The fourth Meditation, for Thursday: of the contempt of the world, and with what hatred, and…

THE glorious Apostle S. Iohn saith;¹ Brethren, loue not the world, neither the things that are in the worlde. For if any man loue the world, the loue of the Father is not in him: and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. Saint Augustine expounding thys place,² sayth: What wilt thou doe? whether hadst thou rather loue temporall things, and so passe away with the tyme, or Christ our Sauiour, and liue for euer? If thou shalt loue thys world, it will consume and destroy thee; for it cannot defend them that loue it.

Thys Worlde is as an excommunicated man:³ for as the Church doth not pray for him that is excōmunicated: so Iesus Christ dooth not pray for the world, although he prayed for them that crucified him. O how great madnes is it to serue such a lord, who at the end of thy seruice, is wont to giue no other wages, but nakednes and desolation.⁴ So Saladine that great Soldane of Babilon, the conquerer of Asia, being at the point of death, and seeing no hope of life to remaine, cōmanded his standard-bearer to bee called vnto him, to whom hee thus spake, saying; Thou hadst wont to carry myne imperiall ensigne before me, whē I went to warre; nowe also carry the ensigne of my death; which is thys poore winding-sheete: carry it thorow all the streetes of Damascus, and cry: Behold the king of all the East dieth, & of all his spoyles & trophyes, carryes none other with him, but thys worne thredbare winding-sheete. The lyke is read of a certaine young king of Lothoringia, who beeing readie to giue vp the ghost, lying in a most magnificent pallace, and in a rich sumptuous bedde, cryed out with a loude voyce, that he might be heard of all; O lorde Iesus Christ, how woorthily is this world to be condemned. See in what stately and royall buildings I haue lyued, & now wretched creature that I am, knowe not whither thys night following I shall goe, what Inne I shall haue, or what manner of entertainement I shall find.

Therefore ô sinner flie from the world, flye I say, from the worlde, first, because it leaueth thee in so great neede and misery. For as the Apostle Saint Iames saith; The amity of this world, ⁵ is the enmity of God. Whosoeuer therefore will be a friende of the world, maketh himselfe the enemy of God. And Saint Gregory sayth; A man is so much the neerer vnto God, by howe much he is further of from the loue of the worlde.⁶ For thys cause the Lord would bee carryed without the Citty, to signifie, that hee had no parte in the Worlde: and whosoeuer will bee pertaker of the fruites of hys passion, hee must renounce the worlde, and seperate himselfe from all worldlie conuersation, if not in act, yet in desire: thys is that which almighty GOD commaundeth by his Prophet, saying; Get ye out of Babylon, that euerie one may saue his owne soule. Babylon, ⁷ according to the exposition of Saint Hierome, is the house of confusion, which is this world, in which confusion raigneth euery where, as well in the Clergy as in the Layitie, as well in olde, as young, as well in men, as women. Therefore it is very well sayd of Saint Iohn in his generall Epistle;⁸ The whole worlde lyeth in wickednesse.

Saint Bernard also counselleth vs very well,⁹ saying: Flye out of Babylon, flye and saue your soules. Fly to the Citties of refuge, where ye may both repent for sins past, and for the present finde grace, and safely looke for future glorie. Let not the anguish and remorse of your sins hinder you, nor the austeritie of repentance deter and afright you. For neither the passions of this time, nor the trybulation of thys world are woorthy, for the fault past, which is remitted; for the present grace of cōsolation which is bestowed; nor for the future glory, which is promised. To be briefe, there is no bitternesse so great, which the Prophets meale will not sweeten, which the wisedom of the tree of lyfe will not make sauory. Wee are to knowe, that the worlde is to be eschewed for foure causes, the first of which is,¹⁰ because wise and circumspect men, are wont to flie and auoyd infectious and contagious places, especially if they be weake and sickly, or feare any infirmitie. Such a place is the Worlde, which hath in it many euills, & many diseases of sin, we see also much filthines, & many blemishes in it, which cōtaminate & pollute our soules: for sinne it selfe is a contagious disease, therefore not without cause we ought to eschew & auoyd the societie and company of wicked and vngodlie men; for it is not meet, that the whole and sounde should dwell with the leaprous and diseased: for the Wise man saith: Hee that toucheth pitch, shall be defiled with it, and he that companieth with a proude man, shal put on pride.

Certainly saith S. Ierom, nothing dooth so hurte a man as naughty company,¹¹ and euil society. For a man becomes such a one, as the company he keepeth. The Wolfe dooth neuer dwel with the lamb: & a chast man doth flie the company of the luxurious. I think it impossible, that a man shoulde long cōtinue honest, who daily vseth the societie of wicked mē. With the holy, thou shalt be holy, sayth the Psalmist, with the innocent, thou shalt be innocent, and with the frowarde, thou shalt learne frowardnes. For as euill companie hurteth, so good company profiteth. Nothing can bee compared to thys treasure. He that findeth good society, findeth life, and aboundeth with wealth. I speake truly and confidently; a man is made verie sildome eyther good or euill, but through company & society. The hart of a chyld, is said to bee as a Table in which nothing is paynted. Therefore that he receiueth from company, hee keepeth till his old age, whether it bee good or euill. These things spake S. Ierome, beeing ready to yeelde vp the ghost. Therfore seeing that the worlde is so euill, wee ought to eschewe and auoyde it, as an ill neighbour, who can worke vs great mischiefe by hys neighbourhoode and vicinitie, and hurte vs very much by sinnes and sinners, of which it is full.

The second cause why the worlde is to be eschewed,¹² is, because wise and considerate men doe auoyde those places, in which they feare the intrappings and snares of theyr enemies, least they fall into theyr hands: and thys is the reward that the world rendereth vnto her louers, that shee at the length deliuereth thē into the hands of the deuils theyr deadly enemies. The wordes of the the traytour Iudas are to be referred hether, saying to them, to whom hee sold and betrayed the Sonne of God:¹³ Whomsoeuer I shall kisse, and say peace be vnto thee, that is he, lay hold on him. Which wordes the world saith also to the deuils: to whomsoeuer I shall gyue the kisse of peace, of riches, of pleasures and honors, lay holde on him, binde him hand & foote, and cast him into hell. Wherfore, S. Gregory saith not without good cause;¹⁴ It is a manifest signe of perdition, whē the effect and euent, dooth fauour affected iniquitie, and no contrarietie dooth hinder, what the peruerse minde hath cōceiued. And Saint Ierome sayth: It is a manifest token of damnation, to bee loued of the world, to enioy prosperity, & to haue all things, what the will desireth.

Certaine therefore it is, that they are exceedingly deceiued in finding out the way to felicitie, who thinke that they may enter into glory, and into the kingdome of heauen, by riches and pleasures.

The third cause,¹⁵ why wee ought to eschew the worlde, is this, because wise & wary men doe flie & auoyde dangerous places, such as the sea is, wherin we saile with feare. Whervpon the Wise-man saith;¹⁶ They that saile ouer the sea, doe tell of the dangers of it. Dauid certifieth vs,¹⁷ that thys world is a great & spacious sea, in which the greater parte of the marriners perrish. Thys is manifest, because as Bernard saith, many do miscarry in it, and fewe are saued. The worlde is as an Ocean, in which of foure shyps, scarcelie one is saued; as the Deluge, in which so many thousand men were drowned, and so fewe escaped: and as the Fornace of Babylon kindled with hell fire, in which a man is sette on a light flame with one word of the fire of wrath, in which luxury dooth burne, and couetousnes is inflamed by the onely looke and aspect.

The fourth cause, why we ought to forsake the world,¹⁸ is, because euery man that is wise, beeing admonished, ought to eschew that place, in which his mortal & deadly enemy dwelleth. Thys place is the world, which the deuill our capitall enemie inhabiteth; hee hath his signory and dominion in thys world, who alwayes threatneth destruction vnto vs, and thyrsteth for our deathes. Therfore let vs flye from the worlde, as from the deuill, according to the counsell of the Wiseman, Keep thee far from the man that hath power to slay. ¹⁹

These reasons thus beeing sette before our eyes, let vs bee wise: for we see manifestly by these things which haue beene spoken, that the world cannot be better ouercome by any other way, then by flying from it. Wee haue an example of thys in the lifes of the Fathers, of Achrimus, who being Emperour, & standing in his pallace, prayed thus vnto GOD. Lord I desire thee, shewe vnto me the way of saluation. And behold, hee heard a voyce saying vnto him; Achrimus, auoyde the concourse and solemnities of the worlde, entangle not thy selfe in the snares of humaine vanities, & thou shalt be safe. At the hearing of which voyce, hee betooke himselfe foorth-with to a strict solitarie course of lyfe. And saying an other time the same prayer, he hearde a voyce saying: Fly, ouercome, bee silent & at rest. And surely these be the rootes, and the grounds not to sinne. For by flying, the cōcupiscence of the flesh is ouercome, by being silent, the pride of lyfe, and by beeing of a peaceable and quiet mind, couetousnesse, & greedines of gaine are subdued and ouerthrowne.

Saint Isidore admonishing vs that wee shoulde contemne the world, sayth: If thou desirest to lyue quietly, couet nothing that is in this world: cast frō thee what-soeuer may hinder thy holy purpose. Be dead to the world, and therefore being deade, doe not thyrst after glory, and thou shalt lyue in tranquilitie and rest, being cō tent with thine owne. Despise that in thy life, which thou canst not keepe in thy death. S. Augustine speaketh thus of this deceitfull world:²⁰ This life is a miserable life, a fraile life, an vncertaine life, a painefull life, an impure lyfe, a lyfe Lady of enormities, & Queen of pride, ful of miseries & errors: which is not to be called a life, but a death in which wee die dailie, through sundry defections of mutability, and by manifolde kinds of death. A brickle lyfe, an incōstant life, which the faster it goeth on, the nerer it approcheth to death, a deceitfull and vnsteady life, full of the snares of death. Although it be replenished with these, and other greeuances, sorrowes, and inconueniences, yet (ô greefe) howe many dooth it ensnare with vanities, and howe many are deceiued with false and deceitfull promises? And albeit of it selfe it is so false and bitter, that it cannot cōceale these incōueniences from her blinde louers, yet it maketh drunk an infinite multitude of fooles with the golden cup, which she beareth in her hand. As they are happy, so are they rare, that refuse her familiarity; that despise her perfunctory ioyes: that contemne her society, least with this perishing deceiuer they bee also forced to perrish. This sayth he. Beholde, sayth Bernard,²¹ the worlde cryeth, I shall fayle thee; and the flesh crieth, I shal infect thee: which then, ô miserable sinner, wilt thou follow? the failing world, or the infecting flesh? Both of them are euill: therefore followe Christ, who will refresh thee. But if all these thinges, my Brother, which thou hast hetherto read of, do not moue thee, heare what the same famous Doctor of the Church, Bernard sayth, of the louers of the world:²² Woe be vnto those vnhappy and wretched ones, saith he, for whom is prepared intollerable sorrow, incomparable stinch, and horrible feare. Woe bee to them, for whom is prepared that place, where nothing shall be heard but weeping and wayling, lamentation and howling, mourning & gnashing of teeth: where nothing shall bee seene but the worme, vgly, deformed, and horrible tortures, and terrible & fearefull deuils: where they shal cal & seeke for death, but shal not find it: where there is no order, but where perpetual horror euerlastingly abideth. How great feare, how great sorow, how great mourning will there be, whē sinners are seperated frō the righteous, & deliuered to the power of deuills, with whom they shall be cast headlong into the eternall tormēts of hel, without hope euer to see the face of the Lorde, or heauenly glory: without any hope to bee euer freed from those torments; where neyther the torturers shal be wearied, nor the tortures haue any ende: where death shall neuer die, nor lyfe bring any ioy?

Tell mee ô sinner,²³ sayth S. Ierome, if we had the wisedom of Salomon, the beauty of Absolon, the strength of Sampson, the long life of Enoch, the riches of Craesus, and the felicitie of Octauian: what would these things profit vs, when as our fleshe at the length is to be giuen to the wormes of the earth, and our soules to the deuils, to bee euerlastingly tormented with the rich Glutton in hell?

The shortnesse of time, the breuity of life, and the vncertainty of death ought to moue thee to contemne the worlde, & those vaine delights that be in the world. Wherefore Saint Gregory sayth:²⁴ Reprobates doe many things wickedly, because they hope to liue long heere. Contrariwise, the righteous, whilst they consider the shortnes of theyr lyfe, they auoyde the sinnes of pride and vncleannesse. Of the breuity of this life S. Iames saith,²⁵ What is your life? it is euen as a vapour that appeareth for a little tyme.

And Saint Augustine sayth,²⁶ If thou haddest lyued all that time, since Adam was expelled out of the garden of Paradice, euen to this day, certainly thou shouldest well perceiue, that thy life was not perpetuall, which hath so passed away: but the lyfe of one man what is it? adde as many yeeres as it pleaseth thee, adde a very long and lasting old age, what then? Is it not yet morning? Bee it that the day of Iudgement is farre of; assuredly thy last day cannot bee farre of, therefore nowe prepare thy selfe; for as thou departest out of thys life, so shalt thou bee presented to the other lyfe. Thys sayth hee. And in another place: All the time that wee liue heere, is taken from life: so that the lyfe present is none other thing, but a short way, by which wee passe vnto death,²⁷ in which no man can long stay nor linger, or walke softly, and at leysure; but euery day thou must finish by little and little some part of thy iourney.

All things passe away, sayth Soneca, and are in continuall diminution & augmentation. None of vs is the same in olde age, that wee were in youth.

Not any one of vs is the same in the morning, that wee were the day before. Our bodyes passe away after the manner of running riuers: whatsoeuer thou seest, runneth away with the time. Nothing remayneth steadie of all those thinges we see: behold they are changed, whilst I speake, and I also am changed. And in another place;²⁸ The Fates doe ply their worke, and doe take away frō vs the sence and feeling of our death; and that death may creepe vpon vs more easily, it lurketh vnder the very name of life. Childhood cōuerts infancie into it, youth childhood, manly age youth, and olde age takes away manly age. The very increases, if thou doost well account & thinke of them, will be founde to be losses. If (my deere Brother) thou lettest these thinges into thine eares, and meditatest on thē in thine hart, & well considerest them, thou wilt say, that thou rather runnest vnto death, then that thou canst hope for long lyfe.

Footnotes

1. 1, Iohn, 2, ↩

2. In his seconde tractate vpon the Epistle of S. Iohn. ↩

3. The worlde is as a man excommunicated. ↩

4. A speech & fact of Saladine. ↩

5. Iames, 4, ↩

6. Gregory. ↩

7. Vpon the 7. chapter of Mich. ↩

8. 1, Iohn, 5, ↩

9. Of conuersion vnto the Clergy. chap, 30, ↩

10. The world is to bee eschewed for 4 causes. ↩

11. Tom. 9. Epi. Euseb. ad Damasum de morte Hieron. ↩

12. The second cause why the world is to be eschewed. ↩

13. Math, 26, ↩

14. Gregory in his morrals. ↩

15. The thyrd cause. ↩

16. Ecclus, 9 ↩

17. The worlde is a sea. ↩

18. The fourth cause, ↩

19. Ecclus, 9, ↩

20. August. in his medita. ↩

21. Bernard. ↩

22. In his meditations. ↩

23. Ierom vpō the 17, of Mathew. ↩

24. Gregory. ↩

25. Iames, 4. ↩

26. August. vpon the 56. psalme. ↩

27. Seneca in his 59. epistle. ↩

28. In his book of consolatiō to Mat. chap. 22. ↩