. Abide then in me (O de­sirable love!) live in me, to the end that following the lawes of your love, I may live, and con­summate my selfe in you.

Aspirations of Love.

VVhether are you gone (sweet Spouse of my soule?) Alas! I carry a heart replenished with bitternesse, when I have no sense of you. I keep my self aloofe from you, loft in my thoughts, I perceive my selfe wandring in various objects, & for a heighth of mi­serie, [Page 171]I walke in the night of a heart, darkened with selfe-love. My life is all humane, and (as a child of Adam) my life is in the old man. I know not whether I have a being or no, only I know that I am miserable: but to live in this sort is a cruell death; it is not to live at all, to live without you; it is too long a Martirdome. Take pitty on my soule, returne and possesse me entirely. Restore me your spirit, give me your life and change my whole heart. Why can I not like a Phoenix, consume my selfe in the ardors of your eternall love, and alter my course of life & being, to be no longer but in you, & to live no longer but for you? You can effect this (O God) who can do all things.

Sighes of Love.

MY eyes are bathed in teares, and my voice is broken with sighes, my life is but a death, and all things are but a Martirdome to me, when I thinke where my God is. A­las! this thought makes me powr out all my soule, and I languish both day and night, when I know that I must remain in this abode of miserie. I cry out from, the bottome of my heart, How long Lord, how long? And must I yet live for a long time in the land of the dead and (absent from your face) remain among the perills of this miserable life? Must I, being oppressed with my [Page 173]body, feele my selfe removed from the sweet attractives of your Caresses; I am content with it, since it is your Pleasure. Great God, Master of my soule! your will is my delight, your love my di­rection: But effect ( O God, who can do all things) effect by your mercy, that as your Son, and my Iesus lives only in love, and this love makes him die; so I may live no longer then in loving you, and that love may make me suffer.

To sue for the contempt of all things.

TOo long (O my soule) doest thou seeke vanity and af­fect lies: This world hath no­thing [Page 174]in it stable & permanent, all is perishable therein; Good­nesse, truth, peace and repose are found only in God; thou losest thy selfe, in selfe-loving and see­king thy selfe, thou art estranged from God; Come then to my succour (O Saviour of my soule!) and reach me your hand, dissi­pate all these allurements, which detaine me captive: Open to me your heart (O my so amiable Iesus!) to shelter me in the midst of so many surprizes: see, Lord, see how from all sides snares are laid for me, to make roe fall in love with this world : Doe not permit it (O love of my soule) my heart is for you alone, preserve it then as yours.

Another.

MY eyes discerne not (O Adorable verity!) the er­rour of vanity, and my heart feels not the horrour of all vices: But come (O Sun of Iustice!) come and shine upon my soule, consume with your beames all that is displeasing to you; give me your spirit, which opens my eyes to discerne verity, which inspires me with love to adhere unto it, which redresseth my will and teacheth it to detest the world, and gives me the grace to seek you alone, and to live only for the love of you.

To demand light and di­rection for your soul.

SUnne of Iustice! illuminate the darknesse of my spirit; Com­forter of soules! draw me out of the ignorance wherein I live. I walke in the shadow of death, a­midst the perils of this life, and (severing my selfe from you, who are the way and life of my soule) I run like a vagabond into the curious research of the ob­jects of my senses: Do you not see it (O my God) who see all things: Come then to my suc­cour, (light of my soule) I aske no­thing but your selfe; my heart fighes after you, and my eyes seeke you every where. Dart [Page 177]therefore (O Iesus!) a glance of your face, infuse a ray of your beauty in­to the bottome of my Soule, to call me back to you, and make me know who you are, and what I am; to the end I may be wholly yours, and that being no longer mine, I may love you alone.

To invoke Grace.

GReat God! your Treasures are unexhaustible, and your hands full of gifts. You are rich only in goodnesse, and in shewing mercy you evidence what you are. Mercy then Lord, mercy, for I am a sinner, one glance of your eye, one word of your mouth can deliver me from evils; for while you look on me, I shall love you, while you speake to me, I shall follow and run after you, in the odour of the sweet perfumes of your heavenly grace.

To call for Contrition.

FRom the depth of my misery I elevate my heart unto you, O God of goodnesse! my soule sighes after you, God of mercy! And now that I am sensible of my misfortune, & that the weight of my sins oppresse me within, I cry aloud unto you, lend me your eares, and fix on me your benigne eyes, to withdraw me from the evill whereunto I find my selfe fastned. Give me your arme (Father of mercy) to sustaine the yoke of my offences, light to know them, teares to bewaile them, and the zeale of your justice to satisfy for them; I can no longer endure the foulenesse of my life, nor to live any longer di­stant from you ; (O happinesse of my soule!) I pant after you, you know it, but I cannot escape out of the place which captivates me, nor breake the bands which fasten me, if the pow­er [Page 179]of your Spirit, and the Spirit of your love, doe not dissolve and break them in pieces: loosen them then (O Lord) and render me the liberty, which you have purchased for your children at the price of your life.

Affection to accomplish our good purposes.

I Feel my selfe seized with a flame of love, which makes me protest never more to forsake you (O Jesus, the love of my soule!) I am weary to see my selfe in the midst of so many inconstancies; I desire to be entirely yours, you know it very well, Lord; for it is of you, as of a spring of goodnesse, that my soule is full of desires, and my will of good affecti­ons; it is a gift of your hand, pre­serve it by your grace, and give me your arme and benediction to up­hold [Page 180]me in my good purposes, and that I may punctually accomplish what I have promised you, stimula­ted and incited by the motions of your Spirit, alwayes holy; to the end you may finish and perfect in me, what you have begun by your infinite mercy; for without you I can doe nothing, and by you am en­abled to doe all things.

FINIS.

A PRAYER, which the Church useth to in­voke the love of God.

DEƲS qui diligentibus te fa­cis cuncta prodesse: da cordibus nostris inviolabilem tuae charitatis af­fectum: ut desideria de tua inspirati­one concept, nullâ possint tentatione mutari: Per Dominum nostrum Je­sum Christum, &c. Amen.

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