distracted. For those things which enter in through the eyes and ears, do strain the mind with divers imaginations, and consequently, disturb and trouble the peace and tranquillity of the soul. Wherefore, one not without cause said, that he that meditateth must be deaf, blind, and dumb; for by how much less he wandereth abroad, with greater recollection, will he rejoice at home.
Fourthly, solitude helpeth devotion much, for it doth not only remove the occasions of sin, and take away the causes which chiefly disturb the heart and senses, but it maketh a solitary man, to rouse up himself from temporal things, to be present to himself, and converse incessantly with God. To which, the opportunity of the place doth admonish, which admitteth no other society.
Fifthly, the reading of spiritual books, doth not a little nourish devotion, because Reading it administereth matter of consideration, abstracteth the mind from all things created, stirreth up devotion, and causeth that a man doth sooner adhere to the consideration of those things, which in reading, offered him a more pleasant taste, that, that wherewith the heart aboundeth, may oftener occur to his memory.
Sixthly, continual memory of Almighty God, and daily imagination of his sacred presence, that always thou art in his sight, with a frequent use of
