The practice of piety directing a Christian how to walk, that he may please…

If the carcass of the dead Prophet could¹ revive a dead man that touched it; how much more shall the living body of the Lord of all Prophets, quicken the faithful, in whose heart he dwelleth? And if thou wilt raise my body at the last day out of the dust; how much more wilt thou now revive my Soul which thou hast sanctified with thy Spirit, and purified with thy blood? O Lord, what could I more desire, or what couldest thou more bestow upon me, than to give me thy body for meat, thy blood for drink, and to lay down thy Soul for the price of my Redemption? Thou Lord enduredst the pain, and I do reap the profit: I received pardon, and thou didst bear the punishment. Thy tears were my bath, thy wounds my weal▪ and the injustice done to thee, satisfied for the Judgment which was due to me. Thus by thy birth thou art become my Brother, by thy death my ransom, by thy mercy my reward, and by thy Sacrament my nourishment. O divine •ood, by which the sons of men are transformed into the sons of God: so that man's nature dieth, and God's nature liveth and ruleth in us. Indeed, all Creatures wondered that the Creator would be enclosed nine Months in the Virgins Womb; ⟨p. 357⟩(though her Womb being replenished with the Holy Ghost, was more splendid than the Starry Firmament:) but that thou shouldest thus humble thy self to dwell for ever in my heart, which thou foundest more unclean than a Dunghill, it is able to make all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth to stand amazed. But seeing it is thy free Grace and mere pleasure thus to enter and to dwell in my heart, I would to God, that I had so pure a heart as my heart could wish, to entertain thee. And who is fit to entertain Christ? or who, though invited, would not choose with Mary rather to kneel at thy feet, than presume to sit with thee at thy Table? Though I want a pure heart for thee to dwell in, yet weeping eyes shall never be wanting to wash thy blessed feet, and to lament my filthy sins. And albeit I cannot weep so many tears as may suffice to wash thy holy feet; yet, Lord, it is sufficient that thou hast shed Blood enough to cleanse my sinful So•l. And I am fully (O Lord) assured, that all the […] ▪ fare wherewith the disdainful Pharisee entertained thee at his Table, did not so much please thee, as those tears which penitent Mary poured under the ble.