¶ The remedy against the troubles of temptations.  
  

  


●Here after followeth four profitable things to have in mind which hath be taken out of the third chapter of a devout treatise and a form of living that the discrete & virtuous Richard hampole wrote to a devout & an holy person for great love.  
THe first measure of thy life which is so short that unneaths it is any thing/ for we live here but in a point that is the least thing that may be. And for to say sooth our life is less than a point if we should liken it to the life everlasting. another thing is the uncertainty of our ending for we wot not when we shall die nor how we shall die nor whether we shall go when we be deed. And the will of god is that it be to us uncertain/ for he willeth that we be alway ready to die/ the third is that we shall answer before the right wise judge of all the time that we have been here how we have lived what our occupation hath be/ and what good we might have done when we have been idle. Therefore the prophet said/ he hath called the time against me that is for every day he hath lent us here to spend in good use as in penance and in god's service. And if we waste it in earthly love and vanities full grievously must we be deemed and punished. Therefore it is one of the most sorrows that may be to us but if we enforce us to the contrary/ & set our heart to the love of god. And do good to all that we may in the short while that our time lasteth For each time that we think not of god we may count it as lost. The fourth is that we think how moche the joy is that they shall have which continueth in the love of god to their ending/ for they shall be brethren & fellows with angels saying the king of joy in his beauty and shining majesty the which shall be to them above all the delights that any creature may think. Than to remember the great and intolerable sorrow pain & torments which they shall have that loveth not god above all thing as we may see in this world many of that disposition which set all their pleasure in lust and liking of this life/ as in pride/ covetise/ and other sins/ they shall burn in the fire of hell with the devil whom they served as long as god is in heaven with his servants that lasteth ever.   

¶ Here followeth and ensueth a sovereign notable sentence to comfort a person that is in temptation.  
OUr merciful lord god christ Ihesu chastiseth his children and suffereth them to be tempted for many profitable causes to their soul's health/ & therefore should no man nor woman be heavy or sorry for any temptation. For as saint james the apostle teacheth us we should have very great joy when we be tempted with divers temptations/ for as the gold is pured and purged by the fire/ and a knight in battle is proved good: right so is a man by temptation proved for good/ but if he suffer himself to be overcome/ that is to say but he consent thereto by delyberation. For soothly when a man is sharply tempted he may then have hope of grace virtue/ and it is necessary for a man moche to be troubled with temptations/ for every virtue is proved by his contrary. Our enemy the fiend is busy day and night to tarry and travail good men and women with divers temptations in doubts of the faith and dreads of salvation and other many more in divers manners and specially now in these days he is full busy to deceive many souls/ and therefore wisely rule you to withstand his violent stirrings of temptation/ & for all that take ye no dreads of his assawtes/ ne have ye any doubt of his errors ne dyspytes nor of his false leasings or fantasies or any manner of travail of that foul fiend whether ye hear him see him or think of him take no heed thereof/ for all be matters of great meed and no sin in no wise be they never so troublous or full of anguishes whiles it cometh of the malice of the fiend or of evil disposition of man's nature or complexion. And therefore all such travail men ought not to charge but suffer meekly and abide patiently till god do remedy thereto. And for as much as they be matters of great meed none ought to strive there against/ nor marvel of them ne seek the cause nor think by what skill he is so travailed/ for the more that a man laboureth in seeking and thinking of such anguishes the more deeply he falleth in to errors/ and therefore in as much as man's thought is often vain and divers and none end hath: it ought not to be forced or be taken heed of/ ne a man should not anger himself therewith ne blame ne impute it to his own default that he is so troubled/ for such travails been painful but not sinful in so much as they be greatly against his will. Saint Augustyne saith that every sin lieth in wilful will. And what that is against man's will is no sin. And the holy doctor ysodore de summo bono saith that the fiend tempteth a man no more than god giveth him leave/ therefore let us have always a good will to will well and do well/ and god will keep us and give us the victory/ & so the fiend shall be confounded/ faith & hope is ground of all perfection and rote of all virtue/ and therefore our old enemy the fiend is full busy with all his sleights to draw the soul down therefro. And it happeth sometime that the fiend tempteth and travaileth a right wise soul so sharply that it is overlayed with care and driven to despair/ and yet all that time though the soul perceive it not it dwelleth still in the dread and love of god/ and all that travail is to their great meed afore god/ for our lord of his endless mercy arrecteth not to the soul that sin which himself suffereth the fiend to work in the soul without the consent or will of the said self soul. But when we wilfully do against the will of god with delyberation than we commit sin actually But when we be drawn with wicked violence or vile thoughts & tormented with despair against our will thorough the fiends violent tempting we suffer pain but we do no sin/ & yet the silly soul's knowledge is hid by that tourment.   

¶ The second chapter.  
_●Ut yet right often the tempting of the fiend that maketh the soul to err in faith and foul fantasy & in despair: seemeth to the self soul great sin/ but it is not so. For all holy doctors saith that faith and hope be virtues of man's will/ wherefore who so would right wisely believe in this life: he is in right believe before god/ and like wise who so would here trustly hope he is in trusty hope before god/ though he be never so much troubled with fearful thoughts. The apostle saint Poule saith that in a man's believe is wilful believe of right wysnes. Of the which words saith the gloze that all only in man's will which may not be constrained lieth both meed and guilt/ that is to say: a man afore god hath never meed ne guilt for no deed but only of the deeds that be done wilfully/ but sometime man's thought and woman's be so troubled and overlayed that they know not their own will/ & yet though it so be they ought not to care. For good deeds showeth alway good will/ and evil deeds evil will wherefore a man that doth in deed the service of god that man hath a good will to god/ though his travailous heart dame the contrary. Also there should no creature dame his even christian for any doubtful fantasies/ but if they have a very open knowledge of that thing which they should dame him for. Than it is evil and unreasonable for any creature to dame his own soul in that plight that he should be parted from god for any doubtful fantasy.   

¶ The third chapter.  
ANd than if it so be ye have consented & fallen to sin by any temptations/ than be sorry and cry god mercy thereof. And yet be ye not discomforted but think well on the great mercy of god how he for gave David his great sins. Peter & Magdalene and not only them/ but also all those that have been or now be or shall be contrite for their sins/ & meek them lowly and cry our lord mercy. And therefore sister flee to him that all mercy is in/ and ask mercy & ye shall have it with forgiveness of all your sins and meek you lowly/ & take the sacraments of holy church/ & than ye ought to believe faithfully that your sins be forgiven/ and that ye be received in to the grace of god. For god saith himself by his prophet Ezechie: that when a sinful man sorroweth for his sins he will never have mind thereof/ & if a man perceive in his heart no very sorrow/ and though he think when he biddeth his beads or crieth to god for mercy that he doth all against heart: yet therefore should he not dame himself graceless/ for who so would have very sorrow for his sins or would cry god mercy for them or in his heart would cry for mercy: he crieth god mercy truly/ for as I have said before/ god taketh heed to man's will & not to his travayllous fantasies/ it is good that a man take no heed of such fantasies or stirrings that cometh in such manner. For god hideth from them the knowledges of such fantasies for many causes unto the profit of their soul's/ wherefore such passions be not sinful/ but rather matter of grace and of great merit. And so good sister think ye alway/ and if it be so that temptation cease not but were alway more & more be not afraid but say sometime among in the worship of god and in the spite of the fiend your creed and knowledge your believe and hope and think on the words of saint Poule that saith. Knowledge of mouth is done to the help of souls/ and they shall not be deceived by the fiends whiles that with a good advisement both in word and will withstandeth him strongly. For there was never man deceived of the fiend but by consent of his own will/ & that with such a will as the heart consented with the same/ for other fantastical troublous wills putteth not away man from god.   

¶ The fourth chapter.  
ANd therefore should no man care nor be heavy that he is so troubled more than an other. Sister alway when I speak of a man in this writing take it both for man and woman/ for so it is meant in all such writings/ for all is mankind/ and ferther more as touching your troubles think in all your diseases what troubles god's servants hath suffered and what pains and torments they have had here in this world in many sundry manners and ye shall find cause to suffer. Leo the pope saith/ it happeth sometime that good and right wise souls be stirred sharply by the fiend/ & sometime by their own complexion to angers troubles dreads & such other taryenges that it seemeth to them their life a tourment in so much that sometime for very dread the begin to despair both in life of body and soul/ thinking they be forsaken of god/ which doth it but to assay and prove his chosen children and friends by such temptations. For as I afore have said at the beginning of this writing in like manner as fire purgeth gold and as a knight is proved good and hardy by battle: right so temptations and troubles purgeth a right wise soul/ this is proved well by Toby/ for the angel raphael said this to him. Toby for as much as thou art rightful to god it is needful that temptation should prove thy will/ and well it is known that sickness falleth to a man after the disposition of his complexion. So like wise temptation as Leo the pope saith. The fiend our ghostly enemy aspyeth in every man what wise he is disposed by his complexion/ and by that disposition he tempteth him. For there as he findeth a man full of melancholy he tempteth him most with ghostly temptations of Ire. But they that will attend to withstand it for the love of god they must shape them to patience & say with job. sithen we have received of god so great benefits why should we not receive and suffer diseases. And think on the great anguishes sorrows and diseases that our lord Ihesu christ suffered himself here in earth. And also suffered his blessed mother to have the same. And think that to suffer disease patiently is the way to heaven ward. And that ye may not in this frail world be so free as an angel that is confirmed by grace/ but while your body and soul be together in this life they must receive troubles as well as eases. And think not that god hath forsaken you: but meekly abide the comfort of him and without doubt when it needeth ye shall not fail thereof. But some men when they have dread of salvation or be tempted to despair by visions or ghostly stirrings of their own frailty/ they ween anon that they have sinned in the sin of the holy ghost/ and than the fiend putteth in them that they may never be saved nor forgiven of their trespasses. Thus speaketh the fiend within them. So fearing sin good creatures that they ween to go out of their minds/ But they that been thus tempted answer the fiend thus again that he is false and a liar as his nature is to be. For the sin of the holy ghost as clerks saith is infinite without repentance. And that is when a man wilfully by delyberation will never repent nor ask god mercy ne forgiveness of his sins/ nor will be turned/ but wilfully departeth him from the goodness of god/ and in his wretchedness abideth wilfully with full consent of will/ he that doth thus sinneth in the holy ghost which may not be forgiven here nor else where/ for he will not trust in the goodness of the holy ghost nor ask forgiveness of his sins. And therefore he that will no mercy ask no mercy shall have/ for his sins be infinite without repentance. But though a man or a woman have or feel all these vicious stirrings and as many more as any heart can think against their own free will and when reason cometh to them they be sorry thereof & flee alway hastily to the mercy of god: it is to them but a preving or a cleansing of their sins though they be never so oft in the night and the day now up now down as wrestelers be/ & though ye have any time fall in any sin ghostly or fleshly & lain therein wilfully by delyberation and full content of heart: ye than ought to be sorry and ask god forgiveness with as great contrition as god will give you grace/ and than think fully the goodness of the holy ghost surmounteth all sins that ever was done or ever shall be done/ though a man had sinned in them all/ as well in deed as thought he being truly contrite & confessed meking himself lowly to almighty god and to his sacraments of holy church/ doubt ye not he so asking mercy shall have full forgiveness of all his sins/ for the mercy of god is so great that it passeth all his works. And therefore though ye sometime here by speaking or else of writing or reading in books sharp words and hard sentences: yet comfort yourself and think well that all such hard words be said and written to chastise the sinners and to withdraw them from evil/ and also to purge and pure gods special lovers as the metal is in the fire afore rehearsed/ and in them god will make his house. And weet it well many words that seem full hard be meant full tenderly when they be well understand/ and though some words be meant right hardly as the plain text showeth/ yet should ye not take them to you ward/ but comfort yourself and think that all those hard sentences shall be fulfilled in jews and saracens/ for the christian people that will be contrite & trust in god's mercy or have a will so for to do: they shall escape all perils/ so that they shall not perish/ but be saved/ where as the jews & saracens in their perils shall utterly perish to perdition/ for they have not the strength of Baptym ne the precious ointment of Christ's passion/ that should give to their souls life and health. Of this they have example & a great figure in holy write that where as Moses led the children of Israel over the reed see which were god's people. Moses' went before them and smote the water with his rod and therewith the water parted & the children of Israel went over in surety. And they of egypt that followed perished & were drowned. By Moses I understand our lord Ihesu christ/ and by the yard or rod that departed the water I understand his holy passion/ and by the children of Israel that were not perished all christian people/ for right so our lord Ihesu christ came from his faders bosom to the see of tribulations & temptations to be our guide & leader/ he gooth before us with his precious passion & smiteth away the perils of our troublous temptations/ so that we shall not perish/ but it shall bring us to surety of everlasting life/ and therefore give we to him thankings lovings & infinite praisings as the children of Israel died/ for though a christian man were never so sinful thinking himself that he stood in the sentences of the hardest words that be written: yet should he trust faithfully in the mercy of god/ for and he will forsake his sins & turn him to good and virtuous life: he shall have grace and forgiveness/ and the hard sharp words of damnation should turn him to mercy and salvation. For thus saith our lord god in holy write by his prophet jeremy/ though I make great threats I shall repent me of my words if my people will repent them of their sins. O behold the great goodness of our lord/ and how pity alway constraineth him to mercy worship and thanks be ever to his goodness/ he is so benign and merciful to them that be repentant that he freely will change his sentences from sharp vengeance to forgiveness/ & of the pains that they be worthy to suffer/ give them alygeaunce or lighter pain to suffer. He saith also by the prophet I say I shall forgive the sins of every man that with very true contrition will draw him to good and virtuous life. And this great mercy showed our lord openly upon the city of Ninive/ and also by king Ezechie/ therefore let no man despair but alway trust fully to god's mercy that so well can redress our mischiefs and turn all our woe to we'll/ and our sorrow to joy. O thou glorious mightiful god that thus marvelously worketh in thy creatures it is to see that thy mercy is large and broad which maketh the to change thy sentence that before was both thy will and word/ blessed be thou good lord in all thy virtues for thou canst/ may/ and will turn and change all our infirmities to our most profit if we will not flee from thee/ but turn to thy goodness and ask mercy. But for all this thy great goodness/ god forbid that any man should be the more bolder to sin or wilfully and wittingly by delyberation should presume to fall to sin upon trust of thy mercy. And therefore our lord is so merciful I surely trust that every true courteys' soul will be the more loath to offend his goodness/ and as for you that be tempted against your will/ and will not for all the world displease god wilfully: but that ye be thus beguiled and encumbered by the fiend with many painful thoughts/ be ye not afraid of the fiend nor of his fearful assawtes/ for he is full sore discomforted when that he seeth a man or a woman which he so tempteth is not afeard of him. Sometime the fiend cometh and tempteth a soul fiercely like a dragon/ and sometime he assaileth him like a ramping lion/ but and if a creature strengthing himself sadly in the passion of almighty god/ and arm him with that holy passion/ a thousand such fiends how somever that they come shall have no more power over him then hath as many flies or gnats. And therefore strength you all in god and be not abashed. So to strength and arm you in him though ye be sinful/ for he saith himself in the gospel he came for sinners. And in an other place of the gospel he saith that he came for mercy and not for no vengeance/ and to be our shield and strength and so let us humbly with a meek heart take him And if ye feel any dreads by imagination or temptation or for words that ye have herd or red in books by the which ye doubt of salvation/ than think on the words that christ himself taught to a man that doubted/ saying and asking of our lord who should be saved/ for he thought it was to hard to himself for to eschew all the points that led man to perdition. And our lord bad him for to say Credo in deum patrem omnipotentem creatorem celi et terre. Et in jesum christum filium cius. believe said our lord Ihesu that god the father is almighty and that no thing to him is impossible but that he may forgive all sins and redress all wrongs and bring the souls to his bliss and think furthermore that his might and power may do all that his wisdom can/ and his goodness will/ and therefore trust fully that by his goodness he will save you and bring you to everlasting joy when he seeth best time/ for he hath bought you full dear with his precious blood and painful death. And I dare safely say that there is none so sinful a caitiff which is crystened or would be crystened this day on the earth all though he were in the sight of god damnable and in the sight of all creatures also: ye and yet were judged to be dampened by all scripture and he would for sake his sin and be contrite and ask god forgiveness he should have mercy and forgiveness of him/ & if it were so that he stood in that case or had a good mind to stand so in the time of death he should be saved/ the might & mercy of god is so great that it surmounteth all his laws judgements and scriptures And so our lord Jesus' showeth us by an example in the gospel of a woman that was found in adultery and by Moses' law which was ordained by god that she should be stoned to the death. But the might and the wisdom of that blessed lord god was so greatly showed to the pharyzens which accused her that they so largely perceived their sins that they might not for shame dame her but stolen away out of the temple. And our lord Ihesu would not dame her but of his gracious mercy forgave her all her sins And therefore be a man or woman never so sinful and that they feel never so many bodily and ghostly sins alway rising and steering within them/ they should never the rather despair of the mercy of god/ ne be discomforted. For there as much sin is/ there is showed moche mercy and grace/ and the goodness of god is known by the forgiveness of the sin when a body turneth him there from and is very contrite/ but god forbid as I said before that any creature be the more reckless or bold to sin wilfully/ for in so much the mercy of god is so large we ought to be the more busy and diligent to love and praise him. almighty god worketh like a leech/ for a leech suffereth sometime the deed flesh to grow on him that he hath in cure/ but afterward he taketh away the same and maketh the quick flesh to grow/ and so he healeth the patient. Right so doth our lord Ihesu christ maker of heaven and earth suffereth sometime a man or a woman to fall in deadly sin: but afterward of his great mercy and pity he putteth to his hand of grace/ for they that were deadly wounded through sin he healeth them and washeth away their sins with the water of his well of mercy/ & maketh in them quick virtues to grow whereby he giveth to them everlasting life. Our lord god is also like a gardener for a gardener suffereth sometime wicked weeds to grow in his garden/ and when the earth thorough moisture of rain waxeth tender he taketh & pulleth away the weeds both rote & rind. So in like wise doth our lord Ihesu christ he suffereth sometime in his garden which is man's soul wicked deeds of sin to grow/ but when the heart of man waxeth tender by meekness and moisture of contrition he than taketh away all the sins both rote and rind and planteth and setteth in his garden herbs and fruits of good virtues/ and watereth them with the dew of his blessed goodness/ whereby the soul of man shall come to everlasting joy and rest. Now than sithen our lord god is so good so piteous and so merciful to sinners that wilfully offendeth him by committing of horrible sins/ moche more he is merciful and hath pity and compassion of a soul/ that thorough trouble and temptations falleth to sin/ for almighty god suffereth often times the soul of man for to be tempted and vexed in withstanding temptations/ whereof it deserveth the more merit. And therefore be ye not doubtful nor heavy for it shall nevertourne you to peril ne danger but to great profit. For thereby ye shall win the crown of glory and the palm of victory which shall be given to you for withstanding of such temptations/ & to the fiend it shall turn to shame and confusion/ and though it seemeth to you sometime that ye feel discord between god and you be not therefore recreant ne discomforted. For almighty god saith by his prophet I say A little while I have forsaken and hid my face from thee: but I shall call the to me again by my mafolde mercies which ever shall endure.   

¶ The fift chapter.  
ANd therefore grudge not against the will of god ne marvel not of these temptations/ for the more that a man or a woman be tempted in this manner or in any other against their will and they withstand it that is to say not willingly consenting thereto but meekly suffereth the same: the more they shall increase in virtues to the profit of their souls in the sight of god though it be hid from them/ for peradventure when ye be sharply tempted ye think ye be to dull and negligent in ghostly exercise thorough wickedness of your spirit that is sore travailed and vexed/ whereby ye think that ye have a will consented to such temptations as ye be tempted with/ but it is not so/ for ye shall understand that every man and woman hath two wills a good will and an evil/ the evil will cometh of sensuality the which is ever inclining downward to sin/ and the good will cometh of grace which alway stirreth the soul up ward to all goodness/ and therefore when reason cometh to you ye have alway a good will to do well/ & as miscontent with all evil thoughts & stirrings that ye feel and putteth your will only to the will of god/ though ye through such wicked thoughts & stirrings by violence and sharpness be inclined to sensuality yet ye do it not ne consent thereto but it is the sensuality that doth it in you/ and your good will abideth in you still unbroken though the clouds of evil thoughts stoppeth your sight from the feeling of your good will as ye may see by ensample of the moan/ for the moan shineth alway in her dew place as well when we see her as when we see her not. But oftentimes the clouds shadoweth and putteth from us the sight thereof/ and so in like wise it fareth by your good will which standeth alway unbroken in you by the grace of almighty god though ye feel it not through travayllous thoughts which taketh away the sight of your knowledge. Therefore ye good children that sharply be vexed with such temptations & tribulations comfort yourself in your benign & merciful father that saith to you by his prophet in holy write/ my children though ye go in the fire dread ye not/ for the flame thereof shall not trouble you. As who saith ye that be christian people willingly to do well though ye go in to the fire of tribulations & temptations dread you not for it shall turn you to no peril/ but thorough my goodness & the merits of my passion it shall turn you to great profit & comfort of your soul/ the manner of all these temptations & the remedies of the same showeth our saviour Ihu christ to his apostle saint Peter as it appeareth in the gospel where he saith thus/ Peter sathanas asketh & desireth to sift the as men sift wheat/ whereby it appeareth well that the fiend hath no might ne pour to attempt the servants of almighty god but by his sufferance/ & that was evidently known by the temptations of job whom the fiend besyfted and tempted/ for the more that wheat is sifted & cast from side to side the more clean it is. Right so the more that a man or a woman be tempted with the fiend against their will/ the more clean they be afore god/ wherefore it appeareth plainly that almighty god suffereth not his servants to be tempted but for their great weal & profit if they purpose themself mightily to withstand the fiends temptation/ which no man may withstand without the help of god. Therefore of his help he maketh us sure like as he said to peter/ these words I have prayed for the that thy faith fail the not/ and therefore that man which patiently is ready to suffer all troubles and diseases for the love of his maker almighty Ihesu not taking heed of all the fiends motions and temptations: that man through the might and grace of christ beareth down and overcometh the fiend/ whereby he may be called a vaynquyssher or overcomer. And to such men may be said thus/ thou that art thus turned to almighty god by the virtue of patience/ but if thou help to counsel & confirm thy brethren. And teach them to suffer as the grace of god hath taught thee: or else thou art unkind. For Solomon saith that one brother well counseled & confirmed by an other is a mighty city against the fiend/ and therefore they that be sharply travailed and tempted when they have had the good counsel of their brother: they ought to take comfort to them saying with David which saith. O my soul why art thou so unsteadfast thus to assail and trouble me trust only to almighty god that is full of benignity and mercy whom I only confess and knowledge to serve be I never so sore travailed ne troubled. And to such men thus vexed with thoughts motions & stirrings is behoveful to take the counsel and teaching of the wise and discrete persons fleeing utterly their own wild fantasies which often times greatly troubleth them. And in eschewing of such temptations and troubles they must give themself to good & virtuous occupations/ as to reading and saying the service of almighty god/ and doing other virtuous deeds/ and ever among praying to almighty god they may have strength in their souls to resist such motions and temptations. And though they find in themself no manner of sweetness ne savour in god's service: yet they ought not to be heavy therefore if their will and mind be to fulfil the same. For as holy write saith every good will is accepted for the deed. Saint barnard saith that sometime god withdraweth devotion from prayer to make the prayer more meedful/ for he will be served sometime in bitterness and sometime in sweetness which both two we must meekly receive. And therefore Arystotle saith that with the more difficulty and travail virtuous been gotten: the more they profit and increase in the soul. It was no mastery for saint Peter when he saw almighty god on the hill of bliss to say/ lord it is good for us to dwell here/ But afterward when he saw him amongs his enemies cruelly tormented a woman's word feared and put him in such dread that he forsook and denied his master. But when thorough the might of the holy ghost he was reconciled and confirmed again: than was there no tourment in earth that king or prince put unto him could fere him. Right so if a man be in perfit rest and quietness of heart/ it is no mastery for him to serve god. But it is a mastery to him that is in travail and out of quietness of heart to serve him/ therefore that creature that is tempted or vexed in the service of almighty god and is in will to withstand the said temptations till he after be strengthened and comforted by the holy ghost the fiend shall never have power to fere ne put him in dread/ for though it be long or he feel comfort yet let not him dread/ for our merciful saviour knoweth what time comfort is most needful to him than he faileth not to give it him. For sometime the feeling of sweetness is withdrawn from man or else he should wax proud and presumptuous or negligent and reckless in virtuous living/ and therefore it is withdrawn for the best to the health of his soul/ wherefore hardness and sharpness sent to a creature is full profitable to the soul: as saint Austyn saith in teaching us of the manner of almighty god that when a man is feeble and newly turned to him he giveth him peace and sweetness to the intent to stablish him in his law and love/ But when he is stablished and sadly grounded in his love: than suffereth he him to be vexed and travailed for two reasons/ one is to prove him and to crown him the higher in the bliss of heaven. An other is to purge him of his sins in this world that in no wise he be from him in the everlasting world.   

¶ The sixth chapter.  
ANd for as much as many men can not nor will not in time of temptation see or perceive it but have a dredefulnes and a sorynes in themself by steering of their complexion therefore to all such men three things be needful & necessary. The first is that they be not much alone. The second is that they think ne study to deeply in any one thing/ but fully order them by some discrete person as afore I said/ and though it come in their mind that they should be in jeopardy or peril utterly to be lost: they should take no heed of such stirrings or thoughts/ for it never may turn them to danger of their souls. almighty god saith in the gospel/ if the intent of a man's purpose be good the deed is good. The third remedy is this/ that for as much as the fiend laboureth to make a man dreadful and sorry/ a man again ought to the honour of god and confusion of the fiend to strength himself and be merry though it be against his heart/ and dread no thing the fiends malice. For the less gladness that he feeleth in himself the more merit he shall have when he so enforceth himself to be merry to the honour of god/ and in spite of his ghostly enemy the devil. For as holy write saith the holy apostles went away merry & glad when the Jews enemies of god had shamefully beaten them. Also a man ought to be glad for three causes when the fiend tempteth and turmenteth him. The first is that he is troubled by the enemy of god. The second is by such temptations and torments the fiend showeth plainly that he is his enemy and every man ought to be glad that god's enemy is his enemy. And the third is that by such torments a man is not only released of the pains in purgatory but also it maketh him to win everlasting bliss. Our lord Ihesu saith in the gospel/ blessed be they that suffereth persecution for right wysnes for they shall have the kingdom of heaven.   

¶ The seventh chapter.  
ALso it is to understand that our old enemy the fiend is oft times about to beguile man's soul in divers and many manners/ sometime he stirreth man under colour of goodness to deceive him when he is well disposed and specially in three things which I will speak of. One is that though a creature be it man or woman be never so well ne so oft shriven/ yet the fiend maketh them believe they are not well shriven/ and that he doth to bring the soul in heaviness/ and so anoyeth & troubleth the poor soul that he maketh him to forget what he would say/ & thereby maketh him out of rest till he be newly shriven again. But this doth he not for that he would that any were often and well shriven: but fully to let and trouble him/ and to make him believe that he were blinded by sin and out of grace/ wherefore he might not make himself clean. The second while and colour that the fiend maketh to withdraw goodness is that when a man or a woman by devout stirrings of thoughts have feelings of contemplation and meditation as peradventure some solitary persons hath: and he maketh them to think that to hold & keep that meditations is to their most profit to th'intent they should leave their divine service that they be bound to/ and bringeth them in such a cumbrance that they wot not which way is best to them to take/ and all this he doth utterly to deceive them and cause them to be unquiet to do any of them both. The third craft or wile that he tempteth with is when a man or a woman giveth them to honest disport to strength themself against his false wiles to the comfort of their own soul/ than will the fiend cause them to have a conscience thereof/ and putteth in to their minds that all such disports is but sin and vanity. And many times bringeth in to their minds again the sins that they before had done and were confessed of. And all that doth he to bring them in to heaviness and discomfort to th'intent he might bring them to despair. Nevertheless there be good remedies in these temptations for as unto the last where the fiend putteth them in a fere when they dispose them to honest disport. And also when they be never so clean shriven alway putteth them in a doubt that they have not shriven them well: or else that there is yet some sin in them that they perceive not: but for all these fantasies they ought to take no fere nor thought: but verily think that it is by suggestion of their ghostly enemy that would let them from rest and peace of their soul's/ and though it be so sometime that by the mean of such fantasies and troubles they forget some thing of their charge which they ought for to have said: let him than be confessed if he may and if he may not conveniently and lightly have his confessor: than let him have a full will and purpose to be confessed as soon as he can possible. And in the mean time cry god mercy/ and with a contrite heart ask forgiveness for his sins/ and than trust fully it is forgiven him/ for a man is not so ready to ask forgiveness and mercy: but our merciful lord of his great goodness is much more ready to forgive them. And as to the second temptation whereby the fiend would let a man from his divine service that he is bound unto utterly tempting him to leave it: than ought he to be the more diligent devoutly & reverently with good advisement to say it/ & if it be so he say alone his service he may when good thoughts come or that it will please god with sweetness or some high visitation of the holy ghost to visit and touch him/ than shall it be but well done for to stint of his service/ & attend to that meditation for a time and after to say forth/ so that his service that he is bound unto be not left unsaid or undone/ and in thus doing it shall be but little letting to his service/ and he shall find great comfort and ease therein For though it let him for the time: it shall well further him to the quickness of his soul an other tyme. The third temptation is this when a man in due time giveth himself to honest company & disport for the strength and comfort of his soul/ and the fiend putteth in his mind his sins tofore done. And that he sinneth in vain spending the time: for all such temptations give ye no charge for it is the ghostly enemy that so tempteth and troubleth you. For nevertheless ye may be sure that all thing which is truly grounded in god pleaseth his goodness & no thing offendeth him/ wherefore all god's servants must ground them fastly in god/ and do by the counsel of holy church/ and if they so do they shall never be deceived/ and therefore a man that hath been sore troubled well done it is to take him to disport in despite of the fiend/ and put away all other fantasies/ and at time convenient to ask god mercy of his offences and to pray unto him for grace.   

¶ The eight chapter.  
ALso the fiend is full busy to move men & women to tender conscience/ and to bring them in such errors and maketh them ween sometime when they do evil they do no sin. And sometime that is well done they think it sin and maketh a venial sin as grievous as a deadly. And sometime also the fiend encumbereth them so greatly that what soever they do or love undone they be so sore bitten in conscience that they can no while together have any rest in themself. And all this the cruel enemy doth by the mean of putting them in a false dread and blind conscience that he bringeth them to/ but the remedy of these and all other temptations is to be governed by their confessor or some other discrete person/ and fully put them to their rule as afore is said and no thing follow their own blind conscience For if they follow their own conscience it were a great pride/ in that he would hold his own wit better than the true counsel of holy church. For a man that so will do must needs fall in great errors and in to the fiends hands. And if such an error of conscience made to you by your ghostly enemy make you think that other men feel not that ye feel. And for that cause they can not give you good counsel or remedy. And therefore ye needs must follow your own fantasies: yet for all this charge not your heart therewith/ but put away all such errors of conscience as fast as they come to mind/ and let them not tarry ne sink in your soul. And if any person will say that they may not ne can not put them away they say not truly/ for who so is in very will to do away any such false suggestion tofore god it is put away though they have in them never so false demynges/ and therefore have ye never so many of them against the will of his conscience: he needeth not to dread them For out of doubt almighty god will comfort him or he die/ and the longer time that he suffereth such vexation and trouble the more is he thankful in the sight of god.   

¶ The ninth chapter.  
ALso though the fiend put in you any thought of despair or make you to think that in the hour of death ye shall have such evil thoughts and grievous sterynges/ and that ye than shall be but lost: yet for all that believe him no thing/ but answer that ye have fully put your trust in god/ and therefore for all his temptations by the great power of almighty god and merits of his passion think verily it shall be to you no peril of soul/ but turn to the shame and confusion of your ghostly enemy/ and if any creature man or woman speak to you sharp or discomfortable words take it meekly and patiently & think that peradventure it is done by the temptation of the fiend to trouble and let you/ or that it is a chastising of god for some word or deed that ye have done contrary to his will/ for our lord god doth like a kind mother/ for a loving mother that is wise and well taught herself she would that her children were virtuously and well nortured/ and if she may know any of them with a default she will give them a knock on the heed/ and if the default be more she will give him a buffet on the cheek/ and if he do a great fault she will sharply lash him with a rod/ and thus doth god that is our loving father from whom all virtue and goodness cometh he will that his special chosen children be virtuously and well taught in their soul's/ and if they do a default he will knock them on their heads with some words of discomfort and displeasure/ and if they do a greater fault he will give them a buffet with great sharpness in sundry manners after the diverse condition of the defaults/ and if they do a moche greater trespass than he chastiseth them moche more sharply. And all this our blessed lord doth for the special love he hath unto us/ for as he saith himself/ them that he loveth/ them he chastiseth. Now truly and we took good heed of these words we would be gladder of his chastising than of all this worlds cherishing/ and if we so died/ all disease and trouble should turn us to comfort and joy/ but it is full hard thus to do in the time of sharp heaviness when a soul standeth naked from all ghostly and bodily comfort to take and find joy in disease/ all be it they that be in such inward dures they must seek in all ways how they may comfort themself in god/ and think and trust fully that god sent never such chastising but that he would in long time or in short send comfort whereby they should be brought out of these heaviness. For the prophet saith many be the tribulations of right wysmen/ and all such god shall deliver/ and though ye feel sometimes sterynges of desires of such unkindly evil thoughts comfort you ever in the goodness of god/ and in the painful passion that his manhood suffereth for you/ for the fiend tempteth many of the servants of god to desperation and dread of salvation/ as well worldly men as other ghostly livers/ putting in worldly men's minds the grievousness of their sins/ and to the ghostly livers he putteth dread & straight conscience in many more sundry wyses than I can tell/ and full graciously god hath comforted them and brought them out of their errors/ and now I am stirred and moved for to tell you of one of them which was a squire that height Iohn holmes A narration. This squire that I have named had been a great sinful man/ and so at the last thorough the beholding of his great sins. And by the temptation of the fiend he fell in to despair so deeply and grievously that he had nigh lost his mind. And thus he was troubled forty days that he might neither sleep ne eat but wasted away and was in the point to destroy himself/ but that blessed gracious lord that is so full of mercy and pity would not have him lost. And upon a day as he walked in a wood alone an angel came to him in form of a man and saluted the squire full goodly/ and talked with him in full courteous manner/ saying unto him man thou seemest to have great heaviness and sorrow/ tell me I pray thee/ the cause of thy disease. Nay said the squire it is not to be told to the. yes hardly said the angel/ thou wottest not how well I may help and remove thy disease. For a man being in discomfort should alway discover his heaviness to some creature that might ease him/ for thorough good counsel he might recover comfort and he'll/ or in some wise have remedy. The squire answered the angel again and said that he wist well he neither could ne might help him. And therefore he would not tell it to him. This sady squire weening always that this angel had been an earthly man/ and dread that if he had told it unto him he should have said some word that should utterly have grieved him more. And when the angel saw he would by no way tell it unto him/ he said unto the squire in this wise. Now sith thou wilt not tell me thy grieve I shall tell it the. Thou art said the angel in despair of thy salvation but trust me faithfully thou shalt be saved/ for the mercy of god is so great that it passeth all his works/ and surmounteth all sins. It is sooth said the squire I wot well that god is merciful but he is also rightful and his rightwiseness must needs punish sin. And therefore I dread his rightful judgements. The angel spoke unto him again and told him many great examples how gracious and merciful our lord god is to sinners. But the squire of whom we spoke was so deeply fallen in despair that he could take no comfort of any thing that he could say. Than the angel spoke again to him in this manner. O said he that thou art hard of believe/ but wilt thou have an open showing that thou shalt be saved. Than said he to the squire I have here three dice that I will throw/ and thou shalt throw them also/ & who that hath most of the dice sickerly shall be saved. A said the squire how might I in this throwing of the dice be certain of my salvation/ & held it but a jape/ that not withstanding the angel threw the dice and he had on every of the dice upward the number of six. And he than bade the squire throw the dice. O than said the squire certainly that dare I not do/ for I wot well though I cast/ more than thou hast cast should I not cast ne have/ and if I had less than should I fall in further discomfort/ but so specially the angel desired and spoke that at the last the squire threw the dice/ and in throwing by the gracious might and power of god every dice divided in two/ & on every dice was the number of six/ and so he had the double that the angel had/ and as he was marveling thereupon the angel vanished out of his sight/ wherefore he thought verily than it was an angel sent from god to bring him out of his sorrow/ and than he took moche comfort and joy in the great mercy & goodness of god in such manner that all his dreads and sorrows were clean departed/ and he became a virtuous man and the very servant of god/ and lived blessedly. And when he should depart from this world he devised there should be a stone laid upon him/ with these words written about it that followeth Here lieth Iohn holmes that of the mercy of god may say alargys'. I knew a worshipful person that was in the same abbey here in england where as he lieth that red the same words afore said written on his tomb. Now than sithen our merciful lord god sent thus his gracious comfort to this man that was a worldly sinful man & received him to grace and brought him out of despair. There should no man be discomforted nor despair of any temptations/ for hardly god will comfort him when he seeth his time/ and though he send not a man comfort shortly it shall be to his more meed/ & therefore think alway when ye think of any temptations bodily or ghostly that ye stand in the blessings of all holy church/ for holy write saith blessed be they that suffereth temptations. For when they be well proved they shall have the crown of life the which almighty god hath promised to them that love him.   

¶ The tenth chapter.  
O ye children of holy church that hath forsaken the world for the health of your souls & principally to please god: comfort you in him whom ye have chosen to love and serve/ for he will be to you full free and large as ye may see by example of Peter in the gospel where as he asked our lord Ihesu christ what reward he should have that had forsaken all thing to follow him. And our lord answered him and said that he should judge with him the twelve tribes of kindreds of Israel at the day of doom/ and furthermore our lord said also unto him that not only one or two or some/ but he said all though that forsake for his love kin/ friends/ possessions/ or any earthly goods: they shall have in this life an hundred fold more/ and after bless withouten end. Therefore sister cast away all such false dreads that would trouble and let you from love and hope of our merciful lord god for no thing pleaseth so much the fiend as to see the souls withdraw from the love of god. And therefore he besyeth himself full sore day and night to let and trouble love and peace in man's soul/ and on the other side no thing confoundeth nor dyscomforteth him so much as when he seeth a man set all his desire to have the love of god. Alas though ye feel not that fervent love of god shall ye by your imagination fall in discomfort and heaviness of heart/ & think yourself lost? nay/ nay/ put away all such discomfortable heaviness & think well it cometh of your enemy the fiend/ & ever have a good will to love and please god/ and print well these words in your heart that a good will is except as for a deed in the sight of god/ and comfort you alway in the name of Ihesu/ for Ihesu is as much to say as a saviour/ & therefore think well ever thereupon/ & bear it in your mind with his passion/ and also his other great virtues/ for no thing shall so soon put away all dreadful temptations & fantasies as the remembrance of this name Ihesu/ his bitter passion and glorious virtues. These three be shield and spear/ armour/ & strength to drive down the fiends power be he never so fiercely set to tempt man or woman/ & specially to think on his great virtues how god the father in himself hath all divine nature & in whom is all might and power and to whom is all thing possible and no thing impossible to him. And god the son is all wisdom that all thing may make and govern/ and god the holy ghost is all love and bounty that in a moment of time all sins may forgive. I say not to you three gods but three persons and one god/ in whom is all bliss and glory/ he is so fair and bright shining that all the angels marvel of his beauty/ his glorious blessydfull beauty & presence feedeth and fulfilleth all the court of heaven with such mirth and melody that is everlasting. In him is all benygnyte keeping us from vengeance and in him is all grace and gentleness/ courtesy/ freedom/ and largeness/ pity/ mercy/ and forgiveness/ joy/ sweetness/ and endless health/ our succour he is in all tribulations when we call upon him/ our comfort/ our strength/ our help/ and our soul's health. I iwis sister this is our spouse/ whom ye desire to love and please/ the greatness of his virtues/ ne the multitude of his joys which spreadeth to all them that be in the court of heaven: no heart can think nor tongue tell/ for the blessedness of his presence can can neither be said nor written. joy ye therefore in our lord christ Ihesu cryst/ for he hath bought you full dear to bring you to that bliss/ and therefore say to him. O holy god in whom is all goodness whose pity and mercy made the to descend from the high throne down in to this wretched world the valay of woe and weeping/ and here to take our nature/ and in that nature thou sufferest pain and passion with cruel sharp death to bring our souls to thy kingdom. Therefore merciful lord forgive me all my sins that I have done/ thought/ and said. Glorious trinity send me cleanness of heart/ purete of soul/ restore me with thy holy virtues/ strength me with thy might/ that I always may withstand the fiend and all evil temptations. O good lord comfort me with thy holy ghost and fulfil me with perfit grace and charity: that I may from hens forth live virtuously. And love the with all my heart/ with all my might and with all my soul/ so that I never offend the but ever to follow thy pleasures in will/ word/ thought and deed/ now grant me this good lord that art infinite/ which eternally shall endure. And now good sister if ye do thus I hope it shall do you great ease. And though ye find no manner of comfort sweetness nor devotion when ye would/ be not therefore discomforted/ but suffer it meekly/ for right many there be that strive with themself as though they would have sweet devotion by mastery. And I say you for troth so will it not be had/ but by meekness moche sooner it may be gotten. And that is as thus that a man hold and think himself unworthy to have any sweetness or comfort & offer himself lowly to the will of god and put his will fully to the will and mercy of that blessed lord/ for a man should not desire to have that sweetness & devotion for his own comfort and pleasance: but purely and only intending to please god and to follow his will/ and than it sufficeth unto us whether we have it or no/ some also weeneth that and they have not such sweetness & devotion that they be out of grace/ but certainly some there be that in themself feeleth no sweetness nor devotion that be in more grace than the other that feeleth it/ for they have many comforts/ and better it were meekness without feeling than feeling without meekness. Therefore sister suffer meekly and patiently what ever falleth unto you/ & ever have a good will to do that may be most pleasing to god/ and when any discomfort cometh by temptation or imagination of your enemy have the words in your mind that oft is said in this writing before which is that a good will shall be excepted for a deed/ for and ye desire to be virtuous and to love and please god it is excepted as for deed before our lord god/ if you so follow it with your might and power/ as when reason cometh to you with a desireful will to live and do well/ and if ye any time feel comfort & sweetness and after feel these temptations as ye died before/ yet be ye not discomforted therefore ne think thereupon. Say not alas it is comen again it will never away from me. And by the mean of your own imagination fall again in discomfort/ do not so/ but comfort you in god/ & be glad that the fiend hath envy unto you/ for while the life is in the body he will alway trouble and tarry the servants of god/ he is so fully set against them with all malice to disease and discomfort them in all the diverse manners that he can or may. Saint Augustyne saith the in many manner ways temptations be had by the which the serpent adder enemy to all mankind tormenteth man's soul. And saint Gregory saith that there is no thing in the world which we ought to be so siker of god as when we gave these torments and troubles. And if a man say that bodily torments be medeful and not ghostly torments he saith not right/ for doubtless the ghostly torments be more grievous and painful that come against man's will than be bodily torments/ and so much more be they needful/ and therefore many men do dishonour to god that saith with full advisement that the fiend in this world may more tourment than god may give merit/ wherefore truly there is no thing more meedful chartable nor more godly than for to strength and comfort the soul that the fiend so troubleth/ for who so comforteth them that be desolate and in sorrow the lord of comfort Ihesu christ our lord and god will comfort them without end in the bliss of heaven/ the which lord thorough the might and merit of his painful passion and precious blood hath put down the power of the fondes/ & hath granted to christian souls the victory over them to the worstyp of all the hole trinity/ father/ son/ and holy ghost that liveth & raineth withouten end. Amen.   
¶ Here endeth the remedy against the troubles of temptations.   

¶ Here beginneth a devout meditation in saying devoutly the psalter of our lady with divers ensamples.  
THe glorious master Iohn of the mount in his moryall telleth/ which also I found in the book of frere Thomas of the temple. In the time the most blessed Domynyck the noble father and leader most famous of the order of preachers/ preached throughout the world in many regions and exhorted incessauntly the people to the laud: and praise of the blessed mary virgin undefiled/ & to her angelic confraternyte. It fortuned him to preach at Rome in the audience of the great prelate's of the world and showed by figures and examples this blessed virgin to be saluted most specially by her psalter. All they marveled of thaffluence of his words. They were astonied at the great wonders. To whom he said. O faithful and true lords and other true lovers of the faith: here this singular wholesome saying to you all/ that ye may verily know those things which I have spoken to be true. Take the psalter of this blessed virgin/ and in saying it: call devoutly unto your remembrance the passion of christ. Thus I show unto you that ye shall have in experience the spirit of god both in saying and in forgiving. Truly so great a flame may not stand in any place without making hot. Neither so great light without giving light/ nor so godly a medicine without the virtue of making hole. What should I say more/ all the people gave audience and in manner astonied: they marveled of his godly words/ many persons not only of the common people/ but also of great prelate's of the church as reverend cardinals and many honourable bishops took upon them to say this psalter of our lady/ to th'intent they might get some grace of almighty god. A marvelous thing. The city being in trouble/ diverse multiplication of prayers was amongs the people in every state or degree. For truly thou might see both morning/ evening/ and at myddaye men and women every where bearing the psalter of our lady. Cardynalles which be named the pillars of the world and bishops shamed not to bear in their hands & at their girdles these so great tokens of the godhead and of our faith verily to be believed. Truly by the miracles of our lady showed by saint Domynyck they doubted not but in excercising of this psalter gods help to be ready at all times. What more. All that died assay this psalter perceived some knowledge of the pity of god. And amongs all I shall show this wonder or miracle only following. At Rome was a certain mysdysposed woman of her body most famous above all other like disposed/ in beauty/ eloquence/ apparel/ and worldly gladness/ which fortuned graciously to have the psalter of our lady by th'advise of holy saint Domynyk/ which she hid under her kirtle and said it many times on the day. But alas she nevertheless used the unlawful fleshly pleasure and uncleanness of her body above all other/ more men resorted to her than to any other woman of such vain disposition. This woman named fair Katherine for the incomparable beauty of her body continued in her mysselyving/ and ones on the day at the least she died visit the church saying the psalter of our lady/ and thus was her meditation and thought The first fifty she said for the infancy of christ in the which he bore all his passion to come/ and if it were not at that time in execution/ nevertheless it was in his intent and mind. The second fifty she said for Christ's passion prohibit and done royally like as he suffered in his manhood. The third fifty she said for the passion of christ as it was in his godhead/ not because the godhead as the godhead might suffer/ but because this infinite godhead loved so much the nature of man/ that if it had been mortal it should have suffered death. Therefore because the eternal wisdom of god in himself might not die for us/ he took upon him our manhood/ which his will was should suffer passion & die for all mankind. And as this fair Katherine thus continued in praying/ it happened on a season as she went about Rome wand'ring after her old manner/ a marvelous fair man met her & said. Heyle Katherine/ why standest thou here/ hast thou no dwelling place. To whom she answered saying. Sir I have a dwelling place and every thing in it ordered to the best and goodliest manner. To whom he said. This night will I soup with the. She answered I grant with all mine heart/ and what soever thou wilt have I shall gladly prepare. Thus going hand in hand they came unto her house where as were many wenches of like disposition. Souper was prepared and this unknown geste sat with fair Katherine/ the one drank to the other. But every thing that this strange geste touched were it drink or other thing like/ anon turned in to bloody colour with a marvelous excellent smell & sweet savour. She meruayling said to him Sir what art thou/ either it is not well with me else thou art very marvelous/ for every thing that thou touchest is anon made of bloody colour. And he answered saying/ knowest thou not that a christian man neither eateth nor drinketh but that is died or coloured with the blood of christ. Thus this woman was marvelously abashed of this stranger/ so moche that she feared for to touch him. notwithstanding she said. Sir I well perceive by your countenance that ye be a man of great reverence. I beseech you who be ye/ and from whence come ye. To whom he said when we be together in thy chamber/ I shall show the all thine askynges. And thus left in doubt of the matter? she made ready the chamber. This woman Katherine went first to bed/ & desired the stranger to come to bed to her. A wonderful thing and such one as in manner never was herd of any creature. suddenly this stranger changed himself in to the shape of a little child/ bare upon his heed a crown of thorn/ upon his shoulder a cross/ and tokens of his passion with innumerable wounds up on all his body/ and said unto Katherine. O Katherine now leave thy foolishness. Behold/ now thou seest the passion of christ verily as it was in his infancy for the which thou said the first fifty of thy psalter I show unto thee/ that from the first hour of my conception unto my death I bore continually this pain in mine heart/ which for thy sake was so great that if every little piece or stone of gravel in the see were a child and every one of them had as much pain as ever suffered all the men in the world at their death: yet all they together suffer not so great pain as I suffered for the. This woman was sore abashed saying and hearing this wonder. And anon again he was turned in to the likeness of a man even after the same form which he had the time of his passion royal. And said Daughter behold now thou seest how great pains I suffered for thee/ which doth exceed all the pains of hell/ for my power of suffering is of god and not of man. And my passion was so great that if it had been divided among all creatures of the world/ they should all have died or been destroyed. After this saying he changed himself in to the clearness of the son/ notwithstanding the tokens of his passion remaining also gloriously he appeared/ in all his wounds were seen all and infinite creatures of the world for compassion of the same and he said unto her.  
Behold/ take heed/ now thou seest what I suffered in my godhead for thine health/ sith all things be in me and I in every thing/ in all these I see thee/ I love thee/ & in them all I am ready to suffer eternally the pain for thy soul's health which thou seest for my love is infinite (after saint Dyonyse) and all things in me be infinite as the same Dyonyse showeth. Therefore know the meekness of god/ and call to mind the threefold passion of christ/ for the which thou said thrice thirty Aves/ and fifteen Pater nosters. And here after amend thyself/ that as thou were before the example of all malice and unclean living/ so now from this time forward live in such manner that thou may be to all other a mirror of purity and cleanness. I do not appear to the for thy merits but only for an example of penance/ and because thy brethren and sisters of mine undefiled moders fraternyte have prayed for thee/ that by thy conversation many should be converted and be the children of god/ like as before innumerable were made the children of the devil by thy wickedness. what more. This vision vanished away. It was also unfeigned/ for the woman afterward felt in her hands and feet the sorrow of Christ's passion/ and in other parts of her body. Therefore she rose from sin & took her to penance/ and on the morrow after made her confession to saint Domynyk/ to whom he enjoined in penance to say the psalter of the blessed virgin mary as she was wont to do and to be one of her fraternyte/ which she had not before in deed/ but only in purpose and intent/ as it is afore said/ where it is to be noted how moche this said fraternity is worth to them which have it in deed/ sith it was so great valour to this woman having it but in purpose/ whiles that she prayed devoutly unto this virgin mary/ the same blessed lady appeared to her with saint Katherine saying to her. Daughter behold/ take heed/ thou hast sinned moche: therefore thou must suffer great penance for this cause/ take in penance every day three disciplines or three corrections/ whereof every one shall be of lu strokes which make a penytencyall psalter. She said also/ it shall not alway need to have a rod/ but prick the with thy nails/ or pinch thy flesh in every place. Thou mayst at all times do this penance against every wicked temptation and for to obtain all goodness/ and this is a royal privy penance and natural. It may be called the queen of all penances. This woman heard all these words and fulfilled them in deed. And as she was thus daily penitent: upon a time saint Domynyk advanced by the power of god saw in the night a wonderful thing to all the world. He perceived that from the house of this same Katherine issued out lu floods from the membres of a little child/ which floods descended to hell in whose coming the souls there to be purged were greatly comforted. O how great and joyful noises made they than: how many blessings gave they unto this said Katherine: verily the earth sounded again to their voices for joy. There were souls delivered/ comforted/ made hole & excluded from their pains by the meditation that Katherine had of Christ's passion in his childhood. She was alway about to apply it to the comfort of all true christian souls departed out of this world. O marvelous thing. After this saint Domynyk saw a man enter in to Katheryns' chamber/ & from .v. fountains of his body yssewed out lu wounds which nourished and watered all the church mylytante/ and also this present world/ trees and plants died burgyn/ birds and fishes were quickened/ true christian people were bathed in those floods. O how great sweetness was there and how great worldly gladness. All creatures blessed this woman Katherine and prayed for her to almighty god maker of all things. And these two marvels were showed for the first thirty and the second. And where as this penitent Katherine began the third fifty of her psalter. Saint Domynyk saw a marvelous great giant clearer than the light/ of whom yssewed out five fountains/ of the five fountains sprang thirty floods which neither descended to th'earth/ nor to hell/ but marvelously ascended together unto heaven. And by them all heavenly paradise was watered. Their sweetness was so great that the angels and holy saints died drink of them/ giving great thanks to almighty god. when saint Domynyck saw all these marvels as Thomas of the temple writeth: he marveled greatly why they should be showed and done in the house of so great a sinner. To whom mary the virgin appeared and said. O my friend Domynyk why dost thou marvel in such causes? Knowest thou not I am a friend to all sinners and that the meekness of god is in me? It was my will to show these visions to the of this my daughter that thou should preach them to the world/ for this intent that no christian person be their sins never so great should despair in any condition/ but alway trust in god and his mercy/ and namely they that will flee under my protection with this woman Katherine the holy virgin and martyr saint Katherine succoured her very moche which alway she loved and served with some prayer from her young age/ for the congruence of the name. More over the blessed mother of god said. O Domynyk thou hast seen these marvels. Here now and preach that I so holy and meek shall say. Show that I have purchased of my son to all such as saith my psalter and are of my fraternyte/ they shall have the same excellence which the said Katherine hath/ & though they can not see it in this world like wise as men can not see god/ his angels/ the devils neither their merits and virtues in this life. Also they can not see the virtue of a precious stone nor of the stars: therefore the knowledge of heavenly things must be moche ferther from them. Notwith standing they shall behold this excellence after their death. Therefore Domynyk be of good comfort/ preach my psalter and my fraternyte/ for unto all such as hath them I have purchased not only to see this excellence but also to have it eternally in possession. what should I say more. Saint Domynyck gave thanks to almighty god for his great mercy. And this Katherine made herself a recluse/ she distributed her goods to the poor people/ which afterward was of so great holiness that many very holy persons came unto her because of her godly revelations. To whom appeared our lord Ihesu. C. days & thirty before her departing out of this life showing the time of her death/ which afterward departed out of this life very holy. Three holy virgins one named johann/ an other Martha/ the third Lucya saw her soul depart from the body brighter than the son/ between the arms of her spouse christ. Her sepulture is in the church of saint Iohn lateranence. All christian people by this take heed of how great virtue the psalter of our lady is with the remembrance of Christ's passion/ it is alway in strength both in life and at the hour of death. Therefore let us praise and laud our lord Ihesu and mary his mother in their psalter/ to th'intent we may deserve to have the joys of heaven/ here by grace/ & after this life by glory.  
●Here endeth a devout meditation in saying devoutly the psalter of our lady with divers ensamples.   

imprinted at London in Fleetstreet at the sign of the son. By wynkind word. Anno domini. M. CCCCC. viii. the fourth day of February.