THE first doctrine of our Lord is
this:
DEO GRATIS
[118]So Pepwell and MS. Reg. 17 D.V.; Caxton
has: "Thou art she that art not, and I am he that am"; which is nearer to the
Latin.
[119]Caxton reads: I escape gracyously all
his snares."
[120]Cf. Dante, Par. xxxiii.
100-105:--
" A quella luce cotal si diventa,
Che volgersi da lei per altro aspetto,
È impossibil che mai si consenta;
Però che il ben, ch'è del volere obbietto,
Tutto s'accoglie in lei, e fuor di quella
È difettivo ciò che lì è perfetto."
" Such at that light does one become, that it were impossible ever to consent
to turn from it for sight of ought else, For the good, that is the object of
the will, is wholly gathered therein, and outside it that is defective which
there is perfect."
[121]So Pepwell: Caxton has: "yf thou wilt
gete the vertu of ghostely strength."
[122]Pepwell and the MS. add: "and
temptations" (Caxton: "of temptacyons"); which is clearly out of place. Cf.
Legenda, SS 104 (Acta Sanctorum, Aprilis, tom. iii.).
[123]2 Cor. i. 7.
[124]Mated. Caxton has: "vertuously
y-mette." Cf. Legenda, SS 101: "Talis anima sic Deo conjuncta."
[125]2 Cor. xii. 10.
[126]"And the cause and the rote"
(Caxton).
[127]Sometimes.
[128]Caxton has: "It happed she sayde that
other whyle deuoute feruour of a sowle leuyng oure lorde Jhesu other by
somme certeyne synne, or ellys by newe sotyll temptacyons of the fende wexyth
dull and slowe, and other whyle it is y-brought to veray coldenesse." Pepwell
and the MS. are entirely corrupt: "It happeneth (she sayth) that otherwhyle
a synner whiche is leuynge our Lord Jhesu by some certeyn synne, or
ellys by some certeyn temptacyons of the fende," &c. The original of the
passage runs thus: "Frequenter enim (ut inquiebat) contingit animae Deum
amanti quod fervor mentalis, vel ex divina providentia, vel ex aliquali
culpa, vel ex haustis adinventionibus inimici, tepescit, et quandoque quasi ad
frigiditatem usque deducitur" (Legenda SS 107).
[129]So Caxton; Pepwell has: "leaving."
[130]Caxton has: "seeth"; the Latin text:
quantumcumque videat seu sentiat.
[131]Requited.
[132]So the MS.; Pepwell reads: "were feble
and fayle"; and Caxton: "wexed feble and defayled."
[133]Caxton reads: "prayng" (praying).
[134]So Caxton: Pepwell and MS. have:
"in."
[135]Latin, Praelatorum suorum
(i.e. of her ecclesiastical superiors), Legenda, SS 361.
[136]Omitted in Pepwell and in MS.
[137]Judge. Cf. above, p. 14.
[138]Judgment.
[139]"Also she sayd that she hadde alwaye
grete hope and truste in Goddes prouydence, and to this same truste she endured
her dysciples seyng unto theym that she founde and knewe" (Caxton).
"Knowest thou not, daughter, who thou
art and who I am? If thou know well these two words, thou art and shalt be
blessed. Thou art she that art nought; and I am He that am ought.[118] If thou have the very knowledge of these
two things in thy soul, thy ghostly enemy shall never deceive thee, but thou
shalt eschew graciously all his malice;[119]
and thou shalt never consent to any thing that is against My commandments and
precepts, but all grace, all truth, and all charity thou shalt win without any
hardness."
The second doctrine of our Lord is this:
"Think on Me, and I shall think on thee."
In declaring of which doctrine she was wont to
say that:
"A soul which is verily united to God perceiveth
not, seeth not, nor loveth not herself, nor none other soul, nor hath no mind
of no creature but only on God."
And these words she expoundeth more expressly,
and saith thus:
"Such a soul seeth herself, that she is very
nought of herself, and knoweth perfectly that all the goodness, with all the
mights of the soul, is her Maker's. She forsaketh utterly herself and all
creatures, and hideth herself fully in her Maker, our Lord Jesu; in so much
that she sendeth fully and principally all her ghostly and bodily workings in
to Him; in whom she perceiveth that she may find all goodness, and all
perfection of blessedness. And, therefore, she shall have no will to go out
from such inward knowledge of Him for nothing.[120] And of this unity of love, that is increased every day
in such a soul, she is transformed in a manner in to our Lord, that she may
The third doctrine of our Lord is this; in
obtaining of virtue and ghostly strength:
"Daughter, if thou wilt get unto thee virtue and
also ghostly strength,[121] thou must follow
Me. Albeit that I might by My godly virtue have overcome all the power of the
fiends by many manner ways of overcoming, yet, for to give you ensample by My
manhood, I would not overcome him but only by taking of death upon the Cross,
that ye might be taught thereby, if ye will overcome your ghostly enemies, for
to take the Cross as I did; the which Cross shall be to you a great refreshing
in all your temptations, if ye have mind of the pains that I suffered
thereon.[122] And certainly the pains of the
Cross
The first doctrine of this glorious virgin is
this:
"A soul which is verily mete[124] to God, as much as it hath of the love of God, so much
it hath of the hate of her own sensuality. For of the love of God naturally
cometh hate of sin, the which is done against God. The soul, therefore,
considering that the root and beginning of sin reigneth in the sensuality, and
there principally is rooted, she is moved and stirred highly and holily with
all her mights against her own sensuality; not utterly to destroy the root, for
that may not be, as long as the soul dwelleth in the body living in this life,
but ever there shall be left a root, namely of small venial sins. And because
she may not utterly destroy the root of sin thus in her sensuality, she
conceiveth a great displeasaunce against her sensuality, of the which
displeasaunce springeth an holy hate and a despising of the sensuality, by the
which the soul is ever well kept from her ghostly enemies. There is nothing
that keepeth the soul so
Here is a common answer which she used to say to
the fiends:
"I trust in my Lord Jesu Christ, and not in
myself."
Here is a rule how we shall behave us in time of
temptation:
"When temptation," she saith, "ariseth in us, we
should never dispute nor make questions; for that is," she saith, "that the
fiend most seeketh of us for to fall in
Here is a good conceit of this holy maid to
eschew the temptations of the fiend:
"It happeneth," she said, "that otherwhile[127] the devout fervour of a soul loving our
Lord Jesu, either by some certain sin, or else by some new subtle temptations
of the fiend, waxeth dull and slow, and otherwhile it is brought to very
coldness;[128] in so much that some unwitty
folks, considering that they be destitute from the ghostly
Here is another doctrine of this holy maid, the
which she used to say to herself in edifying of others:
"Thou vile and wretched creature, art thou worthy
any manner of comfort in this life? Why hast thou not mind of thy sins? What
supposest thou of thyself, wretched sinner? Is it not enough to thee, trowest
thou not, that thou art escaped by the mercy of our Lord from everlasting
damnation? Therefore thou shouldest be well apaid,[131] wretch, though thou suffer all the pains and darkness
of thy soul all the days of thy life. Why art thou, then, heavy and sorrowful
to suffer such pains, sith by God's grace thou shalt escape endless pains
Here is an answer by the which she had a final
victory of the fiend, after long threats of intolerable pains:
"I have chosen pain for my refreshing, and
therefore it is not hard to me to suffer them, but rather delectable for the
love of my Saviour, as long as it pleaseth His Majesty that I shall suffer
them."
Here is a doctrine of the said virgin, how we
should use the grace of our Lord:
"Who so could use the grace of our Lord, he
should ever have the victory of all things that falleth to him. For as often,"
she said, "as any new thing falleth to a man, be it of prosperity or adversity,
he should think in himself thus: Of this will I win somewhat. For he that can
do so, shall soon be rich in virtue."
Here followeth notable doctrines of this holy
maid, taken of her sermon which she made to her disciples before her passing,
and the first was this:
"What so ever he be that cometh to the service of
God, if he will have God truly, it is needful to him that