I believe the Gospel I must also necessarily believe the Acts of the Apostles because the same Authority of the Catholick Church obliges to believe them both We may say the same of all the other truths which are proposed by the Church for if we believe one we ought also to believe the others because it is the same Authority and the same Church which proposes and gives us assurance of them both And the same St. Augustin l. 16. cont Faust c. 3. speaking of Hereticks and those who would give credit to nothing but their own will. You says he who in the Gospell believe what you please and what you like not reject You rather give credit to your selves then to the Gospell because when led by your private Spirit you approve what pleaseth and disapprove what displeases you in Scripture you do not at all submit your selves to the authority of holy writ there to find out your faith but rather you subject the Scripture to your selves to judge of it according to your will. In fine Faith ought to be firm that is fixed steddy and free from any at least voluntary doubt And this also for the same reason the infallible authority of the Church which proposes unto us the divine truths the objects of our Faith and cannot be deceived in what she proposes to us So that there is no more reason to doubt of any one truth then of all the rest And there is not a better way to dispell with ease the doubts which arise against any one article of our faith then to reflect upon the others which one believes with all the certainty imaginable which yet are no otherwise grounded then upon the same authority of the Church for if we do not doubt of those neither ought we to question these In all the doubts which may occur concerning any point or points of faith whether they arise from our own imaginations or spring from occasion of Heresy new doctrins or scandall given in the Church we ought to have recourse to this authority as to a secure refuge A refuge where we shall find the divine Protection against the contradiction of evill tongues as the Psalmist hath it and after him St. Augustin in those excellent words which he delivers upon that passage of Psa 30. exposi 2. Serm. 3. Preteges eos in tabernaculo tuo a condictione linguarum If you find tongues which contratradict you heresies raised up against you and divisions which oppose you have recourse to the Tabernacle of God adhere and stick fast to the Catholick Church do not depart from this rule of Truth and you shall be protected and guarded from the contradiction of tongues in the Tabernacle of God. Behold not only a wholsome but also a necessary advice which ought to be practised upon occasion of any doubts in faith and especially in the beginning of any heresy And had the hereticks of our time follow'd this good councell they would never so unfortunately have continued obstinate in their errour or drawn others into the same ruin as they have done CHAP. II. Of the things we are obliged to believe WE shall reduce them to four heads 1. The Divinity or what we are obliged to believe of God. 2. The Incarnation or the Humanity of the Son of God which shall comprehend what we are to be believe of Jesus Christ 3. The Church 4. The Sacraments These four things are all contained in the Apostles Creed ARTICLE I. What are we oblig'd to believe of God FOur things The First I believe in God that God is that is that there is one only true God who is an uncreated Being Eternall Independent Infinite in perfections in Knowledge in Power in Wisdom in Goodness in Justice and in all other things Secondly The Father Almighty and in his only Son I believe in the Holy Ghost that in God there are three Persons The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost That all these three are but one true God having the self same divine Essence the self same Wisdom the self same Goodness the self same Power and so of the other divine perfections That the Son the Eternal Word proceeds from the understanding of the Father by a perfect Knowledge which the Father conceives of himself by which he expresses his Image in the Son. And the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son by a Mutuall love which they bear one another That these Processions do not cause any inequality or dependence or priority amongst the Divine Persons who are all Equall and Eternall as being all but one only true God One in Nature and three in Persons Thirdly Creator of Heaven and Earth That God is the authour and creator of all things that he hath made both Heaven and Earth and all the creatures therein whether visible or invisible of nothing by his only word That he conserves them by his power and governs them by his wisdom Fourthly Life Everlasting That as he is the beginning and first cause so also he is the end of all things and particularly of Men and Angels whom he created to adore and serve him and for whom he hath prepared eternall happiness which will consist in this that the blessed shall see him perfectly and enjoy him as he is in himself and this enjoyment shall endure for all eternity it shall never no never end ARTICLE II. What are we obliged to believe of Jesus Christ FOR the greater facility and distinctions sake we shall divide this Article into Questions Quest I. What is Jesus Christ And in Jesus Christ his only Son. HE is the Son of God the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who was Incarnate that is made Man for us men and for our Salvation But Quest II. Why was he made Man TO redeem man from the Sentence of everlasting death which we had all incurred by disobedience of the first man and to give full satisfaction to the Divine Justice as well for that first or Original Sin as for all the rest which have been committed ever since by other men Quest III. This Incarnation in what doth it consist Who was conceived of the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary IT consists in the strict and personal union of the Eternall word with human nature that is with a mortall body and an immortall Soul such as we have from which union there results a compound whom we call Jesus Christ true God and at the same time true man. Whence it plainly follows that in Jesus Christ there are two Natures and one only Person viz. the one divine the other humane nature both united in one the same Person of the Son of God or the eternal word whereas on the contrary in the divinity there is but one Nature three Persons By this Union the Divinity was neither changed into the Humanity nor the Humanity into the Divinity of our Lord for that is impossible But both natures enjoying either of them their own perfections
better the grievousness thereof SInce it is most certain that the best way to know a cause is to consider its effects doubtless the best means to discover the grievousness of Mortal Sin is to reflect on the Sad effects which followed from it We have said before that we could not perfectly know Sin in it self because it is the Supreme evil which is infinite no more then we can understand in it self the Supreme and Sovereign good which is God. But as by the effects which we see of his Power of his Wisdom of his Goodness we arrive at some knowledge of God So on the Contrary we may find out in some sort the heinousness of Sin if we do but consider attentively the Dreadful effects it causes and the horrible misfortunes which it carries with it And all these effects are as so many Powerfull motives of Contrition to make us detest and abhor Sin. To discover it the better we shall observe some order and search for it in several places viz. in our selves in Heaven in Hell in God himself and in his Son Jesus Christ ARTICLE I. Of the death of the Soul or the sad effects which Sin produceth in his Soul who commits it I Begin with the Death of the Soul because this is the first effect which Sin produceth as soon as ever is is committed Peccatum cum consummatum fuerit generat mortem Jac. 1. And I would to God it were as sensible as it is real and that those who are so unfortunate as to fall into Mortal Sin might exactly know the greatness of the evil which thereby they draw upon themselves as really in it self it is and resent it as it deserves It is for this reason that I desire to explicate it unto you and make you understand it Sin then saith the Scripture is no sooner finished but immediately it causeth Death It 's certain that it is not the death of the Body for a man doth not dye in the moment he hath committed it It is then the death of the Soul a thousand times more dreadfull then that of the Body for this doth but separate the Soul from the Body but the Death which is caused by Sin is a Separation of the Soul from God who is a Supernatural Life as St. Aug. saith vita corporis anima est vita animae Deus est And as this life which God gives the Soul is infinitely more estimable then that which the Soul confers upon the Body which it animates so the Death which causeth the loss of that Divine Life is infinitely more dreadfull and Lamentable then naturall Death To understand this well you must know what God hath reveal'd and we believe concerning a Soul which hath the Blessing to be in the State of the Grace of God And it is this when God receives a Soul into his Friendship he Cloathes her with the Robe of Sanctifying Grace a supernatural and Divine quality which cleanseth the Soul from all the spots of Sin and renders her agreeable to the eyes of God. And at the same moment he replenisheth her with Divine gifts as Faith Hope Charity and other Christian Virtues Then by the means of that Grace God dwells in that Soul after a particular manner he makes her his Temple and Habitation where he is pleased to be adored and loved by the Souls that possess him Lastly he interchangeably communicates himself unto her filling her with his holy Spirit and Divine Inspirations All these truths are drawn from the express words of the Sacred Scripture As from that where God promises That he will pour upon us a clean water which will cleanse us from all our stains Ezek. 36. This water is Sanctifying Grace From that where he saith That the Charity of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us Rom. 5. That we are the Temples of the Living God and that the Spirit of God doth dwell in us 1. Cor. 3. from those words where our Saviour saith If any one love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our Dwelling with him Joh. 14. From those words of St. John. God is Charity and he who remains in Charity remains with God and God with him 1. Joh. 4. There are a great number of the like passages which clearly represent unto us the state of a Soul Sanctifyed by Grace and the great happiness she enjoys in that condition wherein she possesses God himself and is possessed by him Now all this felicity is constant and permanent as to what relates to God whose gifts are without repentance as the Scripture saith only the Soul can deprive her self of and destroy in her self this happiness This misfortune befalls us when forgetfull of the infinite blessing we possess and permitting our selves to be surprized by the allurements of Sin we break that happy League and Alliance which God had made with us And this we do by a criminal disobedience whereby we incur the displeasure of God and lose in a moment all those inestimable goods which before we happyly enjoyed O God Theotime who can worthily express the dreadfull misfortune which happens to a Soul by one mortal sin and paint to the life the deplorable state to which it is reduced in the moment she offends in which the Soul in that very instant is deprived of the grace of God and of one beautifull and as an Angel in his sight becomes as hideous and hatefull as a Devil Quomodo obscuratum est aurum mutatus est color optimus Thren 4. Is there any subject where we may more sitly apply those dolefull words of Jeremy how comes it to pass that this Soul should be so defaced what is become of that grace which made her more bright then gold how is that divine beauty changed into so hideous a form It is an effect of the divine Anger which hath justly fill'd that Soul with cloudy darkness which before had unjustly banisht the light of Grace But that which is most to be lamented is that that Soul which formerly had the honour to be employ'd as the Temple of God now sees her self rejected by him with horrour and detestation and the Holy Ghost retired from her having abandoned her to be the dwelling-place of the Devil according to that sentence of the same Prophet repulit Dominus Altare suum maledixit sanctificationi suae God hath rejected his Altar and laid a curse upon the place where he was adored and sanctified Thren 2. Is it possible Theotime that you can read these words without trembling if you are in the state of Mortal Sin It is this forsaking of God and this loss of his grace which properly causes the death of the Soul infinitely more to be feared then that of the Body forasmuch as by the death of the body we are only deprived of the presence of the Soul death being only a separation of the Soul from the Body whereas
either to errour or Impiety 10. The Tenth is to scoff at holy things the ceremonies of the Church to contemn them in his heart or by any action whatsoever 11. The Eleventh to abuse the words of the holy Scripture in applying them to wicked or prophane senses making them serve for jests or other ill uses 12. The Twelfth is to desire to know such things to come as appertain to God alone or those which are either past or present but totally hidden from us and for this end to employ unlawfull means as Soothsayers Magicians Fortune-tellers observe Omens cast Lotts or make use of other Superstitious Inventions 13. The thirteenth is to give credit to Dreams and Superstitions to employ Prayers or Sacred Names to ill uses to use Charms or other Inventions to the end to make ones self beloved to cure Diseases or to give a Spell whether to Men or Beasts All these are Mortal Sins even when the means seem innocent as Prayers or Sacred words if one believe they will certainly take effect For then as St. Augustin saith De medicin animae contra sortileg These are not remedies given us by Jesus Christ but rather Poyson which the Devil hath spread amongst holy things Non est in eis remedium Christi sed venenum Diaboli Sins against Hope Anchora quae nostrae stat pes bene fida salutis Motibus his quatitur dum Desperatio mentem Dejicit aut falsas addit Praesumptio vires I. 1. Hinc qui scelerum furiis agitantibus omnem Desperat veniam 2. vel ab his cessare modumque Ponere posse negans vitiis dimittit habenas Divinae contemptor opis spem laedit Et ille II. 1. Qui male confisus sperat placabile numen Dum nova praeteritis adjungens crimina 2. mores Mutare extremae differt in tempora vitae 3. Quique Deum tentans levis imprudensque periclis 4. Corporis aut animae sese objicit 5. auxiliique Non poscit coelestis opem praesentia cingunt Dum mala 6. praesidiis spernit melioribus uti Quae Deus ad nostram voluit conferre salutem 7. Rebus in adversis qui frangitur atque superbis Vocibus impatiens hominesque Deumque fatigat Hope is a Theological Virtue whereby we expect from the hand of God Eternal Salvation and the means whereby we may obtain it Two Sins there are diametrically opposit both contrary to this Virtue The one is hoping too little the other confiding too much the first is called Despair the other Presumption I. One sins by Despair 1. When one distrusts in the mercies of God or despairs to be ever able to obtain of God the remission of his Sins as it happened to Cain 2. When one despairs of amending ones Life and in this Despair abandons himself to all wickedness which is a mistrust or contempt of the grace of God. This Sin is but too common II. One sins by Presumption 1. When one hopes that God will allways forgive his Sins whatsoever life he leads and living in this hope he doth not at all concern himself to mend his Life 2. When one defers his conversion 'till the end of his life or puts off his Repentance 'till the honr of Death 3. When one willingly exposes himself to any danger of offending God as to Company Reading or any other thing by which he runs the hazard to offend This is what we call to tempt God. 4. When without necessity one exposes himself to some Corporal danger as Sickness Wounds or Death 5. When in these so remarkable dangers of Body or Soul one neglects his application and recourse to God by Prayer to implore his assistance 6. When in these same dangers one neglects the remedies which God hath instituted and appointed as those of Physick for the Body and those of Prayer and Sacraments for the Soul. One sins also against this Virtue in adversities when he is discouraged to that degree that he puts not his trust in God and more still when one is impatient or murmures against his Providence in Adversity or is exalted in his own thoughts in time of Prosperity attributing the good success or Honour to himself The Sins against Charity CHarity is a Theological Virtue which makes us to love God above all things whence it follows that every Mortal Sin is directly opposite to it totally destroys it Because the Sinner in every such Sin prefers the affection he bears to the thing wherein he offends before the love and bounden duty he owes to God who forbids the Sin. However there are some Sins more particularly opposed to this great Virtue whereof behold some examples Caelestem nullum non laedit crimen amorem Quod male divinum humano postponit amori Praecipuè tamen his virtutum maxima damnis Impetitur 1. Summae si quis bonitatis amarum Infandumque furens scelerata forte recepit Mente odium execrans blasphemans sancta Deique Dextram indignatus ferientem aut Judicis aequi Iram exhorrescens infensum quem timet odit 2. Praeterea ille nocens sanctum qui numen amore Diligit exiguo bona nec super omnia summum Prosequitur redamatque bonum peccare paratus Vt serventur opes vel honos aut vita caducis Postponens aeterna bonis 3. Hominum quoque amorem Posthabito quaesisse Deo quem non piget qui Esse suo gratus Domino nil curat at omnem Stultis ut placeat curam admovet atque laborem 4. Quem pudor aut vani revocat formido pericli Ne cupiat bona vel faciat quae conscius ipse Sancta jubere sibi novit mandata malumque Quod prohibent patrat humano compulsus amore 5. Inque Deum raro conversus segnius illum Cogitat aut loquitur tacito sub corde monentem Non andit Benefacta sui nec mente revolvens Auctoris dignas contemnit reddere grates The greatest sin against Charity is the hatred of God. This is a Sin the very thought whereof causes an horrour in the Soul and it is proper to the Devils and damned Souls Yet however sometimes it is found amongst men when a wicked Conscience oppress'd with misfortunes gives it self over to complaints against God as if he were the cause of them to execrations to Blasphemys and in fine to hate him whom he believes to be the cause of his miseries or from whom he fears the punishment of his crimes 2. The second is not to bear God the love which he requires at our hands that is the love above all things as he is the greatest and most amiable of all goods This happens when one is so disposed in mind that he will rather choose willfully to offend God then loose either some Honour Riches or life it self if it were necessary This Sin is but too common and one does not take notice of it 3. The third is to prefer the love of men before the love of God to be more fearfull of their
He speaks more effectually in the 7th Chapter of the Prophet Jeremy And now because you have done all these works and I have spoken to you early rising and speaking you have not heard and I have called and you have not answered I will do to this house wherein my name is invocated and wherein you have confidence and to the place which I have given to you and your Fathers as I did to Silo and I will cast you away from my face as I have cast away all your Brethren the whole seed of Ephraim Jer. 7. And to shew how great his Indignation was against that people for contemning his sayings and the exhortations which he had so often made them for their Conversion he forbids his Prophet to pray for them and to oppose himself by his prayers to the Design he had to punish them and revenge himself of them Tu ergo noli Orare pro populo hoc nec assumas pro eis laudem Orationem neque obsistas mihi quia non exaudiam te Thou therefore pray not for this People neither take unto thee Praise and prayer for them and resist me not because I will not hear thee Could God give a greater mark of his indignation against them who refuse to be converted then is express'd in those Words since he refuses that others should appease him by their prayers by which they would endeavour to hinder the execution of his justice But if his anger were so high against the Jews for this reason how can we expect it should be less against Christians against us our selves Theotime who contemn no less his divine grace and who continue in our disordered lives and in our Sins after so many exhortations and admonitions to leave them This is the reflection which St. Hierome made upon this place which we ought to consider and keep well in minde Viz. that all that which God there spoke to the People of the Jews ought to be understood of us if we commit the same faults that the Jews did Quidquid illi populo dicitur intelligamus de nobis si similia fecerimus St. Hier. in c. 7. Jerem. CHAP. VI. Of the Great Punishment which God lays upon those who refuse or defer their Conversion ALL the Passages which I have brought do sufficiently shew the heavy Chastisement which God sends to those that contemn him in that manner The Scripture contains a vast number of others But we need not seek farther then in this Exhortation of God which we have spoken of above Learn from God himself what you ought to fear and the misfortunes that will befall you if you resist any longer the desire he hath of your Salvation The punishments are contained in these words Ego vero in interitu tuo ridebo subsannabo vos I will laugh at your Destruction and mock at you words full of terrour which ought to make all those tremble who are in mortal Sin. Dicat nunc qualiter feriat quos ad se nullatenus revertentes tanta longanimitate sustentat St. Greg. lib 18. moralium c. 7. It is for those according to the advice of St. Gregory to learn hence from the mouth of God himself in what manner he will punish those whose conversion he hath expected a long time without any effect on their part By these words God threatens to revenge himself of those at the hour of their death who continue in their sins to punish their wicked life with an unfortunate end and treat them at that last hour as they have dealt with him during their life Is not this most just and reasonable They abandon'd God during their Life and God abandons them at the hour of their death They refuse to hearken when he speaks and moves them to their Salvation they contemn his admonitions and will give ear to nothing but their own Passions and follow nothing but their pleasures They perform all their actions as if they Mocked God and God by a just but dreadfull punishment will act in respect of them as a provok'd Enemy who Scoff 's at his Conquer'd Foes and Insults over their utmost miseries with which he sees them overwhelmed He will behold them Surprized with some dreadfull accident or a mortal Agony which in a small time will carry them away He will see them Searching all means to Escape Overwhelmed with griefs troubled with fear and trembling tormented with the Remorse of their guilty Consciences calling to him for their Succour and Deliverance but he will not hearken at all He will become Deaf to their Prayers as they would not give ear to his admonitions He will not hearken to their desires for their deliverance as they would not hearken to his advices for their Salvation He will not give them time for repentance being they refused it when it was in their power and when they were exhorted by God himself Thus will they dye Miserably seeing themselves constrained to abandon a mortal Life with all the Pleasures which they lov'd more then either God or their Salvation to go and begin an Eternal Death where for fleeting Pleasures they shall find immortal torments and an infinity of evils which shall never end It is thus Theotime that God shall treat those who contemn his Favours and refuse to hearken to his Voice when he invites them to their Salvation and thus will he punish them always and that you may better comprehend this Chastizement of God take notice of three great evils which compose it The First is an unprovided death which he will send to those that are impenitent when they shall least expect it Cum irruerit repentina calamitas interitus quasi tempestas ingruerit The Second is an oppression of grief and anguishes in that dreadfull surprise pains of Body and Senses anguishes of Soul and Conscience this is that which is signified by those words of God Cum irruerit super vos tribulatio angustia The Third which is the most dreadfull is God's forsaking them in that last and deplorable extremity a forsaking so great that he will never more hearken to their prayers and crys as he himself saith in the following words tunc invocabunt me non exaudiam c. And all these miseries will befall them in punishment of their obstinacy in their Sins and refusal to be converted Eo quod exosam habuerint disciplinam sermonem Domini non receperint c. I would to God Theotime this chastisement were as rare as it is frightfull and terrible But it happens too often by a deplorable misfortune and is but a just effect of the divine justice which frequently puts in Execution his threats against those who so often contemn his holy inspirations All the Christians who are either dead or dayly dye in Mortal Sin of whom the multitude is innumerable are witnesses of this truth All those to wit who are surprized by unexpected accidents either of sickness wherein they dye without
by the death of the Soul we are deprived or separated from Almighty God. Is there any misery to be compared to this of being deprived of God O my God! how is it possible that men should esteem thee so little If a man lose a perishable good as a Friend or an Estate this he laments most grievously and we loose our selves and are not at all concerned can there be any thing either more unjust or more injurious Is not that most exactly true which St. Augustine saith upon this Subject He seems not to have the bowels of Christian Charity who laments a Body from which the Soul is departed and doth not at all weep for a Soul from which God is separated That I may yet make you understand more sensibly the deplorable state of a Soul fallen into the displeasure of God and your own condition if you are under that misfortune I shall propose here an admirable and moving description which a Holy Author made in these words which he addresses to a Soul fallen into Mortal Sin and to you your self if you are in that unhappy state Aperi oculos anima misera vide quid eras quid nunc es quo loco eras quo nunc es Eras sponsa altissimi eras templum Dei vivi eras vas electionis Thalamus regis aeterni Thronus Salomonis Sedes Sapientiae eras soror Angelorum Haeres caelorum quoties dico eras eras toties tibi lachrimandum est cum subitam tuam cogitas mutationem Sponsa Dei facta est adultera diaboli Templum Spiritus Sancti mutatum est in Speluncam latronum vas Electionis in vas corruptionis Thalamus Christi in Volutabrum porcorum Sedes Sapientia in Cathedram pestilentiae Soror Angelorum in Sociam Daemonum quae instar Columbae ante◠in Caelum Volitabat nunc valut serpens reptat in terra Plange itaque super te anima misera plange quia te plangunt caeli te plangunt Sancti te plangunt lacrymae Pauli quia peccasti peccati quod commisisti paenitentiam non egisti Open thy eyes miserable Soul saith this holy Doctor speaking to a Soul which is fall'n into Mortal Sin and see what you were and what you are in what place you were and where you now are at present You were the Spouse of the most high You were the Temple of the living God you were a Vessel of election the Couch of the eternal King the Throne of the true Salomon the seat of Wisdom you were Sister to the Angels and Heir of Heaven and as often as I say you were you were so often ought you to lament and weep when you consider your sudden change Your Soul which was the Spouse of God is become the Adulteress of Satan the Temple of the Holy Ghost is changed into a Den of Thieves the Vessel of Election into a Vessel of Corruption the Bed of Solomon into a dunghill of unclean Beasts the Seat of Wisdom into the Chair of Infection the Sister of the Angels is become a Companion of the Devil and she who mounted like a Dove even unto Heaven creeps now upon the Earth like a Serpent Bewail then your self O miserable Soul bewail and lament since the Heavens weep for you since all the Saints deplore your misery the tears of St. Paul are shed for you because you have sinned and have not done Pennance for what you have committed These words Theotime are not to be read slightly read them often applying them to your self with attention and without doubt if you are not totally obdurate they will make a great impression on your heart when you consider attentively the unfortunate and deplorable state your Soul is brought into by Sin. ARTICLE II. Of the effects of Sin in Heaven and upon Earth IF you desire another reason of the hatred and horrour you have conceived against Sin Theotime raise your thoughts to Heaven and see the disorders it hath caused there This Infernal Fury hath spared nothing it hath conveyed it's rage even unto the house of God which it hath filled with War and Confusion it hath banished one part of the Angels thence and shut the door to men and to you your self let us see these misfortunes one after another God in the beginning of the World created an innumerable multitude of Celestial Spirits of several Orders and different perfections with which he filled Heaven and composed his Heavenly Court for the performance of his will both in Heaven and on Eaath His design was to replenish them all with the happiness of his sight and the perfect possession of the Divinity And for this effect besides the natural perfections he endowed them with he had created them in his grace and adorned them with all supernatural virtues thus to afford them a means to dispose themselves to Glory which he had prepared for them and to merit it by their actions and the practice of those same virtues When they were in this state behold Theotime what Sin did When they were as I said in this state brim full of mighty hopes upon the point of receiving the fruit of the grace and virtues which God had communicated unto them and to enjoy the perfect vision of the Divinity which would have secured their happiness for ever behold Sin by their inadvertency steals into the mind of one part of them overthrows their fair hopes and makes a confusion in the house of God himself This was a mischievous thought of Pride begun in one of the chiefest Angels who permitting himself to be surprized by the love of his own perfections and the brightness of his excellent beauty aspired to surpass all others in that degree that he would in some things be like unto God himself demanding an Authority equal with his in the government of all Creatures choosing rather as St Bernard considers to be separated from God then be Subject unto him Miser qui sine Deo esse maluit quà m sub Deo. Lucifer was follow'd in this extravagance by many of the other Angels who adhering to his pride listed themselves as it were under his banner They had not persisted long in this Rebellion when God who cannot endure the guilt of Sin be it in whom it will gives us upon occasion of this first disobedience the manifest marks of the hatred he bears to that infernal Monster For by a Solemn Decree the effect of his indignation he banisheth from his Kingdom this Rebellious Angel with all his followers and casts them down headlong from the height of Heaven to the most profound pit of Hell. Thus that Celestial Spirit who was but the instant before he sinn'd one of the most beautifull Creatures of God and as one may say the Master-piece of all his works initium viarum suarum became by his sin an infernal Dragon a sworn and unreconcilable enemy both to God and Man. What is it that hath caused this lamentable
will perpetually hate the punishment of sin from which however she shall never be delivered she will indeed continually employ her utmost endeavours to quit her self of her pain but to no purpose She will be incensed against her own torments and against God himself O what a torture is this could we but understand it rightly Quid iniquis voluntatibus tam contrarium quam semper conari impingere semper frustra And is there any torment continues the same St. Bernard greater then that of the depraved will of the damned to be always carried on the one side with a continual desire and to be met on the other with a continual resistance and all this to no purpose to no effect Quid tam paenale quam semper velle quod nunquam erit semper nolle quod nunquam non erit What affliction more painfull then always to desire that which will never come to pass and continually to wish to be freed from that which they shall perpetually eudure In aeternum non obtinebit quod vult quod non vult nihilominus sustinebit The Damned shall continue during all eternity without obtaining what he desires and yet shall everlastingly suffer the evils which he would not suffer Who saith St. Bernard will put all this in execution Rectus Dominus Deus noster qui justitias dilexit St. Bernard l. 5. de Considerat c. 12. It will be God who is upright and just and who for that reason can never agree with the unjust and depraved will of the Damned but on the contrary will perpetually resist it and eternally confound it A misfortune saith the same Saint which shall certainly befall all those who shall set themselves against that streight rule which knows not how to bend or yield to the contrary Vae universo quod obvium fortasse offenderit cedere nescia rectitudo Such shall be the effect of the curse of God upon the Damned from the first moment that it shall fall upon their heads Doth it not hence appear how dreadfull Damnation is But this is not all For in the third place those wretched and accursed Souls shall be cast into the torment of fire even into the fire of Hell. This is the Minister and Instrument of the Divine Justice the fruit and issue of Mortal Sin. Fire saith the Prophet shall go before and consume his Enemies all about him Psal 96.3 And in another place Our Lord in his anger shall surround them with trouble and flames of fire shall devour them Psal 20.10 But what fire Theotime That fire which the divine fury as the Scripture saith hath enkindled against the wicked and will burn even to the bottom of Hell. Deut. 32.22 That fire in comparison whereof our Elementary fire is but a painted Figure As St. Augustin saith that fire whose ardour is inconceivable which burn not only Bodies but Souls also and Spirits by a wonderfull Vertue which the divine justice grants unto it raising it above the power of Corporal nature to be able to torment unbodied creatures That fire which by another quality no less admirable burns all without either consuming any other or ever spending its own substance Our fire consumes the things it burns and when it hath wasted them spends it self for want of fuel but the fire of Hell is of a quite contrary nature It conserves its proper matter it burns without either consuming the matter or ever diminishing it self For this reason our saviour calls it ignis inextinguibilis an unextinguishable Fire and a Father of the Church hath given the reason Because the fire of Hell being created by God for the punishment of Sin it chastiseth the sin as it is commanded without consuming the Author Illa enim non casualis sed rationalis exustio quia culpam jubetur inquirere substantiam nescit absumere Euseb Emis hom 1. ad Manachos O Fire is it possible that men should fear thee so little is it not a wonderfull thing that so many words should be necessary to create in men a dread of that infernal fire whereas we are so sensible of that we see and feel amongst us If a small spark fall but on our hands it makes us cry out amain if one were constrained to put his finger in the fire but for a quarter of an hour he would not be able to endure it and yet the fear of the fire of Hell moves us not at all The Prophet crys out to all the world Who of you can dwell with a devouring fire or who can inhabit everlasting flames Isai 33.14 Yet in the mean time there are but very few that concern themselves to avoid that horrible torment or the object that deserves it which is sin or think seriously of the means to escape it at the hour of death which are Penance and a virtuous Life Ponder this Theotime and do not follow the throng of those blind people who run thus headlong to their ruine and without either foresight or prevention precipitate themselves into this infernal fire Now for the better prevention of this dreadfull misfortune let us consider its continuance which will not be for a day or a year or a hundred years but for all Eternity Inignem Aeternum that is this fire and all the other torments of the Damned shall never end they shall endure as long as God shall be God. In this life we have this comfort in our greatest afflictions that once they will have an end Death the most fearfull of all evils puts an end to all the rest in the worst of miseries one wishes that Death will come and it comes at last But in Hell we shall not have as much as this Satisfaction Death there is inexorable it is always present and allways absent The Damned see it continually it is always before their eyes and yet is always flying from them as it is said in the Apocalips c. 9.6 Men shall then seek Death and shall not find it they shall wish to dye and Death shall fly from them What more frightfull State then that where one can have no other comfort then that of Death and yet Death will never come there will be no other Life for those miserable Creatures then a perpetual Death and no other Death then to live continually amidst those Tortures as the learned St. Paulin in his Poetry said admirably well Vita erit sine fine mori mors Vivere poenis Et duranta suas pascere carne cruces Their Life shall be an endless Death and their death shall consist in this to live in Torments and by means of their never-to-be-consumed body continually to maintain their Punishment Their Torments saith another Father would incessantly destroy them but the justice of God will not permit them to dye and they will continue in that state for all eternity without ever putting an end to their misfortunes which will always fly from them and eternally avoid them Occidente poenâ vivificante
Sin. Saint Paul the first of all 1. Cor. 11.30 attributes as the effects of unworthy Communions the great number of distempers Sicknesses and Deaths with which the Corinthians were afflicted Saint Cyprian delapsis affirms that in his time there were many whose bodies were delivered over to be possess'd by the Devil for that they had Communicated unworthily and also that many had lost their judgment and become distracted and mad upon the same account And Saint Chrisostome also assures us that the same thing happen'd in his time The same St. Cyprian reports that a Christian woman having partaken in private of the Sacrifices of the Idols and coming not long after to Communicate with the Christians she had no sooner received the Son of God but she found her self tormented as if she had taken poyson and dyed in the presence of all there He speaks of another who being willing to receive the precious body of the Son of God her self being in an evil state as she open'd the vessel in which it was enclosed there issued out a flame of fire which hindred her so that she was not able to receive it And another Christian going about to do the same instead of the Consecrated host which he expected to have found in the place where he had reserved it he found nothing else but ashes He himself also recounts this Passage how that a little Child to whom his Pagan nurse had caus'd a little wine consecrated to the Idols to be given being afterwards carried by his mother unto the Church at the time of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass was not able to swallow one drop of the consecrated wine which the Deacon had put into his mouth The Sacred Eucharist saith this holy Father ibid. could not endure to stay in a body and mouth defiled and profaned by the only touch of a forbidden drink But if it could not stay in this body whose Soul was altogether innocent what may we say of those whose Souls are altogether guilty and polluted I could relate a vast number of other examples but it would be too long tedious these are sufficient to make every one reflect as the same St. Cyprian considers that if he have not as yet received the same punishment for his unworthy Communion if he have been guilty of it he hath nevertheless deserv'd it as much as they Let every one consider saith this Holy Father not so much the punishment which another hath received as what he himself hath deserved and that he do not believe he hath avoided the chastisement because as yet it is something delayed since he ought rather to be much more afraid to whom God in his just judgment hath deferred the punishment of his Sins to a longer time ARTICLE VI. Of the end we ought to propose to our selves in the Holy Communion BEsides the purity of Conscience it is necessary that we have that of rectitude of Intention to Communicate well for it is most certain that an action how good soever it may be in it self looseth its worth and value by the default of a good Intention and it becomes evil and vitious if the Intention be such and if it be done for an evil end This being true in all good actions whatsoever it is still much more in this of Communion forasmuch as it is certain that nothing but what is pure and holy ought to draw near and receive purity and holyness it self and that it is a contempt of the greatness and sanctity of God to approach unto him upon any other motive then that of pleasing him and meriting his grace and favour For this reason in the Old Testament it was his will that none should serve himself upon his Altar of any other then Holy Fire which he had ordained for the use of the Sacrifices And he punished with sudden death the two Sons of Aaron who were so rash as there to make use of Prophane Fire by this figure we learn that for one to approach unto him it is not sufficient to be holy but it is also necessary that one bring with him an Intention altogether pure and holy and that an evil and Prophane Intention doth grievously offend him upon this occasion We must then approach unto the Holy Communion with an Intention totally pure and propose to our selves an end altogether holy in this so great and so august an action Now that we may perform this duty two things are necessary The first is that one propose to himself no evil thing as the motive and cause of his Communion as Hypocrisy to dissemble and conceal some fault with an appearance of Piety Vanity to be esteemed virtuous Humane respect lest he should displease any one or to please men rather then God. These three motives are but too frequent amongst those who are not sufficiently instructed concerning the Intention which we ought to have in our Communion and particularly among young People Wherefore they ought to have special care to avoid them The first is the greatest fault and ordinarily speaking renders the Communion Sacrilegious the other two deprives one of the best part of the fruit it otherwise would produce Secondly This intention must be directed to the Service of God and our Salvation to God to please him the more and to unite our selves thereby more strictly to him to our Salvation to promote it by obtaining by means of the Holy Communion the Graces which we stand most in need of as to amend our faults to resist temptations to fix and confirm us more in the practice of Virtues The two ends we find in our Lords prayer where the three first Petitions contain what we can wish for the greater honour and glory of God and the other four comprehend what is necessary for our Salvation And it is a very profitable exercise to propose to our selves for the end of our Communion the obtaining of the grace of God for the accomplishment of the Seven demands which make up compose it or of which this divine Prayer consists It is also good to add to this general intention some particular end according to our present necessities as to obtain some particular grace we stand in need of to correct in our selves some fault and to advance in some particular Virtue Lastly The right and Religious intention which we ought to have in Communion is the very same which Christ proposed to himself when he first instituted this divine Sacrament Now his intention was as he himself declared that he might remain in us and we in him He dwells in us by his Grace and the assistance of his holy Inspirations and we remain in him by love and the obedience we render to him propose to your self this end and you shall Communicate according to the Intention and Will of Jesus Christ PART II. Of the Practice of Communion Or What we must do to Communicate well and as we ought NExt to the purity of Conscience and the
Heaven taking his pleasure in this Life should love his Inn better then his own House 4. This Hope makes the Just Man labour for his Salvation and becoming daily better and better render himself worthy of his heavenly vocation as St. John saith 1 Jo. 3.3 Every one who hath this hope in God doth Sanctify himself as God is holy This hope gives him strength to conquer all difficulties and wings to fly in the way of Gods commandments as the Prophet Isay 40.31 speaks They who hope in God says he shall change their strength that is receive a new force they shall have wings as an Angel they shall run with ease they shall travel without failing by the way 5ly This same Hope encourageth us in temptations it gives us strength to encounter them For what greater encouragement can there be in these occasions then to know that God is with us that he assists us in the fight and gives us strength to overcome and that he hath prepared an eternal reward for those that conquer He whose heart is replenished with Hope doth he not say with David whensoever he is tempted Ps 22.4 O my God I will not be afraid of any harm being thou art with me Ps 26.1 Our Lord is my light and my Salvation whom should I fear v. 3. If war shall be rais'd against me I will hope in him Ps 7.1 O Lord I hope in thee save me and deliver me from all my persecutors For this reason St. Paul 1. Thes 5.8 calls hope the Helmet of Christians Take says he for thy helmet the hope of Salvation For as a head-peice it preserves us from the blows of the enemy and the mortall wounds which he endeavours to give us In fine Hope guards us excellently well and is of infinite use in afflictions of which this mortall life is full Herein it is that we find our refuge our comfort and our strength when we consider with attention that these miseries cannot last always they will have an end and will be followed with an eternall joy if we suffer them with patience as it is but fit and just we should And when we ponder well upon those excellent words of St. Paul 2. Cor 4.17 wherein he assures us That the momentary and light afflictions which we at present endure work exceedingly above measure a weight of unconceivable glory and happiness which shall never end It is then when after the example of this glorious Apostle we shall rejoyce and esteem our selves happy in our afflictions being assured of this truth wherein he affirms Rom. 5.3 that Affliction causeth Patience Patience trys our strength this tryall confirms our Hopes and Hope will never confound us so as to permit our expectations to be frustrate Wherefore the same Apostle says Heb. 6.19 That this holy hope is to Christians that which the anchor is to a Ship which keeps it secure and steady amidst the tempestuous waves and preserves it against the violence of the winds O holy Virtue what blessings by thy means accrue unto us did we but fall into the account and know them Endeavour Theotime to make thy self master in an happy hour of this great virtue and to practise it with advantage to thy Soul and to this effect peruse carefully and with attention this little we shall say upon this Subject ARTICLE V. That the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is of great use to fortify and augment Hope the Virtue in us GOD endowed us with this Virtue when first he justified us in Baptism where we received Sanctifying Grace with the gifts of Faith Hope and Charity and other Christian Virtues It is encreased I confess together with the other Virtues by the frequent acts which we elicite and by good works which we perform in the State of Grace but it is also certain that it receives much strength and wonderfull growth by the most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist which may easily be evinced from the two things which as is above said are the object of Hope viz. Grace in this Life and in the next the Glory as well of Body as of Soul. As for Glory there is not any thing that confirms us more in the Hope of it then this Divine Sacrament wherein we receive the very Person himself the possession of whom compleats all our glory and our happiness for what greater security can we have that we shall one day enjoy God himself then by this bounty he hath shewed in communicating himself unto us in this life Could he afford us a more secure pledge then he himself is to which he hath also vouchsafed to add the assurance of his word saying Jo. 6.58 that he who eateth this bread shall live for ever And for the glory of the body it is no less confirmed unto us by this Sacrament being the Son of God hath told us Ibid 56. that he who eateth his body and drinketh his blood shall have life Everlasting and that he will raise him again at the last day And in effect the Fathers of the Church have often proved the Resurrection from the holy Eucharist and they have held that the life-giving flesh of Jesus Christ as they have frequently called it hath a particular vertue to raise from death to life those bodies it shall touch and conserve them to immortality much more efficaciously then the bones of Elizeus had vertue by their touch to raise a dead man to life This truth is no less certain in respect of grace For if we consider habituall or Sanctifying grace this divine Sacrament is a powerfull means to conserve it as also to increase it in the Soul in an high degree as often as we shall worthyly receive it And as for actuall graces which are as we said so many helps illuminations good and pious motions which the divine goodness hath bestowed upon us for the conservation of his grace and with which he inspires us that we may avoid evil and employ our selves totally in good so many protections which he affords us in the time when our Salvation is in danger it is questionless to this Sacrament that we owe the greatest part thereof as we clearly made out Part 1. Chap. 3. Art. 3. The reason is evident because this Sacrament containing as it really and truly doth Jesus Christ who is the Author and source of all Blessings it cannot be but that it must needs communicate them in abundance to those who worthily receive it If by the other Sacraments we are enrich'd with so many Graces by the only vertue which the Son of God hath granted to them how many more may we in reason expect from this where the same Son of God is present not only by some communication of his vertue but by himself in Person God once gave Manna to the Israelites and he sustained them therewith for the full space of forty years the time which their Pilgrimage towards the land of Promise endur'd in the Desert This Manna fell