Letter 82. To a former disciple, a Jesuit near death
He congratulates his departure hence, and his going to enjoy the fruits of his labour in his Order; and he gives him great hope, of the eternal kingdom, by means of the blood of Christ our Lord.
THE grace of the holy Ghost, be ever with you. Though here they say that you are upon the point of passing into the land, of the living, so as a man may think, that whilst I am writing this, you may already be enjoying, the dear embracements of our allswcete Jesus; yet I thought it not amiss, to venture this letter towards you; congratulating with you, your promotion to that Prebend, in the Church of the celestial jerusalem; where, without all ceasing, God is praised, and seen, face to face. Go in a good hour, most dear father, go I say, in a good hour, both to see all Good, and to possess it, for all eternity. Go in a good hour, to the bosom of the celestial father, where he entertains those lambs of his, with glory; which here he fed with his grace, and corrected with his discipline.
Now my good Father, shall you see the favour, which God did you, in calling you to a Religious life, and in giving you grace, in the strength whereof, you despising the world, might follow him, by the way of the Cross. For now in recompense thereof, he will give you heaven for your Religious Order, and glory for that Cross, which you have borne for his sake. Blessed be our lord Jesus Christ, who hath goodness enough, to induce him to give such glory, to such worms of the earth; raising up the poor man out of the dust, that he may sit amongst the Princes of his people. Happy is the hour of our corporal death, since thereby we are exalted, & entitled to take our seat, amongst those princes, who live eternally, in the high presence of God. O day, which is the end of labours, and the end also, of sins, and in which, we ascend to serve our Lord, in good earnest, and not as we are wont to do here below, where we are all discomforted, through the imperfections of those services, which we perform to God. For here a man goes halting, & fainting with hunger, through his desire to please that divine Majesty, & to serve him with all the soul. But in heaven, this desire is perfected, & that, in so complete a manner, that all the whole man, is employed in the service, & praise of God, without being subject to the least impediment, which may interpose itself Blessed be God, who hath, so soon been pleased to gather you up, into his granary, lest malice might else have changed your mind, and to show you the riches of his bounty, who for so few years of service, imparts an eternity of reward.1
Sir, this is God, this I say is God, this is the fruit of his passion, this is the value of his grace; this is our happy encounter, to have fallen into the hands of such a Lord, to know him, & to love him, though it be with many imperfections. But he washes them away by his blood, making us partakers of his Sacraments. And the paternal love, which he bears us, both makes him easily incline to pardon our faults, & to be very copious in rewarding our services. And he conducts us through the midst of the red sea, to the land of promise dividing us, from our sins as fare of, as the East, is from the West, and drowning them in his blood. So that although we may see them still, yet we shall see them dead, & they will serve but to give us matter, & reason, to praise our Lord, who hath cast both the horse and horseman, into the sea.23
Go Sir, with the benediction of our lord God, to enjoy the riches of your dear Father, which he gained for you, with the lance in his hand, & by shedding his own blood, who never faith les to secure all such as place their hope, & love in him. It is true that we shall miss you, & that we shall think ourselves to be all alone when we are here without you, but since God hath defined you to this great happiness, let us, who love you, hold it for our own. And we who in our own right, shall lament, will yet rejoice with you in yours, like the brothers of Rehecca, who is going to be espoused, with Isaak, which signifies i●. And therefore, we say to you, you are our brother, and we desire that you may increase to thousands of thousands, and that your seed may possess the gates of your enemies.4
I do not pretend to tell you, how you must prepare yourself, for this Feast, for there you have them, who can do it, and who will help you to pass on, out of the hands of men, into the hands of God. And let our lord who came into the world for you, and who ascended up to the Cross for you, be he who succours you in such sort, that though you walk in the midst of the shadow, of death, you may yet fear no ill. See you call upon him, for though you should be in the whales belly, yet he harkenes to his servants, even when they are there. Call upon his Blessed Mother, jonas 3. who is also ours. Call upon the Saints, who are our Fathers, and our brethren; for with such helps as those, you cannot fear to lose the celestial kingdom.5
And if our lord, will have you pass through Purgatory, let his name be blessed still; for so that you may have hope to see him, you shall gladly endure any thing, which may be imposed. I beseech Christ our Lord who died for you, to accompany you at your death, and receive you into his own arms, when you depart out of this life. Say you to him, as he said to his Father, In manus ●uas Pater, commendo spiritum meum.
And I confide in his mercy, that you shall be received by him, as a son; and treated as the heir of God, and coheyre with Christ our Lord.6
Footnotes
Chapter 30 of 57