The.vi. Chapter. It suffiseth not that a man haue a desier to be comforted by god onely by the taking a • aye

☞Vincent. Uerely me thinketh good vncle that this coūsayle is very good. For except the person haue first a desire to be cōforted by god, els cā I not se what it can auaile to geue him any further counsayle of any spiritual cōforte: howe be it what if the mā haue this desier of gods comfort, that is to wytte, that it maye please god to comfort him in his tribulaciō by taking that tribulacion frō him, is not this a good desier of goddes comfort & a desire sufficient for him that is in tribulacion?

Anthony. No Cosin that is it not. I touched before a word of this point & passed it ouer, because I thought it woulde fall in our waye agayne, and so wote I well it wil ofter than once. And nowe am I glad that you moue it me here your self. A mā maie many times well and wythout sinne desier of god the tribulacion to be taken from him, but neither maye we desier that in euery case, nor yet very wel in no case (except very fewe) but vnder a certayne condicion, either expressed or implied. For tribulaciōs are ye wote well of manye sōdry kindes: some bi losse of goods or possessiōs some bi y• sicknes of our selfe, & some bi the losse of frendes or by some o[…]her paine put vnto our bodyes: some by the dreade of the losing those thinges that we fayne would saue, vnder which feare fall all ye same thinges that we haue spoken before. For we maie feare losse of goodes or possessions, or the losse of our frendes, their grief & trouble or our owne: bi sickenes, imprisonmēt or other bodily payn: we may be troubled with ye drede of death, and many a good man is troubled most of all with the feare of that thing which he that moste nede hath feareth least of al, yt is to wyt, the feare of losinge through deadlye sinne ye life of his seli soule. And this last kind of tribulacion as the sorest tribulacion of all, though we touche here & there some pieces therof before, yet ye chief part & the principal point wil I reserue to treate apart effectually yt matter in ye last ende. But nowe as I said where ye kindes of tribulaciō are so diuers some of this tribulaciō. A mā may pray god take frō him & take some cōfort in the trust ye god wil so do, and therefore against hungre, sycknes, & bodily hurte & against the losse of eyther bodye or soule men maye lawfully many times pray to ye goodnes of God either for thē self or their frend. And toward this purpose, are expressely prayed many deuout or[…]sons in ye comē seruice of our mother holy church. And toward our helpe in some of these thinges serue some of ye peticiōs in ye Pater noster, wherein we praye daylye for oure daylye foode, and to be preserued from the fal in temptacion, and to be deliuered from euyll. But yet maye we not alwaye praye for the takyng awaye from vs of euery kynd of temptaciō. For if a man should in euery sycknes praie for his health againe, when shoulde he show him selfe content to die, and to depart vnto god? and yt mynde must a man haue ye wote wel, or els it wil not be wel. One tribulaciō is it to good mē to feele in thē selfe the conflicte of the fleshe agaynste the soule, the rebelliō of sensualitie against the rule and gouernāce of reason, the reliques that remayne in mankynde of olde original sinne, of whiche Saynt Paule so sore cōplayneth in his Epystle to the Romaines. And yet maye we not praye while we stand in this lyfe, to haue[…] this kynde of tribulacion vtterly taken from vs. For it is lefte vs by goddes ordināce to striue agaynst it, & fight wythal, and by reasō and grace to maister it and vse it for the matter of our meryte. For the saluacion of our soule, maye we boldly praye. For grace may we boldly praye, for faith, for hope and for charitie, and for euery such vertue as shall serue vs to heauen w[…]rd. But as for all other thinges before remēbred, in which is contayned the matter of euery kind of tribulacion, we maye neuer wel make prayers so presysely, but that we must expresse or imploy a condicion therein: that is to wytte, that if god see, ye contrary better for vs, we referre it whole to his wyl: and in stede of our gr[…]efe takyng awaye, praye that god maie send vs of his goodnes eyther spiritual cōfort to take it gladly, or strēgth at the least waies, to beare it paciently. For if we determine wyth our selfe that we wyl take no comforte in nothing, but in the taking of our tribulacion frō vs, thā eyther prescribe we to god that we wyl he shall no better turne do vs though he would, than we wil our selfe appointe him, or els doe we declare, yt what thing is best for vs, our selfe cā better tel than he. And therfore I saye, lette vs in tribulacion desyer his comforte and helpe, and lette vs remitte the maner of that coumforte vnto hys owne hyghe pleasure: whiche when we doe, lette vs nothing doubte, but that lyke as hys hyghe wysdome better seeth what is beste for vs, than we can see our self: so shal his souereygne goodnes geue vs the thing that shal in dede be best. For els if we wyll presume to stand to our owne choise (except it so be) that god offer vs she choyse him selfe, as he dyd to Dauid in the choyse of his owne punishment. after his highe pride conceiued in the nombrynge of his people, we maye folishely chose the wors[…]e: and by the prescribing vnto god our selfe so precyselye what we wyl that he shal do for vs (except that of his gracyous fauour he reiect our folly) he shal for indignacion graunt vs our owne requeste, and after shall we well fynde that it shal turne vs to harme. Howe many mē attayne healthe of bodye that were better for theyr soules helth their bodies wer sicke stil? How many get out of prison yt happe on such harme abrode, as ye prisō should haue kept thē fro? How mani yt haue been lothe to lese their worldlye goodes, haue in kepinge of theyr goods sone after lost their life? So blīd is our mortalitie & so vnware what wil fal, so vnsure also what maner mind we wyl haue to morow, yt god coulde not lightlye do mā a more vengeaunce, than in this world to graūt him his own folishe wyshes. What wit haue we poore fooles to wyt what wil serue vs, whā ye blessed apostle him self in his sore tribulacion, praying thryse vnto god to take it away frō him, was aunswered again by god, […]n a maner yt he was but a foole in asking that request, but yt the helpe of goddes grace in yt tribulacion to strength him, was farre better for him thā to take ye tribulacion frō him. And therfore by experiēce perceiuing wel the truth of ye lesson, he geueth vs good warning not to be to bold of our own mindes, whē we require ought of god not to be precyse in our askinges, but referre the choyse to god at his owne pleasure. For his owne holy spryte so sore desyreth our weale, yt as men myght saye, he groneth for vs, in such wyse as no tong can tell. Nos autem (sayeth Saynt Paule) quid o […]em us vtoportet, nessimus, sed ipse spiritus postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus. We what we maye praye for yt were behouable for vs, can not our selfe tel: but the sprite him selfe desireth for vs with vnspekable gronynges, & therfore I saye for conclusion of this point, let vs neuer aske of god precisely our owne ease by deliuering vs from our tribulaciō, but pray for his aide & cōforte by, which wayes him selfe shal best lyke, and than maye we take cōforte of our own such requeste. For both be we sure that this mind cōmeth of god, & also be we very sure yt as he beginneth to worke with vs, so (but if our selfe flytte from him) he wyl not fayle to tarie wyth vs, and thā he dwelling wt vs, what trouble can do vs harme? Si deus nobiscum quis contra nos? If god be with vs saith saint Paule, who can stande against vs?