"Accuse not thyself overmuch, deeming that thy tribulation and thy woe
is all thy fault." "All thy living is penance profitable." "In the
remedy He willeth that we rejoice"
Our good Lord shewed the enmity of the Fiend: in which Shewing I
understood that all that is contrary to love and peace is of the Fiend
and of his part. And we have, of our feebleness and our folly, to fall;
and we have, of mercy and grace of the Holy Ghost, to rise to more
joy. And if our enemy aught winneth of us by our falling, (for it is
his pleasure,[1]) he loseth manifold more in our rising by charity and
meekness. And this glorious rising, it is to him so great sorrow and
pain for the hate that he hath to our soul, that he burneth continually
in envy. And all this sorrow that he would make us to have, it shall
turn to himself. And for this it was that our Lord scorned him, and [it
was] this [that] made me mightily to laugh.
Then is this the remedy, that we be aware of our wretchedness and flee
to our Lord: for ever the more needy that we be, the more speedful it
is to us to draw nigh to Him.[2] And let us say thus in our thinking:
_I know well I have a shrewd pain; but our Lord is All-Mighty and
may punish me mightily; and He is All-Wisdom and can punish me
discerningly; and He is All-Goodness and loveth me full tenderly_. And
in this beholding it is necessary for us to abide; for it is a lovely
meekness of a sinful soul, wrought by mercy and grace of the Holy
Ghost, when we willingly and gladly take the scourge and chastening of
our Lord that Himself will give us. And it shall be full tender and
full easy, if that we will only hold us satisfied with Him and with all
His works.
For the penance that man taketh of himself was not shewed me: that is
to say, it was not shewed specified. But specially and highly and with
full lovely manner of look was it shewed that we shall meekly bear and
suffer the penance that God Himself giveth us, with mind in His blessed
Passion. (For when we have mind in His blessed Passion, with pity and
love, then we suffer with Him like as His friends did that saw it. And
this was shewed in the Thirteenth Shewing, near the beginning, where it
speaketh of Pity.) For He saith: _Accuse not [thy]self overdone much,
deeming that thy tribulation and thy woe is all for thy fault; for I
will not that thou be heavy or sorrowful indiscreetly. For I tell thee,
howsoever thou do, thou shalt have woe. And therefore I will that thou
wisely know thy penance; and [thou] shalt see in truth that all thy
living is penance profitable._
This place is prison and this life is penance, and in the remedy He
willeth that we rejoice. The remedy is that our Lord is with us,
keeping and leading into the fulness of joy. For this is an endless joy
to us in our Lord's signifying, that He that shall be our bliss when we
are there, He is our keeper while we are here. Our way and our heaven
is true love and sure trust; and of this He gave understanding in all
[the Shewings] and especially in the Shewing of the Passion where He
made me mightily to choose Him for my heaven.[3]
Flee we to our Lord and we shall be comforted, touch we Him and we
shall be made clean, cleave we to Him and we shall be sure,[4] and safe
from all manner of peril.
For our courteous Lord willeth that we should be as homely with Him as
heart may think or soul may desire. But [let us] beware that we take
not so recklessly this homeliness as to leave courtesy. For our Lord
Himself is sovereign homeliness, and as homely as He is, so courteous
He is: for He is very courteous. And the blessed creatures that shall
be in heaven with Him without end, He will have them like to Himself in
all things. And to be like our Lord perfectly, it is our very salvation
and our full bliss.
And if we wot not how we shall do all this, desire we of our Lord and
He shall teach us: for it is His own good-pleasure and His worship;
blessed may He be!
[1] S. de Cressy, "likeness"; Collins, "business." The word may be
"Lifenes" = lefness, pleasure; lif = lef = lief = (Morris' _Specimens
of Early English_) pleasing, dear.
[2] "neyghen him."
[3] ch. xix.
[4] "sekir."