THE CONTRITION OF A PROTESTANT PREACHER, CONVERTED TO BE A CATHOLIQVE SCHOLLER CONTEYNING CERTAYNE MEDITATIONS VPON THE FOURTH PENITENTIALL PSALME, MISERERE / COMPOSED BY IAMES WADDESWORTH, MEDITATION VII.
ANGELICO, Fra
King David Playin a Psaltery
c. 1430
MEDITATION. VII.
Auerte faciem tuam à peccatis meis, & omnes iniquitates meas dele. Cor mundum crea in me Deus, & spiritum rectum innoua in visceribus meis. Ne proijcias me à facie tua: & spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas à me.
Turne away thy face from my sinnes, and blotte out all myne iniquityes. Create a cleane harte in me O God, and renue a righte spirite in my bowells. Doo not caste me out from thy face; and thy holy spirite doo not take from me.
A GENERALL INTERPRETATION OF all these wordes. And then what is meant by our Lordes fac [...]: and how our soules are deformed, & scribled full of sinnes, to be blotted out. Sect. 1.
1. LEt vs consider, o my soule how▪ prudent, modest, and diligent Dauid is in prosecuting his petitions:Innocent. 3. and let vs with him haue care to aske those thinges which are lawfull: which are decent: and which are expedient. To be prudent, in asking thinges just: modest, in desiring thinges honest: and diligent, in requiring thinges necessary: least if we pray for thinges vnlawfull, our prayer be turned into sinne: if we entreate for thinges vndecent, we shall not receiue them because we aske amisse ▪ if we demand thinges vnexpedient, it may be said vnto vs, you know not what you aske. Wherfore let vs be diligent continually to e [...]treat pardon of our sinnes, as Dauid still insisteth vpon this same poynt. For this is most expedient & necessary: Turne away thy face o lord from my sinnes and blotte out myne iniquityes. Let vs be modest against all vncleannes; and euen in our good deedes to desire humility of harte and sincerity of intention; for this is most dec [...]nt and honest. Create a cleane harte in me, o God, and renue a righte spirite in my bowells. Let vs be prudent in praying for perseuerance in good; and in perpetuall election of the Best, because these thinges are most juste and lawfull. Doo not caste me out from thy face, and thy holy spirite doo not take from me.
2. Turne away thy face from my sinnes: in regarde of my time paste. Create a cleane harte in mee: now in this time present. And for the time to come: doo not cast me out from thy face. Saynt Augustin thus expoundeth the firste wordes. Turne away thy face: not from mee,S. Aug. but from my sinnes: for where he fastens his eye, he fastens his hande: if vpon good; to rewarde it: if vpon bad; to punish it. And to turne aside his angry face, thou must [...]et a sorowfull face vpon thine owne sinnes: so neither shall thy person be caste out from his face; nor his face set against thy sinnes. O let thy face of mercy be shewed vpon vs,
Hugo Cardinal.
P [...]al. 129 E [...]ch. 41
and we shall be safe: but turne away thy face of iustice, or we shalbe confounded. Thy Cherub had two faces, which Ezechiel saw: a face of a man: and a face of a lyon. O blessed Sauiour cast me not out from thy face of pity, with which thou diddest first appeare when thou becamest man ▪ but turne away from my sinnes the face of a lyon in seuerity [Page 59]with which thou wilte come agayne to iudge the worlde. Then wilte thou appeare against sinne (according to that reuelation) hauing eyes as a flame of fyre, thy face more glistring then the sunne,Apoc. 1. and a sharpe twoo edged sworde proceding out of thy mouthe: But now for fauour we entreat with thy spouse; shew vs thy face, and let thy voyce be in our eares: for thy voyce is sweet, and thy face is exceding beautifull.Cant. 2. And so in the former verse, we desired to heare joye & gladnes; and in this, to beholde fauour & kindnes.
3. The Romanes sent to the Carthaginians a Mace and a Speare, to make election of peace or of warre: we haue now our choyce, of a milde countenance, or of a seuere browe: now o lord thy face is mercifull: o caste me not from it: There will come a time when it shall be seuere: o turne it away from my sinnes. And blotte out all my iniquityes. Pet. vega.Let none of them remayne written vpon my soule, to giue me shame, or helpe the diuels clayme; as slaues, and cattell are marked to be chalenged. Plato said that the soule of an infāte is tabula abrasa, like white paper,Arist. de anima lib. 3. cap. 2. or a cleane leafe of a table booke wheron nothing is paynted or written: But in processe of time, as we giue our selues to vice or vertue, so we suffer our soules to be written full of faultes, or of merites: And eyther we suffer the Diuell theron to paynte hell, with his fowle feendes and tormentes: or our good Angell to decipher heauen, with the glory of the sunne, the moone, and beautifull starres.
4. O my soule, how long haue we bene vnder the Diuells blacke pensell, who as with a fowle coale hath for euery sinne drawne some ill fauored marke or picture vpon thee? he hath written all full of faultes: o how he hath interlyned all: and euen the margentes are filled full. I confesse it was much easyer at the firste to haue admitted my good Angells fayre writing and heauenly pictures (as children and yong people are most capable of religion and vertue.) But yet better late then neuer: thy mercy is omnipotent: o let it blotte out all myne iniquityes: all the Diuells blurres: all his hellish pictures, and vgly handw [...]itinges: I desire to beginne a fayre copy: o gracious Lord, turne away thy face from my olde faultes, and I will turne ouer a new leafe, to begin a new lesson.
5. Thus shall the Diuells paynting all be blotted out: for as S. Ihon saith,1. Iean. 3. To this end appeared the sonne of God, to dissolue the workes of the Diuell. Which is signifyed by the olde custome of the Catholique churche, which hauing baptized new conuerted christians at Easter, and hauing vsed fasting & penance in lent, they called the first Sonday after Easter Dominica in Albis: white Sonday: because those who were newly baptized, were then all clad in white, to shew their cleansed innocency: and so they solemnely read that saying of S. Peter, quasi modo geniti infantes: as children new borne: to teach vs▪ that after our sinnes washed by baptisme, or blotted out by penance, we should be carefull to kepe the garments of our soules white and cleane: or hauing become againe as yong children without malice or sinne, we should afterwarde procure the cleansed table of our soules no more to be defaced in vice, by the Diuells fowle fyst▪ but to be adorned in vertue with golden letters of grace.
MANY SIGNIFICATlONS, AND PETITIONS, for creating a cleane harte, and renuing of a righte spirite. Sect. 2.
1. BLotte out all my faultes: and then Create a new harte in me, o God. First, remission of sinne: next, infusion of grace: For thoughe Iustification be in an instante; yet in order of nature, not of time, pardon is before fauour. And he saith Create grace in me: because it is not deduced out of any power or faculty of our soule,Lyranus. as are naturall [Page 60]formes out of their substances or matter: but our soule had lost all his morall essence, or Being of grace:
Hugo Cardinal.
Ezech. 28 Ierem. 5.
therfore he saith Create a cleane harte, that is, restore in me all morall gifts of nature: and renue a righte spirite, that is, all spirituall graces.
2. Create my harte, which had loste it selfe, for Ezechiel saith to a sinner, Thou arte become nothing. Neither let Ieremy call me a foole which hath no harte to res [...]ste sinne: for to haue no harte is to be dead and to haue no life. But in creating my harte; I [...]ha [...]l [...]ecouer both life and wisedome:Math. 5. and by creati [...]g me a cleane harte ▪ I may be among those blessed, who shall see God.
S. Greg.3. Let me haue a cleane harte, not defiled with delightes of any sinne; nor delighted in the filthynes of any pleasure: nor turmoyled with contentious passions: nor troubled with peruer [...]e cogitations: for it ought to be a cleane temple of the holy ghoste▪ not polluted with luxury: not straytned with enuy: with ambition not headlong: no [...] houering with pride. Or if we heare any of these clamorous affections within vs, yet not take pleasure, nor giue consent to their allu [...]ing voyces: not a whitte to feele them: who can say he hath a cleane harte?Prou. [...]0. yet must we cleanse our hartes not to harbour and consent vnto them. Or if we haue listened any whit too long vnto such dangerous thoughtes let vs pray for a cleane harte: that all corrupte intentions may be abolished; and with a right spirite all good purposes orderly directed: despising all the glory of this worlde: fastening our mindes in the loue of God: keping patience in reproches and inju [...]yes: humbling our selues to all men in meekenes: louing our freindes in God; and our enemyes for God: not coueting oughte from other men, but rather giuing of our owne to the poore: in prosperity sober; and constant in affliction. Thus let vs be renued in the spirite of our [...]indes, which in all these is a cleane harte and a right spirite: but by the vices which are contrary vnto these it doth become a crooked and a lothsome harte.
4. Create in me a cleane harte: not materially, but formally: for this creation is not of the harte in substance, but of his quality in cleanenes. Create cleanenes in my harte for infused vertu [...] and grace may be s [...]id created, as neither compounded of any material substance; no [...] deriued therfrom But yet being Accidentall formes they are not created alone, [...]ut existing in some subiect: and so Deuines say, Gratia non creatur, sed concreatur subjecto inesse grato.
Euthym.5. Least from my reasonable discourse, impertinent, or vicious thoughtes should ascend into my harte, Create in me a cleane harte of vnderstanding. Least my actions should be hipocriticall, hauing my harte a farre of from thee, Create a sincere intention of harte in my will. And in my deuout hartie affections, Create a cleane harte in me, that I may follow Dauid, as a man according to thine owne harte.
6. And renue a right spirite in my bowells. Renue it: for I am waxen olde in vice: and make it righte to be directed streight to heauen;Hugo Car. nor bowed downe in basenes; nor bended awrye in crookednes, to any thing of this worlde. New: in grace, for we may not put new wyne into olde bottels: & Righte in nature: wherfore we praie vnto the holie ghoste. Send out thy spirite, & they shalbe created, & thou shalte renue the face of the earthe.Psal. 13.
7. Our Bowells are of such earthly nature, that they haue neede to be renued in spirite▪ and our Hartes are so corrupted in sinne, that they haue neede to be caste in another molde which is to be created a cleane harte. Innocēt. 3 Psal. 142.O my soule, we were become like Ephraim a seduced doue hauing no harte: and we may complayne with the psalmist: Our harte hath forsaken vs: let vs desire our Lord to create vs a harte. Allso like the Quene of Saba, admiring Solomon, we haue no spirite; or faynting in goodnes, we may say,[...]. Reg. 10 defecit spiritus meus; our spirite fayleth vs: let vs beseech our lord to Renue our spirite. [Page 61]O Iesu create in vs a cleane harte,Math. [...]5. out of which may not procede lewde thoughtes adulteryes, theftes, ambitions, nor any wickednes. Renue in our Bowells a righte spirite: to make vs right in all vertues, which according to the hebrew worde are called rectitudines, righteousnes, streight lines, or perpendicular lines, from the center of the earth leading righte vp to heauen:Eccl [...]siast. 30. That as in the begimning our Lord made man righte, so to the intent our End may be answerable, restore vs a righte spirite.
8. Dauids hart [...] was vncleane by Adultery: his spirite was crooked by malicious subtilty▪ in this subtle malice he murdered Vrias: in adultery he had abused Bersabee. In like sorte against luste we desire cleanenes of harte: and against crafty crooked malice, rightnes of spirite; or we pray, that we may haue in our harte cleane affections louing God entirely: and a righte spirite of discretion to discerne good prudently. Allso mixing these, we desire discreete affections in our harte: and in our spirite louing & charitable imaginations. Nay we haue so much neede of a better alteration, that we may alter & interchange these wordes to desire a change of our selues allmost into any fashion, rather then to remayne in our present corruption: o lorde create in vs a cleane harte: and renue a righte spirite in our bowells: or create in vs a righte spirite and renue in vs a cleane harte: Allso we haue neede of a cleane spirite, and me doo wante a righte hart. We haue no harte, which therfore must be created; & our spirite is olde or loste, & therfore must be renued. And all these defectes are in our bowells, euen in the principall & inward partes of our nature: if our eye be blind, how great is our darkenes? and when our bowells & our cheife nature is faulty, how great is our wickednes? O God! create: renue: a harte: a spirite: & cleane harte, a righte spirite: a cleane spirite: a righte harte: we haue neede of all; in all our nature; euen in our very bowells. O furnish all our defectes: Deus meus in quem deficio, vt fortis sim, Lib. confess. 3. c. 6.as said. S. Augustin, O mie Iesu vpon whom I doo desire to relye and fainte, that so fainting vpon him I maie be reuiued more strong.
9. By cleansing my harte from all worldly filthynes, thou shalte cheere it & lighten it in thy loue, and so I shall liue more cherfully: for as no creature (say philosophers) can long liue without some sorte of loue; so, such as our loue is, such is our life.Arist. in Eth. l. 3. c. 1. If we woulde haue our life pure, at liberty, & glorious; let not our loue be slauish, corrupte, or base: O swete Iesu create in me a cleane harte of loue: and because our soule is not mooued by paces of the feete, but by affections of the harte, therfore vnto this loue adde a righte spirite; not to be as wicked men, who walke in a circle, Psal. 11.but like Ezechiels beast, which went righte onward & turned not. Allso a righte spirite euen in the bowells of our syncere intentions, which as a direct winde at sterne may further and order all our actions, & holde all our courses streight for heauen.
TO BE CASTE OVT FROM THE FACE of God, is to be caste into all misery. Sect. 3.
1. NE proijcias me &c. Doo not cast me out from thy face: & thy holie spirite doo not take from me. Dionysius Areopagita vsed to say, that our Lord Iesus comes to vs firste, & goes from vs laste: for till we forsake him, he doth neuer forsake vs. And as Innocentius tertius saith.Vega. The holy Ghoste is taken from vs; not so much when he ceaseth to be possessed; as when he beginneth not to be possessed: for he of himselfe ceaseth not to remayne with vs; but we firste begin to dispossesse our selues of him: for in the day time, if any be blind, the defecte is in the eye, not in the sunne; and lighte departeth [Page 62]not till darkenes come.
2. Let vs consider (o my soule) with Ieremy, how euill & how bitter a thinge it is to haue forsaken our Lord God:Cap. 2. the faulte is euill, the punishment is bitter: It is euill because it is sinne, which is the worste euill: It is bitter in diuersity of the payne; which in his sensible parte hath exterior fyre, and an interiour worme, which allso in his losse is worthely depriued of the presence of God, whom we did forsake vnworthely. O Iesu let vs neuer forsake thee of our owne frailty; nor suffer our selues to be plucked from thee by any tentation; least we deserue for euer to be caste out from thee, whensoeuer we yeild, or loue any thing else more then thee. If thou turne awaie thy face of mercy, all will be in confusion: and from thy face of iustice, whither shall we flye? O illuminate thy countenance vpon vs, and shew vs thy mercie; thou arte our lighte & our saluation.
3. Dauid releasing Absoloms banishment, gaue leaue he mighte returne to his owne house; but with this commandement my face he shall not see: Afterward Absolom complaynes to Ioab,1. Reg. 14 saying, If my Father be still offended against me, let him rather take my life, then forbid me his face: for it is a matter full of disgrace: empty of comforte: and wantes a cheife meanes to worke reconciliation; because we are sooner mooued in fauour, or in pity, towardes those whom we haue much conuersante in our eye. Wherfore o gracious Lorde caste vs not out from thy face: thrust vs not out of thy fauor: reiect vs not from thy mercy; exclude vs not from thy sighte or knowledge: exempte vs not from thy care or prouidence, nor let vs be estranged from thy loue or contemplation. O let vs neuer heare it said against vs, Take awaie the wicked, so that he neuer see the glorie of my face: for so was Lucifer cast headlong out of thy presence, as lightening from heauen: and so shall all they be caste with violence from thy face, to whom thou shalt say, Go you cursed into eternall fire.
4. It is miserable to be cast into captiuity & bondage, as our lord threatned the Iewes, I will cast you from my face:
Hugo Cardinal.
Ierem. 7. 2. par. 25. 1. Reg. 25.
vidz: into Babylon. It is terrible to be throwne from an highe Clyffe or a steep mounteyn downe vpon rockes or stones, as were those in the chronicles, of whom the scripture saith: crepuerunt: they burste and cracked in peices with their fall. It is most horrible & intollerable to be reprobate from Gods presence and caste into hell; and of such the scripture saith, The soule of thine enimyes shalbe tumbled as in a wheele, or in a whirlewinde, or as in the violence or circle of a slinge. We beseech thee caste vs not into the miserable bondage of concupiscence or slauish passions: nor into the terrible downefall of pride or ambition: nor into the vnsufferable torments of future perdition,S. Gregor. or of present desperation: for he sinnes against the holy ghoste▪ who supposeth his sinnes to be greater then thy mercie, which applyeth forgiuenes by meanes of the holie ghost: and therfore from him who casteth himselfe into such finall desperation, thou doost take awaie thy holie spirite. O cast me not out (by any of these) from thy face ▪ and thy holie spirite (in any sorte) doo not take awaie from me.
5. Origen saith that when our lord promiseth to looke vpon vs, he promiseth all that is good,In leuit. 26. for all our wellfare comes from his fauorable countenance. O let vs not be Runnegates like Cayn from the face of God vpon the face of the earthe. 1. to forsake God for the worlde: But let vs beseech him to looke vpon vs, like as he looked vpon S Peter, and vpon that yong man in the Gospell, whom when he saw he loued him: to giue vs lookes of admonition, that we may repent; and lookes of fauour, that we may reioyce. To turne away his face of indignation from our sinnes, whose faultes doo vrge him to iustice, and yet not to caste our persons out of his presence, because our misery may mooue him to compassion.
6. To be caste out of our owne country by banishment is a ciuil death: and it is an ecclesiasticall death to be caste out of the churche by excōmuncation: The first is next neighbor to death of body; and the other to death of soule: But to be caste out from the presence of God, is more then both the [...]e: for it is indeede the death it selfe both of body and soule. It is irckesome to be debarred our owne natiue country: and it is greiuous to be depriued the communion of Sayntes: But to be caste out from the fruition & ioye of Gods presence, is most lamentable. The Mary-golde flower, & another which may be called Follow-sūne, whiles the cherfull sunne shynes vpon them, doo alwayes turne themselues towardes his beames, moouing their heades after his course, from East, to west; and whiles they feele his comfortable heate, they remayne open, beautifull, & fresh: but so soone as the sunne is downe, or couered with a sharpe storme, or great thicke clowde, they close & shut vp their stowers, they hang downe their heades, or altogeather wither, if they long wante his presence, as in winter. O Iesu thou arte my eternall sunne, I am this fading flower; yet if I will followe the, as thou wilte neuer go downe, so I shall neuer d [...]caye: o let me euer be turned toward thy face.
7 Pliny writes of a birde named Coladion which brought to a sicke body,Lib. 9. cap. 42. if she willingly looke directly vpon him, there is much hope of life: but if she turne away her eye and would not see him, it is a signe of death. O Iesu beholde me, for my soule is sicke: if thou turne away thy face from me, I must needes dye; for only in thy presence is true life. Iob was an eye to the blinde,Tullius de natura deor. lib. [...]. Zach. 9. as that sea fish Squilla doth serue for eyes vnto another shellfish called Pina: O Iesu kepe me in thy presence, and fixe thy face vpon me, according as thy prophet Zachary said, Our lord is the eye of man, and of all the tribes of Israel. As Ester with Assuerus let me find grace in thyne eyes: O lord cast me not out from thy face, least so I should wante thy fauour; thy guydance; and thy defence: for euen among men we fasten our eyes vpon another▪ either for loue; or for gouernement; or for protection: O Iesu cast me not out from thy face of fauorable loue: O Iesu cast me not out from thy face of directing gouernement: O Iesu cast me not out from thy face of protecting defence: so shall I reioyce in thee, as my kind Patron: I will obey thee, as my prudent Tutor: and I shalbe safe with thee as my allmighty Capteyn.
AMONG SVNDRY OTHER GIFTES OF the holy Ghoste, let vs inparticuler labour to be thankefull, and to be constante. Sect. 4.
1. ANd thy holie spirite doo not take from me. I am a penitent, and yet I presume to suppose I haue thy holy spirite, whose effectes I desire may be encreased,S. Aug. not diminished. It is an effecte of thy holy spirite to be displeased with sinne: for wickednes is a delighte to an vncleane spirite. As therfore by this gifte of thy spirite I am come thus farre forwarde to dislike my former sinnes, and to seeke pardon; so I beseech the not to take frō me because of my vnworthynes that little which I haue, but rather in thy goodnes to giue me yet more, whatsoeuer I wante. No man can call our lorde Iesus: but in the holie ghoste. To name him in worde, they may;1. Cor. 10. but not to beleue in him & loue him with their harte aboue any thinge in this worlde: this none can doo without the holy spirite; (which is a spirite or inward breath of holynes) no [Page 64]more then any can vocally speake without the breath of ayre. O Iesu! I beleue; helpe my fainte beleefe. O Iesu! I loue; increase my colde charity. The small loue & poore faith which I haue, doo come from thy holy spirite: O take not this holie spirite from me: thou hast giuen it freely; o encrease it graciously.
2. In vertue & memory of our deare Sauiours fiue woundes, some vse to pray to the holy ghoste in fiue wordes. 1. Veni, come. 2. purga, cleanse. 3. Reple: fill. 4. Accende: inflame. 5. Perseuera: Continue. Come with thy inspirations. Cleanse by expulsion of sinne. Fillfull with abundance of grace, inflame with heat of thy loue; and continue all these vnto the end: all are necessary & good, but without perseuerance no vertue is crowned. I haue begun in the spirite; let me not end in the fleh: O take not thy holie spirite from [...]e.
3. It is a question among schoolmen: which is most bound to allmighty God? One who was euer innocent? or one truly penitent? Some doo resolue it thus Innocens maiora debet, sed poenitens magis debet. Innocency is a greater benefite: and so he is in debted for a better gifte: But penitence is more difficulte; and allso a demerited or disdeserued vertue, for which therfore such a one is indebted so much more. To preserue one alwayes innocent, is to doo good vnto a man not ill. To drawe a sinner to repentance, is to doo good to an ill man. The first did neuer merite his innocence: but the other had demerited his penitence. Allso it is easyer for him to go forward who is sounde & standing on foote, then for him who is sicke & fallen vnder foote. And finally, Innocence is a Iewell of more price in the substance, and penitence of more value for the workemanship, wherfore the one owes more vnto God for being reserued in excellency, and the other because he is deliue red with such difficulty.
4. And as both procede of mercy vndeserued; so if they doo not continue in perseuerance neither of them shalbe crowned. The fayre blade of corne must come to a good eare, to a full kernell, to a seasonable haruest, & to yeildable flowre. The beautifull blossome must growe to a wel [...] set budde, and continue to a kind ripe fruite. Saint Paul saying, There is reserued for me a crowne of iustice. Saint Bernard enquireth,2.Tim. 4. what proportion betwene our eternall reward & our merites of a few yeares, and allso; what iustice of rewarde can be due to vs who receiue all of mercy? Doubtles becauses our merites procede of his mercy, and so doth not mercy exclude merite or iustice,Ad soro [...]em. but rather vpholde them. And as sinners are eternally punished, for offending an infinite maiesty, so iust men thirsting after righteousnes do merite an eternall crowne of iustice; for if they were immortall on earthe, they would perpetually serue God. And being once sincerely penitent, with S. Augustin, they would so abandon all their sinfull pleasures,Confess. lib. 8. c. 11. that from the instante of their repentance, they shoulde no more returne vnto them for euer & euer; such must be the purpose of a true conuerte; for euer to caste of sinne, least at any time he be caste out from the face of God: and for euer to take care of perseueranae, least at any time he loose the holy spirite, which he hath receiued; for so eternall iustice will giue him an eternall rewarde, herin proportionable to his eternall purpose and care to serue God.
5. Not like those peicemeale penitentes who still reserue some sinne; nor those changeable conuertes, who are weary euery moone, or such as for a time cease to sinne; for a lent; for a sicknes; for a good sermon; or by any such present admonition; but when the storme is passed, the vowe is forgotten, & the Saynt is beguiled? or they are soone weary of well dooing, they must needes go backe to the flespottes of Egipte. Non discēdunt à peccatis sed recedunt: non desinunt sed relaxant, these go not awaie from sinne, they doo but go aside; they do not cease but slacken their iniquityes. Their time [Page 65]of amendement is but like a parenthesis in a speache (being only in [...]erposed as in the by) after which he presently followeth his former discourse [...]r as a mad mery company at table, full of wyne and good cheare, and more full of immoderate mirthe & laughter, swearing, & scoffing, and telling of lew de tales, vntill peraduenture some body amongest them at the end of their meale at leastwise for custome say a grace: and then all putting off their hattes, euery one for shame (if he haue any) beginnes to set himselfe for a more sober countenance, except some (like a Puritan) holde his hatte before his eyes to dissemble and couer his continued laughter: But so soone as the grace is ended, as men paste grace, they presently returne to their vnruly reuell. Such are they who faste a daye, and become gluttons a whole weeke: who are abstinent in lent; and all the yeare after luxurious: who are demure at sermons, & lasciuious in chambers: who in his prayers turnes vp the white of his eye; and presently in his dealing woulde teare out his neighbors harte: who is sober or continent for a few dayes about Easter, or any other time, to come to the blessed Sacrament, but ere long after, he returnes to his quaffing potte, or to his cursed harlotte: Or whosoeuer else beginnes to be a penitent; and before his end growes weary and faynte. From all these faylers, the grace of the sacramentes is subtracted, the giftes of the holy spirite are taken away, and deseruedly they are caste out from the face of our lord.
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