What condition and qualitie the fourth Sunday in Lent. Ser.z . oflife is requited in awidow. the Lining, cifementojudie#mei,Jismine erit &tuum,Herimihi, hedietibi. That mats wasneuer yet borne nor !hall behereafter,that (hal notfee death, orefcape this heauie iudgement. Salomon commanded thechild tobe diuided in the mid- dle,about,whom the two mothers did contend ; and that fentence which he did not thenexecute, 1hall bee executedvponall Iiuing flefh : forall men beeing in regardofthebodie fonnes ofthe Earth, and in regardof thefoule the children ofHeauen, euerie one receiues this fentencefrom the Iudge at his death , Let the earth retufne to theearthfrom tvhence itcame,andthe Spirit to Godwhogaueit life. She may a Widowwoman The wordErst, Shema, carrieth with ita kind of emphafis; fhewas a forrowfulland forelorne Widow. AWidowought to bee a rule and pattern ofperfeétion toall otherwomen Thee fhould bee the glalfe wherein they fhould fee their faults,andwhat isamiffe inthem : In aword, Thee was awoman irreprehenfible, andwithoutblame.Nor(according to SaintPaul) bath the Virgin orthe Wife that tieand obligation vpon them as fire hath : The one , becaufe her [mall experience in the deceits and vanities of the world,may excufe her inmany things the other thecharge and care that necef- farilyartends Wedlockc. When Abfalonentredinto the wines.and Concubines ofhis father, theKinggatecommand they fhouldbeePhut vp like fo tnany Re- clufes, becaufe they had opened thedoore vntohim , asif theKing had beene dead. AndWidowes areto line fo feperatedand feuered from the world; as if they linednot init. Iftodore expoundeth theSpanifh word Viuda, which fig- nifies aWidow, tobeguafi vidua, diuided from her husband as the Vine from theElmerwhichwas it's propand flay, whichbeing takenaway, the Vine lieth leuell with the ground , and without anycomfort. TheHebrew dèriueth the name of Widow fromacertainwordwhich fignifiethbothbound &dumbe; now tobe bound and dumbe, are the conditionsandproperties ofhim that is dead, who isneither able tomoo=nor fpeake : Soithat the vulgar Tranflation callsa WidowSterilem,barren andvnfruitfull, as it is inrob and inEfay.Anothei letter Riles her Eradicatam, plucktvp by the Roots asatree that is quiteroo-. ted vp, that it may neuer grow nor waxe greene againe. Thefinell ofthy gar- ments to like thefinell dfFrankinceng They muff not finell of Amber, nor ofCiuet , but of Frankinfenfe , which they offer vp In Incenfe : for aAwid- dowought to lead the remnant of her dayesfo neerevnto her husbandsTombe, that her garments fhould fauourofthat incenforieperfume. Of fuchWidowes as thefe God hath thatèfpeciall care, that none(hall doe them any wrong ; for the tearesthat drop downe from their cheekes afcendas high as Heauen. And as the vapoursthat are exhaled from the earth,come downe againe in,lightning and thunder and terribletempelts;foproouethe Widowe&teares to thofe that fluall vniuftly caufe them toweep,and draw thofewarred drops from their eyes. _Heliodorsu pretended to rob theTemple of Ierufal.em, and to take awaythe por- tions that were depofited forthe maintenanceof Widowes, who wept moft bit- terly : this generalI lamentationmade way to GodsTribunali ; hee fent down oneon a goodlyfaire horfe armedat all points,who ouerthrewHeliodorua vpon the pauement, andprefently two young menfellvponhim, andwhipt himwith fcourges till they left him as it were fordead. For thiscaufe did God comfort this Widowat the gatesof the Citie, wheretheludges had theirTribunalls, notifyingvnto them, thattheyMould take Widowes into their tutelage & pro- teEtion; and the rarher,for that afupremer Judge , the fudge both of Heauen and Earth, was willing totake fomuch themorecareofthem,by how the more was theirfolitudeandprivate courfe of life. Saint Hierome writing to Faris Tt and 493 lab.aq. Efay sp.
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