The lamentation of our lady.  
 pietà   

When that I Mary Jesus' mother sat in Iherusalem at the holy feast of cester alone in my house for moche multitude of people that came to the city I closed my doors & sat alone as I was wont to do and thought privily on my sweet son Ihesu where he were & what that he died. For on him was all my love and my desire set willing him to see. And hoping that the even before easter he would come to me/ and busily I sat praying my prayers & abode him. And than suddenly after the son going to rest I heard a great noise of people in the city crying as wood people/ and when I Marry Jesus' mother sitting myself alone knew not the cause of the great crying & running of the people together/ than said I these words to myself/ would to god I were with my son Jesus'. A who shall tell me any tidings of my sweet son Ihesu/ for I dread me sore that any thing of hardness befall unto him/ for I have heard not long here before that the jews have conspired & cast among them his death. And than I Marry sorry & full sore afeard in this manner sat. And looked if any of his apostles would bring to me any tidings of my sweet son Ihesu. I heard anon tidings of my sweet son. I heard anon suddenly one smite at my door/ and I rose anon and ran to the fenester of my chamber & looked out. And when I saw Mary maudeleyn clothed in black all bewepte & her here adown about her eyen & said to me these words. Come down to me most devout of all women maid that liest there hid & mother beravysshed of thy son. And than I Marry smitten with the sword of sorrow went down & died open my door & anon the devout maudeleyne cried to me and said. A reverend mother & most reverend of all women know ye any tidings of Ihesu your sweet son and my reverend master. And than I marry mother of jesus full sorry saying to her/ knowest thou any tidings maudelayn of my sweet son Ihesu. And than maudelayn all be wept cried to me & said these words. Your son & your love & my master is now taken & with cords bounden and wickedly & cruelly of the jews beaten & drawn. And when I marry heard this I was anon smitten with the sword of sorrow through the heart/ & I fell down anon to the earth as a deed woman. And when these tidings were brought to me it was the beginning of the night/ & the darkness came about me that I wist never whether I went/ & man's help had I none but as I lay all that night on the earth weeping & crying that heaven might be filled therewith/ & all my house I wet with my weeping of mine eyen. And than I said a holy father where are thy behests/ why would thou ordain me to be a mother & make me rich with a child/ now am I bereaved of my child & am left alone most unworthiest of all women. A angel Gabryell where is now that ilk bliss that thou behete me/ where is now the somnes of grace thou behote. A gabriel why wouldest thou scorn me most unworthiest of all moders. Behold now Gabryell for the joy that thou behete me/ now have I pain & for the gladness now have I sorrow/ & the moderhede I am bereaved of my child/ & for the grace I have shame/ & for the life I have death/ & for the blessing that thou behete me now is come curse upon me/ than said I to myself. A unblessed mother & sorrowful mother why wouldest thou covet a child and bear a child and nourish a child/ & suddenly & wickedly art bereaved of thy child with these words and weeping & sorrows & lamentations & weeping of tears I spent the night when time the day began to spring & the darkness parted away than sprung a darkness for me/ & than I rose up fro the earth as I had been almost deed & failing all man's help/ & than came to me holy women of galyle that devoutly had been in the temple the night in their prayers/ And when they heard that my son was take & cruelly bound with the servants of the bishop/ & to me unblessed mother the holy women came with haste me to comfort And than I said to Mary maudelayne & to my sisters and to the holy women of Galyle. Go we now anon that we may see my son Ihesu that is only the comfort of my life and than might I not go for feebleness of my body so sore I had beaten it on the night before of my sweet son Ihesu/ but as the holy women & my sisters sustained me up in their arms/ & than I met which some of my sons disciples weeping to whom I said thus See ye not my sweet son Ihesu. I pray you tell me where ye left him. And they sore weeping said to me these words. We saw him bound with cords & beaten with scourges & his face defouled with spitting and led forth with wicked servants of caiphass to be denied under pilate/ and his looking was pale and his cheer was ghostly/ & all his body changed that uneaths we might know him. And than I Marry Jesus' mother most soryest of all moders and fulfilled with sorrow said these words. A Ihesu my sweet son what here I of thee/ what bitter and hard tiding be told to me of the. And than said I to some of his disciples. May I see my sweet son Ihesu in any manner that I might have him out of their hands. And they that saw me make this sorrow said to me. Go lady and tarry not if ye will speak with your son on live/ for now he is lad with armed knights in to pilate's palace for the jews think to damn him to the most dyspyteous death. And when I Mary heard these words I was smitten even through the heart with sorrow & as a deed woman I went forth & was borne up with my sisters & uneaths might I come to Pilate'S palace for faint. And when I came and would have gone in to the palace I might not come nigh the gates for the multitude of people but as nigh as I might I put me there & stood as a stone sticked in the ground/ than I cast up mine eyen to the fonester of the palace if I might have seen my sweet son Ihesu/ and than to the fenestre of the palace came pilate & said to all the people. I find no cause in Ihesu why that he should be put to death whether ye will that Ihesu go or barabam that is a manslayer. And when I heard this I lift up mine heart as though I had be reared fro death to life & hoped that barabam mansleer should have be put to death & my son Ihesu let go on live. But than I heard an horrible voice of all the people crying and said. Do Ihesu on the cross/ do Ihesu on the cross. And when I heard this crying of the people. I was smitten with the sword of sorrow/ & as a deed woman I fell upon the earth seeming to the people that I had been deed & so I lay long till my sisters took me up & comforted me/ & so I stood long there and abode if that I might have my sweet son jesus or that I might have spoken to pilate that he would have delivered my sweet son Ihesu that lothles lamb & the wicked jews when they heard me cry and saw me weep sore they blamed me sore & bad me hold my peace thou thieves mother & nurse to this traitor: for thy son is worthy to be deed for he deceiveth the people/ & therefore thou shalt see him soon done on the cross before thine own eyen. And than anon I fell down as a woman fallen in despair thus despised of the people. And anon I heard a voice of the people crying as they had been wood & said. Bring out to us Jesus' of nazareth that he were done on the cross. And anon pilate assented to them & first they bet him with scourges & than clothed him in purpur & afterward took him to the jews to spill on the cross And than they brought forth before the eyen of the wretched mother Ihesu my sweet son crowned with a crown of thorn upon his heed/ & his eyen all pale & his face all red of blood & his here of his heed hanging over his eyen all bebledde & bearing a cross upon his back that he should die on/ & a rope about his neck as a common thief put between two thieves. And when I saw this cruel sight than failed I of my strength & than waxed my sorrow new when I saw him/ & for much people I might not come near him I cried to him & he might not hear me for the people that followed him. And than said my sisters to me/ go we marry by this way for this is the near way/ & than we shall meet with your son & speak with him or he die/ & than I rose up as a woman strengthened with a new spirit and went fast on that 〈◊〉/ & suddenly I met with my son Ihesu in the 〈◊〉 way bearing the cross upon his back/ & than said 〈◊〉 ●hese words to my sweet son Ihesu. A my sweet son Ihesu whether ghost thou so fast so heavily charged with that cross/ what thinkest thou to do with thy mother to let me thus alone & in despair/ thinkest thou to forsake thy mother. A my deer son Ihesu take me to thy mother that cross & I shall bear it upon mine own back/ and soon die thou not without thy mother ne go thou not without thy mother/ but sweet son jesus let us live together and die together/ & than my sweet son Ihesu having more ruth on his own mother than on his own pain that he suffered/ anon for sorrow he fell down under his cross that he bore/ & anon for sorrow of my sweet son Ihesu I fell down as a woman that had given up her last spirit/ & there were we both all to trodden of the people/ & my son Ihesu constrained to arise & go forth with his cross/ & the wicked jews and cruel me the mother of Ihesu violently departed fro my son/ & everlaye my son under the cross. And the wicked jews constrained a man we called him simeon to bear the cross to a place was called calvary/ & than the cruel jews smote my son Ihesu with their feet & beat him with scourges & made himself bear it upon his back/ up at the mount of calvary. And thus hied the wicked jews to offer up that lothles lamb. And without all other that was my sweet son Ihesu/ & than I Marry most sorrowful of all moders pursued after my sweet son Ihesu as fast as I might to see what death the lamb should suffer that was my solace & my joy & uneaths might I come to the mount of calvary/ but as I was sustained by my sisters so weary & full of woe was in my body/ & by the time that I came to the mount of Calvary the wicked jews had done my son upon the cross/ & areared up the cross and put it in the earth/ & than looked I upon my sweet son Ihesu with my weeping eyen bitterly weeping & crying/ & said to him these words. A my sweet son Ihesu/ a my most love Ihesu why lookest thou not upon thy sorrowful mother/ why speakest thou not to thy sorrowful mother/ why wilt thou leave me thus alone/ whether shall I go my sweet son Ihesu/ in what house shall I rest my sweet son Ihesu. A my sweet son though thou have no ruth on thyself have ruth on thy sorrowful mother. And when my sweet son Ihesu heard me thus cry & weep he cast his eyen upon me & uneaths he said to me these words. Woman be of good comfort for herefore I came in to this world & herefore I took this body of the that here hangeth on the cross to day for to help man's soul & to buy the souls out of pain that were lost for sin/ & therefore I suffer this cruel & hard passion that thou seest/ & therefore mother rest now of thy weeping & of thy crying/ for this is my faders will/ & also mother let it be thy will so in dying I shall slay the death/ & with the victory of my passion I shall rise the third day. And herefore mother take here that mean time johan my disciple that I love well let him be thy son & be thou his mother/ & to him I take the to ward/ for now I shall die on the cross. And when my son Ihesu had said these words he cast up his eyen to heaven & betook to his father his soul/ and so with a great cry yielded up his ghost/ & than I mary fell down upon the earth/ & all the people wend I had been deed. And about the hour of none there came cruel knights and stood before my son/ & one of them with a spear opened his side and clave his heart in two/ and that sorrow cleft my heart in two. And when my sons side was opened and his heart cloven a two/ than went the knights their way. And than came joseph of arinathye a noble man and a rightful and would have taken down my sweet son Jesus' of the cross/ & when I saw him I waxed quick again in my spirit and took strength to me and said. A my sweet joseph wilt thou take down the body of my sweet son Ihesu. Now I pray the sweet joseph take him down and deliver him to his wretched mother that deed body of my son. And than joseph said full courteously to me. A marry and mother of jesus gods son of heaven. A holy lady and above all other blessed and ever holy. A mother and maid and mother without wemme abide a little while and leave thy weeping and thy sorrow. For I understand thou art blessed among all women. And I believe that thy son will arise from death to life within a short tyme. And therefore worthy lady let us now in the mean time worthily bury this holy body/ for to morrow is holy day & we may not work. And when joseph had said these words to me I was somewhat comforted therewith & helped to wash my sons body that was defouled with spitting beating & bleeding. And when we had washed it we wiped it & anoyntes it/ & so at the last I was smitten with a new sorrow/ & than I said these words to my sweet son there he lay deed. A clean flesh & unwemmed that liest here that were of my flesh/ why wouldest thou thus die on the cross & be offered for sin for thou art holy flesh & clean from all manner of sin/ and thou hast sore bought the sin of all men. And when I had said these words I fell down upon the body of my sweet son Ihesu weeping bitterly and crying sore. And than I kissed the wounds of his heed/ & than his hands/ and than his feet. And than the wound in the side/ and than I cleped all the body in mine arms and kissed it and said these words. A my sweet son Ihesu I the wretched mother wend never to have seen this sorrow of the nor these sorrows have suffered for thee/ but I wend for to have had many joys & never to have departed fro the. And while I said these words joseph & his fellows hied them lightly to wind & bind my son in a cloth. And when they had bound that one party of his body & would bind that other I fell down to the wounds that were bound and unbound them again & eft again/ & than was I smitten with a new sorrow that I might not suffer him to bind him of a long time/ & for my sorrow & for the lamentation that I made uneath might they all that stood there take the deed body fro me/ & so at the last they would bear him to the sepulture. I followed him weeping & crying wonderly sore/ & when they came to his sepulchre they would have buried him anon & I might not suffer that in no wise but meekly I prayed them in this manner & said. A ye noble men & ye holy women bury not my sweet son Ihesu but suffer me to have my son a little while in mine arms that I may kiss him/ and when they saw the great sorrow that I was in/ they made great lamentation & abode a little while so that at the last they would needs bury him/ than cried I & said/ bury me with him. I may not live without him And than joseph & his fellows departed me worshipfully fro the sepulchre & honestly & worshipfully buried my son Ihesu/ & when he was buried I stood without the tomb weeping & crying & fulfilled all with sorrow said these words. A angel Gabryell thou saidest to me hail Mary full of grace & behold. I am now full of sorrow/ thou saidest to me our lord is with the and behold now my lord & my sweet son is put away fro me that I may not see him. And also thou saidest to me blessed be thou among all women I am tormented & cursed. And at the last thou saidest to me/ blessed to the fruit of thy womb/ & behold now my son that is the fruit of my womb is here wickedly stain/ and now lieth here in tomb full of wounds. And when I had said these words I fell down for sorrow upon the earth/ & than Iohn that was charged of my son on the cross to be my son saw me thus sorrow he took me up in his arms/ & for feebleness of my body I might not stand but as Iohn & other women lad me in to Iherusalem & as I went I turned my heed oft again for sorrow that I was departed fro the sepulchre of my sweet son Ihesu/ & all that saw me in the way were tempted to weep for the sorrow & lamentation that I made/ & than Iohn led me home in to my chamber & said to me these words. Now rest here the mother of my lord upon the arising of the sweet son Ihesu and my lord & seal of thy sorrow. And lady I am given to be thy son that am not worthy to be thy servant. For johan may not be likened to Ihesu the son of zebedee to the son of god ne the servant to his lord/ ne the disciple of his master/ ne no creature may be likened to him that made him. But nevertheless my reverend lady I shall worship you in all that I can with all my strength serve you with these words and many other words Iohn comforted me oftentimes & ever was ready me to please unto the resurrection of my sweet son Ihesu. And when we saw him arise from death to life/ than were we fulfilled with more joy than they were before with sorrow. I blessed my sweet son Ihesu. And thus endeth our ladies lamentation with great joy of god's resurrection/ he grant us all his benediction. AMEN.   

¶ Here endeth the lamentation of our lady. Enprinted at London in Fleetstreet at the sign of the son/ by Wynkyn de word.  
 printer's device of Wynkyn de Worde