The flowers of Lodowicke of Granado. The first part. In which is handled the conuersion of a sinner. Translated out of Latine into English, by T.L. doctor of phisicke

The Argument.

••he day of iudgement an exact ac∣••••unt shal be required at a Christi∣••ns handes, of all his thoughts and ••orkes done in this life. The sinner, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the iust iudgement of God, shall 〈◊〉〈◊〉 cast downe headlong into perpe∣••••all affliction, plaints & darknes ••f the infernall prison. There whilst 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is tort••red with most ardent tor∣••••res and punishments, full of rage, ••nd burning with wrath against ••od, he shal curse & excruiate him ••••lfe, calling to memory all those e∣••ils which he hath done, and those ••ood things which he hath neglected ••o doe. For which cause, who soeuer ••ill not fall into these desasters, let ••im repent whilst he hath time.

CHAP. 3. (Book 3)

AFter death, followeth euery mans perticuler iudgement,* 1.1 & after that, y^e vniuersal of al men, whē as that which the Apostle teacheth shalbe ful∣••••d. We must all of vs be manife∣•••••••• before the tribunall of Christ,* 1.2

that euery one may receiue acco••••ding to that which he hath done 〈◊〉〈◊〉 his body, either good or bad.

Many thinges are to be conside••red in this iudgement, but the chie••fest of them is, diligently to wey, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 what things the account shal be ex∣acted from vs. I will search (sayt•• our Lord) Ierusalē by candle light▪ and I will visite vppon the men th•••• are intent on their dreggs.* 1.3 The ma∣ner of speaking in holy Scripture, is to signifie, that the thinges of lea•••• consequence shal be both discust & examined in that day: euen as me•• in slight things, are wont to light a candle, and search euery corner o•• the house. For there is not any one vaine cogitation of thine, or mo∣ment of time euilly and vnfruitfully let slip by thee, wherof a reason shal not be required at thy hands.

Who woulde not tremble and shake euery lym of him, when he•• heareth the words of our Lord; Ve∣rely, verely I say vnto you, of euery idle worde that men haue spoken, they shall giue a reason in the day of iudgement? Well ••hen, if an ac∣count must be made of those words

••hich offend no man, what shal be ••nswered for dishonest words? vn∣••hast cogitations? for handes full of ••lood? for adulterous euils? Final∣••••, for all the time of our life loosely ••onsumed in the works of iniquity? ••f this bee true, (as it is most true,) ••hat tongue? what eloquence may ••eport so much of the rigor and se∣••eritie of this iudgement, which ••••all not be lesser then the truth of ••he thing it selfe? or what is it may ••ny wayes bee equalled with the ••••me?

Howe shall the wretched man ••••and heere amazed and astonished, ••hen in the circle ofso many Sena∣••ors, and the presence of so great a ••ounsaile, the account shal be chal∣••enged at his handes, of the least ••ord, which such or such a day, he ••••ake fondly and without fruite? Who would not be amazed at this ••uestion? VVho durst say these ••••inges, except Christ himselfe had ••poken them before? who affirme, ••xcept he had affirmed? What king ••as there euer found, that expostu∣••ated with his seruants for so light a ••ault? O altitude of Christian Reli∣gion,

how great is the puritie which thou teachest? how strict is the ac∣count which thou exactest? & with howe seuere iudgement doost thou discusse and examine all thinges? How great shal the shame be wher∣with wretched sinners shall in tha•• place be stained? when as all theyr iniquities which when they lyued, they hid vnder the couerts and walls of theyr houses: what soeuer also dishonest, what-soeuer filthy thing they haue committed frō theyr ten∣der yeeres to the terme of their life, all the angles of their harts, & what∣••o euer is most secrete shall be ma∣nifested in this court, before th•• eyes of the whole world. Who there shal haue a conscience so cleere, who when these thinges shall beginne to be done, shall not presently change his colour, and tremble in all his members?

For if a man doe so much blush, when hee reuealeth his defects in priuate, to some friende of his, so that some one in the very confessi∣on waxeth dumbe, and concealeth his crime: what shame shal that be, where-with sinners shall be affected

in the sight of Almighty GOD, and of all ages, past, present, and to come? So great shall that shame be, that the wicked, as the prophet witnesseth, shall cry out,* 1.4 saying to the mountaines, couer vs, & to hils fall vpon vs.

But these thinges are tollerable: but what shall become of them when as the sharpe arrowes of that finall sentence from Gods mouth,* 1.5 shall be shotte into theyr harts, Goe you cursed into euerlasting ••ire, which is prepared for the deuill and his An∣gels?

Alas, with what sorrowes shall sin••ners be discrutiate, when they heare this sentence? When as wee can scarcely heare a little droppe of his wordes (sayth Iob) who can be∣holde the thunder of his greatnes?* 1.6 This voyce shal be so dreadfull, and of such vertue, that the earth in the twinckling of an eye shall bee ope∣ned, and in a moment they shall de∣scend to hell (as the sayd Iob saith) who now enioy the timbrel & harp,* 1.7 and reioyce at the sound of the or∣gan, vvho nowe leade theyr dayes in pleasure.

This case describeth blessed Saint Iohn in his Apocalips, in these wor∣des; After this I saw another Angel descending from heauen, hauing great power, & the earth was light∣ned by his glory; and he cryed out in his strength, saying: Great Babi∣lon is fallen, is fallen, and is made the habitation of deuils, and the pri∣son of all vncleane spirits, & the ha∣bitation of each vncleane & odible bird. A little after, the same Euange∣list addeth, saying; The strong An∣gel tooke vp a stone, as if it were a great Milstone, and cast it into the sea, and said: with this force shal the great citty Babilon be cast down▪ & henceforward it shall no more bee found.

After this manner shal the wicked fall into this headlong hell, and into that darksom prison ful of al confu∣sion, which is vnderstood of Babi∣lon in this place. But what tunge can expresse the multitude of punish∣ments which they shall there suffer? There shal their bodies burne in li∣uing & vnquenchable flames, there their soules without intermission, shalbe gnawed vpon by the worme

of conscience, which shal giue them no truce; There shall be perpetuall weeping of eyes, and gnashing of teeth that shal neuer end, which the sacred Scriptures do so often threa∣ten & repeat. In this place of despe∣ration, those miserable damned, en∣raged with a certaine cruel madnes, shal cōuert their anger against god, & tyrannize against themselues, ea∣ting their owne flesh, renting theyr bowels with furious grones,* 1.8 ••••aring one anothers flesh with their nailes, and incessantly blaspheming the Iudge that condemned them vnto the punishments. There each of thē shall curse his vnfortunate chaunce, & vnhappy natiuity, repeating with∣out intermission that doleful plaint, and those desolate and lamentable songs of Iob; Curst bee the day in which I was borne, and the night in which it is said,* 1.9 Hee is conceiued a man; Let that day bee turned into darknes, let not god require vpon it, neither let it be illustrate with light. Let darknes obscure it, & the sha∣dow of death; let a mist ouercloude it, & let it be wrapped in bitternes. Let a dark storme possesse y^t night,

let it not be accounted amongst the dayes of the yeere, nor numbred in the months. Let that night be s••li∣tary and vnworthy praise, let them curse the same who curse the day, who are ready to waken the Leuia∣than.

Let the starres bee da••kned with the mist thereof, let thē expect light and not see it, neither the beginning of the rising morne: Because it shut not vp the doore of the wombe that bare me, neither tooke away the e∣uils from mine eyes. Why died I not in the wombe, or is••uing from the same, why perrished I not pre∣sently? why was I receiued into the lap? why sucked I at the teates?

This shal be the musick, these the songs, such the mattins, which those vnhappy soules shall sing without end. O vnlucky tongues, which speake nothing but blasphemies; ó vnfortunate eyes, that see n••ught but calamities and miseries. O mi∣serable eares, that heare nothing but plaints, and gnashing of teeth: ô vnlucky bodies, which haue no o∣ther refreshings but burning flames. Of what minde shall they be there,

who whilst they liued here, deluded the howres in trifles, and spent all their time in pleasures and delights? ô how long a chaine of misery haue these so short delights forged? O foolish and incensate, what will the allurements of the flesh profit you nowe, which then you cherrished, whereas now you are deuoted to e∣ternall plaints? What is become of your ritches? vvhere are your trea∣su••es? where your delights? where are your reioycings? The 7. yeeres of plentie are past, and the 7. yeeres of dearth are come, which haue de∣uoured all their aboundance. There is no memory left of them, nor ap∣pearance: Your glory is foredone; your felicities drowned in the sea of sorrow: your thirst is grown to that drith, that there is not one ••rop of water granted by which the imme∣surable heate of thy throate, which infinitlie tormenteth thee, may bee assl••ked.

Your felicities which you inioy∣ed in this world, will not onelie not profit you; but euen they will bee the causes to you of greater tormēt. For thē shall be fulfilled that which

is written in the booke of Iob. Let mercy forget him, wormes are his sweetnesse.* 1.10 Let him not bee in re∣membrance, but cut downe like an vnfruitfull blocke. But then the sweetnesse of the delight of euils, is turned into the worme of greefe, when as the remembrance of fore-passed pleasures, (according to the exposition of Saint Gregory) shall beget a greater bitternes of pres••nt greefes; bethinking themselues thē what they haue some-times beene, and in what place they nowe be, & that for that which is so soone vani∣shed, they nowe suffer that which shall endure for euer.

Then at length, (but too late) shall they acknowledge the fallacies of the deuill: & placed in the midst of errours, shal begin (but in vaine) to speake the wordes of the Wise∣man, saying; VVe haue wandered from the way of truth,* 1.11 and the light of iustice hath not shined vpon vs, & the sunne of vnderstanding is not ri∣sen vnto vs: wee are wearied in the way of iniquity & perdition, & haue walked difficult wayes, but the way of our Lord haue we not knowne.

What hath our pride profited vs, or the boast of our riches what hath ••t furthered vs? All those things are past away as a shadow, or as it were a messenger running before, or like a shippe, that hath passed a trouble∣some water, whereof when it is past ••here is no tract to be found, neither the way of the keele thereof in the floods. Such like wordes haue the sinners spoken in hell, because the vngodly mans hope is like the light feather, which is lifted vppe by the wind, and like the light froth of the Sea, which is dispersed by the sunne: and as it were smoake scattered by the wind▪ and like the memory of a one dayes guest passing by. These shall be the complaints, these the la∣mentations, this the perpetuall pe∣nance, which the damned shal there performe world without end, where it shall profit them nothing; be∣cause the time was ouer-past where∣in they should shew fruites worthy of repentance.

Come therfore whilst then is time of repent, come you that haue eares to heare, and receaue that wholsom counsaile of our Lorde, which he in

time past gaue by the mouth of h•••• Prophet, saying: Giue glory t•• your Lorde God,* 1.12 before it waxe•• darke; and before your feete stum∣ble against the darksome hills. Yo•• shall exspect the l••ght, and he sha•••• put the same in the shadow of death and in darknes.* 1.13 Watch I say the time; let vs followe his counsaile▪ who before he was our Iudge, woul•• be our aduocate. No one knowe•••• more exactly what will hinder o•• profit in that day, then he who sh••ll himselfe be Iudge of all causes: He briefly teacheth vs what is needfull for vs to doe, that in that day wee may be secure. Take heed to your selues (saith he) by Saint Luke,* 1.14 th•••• your harts be not loaden with glut∣tony and drunkennes, and the ca••e of this life, and that this day doe not sodainly come vpon you: For like a net or snare shal it surprize all those that sit vppon the face of the earth. Watch therefore at all times, pray∣ing, that you may be ••ounted wor∣thy to flie all these things which are to come, and stand before the sonne of man.

(Deerely beloued) let vs consider

all these things, and at length let vs waken from our heauy sleepe, be∣fore th••t darke night of death shall o••er whelme vs, before that horri∣••l•• day shall enfold vs, of which the Prophet speaketh: Behold the day is at hand,* 1.15 and who may thinke the day of his comming? and who shal stand to behold him? He, he may exspect the day of our Lorde, who hath heere bound the hands of the Iudge,* 1.16 and hath iudged himselfe in this world.

¶ The Author purposely entrea∣teth of the latter iudgement, in his sirst booke of Prayer and Meditati∣on, and in his exercises in Thursday nights meditation: Likewise in the guide of sinners, cap. 8. lib. 1.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Ex duce pec∣cat. lib. 1. cap. 8.
• * 1.2

  2. Corin. 5.
• * 1.3

  Soph. 1.
• * 1.4

  Esay. 10.
• * 1.5

  How horrible the sentence of the Iudg•• is.
• * 1.6

  Iob. 16,
• * 1.7

  Iob. 21.
• * 1.8

  The blasphe∣mies of the damned.
• * 1.9

  Iob. 3.
• * 1.10

  Iob. 24.
• * 1.11

  Wisd. 5.
• * 1.12

  Ierem. 13.
• * 1.13

  Ex. 1, lib. tract. de orat. et meditat. tract. 4. ca. 4.
• * 1.14

  Lu••a. 21.
• * 1.15

  Mat. 3.
• * 1.16

  1. Cor, 11.31