Sweete thovghtes of Iesvs and Marie, or, Meditations for all the feasts of ovr B. Saviovr and his B. Mother togeither with Meditations for all the Sundayes of the yeare and our Sauiovrs Passion : for the vse of the daughters of Sion : diuided into tvvo partes / by Thomas Carre ...

THE II. MEDITATION.

I. POINT.

CONSIDER yet further, and dili∣gently ponder these pretious words, which flow as heauenly pearles from the mouth of an Angell, which man ought humbly to imbrace, relish, and locke vp, not proudly and profanely to controle. Blessed Marie is declared full of grace; nor that, in an ordinarie manner as diuers other Saintes were, but according to the measure which Christ sorted out for his best beloued Mother, who wisely sutes his giftes and graces according to the fun∣ction, place, and dignitie to which he pleases to call euery one. The fountaine, the riuer, the brooke, are each one full: so is the Sonne, the Mother, and the ser∣uant. But the Sonne, as the sourse and sea whence all graces flow: the Mother as neerliest ioyned to, and most abundantly participating of the said sea: the seruant, as placed at a greater distance, in a mea∣sure aggreable to a seruant: in fine the ser∣uant possesses it but by partes; the Mother in the whole plenitude, as saith S. Hie∣rome.

[Affection.] All hayle, all hayle spotlesse Virgine, mother of grace and mercy, sith thou art the mother of my Lord and ma∣ster, I feare not to salute thee with an An∣gell, full of grace; since to speake wirh S. A∣thanasius, the holy Ghost descended into thee with all his essentiall vertues, which he stands possessed of by title of his diuine principalitie, and therfor thou art most iustly stiled gratia plena, as being replenish∣ed with the abundance of all the graces of the holy Ghost. Many, many daughters haue gathered riches togeither, tis true, but thou hast outstripped them all, and art inriched with that peculiar grace which gaue glorie to the heauens, a God to the earth, faith to the gentils &c. Dearest Lady mother daigne to Conueye some dropes of that ouer-flowing grace of thyne, vpon my weake and languishing soule.

II. POINT.

CONSIDER that if Marie be full of grace, it is noe wonder, sith the same Angell assures her, and vs, that our Lord is with her Dominus tecum. Noe saith S. Bernard it is noe wonder that she is full of grace, with whom our Lord is: not our

Lord the Sonne onely, whom she clothes with humanitie, but our Lord the holy Ghost, of whom she conceiues: and our Lord the Father who begott him whom she conceiues: Nay rather should we won∣der that he that dispatched the Angell to her, should be arriued to her before the Angell, and be found with her by the Angell.

[Affect.] Our Lord is with thee, dearest Lady, that eternall and draynelesse sourse of all graces, and so the fulnesse of grace, cannot be wanting to thee. Our Lord is with thee, the Angell is onely the Messēger of that good newes, but the God of Angells who sent him, preuents him, and is alreadie thy guest. Our Lord is with thee, I say, nay with vs too by thee, ô thou Mother of mercy, who broughtest forth our mylde Emmanuel, that is, our God with vs, our Iesus; thy Sonne; whom who-euer loues, he is loued by his heauenly father, who with the Sonne and the holy Ghost will come vnto him, and take vp their man∣sion with him. O excessiue happines which accreues to vs by the meanes of Blessed Marie!