A treatise of the loue of God. Written in french by B. Francis de Sales Bishope and Prince of Geneua, translated into English by Miles Car priest of the English Colledge of Doway

Of the amourous languishment of the heart wounded with loue. CHAPTER. XV.

1. IT is a thing sufficiently knowne that hu∣mane loue, doth not onely wound the heart, but euen weaken the bodie mortally; because as passions, and the temperature of the bodie, hath a great power to encline the soule and draw her after its so the affections of the soule haue great force in stirring the humours, and changing the qualities of the bodie: but further, loue, when it is violent, doth beare away the soule to the thing beloued, with such impetuositie, and doth so wholy possesse her, that she is deficient in all her other operations, be they sensatiue, or intelle∣ctuall; so that to feede, and second this loue, the soule seemes to abandon all other care, all other exercises, yea and her selfe too; whēce Plato saied, that Loue was poore, trent, naked, barefoote, miserable, without house, that it laie without dores, vpon the hard ground alwayes in want. It is poore, because it makes one quit all for the thing beloued: It is without a house, because it vrgeth the soule to leaue her owne habitation, to follow hī cōtinually whō she loues: It is miserable pale, leane and ruinous, for that it makes one loose sleepe, meete and drinke. It is naked, and barefoote, sith it makes one forsake all other affe∣ctions,

to embrace that of the thing beloued. It lies without, vpon the hard ground, because it laies open the heart that is in loue, making it ma∣nifest its passions, by sighes, plaintes, praises, sus∣picions, iealousies: It lies all along at the gate like a begger, because it makes the louer perpe∣tually attentiue to the eyes and mouth of the belo∣ued, hanging continually at his eares, to speake to him, and begge of him some fauours, wherwith it is neuer saciated. Now the eyes, eares, and mouth are the gates of the soule. In fine the condition of its life is to be still indigent; for if euer it be sacia∣ted, it leaues to be ardent, and consequently to be loue.

2. True it is, THEO: that Plato spoke thus of the abiect, vile, and foule loue of worldlings, yet are the same properties found in diuine and celestiall loue; For turne your eyes a litle vpon those first Maisters of christian doctrine, I meane those first Doctors of holy Euangelicall loue, and marke what one of them, who had laboured the most, saied, vntill this houre saieth he, we doe both hunger and thrist, and are naked, and are beaten with buffets, and are wanderers; we are made the refuse of this world, and as the drosse, or skume; as though he had saied, we are so ab∣iect, that if the world be a Pallas, we are held the sweepers thereof: if the world be an aple, we are the parings. What, I praie you, had brought them to this state, but Loue? It was Loue that threwe S. FRANCIS naked before his Bishop, and made him die naked vpon the ground: It was Loue made him a begger all his life; It was Loue that

sent the great S. FRANCIS ZAVERIVS poore, needie, torne, vp and downe amongst the Indians and Ia∣ponians; It was Loue that brought the great Car∣dinall S. CHARLES, Archbishop of Milan, to that extreamitie of pouertie, amidst the riches which he had by the right of blood and his dignitie, that, as Maister Panigaroll the eloquent Orator of Italie saied, he was as a dogge in his Maisters house, eating a peece of bread, drinking onely a little water, and lying vpon a little strawe.

3. Let vs heare I beseech you the holy Suna∣mite, who cries almost in this manner; although by reason of a thousand consolations which loue giues me, I be more faire then the rich Tents of my Salomon, I would saie, more faire then heauen which is the lifelesse Pauillion of his royall Ma∣iestie, seeing I am his liuing Pauillion; yet am I black, torne, squalled, and spoiled with so many wounds, and blows, giuen me by the same Loue: ah respect not my heu, for I am truely browne, because my beloued, who is my Sunne, hath streamed the raies of his loue vpon me, raies which by their light doe illuminate, yet by their heate, I am sunn-burnt, and made brownish, and touching me with their splendour they haue berefte me of my colour. The passion of loue hath done me too much honour in giuing me a Spouse, such as is my King; but the same passion which is a mother to me, seeing she alone gaue me in mariage, not my merits, hath other chil∣dren which doe wonderfully assault, and vexe me, bringing me to such a langour, that as, of one side I am like to a Queene who is beside her king, so

of the other side, I am as a Vineyard-keeper who in a miserable cabinet lookes to a vine, and a vine that is not his owne.

4. Truely THEOT: when the wounds and strokes of loue are frequent and strong, they put vs into lāgour, and into Lou's well-beloued sick∣nesse. Who could euer describe the amourous lan∣gours of a S. Catharin of Sienna, and Genua, or a S. Angelo Folini, a S. Bernard, a S. Francis. And as for the last, his latter dayes were nothing but teares, sighes, plaints, langours, pinings, Loue-traunces. But in all this, nothing so strange, as the admirable communicatiō which the sweete IESVS had with him, of his louing, and precious paines, by the impression of his wounds, and Stigmats. THEO: I haue often pondered this won∣der, and haue made this conceipt of it. This great Seruant of God, a man wholy Seraphicall, behol∣ding the liuely picture of his crucified Sauiour, represented in a glittering Seraphin, which ap∣peared vnto him vpon the Mount-Aluernus, grewe softer then is imaginable, taken, with a soueraigne consolation and compassion: For beholding this bright Myrrour of loue which the Angell could not saciate himselfe in behol∣ding; alas he sownded with delight, and content∣ment! but seeing also the liuely representation of the markes and woundes of his Sauiour crucified, he felt in his soule the impetuous sworde which stroke through the sacred breast of the Virgin-Mother the day of the Passion, with as much in∣ward griefe, as though she had bene crucified with her deare Sauiour. O God, THEO: if the picture

of Abraham fetching deaths blow ouer his deare onely-begotten to sacrifice him, a picture drawen by a mortall hand, had the power to soften, and make weepe the Great S. GREGORIE Bishop of Nisse as often as he beheld it, ah! how extream∣ly was the Great S. FRANCIS softened, when he beheld the picture of our Sauiour offering him∣selfe vpon the Crosse: A picture which not a mor∣tall hand, but the Mistresse hand of a heauenly Seraphin, had drawen, and copied out of the ori∣ginall it selfe, representing so to the life and na∣ture, the heauenly king of Angels, brused, woun∣ded, murdered, crucified.

5. His soule then being thus mollified, softe∣ned, and almost melted away in this deare paine, was therby greatly disposed to receiue the im∣pressions, and markes of the loue and paine of his soueraigne louer: for his Memorie was wholy engaged in the remembrance of this Diuine Loue: his imagination forcibly applied to represent vnto himselfe, the wounds and wane blowes, which his eyes then saw so perfectly well expressed in the present picture; The Vnderstanding receiued from the Imagination infinitly liuelie Species: And fi∣nally loue imploied all the forces of the will; to take pleasure in, and conforme her selfe to the Passion of her well-beloued, whence, without doubt, the soule found herselfe trāsformed into a second Crucified. Now the soule, as the forme, and Mistresse of the bodie, exercising her autho∣ritie vpon, it printed the paines of the wounds, with which she was strook, in the partes corres∣pondant to those, wherein her Louer endured

them. Loue is admirable in edging the Imagina∣tion, to penetrate to the exteriour: Labans yewes, while they were a ramming, had so strong an ima∣gination, that it hit home vpon their Lambkins, with which they were, to make them become white, or motley according to the rods they be∣held in the troughs where they were watered. And women with child hauing their Imagina∣tion refined by loue, imprinte what they list, vpon the child's bodie. A strong Imagination, makes a man waxe white on a night, disturbing his health and humours. Loue then droue out the inwarde torments of this great Louer S. Francis, and wounded the bodie with the dart of sorrowe, with which he had wounded the heart. But loue being within, could not well make the holes in the flesh without, and therefore the burning Seraphin comming to helpe, darted the raies of so penetra∣ting a light, that it really printed in the flesh the exteriour woundes of the Crucified, which loue had imprinted interiourly in the soule. So the Se∣raphin seeing Isaie not daring to speake, because he perceiued his lips defiled, came in the name of God to touch, and purifie his lips with a bur∣ning cole taken from vpon the Altar, seconding in this sort his desire. The Myrrhe-tree bringeth fourth her gumme, and first liquor by way of sweate, and transpiration, but that she may be well deliuered of all her iuyce, she must be helped by incision. So the diuine loue of S. FRANCIS ap∣peared in his whole life in manner of sweate, for all his actions sauored nothing else but heauenly loue. But to make the incomparable abundance

of it plainely appeare the diuine Seraphin came to giue the incision and wounds. And to th'end it might be knowen, that these wounds were woundes of heauenly loue, they were made, not with iron, but with raies of light! ô deare God, THEO: how louing a paine, ād how painefull a loue was this! for not onely at that instant, but euē his whole life after, this poore Saint went pining and languishing, as being very sicke of loue.

6. B. PHILIPE NERIVS at fourescore yeares of age, had such an inflammation of heart through diuine loue, that heate making way by the ribbs, did greatly dilate them, and broke the fourth and fift, to receiue aire, and be refreshed. B. STANIS∣LAVS BOSCA, a young youth of fourteene yeares, was so assaulted by the loue of his Sauiour, that diuers times he fell downe in a sownd, and was constrained to applie linnen dept in cold water to his breast, to moderate the violencie of the bur∣ning which he felt. To conclude, THEOT: how doe you thinke, that a soule, who hath once a little wishedly tasted diuine consolations, can liue in this world so full of miseries, without almost a continuall paine and languishing? That great man of God S. ZAVERIVS hath often bene heard lāching out his voice to heauē, thinking him selfe all alone, in these termes. Ah my God, doe not for pitie, doe not beare me downe with so great abundance of consolations; or if through thy infi∣nit•• goodnesse it will please thee, to make me so abound in delights, take me to Heauen; for he that hath once tasted thy sweetenesse, must necessarily liue in bitternesse, while he doth not enioye thee.

And therefore when God hath somewhat largely bestowed his heauenly sweetes vpon a soule, and after withdrawes them, he wounds her by the pri∣uation, and she vpon it, is left pining, and sob∣bing which Dauid.

Alas the day when shall I see, Thy sweete returne my heart shall free Out of her painefull panges.

And with the Apostle: Vnhappie man that I am, who will deliuer me out of the bodie of this mortalitie?