3
¶Here begynneth a shorte treatyse of contempla
cyon taught by our lorde Ihesu cryste / or taken out
of the boke of Margerie kempe of lyn̅Lynn.
S
He desyred many tymes that her he
de myght be smyten of with an axe
vpon a blocke for the loue of our lor
de Ihesu. Thenne sayd oure lorde
Ihesu in her mynde. I thanke the
doughter that thou woldest dye for
my loue / for as often as thou thy̅kestthynkest so thou shalt
haue the same mede in heuen / as yf thou suffredest
the same dethe / & yet there shall no man slee the.
¶I assure þeþe in thy mynde / yf it were possyble me
to suffre payne ageyne / as I haue done afore / me
were leuer to suffre as moche payne as euer I dyde
for thy soule alone / rather than thou sholdest de⸗
parte fro me euerlastynge.
¶Doughter thou mayst no better please god than
to thy̅kethynke contynually in his loue. Than she asked
our lorde Ihesu cryste / how she sholde best loue him
¶And our lorde sayd / haue mynde of thy wycked⸗
nes and thynke on my goodnes.
¶Doughter yf thou were the haberyon / or þeþe here
fastynge brede & water / & yf þuþu saydeste euery day
a thousande pater nt ᷑noster. thou sholde not please me so
well as thou dost whan þuþu art in scylence / & suffrest
me to speke in thy soule
¶Doughter for to byd many bedes /it is good to
A i
28-14
them that cannot better do / & yet it is not profyte.
But it is a good way towarde perfeccyon. For I
tell the doughter / they that be grete fasters / & grete
doers of penau̅cepenaunce. they wolde that it shold be holde
the beste lyf / And they that gyue them to many de
uocyons / they wolde haue that þeþe best lyfe. And tho
that gyuen moche almesse / they wolde that it were
holden the best lyfe. And I haue often tolde þeþe dou⸗
ghter / that thynky̅gethynkynge / wepynge / & hye co̅templacycontemplacy
on is þeþe best lyf in erthe / & thou shalt haue more me
ryte in heuen for one yere thynkynge in thy mynde
than for an hondred yere of prayeng wtwyth thy mouth
& yet thou wylte not beleue me. for thou wylte byd
many bedes.
¶Doughter yf thou knewe how swete thy loue is
to me / þuþu woldest neuer do other thy̅gethynge but loue me
with all thy herte.
¶Dought͛Doughter yf thou wylt be hye wtwyth me in heuen ke
pe me alway in thy mynde as moche as þuþu mayst &
forgete not me at thy mete / but thynke alway þtþat I
fyt in thy herte & knowe euery thought þtþat is therin
both good and badde.
¶Doughter I haue suffred many paynes for thy
loue / therfore þuþu hast gret cause to loue me ryght wel
for I haue bought thy loue full dere.
¶Dere lorde I praye the late me neuer haue other
Ioye in erth but mournynge & wepynge for thy lo
ue / for me thynketh lorde /though I were in hel/yf
I myght wepe there & mourne for thy loue as I do
here / hell sholde not noye me / but it sholde be a ma
ner heuen / for thy loue putteth away al maner of
drede of our gostly enemye / for I had leuer be the
re as longe as þuþu woldest & please the / than to be in
this worlde & dysplease the / therfore good lorde as
thou wylte so mote it be.
¶She had grete wonder that our lorde wolde beco
me man / & suffre so greuous paynes for her þtþat was
so vnkynde a creature to hym. And than wtwyth grete
wepy̅gewepynge she asked our lorde Ihu̅Ihesu how she myghte
beste please hy̅hym. & he answered to her soule saynge
doughter haue mynde of thy wyckednes & thynke
on my goodnes / than she prayed many tymes & of
ten these wordes. Lorde for thy goodnes haue merci
on my grete wyckednes / as certeynly as I was ne
uer so wycked as þuþu arte good ne neuer may be thou
ghe I wolde. for þuþu arte so good þtþat þuþu mayst no better
be & therfore it is gret wonder þtþat euer ony man shol
de be departed fro the without ende.
¶Whan she sawe the crucyfyxe / or yf she sawe a
man had a wou̅dewounde or a best. Or yf a man bete a chil
de afore her / or smote an hors / or an other beste wtwith
a whype / yf she myght se it or here it. she thought
she sawe our lorde beten or wou̅dedwounded lyke as she sa
we in the man or in the beste.
¶The more she encreased in loue & in deuocyon /
the more she encreased in sorowe & contrycyon / in
lownesse & mekenesse / & in holy drede of our lorde
Ihesu & in knowlege of her owne freylte. So that
A ii
yf she sawe ony creature be punysshed / or sharpely
chastysed / she wolde thynke that she had ben more
worthy to be chastysed than þtþat creature was for her
vnkyndnes ayenst god. Than wolde she wepe for
her owne synne. & for compassyon of that creature.
¶In noo thynge that þuþu doost or sayest doughter þuþu
mayst noo better please god / than beleue that he lo⸗
ueth the. For yf it were possyble þtþat I myght wepe wtwith
the. I wolde wepe with the for the compassyon þtþat I
haue of the.
¶Our mercyfull lorde Ihesu cryste drewe this cre
ture vnto his loue / & to the mynde of his passyon /
that myght not endure to beholde a lepre / or an o⸗
ther seke man / specyally yf he had ony wou̅deswoundes ap
perynge on hym. Soo she wepte as yf she had seen
our lorde Ihesu with his woundes bledy̅gebledynge: & so she
dyde in the syght of the soule / for thrugh the behol
dynge of the seke man / her mynde was all rauys⸗
shed in to our lorde Ihesu / that she had grete mour
nynge and sorwy̅gesorwynge þtþat she myght not kysse þeþe lepre
whan she met them in the way for the loue of our
lorde whiche was all contrarye to her desposycyon
in the yeres of her youthe & prosperyte / for than she
abhorred them moost.
¶Doughter þuþu haste desyred in thy mynde to haue
many preestes in the towne of lyn̅lynn / that myght sy̅syn
ge & rede nyght and day for to serue me / worshyp
me / & prayse me / and thanke me for the goodnes þtþat
I have do to the in erth / & therfore doughter I pro
myse the thou shalt haue mede & rewarde in heuen
for the good wylles & good desyres / as yf thou had
dest done them in dede.
¶Doughter þuþu shalte haue as grete mede & as gre⸗
te rewarde with me in heuen. for thy good seruyce &
thy good dedes that thou haste do in thy mynde as
yf thou haddest do þeþe same with thy bodely wyttes
without forth.
¶And doughter I thanke the / for the charyte that
thou haste to all lecherous men & wy̅menwymmen / for thou
prayest for them & wepest for them many atere de
syrynge þtþat it sholde delyuer them out of synne / & be
as gracyous to them as I was to Mary maudeley
ne / þtþat they myght haue as moche grace to loue me
as Mary maudeleyne had / & with this condyco̅ncondycion þuþu
woldest þtþat eueryche of them sholde haue .xx.li. a ye⸗
re to loue & prayse me / & doughter this grete chary
te whiche þuþu hast to them in thy prayer pleaseth me
ryght well / And doughter also I thanke the for þeþe
charyte whiche þuþu hast in thy prayer whan þuþu prayest
for all Iewes & sarasyns / & al hethen people þtþat they
sholde come to crysten fayth / þtþat my name myght be
magnyfyed in them Furthermore doughter I than
ke the for general charyte þtþat þuþu hast to al people that
be now in this worlde / & to al tho that. are to come
vnto the worldes ende / þtþat thou woldest be hacked as
smalle as flesshe to the potte for theyr loue / soo þtþat I
wolde by thy deth saue them all fro dampnaco̅ndampnacion yf
it pleased me. And therfore doughter / for all these
good wylles and desyres thou shalt haue ful mede
& rewarde in heuen byleue it ryght wel & doute ne
uer a dele.
¶She sayd good lorde I wolde be layde naked vp
on an hurdel for thy loue al men to wonder on me
& to cast fylth & dyrt on me: & be drawen fro town
to towne euery day my lyfe tyme yf þuþu were pleased
therby / & no ma̅nesmannes soule hyndred/thy wyll be ful
fylled and not myne.
¶Doughters as oftentymes as þuþu sayest or thy̅kestthynkest
worshypped be all the holy places in Iherusalem
where cryst suffre bytter payne & passyon in / thou
shalt haue haue the same pardon as yf þuþu were wtwith
thy bodely presence / both to thy selfe & to al tho þtþat
thou wylt gyue to.
¶The same pardon þtþat was grau̅tedgraunted the afore ty⸗
me. it was confermed on saynt Nycolas daye / þtþat is
to say / playne remyssyon / & it is not only grau̅tedgraunted
to þeþe / but also to all tho þtþat beleue / & to all tho þtþat shall
beleue vnto the worldes ende / that god loueth þeþe/ &
shall thanke god for the yf they wyl forsake theyr
synne / & be in full wyll no more to tourne agayne
therto. But be sorye & heuy for þtþat they haue done &
wyll do due penaunce therefore / they shall haue the
same pardon þtþat is grau̅tedgraunted to thy selfe. & þtþat is all þeþe
pardon þtþat is in IerlmIherusalem / as was grau̅tedgraunted þeþe whan þuþu
were at Rafnys.
¶ That day that she suffred noo trybulacyon for
oure lordes sake she was not mery ne gladde / as
that daye whan she suffred trybulacyon.
¶Pacyence is more worthe than myracles doyng
¶Doughter it is more plesure to me þtþat thou suffre
despytes / scornes / shames / & repreues / wro̅geswronges / dys
eases / than yf thyne hede were stryken thre tymes
a day euery day in seuen yere.
¶Lorde for thy grete payne haue mercy on my ly
tell payne.
¶Whan she was in grete trouble / our lorde sayd /
doughter I must nedes comforte þeþe. for now þuþu hast
þeþe ryght way to heuen / By this way came I & all
my dyscyples / for now þuþu shalt know þeþe better what
sorowe & shame I suffred for thy loue / & þuþu shalte
haue the more compassyon whan thou thynkest on
my passyon.
¶O my dere worthy lorde: these graces þuþu sholdest
shewe to relygyous men & to prestes.
¶Our lorde sayd to her ayen / nay nay doughter /
for þtþat I loue best þtþat they loue not / & þtþat is shames/re⸗
preues / scornes / & despytes of þeþe people / & therfore
they shall not haue this grace / for doughter he that
dredeth þeþe shames of this worlde may not parfyght
ly loue god.
¶Here endeth a shorte treatyse called Margerie
kempe de Lyn̅Lynn. Enprynted in Fletestrete by Wyn⸗
kyn de worde.
A transcription of this folio is not available.