PHILOTHEAS' PILGRIMAGE TO PERFECTION. DESCRIBED IN A PRACTICE OF TEN DAY'S SOLITUDE, By Brother John of the Holy Cross, Friar Minour. IHS Emblem of the Society of Jesus (IHS with cross above and anchor below, surrounded by rays of the sun) BRUGES, Printed by Luke Kerchove. 1668. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AND MOST VIRTUOUS LADY, The Countess Dowager of Sussex. MADAM Divine things become Generous & Noble Spirits, who being the more refined Images of God, above the Vulgar, have by their noble descent à larger Capacity to great Matters, & by their most careful Education, à clearer Aptness to sublime thoughts & actions. Your Honour hath by the Excellent Conduct of your Life, given the world so ample à proof of your Eminent Perfections, befitting the Greatness of your Name, that None may reflect thereon, but must admire, both the fortunate disposition of your original Inclinations to piety, & the free blessings of a Gracious Providence, religiously managed by your own Virtuous care & Industry. For besides the Rare gifts of Nature & Fortune, which welcomed you into this Light, wherein few of our Nation exceed your Excelling Happiness. Your Honour's laborious discovery of truth in our Holy Church, from which your first years & growing Honour were extremely averse; & your zealous Love towards comfortable Solitude, & compliance with Christian Duties, since your being engrafted on the sacred stock of our ever-flourishing Christianity, wherein You are become Imitable by few of your Noble Birth & Qualities, discovers that swift penetration of your Judgement, that solidness of Virtue in your heart, which truly speak you Noble & Religious. Although this small handful of advices & helps to solitary Perfection, gleaned up by many years serious Meditation, in sweet Retirement, may already find a plenteous harvest in your own bosom, yet will I presume through your Honour's Encouragement, to lay them at the feet of your Excellent Virtues, that under the protection of your Honours acceptance, & strengthened by the greatness of your Name & perfections, My Philothea may become conspicuous to he world, & do that great work abroad, which is therein designed, by MADAM YOUR HONOURS Most devoted Servant BRO. JOHN CROSS. TO THE READER. CHRISTIAN READER, It is no new thing, to measure a friends Kindness by our own profits, & value that most, by which we reap greatest fruit. I could wish this principle, as well observed in the ordering our Spirits towards God & Virtue, as in using the good things of this Life, in order to worldly conversation; I might then hope, this small Treatise would find as kind à welcome from all well-willers to piety, as the worth of the subject may deserve. That whereof it treats, is Divine; & my whole aims are, to render the lover of solitude, Divine; bringing her home to God, whence she strayed by sin; that moderating passions, & planting Virtues, she may be cordially United to her Divine Espous, The Author of all perfection, & finisher of our best hopes, by obedience to his will now, & after by an endless communion with him in Heaven. As the state of Holy Religion: so its design is, to render its Professors, Lovers of Solitude; all duties there, by reason of those Divine thoughts, first conceived, & still conserved in those Divine Souls, aim to fix on God, by conferring with him of Heaven their home, & Virtue the way thither. Spiritual Retreats are not intended for them, whose whole life is à solitude; But for such, whose conversation with creatures, exposes to manifold distractions, apt to slacken Christian Zeal, since nature is too prone to cleave to the perishing things of this life; These should oft renew their Vows of Christianity, & endeavour to repair their tired out spirits, by stronger purposes of piety, which are best made in a retreat from their Usual Employments. How ever, even Religious persons, particularly, whose Obedience partakes more of the Solicitudes of Martha, than Mary's Solitude, should sometimes observe a more than ordinary Retirement; that reflecting on the Holiness of their Vocation, & the duties thereof, they may repair what's decayed of their first fervour, & secure their claim to heaven, aimed at by their Divine Choice. And indeed this great work is to all of that high concernment, that what ever account some lose spirits may make of it, it will one day, extremely justify the Children of Light & crown their Hopes. In My Preface to PHILOTHEA (an heaven-aspiring Soul whose conduct in her Pilgrimage to God, is here intended) I have at large discoursed on the Dignity, Profit, Aims & Use of spiritual Retreats; wherefor I need not further dilate myself on that subject; My Wishes are, it's practice may make Thee & all truly happy. Farewell. APPROBATIONS. LIbrum hunc Anglicè conscriptum à V Adm. P. Fr. Joanne à S. Cruse, S. Th. Lect. ac Conventus Fr: Minor. Anglo-Duacen: Vicario: cui titulus, Philothea's Pilgrimage to Perfection, etc. diligenter perlegi, nihilque in eo deprehendi fidei vel bonis moribus contrarium, sed omnia devotionem spirantia, & quae perigrinantes ad Beatitudinem Animas, in Itinere promovere poterunt. In cujus rei fidem subscripsi, Kalend: Septembr. Anno 1664. GEORGIUS LEYBURNUS, Sacr. Theol. Doct. & Coll. Anglo-Duacen. Praeses. MANDATUM ORDINIS. COmmendetur praelo, Tractatus V. Adm. F. joannis à S. Cruse, Confessarii Monialium nostrarum Brugensium etc. De Recessu Spirituali. Actum Londini in Congregatione Intermedia 15. Nou. 1666. Erat subscriptum Fr. THOMAS à S. ANNA, Secret. Prov. & Notar. Ap. Locus ✚ Sigilli. I Underwritten have diligently read over Philothea's Pilgrimage to Perfection etc. composed by the Rev. Father Bro: john of the Holy Cross, Reader of Divinity etc. wherein holy Solitude is highly commended; the prerogatives, motives & effects thereof are declared; Instructions & means for attaining it, with the duties of a solitary Soul, are prescribed; by which at length he conducts her to the highest Pitch of Solitude, contemplation & Union with God, possible in this life; in whom he leaves her firmly fixed by a perfect Resignation, Humility & Abnegation, & consequently perfect in a Solitary way. Seeing , that this Treatise tends to the instruction & consolation of such Souls, & to the advancement of that happy End, & more over containeth nothing contrary to the Canons of the Church, I judge that it may happily see light. Given in our English Convent of Friar Minours in Douai this 3. of May 1668. BRO. BERNARD ELSTON, Ord. FF. Min. S. Th. Doctor. APPROBATIO ORDINARII. LIber hic Anglicè conscriptus, & à Patribus Ordinis examinatus, de licentiâ ordinarii poterit imprimi. Actum hâc 8. Maii 1668. N. GERSEKEN, Archid. Brug. & Libr. Censor. THE TABLE of CONTENTS. THe Preface to Philothea, containing Instructions for Solitude. §. 1. Excellency of Holy Solitude. Pag. 1. §. 2. Preparation for Solitude. p. 6. §. 3. Abstraction from usual Cares. p. 9 §. 4. Choice of Place. p. 12. §. 5. Due time of Solitude. p. 14. §. 6. Posture of body. p. 24. §. 7 Subject of Solitary thoughts. p. 25. §. 8. A Method of Meditation. p. 28. §. 9 Choice of a Guide. p. 34. §. 10. Exercises in Solitude. p. 39 §. 11. Distribution of time. p. 42. A Practice of ten Days Solitude. J. Days Voyage. Inducements to Solitude. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Dignity of Solitude. p. 49. 2. point. Innocency of Solitude. p. 53. 3. point. Necessity of Solitude. p. 56. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. God's Favours to us. p. 60. 2. Discourse. Our Returns to God. p. 64. II. Days Voyage. Entertainments in Solitude. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Humility & Austerity. p. 68 2. point. Patience & Obedience. p. 72. 3. point. Charity & Perfection. p. 76. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Love of Solitary places. p. 80. 2. Discourse. Exercises in Solitude. p. 84. III. Days Voyage. Man in his sinful State. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Vileness of the body by Nature. p. 90. 2. point. Wretchedness of the Soul by sin. p. 94. 3. point. Ignorance of our future state. p. 98. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Our weakness to Good. p. 102. 2. Discourse. Our proneness to Evil. p. 106. IV. Days Voyage. Man repaired by jesus Christ. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Institution of the Holy Sacrament. p. 111. 2. point. Fruits of the H. Sacrament. p. 116. 3. point. Intention in Communion. p. 119. An Oblation before Communion. p. 122. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Preparation to the Holy Sacrament. p. 122. Advises for a general Confession. p. 124. Philotheas' Covenant with God. p. 125. 2. Discourse. Behaviour in receiving the Holy Sacrament. p. 126. V Days Voyage. Mortification of Sensuality. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Mortification of the Senses. p. 130. 2. point. Mortification of the Passions. p. 134. 3. point. Mortification, the property of a Christian. p. 136. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Damages incurred by Immortification. p. 140. 2. Discourse. Necessity & Use of Mortification. p. 144. VI Days Voyage. Flight of the Soul to God. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Flight from Creatures. p. 150. 2. point. Flight from ourselves. p. 153. 3. point. Flight from spiritual Comforts. p. 156. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Vanity of Creatures. p. 158. 2. Discourse. Spiritual Indifferency. p. 161. VII. Days Voyage. Tranquillity of Spirit. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Life of the Spirit. p. 165. 2. point. Mental Recollection. p. 168. 3. point. Union of the Spirit with God. p. 172 The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Love's Trial. p. 176. 2. Discourse. Love's Entertainments. p. 179. VIII. Days Voyage. God Speaking to the Soul. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Hearken to God. p. 184. 2. point. God speaks by Visible Creatures. p. 188. 3. point. God speaks by Man. p. 192. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. God speaks by his Son Incarnate. p. 197. 2. Discourse. God reveals himself. p. 201. IX. Days Voyage. Repose of the Soul in God. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. The Soul hidden in God. p. 204. 2. point. Search of God in God. p. 208. 3. point. The Souls repose in God. p. 212. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Love's Ascents. p. 216. 2. Discourse. Love's Descents. p. 219. X. Days Voyage. Highest Christian Perfection. The Morning Exercise. 1. Point. Union with Christ suffering. p. 226. 2. point. Expropriation of Friends. p. 233. 3. point. Self-denial. p. 239. The Evening Exercise. 1. Discourse. Spiritual Desolation. p. 244. 2. Discourse. Philotheas' Choice. p. 248. Meditations upon the Passion, for every day of the week. p. 252. PHILOTHEA INVITED TO BEGIN HER PILGRIMAGE. TAke Leave Philothea, bid thy Friends depart, Let nothing earthly now come near thy heart: Whilst thou retyrest, sighing all alone, Recounting all the ills which thou hast done: This is God's way, to hear his Voice in Thee, And search thy heart in inward privacy; Which filled with thoughts of heav'n-aspiring joys, And lodged in shades exempt from vulgar noise, Winged with chaste desires & sacred vows, Upwards doth mount to meet her heavenly Spous; And hear Love's whispers, charming up above, To fix herself i'th' centre of her Love: From whose Embraces, may she not departed, But grasp that heavenly armful near her heart. No Gem, no hidden treasure like to this, 'Tis heavens delight, alone, Man's Crown & Bliss. O blessed days! O purely sweet content! Whilst thus in Paradise thy time is spent. Oh may such thoughts thy spirit always move! Thus mayst thou ever live to be in love. 'Tis Heaven on Earth, thus sweetly to discover Heavn'ns' joys on Earth, & have thy God thy Lover. RICH: BULSTRODE, Interior: Templ. Lond: Armig. PHILOTHEA'S PILGRIMAGE TO PERFECTION. The Preface to PHILOTHEA, Containing Instructions for Solitude. §. 1. Excellency of Holy Solitude. SInce thou art in good earnest resolved, MY PHILOTHEA, to begin thy Pilgrimage to Perfection by entering holy Solitude, therein for a while, to confer with the beloved of thy soul, touching the present & future state thereof, how thou standest affected to Piety, & how thou mayst better thyself in thy progress towards heaven, by cleansing thy heart entirely from those stains & blemishes which are incident to corrupt & frail Nature, & by strengthening it with pious considerations, inflamed affections, & efficacious resolutions, to the redeeming of lost time & reforming such errors & evil inclinations, as are insensibly crept into thy soul; I cannot more fitly address myself to thee, then with the hearty well-wishes of holy Toby to his Son: Walk well, God be in thy way, & his holy Angel accompany Thee. Nor may we doubt, but that the same Divine Clemency which hath inspired Thee, with a will to undertake this Holy Voyage, will enable Thee with his blessings, & make Thee so to prosper & profit thyself in the pursuance of this blessed design, that it will be unto the eternal honour of the Divine Majesty, & an ample increase of Piety, & spiritual comfort in thy own soul. If any employment be heavenly upon Earth, & doth consequently belong to the duty of a good & upright Christian, it is the serious practice of retired solitude; by which the soul doth unspeakably promote herself towards the end of her creation; which is, to know God, & to love him above all things created. In Solitude we ransack our hearts, we discover our secret enemies there lurking in our breasts, & strongly armed grapple with them, expel them, & prevent their reentrance into our souls. By it, we dissable ill customs, settle ourselves to an eager use of means to do well, & fit our minds to all good duties, & against all cross events. By it we descry our natural weakness to virtue, obtain redress, prevent temptations, cheer up our hearts, feeble & tired out with temptations & adversities, temper our use of creatures, gain more light to our knowledge, more heat to our affections, more life to our devotions, more vigour & courage in our callings, & thereby we become strangers to the earth, by a just estimate of earthly things, which are transitory & vain, & enter into a sweet fruition of invisible comforts. We therein contemplate JESUS CHRIST, at the right hand of the Father, with Saint Steven; we discourse with Almighty God in his glory, with Holy Moses; & with the Great Saint Paul, ravished into the heavenly Paradise, we hear & see, what we are loath to leave, & cannot utter. Lastly, holy Solitude is the securest Remedy against worldly desires; it is the pastime of Saints, the ladder of heaven, & the best means to perfect a good Christian soul, without which it cannot experience true joy & rest, during her abode in this smoky Cottage of her Mortality. Although all virtuous Exercises, which occur in the course of our tedious lives, do aim at the profit of our souls, in order to the purchasing of life eternal; yet none comes nearer to this happy purpose, than the diligent use of holy Solitude, whereby our spirit is strongly weaned from the love of perishing & transitory things, & soareth up to the contemplation & love of her Almighty Creator, before whom, in silence & hope, she humbly discovers her wants & earnest desires, embraceth him with the arms of an innocent & reverential love, & in a manner entereth into the possession of the sweets of a never ending felicity, amidst the heavy press of worldy trials. If therefore my Philothea, thou dost earnestly thirst after the delights of a spiritual Retreat, thou must seriously apply thyself to the use of it. For howsoever strong thou findest thyself in resisting temptations, & in the practice of virtues without a retirement of thy spirit, yet will the greatest fervour soon slacken, & become faint, without the supply of Recollection, by reason that our enemies are many, powerful & restless; & virtue, how ever pleasant in the possession, is hard in the purchase, & our strongest resolutions, not supported, both by frequent reflection upon our souls, & those impediments that do often occur in our pursuit of Piety, & by renovation of purposes unto that our happy end, will by insensible degrees, become weak & tepid. But before thou undertakest this work of ten day's Solitude, unto which I advise, & study to direct Thee; read attentively these few Rules, which I here insert, collected out of several great Contemplatives; whose experience in the school of holy Solitude, may give them authority for thy instruction. And indeed, without them a soul may miscarry, which would be great pity, even in this holy & excelling work; & suffer illusions, where it endeavours, to shun & decline them. §. 2. Preparation for Solitude. WHerefore in the first place, be sure that entering into this holy Exercise, God's honour be thy chief Aim; the next, a reformation of thy own life, by a serious & deliberate reflection on thy past & present state, & what may happen for the future; that thou mayst thereby prepare thyself to live well & die happily, & that Death, when it comes, may not find Thee unprovided. Nor do thou much heed what the world may think of thy retirement, Thou undertakest the employment of an Angel, & desirest to have a foretaste of that blessedness, which JESUS CHRIST hath purchased for us, by the effusion of his precious blood; Blush not then, that thou beginnest now to be, what thou shouldst be always, but rather that thou hast hitherto neglected a work, wherein much of thy life ought to be employed. And because this Mountain of Solitude ought not to be climbed with a profane & ungodly foot, but as in the delivery of the Law, so here, no beast may touch God's Hill, lest he dies, the sight of God being only promised to the pure of heart; the soul must therefore be well cleansed by humble Confession, from the dregs of sin, before she may profitably approach to this exercise, which beholds only objects that are pure & spiritual. Thus the Royal Prophet would first wash his hands in innocency, & then compass the Altar. Make then a strict examine of thy conscience, what sin may have been committed by thee? what grace forfeited? what punishment deserved? & after this, in the evening before thou interest thy Solitude, make an humble & cordial Confession, of what thou findest thyself faulty, since thy last examine. For since thy understanding is not yet enough cleared, nor thy affections sufficiently inflamed, for a General Confession, I should advise Thee to defer it till the Fourth Day, where I shall say more of the profit thereof, & how it is to be performed. This done, trouble not thyself, if thou findsed in thy soul some ill inclinations yet living there; this exercise requireth not absolute perfection, but is a means to attain to it; Were we all Saints, there would be no need to use the Solitude I speak of; Content thyself, that thou art not conscious of any mortal offence which thou hast not disclosed, with an humble repentance for what is past, & a firm purpose to amend, endeavouring still an honest sincerity & uprightness of heart towards God. Who finds himself in this disposition, let him not think, that either weakness to Virtue, or proneness to vice, may be a lawful bar to Recollection, whereby our viciousness is weakened, & Virtue revived in us; no man will starve himself with hunger, because he eats not with a strong appetite. §. 3. Abstraction from usual cares. IN the next place, Philothea thou must disentangle thyself from worldly affairs; If thou wilt approach to God's flaming bush, upon the Mountain of Visions, thou must put of thy shoes; where our thoughts are glued to the world, the soul will be unable to soar up with wings so limed & entangled, unto a contemplation of heavenly things. For this, Elizeus left his oxen, S. Peter his boat, nets, & friends too. The hill of Divine Meditation is high & steep, & not to be ascended with a heart loaden with worldly cares & sollicitudes. Nor yet needest thou, what ever thy charge be, public or private, secular or religious, cast it wholly off; lay it by a while, during thy spiritual retreat▪ in some other hand, whilst thou drawest there, more force & strength, for the mannagement thereof. If thou lettest those cares enter in with thee, they will become troublesome companions, ever & anon distracting thy mind from her chief business. And in this point, solitude admits no smallness of matter, if thou givest place to one thought, which is not to thy purpose, hundreds will throng in with it, each will prove an impediment to the other, & all of them will trouble & divert the soul, which entertains them, in this her Divine work. Wherefore be scrupulous in the observance of this advice; Experience will teach Thee, that distractions go not single; admit one, & in a moment, thou wilt forget where thou art, & what thou art about. And as thou must discharge thyself of thy ordinary employments, when thou attemptest this great work, withdrawing, not thy hands only, but even thy thoughts from them: so also must thou observe a more strict & profound silence, not entering into a conference (more than the Rules of obedience & well grounded charity will permit) with any one, but, with thy spiritual Director; nor with him, of any thing which hath not a straight reference to the work in hand. Say rather with young Samuel, Speak thou o Lord for thy Servant heareth Thee; By opening, the sweetest balsams lose their odour, & by too much noys, we deprive ourselves of hearing what the Holy Spirit would speak in our soul. If therefore thou desirest heartyly to hear the speeches of peace, which God speaketh to the soul, which he hath led into Solitude, stop thy Ears to all discourses of others, & put â bar to thy own lips. For much speech is not void of sin, & where sin is, God's holy wisdom can make no abode. No noise was heard, whilst salomon's Temple was building, & a greater than Solomon is here. §. 4. Choice of Place. Solitariness of place helpeth much to the observance of silence requisite. Retire from all others, if thou wilt discourse profitably with thyself. Our Blessed Saviour meditates alone on the Mountain, holy Isaac in the field, & Saint john Baptist in the desert. Though God be in all places, as good to us, & as near in one as in the other, yet is a Cell or Closet the most convenient for this great work, where our meditations confined by known walls, keep the mind from wand'ring abroad; wherefore a great Contemplative was wont to say, The Spouse of the soul is bashful, & cometh not willingly to the Bride, in the presence of a multitude. Abandon therefore, my Philothea, all worldly society, & change it happily into the company of God, & his blessed Angels. Abandon I say, all conversation with the world, not outwardly only, but also inwardly, least sequestering from the world in outward show, we carry it within us in our own bosoms. I know this counsel is of great perfection, not easily attained, for these thin species of things, insinuated into our minds from outward objects, will appear some times to us in our very Cells, & private Closets, even against our best endeavours, S. Hierome in the deserts, had not his thoughts always free, from the masks, & dances, of the Roman Matrons. And truly, this inward society, is worse than the other. For it is more possible for a free Contemplative, to have a retired mind in the midst of a market, then pestered thus with inward company, to be alone in the midst of a wilderness. Make choice therefore of that place, which admitteth fewest occasions, of withdrawing thy heart from her own good thoughts. In my opinion, we cannot expect to find God nearer to us, then in that place where we have been accustomed, more familiarly to meet him; because our thoughts are by custom more easily recollected, where we have used ourselves, in our former Recollections, to converse with him. §. 5. Due time for Solitude. THe heart, now free from noise & distractions, must be constant in continuing this holy work, once begun, according to the course prescribed for it. Those who meditate by uncertain fits & snatches, only when other employments forsake them, or when good motions are thrust upon them, by necessity of example, or duty to Constitutions, cannot hope, in that their state of coldness, to climb high upon this ladder of perfection. For although they may have some feeble beginnings of spiritual notions, & gracious Affections in the will, yet being the Issue of one fit of Meditation, at random & unsettled, they are displaced & weakened at the first occurrence of a new employment. Wherefore having chosen a fit time for the practice of solitude, be serious in keeping it; yield to no occasion, withdrawing Thee from it. The beginning will be hard, but use will render it easy & delightful. The same constancy, which requires Thee, to make choice of a proper time for Recollection, requireth also, that thou dwellest upon the matter, chosen or appointed Thee, without change or tediousness, till it hath attained some joyful issue of spiritual profit. Otherwise, my Philothea, thou wilt attempt much, & effect little, through thy own fickleness & inconstancy; He deceiveth himself who thinketh Grace to be easily won. We must use much suit & importunity, before Christ will bestow his bread upon us; which is of that worth, that it may not be bestowed on any fickle petitioner. Even we ourselves, generally speaking, set little by that which is easily gained, without labour, perils, importunity or resolution. Thus much, for choice of time, & dwelling upon the matter, in general; whereof though both of them, require an unbroken constancy, yet not any perpetuity of either, through the whole course of our life. Our frail nature, & ordinary Duties, would not bear with such a fixed stability. It is for glorified spirits above, to be ever fixed on God, issueing flames of Love, towards so sovereign a beauty. These poor things under the Moon, must have a change & variety; our vital spirits, which the immortal mind uses, for her instruments, are of a strange kind of mettle; if not used at all, they rust; if too much, break, or at least grow dull & stupid; Truth is, the chief object of our Solitude is so excellent, so glorious, that like the Sun, look upon it we may, but not gaze thereon. We have known sad experience of some, who venturing too far & hastily, have failed & weakened then selves, to little fruit. Holy thoughts & affections are the food of the eternal Mind, yet since it works not in this our present state, without the fancy, her handmaid, she must needs flag, when fancy, her support, is tired out, with too permanent & intense speculation, without variety of object. Let it suffice thee Philothea, to persever in thy Meditation, so long as God's grace shall enable thee, without affectation of perpetuity, which is not granted us. And when thy spirits begin to blunt, leave off, without fear of fickleness; one half hour at a time, is a competent measure for a weak beginner. As God increaseth thy devotion, he will inspire force, for longer continuance. But by no means pass thy prescribed time, without special advice, otherwise thou mayst chance to spoil a good enterprise, & A moderate undertaking, with an anguishing conclusion, & hurt thyself. Wherefore let me advise Thee, not to be too eager in this good work; Conserve always a calm peace in thy spirit, for since this work depends more on the help of heaven, than our natural industry, shouldst thou turmoil thy Imagination, with too earnest disquisition in the beginning, unresigned to the time of heavenly assistance, thou wilt unhappily disable thy self, for further aspirations. Man is not always, in a like disposition; sometimes he is longer in settling, through some unquietness of fancy, or more obstinate distraction; sometimes heavier in the perseverance, then in the first entry, sometimes more nimble & active to dispatch. How ever thou findest thyself, in the beginning or continuance, persist gently, & thou wilt have victory. Other combats are on doubtful hopes, this on assurance; for the success depends on God's promise, which cannot disappoint thee, if thou fail not in thy pursuance; persist then, & thou wilt prevail; that which was begun with languishing remisseness & difficulty, shall end in joy & comfort. One day's meal, however large & liberal, strengthens not for to morrow. The body languisheth, if there be not a supply of food; Thou must therefore feed thy soul, by daily Meditation. The most serious affections are extinguished, by intermission, & by disuse do perish. Let not therefore any one day pass, without a competent time, spent therein; break through all lets, except those of obedience & Charity; & when these shall have hindered thee, repay thyself afterwards, the time borrowed, & recompense thy loss with a doubled labour; for be assured, that too much neglect breeds unaptness to good. Thus much for thy daily Recollection, & for the time chosen or appointed thee; of which, hereafter I shall prescribe á fit Method. But as for the Ten day's exercise, which I intent specially to recommend unto Thee; I advise the use of it, only once a year; no less, no more. Our Nature is so feeble to good, so propense to evil, that unless we once a year, set a special time a part, wherein to look into ourselves, after a more serious manner, & prune ill Customs & inclinations budding in us, these will grow so strong, that they will in time choke & kill our little plants of piety. The best clock will be out of order, unless taken in pieces, & cleansed once a year. There is not any so good a Nature but may be corrupted by irregular affections, insensibly creeping upon us, which if not timely rectified, by a careful industry, will gain the upper hand, & become a second Nature. Yet however necessary, a yearly more serious inspection & survey of our lives, & conversations may be, to do it too oft in one year would render a Mind perplexed & anxiously scrupulous; which are distempers, incopatible with comfortable Solitude, that requires a generous freedom of the soul. Wherefore let thy daily Meditation suffice the rest of the year, for the correction of errors & misdemeanours, that creep upon us, in this frail course of mortal life. As for the time of the year, when this special Exercise is to be performed; 'tis hard to prescribe one general Rule for all. Neither can a whole family or community, together, lay aside, at any one prescribed season, all their other duties, but while Mary meditates, Martha must look to household affairs. Can it be had, there is no time fit than Lent and Easter, when the weather is temperate, the body refreshed anew, by the Sun's approach, & Mysteries then represented, do strongly call upon us, for amendment of life; if we do intent them to partake in the benefits of Christ's Passion, & Resurrection. It is a sign, of a dead & frozen soul, not to have an impulse to Virtue, & a horror of sin, when God himself becomes à Propitiation for us, by shedding his most precious Blood upon the Altar of the Cross, for our Redemption. That is generally speaking, the best time, when we desire to be best disposed to piety; for thus have all Christians ever had some particular devotion, on one or other particular solemnity, which suited best with their mind. And some are very devout on the day of their Patron, another on that day which had been blest with some special good accident to themselves or others, as their Regeneration to Christ by holy Baptism, their Initiation in Orders, their Profession in Religion, or Delivery by God's providence, from some great evil. The memory of former good sentiments, are apt, at the recours of the season, to renew them; & reiteration, breeds stronger Inclinations, to the like again. Choose then Ten days before that select time, therein to entertain thyself in thy happy solitude; & so behave thy self therein, that that day may be a day of peace & Jubily of spirit to thee, that thou mayst issue thence, as a sun forth a Cloud, with a cheerful alacrity & liveliness, witnessing the inward harmony of thy soul. It will then appear, that thy retreat was through a religious zeal of Perfection, not of a pensive scruple or dull custom; such a good Day will be a forcing motive to thyself, to bless thy sovereign Creator, for that foretaste of the joys of Paradise, amidst the cumbersome cares which are incident to Mortality, & to which every one more or less stands subject; & edify others also, to the like felicity. Yet neither are these Ten Days of special solitude, so to be spent, that the spirit should unchangably be bend upon Contemplation, even for that space; Our soul must be refreshed with some variety, it will otherwise grow weary, & our thoughts remiss, & affections feeble, the time thereby seeming long to us, & the object tedious; but these divertisements must be short, & tending, at least a far of, to the great design of piety in hand. One time of the day cannot be prescribed to all, no more than one time of the year; for neither is God's grace showered down at particular times, nor do the various & contrary dispositions of all persons, agree in the choice of opportunities. The Royal Prophet says, that In the evening, morning, & midday, he spoke to God, to redeem his soul, in peace; in my judgement, six, ten & five, would be fit hours for secular persons; Religious, who rise at midnight, must observe an other Distribution, whereof in its due place; so David says, that He meditated upon God at the time of Matins; all things being then still, the soul by the obscurity of night being recollected from the fancy of other objects, & the body some what released from the weariness of the past day's cares, the mind will then easilyer grow into a liking & love of heavenly things. Neither is the morning less fit for this heavenly service, for then the body newly raised, is fully calmed with its late rest; nor has the soul, as yet, had any motives of distractions from outward Creatures; wherefore the holy Prophet said, that his soul thirsted after God, from the morning watch. Neither is Isaac's time unfit for this work, in the Evening he went forth to meditate in the field, when the fumes of the middayes' refection being dispersed, the soul might easily fasten upon divine objects; if thou intendest to reap a grounded & permanent benefit from thy holy retreat, be sure that, first thou make choice of the fittest hours for that purpose, then carefully set those hours a part, from all other employments; for change breeds unsettledness, & this an unreasonable doubt, what time should be aptest; when thy thoughts should be fixed on higher objects. § 6. Posture of Body. THou must also Philothea, observe a due Gesture of thy body; for although God be a spirit, & therefore needs not so much the posture of the body, as of the soul, so it be reverend & respectful; yet doth the due composition of the body much advantage the mind, in the practice of holy Meditation. In this, Experience will be every ones best Counsellor. If place permits no other, Isaac's posture, to meditate walking, is very good; But kneeling, with hands crossed on the breast, the eyes shut, & face towards heaven, & sometimes prostrate on the ground, is a posture more genuine & natural. How ever it be, be sure the frame of thy body testify profound reverence towards God, & help to raise thy thoughts & affections thitherward. Our devotions will be most kindly, when the composure of the body, which is the souls instrument, is most humble & respectful; & this also must needs be sometimes varied, according to the subject of thy Contemplation. §. 7. Subject of Solitary thoughts. Now for the subject & matter whereon thou art to feed, during this holy Solitude, thou must use great circumspection, I doubt not, Philothea, there be many Contemplatives, but not all good ones; One meditates how to do his Neighbour a mischief, another how to sin unseen; & these are those, who (as David says) Do meditate Iniquity in their beds. Others are buisy, in the search of the hidden causes of visible effects; & so, seeking to be acquainted with the whole world, become strangers to their own home; & whilst they seek to know others, are quite unknown to themselves. Do you therefore choose to meditate, on that may do thee good; The God that made us, the vileness of our body by Nature, the wretchedness of our soul by sin; the abundance of temptations, the danger of sudden death, the beauty of Virtue, JESUS CHRIST who bought us, the joys of Heaven he purchased for us; the mysteries of his life, Death & Resurrection, the benefit of the Sacraments, our vocation to Christianity, the pains of Hell, the glorious estate of the Blessed, & such like, are fit objects, I should think, to entertain thy self there in. Earthly things proffer themselves, on their own accord, with importunity, but if they were any thing worth, they would not be so forward. Heavenly things must be sued unto, with eagerness; their hardness to be obtained, argues their worth, & the necessity of serious meditation, thereby to solicit them. The harder they are to prosecute, the more precious they are being obtained, & therefore the more worthy our Endeavour. While the soul is taken up with the thought of God & Godliness, it cannot miscarry. Yet I advise thee to be cautious in matters of faith, where more of belief & admiration is to be used, then of reason & discourse. And that matter without exception is best herein, which works compunction in the heart, most stirs up to devotion, & incites strongly to the love of God, as the End, & to Virtue as the means to him, wherein experience will be a great mistress. §. 8. A Method of Meditation. IT remains now, that I say something of the form & Method, which thou art to observe in dividing thy Meditation, & in handling the parts & points thereof. But this hath much variety amongst Contemplatives, & each way is useful & laudable, as it is fitted to persons that use it; For since there be different mansions in God's glory, no wonder there should be different means to purchase them, according to the variety of each one's disposition; All are not equally, either worldly, or Contemplative; so neither equally disposed for the like Illuminations, nor capable of pursueing the same heads or points of Meditation. S. Bonaventures Method, usually practised amongst us, & liked of by the best, is brief, easy, well ordered, & much helps the Memory, a faculty which hath great influence in this blessed work. According to this, Meditation or mental prayer is divided into three parts, which are, Preparation, Meditation (which being the chief part, retains the general name) & Conclusion. Preparation maketh way for Meditation; Meditation ruminates upon the matter, & giveth strength & life to our Recollection; Conclusion closeth up the whole Exercise. Preparation first places us in the presence of God, with whom we are to make our special conference, to our advancement & comfort, with all fear & reverence. Then secondly it chooseth the Mystery or subject, whereon we intent as present to settle our thoughts. Thirdly it implores help from Heaven, whereby our weakness may be sustained in this heavenly work, & enabled resolutely to go through with it. And truly, sigh the ancient Heathens never attempted any notable business, without a solemn apprecation of good success, a Christian or Religious soul should not presume to undertake a spiritual work, of such importance as this is, without first craving aid from heaven, wherein we are unable to do well, without God's assistance. We must therefore beg earnestly that the progress of our Meditation may be guided & blessed by him, & that he would banish all distractions, enlighten our understanding, quicken our judgement, rectify our will, whet our affections to heavenly things, kindle our devotion, & so enlarge our hearts towards himself, that we may find our Imperfections abated, virtue strengthened, & our soul every way bettered, by our Solitude. Meditation hath also three parts; Consideration ponders seriously the subject we have chosen, thereby to stir up our Affections to God & goodness, & thereon to ground our ensueing Resolutions. But care must be taken, that the mind be not wracked, by a too vehement inquiry; for this will tyre out the fancy, & interrupt the chief work. It will suffice, to take the most pregnant & obvious. Let these Considerations be but three at the most; And if thy soul finds sufficient satisfaction, light & fruit in the first of them, dwell there without going further, & give way to the Holy Ghost, to work his will in thee. But if thou findest not there the expected success, pass quietly on to another; but besure to go on sweetly & easily, in thy search, without tiring thyself too much; thou wilt find little pleasure in the Kernel, if thou breakest thy teeth with the shell. Affection succeedeth, where to if our Considerations reach not, they will prove vain, or to little purpose. For this is the soul of Meditation, to which the former parts serve only as instruments. As we are reasonable Creatures by our reason & discourse, so are we Christians & Religious, by our good will & affections, towards heavenly things. Wherefore the former labour of the mind, being undertaken to move the Affective part of the soul, after the understanding hath traversed the point proposed, the will must endeavour, by applying herself thereto with all earnestness, to find some feeling relish in it; which fruit, through God's blessing, will follow a deliberate Consideration of some moving object. And in these Affections, we must permit our soul to spread & dilate, as much as possible; if thou findest thy heart, to pant & swell, with abundant sweetness, ease it by some gentle Aspirations, & amorous sighs, as God shall then inspire Thee. The last is Resolution, wherein, the soul bewailing her poverty, dulness & imperfections, which may happily appear then in her, humbles herself, in regard of her wants & backwardness to Virtue, & descends to particular good purposes, for her correction & amendment, according to the special defects, which she hath discovered in herself. By this means, Philothea, thou wilt soon correct errors & evil customs, which by general Affections & barren desires, are seldom, or very slowly reform. Conclusion must be performed leisurely, & with profound humility, lest by an overmuch complacence in our good feelings & motions, which it pleased God to work in our souls, we lose the benefit & continuation of them, & by too sudden breaking off, we may show ourselves careless of the fruit, which we have sought with so great labour. First then, we must give thanks for those Illuminations, Affections & Resolutions, which God has through his goodness bestowed upon us, during our Meditation. For since a Man naturally cannot be miserable & in poverty, but he must complain & crave succour: so neither can a good heart & grateful soul, find itself in a happy & peaceful condition without thankfulness for it. And this thankfulness gayns an increase of tranquillity. Next follows Oblation, wherein the soul recommends herself, & all her Affections & Resolutions, to the Protection of God's holy grace; cheerfully giving up herself to him, submitting to him, & wholly reposing upon the goodness & mercies of JESUS CHRIST; desiring in all things to glorify him, & to walk worthy of his gracious calling. The last is Petition, by which we earnestly beg, that Almighty God would furnish us, with his grace & heavenly blessings, whereby we may be enabled, faithfully to put in execution the good purposes made by us. And here we must take heed, we compliment not with God, begging help, without an efficacious will to make use of it. For God knoweth our hearts, & will not be mocked with fashionable suits, but requireth holy & feeling requests, which will appear in the execution of what we have resolved. This form of Meditation, being heartyly used, will prove (I hope) very beneficial; so that the soul which at the entrance of her Solitude, did but creep upon the Earth, will in the end, soar aloft in Heaven, & find herself near that glorious God, before almost out of sight, transforming her into himself. §. 9 Choice of a Guide. BUt because every one is apt to flatter himself, & judge partially in what concerns his own state & condition, & consequently is unfit to judge of his own advancement & failings, in his Pilgrimage to Perfection; it is very expedient, Philothea, that besides the Instructions already given Thee, thou dost make choice of a Director, or Spiritual Guide, who may safely lead thee through thy Solitude. For although the way be plain & easy, yet is it not void of by-paths, which without the advice of a sufficient Guide, thou wilt not be able to discern; & consequently thou art in great danger to go astray, & fall into ambushes of temptations & perplexities of mind, which may expose thee to danger. One reason, why many, even good persons, make not that progress in Virtue which their calling aims at, or which themselves have proposed, is an overmuch confidence in their own judgement, whereby their Eyes employed in others imperfections, are dim-sighted in their own; by this conceit they make themselves, as unfit to be guided by others, as unsufficient to guide themselves. Wherefore, my Philothea, if thou desirest in earnest to enter holy Solitude, & learn to tread the paths of perfection, thou must have some kind of suspicion of thy own Wisdom, which hath so frequently misledd Thee; & with a prompt & humble Obedience, submit thyself to be governed, & directed by an other. For A faithful friend is a strong protection, says the Wise man, He is a Medicine of life & Immortality, if thou fearest God, thou shall find him. This hath beme the general practice of all the Saints, who had never so happily discovered their own Errors or the will of God for the reforming them, had they not attended to a spiritual Guide; Woe be to him that is alone, says Solomon, because, when he falleth he hath none to raise him up. True it is, such a faith full Guide is hard to be found. Wherefor choose one, saith Avila, amongst a thousand, nay one amongst ten thousand saith S. Francis of Sales: for few are capable of this sublime charge. Such an one, must be full of Knowledge, who is to discern the hidden paths, through which the Holy Ghost leads a Child of God, from the wiles & Paths of Satan, transformed sometimes into an Angel of Light. He must be also full of Charity, that he may bear with the imperfections of the Soul, whom he undertakes to guide. And lastly he must be full of Discretion, that according to the various tempers of his spiritual Children, he may know when, & what remedies to apply, whereby to provoke them, to a more eager pursuit of Perfection, & to a flight from the many Impediments, which disable, in a solitary & virtuous life; & which is above all, he must not so much desire to gain upon their good esteem, as to make a faithful use of good Counsels, whereby he may advantage them in the fear & love of their Sovereign Creator; If any of these three Qualities be wanting, his conduct may be unsafe: Wherefore earnestly beg him of God, & doubt not, but he will rather send thee an Angel from Heaven, to direct thee, then let thee fail. Having now obtained such a Guide, bless God for his mercies towards thee, remain constant, & seek no other. But go forward with him, humbly, innocently, & with confidence, esteeming him, as if he were an Angel of God indeed; & during thy holy retreat, have conference with him, at least once a day; disclose to him those lights, those affections & resolutions, which God hath raised in Thee, with the spiritual feelings, thou hast either of thy own infirmities, or God's presence. Let him have a full insight of thy inclinations & passions, & conceal not any notable motion of thy soul from him, but lay thy whole heart open before him, as freely & cheerfully, as if thou wert them to give an account to God, at the great day. So doing, be assured, that he who hath promised, to resist the proud, & give his graces to the meek & humble of heart, will by his means more abundantly enlighten thy understanding, inflame thy will, & securely lead thee through all difficulties, to rest & peace. If we do not become as little ones by a sincere simplicity, humility & obedience, to him who is to give an account for our souls, where can these virtues appear? §. 10. Exercises in Solitude. HAving spoken of the duty of a Solitary soul, to her spiritual Guide, & of her dependence on his lips, for such counsels & directions, as may be expedient, during her retreat, I need not add much concerning the use of Vocal Prayer, Reading of spiritual books, corporal Mortifications, & manual Labours; of all which, the Prudence so the Director can best judge, according to the different qualities & humours of the Persons he deals with; wherein, one general rule cannot be fitted for all; However, thus in brief. Since variety facilitates the use of that, which would otherwise prove irksome, it were not amiss, every day (besides thy Usual Recollection) to recite such Vocal Prayers, as (besides the Office of obligation) we are accustomed to say. But let them be few, & said attentively; & at such times, as thou findest thy spirit unfit, to work on thy prescribed Considerations. Aspirations are as flames darted forth the furnace of a burning soul. If thou findest thy heart forcibly inclined to them, keep them not in. If these offer not themselves, let thy spirit speak with God silently, by heaving its self up towards heavenly things; And if these fail too, be contented to say such Vocal prayers, as the Church useth, till it pleaseth God, that the Mist falls, & thy Understanding receiveth new strength & clearness. Reading helps invention, & administers matter to the affective part, it matters not how little it be, so it be well digested, & rightly applied, to raise up affections. I should advise thee to be sparing herein, lest diversity of matters distract thee, from attending to the points of that day's Exercise, which thou must carefully peruse, before the time of Recollection, that the mind may not want a fit subject to discourse on. Thou mayest, before or after dinner, read the life of the Saint of that Day, or any other, as thy Director shall judge expedient; but if thou wilt follow my advice, content thyself with reading thy daily Meditations, frequently over; Experience will teach, that to be more profitable, to thy design in hand. As for corporal Austerities, if moderate, they strengthen the spirit, by weakening the flesh; & are a means to raise the soul, to the thought of heavenly things. One meal a day, is abundantly enough: If thou be'st Religious, eat in God's name, what is set before thee, without scruple; & bless God, that for thy humiliation, he makes thee descend, from Contemplation of his Glory, to the use of corporal sustenance. The more sparing thy evening meal is, thy sleep will be the sweeter, & thyself apt for thy night watch; Yet herein stand scrupulously to the advice of thy Superiors & spiritual Guide; as also, for the use of Haircloth, Disciplines, & sueh like humiliations. Manual labours must not be assumed indifferently, but with advice & direction; By all means fly such, as require conference with others, or tire out the body, & distract the mind. Moderate walking after meals, helps to a more intense recollection, yet let it be, as much out of sight of others, as may be, that the soul may have her full freedom, to launch herself forth, by holy aspirations, upon occurring objects, as God shall inspire thee. §. 11. Distribution of Time. I Will conclude with a distribution of time, which ought carefully, to be observed, during our spiritual retirement, after the manner here prescribed, unless thy Director appoint another, more conformable to thy calling & abilities, or as he shall find thee disposed for this great work. Wherefor, Philothea, the happy evening being now come, when thou intendest to bid adieu to worldly thoughts, & confine thyself, for the following Ten days, to thy private Cell or Closet, to ruminate upon the days of Eternity, in a holy & peaceable Solitude, quit thyself of thy ordinary Employments, that thou mayst the more freely attend to this thy great affair; purge thy soul by an entire confession, of what thou findest offensive in thee; & having attentively read over the first point of the next day's Meditation, take thyself to thy rest. At the first sign of the Caller, to Midnight Office, signing thyself, arise, & in thy clothing, say Miserere: or De profundis: for living or dead friends. Then go silently to the choir, & prepare thy heart, cheerfully to say, or hear the Divine Office. That ended, keep thy Meditation upon the first point of that morning's Exercise, according to the rules above prescribed. (For Preparation & Conclusion, may serve for Meditation, upon any subject whatsoever.) Then having ended thy Meditations, say thy Crosses, & stay some what longer than ordinary. For during this time of thy Solitude, thou must endeavour to be the first & last in the choir. After Crosses thou mayst take a Discipline for some space of time, if thy Director thinks it expedient; Otherwise it is upon no terms to be done. Then return to thy bed. Those who rise not to Matins, may rise after their first sleep, & perform that point of Meditation, Crosses & Discipline, as aforesaid; otherwise let them not fail to rise at Five in the morning. The fourteen hours' distribution gins with the morning watch. Endeavour to rise some what before Six in the morning, that thou may stread the Second point of thy morning exercise, before thou goest to Prime, unto which, as also unto other hours, assist devoutly. After this, hear Mass attentively, joining thy intention & good desires, with the Priest; then spend a good half hour, either in the choir or thy Cell, in discussion of the secôd point; Observe always the usual time of Communion, according to the place where thou art. But this must be performed, the days thou interest & comest forth thy Solitude, the better to enable & confirm thee in this great work of thy spiritual Retreat, & the effects thereof. Between Eight & Nine, confer with thy Director, touching, either the imperfections, or graces, thou hast felt in thy soul. If thou canst not then have his presence, read a Saints Life, & the rest of that hour, give some release to thy thoughts, by some Vocal Aspirations, towards Eternity, for time lost, thy drowsiness to Virtue, & proneness to vice. From Nine to Ten, meditate upon the third point of that day's Exercise; But always endeavour to be moderate towards the end of thy Recollection, lest too much intenseness breed faintness and render Thee unfit to persever in this holy work. From Ten, say the Penitential Psalms, & Littanies; Then make a reveiw of thy infirmities discovered, & means propounded for amendment of Life. At Eleven, take thy Noons repast, rather to satisfy Nature, them to please thy sense; And use such temperance therein, that neither by Excess thou burden, nor by overmuch niceness, weaken thy frail body, which is to serve the soul in her Contemplations. After dinner, some time being employed, in giving thanks to God, for the benefit of thy conservation, & praying for benefactors, living & dead, take some easy divertisement for one hour. At One, read over the First point of thy Evening Exercise, & raise as many good thoughts & affections, as thou canst, whereby efficaciously to move thee, to a constant practice of what thou shalt then resolve. Spend the hour twixt Two & Three, as between Eight & Nine in the morning. At Three read over attentively the Second part of thy Evening Exercise, reflecting seriously on every Instruction, how thou mayest reduce them to practice. The other hours till Seven, admit of no set rules for distribution of them, by reason of the different times of evening prayers & refection, according to the customs of several families; However, one hour is to be spent in praying vocally, making Aspirations, & review of that day's task, for confirmation of good purposes; another in saying Evensong; the last in taking thy evening repast, thanksgiving for benefits, & praying for benefactors, living & dead. From Seven take some easy divertisement whereby to release thy thoughts, by walking, or using some moderate corporal Exercise, for the space of half an hour; then seriously examine thy Conscience, how thou hast employed that day, beg pardon for defects, make thy Crosses, read over the First point of thy next day's Exercise, & going to bed, say with the Royal Prophet, In peace, I will sleep & rest, because thou O Lord hast singularly settled me in hope. This is all, Philothea, I have to advise thee, Complayn not of my over-longnesse; The labour is mine, & my aim thy benefit. I have according to my ability prescribed thee a Method of practising holy Solitude, according to the knowledge gained from skilful Masters in that Art, & what use & experience hath taught me to be most profitable; when custom & experience shall show thee a better form, fear not to use it in God's name, for divers paths lead to the same place; & though the spirit of God be but One, yet there is diversity of graces. Use this way, till thou meet with a better, and pray for thy well willer. Farewell. Philothea's Pilgrimage to Perfection. Described in a Practice of Ten day's Solitude. FIRST DAY'S VOYAGE. Inducements to Solitude. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Dignity of Solitude. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That no other earthly condition, can equal the happiness, which may be attained by means of retirement; 'tis a Heaven upon earth, separating us from the rest of the world, & contented with its own tranquillity & delights; such it will be to us, if we can alienate our hearts, from worldly cares & creatures, & walk innocently with our blessed God, in the observance of his commandments, & the performance of solitary duties. 'tis the School of all Christian knowledge & virtues, wherein we may learn, that our body is composed of disagreeing elements, ever tending to a dissolution; that our dearest friends may be taken from us by untimely death, & no lasting hopes to be placed in them; That our nature is easily led away, with the allurements of visible objects, whereas God only can fill the long of our soul; In a word, that all those things, wherein poor man is so miserably turmoild, are a mere Vexation & Vanity, & hinder us from listening to those delicious whispers, which our Beloved desires to impart to our affectionate souls. It is also a Sanctuary of the ever blessed Deity; for although our Immense God fills all places by an infinite diffusion of his Essence; yet he is specially in those, which are segregated to his contemplation & worship, where he opens the rich treasuries of his love & bounty, & reveals his will to his servants, in silent & secret conferences with them. Since therefore Philothea, thy Beloved hath drawn Thee hither, here to parley with thy heart, to disclose the hidden paths of his aiding & comforting graces, & to take up his lodging in thy soul; see that nothing remain therein, offensive to his will, which may blunt the edge of thy conceived affections to piety, or darken thy spiritual Eye from beholding his all-sufficing beauty. For only the clean of heart may see God, & rejoice in the plenty of his holy house. AFFECTION. Oh how beloved are the Tabernacles of my God better is one day there, then thousands in the Courts of Sinners, who love not to think on their Creator; O Jerusalem, O sweet vision of Peace! O happy desert, O sacred Mansion of heaven aspiring Souls! be thou ever the beginning of my joys; I know, & acknowledge, O my God, My only refuge & comfort, that there is no pleasant peace, no saving knowledge, no true Repose but in Thee; that all things are Vanity, beneath Thee; but even that Vanity cannot I despise, without Thee; therefore, Thou O God, how long? RESOLUTION. Hence forth My Solitude shall be my Beatitude, My Eden, my Heaven, & the world shall keep what ever it calls its own, with all the perils, discontents & miseries that belong to it; & if my soul be at any time in distress, I will stay my sorrows with the hopes of those true consolations, which my Divine Lord hath promised to those, whom he leads thither; And since I may there understand all divine truth, & obtain all helping Virtues & Graces, I will turn my heart from creatures, that I may under the conduct of God's divine Spirit learn the ways of Perfection; And I will carefully cleanse my soul from all sins & affections to forbidden contents, whereby it hath hitherto been hindered, to walk to & with God, & to discover the depth of his greatness & goodness to me; Nor will I loose the precious time, which God hath allowed me, wherein to work my Salvation, & converse with him in holy Solitude. To Thee O Lord will I reveal the secrets of my heart, in Thee will I trust, & I shall not be ashamed, because Thou art A strong helper. SECOND POINT. Innocence of Solitude. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That Solitude is more Innocent & Holy, than that course of life, that spends its self in conversing with creatures; Being exempt from manifold occasions of offending, or being offended by others; from snares, scandals & irksome turmoils, which are apt to shake our strongest Resolutions to piety, & destroy the evenness of our hearts in the performance of our usual Christian duties. Again, our conversation with worldly persons, oft engages our hearts in irregular affections & solicitudes, we being naturally over-prone to adhere to sensible satisfactions, & too feeble & weak in resisting their flattering allurements, & therefore are thereby put in hazard of losing our best hopes; whereas Solitude, withdrawing our thoughts from such occasions of sin, give us means of purchasing that blessedness here, which abroad we endanger; wherefore the now glorious Saints, whose lives should be our patterns, arrived to the joys they are possessed of, by withdrawing from worldly conversation, & confining themselves to Innocent Solitude. And hence it is, that abandoning superfluous conversation with earthly Creatures, we begin to be conversant with God, & in some degree approach to, & imitate the Innocent & peaceful life of the already glorified Angels in heaven; Their life & conversation must needs be heavenly, who disdaining earthly blessings, thirst after those of the Saints, by knowing, loving & enjoying him, who alone can make them happy. What greater happiness, My Philothea, then being sequestered from vain, & tyresome Creatures, even amidst the toils of our unhappy Mortality, to enjoy a sweet tranquillity in our spirits, a readiness to Christian Duties, & to lead for a time the life of an Angel? AFFECTION. Oh Innocent Solitude, how happens it, that I have been so long a stranger to Thee? Alas, by conversing with worldly Creatures, I have too long wearied myself in vain, sullied the bright garment of my baptismal purity, & ocntracted a multitude of evil inclinations, which now press heavelie upon my conscience; O how deplorable is the condition of wretched worldlings, who busyed on creatures, are exposed to infinite dangers of sin, & scarce ever think of coming forth of them, even for a season, to promote their happiness for ever? I bless Thee my bountiful Lord that thou hast inspired me to abandon them now, & to consider & love Innocent Solitude; Oh Innocent Solitude, My soul hath thrusted after Thee, as a Hart after the fountain of living waters: I will not rest, night or day, till I enter into the joys of my Lord. RESOLUTION. I will hereafter embrace all occasions of Retirement from amongst Creatures, preferring the Innocent entertainments of Solitude, to all other earthly conditions, that I may thereby purchase a pure & quiet spirit; & being out of the reach of the allurements of sensible & transitory things, may with the greater freedom, study the will of my divine Master, & become nearer to him, by Innocency of heart, tranquillity of passions, & a readiness to all heavenly & divine actions. THIRD POINT. Necessity of Solitude. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, that a Voluntary withdrawing thyself from thy usual commerce with Creatures for a time, is highly necessary; In order to that duty thou owest to God; He being the supreme End of our whole selus & actions, & this our mortal Pilgrimage being exposed to manifold distractions, some time must needs be set a part, for a more serious reflection on that our blessed End, & the usefullest means whereby to attain to it; that thereby we may renew in us the knowledge of our Christian & special Duties to God, & increase in us a willingness to comply with them; This cannot be done more substantially, then in our Retirement, where our Minds freed from the tumults of ourward cares, are aptest to receive more clear lights from heaven, & stronger flames of love to spiritual & eternal good things. Also in order to that state of life, wherein we already are, or by God's providence may one day be; for by means of that state, God intends to bring Thee home to himself; in our Retirement we may learn what love we own to that our state of life, as the only way by which God means to lead us to the possession of life everlasting; & that therefore we must bear with the frailties of those weak mortals, with whom we therein live, & labour jointly to gain heaven; the Imperfections of some few, not at all derogating, from the sanctity of that state in its self; & if we love it, that will ever appear in our Obedience to the Laws & Customs, therein required, & in the execution of their commands, whom God hath placed over us, & must be accountable for us. Likewise in regard of our selves; That by help of this our Solitude, we may understand, how our hearts stand affected to good & evil? in what dangers of sin we now are, or by ill habits or conversation, may be? what rules of piety may best help to settle us in the constant practice of Virtue? That discovering our faults & wants, we may the more readily give ear to the inward Calls of our heavenly Espouse, suspect all motions of our own wills, & strengthen decayed fervour by stronger Resolutions; that nothing may stop us in our Pilgrimage to that comfortable Perfection, which Crowns all. What are thy intentions Philothea, hast thou a real desire to learn the art of well-living, to follow Gods call, to honour thy present state of life, to make a discovery of thy failings, & work with those lights & graces, God bestows on thee, for that end? AFFECTION. O how vile is Earth, when I lift up my Eyes to Heaven! O Ancient, O Eternal Beauty, why am I so long ignorant of Thee? Thou hast mercifully drawn me forth the tabernacles of sinners, inspired me to follow Thee in the company of those who seek thy face always, & walk the way that leads to Thee; O true light, O only life of my soul, say thou unto me, I am thy Salvation & strong helper; & I shall be able to keep my Covenant made with thee, reforming all disorders of my life past, & in all things seeking a conformity to thy will. RESOLUTION. Farewell all ye vain & seducing Creatures: sigh my God has made me for himself, my heart shall be restless till it rests in him; I will therefore henceforth place all my happiness, in studying to know & obey my spiritual Lord & Master, in loving & complying with the duties of my present state, as he hath commanded me, & in having a strict guard over all my thoughts, words & actions, at all times, in all places & with all persons, that they may be agreeable to his holy will; Make me Thou O my God to know my End, that I may also know what is wanting to me. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. God's Favours to us. there's none but loves what is good, & should love that most, which is best; when a Prince opens his Treasury, & proclaims a largess, every one is ready to run, & reach forth his hand, & open his bosom to receive part of his bounty, & covets what he values most; Philothea, we should be ever like our selves; Our divine Espouse inviting us to a spiritual conference in holy Solitude with him, offers many rich presents to us, lights of revealed truths to show the secret paths that lead to him, helps of grace to support & encourage us that we may walk steadilie in them, & not faint before we come to our journey's end; hearken then to his divine call, lay all things else aside, run to him, stretch forth thy hand, open thy heart to entertain those precious gifts, he is so desirous to bestow on thee. Every gift grows according to the proportion of misery, from which it frees us, & the happiness that it brings with it; the greater our crimes, the heavier our chains, the more noisome the dungeon wherein we lay, the greater also would be our pardon, freedom & ransom thence; but if we be moreover raised to the highest friendship, tranquillity of spirit, & liberty of mind desirable, no gift can be greater than that; Thus 'tis with thee My Philothea, in thy holy Retirement; Worldly Conversation is full of dangers of sin, admits of few helps to piety, & causeth great tepidity & remissness in Christian Duties, being either without God, or working contrary to his Commandments; but in our heavenly solitude, there be ever great calms of passions, strong helps of piety, & an earnest zeal of God's honour, & our own duties to him; our abode being there with God, & our employments in what belongs to him. Although nothing be more ours than we our selves, titles of honour, most comforting delights & our dearest friends (as leaves & blossoms from the tree) being easily blown off from us; yet having our Being, with what ever appertains to it, from God, whatsoever we are in our selves, can do, or may have, belongs to God, as the Sovereign Lord & Master of all; so that to him we own all, & we should be guilty of a most grievous disloyalty, should we venture to dispose of our selves according to our own liking. God's inward Excellency whereby he contains in himself all perfections dispersed amongst Creatures; those sacred influences, whereby he preserus us, from falling into our Original Ashes; his precept of loving him above all things, which includes the actions of all other moral & divine Virtues; the price of Christ's precious Blood, wherewith he bought us; & those unspeakable rewards of holiness of life, prepared above with his Angels for us, are strong ties of Duty to him, & challenge all homage & fidelity from us; Wherefore Philothea, should we spend our whole lives, every thought, all our actions on him; we pay but the least part of what we own to him; Now therefore at least show thy readiness to follow, love & obey him, sigh he specially invites Thee to a more familiar conference & freedom with him, during thy Solitude. COLLOQUY. Even so it is, My Dearest Lord; I am thine; O that I might for ever abide with thee! The world is a sea, full of tempests & confusion; holy Solitude is a safe harbour, where there are great calms & security; O that thou wouldst fill the sails of my heart with a gracious gale, which may sweetly carry me forth of these turbulent depths, free me from the dangers of a spiritual shipwreck, & give me a sure shelter under thy comforting protection! then should my spirit have liberty to pant, after the escaped dangers; s●e the perils wherein she hath been hitherto tossed, & pay those duties which on so many titles are due unto Thee. Save me thou O Lord, & I shall be saved, & thou shalt be my praise for ever. SECOND DISCOURSE. Our Returns to God. HAving now persuaded thyself to embrace Solitude, through reflection on the Dignity, Innocence & Necessity thereof, in order to thy freedom from worldly cares & solicitudes; as also that thou mayst thereby pay to God, part of that great Duty, which on so many titles thou owest to him; fit thyself for the due practice thereof by Acknowledgement of God's special favours to thee, in inspiring thee with so holy & just a design. The same God that sanctified thee a Member of his holy Church, has by hidden means drawn thee now nigher to himself, & will that thou break in pieces those fetters of sensuality, which have hitherto kept thee tied to Creatures, without which thou hadst still wallowed in thy old vices, never looked into thy corrupted manners, or thought on beginning this thy holy Pilgrimage. Wherefore acknowledge thy nakedness, poverty & weakness, to walk these sublime ways of perfection; & that this divine Call, & all other favours thou shalt there by reap, are pure effects of God's mercies & bounty to thee. O Philothea could we duly value the greatness of this favour of being thus called to walk & converse with God, (whereas many others, who perhaps would make better use thereof, are passed by, & left to work out their salvation amidst the tumults of worldly cares) we would esteem, no labours, no sufferings, enough to express our Gratitude to him. Resolve to employ thy Memory in thinking on God, & on the general & special means (best known to thy own spirit) whereby he hath drawn thee thus far from Creatures towards himself; thy Understanding in searching forth means, whereby readily to execute his commandments & inspired counsels; & thy Will, & other inferior powers of thy soul, in loving him, refraining from what he hath forbidden, & performing whatsoever he hath or shall require of thee. And because the aim of Solitude is, to lead thee to a private conference with God, wherein the Immortal Angels, & now glorified Saints will be spectators, before whom none may appear without his wedding Garment, or with feet sullied by sinful affections; Thou must Philothea endeavour to Rectify thy intentions in undertaking this Retirement; for if thy motives be but customary, the fruits thereof will soon fade. Then Purge thy mind of worldly & vain affections, by a deep act of repentance, lest they ever & anon call upon thee, & disturb the repose of the spirit. And lastly, Offer up thy heart to God, united with that of thy crucified Saviour, for whose sake thou art resolved to walk the hard ways of thy Pilgrimage to Perfection; so that henceforth, whether JESUS feasts thee with his disciples in Cana, or fasteth in the wilderness; be glorious on Mount Thabor, or prayeth in the Garden, or hangeth on the Cross, thou must never forsake him; Thus wilt thou happily walk through the varieties & dangers of this unconstant life, & make a fruitful progress in this thy holy Retirement. COLLOQUY. Welcome then O most delicious paradise of my God, O Sacred Solitude, wherein is again revived the decayed Image of our Original Innocency, by conformity of will to God, Obedience of sensuality to the precepts of reason, & sweet tranquillity of all passions & powers in the Kingdom of the soul; I acknowledge O my God, thy great bounty in inviting me hither, & will endeavour to prun my spirit of all irregular Motions, that Imay be Afitt Offering to my heavenly Lord & Master; Sanctify O God these my earnest desires, & from thy holy Temple of Jerusalem, confirm the good things thou hast wrought in me. Amen. SECOND DAYS VOYAGE. Entertainments in Solitude. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Humility & Austerity. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, that there's a great difference between Solitude & Idleness; A wise & holy Soul will choose to be alone, that she may be better employed; whither it be, that the Retirement be for the whole life, under some Religious Vows, or for some certain days; wherefore entering into Solitude, thou must Philothea make use of such Entertainments of spirit & body, as may consist with retyredness, & advance thee in the practice of Virtue. Wherefore we must be well grounded in the use of Humility, which is the foundation of all other Virtues, & a fair disposition, both to acknowledge, & amend what's amiss. For Solitude is a state, wherein the soul is raised to a private conference with God, & unless we have a perfect Humility, we are in danger of a precipice. Nay what ever other progress we make in our Pilgrimage to Perfection, without a profound humility, we are never secure, as appears in Lucifer, & our first Parents; Therefore Our Lord JESUS by doctrine & exemple, exhorts to the practice thereof, as the chief work of Christianity, the prefervative of inward peace, & fortifyer against all contradictions. This aught to stir us up to humility in thoughts, by esteeming our selus full of imperfections & wants, & to stand in need of great helps of Grace; in word, not discoursing on those perfections, which it pleases God to work in, & by us; & in Action, while we bend our selus willingly to the performance of any Duty, our Calling may require of us, though it may seem to others contemptible & vile; And to seek no preferment, either in dignity or esteem of others, but with a true indifferency of spirit, with all persons, at all times, contentedly to abide in, or change what ever condition falls to thy lot, or is appointed Thee. And because Austerity, which consists in fasting, watching, wearing course garments, & suck like mortifications of our sensual appetite, much conduce to the gaining this inward humility of spirit, That also must be willingly embraced by a solitary soul, whose aims are to be truly perfect; for what society is there, between a Compliance with our inordinate concupiscences, & a separation from worldly conversation & cares? What is the disposition of thy heart Philothea towards these Eminent virtues? Dost thou find a sweetness & quietness of spirit, when humiliations befall thee? Art thou willing to undergo such Mortifications, as thy state requires of thee, without tediousness, & repining thoughts? AFFECTION. I abhor ye, O fatal Enemies of Perfection, Pride, that cast the Angels down from heaven & made them Devils; & Selfelove, which expelled our first parents forth of Paradise, & made them Vesfels of God's wrath. Wilt thou My Soul, defile thyself with those black crimes, so abominable to God? Oh, rather let me be trampled on as a worm of the Earth, & undergo whatsoever Crosses & Mortifications, then hazard the loss of my friendship with God, & the joys he hath prepared for those that love him, with an humble & mortified spirit, For blessed be the poor in spirit, because there's is the Kingdom of Heaven. RESOLUTION. I will henceforth humble myself, under the powerful hand of God; neither in thought, word or deed preferring myself to any Creature, or desiring any value or esteem from them; for I Know that God resists the proud of heart, & gives Grace to the humble; And I will accustom myself to those austerities, which my Vocation requires of me, contenting myself, with such diet, & rest, as may suffice to the support of Nature; for if we mortify our earthly Members, we shall be children of our heavenly Father. SECOND POINT. Patience & Obedience. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That Patience being useful to all Christians, is singularly necessary to the solitary Soul, especially if the Solitude be religious & permanent; It is an easy matter out of a bravery of spirit, to undergo some notable tribulation, & abandon worldly satisfactions for a while; but to remain constant in that Resolution, this is the special work of the Holy Ghost, & can never be fully accomplished without a singular & profound Patience. It is necessary also for the practice of other Virtues, which are confederates & companions in our pilgrimage to Solitary perfection; for Patience keeps our spirits in peace, what ever befalls us; bends it to bear or forbear, what the hand of providence appoints to us; & assembles all Virtues, whereby to preserve in us the hopes of heavenly blessings amidst the toils of this wretched life; Therefore JESUS CHRIST tells us, that by Patience we shall possess our Souls. Wherefore Philothea, make a brief Reflection on the present state of this Virtue in Thee; wherein it is defective, & by what motives it may be advanced to a greater height? Canst thou with a patiented & meek heart, converse with every one, temper others anger with a mild Answer, suffer injuries in words, & rapine of goods & honour without disturbance; with bounty & good deeds overcome thy Enemies unjust persecutions, & endeavour to reconcile them to thee, even with loss of thy own right? Then mayst thou lay some claim to the perfection of Patience, & reap some fruit from thy Solitary Entertainments. The practice also of a prompt Obedience, is very expedient, even in our Retirement for a few days; but especially, if thy calling be to live permanently in a Communion of Religious persons, under the conduct of one, whom God hath placed as his Vicegerent over the rest, by commands & counsels to direct them to their best happiness. In such a Communion, all good things may not be well done, either by all of them, or at all times. Austerity (for exemple) is good, yet not to be practised against the express will of our spiritual Guide or Superior, to the ruin of our own health, & the burden of others. Fast with bread & water (saith a holy Man) wear a hair shirt, sleep on the ground, discipline the flesh to the bone, undergo the most contemptible offices, communicate every day; stand from morning till night in Contemplation of God & his attributes; I make no account of all this, if it goes against Obedience, & be done in a time, & place, & measure unseasonable. Endeavour Philothea, to purchase in thyself this safe guide of holy Obedience. Be tractable in thy will; go, come; ascend, descend, at the first call of thy Superior; & that, not for fear, but love; Captivate thy judgement, quit all Interests of body & mind, when Obedience commands; for the Superior being in possession of his authority, our conscience cannot be secure, with an opposition to his will, who watches only our good; Submit thy body also, either to undergo readily such austerities, or to take freely such recreation & corporal comforts, as the Superior shall judge reasonable for thee, although contrary to thy judgement & inclination, And here make a reflection on thy readiness to comply with Obedience, if it be firm & fixed as it ought, how far defective, & which way to be repaired? AFFECTION. It is true My dearest Lord, I have through Impatience often tortured my heart with revengeful thoughts; lavished away much of my precious time, in disquieting & vexing my own spirit; & violently following my own judgement & passions, incurred many a deep remorse of conscience, & grieved those who Thou didst place over me; I confess my errors, I acknowledge & repent my follies; O that I had a sea of tears wherewith to bathe my heart, & wash it from the stains contracted through want of Patience & Obedience! Come O ye sacred Virtues, accompany me in my Pilgrimage, that amidst all Adversities, under all commands, I may secure my Vocation to this holy Retreat, & confirm my Soul in the hopes of a Communion with the Saints in the blessed glory of My God. RESOLUTION. I will hence forth seal up my lips to all angry words, purge my mind from passionate thoughts, prevent each one with Courtosies, & promptly comply with the Commands of my Superiors, however painful their Execution be, considering God to speak by their lips; & assuring myself, that He proportions helps to our wants, & what he requires of us, My Soul is prepared O God, My Soul is prepared, to sing & praise thee, & Imitate the Patience & Obedience of my Saviour JESUS. THIRD POINT. Charity & Perfection. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That as without Charity, there is no true Virtue, or meritorious action; so no hopes to advance in Solitary perfection, it being the aim & accomplishment of God's Law; & therefore must be one of our chief Entertainments in our spiritual retreat; first in order to God, whom we ought to love above all things created, as infinitely lovely in himself, & our supreme Good; then in oder to others, as Images of God, & companions in our claim to heaven; but especially if our Solitude be cloister or Religious, & consequently permanent, in the society of many persons, joined in the same intention & profession, who are to be all united one with the other, in doing & suffering. Such a Society represents that blessed Communion of the Saints in heaven, as well in God the Centre of their Loves; as between themselves, by a mutual congratulation at each others Combatts with sensuality, Victories over sin & Satan, & special favours from their blessed Redeemer. And indeed without Charity, the highest state of Perfection is imperfect & ruinous, by reason of our natural frailties, & cross accidents, which through God's permission, oft try our constancy in good purposes. Have a care than Philothea, that a sweet compliance with the Inclinations of others, a pleasant bearing with their Imperfections, an inviolable tie of love, be so deep rooted in thy Soul, that it never fade or fail, whatever difference of dispositions, qualities, or other Motive of dislike may arise. And of this be sure to make a strict Examine, Where? How? With whom? and how oft thou hast herein beme defective? And whether thou be'st able to comply with the duties of this Queen of Virtues? Without which no socretie, no place, no employment, can be pleasant; propounding likewise efficacious Motives & means, when, & how to practise it. And that nothing may be wanting to complete the happiness of our solitary Entertainments, we must practise Perfection, that is, all virtuous & holy actions, which may give a perfect Integrity to the whole Christian Man. This is not gained by mere solitariness, but by living in Solitude with the train of all good Virtues; for want whereof, the Angels were banished the heavenly, & Adam the earthly Paradise, though both, places of exceeding Perfection. So that, it is not the place wherein thou livest, nor the attire thou wearest, nor the purposes or Vows thou mayst make, will make thee perfectly virtuous, but an entire Integrity of thy life, in that thou dost now profess. Wherefore if it be a sin to live ill, 'tis a sacrilege to be wicked in holy solitude. Make here Philothea, a general survey of all thy Imperfections & faults, together with a generous resolution of fullfilling all Justice in Perfection. AFFECTION. Oh deep fountain of divine Love, flow sweetly into my Soul, wash thence the blotts of my Iniquities, & cool the heats of my inordinate passions! Oh heavenly fire, consume the dross of my sinful actions, & warm my heart with holy desires; That I may serve Thee My glorious God with a clean heart, & love all Creatures in Thee & for Thee, compassionating their frailties, comforting them in their Combats; & treating with all as fellow servants of the great Lord of the world, & my future partners in his heavenly joys & blessings. RESOLUTION. I will enter Covenant with my God, to acknowledge him the fapream Lord of my life & actions, to sacrifice to him the first fruits of my heart, & to love him in himself, & all his Creatures; to bear with them, compassionate & relieve them, & to prevent each one in the spirit of lenity & mildness; & always to study an integrity & uprightness of of life & conversation, before God & Man, that I may resist the evil Day, & stand perfect in all things. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. Love of solitary places. THe world being full of sin, & afflictions of spirit, 'tis expedient we should fly to the Mountains of holy Solitude, there to secure our selus from its dangers, to bewail the perilous condition of worldlings, & rejoice in the Sanctuary of our Blessed God. To this we must dispose our selus, by the love of solitary & retired places, wherein our heavenly Espouse delights to dwell. 'tis there O Philothea, that the beloved of thy soul will give Thee the sweet caresses of inward joy & tranquillity, which the world may promise, but can never bestow. Beware then, that whilst here retired, thou sufferest not to be in Thee any desire of conversing with Creatures, howsoever dear unto Thee, for that will disorder the sweet serenity of thy retreat. Say therefore with the Royal Prophet, Dilate my heart O Lord, & I will run the way of thy Commandments; & for the words of thy lips I will keep hard ways. We must also wish well, even to a permanent state of solitude, & a constant perseverance therein, if God should call us to it; for thus have many happy Religious Souls been in all Ages of the Church enclosed in Monasteries, so that no access may be had to them, or so much as discourse with them, but by special licence, on some urgent occasion, & that briefly, at their Grates. And in that their Retreat they enjoyed a content with God, not to be expressed, even by them that feel it. It is hard indeed at first, to abandon Parents, & all our ancient friends & acquaintance, & hearty to renounce the charms of worldly pleasures: yet no sooner is the foot set into holy Solitude, but there follows some feeling content, even at the first entrance, which makes them say with Saint Peter, Oh how delightful is it to abide here? And with holy David; This shall be my rest for ever & ever, here will I dwell, because I have chosen it. They discern perfectly that their Solitude is a Sanctuary & a Tower of defence, against the assaults of spiritual Enemies. O unspeakable Happiness! to have not only a safeguard against the temptations of the world, but the very invisible attempts of the devil? The feet O Philothea, of a Solitary Soul, are already standing in the immortal Courts of the heavenly Jerusalem. As soon therefore as thou art crept into thy private Cell or Closet, check presently all inclinations to outward things, & resolve henceforth to withdraw thyself, by degrees, from all such divertisements; which will prove at last to be empty & vain comforts, COLLOQUY. Oh how heavy & tyresome are the chains of mortal cares & compliances, & yet how unwilling are we to shake them off? as if we loved & liked well our own miseries & dangers; far better O my God, far better is one hour with Thee in holy Contemplation, than Millions of years in the fading delights of this world; & yet with a heavy heart we abandon them, even for true joys that abide for ever. Welcome then dearest Solitude, earthly Paradise, Temple of God, haven of Eternal Bliss; I have propounded Thee in the beginning of my Joys, thither will I retreat, there will I take up my rest, & offer up the desires of my heart, a morning & evening Sacrifice, in the odour of divine sweetness. SECOND DISCOURSE. Exercises in Solitude. IDleness is the mother of sin, our spiritual enemies taking that time, to suggest evil desires. Therefore we must at all times be well employed, but especially in our Solitude, whither it be permanent, or for some selected days. This employment consists not only in Meditation, whereby the Soul is elevated to the bosom of the Divinity, by the workings of Love; but in a due performance also of such Exercises, as shall be enjoined for our profit, especially for the Exaltation of our Unitive life with God. Mental Contemplations being awhile intermitted by corporal labours, return upon the spirit, with a greater force & feeling of delight. One great Exercise in our Solitude is, Mass & Divine Office, The work of the Angels of God, who cease not night or day, to sing forth the praises of the Almighty. O heavenly & divine Exercise, wherein the glorious Angels accompany us, & offer up for us our prayers to our great God How much better is it, to be employed in the praises of our Creator, then with the wicked of the world, to be buisyed in dancing, dicing, riotting, & perhaps blaspheming our Redeemer? Here examine thy readiness to frequent the Church at due times, & whether thou abidest there as present in mind as body? & resolve henceforth, to assist with more attention, & greater diligence, in this heavenly Worke. Another Exercise of the solitary Soul, is Mental Prayer, whereby the heart raised above earthly things, confers with God, & is as it were transformed into a Divine Being. To this, Thou must Philothea apply thyself with special diligence, according to the Rules prescribed Thee in Thy Preface. For it is the Dew of Heaven, whereby the spirit is cherished in the knowledge & love of heavenly things; It is the celestial Mana, to sustain us during our earthly abode in the wilderness of this world; It is the holy Mountain of divine Visions, where we enter into familiar conference with God, Who there shows us all good. A third Duty is Reading spiritual Books, by which I understand holy gospels, & such other devout books as treat of Virtue, & the Reformation of our Manners. This is to be performed duly thrice a day; at our uprising, down-laying, & once between both; & that not at random or haphazard, sometimes in one, another time in another book, for that is an effect of curiosity, & rather breeds confusion then devotion. Let thy daily Lecture therefore be constantly in one good book, recommended to Thee by thy own Experience, or some Judicious person, & therein read till thou hast not left one line unpractised; for till then, thou canst not say, thou hast been a Reader, but rather an Overseer of the points therein handled. Truly of all books I have read, I know none more universally profitable for all persons, of whatsoever condition, than the divine work called An Introduction to a Devout Life, composed by that Illuminated Man & great servant of God Saint Francis of Sales; One who even from his Cradle, was singularly devoted to Seraphical Saint Francis, as being born in a Chamber dedicated to his name & devotion. And that thou mayst see, I recommend not this Book to Thee upon slight grounds; take the advice of Alexander the seventh, the late Pape & Sovereign Head of the Catholic Church on Earth, in a letter dated 1642. to his Nephew; where He says, That he had already used that work for the space of twenty years, & read it over a hundred times, & that he could never read it, without discovering some excellent document, not before marked; which thy own Experience will assuredly confirm. Vocal Prayer & Aspirations, being also joined with spiritual reading, much conduce to a greater thirst & benefit therein; for our reading must be ever intermixed with Consideration, Jaculatorie Prayers & Application to use; & therefore it matters not, how much we read, but how well, in order to our spiritual advancement. The last is Manual labour, which commonly should be only such as may divertise, rather than weaken our spirit of devotion, Care being taken with all heed, that the Soul tires not herself by too Intense & permanent Applying its self unto Contemplation. And these works are to be perform'd with as great promptitude & eagerness, as any other Christian or Solitary Observance, being strong Fortifyers against Idleness, the bane of the spiritual & devout life, which are chiefly aimed at in our Retreat from worldly cares. COLLOQUY. Thou O My God & supreme Lord of my life & strength, hast bestowed many gracious talents on me, wherewith to traffic for the Kingdom of heaven, till Thou comest to take the general Accounts of the world, & to render each one according to their deserts; Alas, I have vainly employed the powers of my Soul & the senses & members of my body, contrary to thy holy Decrees, idly lavishing away thy gifts of Grace, & the precious time allowed me for thy service, & my own everlasting profit, not reflecting on the shortness of my life, thy severity that day, & the length of happiness that crowns good works; It grieves me for my neglects, henceforth I will employ all my forces in loving & serving Thee, doing good things whilst time is; Give Thou O God what Thou commandest, & command what Thou wilt; Perfect my steps in the paths of thy Commandments, & they shall not be moved for ever. Amen. THIRD DAY'S VOYAGE. Man in his Sinful State. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Vileness of the body by Nature. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, that now being entered holy Solitude, & there fitted with due Entertainments, for thy happy Advance in thy designed Pilgrimage to Perfection, Thou must Philothea descend into thyself, & discover What thou art, that pretendest to so high & happy a state? That laying a strong foundation in the acknowledgement of thy own Nothing, thy spiritual Edifice may the more prosperously go forward, with the blessings of peace & mercy. JESUS CHRIST is the true Model of all Sanctity, we must in this our Retirement, especially study his Imitation: If he for our sake, hides the glory of his Godhead, under the weakness of our Mortality, our highest contemplations of God, & aims to perfection, should begin from the consideration of our own Vileness, that reascending to God, with the greater eagerness, we may drown our Weakness in the Vastness of his Divine Being. What then art Thou Philothea, according to the Body, from the Womb to the Tomb? From all Eternity, Thou wert a mere Nothing, & so hadst for ever remained, had not God's Wisdom & Power drawn Thee thence, giving Thee that Being thou now hast. In thy Origin, thou art but a little matter of corruption; The Greatest, the Wisest, the Beautifullest amongst us, is of no better mould. In our birth, we enter the world with many grievous gripe & groans of our Parents, naked, blind, poor, unable to help our-selves, & ignorant how we come hither, & how, & whither to departed. In our lives, we are exposed to innumerable calamities, of sickness, poverty, wars, calumnies; with much pain must conserve our lives & health with fruits of the Earth & flesh of beasts; And at last, in our Deaths, dissolved into languors, sighs & tears, are hurried forth from the eyes & thoughts of our dearest friends, & laid under ground, there to rot into our Original dust & ashes. This is the pedigree of the best of us, as to our outward Man; so that we may justly cry out, What is Man O God, that thou art mindful of him? If God be mindful of our Nothing, surely we should have a continual remembrance of it, lest the sweetness of Divine Solitude, & the pleasing Entertainments we may therein experience, between our Souls & God, puff us up with affections of Vain Glory. AFFECTION. Unhappy Man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of Death? I am born poor & miserable, live amidst crosses & sorrows, must die with groans & gasps, & shall rot into my mother Earth! Ah, my Soul, since the one half of Man is so vile, be thou still humble. Lucifer's pride had some plea; if he were proud, he was immortal also; but Man can find nothing in himself, but filth, weakness & corruption. Shall I then presume to speak to God, who am but dust & ashes? Alas should I say I am better, the graves & carcases of the Monarches & beauties of the World, would bear witness against me. RESOLUTION. In what ever degree of comtemplation, or condition of life I am, I will ever be mindful of my Original Nothing, & the miserable progress I must make, through wants, diseases & tribulations, of all sorts, from the Womb to the Tomb, & I will with holy Job, say to Rottenness thou art my Father; my Mother & Sister to the Worms; This is my kindred; & my Companions are, a multitude of too well known Infirmities. God's Greatness, & my own Vileness, shall be the balances of my thoughts; & I will hope, that the Mercy of God will one day raise the needy from the dust of the Earth, & lift the poor from the dung, & place them amongst the Princes of his people. SECOND POINT. Wretchnesse of the Soul by Sin. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That, if thou be'st nothing but corruption & rottenness in thy body, thy Soul defiled by Sin renders thee worse than nothing; for by sin we become the unhappy vessels of Gods heavy wrath; he spared not the Angels in their sins, but deprived them of all their original endowments of nature & grace, banishes them for ever from his blissful presence, & confines them to the dreadful prison & torments of Hell; nor will he spare us, but if we be partners in their crimes, he will also make us Companions in their bitter sufferings; Evident in our first Parents, whom for one sin, he deprives of the innocent state of their original Creation, expels them the Earthly Paradise; & condemns them & us, to mourn out this wretched life, amidst labours, sweats & innumerable miseries, as chastisers of our guilt. We also through Sin incur an insufferable servitude under the Tyranny of Satan; He covets not, either honours, wealth or pleasures, but as to our Lord JESUS in the wilderness, so to us still, offers all these; if we will do homage & adore him; which we no sooner do, but we become Slaves to him, he continually assaulting us with manifold grievous temptations, using all Creatures, even our own flesh & blood, & passions of sensuality, to work our overthrow; still plying us with seducing suggestions, giving no respite from his snares & deceits, & filling our hearts, with distrust of Mercy for past sins, despair of delayed helps from heaven, & doubts of a final perseverance in our duties, under so heavy a weight of tribulations, he raiseth against us. Likewise thereby, we lose Gods gracious presence, & fatherly providence over us; our right & part in the merits of CHRIST'S bitter & saving Passion, the friendship & familiarity of Gods comforting spirit; All graces, gifts, fruits & blessings of the holy Ghost; the peace & security of our Consciences; our Communion in the Sacrifices, prayers & good deeds of the faithful, & our claym to our heavenly inheritance; And more over we defile in our Souls the beautiful Image of God, are razed forth the book of life, are deprived of the protection & safeguard of the blessed Angels, contract grievous remorses of conscience, proneness to greater sins, & a guilt of hell fire, unless with a repentant heart we by Confession confusibly discover our sins, known to God & our Souls only, & by corporal afflictions endeavour to appease Gods just indignation against us, for them; This is enough to humble the best of us, if we have any feeling of our sinful State. AFFECTION. Ah my God, who can hid from thy allseeing Eye, the abyss of wretchedness, wherein my Sins have already sunk me? Alas, I am become the unhappy object of thy just wrath, the woeful servant of rebellious Satan, deprived of thy healing graces, & exposed to innumerable Miseries! Hold thy hand O my Almighty Lord, & rebuke me not in thy fury, for shouldst thou observe iniquities, who could sustain the heaviness of thy displeasure? I will confess unto Thee, my unworthiness to appear before thee, & to enjoy even the common blessings of heaven & earth, which I have so oft vainly abused to satisfy my sinful passions; & that I ought not to hope for any part in thy blessings of glory; But thou O God, hast mercy on thousands, & wilt comfort the weak & afflicted; & if thou dost humble us, it is that we may thereby learn, that from thee are our Justifications. RESOLUTION. I purpose henceforth to have ever before my Eyes, my sinful condition, whereby I have rendered myself thus vile & abominable in the sight of God & his holy Angels, subject to the insolences of Satan & my disorderly passions, & branded with the infamous mark of one banished from the face of God; I will also acknowledge myself guilty of the innocent death of my Saviour JESUS, & not to deserve from him, the least favour, either of his justifying grace, or all-comforting Glory; but that I have rather incurred a just debt of everlasting ignominy & confusion; And however it shall please God to reveal himself to me in this my Solitude, I will accept of it, as his most gracious gift; And the more he exalts me, the more will I humble myself, through the consideration of my sinful State, whereby I have provoked his wrath against Me. THIRD POINT. Ignorance of our future State. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That although perhaps thou oft feelest in thy Soul, during thy holy Retirement, or at other time, some delicious whispers of thy beloved Espouse, yet art thou wholly ignorant what will befall thee the next moment, how long or short thy life will be, when, where, by what disease or misfortune, Death will seize upon Thee; & in what condition, of grace or sin, it will summon Thee before God's bar, thereto hear the sentence then to pass over Thee; & consequently, that as long as thou art in this life, thou art never certainly assured of thy Eternal Salvation; This aught to be a strong motive of humiliation unto Thee. Almighty God hath from all Eternity, chosen some to be heirs of his glory, permitting others; yet doth not any one know, to what rank he belongs, when, or by what means he shall come thither, till it pleaseth God to cite us forth this world, & assume us to his heavenly Paradise; which evidently layeth open our great Ignorance, & proves our unchangeable dependence on the hidden disposition of the Divine Will; Is not this enough, to humble the haughtiest spirit in the world? Wherefor in whatsoever degree of contemplation, virtue or spiritual greatness thou art, thou must humbly acknowledge thy universal dependence on God's gracious inspirations & help; And that thou oughtest not to judge any one, whom through God's permission, thou mayst see fall into some abominable sin, being thou art not thyself assured, how long thou shalt stand in thy duty to God; or how soon that person may arise again, through God's Grace, aiding to a timely & profitable Repentance. Have a care Philothea thou standest fast in the ways of God, working thy Salvation with a filial & humble fear, reflecting continually on thy own Nothing, & the straight dependence thou hast on the grace & Mercies of JESUS CHRIST; who having redeemed Thee from the tyranny of Satan, & made Thee capable of life everlasting with himself, will not be wanting to the completing that great work of thy Eternal Salvation, if thou dost humbly trust in him; say then with a lively faith, In Thee O Lord have I hoped, & I am not confounded; I have put my trust in Thee, & have found help. AFFECTION. Ah my Soul, wherein canst thou now glory? Art thou placed in the family of God's servants? Hast many good Notions & Divine Motions in thy breast? Dost thou through some strong helps of heavenly Grace, delightfully perform hard & painful duties? All this is very good; but alas! thou know'st not how long this will endure, whether for a year, or a day, or even the next Moment? Whether thou be'st confirmed in grace, listed amongst the number of the Elect; or worthy of Love or hatred? Thou knowest nothing of all this; Even so it is; for thou O my God, art a most glorious & pure Father of spirits, & wilt still be worshipped in fear & trembling; However, although thou shouldest persecute me till Death, I will trust in Thee; even at the gates of Hell, I will not abandon my hopes in thy Mercy. RESOLUTION. I will cast myself into the sea of God's abundant Mercies, & therein fix the Auchor of my hopes, relying firmly on his undeceiving promises, & saving helps of Grace; & I will annihilate myself in the consideration of his holy decrees, living in perpetual fear of his judgements concerning me. Nor will I only become humble in the sight of God, who knows the vileness of my body, & wretchedness of my Soul, with whatever shall befall either, for time & Eternity; but I will also willingly become contemptible in the Eyes of all Creatures, contenting myself with the lowest place, meanest fare, & vilest Employments; accounting myself the unworthyest of all; & will ever say with the Holy Prophet, I am a worm & not a Man; the Outcast of Men, & the Offcast of the Vulgar. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. Our Weakness to good. IF thou desirest Philothea, to enter the depth of thy own Nothing, thou must make yet a further search into the motives of humbling thyself before God; Wherefor having now waded through the vast Seas of thy vileness in body, wretchedness in Soul, & wonderful ignorance of thy future state of life & happiness; discourse further on thy Natural weakness to perform good & upright actions. Ever since, through our disobedience to God's holy Commandments, we departed from his Temple & sanctified City of Jerusalem, & fell into the hands of spiritual murderers, we have had many deep wounds, and deadly sores in our Souls; whereof though some have beme oft cured by CHRIST'S healing Sacraments, yet do they often break out & fester, through the disorders of our Sinful lives; others remaining for ever uncurable during this mortal life; whereby we are wholly unable, without the perpetual help of our charitable Samaritan JESUS CHRIST, either to discern the way that leads back to God, or securely to walk towards him, in this our Pilgrimage to heavenly Perfection. Our manifold doubts, mistakes & errors, in the knowledge of Divine, & even Moral truths & Actions; our passionate affections to present & sensible delights, the variety & distractions of our fading & slippery life; & the Excellency of God's ways, & those thoughts & works, whereby we walk in them, & purchase a blessedness, which he alone can bestow on us; show evidently that God liveth in an Unaccessible Light, not to be viewed with an Eye, not yet cleansed by divine Faith; nor to be aspired unto, without that Hope, which He only can inspire into us; nor in the least degree to be purchased, or pretended to, without the special gifts of inherent sanctity, & other supernatural helps of clearing Lights & cooperating Graces, bestowed bountifully on us; so that we can neither do any thing worthy his acceptation, or think on him according to his Majesty, or even say one word of him, as we ought, in order to our Everlasting happiness, without his special inspirations, conduct & assistance. Wherefore, as thou art by Nature a mere Nothing, & by sin worse than Nothing: so without the liberal gift of Gods aiding Grace thou canst do nothing; If then thou perhaps art sometimes raised up in the Contemplation of God, his glory, & those allureing traces, whereby he leads his servants to the love of eternal good things; yet mayst thou not take complacence therein, without an humble submission to God's unknown will towards thee; or esteem thyself by them, to be in a settled condition of Holiness; for if thou were't (as easily thou mayst be) deprived of those Lights of Graces, thou now hast, thy Soul would become as dark, & thy actions as imperfect, as any others. These Divine helps, so necessary to us, and so much above our reach, ought profoundly to humble us in the presence of God, whom we must ever worship as a liberal & free Giver, as oft as we receive any favour from him; still remembering, that the Apostate Angels, & our First Parents, lost themselves, by a Complacence in their own natural perfections & Gods Gifts, without due reference to him. COLLOQUY. I know & acknowledge My Dearest Lord, that of ourselves, we cannot, either think, or say, or do any thing worthy of thee; & therefore I will confess to Thee (the only Light & strength of my Soul) that without Thee I am nothing but Vanity, blindness & Misery; & unless thou dost prevent me with thy blessings, & moisten my heart with the dew of thy heavenly Graces, I shall be unto Thee like a barren Earth, which is without water, & produce nothing but sin, death & confusion. Alas my Soul, flatter not thyself, for even so it is; & yet how often hast thou relied on thy own judgement, force & abilities, for which God hath permitted thee to fall? It were much better to acknowledge thy inward weakness to Virtue & extol God's power, & Mercies, in thy poverty, that his greatness may be exalted in the vileness of thy Nothing. Grant me, O ever blessed Redeemer, thy holy Grace, but give me also true humility of heart, that I may ever think on my own Nothing without Thee, so shall the poor & needy praise thy Name. SECOND DICOURSSE. Our Proneness to Evil. SInce by help only of God's grace we do good, 'tis by our own bad Nature we incline to Evil; Had man stood in his original Innocency, his Soul had ever been breathing forth the delicious odours of Moral & Divine Virtues, wherewith he was then full; no sooner doth he withdraw himself from his due Obedience to God, but all those Virtues forsake him, his Soul & all her powers are smutted with sin; We lose our right to our heavenly inheritance; & as a raging Sea, having broken its banks, we swell with evil inclinations, break down all lets of God's precepts & prohibitions, & run over to all sorts of evil actions, however contrary to our Allegiance unto God. Our Reason adorned with Prudence, could discern the Excellency of Virtue, & dictate all due circumstances of good & laudable actions; but now by sin it is become dull & blind, nor can it without new helps, above our reach, persuade from evil, or direct in good. Our Will formerly hedged in with holy Laws, beautified with inclinations to justice, & strengthened by heavenly lights & graces, was prompt to hearken to, & obey Gods Call, but having lost the safeguard of Justice, is weak in resisting sensual allurements, & ready to comply with every disorderly suggestion of lawless passions. Our Concupiscence, which guarded with Temperance, stirred up our inward Man, to follow the prescripts of Reason, & seek sweetness in laudable & virtuous actions, rebels against the spirit, draws towards earthly delights, & leads us captive in the bonds of unlawful desires. And the Irascible power of our Soul; which armed with Fortitude, helped us to trample down all obstacles of piety, runs now stiffnecked against God, casts of the yoke of Obedience, & contemns all threats of his Justice, against Violators of their Divine Covenant. These be those heavy shackles Philothea, which keep us in the servitude of sin, & still press our hearts down to the crimes we loathe, & yet eat not; Ah! How oft hast thou felt in thyself the weight of thy corrupted Nature? How oft plunged in some grievous sin? How dull thy spirit then? How black thy thoughts? What remorses in thy mind? and (as one hanging at a small string, over a deep lake, full of toads & serpents) how full of terrors & fears? and yet not in the least sort able to help thyself? How oft thus, through proneness to sin? Alas! neither Rich by their treasures, nor the Mighty by their power, not the Beautiful by their loving charms, can free themselves from this load of sin & sinful desires; Nay even all Creatures are become so many snares, whereby to entrap & enthrall our hearts; whilst Satan by inward temptations presseth us forward to covet them, & outwardly masketh them with apparent sweenesse, to seduce us & work our ruin; plunging us in sin after sin, till we forget there's a God, that sees all, That marks all our steps, & who will one day call us to an account for all. COLLOQUY. O bitter servitude of sin, which tyrannizeth in my fleshly members, resisting the laws of the immortal Mind, & holding me captive in the fetters of my concupiscences! Ah, who will free me from the woeful slavery of my corrupted passions, which heavely press me down to sensual & sinful Desires? Only Thou, My bountiful Saviour: shouldst Thou leave me to myself, there's not any sin so enormous, into which I might not fall. It is thy Mercy, O Abyss of Mercies, which prevents my stubborn will, quells the rage of temptations, & graciously diverts those occasions which might entice me to offend Thee. Oh that thou wouldst break the chains which fetter my spirit, & wouldst fasten my footsteps, that I slip not in the way of thy holy Commandments! Then will I sacrifice to thee a Sacrifice of praise, and rejoice & exult in God my Saviour, because he who is powerful hath done great things for me. Amen. FOURTH DAYS VOYAGE. Man Repaired by jesus Christ. MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Institution of the Holy Sacrament. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That having descended into thyself, & there discovered What thou art, in thy sinful state; thy Body how Vile? thy soul how wretched? thy ignorance how great? how weak thou art to good? & how prone to Evil? and that now Thou findest thyself Philothea, fallen into the deep lake, (mentioned last night) full of filth & Venom; where thou neither seest the light of heaven, nor enjoyest comfort from any friend, or quiet in thy mind, nor canst hope for relief from any Creature; & that therein thou art like to sink deeper, stick faster, & abide for ever, if Almighty God harkens not clemently to thy woeful cries, and take pity on thy weakness, poverty & miserable state. God could send an Angel to free thee thence, or by his only word set thee at liberty, but his love & bounty is so great to thee, that he sends his own, only Son, equal to himself in Majesty, Wisdom & Power, clothed in thy Mortality, to release thee from that loathsome Dungeon, to wash Thee in his precious blood; to give thee an easy & gracious Law to walk by, to encourage thee to piety by doctrine & Examples, to establish Sacraments for healing thy spiritual sores & ulcers, & at length that he may bestow his whole self on Thee in the Holy Eucharist, as a Pledge of love whereby to sanctify, & bind thy heart to him; as a Light to guide thee, as a Staff to support thee, & as a Viaticum to strengthen & comfort thee, in thy holy Pilgrimage to Perfection. In this divine Sacrament is really & substantially contained JESUS CHRIST, God & Man; his Divinity which is the fountain of grace, good works & glory; his Soul, full of Wisdom & Holiness; his Body, conceived of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Immaculate Virgin; & his Blood, shed in his Passion to redeem Man from the tyranny of sin & satan. What greater argument of Love, could God give to Miserable Man, than this? then when the Jews sought to destroy him, & all mankind had abandoned him, even then to bestow on us (not fading honours, riches or pleasures, but) himself, who is the Maker of the whole world, & that, as a Ransom to discharge us from our Captivity, as a Physician to cure our Spiritual diseases, as a Father to protect us, as an Espouse to comfort us, & as the Earnest of his eternal glory? what greater bounty than this? If the Jews with so great Reverence, assisted at, & offered up their Sacrifices of beasts; surely, We should with far greater Veneration & piety approach to our Altars, whereon the living God in our Nature is offered up a Propitiation for the sins of the World, a Reconciliation between God & Man, & a Source of all blessings of grace & glory. No sooner does the Priest pronounce those words, whereby that Mystery is wrought, but the substance of the bread & wine is changed into the body & blood of JESUS CHRIST, the sensible elements thereof only remaining; there he is whole in every part, & in all places where he is consecrated, without division or multiplication in himself, or departing from the right hand of the Father. Certainly Philothea, This gift, that bounty, these wonders, wrought for our reparation from our sinful state, should strongly engage our hearts in Love & Duty to God. AFFECTION. I adore Thee my sovereign Lord hidden in this Divine Mystery, & acknowledge Thee to be there really present, God & Man, my Redeemer, Sanctifier & Glorifyer: Alas, My God & all my Good! how little have I hitherto thought on this thy inestimable love & bounty to me, whereby, to relieve me from the slavery of sensuality & satan, to heal the deep wounds of my sinful soul, & fill it with enliuning & sanctifying graces; & what have I returned to God for all these favours bestowed upon me? I will approach to God's Altar with a repentant heart, & eat there the bread of salvation, & will call on the Name of God. RESOLUTION. I will ever have a lively faith towards this Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, confirmed to me, by CHRIST'S own words, the authority of Apostles & Fathers, & the consent of all ancient & modern Christians, united under one supreme head, CHRIST'S Vicar on Earth; & I will lay open all my wants & weaknessesse before my Sovereign Lord, here really present; confiding in his comforting helps, for the freeing my Mind from distractions, & Will from sinful affections, that I may profitably approach to him, & eat of that living bread, & sacrifice my soul to him by abnegation of my will, & my body by Obedience to Christian Duties. SECOND POINT. Fruits of the Holy Sacrament. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That approaching to God's holy Altar, & there eating of that repairing fruit of the Tree of life, We become like the Sacred Virgin conceiving him in her womb, should study to imitate her Humility, Obedience, Faith & Charity; whereby she was fitted to that great work, & raised to familiar conferences with JESUS CHRIST, which we specially aim at, in our holy Retirement. We become also Temples of God, & our hearts should be Altars whereon to offer up our inflamed thoughts & desires, admitting no negotiation there, but what may tend to the cleansing our souls from evil affections, & adorning them with divine virtues, whereby it may be fitted to entertain this heavenly Guest. Had JESUS CHRIST when on Earth, vouchsafed to make his abode with us, as in Bethania with Mary & Martha, with what solicitude would we have prepared all things befitting his sacred presence, that nothing might appear in us undecent, or wanting, where with to give him a joyful welcome? The like care should now be had My Philothea, especially since he comes here to us in his glorified body environed with Angels invisibly present, & with hands full of blessings to bestow upon us. In JESUS CHRIST abides the fullness of the Divinity, He giving himself to us, in this heavenly Manna, containing all sweetness, he gives withal the whole treasury of his heavenly gifts & graces, whereby the soul is cleansed from venial sins, & mortal inculpably forgotten in confession, Reason receives clearer lights of spiritual truths, the Will is inflamed to Christian Duties, the Conscience eased, Inclinations to evil are weakened, & our Love to heavenly things strengthened & increased. O living food of Angels be thou my Daily bread, & fill my soul with thy divine sweetness, that my conversation may be in heaven, by the Imitation of the life of those blessed spirits, & by hopes of feeding for ever, on that bread, in the kingdom of thy Father. AFFECTION. Oh that I might conceive JESUS in my heart by Love, & bring him forth by performance of his Will! then should I truly feed on this bread of Angels. But alas, too often have I approached God's Altar, with a Spirit full of earthly desires, too frequently have I entertained the great Lord of the world in a soul defiled with sinful affections, tepid in divine Exercises & distracted with worldly sollicitudes, & I still remain dry & barren to good actions, & insensible to the comforting presence of JESUS within me; Oh that God's holy Spirit would overshadow my soul, cleanse it from all imperfections, inflame it with heavenly love, & replenish it with his gracious blessings, that it may be a fit Sanctuary for the Saviour of Men & Angels. RESOLUTION. I will banish forth of my heart, whatever may displease my Divine Espouse, adorning it with Virtues & holy desires, whereby it may be prepared to entertain him, & experience the sweetness of his comforting presence. And I will endeavour that my outward decency in behaviour & conversation, may testify the inward tranquillity & alacrity of my spirit, & an earnest longing to be One with him; Live Thou O JESUS in my soul, that I may live by the heat of thy divine flames, & walk by the light of thy inspirations, from Virtue to Virtue, till I see Thee my God in thy holy Zion. THE THIRD POINT. Intention in Communion. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That if in all actions of this life, we study to have a due & upright intention, this aught then especially to be, when we approach to the Holy Sacrament, that great proof of God's Love to mankind, that efficacious means of confirming us in our spiritual life, & a most assured pledge of our future blessed life above. We may not then venture hither, of mere custom or for company sake; nor to purchase a vain esteem of holiness, or an increase of temporal blessings; or some spiritual gust or sweetness, in that great Act of Christian worship; No Philothea, we must go to God, for God himself; that our love to him may be greater, our devotions quicker, & our Spirits stronger in performing the will of our Sovereign Lord and Master. JESUS CHRIST offers himself on the Altar of his Cross to his heavenly Father, a Sacrifice of Praise, Impetration & Suffrage: with the same intention ought we to entertain JESUS in our hearts, by thankfulness for his manifold favours, imploring grace & mercy for ourselves, & Spiritual relief for all distressed souls; ever mindful of his bitter Passion, that the fruits thereof may be liberally applied to us, & we may become suffering members with our Divine Head, increasing in all perfection & freedom with God in our Contemplations, & being entirely transformed into Him, on whom our Spirits here feed, that we may have no life, knowledge, affection or motion in us, but what proceeds from, & ends in him. AFFECTION. Alas my Dearest Lord, I have been too careless in my addresses to Thee; How often have I frequented thy holy Altars with vain & weak desires, not loving Thee there for Thyself, but receiving Thee of dull custom, or for some present gust in Thee? Not solicitous to cherish the good desires conceived by thee, or a willingness to bear Crosses for thee; & thus am I become unworthy, that thou interest the house of my soul & live there, but if thou Sayest the word, my Spirit shall be healed. RESOLUTION. I will hence forth set some special time a part, wherein to discuss & rectifye my intention, before I approach to, & eat of this living bread, that God may be glorified, & all Christian souls may reap spiritual profit, by the use of this great Mystery; & will say. AN OBLATION BEFORE COMMUNION. O Blessed JESUS, in union of that love, wherewith thou didst offer thyself a Sacrifice to thy Father, on the Altar of the Cross, and in conformity to that intention thou then hadst, I this day offer up to thee my Communion, as a Sacrifice of Praise, Impetration & Suffrage; for myself, & all others to whom I am obleiged, by Obedience, justice or Charity: & in that degree I am obleiged; which I beseech thee, through the merits of thy bitter Passion, may be acceptable to Thee. Amen. THE EVENING EXERCISE FIRST DISCOURSE. Preparation to the Holy Sacrament. NOne will undertake any great work, without careful preparation of all things, necessary for its due performance. If we use a cautious providence in all our humane actions, & ordinary conversation, this should rather be observed, when we intent to enter the Holy of Holies, & there feed on the Bread of Angels, our powerful Creator, merciful Redeemer, & Just Judge. The Paschall Lamb, was but a dark & barren figure of this gracious Sacrifice, yet the Jews eat not thereof, without much cleanness, circumspection & alacrity of Spirit; Saint John Baptist esteems not himself worthy to unloose CHRIST'S shoes, Saint Peter to fail in the same Boat with him, & the devout Centurion to entertain him under his roof; nor should we presume to appear before him in the Holy Eucharist, or there receive him within our breast, without great feeling of Love & Veneration. If JESUS CHRIST be a Mirror without spot, no stain of sin should then be seen in our soul within, or undecency in the outward habit of our body: & if he be there, a God of Love & Peace to us, we may not touch, or feed on him, unless reconciled to Heaven & Earth, in Imitation of the Primitive Christians, who meeting at this great Mystery, were of one heart & one spirit. ADVISES FOR A GENERAL CONFESSION. Now therefore My Philothea, thy heavenly Espouse having led thee some steps down towards his Cellar of rich & Gracious wines, & there disclosed to Thee part of his spiritual treasures, & hidden paths of divine Love, to the end thou mayst duly prepare thyself to eat also of this Bread of life, & find no impediment in thy progress to perfection, I advise thee to dispose thyself towards a General Confession, in case Thy spiritual Guide, judge that expedient & profitable for Thee. Although perhaps thou art not conscious of any grievous sin, not formerly discovered, yet since, even of a forgiven sin, we may not be without fear, we cannot be too solicitous in cleansing our hearts, & removing all obstacles of divine Lights & Graces. Wherefor Philothea, do this now, once for ever, but do it simply & plainly, without fear or anxiousness; & unto a person, chosen amongst a thousand; by whose advice thou mayst be wholly directed, for the manner of it, & how thou art afterwards to behave thyself, should scruples arise. Which ended, bless God for his mercies towards Thee, & prostrate in spirit, before thy Crucifix, pronounce the following Covenant. PHILOTHEA'S COVENANT WITH GOD. I N. Placed in the presence of Almighty God, & the whole Court of heaven, having considered the abundant Love wherewith God hath created me, sanctified me in holy Baptism, sustained me in my manifold sins & transgressions, & at length called me to this state of life, wherein I now am, preserving me there, from many dangers of offending him, inspiring sorrow for my failings, & a desire to love & obey him; Do, with my whole soul, abhor all the sins of my life past; renew my promises, to be his loyal & obedient servant: & do firmly purpose, all the days of my life, to shun all dangers of sin, & to apply myself to the observance of his holy Commandments, & my own Resolutions. And if at any time I break this my Covenant, I will, as soon as I perceive my error return again to God, by a hearty repentance, & confession of all my sins & ingratitude. Accept O my God, this my Protestation made before Thee, & grant me grace to observe it, to the end of my life, that I may always abide in thy holy fear, die in thy sweet peace, & with joy at the last day arise, to a blessed Communion of the Saints, in thy never ending glory. Amen. SECOND DISCOURSE. Behaviour in receiving the Holy Sacrament. BEing thus prepared to entertain JESUS CHRIST in thy heart, our endeavours must be, by amorous sighs, & aspirations full of joy for the approach of our blessed Lord, to express the longing desire we have of his coming into us. The happy Issue of an Important affair, or purchase of some special temporal blessings, usually takes up the best thoughts & most serious wishes of earthly minds: But if our minds be heavenly, we will ever think on, & thirst after, this delicious visit of our Divine Espouse. Anciently, Christians frequented often this heavenly banquet, & thence gained that Sanctity & fervour, we admire in the Martyrs, Hermits & holy Virgins of that Age; Though worldly ties, & the manifold distractions whereto our mortality is subject, permits not daily Communion, yet could we daily eat this divine Bread, our hearts would be accustomed to pious affections, strengthened against occurring temptations, & weaned from those sensual liberties, we now so unwillingly abandon. That morning thou intendest Philothea to receive the holy Eucharist, think how earnestly JESUS CHRIST longeth to take up his lodging within thee; he sends his Heralds to proclaim the coming of the Espouse, & to invite thee to this gracious Supper; being them decently prepared, & accompanied with thy choicest friends of heaven, approach humbly & devoutly to God's Altar, saying in thy spirit, Whence is it, that my Dearest Lord vouchsafeth to come to me, & abide within me? O Philothea, if thy soul be not quite frozen, thou wilt here feel the heat of this heavenly fire, & return hence full of inflamed affections, panting & swelling, through an abundance of divine Love. If ever there be hopes of a spiritual advancement, any zeal of Christian duties, or constant resignation amidst temptations, it will now appear, while this great Giver of all good things, lodges in thy bosom, as the soul of thy spirit; Manifest then to him thy wants & wishes, & say, Thou thalt not departed hence, unless thou dost bless me, with the blessings of Peace & Mercy. COLLOQUY. Ah, my soul, canst thou be hungry, having eaten of the bread of Angels? Or a thirst, having tasted of the fountain of living water? Or cold, having been at this divine fire? Alas, my Sovereign Lord, my carelessness in attending to thy presence in this sacred banquet, my frequent relapses into my old vices, & ungratitude for thy many wonderful favours, has even deadened my heart, & rendered it insensible to the gracious influences of this heavenly food! Enliven my spirit, O my God, with thy grace, & fortify it with this bread of Angels; & in the strength thereof I will walk to thy holy Mountain, the Mountain where God delights to abide, where he liveth for ever. Amen. FIFTH DAYS VOYAGE. Mortification of Sensuality. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Mortification of the Senses. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, that the soul being now cleansed from all stayns of sin by Repentance, & strengthened in its Spiritual life, by that divine bread, which is JESSUS CHRIST, we must use all endeavours, to reform such evil habits & inclinations, as may slacken our pious resolutions; & purchase those helps of Virtue, which may most efficaciouslie advance us in our Pilgrimage to perfection. We must Philothea withdraw our outward senses from all those objects, which are apt to seduce our hearts from God's Law, & engage them in sinful affections, so contrary to the perfection of our design. This is done, both by a careful custody of our senses, from viewing & feeding on such sensible objects, as may allure us to take complacence in them; & by a moderate castigation of the body, by acts of penance, that it rebels not against the dictates of reason & grace. All Christians have a strict obligation to endeavour this custody & castigation of the senses; For being Children of the earthly Adam, through whose sin all are borne enemies to God, & Rebels against his holy Law, we all find, both body & soul alienated from their due Obedience to reason & Gospel, which cannot be repaired, but by withdrawing our senses, even from lawful objects, & undergoing hard & painful duties. Being also in holy Baptism, happily spoused to JESUS CHRIST, by a solemn Vow then made in our Name, to renounce Satan & all his works, & to apply ourselves to the observance of all CHRIST'S Precepts, we ought seriously to study the imitation of the life of Our Sovereign Lord, & fulfil our promises made to him, by mortifying our concupiscences, & performance of his Will. But this must be especially done, during our spiritual retreat, that crucifying our sensuality, by prayer, fasts watch, & such like austerities, we may the more freely hearken to the whisper of the Spirit, & thereby become wholly spiritual, according to our design; And those great Examples of solitary perfection, whose lives fill us with admiration, no sooner withdrew themselves from the noise of worldly solicitudes, but they applied themselves to corporal austerities, thereby to quell the inordinate suggestions of corrupted sensuality, & raise up their hearts in the contemplation of heavenly & permanent comforts. AFFECTION. O painful pilgrimage of this mortal Life! how miserable, how frail, how bitter art thou? And yet have I thus long loved thee, feeding my senses on perishing objects, & filling my heart with vain & empty desires of sensual pleasures, thereby forgetting that great ransom, my Saviour paid to redeem me from the tyranny of Satan, which the disorders of sensuality brought upon me; & neglecting that glorious inheritance, he by his bitter Passion purchased for me! Oh, I will rather suffer a thousand deaths, then abandon myself to these unclean & deceitful delights! I renounce you for ever, O Impure suggestions; & do defy any concupiscence, which may bring the wrath of God upon the children of distrust. RESOLUTION. I will make a covenant with my senses, not to admit of any unlawful or vain object; & will place a guard over them, that they seek not after what may be pleasing to flesh & blood; & I will mortify them by a prudent & descreet use of corporal austerities, denying to myself all superfluities which may delight my sensual inclinations, in conformity to the counsels of holy Gospel; & by assuming particular acts of Mortification, suitable to my calling, & as far as Obedience will permit; And I will say with the Royal Prophet, For thy love O Lord, I have mortified myself, all the day long. SECOND POINT. Mortification of the Passions. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That it sufficeth not, to mortify the outward senses, unless we reform also the inward Man, by ordering and deading our inward passions. What avails it, to wear a hair cloth on the back, & in the bosom to bear a rancorous & proud heart? or what profit will it be to our spirit, to fast much, to pray often, to watch long & speak seldom; if Envy, Impatience, Pride or some other hidden affections poison the soul within, & destroy that delicious harmony, which should be, between the Will of God, & our own? It is a great mistake, Philothea, of some souls, otherwise wel-willing, & devout, that heeding the mortification of the outward man, they neglect to prune their hearts of vicious affections, so contrary to the spirit of JESUS CHRIST, & thereby miss of that tranquillity & perfection, they seek after in their Retirement. Wherefor My Philothoa, make a careful survey of all thy sensual inclinations, what passions lay lurking in thy heart, how ready thou art to bear Crosses & forbear carnal satisfactions; & set a watch over every one, that they stir not, but by the order of Reason, & direction of Grace. AFFECTION. Alas my Soul, it is the Way, but not the end of perfection, to mortify thy poor body, if thou be'st thyself the cause of all disorders there! Be thou humble, & thy body will not be proud; be thou chaste, & thy body will not be lascivious; be thou temperate, & thy body will not be gluttonous. Oh that the powerful hand of my God, would quell the tumults of my inordinate passions, & put bounds to the rollings of my affections! I have strayed from Thee O my God, as a sheep that is lost; seek thou thy servant, & I will not be unmindful of thy commandments. RESOLUTION. I will not only henceforth mortify the senses of my body, but the passions of my mind also, that with my heart, as well as lips, I may honour & glorify my Saviour. And I will strictly examine every motion of my sensual appetite, that I may discover its maladies, order its affections, & prevent those disquiets, which my Passions have hitherto raised in Me; That My beloved may say to Me, Thou art a Garden of delights enclosed, a spring shut up, & a fountain sealed. THIRD POINT. Mortification, the property of a Christian. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That by means of this Mortification of our senses & passions, we are placed in a degree of perfection above beasts, who being void of reason, seek their content & happiness in sensual delights; & those carnal hearts, which still wallow in the puddle of earthly pleasures, following the allurements of sensible objects, & the disorders of their own passions, degenerate into beasts; Whereas Mortification is the special badge & property of a true Christian Man, who living according to reason & grace, crucifies the flesh with its concupiscences, & thereby belongeth to Christ. But especially, this perfect mortification of our sensual appetites, is the proper Companion & true signet of the solitary soul, who retiring from worldly conversation obliges herself, to imitate JESUS CHRIST in his sufferings; & to follow the steps of the most zealous Christians of all Ages, by resisting the irregular desires of sensuality, that the flesh may obey the spirit, & our spirit the Will of God, for the Sanctification of the whole Man. If Philothea, Thy senses & passions have hitherto been loosely kept, & strayed after inordinate satisfactions, now thou must have a watchful care over them, & fasten them to the Cross of Mortification, promptly, joyfully, frequently, perseverently, & universally; that as all have been Ministers of uncleanness, they may also be promoters of piety; thy Eyes, in contemplating thy crucified Redeemer, & reading holy books; thy Ears, in harkening to devout sermons; thy Tongue, in prayer & pious discourses; thy Hands, in performing good works; thy Feet, in visiting holy places; & thy whole body, in bearing patiently the miseries of this mortal Life; & undergoing acts of penance, for satisfaction of past, & prevention of new sins, so contrary to thy Christian profession, & the great design now in hand. AFFECTION. I acknowledge my Dearest Lord, that through thy precious blood, I am regenerated from my sinful state, sanctified to Christian & holy duties, & strongly fortified against the corrupted inclinations of my own sensuality, & outward charms of earthly delights; & yet, Alas! how oft, how vilely, have I transgressed thy commands & my own promises to be one of thy flock, to become a mortified Christian, to abandon all worldly contents, & suffer whatever austerities & tribulations, rather than to lose any part in Thee, & thy blessed Kingdom prepared for Me? But thou O Lord, art sweet, & mild, & aboundest with Mercies; Have Mercy upon me O God, have mercy upon me, for my soul hath trusted in Thee. RESOLUTION. I will take a special View, of all abuses committed through immortification of my senses & passions, & consider all my evil Inclinations, where, at what time, towards what Objects, I am aptest to comply with them; & I will waryly watch over all my ways, prevent dangers, & undertake such Mortifications, as may keep my heart close to my God, & steadfast in the observance of his Holy Commandments; strengthen me O Lord with thy grace, & My Appetite shall be subject to Me, & I shall have power over it. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. Damages incurred by Immortification. AS the Love of God joined with self Contempt, builds up the City of God in us: so self Love, reaching to the contempt of God's holy Commandments, that of Satan; This Self-love is the First Mover, in the sphere of the unmortifyed soul, of all the passions of our sensuality, whence proceed all those calamities of sinful desires, & the following disorders, which restlessly war against God's spirit in Us, & heavyly press Us down, even against our Wills, to those Miseries we now groan under, & long to be freed from. Our first Parents complying with an Immoderate Appetite of the fruit of one forbidden Tree (amongst so many thousand excellent Ones, allowed by Almighty God, for their Use & pleasure, notwithstanding Gods severe prohibition, under pain of his high dispeasure, a tedious life, sorrowful death, & all those penalties, which daily draw so many tears from our Eyes, & sighs from our hearts) has brought Gods heavy wrath upon themselves & us, & all those Rebellions of sensuality, Errors in understanding, difficulties in obeying, & that torrent of cares & sorrows, which continually afflict our spirits; & yet We still add to our Miseries, by an over-ready sideing with these our unruly passions & Appetites. What grater mishap can befall a Sovereign Prince, then to be deposed his Throne, spoilt of his royal Prerogatives & dignity, & to be banished forth his own Dominions? Thus it is with us now: Each one of us had a peaceful kingdom within himself, & was Supreme Lord therein in his Original state; No sooner did self Love creep in to our hearts, & seduce the powers of the soul, to prefer sensuality to reason & Justice, but God permits our Passions to overrun us, & tyrannize within us; whence arise those varieties of Concupiscences, boilings & rollings of our affections, Love & Hatred, Hopes & Fears, & those numberless disquiets which torture our unmortifyed spirits; He takes from us the safeguard of Justice & Innocency, whereby we are become unable to govern our hearts in the flight of evil & pursuance of approved Good; And we are banished forth that Paradise, which was the seat of our Earthly happiness, & the Image of the heavenly, & are here condemned, through sweats & sighs, & Innumerable sorrows, to wear out an anxious & painful Life. These be the Miseries we have incurred Philothea, through Immortification of our senses & passions, & are still increased in us, by giving reins to our heady & disorderly sensuality, as we daily experience in the misgovernment of our lives & actions, which certainly none can seriously consider, without an extreme horror & confusion. Thou must earnestly endeavour to suppress all inordinate suggestions & desires of flesh & blood; through consideration, of the great humiliation, & bitter sorrows, the eating one forbidden Apple, cost the Son of God; The severe prohibitions God has made against unlawfall concupiscences, & his commands, that we mortify our carnal appetites, crucify our flesh, chastise our bodies, hate & deny ourselves; The Examples of all the Saints & Lovers of solitude; & the great damages we have already, & still may incur, by consenting to our vicious affections; Then, by examining, what passions abound most in Thee? how thou mayst timely prevent dangers of raising them? And by what means thou canst best moderate thy affections, in the presence of sensual allurements, or when violently transported with them towards some beloved Object, most dear to Thee. COLLOQUY. Oh! who will give Me water to my head, & a fountain of tears to my Eyes; & I will night & day bewail the disorders of my corrupted sensuality; the tumults of my unbridled passions & the follies of my youth! Ah! my God, thou hast commanded it, & I find it by woeful experience to be true, That my inordinate mind is become a punishment to its self, & those Vanities, wherein I have endeavoured to glut my heart, & pour forth my spirit, has rendered me burdensome to myself. But thou art just O God, & hast met with me in my own ways, & paid me in my own coin, punishing me in that, wherein I sought my solace, content & happiness. Oh! that thou wouldst stretch forth thy hand & touch my heart, & my wicked ways shall become straight & even; command O God these tempests & storms of my Passions to cease, & there shall be a calm in my spirit, & my flesh shall hope to see my God, my Salvation. SECOND DISCOURSE. Necessity, & use of Mortification. AS the Apostate Angels lost their glorious seats in Heaven, through an inordinate complacence in their own perfections; & our first Parents theirs in the Earthly Paradise, by complying with their immoderate concupiscence: so we must repair the ruins of the One, & recover the happiness of the other by chastising our sensuality, & moderating its irregular & sinful desires; which we shall easily experience to be the surest means of attaining to perfection, if we consider, that no true Virtue can be practised or preserved without this Mortification; & that by it, we purchase what ever happiness a Christian may experience in this life, or hope for hereafter. Holy Gospel tells us, That we cannot be CHRIST'S Disciples, worthy of his love here, or his blessed society in heaven, unless we take up his Cross, despise all motions of sensuality, & crucify our flesh, with its vices & concupiscences; and if any danger arise of prevaricating Gods Law, or our own Vows, we are obliged under the heavy penalty of incurring God's wrath, & losing our right to his Glory, to suppress the rebellious desires of our passions; As being the fomenters & roots of all sin & disorders in us; wherefor the Holy Apostle, Whence do wars & strifes arise in us; but from the concupiscences, which war in our fleshly members? These therefore must necessarily, My Philothea, be well guarded & ordered in thee if thou desire that God's Spirit abide in thee, speak the language of peace to thy heart, & lead thee through the easy & even paths of his Love, to the Perfection thou aimest at. This Mortification of senfes & passions, brings also with it a sweet repose & quiet of conscience; For being freed from inward commotions of sensual affections, & not moved by outward allurements, there will be a pleasant harmony between sense, Reason & Grace, under the supreme government of a blessed God; a resignation to all Varieties of this life, a willingness to accept of what ever condition may befall us; & a promptness to all actions of piety, selfe-contempt & mortification. By this means Philothea, thou wilt enjoy a perfect tranquillity of spirit, in order to God, to whose will thou wilt promptly submit, without repining at those adversities, which through his sweet providence are permitted to befall thee; In order to Thyself, being freed from the disquietts of a troubled Mind; whereas they who give themselves over to the satisfying their unmortifyed appetites, returning to themselves, by reflection on their folly, find their hearts overcharged with remorse & terrors of their own guilt, whereby they become unsupportable to themselves; & lastly, thou wilt enjoy a most entire content in order to thy Neighbour, whose passions or malice will not be able to shake thy Resolutions, or disturb thy inward tranquillity of spirit, now arrived to a high pitch of Insensibility, to all things of this life. Moreover, by This Mortification is purchased an assurance of future happiness; The joys of heaven Philothea, have many great Excellencies, & prerogatives; they abound with peace & plenty, which must be purchased by poverty of spirit; they afford a perfect rest, to be gained by great Labour; they bring with them a solid & permanent Comfort, to be obtained with much sorrow & patience; & they abide for an endless Eternity, which must be procured by an entire Mortification of our senses & passions, & a kill of those that would work Iniquity in Gods Holy City. This is the way Philothea, which all the Saints have walked before us, & it is the advice of Our heavenly Lord, that we take up our Cross & follow him; For what proportion can there be, between a Member flowing with sensual delights, & a Head crowned with Thornes? Call thyself to a strict account, & consider, what progress thou hast made in this way to Paradise, & purpose seriously to practise this retiredness of thy senses & passions, from the disorders of sensual pleasures & vanities of this World, unto the blessed content of the Inward Man. COLLOQUY. Ah my God I have been sick & sorely wounded, with the arrows of my carnal desires, & the manifold charms of creatures; & still I lay fettered in the chains of my inordinate affections; & yet am unwilling to be healed of my distempers, or freed from my beloved captivity. How oft have I said to my soul, arise from thy drowsiness, shake of thy shackles, & make haste to thy healing & saving Samaritan? And yet I have still lingered, loath to break off with my ancient passions, to abandon my accustomed follies. Oh! that Thou my God wouldst break in pieces these chains of my passionate desires, heal my wounds, & deliver me from the prison of my sensual affections! then shall I with joy abide amidst the temptations & allurements of this wretched Mortality, & taste how sweet it is, to adhere to God, & shall hope to be filled with the torrent of heavenly pleasure, & the plenty of his Holy House. Amen. sixth DAYS VOYAGE. Flight of the heart to God. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Flight from Creatures. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That having now allayed the heats of inward passions, by a voluntary restraint of the senses from outward objects, & readiness to embrace mortifications; The solitary soul must withdraw herself from all Creatures whatsoever, that the wings of the heart be not entangled by them, & we hindered in our Flight to God. We must then have a simple Aversion from Creatures, & a quiet Conversion of the Heart into its self, in which God abides, teaches, & governs; since nothing beneath God can satisfy the languishing of the soul, no wonder she turns herself from Creatures, enters into herself, & there seeks what may be met with unto her more cordial satisfaction. See Philothea, what beloved Creatures lay lurking within thee in thy bosom, with what chains thy heart is linked to them, & by what means they may be slackened, by what degrees broken a sunder? Are they Riches, Beauty, , some dear Friend? all must be cast forth thy heart, that the God of purity & peace may enter therein, & abide with Thee; No profane Altar may stand in God's temple, nor can we together serve God & Mammon? If God be able to fill thy heart, & make it happy, let not any creature presume to challenge any corner thereof. AFFECTION. Oh that my God would break asunder all those chains, which so strongly bind me to creatures! then will I fly to him with the wings of an ardent Love, abandoning all for him. My heart has been too long filled & possessed of Vanity; O that I had a new, a disinterested, an unspotted heart! that would be a fit Temple, wherein to entertain so glorious a Guest. Give me then a clean heart, a heart of Love, O Sovereign Lord of Hearts, & thou shalt for ever command therein, & I will ever abide with Thee, by contemplation of thyself. RESOLUTION. I will no longer delay my flight from Creatures to God, or only stand to file off the fetters that fasten me to them; but will presently break them in pieces & cast them from Me, that I may freely & entirely possess my God. Nothing that is against him, nothing without him, nothing as my felicity besides him, shall enjoy any part in Me. Adieu all ye Creatures that may hinder my society with God; Honours, wealth, pleasures, parents, friends, I abandon all that may possess my heart unjustly, & hinder it from being the pure Temple of my eternal God. My heart O God I give to Thee, both because Thou lookest for it & lovest it, saying, My Child, give me thy heart; & because Thou only dost deserve it, & without thee it is never at rest. SECOND POINT. Flight from ourselves. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That as our first Flight towards God, is made by a withdrawing our affections from creatures forth of ourselves, that we may the more freely unite ourselves to God: so the second Flight must be, by abstracting our affections, even from the outward man that is part of ourselves, & by reason of its great nearness & intimacy with us, may the more easily do us harm. This is a dangerous Enemy indeed, because most near, most dear, & most importune; & evermore worketh against our spiritual progress; however Philothea, if thou dost trust in God & use strong endeavours, thou wilt soon make a considerable advance in this Victory over thyself. When self Love prompts thee, to seek after any sensual satisfaction, take no notice at all of it; If it grows more petulant & importune, reproach it with its own corruption & blindness; But if it persevers, & becomes insolent, then Kill & slay it by the sword of Austerity & rigorous Mortification; so wilt thou Philothea by degrees triumph over thyself, & be able to do, bear or forbear, what ever thy spirit will, with little repugnance or repining of thy sensual appetite. Thus thou seest how strict a guard, our Solitary pilgrim must have over herself, in her advance to Perfection; since to purchase true happiness, 'tis not enough to quit affections to outward Creatures, unless we also by a perfect abrenunciation of self Love & private interest, overcome that which is part of our very selves. AFFECTION. Oh that I could truly say, My heart now ●●●th, but it is not my heart which liveth, but CHRIST who liveth in Me! Live then sweet JESUS in my heart, as the heart, the life, the soul of my heart; possess it wholly, & permit no love to harbour therein, which hath not its beginning from thee, or at least is not consistent with Thee; then will I sing, My God is a strong warrior, & has overthrown my enemies. RESOLUTION. I renounce & defy Thee, O treacherous self Love, which hast so often sought, & still intendest the ruin of my better self; I will henceforth only esteem that self Love, which will preserve my spirit safe in the last day, and will warily watch over all the motions of my heart, examining all its designs & projects, & ordering it according to the Will of my Sovereign Lord & Master. THIRD POINT. Flight from Spiritual Comforts. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That to accomplish our Flight to God in himself, we must be willing even, to be abandoned of God himself when he so wils it; that is to say: Out of our sincere love to him, willingly to want those graces & comforts, whereby he uses to sustain his servants, in their combatts & advances in the way of Perfection. This is that sublime state of perfection, whereunto the holy Espouse was arrived, when she cried out, Fly from me, O my Beloved; A state wherein the soul seeks not after any sensible feeling of the sweetness of divine Inspirations, but is contented to be wholly abandoned of all inward consolations of the spirit, & the savoury gusts of the gracious presence of Almighty God, & to be exposed to inward anxieties & spiritual conflicts, as if she were actually in the state of sin, & really deprived of God's Love & his Sanctifying graces. This is an admirable Flight indeed, Philothea, yet very necessary, if we aim at the height of solitary Perfection, whereby the heart must be prepared to whatever condition God allotteth it; Examine then, whither thou hast a sincere Resolution to quit all things beneath God, & to love him, although thou shouldst not reap thence any sensible fruit or consolation, during this present life. AFFECTION. Oh infinite beauty of my wholly amiable Creator! who would not love Thee, even for thy own sake, since thou art nothing but Goodness? O you Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, I adjure you, when you meet my Beloved, that you tell him, I languish with Love, because he is wholly desirable, & chosen of thousands. RESOLUTION. I will Love my God, for his own sake, because he is wholly lovely, & not for any spiritual gust or comfort, which may arise from the presence of his graces, & those good thoughts & affections it pleaseth him to work in me. I will so love Thee, My only Sovereign Lord, that if I were God, & not Thou, I would cease to be God, that Thou alone mightest be the God of my soul; My God & all. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. Vanity of Creatures. ALl creatures are, either things abroad, or we ourselves; both are full of Vanity, & hinder the solitary soul from flying unto God; We must therefore speedily go forth the Sodom of this world, & separate ourselves from outward creatures; For how can The heart enjoy the sweetness of solitary perfection, if it wanders abroad after sensible contentments, & feeds upon the trash of earthly pleasures? Say then Philothea: Vanity of Vanities & all is Vanity, empty & unconstant, which is not my God; Why then shall I permit my affections to be chained to these transitory things, since with them I cannot enjoy God, my only comforter? Wherefor Consider, what creature in the whole world, of what ever Excellency or worth, can be a fit object of thy Love? Is it the world in general, with all its beauty & delights? Or is it some select piece thereof? Some high dignity, abundance of wealth, honourable friends, variety of pleasures, or some especially amiable Creature? Alas! Philothea, seest thou not, that all these things are subject to change, unconstant & empty goods? which once possessed soon vanish, leaving nothing behind them, but a restlessness of new desires, & disquiets of conscience, & are consequently unable to appease the thirst of our languishing & fainting spirit. Make then a generous & strong Purpose, to abandon all Creatures for thy Creator, since he alone can fill thy soul; & say to God, Oh! that I could die to all Creatures, that I may live only to Thee, & thou in Me! Having thus stripped thyself of all outward Creatures, Enter into thyself, make a diligent survey of thy heart, & search every corner thereof, till thou hast discovered, what passions of self Love & private interest, lay lurking therein; what difficulty thou hast to submit thy judgement, to quit self esteem, to abandon old freindships' & familiarities, to leave inbred customs, to wave thy affection to proper interest? What time hath been lost in giving way to inward heats of passions, what neglect in curbing & ordering thy appetites? & say with the holy Prophet, I will begin from the morningh watch to kill the sinners of the Earth, & chase them forth of the City of my God. This City of God Philothea, is thy own heart; thence must thou banish all inordinate desires, which are as the little foxes in the Cantiques, that destroy the Vineyard of our beloved. COLLOQUY. I will go to my God, & declare to him, the wander & rollings of my disorderly spirit, whereby deserting him, I have followed the footsteps of those, who seeking content from Creatures, have gone astray from the holy folds of their Creator: I see my error, O my God; My heart has too long sweated & fainted in searching happiness from things beneath Thee, whereby I find my hands still empty, & my days to have faded away in Vanity, because I sought not my comfort from Thee, who alone art All Good, & able to fill the long of my thirsty soul. Oh that thou wouldst free me from the disorders of my concupiscences, & knock off those many strong chains which bind me to the Vanities of this Life! Then will I soar up as an Eagle in Contemplation of thy glory, & fly with the wings of Love, & feed on Thee. SECOND DISCOURSE. Spiritual Indifferency. BEsides this abstraction of our spirit from all Creatures, abroad & at home in our own bosom, we must endeavour Philothea, to be wholly resigned to Gods Will concerning us, and willingly to be deprived of all savour & sweetness of his Love towards us, so long as He pleaseth, as if he had abandoned us, leaving us to combat alone, with an army of desolations & sorrows. To this end we must study, to Love God simply & purely, in & for himself, without any mixture of self love therein; Having a perfect Indifferency to all his counsels & decrees touching us; that, whither he leads us up Mount Thabor, to contemplate the glorious Transfiguration of JESUS CHRIST; or to Mount Calvarie, there to behold the Ignominy of his Passion, we may have a preparation of heart to either, & may confidently say, My heart is prepared O God, my heart is prepared, to run the way of thy Commandments. Thou must also Philothea, have a readiness, to be deprived of the sensible delights of Gods gracious presence in Thee, & a willingness to be excluded thence, till the soul quitting this Mortality arrives happily to the Haven of everlasting bliss. O happy indifferency! wherein the solitary soul, for the pure Love of her heavenly Espous, can be contented to want those amorous & delightful embracements, where with he uses to entertain his best servants. And since thou art thus resigned to be deprived of these savoury feelings of God's Love to Thee, thou must be further willing, to suffer all calamities with thy crucified Saviour. But alas! Philothea, this is a heavy trial; nor may all the torments imaginable, of the body, be compared to this desolation of the spirit. Desire not to experience it, but endeavour to bid even this tribulation welcome, when ever it pleases God, that it befalls Thee. And even at that time, be thou as ready to perform all good actions, to suffer all contradictions, & to stick close to thy accustomed Duties, during that aridity of thy spirit, with as great courage & alacrity, as if thy soul did then swim with excess of spiritual comforts. This is an Eminent degree of Perfection, & a mark of inhabiting Grace in Thee, although perhaps thou feelest not then the sensible sweetness thereof. Nor shouldst thou at all complain of God's hardness to Thee in that thy desolate state, but rather with affectionate sighs shouldst bewail the absence of thy Beloved; yet caring not to be compassionated or comforted therein, but rather desiring so to continued till thy dying day, without the least sense of love of thy heavenly Espous in Thee, if it so please him. COLLOQUY. O happy Indifferency of heart to all earthly & heavenly consolations! thou alone canst free me from all anxious hopes & fears of this Miserable Life, & leave me wholly fixed in the will of God, to be ordered according to his holy pleasure. Oh that I could love the, My glorious Lord, purely for thy own sake; not seeking any comfort thence; but rather contenting myself, to be for ever banished from the feeling of all spiritual sweetness, & exposed to any desolation; even then readily complying with the duties, belonging to my present calling, without bewailing myself, either for God's severity towards me, or for my own misfortune. Then should I voluntarily Sacrifice to Thee, & confess to thy Name O God, because it is good; for thereby I shall be delivered from all tribulation, & my Eye shall look down upon my Enemies. Amen. SEVENTH DAYS VOYAGE. Tranquillity of Spirit. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Life of the Spirit. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That having taken A Flight from all things of this world, & raised our hearts above the sphere of all earthly Creatures & present comforts, through a desire to rest in God, as the only Centre & scope of all our hopes; We must carefully study, to establish in ourselves a perfect Tranquillity of our Spirit, that whatever befall us, or whatsoever our obligations be, according to our present calling, nothing may be able to disturb its inward peace, or shake our divine Resolutions. Endeavour Philothea, that thy spirit live her own life, & not according to the flesh, wherein she abides, or the world that encompasses both; but wholly spiritually, as the blessed spirits of God now live in Heaven, by contemplating, loving & delighting in God, & what appertains to his & their own blessed Life. Although our soul, confined now to this corruptible body depends thereon for action & motion, in this our sinful state; & has ever a natural inclination to abide with it, & with pain departs from it; yet being she receives not her own life from the body, but is Life its self, & gives life, & action to the body, she may live within herself, having no regard to the inclinations & motions of the body. This she may soon perceive in herself, if she treads not the paths of sensuality, which lead to earthly contents; but those of the spirit, which tend to holy & divine actions, in Imitation of the Angelical spirits, whose workings are, to be ever fixed in the Contemplation of God, & the execution of his commands. Imagine , That thou kneelest upon some high Mountain, before thy Crucifix, & thence dost behold all earthly Creatures, in their several degrees & employments, each one busied in the search of happiness, in that they love most; & that all these things suddenly fade away, & thyself fallest also into a trance & diest, & so dost abide till JESUS descending from his Cross, enters into thee, & now again thou livest, & yet not thou, but JESUS CHRIST in Thee. Being thus dead to the World, & only living by the spirit of JESUS, how spiritual & divine should thy life & actions be? AFFECTION. How happy, wouldsed thou be, My soul, if wholly dead to flesh & blood, & independent on all earthly creatures, thou couldst live the life of an Angel, wholly drowned in God, & relying upon the lights, Graces & comforts, which proceed from him! Oh, what joy, what happiness, to be dead to this World, & all the Vanities thereof; & to live & work only by the enlivening Spirit of JESUS! How holy would thy thoughts, how heavenly thy desires, how inflamed would thy affections than be, towards spiritual & divine things? RESOLUTION. I will hence forth lead a spiritual life, having my mind still bend upon God, & his holy Will, even in all my ordinary duties; endeavouring to lead an angelical life as if already separated from this heavy burden of Mortality, & without need of earthly supportations. And I will be so watchful over my actions, as if I only lived by the Spirit of JESUS, & had no life or motion but what proceeded from him; Then, freed from the law of death which abounded in Me, through my sinful passions, I shall serve God in the newness of my spirit, & hear what Gods Spirit speaketh to the Church. SECOND POINT. Mental Recollection. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That to improve the soul, in her inward Tranquillity, she must endeavour to be Recollected within herself, in all places, at all times, with all persons, & amidst whatsoever employments, we are by our present state of Life obleiged unto. This inward Recollection of the Spirit, is easy & very delightful; for although the soul be now lodged in the body as her prison, & the varieties of occasions which run through the course of this mortal life, much solicit her abroad, to seek means how to make her prison more tolerable; & thereby hinders her in the free use of her spiritual faculties, & distract her thoughts from God & heavenly things; yet is she not a slave to any passion of the body, especially being now healed & repaired by JESUS CHRIST; & therefore she may, by means of a mental retreat into herself, purchase a continual Recollection, amidst the greatest tumults & distractions which may befall her. Build up Philothea, an Hermitage within thy heart, erect an Altar, & place thereon JESUS CHRIST, in the most amiable posture Imaginable; & whatsoever employment, distraction or spiritual distress presses itself upon Thee, depart not thence, but there lay open thy wants & weakness, confer with him of thy progress & impediments to Perfection, harkening carefully what he says to Thee; & if some violent disquiet compels thy thoughts abroad, endeavour to re-enter speedily into this thy Hermitage, bewail thy inconstancy, & renew thy purposes of Mental Recollection- AFFECTION. Ah my soul, upon how slight occasions has thy thoughts been distracted, & thy mind lost its frequently resolved Tranquillity, in the performance of thy usual duties! How O my God, am I so suddenly carried away with these outward objects & employments? Surely were I truly Spiritual, I should without pain or distraction, even in the midst of the Varieties of this life, convers with God. Oh that thou wouldst build up the ruins of Israël, & sanctify my heart a tabernacle to thy name! then may I seek my beloved within Me, & receive from him A Kiss of peace. RESOLUTION. I will not only love the solitude of the body, but of the Mind also; & will build up in my heart a holy Hermitage, befitting the presence of my JESUS, & thither will I still retire myself, ever conferring with him, of his loves to me, & my slowness of returning love to him; discovering all my wants, & his helps to become perfect in a spiritual Way; that I may thereby enjoy the tranquillity of my spirit, what ever occasions of Obedience, Charity or compliance with my own necessities, call me forth this corporal Retirement; O Who will give me, that I may ever set by this fountain of living waters in the solitude of my own heart! there will I sigh & mourn, while I think of the heavenly Zion. THIRD POINT. Union of the Spirit with God. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That as God only, is the supreme Good & happiness of the Immortal soul, so cannot she experience any true & complete Tranquillity within herself, unless being inwardly united to him, she becomes One spirit with him, & be as it were transformed into a supernatural & Divine BEING, by a reciprocation of Love, conformity of Will, & communication in all those gifts, graces & spiritual blessings, whereby in this her Pilgrimage, she may be clothed with a likeness to God; & enjoy that clearness of Understanding, alacrity of Will, calmness of passions & universal purity, sweetness & joy, in the whole spirit, which God usually imparts, only to his most special favourites. This Deifying Union Philothea, of the soul with God, will wonderfully work in Thee, a clear knowledge of the emptiness, vanity & nakedness of all Creatures, breed in Thee a Loathing towards the best of them, & cause in thy heart a restless Desire to see, possess & embrace God, in the simplicity & purity of his own Essence, without mixture of any thing beneath himself; & for his sake, thou wilt Strip thyself willingly of all Creatures, & in ward inclinations of Will & Passions; & welcome whatever calamities & miseries may befall Thee. For what is there in the whole World, which that soul will not readily want, do, or suffer, to whom God is All-in-all? surely in this delicious Union, Espousal & Transformation by Love, the soul must needs experience God, a rich, bountiful & most comfortable Giver! If , either the delighfull or profitable things of this life, has yet any power over thy affections; or the tribulations thereof do still press down thy spirit, to any grief or disquiet; Thou art not as yet strongly united to God, enamoured on his ravishing Beauty, or arrived to the delicious harbour of spiritual peace & Tranquillity. Wherefor, Thou mayst imagine thyself, to be a Reed floating to & fro in the Sea of the Divinity, now tossed above, now under water; hither and thither, as thou art driven by the force of those Divine Waves; so that, in what ever condition thou art, & whatsoever happens to Thee, thou mayst attribute all to God's Spirit moving upon these divine Waters, in & by which, thou now livest & movest; Thus no comforts will puff up, or humiliation beat down thy spirit, but thou wilt ever have a generous courage & pleasant evenness of thy whole self, amidst all the chances of this thy mortal state, how ever violent they be. AFFECTION. Ah my soul, why hast thou not hitherto aspired after this Divine BEING, to live, & love, & move to God only, in the fullness of his own Essence! O Abyss of all comfont swallow up my heart in thy delicious depths, let me perish to all things but Thee, & never repine at any thing, being so nigh to Thee. O my JESUS! O fathomless fountain of Love! Oh, who will give Thee unto me, My Brother, sucking the breasts of my Mother, that I may find Thee, & embrace Thee, & then none shall despise me. RESOLUTION. I will for ever fix my heart & earnest desires, only on my God, thirsting to be united wholly to him; & for his sake I will abandon, whatsoever is not consistent with him, or may separate my heart from him; & , My whole study henceforth shall be, to discover the poverty of Creatures, to loathe all earthly comforts, to empty my heart of all affections to them, & amidst all accidents of this life, to carry an even & calm heart; Then shall I taste & see, how sweet God is, to those who love the Peace of his holy City. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. Love's Trial. GOds Spirit settles not, but upon an humble & meek heart, which having had a relish how sweet God is, earnestly sues to be admitted into the joys of her heavenly Lord, & enjoy a perfect Tranquillity & peace in her whole self; & yet willingly resigns herself to his Will, for the manner thereof, contentedly expecting the happy time of his delicious Visitation, and the fruits theirof. To this Visitation she must prepare herself, by an Inward Retirement of herself within herself, whereby weaned wholly from all love towards creatures, she feels such a passionate & languishing desire to be One with God, that she has an extreme pain & irksomeness, when forced to use outward helps of meat, sleep, divertisements, & such like necessary supports of decaying nature; desirous rather (if so it may please God) to be ever employed in mental Elevations, & to entertain herself in contemplating, conferring & caressing her beloved Espous, then to enjoy any earthly satisfaction, however necessary to her. Neither may this heaven-thirsting foul, only content herself with this inward Retreat of the spirit into its self, by loathing all Creatures abroad; but she must also aspire to a Nakedness of herself in herself; whereby raised, even to the highest degree of Contemplation, Love & Union with God, she is willing to be deprived of all sweetness which usually flows thence. And although, in this state, she looks on God as her only treasure, having right to Him, grounded on his own promises, To spouse himself to her, in Justice, kindness & mercies for ever, yet is she contented still to lay at the Gate of happiness, there patiently & humbly begging some few crumms from Gods heavenly table, & to be admitted to taste of his delicious Wines; nevertheless resigning herself, to be denied that favour, as long as it so pleases him, ever esteeming, either herself unworthy thereof, or God's time not to be as yet come. COLLOQUY. How happy wert thou, My soul, hadst thou no other employment on Earth then to contemplate the beauty of God, love him, & glorify his Name? O my God that I were wholly exempt from the use of perishing Creatures, needing no other food then Thee, the only true Life of my Spirit! but yet far happier should I be, if loathing all Creatures, & drowned in the Sea of the Divinity, I could be resigned to the loss of all sweetness which may arise from the greatest Illuminations & Ecstasies of Love in Thee, patiently expecting my gracious admittance unto thy comfortable presence; Then shall I be my Beloved's, & he will turn his face towards Me. SECOND DISCOURSE. Love's Entertainments. THe soul being thus resigned to the want of all Eartly comforts, sweetness of divine Love, & Gods delicious presence with her, may humby soar up to heaven, & endeavour an Union with God, & a fruition of him in Himself, by such helps, as he shall graciously inspire; which we must readily entertain, & carefully comply with, for our spiritual advance towards Perfection. Wherefor Philothea, thou must accustom thyself to spiritual Introversions of the Mind into its self, therein quietly contemplating God in thy own Being, & often sallying forth by Jaculatory Aspirations & amorous sighs towards heavenly things; as, What art thou, O my God, & what am I? My God, my All! Oh that I could love Thee, as I ought! which must be leisurely made, & attentively considered, that they may work a feeling love in thy heart, whereby it may by degrees be inflamed, & melt into affections of hope, desire, joy, or such like, whence thou wilt find an admirable sweetness & calm to arise in thy spirit. Thou must also endeavour to have a strong apprehension of God's presence with Thee; which may be had, either by an efficacious belief, that God is substatially present in all places of the World, as our soul is in all parts of the body, without any separation from its self; or by Imagining him to be especially in the Centre of thy heart, as the soul, heart & life thereof, animating, & quickening it, by his presence. Whence we shall find our spirits stirred up, to a cordial reverence towards the Majesty of God, so nigh unto us; & a readiness to refer all our thoughts, words & actions, to God seated in the Centre of the heart, as the Judge of their Worth, & last happy End of all its Motions. And by this means without recourse to Creatures, only by a simple apprehension of God's presence in Thee, & a reference of thy whole life to Him, as thy Mystical life, thou wilt have an easiness in abandoning creatures, & a great quietness in thy whole soul. Having gained these Lights whereby to discern God's greatness in himself, & presence to thee; Cast thyself into the immense Sea of his Essence, admitting no other motion in Thee, but of Admiration, Adoration, Thanksgiving to God, & Annihilation of thyself, now so wholly swallowed up in God, & become one spirit with him; whereby thou mayst say, Possess Me O Lord, for I am thine; and hence forth Nothing shall separate me from the Charity of JESUS CHRIST. And from hence will flow such an abundant sweetness of peace & tranquillity into all the powers of the soul, that she will feel herself to be in a manner transformed into a Divine Being. For having a lively Apprehension, Philothea that God is in Thee as the Life of thy heart, & has so united thy heart to himself, that thou livest, breathest & movest only by influences received from him; Thou wilt soon Imagine, that He is as much in Thee, & as careful of thy Being & actions, as if He where no no where but in Thee, nor cared for any creature besides Thee; Whence will arise so delightful a serenity in thy Conscience, so admirable a Tranquillity in thy whole spirit, that Thou wilt think thyself beginning, actually to Possess God gloriously: And wilt fly from all creatures lest they disturb thy conferences with thy heavenly Espous, & the chaste Embracements he then gives Thee; Abandoning thyself wholly to his Providence, as if Nothing were in the world, but only God & Thyself. COLLOQUY. Alas My God how far am I from feeling these delicious Motions of thy all-comforting Spirit within Me? Thou fillest all Creatures, giving life & motion to all, & dost wonderfully lead them all to their proper Ends; & yet have I not yielded myself up to Thee, to be guided by Thee the fountain of all Goodness, unto thyself My only Happiness. O that thou wouldsed power into my heart a torrent of Love, whereby I may be violently carried towards Thee, & drowned in Thee, O Infinite Sea, ever overflowing with sweetness & Mercy; Then shall I abandon all things for Thee, than nothing shall relish to me but Thee, nor will I then care how thou disposest of me. Draw Me, O Lord, & I will run after Thee in the odour of thy ointments, & I will rejoice, & be glad in Thee, mindful of thy breasts above Wine; & the righteous shall then Love Thee. Amen. vl DAY'S VOYAGE: God Speaking to the Soul. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Harken to God. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That although, by our Flight from Creatures, & the frequent Sallies our heart makes towards God, we may arrive to some degree of spiritual Tranquillity: yet this will not be complete or permanent, unless we grow dumb to all Creatures, oft enter into conference with God, & have our Ears open only to hearken what the Holy Ghost speaks in us, whereby to confirm our hearts in the search of rest & joy in Him, as our substantial happiness. We must Philothea, observe a strict Silence as a most necessary preparation of our hearts to appear in God's presence, & confer with him; for he reveals not himself to a soul, busied in harkening to, & conferring with Creatures; Nor can we profitably apply our minds to the practice of a recollected & spiritual Life, if our Ears be open to worldly tumults, or tongues loosened to discourse on the varieties thereof. No noise was heard, in the building of salomon's Temple, nor may any disturbance be found in Us, while Gods Holy Spirit builds up our Heart into a Temple of grace & Holiness. If thy heart be not warmed, & burn within thee, with the vehemency of divine Love, while JESUS confers with thee in thy way to perfection, 'tis because thou hast not been attentive to his Inspirations. Be thou silent Philothea at all times, but particularly when & where it is required by the constitutions of that state thou hast chosen; lest thy heart being opened, the balsom of God's Grace evaporate & lose its Virtue, or be poisoned with the stenches which may proceed from sinful conversation. Be silent too, when injured or reprehended, in conformity to JESUS CHRIST, when arraigned for his life; a sharp word provokes wrath, & excuses deprive patience of its due merit. But especially thou must be silent, during this thy spiritual Retirement; for the Holy Ghost will not make thy heart its Sanctuary, or deliver his Oracles therein, unless thou banish thence all danger of casting forth baits of sin to others by thy tongue, or sucking in the Venom of evil thoughts into thy own heart by thy Ears; & unless thou dost seriously apply thyself to hearken unto what he reveals of himself to Thee, for thy encouragement to persever in thy blessed choice, & the increase of spitual comfort in thee. AFFECTION. Ah my soul, wilt thou abandon thy Creator, for Creatures? or deprive thyself of the delicious conferences & embracements of thy Heavenly Espous, for the vain & sinful conversation of Worldlings? O my God, I perceive I am yet far off from the perfection of holy solitude, having hitherto lavished away so much precious time in unprofitable & sinful discourses! O that I could recall those many hours, days, years of my life, now past & gone, whereof I must one day render a severe account! Alas my God, did st observe all moments of Time, allowed us to serve Thee, to sue for pardon of sins, increase of Virtue, & freedom in holy conferences with Thee, who could sustain the bitterness of thy just wrath! Speak now O Lord, & thy servant will give ear unto thee. RESOLUTION. I will hence forth place a strict guard upon my lips & ears, observing a religious silence, at all times & places conformably to my calling, & the example of my Saviour JESUS amidst his false accusers; but particularly during my Retirement; to the end I may hear the Voice of my Beloved speaking the language of peace & comfort within me; that I may improve my spirit by his heavenly Colloquies, & increase my Love & duty to him; And I will make a daily Examine of myself, how I spend my time, that no moment of my life may pass without some advance in piety, nor any of God's Inspirations be uncomplyed with. Call upon me now O Lord, & I will give ear unto Thee, & thou thalt bless the works of my hands. SECOND POINT. God's Speaks by Visible Creatures. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That Our Glorious God created all the Visible Things in this Great World, not only to preserve us by their use in this mortal Life, but especially that in them he might shadow out unto us his own Majesty, & the good things prepared for us in Heaven with Himself. Their perfection, order & usefulness declare the greatness of his Glory, Wisdom & Bounty; they are steps, whereby we may climb up to God, & in them discover, how admirable, how amiable, how adorable, he is in Himself; & they are so many Tongues, without cease speaking to us the Infinite Excellencies of their Creator, & inviting us to admire, love & adore that Divine Essence, wherein all are contained, & from whence they all had, & still continue their Being. Clime up to this Great & glorious God, speaking to Thee by simple or unmixed bodies, such as are the Elements & heavens; behold, how the Earth hangs balanced in the midst of the World by its own weight, enriched within with mines of Gold, precious stones, & seeds of all sorts; without, garnished with flowers, fruits & many kinds of living creatures; how the Water cleaves sphearally to the Earth, & runs through & about it, in Seas, Rivers & Springs of different Virtues; How the Air is perspicuous, dissolves into showers to moisten the Earth, & abounds with all sorts of birds, for our profit & pleasure; How Fire has its light, heat & flames; how Heaven is adorned with stars, moves without cease, & by its influences conserveses things beneath in their Being & due temper. Then ascend to Mixed Bodies void of life, & contemplate the Variety & Virtues of sulphurs, metals, stones & gums; consider then the perfection & multitude of Vegetable creatures, as seeds, plants, herbs, leaves, blossoms, flowers & fruits; Lastly take a View of Sensible Creatures void of Reason, such as be the several sorts of Beasts of the Earth, fish in the sea, & fowls of the Air. God speaks to us Philothea, by all these Visible creatures; their Being, growth & properties declare his Power, whereby they are created; their Order, Variety & number discovers his Wisdom; & their usefulness, both to preserve our bodies, & raise up our souls, speaks his admirable Love & Bounty to us. AFFECTION. How full is the World of the Majesty & Glory of God & how careless hast thou been my soul, in these Visible things to admire the Invisible Power, Wisdom & Bounty of the Maker, Governor & Lord of All? Thy own kingdom above, O God, where all obey thy Will, is surely very glorious, since Thou hast furnished this our earthly habitation, for sinners, & those who rebel against thy holy Commandments, with such Excellent & admirable Creatures. Who would not in all these, love & adore the God of all! Let the Heavens speak forth thy Glory, & the firmament thy wonders, for thou art Great & Wonderful, & thy Wisdom is without End. RESOLUTION. I will attentively read over the Book of Creatures, that I may therein learn, how full of Majesty, Wisdom & Goodness, God is, who has communicated such Perfection, Order & profitableness to Visible Creatures; & I will admire Him in All, using them as steps whereby to climb up to him; & I will be careful not to abuse them contrary to the End God has ordained, placing my felicity in his helps to it, lest hereafter they become my chastisers, when all Creatures shall fight God's war against Sinners. How wonderful are thy works, O Lord? Thou hast created all things in Wisdom; Thou hast rejoiced me in them, & I will delight in the works of thy hands. THIRD POINT. God speaks by Man. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That all Creatures beneath Man, are only the Footsteps of God, representing some one or other perfection of that infinite Abyss; but Man himself is the true Image & Likeness of God. As a Little world he containeth within himself the Excellencies dispersed through the Greater, & expresseth in some degree those in God, the Fountain & Author of both; & in the beginning of the Creation he is established Sovereign & Lord of all; the earth with its ornaments is his pavement, meadows and garden; Waters his baths & fishponds; Valleys his cellars & storehouses; Hills his Walls & pillars, Heaven the roof that covers all, & the stars are the windows whereby he has a glimpse of God's glory, which shines upon him, enlightens the world, & discovers the beauty of this our earthly habitation. Look over the whole fabrik of Man; behold Philothea how the Immortal mind is linked to mortal flesh? In the body, what comeliness of limbs, proportion of Members; variety, order & use of senses without, & Entrails within; what aptness of organs for life, action & motion; & what capacity of the spiritualizing Endowments, of Agility, Clarity, Impassibility, & Subtlety; whereby it puts on the very likeness of the glorified Angels? In the Soul, how Excellent the prerogatives of being an Immortal & Invisible spirit? The memory how vast, for objects, time & circumstances of both? the Understanding how active & boundless, reaching as high as God above, & diving into the Abyss of Nothing? The Will how free to good & evil? What variety of subordinate powers, passions & operations? What capacity of sciences, Arts, Virtue's Moral & Divine, & also of the Sight & eternal Possession of God in himself? All which with a loud voice speak, how glorious God is in his own Being & happiness, & how wonderful his providence is in our creation & conduct to our supreme End; & should stir us up to a serious attention, admiration & love of him; & strongly engage us to apply all these outward & inward Gifts, according to the intent of our Wise Creator. And although Man's disobedience to God wrought sin & darkness in his soul, whereby she became unable to contemplate or move towards him; yet being repaired by the Mercies of JESUS CHRIST, the Light of our spiritual World, we are again established in a spiritual Life & capacity to supernatural & gracious actions. By divine Faith we see & hear what God reveals of himself, & the way that leads towards him; by Hope we Savour the sweetness of Heaven & Virtue; by Charity we have a foretaste of the joys of the Saints, & already touch & embrace God with the arms of an Extaticall love; & begin to sing Salomons Song of Songs, which by the sensible pleasantness of creatures abroad, leads the now Purged, Illuminated & Perfect soul, to an intellectual Light, Harmony, Odour, Savour & Embracement of her heavenly Espous, Who seated in the midst of the heart, as on an Imperial Throne (environed with a Mystical Choir of Angelical Spirits, Seraphins by Love, Cherubins by knowledge, Throns' by Justice & Mercy, Dominations by Majesty, Principalities by Government, Powers by Salvation, Virtues by helping Graces, Archangels by special revelations, & Angels by continual presence to us) by himself inspires a divine life, directs the powers & passions of the soul, & inclines to heavenly thoughts & actions; & by his Holy Spirit, sent into all parts of this our lesser World, produces those wonderful workings of Love, feelings of God's Intimacy to us, & tranquillity of the whole Man, We experience in our Pilgrimage to perfection, & performance of the duties thereof; & whereby we become Images of the heavenly Jerusalem, where God lives eternally in his glorious Saints. AFFECTION. Thou wert within Me O most amiable God, & I have sought Thee abroad; & defiled my heart by Cleaving to these outward Beauties, whilst Thou O Sovereign Beauty of all Creatures, abidest in the sanctified soul, as in thy proper kingdom! What hopes may I have to contemplate thy glorious face, who livest in an unaccessible light; or to approach unto thy presence, who art an ever flaming fire; since I am ignorant of thy wonders wrought in my own Spirit, so nigh & intimate to Me? I have too late considered thee, O Ancient beauty shining in all creatures; I have too slowly given Ear to Thee, who speakest to me by all creatures; & by thy Gifts dost incessantly call upon Me, to admire & love Thee, the Giver of all! Thou hast engraven the light of thy face upon Me O Lord, & thereby given gladness in my heart, RESOLUTION. I will hence forth preserve Gods sacred Image, by himself Imprinted in my soul, from being soiled or blasted by sinful affections; that therein as in a clear Mirror, I may contemplate his Majesty, beauty & amiableness; admire him in all the perfections of my body & mind, order all the powers & endowments of both to the execution of his Will, & aspire to an endless conjunction with that divine Exemplar, whereby so many rich & beautiful Copies have been drawn; all thy Works in me shall confess unto thee, they shall tell the glory of thy kingdom, & shall speak the greatness of thy power. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. God speaks by his Son Incarnate. GOd formerly spoke to Man by his Prophets, in figures & riddles; now in his own Son, by whom, as God, he in the beginning made all things; & now, as Visible in our Mortal flesh, discovers the breadth & length, height & depth of all divine Mysteries of grace & glory, that we may comprehend with all the Saints, his exceeding great Love towards us, & may be replenished with the fullness thereof. If God descends to us, taking our Nature, we should by contemplation of the Incarnate Word ascend to God, & drown ourselves in the Sea of his Essence; JESUS CHRIST by his gracious Doctrine, and efficacious examples, is the Way we must walk in our Pilgrimage to heavenly Perfection; his sacred life & Cross was the book of all the Saints, & unless we bathe our hearts in the bleeding wounds of this Lamb, slain for our sins, we may have no part in the Tree of Life, planted in the paradise of God. This Union of God & Man in One Person, shows gods Infinite Power; Man's Redemption through CHRIST'S sorrows & sufferings, speak him an Abyss of Wisdom; & the Gift of his only Son in our Weak nature, to dignify, save & sanctify it, declares his Wonderful Bounty; Thus Philothea we have access to the Divinity of God by the Humanity of JESUS CHRIST, in whom he has revealed the treasures of all divine knowledge & Love. Now climb up Mount Calvary, & there contemplate this Man of sorrows fastened to the Tree of shame; See, who 'tis that suffers? The Creator of all things, the Saviour of Men & Angels, & the Rewarder of all good & evil deeds. What his condition? God's only Son, an Innocent Man, one that loves us dearly. To what end? to free us from the tyranny of satan, to sanctify our sinful hearts, & to restore us to our lost seats in Gods glorious kingdom. What were his torments? Much sorrow in the Garden, many stripes in Jerusalem, & a shameful death upon the Cross. And what profit thence? Thereby is declared, the detestableness of sin, expiated by this bloody sacrifice; the dreadfulness of hell fire, extinguished by that precious blood; the obstinacy of sinners, still crucifying in themselves the son of God by their ungratitude; the Amiableness of Virtue, recommended to us with so many sighs, tears & drops of blood; the joys of Heaven, recovered at so dear a rate; & our Duty to God, through Mercy giving his only Son to us, through Justice sacrifyzing that Son for us, & through Wisdom exalting him from the Cross to an equality of glory att his Right hand, where we shall hereafter find him if we now follow him. COLLOQUY. Thy words are living & full of force O Lord, & more piercing than a two edged sword; Oh that thou wouldst awake my slumbering soul, & deep wound my spirit with admiration of thy boundless Love in the humble Incarnation, gracious Doctrine, moving Examples, & bitter passion of thy beloved Son! My habitation & rest shall henceforth be in thy sacred Wounds, O Saviour of the World; by them I will find entrance to thy bowels of Mercy, & there discover the overflowings of thy Love-swelling heart towards sinners, & thy hidden Divinity; for by these we have plentiful redemption, strong helps, & fullness of hopes. Oh stretch forth thy arms, once streached on the Cross for me, & embrace my soul, languishing to be with Thee, Then will I live & die in thy wounded heart, & by that Gate enter into the city of my God, & find whom my soul loveth. SECOND DISCOURSE. God reveals himself. HAving now passed by all Creatures, who are the Guards of our Earthly City, in the search of thy Beloved, climb up Philothea the mountain of Visions, approach Gods Flaming Bush of revealed Mysteries, & hearken what he there speaks to Thee, of the Majesty of his own Essence, the Beauty of his heavenly Kingdom, & the Glory of his blessed Attendants, whereby to inflame thy amorous heart with new desires of Communion in happiness, with the already glorified Saints & Angels. Divine Scripture as God's book, discovers those Excellencies of God, which reason reaches not; he only inspires, who invites the humble to ascend higher. Hence as from the fountain of Paradise, stream forth four sacred & delicious Rivers, not to be waded through without Divine Helps. History describes Gods Wonders to his choose people, whereby to draw their hearts sweetly from things of this world; Allegories teach what we must believe of God; Tropes inform us of what must be done or omitted, in order to the joys of Heaven; but the pleasant streams of Anagogies, which are greatest & deepest, do wonderful enlighten, heat & raise our spirits up towards God, & there fix our thoughts & loves, where our hopes are already placed. This Mystical river empties itself in the vast Sea of the Divinity, where God One in Essence & Three in Persons, within himself Infinite in Being, Happiness & all perfections, receives no addition of Good from our best Endeavours, nor any detriment by overflowing to us, & communicating his greatest Gifts amongst us. He without change or labour knows, produces & governs all things, in all times & places, leading each by their special ways, to their last Ends. In his glorious Kingdom he is environed with many millions of immortal & blessed Spirits, who divided into nine Quires, make up the Heavenly Hierarchy of Saints & Angels, happy in the Vision & possession of God, & are distinguished by their proper Excellencies of nature, grace & glory; wherein there is no temptation, sin or misery feared; nor fullness of happiness, joy or peace wanting to them; all enjoying God, & in him possessing, what soever may complete the delightfulness of that glorious & blessed state, which Neither Eye has seen, nor tongue can rehearse, nor can the heart of Man conceive. COLLOQUY. Oh how glorious, how pleasant, how delightful is the Kingdom of the Saints! where Thou O God, happy in thyself, art the happiness of thy glorified servants? No grief, all content is there where thou dost abide, through a fullness of their Love, ever flowing towards thee. Oh that thou wouldst transport me forth of this kingdom of darkness & misery, that I may with a fixed Eye ever behold Thee, the Light which no darkness comprehends; & possess Thee, the Peace that surpasses all Imagination! then will the rollings & long of my fainting heart have an End, & it will appear in me, that I have been in a Region of Light & Peace, & am full of both; & I, in justice shall appear in thy sight, & shall be satiated, when thy Glory appears. Amen. NINTH DAYS VOYAGE, Repose of the soul in God. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. The soul hidden in God. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That Beginners in the Contemplative life go from Creatures to God, admiring & loving Him, by the beauty & lovelines discovered in them; Proficients look on God, as he is revealed by divine faith, & by that dim light make pleasant sallies towards him, by acts of admiration & love, & restless desires to live & move in, by & to God; But they who are now happily arrived to the state of Perfection (which thou aymest at Philothea in this thy solitary Pilgrimage) do contemplate God's Majesty, Beauty & Glory, as if clearly revealed & seen in Himself, by an Illapse of God into the sanctified soul, & of the soul into God; in whom she hides herself, reposeth without disturbance, & enjoys a fullness of content without wand'ring abroad. Thus S. Paul, even in this life, could say, that his life was hidden with CHRIST in God, & that his conversation was even then in heaven; having placed his happiness in spiritual & divine actions, whereby his soul ever moved towards God & emptied its self into him; & concealing himself from the World, by bearing with joy the Miseries & mortifications thereof, contrary to the custom of those who living in the World, live worldly; And thus the lives of the Saints have been ever accounted folly, & their deaths dishonourable, whereas they live with, & in God, a divine life, contented to know, love & move in him, according to the lights & helps received from him. It is in our power Philothea, through divine helps, to lead this hidden life in God, & have our conversation in heaven, even abiding or Earth in our mortal flesh; but thou must then be very pure & holy, having thy Soul cleansed from all sin, & sinful inclinations pressing towards earthly satisfactions; for no spot or stain enters that beautiful & clear region of the Saints; Thou must also be clothed with the garment of Charity towards all, & comply with divine Inspirations, putting on JESUS Christ, by imitation of his mortifications, & promptness in obeying his counsels. Thus abiding in the world, thou wilt not be of the World, or be known by it; having not its livery on, nor performing its actions; But God will acknowledge thee to be his, in whom thou now livest, & hast a Divine Being in Him, & mayst say, I live now, not in myself, but in God, my life, my sweet repose, & my final happiness. AFFECTION. O admirable sweetness of this Divine Being, of the Soul hidden from the World in God even in this life thou mayst ascend thither, my Soul, quitting earthly conversation & comforts, passing the Stars, transported above the Quires of glorious Angels, & drowning thyself in the Abyss of God's infinite Essence. O who will give me the wings of a Dove, & I will fly & repose in God? My heart hath desired his face, my Soul covets his presence: O beautiful Face! O delicious presence! O rich abode! in God, & in the fullness of the Saints; only the clean of heart may abide there. RESOLUTION. I will hid myself from the world, casting off its livery, which are worldly & vain actions; & abandoning all earthly conversation, which may soil my heart. And I will henceforth live in God, by contemplating his Glory, performing heavenly actions, & ordering my whole life according to his holy Will; not regarding what passeth here on earth, as if not att all belonging to Me, or the life of One hidden & living in God. Oh that my Soul were swallowed up in that Divine Sea! God in Me, I in God; & besides, Nothing! As I began from Thee, so will I end in Thee, O End without End! SECOND POINT. Search of God in God. CONSIDERATION. COnsider; That being now entered into God, & there, as Moses on God's Holy Mountain, hidden in a Divine Mist, we must search into him, & endeavour to discover plainly what he is, & how amiable is his hidden beauty, we so thirst to behold & enjoy. This must be performed by an act of pure Contemplation, without depending on created Images, or discourse of reason; but as if the Eye of the Soul were dazzled, with the beams of Gods Divine & unaccessible Light, diffused through that Mist, She must simply consider God to be so full of Majesty, so Good, so Glorious, that he can never be seen, loved or admired, as he is, or we ought; so that, what ever we conceive of him, is far beneath the Excellencies of his Being; what ever we admire in him, he is incomparably more admirable; how ever we love him, he is infinitely more amiable, lovely & desirable; although each one should love him, as much as all the Saints & Angels together can for a whole Eternity love him. Wherefor the amorous soul will be ever busied in searching into God, & discovering his hidden perfections, in that divine Mist, being unable to discern clearly, even what she there already sees & cries out to God, Show me thy face. And although she therein feels a most excessive sweetness & joy, yet she is ignorant, both what it is, & whence it comes; & therefore acknowledges him to be infinitely more excellent & delightful, than she is able to express or imagine; as it happened to S. Paul, in his divine rapture. If thou wert extreme hungry Philothea, & didst stand betwixt two tables,, loathing the meat of the one, & not permitted to taste of the other, what conflicts wouldst thou then feel? Thus it will be, if the soul be hidden in this divine Mist; for being wearied with the search of her beloved in created Likeness, & not permitted to contemplate the naked Essence of God in its self clearly, though present with her; she still inquires after him, loathes the obscurity wherein she is through her own weakness, thirsts to be filled with a clear Vision & full Fruition of God in himself, oft looks forth to make a better discovery of him, entertains all his inspirations as so many Whisper of her Espous, sighs amorously for his delaying the comfortable Revelation of himself to her, & as one drunk with love, sends messages to him, by all she meets, that She lanquishes with Love. AFFECTION. Oh! how happy are they O Lord who eat & drink at thy divine table, where they see Thee clearly, love Thee ardently, praise Thee incessantly & possess Thee with a fullness of joy & Exultation, whilst I here perish with hunger & thirst in this sacred Mist of thy Divine Essence, & am not permitted to behold the clear Light of thy glorious face? My soul O God thirsteth to behold Thee as thou art, & enjoy Thee fully, & yet thou hidest thyself from Me. Reveal thy face to Me, O my most amiable God, for my soul hath languished after my Beloved; Oh when shall I come & appear in the presence of my God? RESOLUTION. I will night & day mourn for the absence of my Beloved, oft send missius of Love & holy desires unto him, earnestly requesting Him to show his face to Me; & I will ever study to render my soul amiable to Him, that Nothing may be found in me displeasing to him, or which may make him hid his face from Me; & I will seek out all means whereby I may allure him to exhibit his gracious & glorious presence to Me in his own pure Essence, & thereby alleviate the painfulness of this my earthly pilgrimage; for Thou O Lord hast promised, If we ask we shall receive, if we seek we shall find, & if we knock it shall be opened unto us, & our joy shall be full & none shall take it from us. THIRD POINT. The souls repose in God. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That the sweet Repose of the soul in God, is attained sometimes by the natural Industry of the Affective part thereof, aided by certain passing flashes of divine Lights & graces, whereby making Enquirie through Creatures, or contemplating God by what he has revealed of himself, she discovers him to be very Glorious & Amiable, & then by Anagogical Motions, she sweetly pours herself into God by Acts of Admiration, Love, Adoration & Thanksgiving; & thus takes her Repose in him. But this delicious Repose is more efficaciously & permanently obtained, by means of divine Irradiations, whereby our bountiful Espous compassionating the languors of the soul fainting in the search of him, dissipates the Mist wherein we hitherto sought Him, opens the treasures of his Majesty & shows his amiable face more plainly to her, infusing into her an attractive sweetness by his more clear & gracious presence; whence still arise new Illustrations of the soul, & discoveries without end of God's Intensive & extensive Perfections, & most delicious streamings of the heart towards her Beloved, by sublime acts of Love & Adoration; Whence proceed a hearty compunction for the sins committed by the World against so gracious & glorious a Father of pure Lights; restless strive to be inseparably united with God, & transformed into him by likeness in the powers & operations of the spirit, & at length has a most amorous slumber in God. For although the heart still watcheth in contemplation of the Beauty of her Beloved, yet she sweetly sleeps in his Embracements, whereby she is oft so abstracted from herself, & all feeling of sensible Creatures, that she seems wholly out of herself, through excess of admiration & Love, causing an unexpressible sweetness, Tranquillity & Joy in all the Regions of the Soul. This is a most sublime degree of Happiness Philothea, nor may it be attained, but by a permanent Contemplation & most ardent Love of God in himself, & by extraordinary Illustrations & heats of divine Grace. Wherefor let it not suffice Thee, to have sued oft to be admitted unto a taste of these delicious Wines of thy Beloved, no Philothea Thou must be importune with God for it, closing up thy heart to all earthly comforts imaginable, & pouring it forth night & day by sighs & earnest Entreaties, ere God will come to Thee by an open discovery of his amiableness, make his abode with Thee by stronger friendshipps, lead thee forth to the pleasant Orchards of his divine Love, & admit thee to a sweet Repose in himself. AFFECTION. How happy wouldst thou be My soul, were there an universal silence in all the Regions of the soul, no Clouds of distractions, a clearness & freedom in contemplating & embracing our Most Glorious God O that this Orient Sun would arise in my heart, & dissipate the Mist wherein I now labour & sigh after my Beloved! then may I discover, how beautiful, how amiable, how desirable he is; Nor shall I then care for any earthly comforts, but shall ever rejoice in the fullness of content & joy of my heavenly Espous, & be filled with his sweetness: O Incomprehensible, O Ineffable Sweetness! above Honey & honeycomb, & the odour of sweetest spices. RESOLUTION. I will for ever abandon all desires of earthly consolations, only thirsting after comforts from God, the Fountain & Abyss of all sweetness. And I will ever keep my Mind fixed on God, earnestly craving to be admitted unto his amiable presence & delicious Embracements; opening my heart to entertain, & work with all his Irradiations of himself into Me, & Attraction of Me unto himself, to take my Repose in him. For Thy lips O most Lovely above Men & Angels, are as a Honey comb distilling, honey & milk are under thy tongue, & the odour of thy garments as the odour of Frankincense. THE EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. Love's Ascents. NO sooner is the Soul entered the Paradise of her God, & there admitted to the delicious Embracements of her heavenly Espous, but he opens the spring of his special graces, & powers into her heart, pure & plentiful streams of Divine Love, gently flowing in her with an excess of sweetness & consolation. On the pleasant banks of this sacred River God plants two living Trees, one of Light to clear the Understanding, the other of fire to inflame the Will; each bearing twelve most delicious Fruits, which are the Effects of the Unitive Life, of the soul transformed in to God by Love. Oh Philothea, how happy wilt thou be, mayst be admitted to set by these Crystal streams, repose under the shade of this Tree of Life, & taste its fruit! First God Awakes the soul, fainting through long Enquirie & frequent sighs after her Beloved, during her abode & search of Him in the divine Mist; then he pours into her a most delicious Savour & feeling of his more immediate & clear presence, which so seizeth on the heart, that it presently fills it with an Overswelling joy, which makes the Eyes overflow with Tears of love, & the tongue by Spiritual Cantiques witness the inward Jubily of the spirit; Whence often proceeds a Spiritual inebriation, which renders the soul unable to discern where she is or what she doth, & sometimes causeth faintings & swoundings of the body; in which state the heart feels a wonderful Opening or dilatation, to welcome the caresses of her divine Espous, whereby she is Wounded deep with Love, & Languishes with new desires, of she knows not what it is, or how to express it, & thus she falls into a most heavenly Slumber, whereby freed from all noise of Creatures, even in her Imaginative part, she enjoys a perfect tranquillity of spirit & peace in her whole soul; Which is sometimes accompanied with Ecstasy, whereby the lower Region of the soul becomes Insensible to what passes through the outward senses, being wholly absorbed by the intense workings of the superior portion thereof; which fixed on God through Vehemency of Admiration, love & sweetness, becomes Familiar with him, views all the treasures of his Glory, receives plenty of gifts & blessings, & converses with him face to face. These are the delicious fruits Philothea, growing on the Tree of Life, which is planted by the River of Divine Grace, ever flowing in the Soul, which God admits to his amiable presence & Embracements; That Soul needs no other Light to walk by, God himself being the Sun that gives light to her; nor any other fire to heat her, the Holy Ghost being diffused through all her powers, purging whatever is frail & mortal, & transforming her into a supernatural Being, whereby she is raised to the highest Happiness Imaginable, & the Experience of whatever God has promised unto her. COLLOQUY. O Divine Tree! how pleasant is it to repose under thy delicious shades, whence such fragrant smells, & sweet tranquillity are diffused through the amorous soul? O crystal streams of overflowing Grace! how delightful is it, to walk upon thy fruitful banks, & in thee to contemplate the overflowings of Love in our breasts? O heavenly fruit! how sweet & comfortable art thou, to the thirsty & languishing soul? since, what ever knowledge, love, joy, tranquillity, pleasantness or Repose may be imagined, proceed thence. Oh! who will give Me, that I may for ever rest under the shade of this Living Tree! to walk upon those pleasant banks, to eat my fill of that heavenly fruit? Let the Spirit say, Come; & my soul shall melt within Me, because my Beloved bath spoken unto Me. SECOND DISCOURSE. Love's Descents. GOds unsearchable Counsels & Decrees are, that Perfection ever move on two poles, extremely opposite; which S. Paul calls Height & Depth; S. Francis, What is God, & What am I? Although God invites Us Philothea, to climb the Tree of Life, taste its fruits, & repose under the shadow thereof, in his Contemplation & Love; yet must we still descend into ourselves, by Consideration of our present state, & the Obligations thereof, which must ever be complied with. Descend then Philothea, in regard of thyself; For the Exercise of Divine Contemplation raising us to an eminent knowledge, love & Union with God, unless we descend by humble acts, & seat ourselves with holy Magdalene at the feet of our Beloved Espous, there may be danger of falling into presumption of our own perfection, & losing his favour; trust then in the Mercies of God, yet fear his Justice & Power; & amidst the delights of thy Illuminations & spiritual Caresses, have ever a filial Fear, & say, Not to Me, but to Thee O Lord, be all honour & glory. Then see, how oft thou hast had a complacence in thy sweet contemplations, & the amorous Embracements of thy Beloved? & assure thyself, if thou hast at any time fallen into dryness of spirit, that proceeded, from thy not humbling thyself, while exalted to those singular favours. By these humble acts, thy inward Virtue will also become conspicuous in thy outward Conversation, to the Example & Edification of others; For our earthly conversation is sociable, & our actions are subject to many Censures; if then our outward lives express not that piety we harbour in our bosoms, we may be accounted singular, or guilty of hypocrisy; Wherefor let not any contemplation, or familiarity with God, withdraw thee from a friendly conversation with those thou livest, cause an affectation of thy own opinion & ways, or breed a harshness towards thy lesse (yet possibly more) perfect Neighbour; but towards all be humble, modest, cheerful & courteous. But especially the Contemplative Soul must oft apply herself to the exercises of the Active Life, thereby to shun Idleness, the Nurse of all sin, & source of Temptations; For seeing, 'tis hardly possible in this Life, to be permanent in our heavenly Contemplations, & affections towards God, we must accustom ourselves to some bodily exercises; Especially if we have some singular Talon, whereby we may benefit others; At least, if Obedience requires that service from us; And the work be of that nature, that it rather adds, then diminishes of our Zeal to Perfection; But be thou ever careful Philothea, that thou perform it with an upright Intention, promptly, in due time & place, fervently, cheerfully, & humbly; Thus thy labours, undertaken for God, will be grateful to him, & cherish our Love towards heavenly things. Thou must also descend in regard of thy Neighbour, whither Superior, Subject or Equal; for although nothing can be more pleasant to us, then sweetly to repose in the bosom of our heavenly Espous, & to dive into the Abyss of his Goodness, yet must we quit all these overflowings of Love, when our Neighbour needs our help; so that, whither thou bewailest thy sins Philothea, with Magdalene at the foot of the Cross; or with S. Paul art rapt to the third heaven; or in thy private closet, conversest familiarly with thy Beloved, as S. Anthony of Milan; without delay, abandon all, & descend to comfort those who expect that duty of thee. Art thou a Prince, or Governor, of a family? by thy office & duty, thou art bound to have as much care of thy subjects, as of thyself; especially, if by their own free choice, guided by divine Inspirations, they be under thy custody & direction, not as slaves, but as tender Children; for whom, thou art to render an account, unto the Great Just Judge, who expects of every one, to his own extreme peril, that he be faithful in his charge; Wherefor, if thou be'st called to any such trust, with fear & trembling accept of it, & comply with its duties; but if thou art not called thither, have a care, thou never covet a place of so much danger. Art thou a subject? The Vow of Obedience, under which thou art born, or by which thou hast freely sacrificed thy Will to God & his Vicegerents, doth then oblige thee to leave God for God, that is, to quit thy highest contemplations, & comply with the Will of God, revealed to thee by the lips of thy Overseer & Governor. Since the Word of the Eternal Father, equal to himself, in some manner quits the bosom of his Father in heaven, to obey his Will, even to a most painful & shameful death; we may for his Love, submit our Judgements & Wills, to that of our Superior, ruling in his stead; promptly, entirely & perseverantly to our dying day. Art thou equal to him? Thou must then endeavour, when Charity requires it, to relieve his wants, unto thy power, either corporally or spiritually; by Visiting (for example) & helping the needy, weak & sick; & by counselling & comforting them in their desolations; for by these things, we do homage to our Lord JESUS, in his distressed Little Ones; & deserve our selves, to be relieved in the like case; according to the promises of our Lord, that, What ever we do to One of his Little ones, we do to him, nor shall a cup of cold water be unrewarded in the Kingdom of Heaven. COLLOQUY. Alas My God how barren has my Soul hitherto been, in complying with the precepts of true & solid Virtue? How many precious hours of my life have idly passed, without care of advancing myself, as well in humble & charitable deeds, as in searching into thy hidden Excellencies? Whereas thy Law is, That each one shall reap, according as he sows; My solitude shall not be henceforth idle, but sometimes I will soar up as an Eagle, by the wings of Contemplation & love; & sometimes will I with the laborious Bee, exercise myself in outward works of charity & humility; as well to please God, the supreme End & crown of all good works, as to relieve my distressed neighbour, & to edify all by my outward Conversation; for, That which is momentany in this life worketh exceedingly in us an eternal weight of Glory. Amen. TENTH DAYS VOYAGE. Highest Christian Perfection. THE MORNING EXERCISE. FIRST POINT. Union with Christ suffering. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, that how ever high & happy we be in our Divine Contemplation, & Unitive Life with God; or Low, by a prompt performance of the humble & charitable Duties of our present State, we cannot hope, successfully to finish our holy Pilgrimage to the sublime State of Perfection, we aim at in our Retirement, unless we be united to JESUS CHRIST in his fuffrings. As each one by cordial friendship is transformed into his Friend, & by an excess of heavenly Love into our glorious God: so by our joy & alacrity, amidst the tribulations & crosses of this life, we are transformed into, & become One, with our Crucified Saviour; whom we then put on, when his Spirit, Counsels, Grace & Mortifications shine in our Soul & actions. The title of a good Christian Philothea should, besides the name, import a conformity in Life with CHRIST; & that Character of the Cross, whereby in the laver of our Spiritual Regeneration, we are registered soldiers under the conduct of our Crucified Captain, should ever mind us of our profession then made, oft since renewed, & now so eagerly pursued; that as our Divine Lord & Master, with joy marched up towards Jerusalem the place of his Passion, encounters his raging persecutors, & voluntarily offers his body to be beaten on as an anvil, his blood to be poured forth, & himself to become a saving Sacrifice on the Altar of the Cross: so also we should with joy entertain, & patiently bear all losses, crosses & desolations, which may befall us in our Christian Warfar. This was S. Paul's Glory, the Perfect joy of S. Francis, & the Delight of the renowned Martyrs, who kissing their chains & scourges, embracing their. Racks, & singing amidst swords, whips & flames. purchased a coheritance with their glorified JESUS, whose partners they were in his bitter sorrows & sufferings. It is the dignity of a Christian, to be thus United to CHRIST; nor doth any condition of this life render us more unhappy, then want of tribulation; Much Felicity makes us forget we are pilgrims to an endless, & endangers our falling into presumption, while relying on present comforts, we arm not ourselves for ensuing combats, & by long peace leave our hearts unguarded against assaults of watchful Enemies; whereas the blood of Martyrs has ever been the increase of the Church, & Crosses the preservation & strength of Christian Virtues; though Summer be the sweetest season, yet without cold winters, earth would become unhabitable; nor can our Souls long savour the sweetness of piety, unless seasoned with contradictions; which we neither may nor can escape, only can sweeten, while with joy & courage we welcome them, when sent by Heaven, to try our Virtues, & unite us unto CHRIST. Though Expectation diverts not, yet it diminishes the sharpness of tribulation, which when sudden, finds the mind unprovided, & unable to bear its weight, for want of Resolution, & Lenitive Medicines. What if a disease should bereave thee of health & rest? What if Poverty as an armed Enemy should rush upon Thee? What if calumnies should defame, degrade, or cast thee into prison or banishment? thou shouldst Philothea now prepare to welcome & encounter these crosses with joy, that their violence may not overwhelm Thee, & make thee lose thy Virtue, in what thou mayst not avoid. As God's wise providence in governing us, leads us to, & fastens us unto the Cross: so his fatherly Love will ever temper its severity, & render it easy & delightful; Savage beasts will be smitten by their keepers, 'tis God that strikes thee; it were rebellion, to murmur, or fly; he has appointed their weight to the last dram, for ends known to himself, none can add, or take thence; only our constancy & love can make them light & pleasant; Although God be in himself immutable, yet for our trial, he doth not always visit us after the same manner; if He comes as a judge, & condemns us to suffer, 'tis much less than our sins deserve, that a moment's sorrow may expiate the enormous sins of an Age, that thou mayst become like him upon his Cross, & nigh him in his glory; if as a tender Father, 'tis to chastise us now, that we perish not for ever; if as an Espous of Blood, with a Cross in one hand, & the other pointing to his wounded heart, 'tis to show, thy heart must be pierced too, with the sword of tribulation; & if as a Friend, suspending the influences of his comforting graces, 'tis to try if thy heart be sound, not loving his crowns more than his crosses, or his comforts more than himself. Tribulations too are the cures of our sick minds; though the body be sound, the Soul may be distempered with pride, incontinency, envy, idleness or the like; 'tis a rare spirit that has no disease; no physic like an adversity; If thy heavenly Physician sends this, to humble thy heart, to make the continent, meek, or diligent in thy duty, make him welcome; & be cheerful in that sad state, having thy Eye fixed on thy Exemplar, & the great weight of merit & glory which it will work in the patiented & resigned heart. Every bird can sing in a clear heaven, but that is most commendable which is merryest in a shower; to stand silent before Herod, or be joyful in desolation, is the property of a true Christian; Study Philothea ever to have a clear spirit amidst tribulations, thy righteousness will comfort Thee, God's glory will attend thee, & after this minute of pain, an eternity of joy will crown thee. AFFECTION. O God, how high, & yet how low is the State of Christian Perfection! as Thou My Crucified Lord, art God & Man: so must my contemplation & Union be with Thee, a Glorious God & a suffering Man, by partaking the joys of One & sorrows of the other; I will ever aspire to be with Thee in the glory of thy Father; yet will joyfully cast myself into the Sea of Love, thy bleeding heart, that through it I may swim to the haven of thy hidden Divinity. Come then all torments of heaven & Earth, press heavy upon Me; I shall never sink as long as supported by the saving Grace of my Victorious Redeemer. Oh that I were growned by the teeth of wild beasts, torn by racks, scorched with burning flames, so I may enjoy CHRIST! Rather here, O Lord, rather here, then where thy wrath never ceases; for thou wilt lead me forth this prison, & show me all thy Glory, & I shall confess unto thy Name. RESOLUTION. I will for ever make my habitation in the wounded heart of my Crucified Lord, & therein read over the vast book of Love Suffering, that by it I may govern my life & actions, not contenting myself with an empty Name, void of the substance & perfection of a Christian. I will joyfully welcome all tribulations, as special Gifts of God & tokens of his love, given to cure the sores of my sinful Soul, exercise Virtue, & preserve to life everlasting; for who ever lives holily shall suffer persecution, nor may the Crown of endless Glory be purchased at an easy rate. I will cheerfully take up my Cross, rank myself amongst thy zealous servants, & follow thee my suffering Lord; for Blessed is he who suffers for thee, because when he is tried, he shall receive a Crown of life & Immortality. SECOND POINT. Expropriation of Friends. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, that to attain to this high state of Christian Perfection, & Union with CHRIST suffering, we must willingly abandon all earthly contents, & embrace all tribulations with joy, in Imitation of JESUS CHRIST, it being much harder, & consequently a greater perfection, to bear great crosses with patience, then perform heroic acts of Virtue without difficulty; for our Virtue is not then firm, when not shaken; but when not shaken, though most assailed by adversity; our perfection grows with proportion to our sufferings, in the society of our suffering Saviour, whose Pilgrimage from the cribb to the Cross, began in tears & ended in blood; since Philothea, thou art by profession à Christian, & by special Resolution a seeker of highest Perfection, CHRIST'S sorrows, sufferings & cross, must be unto thee a Rule of life, & the Centre of all thy motions; the more conformable thou art to him in these, the greater will thy perfection now be, & happiness hereafter. Behold then with a steadfast Eye the Saviour of the World, hanging on the Cross, & as in his Passion, so in his death abandoned by his Apostles, Disciples & all his usual train of applauding attendants. He who in his glory was guarded with millions of Angels, to whom all knees bow, & who is the Image & Splendour of the glory of his eternal Father, is now forsaken by All. Love made him our Brother, by assuming our Nature; compassion our Physician, by his healing doctrine & sacraments; Mercy our Ransom, by his own bitter death discharging our debts; & now alas he is abandoned of all. He descended from the noblest Princes, Priests & Prophets of Israël, by his temporal birth; he healed lame, blind, dumb, lepers, all diseases, by his Divine power; All men & Angels, for ever glorious with God, are happy through the Efficacy of his peace-speaking blood; & they have now alas all deserted him. This is the pattern which we must Imitate Philothea, we can attain the perfection we aim at; We must be entirely resigned to abandon, & be abandoned by all, even our dearest, & most obliged friends; This may seem hard, & indeed it is so; For Friendship is a Virtue, & Charity is yet a greater; it is hard to persuade from actions arising from so sublime a cause, yet is it mainly necessary, if we will become perfect; when the pruning time is come, superfluous shoots must be cut off, else few & small fruit; All earthly friendships are superfluous, in order to inward perfection, should be lopped off, that the sap of grace may quietly fructify in us to life everlasting, under the conduct of our Divine Guide & Example. Tell me, Philothea, canst thou like well a treason in thy bosom friend? Surely thou canst not: If David had been cursed by his enemies, he could have borne it, but to be hurt by a friend, by one that had prayed with him in God's holy House; that was an unsupportable Cross. And what's more frequent, even with those, who abandoning the world, should abandon its weakness & mutability, & yet through variety of opinions & dispositions, oft break & betray a friends confidence? If then for the love of thy heavenly Espous, thou hast forsaken parents, kindred & all worldly friends, for the same love, enter not now, or at least break off any singularity of affection, even towards thy companions in the study of perfection; not only because singularity is ever prejudicial in professors of a Common Life, whence propriety of affections, as well as of temporal goods must be banished, as nurses of suspicions, jealousies & many private feudes; but especially because they hazard the loss of our inward tranquillity, in case our friend, to whom we have imprudently disclosed the secrets of our heart, betrays his trust, using our freedom to our confusion. Wherefor be cautious in trusting thy heart strings to any, but as the Wise Heathen said, Ever converse with thy friend, as one who may prove thy Enemy. For as it is the nature of fire to burn, so of sinners to be weak & self interested; take a View of they past life, & experience will teach Thee, most friendships of thy bosom-friends to have been grounded on self-profit, & have ended in discontents & enmities. Besides the superfluity & treachery of friendships, they are great impediments of Virtue, while many thoughts are spent in them, to the breach of in ward peace, loss of precious time & neglect of heavenly conferences with our Divine Espous. I doubt not Philothea but thou hast had many special & dear friends, & much delighted to abide & confer with them; & what profit thence? Alas, much Vanity, time lost languish of heart, or sin. Even now then knock off these troublesome slackles, whereby thou art fettered to Creatures, however dear to Thee, lest thou present God with a broken & divided heart, whereas he gave & demands A whole & sound; & that thou owest to him, hadst thou many thousands. AFFECTION. Ah! how hard is it, to be abandoned by all friends who may comfort us in our desolations? But I know & will adore the power that works this happy separation; perhaps thou hadst for ever perished O my Soul, hadst not not thus lost thy friend, or abandoned him for God. Alas, how superfluous, how treacherous, how dangerous has singularity of frienships' hitherto proved unto Me? Adieu all friends, henceforth my only trust shall be in God, who hath loved me with a perpetual charity, & hath engraven me in his hands, that he may be ever mindful of me; forsake me not O Lord, & I will be always with Thee, & become as a Pilgrim to the children of my Mother. RESOLUTION. I will courageously quit all ties, even to my dearest friends, when my spiritual concernment requires it; whither they love me or hate me, wish me well or persecute me; & I will equally prepare my heart, to be loved or persecuted, praised or condemned by them, behaving myself as a Pilgrim to all earthly Creatures, & a Citizen of Heaven. I have chosen my solitude with my abandoned Lord & Master, nor shall any false allurements, or harsh deal change my Resolutions; He hath given me a glorious example, as he hath done, I will endeavour to do also. THIRD POINT. Self-denial. CONSIDERATION. COnsider, That JESUS CHRIST hanging on the Cross, is the true pattern of self-denial; this was his Doctrine while he lived, & this his practice in his Passion & Death; his prayer to his eternal Father was, Not mine, but thy will, be done. Behold then, how he looseth his blood in his Agony, his Esteem by revile & blasphemies, his strength by whips & thorns, his comeliness by stripes & wounds, the joy of the lower Region of his Soul by excess of sorrows, & his life by a most bitter & ignominious Death. Thus the most beautiful amongst the children of Men, is become as One stricken of God, covered with leprosy, & a man of sorrows. If thou desirest Philothea to become perfect, thou must also endeavour this self-denial, & separation of thyself from thyself, by abandoning thy own will, & a readiness to sacrifice unto God, thy tears, blood, body, soul & all the calamities & afflictions, God's providence may inflict on thee; willingly suffering what ever crosses may befall Thee, in conformity to his holy Will, & the counsels & practise of thy suffering Lord & Master. There is none, of what condition soever, but must more or less, take up CHRIST'S Cross & follow him, by self-denial, & bearing some tribulation for his sake, & their own profit. Through sin, the flesh & spirit are at odds, & sensuality rebels against God; no wonder then, if we feel contradictions within our own heart, & sufferings from the inordinate passions, desires or malice of others; neither Saint nor Sinner, nor any mortal creature is exempt from the Law of the Cross, of what Majesty, Wisdom, Power or Holiness soever he be; nor is any of these happy, unless resigned to bear all. Thou sufferest not alone Philothea, All must, willingly, or against their will, suffer with thee; which should encourage Thee to an unbroken patience, amidst the heaviest press of tribulations, which may happen to Thee; especially since thy JESUS, thy Espous, the Giver of all good, suffreth so many, so long, so grievous torments, with Thee. Nor may we hope, to enjoy the consolations of this, & the other Life; we must forgo one, or the other; either suffer here, or else where; which wilt thou choose? Is it not much better, to undergo a momentany tribulation, than an eternal? Only worldly pleasures can destroy thee, fly from Them; The Cross only, whereby the whole world was saved, can save Thee, Seek it then, & with it thou shalt find life & salvation; thy crown of thorns shall be changed into a Crown of never fading Glory; & if thou hast drunk of the torrent of tribulation, with thy crucified Redeemer, thou shalt also taste the delicacies of his heavenly Happiness, in his Glorious Kingdom. AFFECTION. If JESUS must suffer, ere he enters his glory, canst thou O my Soul, hope to purchase heaven at an easier rate? No my Dearest Lord! since love moved Thee to transfigure thyself into a Man of sorrows for my sake, love also shall compel me, to be conformable to Thee, my Holy Espous. Let me but enjoy Thee, & then let what ever tribulations thou pleasest, fall upon Me! Here cut, here burn, so thou sparest me for eternity; O Eternity! who can live with thy everlasting torments? Come therefore O delicious crosses, O amiable tribulations, by which I may purchase an Eternity of joys. RESOLUTION. I will prepare myself to this spiritual Combat, & not only endure the tribulations which my sensuality & disorderly passions may raise against Me, but what ever Crosses the malice of Satan, or the sweet providence of my heavenly Father shall inflict upon Me; & humbly casting myself at the foot of the Cross, I will say, Behold here O Divine Lord, behold here, My whole self, my Body, my Soul, my All, ready to abandon all contents & to suffer all sorrows for Thee; Thy will be done; Pleasures or pains, thorns or diadems, life or death; all shall be indifferently welcome; Only, be thou with Me, O strong helper, & none shall prevail against Me. EVENING EXERCISE. FIRST DISCOURSE. Spiritual Desolation. ALthough our Lord JESUS were the Beloved of the Eternal Father, equal to him in Essence, Wisdom & Power, yet for Us he would become an Outcast, deserted by Him. Hearken Philothea to that lamentable Complaint he makes to his Father upon the Cross; My God My God why hast thou forsaken Me? Though his humane Nature lost not its Union with the Godhead, nor the Grace or friendship of God, yet the Influence of his Divinity on the inferior Portion of his Soul was then suspended, & he left to struggle with the bitterest torments, & pangs of a most cruel & ignominious Death. Our Solitary Pilgrim to Perfection, must be prepared to welcome this sublime state of Spiritual Desolation, if she aspires to an Union & Conformity with her heavenly Espous; she must not only contentedly abandon all friends, & bear what ever Crosses, but must also willingly be deprived of all those delights, which usually accompany a devout Life, undergo Aridities of the spirit, & lose the savoury influences of Gods gracious favours; & instead of pleasant Illustrations of the Understanding, Enflaming of the will, & flow of Joy in the heart, to have the spirit loaden with dulness, barrenness, & insensibility to heavenly thoughts & actions. If God thus tries thy Constancy, assure thyself Philothea, he is even then present with Thee, watching in the Centre of thy heart over Thee, causing aversions from Sin, desires to perform the duties of thy state, & long to be with God, though in that distress, a darkness be spread over thy Soul, & thou be'st deprived of thy usual cheerfulness & alacrity. The cause of this our desolation oft is in ourselves; either a too eager desire of, or delight in, spiritual consolations; or a neglect of timely entertaining offered inspirations; or else too much proneness to seek & accept of sensual satisfactions; But the chief Cause thereof is God only, whose property it is, to create Light & Darkness, & separate the One from the Other. As God caused the brightness of Christ's tranfigured body on Mount Thabor, which signifies the cleverness & cheerfulness of our Spirit in holy actions: so also he caused that darkness which o'respred the earth, whilst CHRIST'S body was disfigured on Mount Calvarie, whereby is represented the droughts of a Soul in this state of spiritual desolation; Wherefor behave thy self very cautiously in the pursuance of Christian perfection, so that whither thou hast a feeling of piety, or whither God (for reasons known to himself) deprives Thee thereof, keep the same Evenness of heart, & constancy in thy duties, during both States; still multiplying acts of Love, renewing thy purposes, resigning thyself to God's decrees concerning Thee, & following the direction of his Holy Spirit, under whose conduct, thou art now become conformable to thy sufferring Espous. Imagine , that JESUS CHRIST has nailed Thee to this Cross, through the great Love he has towards Thee, to the end thou fliest not from him, abandon the charge he has taken of thee, or quit thy customary duties; & that he may behold thy conflicts, hearken to thy mournful sights & supplications, & may more readily infuse spiritual helps; wherefor humbly open thy heart to him, disclosing all thy wants & weakness; advise also with some prudent person, whom thou hast chosen for thy Guide, & follow his counsels punctually; ever closeing with an entire Resignation to his sacred Will, who thus Visits Thee. COLLOQUY. What hast thou done, My Innocent Lord, that thou art thus severely treated? Thy body is covered with wounds, thy blood streams forth from every part, thy hands & feet are nailed to the Cross, thy head is crowned with thorns, thy heart is pierced with a spear, & thy Soul filled to the brim with desolation, when thou cried'st: My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? Oh, what Love, what Mercy is here? I have sinned, & the Son of God is smitten! Oh, rather let me suffer, who have provoked thy wrath! Wither I feel the sweetness of thy comfortable presence, or thou dost permit Anxieties to oppress my spirit, I will equally love Thee, & obey thy will. And I will bless God at all times, his praises shall ever be in my lips, because he will be my Salvation, in the day of sorrow. SECOND DISCOURSE. Phìlotheas' Choice. HAving thus prosperously Philothea, (though with much difficulty, in thy ten day's Voyage to Perfection) passed through thy holy Solitude, & arrived to Mount Calvarie, & there found thy crucified Lord, the Author, Exemplar & Finisher of all Perfection, repose thyself with joy under the shade of the Cross offering up thy heart to him, to be united with his by Love, & made conformable to his Will in all thy affections & actions; saying, Behold, I have gone far flying from the World & its Vanities, & made my habitation in the Wilderness; Under his shadow, whom my Soul desireth, will I set; This is my Resting place, for ever & ever; here will I dwell, because I have chosen it. O blessed Flight! O pleasant Repose! O Divine Choice! whereby thy Soul will become a stranger to the Earth where she lives, & freely converse with God whom she loves. Then make a brief review of thy ten day's Retirement; See, whither thou hast that value of Solitude; & its Entertainments, which the perfection thereof deserveth; And what inclinations thou hast to persever therein? whither thou hast a cordial apprehension of thy Sinful State; & the Means God has established for thy salvation? Wither thy Passions be any thing abated, & thy heart unchayned from Creatures; that it may joyfully Fly to God? Wither thou hast a perfect Calm in thy Soul; canst Give ear to the whisper of thy heavenly Espous; & be'st every way fitted to take thy Repose in God? And lastly, whither thou hast a hearty resentement of the sufferings of thy crucified Lord, a willingness to Imitate him in his bitter separations, & a desire to be wholly united to him in that sad & ignominious state? for unless thy heart be now united unto that of JESUS suffering, thou mayst not hope hereafter to be united unto thy JESUS triumphing. Fix thy Eye steadily upon thy sovereign Lord, bleeding & dying upon the Cross, & thereby draw a Copy in thy own heart; by his wounded feet order thy affections, by his pierced hands rectify thy actions, by his crowned head purify thy thoughts, by his opened side regulate thy Love, & by his sorrowful Soul draw in thine the picture of Compassion & imitation, That for ever after, the life of JESUS may be made manifest in Thee. COLLOQUY. Behold here, O Victorious Saviour of Men & Angels, my languishing & sighing heart, earnestly sueing to become One with Thee, transformed into the likeness of thy love-wounded heart, & dying to all things, but Thee, that henceforth Thou only mayst live in me, & I for ever in Thee, without being separated from Thee. O Amiable Union! O delicious Transformation! O Divine Life! Oh that thou wouldst deep engrave in my heart the Image of thy Cross, & all thy sufferings thereon; that as a bundle of myrrh they may ever lay in my bosom, by a perpetual Memory of thy Love therein towards Me. To Thee do I now, for ever, sacrifice my whole heart, to be wounded with the darts of thy ever flaming love; that all my Affections, Actions, Thoughts, Desires & joys may be ordered by Thee; begin from Thee, & end in Thee; O Endless End, and Abyss of all Happiness! Amen. FINIS. MEDITATIONS UPON THE PASSION, For every day of the week. SUNDAY. Washing of the Feet. CONS. 1. Who washeth? God, thy Creator, Redeemer & giver of all good things. 2. Whose feet he washeth? of ignoble people, great sinners, & his own betrayer. 3. Why he washeth? to give example of meekness, & teach us to cleanse our Soul, ere we approach his Altar. Affect: Oh my JESUS, that I could love thee & all creatures, as I ought, & thou desirest! Resolve, To practise the Virtue of Charity, & shun Envy, in occasions best known to thyself. MONDAY. Prayer in the garden. CONS: 1. How CHRIST prayeth? kneeling, prostrate, & with instancy: & thou how tipid? 2. What's his prayer? That his Chalice may pass, yet with resignation to obey his Father's will: do thou pray thus. 3. How he sweats, blood, in great drops, in great sorrows; wilt thou rely on thy own strength. Affect: Oh my JESUS, that I could humble myself to Thee, & all creatures for thee. Resolve, To practise Humility & shun Pride, etc. TWESDAY. Mocking before Herod. CONS: 1. How JESUS betrayed, apprehended, & manacled, is led to Annas, Caiphas, Pilate & Herod: Fellow him in this sorrowful Pilgrimage. 2. How He is every where falsely accused, & yet is silent; be silent too when injured. 3. How before Herod, he is clothed & mocked as a Fool; if thou be'st a Christian, imitate CHRIST'S self-denial. Affect: Oh my JESUS, that I could contemn my own will for thy sake. Resolve, To practise Self-denial, & shun self-love, etc. WEDNESDAY. Whipping at the Pillar. CONS: 1. How JESUS led back to Pilate, is there accused as a Blasphemer, Seducer & Traitor; Barrabas though a Murderer, is perfer'd before him; canst repine, when vilifyed? 2. How that Innocent Body unclothed, & bound to the Pillar, is whipped for thy sins: I sin, & Thou sufferest! 3. How barbarously those Soldiers treat thy JESUS; Oh cruelly! this he suffers for the: Bath thy heart in his saving blood. Affect. Oh my JESUS, that I could bear all Crosses, from all persons, for the love of Thee! Resolve, To practise Patience & shun Anger, etc. THURSDAY. Crowning with Thorns. CONS: 1. How JESUS thus bleeding, is crowned with sharp Thorns; this Crown is instead of a Crown of Glory! 2. How they cloth him in scarlet, put a reed in his hand for a Sceptre, & then kneeling deride Him; Thou art a King indeed; reign for ever in my heart. 3. How JESUS, thus adorned is led forth by Pilate, & shown to the Jews, with, Behold á Man: O sad Spectacle! Yet still, they cry, Crucify Him: Oh the heavy weight of my sins. Affect: Oh my JESUS, that I could obey Thee, even to loss of life. Resolve, To practise Obedience & shun Sloth, etc. FRIDAY. Carrying the Cross. CONS: 1. How JESUS thus derided, whipped & crowned, goes forth carrying the Cross, whereon he is to be sacrificed for thy Sins. 2. What shouts of joy the Jews make after Him, through the streets of Jerusalem: thus is Innocency despised! 3. How the devout women meet & bewail Him: thy hard heart sheds not one Tear amidst these sorrows, or for thy sins. Affect: Oh my JESUS, that I could abandon all sensual satisfactions for the Love of Thee! Resolve, To practise Temperance, & eat Gluttony, etc. SATURDAY. Crucifying of jesus. CONS: 1. How JESUS with much pain & shame, arrived to Mount Calvary is again unclothed, & thus all his sores are renewed: My Sins not blotted out by Repentance, shall one day be disclosed to the whole World. 2. How they stretch thy JESUS upon the Cross, fastening him with nails thereunto, & them raise him up, where he hangs betweme two thiefs: Oh what ignominy! 3. How He there hangs for the space of three hours, reviled by Jews & Gentiles, forsaken by his Disciples, drenched with gall & vinegar, pierced to the heart with a spear, & yet He prays for his Enemies: Enter, & make thy abode in that love-wounded-Heart. Affect: Oh my JESUS that I could imitate Thee in the purity of thy Life & Doctrine. Resolve, To practise Modesty & shun All contrary Thereunto, etc. FINIS.