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{"content": "The first chapter is the life of Saint Jerome as it is taken from the Golden Legend\nThe second is of his life also as Saint Augustine wrote in his Confessions\nThe third is how Saint Jerome appeared to Augustine in great joy and swiftness at the hour of his death\nThe fourth is how four men were raised from death to life in the destruction of a heresy\nThe fifth is how Saint John Baptist and Saint Jerome appeared to Augustine\nThe sixth is how by the merits of Saint Jerome, three men were raised from death and saw the joys of heaven and the pains of purgatory\nThe seventh is of a marvelous and terrifying death of a holy man named Eusebius and how Saint Jerome appeared to him and comforted him in the hour of his death\nThe eighth is how the three men who were raised told of the pains of hell and purgatory\nThe ninth is of their dying and how Saint Jerome helped them in their dying\nThe tenth is how the souls of the three men after their death stood before the judgment seat and how Saint Jerome led them to see the joys of heaven.\nThe eleven is of two miracles of St. Eusebius, one being the miraculous resurrection of his body. The twelve recounts the story of an heretic named Sabinian, who was miraculously healed and a bishop named Silvan delivered from death by the intercession of St. Jerome. The thirteenth details how the devil appeared in the likeness of Bishop Silvan and slandered him mercilessly, but St. Jerome came to his aid. The fourteenth relates how St. Jerome saved a man from death who had come to visit him from the East. The fifteenth recounts how St. Jerome saved two young men from death who had come to visit him from Rome. The sixteenth tells of an abbey of nuns being destroyed for simony and covetousness, and how one innocent nun was saved when all the others were killed in vengeance. The seventeenth recounts the miraculous punishment of three heretics against St. Jerome. The eighteenth details how St. Jerome delivered a man from prison and transported him from one land to another on a night.\nThe nineteenth is how our lady praised Saint Jerome, as it is written in the revelation of Saint Brigitte.\n\nSaint Jerome came from noble kin: and in his childhood, he was sent to Rome to learn. There he learned Latin and Hebrew. And on a time as he wrote himself to the holy maid Eustace, whom he studied beside night and day in books of poetic scripture: It happened so that about midday he was suddenly and fiercely seized with a great fever. In such a way that all his body was dead and cold to the heart. And when they were busy preparing for his burial, suddenly he was roused before the throne of God. And there he was asked what man he was, and he answered that he was a Christian man. The judge replied, \"Thou speakest not truthfully, for thou art a pagan man and nothing a Christian man.\" For where your treasure is, there is your heart, and your heart is more turned towards worldly books than towards holy writ. Saint Jerome could not answer but one of the judges commanded him to be beaten. And then he cried out and said, \"Have mercy.\"\nUpon me and those standing by prayed that he might have mercy, for he was young. And I, Jerome, swore before the judge, almighty God, and said, \"Lord, if I have ever owned any secular or worldly books or read upon them hereafter: then forsake me, for I am a Christian man.\" By His oath, he was let go. And immediately he lived again and found himself all wept and his body sore and full of wounds from the scourging he had suffered before the judge. From then on, he studied and read as quickly upon holy books as he had done before upon worldly books. Then he made himself a monk and there he lived, chastising the lusts of the flesh and steadfastly rejecting the delights of the world. In doing so, he caused others to be more religious. When he was fifty-nine years old, he was made a cardinal priest in the Church of Rome. And after the pope was dead, all the people cried that Jerome was worthy to be pope. But for as much as he had been accustomed to blame others:\nthe fleshily ones of governed clerks and religious people laid a way to do him refuse: And on a night when St. Jerome should rise to matins as he was wont: he donned a woman's cloak and went into the church, thinking it was his own: which his enemies had laid by his bedside to make people believe that he had a woman in his chamber: and so to scorn him. When he saw their malice, he fled thence and came to Constantinople and there he came with the bishop of holy scripture and afterwards went into the desert and there he suffered great penance and disease for a year to atone: wherefore he writes to the said holy maid Eustace and says: when I was in the desert in great wilderness, a most horrible dwelling place, all burned with the sun, I thought I was among the delights of Rome. All my body was deformed and clad in a sack, and my skin made black like an Ethiopian or man of Inde. Every day weeping, every day wailing. And when sleep came.\nI come upon me I would suffer my body and in my dead flesh I felt burning and stirring of unclennes: And therefore, since they feel such temptations that despise their bodies and fight only with their thoughts: what suffer the men or women who live in delices truly, as the apostle says, they live in body: but they are dead in soul. But our Lord is my witness that after many weeping, full often times it seemed to me that I was among the companies of angels. After he had lived thus in the desert for four years, he went again into Bethlehem and offered himself as a wild beast to abide at the crybbie of the Lord. There he governed many disciples. And he founded a monastery and lived under the rule of the apostles. For one and a half years he traveled about translation of holy writ. And to his end he lived as a virgin. Also he wrote the life of the fathers in a book called Vitae Patrum. He was so wise that whatsoever question anyone asked him.\nHe should immediately give him a reasonable answer, and when there had never been any certain service in the holy church but each body sang and read what he wanted, the emperor prayed the pope to ordain some wise man to lead divine service. Since the pope knew well that Jerome was perfect and most excellent in Latin tongue, Greek, and all wisdom, he committed this office to him. Then Jerome divided the service into nocturnes and assigned a proper nocturne to each day of the week. He also ordained psalms and gospels for the entire year and other things pertaining to divine service. He sent them from Bethlehem to the pope, who received and approved them, authorizing them forever. With abstinence and labor, he grew so weary and feeble that when he lay on his bed, he could not rise except by pulling himself up with a rope tied to an abacus to perform the service that longed to be done.\nAfter making himself a grave in the mouth of the cave where our Lord lay when he was born, and having lived for 184 years and six months, he died and was buried in the year of our Lord 1318. About the life and passing of this holy doctor, Saint Jerome writes to Saint Cyrillus, bishop of Jerusalem, as follows:\n\nO most reverend priest, Cyrillus,\n\nTrust that silence is not to be kept from the praising of the priest Jerome, who was most glorious servant of Christ and a cornerstone of our holy Church, firmly established and grounded in him. Now, in heavenly bliss, or else you feared that I would speak of him as a babbling child or as a man with unclean lips. But for heaven's sake, tell the glory of God and all that God made praiseworthy in his deeds, and a reasonable creature should still be silent for praising while unreasonable creatures are not. Therefore, I shall speak further or be still if I am still.\nI shall be begrudgingly praised with stones; yet I shall not be still to extol the high and worthy Jerome, though I am unworthy and insufficient to praise him. Therefore, our tongue and our hand should be made secure, lest they cleave to our palate. For truly, this man is great in holiness of his right excellent life: great in depth of his unspeakable wisdom, and great in quantity of his great joy, marvelous he is in unusual miracles, and to be feared for the great power given him by God. But how great this glorious Jerome is in holiness of his life, how should one tongue make known what is beyond all that live on earth? Therefore, it is fitting to call him another Samuel, another Elijah, dwelling in the desert.\nHe lived in austerity, his body made lean by fasting and wearing rough clothing. Yet most glorious Jerome was not like this. Leaving behind civilization, he lived as a hermit for four years in the desert, having no companion but wild beasts and scorpions. For forty years, he never drank wine nor did he eat meat, fleeing from it so much that he would not even name it. He ate no food that came near the fire, but only twice in the depths of sickness, next to his flesh. He wore a sack and hid himself above it with a most vile cloth. He knew no other bed but the earth. Once a day, only after long periods of time, he ate fruit or leaves or herbs or roots. And after feeding himself, he woke till two hours within the night. He slept on the ground till mid-night. Then, immediately, he rose and, till the day, he engaged in Readings and holy Scriptures. He wept bitterly for small venial sins, as if he had killed a man three times a day. He beat his flesh with harsh beatings.\nthat rivers of blood flowed from his body. He eschewed speaking any evil word. Idel was he ever. But always occupied in holy reading or writing or teaching of others. What shall I say more, if I should seek the lives of all saints, I believe I should find none more holy than he. But for we named Samuel before us, we may show clearly that he was Samuel. From his mother's teats, he was called to diverse studies of learning and set to serve of holy scripture. So in the light of his face, all flowed with godly wisdom. We see the light of both testaments and in the strength of his arm, a great party of heretics is dispelled. He is the glory of our virtue, translating both the old law and the new from the language of Hebrew into Latin and into Greek. He disposed both to abide for ever unto all that come after, declaring many privities & doubts & arranging the order of divine service he edified nearly all the church. So he appeared great in depth of unspeakable wisdom. He could fitly handle all liberal sciences.\nAll men say that no one resembled him, and as I learned from my own experience of many pystellis of holy writ, Jerome could not but believe that I did not say these things, thinking you did not know the life and virtues of Jerome except through me. I myself was his fellow for a long time, but I call God to witness that for the holiness of such an unspeakable man, I may not be silent, though I would for marvels and miracles, know his holiness and also the heaven in which he is, greater and of more bliss than many of the saints who are there. No man doubts that he has one of the greatest and highest mansions among the everlasting Father's dwellings, for while every man is rewarded there according to his life and merits. He appeared most marvelous in unusual tokens and innumerable miracles.\nThe worshipful man Eu\u00dfeby declared some miracles to me through his letters. I pray the right reverend father, when you have leisure, to gather as many of them as you may and send them to me, who am so eager to hear of such worthy deeds and so profitable ones. I shall tell you that, by God's grace, the same hour that Saint Jerome died appeared to Saint Austin, desiring that the merits of the most holy Jerome not be hidden. I fell into a trance on the day of his passing, and our Lord appeared to me, clothed in joy and undeediness, while I was alone, contemplating what glory and delight were in the blessed souls that rejoiced with Christ. Desiring to make a brief account, I took pen and ink to write a letter to the most holy Jerome, asking him to write back to me about his experience in this matter.\nI know well that in such a hard question I might not be learned so evidently from him of any man alive. And when I began to write the beginning of my letter, suddenly an unfathomable light with an amaranthine sweetness of sweet smelling ether entered my cell at coplin time. And when I say it, I was so greatly astonished that I lost my strength both of heart and body. I did not yet know then that the wonderful hand of God had withdrawn his servant from corruption of the body and raised him so high a seat in heaven. But for my eye had never seen such a light, my smelling had never felt such a savour. I was greatly astonished by such unheard marvels. And while I thought to myself what it might be, a voice came out of the light saying these words:\n\nAvast, Ausyn, what seekest thou, Troweste? That all the sea shall be put in a little vessel, Or dost thou intend to close all the earth in a little fist, Or to let the firmament cease from continual motion, Or to let the sea of this world cease from its wonted course, That\n\"never man may see thee, or here thee speak,\nwho ne'er heard it supposed, thou couldst understand,\nwhat shall be the end of an endless thing, what the measure\nof a thing that cannot be measured? Rather shall\nall the sea be shut in a little pit, rather shall\nthe earth be held in a little fist: Rather shall all\nthe sea of ebbing and flowing cease, than thou shouldst\nunderstand the least part or portion of the joys and bliss\nthat blessed souls of heaven enjoy without end. But if thou were taught by experience and tasting\nof the same bliss as I am, Therefore strive not to do things that are impossible till the end of thy life be come,\nSeek not here the things that may not be known but to them that are in bliss,\nBut rather strive to do such deeds that thou may be in possession of such things as thou desirest to know,\nfor they that ever enter there go never again, I am astonished for fear.\"\nWith out the strength of heart, a little boldness took to me, and said: Who art thou that droppest such sweet words into my throat? I am he, said Jerome, the priest to whom thou hast begun to write a letter. I am his soul that lies in Bethlehem, the burden of the flesh am I joined to Christ and the law, with all the companies of heaven clad in light and arrayed with the stole of undying bliss. Go in peace to the everlasting bliss in the kingdom of heavens, and from henceforth I abide in no less joy. But mourning, what shall I be joined to ever after? It shall be glorified, and the glory that I have now alone, I shall have then with the body in the day of the resurrection. And we shall be raised up into the air to meet Christ, without ceasing to answer thee, worthiest of men, to be thy footman, but have in mind thy servant, though I be most unworthy, whom thou lovedest in the world with such great affection of charity, that by thy prayer, I may be cleansed of sin by thy governance.\nI may go without complaining in the right way or virtue. By your busy defense, I may be defended from my enemies, and by your holy leading, I may come to the haven of health. Now I assure you, soul, that I will ask whatever you will, knowing that I will answer to all your will. Then I said, \"I would know one thing: can the souls in that heavenly bliss will anything they cannot get?\" The soul answered, \"Austin, know one thing: the souls in that heavenly bliss are made so sure and stable that there is no will in them but God's will. They may will God's will and fulfill it. None of us is defrauded of our desires against our will, for none of us desires anything but God, and we have God always as we will: our desires are all fulfilled for we abide perfectly in God and He in us.\" O Father Cyril, it would be long to write in this short letter all the glorious things that the soul answered and made known to me. I hope, with God's help, after a few years to come to Bethlehem.\nTo visit his holy relics and then to declare more openly that I heard and have written. If I should speak with the tongues of all men, I could in no way worthily express how suddenly, openly, and marvelously the holy soul dwelling within me conveyed to me the unity of the Holy Trinity and the Trinity of unity. And the generation of the Son of the Father; and the going forth of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son; and the hierarchies and orders of angels and blessed spirits and their ministries; and the blessed joys of holy souls and other things profitable and hard for human understanding. But the sweet smell remained for many days after; how marvelous therefore is this man doing so many marvelous things and showing to men such unwonted wonders. Therefore, let us cry out and rejoice, and give glory to his praising, for certainly he is worthy of all praise. And we are not sufficient to praise him, for he has entered into the house of our Lord bright and most fair.\nwithout a doubt, he has an everlasting seat among the highest mansions of bliss. Four other men had a vision of St. Jerome in the hour of his death. But the truth should be declared by more witnesses than one. I will confirm this more plainly: A worthy man named Severus, excellent in wisdom and conduct, along with three other men, on the same day and in the city of Tours, saw a vision similar to mine. Severus witnesses to me that the great joy of Jerome should not be hidden from the world: lest they, who might delight in following his holiness if they knew it, become weary and cease from the way of holiness. God willed that they should see and know how many and worthy rewards of holiness he had bestowed upon him, so that they would more surely draw after the steps of his virtue for the hope of reward quickens the strength of labor. The day of St. Jerome's passing at compline time: The said Severus was in the company of the bishop and other clerics, and as they were singing the Office of the Dead for St. Jerome, they beheld a vision of the saint, sitting on a throne of glory, surrounded by a multitude of angels and saints. His face shone with an ineffable brightness, and he held in his hands the book of the Gospels. As they gazed upon him, they heard a voice from heaven proclaiming: \"Blessed is he who has finished his course with joy, and has kept the faith.\" Then St. Jerome, with a gracious smile, raised his eyes to heaven and said: \"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.\" And with that, he closed his eyes and passed from this life to eternal glory.\nHis house and three other good men with him, two of whom were monks of St. Martin's monastery, were engrossed in holy readings when suddenly they heard in heaven inexpressible voices of most sweet songs and the sound of organs. Symphonies and instruments of all music, which seemed to them to come from heaven and earth and all things sounded in every direction. The sweetness of that melody was such that their souls were on the verge of leaving their bodies. And thus astonished, they looked up into the air and saw all the air and everything around the firmament shining with light brighter than the sun from which comes the sweetness of all sweet odors. Then they prayed to God that they might know why all this was.\n\nA voice came from heaven and said, \"Take it not marvelously nor be amazed, though you see and hear such things. For today, King of kings and Lord of lords, Christ Jesus comes festively against the soul of the glorious Jerome.\"\nIn Bethlehem, going out of this wicked world to lead him up into the kingdom of heaven, so much the more excellently and high before others, as he shone before them in this world by merits of higher and holier living. This day, the orders of angels rejoice and sing with such voices as you here come with their lord. This day, all the companies of patriarchs and prophets. This day, all holy martyrs and confessors, and this day the glorious and most blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, with all holy virgins above, and the souls of all that are in bliss, come joyfully and festively against the contrary man, their citizen and heir of heaven, with them. These things said the voice was still, but the light, odor, and song remained an hour after and ceased: By these things, it is shown that he is one of the highest citizens of heavenly Jerusalem, and no man doubts but that, as his will is nearer to God's will, he may get what he wills rather than others. How Saint John the Baptist and Saint [?]\nJerome appeared to Saint Augustine in a vision. No man thinks that I am so rash to say that Saint Jerome is better than Saint John the Baptist: for our Savior bears witness to no one more than him, who is in the bliss of heaven, foremost among Peter and Paul and other apostles who were specifically chosen and sanctified by Christ himself. Yet, for the sake of prayer, I say that Jerome should have more glory in heaven than they. I see no reason why it should not be fitting to say that Jerome is in heaven blessed with them, while he is not discordant from them in holiness. And since God is not a respecter of persons but discerns the merits of each, He gives to each as they deserve. If it seems that Jerome should have less joy than John the Baptist and other apostles: yet the merits of his holiness, the labors of his writings, the translations of both laws, the ordinance of divine service, the fruits and profits of goodness that he did not only bestow but also practiced himself, and the many other virtues which he possessed, all these should be taken into account.\nTo all who are now present, and also to those who may come to judge whether Jerome is equal to them in blessedness, lest I give cause for scorn to some who would deem that I speak out of carnal affection or unworthiness: I liken glorious Jerome to Saint John the Baptist or other apostles. I call upon God to witness that I shall relate a thing I learned never from man, but by the revelation of Almighty God.\n\nFour nights after his passing, when I was earnestly pondering the praises of most blessed Jerome and began to write a letter about it around midnight, a marvelous vision appeared to me. A figure with three crowns spoke to me and said, \"Austin, what do you think about the truth concerning Jerome? After much reflection, I replied, \"Therefore we have both come together to relate his blessedness.\" This is my fellow servant whom you see.\nI see Jerome, who is equally glorious to me in every way in his leaving as he was in his presence: that I may will he will, and as I see God, so does he see God, knowing and understanding God in whom is all blessedness of sainthood. No saint has more or less blessing than another, but inasmuch as one has clearer contemplation and sight of God's beauty. That crown which I bear more than he is the true reward of martyrdom, by which I ended my bodily life. Though Jerome, for the trials and distresses, penances and afflictions, worship that is due to any saint, is due to all saints, for there is no envy there as in the world where each man seeks rather to be above than to be under: Not so in heaven, but each soul is all glad of others' joy and blessing as if it had it itself. Therefore, the joy of each is the joy of all, and the joy of all is the joy of each, when these things were said that blessed company departed.\nThere are ways, and I awakened from that sweet sleep, and in me was such great fervor and burning of love and charity that I had never felt before. From thence forth, there was no appetite in me of envy or pride as before. God is my witness that there is so much fervor of charity in me that I rejoice more in another's good than in my own. I desire more to be under than a bow to any. I say not this for vain praise, but lest anyone should think that these were vain dreams whereby we are often scorned, but a true vision by which we are taught to praise God and His saints. Praise we most holy Jerome, who did great things in his life and has received great things in his death. Man ought not to be unfaithful in praising him whom God has magnified. Nor should anyone do wrong to St. Iohannes and the apostles. Evening Jerome to them, for they would gladly give him of their glory if they could. Therefore, thou that worshipest.\n\"Saint John and the Apostles worshiped Saint Jerome, for he is exactly like them in all things. Therefore, with devotion and without fear, we know that Jerome is equal to John: for if we say he is less, we detract from John. This treatise of praising Jerome I said to the Father Cyrille, praying that you would not scorn my little wit, since you will redeem these praises I have said of charity. If all the tongues of all men praised him, they would not be sufficient to be worthy of praise, father, have mercy on me, a sinner, when you stand on the place where the body of Jerome lies, and commend me to him with your prayers. For no one doubts that whatever Jerome desires in heaven, he can obtain it, for he cannot be denied his desire. Farewell, father, and pray for me.\"\n\nAustin, Bishop of Hippo, to the most worthy bishop Cyrille of Jerusalem, sends greetings.\nAnd to follow his steps, whose holiness ceaseth not to shine in the earth, it is fitting to speak of the glorious Jerome, whose mind is everlasting: And how worthy he is, you know well yourself, for our sake he urged us to gather all our bishops and admonished them to fast and pray, so that the power of God would not allow his faith to be troubled. A marvelous thing and not to be marveled at before three days of fasting and prayers were fulfilled. Glorious Jerome appeared on the night following to his dear son Eusebius in his prayers and, with kind speech, comforted him. And said, \"Do not fear this wicked sect, for it shall soon come to an end.\" Eusebius looked at him and he shone with so much brightness that no man's eye could look upon him, but weeping for joy. Eusebius could not speak but cried out and said, \"You are my father Jerome,\" repeating these same words, he said, \"Father, why have you forsaken me, why have you despised my company?\" Certaintly.\nI shall hold you and not leave you, nor shall you go without your son, he said. I shall not leave the comforted for twenty days after you follow me. Be with me in joy without end: But tell Cirille and his brethren, and all Clerkes that are men of true Christian faith and also all that are of the aforementioned sect, come tomorrow to gather at the church of our Lord where my body lies. And have the bodies of the three men who are this night dead brought to the place where my body is buried. Lay upon them the sack that I used to wear, and anon they shall arise and groundedly destroy these bones. Then, glorious Jerome bid farewell and appeared no longer on the morrow. Worthy father Eusebius came to me, who was then at Bethlehem, and told me all that he had seen. I, doing thanks to God and to glorious Jerome, brought the three dead bodies to us all gathered in the place.\nWhere our savior was born of the chaste virgin Mary,\nwhere also lies the body buried of the glorious Jerome.\nO marvelous mercy! In how many ways can he enhance his saints?\nIn this time, men of evil sects scorned men of right faith.\nBut be glad, all men of right faith,\nand praise God with voices of joy.\nFor you have received mercy in the midst of his temple.\nThe worshipful man Eusebius came to the bodies of each one of these dead men and, kneeling on his knees and holding up his hands to heaven,\nhe prayed aloud and said, \"God, to whom nothing is impossible,\nno thing is grievous that you do alone, and you despise none who hopes in your mercy.\nGrant that the faith you have given may be undefiled,\nand that the error of the other may appear through the merits and prayers of the glorious and beloved Jerome.\nBring again the unfaithful one to these bodies.\"\nThe souls that you have sent out from there / After this prayer, he took the sack that Jerome used and touched the deceased bodies with it. And another time, they opened her eyes and showed all signs of life. Very truly, a rose and went with a clear voice to tell openly all the joys of holy souls / And the pains of sinners in purgatory and in hell. For, as they told me later, Saint Jerome led them into paradise, purgatory, and hell to tell all people what was done there. And after that, they went back to their bodies again and did penance for the sins that they had committed. For the same day and our worshipful Eusebius would die, they would also pass away, and if they died well, they would have joy with him: And so it filled up as I shall tell afterward these things done: The great multitude of people, both of true faith and this sect, seeing openly their errors & the great marvels of Jerome, gave great praise to God that He does not abandon those who trust in Him.\nThus we are taught by Austyn not to dread\nthe pursuers of our faith, and to know how\nreadily our pitiful Lord is to help all who call upon him in times of tribulation,\nand how glorious Jerome is in promoting the prayers of those who in a pure heart pray and trust in him.\n\nWhen the time came, Eusebius knew that he should\npass away, as he was informed by the vision of St. Jerome three days before he was\nmightily struck by a fever. Then he had his brothers lay him naked on the earth and lay\nupon him the cloak that Glorious Jerome used to wear.\nThen he kissed all his brothers and comforted them benevolently.\nHe urged them to remain steadfast in their holy living.\nHe ordered, by the example of glorious Jerome, that he should be buried naked without\nthe church in which the body of St. Jerome lies.\nAfter this, he strengthened himself with the Communion of the holy body of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nand commended himself to God and St. Jerome.\nAnd so he lay for three days without a physical body.\nThe sight or speech of him. His brothers standing about him continually said and read the passion of our lord and other holy things. But for now, it is hard and fearful to all who live in this world this that I shall tell. The day that he should die was two hours before the passing of the blessed soul. Worshipful Eusebius came to behold him. He behaved himself so fearfully that the mokes that stood about him fell down to the earth in fear as men out of their minds. For other times he turned up his eyes and wrung his hands together. And with a fearful face and a hard voice, he sat up and cried, \"I shall not, I shall not, you lie, you lie.\" After this, he fell down again to the earth and, pressing his face to the ground as much as he could, he cried, \"Help me, brothers, that I may not perish.\" And they, hearing his weeping and trembling in fear, asked him, \"Father, how are you?\" He said, \"See you not the great multitude of demons that would overcome me? They asked him what would happen.\nThey who should do this: when you said I shall not, he answered, \"I shall not.\" They labored and toiled me that I should blaspheme the name of God. And therefore I cry out that I should not do it. And they asked him why Father had brought you to the earth. He answered that I should not look at those loathsome and horrible sights. An innumerable company of demons vanished away as smoke, as many of the monks bore witness. But all that stood about heard how Eusebius said, \"Whence come you, Father? Why have you tarried so long? I pray you, do not forsake your son.\" And suddenly all heard how Jerome answered again, \"Wait, son, be not afraid for I shall not forsake the one I love so much.\" Then afterward, worshipful Eusebius died, and the same three men who were arrested with him also died. And as I hope, they went with Eusebius to everlasting life. Joy for all the: twenty days after they were arrested.\nThey gave them so much penance that doubtlessly they were worthy of endless bliss. I believe it is not to keep silence about the things I learned from the three men in the days that I was continually with some of them from midday till evening time, desiring to know the privacies of the life that we abide after this short and passing life. But though I learned many things from them then, now I may only tell a few. Once it happened to me to go to one of them; I found him sore weeping. And after I could not console him with my words, I asked him the cause of his weeping. And when I had asked him often and he answered not at last, I compelled him by long instancy. He answered and said, \"If you knew the things that I have experienced on the last day, there would be none but cause for weeping.\" I pray, tell me what you saw.\n\"style at one time he said, \"O what pains and tormentes are ordained not only for damned souls but also for those in purgatory? I replied, \"As for something I do not know, I can give no certain sentence, but I believe they are not like the pains and sufferings we endure here. He answered, \"If all the pains, tormentions, and afflictions that might be thought of in this world were compared to the least pain that is there, all that seem painful and torturous there would be but souls and comfort. And if any man alive knew the pains by experience, he would rather choose to be tormented without end in this world with all the pains gathered together than to be tormented for a day in hell or in purgatory with the least pain that is there. And therefore, if you ask me the cause of my great weeping, it is for fear of pains that are rightfully given to sinners, for I know well that I have sinned against God, and I do not doubt.\"\"\nBut he is righteous, and therefore it is remarkable, not that I sorrow, but rather you ought to be greatly marveled why men who know they shall die at the earliest by experience of other life here in great security and do not think how to escape such great pains. At these words I was so touched inwardly with sorrow that I could not speak, and I said, \"Alas, what is this that I hear?\" But I pray, tell me what difference is there between the pains of hell and purgatory? He said, \"There is no difference in greatness of pains, but in this way there may be a difference. The pains of hell endure no end but at the day of doom when the bodies will be tormented with souls, and the pain of purgatory has an end: for after they have done their penance there, they shall be taken to endless joy. I asked, \"Are those in purgatory tormented all alike or differently?\" He said, \"Differently, some more severely and some more easily. After the quantity of sins.\"\nin heaven, all blessed souls hold the face of God, where all bliss resides. Though each may have as much joy as they will or think, not all are equally in joy, for some have more and some have less, according to their deeds. And if you marvel that there may be diverse joys in saints, while the only cause of their joys is God Himself, in whom there is no diversity:\n\nThe answer is this: the knowing and understanding of God is all the reward and joy of saints. Therefore, though all souls are in bliss and know God as He is, yet some understand Him more clearly and have less joy, while others understand Him less clearly and have more joy. So it may be that\n\nNow I pray you tell me how it was with the last day when your soul passed from your body. He said that when the hour of my death came, there came a great multitude of evil spirits and creatures in the place where I lay, for their multitude they might not be contained. The likenesses of them were such that there.\nmay not thing be thought more painful or me, I would rather put myself in the hottest flames of fire than I would see the forms of them in twinkling of an eye. These demons came unto me and brought before my mind all the sins that ever I did, stirring me to trust no longer in the mercy of God, for I might not escape nor withstand them. Glorious Jerome came with a great company of angels about him seven times, brighter than the sun, and comforted me. And when he saw the wicked spirits how hard they troubled me, he was greatly stirred against them and said with a fearful voice, \"You spirits of wickedness and all cursedness, why come you here, do you not know well that He thus should be succored by my help? Depart from him immediately. And with these words, all that company of cursed spirits was afraid, and with great cries.\nAnd they waited outside the place where I lay.\n\u00b6And the glorious Jerome commanded some of the angels\nthat they should not leave me but remain until he came again. And with the other angels, he hurried away, and the angels who remained began to comfort me and encourage me, urging me to endure and remain, and offering these words of comfort from our past. Then Saint Jerome came again, standing in the doorway, and said, \"Come in haste.\" Suddenly, my soul left the body so grievously and bitterly that no human mind could understand the anguish and distress. But if he had learned them through experience, as I have: For if all men were to receive all the anguish and sorrow they could, they would count them as nothing in regard to the departure of the soul from the body. But while he spoke these things and many other hard and dreadful things to me, which I do not write here for length's sake.\nday after Biganne's death, he felt compelled to relate the events I desired most to hear. I had been told about these things before, but though they were profitable, it was not vain to speak of them again, seeing that I had heard this: the one who spoke on the day before had said that after you departed from the body, he declared the time, the place, and the manner. And we, unable to resist, were struck with fear at that time. Many demons bearing wretchedness of all the evils we had done stood there, declaring the time, the place, and the manner. And we ourselves could not say no to that.\nvs both knew well that it was true, and the judge knew all things and was most rightful: Alas, alas, what shall I say what sentence awaited us then? For my mind thereof I quake yet. I am afraid our wickedness cried out for vengeance against us. And neither one of us appeared there with any good whereby we might have hope of mercy. And all who were there cried that we were worthy to be in torment and pain. And when there failed no thing but only to give the sentence against us, it was given against sinners. Glorious Jerome, who is brighter than all the stars, with Saint John Baptist and with Peter, prince of the apostles, and with a great multitude of angels came to the throne of the judge and prayed that our sentence might be delayed a while. And that we might be given to him for the reverence of devotion that we had to him and for need to destroy the said heresy. And as he willed, so it was granted to him. After this, he with his blessed company led us with him and declared to us.\nwhere all Christian souls have everlasting joy that cannot be spoken of. And then he led us to purgatory and to hell. He not only showed us what was there but also wanted us to experience the pains. When all this was done, the worshipful Eusebius touched our bodies with holy irons. The same glorious seraphim ordered us to turn again to our bodies and bear witness to all that we had seen. If we did penance for our sins, we would have endless bliss with the worshipful Eusebius on the twenty-second day after that, and he would depart from this world at the same time. Our souls would be joined to our bodies forever. O dear Austyn, I learned many things from the three men. If they were impressed upon human mind, they would utterly leave the love of all earthly things and the great distractions that lead many a man to error. But I wait for your coming to visit the realities.\nWhen I think of glorious Jerome: as your letters remind me, I leave the topic of his sepulcher and will speak of the glorious miracles of Saint Jerome. When this holy man was dead about midmorning, no one there showed many miracles as a witness to the holiness of his life, of which I will tell you two. There was a monk from the same abbey who, through weeping and waking, had lost his sight. But as he touched the venerable body of Eusebius, he regained his sight, just as he had had it before. Another woman was possessed by a demon and was out of her wits. She came and met us as we were bearing the body of holy Eusebius. The demon was cast out of her, and she was healed. Consider how holy this woman was in her life that she could perform such great miracles so quickly after her husband's death. Consider her holiness with great fear, for if he, who was so holy, had such perilous troubles and temptations at his end, how can we sinful wretches escape that hour, and we do not know.\n\"How soon we shall come thereto: the body of Eusebius was buried with worship, but naked, as his master, by the church in which Jerome was buried. And in the church yard of the same church, the bodies were buried of the three men who died the same hour.\n\nHow an heretic named Sabellian was mercilessly killed and overcome by Jerome\n\nThere was an heretic named Sabellian who said there were two wills in Christ at some time varying. In so much that he claimed Christ would do many things that He could not. And with this heresy, he caused us so much sorrow that I may not tell it with my words. For he perverted the people committed to us: As a ravening wolf. And in order to maintain his heresy more effectively, he made a treaty of it. And said that glorious Jerome had made it to make us yield faith there to. But I know well Jerome made an apostle against the same error a little before he died. And therefore I called the same heretic on a Sunday with all his disciples\"\nIn the church of Jerusalem, a dispute arose between the heretic and the treatise's author, along with all the bishops and many other Christian men. The dispute between them did not end, and when the heretic alleged against the treatise that it was based on false claims about glorious Jerome, Siluan, archbishop of Nazareth, could not tolerate such wrongdoing against Jerome. He loved and worshiped Saint Jerome so much with heartfelt devotion that at the beginning of any action he took, he sought help from God and Jerome. Therefore, he was called Jerome by all people: he rose against the heretic and sharply criticized him for his wickedness. They continued to argue for a long time, and each one said against the other what they might at the last. They finally agreed to do the following: if Saint Jerome showed on the following day at noon that he had falsely made the treaty, the heretics' heads should be struck off; otherwise, otherwise, (the text is incomplete).\nShould Silvanus, the Archbishop of Nazareth, and all the men went home, and that night we had prayers, asking help of God who fails not those who trust in him, but he is great and right, and there is no number to his wisdom. The next day our party arrived. The heretic with his disciples entered the church, running about as a lion seeking to devour the servant of Trist and all the people of true faith, who stood in the church calling upon the name of St. Jerome. But the glorious Jerome behaved as though he had slept and took no heed to their prayers. I, too, stood weeping, astonished and marveling why the glorious Jerome did not perform a miracle. And when there seemed to be no miracle, the heretic cruelly cried out to Silvanus to do what he had been named the holy Silvanus came to the place where he should be beheaded, joining as though he had gone to a feast. And all the other bishops who stood there wept. He comforted them and said, \"Rejoice with me, my dear friends, rejoice and be of good cheer.\"\nnot heavy for God leaves not them that hope in him than he knelt down and said most holy Jerome help me if it pleases thee And though I be worthy much more torment than this is yet least fallingness have place do ye succor truth And if it be not lawful that I be helped be merciful unto me at my hour of my death that I be not departed from endless bliss And then he held forth his neck and bade the torturer smite and lifted up his sword high desiring to smite off the bishop's head At one stroke then suddenly all I say Jerome was good. The heretics had filled the ground striking from the body as though it had been struck with a sword at a stroke. And when they all saw this great marvel: Suddenly they were astounded and thanked God and the disciples of the heretics turned to the way of truth: Lo how the faith of this Bishop Silvan was effectively in God and glorious Jerome for he feared not to die for through your example to all Christians.\nA man, who is no Christian, spares not his life for us, through Silas yielded his life for us, from all servitude we owe not to be afraid to yield our life for him when the time is right. For it is written:\n\nFor I have said something about Silas, I will say another thing about him, as marvelous as the first. Witnesses to this, as numerous as the folk dwelling in the City of Nazareth and Bethlehem, saw it with their own eyes. The old serpent, the devil, full of envy at this worshipful Bishop Silas, was greatly provoked against him. And craftily he labored to slander him: that as many as had increased in the ways of holy conversation through his holiness, might be stirred to evil. One night he took the likeness of the said holy man and appeared to a wicked man and a great woman lying in her bed. He begged him to come to her.\nUnfavorably, a man asked for the woman's consent, but she didn't know it was him. Seeing herself alone in her chamber with an unfamiliar man, she was unsure what to do. She cried out loudly and frequently, waking not only those in her house but also her neighbors. They rushed to her chamber and asked her what was wrong. In the meantime, the cunning serpent hid himself under her bed. They searched for a long time to find out who the man was, and at last they discovered it was Silvan, the archbishop. They were astonished and speechless, neither knowing what to say nor do, given his holiness and the abominable deed. Eventually, they asked him why he had committed such wickedness. He replied, \"What harm did I do, though the woman called me to do this?\" The woman heard their conversation.\nWith Wyclif answered that he had urged them to stir up men more against the servant of God, to slander him further. He begat them to speak so foul and horrible words that no man could endure them for foulness. But with spite and great reproaches they compelled him and made him leave the house. And on the morrow they told what had been done. And they cried that Sylvain, the archbishop, was a hypocrite. And worthy to be burnt. In some much that all Nazareth was stirred against him, that they might not hear his name but if they cursed him. A marvelous peace of this man was a token of great holiness, whom he heard all this slander and reproach. He moved not one word evil from his mouth nor his heart was anything stirred to unpeace: but always he thanked God and said his sins deserved it. Alas, Augustine, what shall I say? Not only do I flee as much as I may from wrong and reproach, but often I am grieved with a few words. I desire reward of heaven.\nI take no keep to travel there, but no one can come there except by the way of travel and affliction and distress. What shall I else think while I find myself discordant from holy men in my life and manners? But I must be found discordant from them in my death. And in reward, it is full grievous and heavy to me: to think on holy men's lives and mine is marvelous. It is marvelous to hear how men speak and read of holy men's deeds as I do, and I will not do anything as they did. I say this to show my own folly. I know well that he often thought himself never so at ease as when he saw himself despised and trodden down by all people. But this slander of him grieved him so far that it went into Alexandria and Cyprus and other lands and cities, so much that no man dared to come within his door. Marvelous, God sitting above and seeing all people. He suffered his servants to fall into tribulations and distresses.\nfor the better, but he fails not them when needed. After a year had passed, the fiend had used such malice against the servant of God, the holy bishop, the same bishop leaving all other things behind and went quietly into the Church where the body of Saint Jerome was buried, as to a haven of refuge. There, at his tomb, he set himself to pray and after he had prayed there for two hours, a man entered the church full of the spirit of malice. Finding the holy man praying, he ran to him like a dragon and reproached him, saying that he labored continually to stir women's hearts to unchaste lusts. But the innocent lamb Silvan, joining his own contempt, answered not. Then this worthy bishop Silvan put forth against him the word \"Help, Glorious Jerome.\" This man turned his own throat and so slew himself. After it happened.\nA wicked man entered the church and finding Bishop Siluan had killed the previous wicked man, he took out his sword to kill him. However, before he could strike, two more men entered the church and seeing the dead men, they assumed Siluan had killed them. One of the men, who was more cruel, began to cry out and called him a thief. He shouted, \"How long will your malice endure, you who stir women to your foul desires and sleep with men so preciously? Today shall be an end to your weakness.\" The man then ran towards Siluan with his naked sword. But when Siluan said, \"Help, glorious Jerome,\" the man hesitated and ran out of the door, crying out, \"Come, all people and see this wicked Siluan, who not only...\"\ndefouls women and men with his witchcraft. Then all the people came running crying that Silas the Archer was worthy to be burned. When this came to my ears, I went there weeping fully heavily. And there I saw a multitude of cruel wolves standing. The meek lamb, Joyful and merry as he had been in great prosperity: He said nothing but suffered this rightfully, for I had sinned against God. They beat him and pulled him and led him to torment. And he was so much the more glad, and the torment was more grievous. But suddenly, he was led out of the church door, glorious. Jerome rose up from where he lay. So bright that men's eyes could not well endure to look upon him. And thus he appeared to all, and with his right hand he took Silas by the right hand. And with a fearful voice, he bade them that held him leave off, whose voice and vision were of such great power that all who were there were afraid.\nand all the strength of their bodies failing, they filled the earth as dead men. In the meantime, a woman, bound hands and feet, and full of the devil was brought to the church for help by the hands of many men. And immediately as the woman's foot touched the church door, the devil gave a fearful cry through her mouth and said, \"Mercy, Mercy.\"\n\nGlorious Jerome said to him, \"Thou wicked spirit, go out of this servant of God and tell the wickedness that thou hast done against Silvanus, showing thyself in the likeness of Silvanus to all people. When Glorious Saint Jerome had prayed for the devil to appear in the likeness of Silvanus, so that all men might know it, it was Silvanus the Archbishop himself who appeared and told all that he had done to slander the servant of God. And lo, with great crying, the devil vanished a way. And then Glorious Jerome, not leaving the right hand of the bishop, said to him with a soft voice, \"What dost thou desire of me, my dearest Silvanus?\"\nThat I shall do more for thee, my lord, thou answeredst, my lord, thou saidst, that thou leavest me no longer here. Thou art asking shall be done, and therefore come thou after me at once. He answered no longer but, after the passage of a short hour, Siluan passed to Christ. And then all the people were astonished and marveled. After this, the body of this worshipful Siluan was borne into the church of Nazareth with great worship, with the multitude of people both of Nazareth and Bethlehem. And there, in the church of Nazareth, we buried the body of Siluan, as it seemed. But many words could not express the wonders of this worshipful bishop. I leave out more to say about St. Jerome.\n\nThere were two heathen men, rich and good, leaders of their people, who came from Elisabeth to visit the relics of the glorious Jerome. Going in their way, they happened to err into the Agret Wood.\nwhere they saw no men or horses / and therefore they called it the land of the glorious Jerome / & committed them to his keeping in the same wood lived a prince of thieves having under him more than 500, sending some one way and some another way to kill men and bring their bodies to him. This prince, seeing these two men, called them three thieves and ordered them to go kill / And when they had taken their armor & were near where they had seen before but two, they saw an Innumerable multitude and one going towards them so bright that no one could look upon him. Then the thieves were afraid and didn't know what to do but turned around and when they were far from them, they looked back and saw only two and pursued them again. But as soon as they came near, they saw that they were more terrified / & in all haste they returned to their price and told him. He called them fools and called the others twelve thieves going with him. They were all afraid.\nThey saw only two and, as many as they had seen before, they were afraid. All their bodies trembled, and all their strength failed. When they came to themselves, they thought to follow the thieves privately to see what would happen. Even the pilgrims were unsure what to do or where to lodge. So they turned to the twelve thieves for counsel. The thieves, being wayfarers themselves, welcomed them. They saw only two, and then they were bold to meet them.\n\nThe thieves asked when they were and where they would go. They answered and said, \"We are men of Alaisans, going to Bethlehem to visit the holy relics of glorious Jerome.\"\n\nThe thieves asked what men they were that came with them. The other one spoke up and said, \"We saw none since we came to the wood except you and three others.\"\n\nThen the prince of the thieves told them all, \"Praying them to tell him what they wanted.\"\nwise bryngeth whom he wylle to knowleche of tro\u00a6uthe / Anone\nalle the company of theues seeyng this\nthanked god and gloryous ierome and made auow\nto vysyte his relyques / Therfore whan morow ca\u2223me\nmore than thre honderd theues that were there\nthat tyme left the wod & went with the said men of\nAlyzander vnto the tombe of glryous ierome tellyn\u00a6ge these wonders ther the hethen men were bapty\u00a6zed\nand leuyng alle the vanytes of the world & went\nin to a monastery: And the theues also yaue them to\nholy lyuyng by the grace of god and by the merytes\nof Sanict Ierome:\n\u00b6How sainct Ierome saued two yonge men\nfrom deth that came from rome to visite hym / t / & whan they had alle\nsoughte they fou\u0304de none but only the ii men that ca\u00a6me\nfast by whom they toke wenyng they had slayn\nthe ii men\u25aa wherof the yonge men were amerueyled\n& swore asmoche as they myght that they knew not\ntherof: but they sett not therby but lad forthe the yo\u0304\u2223ge\nmen to theyre vyllage / And they wyth rygour of\n\"Gert tourmen were compelled to know themselves guilty where they were not, and so they were condemned to beheaded. Alas, what heart might contain him from weeping to hear so many wailing innocents, arrayed both with youth and with fairies and with noble right for weeping and wailing and singing continually. They said, \"Jerome, is this the reward you give us for our service? Is it that we have deserved this with the toil of our journey? Alas, thou city of Rome, thou knowest not of our birth. We went not that thou shouldst be so unknowing of our end. Thus they were led to the place where they should be beheaded. Much people standing there and waiting. And there they knelt down and held up their hands and said with a low voice, 'Glory to thee, Jerome, maker of our help and have mercy on our prayers at this time. So that if we did not commit this sin for which we are punished, we may feel of thy pity's help and deliverance.'\"\nbe guilty let us be dead as necessary asks and when they had said thus they put their necks to the smiths, saying nothing but help help glorious Jerome what a marvel then the help of glorious Jerome could not abstain from showing mercy to so many tears of those who came to him while the hearts of all who stood about them were moved to compassion. They lifted up their swords and struck on their necks but their necks took the stone and then they struck again and again but they felt themselves as if they had been struck with a straw. Great marvel to all who stood about: and a great multitude came running to see the last the judge who judged came himself and bade them strike again so that he might see. And they struck but their necks would not be hurt then the judge marveled greatly and did not know what it might be. But he thought that they had used some witchcraft. Therefore then he commanded in all haste that.\nthey should be made naked and burned / those they made\na great fire about them and put pitch and oil in it to destroy their lives: but he who delivered them from the sword could also help them, crying continually in the fire: the fire burned quickly and the flames rose up right high, but the young man, by the help of glorious Jerome, remained as if in a merry herbera (hermitage). At last the Judge wanted to know whether it was by miracles or witchcraft that they should be hanged for eight days, and if they lived, they would go where they would: But the presence of glorious Jerome failed them not, for miraculously he kept them for eight days, holding their feet with his hands.\n\nOn the eighth day, all the people of the city and towns and the Judge himself went to the gallows, and there openly they saw this glorious miracle, the keepers telling them what they had seen. All marveled and praised God and St. Jerome and did great worship to the young men. And then many people went from Constantinople.\nTo Bede's monastery I went to view the relics of glorious Jerome, and among the young men there, casting off all worldly business, entered the monastery where Jerome lived night and day, intent on prayer, penance, and holy living. This miracle of the young men is a cause of great wonder, joy, and devotion. But what follows will cause great fear.\n\nIn a countryside called Thebayde, there was a monastery of nuns, beautiful beyond measure, with about two hundred ladies, all religious and honorable in conduct and continuous reclusion. Each one kept watch over the other, so that none let go out, for he who would sail in deep sea had never so good a ship, and its value to him was not worth a hole in the bottom where water could come in and drown him. I say this to illustrate the story's point: for the said monastery had many virtues and holiness of living, but it harbored one sin - simony.\nthat caused it to be destroyed for the instruction of the demon. The nuns had this ambition that whenever anyone should be received among them, they took her not so much for charity and mercy as they did for money. No one could enter this monastery but she who brought a certain sum of money with her. In this monastery, Jerome begged them to do these things, and he left her immediately. But she, knowing of their hardness, did not know what to do or say. At last, she thought she had rather be held by them in wood and drink than do against the will of God. Therefore, she gathered her sisters as she had done before to tell them what she saw and heard. But as soon as they saw her rise or begin to speak, they went out of the chapterhouse with moans and scorns. The third night, with a great multitude of angels, Saint Jerome appeared to this lady in her sleep and commanded her to rise and leave the monastery that she might be saved.\nshe was not struck with sudden sentence that should come upon them, but when she prayed with great weeping that they might be spared, St. Jerome urged her to go to her abbess and tell them that if they did penance for their sin that same night they would feel God's vengeance: and if they remained obstinate, she was to go and stay no longer in that monastery. The nun, full of anguish and sorrow, went to the chapter and rang the bell hastily. When the abbess awoke and knew who it was, she was angry and came to the chapter and blamed her greatly, saying \"If you leave such things, you shall no longer abide in this place.\" That lady answered, \"I will not do that which you say, for St. Jerome has appeared to me and says that this monastery will be punished by God soon.\"\nA Greek heretic openly disputed with a priest in Jerusalem on a Sunday. When the priest, defending his party, cited an authority of Jerome to refute the heretic's reasons, the heretic boldly retorted that Jerome was a liar. For his wickedness in speech, he spoke never a word in response to another heretic of the Arians who had brought an authority of Jerome against him in the dispute. The heretic had barely finished speaking when he was struck with God's vengeance. He cried out, \"Mercy, glorious Jerome! I am tormented by you with grievous pains.\" He had cried out thus aloud as much as he could at the time, and all those present, wretchedly, beheld him die. Another heretic saw an image of sacred Jerome in the Church of Zion and said, \"Would that I had had you in my hand while you lived, so that I might have killed you.\"\nmy sword / and then he pulled out his knife & struck it in the throat of the image. And how great is this heretic doing such marvels, this heretic struck my knife mightily in the image's throat but he couldn't get his knife out of its throat nor his hand from the knife until it was openly known. But blood followed out at the wound as if from a living man, which ceased. Do the judge of the country, who was in the churchyard, see this? Glorious Jerome appeared to him with a knife in his throat, asking him to take vengeance for this often. Telling him how it was, the Judge was astonished, and all who were there going to the church saw the heretic standing with his knife in the throat of the Image. And as soon as they saw it, he could take his hand away, and they took him. And because he persisted obstinately in his will and evil-speaking, saying he sorrowed for nothing but that he had slain Jerome in his life, the multitude of the people with spears and swords, stones and statues, killed him.\nIohannes, the new man you know, arrayed with all fairness, whom I chose in place of a son, told you what befell him. But it may be better in my mind for me to write it. The lame man, who was taken two years ago, was seized by a good number of men of Persia and sold to the officers of the king of Persia. And for his fairness, he was appointed to serve the king. After he had been with great sorrow and heaviness for a year in the king's court, the same day, Twelfthserving the king at table, he could not keep sleep due to his heaviness. Then they all came running to me and said, \"Iohannes has come.\" Yet I was doubtful until I came and saw him present. Why I had been among the Persians in bonds. Then he told us how he had been helped, and we praised God and glorified Jerome by whose merits and prayers our Lord delivered us from all evil and brought us to the city of all well-being to dwell with him in endless bliss and joy. Amen.\n\nHere ends the letter of Cirille to Saint Augustine of Saint Jerome.\n\nWhen Saint Brigitte was in prayer, she said,\nBlessed be thou my God, who art one God in three persons,\nthou art goodness and true wisdom, fairness and power,\nrighteousness and truth, by whom all things live and have being.\nThou art like a flower growing singularly in the field,\nfrom which all that are near to it receive sweetness in their tasting,\ndelight in their sight, and strength in all their members,\nso that all that are near to thee are made fairer by the nearness of sin.\nWiser am I to follow thy will and nothing of the flesh,\nmore righteous to follow the profit of the soul and the worship of thee,\ntherefore most pitiful God, grant me to love that which pleases thee,\nand to withstand temptations and to despise all worldly things,\nand to hold the Mother of Jesus in my mind.\nThe Mother of Jesus answered this salutation,\ngranted by thy merit, who went from false wisdom to true wisdom,\ndisdaining earthly worship. Blessed.\nIerome and blessed are those who follow his teaching and living. He was a lover of widows, a mirror of all that is perfect in virtue, a doctor, a teacher of all truth and cleanness, another time our lady said to St. Brigitte, have in mind that I told you how Jerome was a lover of widows, a follower of perfect monks, and an author and defender of truth. That prayer that you said and now I add to it, and say that Jerome was a deceiver by which the Holy Ghost spoke. He was also a flame inflamed with that fire that came upon me and upon the apostles on Pentecost day. Therefore, blessed are they who hear this and follow after. Amen.\n\nAntiphon:\nThis is he who before God worked great virtues,\nand all the earth is filled with his doctrine.\nHe himself will intercede for the sins of the people.\n\nVerses:\nGod loved the Lord and adorned him,\nA robe of glory he put on him.\n\nLet us pray,\nGod, who through blessed Jerome, confessor and priest,\nrevealed to us sacred truth and mystical things.\nYou are asked to clean the given text while adhering to the original content as much as possible. Here is the cleaned text:\n\nsacramenta reuelare dignatus es, prestamus cuius natalicia colimus, eius semper et erudiamur doctrinis et incris. Adiuvamur per Xp\u0304m.\n\nExplicit Vita beati Ieronimi confessoris.\n\nAntiphon\nAue, amator quam famose Ieronime gloriose, Magnum amator Xp\u0304i:\nDoce nos bene vivere Deum vere diligere,\nut in libris scripsisti, O amator castitatis.\n\nTenens vitam puritatis Cordis, per mudesia fac nos corpus castigare pro peccatis, per gracia.\n\nEmuli te ianuabat, sed nequam superabat, per impacieia Ob amore Thesu Xp\u0304i.\nFac i\u0304plere quod fecisti, nos per diligencem.\n\nOra pro nobis, gloriosus ieronimus,\nvt deus diligamus corde, ore, et ope.\nDeus qui gloriosus co\u0304fessore tuo ieronimo mul\u0163i di.\n\nprinter's or publisher's device\nPrinted by Caxton.", "creation_year": 1499, "creation_year_earliest": 1499, "creation_year_latest": 1499, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "For this land beyond the sea, that is, the holy land, which men call the land of Heting, is the most worthy and sovereign of all other lands. It is blessed and hallowed and sacred by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this land, in the midst of it, he would lead his life and suffer passion and death at the hands of the Jews for us, and to deliver and save us from the pains of hell and death without end. This was ordained for us for the sin of our father Adam, and for our own sins as well. For he himself had no evil merited, for he thought no evil, nor did he ever do any evil. And he who was king of glory and joy could best suffer death in that place. For he would do anything that he would be openly known to do. He would cry it out openly in the middle of a town or a city, so that it may be known to all parties of the city. So he who was king of all the world would suffer death for us in Jerusalem, that is,\nIn the midst of the world, so that it might be known to men of all parties of the world, how dear he held man whom he had made to his own likeness, for the great love that he had for us. For no more worthy cattle could he have set for us than his own blessed body and his own precious blood, which he suffered for us. What a dear God he had for his subjects. When he had done no wrong, he would not suffer death for trespassers. Rightfully, men should love, worship, and fear, and serve such a lord, and worship and praise such a holy land that brought forth such fruit through which every male it may and has, strength himself to conquer our right heritage and chase out the evil peoples' hands. For we are called Christian men of Christ our Father. And if we are right children of Christ, we owe it to challenge the heritage that our Father left us and do it out of strange men's hands. But now pride, covetousness, and envy have so\nEnflamed the hearts of lords of the world, making them more eager to disherit their neighbors than to challenge or conquer their right heritage. And the common people, who would put their bodies and cattle to conquer our heritage, could not do so without lords. For assembling the people without a chief lord is like a flock of sheep that has no shepherd, which depart and never know whether they should go. I pray that worldly lords were at good accord and, with other common people, would take this holy voyage over the sea. I believe well that within a little time our right heritage before said would be recognized and put in the hands of the right heirs of Jesus Christ. And since it is a long time that there was no general passage over the sea, and many men desire to hear speak of the holy land, and have great solace from it, a child was born in England in the town of St. Albans and passed the sea in the year of the Incarnation.\nIn the name of God Almighty. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the year 1434, on the day of St. Michael and St. Gabriel, has long been over the sea and passed through many lands and provinces and kingdoms and isles. He passed through Turkey, through many little and great lands, through Tartary, through Persia, through Syria, through Arabia, through Egypt, the high and the low, through Kibya, through Caldea, and a great part of Ethiopia, through Amazonia, through India the less and the more, and through many other isles which are about India where many diverse people dwelt of diverse laws and shapes.\n\nFor one who will pass over the sea, he may go many ways, both on land and sea, according to the countries he comes from, and many of them come to one end. But I will not tell all the towns and cities and castles that men shall go by, for then I should make a long tale. I will only tell some countries and most principal cities or towns that men shall go through to go to the East.\nA man coming from England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, or Norway can go eastward through Austria and the Hungarian kingdom, which borders Poland and Pannonia, as well as Allesey. The Hungarian king is powerful and holds vast lands, including Hungary, Allesey, a large part of Bulgaria (known as the land of the Bulgars), a significant part of the Rosse kingdom, and lands that extend to Nylfon and border Prussia. People travel through Hungary via the city of Cyprus, near the Newburgh castle, and the town at its end, and then cross the Danube River. This is a major river that flows into Austria under the Lombardy hills and takes in over forty other rivers as it runs through Hungary, Greece, and Tartary, and empties into the sea.\nWith such great might that the water is fresh. XL miles within the sea, and afterward men go to Burgers and enter into the land of Buggers. There men pass a bridge of stone that is over the river Marroh. And men pass through the land of Pinteras and come to Greece to the city of Sterny and to the city of Affynpayn, and so to the city of Constantinople, which was once called \"To Constantinople.\" Constantinople is the best and fairest church of the world, and it is of St. Sophia. Before this church is an image of Justinian, themperor, on a horse and crowned. It was once customary for an imperial orb to be held in his hand. Men say that it is a sign that the emperor has lost a great part of his land, for the orb has fallen from the image's hand, and also that he has lost a great part of his lordship. For he was once emperor of Rome, of Greece, and of all Asia the less, of Surry and the land of Judah, in which is Jerusalem, and of Egypt, of Percy and Arabia.\nhath lost but Grece & the londe that longed therto all only and men wolde many tymes put the appell in the ymages honde but it wolde not holde it. This ap\u2223pell beto keneth the lordshyd yt he had ouer all the worlde. And the other honde he holdeth lyft vp a\u2223yenst the eest in token for to manasse mysdoers / & this ymage standeth vpon a pyler of marble.\nAt Constantynople is the crosse of our lorde & his cote without seme the spou\u0304ge and the rede of the whiche the Iewes gaue our lorde drynke galle on the crosse & there is one of the nayles that Cryste was nayled with to the crosse. Some men wene yt\nhalf of the crosse of Cryste be in Cypres in an ab\u2223bey of monkes that men call the hylle of the holy crosse / but it is not so / for that crosse y\u2022 is in Cypres is the crosse on the whiche Dysmas the good thee\u2022 is yll\u2022 getynge of the offrynges they say\u2022 the crosse of our lorde was made of four maner of trees as it is conteyned i\nFor the pyece that wente ryght vp from the erthe vnto the heed was of cypres / & the pyece\nthat which went overthwart to the which the hands were nailed was of palm and the stock y-stood within the earth to which they had made a mortice, and the table above his head that was a foot and a half long on which the title was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin, that was of olive. And the Jews made the cross of these four kinds of trees, for they believed that our Lord Jesus Christ should have hung so long upon the cross as long as the cross might last, and therefore made the foot of cedar, for cedar may not in the earth nor in water rot, and they wished it to last long. And for they believed that the body of Christ should have stank, that piece is made of cypress for it is well smelling, so that the smell of his body should not grieve to man that came by. And that overthwart was made of palm, for in the old testament it was ordained that when any had the victory he was crowned with palm, and for they believed that they had the victory of Jesus Christ.\nTherefore, they made the piece that went over the waist with wool, and the table of the title they made of olive, for olive signifies peace. As the story of Noah witnesses, when the dove brought the olive branch that signifies peace made between God and man. Also, the Jews believed they would have had peace when Christ was dead, for they said that he caused discord and strife among them. And you shall understand that our Lord was nailed to the cross lying down, and therefore he endured more pain. Also, in Greece and the Christian men who dwell beyond the sea say that the tree of the cross, which we call cypress, was of that tree which Adam ate from. And they write in their scripture that when Adam was sick, he said to his son Seth, \"You shall go to paradise and pray the angel who keeps paradise that he would send you some of the oil of the tree of mercy to anoint yourself with, so that you might be healed.\" Seth went, but the angel would not let him come in, but said to him that he might not.\nnot have of the oil of mercy, but he took for himself four grains from the same tree that his father ate the apple from, and he commanded them to be placed under his head when he was in the cross. And you should understand that the cross of our Lord was in length eight cubits, and across had in length three and a half cubits. A part of the Lord's crown pricks as sharply as any thorns; for I have seen and beheld many times that of Paris and that of Constantinople, for they were both made of ivory from the sea. But men have separated them into two pieces; the one part is at Paris, and the other part is at Constantinople. I have a point of it that seems a white thorn, and it was given to me as a great friendship token; for there are many of them broken and fallen in the vessel when they show the crown to great men or lords who come there. And you shall understand that in that night that he was taken, our Lord was\nLed into a garden, and there he was examined sharply. The Jews scorned him and made a crown of branches of aloespyne growing in the same garden, which they set on his head so tightly that the blood ran down from many places on his face, neck, and shoulders. Therefore, aloespyne has many virtues; he who bears a branch of it upon him is not struck by thunder, nor is any tempest harmful to him, nor can any evil ghost enter any place where it is. In the same garden, St. Peter denied the Lord three times. Later, our Lord was led before the bishops and the ministers of the law in another garden of Annas, and there he was examined and scorned. Afterward, with a white thorn called barbarrens growing in the same garden, they crowned him again. And after that, he was led into a garden of Caiaphas and was crowned again with thorns of Cypress. And after that, he was led into a chamber of Pilate.\nand there he was examined and crowned, and the Jews set him in a chair and clad him in a mantle. Then they made a crown of ivy from the sea, and they knelt before him, saying, \"Aue rex iudeorum.\" That is to say in English, \"Heyle king of the Jews.\" And the crown of which half is at Paris, and the other half at Constantinople - the one which Christ had on his head when he was on the cross, and therefore men shall worship that most and hold it more worthy than any of the other. And that spear shaft he has, the spear head. I have often seen it, but it is greater than that of Paris. Also at Constantinople lies Saint Anne, our lady's mother, whom Saint Elizabeth made a bride from Jerusalem. And there lies also the body of Saint John Chrysostom, who was bishop of Constantinople. There lies also Saint Luke the evangelist, for his bones were brought from Bethany where he was buried, and many other relics are there. And there are the vessels of stone, as it were marble, which men call the \"Sacred Vessels.\"\nConstantinople is a beautiful and well-fortified city, with three corners. There is an arm of the sea called Hellespont, or the \"mouth of Constantinople,\" or the \"bay of St. George.\" This water encloses two parts of the city, and upward towards the sea, on the water, was once the great city of Troy, in a fair and open plain, but that city was destroyed with the Greeks.\n\nAbout Greece there are many islands that are called Calados, Calycadus, Cercyra, Tessalonica, Minoa, Phocaea, Miletus, Carpathus, and Lemnos. In this island is the mountain Athos, which rises above the clouds, and there are many speeches and many courts that are obedient to the emperor of Constantinople, that is to say, Thrace, Pnicus, Nymphaeum, Comangene, and many other Traces. And in this country was Aristotle born in a city called Stagira, a little way from the city of Thessalonica, and on his tomb is made a monument. At Stagira is Aristotle buried. Upon his tomb is made an altar.\nIn ancient Macedonia, they held a great feast every year around an altar, and after this, the lords held their grand councils and assemblies. Those who were inspired by God believed they would receive better counsel. In this country, there are high hills. Towards the end of Macedonia is a great hill called Olympus, which separates Macedonia and Trachy, and it is so high that its shadow reaches Olympus nearby. There are seventy-five miles between the two hills, and above it lies the clear air, so no wind can live there due to its dryness. People in these lands say that philosophers sometimes went up these hills and held sponges moist with water to their noses because the air was so dry. And above in the powder of the hill, they wrote letters with their fingers, and at the end of the year, they returned and found those letters which they had left.\nIn the year before last, these hills passed the clouds to the pure air. And at Constantinople, the emperor's palaces are right fair and well-lit. There is a fair palace for Justinian, and it is surrounded by stages so that each man may easily see and none be disturbed. And beneath these stages are stables vaulted for the emperor's horses. All the pillars of these stables are of marble. Within the Church of Hagia Sophia, an emperor intended to lay his father's body to rest when he died. As they were making the grave, they found a body in the earth. Upon it lay a great plate of fine gold. And on it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: \"Iesus xp\u0304s nascetur de virgine Maria et ego credo in eum.\" That is, \"Ihesu crist shall be born of the virgin Mary, and I believe in him.\" The date it was laid in the earth was two hundred years before our Lord was born. And yet, that plate remains in the church's treasury.\nHermogenes, a wise man. And if it is true that men of Greece are Christian, yet they vary from our faith. They assert that the Holy Spirit comes only from the Father and not from the Son, and they are not obedient to the Church of Rome or the pope. They claim that their patriarchs have equal power over the see as the pope has on this side of the see. Therefore, Pope John XXII sent letters to them, stating that Christian faith should be one and that they should be obedient to a pope whom Christ appointed on earth, to whom God gave clear authority to bind and to absolve. They responded with various answers, one of which was, \"Pt. the [Lord is with us]. Farewell.\" Another answer we could not have from them. They also make their sacrament of the water from their own bread, for our Lord made it from their bread when He made the Maundy. And on Thursday, they make their bread as a symbol of the Maundy and dry it in the sun.\nhe sell benefits of the holy church and so did men of other places. This is a great scandal, for now simony is practiced in the holy church. God may amend it when His will is. And they say that in Lent men should not sing mass but on Saturdays and Sundays, and they fast not Saturdays at any time in the year, unless it be Christmas and Easter Eve. And they allow no man to sing at their altars who is on the side of the great sea. If it happens that they pass through, they wash their altars as soon as possible without delay on Fridays. They curse all those who eat no flesh on Saturdays.\n\nNow, coming back to know:\n\nThe Emperor of Constantinople makes the patriarchs archbishops. Nevertheless, I have thought it necessary to show a part of the customs and manners and diversities of countries. And for this side, you may see and know the diversity that exists between our faith and theirs, for many people have great liking to hear speak of strange things.\nThe way from Constantinople. Anyone traveling through Turkey goes towards the city of Nike and passes through the high gate of Chyuytot, which is a mile and a half from Nike. Those who wish to go by the branch of St. George and the Greek sea first come to the island of Syros. In this island, mastica grows on small trees, like plum trees or cherry trees. Then, after passing through the island of Patmos, where St. John the Evangelist wrote the Apocalypse, I inform you that when our Lord Jesus Christ died, St. John was 34 years old. He lived for 65 years after the Passion and then died. From Patmos, men went to Ephesus, a beautiful city near the sea. There St. John died and was buried behind the altar in a tomb. However, there is nothing in St. John's tomb but manna, as his body was not left there.\nTranslated into paradise, and the Turks now hold the city and the church and all Asia the less. Therefore, Asia the less is called Turkey. Saint John made his grave there in his life and laid himself there quickly. Some say that he did not die but rests there until the day of judgment. And so, there is a great marvel for men to see openly the earth of the tomb moving and stirring as if there were a quick thing under it. From Ephesus, men go through many isles in the sea to the city of Patara, where Saint Nicholas was born. And from there, they go to Marcas, where by the grace of God, his bishopric was chosen. There grows right good wine and strong that men call wine of Marcas. From thence, men go to the island of Crete, which the emperor once gave to Jonas. And then, they pass through the isles of Cophes and Lango, of which isles Hippocrates was lord. Some say that in the isle of Lango is Hippocrates' daughter, in the form of a dragon, a hundred years old.\nA long time ago, men say, there was a woman who acted like a monster. I have not seen her myself. A knight came who was bold enough to approach her and kiss her mouth. Once he had done this, she would revert to her own kind and live only a short time as a woman. Not long after, a knight of the Rodes boasted that he would kiss her. When the dragon lifted its head to attack him and he saw how hideous it was, he fled. The dragon seized the knight and threw him onto a rock, and she cast him into the sea, thus causing his demise.\n\nAdditionally, a young man who knew how to deal with dragons left a ship and went through the isle until he reached a castle. He entered the cavern and went so far that he found a chamber. In this chamber, he saw a damsel combing her hair and looking in a mirror. The damsel had much treasure around her. The damsel saw the shadow of him in the mirror and turned towards him, asking what he wanted. He said he wanted to be her lover or paramour. She asked him if he was.\nA knight said no, and she wouldn't let him be her lover. But she asked him to go back to his companions and get knighted, then come back the next morning. She would come out of the castle, and he should kiss her on the mouth, she assured him, with no fear, for she wouldn't harm him if he thought she was hideous. She explained it was an enchantment, as she was the same as he saw her then. If he kissed her treasure and swore by her, and by the lord of those lands. He departed from her and went to his companions at the ship, got knighted, and returned the next morning to kiss the damsel. But when he saw her come out of the castle, he didn't turn back. She began to weep greatly and turned back. Soon after, the knight died, and since then no knight could see her but he died. However, when a knight comes who is bold enough to kiss her, he will not die but will turn the damsel into her true shape, and he will be the lord of the castle.\nBefore it was said. And from then men came to the isle of Rhodes, which the hospitallers hold and govern, and it was sometimes taken from the Emperor, and it was wont to be called the Isle of Colloos and so yet the Turks call it. Saint Paul in his Epistles writes to them of the Colossians. This isle is near 580 miles from Constantinople. And from this isle of Rhodes, men go to Cyprus where are many vines that are first red and after a year they turn all white. And those vines that are most white are most clear and best smelling. And as men pass by this way, by a place where was once a great city that men call Satralia, and all the country was lost through the folly of a young man. For he had a fair damsel whom he loved well, and she died suddenly and was buried in a marble grave. And for the great love he had for her, he went one night to her tomb and opened it and went and lay by her. And when he had done, he went his way. After nine months a voice came to him and said, \"In.\"\nthis is the manner as in the next chapter following. You have begotten one on her, and if you make men believe so. In Cyprus lies Saint Gonon, of whom men of the country make great solemnity / & in the castle of Amour lies the body of Saint Hilary / & In Cyprus, men hunt with pampons it is to Acon. M. CCC. miles of Lombardy. And the island of Greece is right in the middle / & beside this city of Acon, towards the sea, there is the hill Carmel, where Elijah the prophet dwelt / & there the order of Carmel was first founded. This hill is not very great nor high / & at the foot of this hill was once a good city of Christian men, which was called Cayphas, for Cayphas founded it, but it is now all wasted. And at the left side of the hill is a town called Saffre / & on another hill there was Saint James and Saint John born / & in their worship is there a fair church men now call Acon to a great hill.\nMen call the man of Tyrreyes a hundred furlongs from the city of Acon, where a little river runs, which men call the Lion River. Around this river is the fosse of Mymon, which is a hundred cubits or fathoms deep, and it is filled with clear gravel shining. Men come from far-off countries by ship and by land with carts to take this gravel. And if there is never so little taken from it on a day, on the morrow it is as full again as ever it was. This is great marvel. And there is always wind in this fosse that stirs up the gravel and causes trouble. If a man puts any metal in it, as soon as it is there, it turns to glass. The glass made from this gravel, if it is remelted into the gravel, turns back to gravel as it was before. Some say it is a swallow of the sea gravel.\n\nAlso, three journeys from Acon, as previously said, lead to the city of Phylystyen, now called Gaza. That is, it is rich.\nAnd from that city, Samson brought the gates of the city up onto a high hill where he was taken in that city. There he slew the king in his palaces and many thousands more with him, for he made the house fall upon them. And from thence, men go to the city of Cesarea and then to the castle of Pilgrims, and so to Ashkelon, and so forth to Japha, and to the holy city.\n\nWhoever wishes to pass through the land of Babylon where the Sudan dwells is granted leave to do so more safely through the churches and groves, and to go to Mount Sinai before coming to Jerusalem, and then to return by Jericho. He shall come from Gaza to the castle Dayr. And after a man comes out of Syria, he goes through wilderness where the way is very sandy, and it lasts for eight journeys. There men find all that they need for provisions, and men call that wilderness Archelais. When a man comes out of this desert, he enters my land to take all their necessities from the Sudan's court.\nI should know it well, for I dwelt with him, the sovereign, in his wars against the Babylonians and other lands that he holds, including Calapty. And when a man has visited this holy place of St. Catherine, and he will proceed to Jerusalem, he shall first take leave at the monastery and receive a special recommendation from them to their prayers. The monks also give pilgrims provisions to pass through the wilderness. In this wilderness dwell many Arabs, whom men call Bedouins and Ascorites. These men are in all manner of wretched conditions. One time he finds water there none other time, and often dwells near a good town, and they roast all their fish and flesh upon hot stones against the sun. They are strong men and good fighters, and they do nothing but chase wild beasts.\nfor they sustenance and they did not live there, so they feared not the Sudan no. And they often waged war with the Sudan, and at that time I was dwelling with him they had but a shield and a spear to defend themselves with, and they wore no other armor but they wound their heads and necks in a great linen cloth, and they are men of ill kind.\n\nAnd beyond this wilderness, towards Eretz, was once a fair and pleasant town of Christian men, and yet some of their churches remain, & in that town dwelt Abraham the patriarch. This town of Hebron was king of Eretz, about fifteen miles from thence, and some call it the vale of Mamre, & also the vale of Terez. For as much as Adam wept in that vale for a hundred years the death of his son Abel, whom Cain slew. And Hebron was once the principal city of Philistia, & there dwelled giants, and there it was so free that all men who did evil in other places were saved. In Hebron, Joshua.\nCalofe and their lawship first came to inspect how they might win the land of promise. This occurred during the reign of David in Hebron for six and a half years, and under Saracen rule it was kept well. They hold the place in great reverence due to the holy patriarchs buried there, and they allow no Christian men or Jews to enter, but they have special favor from the Sultan for holding Christians and Jews as if they were his own houses. It should not come into any holy place. They call the place a spelenka or double cave or double grave, for one lies on top of the other. The Saracens call it Caryatharba in their language, meaning the place of patriarchs, and the Jews call it Arboth. In that same place was Abraham's house, and it was the same Abraham who sat at his door and saw three persons and worshipped but one, as holy writ testifies, saying, \"He saw three and worshipped but one, and him he took into his house.\" And nearby that place is a cave in a rock.\nIn the place where Adam and Eve dwelt after being driven out of Paradise, and there they had their children. This place was called the field of Damascus, as some men say, since it was in the lordship of Damascus. Adam was translated to Paradise from this place, as the story goes, and later driven out again on the same day he was put in. For as soon as he sinned. And this is where the valley of Ebron begins, near Jerusalem. The angel instructed Adam to dwell with his wife here, and it was here that Seth was born, from whose lineage Jesus Christ was born. In this valley is the field where men draw out a substance from the earth, which people in that region call Chalcyum. They eat this substance instead of spice and sell it. Men cannot dig here so deep or so wide without it rising up again to the surface through the earth by the end of the year.\nThe grave of Loth, two miles from Hebron, is where Abraham's brother is buried. Near Hebron is Mount Mambre, on which the valley bears its name. There is an oak tree there, called Dere'ah by the Sarasyns, which is from Abraham's time. Men call it the dry tree. It is said that it has been from the beginning of the world and was once green and bore leaves until the time that our Lord died, and so did all the trees in the world, or else they failed in their hearts or else they faded. Yet there are many of these in the world. Some prophecies say that a lord or prince from the western side of the world will conquer the land of promise, the holy land, with the help of Christian men. He will sing a mass under the dry tree, and then the tree will become green and bear fruit and leaves. Through this miracle, many Sarasyns and Jews will be converted to the Christian faith. Therefore, they greatly worship it and keep it carefully.\nIf it is dry, it possesses a great virtue. For certain, he who bears a little of it on him heals a sickness called the falling evil and has many other virtues. Therefore, it is held very precious. From Ebron, men go to Bethlehem in half a day, for it is only five miles, and it is a fair way through pleasant woods. But Bethlehem is a little city long and narrow, and well walled and enclosed with a great ditch. And it was wont to be called Effrata, as holy write says. \"Ecce audiuimus eam in Effrata\" &c. That is to say, \"We heard him in Effrata.\" Toward the end of the city, toward the east, is a very fair church and gracious, and it has many towers and pinnacles and strong kyrnelles. And within that church are xliiii. great and fair pillars made of marble. And between this church and the city is the field Floridus, and it is called the field flourished as you shall hear.\n\nThe cause is, for as much as a fair maiden who was blamed unfairly it.\nShe had done penance for the reason that she was deemed to death and to be burned at the place to which she was led. And as the wood began to burn around her, she made her prayer to our Lord, as she was not guilty of that thing, that it might be known to all men. And when she had thus spoken, she entered the fire, and at once the fire went out, and those burning branches that were burning became red roses, and those branches that were not kindled became white roses full of roses, and these were the first roses and roses that any man saw. And thus the maiden was saved through the grace of God. Therefore, that field is called the Field of God's Flowers, for it was full of roses. Additionally, beside the altar of the aforementioned church on the right side as one comes downwards, there is a place where our Lord was born, which is now well adorned with marble and richly painted with gold, silver, and azure, and other colors. A little distance by three paces is a shrine.\nThe crybbie of the ox and the ass, and beside that is the place where the star fell that led the three kings Iasper, Melchior, and Balthasar, but men of Greece call these kings Galgalath, Saraphy, and Galgalagh. These three kings offered to our Lord incense, gold, and myrrh, and they came together through a miracle of God, for they met together in a city called Chasak, which is forty journeys from Bethlehem, and there they were at Bethlehem on the fourth day after they had seen the star. And nearby the cloister of this church, there are eighteen grees at the right side, a great pit where the bones of the Innocents lie. And before the church is a church of St. Nicholas, where our Lady rested when she was delivered of a child. And because she had so much milk in her pap, it dripped out upon the reed stones or marble.\nThe traces can still be seen white upon the stones. And you shall understand that all those who dwell in Bethleem are Christian men. There are fair vines all around the city and great abundance of wine. Their book, Machomet, instructs them, which they call Alkaron or Massap or Harm. Harm forbids them to drink wine, for in this book Machomet curses all those who drink it and all who sell it. Some men say that he once killed a good hermit in his drunkenness, whom he loved much, and therefore cursed the wine and those who drink wine. His wickedness shall descend upon his own head. In Latin, this means his wickedness will be his downfall. Additionally, the Saracens bring forth no pig nor do they eat pig flesh. They claim it is forbidden to them and in the lands of Palestine and Egypt they eat but little, as it is forbidden.\nBut they kept it for Tyllin, their way to the tomb of Rachel, who was Joseph's mother. She died as soon as she had borne Benjamin, and there she was buried. Jacob her husband set twelve great stones upon her, taking note that she had borne twelve children. In this way to Jerusalem are many Christian churches, by which men go to Jerusalem.\n\nFor speaking of Jerusalem, you must understand that it stands fair among hills and there is neither river nor well, but water comes by conduit from Hebron. And you should know that men first called it Iebus, and then it was called Salome until the time of King David. He set these two names together and called it Iebus-Salem. And then came Salomon and called it Jerusalem, and so it is called yet. And about Jerusalem is the kingdom of Surrey, and thereby is the land of Palestyne and Ascalon. But Jerusalem is in the land of Judah, and it is called Judea, for Judas Maccabaeus. Bethlehem is towards the south, and near it is a church of St. Mark.\nThere, for whom they made much sorrow when he should die, and it is a pitiful thing to behold. This land of Jerusalem has been in many diverse hands: Jews, Cananeans, Assyrians, Persians, Massydones, Greeks, Romans, and Christians, Sarasins, Barbaryns, Turks, and many other nations. For Christ wills that it be long in the hands of traitors, no sinners they be, Christian or other. And now the mystifying men have held that land in their hands for sixty years and more, but they shall not hold it long and if God wills.\n\nAnd you shall know that when men first came to Jerusalem, they first pilgrimage to the church where the holy grave is, that is outside the city on the north side, but it is now closed in with the town's wall, and there is a fair church all around, open above and well covered with lead, and on the west side is a fair tower and a strong bell, and in the midst of the church is a...\nThe tabernacle, resembling a small house in shape, was made in the form of half a compass, richly decorated with gold, azure, and other colors. On the right side is the sepulcher of the Lord, and the tabernacle is eight feet long, five feet wide, and eleven feet high. It is not long since the sepulcher was completely open that men could kiss it and touch it. However, those who came before paid them to break the stones into pieces or powder. Therefore, the Sultan had a wall built around the sepulcher so that no one may touch it. On the left side is no window, but there are many lamps burning there. A lamp hangs before the sepulcher, which burns and goes out by itself on Fridays and relights itself at the hour that the Lord rose from death to life. Inside the church, on the right side, is Mount Calvary where the Lord was crucified. The cross was set in a white rock, with a little red mixed in. Upon that rock, the following dropped:\nThe blood of our Lord's wounds, where he was crucified at Golgotha, is a place where Adam's head was found after the flood, signifying that the sins of Adam would be redeemed in the same place. Above that rock, Abraham made his sacrifice to the Lord. There, on the cross, is written in Greek: Otes, Basylon, Ismon, Presemas, Ergaste, Sothys, Os. In Latin, it translates to: \"This God, our King, before the ages, worked salvation in the midst of the earth.\" Also written within the rock where the cross was fixed is: Gros, Gustus, Basis, Thou, Pestes, Thesmosy. In Latin, it means: \"That you see is the foundation of his world and this faith.\"\nis ground of all the world and of this faith. And you shall understand that our Lord, when he died, was forty-nine years old and the prophecy of David says that he should have forty years when he says, \"Quadraginta annis proxi mihi generacionis huic.\" That is to say, \"Forty years was I neighbor to this kind.\" And it seemed that this prophecy was not true, but it is.\n\nIn old time, men called years of ten months, of which March was the first and December the last. But Gaius Caesar, who was Emperor of Rome, did set to these two months Ianuarius and February, and ordered the year of twelve months, that is, 365 days without leap year, and therefore after the accounting of ten months to the year, he died in the fortieth year, and after our years of twelve months it is thirty-second and three months.\n\nAlso within Mount Calvary, at the right side, is an altar where the pillar lies, which our Lord was bound to when he was scourged.\nThere are three other pillars that always drop water. Some say these pillars weep for our Lord's death, and near this water, in a place 40.7 meters deep, the Cross was found by the assent of St. Helen. Where the Jews had hidden it, and it was assayed; they found three crosses: one of our Lord and two of the thieves. St. Helen assayed them on a dead body that rose as soon as the very cross of our Lord was laid on him. And there, in the valley, is the place where the four nails of our Lord were hidden. For he had two nails in his hands and two in his feet. One of those nails, the Emperor of Constantinople made into a bridle for his horse to bear him in battle, for the virtue it had he overcame his enemies. And when all the lands of Asia, Turkey, Damascus, the more and the less. Syria, Jerusalem, Arabia, Percy, and Mesopotamia, the kingdom of Alape, the high and the low, and other kingdoms, many nearly all, were united almost to Ethiopia, the low country.\nIn the less that was Christian at that time, there were many good men and holy hermits, of whom the books of the fathers' lives speak. They are now in purgatory and in Saracens' hands. But when God wills, these lands will be regained through the efforts of Christian men, with God's help. In the midst of this church is a communion pit, in which Joseph of Arimathea laid the body of our Lord when he had taken it from the cross. And upon the same place, they say, is the center of the world.\n\nIn the church of the Sepulchre, on the north side, is the place where our Lord was imprisoned in various locations. There is a part of the chain with which he was bound. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene when he was risen from the dead, and she took him for a gardener. In the church of the Sepulchre, there were canons of St. Benet, and they had a priest, but the patriarch was their superior.\n\"southernmost, outside the church doors on the right side as one goes up, the Lord spoke to His mother: \"Behold your son.\" He then said to the disciple: \"Behold your mother.\" He spoke these words on the cross, and beneath these crossbeams is a chapel where priests sing, but not according to our law. They make their sacrament from the water of the breach, saying \"Pater noster\" and other prayers. With these words, they make the sacrament, for they are unaware of the additions that many popes have made. And there is no place where the Lord rested when he was weary from carrying the cross. And you should know that before the church of the sepulcher is the weakest city, due to the great plain between the city and the church, on the east side.\"\nWithout the walls of the city is the vale of Josaphat, reaching to the walls. In that vale of Josaphat, outside the city, is the church of St. Stephen where he was stoned to death. There, by the church, is the gilted gate that may not be opened. Through it, our Lord entered on Palm Sunday upon an ass, and the gate opened against Him when He wished to go to the Temple. The steps of the ass are still seen in three places, marked in hard stones. Before the church of the Sepulcher, two hundred paces to the east, is a great hospital of St. John. In this hospital, there are four pillars made of stone. And to the east of the hospital is a beautiful church that men call Our Lady the Great. There is another church after that, which men call Our Lady of the Latins. Mary Cleophas and Mary Magdalene drew near there when our Lord was taken to His death. From the church of the Sepulcher, to the east, at a distance of eighteen paces, is the Temple of the Lord. It is a fair house and it is all.\nRound and right high, covered with lead. It is well paid with white marble. But the Saracens will not allow Lusitanian men or Jews to enter; for they say so foul men should not come into the holy place. But I entered and in other places where I wished. For I had letters of the Sultan with his great seal. And commonly other men have only his signature. And they bear his letter with his seal before them, hanging on a staff. It is sent to [someone], before they take it they incline it first towards [him], and then they take it and lay it upon their head, and afterwards they kiss it. And then they read it all, inclining with great reverence. And then they promise to do all that the bringer wills. In this temple were won to be canons regular, and they had an abbot to whom they were obedient. And in this temple was Charles when the angel brought him the precincts of our Lord when he was circumsized. And after King Charles died, he brought it to Acre into our lady's chapel.\n\nAnd you shall [do something]? (This last sentence seems unrelated to the rest of the text and may be a mistake or an incomplete fragment, so it is left untranslated.)\nThis is not the Temple that Solomon built for the Jews, which lasted only a thousand and two hundred years. It was Tiberius Caesar, the son of Tiberius, who was Emperor of Rome, that laid siege against Jerusalem to discomfort the Jews because they had crucified Christ without cause. The Jews had made the Temple anew, as God willed, and then an earthquake came and destroyed all that they had made. After Adrian, who was an emperor from Troy, made Jerusalem again and the Temple in the same manner that Solomon made it, he decreed that no Jew should dwell there but only Christians, for he loved Christians more than any other men save those of his own faith. And this emperor enclosed and walled the Church of the Holy Sepulchre within the city, which was formerly far outside the city, and he intended to change the name of Jerusalem and call it Heliopolis, but the name did not last long. And the Saracens do great worship at that Temple.\nThey say it is the place where we should do as much or more than those who were misleading, and this temple is three scores and three cubits in width and length, and thirty-two cubits in height, covered with lead. Inside the temple is a stage twenty-four feet high with good pillars all around. This place is called the Jews' Holy of Holies. That is, the most sacred place. Only their prelate comes there, and the people stand in various stations according to their dignity and worship. There are four entrances to the temple, and the doors are of cypress wood. Within the eastern door, our Lord said, \"Here is Jerusalem.\" And on the north side within the door is a fountain that does not run. The holy writ speaks of this and says, \"Men called it sometimes Moriah, but after it was called Belit or the ark of God with the Jewish relics.\" This ark was carried by Titus.\nhym to Rome when he had discomfited all the Jews. In that same ark were the ten commandments, and the rod of Aaron and the rod of Moses with which he parted the Red Sea, allowing the people of Israel to pass through on dry foot. With that rod, he performed many wonders. There was a vessel of gold full of manna, clothing, and ornaments; the tabernacle of Aaron; a square table of gold with twelve precious stones; and a box of ivory with four figures and the names of the Lord within; seven candlesticks of gold; and four golden censers; an altar also of gold; and four golden cherubim on which they had cherubim of gold. The ark was twelve cubits long, and a tabernacle of gold; and also twelve trumpets of silver, a silver table, and seven golden lampstands; and all other relics that were before the Nativity of Jesus. Also upon this Rock slept Jacob when he saw angels going up and down and said, \"Prayer, and therefore I will build the Temple in this place.\" But our Lord Jesus\nThe angel forbade Cryst, as he had committed treason when he killed Zachary, and on the pinnacle, the Jews placed Saint James on the ground, the first bishop of Jerusalem. Near this Temple, on the right side, is a church covered with lead, called the School of Solomon. Towards the south is the Temple Salon, which is beautiful and a great place, and in this place dwell knights called Templars, and he was its founder and of their order. In that temple lived canons. From this Temple, towards the east, at a distance of twenty-six paces in a corner of the city, is the bath of our Lord. This bath was said to lead to Paradise, and beside it is our lady's bed, and near there is Saint Symeon's tomb. And outside the Temple's cloister, towards the north, is a beautiful church of Saint Anne, our lady's mother. Our lady was conceived there, and before that church grew a great tree that same night. As men go down from that.\nIn this church lies Ioachym, our Lady's father, in a tomb of stone, and there was laid some time ago Saint Anne, but Saint Elyn transferred her to Constantinople. In this church is a well in the shape of a cistern called Probatica pilgrimage, which had five openings, and in it was unwonted for an angel to descend and stir the water. Whoever bathed first in it after the miracle was made whole, no matter what diseases he had, and there the man with palsy was made whole, who was sick for thirty-nine years. Our Lord spoke to him in this manner: \"Tell Grabatus, and walk.\" That is to say, in English, \"Take your bed and go.\" Beside this was Pilate's house, and a little beyond was King Herod's house, who slew the Innocents.\n\nKing Herod was a very wicked man and a villain, for he first and foremost slew his wife, whom he loved well, and because of the great love he had for her when she was dead, he kept her and went out of his mind.\nSo he was long in time, and afterwards he came again to himself. And then he slew his own children that he had gotten from that wife, and after he slew the other his second wife and a son that he had gotten from her. And after he slew his own mother, and he would also have slain his own brother. But his brother died suddenly. And thus he did all the evil that he could. Then he fell sick, and when the time was three Herods of great name. This man they called Herod Antipas, and he who slew the head of St. John the Baptist was called Herod Agrippa, and the third was called Herod. Near the city is said to be Savior's church, and in it is St. John Chrysostom's arm, and the most part of St. Stephen's head.\n\nAnd on the other side towards the south, as one goes to Mount Sion, is a fair church of St. James where his head was struck off, and there is a fair church of God and of our Lady.\nAnd there once was an abbey of regular canons at the place where she dwelt and died. She was born from the apostles to the Valley of Josaphat. There is the stone that the angel bore to the Virgin Mary from Mount Sinai. It is of the same color as the rock of Saint Catherine's. Nearby is the gate where the Virgin Mary, when she was with child, passed through to Bethlehem. At the entrance of Mount Sion is a chapel, in which is the great and large stone with which the sepulcher was covered when Christ was laid there. The three Maries saw this stone rolled back when they came to the sepulcher, and there they found an angel who told them that Christ had risen from death to life. There is a small piece of the pillar to which the Lord was scourged. Annas' house, who was bishop of the Jews at that time, was also there. Peter, our Lord, abandoned him three times before the cock crowed. And there is a part of the table on which God made the covenant.\nhis mandate with his disciples / and there is the vessel with water, out of which his disciples' feet were washed. And there is Saint Stephen's grave / and there is also where our lady heard the angels sing mass.\n\nAnd there appeared Christ first to his disciples after his resurrection, when the gates were closed, and said, \"Peace be with you.\" That is, \"Peace to you.\" And on that mount appeared Christ to Saint Thomas and bade him touch his wound. And that was the eighth day after his resurrection. And then he lived perfectly and said, \"My lord and my God.\" That is, in English, \"My lord and my God.\"\n\nIn that same chapel behind the high altar were all the apostles on Whitsunday when the holy ghost descended upon them in the likeness of fire. And there made God's Pasch with his disciples. And Saint John the Evangelist slept on our lord's breast and saw sleeping many precious things of heaven.\n\nAnd Mount Sion is within the city, and it is a little higher than the other side of it.\nThe city is stronger on one side than the other. At the foot of Mount Zion is a fair and strong castle which the Sudan built there. On Mount Zion, King David was buried, and Solomon, and many other kings of Jerusalem. This is also the place where St. Peter wept tenderly when he had abandoned our Lord, and a stone cast from there is another place where our Lord was judged at that time. Caiaphas' house was there. Between the Temple of Solomon and Mount Zion is the place where Christ raised the maiden from death to life. Under Mount Zion, towards the valley of Josaphat, is a well that men call Natatorium. There our Lord was washed after he was baptized. And there is the tree on which Judas hanged himself for despair when he had sold Christ. And there is the synagogue where the bishops of the Jews and the Pharisees called me to hold their council, and Judas cast the thirty pieces of silver before them and said, \"I have sinned, betraying innocent blood for silver.\"\nsynned deceitful righteous blood. On the other side of Mount Sion, towards the south, a stone cast is the field that was bought with thirty pieces for which Christ was sold. It is called Acheldemak, or the field of blood. In this field are many tombs of Christian men, as there are many pilgrims carved. And also in Jerusalem, towards the west, is a fair church where the tree grew from which the cross was made. Nearby is a fair church where our Lady met Elizabeth when they were both with child. And St. John made worship to our Lord his maker in his mother's womb. Under the altar of the church is a place where John was born. Two miles from Jerusalem is the Mount of Joy, a fair and pleasant place. There lies Samuel the prophet in a fair tomb. It is called the Mount of Joy because many pilgrims see Jerusalem for the first time there. In the midst of the valley of Josaphat is a little river that is called the Torrent of Cedron.\nIn this valley lies a tree from which the cross was made that men carried over. Also in this valley is a church of our lady, and there is her sepulcher, where our lady died at the age of seventy-two. Nearby is a chapel called Getsemany, where Judas kissed our lord. There, three bowshot distances to the east, stands Bethphage, where our lord Jesus sent Peter and James to fetch an ass on Palm Sunday.\n\nTowards the east is a castle called Bethany, where lived Simon the Leper. He was called Julian and was made bishop there. It is he who is called the good leper. In the same place, our lord forgave Mary Magdalene her sins, and she washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Lazarus was raised there, who had been dead for four days.\nThe place where our Lord wept at Mount Olivet is where our Lady appeared to St. Thomas after her assumption and gave him her girdle. And there is the stone on which our Lord sat often and preached, and there he shall sit on the day of judgment, as he himself said. Mount Galilee is where the apostles were gathered when Mary Magdalene told them of the crucifixion. From Bethany, it is five miles to Jerico. Jerico was once a little city, but it was destroyed and now is only a little town. That town took Joshua through a miracle of God and by the bidding of the angel and destroyed it, and cursed all those who rebuilt it again. Of that town was Rah, the common woman who received messengers of Israel and kept them from many perils of death, and therefore she had a good reward, as holy writ says. \"Qm\u0304 accept a prophet in no new mercies, \"propheta\u0304 in noi\u0304e meo mercede\u0304.\" That is to say, he who takes a prophet in my name, he shall receive a prophet's reward.\n\nAlso from Bethany, men go to Flom Jordon through...\nIn the wilderness, only a day's journey east towards a great hill. Our Lord fasted there for forty days. On this hill, Christ was brought from the pit of hell and said to him, \"Let these stones become bread.\" That is, \"Let these stones become bread, and there is a hermitage where dwell a certain order of Christians, called Georgians, for St. George converted them. On this hill lived Abraham for a long time. As men go to Jerico, many sick men sit along the way, crying, \"Iesu filius David, miserere nobis.\" That is, \"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.\" Two miles from Jerico is the Jordan, and you will know that the land of India and Arabia has departed from this sea. The water of this sea is very bitter, and this water casts out a thing called asphalt as great pieces as a horse. Jerusalem is CC. furlongs from this sea, and it is called the Dead Sea because it neither runs nor can any man or beast that has life remain in it, and it has been proven many times.\ntimes, for they have cast men in them who are deemed to die. No man may drink of that water. And iron comes up again if thrown in, and if a man casts a feather in it, it goes to the ground, and this is against nature.\n\nAnd thereabout grow trees that bear fruit of fair color and seem ripe, but when a man breaks them or cuts into them, he finds nothing in them but coals or ashes. This is a sign that through God's vengeance these cities were destroyed.\n\nAnd you shall understand that Loth was Aaron's brother and Sara was Abraham's wife, and Sara was one hundred years old when she bore Isaac. And Abraham had another son named Ishmael.\n\nThis flood, the Jordan, is no great river nor is the hill of Edom where Anna, Samuel's mother, the prophetess, dwelt. And there, the prophet was born, and after his death, he was buried at Mount Joy as I have said. And after came men to Shiloh where the Ark of God was kept under the holy prophet. And there, the people of Israel made their sacrifices.\nIn this place we sacrificed to the Lord. The Lord spoke first to Samuel here. And God ministered the sacrament here. To the left side is Gabon and Rama Benyamin, of whom the holy writ speaks. Afterwards, men came to Shechem, which some call Sychar, and this is in the province of Samaria. At one time there was a church here, but it was all torn down, and it is now a fair valley and very fruitful. There is a good city in this valley that men call Neapolis. From there it is a day's journey to Jerusalem, and there is the well where our Lord spoke to the woman of Samaria. Sychem is ten miles from Jerusalem and is called Neapolis, that is, the new town. And there is the Temple of Joseph's son Jacob who ruled Egypt. From there his bones were brought and laid in that temple. And Jews often came on pilgrimage there with great devotion. Also in that city was Jacob's daughter Dinah, for whom her brothers slew many men.\n\nOn this hill would [something be done]\nAbraham sacrificed his son Isaac in the valley of Do\u011fan. There is the pool where Ishmael was cast by his brothers before they sold him. It is two miles to Sychar. From there, men come to the city called Sebastia, which is its chief city, and in that city was the seat of the twelve tribes of Israel, but it is not as great as it was. Saint John the Baptist was buried between two prophets, Helias and Abdon, but he was beheaded in the castle of Macarius beside the Dead Sea and was translated by his disciples and buried at Samaria. However, Julius the Apostate took his bones and burned them, for he was emperor at that time. But the finger with which he pointed, saying, \"Behold the Lamb of God,\" could rise from the dead and on the same hill, four angels will sow their trumpets and raise all men who are dead to life. Then they will come in body and soul to the Judgment.\nBut the judgment shall be in the valley of Josaphat on Easterday at the same time as our Lord rose from death to life. And a mile from Mount Tabor is Mount Hermon, and there was the city of Naim before its gates. Our Lord raised the widow's son there who had no more children. From then men went to a city called Tyre, which sits on the sea of Galilee, and if it is called the sea of Galilee, it is no sea or arm of the sea, for it is only a stumble of fresh water. It is more than a hundred furlongs long and forty brooks wide, and in it are many good fish. And on the same sea stand many good cities, therefore this sea changed its name often after the cities that stood upon it but it is all water and was nearly drowned. Modest faith, why did you doubt?\n\nIn this city of Tyre is the table where Christ ate with his disciples after his resurrection, and they recognized him in the breaking of bread, as holy writ says. Et cognouerunt.\nIn the bread's crumb, he was known to him. This is to say, near the hill of Tiberias is the city where our Lord fed five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish. In the same city, men in anger threw not-to-be-burned [something] into the fire. And Saint Tecla the virgin made her fingers under the Alpheus mountains' altar mountains where they do great worship. She closed Saint John the Baptist's head in a wall. But Emperor Theodosian took it out and found it wrapped in a cloth, all bloody. Half of the head is in Constantinople, and the other half is at Rome in Saint Sylvester's church. The vessel in which his head was laid when it was struck is at G.\n\nFrom Sebastia to Jerusalem is twelve miles. Between the hills of this country is a well called Fons Jacob, that is, Jacob's well, which changed four times a year in color: for some time it is red, some time clear, some time green, and some time thick. Those who dwell there are men.\nThe Samaritans were called as such and were converted through the apostles. Their law differs from Christian, Saracen, and Jewish law. They believe in one God who is to be deemed by all. They wear red linen head coverings for distinction, while Saracens wear white and Christians blue, and Jews yellow. In this country dwell many Jews who pay tribute as Christians do. If one wishes to know the letters of the Jews, they are such and these are their names: Alpha for A, Beth for B, Gimel for C, He for D, Vav for E, Zayin for F, Ex for G, Ioth for I, Kaph for K, Lamed for L, Mem for M, Samekh for O, Ayin for P, Pe for Q, Resh for R, Chet for S, Tav for T, and Shin for S. Here are the figures: D, L, X, H, T.\n\nFrom this country, which I have spoken of, men go to the plain of Galilee and leave the hills on one side. Galilee is part of the province of the land of promise, and in that province is the land of Na\u00edn.\nCapharnum and Corazaim / were born Saint Peter and Saint Andrew in Bethsaida. / From Corazaim will be born Antichrist. / Some say he will be born in Babylon, therefore the prophet says, \"From Babylon a serpent will come, devouring all the world.\" This Antichrist will be nourished in Bethsaida and reign in Corazaim. / Therefore, holy writ says, \"Woe to you, Corazaim. Woe to you, Bethsaida.\" / The Jordan River is four miles from Nazareth. / In that city, the woman of Cana was married at the Archetypelyne when he turned water into wine. / From thence go to Nazareth, which was once a great city, but now is only a little town and not walled. / There, our lady was born. The name was taken from this city by our Lord. / But our lady was betrothed to Joseph in Nazareth when she was fourteen years old. / There, the angel saluted her.\nHe is called \"full of grace, the Lord is with thee.\" Aue gracia plena Dn\u0304s tecu\u0304. At one time, there was a great church, and now there is only a little one left to receive the offerings of pilgrims. There is the well of Gabriel where our Lord was accustomed to bathe when he was little, at Nazareth. Nazareth is called the \"flower of the valley\" because there the flower of life was nourished, which was our Lord Jesus Christ. Half a mile from Nazareth is the blood of our Lord, for the Jews led him up onto a high rock to cast him down and kill him, but Jesus Christ passed through them and leapt onto a rock where his footsteps are still seen. When they fear thieves or enemies, they say, \"Jesus, passing through the midst of them, went on.\" Iesus aute\u0304 transiens per mediu\u0304 illorum ibat. They also say these verses of the psalm three times: \"Let fear and trembling come upon them because of the greatness of thy arm. Dn\u0304e, make them immobile as a stone until.\"\n\"People's tuus and iste, who were redeemed, should pass through your door. And when all this is said, a man may go without any hindrance. Our blessed lady bore a child when she was fifteen years old and lived with him for thirty-four years and three months, and after his passion she lived for twenty-two years. And from Nazareth to Mount Tabor is three miles, and there our Lord transfigured himself before Saints Peter, John, and James, and there they saw ghostly our Lord and Moses. The Syrians and they held half our faith and half the faith of the Greeks, and they have long beards like the Greeks. And there are others called Christians of Cydonia, some Nestorians, some Arians, some Nubians, some Georgians, and some Indians from the land of Persia, and each of them has some articles of our belief. But each of them varies from the others, and the extent of their variations was too much to tell. Now that I have told you this, I speak of...\"\nIn that place, Caym, Abell's brother, resides near Damascus. The mount of Syria is there, and in that city, many physicians dwell. Saint Paul was a physician in Damascus before his conversion, and afterwards, a physician of souls. From Damascus, men come to a place called Our Lady of Sardemarche, five miles away, located on a rock. There is a fair church, and monks and nuns reside there. Behind the high altar in the church is a table with three legs on which the image of our lady was painted. It was torn into flesh many times, but the image is now barely visible. However, through God's grace, the table drops oil, as if an olive, and there is a marble vessel beneath the table to receive the oil. Pilgrims are given this oil, which heals many ailments. Between the cities of Dark and Raphane is a river called Sabatory.\nsaterdaye it renneth fast & all the weke ellys it standeth styll & renned not or lytell. And there is an other ryuer that on the nyght freseth fast & vpon the daye no frost is seen And so men go by a cyte that men calle Berugh / & there men go in to the see that wyll go in to Cy pres & they arryue at port of Sur or of Thyrry / and than go men to Cypres / or ellys men go or may go from the port of Thyrry ryght and come\nnot at Cypres & arryue at some hauen of Grece / and than come men in to those cou\u0304trees by wayes that I haue spoken of before.\nNOw haue I tolde you of wayes by the whi che men go ferthest & lengest as by Baby\u2223lon & mou\u0304t Synay & other places many / thrugh the whiche londes men torne agayne to the londe of promyssyon. Now wyll I telle you the waye of Ierusalem / for some men wyll not passe it / some for they haue not to spende / some for they haue no company / & many other causes resonable / & ther\u2223fore I shall telle you shortly how a man may goo with lytell cost & short tyme. A man that cometh\nFrom the lands of the west he travels through France Burgoyne & Lombardy & to Venice or to Genoa or some other harbor of those marches, takes a ship and goes to the isle of Griff & arrives in Greece, or else at Myroche, Valon, Duras, or some other harbor of those marches, & goes to land for rest & goes again to the sea and arrives in Cyprus, and does not come to the isle of Rhodes, & arrives at Famagost, that is the chief harbor of Cyprus, or else at Lamaton, & then enters a ship again & passes beside the harbor of Tyre & comes not to land, and so passes by all the harbors of that coast until he comes to Jaffa, that is the next harbor to Jerusalem, for it is twenty-eight miles between. And from Jaffa, men go to the city of Ramah & that is but little thence and it is a fair city, & beside Ramah is a fair church of our lady where our Lord showed himself to her in the shadows that signify the Trinity. And there is not a church of St. George where his head was smitten off.\nAnd then to the castle of Emaux, and from there to Mount Joy, and from thence pilgrims see Jerusalem, and then to Mount Modin, and go to Jerusalem. At Mount Modin lies the prophet Machabe, and above Ramatha is the town of Donkey, where Amos the prophet was. For as many men cannot endure the taste of the sea, but are rather pleased to go by land if it is more labor. A man shall go to one of the havens of Lombardy, such as Venice or another, and he shall pass into Greece to the port of Myroch or another, and shall go to Constantinople, and shall cross the water called the Sea of St. George, which is an arm of the sea. And from there he shall come to Puluerall, and then to the castle of Synope. And from there he shall go to Capodocia, a great country with many great hills, and he shall pass through Turkey and to the city of Nicaea, which they call from the emperor of Constantinople, and it is a fair city and well fortified, and there is a river that men call the Lycus. And there men go by the Alps of Mormant.\nThrough the vales of Malebynys and the vale of Ernx, and on to Anthyoche, which is better situated on the river Ryclay. There are many good hills and fair woods, and wild beasts. If one wishes to go another way, he goes by the plain of Romayn coast and the Roman sea. On that coast is a fair castle that men call Florage. Once out of the hills, he passes through the cities of Moryach and Artoyse, where there is a great bridge over the river Fern that men call Fassar. Beside the city of Damas is a river that comes from the mountain of Libanus and is called Alban. At the passing of this river, St. Eustache lost his two sons when he had lost his wife. It goes through the plain of Archades and then to the red sea, and then men go to the city of Fermyne and then to the city of Ferne. Anthyoche is a fair city and well-walled, for it is two miles long, and there is a bridge over the river at each pier, and it is [faithfully translated from the original text]\n\nThrough the vales of Malebynys and the vale of Ernx, and on to Anthyoche, which is better situated on the river Ryclay. There are many good hills and fair woods, and wild beasts. If one wishes to go another way, he goes by the plain of Romayn coast and the Roman sea. On that coast is a fair castle called Florage. Once out of the hills, he passes through the cities of Moryach and Artoyse, where there is a great bridge over the river Fern called Fassar. Beside the city of Damas is a river called Alban, which comes from the mountain of Libanus. At the passing of this river, St. Eustache lost his two sons when he had lost his wife. It goes through the plain of Archades and then to the red sea, and then men go to the city of Fermyne and then to the city of Ferne. Anthyoche is a fair and well-walled city, for it is two miles long, and there is a bridge over the river at each pier.\nThe best city in the kingdom of Surry. From Antioch, men go to the city of Loches and then to Gabel and Tortouse. The land of Cambre is nearby, with a strong castle called Manbek. From Tortouse, men go to Tripoli on the sea, and from there, there are two ways to Jerusalem. On the left way, men first go to Damascus via the Jordan River, on the right side, they pass through the land of Flagme and reach the city of Cayphas, also known as Pelerin's Castle. From there, it is a four-day journey to Jerusalem, and they pass through Cesarea Philippi, Iaffe, Rama, and Emaux.\n\nI have told you some ways by land and by water on how men can reach Jerusalem. However, if it is so that there are many other ways that men go by the countries they come from, nevertheless, they all converge to one end. Yet, there is a way entirely by land to Jerusalem, passing no sea from France or Flanders, but that way is long and perilous and of great difficulty.\nTravel/therefore few go that way. He that shall go that way, he goes through Almayne and Prusse and so unto Tartary. This Tartary is held of the great Khan, whom I shall speak of afterwards. For thy lordship lasts his lordship. And all the lords of Tartary yield him tribute. Tartary is a full evil land and sandy and little fruit bearing. For there groweth but little corn or wine or fruit. But beasts there are in great plenty, & therefore they eat flesh without bread, & they soup the broth and they drink milk of all manner of beasts. They eat cats & all manner wild beasts, rats and mice. & they have little wood, and therefore they light their meat with horse dung & other beasts when it is dry. Princes & other lords eat but once a day & right little, & they are right foul people and of evil kind. In summer there is many tempestes & thunders that sleeth many men and beasts suddenly, and it is there right cold & as suddenly it is right hot. The prince it\nThe ruler of that land they call Raco resides in a city named Orda. No good man dwells in that land, for it is suitable only for sowing thorns and weeds, and there is no other good reported there, as I have heard. I have been in other lands, such as Rossye, Nyflonde, the kingdom of Grecon, and Lectowe, and the duchy of Grasten, among others. I have never gone to Jerusalem, however, and therefore I cannot describe it in detail. I have heard that it is difficult to travel that way except in winter, due to the hard frozen waters and marshes that make passage difficult.\n\nA proof they use beyond this: first, an object called adamande is mentioned. Place a needle before that adamande. If the adamande is good and virtuous, the needle does not draw towards it while the adamande is present.\nBut it falls to some that the good diamond loses its virtue through him who bears it, and therefore it is necessary to make it recover its virtue again or it is of little value. Many rivers run through and are called the Indus, and there are many other precious stones in that river, the Indus. And in that river, men find elephants thirty feet long, and men who dwell near that river are of evil color and yellow and green. In the Indus there are more than five thousand islands that men dwell on in good and great abundance, and in each one of those there is great plenty of cities and much people, for men of the Indus are of such a condition that they seldom leave their land, for they dwell under a planet called Saturn, and that planet makes its course by the twelve signs in twenty years, and the moon passes through the twelve signs in a month, and because Saturn is of such late starting, therefore men who dwell under it and in that climate have no great desire to be late about anything. And in this river, there are many other things worth noting.\nThere was one in that court who practiced sorcery, called Takyna, who could make himself appear like an angel. He went to her and said she had a child under a palm tree. She was greatly ashamed and said she would speak to Ihu (Jesus).\n\nHe spoke of the Jews and said they were wicked people. The Jews lied about our lady and her son Jesus, claiming they did not crucify him according to their law of Muhammad. They should believe in God Almighty, who is the truth, as Christ said.\n\nMoreover, Muhammad wrote in his book, \"God's word has great strength to men to do well, and they give a bad example. Therefore, when the people should go on the hot water, they should not go when they have doubt, for a little silver they sell they cannot win back.\"\n\nHe called again all the lords into the chamber and then showed me four persons who were great lords in that country, who devised my tree and others as they would have been men of the same country. They spoke French.\nRight well and the Sudan also, and then I had great marvel of this scandal of our faith. And those who should be turned by our good examples to the faith of Jesus Christ are drawn away through our evil living. Therefore, it is no wonder if they call us evil, for they speak the truth. But the Saracens are true, for they keep truly the commandments of their Alcoran, which God sent them by his messenger Muhammad. And you shall understand that Muhammad was born in Arabia, and he was first a poor servant and kept horses and went after merchandise. And so he came once into Egypt with merchandise. At that time, Egypt was also Christian. And there was a chapel beside Arabia. When he came into the chapel, which was but a little house and low, as soon as he entered, it began to be as great as that of a palace gate. And that was the first miracle that the Saracens say that he did in his youth. Afterward, began\nMachomet was wise and rich, and he was a great astronomer. He was the keeper of the land of Prince Lodan and governed it well. When the prince died, Machomet married the lady called Quadryge. Machomet fell often and she grew angry that she had taken him as her husband. He explained that every time he fell, Gabriel the angel spoke to him, and because of the great brightness of the angel, he fell at the gate of Agar. Some were called Sarasyns of Sarra, others Moabites, and some Ammonites, after two sons of Loth. Machomet also loved a good man, an hermit, who lived in the wilderness a mile from Mount Sinai on the way from Arabia to Ladee, a day's journey from the sea where merchants of Venice came. Machomet visited this hermit so often that all his men were angry because he listened gladly to the hermit's preaching and made them walk all night.\nIt fell on a night that Muhammad was deeply drunk from good wine and fell asleep. His men took Muhammad's sword out of its sheath while he slept and killed the hermit. Upon finding the hermit dead in the morning, Muhammad was filled with anger and wanted to kill his men. But they all agreed and said he had slain the hermit while drunk. They showed him his own bloodied sword and he believed them. Therefore, Saracens, [are not to] publicly drink wine or they will be reproved. But they drink good beverage, sweet and nourishing, which is made of Lalamels, and from it sugar is made.\n\nIt sometimes happens that Christian men become Saracens, either through poverty or simplicity or wickedness. And\nTherefore, their archbishop, upon receiving them, says this: \"There is no god but one and Muhammad is his messenger. I have told you part of their law and their customs. Now I shall tell you about their letters, which they have with their names. First, they have for A: al-Maslama, for B: Cathal, C: Ethan, for D: Dhul-Faqar, E: Fath, F: Gharib, G: Hisham, I: Iyas, K: Kathir, L: Luth, M: Malik, N: Nahalot, O: Orth, P: Zaid, Q: Zathul-Qulub, R: Ruth, R: Rudh, S: Sulath, T: Chatim, V: Yarith, X: Mazin, Z: Zetpin.\n\nAnd I have described before about the holy land and the countries around it, and many ways there, and to Mount Sinai to Babylon and other places which I have spoken of.\n\nHe sent someone to keep it (the country). And he, alone, kept it for three nights without any company and without sleep. This fair lady will come to him at the seventh day or the end of the third day and will grant (him something).\"\nThe first thing he often proved, and so he came after him said unto him: \"Sir king, you shall have war-time all the kingdom I have granted you, but she said to him that he had asked his undoing for great pride that he should have thereof. And this man became so great a merchant both by sea and by land that he was so rich that he knew not the thousandth part of his goods. Also, a knight of the Templars once woke up, and when he had done, he desired to have a purse full of gold, and whatever he took thereof, she should ever be full again, and the lady granted it to him, but she told him that he had desired his destruction. That hill is always covered in snow, it is always upon that hill both winter and summer, that no man may go up and never did so since Noah was, but a monk through the grace of God brought a plank that is yet at the abbey at the foot of the hill, and he had great desire to go upon the hill and was forced to do so, and when he was at the third part upwards, he was so weary that he could go no farther.\nAnd he rested there and slept. When he awoke, he was at the foot of the hill and prayed to God devoutly that He would allow him to go up on the hill. And the angel said to him that he should go up on the hill. So he did. And since then, no man came there. And therefore, men will not believe such words.\n\nFrom there, men went to a city called Tanzah. That city is a hill of salt, and every man took what he will. And there dwelt many Christian men under the rule of the Saracens.\n\nFrom thence, men went through many cities and towns and many castles towards India. And then they came to a city called Cassage, which was a fair city. In that city was a hat, it were too long to tell, to the city of Carnah that was once so great that the wall around it was twenty-five miles long. The wall still shows, but it is no longer inhabited by men.\n\nOn the other side of that city of Carnah, men entered into the land of Job. That land is good.\nIn this land, called the land of Swere, there is great abundance of all fruits. The city of Thomar is located in this land. Iob was a pagan and he was the son of Cofraas. He ruled this land as prince and was so rich that he did not know the thousandth part of his wealth. After his power, God made him richer than he had ever been before. He became king of Idumea after the death of King Esau, and was called Ioab in that kingdom. He lived there until the age of CC. years and xlvin.\n\nIn this land of Iob, there is no lack of anything necessary for human body. There are hills where men find manna, which is called \"angels' bread.\" It is a white, sweet substance, much sweeter than honey or sugar, and comes from the dew of heaven that falls on the herbs and congeals and becomes white. This land borders the land of Caldee, a great land with fair and well-appointed people.\nThey are richly arrayed with gold cloth and pearls and other precious stones. But the women are right foul and ill-clad, going barefoot and wearing an ill-fitting large coat that is wide and short to their knees, and they have long sleeves that reach to their feet. They also have great black hair hanging down from their shoulders. I dare not tell it all because I am unworthy for the great reward for my prayer to them. In the land of Caldee mentioned before is a city that men call Hur. In this city, Abraham the patriarch was born.\n\nAfter the land of Caldee is the land of Ammon, a land where there is no man but only women, as men say, for they will not allow any man to live among them or have lordship over them. Once there was a king in this land, and men dwelt there as they did in other countries and had wives. It happened that the king had a great war with the Sychi and he was called Colopius, and he was slain in battle and all the good blood of his people.\nIn London, and this queen, when the king and the lords were slain, gathered them together and killed all the men left in their land among them. Since that time, no man dwelt among them. When they wish to lie with any man, they send for him in a grove near to their land, and the men come and are there.\n\nOn the other side of Caldee, towards the south, is Ethiopia, a great land. In Ethiopia, there are men who have but one foot and they go so fast that it is a great marvel. They have a large foot whose shadow covers their body from the sun or rain when they lie upon their backs. And when their children are first born, they look like russet. When they grow old, they are all black. In Ethiopia is the land of Sabaeans, of which one of the three kings who sought our Lord at Bethlehem was king.\n\nFrom Ethiopia, men go into India through many diverse countries, and it is called India the Great. It is divided into three parts.\nA full hot land, and India is the lesser, its third part toward the north is right cold, so that for great cold, frost and ice, the water becomes crystalline, and upon that grow the good diamonds, which is like a troubled color, and that diamond is so hard that no man may break it. Other diamonds men find in Arabia that are not so good, and some in Cyprus and Macedonia, men also find diamonds there, but the best are in India. Some are found in large masses, which comes out where men find gold from the mine when they break the mass in pieces, and sometimes men find some of great size and some less, and those are as hard as those of India. And all if it be that men find good diamonds in India upon the Rock of Crystal. Also men find good diamonds upon the Rock of Diamonds in the stone, which multiplies and grew all the years. I have many times tried that if a man keeps them with a little of the rock and wets them with many dews often, they shall grow.\nevery year, the small shall grow large, and a man shall bear the diamond in his left side. It is more virtuous for them, as the people of those countries say, because their growth is towards the north, which is on the left side. To him who bears the diamond upon him, it grants courage; it keeps his limbs connected to his body; it grants victory over enemies if a man's cause is just; and if he bears it willingly, it keeps him from strife, riot, bad dreams, sorcery, and enchantments. Also, the diamond should be given freely.\n\nHowever, it is so hot in that isle that a man's ball of sweat hangs down to his ankles due to the great dissolution of the body. And men of the country bind them up tightly and anoint them with oil.\n\nMen of this isle have many kinds of belief and faith and also diverse laws. Some worship the sun, some fire, some trees, and some the serpents or another.\nThey first encounter things in the morning, and some worship simulacra and idols. However, there is no difference between simulacra and idols. I, who was once Hercules and others who performed many marvels in their times, are not the kindly creators of all things, but we are well with God for the marvels we do. And so they say of the sun, for it changes often and at times gives great heat, more beneficial and profitable than anything else, as it does much good and no harm. They know well that it cannot be without special grace of God, and therefore they make their god of an ox, the one half, and a man, the other half, for man is the fairest and best creature in the world. They worship serpents and other beasts that they first meet at dawn, especially those beasts whose meaning is good, and they prosper well all day after.\n\nAnd yet some [believe in]...\nIn this island of Cana, some men claim that certain beasts are better for food than others, such as horses and swine. In this island, there are many wild beasts, and rats of the coutree are as great as hounds here and they cannot be taken by cats. From there, men come to a city called Sarches, a fair and good city where many Christian men of God's faith dwell, and there are men of religion. From Sarches, men come to the land of Lombe, and in that land was pepper in a forest called Tonber. This pepper was in no other place more in the whole world than in that forest, and that forest is well. It took us three days to journey there. By the land of Lombe is the city of Polomes, and under that city is a hill that men call Polombe. The people there seem to be young always and live without great sicknesses. They say this well comes from the terrestrial paradise, for it is so virtuous. In this land, ginger grows.\nIn this country, many merchants come for spices. Men worship the ox for its great simplicity and meekness, and the profit in him, as they make him labor. They keep him for six or seven years, then eat him. The king of that land always has one ox with him, and he who keeps him daily takes his fees for the keeping. Every day he gathers his wife and his daughter in a vessel of gold and brings it to the prelate they call Archipatrus Papatus. The prelate takes it and brings it to the king, and makes a great blessing. The king then puts his hand in it, and they call it gall. He anoints his forehead and breast with it, and they do great worship and say that he will be filled with the virtue of the aforementioned ox and is hallowed through the virtue of that holy thing. After the king, other lords do the same, and after them other men of degree if they may have any of the remainder. In this country, their women.\nIdols are half human and half ox as the figure shows in the second leaf here before, and out of these idols the wicked ghost speaks to them and gives them answer of what thing they ask him. And before these idols they sacrifice their children many times and sprinkle the blood on the idols, thus making them a sacrifice. And if any man dies in that country they burn him as a token of penance that he should suffer no penalty if he were laid in the earth for eating of worms. And if his wife has no children then they burn her with him, and they say it is a good reason that she keeps him company in the other world as she did in this, and if she has children she may live with them and she will. And if the wife dies before, and he also, then in this country grows good wine, and women drink wine and men none. Women show their breasts and men not.\n\nA great kingdom, there is many fair cities and towns. In this land lies St. Thomas, a fair tomb.\nin flesh and bones, within the city of Calamy, and the arm and hand that he placed on our Lord's side when he was risen, when Christ said to him, \"Be not faithless, but believing.\" That is, \"Do not be of despair, but believe.\" That same hand lies yet outside the tomb bare. And with this hand they give their judgments in that court, to know who has right and who not. For if any strife is between two parties, they write their right into two bills, and those bills are put into the hand of St. Thomas. And as soon as the hand casts away the bill that is wrong and holds the other, it is declared valid.\n\nIn the church of St. Thomas is a great image, which is a symbol, and it is well adorned with rich precious stones and pearls. And to this image men come in pilgrimage from far countries with great devotion, as Christian men go to St. James. And there come some in pilgrimage who bear sharp knives in their hands. And as they go by the way, they cut their shanks and thighs, so that the blood may come out for the love of that idol.\nThey say he is holy who will die for the idol's sake. And some, from the time they go out of their houses at every third pace, kneel to this idol. Upon arrival, they have incense or such other things to incense the idol, as we would do to God's body. Before this idol's minster or church, there is a well filled with water. Pilgrims cast gold, silver, pearls, and other precious stones into it instead of offerings. When the master of the minster has any need for help, they go to that well and take out as much as they have needed for helping the minster. You should understand that when any great feasts come for this idol, such as the dedication day of the church or the idol's throne day, all the crowd gathers around it. They set this idol with great reverence and worship in a chair richly adorned with gold and other things.\nAnd they carry him with great reverence and worship around the city, and before the chair goes first in procession all the maidens of the countryside two and two, and after them go the pilgrims who have come from far-off countries. Some of these pilgrims fall down before the chair and let all go over them, and some are slain and some have their arms and shanks broken. They do this out of love for the idol, and they believe that the more pain they suffer here for their idol, the more joy they will have in the other world. A man will find few Christian men who will endure so much suffering for the Lord's sake as they do for their idol. Near the chair go all the minstrels of the country as if there were countless numbers, with many diverse melodies.\n\nWhen they have come again to the church, they set up the idol again in his throne, and for the idol's worship, two or three men are slain with sharp knives with their good will. A man thinks\nIn our country, a man of great respect is regarded as having an holy man in his kin, similar to how they describe those who are slain as holy men and saints. They are written in their leper colonies, and when they are thus deceased, their friends burn their bodies, and the ashes are kept as relics. They believe it is a holy thing and have no doubt when they possess those ashes.\n\nIn this country, liji Journeys is a forest called Lamory, and in that land, there is great heat. It is the custom there that men and women go naked, and they scorn those who are clothed. They believe that God made Adam and Eve naked, and that men should have no shame regarding that which God made. They believe in the same God who made Adam and Eve and the whole world, and there is no married woman in the land, but women are common to all men there. They believe that God commanded Adam and Eve and all their descendants, \"Be fruitful and multiply your children.\"\nforto sell and those that are fat they eat them, and those that are lean they keep them till they are fat, and then are they eaten.\n\nBesides this island of Lamory, there is another island that men call Somober. It is a good island. Men of that island mark themselves in the face with a red iron sign, men and women, for great nobility and to be known from others. For they hold themselves the worthiest of the world, and they have war continually.\n\nThere is a great island that men call Iana. The king of that country has undone him nine kings, for he is a full mighty prince.\n\nIn this island grow all manners of spices more plentifully than in other places, as ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmegs, and other. And you shall understand that the nutmeg bears the mace, and all things therein are plentiful save wine. The king of this land has a rich palace and the best that is in the world, for all the Greeces in his hall and chambers are all made one of gold and another of silver, and all the walls are covered and plated.\nwt is written on the plates of gold and silver, stories of knights and battles. The payment for the hall and chambers is also of gold and silver. No man would disbelieve the riches that are there, if he had seen it. The king of this isle has many times overcome the great Khan of Cathay, the mightiest emperor in the world, for there is often war among them. The great Khan would strive to keep his land from him.\n\nTo go forth by sea, men find an island called Patmos or Salem, a great kingdom with many fair cities. In this land grow trees that bear melons, from which men make fine bread that is white and of good savour, and it seems as if it were of wheat. And there are other trees that bear poison, against which there is no medicine but one: to take the leaves of the same tree, crush them, and mix them with water, and drink it or else he will die suddenly for tritacle cannot help. And if you wish to know how.\nIn that island is a tree, I shall tell you. Men hew around the tree's base with an axe so that no bark is pierced in many places. Then comes out a thick lycoure which they take in a vessel and put in the sun to dry. And when it is dry, they grind it at the mill, and so it is fair meal and white. Honey and wine and venom are drawn out of other trees in the same manner and put in vessels to keep. In that island is a sea, it is a water that has no ground. And if anything falls therein, it shall never be found. Besides, that sea grows great cane, and under their roots, men find precious stones of great value. He who bears one of those stones upon him, there may no iron dart nor draw blood on him. Therefore, they who have those stones fight fiercely, for there may be no quarrel or such thing dangerous to them. There is another island called Talonach, a great land,\nThe land is abundant in goods and fish, as you will learn below. The king of this land has as many wives as he will, thousands and more, and he never lies with one of them for more than one night. This land has a marvel that is not found in any other. All manner of fish come there once a year, one after another, and lie near the land sometimes on the land and stay for three days. Men of the land come and take what they will, and then the fish disappear and another kind comes and lies there for three days, and men take from them, and thus all kinds of fish come until they have all been there and men have taken what they will. And men do not know the cause of this. But the people of that country say that these fish come there to do worship to their king, for they say he is the most worthy king of the world, for he has so many wives and begets so many children from them.\n\nThe same king has 14,000 olive gardens or more, all of which are tame, and they are all fed by the men of his court for his pleasure.\nIn this land, a king or prince may have his enemies ready when he is at war against another king or prince. He places castles and soldiers on their backs, as is customary in that land. Likewise, other kings and princes do the same. From this island, men go to another island called Raso. When their friends are sick and they believe they will die, they take them and hang them quickly on a tree. They say it is better for birds, which are angels of God, to eat them than for worms of the earth. From there, they go to an island where the people are ill-natured. When their friends are sick and they believe they will die, they strangle them in these houses because they do not want them to die a kindly death. Instead, they would rather suffer great pain. When they are dead, they eat their flesh as venison.\n\nThe people of this land are very ill-tempered, for they have no other delight. All men are like beasts and not reasonable.\nThey dwell in caves because they have no witte to make their houses and they eat adders, but they speak not. They make such a noise as adders do to each other, and they make no use of riches but of a stone.\n\nFrom this island, men go to an island called Sylo, which is more than a hundred miles around, and there are many serpents which are great with yellow stripes. They have four feet with short legs and large claws. Some are five feet long, some eight, some ten, and some more or less, and they are called Cocodrylles. There are also many wild beasts and oliphants in this island and in many islands around it.\n\nAnd in this island and in many around it, there are wild geese with two heads. There are also in that country white lions and many others.\n\nTheir eyes are in their shoulders and their mouth is on their breast. Another island is inhabited by men who have no head nor eyes, and their mouth is behind their shoulders.\n\nIn another island are men with flat faces, without a nose and without eyes, but they have two small ones.\nrounde holes in stede of eyen / and they haue a platte mouth without lyppes. And in an other yle are men also that haue theyr faces all platte without eyen or mouth and without nose / but they haue theyr eyen and theyr mouth behyn\u2223de on theyr shulders. And in an other yle are foule\nmen that haue the lyppe aboue the mouth to gre\u2223te that whan they slepe in the sonne they couer all theyr face with the lyppe. And in an other yle are lytell men as dwarfs & haue no mouth but a lytell rou\u0304de hole & thrugh that hole they ete theyr mete with a pype / and they haue no tonge & they speke not but they blowe & wysple and so make sygnes one to an other. And in an other yle are men with\nhangynge eeres vnto theyr knees. And in an other yle are wylde men with hangynge eeres and haue feet lyke an hors & may renne fast / and they take wylde beestes & ete theym. And in an other yle are men that go on theyr hondes & feet lyke beestes / & are all rough & wyll lepe vpon a tree lyke cattes or apes. And in an other yle are men that go\nIn this island, people have both men and women with members to engender, and they use both at different times. When they use the member of a man, they bear children; when they use the member of a woman, they conceive. There are many other kinds of people in this island and the surrounding areas, of whom it would be too long to tell all.\n\nTo go from this island toward the east, a man will find a kingdom called Mancy, and in India beyond, it is most delightful and abundant in goods of the entire world. In this land dwell Christians and Saracens, for it is a great land, and there are in it two million great cities and other many towns. In this land, no man goes begging, for there is no power of poverty, and the men have beards like cats. In this land are fair women, and therefore some men call the land Albany, for the white people, and there is a city called Latorym, which is more than Paris, and in it is a bird.\nIn this country are white hens, which have no feathers but woolly as sheep do in our land. Women of this country are wedded with crowns upon their heads, so they may be recognized. In this country there is a beast called Cassay, which is the most city of the world. This city is fifty miles around. And in it, there is a river until they come to an abbey of monks, a little from the city. In this abbey is a great garden, fair and therein is many manner of trees of diverse fruits. In this garden dwell many manner of beasts as pigs, apes, marmosets, and others. When the convent has eaten, a monk takes the leftovers and carries them into the garden. He strikes one with a bell of silver which he holds in his hand. Immediately these beasts I spoke of, and many more, three or four thousand, come out. He gives them to eat from fair vessels of silver. When they have eaten, he strikes the bell.\nAnd they continue on their way. The monk says that these beasts are souls of men who are dead, and those beasts that are fair are souls of lords and other rich men, and those that are foul beasts are souls of common people. I asked them if it would not be better to give relief to poor men, and they said there was no poor man in this forest. If there were, it would be more alms to give it to those suffering souls who could not go farther to get their food than to those who have wit, teeth, and could travel for their food.\n\nThen men come to a city called Chibes, and there was the first siege of the king of Mancy. In this city are sixty bridges of stone as fair as they may be.\n\nWhen men pass from the city of Chibes, they pass over a great river of fresh water, and it is nearly four miles broad, and then they enter into the land of the Great Chane. This river goes through the land of Pygmies, and there men are of little stature, for they are but three spans long and they are right.\nMen and women, though small, are married when they are half a year old and live only eight years. A man of eight is considered old, and these small men are the best workers in silk and cotton in the whole world. They do not till land but have great men among them to work for them, and they have great contempt for these great men, just as we would for lords or them if they were among us.\n\nFrom this land, men travel through many countries and cities until they reach a city called Menke. In this city is a great navy of ships, and they are as white as snow, made of the kind of wood they are built from, and they are made like great houses with halls and chambers and other conveniences.\n\nAnd from there, men go upon a river called Ceremosan. This river goes through Cathay and often causes harm when it becomes great. Cathay is a beautiful and rich country full of goods.\nIn the province of Cathay, towards the east, there is an old city, and beside it, the Tataries have built another city called Cadon. This city has twelve gates, and between each pair of gates is a great mile. The two cities, the old one and the new, are surrounded by many trees bearing various fruits. Around the hill on which the palaces are located is a great ditch, and there are many views on each side, with many wild birds that he may take and which do not leave the palaces. Within the hall of the palaces are twenty-four pillars of gold, and all the walls are covered with rich skins of beasts called panthers. These are fair beasts and well-smelling, with the smell of the skins.\nIn the palaces, no evil smell may come; the skins are as red as blood, and they shine so brightly against the sun that one can see them; men praise those skins as if they were gold. In the midst of the palaces is a place called the mount, featuring a great channel well-made with precious stones and large pearls hanging around it. At the four corners of the mount are four golden statues. Below and above the mount are conduits for beverage, and the pet is bordered red with gold, with precious stones and large pearls in the border. The steps on which he goes up are of various precious stones, bordered with gold.\n\nAt the left side of his throne is the seat of his wife, a degree lower than he sits; and the seat of the same side is occupied by other ladies of his family, each one lower than the other according to their degree. All those who are married have a counterfeit foot of a man's foot on their heads, a cubit high.\nLong and all made with precious stones, and above are they made with shining feathers of peacocks or such other symbolic objects that they are in subjection to man and under man's foot. And on the right side of the Emperor sits first his son who shall be Emperor after him, and he sits a degree lower than the Emperor in such manner of seats as the Emperor sits. By him sit other lords of his kin, each one lower than the other according to their degree. The Emperor has his table by himself alone, which is made of gold and precious stones or of white crystal or yellow bordered with gold. And each of his wives has a table by herself. And under the Emperor's table sit four clerks at his feet who write down all that the Emperor says, good or ill. And at great feasts above the Emperor's table and all other tables in the hall is a vine made of fine gold that goes around the hall, and it has many branches of grapes like grapes on a vine.\nsome are whyte / some are yelowe / so\u2223me reed / some grene / & some blacke / all the reed are of rubyes of cremas or alabau\u0304ce / the whyte ar\nare of quyches & gerandes / and this vyne is made thus of precyous stones so properly that it semeth as it my felowe & I was in sou\u2223dy with hym .xvi. monethes agayne the kyng of Mancy vpon whom he made warre / & the cause was for we had so grete desyre to see the nobley of his courte yf it were suche as we herde speke of / & forsoth we fou\u0304de it more rycher & solempne than euer we herde speke of / & we sholde neuer haue by\u2223leued it had we not seen it / but ye shall vnderstan\u2223de yt mete & drynke is more honest amonge vs than it is in those cou\u0304trees / for all the comons ete vpon skynnes of bestes on theyr knees & ete but flesshe of all maner bestes / & whan they haue all eten they wype theyr hondes on theyr skyrtes & they ete but ones on the daye & ete but lytell brede / but the esta te of the lordes is full nobley & full rychely.\nANd ye shall wete why he is called the\nGreetings, you are well aware that the entire world was destroyed by Noah's flood, leaving only Noah, his wife, and his sons. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the one who saw his father's nakedness while he slept and scorned it, for which he was cursed. These three brothers received the land: Ham took the eastern part, which is called Asia; Shem took Africa; and Japheth took Europe. Ham was the mightiest and richest of his brothers, and from him came the Paen people and various other men of the islands, some headless ones, and other deformed ones. The Emperor there called him Ham and lord of all. However, you should understand that the Emperor of Cathay is called Chan and not Ham, and for this reason, all of Tartary was in subjection and thrall to other nations around it, and among them were the following seven lineages or kin: the first was called Tartary, which is the best; the second was called Tangut; the third was Eu race.\nThe fourth Valayre, the fifth Semoth, the sixth Menchy, and the seventh Sobeth held power in the great Chinese dynasty of Cathay. In the first lineage, an old man resided, who was not wealthy and was called Changyus. This man lay in bed one night, and a knight on a white horse appeared, saying to him, \"Changyus, you sleep. God the almighty sent me to you, and it is his will that you tell the following seven lineages that you shall be their emperor. For you will conquer all the lands surrounding you, and they will be in your submission as you have been in theirs. And the night after, the same knight came to the seven lineages and, on behalf of God, begged them to make Changyus their emperor. They should be free from all submission. And on the morrow, they chose Changyus as their emperor and did him all the homage they could offer and called him Chane, as the white.\"\nA knight called him, and they said they would do as he asked. Then he made many statutes and laws, which he called Ysakan. The first statute was that they should be obedient to God Almighty and believe that He would deliver them from servitude, and that they should call on Him in all their works. Another statute was that all men who could bear arms should be numbered, and ten should be a master to each x, and one master to a thousand. Then he commanded the seven greatest and richest of the seven languages that they should forsake all that they had in inheritance or lordship and that they should hold it paid to them from his grace, and they did so. He also commanded them that each man should bring his eldest son before him and slay his own son with his own hands and strike off their heads. And as soon as they did his bidding, he commanded them to follow his banner, and then he put in.\nSubjugated all the lands around him. And it happened on a day that the Chan came with a few men to see the land he had won, and he met with a great multitude of his enemies. There he was cast down from his horse, and his horse was slain. And when his men saw him at the ground, they thought he was dead and fled. The enemies followed after, and when he saw his enemies were far away, he hid himself in a bush. For the wood was thick there. And when they returned from the chase, they went to seek among the wood if anyone was hidden there. They found many. And as they came to the place where he was, they saw a bird sitting on a tree, which those men called an old one. Then they said that no man sat there, and so they went away. Thus the Chan was saved from death. And he went away on a night to his own men, who were glad of his coming. From that time onwards, men of that country have done great worship to that bird, and therefore they worship that bird.\nAbove all birds of the world, and then he assembled all his men and rode upon his enemies, destroying them. Once he had won all the lands surrounding him, he held them in submission. And when Chan had won all the lands up to Mount Belian / the White Knight appeared to him in a vision again and said, \"Chan, the will of God is that you pass Mount Belian and you shall win many lands. And for you shall find no passage, go to Mount Belian that is on the sea side and kneel nine times there against the east in the worship of God, and he shall show you a way how you shall pass, and Chan did so. And immediately the sea that touched the hill withdrew from him and showed him a fair way of nine-foot breadth between the hill and the sea, and so he passed with all his men. Then he won the land of Cathay, which is the most distant and greatest of all lands. And for those nine kneelings and the nine-foot way, Chan and the men of Tartary have the name of nine.\nin great worship. Philosophers each make reverence and incline to the emperor, who is God's son and lord of the world, for now is the time and hour. Then all men incline to him and kneel on the earth. And then the philosopher bids them rise up again. At another hour, another philosopher bids them all put their fingers in their ears and they do so. At another hour, another philosopher bids them all lay their hands on their heads and they do so. And then he bids them take them away and they do so. And thus from hour to hour they bid diverse things. I asked privately what this should mean, and one of the masters said that the inclining and kneeling on the earth at that time has this meaning: that all those who knelt so shall be more true to the emperor, for no gift or entreaty will make them traitors or false to him. And the putting of the fingers in the ears signifies that none of those will hear any ill spoken of the Emperor or his counsel.\nYou shall understand that men do nothing - clothes, bread, drink, or such things to the emperor but at certain hours, as the philosophers tell. If any man raises war against that emperor in what courtsoever it be, these philosophers know it soon and tell the emperor or his council, and he sends men there, for he has many men. He has many men to keep falconers, hawks, falconets, gentlemen, lanters, sarcenets, popinjays, and many other things, and he has ever about him many physicians more than two hundred who are Christian men. And there are in that court many barons and other servants who are Christian and converted to the good faith through the preaching of good Christian men who dwell there, but there are many who do not want it known that they are Christian.\n\nThis emperor is a great lord, for he may dispend what he will.\nThe emperor, without a name, spent neither silver nor gold, but made money only from leather or skins. This money circulated throughout his land, and with silver and gold, he built his palaces. In his chamber, there was a pillar of gold, topped with a ruby and a carbuncle, a foot long, which lit up his chamber at night. He had many other precious stones and rubies, but this was the most valuable. This emperor resided in the summer towards the north in a city called Sidus, where it was cold enough. In the winter, he resided in a city called Cama situationed to the east, where it was very hot. And when this great channel tides from one country to another, they assign four companies of people. The first goes before a day's journey, as it lies even where the emperor will rest the next night, and there is an abundance of provisions. Another company comes at his right side, and another at his left.\nThe left side and each eastern side is populated with many people. And then comes the fourth eastern one behind him, bearing a drawn bow, and there are more men in it than in any of the others. You should know that the Emperor rides on no horse but when he will go to any secret place where he will not be known, but he rides in a chariot with four wheels. And upon it is a chamber made of a tree called lignum aloes, which comes from Paradise Terrestre, and that chamber is covered with plates of fine gold and precious stones and pearls. And five or six great lords ride around him, so that no other men may come near him unless the Emperor calls for any. And in the same manner, with a chariot and such eastern ones, rides the Empress on the other side, and the Emperor's eldest son rides in the same array. They have so many people that it is a great marvel to see.\n\nThe land of the Great Khan is divided into twelve provinces. Each province has\nmore than two thousand cities and towns. When the emperor passes through the countryside and goes through cities and towns, each man sets a fire before his house and casts in incense and other things that give a good smell to the emperor. And if any men of religion, who are Christians, dwell near where the emperor comes, they meet him with a procession bearing a cross and holy water. They sing \"Veni, Creator Spiritus\" with a loud voice. When he sees them, he commands the lords to ride near him to make way for the religious men to come to him. When he sees the cross, he doffs his hat, which is made of precious stones and great pearls, and it is a marvel to tell. Then the prelate of the religious men says prayers before him and gives him the blessing with the cross. He bows to the blessing deeply, and then the same prelate gives him some fruit, numbering nine, on a plate of gold - pears or apples or other fruit.\nThe Emperor takes one and gives the other to his lords, for it is his custom that no strange man comes before the Emperor without giving him something, according to the old law that says, \"Let no man approach them.\" Those religious men who dwell where the Empress or the Emperor's son comes do the same.\n\nThis great Chain is the mightiest lord of the world, for Priest John is not so great a lord as he, nor the Sultan of Babylon nor the Emperor of Persia. In his land, a man has a hundred wives, and some have twenty or more, some fewer, and they take wives from their kin, except for their sisters from their mothers. But they take also the sisters of their fathers and other wives, and they also take their stepmother if their father is dead. Men and women have the same manner of clothing, so that they may not be known except that women who are married wear a token on their heads, and they do not dwell with their husbands, but he.\nmay lie be which he will. They have plenty of all manner of beasts, except swine. And for truth they will none, and they believe well in God that made all things. Yet have they idols of gold and silver. To these idols they offer their first milk of their best beasts.\n\nThis Emperor the great Khan has three wives. And the principal wife was Priestess Joan's daughter. And the people of this country begin to do all their things in the new moon. And they worship much the sun and the moon. Those men ride commonly without spurs. And they hold it great sin to break a bone with another and to cast milk on the earth or other liquids that men may drink. And the most sin that they may do is to pass wind in their houses where they dwell. And he that passes wind in his house shall be slain. And of these sins they shrive themselves to their priests. And for their penance they shall give silver. And the place where men have passed wind shall be hallowed. Or else no man may come there.\n\nAnd when they have done their penance they shall [...] (text incomplete)\n\"pass through a few fires to cleanse them of their sins. And thou art our lord and our emperor. And he inquires of them and says, 'If you will that I reign over you, you must do all that I command you to do. And if he commands that anyone be slain, that person shall be slain.' They answer all with one voice, 'All that you command shall be done.' Then the emperor says, 'From now on, my words shall be as my sword.' And they set him on a chair and crown him. And then all the good towns around send presents to him, so much that he will have more than a hundred camels laden with gold and silver, besides other precious jewels that he will have from lords of precious stones and gold without number, and horses and rich clothes of camel skins and Tartarans, and such other.\n\nThis land of Cathay is in Asia, deep within. And this same land borders the west towards the kingdom of Serica, which was once ruled by one of the three kings who went to seek our lord in Bethlehem. And all those who come from his line are Christian.\"\nThe land of Corosaym, situated to the north of Cathay, is abundant in goods but lacks wine. Corosaym and the following region are named as such, and its inhabitants are excellent warriors and robust. The kingdom of Komayn, the largest and greatest in the world, is located here. However, not all of it is inhabited, as there are places with extreme cold where no man can dwell, and others with intense heat. There are also numerous feuds, making it uncertain on which side a man should turn. Few trees bearing fruit grow in this land. Men live in tents and burn dung for fuel due to the scarcity of wood. This land descends towards Prussia and Russia. The river Echell, one of the greatest rivers in the world, runs through it. Every year, this river freezes so hard that great battles are fought on horse and foot, involving over a hundred thousand men.\nAnd a little from that river is the great sea of Ocean, which they call the Mauritanian Sea, and between this Mauritanian Sea and Cassypia is a narrow passage leading towards India. Therefore, King Alexander the Great founded a city there, which men call Alexandria, to keep that passage; so that no one may pass unless he has leave. And now this city is called Port de Fer, and the principal city of Comayn is called Saragossa. This is one of the three ways to go to India, but through this way, few men can go except in winter, and this passage is called Berbera. And another way is to go from the land of the Turks to Persia, and in this way there are many journeys through wildernesses. And the third way is that which comes from Cosmas and goes through the great city and through the kingdom of Abagar. And you shall understand that all these kingdoms and lands up to Persia are held by the Great Khan of Cathay and many others, and therefore he is a full great lord of men and of land.\n\nNow I have described for you the lands to the north, which come from here.\nThe lands of Cathay to the lands of Prussia and Rossia, where Christian men dwell. I will now describe to you other lands and kingdoms coming down from Cathay to the Greek sea where Christian men dwell. And since, next to the great Channel of Cathay, the Emperor of Persia is the greatest lord, therefore I shall first speak of him. You should understand that he has two kingdoms: the one begins to the east and is called the kingdom of Turquemenian, and it lasts to the west to the Caspian Sea and to the south to the land of India. This land is good and fertile and well populated, with good cities, but the two most principal cities are called Baku of Persia, and it lasts from the River Phison to the Great Armenia, and to the north to the Caspian Sea and to the south to the land of India. This is a full productive country and good. In this land are three principal cities: Nessabor, Saphan, and Sarmasse.\n\nThen is the land of Armenia, in which were once three kingdoms. This is a good and productive land.\nit begynneth at Persy & lasteth westwarde to Turky of length / & in breed lasteth fro the cyte of Alexander yt now is called Port de fear vnto ye londe of Myddy. In this Armony are many fayr cytees / but Canryssy is moost of name Than is the londe of Mydde & is full longe & not brood / & begynneth eestwarde at ye londe of Persy and Ynde the lesse & lasteth westwarde to ye kyng\u2223dom of Caldee / & northwarde to lytell Armony. In this Myddy are many grete hylles and lytell playne & there dwelle Sarasyns & an other maner of men that men calle Cordyns & Karmen.\nTHan next is the kyngdom of George y\u2022 be\u2223gyuneth\neestwarde at a grete hylle that men calle Abyor / this londe lasteth fro Turky to the grete see & the londe of Myddy and the grete Armony. and in this londe are two kynges one of Abcan / and an other of George / but he of George is in subgeccyon to the grete Chane / but he of Abcan hath a stronge cou\u0304tree and defendeth hym well a\u2223gayne his enemyes. And in this londe of Abcan is a grete meruayle / for there is a\nA tree in that land, three days' journey long and about, is called Hampton. This tree is covered with thorns, so that no light penetrates it, and no man dares enter it because of the thorns. Yet men of the land claim that they can sometimes hear the voices of men and horses whinnying and cocks crowing within it, but they do not know what kind of men, and they say that these thorns come from a miracle of God, performed for the benefit of Christian men there. For there was a wicked Emperor named Sauras from Poitiers, and he pursued Christians to destroy them and forced them to sacrifice to his false gods. In this tree dwelt many Christians who left all their goods, cattle, and riches and were determined to go to Greece. When they were all assembled in a large plain called Megiddo, Emperor Sauras and his men came to kill these Christians. Then the Christians fell on their knees and prayed to God.\nIn the land of Turkey, Marcas reaches great harmony, and in each of these countries - Capadocia, Syria, Cilicia, Pisidia, and Pamphylia - there are many good cities. It is a plain land with few hills and few rivers. Next is the kingdom of Mesopotamia, which begins eastward at the Tigris River at the city called Mosul, and lasts westward to the Euphrates River at the city of Rachaiym. From high Armenia to the wilderness of India, the lesser [part], it is a good and plain land, but there are few rivers, and there are only two hills in this land: one is called Zimar, and the other Lycos. It marches towards the land of Caldea.\nThe land of Ethiopia borders eastward to the great wilderness, westward to the land of Nubia, southward to the land of Maritime, and northward to the red sea. Maryitime lasts from the hills of Ethiopia to Lybia, the high land and the low land lasts to the great sea of Spain. I have spoken of many who obey the great Khan in this part of the great kingdom of Cathay. Now I shall speak of some lands and countries beyond the land of Cathay. Whoever goes from Cathay to India, the high and the low, must pass through a kingdom called Cadishen, which is a great land. There grows a kind of fruit, resembling grapes. When it is ripe, men cut it and find within it a beast, as if of flesh and bone, like a little lamb without wool, which men eat, along with the fruit. I told them it was a great marvel, but I said in my country there are trees that bear fruit which contain similar creatures.\nIn this land and many others around it are trees that bear cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon, and many other spices. There are vines that bear such great grapes that a strong man would have enough to carry a cluster. In that same land are the hills of Casyop\u00e9, which men call Uber. Among those hills are the Jews of the ten thousand enclosed within what men call Gog and Magog, and they may not come out on any side. There were twenty-two kings with their people dwelling between the hills of Syche. King Alexander chased them thither among those hills, for he trusted to have enclosed them there through the work of men. But he could not. When he saw that he could not, he prayed to God that He would fulfill what He had begun. And God heard his prayer and enclosed the hills together so that the Jews dwelt there as they were.\nAnd there are hills all around them, but on one side there is the Sea of Caspy. Some men might ask, why don't they go out there, since it's called a sea? I reply that if it's called a sea, it is not a sea but a strange standing among hills. It is the greatest wonder of the world. And if they went over the sea, they wouldn't know where to arrive, for they can only speak their own language. You should know that Jews have no law of their own law in the entire world except those who dwell in those hills. Yet they pay tribute for their land to the queen of Armonia. Sometimes it happens that some Jews go over the hills, but many men cannot pass together because the hills are so great and so high. Nevertheless, men say in that country, in the time of Antichrist, they will do much harm to Christian men. Therefore, all the Jews who dwell in various parts of the world are taught to speak Hebrew, hoping that the Jews who come from there will be able to communicate with them.\nAmong the hills mentioned shall come out Jews, and they speak only Hebrew, not otherwise. And these Jews shall speak Hebrew to them and lead them into Christianity to destroy Christian men. For these Jews say that the Jews among the hills of Caspy shall come out, and Christian men will be under their subjugation as they are under Christian men. And if you want to know how they will find the passage out, I will tell you. In the time of Antichrist, a fox will make its den in the same place where King Alexander made the gates. It will dig in the earth so long until it perceives it through to where it comes among the Jews. And when they see this fox, they will have great marvel at it, for they have never seen such a beast, for other beasts they have among them many. And they will chase this fox and pursue it until it has fled again into its hole that it came from. And then they will dig after it as it went until they come to.\nIn this land, Alexander made great gates of stones, well fitted with cement. From this land, men will go to the length of Bactria, where are many wicked men and fell. In that land are trees that bear woolly fruit, from which they make cloth. In this land are many Ypotanes who dwell sometimes on land, sometimes on water, and are half man and half horse, and they eat only men when they can obtain them. In this land are many griffins, more than in other places, and some say they have the body of an eagle before and a lion's behind, and this is true because they are made so, but the griffin has a body larger than that of eight lyons and more valuable than a hundred eagles. For certainly, he will carry to his nest flying a horse and a man on his back or two oxen yoked together as they go at plow, for he has long nails on his feet and great horns like oxen, and from these they make cups to drink from and bows to shoot. Around this land of Bactria.\nMen journeyed for many days to the land of Priest John, who is a great Emperor of India, and this land is called the Isle of Pantoxore. Priest John holds vast lands and many good cities and towns in his kingdom, with many great islands and large ones. For this land of India is entirely divided into islands due to great floods that come from Paradise, and in the sea there are many great islands. The best city in the Isle of Pantoxore is called Nyse, as it is noble and rich. Priest John has many kings and diverse peoples under him, and his land is good and rich but not as rich as the land of the Great Khan, for merchants do not come so much there as they do to the land of the Great Khan because it is too far away. And also, they find in the Isle of Cathay all that they need, such as spices and other riches. And although they might have better and finer things in the land of Priest John, they still prefer to go to the Isle of Cathay.\nLet it be a long journey and great perils at sea, for there are many places in the sea where there are great rocks of a stone called adamant. This stone, of its own kind, attracts iron, and since no ship that does not have iron nails can approach it, they dare not venture into that area with ships out of fear of adamant. I once went to that sea and saw that it had been a great island of trees and shrubs growing, and the sailor told me that those were the ships dwelling there through the virtue of the adamant and things in the ships that caused the trees to sprout and grow. Such rocks are found in various places in that sea, and therefore no sailor dares to pass that way. And another reason is the long journey, and most of them go to Cathay instead, which is nearer to them. Yet it is not so near that they need to be from Venice or Genoa in the sea.\nThe land of Prester John is long and marchants pass through the land of Persia to reach a city called Hermes, founded by a philosopher of the same name. They cross an arm of the sea and come to another city called Saboth, where they find many merchants and false priests as numerous as larks in our courtyard. In this country, there is little wheat or barley, so they eat rice, milk, cheese, and other fruits. This Emperor Prester John usually marries the daughter of the great Khan, and the Khan's daughter marries him. In the land of Prester John, there are many diverse things and precious stones so great and large that they make vessels, plates, and cups from them, and many other things. I will tell you something about his law and his faith.\n\nThis Emperor Prester John is Christian, and a great part of his land also is, but they do not have all the articles of our faith, but they believe differently.\nIn the father, the son, and the holy ghost, and they are fully devoted and true to one another. They make no use of cattle, and he has under him 71 provinces and countries, and in each one is a king, and those kings have other kings under them. And in this land are many marvels, for in that land is the gravelly sea, which is of sand and gravel and no drop of water, and it ebbs and flows with great waves like another sea. And it is never still or at rest, and no man can pass beyond it. And if it is so that there is no water in that sea, yet men can find good fish there in abundance, and of other forms and shapes than in any other seas. And at three journeys from that sea are great hills through which runs a great flood that comes from Paradise, and it is full of precious stones and no drop of water, and it flows with great waves into the gravelly sea. And this flood flows for three days in a week.\nIn those three days when it rains and the stones in the roches come in, they are no longer seen as soon as they enter the gravelly sea. No man dares approach it during those days, but on other days, men can go there as they please. Beyond the flood, towards the wilderness, there is a great plain that is grimy and hilly. In this plain, trees begin to grow at sunrise each day and continue to grow until midday, bearing fruit, but no one dares to eat the iron-like fruit. After midday, it turns back into the earth, so that when the sun goes down, it is no longer visible, and this happens every day. In the wilderness, there are many wild men with horns on their heads and who are very hideous. They only grunt like pigs. In that forest, there are many popinjays, which they call \"pystak,\" and they speak through their own kind as clearly as a man. Those who speak well have long, large tongues.\nEmperor John, on every foot five toes. There are some who have but three toes, and some speak nothing or very little. This Emperor Priest John, when he goes to battle, has no banner borne before him, but before him are three golden crosses, large and well adorned with precious stones. For each cross, a thousand armed men are ordered, and more than a hundred thousand on foot, in the manner of bearing a standard in battle in other places. And when he has no battle but rides with a select company, then he bears before him only a plain cross of wood, not painted and without gold and precious stones, as a sign that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered death on a plain cross of wood. And also he bears before him a golden plate full of earth, as a token that his lordship and nobility shall be brought to nothing, and his flesh shall turn to earth. And also he bears before him another vessel full of jewels.\nThe prince dwelled commonly at the city of Susa, and his principal palaces were so rich that it is amazing to tell. Above the prince's cypress tower of the palaces were two golden pomels, each with two large carbuncles that shone right clear on the night. The principal gates of this palace were of precious stones called sardonyx, and the borders of the bars were of jade. The windows of the hall and chambers were of crystal. Some tables they ate from were of emeralds, some of amethyst, some of gold and precious stones, and the pillars that bore the tables were also of such stones. The Greeks on which the Emperor went to his seat where he sat at meals were one of amethyst, another of crystal, another of jasper, another of sapphire, another of sardonyx, and another of coral. He set his foot up on one of chalcedony.\nand it is adorned with great pearls and other precious stones. The sides of his seat are emeralds, bordered with gold and precious stones. The pillars in his chamber are of fine gold, with many carbuncles and other such stones that give great light on the night. Yet, the carbuncles do not burn each night. There are twelve great vessels of crystal full of coals to give good smell and to drive away evil air. The form of his bed is all of sapphire, well bound with gold to make him sleep well and to destroy lechery. For he will not lie by his wives but three times a year, after the seasons, for the sole purpose of having children. He also has a fair palace at the city of Nysa where he dwells when he will, but the air there is not as well tempered as it is at the city of Susa. And he has more than thirty thousand men in his army without coming and going, but thirty thousand there and in the court of the great Khan spend not so much as twelve thousand.\nIn a court, there were six kings serving him, each for a month and they served him continually. There were seventy-two dukes and three hundred earls, and twelve archbishops and twenty bishops. The patriarch of St. Thomas acted as if he were a pope, and archbishops, bishops, and abbots were all kings in this court. Some lords were masters of the hall, some of the chamber, some steward, some marshal, and some other officers. Therefore, he was richly served, and his land lasted four months.\n\nJourney, and it is of immeasurable length.\n\nIn an island of Priest John's land called Myscorach, there is great abundance of goods and much riches, and many precious stones. In that land was a wealthy man not long ago, whom they called Catalonabes. He was rich, and he had a fair castle on a hill and strong, and he had built a wall all around the hill very strong and fair within. He had a fair garden where there were many trees.\nBringing all manner of fruits that he could find, and he caused therein all manner of herbs of good smell and those were flowers, and there were many fair wells and by them were made many fair halls and chambers well adorned with gold and ashes. He had made there diverse stories and beasts and birds that sang and turned by engine as they had been all quick. And he had in his garden that he might find to make a man's solace and comfort. And he had also there in that garden maidens with ages of fifteen years, the fairest that he could find, and men children of the same age. They were clad in clothes of gold, and he said that they were angels. He had made three hills fair and good, all enclosed about with precious stones. When he for his sake should put them in his Paradise when they were dead. And those bailiffs went to sleep great lords of the country, and were slain themselves in hope to have that Paradise. And thus he was avenged of his enemies through his deserts.\nWhen rich men of the countryside perceived this malice and cunning of this Catalonabes, they gathered together and assaulted the castle, killing him and destroying all his goods and fair places and riches that were in his paradise. The site of the walls still exists there, and some other things do as well. But riches are not there, and it isn't long since he was destroyed.\n\nA little ways from that place, on the left side beside the River of Phison, is a great marvel. There is a valley between two hills, four miles long, and some men call it the enchanted valley, some the valley of devils, others the perilous valley. In this valley are many tempests and a great noise every day and night, and sometimes it seems like the noise of tabors and trumpets, as if at a great feast. This valley is full of devils and has always been, and men say that it is an entrance to hell. In this valley is much gold and many reasonable men among them.\nThe riches and the water between Priest John's land and this isle are not deep enough for men to see the ground in many places. There are two other isles to the east. One is called Orell, and the other Argete. The entire land of both is mine, consisting of gold and silver. In those isles, men cannot see clear stars, but one star shines there, which is called Canopus. Men cannot see the moon but in the last quarter. In that isle is a great hill of gold that the dwarves guard and they refine the gold from the other gold, which is not pure gold. The dwarves are as large as houses, so that no man dares approach them for fear of the dwarves, lest they assail them, preventing men from working in that gold or obtaining it, but only by subterfuge. And therefore, when it is very hot, the dwarves hide themselves in the earth from under it to none of the day, and then men of the country take camels, dromedaries, and other beasts and go there, charging them with gold and departing quickly, lest the dwarves come out of the earth. And at other times when it is not so hot.\nThe pissing bears do not take mercy on those who have foxes. They lay upon these meres two long vessels, like two small barrels, with the mouths upward, and drive them thither and hold their foxes at home. When the pissing bears see these vessels, they spring in them, for they have a nature to leave no hole or pit open, and immediately fill these vessels with gold. When men believe the vessels are full, they take the foxes and bring them as near as they dare, and they whine. The meres here they hide and immediately they come to their foxes. So men take the gold. For these pissing bears will allow beasts to go among them but no men.\n\nBeyond the isles of the land of Priest John and his lordship of Wildernes, to go right east, men shall not find but hills, great rocks, and other dark land where no man may see a day or night, as the country folk say. This wilderness and dark land lasts to Paradise terrestrial where Adam and Eve were set, but they were there but a little while. It is toward the...\nAt the beginning of the earth, but it is not our esteem that we call the place where the sun rises in those countries towards paradise, and then it is midnight in our country due to the redness of the earth. For our Lord made the earth round in the midst of the firmament. Of paradise, I cannot speak properly, for I have not been there, and it angers me. But I have heard I shall say you. Men say that the terrestrial paradise is the highest land of the world, and it is so high that it nearly touches the circle of the moon, for it is so high that Noah's flood could not reach there, which covered the whole earth around.\n\nThis terrestrial paradise is enclosed all about with a wall, and that wall is all covered with moss, as it seems, so that men may see no stone nor anything that casts out the four floods that run through various lands. The first flood is called Physon or Ganges, and it runs through India. In this river are many precious stones and much fragrant aloes and gravel of gold. Another is called Nile or Gyron.\nThe first river is called Nile, which runs through Ethiopia and Egypt. The third is called Tigris, running through Assyria and Armenia. The fourth is called Euphrates, running through Armenia and Persia, and it is said that all the sweet and fresh waters of the world originate from them. The first river is called Phison, or the gathering of many rivers that flow into it. Some call it Ganges, as it runs through the land of the king called Gangas, who was also known as Ganges. This river is clear in some places, troubled in others, hot in some places, and cold in others. The second river is called Nile or Gyges, as it is always troubled, for Gyges means trouble. The third river is called Tigris, meaning fast-running, as it runs faster than any of the others and is therefore called Tigris. The fourth river is called Euphrates, meaning well-burning, as many good things grow upon it. You shall understand that no.\n\nCleaned Text: The first river is called Nile, which runs through Ethiopia and Egypt. The third is called Tigris, running through Assyria and Armenia. The fourth is called Euphrates, running through Armenia and Persia. The first river is called Phison or Ganges; it gathers many rivers and runs through the land of Gangas. The second river is called Nile or Gyges, always troubled. The third river is called Tigris, fast-running. The fourth river is called Euphrates, well-burning. The first river is clear, hot, and troubled in some places. The second river is always troubled. The third river runs faster than the others. The fourth river is known for the growth of many good things. No.\nA man living may go to paradise, but by long journey he may not, for wild beasts in the wilderness and hills and rocks where no man may pass. Nor may one pass by those rivers, for they come with such great course and waves that no ship may go or sail against them. Many great lords have attempted many times to go by those rivers to paradise, but they could not progress in their journey, for some died from rowing exhaustion, some grew blind and some deaf from the noise of the waters. No one may pass there except through special grace of God. I cannot tell you more about that place.\n\nIn these isles of the land of Priest John, and they are beneath the earth for us, and other isles are there whom envy would surround\nthe earth, who by God's grace held the way, he might come to the same countries he was born in and return from, and go about the earth. It would take too long a time and also many perils for few men to attempt this, and yet it is...\nMen came from these isles to the lordship of Priest John. They came to an island called Cassoy, which is near, approximately 60 journeys long and more than a league wide. It is the best land in those regions, save for Cathay. If merchants came there as frequently as they do to Cathay, it would be better than Cathay, for it is so thickly populated with cities and towns that when a man leaves one, he sees another on each side. The king of this island is rich and powerful, and he holds his land under the Great Khan, for the Great Khan is one of the twelve provinces that the Great Khan governs without his own land.\n\nFrom this island, men went to another kingdom, which is called Ryboth, also under the Great Khan. This is a good country and abundant in corn, wine, and other things. The people of this land have no houses but dwell in tents made of trees. The principal city of that land is unnamed in the text.\nIn this city, all houses are built of black stones and white, and all the streets are paved with such stones. No man is so bold to spill human or animal blood for the worship of a mammon that is worshipped there. In this city dwelt the pope of their law, whom they called Lobassy, and he grants all dignities and benefits that fall to the mammon. Men of religion and those who have churches in the city are obedient to him as men are here to the pope. In this island, they have a custom throughout the city that when a man's father dies, they perform great worship for him. They send after all his friends, religious priests and others, and they carry the body to a hill with great joy and merriment. When the greatest prelate strikes his head and lays it on a great plate of gold or silver, and he gives it to his son, and the son takes it to his other friends, singing and saying many prayers. Then the priests and the religious cut the flesh of the body into pieces and say prayers. And the birds of prey come and eat the flesh.\nThe priests come thither, for they know well the custom; and they fly about them as if they were angels and other birds that eat flesh. The priests cast the pieces unto them, and they carry it away a little from thence, and then they eat it. And as priests in our country sing for souls, Subvenite sancti dei and so forth. So those priests sing with high voice in their language in this manner. Behold how good and gracious a man this was, whom angels of God came to feed and carry into paradise. And then think the son of the same man that he is greatly worshipped, when birds have eaten his father's flesh; and where there are most birds, there is most worship. And then the son comes home with all his friends and makes them a great feast; and the son makes clean his father's head and gives them drink from it; and the flesh of his head he cuts off and gives it to his most special friends, some a little and some a little for their delight. And in remembrance of this holy man, the birds\nhave eaten of the scalp of the head, and the son makes a cup from it and drinks his entire life in remembrance of his father. And from there, it is a journey of ten through the land of the Great Khan, a full good mile and a great kingdom, and the king is mighty. In this mile is a rich man who is not king, prince, duke, or earl, but he has three thousand horses charged with rice and corn every year, and he has a noble and rich life according to the custom of the country, for he has one damsel who serves him every day at his table and bed, and does what he will. When he sits at the table, they bring him food, and at each time five dishes together, and they speak properly of them. Also in countries where I have been are many marvels that I spoke not of, for it was too long to tell, and therefore hold your peace at this time that I have said, for I will say no more of marvels that are there.\n\nI, Johan Maudeuyll, who went out of my country and passed the sea in the year of our Lord 1432.\nI have passed through many lands and provinces and countries, and now that you may conceive in your kindly wit what I mean, I made my way to Rome on my homeward journey to show my book to the holy father, the pope, and tell him of the marvels I had seen in various countries. He said he had a book in Latin that contained all this and much more, which is what the Mapudus [Mapa mundi] is made from. I read this book, and they will pray for me, and I shall pray for them, and all those who pray for me a Pater Noster and an Ave Maria, that God forgive me my sins. I make them partners and grant them a part of all my pilgrimages and other good deeds which I ever did or shall do to my life's end. And I pray to God from whom all grace comes that He will grant all the readers [of this book] His grace.\n\nHere ends the book of John Maundeville, the knight of the way.\n\nPrinted at the [place of publication].", "creation_year": 1499, "creation_year_earliest": 1499, "creation_year_latest": 1499, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "Among the profitable works and treatises that have brought us from the way of darkness to the way of righteousness, I have chosen, in honor of God and for the profit of his people, to translate from Latin into English one sweet and devout treatise. It is highly profitable for those who love this transient, uncertain life, and also for those who love the everlasting blessed life in the kingdom of heaven. I humbly request that unlearned and presumptuous correction be withheld. I submit myself and my work meekly to charitable correction. I beseech readers to pray for me and the printer or writer of this work, that they may discharge their duty diligently. I desire that this good and profitable thing may come to many.\nAnd because it was hastily translated before it was properly corrected, it was transmitted and copied by deceitful persons, I don't know how many times against my will. Therefore, I now, in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ M.C.C.C.lxxxxv, and the 14th day of the month of September, put it forward to be more carefully corrected and ordered to the printer. I counsel and exhort all who have the same to leave theirs as doubtful and jeopardous, and take this more carefully corrected and ordered. It is not hard to distinguish one from the other. For they differ in the number of chapters and in the rubrics of the same. The uncorrected one was divided into 25 chapters. The first chapter of the same had no particular rubrics. The second chapter began thus:\nOur mind is the image of God, or thus: The mind is truly the image of God. And its rubric was this:\n\nThe mind of God is called the image of God, but this, corrected more diligently, is divided and separated into eighteen chapters, as follows in order.\n\nChapter 1:\nHow a man may know God by knowledge and understanding of himself, and how the soul of man is the image of God.\n\nChapter 2:\nOf wretchedness of body and the dreadful judgment.\n\nChapter 3:\nHow a sinful soul is vexed and troubled after departing from the body.\n\nChapter 4:\nOf the dignity and nobility of man's soul. Of the wretchedness of the body. And how wretched the soul is made by the body.\n\nChapter 5:\nOf the mystery and wretchedness of man in his conceiving, his birth, his life, and his death. Of the nobles of the soul. And of the sudden mischief of wicked men.\n\nChapter 6:\nOf death and also of the pains of wicked men after their death.\n\nChapter 7:\nOf the reward of blessed souls.\nAnd of the joys of heaven. CAO. Vijo.\nWho is able to have the joys of heaven. Vijo.\nOf charitable love of thy neighbor. CAO. Ixo.\nHow we should perlove and worship God, and think on him. CAO. Xo.\nOf man's heart. And of profit in reading holy things. CAO. Xiio.\nOf wandering and instability of the mind and thoughts. CAO. Xijo.\nThe cause and the remedy also of the mind's wandering. And of confession. Cao. Xijio.\nAccusing by confession of diverse sins. Xli.\nOf the three spiritual enemies. The flesh, the world, & the devil. And also of their temptations & resistance against them. Cao. Xvo.\nOf the malice of the devil. And how he tempts man by the flesh. Cao. Xvio.\nOf the bliss of heaven. Cao. Xvijo.\nOf disdain of worldly things. Of the old man. And of pity, gentleness, and mercy of God. Capitulo. Xviijo.\nMany there be that know and understand many other things. Yet they know not themselves. They take much heed to other. But they look not well to themselves.\nThey leave their inner and spiritual things behind and seek God among outward things, which are within them. Therefore, I shall turn from those things that are outside to inner things, and from inner things I shall lift my mind to things above, that I may know whence I came and what I am and whence I am. And so, through self-knowledge, I may ascend and come to the knowledge of God. For the more I profit in knowledge of myself, the nearer I draw to the knowledge of God.\n\nRegarding the inward man's soul, I find three things by which I remember, behold, and desire my Lord God: the mind, understanding, and will or love. By the mind, I remember him. By understanding, I behold him spiritually. And by will or love, I love and desire him.\n\nWhen I remember God, I find him in my mind and feel sweetness and pleasure in him, as he grants me. By understanding, I behold in him what he is in himself.\nIn him are holy angels and blessed saints, creatures, and mankind. He is incomprehensible in himself, being both beginning and end: beginning without beginning and end without end. I understood how he is comprehensible when I cannot comprehend or know myself, whom he has made. In holy angels, he is pleasurable and desirable, for their desire is always to behold him. In saints, he is delectable, for they are continually delighted in him. In creatures, he is marvelous, for by his might and power he creates all things that he governs most wisely and distributes most benevolently. In mankind, he is amiable and lovely, for we are his people, and he dwells with us as in his own temple, and we are the temple of him. Whoever has a mind and thinks on him understands and loves him, and he is with him. Truly, we owe much love to him.\n\"He has loved us so much and made us in his image and likeness, and he has done this to no earthly creature. It is fitting that the thing made in the image should be in accord with and like the image or similitude it is formed after, and not have an unworthy name of an image in vain. Therefore, let us show him in ourselves in desiring and regarding truth. Let us hold and keep him by perfect love and charity in our mind. Let us bear him in our conscience and present him in every place, let us do due reverence and worship. Our soul is truly the image of God, for just as it is fit and suitable to receive and partake of him, it is his image. Not only does it remember and understand itself, but because it can remember, understand, and love him who made it. And when it does so, then it is wise, for there is nothing more like the high wisdom of almighty God.\"\nA reasonable soul is one that rests in the blessed Trinity, in whom it may not rest and abide unless it remembers and loves Him. But if it thinks diligently on its Lord God, according to His image in which it was created and made, and understands, loves, honors, and worships Him, with whom it may eternally abide and rest in perfect joy and bliss. Truly, such a soul is rightly happy and blessed in whom our Lord finds resting place. And in whose tabernacle He dwells and rests.\n\nAn happy soul is one that can say, \"My Lord and maker has rested in my tabernacle.\" Truly, He will not deny eternal rest to such a soul. Why then do we not look within ourselves but seek our Lord among outward things: the which is with us if we are with Him. Truly, He is both in us and we in Him.\nBut yet we do not see Him clearly as of now; we know that by faith Christ dwells in our hearts. By faith I remember my maker, I worship my merciful redeemer, and abide in my savior. I believe that He lives in all creatures, that He dwells within me. And I trust to know Him in Himself, which is far more blessed and joyful than all these things. For truly to know perfectly the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is everlasting life, perfect bliss, and exceeding pleasure. For the mortal eye has not seen, nor has human heart understood clearly and perfectly how much clarity, how much joy, how much sweetness we shall have in that blessed sight when we shall behold Him face to face, who is the light of all bright things. the refuge and rest of travelers and laborers, the receiver and keeper of them that turn to Him, the very life to all that live. And the crown of them that overcome their spiritual enemies.\nI find in my soul the image of the high and glorious Trinity. To whom most high and glorious Trinity: I owe to refer and devote all my life. That I may remember him and place my play and contemplation in him. The soul is the image of Almighty God, which contains three things. the mind, understanding, and will. To the mind we attribute and assign all that we learn or know, though we may not always think about it. To understanding we attribute all that we know is true. which we also come to mind. By the mind we are resembled and likeness to the Father, by understanding to the Son, and by will or love to the Holy Ghost. For there is nothing in us more like the Holy Ghost than is the will or true love. For true love is the gift of God more precious than any other gift. And it is better and more excellent than it is. For true love that comes from God.\nAnd is God himself: properly called the Holy Ghost, by whom the love of God is diffused and spread in our hearts. And by whom all the holy and blessed Trinity dwells and abides in us.\n\nOn the outside, I am a commodity of my father's. Those who have made me the child of damnation before they have made me the child of nativity. Sinners in their sin have begotten a sinner. Whom they have nourished of their sin. Wretches have brought forth a wretch in wretchedness into this world. I have not of them but wretchedness and sin and this corruptible and rotting body that I carry about. And truly I hasten towards them, the ones who by bodily death have passed out of this world: When I behold their sepulchers and graves, I find nothing else in them but dust. worms / stench and loathsomeness. Such as I am now they were but lately, and such as they are, I shall be hastily. What am I? A man made of loathsome and filthy matter, turned into flesh, weeping and wayward, put into exile of this world.\nAnd lo, I am filled with wickedness/abomination & filth. And hastily I shall be presented before the strict judge to give an account and reckoning of my works. Woe shall be to me wretched one when the day of dreadful judgment comes. & the books shall be opened where all my purposes, desires & thoughts shall be recounted in the presence of almighty God. Then I shall stand quaking & trembling in the Judgment before our Lord. casting down my head as greatly abashed in my conscience when I remember my unkindnesses & transgressions. and when it is said of me, \"behold this man and his works.\" Then I shall have in mind all my duties & sins. For by the providence & virtue of almighty God it shall be so ordered that every man's good deeds and evil shall be reduced & called back to his mind & they shall be shown with a marvelous swiftness: that his knowledge may accuse & excuse his conscience. And thus shall every man be judged. For every man shall be judged for his deeds.\nEvery man's secrets and private matters shall be revealed to every man. Those we will not confess out of shame shall be revealed to all. And all whom we color here by disguise: shall be burned there with the vengeful flame of fire. For the cruel and wild fire shall be let loose and reign at liberty. And the longer our merciful Lord tarries with us and grants us mercy, the more severely he will punish us by righteousness if we do not amend. Therefore, we love this life so much and covet it, in which life we continue and dwell, the longer we do, the more evil we do and sin. And the longer we live, the more blame we deserve. For evil things and shrewdness increase and grow daily, and good things are withdrawn. Man is in constant variation and change, now in prosperity, now in adversity: and knows not when by death he shall be put therefrom.\nFor as a star with bright beams fades swiftly and suddenly,\nAnd a spark of fire is quenched and turned to ashes,\nSo does this bodily life. As we may well see, if we heed:\nFor when a man lives merely in this world,\nAnd trusts so long to endure,\nDisposed and ordering many things in the process of long time,\nSuddenly he is ravished by death,\nUnaware without preparation he is taken from the body.\n\nWhen the soul, with great fear and much sorrow, is departed from the body,\nAngels come to take her and to present her before the fearful Judge.\nThen she remembers her evil and wicked works, which she did by night or day,\nTrembling, quaking, and looking how she might escape or flee.\nDesiring true confession. O give me space. Though it be but an hour.\nThen shall the works, as in a manner of speaking, say:\nThou hast wrought us. We are thy works. We shall not lose thee.\nbut abide still with thee and go with me to the Jugement. And they shall accuse her of many sins and trespasses. And shall find many false witnesses against her, though true witnesses were sufficient for her condemnation.\nThe evil spirits with fierce look and terrible countenance shall fear her and pursue her with great cruelty and madness. And shall catch her with great dread and fear. And hold her still if she is not delivered from them by the help and succor of our Lord. Then the soul, beholding the eyes, mouth, and other bodily senses closed and separated: by whom she was wont to pass forth to take her sports and pleasures in worldly things: shall return to herself. And when she sees herself alone left naked without body, smitten with great fear and dread. She shall fail in herself by despair. And because she foolishly left the love of God for the love of the world and fleshly pleasures: she shall be forsaken by our Lord like a wretch in that time of great need of help.\nAnd it shall be delivered to the devils to be punished and tormented cruelly for her sins. In this way, the soul of a sinner is not knowing the day or the hour of its passing. Roused we death: and spared and departed from the body. Trembling and quaking, she passes on her journey full of sorrow and wretchedness. Having no excuse to plead and show for her sins, she trembles for fear to appear before almighty God. She is smitten with great and wonderful fear: and vexed with many troubling thoughts, when at her departing from the body (all other things set aside), she comforts only herself: and him to whom the time draws near that she must give accounts and reckoning. And knows that he may never be declined or charged from righteousness. She considers well how strict a Judge will sit on her. And what reasons she shall plead and put forth in her defense in the face of such strict judgment and precise justice.\nAnd though she remembers nothing or finds in herself no offense for which she should be fearful. Yet when she comes before that strict Judge, she fears there is something she has forgotten. Her fear and dread increase and grow. When she thinks she could not escape the time of this life without sin. And also such works as she thinks are good and commendable that she has done in her life. Yet they are not all faultless if they should be strictly judged. Pity and mercy set aside; who can consider and call to mind how many evil works we do in little time. And what good things we leave undone, so easily like and unprofitable. Sothly it is full hard to keep our minds surely from evil thoughts. It is also very hard to be much occupied in worldly things without sin.\nAnd therefore no man can judge and rebuke himself perfectly. For he is so much occupied and troubled by so many thoughts that he hardly knows himself. Therefore, he is struck with sudden fear and dread in his consciousness at his passage out of this world. For though he finds nothing to his knowledge that grieves his conscience, yet he fears things that he knows not or has not in his remembrance.\n\nO soul of man, adorned with thy divine image, made fair and beautiful with His similitude, spoused and married to Him by faith, endowed with His holy spirit, redeemed with His precious blood, deputed and put in charge with His blessed angels, partner of His joy and bliss, heir of His goodness, endowed with reason and understanding. What pleasure do you have to be so intimately connected with the vile body? Through which you suffer so much pain, tribulation, and punishment. By the body, you are punished for the sins of others.\nThou art brought to naught and regard a thing in vain and of little valor. That carcass which thou lovest and cherishest so much and with whom thou art so closely coupled is foul and loathsome matter turned into flesh, covered with freckles and uncertain beauty. And hastily shall be stinking and rotten carrion and meet for worms. For though man exalts and magnifies himself never so much: yet he abides still a foul and unclean carcass. Certainly, if thou consider well what filth avoids thy mouth, thy nose, and other parts of thy body. Thou hast never seen a foul dunghill. If thou wilt number and count all his wretchednesses, how grievous it is oppressed with the heavy burden of sin bound and fretted with vices. Man, take heed what thou wert before thy nativity. What thou art from the beginning unto thy ending. And what thou shalt be after this life. O man, first filth and loathsome matter, afterwards a stinking sackful of dung, and at last meat for worms to gnaw on in the ground.\nHow should you be proud? Sothly, you were first nothing. Then you were made and brought forth of vile and filthy matter, wrapped in unclean clothing and garments in your mother's womb, where you were fed and nourished with a foul, loathsome substance. And your coat was not very honest or pleasing. Thus clad and nourished, you came to us. And yet you have not in mind. How vile and wretched was your beginning. For beauty, favor of people, youth, and riches make you not know what man is. The which is not else but a sack of dough, and finally worms' meat. Whereof then is man proud, who is conceived in sin and brought forth in pain? Living in much labor and vexation, and finally must needs die. Thus man is turned into vermin, stench, and abomination. And every man is turned into no man. Therefore, then, why are you proud, man, considering that you were once vile and foul seed and congealed blood in your mother's womb? Afterward, brought forth.\nI mourned and succumbed to the wretchedness of this life and to sin. And finally, I shall become worms, food for worms in your grave. O thou dust and powder, why are you proud that you are conceived in sin, brought forth in wretchedness, living in pain and tribulation, and will die in anguish and vexation? Why do you delight in feeding your body so deliciously with precious meats and adorn it with so gay and precious garments? Within a few days, it will feed worms in the sepulcher, and your soul will be naked and bare of virtues and good works. It is to be presented before Almighty God and his blessed angels in heaven. O why do you set such little price by your soul and cherish your body more than it? It is a great abuse, my lady, to serve and be kept in subjection, while men rule and have dominion. For truly, the world cannot be rightly esteemed and valued to the worth and price of one soul. For our Lord would not give His life for all the world.\nthe price he gave for man's soul. Therefore, the price of the soul is great. What conversion and change shall you give for your soul? You give it for nothing. Did not the Son of God rest in the bosom of his father, descend from his regal seat to deliver you from the power of the devil? The which, when he saw you tempted and ensnared with snares of sin, and in point to be lost and devoured by demons, and damned to perpetual death, had pity on you and wept, not only wept but suffered himself to be slain to redeem you with the precious blood of his. O thou mortal man, behold how precious an oblation was given for you. Take heed, man, and understand\nhow much noble your soul is. And how grievous its wounds were, for whose health it behooved Christ, who was God and man, to be so grievously wounded. If they had not been mortal wounds and of everlasting death, the Son of God would never have suffered death to heal them.\nBeware therefore that you do not slight and set at little the hurt and pain of your soul. Of whom you see its high majesty of God has such great compassion. He mourned and wept for them. Weep you. And wash your bed every night with the copiousness of your heart and abundance of tears. He shed his precious blood for them. Shed you yours for him by daily penance of your body. Which since you may not spend at once by martyrdom or death for love of him, at least spend it by more ease. But by more prolonged martyrdom. Take no heed or regard to the unfruitful concupiscence of your flesh. But by the spiritual desire of your soul. O how glorious shall your soul be when it shall torment itself to his lord / if it is not defiled with the flesh but has washed away all filth. And is made pure and clean. Perhaps you will say that this is a hard thing. I cannot despise the world and hate my own body / I pray tell me where are the lovers of the world who once dwelt among us.\nOf those who remain, there is only powder and worms. Take heed what they are now and what they were once. They were men like you. They ate, drank, and made merry. And spent their days in play. And in a moment, they were cast into the pit of hell. And here their bodies were committed to worms. And their souls to hot fire, until they felt pleasure and joy together again in an unhappy company. Be put to everlasting fire. Those who were fellows in sin and wickedness, for just as they were knitted together in one will and played in sin, so shall they be punished with like pain.\n\nWhat has profited them empty glory. short-lived mirth / worldly power: or dominion. fleshly pleasure / false and uncertain riches. great household & wicked concupiscence\n\nCertain it is that thou shalt die / but it is uncertain / when / how or where. For death makes himself ready against thee in every place. And if thou art wise, thou wilt always make thyself ready against him wherever thou art.\nOf all things that are uncertain, there is no more uncertain than the hour of death. And there is nothing more certain than death is. For death is sure and undoubted. But the hour of death is precarious and unknown. If thou livest after the flesh, thou shalt be punished in the flesh. If thou desirest precious clothing, worms shall be spread under thee for the freshness of thy attire, and thy covering shall be worms. He who loves better worldly things than God, gluttony better than abstinence, follows the devil, and shall go with him into everlasting pain, but if he amends. What morning dost thou think what sorrow and heaviness shall be, when wicked people shall be departed from the blessed company of saints from the sight of God, and shall be taken into the hands of devils, and go with them into everlasting fire? Where they shall abide ever without end in sorrow and wailing. Truly they are banished and outlawed far from the blessed country of paradise.\nThose condemned shall be tormented in perpetual pains of hell. They shall never see light or find relief: for thousands of years, they will be cruelly tormented in hell and never be delivered from it. The tortures are never-ending, and the one being tormented shall never die. The fire consumes and punishes in such a way that it always reserves its victims. The tortures are renewed in such a way that for every man who is damned, he shall suffer pain in hell according to his sins. And sins that are alike shall be punished with like pain. Nothing will be heard there but weeping, sighing, sorrowing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. There will be nothing seen but vermin, loathsome and fearful faces of tormentors, and the foulest and most disgusting forms of demons. Cruel worms shall gnaw within the heart. There is excessive sorrow, abominable stench, constant confusion, wonder, and huge fear.\nWretches shall burn in everlasting fire, without end. They shall be cruelly and tormented in body with fire, and in soul with the worm of conscience. There will be intolerable sorrow, incomprehensible stench, and horrible fear. Death of both body and soul, without hope of mercy or forgiveness. Yet they shall die so that they may ever live and live so that they may ever die. Thus, a human soul is tormented more and more in hell for its sins, or else put in paradise for its merits and good deeds. Choose then one of these two\u2014to be tormented eternally with wicked people or to ever joy and make merry with holy saints. Both good and evil, life and death are put before us, that we may extend and put forth our hands, whichever we will. And if it is so that these dreadful tormentings do not frighten us: At the least way, let the great rewards of joy excite and stir us to goodness.\n\nThe rewards of blessed men are to behold God, to live with God, and to live of God.\nTo be with god: to be in god and to have god who is most noble and sovereign goodness. There is perfect felicity: perfect myrth and joy, very liberty. perfect charity: perpetual security and perpetuity. There is true and very gladness: of knowledge plentifulness, all beauty and fairness. & all beatitude and blissfulness. There is continual peace: truth & charity everlasting, light: virtue & honesty. Inestimable joy and mirth: exceeding sweetness & life without end. eternal glory: laud, quiet. rest. love, sweet cord. and unity. In this bliss shall he abide forever with our lord: in whose conscience shall be found no sin. He shall behold himself at his own liberty. He shall have himself for great pleasure and sweetness. And he shall be knitted to him in love. to his great mirth and gladness. He shall live in eternity. shine in truth & joy in gladness. And like as he shall have in abiding perpetuity, so he shall have knowledge and understanding without difficulty or hardship.\nIn perpetual rest, everlasting felicity. Therein he shall be the citizen of that holy city. Where angels dwell as citizens. Where almighty God the Father is the temple, and His Son the light, and the Holy Ghost is the love and charity. O heavenly city, a sure dwelling. A country containing all things. Pleasant and delightful. Whose people live without strife or grudging, the dwellers live in quietness and rest, where men suffer no indigence or scarcity. O city of God, how glorious are the things spoken of thee. All that ever dwell in thee dwell in perpetual joy and felicity. All are joyful of our Lord, whose countenance and cheer is meek, whose face is fair and beautiful, and whose speech is very sweet and delightful. He is pleasing to see, sweet to have and keep, and delightful to love. He is sufficient in himself to please and content us. And also of himself is a sufficient reward for our merits: There is no thing desired besides him, for whatever is desired is found in him.\nIt is great liking and pleasure evermore to behold him, and evermore to have him. And evermore to delight in him, and to be joined and knitted to him evermore in perfect love. The understanding is made clear in him, and the desire is purified to know and love truth. And this is all the good and wealth of man: that is, to know and love his maker.\n\nWhat great folly and madness cause us to desire the bitterness of vices, and to follow perils of this world, to suffer the misfortunes of this unstable life, and to be subject to the wicked tyranny of the devil. And not rather to flee to the blessed company of saints and the felicity of angels, to the solemnity and feast of heavenly gladness, and to the joy and sweetness of contemplative life, that we may enter into the kingdom of our Lord, and see the abundant riches of his goodness. There we shall rest in peace, and we shall see how sweet our Lord is, and how wise his wisdom, the most benign goodness of the holy good.\nAnd so we shall have knowledge of the holy Trinity. We see now bodily things by the body, and we know the similitude of bodily things by our soul. But then we shall see it truly with the clear sight of our soul. O blessed and happy sight to see Almighty God verily in himself, to see him in us, and to see us in him in blessedful joy and joyful bliss. We shall have all that we shall desire. So that we shall not lust to desire any more. We shall be blessed with sweetness and love of him and the deliciousness of beholding him. The nobleness of the high felicity will be when the clear Godhead is known in its pure being. And then the blessed Trinity will be comprehended and known clearly. It is incomprehensible. The preciousness of the godhead will be shown openly. God himself will be seen and loved. And that sight and love fulfilling all the heart of man: will be the whole perfection of the felicity and bliss. One tongue shall come to all. Mirth without weariness / one desire and everlasting love.\nTruth shall be clearly shown. Charity shall replenish both body and soul, making them fully satisfied. The glorified man's head shall shine as the sun. There will be restful health. Concord of body and soul. Angels and men shall rejoice together in one joy. Speak together one speech. And be feasted all in one feast. The love shall not fail nor be lessened. There shall be no sorrow nor pain for the difference of things desired but all good things be present. For the blessed presence of the majesty of the almighty God is all things to them. And contains them fully in all that they desire. His power, it is almighty. Wisdom, peace, right wisdom, and understanding shall come to all. In that perpetual peace, there shall be no diversity of tongues or language. But a peaceful and agreeable concord of manners and desires. In the flood of that pleasure, the insatiable appetite shall desire no more. There shall be so much felicity and bliss.\nFor there shall be the heap or mound of felicity and bliss: exceeding joy and mirth, and plenteous gladness.\nBut who is he that is apt and convenient to these joys? Sincerely, he that is a true penitent: a good obedient, a lovely fellow, and a faithful servant. A true and perfect penitent is ever in sorrow and labor. He sorrows for his sins that are present and past. And labors diligently that he may avoid and shun sins to come. For very true and perfect penance is to sorrow for sins without ceasing. He sorrows for his sins that he has done, that he may not commit anymore such sins as he ought to sorrow and bewail for. For he is not a very penitent or sorrowful, who does and commits continually such offenses as he ought to be penitent and sorrowful for. Therefore, if thou wilt be truly and perfectly penitent, cease from sin. And be in will and purpose no more for to sin.\nA good obedient submits his will: and is refusing for leave or for lothe.\nAnd gives him [to our Lord God]. That he may say: My heart is ready, good Lord, my heart is ready. It is ready to do whatever thou commandest it. It is ready with a bending to obey readily at thy bidding. And so it is ready, good Lord, to serve thee in my ministry and help my neighbors. To keep myself well and to rest in contemplation of heavenly things.\n\nA good and amiable or lovely fellow is diligent and servable to all. And harmful or grievous to none. He is diligent and servable, for he is devout to God. Kind and gentle to his neighbor, and sober to the world. He is the servant of our Lord God, beloved of his neighbor, and lord of the world. He has heavenly things about him to rejoice in. Things equal to him to feel joy and companionship with. And things beneath him to serve him. He is harmful or grievous to none. But he dresses and orders lowly things to the profit of midway things.\nA faithful servant is busy in contemplation of things above and subduing earthly things. A faithful servant is busy in keeping himself, knowing that his own diligence can never be sufficient to keep himself without the help of God. Call upon the help of our Lord. Then ask with a devout prayer the defense and keeping of holy angels to watch over you. Seek the pleasant and perfect will of your maker. Purchase also with a devout prayer the help of all that reign with Christ. Renounce each one singularly. Make your supplication to them each one singularly. And cry to them and say, \"Have mercy on me, have mercy on me. Specifically you that are my friends, have ruth and pity on me.\"\nReceive a banished creature; nevertheless, I would be your servant. Receive your brother and servant who flees to you for succor. Your brother and kinsman, in the blood of our merciful redeemer, behold a beggar standing at the door crying and knocking. Open ye, and lead him to the king. I protest and bow low at his feet may show to him all my wretchedness and necessities that I suffer. At the last, show your heart with all the progeny and kindred thereof to your prelate. And let no sin abide in him that is not put away by pure and clean confession. Also put Jesus Christ upon your heart as a seal and the lock and keeper of your life. Whom Christ keeps the door of the heart and is the porter thereof. Thus, there shall be thousands upon thousands of angels watching and keeping at the gates of your outward wits.\nAnd there is no alien or stranger so bold to break those terrible and fearful hosts for reverence of the keeper and servant, and for defense and keeping of angels. Be that you are a curious and diligent teacher of your health and disposition. Discuss and examine well your life every day. Take good heed how much you profit and how much you lack, and how far you are from pure perfection. How you are in manners and codifications. How in desires in your desires, and how like or unlike you are to God. Or how near or far you are from him. Not in long distance of places, but in manners and dispositions. Study diligently to know yourself. For if you know yourself well, you are better and more commendable than if you are unknowing of yourself. You would know the course of the stars, the virtues of herbs, the complexions of men, and the nature of beasts, and had knowledge of all things in heaven, on earth, and in hell. Therefore render yourself to yourself, and if it is not always, at least sometimes among.\nRule and govern wisely your affections and desires. Dress well your actions and correct your excesses and misdeeds. Let nothing abide within the untamed and untaught. Put all your transgressions and misdeeds before your eyes and order yourself before yourself as though you were another. And so weep and sorrow yourself: Weep for your wickedness and sin wherever you have offended almighty God. Show to him your wretchedness. Show to him also the malice of your adversaries and enemies. And when you offer and present yourself before him in tears, I pray you remember me. For truly, I had knowledge of thee in Christ. I love thee and desire and bear with me the mention and remembrance of thee, where unlawful thoughts deserve chastisement, and holy and honest thoughts deserve reward and merit. When I pray, I stand as a priest at the altar of God. And there have mind on thee. Truly you question me if you love me.\nMake me a partner in your prayers and devout orisons. I pray that you let me be present with you in remembrance. There, as you bid devout prayers before our Lord for yourself and your family and household friends. Meruvel not though I say so. Let me be present, for if you love me because I am the image of God, I am as present to you as your own person. For the same thing you are. Indeed, every reasonable soul is the image of God. Therefore he who seeks the image of God in himself seeks his neighbor as himself. And he who finds it in seeking in himself perceives and knows it in every man.\n\nIndeed, the sight and persistence of the soul is the understanding and knowledge. Therefore, if you see your own person, then you see me who am the same thing that you are. And if you love God, you love me, for I in loving God love you. And so while we seek one thing and go toward one thing.\nLet us always be present with one another in ourselves. That is to say, in God, in whom we love to come together.\n\nWhen you enter the church to pray and worship God, leave without the heap of flowing thoughts. Forget utterly cares and charges of all outward things. So that you may attend to him only. For it may not be that a man speaks with God at any time. He speaks or chats softly with all the world. Therefore give attendance and heed to him who gives attendance and heeds to you. Here, when he speaks to you, he may graciously hear when you speak to him. If you apply yourself diligently to the loving of our Lord with due reverence, if you attend and heed diligently to every word of holy scripture, I do not do these things myself, but I would feign doing them. I am sorry that I have not done them in the past. But you, to whom is granted more grace.\nBe ye meek ears to the Lord, with deep prayers: Pray to Him humbly and devoutly with tears and signs for remission and forgiveness of your sins. And love and glorify Him in all His works with spiritual and heavenly songs. For there is no present or gift more pleasing and delightful to the high citizens of heaven. Also, there is no gift more acceptable and joyful to the high King of heaven than Himself, who bears witness, saying, \"The sacrifice of the Lord and praising shall honor and worship Me.\" O how happy you would be if you could see with your spiritual eyes the pleasant order of the heavenly company - how princes joined with the holy flesh of blessed virgins: come the praising and worshiping of Almighty God with most sweet melody. You should see without doubt with how much diligence and with how much joy they dwell among us.\nWhen we love God and assist and help us, when we pray near to us in our meditation, watch and keep us, defend and help us in our provisions and good labors. Truly the heavenly potestates love their brothers and neighbors. They rejoice together for those who receive the heritage of health. And they comfort them, teach them, and defend them. And they provide for everyone in all things. Truly they desire our coming to them, for they look after having the hurt and loss of the country restored through us. And they search diligently and are very glad to hear good news about us. They run joyfully between God and us, faithfully and truly bearing our country and sorrow to Him. They do not disdain being our fellows. For they are now made ministers to us. Therefore, let us hasten to make them joyful and glad when we are converted to penance. Woe to whoever you are: that desires to turn again to your stinking sins and filthy living.\nWe entreat you to have their friendship at the dreadful Jugemete from whom you will receive so much and so very truly rejoice. They rejoiced more when we came to rely on them. As for those whom they saw drawn and recalled from the gate of hell. How will it be now if they see them depart from the gate of paradise and go backward, having one foot in heaven. For though our bodies be bound, yet let us have our hearts above: Therefore let us run, not with bodily steps, but with heartfelt affections and desires: For not only angels, but also the maker of angels abides with us: Almighty God, the Father, abides with us and his children and heir to give us possession of all his goods. The Son of God abides with us as his brother, he may offer up to Almighty God his Father the fruit of his nativity. & the price of his precious blood. The Holy Ghost abides with us / Truly he is charity, in whom we are predestined and ordained to perpetual bliss from the beginning. And without a doubt, but his predestination and ordainment will be fulfilled.\nThen all the whole court of heaven desires and urges us to let our desire be as fervent as possible. For whoever does not desire it greatly will come to it with confusion and shame. Therefore, whoever dwells and abides in it with earnest prayer and meditation shall go from thence in safety and be received with great gladness. Therefore, wherever you are, pray within yourself. If you are far from an oratory, do not disturb others to seek a place for yourself. If you are in your business or in any other place, pray, and there is a temple. Truly, the mind often lifts itself up to God with earnest prayer and bodily obedience. For just as there is no moment of time in which man occupies himself and needs the goodness and mercy of our Lord, so there ought to be no moment in which he does not have him present in his mind. But perhaps you will say, \"I pray daily.\"\nI see no fruit of my prayer, but in vain as I go to it. So I go from it. For there is none that answers me, none that speaks to me, none that gives me ought. But it seems to me that I have labored in vain. O this is the foolish speaking of man: taking no heed of what solemn promises make for prayer. Saying thus: Sothly I say to you, whatever you desire by prayer, believe steadfastly that you shall have it, and it shall be done to you. Therefore set not little your prayer, for he whom you pray to sets it not little, but he commanded it to be written in the book of life before it goes forth from your mouth. And we ought to trust one of two things: for he shall give us what we desire, or else he knows more profitable to us. Therefore think of God as the best that you may, and of yourself as the worst. Yet you should hope worse of yourself than you may think. All the time that you think not of God, count it as lost from you.\nOther things belong to others besides us, but time is ours only: therefore watch well and wherever you be / be thy own. And spend time well. And thou shalt be there in safety. Give not thyself to worldly things but use them for the profit of the soul. What place soever you be in, dress well your thoughts / and remember some holy things in your soul. For truly every place is fitting and convenient for godly thoughts and meditations. Therefore gather together your soul with a whole heart and joy. And abide at liberty in your inward habitation. And walking in the largesse of your heart. Make ready therein a resting place and a large chamber for Christ. For the mind of a wise man is always towards God. We should always have him before our eyes. By whom we have our being. Our life and understanding. For like as we, in our being, have him as author and maker, so if we are to profit in wisdom, we must have him as a doctor and a teacher. And so we shall be blessed.\nWe must have him ever with us, and in this we know that the greatness of him, that is to say, the high and glorious Trinity, is in us. For just as he is wise and good, so we in our way have being, and know that we have being, and are glad that we have it. Therefore use yourself as the temple of God, for he dwells in us, as in his own likeness. Sincerely, chief honor and worship to God: is to worship and follow him. If you are meek, you follow him. For truly the mind of a meek man is a holy temple to our Lord, and his heart is a chief altar to him. Worship him if you are merciful, as he is merciful to all. Sincerely, it is an acceptable offering and oblation to God to do well to all men for the love of Christ. Do all things equally as the child of God. That you may be acceptable to him who has vouchsafed to call you his child. In all things that you do, know well and have in mind.\nGod is present, therefore beware that neither your sight nor your thought lingers in unlawful delight or pleasure, and be cautious that you neither speak nor do anything unlawful for any kind of pleasure or liking, lest you offend God in any deed or token thereof. He is present in every place, and be mindful of whatsoever you do. Truly, you have need to be kept in check. For you are always before the eyes of a Judge who sees all things: You are always with Him in safety if you rule yourself, so that He pledges to be with you. If He is not with you by grace, He is near to you by vengeance; but woe to him if it is so with him. For almighty God is angry with him whom He chastises not. He suffers the wretched in everlasting damnation.\n\nCertainly, death tempts you in every place. The devil lays in wait to take your soul when it has departed from the body.\nBut fear not. For God, almighty, if He is your servant, will deliver both from death and the devil. God is a true and faithful fellow. He does not forsake those who trust in him. But if He is forsaken first, He is left and forsaken when the heart wavers with a wandering and unstable mind, influenced by cunning and unprofitable thoughts. Therefore, we must keep it well, hold it, and rule it with great diligence and care, so that almighty God may rest there. Among all creatures under heaven that are occupied with worldly vanities, there is nothing more high, noble, and like to God than the human heart. Therefore, our Lord seeks or desires nothing from us but a pure and clean heart. Make it pure and clean through pure and clean confession and earnest prayer, so that you may see God with a pure heart. Continually behold Him, and be subject, circumspect, and attentive to Him in every place.\nDress well your manners and conducts, that you may be quiet and restful within yourself. Love all men and behave amiably and goodly towards all men. Thus you shall be a good and a holy, meek and a true monk. And when you are such one, I pray you remember me. Woe is me, for I say these things and I do not practice them. And if I do them sometimes, I perceive not and abide in them. I have them in mind and keep them not in my life. I have them in words and sermons, but in manners I show you the law of God always in my heart and mouth, but I do contrary to it. I read in it both of religion and prayer. But I love reading more than prayer. Never do you less, the scripture of God teaches nothing but to keep religion, to love unity, and to have charity. But I, wretch that I am, rather run to reading than to praying. In reading there, leave you the fruit of charity, the affection of piety, the tears of compunction.\nThe profit of the masses, and the contemplation of heavenly things; yet there is nothing in this life that savors sweeter, nothing is more eagerly taken, nothing spares the mind from the world, nothing strengthens the soul against temptations as much as redemption and prayer.\n\nGood Lord, have mercy on me; for I have sinned most where I should make amends for my sins. Often when I pray in the church, I do not pay attention to what I say. Truly, I pray with my mouth, but while my mind wanders, I lose the fruit of my prayer. My body is within, but my heart is without, and therefore I lose what I say. For it profits little to sing only with the voice without the intention of the heart. And therefore it is great perversion and folly, and greatly to be loathed, when we presume to speak with the Lord of majesty in prayer.\nAnd like us, we had no wit or understanding, we tore away our ceres (ears) and tore our heart and mind to uncontrollable fables and trifles. It is outrageous folly and grievously to be punished when most vile and filthy dust despises the maker of heaven and earth speaking to him. Truly, there is no tongue that can express the suffrance and gentle nature of our maker and merciful lord. He daily beholds us wretches tearing away our eyes, closing our hard hearts. And yet, for all that, he cries to us, saying, \"O you sinners, tear again and remember yourself. Take heed and see. For I am God. God speaks to me in psalmody, and I to him. And yet, when I say the psalm, I take no heed of whom the psalm is for. Therefore, I do great injury and wrong to God when I pray him to hear thy prayer, for I myself bid it not here. I pray him to take heed of me. And truly, I myself take no heed of myself or him. But I do that which is much worse, for I lay before his sight abominable stench and filth.\n whyle I reuolue in my herte foule thyn\u00a6ges & vnprouffytable. There is noo thynge in me more vnstable & more fleynge than is myn herte. yt whiche as ofte as it leuyth me & rennyth fro me by euyll thoughte. soo oft it offendeth god. Myn herte is a vayne herte an vnstable & vnserchable whan it is layed by his owne abytrement & lacketh ye hel\u00a6pe of god. it maye not be stedfaste in itselfe. but of all mouable thynges is moost mouable. of all vyo\u2223lable thynges moost vyolable. It is destracte & with\ndrawen by Infynyte thynges. And rennyth hyther & thyther by innumerable wayes. And whan it se\u2223keth reste amonge dyuers thynges it fyndeth none but bydyth styll lyke a wretche in laboure. voyde of reste. It concordyth not with it selfe. but discordeth frome itself. It skyppeth from itself. it altereth and chaungeth the wyll: It chaungeth cou\u0304seylle. it edy\u2223fyeth & buylded newe thynges / distroyed olde thyn\u00a6ges\nbuilt again what it had destroyed, and yet it changes and soon orders the same things again on other sides. For it will and will not. And so it stays never in one state, but like a mill runs swiftly and leaves nothing behind but grinds what is put in it. And if there is nothing put in it, it consumes and wastes itself. So my heart is always moving and never rests. Whether I sleep or wake, it is always dreaming and thinking of whatever comes to it. And like a gravel or sand if it is put into a mill, it hurts and wastes it / and pities it. Curiosity leads it / covetousness ties it. Playfully it goes where it might have sufficed it. It wanders in many things. And seeks here and there where it may rest. But it finds no thing that can suffice it until it turns again to you. It is conducted from thought into thought.\n\"Unstable is the wretchedness of man's heart when God's grace is withdrawn. And what it turns to itself, it discusses all that it has thought. It finds nothing: for it was no work but thought. It makes many things of nothing. In this way truly the imagination is deceived by the deceits of devils. Almighty God bids me give him my heart. And because I am not obedient to him when he commands, I am rebellious to myself, and therefore I may not subject myself to him until I am subject to him and serve myself against my will. The will which will not serve him with my will. My heart makes more in one moment than all men in the world can make perfect in one year. I am not united and one with God. And therefore I am divided in myself. I may not be united and made one with him except by charity, nor subjected to him except by humility.\"\nI cannot be very meek but be truthful. It is expedient that I discuss and examine myself in truth, to know how vile, false, slippery, and unstable I am. And when I know all my wretchedness, it is necessary that I confess to him who made me, without whom I can do nothing and cannot do nothing without him. Since I have sinned and gone from God, I may not turn again to him except by true confession. Therefore, it behooves me to confess that it is to be confessed. For I never confessed my sins in the same manner and with the same intent as I sinned. Nor do I remember all, for the reason of old age and the multitude of them. And those that I have confessed, I did not confess cleanly for the foulness of them. I have also divided my confession so that I might show diverse sins to diverse priests. And so, I lacked true penitence, hoping to have come to partakers. For it is a cursed feigning to divide sins and pare them above and not pull them up by the roots.\n\"Sincere confession is not profitable but if it is in truth of mouth and cleanness of heart. And let there be three to bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Let us make priests witnesses of our hearts and mouths, so that every word may stand in the mouth of two or three witnesses. If it is sufficient for me to confess my sins to God only, the priest cannot absolve me from my sins. I, not I, but Saint James answers, saying, \"Confess your sins to one another.\" For it is fitting that we who by sin have been stubborn and rebellious to God, make ourselves to His priests and ministers. And he who was made in the image of God needed no mediator or means to keep him in grace. Now he cannot recover it when it is lost but by a mediator and means. Therefore, every sinner should sorrow and sigh and fear and dread for his sins. Let him labor earnestly and seek helpers, intercessors, means to pray for him.\"\nLet him fall down low and humbly to man who would not stand humbly near his Maker. It is most healthful that he be penitent and sorry in his heart, and confess his sins and make amends with his mouth, so that God, who is near him by grace, may prick his heart to penance. Then, be near by mercy, so that he may forgive the confessing man. And if it is so that perhaps the sinner is penitent, and in the article of need may not have confession, we ought to believe faithfully that the high priest fulfills in him what the mortal could not. And in this case, it is done and fulfilled without doubt against God, that the man truly would have fulfilled but he could not due to compulsion or disgust preventing his confession, but necessity.\n\nIn the chapter where I ought to have added \"Amen\" to my sins, I have added and put sins to sins. When I accused or complained for them, I have excused them by some means or else I have denied them all together.\nI have defended them unwarrantedly and without reason, which is worst of all. Since there is no sin wherewith I am not involved or could be involved, it is right that I remember and put away every occasion. Take heed here as much to the order as to the number, for we commonly proceed from lesser evil to greater. I, fearing the multitude of my own sins, have dared to reprove transgressions and trespasses of others. And therefore I have been an accessory to death. For I have not expelled and thrust out venom that I might have put out. I have had indignation against those who reproved me of vices. And I have hated those whom I ought to have loved. Those things that annoyed me or displeased me, I have desired their destruction. Yet I knew that they were good in their nature and kind, and made of a good Creator.\nBut they were noisy to me because I was evil and used them evil. For there is nothing contrary to me but myself. It is mine whatsoever may noise me. And I am a burden to myself. Also, I have desired that God should not know my sins: or that He would not. Or that He might not punish them. And so I would have God be unwise, unrighteous, and impotent. If we were He, He should not be God. There is no pride above my pride. Therefore, the words of my transgressions are far from my health. Sincerely, my pride is suspect to God, and it may not be that I with it be turned again to grace. For their lodging is diverse, and they may not dwell together in one soul, which would not dwell together in heaven. Sincerely, pride began in heaven. But it is as unmindful of the way it fell by. My might could not tear it thither afterward. When they were troubled with rain or great cold, of great heat I wickedly grumbled against God. For sincerely, all things that we receive for the use of life.\nWe turn to the use of sin. Therefore, it is right that we who sin in all things are chastised and punished in all things. I have often at divine service broken my voice that I might sing the sweeter. At times I had more pleasure in measuring my voice than in the composition of the heart. Truly, almighty God, from whom no unlawful deed is hidden, desires no clarity of voice but clarity of heart. For when the singer is about to please the people with his voice, he provokes our Lord to wrath with his shrewd manners. I have often, through great importunity and subtlety or wiles of my mind, obtained leave from my prelate to speak or do some such thing like a wretch, taking no heed that he disapproves and deceives himself, that other openly or privately is about to do it, so that his spiritual father may enjoy it. I have often desired greatly to take an elder or a knife or some such thing of little value, and have not confessed it.\nI hoped not that it had been sin because of the little value. But truly, it makes little difference whether a vice or a precious thing is desired when the affection or desire is alike corrupt. For the knife is not vice. but the unlawful appetite of the knife. Nor is gold vice. but the unlawful desire for gold. I have not labored as much as I might or should have. I have been so idle in silence that in my idleness I thought no profit from my neighbor. I sought not the contemplation of God. Truly, he profits little to himself who profits not another when he may. I boasted of righteousness / when there had been a great virtue where was a great fall from sin. Also, I made vices of virtues. For righteousness, when it exceeds and passes its due and manner or measure, engenders the vice of cruelty. And excessive piety and patience bring, for the breaking of discipline and wantonness, often times, vice. And those which some men deem virtue. As a reminder.\nvnquietness/some men seemed meek. And the vice of sloth falsely feigns to be the virtue of quietness and rest. I feigned to be what I was not. I said I would not what I would. I said one thing with my mouth and thought another with my heart. And so I held my wily conscience under a sheep's skin. For a wily conscience is a slack and slow conversation. beastly cognition/feigned confession. short and seldom composition. obedience without devotion/prayer without intention. reading without edification. A servant without circumspection and taking head. O how hard have these been to me that I speak. For in speaking of them I strike my own self. Nevertheless, because I do not deny myself to be a sinner, but know my sin, perhaps against God I make a meek judge. This knowledge of sin shall purchase me forgiveness. I shall therefore tell. I shall tell my wretchedness. if perhaps his great piety moves him.\nI shall confess my sin: for the confession of sin is the beginning of health. I have a great crown and round clothing. I keep the rule of fasting. I keep the hour of service. But my heart is far from my God. I behold it outwardly, deeming all things safe and well in me, not feeling the inward worm that gnaws within. Strangers have eaten and wasted my strength, and I have not known. And therefore I walk altogether in those things that are outward. And unknown are my inward things. I am effused and spilt as water, and am brought to nothing. Forgetting things past. Neglectful of things present, not proving things to come. I am unkind to benefits and good deeds. Prone and ready to evil things, and slow to good things. If I behold myself inwardly, I see that I am unclean. And if I do not behold myself inwardly, I do not know myself. And when I behold myself, I may not endure myself, for I find so much in me that is worthy of rebuke and confusion.\nAnd the more softly I discuss myself, the more abhorrence I find in corners of my heart. For since I began to sin, I could never escape one day without sin. But I added and put sin to sin, and I have them before my eyes, yet I sorrow not. I behold things I should be ashamed of. But I am not ashamed. I behold things to be sorrowed for, but I sorrow not. It is a sign of death and token of damnation. For a limb or member that feels no pain is dead. And an insensible sore that is without feeling is incurable. I am light and wanton, and I do not correct myself: but I turn again daily to sins that I have confessed and been shriven of. And I kept myself not from the ditch where I myself have fallen or else have seen others fall in. And when I should weep and pray for evil that I have done and for good deeds that I have neglected to do, alas for sorrow it tears me contrary. For I have been slack and cold from the fervor of prayer.\nI abide it taking to keep. If I do well, it is ready at hand. And if I think I do well and exalt myself thereof, it is not absent but present. It is present to the living. It follows the deed. And where my joy is, there is confusion unseparable, according to the quality of that which is put and taken to the consciousness. Thus, in my own house and in my own household, I have accusers, judges, and torturers. My conscience accuses me. Mind is witness, Reason, the judge. Play the prison, Fear the torturer. The forward delight you tormenting, Soothly as many evil pleasures as there are, there shall be as many tormentings. For the reward we are punished for, which we have pleasure in.\n\nHelp me, my Lord God, for my enemies, it is to say. The body, the world, and the devil have besieged and unbound my soul. I may not flee from my body. nor chase it from me. I must needs sustain it. for it is not lawful to destroy it. I am constrained to endure it.\nWhen I feed it, I nourish my enemy again against me. If I eat enough and it is strong, the health of it is adversarial to me. Truly, the world has surrounded and besieged me on every side. And woundeth me with its arrows through five gates, that is to say, five bodily wits. The eye beholds and tears the wit of the mind. The ear hears and bows to the intent of the heart. Smelling lets in cogitation and thought. The mouth speaks and often deceives. Thoroughly and heat of lust for a little occasion is excited and stirred. And unless it is soon left and overcome, it occupies and heats/burns/kindles all the body. First, it pricks and tickles the flesh a little with thought. Then it defiles the mind with foul deletion. And at last it subdues the mind to it by consenting to shrewdness. The devil also, whom I may not see (and therefore I should rather be the more wary of him, for he has bent his bow wittily and subtly.\nHe has placed his arrows there to shoot at me / He has threatened to hide gold and snares for me And has said who will spy them. He has put a gold and silver gilder in all things that we misuse. When we are delighted in them, we are ensnared. And he has not only laid a snare but also a limer. Limer is love of possession, desire for covetousness, and thought/pride of worship, and plays with the flesh. With these, the soul is ensnared, limed, and tied, so that it may not flee by the ways of heavenly Syon with the feathers of contemplation. The arrows of the devil are: Ire, wrath, envy, lechery, and others, with which the soul is wounded. Alas for sorrow A faithful man is often overcome by these darts. Woe is me, for battles are on every side. Darts fly on every side. On every side are temptations and perils. What waysoever I turn, there is no safety to me. And I fear those things that are pleasurable and those that are displeasurable.\nBoth hunger and refreshment. sleep and wakefulness / labor and rest fight against me. Board is no less suspect to me than wrath. For I have slandered many in the town. And I fear no less prosperity than adversity. for prosperous things deceive me unexpectedly with their sweetness. But things that are unprosperous because they have some bitterness.\nas bitter potion and drink / make me suspect and fearful. I fear more evil that I do perceive. than that I do openly. For that evil which no man sees. no man reproaches. And where there is no fear of rebuke. the tempter the devil is more bold. and wickedness is more lightly done. No wonder. for there is battle on every side. and peril and fear on every hand. And like those who dwell where war is. So must we look here and there. and turn our heads about to look at every crag or strand. The flesh tempts me with things of lust and pleasure. The world with vain things\nAnd the devil with bitter things often distracts my mind unwelcomely with food, drink, or carnal things pertaining to the body. When the heart is occupied with vain thoughts, such as ambition and desire for worldly worship, with boasting and pride, it comes from the world. And when I am provoked unwillingly to anger, wrath, and bitterness of the soul, it is suggestion of the devil. Which we must resist and withstand, as if it were the devil himself, and shun and flee from as from the pains of hell. It is the nature of devils and demons to offer us evil suggestions. And our duty is not to consent to them. Truly, as often as we resist, we overcome the devil. We rejoice gladly and honor God. Our Lord himself exhorts us to fight and helps us to obtain the victory. He observes how we fight and helps when we fail. And crowns us when we obtain the victory.\nMy body made of clay holds the conditions of it, and therefore I have thoughts of uncleanness and foul pleasures. Of the world's thoughts of curiosity and vanity, And of the devil of bitterness and malice. These three enemies fight against me and pursue me: sometimes privately and sometimes openly: but always maliciously. Truly the devil trusts chiefly in hope of the flesh, For an enemy of the household noises me most. And it has made a covenant with him to destroy me, For it was brought forth in sin: nourished in sin: Corrupted greatly at its beginning: but much more corrupted by evil custom. And that is the cause that it is so contrary to the soul That it gripes so much and is so unwilling to be taught: And enters into unlawful things: & obeys not to reason: & will not be refrained with any fear. That crooked serpent, enemy of mankind, helps it: & uses it. For he has no other desire, labor or study: but to lose our souls. This is he that quickly works evil.\nSpeaks subtly, entices craftily. Deceives wilyly. Excites unlawful meetings and sets on fire venomous thoughts, stirs battle and strife, nourishes hatred, incites and guides to gluttony. Excites the desire of the flesh. Makes occasion for sin and ceases not to tempt the hearts of men with a thousand crafts of harm and noising. This is he who strikes us with our staff. & binds our hands with our own girdle. That which is given to us for help may be to our hurt and shame. It is a grievous struggle and great peril to fight against an enemy of the household. Namely, since we are strangers. & he a citizen. He dwells in his region. And we are outlaws & pilgrims. It is also great jeopardy to sustain so often, continually and daily conflicts and battles against the watches and subtleties of the deceit of the devil, who is very subtle: both by nature and also by long exercise and use of his malice.\nMy lord God deliver me from my enemies and from those who have hated me, for they have been comforted against me. I who have lived against myself up to this hour shall begin now, by your grace, to live for myself. We should live, so that when the body begins to be devoured by worms, the soul may be merry with saints in heaven. The spirit should be dressed toward the place that it should go to. We should hasten thither where we should always live and where we shall never fear to die again. Therefore, we love so much this slippery and fleeting life, where we live with so much labor, where we unwilling and satisfy our body of that which is necessary in earthly life, drinking and sleeping. We ought much more to love everlasting life, where we shall suffer no labor. Where is chief mirth, chief felicity and bliss? Happy liberty and happiness. Where men shall be like to the angels of God.\nAnd righteous men shall shine as the sun in their father's kingdom. Of what kind thou thinkest the brightness of souls will be then, when the light of bodies has the brightness of the sun? There is no heaviness. no trouble / no sorrow. no fear / no labor, no death. But perpetual health always persisting and abiding. There shall be no malice or misery of the flesh. There is no sickness\u00b7 no necessity. no hunger. no thirst. no cold. no heat no faintness of fast. nor other temptation of the enemy. No will to sin. no idleness to transgress. but all things shall be in gladness & joy. And men freed from infirmity of body shall flourish evermore without infirmity. There is infinite mirth everlasting bliss / where what is once purchased shall always be possessed. There is rest from labor and peace from enemies. mirth of no troubles / sweetness of eternity. sweetness & delectation of the everlasting vision & sight of God. And who is he that does not greatly desire to dwell there\nBoth for rest and mercy, and eternity, and the blessed sight of God. There is no pilgrim: but whoever may desire to come thither shall dwell securely in that perpetual country. Always glad and always satiated with the glorious sight of God. And the more that one is obedient to another for God, the more reward he shall receive there. And the more he loved God, the more clearly he shall see him. For the end of man is to behold God.\n\nThe days of man are as a shadow upon the earth. And he has nothing abiding but when he thinks that he stands firmly. He is near nothing then. Wherefore do you gather treasures on earth? Since both that which is gathered and the gatherer pass away without love. And you, man, what fruit do you look after to have of the world? Whose fruit is hurt and lost; the end of whom is death.\n\nWould God that you would save and understand, and provide for your last ending. I know one who has lived with the poor many years sitting at your table.\nAnd taken from your hand/slept in your bosom. And spoken with him when he would be your servant by right, inheritance. But because you have nurtured him diligently from his childhood and spared the rod, he is obstinate. And has lifted his foot above your head. And has brought you to servitude and bondage; and rules cruelly. But perhaps you would ask who this is. It is your old man who tramples down and makes foul your soul. Who sits at nothing in the country that we should desire. For he savors not, but seeks only things that are fleshly. This man is blind, deaf, and dumb from his nature. Wicked in his age. Rebellious to virtue and truth. And an enemy to the cross of Christ. He mocks an innocent and simple man. He walks in high things and marvelous things that are above his degree. His pride and his pride is more than his strength. He fears none. He worships none. He says in his folly that there is no god.\nHe is very lazy in good things and glad with others' evils. He is nourished with unclean thoughts and persists in them without weariness. He scatters and wastes his own goods as a regular waster. He covets and reaps from others as a nag. He brings shame and scandal, feigning and disrespectful, provoking the wrath of God. This man is born in sin and nourished, the friend of wickedness, the son of death, the vessel of wrath and rebuke, ready to perish. And yet he presumes to tell and show the righteousness and laws of God. He hates disciple. He casts the Lord behind his back. When he sees a thief, he runs with him and puts his portion and share with adulterers. He puts scandal against the children of his mother and treasures the wrath of God upon himself. And will take thine inheritance from thee in the day of wrath.\nAnd reverting it from the earth, and thou avengest not so great Injury. But dissembling speakest not one hard or grievous word to him. Nor showest thou wrath or angry countenance of him. But favoring him that flatters thee. Thou playest with a mocker. Knowest thou not that it is Ishmael who applies to thee? This is no play of childhood nor simplicity or innocence. But it is the mocking, the hurt and death of the soul. Now he has thrown down headlong into the ditch that he has made. Now art thou wounded. now art thou effeminate / now art thou oppressed with the yoke of wretchedness and thralldom. & thou art trodden foul under his feet /\n\nO thou wretched & miserable man. who shall deliver thee from the bonds of this rebuke. Rise up, god. And fall down this armed man. fall he down & be he all to broken. Also he is a wicked man, the disdainer of God, the inordinate lover of himself, The friend of the world, and servant of the devil.\nIf thou understandest rightly, thou wouldst say with me: he is worthy of death. Put him on the cross. Differ no longer. Spare no longer. But hastily and instantly, boldly crucify this man. But let it be upon the cross of Christ. In whom is health and life. To whom if thy crucified man cries, he shall benevolently answering and saying: Thou shalt be with me this day in paradise. O how great is the pity of Christ. The wretch was without hope of help. But the love of God is so great and so tender and free. His gentleness so ready. His meekness so marvelous. His suffering so patient. He hears graciously him that cries to him. For he is merciful. O how great is the mercy of God. How ineffable and unfathomable is the right hand of almighty God. Yesterday he was in darkness. And today in shining of light. Yesterday in the mouth of the lion. And today in the hands of our savior. Yesterday in the gates of hell.\nAnd today in the delights of Paradise. But what profit these letters of monition? But if you put the letters of death from your conscience. What profit these things written and understood, but if you read and understood yourself? Therefore give diligence to inward reading. And read and understand yourself: that you may read and love God: That you may fight and overcome the world: and all your enemies. That your labor may be turned into rest: and sorrow into joy. And after the darkness of this life: you may see the springing of the bright morning. And after these, you may see the midday and height of the sun of righteousness. In whom you shall behold the spouse with his spouse: one Lord of everlasting glory: who lives and reigns evermore. Amen.\nHere we end this very profitable treatise: The Meditations of St. Barnard, which for favor and charitable love of all such persons who have not understanding in Latin: has been translated from Latin into English by", "creation_year": 1499, "creation_year_earliest": 1499, "creation_year_latest": 1499, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "Here begins a little treatise called The Twelve Benefits of Tribulation. The first master said that if any age had been better for man living in this world than tribulation, God would have given it to His son. But since there was nothing better than it, He gave it to Him and made Him suffer the most tribulation in this wretched world than any man or ever shall.\n\nThe second master said that if there were any man in this world who could be without a spot of sin, as our Lord Jesus Christ was. And could live for thirty years and it were possible without food or drink, and also be so devout in prayers that he could speak with God.\n\nThe third master said that if it were so that the mother of God and all the saints of heaven prayed for one man, they would not obtain for him such a great mercy as he would obtain for himself through humility in suffering a little tribulation.\n\nThe fourth master said we worship the cross for our Lord Jesus Christ hanging thereon bodily, but we also receive spiritual benefits from it.\nI say: we should rather keep in mind the tribulation that he suffered there on account of our sins and transgressions. \u00b6The fifth master said I would prefer to bear the least pain of tribulation that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered on earth with meekness in heart than the reward of all worldly goods. For as St. Peter says, none is worthy to have tribulation without error. \u00b6Tribulation quenches sin and teaches a man the mysteries of God. Tribulation makes a man know himself and his neighbor, multiplies virtues in a man and strengthens him, cleansing him as fire purifies gold. And what man suffers tribulation meekly in heart, God is with him and bears that heavy burden of tribulation with him, and tribulation, in turn, wastes away what was lost and holds a man in the way of righteousness. And of all the gifts that God gives to man, tribulation is the most valuable gift. Also it is.\nTreasure to which no man may make comparison joins a man's soul to God. Now the sixth master asks why we suffer tribulation with so much evil will, and it is answered and said for three reasons. The first is because we have little love for our Lord Jesus Christ. The second is because we think little of the great reward that God will give us, or of the great profit that comes from it. The third is because we think little or nothing of the bitter pains and the great passion that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us in redemption of our sins and to bring us to his bliss, which never shall have an end, amen. SI [Latin], a man would have wished to live without utility, why / because infirmity of the body is the soul's health. Because you call me considering, he says, when I am weaker, then I am stronger and more powerful. Why, because infirmity of the body is the destruction of lust, vanity, curiosity, and attachment to worldly things and human glory.\n\"et uiis nobis diuini amoris iudicium et castigationis sue signum, testis ipso domo: Quos amo flagello et castigo. Certum est, si a nobis amari voluerit, desiderare flagellari debemus. Quia, si a nobis non fuissent flagellati, non poterimus a nobis recipi. Scriptura teste: Flagellat omnem filium quem recipit. Constat ego quod illum quem non flagellat non recipit, unde de his quos hic non flagellat dicit per prophetam. Dimittis secundum desideria cordis eorum. Necessarium est nobis flagellum Domini, quia, absque dubio, ab eo flagellamur, ab eo recipiemur. Patienter ergo tollenda est infirmitas corporis, preparatio salutis. Cum graciae actione suscipienda est cordis leticia, tollenda infirmitas corporis generat odium mundi et pariter amorem Dei. Cogit nos vitam praesentem tanquam erumpuosam peregrinationem et exilium, odio habere, et vitam habere aeternam desiderare.\"\n\"If they could have lived otherwise and did not wish for another life, it is deeply lamentable and pitiable that some are chastised by God, whether they will die or live. The prophet Elias, appearing before the Lord, said, \"Tell the Lord God, 'Why is God in Israel not present, since you have sent to inquire of Acharon?'\" Therefore, the Lord says, \"Your chosen one shall not perish, but shall be saved. So it was fulfilled according to His word. If those who are about to die by the most wretched death attempt to expel the god Acharon, who is interpreted as an interpreter of the river and a scourge of the Lord, and resist according to God's ordinance when they refuse to bear His salutary scourge, they do not know and are foolish that God chastises His elect here to prove, purify, and sanctify them, so that He may crown and glorify them afterwards. He is God, blessed forever.\"\n\n\"Hail and rejoice, Mary, mother of God, queen of heaven, immaculate Empress of the underworld.\"\n\n\"Grant us, Lord, help in tribulation and [other prayers].\"\n\n\"Lord, grant us help in tribulation.\"\nsoul that is troubled and tempted\nTo the one who is troubled and tempted, it is proposed that you draw out of distress, for comfort may not have it, but first you must experience the fruit of tribulation.\nIt is to say, but you must know how God sends tribulations and orders them to the profit of the sufferers.\nBut if one resists the ordering of God in frowardness, therefore, those who know it hear faults on one side and the profits of tribulation on the other side, asking to be helped in tribulation and not tribulation to be put away from them.\nFor if they ask for its removal, they ask against themselves, as Saint Paul did three times regarding the thorn in his flesh to whom God answered, \"My grace is sufficient for you.\" (Corinthians 12)\nBut of the twelve, I propose to speak in particular, in which one who will, with good diligence, read or hear them, may easily be saved by grace.\nFor just as food has its evil, so it is with tribulation.\nIt is evil to defy rightfully teaching of holy writ redeemedly, or hardly profits little or nothing. The first profit of tribulations understood is a true source or help sent from God to deliver the soul from the hand of enemies, which enemies are these: the subtle suggestions of the devil that promise that cruel enemy false joys and riches of the world, that deceivable enemy unclean lusts of the flesh. These enemies kill the soul more perilously than openly, deceiving it with feigned friendlyship so subtly. The which are figured by II Kings 20:33: that feigned him friend, holding him by the chin as he would have kissed him, and so with his sword in the other hand, killed him subtly. Upon this, Saint Gregory says, if any fortune is to be feared, more is to be feared prosperity than adversity, as it openly shows. And not well that God ordains all things in tribulations to the deliverance of his servant as he intends.\nby the prophet David saying, \"I will be with him in tribulation, I will deliver him from tribulation and glorify him because of tribulation. For as much as God is with us in tribulation, we should endure it patiently and gladly, for tribulation makes the heart grow nearer to God, as the prophet says. Our Lord God is near to those who are in tribulation of heart, and He will save those who are humble of spirit. Therefore, if the pain of tribulation makes one heavy and grievous, the might and mercy of God, your Savior who is with you in tribulation, should inwardly comfort you. But now perhaps you might answer, \"I feel well, but I feel no sweetness of his presence in tribulation. If he showed to us the sweetness of his joy as he does the bitterness of tribulation, we should endure it.\" Also,\nPerhaps you would say that before tribulation, you felt more sweetness in God than you did when you were in tribulation. This can be answered in two ways. First, right as tribulation increases, so does God multiply grace and virtue, as the apostle says in Corinthians.\n\nGod is indeed true to His servants in tribulation, for He will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they can bear, but He will also make provision in tribulation for them to endure it. That is, He will give grace and virtue to suffer tribulation patiently and gladly. An example is how lords send comfort and help to comfort their servants who are besieged by their enemies.\n\nRightly so, our Lord God sends comfort of grace to souls that are besieged with temptations of tribulation.\n\nThe second way is that God's friendship in tribulation is understood in two ways. First, as tribulation increases, so does God's grace and virtue multiply, as the apostle says in Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10:13). God is indeed true to His servants in tribulation, for He will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they can bear, but He will also make provision in tribulation for them to endure it. He will give grace and virtue to suffer tribulation patiently and gladly. An example is how lords send comfort and help to comfort their servants who are besieged by their enemies.\n\nIn the same way, our Lord God sends comfort of grace to souls that are besieged with temptations of tribulation.\nThe manner of feeling God's comfort in tribulation, as the Apostle says, Corinthians 2:\n\nAs the passions of Christ increase in you, so does His comfort increase among you. Christ's passions enlarge our comfort within us when they are sent from Him gently and patiently, not as men who are servants and thieves who have deserved to suffer. Understand well that the comfort of grace in tribulations is not always given to be felt by him who is in tribulation, but rather that he should prove himself, fearing God and trusting in Him to be delivered.\n\nIn the book of the holy fathers of St. Anthony, it is read how he, after many spiritual temptations, was troubled by demons bodily and tormented his entire body. When his servant came to visit him, lying as if dead, he took him up and carried him into the next town where he was watched until about midnight. Then, by the will of God, he was relieved and bade his servant privately to tell all this.\nother sleeping there beside him and so he did. And when he was brought again there, so feeble that he could not stand but sat down, he said: \"Where are you evil spirits, wicked fiends? Lo, I am here, by the might of God, ready to withstand all your malice. And after these and many other wonderful temptations, our Lord appeared to him in a wonderful light and comforted him. To whom holy Saint Anthony said: \"Lord Jesus Christ, where have you been so long from me in tribulation?\nAnd our Lord answered and said: \"Here am I, with the beholding of your fighting, ready to reward the victory as I am accustomed to do for my chosen children. For know well that comfort does not come until a place is prepared for it by tribulation. Also we read of Sarai, the daughter of Raguel. Tobit iii.\nThis has been confirmed by all who serve you, for if his life is in temptation, he will be saved. But if in tribulation, he will be freed. And if in correction, he will be able to come to your mercy. For not even he who falls is beyond your mercy.\"\nYou are a helpful assistant. I understand that you want me to clean the given text while adhering to the original content as much as possible. I will remove meaningless or unreadable content, correct OCR errors, and translate ancient English into modern English. Here is the cleaned text:\n\nA man who worships the god has this certainly: if his life is in temptation, he shall be crowned; if in tribulation, he shall be delivered; and if in chastisement, it is pleasing to come to your mercy. You do not delight in our perishings. After tempests, you make tranquility, and after tears and weeping, you send gladness, as the prophet says. According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, your comforts have gladdened my soul. The comfort of an hour overcomes the sorrows of tribulation for many years. God, who comes to help and comfort after tribulation, will abide with the rejoicing of your soul. If you seem to tarry longer in receiving his comfort, answer thus.\n\nA great clerk.\nIpsa velocitas Dei desirous and loving souls seem long tarrying; or a thing much coveted appears great tarrying to a loving soul than those to foresee may be concluded that a soul discomfited in tribulation owes not to hold himself overcome by his enemies, but rather delivered. For it is true that tribulations deliver us from our enemies, though they sometimes be heavy and burdensome. Yet we should suffer them patiently and gladly without grumbling, lest we strive against our helpers and aid our enemies. And since we are not strong enough to deliver ourselves from our enemies, let us pray humbly with the prophet:\n\nDa nobis, Domine, axilium de tribulacione.\n\nLord God, grant us help in tribulation.\nA soul that is in tribulation, fearing to be overcome or resigned, is figured by the friends of Job, where it is said in Job iii:\n\nNo man spoke to him a word,\nthey saw his sorrow was so great.\nThese feigned friends of Job were wicked demons that vexed troubled souls,\na soul that is in tribulation not only stops the malice of the devil,\nbut also through the comfort of angels and saints, as we read of holy fathers.\nA little while longer a soul should be parted from the body.\nHe said, brethren, bless, for holy Anthony comes to us, and soon after he said, lo, here comes the worshipful company of prophets.\nThe third time he said, Now come those holy apostles, and it seemed to them that stood about he spoke with them, and then they.\nprayed that he should tell them with whom he spoke, and he answered and said with holy Angels that came to take my soul. I prayed them to stay a while that I could suffer more penance. Their words said that the spirit passed with great light. They all felt a wonderful sweet savor. Not well that there is no peril in tribulation of temptations, so long as you do not answer them by delight or consent, as the speech of an openly cursed man does not annoy unless you answer him. That is figured in holy writ where it is said, \"Mandauerat enim rex Ezechiel that the people should not answer to the blasphemies of that tyrant Rapsacis.\" By Rapsacis is understood the devil, and by his blasphemies are understood temptations of wicked thoughts which annoy not unless you willfully assent to him. And if you feel the flesh weak in tribulation, pray God earnestly that he stops the malicious one.\nThe third profit of tribulation is that it purges the soul. There are two kinds of purgings: one is purgings of the human body due to corrupt humors, and this happens in two ways: one is through medicinal drinks, the other is by craft, bleeding, etc. The second purging is mental, like gold in the fire and iron in the file. The third purging is of trees, such as unproductive vine branches. The fourth purging is of corn and threshing with a flail. The fifth purging is of grapes, which is done through pressing. In this way, God purges the soul through tribulation. For just as the body is purged by medicinal drinks of evil humors, so the soul, made clean by tribulation sent by our sovereign physician, our Lord God, is purged of vain affections and bad manners. According to St. Gregory, \"Bad humors are bad morals. Evil humors are evil.\"\n\"Drink this medicine of tribulation sent from God, for He is a wise physician and knows all your secret sicknesses, and how much you can endure and how much you need. Foch sends nothing but what is profitable to you, and he who has tasted, mixed, and drunk it before you, not for himself but for your purging, suffered the passage of death. He said to the apostles John and James, Mt. xx. \"You can drink the cup that I shall drink.\" \"Then this wise physician has drunk this medicine for your love. Drink you therefore of it without fear, for it is holy. This drink strengthens the prophet David, who said. \"I shall take the chalice of the salvation of tribulation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.\" \"Lord, grant us help in tribulation. And as a purgation should be received hastily without delay.\"\"\nOnly one thing more tasting or long enduring should trials be accessible, willfully without arguments or rebellion or grumbling But now be warned For sometimes, as the profit of the medicine is allowed and works against corruption, not for the fault of the medicine but for the evil disposition of him who receives it So in the same way, the profit of trials is allowed for purgation and does the contrary For it is the beginning of pain, after which follows everlasting damnation As we read of Pharaoh, King of Egypt For the more he was visited by trials, the more his rebellious heart increased into his damnation The second purgation of the human body for evil humors is by corrupt blood, and it is in two manners: either by opening of the vein or by bleeding or blistering Opening of the vein is appropriate to confession, and bleeding or blistering to trials And note well, foul blood corrupts the body just as sinful blood is called in holy writ blood.\nThe mouth of a righteous man is a vein of life. In the beginning, a righteous man blames himself, that is, by confession, and notes that, as a man owes by this vein to void out wicked blood from his body and keep the good blood for his nourishment, so in confession he owes by his mouth to show all his sins and withhold and keep secret all his good deeds for fear of lessening. For good deeds shown in confession by the vein bring glory or vainglory and turn one from virtue to vice for want of wise keeping. As we read of the Pharisee, who said, \"Lord, I thank you that I am not like other men, robbers, and extortioners, also not like this publican.\"\nBut the publican, a long-standing one, refused to raise his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast and said, \"God, be merciful to me, a sinner.\" And so the publican was justified or made right by his humble confession. This agrees with the true prophet David, who says, \"I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you, O Lord, have forgiven the wickedness of my sin.\" Boxing or afflicting oneself agrees with tribulation, for as many afflictions as God sends in tribulation, so many remedies he ordains for your purification. It is not necessary to heat and excite the flesh before the smiting of the veins may be endured more easily.\nis it peaceful before tribulation, that the heart be called with persecution and charity, the retainer of persecution may be endured more patiently and gladly. In figure, the Holy Ghost came down to the apostles in likeness of fire. By whom they were strengthened, comforted, they were glad and gave joy, for they were worthy to suffer tribulation, anger, and reproach for the name of Ihu. Which before that time were so dreadful that they fled from him, and some forsook him, as Peter, who was prince of the apostles, for fear of a woman, swore that he knew him not. But after the coming of the Holy Ghost, they did not dread the cruel torment of Nero, the Emperor, but patiently and gladly suffered to be crucified and died.\n\nThe second manner of material purgation is of metals, as gold by fire and iron by file. For just as the fire departs from gold among other metals and purges it of rust and filth, making it fair and clean, so tribulation departs from the soul.\nadversaries and makes him godly and acceptable, and therefore it is said, \"Wisdom 5:5-6: Tanquam aurum in fornace probavit electos dominus, and quasi holocaustae hostias accepit illos, et in tempore erit respectus eorum.\" Our lord has proven his chosen by tribulation as gold is proven in the furnaces, and he has accepted them as an offering and in time of reward they shall be beholden with this fire of tribulation. As Job was proven when he said, \"Job 23:10,\" God proves me with tribulation as gold is proven by the fire, and note well that among all metals gold is most precious and lead is least in price. And yet nevertheless gold is not purged without lead. Lead draws out the impurities with it in the furnace.\n\nChosen souls, who are likened to gold, are purged by evil men who are likened to lead. Whereof Solomon says, \"Proverbs 13:22: The fool serves the wise man.\" Evil men.\n\"Shall it serve to purge good men through tribulation. Iren is purged by rust and shines and brightens, so is the soul purged by tribulation from uncleanness and comforted with ghostly light. A knife that is not used rusts, so the soul without the exercise of tribulation desires unclean lust, as we read of David in 2 Kings 2. When he was without tribulation, he fell into adultery with the wife of Uriah, a worthy knight, and afterward into homicide or man-slaughter. Therefore says the prophet Jeremiah, \"Moab was fruitful in the days of his youth and dwelt in his own filths of sin.\" Do not grumble against God when he fills your soul to make it fair and clean, lovely and light. For else it may never come to have of him that blessed sight, of which it is said, \"Blessed are the pure of heart.\"\"\n\"Blessed are those who are clean of heart, for they shall see God. The third manner of purging, which corresponds to tribulation, is of trees, as cutting of vines or pruning unproductive branches. Omnium (everyone) who bears no fruit in me, he will take him away, and he that bears fruit, he has purged him, that he may bring forth more fruit. Every vine branch that brings forth no fruit in me, that am a very vine, my father that is a tiler shall cut him off and cast him away, and that branch that bears fruit, he shall purge him, that he may bring forth more fruit. By this vine may be understood man's heart, by the humors is understood affection or love, and by unproductive branches are understood fleshly lusts, inordinate love of creatures, carnal affection of kin, and worldly riches. When the humors or a vine or of a tree are spread above flesh with the knife of bodily sicknesses, he cuts away inordinate love of creatures with the hook of adversity and tribulation.\"\nCut away carnal affection from kinsfolk with the sword of death, and he cuts away worldly riches with his iron rod. As burning fire drives away water, so does tribulation rob the thief and such other things. God chastises and purges in all these ways through tribulation, for he would have the love of your heart to abide with him and bring forth plentiful fruit in him, and not abide nor trust in such deceivable friendship. Saint Gregory says, \"He who invites a falling one is compelled to fall himself.\" The fourth manner of material purging, according to the tribulations of corn, as by beating or thrashing with a flail to separate the corn from the chaff. Saint Augustine says, \"The rod for the corn, the furnace for gold, the moon for iron, these are the tribulations that try the righteous man.\" As the flail serves to the corn, so does tribulation serve to the righteous man. As we read that the angel, in the case of the rich man, said to Lazarus, \"Go from me, for I have need of your help.\"\nRaphael said to Tobias: \"Because you are acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove you. For as a flame tests corn from chaff, so temptation tests the heart, separating the discernible love of the world and the false friendship of sinners, which are understood as chaff. The prophet knew the profit of this trial when he said, 'Behold, I am ready to endure the testing of tribulation,' and therefore Saint Augustine said, 'Desire to be scourged by the rod of tribulation if you want to purge yourself and return to the heavens, where only the pure in grace will be received. But beware, for as corn that is green and not yet ripe or dried is not yet fit for the garner of heavenly bliss.' \"\nNot departed from the chaff with the beginning of the flail but rather clings to it. So it is for those hearts that are green in the beginning of conversion, and most in carnal affection that have not tasted the profit of tribulation, are not departed from the false friendship of their enemies but rather cling to them, as though they would be comforted by them. When God sends us visitations to purge the soul that he loves, it be it by bodily sicknesses or loss of temporal goods or adversity of enemies or any other temptations of heaviness. And one whose heart runs riot around you, you should have mind of him and know him. For he is your friend and will not forget it. For as many diverse tribulations as he said to the same, so many various messengers you have calling and warning you to have mind on him. But now you would say that such tribulations are not most necessary to call you to have mind on him, but rather his gracious beneficial prosperities. For as Saint Augustine says, \"God.\"\nThe blessings of God are nothing but warnings or callings to come to Him. Though you may be His gracious blessings of prosperity, riches, beauty, and honor, and such other things that call you to having them, He withdraws your heart from having regard for the gifts rather than the Giver. Therefore He speaks through the prophet, saying, \"I have spread out my hands, and there was none who would look.\" For all men love gifts and pursue rewards, from the greatest to the least.\n\nAnd if you are disturbed that there are many and great troubles, be comforted. For the more numerous and greater they are to you, the more profitable it is to know God they bring to you. And if you cannot feel any comfort for discouragement or fear of yourself, pray to God that He comfort you.\nThe four benefits of tribulation are that it enlightens us to have the knowing of God, in which is perfection and the profit of man's knowing. This is what Saint Augustine desired to say in the book of Soliloquies. \"Thus would God I should know Him.\" It is also written in the Book of Wisdom, \"Sapience 5:15. To know the Lord God is righteousness' end of understanding. To this knowledge helps tribulation. For as a rod restrains a child to bow down his head and takes him unto his book and records his lesson, so tribulation makes the heart and makes him to behold his own frailty and to know God. Whereof Saint Bernardo says, \"God makes Himself to be known by chastising him who was oblivious and unknown.\" God makes Himself known.\nIn beholding tribulation, which was forgotten and unknown in his merciful sparing, Daniel IV: We have an example of King Nebuchadnezzar, who, because of pride, was cast out of his kingdom and lived with wild beasts and ate grass as an ox. But when he lifted up his eyes to his maker with a humble heart, his understanding was restored to him again, and he knew God who had chastised him in tribulation. As the manner of children when they feel sharp strokes of the rod, they look up to him who strikes them, for they will turn their faces to him by pity and compassion. Now, therefore, thou lowly soul that art under the rod of tribulation, consider and know well that the manner of lovers is to send gifts and precious letters each to other for the keeping of love and memory and knowing each other. In the same manner, our Lord Jesus Christ, as a true lover, gave such tokens to his true loved ones. For here he took humanity in which he\n\nCleaned Text: In beholding tribulation, which was forgotten and unknown in his merciful sparing (Daniel IV), we have an example of King Nebuchadnezzar. Pride caused him to be cast out of his kingdom, and he lived with wild beasts, eating grass as an ox. But when he lifted up his eyes to his maker with a humble heart, his understanding was restored to him, and he knew God who had chastised him in tribulation. Children, when they feel sharp strokes of the rod, look up to him who strikes them, turning their faces to him through pity and compassion. Therefore, thou lowly soul under tribulation's rod, consider and know well that lovers exchange gifts and precious letters for the keeping of love, memory, and mutual understanding. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as a true lover, gave such tokens to his loved ones. He took humanity as one of these tokens.\nushered many tribulations, detractions, blasphemies, scorns, reproaches, slanders, hunger, thirst, and cold, and many other sharp scourgings, and thou was of great wounds, and was nailed upon the cross between two thieves and died the shameful death / that the Jews could order for him, and after / that he was raised from death and stayed up in heaven, he kept his wounds as tokens that thou shouldst know that the wounds would have memory of thee and never forget thee, as he said by the prophet Isaiah xlix.\n\nWhether a woman can forget her child that she has no mercy for the son of her own body, and if she forgot her child, I shall never forget thee. See in my hands - I have described thee.\n\nWhether a woman can forget her child and have no mercy for her son, and though she forgot her child, I shall never forget thee. Behold in my hands - I have written thee in all my wounds which I suffered for love of thee, O man, it grieves me and he who sets any creature as his strength and he.\nThat departs his heart from God, but it may be called a blessed comfort set in God, as the same prophet said: \"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord God, and the Lord shall be his trust.\" And when we fully trust only in God in all manner of tribulation, and fear false comfort and evil counsel of our enemies, we have an example.\n\nOf Ochosyas king who sent messengers to Belzebub the god of Acharon to have comfort and counsel whether he should escape the tribulation of sickness or not. And God sent an angel to the prophet and bade him say to him: \"Chosiel, I have sent my messengers to inquire of Belzebub, god of Acharon, as though there were no God in Israel from whom thou mightest inquire.\" Therefore thou shalt not descend from the bed upon which thou hast climbed, but thou shalt die by death.\n\nThou hast sent messengers to inquire of Belzebub, the god of Acharon, as if there were no God in Israel whom thou mightest inquire.\naske comforte therfore thou shalte not goo oute of the bedde that thou yediste vpon but thou shalte deye Also that we shulde not loue the worlde ne truste in worldly thyn\u00a6gis synte Ihon biddith i Iohis ii \u00b6Nolite dilegere mundu\u0304 neqm\u0290 ea que in mundo sunt Wyll not ye / loue the worlde ne worldly thyngys &c. \u00b6The v. / maner of materiall purgacion is of grap is and yt\u2223is by a pressour \u00b6For as a pressour pressith the / grapes to parte the preciose lycour of wyne from / draffe and the draggys Soo god pourgith the sou\u00a6le that he loueth in the presour of tribulacyon from / corrupcyon and wickidnes of synne Some tyme / by bodely sykenesse or preuy goostly heuynesse and sometyme losse of temporell goodes: or persecucion or sclaunder of euyll men and enmyes: Somtyme by lackynge of noble kynrede / or by dethe of fayth / full frendys. And therfore suffre pacyentely the:\nprouffite of this pressour yf thou wylte be broughte into cristes blessyd celar of whiche it is seyte Cant ii. \u00b6Introduxit me dommus rex in cellam suam /\nThe lord, the king, has brought me into his wine cellar / Here Saint Austin and Saint Theodore agree / The holy martyrs were so pressed by tribulation in this present life that the bodily matter was left in the pressure of this earth / But the precious souls were received into the seler of everlasting bliss\n\nDo not grieve against God if he has put you in his prison of tribulation / For he has tried it before\n\nAs I say, the prophet speaks in the person of Christ, Isaiah lxiii /\n\nTorcular calcaui solus & degentibus non est ibi / I alone have trodden the pressure of tribulation and no man was there with me / Note that he said no man, for blessed woman, mother and maid, our Lady Saint Mary, abode with him in faith full when all the apostles fled from him / And was ready to suffer death for the compassion of her son, as the prophet Simeon says, Luke II\n\nThe sword of death shall pass through thee\nNow, it is true that our Lord Jesus Christ underwent this trial of tribulation, and the blessed lady, his mother Mary. Whoever feels himself in this trial, take it meekly and gladly, praying with the prophet: \"Da nobis domine auxilium de tribulaco.\"\n\nLord God, grant us help in tribulation.\n\nThe five profitable aspects of tribulation are that it reveals or brings to know oneself. For the heart that has not distanced itself far from itself worldly and vain glory may not truly feel or know itself. For the heart that has more deeply loved and desired:\n\nWoe to him who scatters the light of his knowledge in vain joys and worldly things, desiring nothing of himself, but how should he know himself if he is not with himself?\n\"Vain is joy and worldly prosperity, the further one draws from the knowledge of oneself. Therefore, Saint Gregory says, he who is besieged by enemies dares not go far but is constrained to go back for fear. Such tribulation constrains the heart to turn inward. And the more adversities one has about him, the fewer he has of turning away from himself. Then it is a blessed adversity that brings one back to oneself and makes the one who has strayed to turn again. Of which it is said, Exodus xii: \"Let each man dwell with himself, and let every man be with his own household.\" Rightly so, the heart that dwells within itself is like a house that no man dwells in, and it washes away and falls to nothing. So too, the heart that dwells within itself, Turn again, turn again, my soul, and be silent within my breast; and our Lord God, having pity on the soul that has wrapped itself in worldly things, says thus: Revert, revert, O my soul, that I may see what is hidden within me.\"\nte. \u00b6Turn ayen turn ayen thou wretch caytyf soull / turn ayen / turn ayen / that we / mowe beholde the that thou beholde thyselfe wyth the eye of consyence / and that I maye beholde the with the eye of mercy. \u00b6O thou soule that distrou\u00a6bled in aduersytees / suffre the to be reuoked to kno\u00a6wynge of thyselfe by trybulacyon / And namely for that trybulacyon byndeth or knyttyth the to thy ma\u00a6ker Whome wycked and large fredom of the worl\u00a6de hath lete runne longe loose from thyselfe Wher\u2223of speketh the prophete thus.\n\u00b6In funiculis adam traham eos et in vinculis caritatis. \u00b6I shall drawe theym in the small cordys of Adam & in the bondis of charytee. Thyse smalle cordys of adam oure fyrste fader whyche longen to vs by the waye of herytage are clepyd al maner po\u2223uertees sente fro god to reserue the herte from vay\u2223ne and worldly comfortes. by the whyche god dra\u2223wyth many one / as it semyth by vyolence. Wherof sayth saynt Bernarde / \u00b6Trahimur / cum tribu\u2223lacionibus exercemur. \u00b6We ben drawen whan we hauntyd wyth\ntrybulacyon / therfore thou that arte streyned wyth thyse cordys and bondys of charyte suppose not that that thou arte defoiled or forsaken but the rather made fayre and chosen of god al tho\u00a6ugh thou haste not that thou askeste / Ne trowe not theym they ben not streyned wyth thyse bondys to be in very lybertee / though they haue that they as\u2223ken / For lyke as the leche whan he grauntyth to the syke all that he desyryth it is a certeyne sygne of de\u00a6the / Ryght soo the false fredom of the worlde is cer\u00a6teyne sygne of perysshynge / For the more frely thei desyren and fulfyllen theyr owne desyre wythoute trybulacyon / the rather they fallen downe in / in to theyr dampnacyon. Therfore thou sely soule that / arte troubled Yf thou wylte haue god to the mercia\u00a6ble / suffre the to be restreyned wyth thyse bondis of trybulacyon / Whyche comen fro god and drawen yt towarde god / Wherfore oure lorde sayde to the pro\u00a6fete Ezechiel Eccededi viculanica se / by this is vndsto\u0304de yt bo\u0304dis\nvpon the By thys is vnderstonde that\nBondings of tribulation bind the soul to God. The more tribulation, the stronger the bond. The profit of tribulation is that it speeds the way to God. For as many tribulations as you have, so many messengers God has sent to you, and not to let you by the way. The prophet Multiplicatus says, \"Infirmities of theirs were multiplied, and afterward they hastened them to God.\" Saint Gregory says, \"Pressure compels us to hasten to God.\" Suppose the benefits of tribulation are not disease, but rather to deliver you from a grievous prison and to hasten your way to the kingdom of heaven. As it is said, \"From prison and from iron bonds, sometimes a man is brought into a kingdom.\" This prison is called all that the heart loved inordinately in this world. These iron bonds are such things that wicked affections are bound.\nBut God delivers many from this prison through tribulation, as when He takes away from them inordinate loves. This is figured by Saint Peter, who was kept in Herod's prison when the Lord's angel stood beside him. Peter said, \"Rise quickly,\" and at once the iron fetters fell from his hands. By the side of Peter is understood your brother who came from the same side that you came from. This applies to all who are called to the same kinship or affinity. For when any of these, or all of them, by the law of nature ought to be your friend is contrary or hostile to you in some other way, understand that you are struck on the side for this reason: you should go out of the prison of inordinate love and set your heart only in God, who cannot fail. But take good heed that, as Peter did not retaliate on the striking on his side, so you owe nothing to retaliate or inflict tribulation, which delivers from the false and the unjust.\nDiscoverable love and fleshly and worldly friends, and if the striking of tribulation in the side is sharp and grievous to suffer, hold Christ your maker and your brother wounded in the side for your love. You shall suffer it more calmly as a true knight when he sees his lord's wounds. Therefore, do not refuse the messengers of your lord God who come to call you to join him, for he who refuses the messenger refuses his lord. When is the messenger refused? When the heart with a violent contrariness and grueling, contrary grumbling.\n\nThe sixth profit of tribulation is that it is against paying of thy debts in which thou art bound to God whom thou mayest not flee nor deceive nor hide anything from him concerning thy debts. These debts are penance which thou owest for thy sins. And though everlasting penalty is debt for one deadly sin by the righteousness of God in temporal penalty by contrition and penance.\n\"confession And furthermore, it is forgiven by satisfaction and sometimes it is all released and namely by tribulation. Understand this well: for whatever suffering you have endured patiently in tribulation before God, it is accounted to Him as payment for your debt. Just as a lord's auditor sometimes lays a counter in the end of accounts, of brass or copper or another thing of little value to be worth or signify a hundred pounds of gold or silver, so tribulation of little time with patience received in this present life delivers you from everlasting tribulation of the payment of hell. And bringeth you to the everlasting bliss of the rich king of heaven. Witness this of the thieves that hang on Christ's side, who when he suffered the torment of the cross and was bound by the heavy debt of sin to the pain of hell, having contrition of his wickedness in that same hour turned him to God and said, 'Lord, when you come into your kingdom, remember me,' and at once he was\"\n\"And bound and delivered from all debt of pain. And heard the sweet voice of Christ saying to him. Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Truly, you shall be with me this day in paradise. Woe to him who pays nothing of his debt in this life, but adds sin upon sin. Woe to him who, of great expenses that he makes, shall be constrained to come to a strict account. Truly, those who have lived ever without a count, must pay for their debt eternally in hell without release. There shall weep many merchants who in this life laugh and rejoice. It is said in the book of Revelation, \"Merchants of the earth wept.\" Merchants of the earth are you who set all your thought and your love in earthly things, which shall weep bitterly. But merchants of heaven shall then laugh and rejoice, for they shall see that for little tribulation they have undergone they will receive great reward.\"\n\"You have obtained the bliss of paradise, of which it is said in Ecclesiastes: \"There is one who redeems much, yet pays little.\" Some other things are beneficial that cost little and require patience in the tribulations of this present life, which God receives for the great reward. It is commonly said of an evil payer that:\n\nMen receive otium for where, and though it may be that you are not bound in any debt of deadly or venial sin for which tribulation should deliver you, yet tribulation keeps you from falling into debt, as Saint Gregory said: \"Many are the innocents who would soon lose their innocence if tribulations did not preserve them.\"\n\nTherefore, you soul that is bound in debts or you that dread the payment, suffer patiently tribulations. As long as time endures, it pays before your debts in which you are bound, as by an obligation. For though all the tribulations of this world were to cease:\"\n\"They cannot be compared to the least point of tribulation in hell. Not all earthly tribulations are comparable to the least joy of paradise, as Saint Paul says. None of the passions of this time are worthy of the bliss that will be revealed in you, Romans VIII. There are no worthy passions for the past sin that is mitigated for us into present grace, and the bliss that is promised to us.\"\n\n\"The seven benefits of tribulation are that it spreads abroad or opens the heart to receive the grace of God. For just as a goldsmith spreads a piece of gold or silver broad with many strokes of the hammer to make a vessel to hold wine or precious substances, so tribulation spreads the heart to receive the grace of God.\"\nIn tribulation you have spread or opened to me. In tribulation you have spread or opened a broad way or suffering patiently, the more spiritually gifts our Lord God enriches in grace. And consider that as the more precious metal is more ductile and obedient to the strokes of the goldsmith, so the more precious a meek heart is more patient in tribulation. And though the sharp strokes of tribulation grievously torment, yet they comfort him that the almighty God holds the hammer of tribulation in his hand and knows full well what you may suffer and measures his striking according to your free will. You will not then be like metal in a boisterous cauldron with spreading of sharp hearts without teaching.\nWho finds no place for working, be not like an old friar, who, by a little stroke, is easily brought to breach and impetuous hearts in tribulation, by a little stroke in temptation, fall into many great harms of perishing. Therefore, suffer tribulation willingly to work its craft. For so bids Solomon in Ecclesiastes: \"Sustain the sufferings of God and join yourself to God, and suffer that your life increase in the last end.\" As one says, suffer tribulation in this world for God and yield him some of the time of his service. And what tribulation he puts upon you, take it meekly and know well that he will not charge you beyond your might. As Saint Paul witnesses in Corinthians 10:\n\nGod is truly not patient with you being slack about that which you can do.\nThe eight profits of tribulation are whereby God drives out from the soul all worldly comforts that are beneath, and constrains thee to seek heavenly comforts that are above. As an earthly lord, when he will sell his wine, forbids all others to open their taverns until he has sold his. So our Lord God sometimes forbids earthly comforts that He may bring forth His comforts, as is signified by the prophet Joel, where it is said: \"The besties of the field are as dry as the earth thirsts for rain, they look up to thee, for the wells of waters are dry.\" The besties of the field He calls afflictions and fleshly desires. The wells of water He calls worldly comforts. Therefore, when earthly comforts are forbidden, seek heavenly ones.\nComfort fails in adversity; then is the heart constrained to look up and seek heavenly comforts. And the more benevolent is our Lord God to the soul, as the heart finds greater bitterness in outward things. By these things you may say, \"I am so sorry that the tavern of earthly comforts is not open to me, but the tavern of heavenly comforts is so long shut from me.\" Neither here nor lover do I find comfort. This may be answered thus: you do not owe having spiritual comforts but if you beseech the desiring and seeking. For there is more mirth in desiring and seeking God than in the delighting of Him. Why? The more you desire and seek God, the more comfort He shall bring, and the sweeter finding in Him. And know well that heavenly comforts shall not be long differentiated if worldly comforts are shut out by tribulations, if you ask desiringly and seek.\n\"Besely, as Salmon said. Desiderium suum justis dabitur. To righteous men shall be given their desire. The ninth profit of tribulation is that it puts you in the mind of God, and the more tribulation be, the more it impresses you in His mind. Not for that God forgives the one whom He gives tribulation to, or any creature which sees and knows all the subtleties of your heart. But for it is written that God forgives a man to whom He sends tribulation. For to him whom He sends tribulation, He has in mind yielding spiritual comfort and an increase of grace. Therefore, thou good soul, if you will, be put in mind. In whose mind is your help and your salvation? In whose forgiveness is your harm and your damnation? Learn to suffer patiently adversities and tribulations, and in suffering, think meekly in God, and He in turn will think meekly and mercifully. For a true friend thinks fervently of his friend in need. In figure of this, our Lord said, 'I have seen affliction.'\"\npopuli mei: in Egypt and I cry out to you, O overseers of the works. I know their suffering, and their sorrow has moved me to intervene on their behalf against the Egyptians. Therefore, be comforted, for the merciful God in your affliction will be of greater help to you than we read of in 2 Samuel 16. \u00b6Fleeing from Absalom, his son, who seemed to be David's enemy, he spoke evil to him and said, \u00b6Egretere egredere vir sanguinum et vir belial. \u00b6As a man who lays a wicked way, and you, a man of wickedness, depart from me. And Abishai said this to King David: \u00b6This hand of mine has cursed my lord the king. I will go and strike off his head. And David answered, \u00b6For enduring the cursing of wicked men, God's blessing is deserved, as is testified in Daniel 3. \u00b6The angel gave command with Azariah and his companions to enter the furnaces. \u00b6He made them enter.\nthe midst of the furnaces / as a blowing wind of a dew, but the flame burned the kings ministers who heated the furnaces. But truly, the fire touched them not in any manner. Lo, here you may see that the fire not only burned their bodies but also refreshed them, which is understood, that Christ is present with them in tribulation and comforts them in distress and blesses him that is missed or cursed for his name. Therefore, if you desire refreshing in tribulations and your enemies to be burned, suffer patiently tribulations. For in tribulation, God is with you and will deliver you from it, and for tribulation, great reward he will yield it. [I am with him in tribulation]. Lo, here a gracious feeling of comforting, I shall deliver him. Lo, here a full faith of delivering and I shall glorify him. Lo, here a certain hope of rewarding.\n\nThe tenth profit of tribulation is that it makes your prayer be heard.\nFor it is not God's manner to turn away the prayer of him who is in tribulation, but rather to hear his humble prayers. Ecclesiastes says, \"Behold, God responds to the supplication of the oppressed.\" Our Lord shall hear the prayer of him who is hurt. God smites and chastises many men and sends them tribulation to compel them to ask or cry for mercy and to open their mouths to God in tribulation, asking for help which had shut their mouths from Him in prosperity. Saint Augustine says that God sends tribulation to some men to stir them to ask that He would grant, \"In the person of such a one says the prophet, 'To the Lord I cried in tribulation, and He heard me.' When I was in tribulation, I cried to our Lord, and He heard me. Yet, though it may happen that in prosperity you pray to God that prosperity should not make you slack, yet it makes some people both insolent and slack in their prayer, so that your prayer in prosperity is not as speedy as it is in tribulation.\"\ninadvertently, adversity occupies so much of thy heart that thou thinkest it has none attendance or devotion like it had in prosperity. Yet, the same adversity makes thy prayer more precious. And truly, though tribulation oppresses thee so much that thou mayest not open thy mouth to cry to God, this tribulation cries and prays to God for thee. As a great cleric says, \"Peter of Lazarus had as many wounds as he had prayers or cryers to God.\" For when Lazarus stilled his mouth, his wounds cried to God for him. Wherefore the Lord said to Lazarus' sister's name, \"The voice of thy brother Abel's blood cries to me from the earth.\" Thus it shows that tribulations are more acceptable to God. Tribulations are as it were a payment for all the sweetness of delivering us. Wherefore I say, \"Who will give that I may come before thee and thou wilt give my prayer to God who began me himself.\"\nWho shall convert and loose his hand upon me, and grant that I abide, God, who began he converts me, loses his hand and lifts me up, and that it be to my comfort, that he tormenting me spares not my sorrow? Not well is it for Job, who had lost his possessions, his sons, and his daughters, and all his body, smitten with wounds from the sole of the foot to the uppermost part of the head, and was reproved by his friends and scorned by his false friends. He desired in no other thing comfort but that God should not spare him. If you ask what pertains to his delivering, it may be answered thus: for his tormentors were the payment of his debts, as it is said in some place, that when a poor man drinks in a tavern and has not wherewith to pay his score, he asks to be beaten and so desires. Where was Job's?\nComfort from Job: When he asked to be tormented, St. Gregory answers and says: / That God spares some here in this world to be tormented in the next, and some He torments here whom He will afterwards spare. / The comfort of Job was that he knew, through present afflictions, he would escape everlasting damnation. For as it is said, \"God will not punish a man twice for the same sin.\" And therefore, this same Job, who asked that it be spared from him in this world, asked in another place and said, \"Spare me, O Lord.\" Suffer patiently here in this world afflictions, For afflictions save the soul, as Job said. / He wounds and heals. / He wounds the body and heals the soul.\n\nThe eleven benefits of afflictions are that they keep and nourish the heart. / Truly, / just as fire is kept in ashes, so the hearts of the friends of God are kept in afflictions.\nTherefore the Lord God commanded, Exodus: \"That you make the tabernacle be covered with fine linen, and it shall be covered with the curtains of fine woven fabric, and God's rich vessels of gold or silver be placed against winds and rains. In token that the virtues of God's servants named men are kept in adversity of tribulation. For tribulation constrains the heart to think on the wretchedness of its own infirmity, and so it constrains a man to be meek. Whom worldly prosperity had honored above himself, also tribulation nourishes the heart as a nurse, it nourishes its child. For as the mother with the child chews hard food which the child may not chew, and draws it into her body where that food is turned into milk to nourish the child, so Christ, who in holy writ is called our mother, chewed for us bitter pains, hard words, reproaches.\nAnd scalds with bitterness of his passion that suffered for us to nourish us and strengthen us, and spiritually by his example to endure tribulations and adversities of this world. As wine that is clarified through a bag full of spices changes its own savour, drawing to itself the savour of the spice, so a man suffering tribulations and adversities of this world owes to cleanse himself by the blessed body of our Lord Jesus, considering the passion that he suffered for us. And it shall become sworn and tolerable to foresee bitter and intolerable things.\nThe twelve benefits of tribulation are that tribulation is a certain token of love that God has towards him to whom it is sent, as he said, \"I love whom I reprove and chastise.\" And so Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, \"He that loveth his son chastiseth him often.\" And Saint Jerome said,\n\"Summus Pater Ihesus Christus filios suos semper\"\n(The highest Father Jesus Christ loves his sons always)\nOur sovereign Lord Jesus keeps his children under a scourge or a rod, and when they are torn away from one, they are caught under another. But our good, gentle father and Lord senses not all his scourges at once, but one after another, knowing our frailty. For he wills that no man perish, but he wills all men to be saved. But evil men and the unkind who do not believe in him, he will punish with all his arrows of vengeance. For all torments that now depart about in the whole world, then shall be gathered together and abide as in their own place. As our Lord said, Deuteronomy xxxii: \"I will gather evil things upon evil men. I will spend all my arrows of wrath.\"\nvengaunce amon\u2223ge hem. \u00b6Therfore thou good soule yf thou wylte be beloued of god wyll thou not putte awaye trybu\u00a6lacyons. For they shewen to the tokens and wytnes of the loue of god. But perauenture yf thou sayste ye goddys chyldren taken of hym bothe good thyn\u2223ges & euyll thynges. Why is the takynge of euylle thy\u0304ges shewy\u0304ge or token of ye loue of god more tha\u0304 ye takynge of gode thy\u0304ges. To this maye be answe\u2223ryd\nthat god yeuith many gode thynges and grete to his spyrytuell frendis and bytter and gretter to / theym that he louyth more / But the blessyd fader of heuen loued wythoute comparyson more his bl\u2223essid sone oure lorde Ihesu criste than all the worl\u00a6de and yet he sente hym here many anguesshes po\u2223uertees tribulacyons aduersytees repreues and / scornynges betynges bydynges scorgynges many woundes and cruelle dethe but fewe temporell goo\u00a6dis Thenne is the yefte of aduersitee more shewin\u2223ge token of loue of god than the yefte of temporelle prosperitee / Also ferthermore oure lorde Ihesu cri\u00a6ste goddis\nA wise merchant, who lived in this world, chose good merchandise and refused the bad. When they wanted to make him king of Judea, he refused and chose instead to flee into the desert. They sought to torture and kill him, but he did not flee; instead, he chose to die and said, \"I am he whom you seek.\" If Christ were wise, why would these adversities be: many fools who despise tribulation and adversity and choose worldly prosperities that cannot deliver them from the hands of their enemies, the cruel fiends. Suffer patiently with Christ in tribulation, so that you may afterwards take the crown of life in the bliss of heaven. For truly, otherwise, you may not come to the bliss. The apostle says, \"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven.\" He brings all of us who suffered death; our Lord Jesus.\nAMEN.\n\u00b6Thus endeth this treatyse shewynge the .xii. {pro}\u00a6fytes of trybulacyon. \nEnprynted at Westmyster in Caxtons hous. By me Wynkyn the worde.\nprinter's device of Wynkyn de Worde", "creation_year": 1499, "creation_year_earliest": 1499, "creation_year_latest": 1499, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "For many tribulations must we enter into the kingdom of God. Thus says the apostle Saint Paul in the book of Acts and Deeds, that is, in English, By many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. Therefore all those who intend to come into the kingdom of heaven must patiently take temporal tribulations. For that is the way there, by the ordinance of God. And those who most patiently take their tribulations, they shall have the most consolation. For as it is written, Paul says in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, \"Like as sorrowful, so shall we be in consolation.\" That is to say, Like as we are partners in tribulations, so shall we be partners in joy and consolation. Therefore tribulation is bitter, but the end that it brings is most sweet and delightful. And remembrance of that everlasting sweetness makes faithful souls sweetly to take the matter of tribulation.\nTemporal adversity and trouble bring no profit to the reward of eternal joy unless it is patiently endured. Patience makes tribulation profitable, and the profit of temporal prosperity comes from the virtue of meekness, which little values it. The perfectly patient heart makes much of adversity. And the perfectly meek heart sets little by temporal prosperity and little rejoices in it, but rather sorrows because it feels that it does not perfectly accord with the great pleasure of God in the goods of this prosperity. If you ask me why the Lord gives these temporal goods to those whom he knows to be wretched sinners and use them evil, I answer: One reason is to show his perfect and bountiful goodness, which gives good things not only to the good but also to the wretched sinners. And to give us an example to follow him in doing good for evil, as he commands in the Gospel of Matthew.\nLove your enemies, say he, and do good to those who do evil to you. Pray for those who persecute you and speak evil of you. For in doing so you will know that you are perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. This is a great comfort in bearing tribulation. For if we will, for the love of God, break our one hard heart and win the love of God and love those who trouble us and pray for them and do good against evil, we have one of the greatest tokens that we are perfect in the sight of God as his own children and followers, which thing if we will remember is most joyful to us.\nAlso it makes us more patient if we duly remember the goods that we have received from God/the goods of nature/as wit/eloquence/the seemliness of body/health/beauty & goods of fortune/as gold/silver/clothes/livelihood and how we have misspent them sinfully/& how patiently he has suffered us long time to abide in sin to the intent that finally remembering his goodness/his patience & long suffering, we should turn to him. Our Lord gave good things/as health/riches/prosperity to evil men & women/remembering his kindness they should be the more moved to penance & sorrowness when they see they have often offended so kind a Lord who so gently calls them from his great goodness.\nAnd he frequently sends tribulation to good people who are not perfectly good, for they do not take it thankfully. But sometimes they grudge under the rod of chastisement, therefore he keeps them still under the rod until they are accustomed to it patiently. In this way, through his kindness, he brings evil people to penance, and through his sharpness, he brings good people to patience. He also gives prosperity and goods of this world to good men and women to nourish and cherish them in his love, like a father tells the child to follow him by a fair appeal. He sends tribulation to evil people to make them fear him. And thus, the good people he brings to love through worldly prosperity. And evil people he brings to fear through adversity.\nOne reason why our lord wants good people to have adversity and tribulation is this: because evil people shall not think that tribulation is so evil that our lord accepts it not or loves them who hate it. They see the contrary: those who are most in virtue have the most tribulation. Our savior, who never sinned, had the bitterest pain and trouble. Similarly, in these days, such people as our lord loves best, he sends most sorrow in their heart and most pain or labor in the body. With this, they grumble at first, but finally they are taught to bear it sweetly and to give thanks to our lord for it. Through tribulation, our lord delivers them from great sin and brings them to great grace in this world, and orders for them plentifully the pleasure perpetually and glory of the life to come.\nHe gives also the goods of this life to such as are wretched and sinful liviers after their own will and not after the will and law of God, because good men and women shall not set their heart to much on these goods which they see that wretched people have with the hatred of God, but that they shall love those goods most which have none but such as are good and are specifically beloved of our Lord. And these are the goods of virtue which bring us to the habondance richesse of the real empyre of heaven.\nThe good souls set little value on the transitory prosperity of this world, preferring occasion for vice over virtue, and they see that they are given only the means to dispose and that they have no lordship in themselves but only use, and they shall be strictly examined and give account of how they have used them. By the rightful judgment of God, they shall have great punishment in this life or after this life for every thing they mispent. Therefore, these faithful souls have more fear than favor, more pain than pleasure in great possession of worldly goods, they are not inflated nor exalted in themselves by pride in prosperity.\nFor among great possession of worldly and bodily goods they find themselves right poor in spiritual goods. Therefore, if worldly prosperity, riches, and honors are taken from them, they are not cast down by sorrow, for they know that our Lord has lent it to them only as long as it pleases him. When worldly goods go, they think it is of his ordinance which orders everything to the best for souls willing to live according to his will with an obedient heart. These know that it is for the best that he takes them away and therefore they bless him. Therefore, loss of worldly prosperity troubled little the souls of good people. The sinful people think they are very lords of temporal goods, and that they may spend them according to their own pleasure, having little regard or none for the will of God.\nAnd in these goods they found their greatest felicity and pleasure, where they were high and proud in possession of these, and in loss of them they were cast down into great sorrow and pain. The more sorrow they had in loss of them, the more corrupt and vicious love they had in having of them.\nOur lord also gives worldly goods to sinful people, for if he were to strike every sinful man and woman with the stroke of sharp tribulation as soon as they had sinned, then they would think that all sins were punished in this life, and that there was no punishment for sin ordained after this life. Therefore, our lord suffers many one to live in this life according to their pleasure, and to multiply sin at their pleasure, and to his great displeasure, having no punishment in this world because we shall understand that it is reserved for the other world. For God is so righteous that he leaves no sin unpunished. Therefore, tribulation is good for them that have tribulation in this life, for it is little or nothing in comparison to that.\nSome sinners in this life have great trouble and punishment, and especially those commonly known as wretched living. One reason is that others are afraid to follow their example of living, and another is that we may see in this life that God takes great displeasure with the life of such wretched people. If He should punish no sin in this life, it would seem that He little values the life of man or pays no attention to it. Also, if He would give no temporal goods to those who ask them of Him, it would seem that they were not in His power.\nAnd if he should give temporal goods to each one who asks them, understanding that they are so greatly desired in this life, the people would rather serve him for goods of this life than for goods of the life to come. Therefore, to some he gives prosperity, and to some he gives adversity. Wherefore, those who ask for temporal prosperity and receive it from our Lord, they may see that he can give it. But if they set their heart more on it than on the prosperous life to come, they shall never after this life have prosperity but perpetual tribulation and adversity. Also, those who love God and virtue and have pain and adversity in this life, our Lord has ordained in the life to come to have great prosperity.\nAnd such as see that should be blinded by temporal prosperity, he sends them temporal adversity, because they should little make of this life where as they suffer great tribulation, and make more of that life whereby they shall receive the great prosperity and flourishing felicity that never shall fade by adversity, but ever be a like freshness without end in eternity. Thus, whoever will have that prosperity, they must take patiently and thankfully this adversity. For the profit of pain and tribulation is in the manner of well taking thereof. The good thief and the evil thief, who were crucified with our savior, suffered one manner of pain, but the good thief took it faithfully and patiently and therefore it brought him to paradise. The evil thief took it not faithfully nor patiently and therefore it brought him no profit to deliver him from sin and to procure grace to bring him to glory.\nOften, the pains that various people endure are similar in nature, but the manner in which they are experienced is not. Therefore, one person is purged by pain and thanks God for it, while another grumbles and forgets God. The pain that they undergo for their purgatory is due to all manner of sin, and all pain comes from God for the greater profit of those who desire to love Him more than all the wisdom of mortal man can tell. The wicked man or woman grumbles with God and thinks little of the profit He has ordained for them through pain and tribulation.\n\nThere is no temporal pain that any suffering soul endures in this life that they do not deserve, both for the offenses they commit against themselves and against their neighbors.\nThere is no man nor woman who lives so innocently and so virtuously in this life but they often do not act rightly and reasonably, but according to the evil desire of their flesh. Notwithstanding, by special grace of our Lord, there are full many who live long lives without deadly sins and do no great wicked deeds. For which wicked deeds and for the punishment of it, which our Lord fulfills with great battery, pestilence, and great hunger, and many great tribulations, and yet they cannot excuse themselves but they do many venial sins which deserve more punishment of the rigor of righteousness than any that is felt in this life. And if it were so that any man or woman lived without sin of themselves, yet they live not without sin in daily confrontation with their neighbors, for with their neighbors they do not always live as they should, inciting them to virtue by words and example.\nWhen they hear or see others offend, they do not correct them as they should, out of brotherly charity. At times they will not study how to correct their neighbor. And sometimes they are ashamed to speak to them, fearing they would be rebuked again or for covetousness, fearing that speaking would displease and cause them to lose what they desire or lose even more. Nevertheless, not every man is bound to correct others when he sees them offend, for perhaps if he speaks openly to him among many, he may make him worse than before. Therefore, if his mind gives him the opportunity to profit more at another time, he should wait until that time when he thinks he would profit more.\nEvery man who sees his neighbor often in a state of need and believes he might reform him through speech, is bound to speak to his reform. And because they do not do so, they live virtuously to themselves, yet they deserve pain and tribulation according to the righteousness of Almighty God. Therefore, every man ought patiently to endure tribulation for the profit that grows from it and for the special help that the soul has from it. For the sinful soul is reformed and restored to the love of God through the well-taken tribulation. And for this reason, the prophet David says, \"Give us help against tribulation.\"\nLord help us through tribulation; he says not to give us tribulation, but to give us help through tribulation. As no man will desire a bitter drink but for the help that he may have thereby, if he trusts that he may have his bodily life thereby, he will right gladly drink it, however bitter, rather than he should bodily die. Likewise, a sinful soul that has deserved every bitter death should be right glad to drink a sharp draught of tribulation to be delivered thereby from the endless pain of everlasting death.\nTo wise people who order their lives primarily to God, tribulation brings great profit. To wise people of the world who put their most pleasure in this world and little remember the life to come, tribulation brings great hurt, for it is so contrary to their will that the Lord sends to correct and improve them. By disobedience to this temporal tribulation, they deserve to have everlasting tribulation. Every man may have great help and profit from tribulation if he will. And God will grant it sooner if he remembers how precious the virtue of patience is in God's sight and how profitable it is to the soul, without which no virtue pleases God or profits. One should not consider any bodily loss as great as the loss of patience, which one loses if one does not take tribulation easily.\nAnd learn to comfort yourself within, when you feel yourself discomforted outside, for if you take patience and endure things done against your will, you gain more riches inwardly in your soul than is possible for you to lose outwardly. And of all joy that is the most precious and acceptable to God, which grows from tribulation and is one of the most joyful things you can have, none may have but those who know the fruit and profit of tribulation, which you can learn in part by reading this treatise on tribulation, and especially if you impress the sentences of it in your mind. For just as ill-chewed food profits little, so light reading with little attention to the sentences profits little the soul.\n\nThere are twenty fruits that come from tribulation well taken.\nThe first is that tribulation, taken as the work of our Lord for the reconstruction of the soul, keeps the good soul in the state of grace from the hands of its enemies, and rescues and delivers the evil soul from its enemies.\nThese enemies, pressed and discontent by tribulation, are false joys of this world and deceptive prosperities of fleshly pleasure, taking captives the hearts of me and women without disciple and knowledge of virtuous living, leading them to battle against these fleshly pleasures. They are so deceptive for they show as friends and they are enemies, showing they would bring great pleasure but ultimately bringing great pain, sorrow, and destruction. These are the enemies that fools of this life desire to be conversant with, taking them not as enemies but as true friends and helpers. They make so fair a containance and pretense of favor, yet they intend to kill and destroy, as Joab captain did to the people of King David, taking Amas by the chin and laughing at him as if he were his friend, lest he suspect, and with his other hand thrust him into the belly with a dagger.\nWhen a man has worldly prosperity, laughing at him with all things to his pleasure, he stands in the greatest jeopardy of losing the love of God, which is very life to the soul. For he will be drawn to many vices. Therefore, prosperity is more to be feared than adversity, which deceitfully tempts, like an enemy who hurts secretly by deceit is more to be feared than he who assails openly. Troublesome situations are not only in the loss of goods, loss of friends, loss of health, loss of liberty, but they are also in the loss of tranquility and peace of mind, which a soul has that is in great temptation and battle against the world, the flesh, or the devil. Of all troubles, it is most when a soul is troubled to do a thing contrary to the pleasure of God, whom it desires above all things to please.\nTrybulations are not only sent from God to those who intend to serve and please Him, but He Himself leads the host of trybulations as captain and marshal of the east to order them wisely, so that they may be to the succor and rescue of His friends. And so he says through the prophet: \"Cu\u0304u, seek almighty God's help in your trybulations and abide with Him to help you when the trybulations assail you with heartfelt desire to be in His presence, beseeching Him for grace to take it upon yourself, so that He may be pleased with you and you to have special help against your adversaries through the good taking of trybulations. But beware, lest you say here:\"\n\"I feel the presence of tribulation but do not feel the comfort of my Lord God in it, for if He gave me joy in my heart by His presence as tribulation gives me bitterness, I would be content to endure it and willingly receive it. Also, another thing grieves me greatly before tribulation came, and things contrary to my will gave me more feeling for God and more pleasure, as it seems to me, than in the time of tribulation. How is it that in tribulation He is nearer to me and I feel Him less? For a solution to this doubt, you shall understand that you have the presence of God wherever you are, for His divinity fills heaven and earth, as He says through the prophet Jeremiah. Sky and earth I fill with praise.\"\nWherefore you ought to be right well aware in every corner what you do or what you say, for you have your Judge present who will condemn or save you. Specifically, he is present with you when you are in his grace and grow in virtue. As one who feels that by great temptation and tribulation you set less by worldly vanity and by your life, and give more to prayers, fasting, watching, alms-giving, doing good deeds, pilgrimage going to prepare for the reading of good books of virtue, of holy meditations, to have your mind more contained to God with the will to serve him better, what you feel these profits grow in you more than you feel our Lord's grace grows spiritually. These profits our Lord makes by temptation and tribulation, as Saint Paul says.\nBe you the child of salvation, you shall be the elect and chosen child of God, whatever happens to you shall have wellbeing therefrom, notwithstanding that you do deadly sin; yet our Lord shall work wonders upon you. As the apostle says, \"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.\" They set less by dignity and worldly worship, for they think themselves worthy to have no worship but rather great shame and rebuke. They set less by rich reputation and clothing. They set less by costly and delicate feeding of the body, for they think they have deserved rather bodily pain than pleasure. Also, seeing how they were brought to sin, they are more wise to avoid such occasions thereafter. Also, they love God more that after they fall, He takes them to grace again, and of true love they fear more to offend Him.\nAnd many who fall into sin come to more grace than some who have not fallen in such a way as Mary Magdalene. In heaven above, those who keep their virginity continually may have this grace and much more, for it is not in themselves but in God. And yet many come to such grace after great sin. Those who continue in innocence may win this grace and even more, for they occupy the time that the others were wretchedly occupied by sin. Our Lord is consoled and comforted by our trials, and He sends comfort during times of tribulation. Many a soul is lost without counsel and comfort from man, which our Lord of His great mercy suddenly bestows, making them think that the trouble is gone from them. The apostle says, \"As sufferings abound in us, so does Christ's consolation.\"\n\"such pain as Christ bore in us, abundantly consoles and comforts us, and those who have sinned, when they have the grace to repent and weep for their sins, receive a spiritual joy from Him, which grants them the grace to be sorry for their sins. As Augustine says, 'the sinner sorrows for sin, and in his sorrow finds joy.' Every soul that contains virtuous living ought to be content, even if it feels no great spiritual sweetness. Our Lord sends it to those He sees are weak and unable to bear great labor and temptations, and by it He comforts them, as a child is nourished by milk. But those whom He may wish to grow in grace and virtue, He sends testing and tribulations, as Saint Paul says, 'Perfect love casts out fear,' because He wills to keep them humble, lest they become too proud.\"\nAnd yet to some he loves specifically, he sends great sweetness in spiritual feeling of him, and by wonderful revelations. And often times more for the profit and to quicken others to his service and faith, who knew not such wonderful workings, than for the profit of themselves. But after this life he will make openly known to all the world every deed of virtue. And what great temptations they have endured for the love of him. He lets not the troubled soul always nor often feel his presence by spiritual sweetness, because he will keep it low and in fear / for the more lowly that a soul makes itself / and the less that it sets by itself and thinks that it is so wretched that it is not worthy to have any spiritual comfort from God / the more our Lord makes of it / and the more glory and joy is ordered for it. For as he says, \"Omnis qui se humiliat exaltabitur\" / \"Every person that humbles himself shall be exalted.\"\nAnd many a soul grows in virtue and little perceives it as by any ghostly sweetness. But he who might taste a little of the perfect delight to which he shall be brought by tribulation, if he takes it well, should not complain but rejoice in tribulation. As St. Paul says? \"Let us rejoice in tribulation, for tribulation produces patience, and patience produces character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.\"\nThe great comfort comes not from God at such a time as the soul is not prepared for it, and the caretakers who provide this lodging are trials, as it is written in the book of Tobit. After sorrow and weeping, infuse joy. If you have great labors and busyness with these caretakers, consider it well spent, for they will reward you one day. Great trials make room for great joys; it is decreed and determined by the great wisdom of God that first He will come to His dear children with trials to deliver them from the false joys of this world, and afterward He will dwell with them in true joy where they will have no need of trials to exclude false joy. But before He comes with true joy, He will make the heart, through trials and temptations, set nothing by all the false joys of this world.\nWhen trials have passed and have consecrated a place through patience and humility, joy follows. But perhaps you complain and say, \"Sir, it is long before this consolation comes.\" This is the complaint of lovers: whatever is greatly beloved, the delay of it is painful. And even if it is not sharply hastened, it is still thought to be long in coming. As Solomon says, \"Hope deferred makes the soul sick.\" When a man has hope to have a thing he loves, the delay of it is bitter to the soul. Also, perhaps you will agree with me on this.\nI am surprised that wretched men and women, who set their heart and pleasure in wretched living and spend their time not profitably but occupy themselves with sins and vanities of this world, though they have tribulation and see tribulation is profitable to those who have fallen into the hands of their enemies, as these are to draw them from their sins and wretched living. But to those who live holy lives and do no great sin, I am surprised why these have great tribulation, for they do not fall so into the hands of their enemies as the others do. I answer that our Lord delivered from the false joys of this world both sinners and also the innocent ones who should have been taken with them, except His grace prevented them through tribulation and temptation, and preserved them from these false sinful joys. Also, in another way, our Lord rescues His enemies and in another way His friends. For He rescues His enemies from tribulation, delivering them when they are taken by their enemies.\nBut his friends he delivers, sending them help through tribulations, so that they do not fall into the hands of their enemies. And both are held in high regard and give thanks to God, the sinful ones who, through patience and great tribulation, are drawn from sin to virtuous living and little swayed by all the false worldly joy. And also the innocent one, who is preserved by temptation and tribulation, never blinded and deceived by that joy. Thus, no man or woman may think that they are out of the love of our Lord through tribulation, but rather think that they are especially beloved by Him, who sends them tribulation to keep or to deliver them from false, deceivable pleasures of this world and from the inordinate and foul delights of the flesh. These pleasures are called false, for they are very sweet at the beginning but end in great bitterness and sorrow. As Solomon says, \"Extreme joy is short-lived.\" The end of worldly joy is occupied with weeping and sorrow.\nA wise, gracious man and woman beware of this false worldly joy, lest it bring you great sorrow thereby. You see it is but little and after it shall follow sorrow of inestimable greatness. It is but short but it has a long tail of sorrow that never shall have an end. It is no true joy for it is mixed with sorrow. As Solomon says, \"Joy is mingled with sorrow.\" The laughing joy of this world is mixed with many matters of sorrows. Those whom you think have most worldly joys have much sorrow, trouble, and labor with them. They are bitter to a perfect heart, feeling them once would never have them again if it might have them perpetually. They go fast away but the sorrow that follows upon them shall ever abide.\nA this is a false joy where is so little pleasure and so great pain, and it goes so swiftly away, never to return again. Therefore, I exhort you all who would have the love of our Lord and continue a virtuous life, to welcome tribulations as your defenders from your great enemies. These tribulations are sent from our Lord as His knights to defend you. And think that your expenses made in them will stand you in great service. And if you cannot heartily welcome these soldiers of our Lord, yet do not chide with them nor harbor malice against them. For if you fight with them, you fight with your friends, and that is a perilous battle where a man puts no difference between his friend and his enemy. The joys of this world I say are enemies to the soul and bring it to sin and perdition.\nTroubles of this world, sickness, and pay are enemies to the soul, as they draw it from sin. If you hate your friends and love your enemies, you see what jeopardy you stand in. Therefore, welcome my friend, tribulation, and flee earthly joy.\n\nThe second consolation and fruit in tribulation is to remember how the heart is closed up from vanities, which stops the ears of the soul so that it may not hear the callings and motions of temptation, as those do who feel no tribulations. For in such hearts that flourish in prosperity, the vain pleasure of the world keeps their pearl at liberty. And those hearts give attendance and apply themselves to apply how they may attend to the desires of worldly pleasures in making of goodly bills and of goodly fashions of clothes and to be well accompanied with goodly servants.\nAnd to acquire treasure, called rich, and come to honor and dignity, and be much esteemed, and be fair in face and goodly in body. These vain and transitory pleasures so replenish and fulfill the soul with such allurements that in manner it forgets itself, both in time of prayer and when it should be virtuously occupied. It is so accustomed to attend and heed the speakings of these deceitful pleasures that in manner it has no pleasure in things profitable to the pleasure of God and the perpetual weal of the soul. But when tribulation comes, all this vain speech ceases, as the allurements of vain pleasures are withdrawn. This is figured and signified in the book of Job where it is said the time that he was in great tribulation. \u00b6 No one spoke to him, for they saw indeed the depth of his sorrow. \u00b6 The friends that came to Job when they saw him have such great pain and tribulation spoke no word to him.\nBy these friends are signified the temptations of prosperity which make pretense by the pleasant semblance and allurement they show to the soul that they were very friends, but they are veritable traitors. For they cease not until they have brought the soul to much sorrow often in this world. And if there follows no sorrow and penance in this world, there follows damnation with perpetual pain and torment after this world in hell with the devils which most labor to make the hearts most to love the temporal prosperity of this life / and the world and the flesh help the devil to make the soul to set the love in the prosperity of this life which should be fixed on the felicity of the everlasting life, for all the time it shall abide here is granted it to learn to set little by the vain joys and pleasures of this life. For by the ordinance of God, the less it sets by the joys of this world, the more it shall have of those most excellent and eternal joys in heaven.\nWhat our lord, in his special grace, commands trybulacon. These joys are slighted and therefore they dare not speak lest they should be forsaken forever. And therefore, in this time, they go away astonished and ashamed. Thus, trybulacy, of great authority, stops the mouth of vain pleasures of the world. Then lechery alone dares not speak, for her speech in that time is nothing set by. Likewise, gluttony and pride, for at that time the heart delights not in delightful food and drink nor in fresh clothes. Then the eyes of the soul, which were blinded by prosperity, cannot see themselves nor God. Now they are opened and can discern that all is but wretchedness in this world, and that there is no true love but the love of God and virtue. And then it calls upon him for help and makes many a good purpose and promise to amend life and to do things to his pleasure.\nYou shall understand that whatever temptations speak in your soul, whether through thoughts or imaginations contrary to the soul, which sometimes seem abominable and shameful, fear nothing as long as you do not consent to them by saying \"yes\" through disagreement. For as long as you consent not to your thoughts, they will be nothing to you in the decrease of your merit. This is figured in the books of the kings, where King Jehoshaphat commanded the people of Jerusalem who stood upon the walls of the city that they should not answer to the blasphemous speakings of Rapsaces, who was marshal of the east of Cygneas, and said siege to the city. But peradventure you will say to me, sir, how shall I know that I do not consent to my thoughts. To this I answer, one sign is that you would have them away.\nAn other is what you feel: a remorse, a sorrow, and a displeasure growing in your heart from such thoughts. For this sorrow comes from a source that you cannot find in yourself to pray to God to take them away, for despite that they do not hurt you yet, they trouble greatly, abash and stony an Innocent soul. And as for thoughts contrary to the faith, fear them not as long as your will is to believe, for the faith of the church is your faith, and after that you shall be taken, not after your running mind. Thus then tribulation puts to silence the great temptations of this world, that they dare not come near the troubled soul, and opens the eyes thereof that it may see itself and God, and that worldly prosperity is but misery, and makes the soul cry to God and keeps Him in mind. I counsel you to make much of adversity when it comes and thank God for it.\nFor he sends you ever comfort and more than you can think of, and for other reasons than your mind is able to know, except you hasten it by revelation of him.\n\nThe third consolation and comfort in tribulation is to remember the profit of tribulation in purging the soul from sin and wretchedness. There are five manners of purgations which are remembered in scripture. One is of the body by medicinal drink or by letting of blood, and that is another by striking of the vein or crushing or cutting of the flesh. The second is purging of metals, and that is another with the fiery kind, as gold is purged, or by smelting, like iron is purged. The third is purging of vines and thorns when the superfluous branches are cut away with a knife or with a saw. The fourth is the purging of the corn from the husk with the chaff. The fifth is the purging of wine, which is purged with the pressure.\nFor the first purgation which is made by drink, I say our Lord gives to you this drink of tribulation to purge thy heart from corrupt humors of worldly and fleshly love, for like the bitter medicinal drink purges the body, likewise tribulation purges the heart. Therefore, dear soul, I pray thee heartily and with joy in God in hope of thine endless salvation. This drink of tribulation which this sovereign physician gives thee. And knowest thou best thine complexion and infirmity, and what drink is most profitable to thee. And this gentle physician for to comfort thee in thy drinking, and for to show to thee that he gives thee nothing but what is profitable. He has begun and drunk of this drink by his most painful and bitter passion. He drank to thee the most bitterest part of this drink, for his pains were the sharpest, as it is written in the book of Lamentations. \"Understand if you cannot bear sorrow as my sorrow.\"\nSee you say he endures only pain like mine, it exceeds your power to drink such a bitter draught as he began to. And standing that he is your father and your maker, who gives this drink to you and has so heartily begun it himself, you may well think that this drink is very profitable to you. And you, O world, say that if the king of love were to give it to his servant, it would be a vile deed for this servant to cast the cup down when the king offered it to him. Likewise, whoever Almighty God gives chastisement by tribulation, and you would not take it but with a froward heart, that is in casting it away, so much your deed is more vile and offensive. And this king exceeds all other kings in his love, and his love passes all other love. And if you take it heartily from his hand, it is the more meritorious to you, and to his great honor and pleasure.\nI counsel you, when he offers you the cup, to drink it heartily, if it were the bitter draught of death that he gave you, for he has drunk that bitter draught himself for you, who had no power to purge himself. Therefore, you, who are full of many unclean humors and spiritual corruption, ought to drink this drink heartily as you love your salvation, for which this drink is sent to you. And do not cast it down, as Solomon counsels, for he says, \"Fear discipline, do not despise chastisement.\" \"Childe cast not away the discipline of the rod which the Lord gives you.\" \"He that casts away chastisement is unhappy.\" This bitter drink our Lord gives to all his friends to whom he has ordained the sweet drink of his glory after this life. Of this drink, he spoke to St. James and to St. John, when he said, \"Can you drink the cup that I shall drink?\"\nAll the martyrs have drunk this drink. Confessors and holy men and women who now possess the endless and joyful kingdom of heaven. Therefore says the prophet: \"I shall drink the health-giving drink, and if it is so bitter that your stomach cannot bear it all, then call upon our Lord who makes and gives this drink, that He will give you the power and temper your stomach and appetite earnestly to take it.\" Therefore it follows in the prophet: \"And I will call upon the name of my Lord God.\" Many there are who in the beginning drink this drink with good instruction, but with little containment they become wonderfully weary of it, to such an extent I say, as the physicians do.\n\"Steadfastly steal up this [drink], do not lose your health for this little part, but drink it swiftly and every sip, thinking it is the most profitable drink you have ever drunk. In drinking it, you drink your health; let it not linger in your mouth but hastily let it go down, for else its working, as if a man were to chew the pills of Cassia which are given to him, they would little profit him. He chews and breaks the pills which grind in the teeth. For the humors are so hard and undigested that the medicine purged not nature from them. Likewise, our Lord sends tribulation, but the heart is hard without patience and meekness, that nothing profits it. Like the tribulation that our Lord sent to Pharaoh, nothing profited him, for the more trouble he had, the more proud, provoked, and envious he became; and so this thing which is given to the heart as medicine from our Lord, the evil taking of it turns it into poison.\"\nAnother purgation of the body is by letting out blood, and one manner is to let out the blood by the vein, for like as the evil blood corrupts the good blood, likewise it is to say, from sins. And the Lord said to the people of Israel through the prophet, \"Turn away your eyes from you, for your hands are full of blood. I will turn my face from you, for your hands are full of sin, you evil blood of the heart, that is, sin and evil motions, ought to be put away, and the good blood, it is the good motions, ought to be kept still for the nourishment of the heart.\nAnd like as he is a fool who would have all his good blood let out and all the evil kept, so he is a greater fool who shows outwardly his good deeds by hypocrisy to gain vain praise, and keeps his evil deeds hidden especially when he should reveal them by confession. Therefore, whoever wishes trial and tribulation to be patiently endured, let them keep their soul clean by confession. For there is no pain that will be rewarded in heaven except for the sufferer being in the state of grace. Yet it is good for a person not acknowledging they are in deadly sin to take pain, for they may rise to grace more quickly and their contrition may be so great that they may deserve to have grace before they come to confession. Nevertheless, though the contrition may be as much as a person may have for sin and we will to be confessed, they are still bound after to be confessed of it once a year or else they sin mortally again.\nConfession troubles many a soul. Some have great pain to confess their shameful sins and some think they never confess them plainly enough. Additionally, there is the pain of contradiction and satisfaction that the true penitent may experience, which can also be considered troublesome. Another means to alleviate this is through confession by speaking or boxing, and the number of confessions or strokes corresponds to the number of troubles one has. However, just as the flesh should be inflamed with fire before being put in the glass vessel, the less the stroke of confession will hurt if the flesh has been prepared with the heat beforehand. Therefore, if the heart is inflamed with the fire of God's love, it will feel less pain from the stroke of penance.\nFor if the heart has the love of God, it is content with His workings, which in this world send trials to all those who loved Him and die with Him in the other world to have the great consolation, without this fire of love in a disobedient heart, the strokes of trials they are extremely grievous and full of anguish and pain. For as St. Augustine says, \"All things which are great and mighty, love makes light and easy to bear.\"\n\nOur Lord enflamed the hearts of His apostles before they suffered great persecution and tribulation in preaching the faith. He sent to them the Holy Ghost, the spirit of love, in symbol of fire, signifying that He had kindled the fire of love in their hearts.\nSaint Peter, before his heart was stirred with this love he could not bring himself to utter the word of a woman who called him one of Christ's disciples. But after he had received the spirit of love, he was glad to be called so and glad to suffer his flesh to be marked and wounded on the cross for the great love he had for our Savior Christ. This love made him so patient that not only bitter words were sweet to him but also bitter strokes. The great love and desire he had to be with Christ made him glad to endure tribulations, which he knew was the way to come to Christ. Another purgation is of metal, as gold is purified in the fire and made purer and brighter, and is separated from other metal. In this fire were the martyrs and confessors tried and purified, as it is written in the Book of Wisdom. Therefore, aurnus in fornace probat electos dominus. (Saint Peter, before his heart was moved with this love he could not bring himself to utter the word of a woman who called him one of Christ's disciples. But after he had received the spirit of love, he was glad to be called so and glad to suffer his flesh to be marked and wounded on the cross for the great love he had for our Savior Christ. This love made him so patient that not only bitter words were sweet to him but also bitter strokes. The great love and desire he had to be with Christ made him glad to endure tribulations, which he knew was the way to come to Christ. Another purgation is of metal, as gold is purified in the fire and made purer and brighter, and is separated from other metal. In this fire were the martyrs and confessors tried and purified, as it is written in the Book of Wisdom: \"Aurnus in fornace probat electos dominus\" (therefore, the elect are tested in the furnace by the Lord).)\nGod has refined his elect children through trials, just as gold is refined by fire. Understand that, like gold is the most precious but least abundant in power, no gold can be properly refined without lead. For the lead, molten with the gold, draws all the matter of corruption from the gold. Thus, the good people, who are likened to gold, are purged by the evil people, who are likened to lead. For by great injuries and wrongs they do to the good people in word and deed, they purge them from sin, as they take all the wrongs done to them well, and in their good taking of them, they think they deserve such trouble and even more, and thank God who sends them this purgatory in this life. They grow in grace and in the great favor of our Lord. And the wretched people who wrongfully trouble them, with a malicious intent, grow in the indignation of our Lord and indebted to the great pain which they shall pay after this mortal life.\nThus, by tyrants' persecutions, were the martyrs crowned. Another way tribulation purges the heart, like frothy scouring the iron and like the knife which lies and is not occupied, roars and like the sword which is not drawn out of the scabbard. So men and women who rest in the pleasures of this life and are not frothy with sharp tribulation, they lose the brightness of their soul and wax rosy with sin. And their souls are as abominable in God's sight as their bodies are pleasing in man's sight. Therefore, thou that art a faithful soul and seest that thou mayest not have thy pleasures in this world and in the life to come also, grumble not greatly if our Lord scours thy habitation with tribulation and makes thee a bright sword to strike the demons by holy living and willing acceptance of tribulation.\nFor more pain thou canst not do to the devil than to take pains promptly, for then he is confused when he cannot bring thee to Inpacitye, our Lord scourges thee to make thee know thyself and to set little by thyself, and to know him and make much of him, who by temporal tribulation shall deliver thee from all tribulation eternal and bring thee to perpetual consolation. An other purging is as the gardener purges the vine and other weeds by cutting away superfluous branches. Of this purging speaks our Savior where he says, \"Every palm tree bearing fruit will purge it.\" My father shall purge every branch which is planted in me by faith and brings forth no fruit of virtuous life. By this vine is understood the heart of man which is filled with the humors of holy love of God and of virtue and brings great fruit to the comfort of many, like as the humor in the vine makes it bring forth fruit.\nAnd like as the humor when it is superfluous and more than needed, it speeds to much in branches without fruit, So likewise when the superfluous love abounds in men's hearts of worldly vanities and fleshly pleasures, it withdraws the fruit of spiritual living. Marvel not then, the wise gardener will cut away the superfluous branches which let the tree bear no fruit, if the Lord God, who has taken care of your heart, cuts from you with the sharp knife of tribulation all those things which you love in vain or shrewdly, which let in it the spiritual fruit of virtue, and make your loves to continue in their proper bounds in your heart, and of such things as are profitable for your salvation. For he will not have your heart be too far drawn from him, nor it spread by foreign and unprofitable branches of vain and worldly things.\nAn other manner of purgation is like the corn is purged from the straw and the chaff by the stroke of the flail. And just as the stroke of the flail purges the corn, so the stroke of tribulation purges the heart. And just as the corn is made to depart from the straw, so the heart is made to depart from the great love of this world, which should steal the heart from God were it not for the stroke of tribulation. This consideration says the prophet: \"Behold I am ready to the flail.\" To this holy prophet, purposed with a glad heart, I say: Thou that wilt have the grain and corn of thine heart purged, do not play the fool with the stroke of tribulation; for thou canst not be put in the garner of heaven, there none shall be put but such corn as is purged with the flail of the Lord.\nAnd like the corn is green and not well dried, it bursts under the husk and clings faster to the chafe. Similarly, the hearts which are full of moisture of fleshly pleasure and carnal affections burst under the influence and then the charge of sin clings faster. Another way, tribulations purge the heart like pressure purges wine. For just as the pressure which presses separates the resins makes the wine depart from the foul gross matter of the dregs, similarly, temptations, persecutions, and tribulations of this life purge thee from the foul lusts and inordinate affections of this life. Therefore, do not refuse the pressure if you will be laid into the cauldron. Thus, the holy martyrs left their bodies in the pressure and torments, and the soul, as precious wine, was toned into the cauldron of perpetual life.\nThe fourth consolation in times of tribulation is to remember the profit of coming to one who a man or woman is brought, for of all arts, the most necessary art is for a man to know himself and his lord God. If he knows himself well, he shall know a wretch and a sinful soul, which has great need of the help of our Lord. If he knows himself well, he shall thereby come to the knowledge of our Lord. For his mind shall then be so much upon him that he shall thirst much for knowledge from himself. To this knowledge a man is brought by tribulation, for thereby he shall be made to steady himself by the world and little by himself, and the less he sets by himself, the more clearly he shall see his own defects and the more perfectly know the goodness of God, and after that, the more he shall love Him.\nFor Saint Austen says,\nThe city of God, that is to say, an holy soul in whom the Lord dwells by grace begins with the contempt and despising of oneself and ends at the love of God. And therefore Solomon says, \"Correction and wisdom that God gave.\" The rod and correction bring the soul to wisdom. The young child, when first put to learning, is moved by the frivolous and unstable disposition of the body, which is inclined to have the eyes turned from the book and to want only to look at the walls and rather to pick at straws and to chatter to his fellows than to learn the lesson to his great profit. But when the master lifts the rod to strike him, then he looks up to him and says he will amend and is sorry that he labored not better at his lesson. Likewise, the frail soul looks down to earthly things and vanities of this life, such as riches, honors, beauty of body, good appearance in clothes, and the speaking of such things most delights it.\nBut when the great master, almighty God, lifts up the rod of tribulation, great trouble is likely to fall upon him. Then, with uplifted eyes, he cries for mercy for wasting time and promises to amend. And with great contrition at last, he is brought to the book and learns the lesson. Thus, prosperity closes the eyes of the soul to God, and the rod of adversity opens them and makes them know Him. Therefore, says the prophet, \"God is known in making judgments of punishment and pain, and thus many a soul to whom He sends pain and tribulation in this mortal life, He preserves them from everlasting damnation.\" Therefore, says the apostle, \"When we are judged by God through temporal pain for secret causes that we know not, but His wisdom knows which sends pain to no man or woman but for great cause.\"\nWhen we are punished, we are corrected because we will not be damned with this world, that is, with worldly people who set their hearts on the felicity and pleasures of this world so greatly, to the point that they little remember or desire the pleasure that is ordered with God for the holy souls who despise this worldly felicity. A great many there are who have little or no worldly tribulation; for much sorrow is ordained for them in the coming time and sorrow perpetual, except for the great mercy of God. For there is none who lives so Innocently in this life but they deserve great payment both for the commission of things which they ought to do and do not, and for the commission of things which they should not do and yet do them.\nIf the soul has no punishment in this life, great punishment is ordained for it after this life, and the lack of punishment makes the soul forget itself and God, as is said before, and as is recounted in the Book of Daniel concerning Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyria. He was so drawn away by worldly prosperity from the knowledge of God that our Lord, to the knowledge of Nebuchadnezzar and to the sight of men, changed him into the likeness of an ox. For seven years he was among the beasts. But after this great punishment, he lifted up his eyes to heaven with the sight of his soul asking for mercy from God. And after he was restored to his own form and dignity which he had before. By spiritual understanding, those people lift up their eyes to heaven who have their meditations on God and order their love to him and know him as their sovereign Lord from whom all their weakness and grace descend to produce virtuous living.\nFor just as all floods come from the sea, so all grace and blessings come from God, and just as they return to the sea, we ought to refer and order them all to him, not primarily to our pleasure, as the prophet says. \"Quod de manu tua accepimus hoc reddimus tibi.\" \"That which we have taken from your hand, we give to you.\" Such gifts that we receive from our Lord, if we spend them in the works of virtue and give them to the poor in his name, then we give them to him again, as he himself says. \"Quicquid fecistis uni ex minimis meis in nobis meis.\" \"Whatever you did to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.\" Therefore, those who refer and give the goods that they receive from our Lord to him continue the floods of grace. For he is so liberal that he cannot but give back such things that he knows are most expedient for his lovers.\nAnd if the flood of his bountifulness does not come to him again, then the flood of grace is stopped by our default. It confirms that there is one God, and those who thank him and worship him are among these. Many there are who do the contrary, as the apostle says to Titus. There are many who say they know God but deny him in their living, for their life is abhorrent in God's sight, and they live wretchedly as people who had no faith. Rather, they are reprobate and despised enemies of God than like his children and friends. \u00b6 Many falsely claim to know the demons or even deny that they exist to hinder you in your work. \u00b6 You who have given your Lord God again such goods as you have received from him, at the hour of death you will be lightly delivered from your account. For in this life, you deliver yourself from these goods that you have received from him and put them in his hands again. And therefore, it will be said to you in that hour like what is written in the Gospel of Matthew.\nMy trusted servant, you have been faithful and true in few things that I gave you. Now I shall make the Lord rejoice in many things through you. Therefore, if you have misused the goods of the Lord contrary to his will and contrary to your profit, woe to you. For a hard account will be laid against you. Therefore, if you do not amend your ways, you will have straight passage to your salvation. Wherefore, if the Lord sends tribulation for my vain speaking, the time of your youth and of such goods as he has sent you in this he showed that he would have saved, and that you should amend your life and once begin to look upward to your master, for abusing him, he is the one who strikes thee.\nOur lord, when he sees that the rebellious hearts will not turn to him through kindness which he shows them in his gifts, then he bets them to come to him through tribulation and sharpness. And yet often they will not come to him, as he says in the book of Isaiah.\n\nThe people do not return to him who chastises them.\n\nThe people do not turn to him who bets them. For in affliction, their minds run more towards help from man in their physical condition than they do to his help. And when wrongs and injuries are done to them, they are ready to avenge them and do one evil turn for another, and are not ready to be mercifully forgiving towards him, so that they might obtain forgiveness from him.\nAnd so, under the rod of tribulation, they do not come to correction, for they do not look as they are bound by the benefit of their creation and redemption to keep his commandments and holy counsel in reforming their living here. Every true lover has his heart toward his love, and they fear to be estranged from their love and to forget their love. And thus our Lord, who has to us love immeasurable, hates to be forgotten by us. And when we forget him, he beats us and draws us away from things we most love in this world, such as the health of the body, friends, worldly goods. And often times he suffers the good name and commendation to be pulled away from those who have vain glory in the laud of name without great deserving by holy merits of good living for the laud of God. And so he makes them call on him and know him by adversity which forgets him by prosperity.\nLike the butler of Pharaoh, who had forgotten Joseph when he prospered, and revealed his dream to him for great comfort and solace during adversity. And because worldly prosperity brings a soul to forgetfulness of God, our Lord, when He promised the people of Israel great cities with abundance of riches, He warned them beforehand, saying, \"You shall not forget Me, saying, 'I will forget the Lord, my God.' And to show that I forget not thee, I have written this in My hand: 'You shall not forget My covenant.' No forgetting My hand, which has brought some sharp token upon you. Him and the great pains that I have endured for you, think not that I love you so specially that you shall have My riches in this temporal life. For many who shall never come into heaven have great abundance of these goods.\"\nAnd the singing of them is the cause of their damning. Wherefore riches and dignity of this world are called the gift of the left hand in scripture, as Solomon writes. [Paragraph break] In his left hand there is division and glory. [Paragraph break] A great multitude of rich people will stand at the left hand of the Judge on the Day of Judgment, and the poor at the right hand. If you have any love for our Lord for your riches, it is for their good use \u2013 that is, you spoke them to his honor and relieved him who has been willing to help himself for the love of him. And in the time of prosperity, take some willing pain to remember him, as he has given example to do. [Paragraph break] For just as bodily pleasure makes the soul forget itself and God, so bodily pain makes it remember itself and God.\nAnd this pain is meritorious when it is patiently suffered / but it is of great merit when taken joyfully and as a remedy to purge the soul from sin and bring it to special grace and love of our Lord, which perhaps you say, sir. I marvel not if our Lord, with the rod of tribulation, beats the unyielding and ungentle hearts that do not know Him. But I marvel greatly why He beats the gentle and merciful hearts that know and love Him. To this I answer / this beating is not only profitable to those who are unkind and of sinful living, but also to those who are good and virtuous, who are not yet come to the great perfection of virtue, at a time when they are made perfect by resisting great temptation and gladly taking on tribulation. For many souls which trust that they are strong to resist temptation before they feel it, when it comes upon them fiercely, they find themselves right weak in comparison to what they had trusted.\nBut by continuous enduring of temptation they come to great might of virtue and knowledge of themselves, and of what value they are in virtue. Therefore says Solomon: \"He who is not tempted knows little; as one says rightly little.\" And so our Lord suffers most merciful and gentle hearts to suffer great temptations from Him, for in that they learn to love God. For of all proofs of love, the greatest is when a soul resists mightily against great temptations for the love of God, and because they would not offend His grace. And so they make a mighty conquest of themselves and do against their own inclinations to prefer the will of God instead of their own will and desire. That holy man Job was brought to great perfection through adversity, and Solomon, who was so wise, was brought to great folly and unclean living through prosperity. Here is an example that bodily adversity brings the soul to spiritual prosperity, which stands in spiritual wisdom and virtue.\nAnd the bodily prosperity begins to go spiritually degenerate and lose virtue, eventually leading to everlasting adversity and pain. And there is no soul so graciously disposed but it would rather choose temporal adversity to have the spiritual riches with the love of God in this life, and after it has passed beyond, less joy and felicity are not certain that you shall keep your wisdom in worldly pleasures and prosperity, than arm yourself for tribulation if you will come to any perfection. And when you think the tribulation painful and heavy to bear, comfort yourself again with remembrance that it is but short and shall bring you joyfully out of the world, and think that our Lord calls you to him thereby, where you shall see him in his majesty and be replenished with the consolations of his durable glory. And think deeply that he who puts you to this great proof orders great things for you.\nFor like as the knight gets not from his king permission to such a time that he is proved in acts of chivalry and has mightily fought for his king, so look for no great reward from God except you have great temptation for his sake, other than against the devil by spiritual temptation or against your flesh with temptation of gluttony sloth or lechery, or against the world with covetousness. But of all these battles, the spiritual battle in faith and conscience is most troubling and heavy to bear, and of all others it is most profitable to the soul which will fight in this battle, most direct against the devil, and the conquest of him is most principal, as St. Paul says.\nNemo's heart is so ensnared by worldly prosperity that the one who has not cast out this joy from himself cannot truly feel or know himself. The pleasure of this false joy engulfs the heart, preventing it from returning inward, but is instead occupied with worldly matters, ordering them to increase this vain joy. The heart labors thus to blind itself as long as it continues to run outward in worldly prosperity, and the prophet complains of this. David, in the person of Asaph, says, \"The light of my eyes is not with me.\" Those to whom the Lord has given great natural will and knowledge may be sorry. They spend the candle of their wisdom in ordering worldly vanities, but in ordering themselves they spend little or none. It is given to them specifically for themselves, that is, for the well-being of their soul and not for the pleasure of their body.\nLike every man is most near himself, under God, he ought most to love himself, and in order to those things which are most to his advantage, as to God and virtue, and nothing is so necessary for a man to know as himself. For all knowledge without self-knowledge is vain for bringing a man to the end that he was made for, and like him who has not himself has nothing, for if a man has no perfect power to rule himself, nothing is well ruled that comes into his hands. For there is no outward deed well ruled except it comes from a well-ruled soul, for the goodness of the outward deed presupposes the goodness of the inward deed of the will. Therefore, if you have not a good will, there is nothing good that you do. But perhaps you will say that you never do any good deed.\nFor commonly when you hasten to do good deeds, there comes into your mind some cunning intent: be it vanity or glory of the world, or a temporal profit thereby, or to please a friend or for fear to displease him, or of enmity you do this to the rebuke of others who do not see as you do. Or you desire things undone because you would not have them follow you. Thus commonly your will is not good, and then after this doctrine, your will is not good. I answer that it is impossible for you to let such thoughts hinder you from doing good things for the love of God and profit of your soul if they are vain or evil thoughts; they do not detract from the merit of your deed.\nAs surely you see a poor man and would give a penny in alms to him, and forthwith comes into your mind that you shall have a laude of the world therefore or such as see you, this thought will not make you lose your merit as long as you would give it to the poor man for the love of God, if no man should see then you do it primarily for God. This is meritorious and the deed following thereon. Likewise, he who has not himself has no thing. Likewise, he who knows not himself knows no thing, that is to say, profitable to himself, as to purchase the reward of our Lord in the everlasting Joy after this mortal life. The wretched man or woman who sets his love most on this worldly prosperity forgets himself, for he is not with himself. Look what thing your soul loves most, there it is most by conversation of the mind, and the workers of the soul run thither. As our Savior says.\nUbi tuis tuus cor tuum. (Your treasure is where your heart is. The covetous man's heart is with his gold and silver. The lecher's heart is with the person he most fondly enjoys. The proud man's heart is where he has most reverence and with his fine clothes. Worldly prosperity and false transitory joy draw the heart of men away from themselves, and often they come to such things that they love, and there they can buy great joy in heaven with less labor and sorrow than they buy this fleeting worldly joy, which they will soon lose and then have everlasting sorrow. But just as a man who wants to escape and leave his house is compelled to return and is besieged again by those who have besieged him, he is brought back there and dares not once set his foot at the door.)\nLike wise our lord, in his great mercy, sends trials to those souls and hearts that he loves and wills to remain at home, and beats them into themselves / and the more trials there are, and the more they are, the less power their hearts have to drive away from themselves. Blessed are those who send the adversity by which you are made to leave the love of worldly prosperity, and learn to know and love God and yourself in order to God, and thus remain at home and keep well ordered the love of your soul. For when there is no dweller in a house, it soon falls into ruin and decay. Like wise, the souls that do not inhabit in this manner fall to waste and come to nothing. Blessed is that man or woman who abides in himself and learns to know himself, and keeps his body obedient to his soul, and his soul obedient to God.\nAnd above all things, let him keep himself so that the flesh does not draw the soul to the love of the world, but that the soul draws the flesh to the service of God, and has great joy in the clarity of conscience, is when it lives without rumors in his conscience of deadly sin, as it is commonly said. A clean heart is a joyful heart. And sorrowful may that heart be which is likened to a common minstrel or a jester, who is more in other men's houses than in his own. And when he receives and makes most mirth in other men's houses, soon after he is most sorrowful in his own. Likewise, the heart which most seeks solace in worldly things outside, has less joy of spiritual things inside.\nI. A rather I say to the one whose heart is drawn from thee by the allurements of the flesh or pleasures of the world, and then thou hast no will to come home and forsake him utterly, whom thou seest are not to the profit of thy soul, then call upon our Lord that He will send His angels of tribulation and drive thee home again and to constrain thy heart to know thyself and to attend wisely in keeping of thyself, that thou do nothing contrary to the will of God and to thine everlasting reward. As the poor minstrel is compelled to turn again to his house when the festivities are done, for then he has none other place to turn to. So, after all worldly pleasure when it is past and tribulation make thee not to turn before thou shalt turn home to the house of thine heart, and thou shalt find there a sorrowful house.\nFor every vain joy that you have had in this life, you shall find there a great sorrow; yet take to the tribulation of penance before you depart from this world, it shall keep the house of your heart from the sharpest burning fire of hell, for as the prophet says. [Contribute and humble yourself, God does not despise.] Good lord, you do not despise a heart which is made and brought to know itself by tribulation. Then you, who love everlasting consolation and delight your heart, pray for tribulation to come and return home again, like the dove compelled to return to the ship of Noah because she could find no ground to set her feet upon.\nNoe is as much to say in our language as this: The ship is the heart; the dove is love. Pray God that the flood of tribulation may cover all vain things from your love, so that it be constrained to return inwardly to rest by tranquility and the peace of a clean conscience and holy occupying of the heart with holy meditations of God and of virtue with profitable desire of good works and blessed customs to the pleasure of God and your great promotion. You who seek rest in worldly things are deceived; for you shall find no rest but in God, for none other thing can satisfy and content the soul but God. He shall fulfill the desire of your soul, as the prophet says: \"Sacrifices shall appear before you, O man, and your inheritance, God, for your delight.\" Therefore it is written in Ecclesiastes: \"I, too, shall rest with him and in his inheritance, God.\"\nI have sought rest in all things and now I shall dwell in the heritage of God; that is to say, my heart shall dwell in the desire of the kingdom of heaven, where there is perfect rest. Therefore, David says to our Lord: \"Convert me in thy rest.\" \"Turn my heart to thy rest.\" The soul of man finds no such rest in the things of this world as in itself when it is ordered in the living according to the laws of God, and such a soul rests, for it is content in all things in the working of our Lord, and it is the dwelling place of our Lord from whom it is written. \"In peace, his place is made; and in peace his peace.\" \"His place is made in peace, and peace comes from him.\" Therefore, the prophet says: \"Convert me in thy rest.\" \"Turn my soul to thy rest.\" And Solomon says: \"Entering into the house of my conscience, there I shall rest.\"\nThan you may be the one who seeks rest in outward things and looks little for the rest of your house at home in your conscience. If you would take labor to return home and well search the house of your conscience, you who are a great lover of the world, you shall find there a troubled house. To such as are the runners out, our Lord says by the prophet Micah. His quarrel is with us. To those who are more occupied with other things than with himself, it shall be said woe woe to you. That is to say, those whose heart is so set on outward things that they forget themselves, and especially woe to that heart which has caused to be woe, which is departed from themselves and sits so fast in worldly vanities, and in a manner it is so fast held with these vanities as with an east wind that it cannot tear itself away from them.\nEvery worldly pleasure that appears outwardly is a snare to keep it fast and prevent it from oneself. Therefore, every soul remember well within oneself and see where love sets it, if love is fixed on anything which God would not, it is taken in the snare of vanity, except it has help of deliverance by the grace of our Lord. The love also of every creature which is more than it ought to be is a snare thereto. Therefore, it must beseech God that it may love nothing but such things as are good, and also that it may love good things in order to God and profit the soul.\n To an herte that hath not set the loue on the vanytees of the worlde it is lytel dyf fyculte to kepe hem out of the herte / but wha\u0304 they haue ones taken ther lodgynge in the herte by that loue that the herte hath to them without grete la\u2223bour & dylygence they wyll not be dryuen out ayen And oftentyme whan our lorde sayth that it is not expedyent to suche as he loueth that these vanytees abyde in the herte & also he seeth yt the persone that he loueth helpeth not hymselfe to dryue hym out / or peraduenture wolde not haue hem out. Than he as a true louer sendeth out his oost of trybulacyons to repelle and to dryue out of the herte these vanitees whchey and they myght abyde wolde fynally des\u2223troye the house of the herte and robbe it of all the goodes of vertue whiche is in it. Wherfore Ecclesy\u2223astes sayth. \u00b6 Precurre prior in domu\u0304 tua\u0304. \u00b6 That is to saye\nWhen you see worldly vanities entering your heart, stop them and shut the door of your heart against them, so they have no lodging there by remembrance of the hurts they cause. For they keep your heart from the love of God, from the love of yourself in relation to God, from the love of virtue, from holy meditations, from holy desires, from deep prayers, and from good works. And commonly when the vanities occupy it, they are disposed to neither virtue nor to little. Such men and women who most labor to get and keep the pleasures and goods of this world, and labor little to keep their heart but let it run where it will, are great fools, for finally these will lose out. All these transitory vanities they labor most to get and keep, and also themselves from the eternity of Joy, and be brought to perpetual pain in default of having kept or guarded their heart as they should have done during the time of this life.\nAnd those who give little heed to worldly vanities and prosperity, but most apply their minds to keeping their hearts well occupied. These, after the passing of all worldly pleasures, shall have their hearts replenished with the most delightful and pleasurable heartfelt delights of the glory of God and the inestimable bliss and joy of angels and saints in heaven. These whom God most specifically orders to keep their hearts and little set by those things which worldly people most desire are called fools in this world, but they are called wise by God, and their folly will be commended by all the heavenly multitude in the kingdom of God. For this reason says Solomon in his Proverbs: \"With all your diligence, keep your heart, for from it comes the course of life.\" \"With all your getting, get understanding. In getting, get discipline; and in knowledge, wisdom; Proverbs 4:7.\" With all your heart keep your heart, for life comes from it. Get wisdom and understanding; do not forget, and do not deviate from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a fair garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown. She will reveal to you a secret source of words, hidden knowledge and understanding. She will reveal to you what is hidden and mysterious. She will reveal the deep and hidden things; she knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with her. She understands the way to go, and she knows all the paths. When you walk, she will guide you; when you sleep, she will watch over you; when you awake, she will speak to you. For she knows your way and your paths, and she will lead you on your way and will counsel you with her knowledge. She will make your paths straight, and she will renew your heart. She will give strength to your strength, and she will make your weaknesses strong. Proverbs 2:1-11. With all your heart keep your heart, for from it comes the course of life.\nThis is the longing of your Lord God, who has great pleasure in dwelling in it when it is clean kept from filthy motions of sin, as he says in the book of Proverbs. Delight me to be with the children of men. For his love he became a child himself, born of the virgin Mary. Therefore, like as you desire to be welcome in his house, see that you keep well your house of your heart, and often turn thereto and dress it so that there be nothing offensive to him, but that he may have pleasure to behold it, as he says in the Canticles. Return unto us, and let us behold you. Turn again, that we may behold.\nHe says not that I may hold the but that we may behold the - that is to say, if you see well to yourself, then I shall have great pleasure to see thee, for then I shall garnish thy soul with my grace to your most profit and my pleasure. I exhort thee who returns not to yourself, take patience in the tribulation which our Lord sends thee, to the intent that you shall give good attendance to the keeping of thine heart and forsake the love of those wretched or vain pleasures which let thine heart from the love of him. Thou thinkest that thy trouble and pain greatly hurt thee, but it is the greatest profit and help that thou mayest have in this life and the greatest token that our Lord loves thee and of this thou shouldest be most glad for his love, thou shalt find finally to thy most Joy and comfort after this transitory pain and trouble. This tribulation brings both to God and to thyself, like as thy vain pleasures in prosperity had driven thee from both.\nAnd for this reason, pain and tribulation are called the band of God. For they tether you to God, as prosperity loosens you from Him and binds you to such wretched and perilous freedom of the world. In these bands, you will learn to know God and yourself and to change your life into another manner of living. And when you, by the holy customs of this life, are bound to Him through pain, then He binds you by pain to keep you with Himself. Thus, He sends tribulation not only to bring your heart back to yourself but also to keep it from wandering away from yourself. Your Lord God deals graciously with you when He calls you from plenty to poverty. I do not mean that He makes you lose all your good, but when He makes you set little by your good so that your heart is poor and naked without them, that is, without great affection and love of home. So says Solomon. [Est pauper in diuicus]\nSome are poor in riches, that is to say, those who set their heart no more on them than if they had no riches. To this spiritual poverty, which in the sight of Almighty God is most abundant riches, are brought the souls when they are sore hunted by great adversity and trouble and tied to the Lord with the bond of tribulations. And notwithstanding that our Lord keeps the thus tied so that you may not renounce Him at your will as you have been accustomed before time, think not that you lose any liberty by it, but rather our Lord puts you in a more liberal state. There is no perfect liberty of the soul but only in things of virtue.\nThis liberty to reign within your heart and love vanities or sinful works of this life; this liberty is thralldom and no more remediable than it is to suffer a sick man as one in a fever to eat and drink what he desires, for his appetite is so disordered with corrupt humors that commonly he desires those things which are most contrary to his health. Likewise, the soul is in a perilous liberty which, at its own pleasure, has power to sin. But when the Lord calls it to Him and makes it the lover of virtue in liberty, this is the perfect liberty. And the other liberty to sin is rather servitude, for it makes the soul a servant to the devil and finally brings it to the bondage of him in hell. And the liberty of virtue brings to the most perfect freedom of heaven.\nWhen the patient is allowed to take what food and drink his appetite is most drawn to, it is a sign that he is dispirited about his health. And commonly they will say he is but a weak man. Wherefore let him take what he will, just as our Lord the great physician permits life after the pleasure of the flesh and makes no restraint through tribulation, it is a token that he sets little by it. And that you have spiritual sickness which is unlikely to have remedy, for such are more desirous to fulfill their own will than the will of God. They despise God as he says through the prophet. \"Filios enutriui et exaltavi ipsi autem spreuert me.\" I have nourished my children with goods of this world and I have exalted them to honor, and they have despised me. If you will ask me what true freedom is, I say that he is not most free who may do most as he will, but he is most free who least may do evil. Therefore there is most liberty where least power is to sin.\nAccording to this doctrine, then our Lord makes the troubled soul know itself and Him, and ties it to Him so that it shall not depart from Him. He brings it from the thrall of the devil and wretched living to perfect liberty of His love and execution of virtuous deeds. Therefore, if you feel yourself disturbed by trouble and pain, reduce these great profits to your mind, and they will comfort you again. For your comfort is to remember that He loves you. And the most sign of His love is that He leads you through tribulation to Himself. Therefore, rejoice in Him, and He shall rejoice in you, and then all things to your greatest advantage shall prosper with Him.\n\nThe fifth consolation in times of tribulation is to remember that you are made hastily to spend the rest of your time on the way to heaven and to the blessed presence of your Lord God. For, as it is said before, every pain comes from God; therefore, every pain is righteous. And every sin comes from us; therefore, every sin is unrighteous.\nAs many trywoultons and pains as you have, send as many messengers you have from here to speed them there, like a man who, in the flourishing time of summer, going through a field full of fair flowers and a sweet meadow, will gather of the flowers and, for the sweetness and soothing abiding in the place, he will sit or lie down. And sometimes he falls asleep. And the night comes upon him before he has finished his journey. Likewise, the people who are in the pleasant prosperity of this life are so occupied with the ringing of pleasures as riches, fleshly delights, honors, and dignities, that they forget their journey, whether they are bound out of this world.\nFor here they seek rest in the pleasure of this life, as if there were no other felicity ordained for man, and here they lie sleeping in sin and wretchedness till the night of death comes upon them, and then they are taken with the torments of hell, never to see God in his glory, which should have been the end of their pilgrimage. But such as are in the winter way of adversity, full of great blasts of temptations in the soul, full of sharp thorns of pains and bodily sicknesses, full of great floods of worldly tribulations, these people hasten him, for in their way they find only bitterness, and therefore they hasten him that they may come to rest sweetly at the end of their journey after their sore labor.\nFor the bitterness of tribulation takes from the heart all false pleasure of this world, and so it makes the good souls which our Lord utterly and specifically loves to hasten to Him, and will not suffer them to rest and abide in the way. The things which He calls us to by tribulation are sore, precious, and enduring, and everlastingly abiding, therefore He will not allow us to linger in the little things which shall soon slip and vanish away. It is a great marvel that such persons to whom God has given great knowledge make their abiding in the little things, and by their lingering in the small things and great labors they have about them they show well that they have forgotten the great things which our Lord called them to.\nAll things that delight the heart immoderately make it tarry and waste much of its pilgrimage, but when pain and tribulation take away vain delight from the heart and make the thing that was once beloved seem bitter, the heart is stirred forward sweetly and leaves behind the vain tarrying. And therefore the prophet says, \"Multiply their infirmities afterwards have hastened them.\" When sickness is multiplied, those who have tarried before hasten forward full speed. Many one should go slowly in their journey if they were not hastened forward with sharp calling by tribulation and in a manner compelled with violence to proceed in their way. And like the crooked feet and affections that are weak and often rest in vain pleasure except they are excited to go, so the Lord calls those whom he especially loves often. And therefore it is written in the book of Exodus.\nThe Egyptians compelled the children of Israel to leave Egypt as a sign that the Egyptians enslaved the hearts of the chosen children of the Lord, urging them to go out of this world where great pleasure lies in love, and where there is nothing but what is utterly loved. And when love departs from the world, the heart departs as well. For just as the body goes with the feet, so the soul goes with love; where love is, there the heart is. Oh, how glad the hearts should be to depart from those things where they have more pain than pleasure, more sorrow than solace, and go to those things where they will have everlasting joy and sweetness, without any point of bitterness. He who has no great pleasure in any worldly things according to his divine appetite will eventually be torn away to torment for his heart.\n\"Comfort yourself in tribulations, for they drive you out of the prison of pain to the royal kingdom of pleasure. Ecclusas says, \"Draw the lower things of this worldly life out of you, and the more your love is on high, the deeper is your heart in prison.\" Our Lord draws you out of this deep prison when he makes your love depart from those things which you love so much. Like an angel striking Saint Peter on the side and bidding him rise and go out of prison, as it is written in the book of Acts.\"\nOur lord strikes us often on the left side by adversity to make us depart from this prison, when he fills our heart with sorrow or our body with pain, and the pleasure is gone that we have in worldly things, or when he withdraws them from us with loss or death, or when he treats us unkindly and troubles us, and which we loved so much. Like Saint Peter did not play the part in the stroke that brought him out of prison, so do not play the part in the stroke that brings you out of the spiritual prison of your soul, and make you depart from love that is not profitable to you. For this is a suffering stroke that delivers you from the fearful prison of which follows the prison of hell for those who never will depart from sin in this life, or else purgatory for those who have recently departed therefrom.\nAnd if thou wilt not endure this stroke of thy side patiently for thyself / yet suffer it for his sake who was struck on the side with a spear for thyself / and receive not grudgingly thy lords messengers who are sent to bring thee to him and bring thee from a dangerous place / but welcome him heartily and thank thy lord God upon thy knees with hands and heart who sends them to thee / and then thou shalt do great pleasure to him and profit to thyself / and the sooner they shall depart from thee when they have brought thee to him by true love / when thou murmurs against thy tribulation, thou doest that which is in thee to repel the messengers of God from thee. This is figured and signified in the messengers who were sent to them who were beyond the Jordan River, and they resisted against the prince's message and sent the messengers back without worship and with empty hands. Jordan River is as much to say as lowliness or meekness, which teaches the hearts to love God.\nAnd though those who dwell beyond the flood that passes meekness and are proud of the benefits and creatures of God. And the proud people who unjustly receive tribulations, the messengers of the king, and so the tribulations disappear without effect from these ungrateful receivers. And that the messengers are dishonored, the lord and king is dishonored who sent them.\n\nYou should as well or better receive tribulations for the love of him who sent them to you as for the love of that thing which they are sent for. Tribulations they are sharp but they are profitable; for they torment the heart in purging and they purge it in tormenting when the rebellious hearts receive tribulations unworthily, for they have the torment but lack the purgation of the soul. By their intolerance, they inflict more upon themselves than before. And those who have the pain may well deeply lament the loss of the fruit thereof.\nThen I exhort and pray you, in the name of our Lord God, that those who recognize themselves as sinners and wish to love God and enter His kingdom, gratefully receive the trials sent by Him. And when you feel the pain, think that you hear the voice of our Lord God calling you to Himself from the perilous place that you are in.\n\nThe sixth consolation follows here for those who have pain and trials, which come from the remembrance of how these pains are temporary compared to the eternal pains of hell. This is because the eternal pains of hell are translated into temporal pains through the sacrament of confession, which is instituted for deadly sins. However, there is great pain beyond penance required for sinners, either in this life or in purgatory. For many sins are committed in this life which are never revealed in confession because they are forgotten. The spiritual father gives penance only for those he has shown through confession.\nDespite this, he assures you that for sins you have not confessed, you will not be condemned for those you do confess, standing before them, but you must endure temporal punishment for them. Therefore, consider that you are more deserving of great pain to God for many a deadly sin than you have forgotten since you were born, which you had not in mind during the time of confession. And in those for whom eternal pain is ordained for deadly sin, you may understand this when you experience the outrageous pain of hell being committed to temporal pain. Moreover, much penance, which is enjoyed, is not perfectly fulfilled in this life, and therefore there is much left to punish.\nDaily we play many penances for sins that deserve great temporal pain, and by tribulation patiently endured, you are made free of these debts, and as much as you suffer shall be rebated when you come to your count. And just as in the court a counter of lead or laton lies for a hundred pounds and yet in itself is not worth so much, so one day's pain well taken stands for the pain of a year, which is contained in three hundred days, as the Lord says through the prophet Ezekiel. Day for a year, subtract from one day's pain which delivers from the more bitter pain of a year. Oh how gentle should you take this pain which makes such a quietance, since your Lord, whom you are in debt to, with his great mercy and gentleness delivers you from more, therefore I advise you to pay whatever penalty that ever you suffer and set it in your competence, and beseech God that it may stand for your sinful debts.\nThe thief who stood on the right hand of our Lord turned his head to him, and by that painful experience, he was delivered from all pains and had the clear sight and fruitition for eternity of the most glorious Trinity. Woe to the man or woman who daily multiplies debt by sin and little or nothing he paid by pain. For neither does he suffer the pain meekly to his profit as a true penitent whom God sends to him, nor takes upon him willfully any painful thing to deliver himself out of his debt, and so he shall come before the Judge at the hour of death charged with the whole count in the manner of his life which will be strict to him, for if he labors not for mercy while the soul is in the body, he shall never have mercy after it has departed nor be rebated of his debts. In hell, no debt will be rebated neither by length nor by bitter suffering.\nThere shall lords and ladies weep for their adornments and the vain beauty of their bodies, which they had arranged to pride in lechery and worldly vain honors. There shall also every craftsman weep for the misuse of his craft. And clerks, who have not well used their knowledge for the benefit of souls. And merchants for their false coin worth, And sinful men and women who provide not here for their souls, called merchants of the earth, for their labor is to gain earthly pleasure, and there they shall see that they have but small coin worth for the labor of their life, for all great pleasure and heartfelt joy shall be gone from them forever.\nBut the heavenly merchants, who order their labors in this life to buy heavenly joys and then shall see the great penances passing all the esteemations of all earthly creatures, which they shall receive from the hands of almighty God in those great joys of endless bliss, as it is written in the Book of Wisdom. But deliver you from great pains without coping, which you should suffer and be detained from your Joy after this life. And now, if you take these little pains joyfully, you shall go lightly away and hastily to that joyful Inheritance and most blessed fellowship there. It shall not be possible to suffer any pain; your pain shall be less in comparison to these joys than lead counters are which lie in the court in comparison to the great sums they lie before. Some are who acquire great debt by little payment.\nAnd if you are of such perfection that by the merits of your holy living and blessed labors taken for God, you have earned remission of your fine and are acquitted of your pain, yet if tribulation comes to receive it gently, for it is not sent to the without great cause, either to increase your merits or to save you from sin which you should fall into except by tribulation and pain, our Lord preserved you from it. For many who are innocent and full of perfection should lose their innocence and virtue except they were kept by tribulation. Therefore, all you who would go quite out of this world from all debt of pains, make your payment while this money of tribulation has such great value that a little of it more may redeem you from that infectious pain and tribulation which shall never have an end after this life and purchase for you eternity of Joy.\n\nThe seventh consolation is to remember that tribulation strengthens the heart and makes it able to receive the precious gifts of grace.\nFor like as the hammer of the goldsmith and the shaping thereof makes the metal stretch out long under his hand according to his will, so Almighty God makes by tribulation the heart to stretch and be a vessel to receive and retain the blessings of his graces, which before it was a mass, a lump of metal without the ability to receive anything of our Lord. Therefore, in tribulation, thank your Lord God, who makes of your heart a chalice to receive great abundance of his grace. Of this broadening of the heart through tribulations, the prophet speaks there, he says:\n\nIn tribulation you have enlarged my heart.\nLord, you have hastened to enlarge and expand my heart by tribulation.\n\nTherefore, I counsel those who desire to be the elect vessels of grace to be patient and to suffer the strokes of the hammer of tribulation in the forge and smithy of this world.\nThis lord will never strike above it if you order him to suffer, as he says in the gospel. He has given to every man according to his power. And the more he beats the more large he intends to make the vessel of your heart, and with the more quantity of his grace to replenish it.\n\nThis lord will never strike above it if you order him to suffer, as he says in the gospel. He has given to every man according to his power. The more he beats (beats down, subdues, or chastises), the more he intends to enlarge the vessel of your heart, and with the more quantity of his grace to replenish it.\nAnd just as the more precious metal is more obedient in the hands of the worker than the metal of lesser value, so gold is more apt in the goldsmith's hand and more precious to work in, for it is more obedient and the patient hearts are the precious golden hearts which are obedient to the strokes of tribulation, according to the will of our Lord. And in these, He works precious works of grace and many fair virtues. And the curious and most precious works of the great wise domain of God shall eternally appear in these obedient and patient hearts to the honor of God and great pleasure to all His lovers in the kingdom of heaven, where clearly all the secret workings of the heart which are had in this life shall be shown. Suffer your Lord easily to beat away the rusty motions and sinful desires of your heart and to make it a clean vessel apt to receive the Infusion of His grace.\nAnd if the stroke of that hammer is painful and hard to endure, the goldsmith is so wise and good that he can strike no stroke but to the greatest advantage of the vessel of your heart and according to his will, which nothing may do but well. And if it is gentle in suffering his strokes and leaves your heart to his desire, you shall find him gentle in temperament with his strokes and it will more easily work after as the form of the work requires. But commonly the goldsmith strikes most strokes on the vessel which is most precious work. The hearts which are without discord and teaching are hard and disobedient to the hammer and rather break than they will bow to the entreaty of the worker. Do not be like an old, broken pan which, when the worker strikes it, breaks and makes many more holes than before.\n\"Thus the heart grows hard and dry without love or devotion to God, increasing its pain and the stroke of tribulation, for they have no regard but for their pleasure and none for their merit and the right wisdom of God, which may not leave sin unpunished in this world. He strikes because He would spare you after this life, where the strokes shall be most bitter to those who suffer them. And like the heart grows in faith by believing it, the pain and trouble come from the Lord. Also in patience, willingly taking and thanking God for it, and in meekness thinking Him worthy to have such pain and much more, so the heart grows in the grace and love of our Lord and the reward of glory. Thus Ecclesiastes says: 'Sustain the sufferings of the Lord and rejoice in Him, and sustain yourself that your life may grow in the end.' 'Suffer the sufferings of the Lord and be joined to Him. Suffer that your life may increase in its end.'\"\nThis saying may be understood various ways:/ suffer thou that God suffers for thee in this world./ He suffered great trouble and enmity from the world./ He suffered great scandal and evil report./ He suffered contempt and disdain./ He suffered great powerlessness willingly./ He suffered great pain in body: weariness, watch, hunger, thirst, great sorrow in soul, great pain in body, and finally the most great outrageous pain of death./ For he retained his soul in his body in endurance of pain beyond the power of nature, largely to recompense for our offense./ So that he yielded up his soul with a great cry, as scripture says: \"Voice magnus tradidit spiritum.\"\nBut by the natural course, the body is so weakened before the departure of the soul that it has no power to utter a voice. And so our savior's body should not have been left had he not retained his soul to endure plentiful suffering for our salvation, as he says in the Gospel of John.\n\nI have the power to detach my soul from my body whenever I will, and I have the power to receive it again and join it to the body. And as the prophet says, \"With the Lord is mercy and plentiful redemption.\" Remember that your Lord God suffered these great pains for your offense out of his great mercy and pity. Learn to suffer for him again, and in part recompense for his great kindness and for your offense. For since he who was innocent suffered for much more, you who are a sinner ought to suffer for yourself.\nThe hammer of this goldsmith, who is almighty God, are not only the pains and tribulations which he works in us, but also the adversities which he suffers us to have are his hammers to beat us and shape us into a perfect vessel by patient suffering, according to his pleasure. And like the hammer is finally ordered to the profit and making of the vessel and not the vessel to the hammer, and the hammer in making the vessel and with the strokes it is hurt in itself and consumes and finally breaks.\nSo the wretched and reprobate people who in word and deed trouble the chosen children of our Lord, they hurt themselves and finally are brought to destruction and damnation through the great malice they have for others. And therefore says Solomon that the fool serves the wise.\n\nThat person is a fool who willfully does that which harms another and most harms himself. And that person is wise who so wisely takes that thing which might harm him and gains great profit thereby.\n\nThough you who would be a clean vessel and honorable to God suffer the strokes of troublemakers.\nAnd yet you, who desire the crown of victory in this world and the crown of glory in the life to come, know that the greatest sufferers are the greatest conquerors. And with the enduring of pain and tribulation, their crown is forged on the flesh of their heart. Therefore, you who desire the crown do not forsake the blows of the hammers, for our Lord has ordered that your crown shall be made, and at such times when the blows are most profitable to you. Remembering the profits of patience and charity in your heart, keep perfect obedience to our Lord and love your enemies that you can find in yourself, and in your heart find forgiveness for them and heartily pray that they may find forgiveness from our Lord.\nThis fire of charity makes your work go forth swiftly, like how hot metal dilates and proceeds under the hammer. With this charity, you may defend your right and oppress your enemy's malice according to justice and equity, if you have the power. And specifically, when there is a likelihood that their malice would increase. You shall sustain that God sustains you, for He sustains you and bears you up in suffering, lest you fall under the great strokes of adversity, either by bodily death or great impatience or rancor of heart. Many souls would have great falls due to false worldly prosperity and would not be able to endure these trials except they had the support of the hand of the almighty God with these tribulations. You are also sustained and fed and made strong, like how the body is made mighty to bear great burdens by material food.\nThese trials are bitter but they purge the soul and make it grow in perfection of spiritual life. I advise you, as the spiritual physician of your soul, not to refuse this dish set before you by the Lord, for He has not only tasted this dish Himself but has taken it plentifully. As the prophet Jeremiah prophesied about Him.\n\nHe will be satisfied with reproaches.\n\nYou shall not think yourself rebuked in that you have trials and great wrong done to you in this world, but rather you are honored in being called to the Lord's dish. Of this dish was fed that holy man Job, as he says in his book.\n\nI shall not lift up my head with pain and sorrow,\nthan you have great trials and much to suffer,\npraise the Lord God, who so abundantly provides for you,\nafter the quantity of trials shall be the quantity and measure of your glory and consolation.\n\nNon leuabo caput saturatum afflictione. (This Latin phrase translates to \"I shall not leave my head unanointed with affliction.\")\nAnd therefore, as you will have the sweet receive the sour for your great sweetness must come of bitterness. Also, you shall sustain that God sustains in the trials, for He within the soul retains the motions of tribulations. If He sustained them not, they would oppress us down. Therefore, comes God and sustains. As one said, draw you near and cleave to God, for He is fellow to you in this suffering and bearing of tribulations. Wherefore be not astonished in bearing thinking that the burden passes beyond your power. For He bears with you, which will suffer no more to bear but according to your power, and the remainder of the burden He bears with you. He is so merciful and so gentle that He will suffer no soul to bear above His power in weight of temptation and tribulation, as the apostle says: \"Fidelis Deus, quis probet nos ultra [what] potestis.\"\nWherefore complain not of your burden, for he lays it on the one who best knows your power, and charges you with nothing more than that you may live and the remainder he bears himself. And in that part where you bear yourself, he helps and comforts you, for without him you can do nothing, as he says in the Gospel of St. John.\n\nSince you can do nothing without me.\n\nWherefore, all you who desire to have the life of joy, I counsel you patiently to take this life of tribulation, for by the strokes of tribulation you are made able to receive and strong to retain the grace of our Lord, by which you shall shortly be delivered from all tribulation and come to the plentifulness of the flood of delight which shall flow upon you, the great essential majesty of God replenishing you, so that all your power shall be satisfied eternally after this little and short painful story of life.\nThe eight consolation is to remember that pain and tribulation make us seek and labor for solace above in heaven. For naturally every man and woman have appetite for solace and delight; therefore, when they are put therefor in this life by bitter tribulation, their mind yearns for it in the other world. For in this life and there, no man may fully fulfill his appetite after his pleasure; for after the ordinance of God, great pleasure in this life he has ordained great pain for it in that life. Wherefore tribulation, in as much as it excludes from us and interdicts us to be shut up to such a time that he has uttered his own wine. So our Lord makes the tavern of this world be shut up to us by tribulation to such a time that thou hast bought his wine of consolation by the merits of this life.\nYou must go to him if you want comfort wine, as the prophet Joel says. The beasts of the field are fleshly affections and desires of our heart, and the wells of waters he calls the pleasures of sensual delight. When they are dried with adversities, they compel the heart to look upward to heaven for drink, for it can find none on earth and longs to drink. And so much the glory of God and the perfect joy is more desired by the heart. And in this he shows his special goodness which makes all things bitter to the one who has no pleasure to think of but only of him. Therefore Saint Augustine says in his confessions, \"I was made bitter by the bitterest desires, I was less able to be sweetened because you were not.\"\nIn my desires of worldly pleasures I found most bitter difficulties, for through your mercy you would allow nothing to be sweet to me but only yourself. But perhaps you will say, \"Sir, I complain not of the closing of this or the earthly tavern, so that the tavern above was opened to me that I might have some sweet draught of the wine of contemplation from thence. But I feel that all the taverners are closed to me, for no solace my heart finds neither in bodily nor in spiritual things. To this I answer that although the tavern below is shut up, yet you should not marvel why the tavern above is not opened at once to thee.\"\nFor after you have shut it, you must desire the lord of it to open it to you, and frequently beseech him that he will open it to you. The reason for desiring the opening is to increase your merit, for the seeking of delight and spiritual sweetness is of greater merit than to delight and have enjoyment in him, for spiritual sweetness comes only from him, but the labor whereby you are ordered to have his comfort comes from him and by his grace whereby the desires of your soul and body are acceptable to him. Therefore, do not be dismayed if you wait a while at the door before it is opened to you. The longer you wait at the door, the more you shall have when it is brought to you. Suffer your thirst to wax, for the more delectable the wine shall be to you.\nDavid the prophet gave up worldly pleasures to have spiritual comfort from above, yet he complained as one who had paid his silver and could not get his penny's worth. He says, \u00b6 What is in heaven for me, and what did you desire on earth for me? \u00b6 Lord, what comfort did I desire in earthly things, having none, and yet you give me no comfort from heaven. Thus he speaks in the person of a sick and impotent soul, complaining as if God were in default. Our lord may answer and say, \"Friend, I thank you for forsaking the pleasures of the world for me, but you have not only been forgiven for all such displeasures that you have had in the world, but much more you will have the pleasures of me, which are ordained for those who are made clean and perfectly purged from their offenses, through which they have displeased me.\"\nTo this saying, yet he answers in the person of a frail soul thus: \"Hear me quickly, Lord, my spirit fails. Good Lord, hasten to me and grant me that which I desire for my soul, for it is weakening and cannot longer endure. But after the great and continued desire of God, he sends such comfort that the soul then says: \"Thou art the God of my heart and my portion forever. Thou only canst cause the joy which I feel in my heart, and of that great joy that thy children shall have in thee. I trust that I shall be eternally a partner with them. Ever complain of thyself and think thyself unworthy to have spiritual comfort from God; thy wretchedness is such wherefore beg him to comfort thee in thy faith, lest thou fall into despair by the subtle craft of the devil, who labors all that he can to discomfort thee.\"\nSet not your heart on worldly comfort, nor desire from God the spiritual comfort, but in that time that it pleases His mercy to give it to you. Humble yourself and you shall have more, as Saint Peter says: \"Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you.\" Humble yourself under the almighty hand of God, and He shall exalt you; therefore, I heartily and thankfully advise taking tribulation. For tribulation withdraws your heart from transitory and vain delights of this world and makes the desire for delight in your Lord God, who is most natural to your reasonable nature, the source of your eternal joy and felicity.\n\nThe consolation is to remember that tribulation brings God into your mind and makes the soul think on God and to bear Him in remembrance, which without pain and tribulation should little be thought upon. Wherefore our Lord sends tribulation as a reminder to a dull mind.\nAnd when he endures the tribulations, he teaches you to know him and joins himself to your soul through knowledge. When you suffer the tribulations patiently for his love, you join yourself to him. The more your pain and trouble, the more you are reminded of God. You must understand that the infinite mind of God knows all things together, which are ever were or ever shall be, more distinctly and perfectly than any mind, created of angel or man, can understand things by itself. And he can forget nothing, for then he would be changeable from knowledge to ignorance, but, speaking as Scripture says, our Lord forgets those whom he does not love and sets aside those whom we commonly say \"this man knows me not\" when he takes little heed of me. So our Lord loves those whom he knows by the knowledge of approval, ordaining him to reward and great joy with him. This knowledge he does not have of wretched people, whom he does not praise or approve.\nAnd those who follow the Lord think on whom He sends comfort in tribulation and delivery in overcoming in temptation and increase of grace and well-spent time, by good labor and occupation. If you would be joined to God in thought, where is the way to your salvation? And in forgetting Him, where is the way to damnation? Be glad of tribulation, for this trial knits you and God together by blessed meditation in your suffering. See your mind turn to Him, and doubtless His turns to you. The bitter tribulations of this life lightly make the thought turn to His friends, whom He trusted especially might help Him in His vexation, and such a friend comes often in your mind at other times. And thus the Lord, by His suffering provision, orders meditations of Him to be multiplied in the minds of His friends for the greater increase of grace and virtue in them.\n Wherfore in trybulacyon recomforte the in ye that yu art therby lyfe vp by medytaco\u0304n to almyghty god / and hath excluded fro the yt vayne thoughtes whi\u2223che were wont to occupye thy mynde ryght vnpro\u2223fytable / & the god thoughtes well ordeyned to our lorde more profyte the without mesure than ony bo\u00a6dely good whiche trybulaco\u0304n may take fro ye & in to\u00a6ken that his mynde is moche on his seruau\u0304tes whi\u2223che are in trouble he sayth in the booke of Exodi. \u00b6 Uidi afflictionem populi mei et recordatus sum pacti mei. \u00b6 I haue sene the trybulacyon of my people & I am remembred of the couenau\u0304t and pro\u00a6mysse that I haue made to hem. As who sayth thou that art in trouble yf thou take thy trouble pacyent\u00a6ly our lorde hath made a co\u0304uenau\u0304t to werke auayle therof whiche as yu shalt knowe hereafter ye it shall be to thy moost {pro}fyte / kyng Dauyd whan his ow\u2223ne sone Absolon hadde put hym fro the kyngdom and he wente lyke an outlawe from place to place for saluacyon of hymselfe\nOne who was called Syme scorned and cursed him, threw stones, and when David's servants were about to strike him for revenge, David commanded them not to. \"Let him go and curse me instead,\" David said, \"for by enduring this cursing, I trust God will reward me. And for this patient endurance, he will give me some good reward.\" Thus David endured the cursing and injuries of his enemies as a means to receive special help from the Lord in his great need when his own son persecuted him to death. Therefore, endure patiently the evil speaking and injuries of wicked people, for they bring you the blessing and special help of the Lord in such things where you have special need of his help.\nI said before that our lord remembers his covenant to those in captivity in Tyre. Here you will ask me what covenant that is. He makes a covenant with those who patiently take captivity upon themselves, and they shall have the power of delivery, and he will be friendly with them as long as they are in captivity, bearing the trouble as it is said before. This is figured in the book of Daniel when he and his fellow were put in the burning oven. There appeared one with them like the Son of God, who made the oven as temperate as it had been full of appeasing cold wind with a temperate dew therewith. The fire hurt them not in the oven but flowed out of the oven upon those who kindled the fire and destroyed them, and those in the oven were delivered.\nLike wise if thou blessedly take tribulations and bless God like the three children who were in the oven, thou shalt have deliverance, and the tribulations shall be cast on thine adversaries who brought thee trouble, by the help of Jesus Christ the Son of God. If thou feelest compassion with him in thy heart, thou shalt quench the fire of adversity and burn them who blew and kindled the fire upon thee. Also our Lord makes promise to his friends who are in tribulations that he shall reward them with the goods of his glory, and more than thou canst presently ask of him, than the delivery of thy pains and troubles, and rewards of his excellent goods in his kingdom of glory. And this is written there he says: \"Come and take him out of tribulation and I will glorify him.\" \"With my friend I am in tribulation, I shall deliver him and I shall glorify him.\"\nThen it is so profitable to have God in thy mind with fear to offend Him, and to this great advantage thou art brought by tribulation. I counsel those who would be the lover of our Lord and have Him to thy reward after this life, whom thou hast specifically in thy mind during the time of tribulation, to take patiently and thankfully endure pain and temporal vexation.\n\nThe tenth consolation is to remember that tribulation patiently and thankfully taken makes our Lord more merciful to us. It makes thy prayer more meritorious and sooner to be accepted by God, who has ordained that mercy shall be had through asking of Him. Wherefore such diligent souls as will not ask mercy of our Lord, He is ready to give mercy to them if they make them cry for it at their petition and prayer.\nAnd that he accepts the prayer of such a person is written in the book of Ecclesiastes, where it says, \"In the ears of the Lord a cry from the afflicted is heard. Our Lord shall hear the prayer of one who is hurt; therefore, if you feel hurt by pain and tribulation, comfort yourself again, for the hurts make your prayers the sooner to be heard by almighty God for remission of your sin and to the great reward of your salvation. Our Lord beats those whom he will save with pain and trouble to constrain them to cry out for help, because they will understand that their help comes from him, who after a long continuance of crying grants them their petition. Many a mouth is closed by prosperity that cries for no help to God, which is opened by adversity.\nAnd so it is written of Jonas the prophet when he fled to the land of Tarshish, he slept deeply there. He was there as long as the weather was fair and calm. But when a tempest arose mightily, then he was awakened, and to call for help to his god, the sailor threw him into the sea. There, in great fear for his life among the bowels of the whale, he cried with fervent spirit to God and continued to cry. And that cry was heard by God. Such hearts sleep with Jonas, as if in this life they forget themselves and are brought to the state that they little attend or take heed to anything but things for their bodily pleasure or bodily harm, and little take heed to things concerning their damnation or salvation. The more prosperity they have, the faster they are asleep, and their sleep is the more perilous and the more they are in danger of damnation.\nBut like prosperity makes them sleep, adversity makes them wake, and there they hold them still in sleeping, there they cry when they are waking. And for this cause, our Lord makes great tempests of tribulations rise for such people who are deeply in this perilous sleep. For he will that they cry out to him and earnestly beseech him for such things as he will give them. Likewise, he has ordained what he will give them, and he has ordained that they shall come by petitions and by asking of him. And therefore David, in the person of those who have help from God by their petitions and prayer, says: \"I cried to the Lord in distress, and he heard me.\" \"When I was troubled, I cried to God, and he granted my petition.\"\nThose who are prosperous sometimes call upon our Lord, for some who are prosperous are not so quick to sleep that they forget themselves and God, as those who are very foolish are. However, in times of prosperity, souls are sluggishly approaching sleep, so the cry is not as powerful in obtaining the help of our Lord as in times of adversity. Perhaps you will say to me that the pain and adversity which you have inflicted upon your heart so severely makes you pray less and call upon God less in times of adversity than in times of prosperity. To this I say that if you speak no word in the time of your pain but only apply yourself to bear it patiently, then your pain cries out for you. For as many sores and infirmities as Lazarus had in his body, as many mouths he had crying out to God. And if you have but a little prayer with your heart or mouth at that time, the virtue of enduring your tribulation makes it of great merit and worthy to be received by God.\nAs many trybulacons as you have and take them, thanking God for them; as many prophets and advocates you have in the court of Heue to speak for them and call before the throne of God for expediency and help. And thus, if your mouth is shut at some time due to grief and bitterness caused by trybulacons, your trybulacon cries out for you with a great voice in the hearing of God. Trybulacons also make your prayers more urgent to speed them up. Your trybulacons are like payments for the charter of your deliverance; therefore, patiently endure trybulacons as you will have the letters of your deliverance. And of this he gives the example that holy man Job speaks, who speaks as one who has long waited at the court desiring to have his letters and has not to pay for them.\n\nWho shall give me that my petition may come to me and that our Lord shall give to me those things which I desire of Him.\nAmong all other prayers, the (Our Father) is most special. And specifically, when he gave it to you with his own mouth, he knows best what pleases him. He is not weary to cry out, nor is he disturbed that you have not yet made swift delivery at his court, for he knows the order of his court, and it is most expedient that you submit your will to his petition, that after the order of his will, he will grant it, and then you will be sure of blessed delivery. Those wretched people do not consider themselves as abiding, for he who abides hopes to have something, but these men look for no reward for their tribulations. They abide for nothing but worldly good worship or solace; their hearts are so fixed on these worldly goods that they look little to the goods of heaven and the reward of God.\nThe righteous people, who see by righteousness of God that no sin may pass unpunished, desire of God to have labor and tribulation in this world, whereby they may escape the bitter pains and torments which are ordained for sinners who have little pain in this world, and they rejoice in their tribulation. For the pain which is patiently taken for the love of God in this world purges not only the soul from sin but also brings great joy after this world. And the pain which is suffered after this life profits only for the purgation of sin in such as depart from this life in the state of grace. Wherefore the holy man Job says:\n\n\"He who began to chastise me spares me not, but chastises me severely; and in that only I will comfort myself for that he gives me such great pain and sorrow, and spares me not.\"\nTake heed of this soul which had lost all his riches, all his children, all his bodily health, and fell rotten from his bones. He was despised by his friends and scorned by his wife. Yet all his suffering he held but as a beginning of his penance and begged God to chastise him fully, as if to say that God had done little to him in all these, and he had no other desire but that God would not spare him. He understood that God's chastisement was a payment to obtain his letters of deliverance, and therefore he begged God to give him sufficient payment so he would not be delayed after his deliverance due to lack of payment. He also understood that the Lord spares in this life those whom He spares after this life, and those whom the Lord loves, He chastises in this life because He will spare them after this life.\nThe wretched folk are spared here by God's great wrath and great anger, for He will later avenge Himself on them. And therefore Job desired to make all his repentance. Thus, if you are discomforted in that which greatly afflicts you with pain and tribulation, / you must comfort yourself again in remembering how our Lord loves you and will spare you in the time coming. Our Lord will not chastise twice for one thing when one chastisement is sufficient, and the sufficiency is made by a good will and by the good accepting of the chastisement. For one gentle and obedient will makes a little pain acceptable to God for remission of sin and increase of grace as much as any great pain without such a good will. For as it is written in Genesis:\n\nRespected God was toward Abel and his offerings.\n\nOur Lord looked upon Abel and his offerings.\nheld his heart and good intent, and then his gifts, as one would say, he made more of his goodness and loving heart than of his gifts, for there is no gift acceptable to God except it comes from a good heart. Thus this holy father Job offered his suffering to God with a good heart and with a good will, when he desired that He should not spare him and all was because he desired to be beaten there as well, and therefore, like him, he desired to be spared in another place. Wherefore he says thus:\n\nParce mi, domine.\nLord, spare me.\n\nI counsel the which our Lord here displays with pain and trouble that you thank Him for it, who so lovingly remembers that He will in time to come spare you in that place where the wound of His stroke shall never be healed because of the sin which deserves to be forgiven after this life, you know yourself to be a sinner and must necessarily be beaten.\nI counsel thee to take heed so that it may be profitable to thee and avoid taking it in times coming, for else thou shalt be beaten both here and there; here thy wound may be healed but there it shall never be healed.\n\nThe eleventh consolation is to remember how the heart is kept and nourished by tribulation. Our Lord has ordained that the goods of the heart shall be under thy keeping and without such keeping of time they are lost, as it was written: \"They shall not be scourged, therefore they held them in contempt.\" Such as are not the vice of pride, therefore thou, who art a prisoner with pride, as thou mayest understand in that thou hast too much love for thyself and too little for God, hold prayer to our Lord to beat thee and to break this bond of inordinate love.\nFor as long as you have this love for yourself, you cannot have the love for God that you ought to have. You may know when pride has possession of your soul by its effects and works; therefore, in your tribulation, be comforted with this milk which shall bring upon you the sweet flood of God's glory.\n\nThe twelfth consolation in the time of tribulation is to remember that tribulations testify and bear witness to your heart that the Lord loves you. And therefore, you ought to receive them gladly, for they come to bear witness that you shall have the greatest and most valuable thing that you may desire in this life, which is the love of God. This is shown by Solomon where he says, \"He that loveth his son chastiseth him.\" The father who loves his child chastises him often.\nOur lord keeps his children ever under the rod, for he does not chastise them always with one rod. Sometimes he chastises by trouble of the soul, sometimes by pain of the body, and sometimes when it seems that he spares and yet he chastises. For instance, when he allows them to go at liberty and you think yourself out of trouble, yet he suffers the thoughts and temptations to come into your mind, and your conscience is distressed, and there he chastises you, and thus he spares you in chastising and chastises you in sparing. But those whom he spares in this life, he has ordained that after this life all his scourges shall come upon them at once in the bitter pain of damnation. And then he will augment and promote to the great and endless prosperity his children whom he has begetted in this life.\nAnd there shall be shown the great love of him who gave in this life, and the hatred and wrath of those whom he spared in this life. Then he shall gather all his vengeance and all the torments and pains which they deserve here, and these shall be heaped upon them there, as our Lord says in the book of Deuteronomy. I will gather them together and fill them with my arrows. Then you who desire the love of our Lord and wish to know that he loves you, rejoice when the witness of his love comes to you. Perhaps you say that prosperity is also a witness of his love, for our Lord loves some people at times to receive prosperity from him like others receive adversity. And thus you say that since both come from one hand and one people, one is no more a witness of the love of God than the other.\nTo this I answer that, although both prosperity and adversity come from our Lord, yet the most token of love is adversity more than prosperity. For it is the most token of love which the Father of Heaven gives to him whom He loves best, but He gave to our Savior His son and His blessed mother whom He loved best most tribulation in this life and little prosperity. Therefore adversity is the most sure token of love. Furthermore, our Savior came into this world as a merchant into a fair to choose the good and leave the evil, as it is said, \"Ut sciat eligere bonum et reprobare malum.\" But our Lord refused prosperity and the kingdom of Judea when it was offered to Him and chose adversity and great labor and pain all His life, and with the most bitter death ends His life. Then, if you wish to be a wife and merchant, follow Him who cannot be deceived in His merchandise. Then choose with Him here tribulation, and you shall have with Him the Infernal Joy and consolation.\n\nTheod. xiii.\nIn trials and tribulations, remember that if you endure your pain and hardships patiently, you make a great conquest of your spiritual enemies and utterly destroy their malice. For their labor is to make you take your hardships with grudging and a sorrowful heart because you are kept from such pleasures that you would have if you were without such pain and trouble. Therefore, if you take your trouble patiently and with a meek and obedient heart, referring it as a means and merit to come to the everlasting, then joy and pleasure will be yours. And it is your will not to be sorry that they are conquered; therefore says the prophet.\n\nPerdurus, O devil, contrary to your intent, for by those things they are meek, which you would bring them to pride, and by that they are patient, which you would make them impatient, and by those things they are brought to chastity, which you would bring them to lechery.\nAnd thus they give him a false start in his own turn, and with that same crook they cast him down, with which he intended to have wrestled them down. Oh how glad you may be who patiently have taken adversity's part. For by the merits of this life, you have deserved to have full dominion over your enemies at the hour of death, than they shall be afraid of you for than you shall be confirmed in grace and shall have power to tie and to bind them, like a bear warden and keeper commands his bears. For you, who put them to fear and shame in this life, resisting their temptations, must then be terrible to them; for then you shall receive your great power of God in reward of your battle. Therefore, you who would have a joyful hour of death, take patiently pains and troubles of this life.\n\nThe. xiv\nConsolation is to remember that if you take tribulation patiently, you draw to the merciful look of our lord, and make him pleased with great pleasure to behold the one thing for which our lord should have special pleasure to behold the one who patiently suffers. Therefore, you may be joyful that anything should be in the way, for this reason our lord should have special pleasure to behold the one who patiently suffers. Therefore, you may be sure that of this suffering will grow great profit. This profit you may not look to have hastily, for after the wise order of our lord, it must have a time in growing. Like a husbandman does not look for reward of his corn as soon as he has sown it, our lord is not hasty in his working but does all things by time and deliberation, as you may see in the works of nature.\nThy nails and thy heart grow continually, but they grow so softly that you may not perceive their growing as perfectly as you can; and yet, by the passage of time, you may see it, although you do not perceive it in the same way. Grace and great virtue grow in your soul through patient endurance of adversity, and if you persist, you will well perceive it. Our Lord has pleasure in looking upon you when you take trials to the intent that he sends them to you, that is to say, as penance for your sins, and to obtain thereby grace and virtue. And by your patient and thankful suffering, you shall give a good example to such as know your trouble. Then you may say, as it is written in the book of Job:\n\nLook upon me, you afflicter.\nBehold, Lord, for I am troubled.\nAs who says, \"Trouble taken is the reason you look at me, and this trouble makes crooked souls righteous, of whom David says. Oculi Domini super justos et aures eius ad precces cor. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are near to their prayers. But you may perhaps say that he also beholds wretched men, for it follows. Ultus autem Domini super facientes malum. The face of the Lord is upon those who do much evil, but attend to what follows in the same verse. Ut perdat terra memoriae omnem riam. Our Lord looks upon wretched men to the intent that after a little while they shall never be remembered to the honor of God and their commendation.\nBut by the good souls who here patiently endure, our Lord shall ever have honor, and they also shall have perpetual praise and commendation, as we see in the church of God, where great honor is continually done to God by those who have greatly suffered for Him and for their sins in this life. There was never a king in this world who had such great honor as some saints have had, who were once poor men or poor women, and in their time were little esteemed among the people of the world. And therefore the prophet says, \"Your friends, my Lord, are excessively honored.\" Your friends, good Lord, are highly honored.\nOf the rich man spoken in Luke's gospel, clothed in purple and sumptuously fed, the people of this world looked at and showed him reverence. But almighty God paid him little heed nor attended to his company. Contrarily, he gave heed to the poor Lazarus who lay at his door, desiring but the crumbs that fell from his table, yet none were given to him. But almighty God and the heavenly creatures beheld him lying in great pain before the gates of this rich man. This was shown in their departure from this life, for a royal angel was sent by God to receive Lazarus' soul and bring it with great joy into Abraham's bosom. The soul of the rich man, who had prosperity and felicity in this world, was buried in hell and there is no redemption.\nThese are words for you, if you wish for the sight of our Lord to be upon you in times of adversity, to have comfort when you depart from this world, or to enjoy the transitory course of worldly prosperity and in effect be forgotten by God and the inhabitants of heaven, and at the hour of death to be taken with the terrible torments of hell, and thereafter to dwell without hope of remission of sin or deliverance from pain everlasting. There was never emperor nor king who took such great pleasure in seeing his servant fight for his love as almighty God does in the wych (which) bears patiently tribulation against all the malice of the devils for his sake. There is no great evil done in this life but it is soon shown among the company of hell, so there is no great thing of perfection done or suffered in this life but it is shown to the court of heaven to their great joy.\nThan see that you suffer joyfully endure pain and tribulation, just as you will that God and the heavenly multitude have joy in thee and greatly desire that you shall be fellow with them in their beatitude and felicity.\nThe fifteenth consolation is to remember that our Lord sends tribulation to make you come to knowledge, not only how you should rule yourself according to His pleasure, but also that He has ordained you to be a teacher. For like as none can comfortably deal with a sick person as the physician who has been in the same sickness before, so none can give such comfortable counsel to a soul in trouble as that person who before time has had such trouble, and by the grace of God has well dealt with it himself. As St. Paul says, \"We are troubled for your exhortation and your spiritual health.\" \"Tribulamur pro vestra exhortaco\u0304e et salute.\" \"We are troubled for your exhortation and goostly helth.\"\nOur lord sends us trouble so that we may teach you both by the example of patience in suffering, and also by the holy exhortation of words, to be obedient for the great reward that is ordained for patience in trouble. And for the same reasons that we find within ourselves, through the inward teaching of our lord, we should show you how to be patient and holy in taking tribulation, so that it may have a double reward in the glory of God. Thus, you shall have a reward from God for patiently enduring sickness and trouble, more carefully in yourself.\nAlso you shall have reward in that you show patience to others, for the sake of giving them a good example, and not for your commandment. Also you shall have reward in that you teach others with your mouth, after the good motions and meditations that you feel within yourself, by which you feel comforted in your pain and trouble. And in the joy of heaven, you shall have singular reward of glory by each one of them who are profited here by your teaching. And they shall give thanks everlastingly for the spiritual help they have had from you in this life. And so you who use your tribulation to the profit of many shall have grace and joy given to you through your tribulation, as the prophet Daniel says: \"The righteous shall shine as the stars forever and ever, and as the brightness of the firmament that brings forth many to justice.\"\nThe righteous men shall shine as stars, and those who teach others to live righteously shall shine like the whole firmament. The light of the firmament, which contains the sun, the moon, and the stars, so the glory of those who teach others to do and to suffer virtuously shall surpass the glory of those who are not such teachers. Therefore, I advise you in the time of your pain and trouble to apply your mind diligently to learn, so that you may be numbered among the glorious multitude of teachers.\n\nThe sixteenth comfort is to remember that our Lord, by the high providence of his wisdom and the most right order of his justice, has made this statute: you, who have lost him through prosperity and false, inordinate pleasure of this world, shall find him again through the adversity of pain and tribulation, as it is written in the book of Deuteronomy: \"Seek him with all your heart in supplication and tribulation.\"\nThou shalt find him if thou seek him with all thine heart in tribulation. O how glad thou mayest be, who art set by the very ordinance of our Lord in that way and state, if thou wilt find him. Peradventure thou wilt say, Sir, if I understood that this pain and trouble I feel in my heart or in my body came from our Lord, I would be glad of it and it would be welcome to me. But I think that I am the cause of it myself. To this I say that whatever sorrow it is that thou hast in thy heart or pain in thy body, God is the principal cause of it / and it is ordained by his will and righteousness that thou shalt have it. He gives pain in this world which he shall give joy in the other world, and the devil is principal cause of sinful pleasure in this world which shall torment and punish the vain occupied souls in the other world.\nIt is laborious and painful to seek God with great fear in tribulation; therefore, in your seeking remember the finding of Him, for you shall find Him there if you take it thankfully. He will turn all your pain into pleasure, your sorrow into solace, and your transitory adversity into the enduring joy and prosperity. Therefore, the prophet says,\n\nLet your hearts desire the Lord's face; continually seek His face.\nThose who seek Him shall be radiant with joy.\n\nThe pain of seeking is bitter, but He is sweet whom you seek with pain. If you seek Him with pain in order to be a lover of Him, your pain will appear less, as David says.\n\nLet your hearts take courage, you who seek Him.\nAll those who seek Him shall be enlightened in the darkness.\nBut the careless people who do not order their pain as a means by which they should come to our Lord, but only take it as a great hurt to their body and remember little or nothing of the profit their soul may have thereby, are very sorry for the mystery of pain rather than the mystery of sin, and labor more to avoid things that displease them than to displease God. And yet our Lord keeps such people in pain for such a time until he has made them little by themselves and more ready to apply themselves to do according to his will than their own, like a master who does not cease to punish his servant to such a time until he has brought him to work according to his will, especially when it is such a servant that he favors and will not let him go from himself. You will perhaps say, how can this come from God? For this is deadly sin, and no sin can be imposed on God.\nTo this I answer that our lord, in his secret domain and unknown judgment, permits you to sin, and from that sin he will work virtue in you and make you willing to forsake sin. This willingness to forsake sin comes from the sorrow and confusion within you, and the pain of sorrow that you feel deeply in your heart comes from God. The good will that follows in forsaking sin is also from God. Therefore, the prophet says, \"Fill their faces with shame and rebuke, and then they shall seek your name, O Lord.\"\nAnd therefore our Lord suffers many a soul to fall into great and openly known sin, whereby they have great shame and are brought thereby to forsake sin; and those who before made much of themselves, had great pride and vain glory in the good name and report made upon them. By this common shame and shameful report, this vain pleasure is taken from them. Thus God is so good that He suffers no evil to be done in the world, neither in His elect children, but rather works great advantage for them. They shall clearly see on the Day of Judgment that, just as they never did good thing unrewarded, so they never did evil thing but our Lord worked great advantage thereof for their reward.\nIf you seek our Lord in the way of painful poverty and yearn for what is necessary for your living, remember that if you patiently bear your poverty, you shall have the greatest riches that ever were, for you shall have God Himself, and all the riches He has shall be yours. As He says in the Gospel, \"All my riches are yours.\" Joyfully bear your poverty for a while, which hastily shall make you so rich. It is a great pleasure to a poor man to have promised the riches of a temporal king, but much more pleasure it is to a faithful soul to have promised the Inestimable riches of God, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. You may say, \"Sir, I have lost my bodily health, by which I might have done many good works to the honor of God and profit of my soul, and now I am hindered by great sickness and frequent fear of death.\"\nI answer you in this case when you had fully occupied your health for yourself and used it more for your pleasure than for the pleasure of God. And if you had continued in this, you should have come to more inconveniences thereby. And for your disregard of your health, our Lord has sent you now this sickness. And since you would not serve him well in the time of your health in doing good, serve him well now in the time of sickness by good suffering.\nIf your health gave him greater pleasure than sickness, you would have had it standing as the principal cause of all bodily sickness, and where you least value your bodily health, which is better to you than all the riches of the world, if you graciously accept it. That is to say, the grace of our Lord in this world with the virtue of meekness, patience, and charity, and the pain of the flesh is the special remedy to avoid fleshly sin for the time of pain. You will have but little pleasure in remembrance of fleshly delight, and therefore, if it is tempted, it is the more powerful to resist it. And therefore, the apostle says, \"The stronger the temptation, the greater the victory.\" When I am sick in my body, I am stronger to resist the temptation of vice in my soul.\nBy the sick person is brought near himself / if it is full of pain, it sets little by precious clothes, by worship and worldly honor. And that person is meek, who sets little by himself / but patience is more painful / that is, willfully and thankfully to take sickness with hand and heart, to give loving to our Lord therefore / nevertheless, a faithful soul remembers these profits which come from sickness is full glad thereof and conforms the will to the will of God / but this patience to God must have charity towards those who are about it. If you have these three / that is, meekness in little setting by oneself, obedient patience to God, charity to such as are about it without chiding and brutality / then you have great witness, which shall bring you to the glory of God and to the crown of victory.\nO how glad you may be to seek thy Lord God and finally to find him through sickness, whose glorious sight is of such great pleasure that you would choose to suffer the great pains of hell for a short time again, just to see him once more. And if a soul which is in the pains of hell could see him, the great joy of the sight of God would stop for a time all the pains of hell that it should feel none, for that joy would so fully fill the will with delight and pleasure that there would be no place left for any contrary feeling. In this life there is no pleasure so great but there is pain much more, but after this life there will be pleasure incomparable more than any pain can be now. I exhort thee to seek thy Lord truly through tribulation and pain which has sought and found thee, and thou, who hast lost him, mayst suffer to find him again.\n\nThe XVII\nComfort is to remember that the Lord has sent tribulation to us, to make us afraid to offer Him offense. Our free nature refuses nothing that is pleasant to it, except it be moved by fear. And many there are who lack perfect faith and fear little the pains to come. Therefore, such should be taken in the devil's snares and fall to continuing in sin if the Lord, in His great mercy, did not send them pain and tribulation in this present life. But He keeps them so occupied with fear and bitterness of pain that their mind is withdrawn from their disordered pleasure. And if they have the special grace to think that their pain is a mind from the Lord to make them flee from sin, then their pain and trouble put them in great fear of sin and makes them flee it. Wherefore Job speaking of such things says, \"Terrebit eos tribulatio et angustia. Tribulation and anguish shall fear them.\"\nMany there are who, as young children, have little use of reason, living solely for sensuality and pleasure of the flesh. This is their great sport and delight in this world. And often, in the midst of their playing time, without any warning, they are called out of this world to their account and judgment where the sentence of damnation is shortly given to them, and forthwith they are put into the painful fire of hell where they shall abide forever without end. The soul which flees primarily for fear of pain or for worldly shame or for any other creature will have no reward therefore in heaven. But yet, by that it offends less to God than it should have done if it had no such fear and sooner rises to grace. This fear of pain is called a servile fear, for thus the servant fears to offend his master because he fears he should receive great strokes and punishments.\nBut the good child fears his father principally for love that he has for him and because he would not displease him. And just as the good wife loves her husband and for love that she has for him she will not displease him. But the evil wife fears to make transgressions of her marriage vows more for fear of strokes than for love. Thus the childlike fear of God is merciful and shall have great reward from our Lord when a soul flees from sin for love of it for God and because it would not finally be separate from Him. Nevertheless, for servile fear the soul is brought to childlike fear at times.\nThan nothing shall separate the soul from God and bring it to perpetual pain but this: our Lord sends the pain to separate it from sin. Then He will deliver the soul from eternal pain and join it to Him in perpetual glory. Therefore, if you lift up your mind to God in the time of pain and tribulation, seeing Him deal so fatherly with you, and what profit comes to you from your pain and trouble, you ought to take it patiently and give Him great praise and prayer, for He is so merciful in dealing with the.\n\nThe eighteenth consolation is to remember that our Lord provides for those in tribulation, if you take it well. After your heart is constained to God with anguish of pain, it shall be dilated with joy and opened again, as the prophet says: \"In tribulation you have dilated my heart.\" \"You have dilated my heart by tribulation.\" And as it is written in the book of Job: \"After tribulation joy comes.\"\nThou givest to the heart joy and gladness after tribulation. There is none who comes to great gladness in him, except after great sorrow in this life, and especially if the sorrow and trouble are taken for the love of God in order to Him, as the prophet says.\n\nDetorrente in via bibet {propterea} exaltavit caput.\n\nHe shall drink of the bitter water in the way of tribulation, and therefore he shall exalt afterward his head with joy in God and delight. That thing which makes man or woman set less by themselves disposes them to make more of God. Sometimes a person is made to set less by themselves through the misery of sin, for many one who made much of himself when they have fallen into great and abominable sin, then they begin to learn to make much of our Lord and come, as Mary Magdalene did, to great grace and pleasure in God.\nBy mystery of pain, many come to the same pleasure in God, and that is the better way, for the misery of sin can never be good, & the time is lost for spiritual profit as long as a soul is in this misery, and our Lord hateth this wretchedness of sin. But wretchedness of pain, if it is well taken, is of great pleasure to our Lord, and it is of great merit, and the time is well spent for those in this misery. Therefore, I exhort the one who has taken pleasure in sin, and the world has given pleasure, to take patiently pain and tribulation, and then thou shalt see that thou shalt learn to make much of God, and He shall make much of thee.\n\nThe nineteenth consolation is to remember how a dull soul is made quick to serve God by tribulation, as the prophet says. \"If I walk in the midst of tribulation, thou shalt receive me and quicken me.\"\nLike a dull servant is made sharply to apply his labor, so are dull souls, who had little appetite to serve God, made to spend their time better in the service of God, and especially those who have grace to remember what pain He suffered for them. This faith quickens and gives life to them, as St. Paul says. \"Quod emvm vivam in fide filii Dei vivi, qui dilexit me et tradidit se ipsum pro me.\" My life is in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and willingly offered Himself to suffer great pains for me. Perhaps you will say, \"I think I served God better when I was out of pain and tribulation than I had the liberty of my mind; now I am constrained by pain to have my mind so of God that I can only tell that I remember Him beside it.\"\nTo this I answer that if you have been well occupied the time of your prosperity by good working, now you are well occupied the time of your adversity by good suffering, and both are required to perfect living, if you may not multiply so many good deeds as you did before, if you have patience in your tribulation, you have one thing that is worth many things, and this virtue of patience can never be had but in sharp adversity, like the sweet rose that grows on the sharp thorns. So I counsel you to take patiently your tribulation and thank God heartily thereof, and then you have the virtue of perfect suffering which shall obtain from our Lord after your pain is past the virtue of good doing.\n\nThe twenty consolation and comfort in time of tribulation is to remember how it worked for the precious crown of glory, as the prophet Isaiah says.\nThe Lord will crown you with tribulation. Our Lord shall crown you with tribulation. Thus all the blessed multitude in heaven have received their crowns, of whom the angel said to St. John the Evangelist. They are those who have come out of great tribulation, but God has wiped away their tears from the eyes of the saints, and they shall never again have weeping or sorrow, for the first causes of sorrow are past for those in bliss. It is impossible for them to feel the least pain or sorrow. Thus the apostle writes of our Savior. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.\nOur savior made himself obedient to the great pain and tribulation of the cross, therefore the Father has given him a name above all names, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heaven, of earth, and of hell, that is, that all creatures shall be obedient to him, who was so obedient to the Father's will to suffer such great pain and trouble. Thou who desirest to come to the great felicity and joy of God, thou mayst not look to have rest and pleasure in this life, for none can have the false pleasure of this world and the true pleasure of that other world. Wherefore the apostles of God did forsake the pleasures of this world and took upon them a painful life, as the apostle says.\n\nNos stulti propter Xp\u0304m infirmi et ignobiles esurimus. Sicimus. Nudi sumus. Colaphis cedimus. Instabiles undicimus. Persecucione styngeth, but she brings forth sweet wax and honey.\nSo trybulacons sting sharply, but they bring forth the wax of spiritual works which shall burn clearly in the soul with the clear sight and vision of God, and also the honey of the fruit of God. Therefore, he who would come to this blessed vision and glorious fruit of God, learn in this life to love trybulacons for the great joy and consolation which you shall have by trybulacons. Remember that our Lord has ordained in this life that we have no rest but trouble and battle, as the holy man Job says. \"Milicia est enim vita hominis super terra.\" \"The life of man upon the earth stands in battle and in knighthood.\" Thou must battle with thy flesh in times of health with fasting, watching, and sharp clothing, praying and with great laboring, and in times of sickness thou must fight against it with patience and joyful suffering and therefore give singular loving to our Lord. Thou must fight with the world in fleeing evil fellowship and evil examples thereof and do good against evil.\nThou must fight against the evil thoughts and suggestions of the devil with great labor to put them soon out of thy mind, and labor to lift up thy heart to God and for to get good thoughts against the evil. I counsel thee to fight this good battle of faith that thou mayst have in reward everlasting life, that on the day of thy departing thou mayst say with St. Paul remembering thy life.\n\nBonus: the righteous judge shall give it to me. Our Lord Jesus, by the merits of his passion, give us grace patiently in this life to take accord with his will this temporal tribulation, whereby we may be delivered from the endless damination. And from the hand of our Lord to receive the crown of our glorification. Amen.\n\nHere ends the Rote or mirror of consolation and comfort.\nPrinted at Westminster by Wynken de Worde.\nprinter's or publisher's device.", "creation_year": 1499, "creation_year_earliest": 1499, "creation_year_latest": 1499, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "Here begins a little treatise named The Booke of Courtesie.\n\nIn autumn when the sun in Virgo\nBy radiant heat enters our corn,\nWhen Luna, full of mutability,\nWears the diadem of our northern pole,\nHalf scornfully smiling at our folly and our instability,\nAt the time when Mars goes to war,\nI call to mind the great authority\nOf old poets, who with subtle art\nCould touch a thought and cloak it subtly\nWith fresh utterance, full of sententiousness,\nSome spared not vice to write,\nSome of mortality nobly endited,\nWhereby their repute and their fame\nMay never die but endure,\nI was greatly moved to force the same,\nBut Ignorance soon made me disperse,\nAnd showed that in this art there was not certainty,\nFor to Illumine she said I was to dull\nDrawing away my pen and not to write,\nFor he will exceed further than his knowledge allows,\nHis head may be hard but his brain is weak.\nI have known such a one before, but he cannot reproach me for climbing higher than I can afford. Who will save him if he slides down? Up and down my mind was drawn and cast, and I did not know what to do was best. So overwhelmed that I was at last enforced to sleep and take some rest. And to lie down as soon as I could, at the harbor gate, slumbering as I lay, in my host's house called Power's Key. I thought I saw a goodly ship sailing forth into that haven, brooding. She took an anchor and there she lay at rode. Mariners came to see what she had loaded. There they found royal merchandise, freighted with pleasure of what kind you conceive. But then I thought I would not dwell among all others, I put myself in their presence. There I could find no acquaintance. There was much noise suddenly, one cried cease. Sharply commanding each man hold his peace. Masters, he said, the ship that you see here.\nThe courtesan, who is a lady of estate, is named Dame Sance Pere. Here merchandise is rich and fortunate, but whoever wants it must pay dearly for it. This royal merchant ship, which is docked here, is called Favor to stand in her good grace. Then you should see a pressing of one and other, who would see this lady, as they move in a pace. She sat behind a silk screen of the finest, Of gold threads the finest that could be, In a throne which shone more clearly than Phoebus in his celestial sphere. Her beauty, honor, goodly port, I have little knowledge to report. But of each thing there, as I took note, Among all other was written in her throne, In gold letters this word which I did read:\n\nGuard le fortune que est mal et bonne\n\nAnd as I stood reading this verse alone,\nHer chief gentlewoman, by her name Danger,\nGave me a start and said I was to blame,\nTo be so pert to press so proudly up.\nShe said she thought that I ate sauce.\nShe asked if I had drunk from the saucy cup,\nAnd I softly answered, \"I have given you no cause,\nWhy ask you, 'Sir,' God speed what,\nWhat is your name?\" I replied, \"It was fear.\"\n\"What moved the quod she hid to come?\" I asked.\n\"I was eager to buy some of your ware,\" I said,\n\"And with that word, on me she gave a sign.\"\n\"With brows bent and stared at me fiercely,\"\n\"She left me standing like a man possessed.\nAnother gentlewoman came to me,\n\"Desire\" was her name, and she told me,\n\"Brother, be of good cheer,\nDo not be disheartened but bold,\nApproach and come near,\nThough our business may be costly,\nYet I urge you to speak without fear,\nWho spares to speak in faith spares to succeed.\"\n\"Mistresses,\" I said, \"I have no experience,\nNo one will act as my mediator and advocate,\nAnd I have only a small amount of substance.\"\n\"Speak not, Desire, if you have no faith,\" she said,\n\"I will lend it to you.\"\nA precious jewel no rich man in this land\nHas this adventure here in your hand.\nShift now with it, let us see what we can,\nIn the bowge of court, I vow to make,\nFor I dare say that there is no earthly man\nBut he can grasp this adventure.\nThere can no favor nor friendship forsake\nThis adventure may bring you in such case,\nThat you shall stand in favor and in grace,\nBut of one thing I warn you ere I go,\nShe that steers the ship make her your friend,\nSaid I. I pray you tell me why so,\nAnd how I may find that way and means,\nForsoth she answered, however the wind blows,\nFortune guides and rules all our ship,\nWhom she hates shall overshoot the sea's sky,\nWhom she loves of all pleasure is rich,\nWhile she laughed and had lust to play,\nWhom she hates she casts in the ditch,\nFor when she frowns she thinks to make a fray,\nShe cherishes him and him she befriends a way,\nAlas said I, how might I have her sure,\nIn faith said she by this adventure.\nThus in a row of mariners a great rout.\nSuited to fortune that she would be their friend,\nThey thronged in fast and flocked her about,\nAnd I with them prayed her to have in mind,\nShe promised to us all she would be kind.\nOf boon of court she asks what we would have,\nAnd we asked for favor, and favor she gave.\n\nThus ends the prologue. And begins the brief compiling of the Boon of Court.\n\nFear\nThe sail is up, fortune rules our helm,\nWe want no wind to pass now over all,\nFavor we have together, stronger than any elm,\nThat will abide and never from us fall,\nBut under honey oftentime lies bitter gall,\nFor as I thought in our ship I did see\nFull subtle persons in number four and three,\nThe first was Flatterer, full of flattery,\nWith false fables that could well make a tale,\nThe second was Suspect, which that day misjudged each man with face deadly and pale,\nAnd Harrier, who well could pick a male,\nWith other four of their affinity.\nDisdain. Riot. Dissembler. Subtlety.\nFortune, their friend, with whom often she dances.\nThey could not fail, they thought they were so sure\nAnd often I would announce to myself\nTo make amends and bring pleasure\nBut their displeasure they could not endure\nThey said they hated to deal with Fear\nThen Fear began with fair speech to feed me\nFear:\nNothing earthly that I wonder so much\nAs your conduct, which is so excellent\nDare to join us, one such in store\nSo virtuously that has spent his days\nFortune has given you gifts of grace\nLook what it is, a man to have conduct\nAll earthly treasure it is surpassing\nYou are an apt man as any can be found\nTo dwell with us & serve my ladies\nYou are to her worth a thousand pounds\nI heard her speak of you within short space\nWhen there were diverse ones who did you wrong\nAnd though I say it, I was myself your friend\nFor here are diverse to you who are unkind\nBut this one thing you may be sure of me\nFor by that Lord that bought us all mankind\nI cannot flatter, I must be plain to thee.\nAnd you need not show to me your mind,\nFor I have you, faithful, you shall find,\nWhile I have anything by God you shall not lack,\nAnd if need be, a bold word I dare crack,\nNay, nay, be sure, while I am on your side,\nYou may not fall, trust me, you may not fail,\nYou stand in favor and fortune is your guide,\nAnd as she wills, so shall our great ship sail,\nThese lewd cock Watt shall never prevail,\nAgainst you hardly, therefore be not afraid,\nFarewell till soon but no word that I said,\nFear.\n\nThen he thanked me for my great gentleness,\nBut I thought he wore on him a cloak,\nThat lined was with doubtful doubleness,\nI thought of words that he had a full poke,\nHis stomach rebuked him often,\nSuspicion I thought met him at a brake,\nAnd I drew near to hear what they two said,\nIn faith, I asked, \"suspect,\" spoke fear no word of me,\nWhy what then will you let men speak,\nHe says he cannot well agree with thee,\n\"Suspect,\" go play him, I care not.\nBy Cryst, Faulkland fears is sole king,\nWhat lets us hold him up a while?\nYou too might suspect he may both beguile,\nAnd when he came walking soberly,\nWith whom / and / he / and with a crooked look,\nI thought his head was full of jealousy,\nHis eyes rolling, his hands clenched they quivered,\nAnd to me he took the narrow way,\nGod speed, brother, he said then,\nAnd thus to speak with me he began,\nSuspicion:\nYou remember the gentleman right now,\nWho commanded with you, I thought spoke in secret,\nBeware of him, for I swear by God,\nHe will beguile you and speak fair to your face,\nYou never dwelt in such another place,\nFor here is none that dares to trust another,\nBut I would tell you something and I dare,\nHe spoke a faith, no word to you of me,\nI knew and he did, you would tell me,\nI have a favor to you, whatever it be,\nThat I must show you much of my counsel,\nBut I wonder what the devil of hell,\nHe said of me when he spoke with you,\nBy my assessment, do not walk with him.\nThe sovereign thing that any man may have\nIs little to say, and much to hear and see\nFor I trusted you so, God save me,\nI would no thing so plain be,\nTo you only I think I dare confide,\nFor now I am fully disposed,\nTo show you things that may not be disclosed,\nFear\nThen I assured him my fealty,\nHis counsel secret never to disclose,\nIf he could find in his heart to trust me,\nElse I prayed him with all my earnest care,\nTo keep it himself, for then he might be sure,\nThat no one earthly could him betray,\nWhile of his mind it were locked with the key,\nBy God, he said this, and thus it is,\nAnd from his mind he showed me all and some,\nFarewell, he said, I will speak no more of this,\nSo he departed, there he would be come,\nI dare not speak, I promised to be done,\nBut as I stood musing in my mind,\nHarvey haster came leaping lightly as mad,\nOn his breast he bore a verging box,\nHis throat was clear and lustily could speak,\nMy thought his gown was all furred with fox.\nAnd ever he sang, I am nothing plain,\nTo keep him from picking it was a great pain.\nHe gazed on me with his greedy beard,\nWhen I looked on him, my purse was half afraid.\nHeruy hasten.\nSir god, you save, why look you so sad,\nWhat thing is that I may do for you,\nA wonder thing that you wax not mad,\nFor if I should study as you do now,\nMy wit would waste, I would make God allow,\nTell me your mind, I think you make a verse,\nI could it stand and you would repeat it,\nBut to proceed shortly to the point,\nWhere has your dwelling been ere you came here,\nFor as I suppose I have seen you in deed,\nEr this when that you made me royal cheer,\nHold up the helm look up and let God steer,\nI would be merry what wind that ever blew,\nHeave and how rombe low row ye Norman row.\nPrinces of youth can you sing by rote,\nOr shall I sail with you a fellowship try,\nFor on the book cannot sing a note,\nWould to God it would please you some day,\nA ballad book before me for to lay,\nAnd learn me to sing (Re my fa sol).\nAnd when I fail Bobbe me on the loo, what is to you a pleasure great,\nTo have that conniving and ways that you have\nBy God's soul, I wonder how you get so great pleasure or who gave it to you,\nSir, pardon me, I am an homely knave,\nTo be with you thus part and thus bold,\nBut you are welcome to our household,\nAnd I dare say there is no man here but would be glad of your company,\nI never knew a man who could win the favor that you have with my lady,\nI pray to God that it may never die,\nIt is your fortune to have that grace,\nAs I am saved, it is a wonderful case,\nFor as for me, I served here many a day,\nAnd yet I cannot have my living,\nBut I require you no word that I say,\nFor and I know any earthly thing\nThat is against you, you shall have wetting,\nAnd you are welcome, sir, so God save me,\nI hope hereafter a friend of you to have.\n\u00b6With that as he departed from me,\nSuddenly there met with him, as I thought,\nA man, but wonderfully pale was he,\nHe looked haughty, he set each man at naught.\nHis gaudy garment, wrought with indignation, was lined was his hood. He frowned as he would swear by cock's blood. He both the lip he looked passing coy. His face was belemished as bitches had him stowed. It was no time with him to joke nor to play. Envy had wasted his liver and his loge. Hatred by the heart so had him wrung. That he looked pale as ashes to my sight. Disdain I wene his coming was hasty. To heruy haste than he spoke of me. And I drew near to hear what they said. Now said Disdain, as I shall be saved. I have great scorn & amarriage evil paid. Then said Heruy, why art thou so dismayed? By Christ said he, for it is shame to say. To see John Dawes that came but yesterday. How he is now taken in conceit. This doctor Dawcocke Dread I wene he hights. By God's bones but if we have some sleight. It is like he will stand in our light. By God said Heruy & it so might happen. Let us therefore shortly at a word. Find some men to cast him over the border.\nBy him who bought me, before Thursday,\nI wonder greatly what he is thinking,\nTurd's quarter hours, I will not speak,\nThere must be laid some pretty bait,\nTwo of us, I believe, are not without wit,\nFirst pick a quarrel and argue with him,\nThen confront him with a card of ten,\nStraightway he made a proud assault,\nWith a scornful look, all in a mood,\nHe went about to catch me off guard,\nHe frowned, he stared, he stamped where he stood,\nI looked at him, I thought he was wood,\nHe set his arm proudly beneath his side,\nAnd in this way he began to scold,\nDisdain.\n\nRemember what you said yesterday night,\nWill you abide by the words again,\nBy God, I have great contempt,\nI shall deal with the angry ones in every way,\nIt is great shame to see such a one,\nWho came but yesterday,\nWith us old servants, such masters to play.\nI tell you, I am of courage,\nWhat did I seem to be. I believe you do not know me,\nBy God's wounds but for displeasure.\nOf my quarrel soon I would avenge be,\nBut no force I shall once meet the,\nCome when it will oppose, I shall,\nWhatever some event thereof falls,\nDo you believe dreary I say, thou gaudy knight,\nThat I have entertained to see the cherished thus,\nBy God's side my sword thy beard shall shave,\nWell once thou shalt be charmed, I was,\nNay, straw for tales thou shalt not rule us,\nWe are thy betters and so thou shalt us take,\nOr we shall the out of thy clothes shake.\n\u00b6Drede.\nWith that came Ryotte rushing all at once,\nA rusty gallant to ragged and to rent,\nAnd on the board he whirled a pair of bones,\nQuartered three devils he clattered as he went,\nNow have at all by Saint Thomas of Kent,\nAnd ever he threw and kissed, I wote ne'er what,\nHis heart was grown through out his hat.\nThen I beheld how he disgraced was,\nHis head was heavy for watching overnight,\nHis eyes bled, his face shone like a glass,\nHis gown so short that it ne'er might cover,\nHis rump he went so all for summer's light,\nHis hose was girded with a list of green.\nYet at the knee they were broken I ween,\nHis coat was checked with patches red and blue,\nOf Kirkby Kendall was his short demen,\nAnd ever he sang in faith, \"Decon, thou crewe,\nHis elbow bare he wore his gear so neare,\nHis nose a drooping, his lips were full dry,\nAnd by his side his whining and his pouch,\nThe devil might dance there for any crowche,\nCountermand he could (Olux) upon a pot,\nAn -\nHe set up freshly upon his hat a loft,\nWhat revel rout quoth he and began to rail,\nHow often had he it on the tail,\nOf felicity fetewse, dame little pretty cat,\nHow often he knocked at her clicked gate,\nWhat should I tell more of his reprobacy,\nI was ashamed so to hear him prate,\nHe had no pleasure but in harlotry,\nAy quoth he in the devil's date,\nWhat art thou I saw the now but late,\nForsoth quoth I in this court I dwell now,\nWelcome quoth Ryote, I make God awake,\n\u00b6Ryote.\nAnd sir in faith why came not we among,\nTo make the merry as other fellows done,\nThou must swear and stare man all day long.\nAnd wake all night and sleep till it be none,\nThou mayst not study or ponder the moon.\nThis world is nothing but eat, drink, and sleep,\nAnd thus with us good company to keep.\nPull up thy heart upon a merry pine,\nAnd let us laugh a place or two at the end.\nWhat the devil's mirth was never one,\nWhat lo, man see here of dice a bale.\nA birdling cast for that is in thy male,\nNow have at all that lies upon the board.\nFie on this dice, they be not worth a turd.\nHave at the hazard or at the dice brown,\nOr else I pass a penny to a pound.\nNow would I god thou wouldst lay money down.\nLord, how that I would cast it full round.\nAy in my pouch a buckle I have found,\nThe arms of Calyce I have no coin nor cross.\nI am not happy, I run always on the loss.\nNow run must I to the stews' side,\nTo wete if Malkin my lover has gotten anything.\nI let her to her, that men may ride on her,\nHer harms easy, far and near are sought.\nBy God's sides since I her thither brought,\nShe has gotten me more money with her tail.\nA ship that in its hold sails,\nSaid I, I'd have a horse as good as she is a mare.\nI'd dare adventure through France,\nHe who rides her needs not to care,\nFor she is secured to break a lance,\nIt is a courser that well can win and prance,\nTo her will I now pledge all my power,\nAnd till I come, here is my hat as pledge.\n\nFear\n\nGone is this knave, this rude and lewd,\nHe ran as fast as ever he might,\nUnthriftiness in him may well be shown,\nHomeborn grows both day and night,\nAnd as I stood and kissed aside my sight,\nI saw Disdain with Dissembling,\nStanding in sad communication,\nBut there was pointing and nodding with his head,\nAnd many words said in secret way,\nThey wandered on and stood still in no stead,\nI thought always Dissembling devised,\nMy heart then rose and passed away,\nI doubted and feared their talking was not good,\nSuddenly Dissembling came where I stood,\nThen in his head I saw two faces,\nOne was lean and like a pinned ghost.\nThat other looked as if he would have slain me,\nAnd toward me he came, as if to cost,\nWhen he was even at me almost,\nI saw a knife hidden in his one sleeve,\nWhereon was written the word myscheue,\nAnd in his other sleeve, I thought I saw,\nA spoon of gold full of honey sweet,\nTo feed a fool and pray a daw,\nAnd on that sleeve these words were written,\nA false abstract comes from a false concrete,\nHis head was beside his copes roset gray,\nThese were the words he to me did say,\n\nDissimulation,\nHow do you, master, look so soberly,\nAs I was saved at the dreadful day,\nIt is a perilous vice, this envy,\nAlas, a cunning man may not dwell,\nIn no place well but with fools and strife,\nBut as for that cunning, has no fo,\nSave him that nothing can, scripture says so.\n\nI know your verse and your literature,\nBy that little cunning that I have,\nYou are maligning me I assure,\nBut you have crafted yourself always to save,\nIt is great scorn to see a misprised knave,\nWith a clerk that cunning is to prate.\nLet them loose in the devil's due date,\nYet it is not long since on my back I bore such lewd delight.\nRight now I spoke with one I think I see,\nBut what a straw I may not tell all things.\nBy God I say, there is great heart burning\nBetween the person you know of Jove.\nAlas, I could not deal with a yew.\nI would each man be as plain as I.\nIt is a world I say to hear of some.\nI hate this fawning, fire upon it, fire.\nA man cannot know where to become.\nI wish I could tell but humbly home.\nI dare not speak, for we are so laid away.\nFor all our court is full of discord.\nNow by Saint Fraucis that holy man and friar,\nI hate these ways again that you take.\nWere I as you, I would ride them full near,\nAnd by my truth, but if an end they make,\nYet will I say some words for your sake.\nThat shall them anger, I hold them on a hot coal.\nFor some shall think they will be hanged by the throat.\nI have a stopping oyster in my pouch.\nTrust me, and if it comes to a need,\nBut I am loath for to raise a smoke.\nIf you could agree otherwise, I would like it to be so, God speed this bread to a conclusion without God making a good conclusion. Nay, see where that man over there stands, a flattering knave and false, God knows it. The drunkard stands there to listen, and he can. It would be more profitable for him to buy himself a new coat. It will not be his purse is not afloat. All that he was worth was borrowed, his wit thin, his head threadbare. I could say more, but this is what it is now. A drop, soon we shall speak more of this. You must be ruled as I shall tell you how, Amends may be of that which is now amiss, and I am your sir, so have I kiss. In every point that I can do or say, give me your hand, farewell, and have a good day.\n\nSuddenly, as he departed from me, came pressing in one in a wondrous array. Before I was aware, behind me he said, \"bo.\" Then I was astonished by that sudden fracas. Startled, I stood up, I liked none of his play. For if I had not quickly fled the touch, he would have plucked out the nobles of my pouch.\nHe was dressed in a tight garment\nI have not seen such another page\nFor he could well wait on a casket\nHis head all pounded and guarded like a cage\nLightly limp finger he took none other wage\nHarken, he said, here is my hand in yours\nTo us welcome, thou art by Saint Quintyne\n\u00b6Disciple.\nBut by the lord that is one, two and three\nI have an errand to round in your ear\nHe told me so, by God you may trust me\nPart remember when you were there\nThere I winked at you / did you not see where\nIn (A) that place I mean near (B)\nWoe is him that is blind and cannot see\nBut to hear the subtlety and the craft\nAs I shall tell you if you will listen again\nAnd when I saw the horses would have you have\nTo hold my hand by God I had great pain\nFor forth with them I would have had him slain\nBut that I feared murder would come out\nWho deals with rogues has need to look about\n\u00b6Fear.\nAnd as he rounded thus in my ear\nOf false collusion confessed by assent\nI thought I saw lewd fellows here and there\nI came to end my mortal life intently,\nAnd as they came, the shipboard drew near, I took it in hand\nAnd meant to leap and even with that awoke,\nCaught a pen and ink and wrote this little book\nI would not wish any man to be displeased\nBeseeching you who shall see or read\nIn every point to be impartial\nSince all in substance proceeds from servitude, I will not say it is significant in fact,\nBut yet at times such dreams are true.\nNow consider what remains,\n\u00b6This ends the Barge of Courtesy.\nPrinted at Westminster by me, Wynkyn de Worde.", "creation_year": 1499, "creation_year_earliest": 1499, "creation_year_latest": 1499, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"}
]