on>A
GOLDEN TREATISE
OF
MENTAL PRAYER
A
GOLDEN TREATISE
OF
MENTAL PRAYER,
WITH
DIVERS SPIRITUAL RULES AND DIRECTIONS,
NO LESS PROFITABLE, THAN NECESSARY, FOR ALL
SORTS OF PEOPLE.
FIRST COMPOSED BY THE VENERABLE AND BLESSED
FATHER FR. PETER DE ALCANTARA
OF THE SERAPHICAL ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS,
Beatified the I8th of April,1622.
_____
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH,
BY GILES WILLOUGHBY.
_____
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, A BRIEF RELATION OF THE LIFE AND
DEATH OF THE SAME FATHER, WRITTEN BY GILES WIL-
LOUGHBY, OF THE SAME ORDER AND OBSERVANCE.
________
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY M. FITHIAN, 72 NORTH 2D STREET.
______
1844.
BRIEF RELATION
OF
THE LIFE AND DEATH
OF
THE BLESSED FATHER,
FR. PETER DE ALCANTARA,
FRANCISCAN FRIAR,
WRITTEN BY GILES WILLOUGHBY, OF THE SAME ORDER AND
OBSERVANCE.
______
THE PROLOGUE.
MISERICORDIAS Domini in æternum cantabo: "I will sing the mercies of our Lord for ever,*" saith that kingly Prophet David. And not without cause; for, so great and unspeakable are the mercy-works of the Almighty, which out of the bowels of his infinite goodness, he hath shewed to mankind, from the first instant of his creation, that the tongues of men and angels are never able to express them.
* Psalm 88. ✝ Gen. i. v. 26.
✝ Magister Sent. lib. 2. dist. 20
PROLOGUE.
he would have made him partaker of eternal felicity, and vested with his original justice? without death,* or any passage by misery, would have associated him with the company of angels, if he had not, by his own default, violated the laws of his creator. Notwith- standing this act of malice, the divine clemency would not suffer the work of his powerful hands so to perish, but he, according to the diversity of times,✝ always ordained opportune remedies, to reduce wandering man to the right way of his own salvation. Now mani- festing his divine pleasure, by the means of angels, now sending the patriarchs replenished with his heavenly grace, who by their good example, might stir them up to piety; then sending the prophets illuminated with his holy spirit, not only to preach the present benefits exhibited to mankind, but also to foretell the future incarnation of the Son of God, with the mystery of his death and passion, by means of which, man should be loosed from the power of Satan, and eased of the heavy load of his transgressions.
* Gabriel, lib. 2. dist. 19, quæst. unica. art. 2.
✝ Scotus lib. 4. dist. 1. qu. 7. n. 2.
PROLOGUE.
Thus far hath that impenetrable abyss of the divine clemency sweetly disposed all things, requisite for the saving of the soul of man. But if we will extend our thoughts a little further, and call to mind the great benefits, still heaped upon man, after the ascension of our Blessed Saviour, we shall find them innu- merable. Who is not astonished at the vocation of mankind, that the apostolical trumpet of a few men, sounding to human ears, the evangelical truth, through the whole world, shall rouse up* souls, making them✝ happy, and thrice happy, to forsake all worldly vanities? to betake themselves to a state of perfection; to sell all they have and give to the poor; to live in perpetual chastity, and simple obedience, to
* (Religiosi) Ecclesiæ pars selectior, et sapientior; si quidem ii sapientiores habendi sunt, quam reliquum mortalium vulgus, qui se ipsos ȧ mundi consortio se- gregarunt, ut vitam suam Deo consecrarunt Nazianz, ora in laudem Basilii.
✝Beati illi certe, ac ter beati, ut qui Dei amore fla- grarunt, atque ob ejus amorem omnia pro nihilo duxe- runt, siquidem lacrymas profunderunt dieque ac nocte in luctu versati sunt, ut æternam consolationem adipiscerentur ; carnes suas fame et siti, et vigiliis confecerunt, ut illic paradisi diliciæ, et gaudia illos exceperent. Damascen. in hist. B. Josaphat.
PROLOGUE.
spend their days in rigorous penance, watching, fasting, and prayer, and finally to renounce all the seeming pleasures, for true there are none,* which the flattering world could afford unto them.
These things are daily put in practice by many, who profess the gospel of Christ. For, where Catholic religion flourisheth, we see divers monasteries of men and women, filled with religious souls, who consecrate themselves a perpetual sacrifice to the Almighty.
How many religious do we see honored with priestly function, an office requiring more than human purity,✝ and a burthen scarcely
*Consalatio mundi villis, et ad nihilum utilis, et quod magis metuendutn est, verse et salubris consolationis impedimentum. D. Ber. in ser. vir. Natui sic se habent universa sub sole, ut nihil sit in eis vere jucundum omnis siquidem Jaboris remediura, alterius laboris initium est. Idemin sermone de primordiiset mediis noviss. Vide plura apud Hieron. Platum de bono Stat. Relig. 1. 3. cap. 1.
✝Quo non oportet esse puriorem tali fruentum sa- crificio? quo solari radio non splendidiorem manum carnem hanc dividentem ? Os quod igni spiritali re- pletur, linguam quae tremendo nimis sanguine rubescit. Sic D. Chrys. hom. 83. in Matt. And Pope Gelasius, writing to Bishop Alpidius, doth excellently set down
PROLOGUE.
to be supported by angel's shoulders, executing their charge with great integrity of mind; careful of their own, and zealous of the saving of their neighbors' souls: who, by their holy doctrine and exemplary lives, preach to the Christian world a reformation ; who spare no pains or tedious travels, to
