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← ExitCenturies of Meditations

The First Century

83

They will praise our Saviour with you, and turn the world into Heaven. And if you find those of noble and benevolent natures, discreet and magnanimous, liberal and cheerful, wise and holy as they ought to be, you will have in them treasures greater than all relations whatsoever. They will exchange Souls with you, divide estates, communicate comforts, counsels and honours, and in all tenderness, constancy, fidelity, and love be more yours than their own. There are exceeding few such Heavenly Lovers as Jesus was, who imparted His own soul unto us. Yet some may doubtlessly be found. And half a dozen such as these wisely chosen will represent unto us the New Jerusalem, entertain us always with divine discourses, please us always with Heavenly affections, delight us always with melody and praises, and ever make us near unto our Saviour.

84

Yet you must arm yourself with expectations of their infirmities, and resolve nobly to forgive them: not in a sordid and cowardly manner, by taking no notice of them, nor in a dim and lazy manner, by letting them alone: but in a divine and illustrious manner by chiding them meekly, and vigourously rendering and showering down all kind of benefits. Cheerfully continuing to do good, and whatever you suffer by your piety and charity, confidence or love, to be like our Saviour, unwearied: who when He was abused and had often been evil-intreated among men, proceeded courageously through all treacheries and deceits to die for them. So shall you turn their very vices, into virtues, to you, and, as our Saviour did, make of a wreath of thorns a crown of glory. But set the splendour of virtues before you, and when some fail, think with yourself, there are some sincere and excellent, and why should not I be the most virtuous?

85

With all their eyes behold our Saviour, with all their hearts adore Him, with all their tongues and affections praise him. See how in all closets, and in all temples; in all cities and in all fields; in all nations and in all generations, they are lifting up their hands and eyes unto His cross; and delight in all their adorations. This will enlarge your Soul and make you to dwell in all kingdoms and ages: strengthen your faith and enrich your affections: fill you with their joys and make you a lively partaker in communion with them. It will make you a possessor greater than the world. Men do mightily wrong themselves when they refuse to be present in all ages: and neglect to see the beauty of all kingdoms, and despise the resentments of every soul, and busy themselves only with pots and cups and things at home, or shops and trades and things in the street: but do not live to God manifesting Himself in all the world, nor care to see (and be present with Him in) all the glory of His Eternal Kingdom. By seeing the Saints of all Ages we are present with them: by being present with them become too great for our own age, and near to our Saviour.

86

O Jesu, Thou King of Saints, whom all adore: and, the Holy imitate, I admire the perfection of Thy Love in every soul! Thou lovest every one wholly as if him alone. Whose soul is so great an Image of Thine Eternal Father, that Thou camest down from Heaven to die for him, and to purchase mankind that they might be His treasures. I admire to see Thy cross in every understanding, Thy passion in every memory Thy crown of thorns in every eye, and Thy bleeding, naked wounded body in every soul. Thy death liveth in every memory, Thy crucified person is embalmed in every affection, Thy pierced feet, are bathed in every one’s tears, Thy blood all droppeth on every soul: Thou wholly communicatest Thyself to every soul in all kingdoms, and art wholly seen in every saint, and wholly fed upon by every Christian. It is my privilege that I can enter with Thee into every soul, and in every living temple of Thy manhood and Thy Godhead, behold again, and enjoy Thy glory.

87

O how do Thine affections extend like the sunbeams unto all stars in heaven and to all the kingdoms in the world. Thine at once enlighten both hemispheres: quicken us with life, enable us to digest the nourishment of our Souls, cause us to see the greatness of our nature, the Love of God, and the joys of heaven melt us into tears, comfort and enflame us, and, do all in a celestial manner, that the Sun can do in a terrene and earthly. O let me so long eye Thee, till I be turned into Thee, and look upon me till Thou art formed in me, that I may be a mirror of Thy brightness, an habitation of Thy Love, and a temple of Thy glory. That all Thy Saints might live in me, and I in them: enjoying all their felicities, joys, and treasures.

88

O Thou Sun of Righteousness, eclipsed on the Cross; overcast with sorrows, and covered with the shadow of death, remove the veil of Thy flesh that I may see Thy glory. Those cheeks are shades, those limbs and members clouds, that hide the glory of Thy mind, Thy knowledge and Thy love from us. But were they removed those inward excellencies would remain invisible. As therefore we see Thy flesh with our fleshly eyes, and handle Thy wounds with our bodily senses, let us see Thy understanding with our understandings, and read Thy love with our own. Let our souls have communion with Thy soul, and let the eye of our mind enter into Thine. Who art Thou who bleeding here causest the ground to tremble and the rocks to rend, and the graves to open? Hath Thy death influence so high as the highest Heavens? That the Sun also mourneth and is clothed in sables? Is Thy spirit present in the temple, that the veil rendeth in twain at Thy passion? O let me leave Kings Courts to come unto Thee, I choose rather in a cave to serve Thee, than on a throne to despise Thee, O my Dying Gracious Lord, I perceive the virtue of Thy passion everywhere. Let it, I beseech Thee, enter into my Soul. and rent my rocky, stony heart, and tear the veil of my flesh, that I may see into the Holy of Holies! O darken the Sun of pride and vain-glory. Yea, let the sun itself be dark in comparison of Thy Love! And open the grave of my flesh, that my soul may arise to praise Thee. Grant this for Thy mercy’s sake. Amen!

89

Is this He that was transfigured upon Mount Tabor? Pale, withered, extended, tortured, soiled with blood, and sweat, and dust, dried, parched! O sad, O dismal spectacle. All His joints are dissolved, all His blood is shed, to the last drop, all His moisture is consumed! What is here but a heap of desolations, a deformed carcase, a disfigured countenance! A mass of miseries and silence, footsteps of innumerable sufferings! Can this be a joy? Can this be an entertainment? Can this delight us? O Jesus, the more vile I here behold Thee, the more I admire Thee. Into what low abysses didst Thou descend, in what depths of misery dost Thou now lie! Oh what confusions, what stripes and wounds, what desolations and deformities didst Thou suffer for our sakes! In all the depths of Thy humiliation I here adore Thee! I prize and desire always to see those stripes and those deformities. It is sweeter to be with Thee in Thy sufferings, than with princes on their Thrones, and more do I rejoice with Thee in Thy miseries, than in all their solemnities. I tremble also to see Thy condescencions, the great effects and expressions of Thy love! Thou wast slain for me: and, shall I leave Thy body in the field, O Lord? Shall I go away and be merry, while the Love of my soul, and my only Lover is dead upon the cross. Groans, here, in the sight and apprehension of Thy love are beyond all melody, and the solemn sorrows of a loving Soul, a faithful Friend, a tender Spouse, a deep and compassionate true Lover, beyond all the entertainments in the world. Thine O Jesus will I ever be while I have any Being.

90

This Body is not the cloud, but the pillar assumed to manifest His love unto us. In these shades doth this sun break forth most oriently. In this death is His love painted in most lively colours. God never shewed Himself more a God than when He appeared man; never gained more glory than when He lost all glory: was never more sensible of our sad estate, than when He was bereaved of all sense. O let Thy goodness shine, in me! I will love all, O Lord, by Thy grace assisting as Thou dost: And in death, itself, will I find life, and in conquest victory. This Sampson by dying killed all his enemies: and then carried the Gates of Hell and Death away, when being dead, Himself was borne to His grave. Teach me, O Lord, these mysterious ascencions. By descending into Hell for the sake of others, let me ascend into the glory of the Highest Heavens. Let the fidelity and efficacy of my love appear, in all my care and suffering for Thee.

91

O Jesu, Lord of Love and Prince of Life! who even being dead, art greater than all angels, cherubims, and men, let my love unto Thee be as strong as Death and so deep that no waters may be able to drown it. O let it be ever endless and invincible! O that I could really so love Thee, as rather to suffer with St. Anselm the pains of Hell than to sin against Thee. O that no torments, no powers in heaven or earth, no stratagems, no allurements might divide me from Thee. Let the length and breadth and height and depth of my love unto Thee be like Thine unto me. Let undrainable fountains, and unmeasurable abysses be hidden in it. Let it be more vehement than flame, more abundant than the sea, more constant than the candle in Aaron’s tabernacle that burned day and night. Shall the sun shine for me; and be a light from the beginning of the world to this very day that never goeth out, and shall my love cease or intermit, O Lord, to shine or burn? O let it be a perpetual fire on the altar of my heart, and let my soul itself be Thy living sacrifice.

73.Augustine says of God that He cares for each one “as if for him alone, and for all as for each” (Confessions III.11.19). Traherne says it of Christ, whose title King of Saints comes from Revelation 15:3, the verse that closes this Century (I.100).

74.Malachi 4:2, “shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings”, a title the Church gave to Christ. The darkness at the crucifixion (Luke 23:44-45) was traditionally called an eclipse, though, as Julius Africanus pointed out in the third century, the sun cannot be eclipsed at the full moon of Passover. The earthquake, the rent rocks and veil and the opened graves that follow are from Matthew 27:51-52.

75.Hebrews 10:20, the new and living way opened “through the veil, that is to say, his flesh”. As the veil of the temple was rent at Christ’s death, Traherne asks that the veil of His flesh be drawn aside; the Holy of Holies at the end of the meditation is the inmost sanctuary behind it.

76.With the brilliance of the rising sun; from orient, the east, and so shining, lustrous, as orient pearls are. The word returns in the Third Century’s “orient and immortal wheat” (III.3).

77.The strong man of the Book of Judges, whose death slew more Philistines than his life (Judges 16:30), and who carried off the doors of the gate of Gaza on his shoulders (Judges 16:3), was an old type of Christ, whose death overcame His enemies and who broke the gates of hell. Traherne reverses the order of the story, for Samson carried off the gates while he lived.

78.The Song of Songs 8:6-7, “love is strong as death” and “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it”. The prayer that nothing may divide him from Christ echoes Romans 8:38-39, and the length and breadth and height and depth of love are Ephesians 3:18.

79.The theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury (1033-1109). His biographer Eadmer records his saying that if he had to choose between sin and the pains of hell he would rather suffer hell than sin.