Of the grevous bodyly threst of Criste causyd four wysys and of His petouous coronyng; and of the most payne to kinde lover. Seventeenth chapter.

And in this deyng was browte to my mynde the words of Criste, "I threst." For I saw in Criste a doble threst, one bodely, another gostly, the which I shal speke of in the thirty-first chapter. For this word was shewid for the bodyly threst the which I understode was causid of failyng of moysture, for the blissid flesh and bonys was left al alone without blode and moysture. The blissid bodye dreid alone long tyme with wryngyng of the naylys, and weyte of the bodye. For I understode that for tenderness of the swete hands and of the swete fete, be the gretnes, hardhede, and grevoushed of the naylis, the wounds wexid wide and the body saggid for weyte be long tyme hanging, and peircing and wrangyng of the hede and byndyng of the crowne, al bakyn with drye blode, with the swete heire clyngand, and the drye flesh, to the thornys, and the thornys to the flesh, deyand. And in the begynnyng, while the flesh was fresh and bledand, the continuant sytyng of the thornys made the wounds wyde. And ferthermore I saw that the swete skyn and the tender flesh, with the heere and the blode, was al rasyd and losyd abov from the bone with the thornys where thorow it were daggyd on many pecys as a cloth that were saggand as it wold hastely have fallen of for hevy and lose while it had kynde moysture. And that was grete sorow and drede to me.

For methowte I wold not for my life a sen it fallen. How it was don I saw not, but understode it was with the sharpe thornys and the boystrous and grevous setting on of the garland onsparably and without pety. This continuid a while, and sone it began to chongyn, and I beheld and merveled how it migt ben; and than I saw it was for it began to dreyen and stynte a party of the weyte and sette abute the garland. And thus it envyronyd al aboute, as it were garland upon garland; the garland of the thornys was dyed with the blode, and the tother garland and the hede al was on colour, as cloderyd blode whan it is drey. The skynne of the flesh that semyd of the face and of the body was smal, ronkyllid, with a tannyd colour lyke a dry borde whan it is akynned, and the face more browne than the body.

I saw four maner of dryengs. The first was blodeless; the secund was payne folowyng after; the thred, hangyng up in the eyr as men hang a cloth to drye; the forth, that the bodily kynd askyd licour, and ther was no manner of comfort mynystid to Hym in al His wo and disese. A, hard and grevous was His peyne, but mech more hard and grevous it was whan the moysture faylid and al beganne to drye thus clyngand. These were the paynys that shewdyn in the blissful hede. The first wrought to the deyng whyl it was moyst; and that other, slow, with clyngyng dryand, with blowing of the wynde from withowten that dryed Him more, and peynd with cold, than myn herte can thingke; and other paynys, for which paynys I saw that all is to litil that I can sey, for it may not be told. The which shewing of Cristes peynys fillid me ful of payne. For I wiste wele He suffryd but onys, but as He wold shewn it me and fillen me with mynde as I had aforn desyryd.

And in al this tyme of Cristes paynys I felte no payn, but for Cristes paynys. Than thowte me, I knew but litil what payne it was that I askyd, and as a wretch repentid me, thynkand if I had wiste what it had be, lothe me had be to have praydd it; for methowte it passid bodely dethe, my paynes. I thowte, Is any payne like this? And I was answered in my reason: Helle is another payne, for there is despeyr. But of al paynes that leden to salvation, this is the most payne: to se thy love suffir. How might any payne be more to me than to se Him that is al my life, al my blisse, and al my joy suffren? Here felt I sothfastly that I lovyd Criste so mech above myselfe that there was no payne that might be suffrid leke to that sorow that I had to se Him in payne.