“The upright love thee,” saith the bride to the bridegroom. There is a Law or Rule of Grammar, of Geometry, and of Theology; and of each of these sciences there are special rules. We are to treat of the Theological Law, the rules of which are two: the one relates to the right conduct of the heart; the other, to the regulation of the outward life.

“The upright love thee, O Lord,” saith God’s bride to her beloved bridegroom, those who love thee rightly, those are upright; those who live by a rule. And ye, my dear sisters, have oftentimes importuned me for a Rule. There are many kinds of rules; but, among them all, there are two of which, with God’s help, I will speak, by your request. The one rules the heart, and makes it even and smooth, without knot or wound-mark of evil or accusing conscience, that saith, “In this thou doest wickedly,” or, “This is not amended yet as well as it ought to be.” This rule is always within you, and directs the heart. And this is that charity which the Apostle describes, “Out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” “Continue,” saith the Psalmist, “thy mercy to them that know thee,” by faith unfeigned, “and thy righteousness,” that is, rectitude of life, “to those who are upright in heart,” in other words, who regulate all their wishes by the rule of the divine will; such persons are rightly called good. The Psalmist says, “Do good, O Lord, to those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.” To them it is said that they may delight, namely, in the witness of a good conscience. “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice all ye that are upright in heart,” that is, all whom that supreme law hath directed aright which directs all things rightly. Concerning which Augustine saith, “Nothing must be sought contrary to the rule of the supreme authority;” and the Apostle, “Let us all abide by the same rule.” The other rule is all outward, and ruleth the body and the deeds of the body. It teaches how men should, in all respects, bear themselves outwardly; how they should eat and drink, dress, take rest, sleep, and walk. And this is bodily exercise, which, according to the Apostle, profiteth little, and is, as it were, a rule of the science of mechanics, which is a branch of geometry; and this rule is only to serve the other. The other is as a lady; this is as her handmaid; for, whatever men do of the other outwardly, is only to direct the heart within.

Do you now ask what rule you anchoresses should observe? Ye should by all means, with all your might and all your strength, keep well the inward rule, and for its sake the outward. The inward rule is always alike. The outward is various, because every one ought so to observe the outward rule as that the body may therewith best serve the inward. Now then, is it so that all anchoresses may well observe one rule? “All may and ought to observe one rule concerning purity of heart,” that is, a clean unstained conscience, without any reproach of sin that is not remedied by confession. This the lady rule effects, which governs and corrects and smoothes the heart and the conscience of sin, for nothing maketh it rugged but sin only. To correct it and smooth it is the good office and the excellent effect of all religion and of every religious order. This rule is framed not by man’s contrivance, but by the command of God. Therefore, it ever is and shall be the same, without mixture and without change; and all men ought ever invariably to observe it. But all men cannot, nor need they, nor ought they to keep the outward rule in the same unvaried manner, “that is to say, in regard to observances that relate to the body.” The external rule, which I called the handmaid, is of man’s contrivance; nor is it instituted for any thing else but to serve the internal law. It ordains fasting, watching, enduring cold, wearing haircloth, and such other hardships as the flesh of many can bear and many cannot. Wherefore, this rule may be changed and varied according to every one’s state and circumstances. For some are strong, some are weak, and may very well be excused, and please God with less; some are learned, and some are not, and must work the more, and say their prayers at the stated hours in a different manner; some are old and ill favoured, of whom there is less fear; some are young and lively, and have need to be more on their guard. Every anchoress must, therefore, observe the outward rule according to the advice of her confessor, and

do obediently whatever he enjoins and commands her, who knows her state and her strength. He may modify the outward rule, as prudence may direct, and as he sees that the inward rule may thus be best kept.

No anchorite, by my advice, shall make profession, that is, vow to keep any thing as commanded, except three things, that is, obedience, chastity, and constancy as to her abode; that she shall never more change her convent, except only by necessity, as compulsion and fear of death, obedience to her bishop or superior; for, whoso undertaketh any thing, and promises to God to do it as his command, binds herself thereto, and sinneth mortally in breaking it, if she brake it wilfully and intentionally. If, however, she does not vow it, she may, nevertheless, do it, and leave it off when she will, as of meat and drink, abstaining from flesh or fish, and all other such things relating to dress, and rest, and hours, and prayers. Let her say as many, and in such a way, as she pleases. These and such other things are all in our free choice, to do or to let alone whenever we choose, unless they are vowed. But charity or love, and meekness and patience, truthfulness, and keeping the ten old commandments, confession, and penitence, these and such others, some of which are of the old law, some of the new, are not of man’s invention, nor a rule established by man, but they are the commandments of God, and, therefore, every man is bound and obliged to keep them, and you most of all; for they govern the heart, and its government is the main point concerning which I have to give directions in this book, except in the beginning and in the concluding part of it. As to the things which I write here concerning the external rule, ye, as my dear sisters, observe them, our Lord be thanked, and through his grace ye shall do so, the longer the better; and yet I would not have you to make a vow to observe them as a divine command; for, as often thereafter as ye might break any of them it would too much grieve your heart and frighten you, so that you might soon fall, which God forbid, into despair, that is, into hopelessness and distrust of your salvation. Therefore, my dear sisters, that which I shall write to you in the first, and especially in the last part of your book, concerning your service, you should not vow it, but keep it in your heart, and perform it as though you had vowed it.

If any ignorant person ask you of what order you are, as you tell me some do, who strain at the gnat and swallow the fly, answer and say that

ye are of the order of Saint James, who was God’s Apostle, and for his great holiness was called God’s brother. If such answer seems to him strange and singular, ask him, “What is order, and where he may find in holy writ religion more plainly described and manifested than in the canonical epistle of St. James? “He saith what religion is, and what right order: “Pure religion and without stain is to visit and assist widows and fatherless children, and to keep himself pure and unstained from the world.” Thus does St. James describe religion and order. The latter part of his saying relates to anchorites: for there are two parts of this description, which relates to two kinds of religious men; to each of them his own part applies, as you may hear. There are in the world good religious men, especially some prelates and faithful preachers, to whom belongs the former part of that which St. James said; who are, as he said, those who go to assist widows and orphans. The soul is a widow who has lost her husband, that is, Jesus Christ, by any grievous sin. He is likewise an orphan who, through his sin, hath lost the Father of Heaven. To go and visit such, and to comfort and assist them with food of sacred instruction, this, saith St. James, is true religion. The latter part of his saying relates to anchorites, to your religious order, as I said before, who keep yourselves pure and unspotted from the world, more than any other religious persons. Thus the Apostle St. James describes religion and order; neither white nor black does he speak of in his order, as many do, who strain at the gnat and swallow the fly, that is, exert much strength where little is required. Paul, the first anchorite, Antony and Arsenius, Macharius, and the rest, were not they religious persons and of St. James’s order? And St. Sara, Syncletica, and many other such men and women with their coarse mattresses and their hard hair-cloths, were not they of a good order? And whether white or black, as foolish people ask you, who think that order consists in the kirtle or the cowl, God knoweth, nevertheless, they may well wear both, not, however, as to clothes, but as God’s bride singeth of herself, “I am black and yet white,” she saith, dark outwardly and bright within. In this manner answer ye any one who asks you concerning your order, and, whether white or black, say that ye are both through the grace of God, and of the order of St. James, which he wrote — the latter part — what I said before, “to keep himself pure and unstained from the world;” herein is religion, and not in the wide hood, nor in the black, nor in the white, nor in the gray cowl. There however, where many are gathered together, they should, for the sake of unity, make a point of sameness of clothes, and of other outward things, that the outward sameness may denote the sameness of one love and of one will, which they have in common under their habit, which is one, which every one has the same as another; and also of other kind of properties, that they all united have one love and one will, every one the same as another. Let them look well that they do not lie. Thus it is in a convent; but, wherever a woman liveth, or a man liveth by himself alone, be he hermit or anchorite, of outward things whereof scandal cometh not, it is not necessary to take so much care. Hearken now to Micah, God’s prophet: “I will shew thee, O man,” saith the holy Micah, God’s prophet, “I will shew thee truly what is good, and what religion is, and what order, and what holiness God requires of thee.” Mark this, understand it, do good, and deem thyself ever weak, and with fear and love walk with God thy Lord. Wherever these things are, there is true religion, and there is right order; and to do all the other things and leave this undone is mere trickery and deceit. All that a good recluse does or thinks, according to the external rule, is altogether for this end; it is only as an instrument to promote this true religion; it is only a slave to help the lady to rule the heart.

Now, my dear sisters, this book I divide into eight distinctions, which ye call parts, and each part treats separately, without confusion, of distinct matters, and yet each one falleth in properly after another, and the latter is always connected with the former.

The first part treats entirely of your religious service.

The next is, how you ought, through your five senses, to keep your heart, wherein is order, religion, and the life of the soul. In this part there are five chapters or sections concerning the five senses, which guard the heart as watchmen when they are faithful, and which speak concerning each sense separately in order.

The third part is of a certain kind of bird, to which David, in the Psalter, compares himself, as if he were an anchorite, and how the nature of those birds resembles that of anchorites.

The fourth part is of fleshly, and also of spiritual temptations, and of comfort against them, and of their remedies.

The fifth part is of confession.

The sixth part is of penitence.

The seventh part is of a pure heart, why men ought and should love Jesus Christ, and what deprives us of his love, and hinders us from loving him.

The eighth part is entirely of the external rule first, of meat and drink and of other things relating thereto; thereafter, of the things that ye may receive, and what things ye may keep and possess; then of your clothes and of such things as relate thereto; next of your tonsure, and of your works, and of your bloodletting; lastly, the rule concerning your maids, and how you ought kindly to instruct them.

1. Divine Service

When you first arise in the morning bless yourselves with the sign of the cross and say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen,” and begin directly “Creator Spirit, come,” with your eyes and your hands raised up toward heaven, bending forward on your knees upon the bed, and thus say the whole hymn to the end, with the versicle, “Send forth thy Holy Spirit,” and the prayer, “God, who didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people.” After this, putting on your shoes and your clothes, say the Paternoster and the Creed, and then, “Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us! Thou who didst condescend to be born of a virgin, have mercy on us!” Continue saying these words until you be quite dressed. Have these words much in use, and in your mouth as often as ye may, sitting and standing.

When ye are quite dressed, sprinkle yourselves with holy water, which ye should have always with you, and think upon God’s flesh, and on his blood, which is over the high altar, and fall on your knees toward it, with this salutation, “Hail, thou author of our creation! Hail, thou price of our redemption! Hail, thou who art our support during our pilgrimage! Hail, O reward of our expectation!

Be Thou our joy,
Who art to be our reed, Our glory be in thee,
Through endless time.
Abide with us, O Lord!
Remove dark night; Wash off all guilt;
Grant godly balm.
Glory to thee, O Lord, Thou virgin’s Son.

Thus shall you do also when the priest elevates it at the mass, and before the confession, when you are about to receive the host; after this, fall on your knees to your crucifix, with these five greetings: —

“We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee, who, by thy holy cross, hast redeemed the world. We adore thy cross, O Lord. We commemorate thy glorious passion. Pity us, O thou who didst suffer for us. Hail, O holy Cross, worthy tree, whose precious wood bore the treasure of the world! Hail, O Cross, who in the body of Christ avast dedicated, and with his limbs adorned, as with pearls. O Cross, wood triumphant over the world. True safety, hail! Among woods none such, for leaf, flower, bud. O Christian medicine, heal, heal the sound and the sick.” And with this saying, beat on your breast, “What human power is unable to do, be done in thy name.” Whoso does not know these five, may say the first five, “We adore thee, O Christ,” five times, kneeling and blessing yourselves at every one of these greetings; and at these words “have mercy on us, thou who didst suffer for us,” beat your breast, and kiss the earth crossed with the thumb. Thereafter turn to our Lady’s image and kneel, saying the “Ave” five times; lastly, kneel or bow to the other images and to your relics, namely, to the saints to whom you have, through affection, dedicated your altars, so much the more readily if any of them are hallowed.

Immediately, thereafter, say our Lady’s nocturnal service, in this wise: if it is a workday, fall to the earth; if it is a holiday, bowing somewhat downward, and say the Paternoster and Creed, both in a low voice, and then stand up and say, “O Lord, open thou my lips,” and make the sign of the cross on your mouth with the thumb, and say, “God be our help;” then a large cross from above the forehead down to the breast, with the three fingers, and fall to the earth, if it is a workday, with the Gloria Patri, or bow downward, if it is a holiday, as far as the words “sicut erat.” Thus do at every Gloria Patri, and at the beginning of the Venίte, at this word, “Venίte adoremus,” and at Ave Maria, and wheresoever you hear Mary’s name named, and at every Paternoster that occurs in the hours, and in the Creed, at this word, “natus ex Maria virgine,” and at the collect of every service, and at the Litany, and at the last verse of every hymn, and at the last verse but one of this Psalm, “Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord,” at this verse, “Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost;” and at all these, if it is workday, fall to the earth, if it is holiday, bow somewhat downward. And, at the beginning of every time of service, at this word, “God be our helper,” make the sign of the cross, as I taught you before; and at this word, “Come, O Creator Spirit,” bow or kneel, according as the day is; and at this word, “Be mindful of us, O author of our salvation,” fall always down; and at this word, “At thy birth thou didst take our form,” kiss the earth, and also at the Te Deum, at this word, “Thou didst not abhor the virgin’s womb,” and at the Mass Creed, at this word, “Of the virgin Mary, and was made man.”

Let everyone say her hours as she has written them, and say every service separately, as far as you can, in its own time, but rather too soon than too late. If ye cannot always keep to the right time, say the Nocturns by night in the winter; in the summer, at daybreak. This winter shall begin at Holy Rood-day in autumn, and continue on thereafter. Prime shall be said in the winter early; in summer before daybreak; Pretiosa thereafter. If you have need from any emergency to speak, you may say Pretiosa before, and immediately after the nocturnal service if necessary. Nones always after meat; but when you sleep, say Nones after it during summer; but when you fast in winter, before meat; and in summer when you fast, the Sunday, after it; for you eat twice. At the one Psalm you shall stand, if you are at ease, and at the other, sit; and always rise up at the Gloria Patri and bow; whoever is able to stand, let her always stand, in God’s name, in honour of our Lady; and at all the seven hours say Paternoster and Ave Maria, both before and after; Fidelium Animæ after every hour before the Paternoster; at three hours say the Creed, with the Paternoster, before Nocturns and after Prime, and after the Compline; from that time till after Pretiosa, keep silence.

Immediately after vespers say your Placebo every night, when you are at ease; but, if it be the eve of a festival of nine lessons that comes on the morrow, before Compline or after Nocturn, say Dirige, with three Psalms, and with three lessons every night separately. On the anniversaries, that is, on the commemoration days of your dear friends, say all the nine, and, at the end of every Psalm, instead of Gloria Patri, say “Give them eternal rest, O Lord, and let continual light shine upon them.” At Placebo, you may sit until the Magnificat, and also at Dirige, except at the lessons, and at the Miserere, and from Laudate throughout; at the end, instead of Benedicamus, say “Requiescant in pace.” On the morrow, or at night, after the suffrages of the nocturnal service, say the Commendation, sitting during Psalms, and kneeling or standing during the prayers. If ye do thus every evening, Sunday night alone excepted, ye do so much the better.

With the Litany say seven Psalms, sitting or kneeling; say the fifteen Psalms on this wise: the first five for yourself and for all who do you good or befriend you; the next five for the peace of holy church; the third five for all Christian souls. After the first five, “Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.” Paternoster. “O my God, save thy servants and handmaids, who hope in Thee. Let us pray. O God, whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, receive our prayer for forgiveness, and let Thy compassion and pity absolve us who are bound with the chain of our sins, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” After the next five, say also, “Lord have mercy upon us: Christ have mercy upon us: Lord have mercy upon us.” Paternoster. “May there be peace in thy strength, and abundance in thy strongholds.” “O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of thy church, that, being delivered from all adversities, it may serve thee in security and freedom, through, etc.” After the third five, which you shall say without Gloria Patti, “Lord have mercy upon us: Christ have mercy upon us: Lord have mercy upon us.” Paternoster. Say, “Lord deliver their souls from the gate of hell. Let us pray.” “Fidelium, etc.” Say seven Psalms, and those fifteen psalms about undern time, for about such time as mass is sung in all religious communities, when our Lord suffered pain upon the cross, ye ought to be especially in prayers and supplications, and also from Prime till mid-morrow, when the secular priests sing their masses.

Our lay brethren say thus their hours: — For Nocturns, on workdays, eight-and-twenty Paternosters; on holidays, forty; for vespers, fifteen; for every other time, seven; before Nocturns, Paternoster and Creed, kneeling on the ground on a workday, and bowing on a holiday; and then whosoever can shall say, “O Lord, open thou my lips. O God, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, etc. Halleluia.” And in Lent, “Praise be to thee, O Lord, eternal King of Glory.” After the last, “Lord have mercy upon us: Christ have mercy upon us: Lord have mercy upon us.” Paternoster. And after the Amen, “Through the Lord, let us bless the Lord; thanks to God.” And at all the other hours, thus begin and thus end; but, at Compline, whosoever can shall begin, “Turn us, O God of our salvation;” and at all the other hours, “O God, make speed to save me,” omitting “O Lord, open thou my lips.” If any of you will do this, she followeth here, as in other observances, much of our order, and I earnestly advise it. In this manner you may say, if you will, your Paternosters.

“Almighty God, Father, Son, and soothfast Holy Ghost, even as ye three are one God, and one power, one wisdom,and one love,and yet wisdom is especially ascribed to thee in holy writ, thou dear Father; to thee wisdom, of thy Son; to thee love, of the Holy Ghost. Give me grace, Almighty God; inspire into me, ye three persons, these same three things: power to serve thee, wisdom to please thee, love and will to do it; power that I may do, wisdom that I may know what to do, love that I may be constrained to do all that is most approved by thee; as thou art full of every good thing, as there is no good wanting where these three are, power, wisdom, and love united together, that thou grant me them, O holy Trinity, in the worship of thee.” Three Paternosters. I Believe. “Let us bless the Father and the Son, with the Holy Ghost; let us praise and highly extol him for ever.” Let us pray: “Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto thy servants by the confession of the true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the divine Majesty to worship the unity, we beseech thee that in the steadfastness of this faith we may be defended always from all adversities, who livest and reignest, etc.” Whoso hath this, or any other prayer to the holy Trinity, may say which he will,

“Sweet Jesus, thy mercy! Sweet Jesus, for my sins suspended on the cross; for the sake of the same five wounds by which thou didst thereon bleed, heal my soul, defiled with blood, of all the wounds wherewith it is wounded through my five senses, in the remembrance of them; so may it be, dear Lord.” Five Paternosters. “Let all the earth worship thee, O God, sing of thee, and praise thy name with a psalm.” Let us pray: “O righteous judge, Jesu Christ.” If thou canst not say this, say some other of the Cruces. “O God, who by the precious blood of thy only begotten son Jesus Christ, etc.”

“For the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, that I may have them, and for the seven times that holy church singeth, that I may participate in them, whether asleep or awake; and for the seven petitions in the Paternoster against the seven chief deadly sins, that thou guard me against them and all their brood, and give me the seven happy beatitudes which thou, Lord, hast promised thine elect in thy blessed name.” Seven Paternosters. vers. “Send forth thy spirit and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.” Let us pray: “O God, to whom every heart is open, and every wish speaketh, and from whom no secret is hid, purify, by the infusion of the Holy Spirit, the thoughts of our heart, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily praise thee, through, etc. Hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy suppliants, and forgive the sins of those who confess them to thee; that likewise of thy goodness, thou mayest grant us thy favour and peace, through, etc. O Lord, graciously hear the prayers of thy church.”

“Because of the ten commandments, some or all of which I have broken, and in whatever other things I have tithed myself untruly toward thee, in repair of those breaches, to reconcile myself with thee, dear Lord.” Ten paternosters; vets. “I have said, O Lord, have mercy upon me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. O God, whose property, etc.”

“In honour, O Jesus Christ, of thy twelve apostles, that I may in all things follow their doctrine, and that, through their prayers, I may have the twelve branches of charity, which blossom, as St. Paul sheweth, blessed Lord.” Twelve Paternosters. “They declared the works of the Lord and His Holiness.” Let us pray: “Hear us, O God of our Salvation, and keep us safe by the protection of thy apostles, to whose doctrines thou hast granted us to be faithful, through, etc.”

In the worship of those saints whom ye love best and most, say less or more as your heart inclines you, and that versicle afterwards, with their collect.

“For all those who have done me, said of me, or granted me any good, and for all such as work the six works of mercy, O merciful Lord.” Six Paternosters. “He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth for ever. Deign, O Lord, to reward all those who do good to us with eternal life for thy name’s sake.” Who will may say this psalm, “Το thee have I lifted up,” before the Paternoster and then, “Lord have mercy upon me: Christ have mercy: Lord have mercy.”

“For all the souls that have departed in the belief of the four gospels which support all Christendom on four sides, give them in heaven the four marriage portions, gracious Lord.” Four Paternosters; and, if you say nine, as there are nine orders of angels, that God through his grace and of his mercy may elevate them soon out of pain to their fellowship, ye do still better; and here also say “De profundis” before the Paternoster. “Lord have mercy upon us: Christ have mercy upon us: Lord have mercy upon us. From the gates of Hell, O Lord, deliver their souls.” Let us pray: “O God the Creator and the Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants remission of all their sins, that they may obtain the indulgence which they have always desired by their devout prayers.”

At some time in the day or the night think upon and call to mind all who are sick and sorrowful, who suffer affliction and poverty, the pain which prisoners endure who lie heavily fettered with iron; think especially of the Christians who are among the heathen, some in prison, some in as great thraldom as is an ox or an ass; compassionate those who are under strong temptations; take thought of all men’s sorrows, and sigh to our Lord that he may take care of them, and have compassion, and look upon them with a gracious eye; and, if you have leisure, repeat this Psalm, “I have lifted up mine eyes,” etc. Paternoster. “Return, O Lord, how long, and be entreated in favour of thy servants:” Let us pray. “Stretch forth, O Lord, to thy servants and to thy handmaids the right hand of thy heavenly aid, that they may seek thee with all their heart, and obtain what they worthily ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In the mass, when the priest elevates God’s body, say these verses, standing, “Behold the Saviour of the world; the word of the Father; a true sacrifice; living flesh; entire Godhead; very man;” and then fall down with this greeting, “Hail! cause of our creation; Hail! price of our redemption; Hail! our support during our pilgrimage. Be thou our joy, who art about to be our reward. May our glory be in thee, for ever and ever. Abide with us, O Lord. Remove our darkness. Wash from us all our guilt. Grant a holy remedy. Glory be to thee, O Lord, But, is there any place in me into which my God may come who made heaven and earth? Is it so, O Lord my God? Is there in me any thing which may contain thee? Wilt thou indeed come into my heart and inebriate it? And do I embrace thee, my good wine? What art thou to me? Pity me, that I may speak. The house of my soul is too narrow that thou shouldst come into it. Let it be enlarged by thee. It is in ruins, repair it. I confess and know that it contains what is offensive to thine eyes. But who shall cleanse it, or to whom but thee shall I cry? Cleanse thou me, O God, from my secret faults; and from the sins of others spare thy servant. Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great mercy;” and so the whole Psalm to the end, with Gloria Patri; “O Christ hear us,” twice; “Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.” “Our Father; I believe.” “O my God, save thy servant, who putteth his trust in thee. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.” Let us pray: “Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that him whom we see darkly, and under a different form, on whom we feed sacramentally on earth, we may see face to face, and may be thought worthy to enjoy him truly and really, as he is, in heaven, through the same.”

After the kiss of peace in the mass, when the priest consecrates, forget there all the world, and there be entirely out of the body; there in glowing love embrace your beloved Saviour who is come down from heaven into your breast’s bower, and hold him fast until he shall have granted whatever you wish for.

About mid day whoso may, and whoso may not then at some other time, should think upon God’s rood as much and as intently as ever she can, and of his precious sufferings; and thereafter begin the same five salutations which are written above; and also bowing the knee at every one, make the cross and bless, as is said there, and beat your breast, and say this kind of prayer, “We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee, who by thy holy cross hast redeemed the world; we adore thy cross, O Lord; we meditate upon thy glorious passion. Have mercy upon us, O thou who didst suffer for us! Hail! O holy cross; tree of worth! Who alone wert worthy to bear the King and Lord of Heaven. Hail, O cross, which in body, etc.”

“O glorious cross! O cross worthy of adoration! O precious wood and admirable sign, by which both the devil is overcome, and the world, through the blood of Christ, is redeemed!” Then rise up and begin this anthem, “Save us, O Christ and standing say this Psalm, “Jubilate,” with the “Gloria,” and after that the anthem; and say ever thus, “Save us, O Christ our Saviour, by the virtue of thy holy cross,” and make the sign of the cross, “Thou who didst save Peter on the sea, have mercy upon us;” and beat on your breast, and then fall down and say twice, “O Christ hear us: Lord have mercy upon us: Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.” Pater poster. Versicle, “Behold, O God, our Protector, and look upon the face of thy Christ.” Let us pray: “O God, who didst ascend the holy cross, and hast enlightened the darkness of this world, we pray thee, O Lord, deign to enlighten our hearts and bodies; through the Lord.” And afterwards begin, We adore thee, O Christ,” the same as before all the five. The anthem, “Save us,” as before; the Psalm, “To thee have I lifted up;” afterwards the whole anthem, and then, as before, fall to the earth; “O Christ hear us,” twice. “Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us:” Paternoster; the versicle, “Behold, O God, our shield.” Let us pray: “Keep us, O Lord, in perpetual peace, whom by the wood of the holy cross thou hast vouchsafed to redeem, who livest and reignest with God the Father.” Do exactly the same the third time, and the fourth and fifth time, and change nothing but the Psalms and the prayers. The first is, “O be joyful;” the next, “Unto thee have I lifted up;” the third, “They that trust;” the fourth, “Lord, my heart is not haughty.” The fifth, “Praise the Lord in his sanctuary;” and in each there are five verses. The prayers are these: “O God, who didst ascend the holy cross;” “Be present with us, O Lord our God, and those whom thou makest to rejoice in the honour of that holy cross, defend also with its continual help.”

“O God, who didst consent that thy son should undergo the painful cross for us, that thou mightest drive away from us the power of the enemy, grant to us thy servants that we may obtain the grace of the resurrection, through the same Lord.” “O God, who of thy only begotten Son.” With, “O blessed and pure, O righteous judge, Jesu Christ.” And whoso cannot say these five prayers, should say always one; and whoso thinketh them too long may omit the Psalms.

“Sweet lady, Saint Mary, for that same great delight which thou hadst within thee, at the very time when Jesus God, the Son of God, after the salutation of the angel, took flesh and blood in thee and of thee, receive my salutation with the same ‘Ave,’ and make me to think little of every outward delight, and comfort me within, and by thy merits procure for me the joy of heaven; and as certainly as in the same flesh that he took of thee there was never sin, nor in thine, as I believe, after the same conception, whatever may have been before, cleanse my soul from fleshly sins: Hail, Mary,” and so on to “The Lord is with thee.” The Magnificat, standing. “Hail, Mary,” to the end, five times, and then, thus: “Sweet Lady, St. Mary, for the same great joy that thou hadst when thou sawest that blissful child, born of thy pure body for the salvation of mankind, without any use of kinde, with whole virginity and maiden’s honour, heal me who through will am broken, as I fear, whatever I may be as to deed, and grant that I may in heaven behold thy joyful countenance, and behold her, and her maiden’s honour, if I am not worthy to be blessed in her fellowship.” Hail Mary full of grace; the Lord is with thee. “To the Lord I cried when I was in trouble,” standing. Ave, also, as before, five times.

Sweet Lady, Saint Mary, for the same great joy which thou hadst when thou sawest thy dear Son, after his sweet precious death, arise to joyful life, his body sevenfold brighter than the sun, grant me that I may die with him and rise in him; die to the world, and live spiritually; share in his sufferings as his follower on earth, that I may be his companion in blessedness in heaven; for the great joy which thou hadst, O Lady, of his joyful resurrection, after thy great sorrow; after my great sorrow in which I ever am here, lead me to thy joy.” “Hail Mary” unto “The Lord is with thee.” “Deal bountifully with thy servant.” “Hail Mary five times.

“Sweet Lady, Saint Mary, for the great joy which thou hadst when thou sawest thy bright blissful Son, whom the Jews thought to imprison in the stifling tomb, as another mortal man, without hope of rising again; sawest him so gloriously and graciously, on Holy Thursday, ascend up to his joy into his kingdom of heaven; grant to me that I may with him cast all the world under my feet, and ascend up now in heart and mind; and when I die that I may ascend spiritually, and at the judgment day all bodily, into the blessedness of heaven.” Hail Mary. “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Sion.” “Hail Mary,” all through, five times.

“Sweet Lady, Saint Mary, for the same great joy that filled all the earth, when thy sweet blissful Son received thee into his infinite bliss, and with his blissful arms placed thee on the throne, and a queenly crown on thy head brighter than the sun; O high, heavenly queen, so receive these salutations from me on earth, that I may blissfully salute thee in heaven.” Hail Mary. “Unto thee lift I up.” Hail Mary, five times, and then this versicle: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee; and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.” Let us pray: “We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts, that we, who, by the message of the angel, have known the incarnation of Christ thy Son, may be brought by his cross and suffering to the glory of his resurrection, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Hail, Queen of Heaven! Hail Sovereign of angels!

Hail, O Root, thou Sacred Portal
Whence the world’s light bath arisen! Hail to thee, thou glorious Virgin, Beautiful above all women!
O most comely One, bestead us,
Plead our cause with Christ for ever.”

Versicle, “A rod shall come forth from the stem of Jesse, and a flower shall grow out of his root.” Let us pray: “O God, who didst not disdain the virgin’s womb, etc. Be glad, O mother of God, unspotted virgin; be glad because thou hast conceived joy from the angel; be glad because thou hast brought forth the brightness of light eternal; be glad, O mother; be glad, O holy mother of God. Thou, alone, O virgin, art a mother without a mate. Every creature praises thee, the mother of the son of light. Be a gracious mediator in our behalf.” Versicle, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son. Be glad, O virgin; be glad, O mother of God, and be exceeding joyful, O Mary. Let the congregation of all the faithful rejoice in thy praises. Constant and pious lady, make us to be glad with thee before the Lord.” Versicle, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive.” Let us pray: “O God, who for our eternal salvation, etc.”

“Dear mother of the Redeemer, the gate through which heaven is entered, and star of the sea; succour thy falling people, who wish to rise. Thou who, whilst nature wondered, didst bring forth thy holy Creator, a virgin both before and after, receiving that salutation from the lips of Gabriel, have compassion on the sinful.” Here say, “Hail Mary,” fifty or a hundred times, more or less, as ye have leisure. Lastly, this versicle, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Let us pray: “O holy Virgin of Virgins, who gave birth to thy son the vanquisher of Satan.” Whoso will may stand up immediately after the first prayer. “We beseech thee, O Lord, grant us thy grace,” and then say her number of “Hail Maries.” After the last psalm, “Unto thee lift I up,” and always before the psalm begin one “Hail Mary,” as far as “the Lord is with thee,” and say the psalm standing. These psalms are taken after the five letters of our Lady’s name. Whoso pays attention to this word Maria may find in it the first letters of these five psalms aforesaid, and all those prayers run according to these five. After her five highest joys count in the anthems, and thou shalt find in them five salutations. The prayers which I have only indicated are written in full, except only the last. Cause to be written on a scroll what ye do not know by heart.

Whatever other devotions you use in private, as Paternosters, Hail Maries, psalms, and prayers, I am quite satisfied that every one should say that which her heart most inclines her to, a verse of her Psalter, reading of English or French, holy meditations. As to your kneeling, whenever you have time, before or after meat, the more you do so, the more doth God add and increase towards you his precious grace; and see also, I pray you, that you be never idle, but work, or read, or be at beads, and in prayer, and thus be always doing something from which good may come. The hours of the Holy Ghost, if you wish to say them, say every time of them before our Lady’s times; to priest’s hours listen as well as you can, but you should neither say the versicles with him nor sing so that he may hear it. Say your graces before and after meat, as they are written out for you, standing, and with the Miserere go before your altar and finish there the graces. Between meals, when any one wishes to drink, let her say benedicite, “May the son of God bless our drink; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen,” and make the sign of the cross; and at last say, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. The name of the Lord be blessed from this time forth and for ever. Let us bless the Lord. Thanks to God.” Always when you go to your bed at night or in the evening, fall on your knees to the earth and think what you have done in the day to displease our Lord and cry to him earnestly for mercy and forgiveness. If you have done any good, thank him for his grace, without which we can neither do good nor think good, and say “Have mercy on me, O God. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy on me. Our Father. My God, save thine handmaids who hope in thee.” Let us pray: “O God, whose property is ever to have mercy.” And say, standing, this prayer, “Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this dwelling, and drive far from it all the wiles of the enemy. May thy holy angels dwelling in it keep us in peace, and may thy blessing be upon us for ever, through our Lord,” etc. And finally say, “Christ conquers: t Christ reigns t Christ rules j-” and with three crosses, with the thumb up above the forehead; and then, behold the Lord’s cross t Begone, ye adversaries: the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath conquered. Halleluia. A large cross, as at “Make haste, 0 God, to help me,” with” Behold the Lord’s cross and then four crosses, on four sides, with these four after-clauses, “The cross - drives away every evil.  The cross is the restorer of the world. By the sign of this cross t let every thing malignant fly away; and by the same sign f let every thing that is kind and good be preserved.” Finally bless yourself and also your bed, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.” In bed, as far as you can, neither do any thing nor think, but sleep.

They who either cannot, or may not, say the early Matins, may say, instead, thirty Paternosters, and “Hail Mary,” after every Paternoster, and “Glory be to the Father,” after every “Hail Mary.” Finally, whoever can, shall say: “Let us pray: O God, whose property is always to have mercy. Let us bless the Lord. Thanks to God. The souls of the Faithful.” For even-song say twenty; for every other time fifteen, in this manner: but at early Matins whoever can, shall say, “O Lord, open thou my lips. Make haste, O God, to help me;” and at all the other times, “Make haste,” and at Compline, “Turn us, O God.” Whoso is infirm may cut off ten at early Matins; at every other time, five, the half of each, if her sickness is greater. Whoso is very ill, let her be free from the whole service, and take her sickness not only patiently, but right gladly, and all is hers that holy church readeth or singeth; ye ought, however, to think of God at all times, yet most in your appointed times of devotion, that your thoughts may not then be wandering; and if, through heedlessness, you blunder in words, or mistake a verse, make your venia, falling down to the earth with your hands only, or if the mistake be great, fall quite down, and often avow, in confession, your carelessness about this.

This, now, which I have hitherto spoken, concerning your religious service, is the first part. Whatever may yet remain to be said of those rules, I would that they were as well kept by all, as, through God’s grace, they are kept by you.

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