The sixt consideration

THe sixt consideration that you call wel to your remembrāce, who it is yt doth thus exhorte you for to loue, verely he is ye person that if eyther you wil fréely giue your loue, or els sell your loue, he is most worthie to haue it aboue all other. First if ye were of that mynd to giue your loue frée, it were good yet there to bestow it, that you shoulde choose suche a one, as both in goodlinesse of person, as also in prowesse & wisdom and good gentil maners may be worthie your loue. For if there be any deformitie in him whō you would loue, it is an impediment and great let for to loue hym: But in our sauiour Christ the sonne of God is no deformitie, for hee is all goodlye and surmounteth all other in goodlynesse: And therefore of hym the Prophet Dauid affyrmeth in thys maner. Speciosus forma pre filijs hominum: that is to say, he is goodly before the chyldren of men. And of truth much goodlie must he néedes be that hath made so many goodly creatures. Behold the Rose, the Lillie, the Uyolet, beholde the Pecockes, the Feasaunt, the Popingaye: Behold all the other creatures of this world: All these were of his making, all there beautie and goodlinesse of hym they receyued it. Wherfore this goodlinesse discribeth that he him self must néedes of necessitie be verie goodly & beautifull. And for that in the booke of Canticles the Spouse discribeth his goodlinesse saying: Dilectus meus candidus et rubicūdus, electus ex millibus. That is to saye, hée that I loue is whyte and redde, chosen out amōgest thousands. And this beautie and goodlines is not mortal, it can not fade ne perish as doeth the goodlinesse of other men, which lyke a flower to day is fresh and lustie, and to morrowe with a little sicknesse is withered and vanisheth away. And yet it is sensible to the goodlinesse of mans nature, for the which also he is more naturallie to bée beloued of many. For lykenesse is the grounde of loue, lyke alway doeth couet like: and the néerer in lykenesse that any person bée, the sooner they may bée knit togither in loue. The same lykenes he hath & you haue, like body and lyke soule, touching his māhood, your soule is also like vnto him in his godhead: For after ye Image & similitude of it, your soule is made. Furthermore of his might and power you may bée likewise a certayne season. He made this world by the onely commaundement of his mouth, and gaue to the herbes and all other creatures their vertue, & might that they haue. And may also by his power saue & dampne creatures eyther to lifte them vp in bodie and soule into heauen aboue, or els to throw them downe into euer during payns of hell. If ye doubt of his wisdom behold all this world, and cōsider how euery creature is set with an other, and euery of them by him selfe, how the heauens are apparelled with starres, the ayre with Foules, ye water with Fishes, ye earth with herbes, trées & beastes, how the starres be clad with light, the Foules with feathers, ye fish with scales, the beastes wt heare, herbes & trées with leaues, and flower with sent, wherin doth wel appear a great & merueilous wisdō of him yt made thē. Finally his good & gentil maner is all full of pleasure & cōfort so kinde, so friendly, so liberall & beneficious, so pittious and mercifull, so readie in all oportunities, so mindfull & circumspect, so dulcet & swéet in communicatiō. For as scripture saith. Non licet amaritudinem conuersatio vel tedium cōuetas illius, Sed letitiam et gaudeum. That is to say, hys maners be so swéet & pleasaūt, yt the cōuersaciō of him hath no bitternes, yea, his cōpany hath no loathsomnes, ne wearines in it, but all gladnes and ioye. Here peraduenture you wil say vnto me, how may I loue yt I sée not, if I might sée him with all ye cōditiōs ye speak of, I could wt al my hart loue him. Ah good sister yt time is not come yet, you must as I said now for ye time prepare your self in cleannesse of bodie and soule, against ye tyme, so that when that tyme commeth, you may be able and worthie to sée him, or els you shall be excluded from him with the vnwise virgins of whom ye gospel telleth yt they were shut out from his presence with great shame & cōfusiō, bicause they had not suffitiently prepared thēselues. Therfore good sister for this time be not negligent to prepare your selfe with all good workes, that thē you may be admitted to com vnto his presence, from ye which to be excluded, it shall be a more gréeuous payne, thē any paine of hell. For as Chrisostome sayth. Si decem mille gehē nas quis duerit nihil tale est quale ab illa beata visione exadere, that is to saye, if […]ne would rehearse vnto mée tenne thousand hels, yet all yt should not be so great paines as it is to be excluded from the blessed sighte of the face of Christ.