Page:Post-Mediaeval Preachers.djvu/181

 “Thirdly, He chose to show us the place of our regeneration. Hence there flowed forth both water and blood, signs of Baptism and the Eucharist, which regenerate us to God. And thus is it said, Thy daughters shall be nursed at Thy side (Isa. lx. 4), Christ! for Thou regeneratest us by the blood and water streaming from Thy side.

“Fourthly, consider that, although the lance gave no pain to the Saviour, yet was it keen, for it wounded with cruel pang the heart of the Mother. For her heart was bound up with the heart of her Son; and to this the prophet seems to refer when he says, Supra dolorem vulnerum meorum addiderunt. (Ps. lxix. 27.) But in conclusion, I repeat—Arise, O dove! enter in, O love! for here is the door by which thou shalt pass to the marriage-feast of thy Bridegroom; for here is the window of love which desires to enkindle thee also; for here is the furnace streaming forth with mercy. Gathering together all thy evil affections, thy sins, thy negligences, cast them into that furnace of love, that there they may be consumed. There exclaim with Thomas, My Lord, and my God! and with the Psalmist, This shall be my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein. For there is the place to live, there is the place to die.”

In like manner does Marchant exclaim: “Spare, O cruel nails, O spare those sacred feet, which have never walked in the way of sinners. Come rather and pierce my heart; pierce my hard heart with the piercing of penitence, that ye may draw from it the salty tears of contrition; for, from the time when ye were sprinkled