Companion to the English prose works of Richard Rolle : a selection / from the edition by Carl Horstman.

B ¶ How men somtyme loued god / & how holy men somtyme were vysyted with swetenes in the loue of almyghty god.

I Fynde & rede of oure holy faders in olde tyme that for the loue of god they forsoke the worlde and all worldely thynges and lyued in wyldernes by grasse & by rotes / suche men were feruent in the loue of god. But I trowe there ben but fewe or elles none that folowen them now / for we fynde not by goddes lawe or heste that we sholde l[y]ue so. For all-be-it they were kepte & susteyned so moost by the myght and grace of god / as no goodnes may be without hym: yet I trowe they lyued so moche by þe strength of kynde that was in man tho dayes. I wyll not counseyll the to lyue as they dyde / for thou mayst by other maner lyuynge come to the loue of god / as thou shalt se afterwarde. ¶ I fynde also furthermore of other ful holy men of ryght late tyme whiche lyueden a ful holy lyfe, and toke theyr lyuelode as feblenesse of man asketh now in our dayes. Some of these men as I haue herde and redde were vysyted by the grace of god with a passynge swetenes of the loue of cryste / whiche swetenes for an example they shewed afterwarde by theyr wrytynge to other men folowynge / yf ony wolde trauayle to haue that hyghe desyre or degree of loue. This loue whiche they haue wryten to other is departed in thre degrees of loue / whiche thre degrees they hadden one after an other, standynge stablysshed in theyr desyre / and suffrynge pacyently for the loue of god many trybulacyons & temptacyons tyll they come by holy contemplacyon to þe hyghest degre of loue of tho thre. By this I suppose he that hath grace to come to the fyrst may by goddes helpe come to the seconde / & so with a feruent desyre & good perseueraunce he may come to the thyrde. Shortely I wyll shewe here these degrees of loue / for [percase] all men and women that sholde rede this haue not knowynge of theym / ne neuer herde speke of suche degrees of loue before-tyme. ¶ Degrees of hyghe loue. .I. ¶ The fyrste loue is so feruent that no-thynge whiche is contrary to goddes wyll may ouercome that loue / welth ne wo, helthe ne sykenes; Also he þat hath this loue wyl not make god ones angry for all the worlde withoute ende / but rather suffre all the payne that myght come to ony creature than ones wylfully dysplease his god in thought or [in] dede. .II. ¶ The seconde loue is more feruent, for þat is so stronge / that what man loueth in that degre, all his thought, herte & myght is so entyerly, so besely & so perfyghtly stablysshed in Ihesu cryste that his thought cometh neuer from hym

but [only] whan he slepeth. .III. ¶ The thyrde degre of loue is hyghest and moost wonderfull / for what man cometh to that loue / all comforte and all solace is closed oute of his herte / but onely the Ioye of Ihesu cryste / Other Ioye may his herte not receyue, for swetnesse that he hath of the Ioye euermore lastynge. This loue is so brennynge & so gladynge that who so hath that loue may as well fele the fyer of brennynge loue in his soule / as an other man may fele his fynger brenne in erthely fyre. This loue may well be called a brennynge loue. And yf men had suche swetnesse in the loue of god of so late tyme, I suppose wel þat þe same we may haue now by the gyfte of god yf we were as feruent in loue as they were. But these degrees of loue ben set vpon so hyghe loue to god / that what man sholde haue the fyrst of these thre / behoued that he were a sad contemplatyf man or woman, And by cause mankynde is now & euermore the lenger the febler or perauenture more vnstable / therfore vnethes sholde we fynde now a sad contemplatyfe man or woman. Men of relygyon haue taken dyuerse habytes of contemplatyf lyfe; Men & women also that ben enclosed, as it semeth lyuen a contemplatyfe lyfe / & so with goddes grace they do for the more partye: But for to speke of hyghe contemplatyfe lyfe as holy men lyued before this tyme, it semeth there ben ryght fewe. Therfore I trowe that I may sykerly say that fewe there ben now that wyl or may trauayle now to haue suche hyghe degrees of loue as I haue reherced before. Neuertheles what so euer thou be that redest or herest this / be neuer [þe] slower to trauayll. For yf thy desyre be sette feruently & lowly, holdynge the vnworthy to haue so hyghe a ghoostly gyfte before an other man / & puttest thy desyre to goddes dysposycyon trustyngly, he wyll dyspose that is best for the / whether thou haste thy desyre or haue it not. But it is fyrst nedefull to þe that thou haue other thre degrees of loue that the same holy men wrote in theyr treatyse / whiche be not of so hyghe a degree as tho that be reherced before. .I. ¶ The fyrst degree of these is / whan a man or a woman holdeth the commaundementes of god & kepeth hym-selfe out of dedely synne / & is stable in the fayth of holy chyrche. Also whan a man wolde not for none erthely thynge dysplease god / but truly standeth in his degree whether he be religyous or seculer. In this maner euery man behoueth to loue his god that wyll be saued: / therfore I counseyll the to haue & kepe this loue or thou clymbe to ony hyer degree. .II. ¶ The seconde degree is whan a man forsaketh all the worlde for the loue of god / that is for to saye his fader, his moder & all his kynred, & foloweth cryst in pouerte. Also studieth nyght & daye / how clene he may be in herte, howe chaste in body / how meke & buxom / howe clene in all vertues / & hate all vyces / soo that all his lyfe be ghoostly & none thynge flesshely. .III. ¶ The thyrde degree is hyghest / for that is a ful contemplatyfe lyfe, as whan a man or a woman loueth for to be alone from all maner noyse. And whan that he is saddely sette in this lyfe and in this loue, with his ghoostly eyen than may he se in to the blysse of heuen; And than his eyen be soo enlumyned and so clere lyghted with grace of ghoostly loue, and also thrugh-kyndeled with the gracyous fyre of crystes loue, that he shall haue a maner of brennynge loue in

his herte euermore lastynge, and his thought euermore vpwarde to god. ¶ Thus as I haue reherced god hath vysyted his seruauntes, gyuynge theym a specyall sauour to loue hym by theyr holy lyuynge. Many other men and women there be whiche please god full well standynge truely in theyr degree as men & women of the worlde / both lordes & ladyes & other husbonde men women & wyues. For al be it they may not come to suche hye contemplatyfe lyfe, it suffyseth [to] them to haue the fyrst degree of these thre whiche I reherced last / for that euery man is bounde to kepe. ¶ ¶ Yf thou desyre to haue an hygher degre of loue in to the worshyp of god / trauayle as other men dyde & aske helpe and grace with good perseueraunce / yf it please god to performe thy wyll & brynge the to thy purpose. But for as moche as there be many that haue not a sadde grounde ne but lytell felynge how they sholde loue and drede god / whiche is spedefull & nedefull for all men to knowe: Therfore to suche as be not knowynge I wyll shewe fyrste in what maner they sholde loue & drede god / that they may be þe more stable in the loue of god. After that I shall shewe by the grace of god foure degrees of loue / whiche euery crysten man relygyous & seculer sholde holde and kepe, & may performe for the more partye yf his wyll be feruently set to the loue of god. ¶ Now than as I sayd I shall in the begynnynge with the helpe of god wryte & shewe somwhat of the drede of god / that shal be to his worshyp, & proufyte to the reder.