A golden treatise of mental prayer/A meditation for Sunday: of Almighty God's benefits
A MEDITATION FOR SUNDAY.
This day thou shalt spend in recogitating Almighty God's benefits, that thou mayest be grateful to him for the same, and thy heart inflamed with the love of him, that hath heaped so many favors upon thee; which seeing they be innumerable, thou shalt take four of the chief to thy consideration, which are, the benefits of thy creation, preservation, redemption, and vocation, besides particular benefits specially bestowed upon thee.
Touching the benefit of thy creation, examine diligently what thou wert before, what God hath given thee when thou hadst no precedent merits. Behold thy comely body well composed of its members and senses; look upon thy noble soul, beautified with these excellent faculties, the understanding, will, and memory.
Remember, that when he gave thee thy soul, he gave thee all things, seeing there is no perfection in any creature, which is not found more excellent in the soul of man. Hence it manifestly followeth, that when God bestowed this great benefit upon thee, he with it bestowed what else soever thou hast.
Concerning the benefit of thy conservation and preservation, consider, that all thy being dependeth upon the divine providence and disposure, without which, thou canst not move a foot, or subsist the least moment of time. Moreover, for thy use he hath created the whole universal world, and all things therein contained; the earth, the sea, birds, fishes, beasts, plants, nay the very angels themselves he hath ordained to do thee service. Consider thy health, the strength of limbs, and thy very life itself, which thou enjoyest, to be the great benefits of Almighty God, who, by daily nourishment and other temporal helps, conserveth all these in their proper vigor. Observe the miseries and tribulations unto which other mortal men are subject, into which, as others, thou hadst easily fallen, had not the divine goodness protected thee.
In the benefit of thy redemption, consider the abundant good, both in quantity and quality, which he hath purchased to thee by it.
Then call to mind the bitterness of his torments, which he suffered in soul and body to ease thee; and that the acknowledgment of these favors may take a greater impression in thee, in the mystery of his passion take notice of these four things. First, who is it that suffereth; secondly, what he suffered; thirdly, for whom he suffered; fourthly, why he suffered.
He that suffered, was God; what he suffered, were the most grievous torments, and such that never any mortal man did endure the like.
For whom? for most ungrateful creatures, cursed and worthy of hell fire.
Why? not for any commodity or profit of his own, or that we had merited so much by our precedent merits, but only moved to it by his infinite love and bounty towards us.
Concerning the benefit of thy vocation, consider the grace he gave thee, when he infused into thee the Christian faith, by the receiving of baptism and other sacraments, when he did enrol thee in the book of his eternity amongst faithful souls. If, after thy first vocation, when by sin thou hadst lost the innocence of baptism, he hath drawn thee again out of the mire of thy own corruption, restored thee to grace, and brought thee back again into the way of thy own salvation. What thanksgiving oughtest thou to render unto him for so great a benefit? How great was his mercy to thee, that with longanimity he expected so many years; that be permitted thee to spend thy days in so great impurity of wickedness; that he hath often visited thee with good and holy inspirations; that he did not cut off the thread of thy perverse life, as he served others in the same place; to conclude, that he called thee with such efficacious grace, that he restored thee from death to life, and opened thine eyes to contemplate his clear light? How great was his clemency towards thee, that he supported thee with his grace, not to return back again to thy former sins, but to overcome the enemies of mankind, and constantly to persevere in a virtuous cause.
These are the common benefits. Besides these, there are many secret ones, known to none but those that receive them, and others, which, indeed, are not clearly known unto themselves, but only to him that bestowed them. How often for thy pride, arrogance, ingratitude, and sloth, hast thou deserved to be left of God, as many for less causes have been? Yet, notwithstanding, he would not? How often hath God, with his singular providence, exempted thee from evil, removed occasions of offending, broken the snare that the enemy had laid for thy perdition, hath frustrated his expectation, and would not permit that his counsels and machinations should prevail against thee? How often hath he done to us as he did to St. Peter in the gospel; [1]"Ecce Satayias expelwit xos, lit criharet sicut triticum: Ego autem rogavi pro te ut nan deficiat fides tua:" "Behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not." And who can know these secret benetits but God alone? benefits which are palpable, are easy to be seen, but those which are private, consisting in the working of good, or preventing of ill, the mind of man cannot perfectly comprehend. Wherefore, it is meet and convenient to reason, that we should render immortal thanks to God, for all these benefits, and confess ingenuously, that we have received more than we are able to restore, and that our obligations towards him are so great, that with any goods of ours we shall never live to requite them, when we cannot so much as number or comprehend them in our understanding.
CHAPTER III.
OF THE TIME AND FRUIT OF THESE MEDITATIONS.
Behold, Christian reader, thou hast seven former meditations, accommodated to every day of the week; not so that it is an offence to meditate upon another matter; when, as we said before, whatsoever inflameth the heart to the love and fear of God, and to the keeping of his commandments, may profitably be assumed for matter of meditation. We, therefore, out of so great a number, have selected these, both for that they contain the chief mysteries of our faith, and that in them is force and efficacy, to rouse up our souls to the love and fear of God: as also to set before novices, which have need of a guide, prepared and, as it were, fore-chewed matter, lest they confusedly wander up and down in this spacious field, without any certainty, now meditating upon one thing, and presently on another.
Moreover, these meditations, as we have said elsewhere, suit best with those who do begin to turn from Almighty God from their wicked courses. For these had need to be helped by the consideration of these things, to the detestation and horror of sin, the fear of God, the contempt of the world, which are, as it were, the first steps to the amendment of our former perverse life; therefore, it is good, that they should sometimes insist in them, that they may have the better foundation for other
ensuing virtues. SEVEN OTHER MEDITATIONS
OF
THE PASSION OF OUR LORD,
AND THE MANNER HOW IT OUGHT TO BE MEDITATED UPON.
CHAPTER IV.
Here follow seven other meditations of the passion of Christ, his resurrection, and ascension into heaven; to which, others of his holy life may well be added.
But we must note, that in the passion of our blessed Saviour, six things chiefly are to be meditated upon. First, the bitterness of his sorrow, that we may compassionate with him. Secondly, the greatness of our sins, which were the cause of his torments, that we may abhor them. Thirdly, the greatness of the benefit, that we may be grateful for it. Fourthly, the excellency of the divine charity and bounty therein manifested, that we may love him more fervently. Fifthly, the conveniency of the mystery, that we may be drawn to admiration of it. Lastly, the multiplicity of virtues of our blessed Saviour which did shine in this stupendous mystery, that we may partly imitate and partly admire them; wherefore, in the midst of these meditations, let us sometimes compassionate with our blessed Saviour in the extremity of his sorrows; extreme indeed, both by reason of the tenderness of his body, as also, for the great affection he bore unto our souls. He did suffer them without any manner of consolation, as we shall speak hereafter in its proper place. Sometimes let us stir up in ourselves compunction for our sins, which were the cause of these his great sufferings. Sometimes let us kindle in our souls an ardent affection, considering his great affection towards us, which upon the cross he declared and manifested to the whole world. And the benefit which he bestowed upon us in his passion, because he bought us with the inestimable price of his precious blood, of which only, we reap the benefit and commodity. Sometimes let us ruminate upon the conveniency of the manner, his eternal wisdom would be pleased to choose, to cure our miseries, to satisfy for our sins, to relieve our necessities, to make us partakers of his glory, to repress our pride, to induce us to the love and joyful suffering of poverty, injuries, austerity, and all commendable laborious exercises. Moreover, it will not be besides the matter, to look into the admirable examples which did principally shine in the life and passion of our sweet Saviour, his meekness, patience, obedience, mercy, poverty, charity, humility, bounty, modesty, and other of his rare virtues, which in all his actions did glitter like stars in the firmament. And chiefly to this end, let us meditate upon these things, that, as near as we can, we may imitate them. Let us shake off sloth, and elevate our souls, that as much as in our power lieth, with the help of his holy grace, we may trace his sacred footsteps. This is the best and most profitable method of meditating upon our blessed Saviour's passion, that is to say, that, thereby we be drawn to imitation, and so to be wholly transformed into our blessed Saviour, that each one may say with the Apostle: "Vivo autem, jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus." "And now I live, but not I, but Christ in me." Moreover, in meditating our blessed Saviour's passion, we must set him before the eyes of our souls, imagining that we see as present the pangs of his heavy sufferings; and we must not only insist upon the bare history of his passion, but we must consider other circumstances; namely, these four; first, who it is that suffereth? secondly, for whom? thirdly, how? fourthly, why? First, he that suffereth, is God, omnipotent, infinite, immense. For whom? the most ungrateful creature in the world, and less regarding his benefits. How? with most profound humility, charity, bounty, meekness, mercy, patience, modesty, &c. Why? not for his own commodity, nor our merits, but for his immense piety, mercy, goodness and love towards us.
Last of all, let us not only contemplate his outward, but his inward torments, for much more may be considered in the soul than in the body of Christ, both for the more sensible feeling of his passion there, as also for divers other considerations therein. Thus, having set down this short preface, let us proceed to the handling of the mysteries themselves of our blessed Saviour's passion.
- ↑ Luke xxii 31