Diues [et] pauper

Caplm .viij.

DIues. why badde god y^t both man & beest sholde reste & ha¦lowe the holy daye. ¶Pau∣per. For as Salomon sayth Sap̄ .vi. et .xi. God loueth all thynge that he made / & hath cure of al thynges that he made. And therfor he ordeyned re∣ste in the holy dayes / not only for his owne worshypp & for ghoostly helpe of soule / but also for bodely helpe bo∣the of man & beest. But the couetyse of man were refreyned by reste on the holy daye he sholde neuer reste. But with trauayll slee hym selfe / his ser∣uaūtes / his subgettes / add his bestes. And therfore both to saue man and beest & for grete prouffyt of man / god badde reste on the holy daye. For both man & beest nedeth reste after traueyl and shall be the more fressher all the weke after to trauayll yf they haue reste on the holy daye. And therfore it falleth ofte that they whiche wyll not reste on the sondaye / ben made to re∣ste al y^• weke after / eyther of sekenesse

that they falle in by ouer trauayll / or by sekenes / or by feblenes of theyr ser¦uauntes / and of theyr bestes / or ellys by deth. For oftentyme they slee theyr bestes by ouer moche trauayll / & con∣tynuynge of trauayll. And therfore in the begynnynge of the worlde as whan Adam synned in the .vi. daye by etynge of an apple ayenst goddes cōmaundement / and that god hadde dampned hym and all his to perpe∣tuell trauayl for his synne. After this of his grete and endelesse mercy / he tempred and slaked his harde dome / and ordeyned reste both to man and beest in the .vij. daye. And therfore sayth holy wryte Gen̄ .ij. That god fulfylled his werkes in the .vij. daye not oonly / for he made than the .vij. daye & cessed of creacōn / but also pryn¦cypally for he shewed than fyrste mer¦cy ayenst synne grauntynge and byd¦dynge reste in the .vij. daye both to man & to beest whiche he dampned in the daye byfore to perpetuell trauayll for Adams synne / whiche mercy was fulfyllynge & parfeccōn of al his wer¦kes Quia miseracōes eius su{per} omnia o{per}a eius. For as Dauyd sayth god∣des mercy is aboue all his werkes. And saynt Iames sayth. Mercy en∣haūseth rightfull dome. And but god had ended his werkes in mercy in the vij. daye / & slaked his harde dome a∣yenst mankynde for Adams synne / ellys his werkes had not ben comple¦te ne parfyght / in asmoche as y^• pryn¦cypal creature for whom he made all thynge was loste. For whan the fy∣nale cause of ony werke fayleth / that werke is not complete ne parfyght. For this mercy y^t god shewed to man whan he ordeyned rest in the .vij. daye that was called sabbot / fygure of en∣delesse reste of mankynde. Cryst sayth in the gospell. That the sabbot was made for man / not man for the sab∣bot Marci .ij. But synfull man be so blent with couetyse / y^t he tourneth his dampnacōn & his payne in to lykyn∣ge / and hath leuer to trauayll to his vndoynge & vnto his dampnacyon / than to rest to his saluacōn. And hath leuer to folowe the harde sentence of god to his punysshynge / than to take his grace and his mercy to be eased / Suche ben lyke oules & backes / whi∣che hate the daye & loue the nyght / ly¦ke to the fendes of helle y^t neuer haue recte / ne for malyce wyll seke reste.