A heavenly treasure of confortable meditations and prayers written by S. Augustin, Bishop of Hyppon in three seuerall treatises of his meditations, soliloquies, and manual. Faithfully translated into English by the R. F. Antony Batt monke, of the holy order of S Bennet of the Congregation of England

Of the full and perfect ioy of life euerlasting. CHAPT. XXXVI.

O My God, and my Lord, my hope, and the ioy of my harte, tell my soule (I beseech thee) if this be the ioy, of which thou hast spoken vnto vs by thy Sonne saying. Aske, and you shall

haue, that your ioy may be full. Because I haue founde a certaine ioy altogether full, yea more then ful. In soe much that the harte being full, the minde being full, the soule being full, and euerie parte of man being full, there shall remaine, yet an other ioy much more excellent then the former. All that whole ioy therfore shall not enter into those that reioyce, but al they that who∣lie reioyce, shall enter into the ioy of their Lord.

Tell me o Lord, tell me thy poore vn∣worthy seruant in wardly in my harte, if this be the ioy into which thy seruants shall enter, those I meane, that shall en∣ter into the ioy of their Lord. But cer∣tainely that ioy, in which thy elect shall reioyce, neither eie hath seene, nor care hath hearde, neither hath it entred into the harte of man. I haue not therfore as yet conceiued or spoken how much thy elect shall reioyce. Doubtles they shall reioyce as much as they shall loue thee; and they shal loue thee (o Lord) as much as they shall know thee. And how much shall they loue thee? Verily neither eie hath seene, nor eare hath hearde, neither hath it entred into the harte of man in this life, how much they shall knowe and loue thee in the next life.

Giue me grace (o my God) to knowe and loue thee, to the end I may reioyce in thee. And albeit during the time of this mortal life I cannot loue thee fully, yet let me profit and goe forewarde by louinge thee more and more daylie, that soe at length I may loue thee perfectly. Let thy knowledge here encrease in me, that there it may be accomplished, that here my ioy may be greate in hope, and there perfect in deede.

I beseech thee o good God, let me at length receiue that which thou hast pro∣mised, to wit, that my ioy may be fully accomplished. In the interim, let my mind mediate of it, let my tongue talke of it, let my harte affect it, let my mouth speake of it, let my soule hunger for it, let my body thirst after it, let my whole substāxsce, desire it, vntill I enter into the ioy of my Lord, there to remaine for all eternitie. Amen.

The end of S. Augustin's Manuel.