burn with greater Heat than the Marrow of young People when they are inflam'd with Wine and delicious Meats And in his Epistle to Eustochium b Si quid in me potest esse consilii si experto creditur hoc primum moneo hoc obtestor ut Sponsa Christi vinum fugiat pro veneno haec adversus adolescentiam prima sunt arma daemonum vinum adolescentia duplex incendium voluptatis quid oleum flammae adjicimus quid ardenti corpusculo somenta ignium ministramus S. Jer. Epist ad Eustoch If I be capable says he to give any Counsel if you will give credit to one that is experienc'd I chiefly admonish and beseech that Soul which desires to be the Spouse of Jesus Christ by conserving her Purity to fly from Wine as a mortal Poison These are the first Arms the Devil makes use of against Youth Wine and Youth are a double inflammation to Pleasure Why do we cast Oyl upon the Fire Why do we add more Fuel to a Body that is on Fire Behold Theotime the Advice of this great Saint so experienc'd in the Conduct of Souls and chiefly of Youth Apply all your Endeavors to practise it exactly if you will conserve your Chastity And to exercise it well see in Part 4. Chap. 23. of Sobriety The Third Cause you ought carefully to avoid is wicked Company Third Cause and all sort of dissolute Discourses or any ways tending to Immodesty It is not to be imagin'd how those things corrupt and destroy Chastity in young People for how many are there who never fell into this misfortunate Sin till they had learn'd it either by Conversation with dissolute Persons or by the occasion of immodest Discourses which falling upon young Minds as a Spark amongst Straw frequently inflames them with the Fire of unchast Love. This Cause is so ordinary and so pernicious to young People that it cannot be sufficiently repeated nor ever enough decry'd Fly wicked Company have a care of immodest Discourses or to say with the Apostle permit not your self to be deceiv'd therewith for Wicked Discourses corrupt good Manners We have spoken of this Cause before in Chap. 6. See what is said there and chiefly the Example I brought above in Art. 3. of that young Man who permitting himself to be deprav'd with wicked Company dy'd in Despair The Fourth Cause is familiar Conversation with Women Fourth Cause which is also extreamly dangerous It is there Theotime where the Chastity of young Persons is utterly ruin'd and destroy'd and frequently after it had been preserv'd from other Dangers it there chances to be deplorably Shipwreckt Impure Love enters but too easily into young Minds but when it is assisted by the presence of the Object it is inslam'd beyond all imagination For this reason the Wiseman gives us that important Admonition * In medio mulierum noli commorari de vestimentis enim procedit tinea à muliere iniquitas viri Eccl. 42. Continue not amongst Women because from their Conversation springs the loss and destruction of Men as Moths which eat Cloaths are bred in the Garments Now if the Company of Women be very prejudicial to young People it becomes pernicious to them and absolutely mortal when it passes to a Familiarity to a Desire to please and be belov'd to overmuch Freedom to Caresses and Demonstrations of Friendship and such like Privacies too common amongst young Persons which S. Jerom calls very well Principia moriturae virginitatis The beginning of the approaching ruin of Chastity We must add to this Cause either immodest or too curious Looks which may be perform'd either in or out of Conversation Love enters by the Eyes and sometimes a Look without any wicked Design draws after it a vast train of Sins Give ear to what the Holy Ghost teaches you by the Mouth of the Wiseman * Virginem ne aspicias ne forte scandalizer is in decora illius Averte faciem tuam à muliere compta ne circumspicias speciem alienam Propter speciem mulieris multi perierunt ex hoc concupiscentia quasi ignis inardescit Eccl. 9. Look not on a Virgin lest you be scandaliz'd at her Beauty Divert your Eyes from a Woman comelily Adorn'd and regard not curiously her graceful Behaviour Remember that Womens Beauty hath been fatal to many and hath enkindled unchast Flames in their Hearts What an excellent Advertisement is this Theotime yet as much unknown as it is important Engrave this deeply in your Memory and have a care to govern well your Sight so that it be not too dissolute for all manner of Looks and if it happen to glance upon dangerous Objects at least fix it not there but withdraw it immediately Observe the same Rule in respect of all Pictures or immodest Figures which are so many Rocks for Chastity to split on and wherewith the World is misfortunately replenish'd Adjoyn also to the former Causes Kisses which amongst young Persons proceed often from Sensuality and immodest Affection altho' it be sometimes conceal'd or at least they excite it and give a beginning to many Sins and Uncleannesses For this reason a good Author calls them very properly * Impudici tactus osculi quid aliud est quam morsus diaboli arrha peccati Euseb Emiss Hom. de Quadr. The Bitings of the Devil and an Earnest of Sin. In fine add also to these Causes unchast Books which you ought to fly as the Plague of the Soul and the certain corruption of Chastity See what we have said Part 2. Chap. 17. These are the most ordinary Causes of Immodesty which you ought carefully to avoid if you desire to be freed from their pernicious Effect To fly them usefully and as you ought Theotime take notice of those you have and principally bear dominion in you and having observ'd them avoid them the most you can For Example If it be Idleness apply all your Care to overcome that by Labor If it be Intemperance be sober in your Diet and perform some Abstinence by the Advice of your Ghostly Father ARTICLE VI. Other particular Remedies against Impurity In flying the Causes of Impurity you must apply the Remedies proper to cure and entirely repell it Amongst others I shall give you these Four which are joyntly most necessary against this Sin and very efficacious to preserve you from it The First is Prayer First Remedy God is the Author of Purity we must demand it of him and the Grace to resist the Motions of that misfortunate Concupiscence which causes continual Rebellions against the Spirit Demand it daily Theotime but not as * At ego adolescens miser valde miser in exordio adolescentiae etiam petieram à te castitatem dixeram da mihi castitatem continentiam sed noli modo Timebam enim ne me cito exaudires cito sanarer à morbo concupiscentiae quam malebam expleri quam extingui
of the Testament was taken by the Enemies And all the rest of the Prediction was fulfill'd a little after The Third Example is of Amnon 2 Reg. 13. the eldest Son of David The Scripture recounts but one wicked Action of his yet one so black and detestable that it necessarily supposes many others it being certain that a Man never ascends on a suddain to the height of Impiety and that great Crimes are the Effect of a Soul abandon'd by God for her precedent Sins This young Prince having permitted his Heart to be overcome with unchast Love lets himself be carry'd away in such a manner that this brutish Passion which ordinarily moves to heinous Extremities and enormous Crimes making him lose the most inviolable Laws of Nature excited him to love unchastly his own Sister whereupon when he could not obtain her Consent to such an abominable Proposal he adds Force to Passion committing in one only Action two most enormous Crimes Violence and Incest But the Divine Justice did not wait long before it made appear what a Horror it had for the Crimes and wicked Life of this young Prince For two Years after he was kill'd by his own Brother Absolom who had conceal'd this Revenge in his Heart all that time O God how terrible are thy Judgments The Fourth which is of Absolom 2 Reg. 13 14. the Third Son of David who was no better than his Brother Amnon He had a proud dissembling revengeful and highly ambitious Mind having a mighty Esteem for himself and his own Beauty which by report of Scripture was extraordinary The first wicked Action which the Scripture relates of him but which must needs have been preceded by many others is the Murther of his Brother Amnon which was an abominable Crime For this Action he was cast out of his Father's Favour and banish'd from him for the space of five Years after which he was recall'd and admitted to his Favour again He was scarce return'd to his Father's Court when he begins to devise a famous Rebellion against him And having by his Addresses gain'd the Affection of the People he departs to a little Village where he causes himself to be Proclaim'd King. After this he takes up Arms against his Father constrains him to fly from the City of Jerusalem and pursues him with a strong Army which he had rais'd to deprive him of his Crown What will the Divine Justice do here Will it be insensible of the Wrongs of such a degenerate Child Hearken Theotime to what the Sacred Scripture relates David seeing himself brought to such Straits by his Son was oblig'd to make Head against him and oppose him He sets in order the small Forces he had with him sends them to Fight gives him Battel Absolom's Men tho' far more in number are Defeated In this Discomfiture O the Divine Judgments it happens that Absolom endeavouring to save himself by Flight was carry'd under a great Oak and as he wore his Locks very long his Hair by a strange Accident and particular Permission of God was so strongly entangl'd in the Branches of the Tree that the Mule he rode on could not carry him away but continuing his Course left him hanging by the Head without being able to disengage himself David's Soldiers seeing him in this Condition came and ran him thro' with a Lance and kill'd him immediately altho' David by an incredible Bounty sending them to the Battel had expresly forbidden them to offer any hurt to his Person O Divine Justice Thou shewest most clearly that Thou dost not wink at the Iniquities of wicked Children and altho' Thou deferrest for a time the Chastisement they deserve to give them leisure to Repent Thou afterwards punishest most severely their Obstinacy in Sin and the Affront they offer to Thy Goodness with which Thou expectest their Repentance Behold Four Examples out of the Sacred Scripture which evidently manifest how God hath an Aversion for vicious young People The same Scripture might furnish us with many others Ancient Histories are all full and daily Experience produces but too many Examples in these Times Take notice of one thing worthy of Consideration An important Remark That in the Four precedent Examples are contain'd Three forts of Sins which render young People particularly odious to God and which are the most ordinary Causes of their Ruine In the First and Third the Sin of Impurity In the Second the Contempt of Religion and Holy Things to which may be referr'd the Abuse of Ecclesiastical Benefices by young Incumbents who many times draw upon themselves and their Families the Divine Malediction In the Fourth the Contempt of Parents and Rebellion against Fatherly Authority CHAP. VII That Salvation ordinarily depends on the Time of Youth WHAT we have said in the Four last Chapters Seventh most important Motive which obliges young People to Vertue hath discover'd unto you the Obligation you have to Serve God in your Youth by the Respect you owe to the Desire he hath thereof and for the Love he bears you A Respect which you cannot resist without offering him a most heinous Injury and incurring his Aversion and Displeasure Now I would make you know the same Obligation by the Interest of your Salvation and shew you clearly that your Salvation hath an extreme and almost entire dependance on the Life you lead during your Youth I would to God Theotime you and all those of your Age would comprehend well and never forget this Truth which is unknown to the greatest part of Men the ignorance whereof causes the Ruine and Damnation of many I wish all Men understood that the immense Eternity of Happiness or Misery which expects them after this Life depends upon this first Time which all the World despises and which the most part employs wickedly To convince you of this Verity I shall produce the Sentiment of the Sacred Scripture that is of the Holy Ghost himself who brings such express Testimonies that it is impossible to doubt of it For why doth it in so many places advertise young People to think of their Salvation betimes and to apply themselves to Vertue in their Youth except it were to shew that that Time is a Time of great Importance for their Salvation Why doth it say in Ecclesiastes a Memento Creatoris tui in diebus juventutis tuae antequam veniat tempus afflictionis Eccles 12. Remember your Creator in the days of your Youth before the Time of Afflictions comâ— and the sad and discomfortable Years approach From whence comes it that it assures us in the Proverbs That the b Adolescens juxta viam suam etiam senuerit non recedet ab ea Prov. 12. young Man shall continue even until his old Age in the Way he has once enter'd that is the manner of Life which he has begun Wherefore doth it say by the Prophet Jeremy That it is c Bonum est homini cum portaverit jugum
God from his Youth and kept his Commandments he complain'd not against God for the Affliction of Blindness which he sent him but continu'd immoveable in the Fear of God giving him Thanks all the Days of his Life O how admirable is the Effect of a Vertue which hath always increas'd with Age b Sexagenarius lumen recepit reliquum vero vitae in gaudio fuit cum bono profactu timoris Dei porrexit in pace Tob. 14. He was deliver'd from that Affliction Four Years after and liv'd to the Age of 110 when he dy'd in peace after he had made as the Scripture takes notice a continual Progress in the Fear and Service of God. Thus Theotime do they Live thus do they Die who have spent their Life vertuously in their Youth I cannot finish this Chapter Third Example of Eleazar which is already too long without bringing a Third Example in the Person of that great Martyr of the Old Testament Eleazar 2 Machab. 6. He was an ancient Man very Venerable for the number of his Years but yet more for his Vertue wherein he had liv'd from his Infancy When King Antiochus Persecuted the Jews to make them Renounce their Religion and the Adoration of the true God this holy Man was Apprehended to be constrain'd thereto by force of Torments which could never make his ancient Piety to stagger And when some of the Standers by exhorted him to obey the Persecutor at least in exterior shew and appearance to free himself from the Torture The Scripture saith that he took into Consideration the Dignity of his Age At ille cogitare caepit aetatis ac senectutis suae eminentiam dignam ingenitae nobilitatis canitiem atque à puero optimae conversationis actus which was grown gray in Vertue not having committed any thing yet unworthy of his Extraction and of a true Son of Abraham and the Religious Life he had led from his Infancy and having reflected on these things he immediately Answer'd with an invincible Courage That he would rather Die than consent to such a criminal Action And presently his Torments were redoubled and he suffer'd Death with an incredible Patience Learn dear Theotime from this Example and the precedent what a Vertue acquir'd in Youth is able to do when setled by a continual Exercise of good Actions and labour to be such now as you would wish to be all the remainder of your Life CHAP. X. That those who have been addicted to Vice in their Youth are very difficultly Corrected and it often happens that they never Amend but miserably Damn themselves O Theotime Ninth Motive the great Importance of Living well during Youth that I had a Pen that were able to Engrave this important Truth more deeply in your Heart than in Brass or Marble and make you perfectly comprehend the great and dreadful Difficulty with which he Corrects himself who hath led a wicked Life in his Youth A Difficulty so great that it is almost impossible sufficiently to express it and on the other side so general that we cannot consider it attentively without being touch'd with a lively Sorrow seeing so vast a number of Christians and principally of young People who grone under the tyranny of a vicious Habit which being contracted in their Youth and increas'd with Age leads them to Perdition from whence if it chance they recover it is with incredible Pains and Combats and by a manifest Miracle of Divine Grace Learn O dear Theotime to avoid this Danger and endeavour to comprehend the greatness either entirely to prevent it or quickly to withdraw your self if you be already engag'd therein This so great a Difficulty springs from three Causes The First is the incredible Power and Force of a wicked Habit which being once rooted in the Soul cannot be pluckt up but with great trouble All Habits have commonly this Quality that they continue a long time and are very hardly destroy'd But amongst others wicked Habits are such as adhere more strongly and are not so easily chang'd Because it is far more difficult to corrupt Nature to raise it self to Good than to do Evil. Hence it comes that the Scripture says Perversi 〈◊〉 cilè corrigeâ—tur 〈◊〉 rum infinitus est numerus Eccles 1. That the Wicked are hardly Corrected which makes the number of Fools that is of Sinners to be infinite But amongst wicked Habits those which are contracted in Youth are the strongest and with most difficulty overcome For the Passions which are the Instruments of Vice not being moderated in that Time by Vertue encrease with Age and encreasing augment and fortifie Vice giving it daily new Forces which render it at length unconquerable For this Reason the same Scripture having a Mind to express the force of a vicious Habit contracted in younger Years delivers a Sentence which young People ought to have frequently before their Eyes Job 20. Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adolescentiae ejus cum eo in pulvere dormient The Wicked shall be fill'd with Vices from his Youth and they will follow him to his Grave That is the Vices and ill Inclinations of Youth become so deeply and strongly rooted in the Soul that all the remainder of his Life is sensible of them and opprest with them and they continue even until Death as we daily see And the Cause thereof is very evident for Vice which has once gotten possession of a Soul encreases and strengthens the Passions the Passions corrupt the Judgment and make it conceive that Good which is Evil esteem Evil that which is Good The Judgment perverted corrupts the Will which is carry'd blindly to Sin and from thence proceeds all the remainder of Wickedness because as S. Augustin says a Ex voluntate perversa facta est libido dum servitur libidini facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non refistitur facta est necessitas Aug. lib. 8. Confes cap. 3. The Will deprav'd settles its Affection and takes Pleasure in Ill. Pleasure produceth a Custom and a Custom not resisted becomes a Necessity And when a Soul is arriv'd at this Point she is out of hopes of Amendment because as another Author adds b Actio consuetudinem parit consuetudo necessitatem necessitas mortem S. Isid Necessity is the Mother of Death The Second Cause of this great Difficulty is the Diminution of the Divine Grace For as God augments his Favours to those that humbly receive them and make use of them for their Salvation so he diminisheth them to those who abuse and contemn them Now if he treat Men in this manner it seems that he more ordinarily deals so with young Men on whom as he bestows many Favours when they worthily dispose themselves as we have said above so he withdraws his Kindnesses from them when they abuse them as we have made appear by the Experience of those who having been favour'd with particular Obligations from
God in their Youth are presently after sensible of a great diminution of those Favours occasion'd by the ill use they have made of them God himself threatens this by a Prophet when he speaks thus a In illa die deficient adolescentes in siti qui jurant in delicto Samariae Young People shall perish with Thirst who Swear in the Sin of Samaria That is who make Profession of Adoring the Idols which the City of Samaria Adores This Thirst is not only a Corporeal but a Spiritual Thirst and the want of Divine Grace of which it is spoken immediately before b Mittam famem in terram non famem panis neque sitim aquae sed audiendi verbum Dei. I will send a Famine upon the Earth not a Famine of Bread nor a Drought of Water but of the Word of God. The Third Cause is the Power and Dominion of the Devil which is enlarg'd according to the measure that vicious Habits are encreas'd Sins multiply'd and Divine Favours diminisht It is the proper Effect of Sin which making a Soul lose the Grace and Protection of her Creator to subject her to the Dominion of the Devil and engage her more and more in that misfortunate Slavery according to the proportion that she continues in Vice. O Theotime who can sufficiently express the deplorable State of a Soul reduc'd to that Servitude under the Tyranny of her mortal Enemy who employs all his Engines and Devices to destroy her without recovery suggesting all the Temptations to her which might move her unto Sin furnishing her daily with new Occasions of Destruction diverting her from those that might withdraw her from Disorder casting her headlong from Sin to Sin from one Vice to another until such time that her Iniquities being come to a Head she by the utmost Effect of the Divine Choler is abandon'd to her Eternal Perdition Thus doth this cruel Enemy treat those whom he hath under his Power and that by a just Permission of God who rejects in this manner those who withdraw themselves from his Service and Friendship and who refusing to submit themselves to his Commands and to the plenty of his Favours and Benedictions most justly merited to be abandon'd to that cruel Master who breaths nothing but their Destruction and will never * Servietis diis alienis die ac nocte qui non dabunt vobis requiem Jerem. 66. cease to persecute them till he hath precipitated them into Eternal Damnation O Theotime how misfortunate are all those who are faln into this deplorable Slavery but yet more miserable those who being engag'd therein think not of sighing after their Deliverance CHAP. XI Examples upon the precedent Subject And First of those who have Corrected the Vices of their Youth but yet with very great Difficulties IF this Truth be made manifest by Reason it is yet more certain by Experience which might furnish us with as many Examples thereof as there were ever Persons who follow'd Vice in their Youth and by the Divine Mercy were recall'd from it I shall content my self to produce one of the most considerable which is that of St. Augustin The Example of S. Augustin We have in the Person of this Saint the most memorable that Antiquity could supply us with to shew clearly how difficult a thing it is to Correct Vices contracted in Youth I shall recount what he himself says of it in the Narration he gives in his Confession by a particular Inspiration of God to teach all young People to be wise by his Example and to advertise them to avoid the Dangers and Rocks whereon he was misfortunately shipwrackt and prevent that Misery wherein the wicked Life of his Youth had totally engag'd him if God had not withdrawn him by an Effect or rather a Miracle of his Divine Mercy which he hath not shewn to many others He saith First Lib. 1. Confes cap. 10. That he spent his Childhood in all the wicked Inclinations that Age was capable of disobeying his Parents and Masters Cap. 12. 13. having an Affection for nothing but Play flying Labour refusing to Learn not attending to those things which were profitable Et tamen ego Deus meus libenter haec didici delectabar miser ob hoc bonae spei puer appellabar Cap. 16. but only to those which were delightful and dishonest wherein he took a singular Pleasure extraordinary subject to Lying addicted to little Thefts and to all the Malice a Mind was capable of in that Age. He passes thus his Youth until the Age of Sixteen These first Inclinations as it usually happens were follow'd by other far greater Disorders Being come to Sixteen Years of Age Cap. 19. that Mind which had not been restrain'd in the first disordinate Excesses of its Nature Lib. 2. cap. 1. carry'd him to all the Vices his Age was apt to receive * Ubi eram quam longe exulabam à deliciis domus tuae anno illo sexto decimo aetatis carnis meae cum accepit in me sceptrum totas manus dedi ei vesania libidinis licentiosae per dedecus humanum illicitae autem per leges tuas Cap. 2. He says it himself and he says it with Sighs and Lamentations That Sensuality and Lascivious Passions did so powerfully seise on his Heart in that Age that they plung'd him into all the Sins of Impurity even to such a heighth as is not fit to be exprest so that neither the Fear of God nor the discreet Corrections of his Mother nor the Infamy of Sin nor any other Consideration could any way bridle him in that first Disorder but on the contrary he became so ungracious that he not only lost all shame for Vice * Praeceps ibam in tanta caecitate ut inter coaetaneos meos puderet me minoris dedecoris quando audiebam eos jactantes flagitia sua tanto gloriantes magis quanto magis turpes essent Cap. 3. but took a pride in it and was asham'd not to be accounted as vicious as the most deprav'd He began this Life when he was return'd from his Studies in his Father's House where he dwelt a whole Year After that he was sent to Carthage to finish his Studies where he continu'd the same manner of Life till the Age of Nineteen Here Theotime A considerable Remark for young Men. you shall take notice by the way of four or five Causes of this Corruption of S. Augustin in that Age. The First Idleness wherein he spent his Sixteenth Year in his Father's House Ubi sexto illo decimo anno interposito otio ex necessitate domestica feriatus ab omni Schola cum parentibus esse caepi excesserunt caput meum vepra libidinum nulla erat eradicans manus Lib. 2. cap. 2. at his return from his Studies which is a Time very dangerous for young People as we shall shew hereafter Secondly Cum interea
long time For in the Ninth Year of his Reign the City of Jerusalem was Besieg'd by Nabuchadonosor King of Babylon and after Two Years Siege it was Taken Sackt and put to Fire and Sword the Temple Ransackt and Burnt those of the People who had escap'd the fury of the Sword or Famine were sent into Captivity And he flying with his Children was taken and brought before the proud King who after having receiv'd him with Expressions of Fury and Indignation caused his Childrens Throats to be cut before his Face and afterwards pull'd out his Eyes and made him be sent Captive into Babylon where he dy'd miserably undergoing the just Punishment of his Iniquities We must add to these Examples those which we have recounted in the Sixth Chapter being that all those of whom we spoke in that place are dead in their Sins and by Sins begun in their Youth These Examples are very common in Sacred Scripture the contrary are there very rare and as I have said we shall find but one only in the Old Testament who was truly Converted after he had liv'd wickedly in his Youth viz. Manasses and that by so strange a Means that it manifests more clear than Day the dreadful Difficulty with which one Corrects the wicked Inclinations of his younger Years This Prince having lost his Father Ezechias 4 Reg. 21. one of the most pious Kings of Juda at the Age of Twelve Years was Inheritor of his Crown but not of his Vertues For blotting out of his Mind presently the holy Examples and wise Documents he had receiv'd from him he addicts himself to all sorts of Vices and Impieties such as the Scripture recounts His Iniquities went on encreasing until the Fifteenth or according to others till the Two and twentieth Year of his Reign wherein God sent him an extreme Affliction He was taken by the Assyrians in the City of Jerusalem sent Captive into Babylon loaden with Irons and Chains cast into a frightful Prison where he was daily afflicted with a vast number of Miseries and Persecutions Being reduc'd to this extremity of Misery he began to open his Eyes and call upon him in his Afflictions whom he had forgotten in his Prosperity He acknowledg'd his Iniquities and begg'd Pardon for them with a truly contrite Heart and by the force of Tears and Prayers obtain'd from God his Deliverance After which he did Penance for his Sins and liv'd in Holiness all the remainder of his Life even to the Age of Sixty seven when he dy'd St. Jerom adds to this History a very remarkable Particularity which he took out of the Tradition of the Hebrews For Explicating what the Scripture says in general Terms * Qui posteaquam coangustatus est oravit Dominum Deum suum Hieron in ques Heb. in Paral. That Manasses being opprest with Affliction had recourse to God he saith that it was in the Extremity of a frightful Death to which he was expos'd He should have been put to Death in a great brazen Vessel pierc'd with many Holes set upon a hot Fire which heating the Vessel and penetrating it on every side should consume that miserable Prince by its Flames by so much the more cruel as it was tedious in duration He was shut up in this Vessel and the Fire kindled under him In this dreadful Representation of Death this misfortunate Prince apply'd not himself to God but first to the Idols which he had ador'd so strangely was he blinded with his former Sins But when he perceiv'd that it was to no end to invoke their Assistance he call'd to mind a Sentence of the Sacred Scripture which he had often heard from his Father in his Youth by which God promis'd his Succours * Dum quaesi eris Dominum Deum tuum invenies eum si tamen tâ—â—o corde quae ieris tota tribulatione animae tuae Deut. 4. to those who had recourse to him in their Tribulations and converted themselves to him with all their Heart and had a great Sorrow for their Sins He presently raises his Heart to God with Sighs and Lamentations and begs of him his Deliverance with such a Contrition for his Sins that God shew'd him Mercy and not only deliver'd him from that frightful Death but from his Slavery and made him return to Jerusalem where he spent the rest of his Life after the manner I have already touch'd See here Theotime a Conversion after a wicked Life of Youth but a Conversion purchas'd at a dear Rate CHAP. XIII Of the great Evils which spring from the wicked Life of Youth THE greatest of Evils is that whereof we speak Tenth Motive which obliges young People to Vertue viz. The loss of Salvation and Eternal Ruine which befalls many by the Sins of their Youth it being certain that Sins committed in that Age are the original Cause of Damnation to many But besides that there are many others issuing from the same Fountain which are necessary to be known dear Theotime to the end that knowing them you may conceive a greater horror of the Cause which produces them ARTICLE I. The first Evil viz. Death which the Sins of Youth hasten to very many I put in the first place Death hasten'd which happens to many young Persons in punishment of their Sins I do not mean that all those who die in the Flower of their Age die in punishment of the Sins they have committed nor also that all those who follow Vice in their Youth should be punish'd with an untimely Death I know very well that the Pious sometimes depart in the prime of their Youth and that this Death is a Recompence of their Vertue and an Effect of the Love God bears them according to that Testimony of the Sacred Scripture in the Book of Wisdom If the Just says the Wiseman Justus si morte praeoccupatus fuerit in refrigerio erit placens Deo factus dilectus vivens inter peccatores transsatus est Raptus est ne malitia mutaret intellectum ejus ne fictio deciperet animam illius facinatio enim nugacitatis obscurat bona inconstantia concupiscentiae transvertit sensum sine malitia consummatus in brevi explevit tempora multa placita enimerat Deo anima illius propter hoc properavit Dominus educere illum de medio iniquitatum Sap. 4. be prevented by Death he will find therein Repose and Salvation his Vertue having render'd him agreeable to God made him purchase his Love and merit to be taken out of this World where he liv'd amongst Sinners God withdrew him betimes lest Corruption should slip into his Mind and his Soul be deceiv'd with the false appearance of the Vanity and Pleasures of the World which delude Men and make them love those things which are most opposite to their Salvation I know also very well that there are many Sinners who live a long time and who grow old in the Vices they had contracted in their Youth
hate Vertue and those who follow it * Execratio peccatori cultura Dei. Eccl. 1.32 Detestantur stulti eos qui fugiunt mala Prov. 13.20 Ambulans recto itinere timens dominum despicitur ab eo qui infami graditur via Prov. 14.2 The Service of God is an Execration to Sinners says the Wiseman Fools detest those who fly from Vice. It is ordinary that he who walks in the Path of Vertue and fears God should be despis'd by the World and wicked Persons who follow the infamous Track of Vice. If the Esteem of Men move you why seek you not after the Esteem of wise and vertuous Men who respect and honor you when you do well 3. Call to mind that dreadful Menace which the Son of God gave to all those who blush at his Service * Qui erubuerit me sermones meos hunc filius hominis erubescet cum venerit in majestate sua Luc. 9. He who shall be asham'd of me and my words I will be asham'd of him when I shall come in glory that is he will not acknowledge them for his Remember that fearful Confusion which at the Day of Judgment will cover the Face of those who have blush'd in this Life at the Service of God when their Sins shall be expos'd to the view of the whole World and that for the Shame they had for Vertue * Dabo vobis in opprobrium sempiternum ignominiam aeternam quae nunquam oblivione delebitur Jer. 23. v. 40. they shall be abandon'd to an eternal Disgrace and Confusion which shall never be blotted out of the memory of the Angels and Saints as the Scripture testifies O dear Child demand frequently of God Practice that he would strengthen your Mind against this Misfortune which is nothing but the pure Imagination of a weak Spirit Accustom your self betimes to perform good Works freely without regarding what others speak or esteem of them Despise their Contempts and mock at their Scoffs and reflect what a great Folly it is to prefer the Esteem of Men before your Eternal Salvation and to please a small number of lewd Men not to value the Displeasure of all wise Persons of all the Saints in Heaven and of God himself Weigh well this Reflection CHAP. VI. The Sixth Obstacle Wicked Company ARTICLE I. How hurtful it is O dear Theotime how should I rejoyce if I had Eloquence enough to make you comprehend and all those of your Age understand the greatness of this Impediment of your Salvation and clearly set before your Eyes the multitude of young People who are daily ruin'd by wicked Company It is in this where ordinarily the Devil sets his Snares for Youth A Snare of the Devil for young People and those whom he could not destroy either by the want of Instruction or by the Indulgence of Parents or by the Untractableness of their Minds or by Inconstancy or by a Shame of doing well he perverts by frequenting ill Company Their Discourses their Examples and bad Conversations serve him as Instruments to corrupt the most holy and subvert the State of a good Conscience and frequently by one of these Means he has bred great Disorders in Souls which were almost ignorant of Sin and had conserv'd Vertue amidst the most dangerous Occasions O God! is it possible that this malignant Spirit finds no Instruments more powerful to destroy Men than Men themselves nor to make use of as Servants and Ministers to execute against their own Brethren the Rage he has conceiv'd against them and the Design he hath laid to draw them together with himself into Eternal Damnation I know not whether I should most deplore those who contribute by their Discourses or Examples to the ruin of others or those who suffer themselves to be perverted by them for want of flying and avoiding their Conversation more than those infected with the Plague Concering the First a Noli cibo tuo perdere pro quo Christus mortuus est Rom. 14. are not they sadly miserable to destroy by their Conversation those for whom Jesus Christ hath Dy'd as if it were not sufficient to damn themselves b Errantes in errorem mittentes 2 Tim. 3. but also to be the cause of Damnation of their Brethren to be the Author of their Depravation and of an infinite number of Sins which they commit to be the Instruments of the Malice of the Devils and perform by themselves the Office of that detestable Fiend which is to move Men to Sin and precipitate them into hell c Vox sanguinis fratris tui clamat ad me de terra Gen. 4. Sanguinem ejus de manu tua requiret Ezech. 3. Wretched Cain you shall answer for the Souls of your Brethren the voice of their Blood which you have spilt that is of their Salvation which you have ruin'd cries to God for Vengeance against you he will seek for it from your hands you must render him an account of it Soul for Soul. d Vae homini illi per quem scandalum venit Matth. 18. Wo wo says the Son of God to that Man by whom Scandal happens And as for the others are not they much to be deplor'd to permit themselves thus misfortunately to be abus'd and perverted by the Conversation of the Wicked which often befalls them after they have been well advertis'd that there is nothing more dangerous for Youth than wicked Company that that is the Rock where many are irreparably Shipwreckt and also frequently when they had made Experience of it themselves to the great detriment of their Salvation After all this not to avoid these Precipices but to go wilfully without fear into these Companies which they ought to shun more than Death it self O God! what a deplorable Blindness is it I conjure you in the Name of God dear Theotime to have a care of this Impediment of your Salvation and not thus miserably lose your self for want of Precaution Or to speak more properly it is not I who make this Exhortation to you but the Holy Ghost Hearken to the Prophets who cry out to all those who desire to be sav'd Retire retire depart from Sinners a Pollutum nolite tangere Isa 12. touch not that which is unclean b Fugite de medio Babilonis salvet unusquisque animam suam Jer. 51. Fly from the midst of Babylon and let every one apply his thoughts to the Salvation of his Soul. Give ear to the Wiseman who exhorts you with a Fatherly Affection c Fili mi si te lactaverint peccatores ne quiescas eis si dixerint veni nobiscum ne ambules cum eis Pro. 1. Son if Sinners entire thee consent not If they say Come with us O my Child walk not in the way with them restrain thy foot from their path for their feet run to evil and make hast to shed blood And afterwards he says d Ne delecteris
instituit ut laboret S. Bern. in Declam Consider that all Men are born for Labor God hath oblig'd them thereto by a solemn Sentence which he pronounc'd at the beginning of the World. If then you would be exempt leading an Idle Life you resist the Will of God and break the Order he hath so solemnly Establish'd 2. If Men be oblig'd to Labor all their Life-time they have yet a stricter Obligation to it during their Youth because if that Age be not Exercis'd in vertuous Undertakings it heaps up many Vices and wicked Habits which continue all the rest of their Life 3. Chiefly young Men. Because Youth is the proper time to cultivate the Mind and form it for Good and wherein only they may make themselves capable of an Employment where they may busie all the succeeding time of their Life If this Time be once lost it can never be repair'd Time lost in any Age never returns but there is this difference that Time lost in other Ages may sometimes be recover'd but Time lost in Youth is irreparable 4. The Sorrow for loss of Time in Youth Consider attentively the Grief you will one day have for losing the Time of your Youth when you shall find your self unfit for pious Employments and uncapable of any Good as it happens to many You believe it not at present but one day you will be sensible of it when it is too late 5. The Account that must be given If this Grief at present move you not the exact Account you shall give to God of the ill-spent Time of your Youth will at his Judgment make you tremble In that dreadful Judgment all your Life shall be set before your Eyes in order one Part after another and the first Article of the Account which shall be Examin'd will be that of the Employment you have follow'd in your Youth What will you answer to this Demand There you will distinctly discover all the Disorders which have sprung from that first Fault the Ignorances it hath caus'd in you the Sins it hath made you commit the Vices wherein you have been involv'd all the Goods you have been render'd incapable of What have you to answer to all these things 6. Many damned for the ill spending of their Touth How many others are there now in Hell who acknowledg the origin of their Damnation to arise from the ill spending the Time of their Youth If they could but hope for one sole Moment of Time which you have now in your power O God what would they not do to obtain it and bestow it profitably Is it possible that their Misery doth not move you and that you will not grow wise at other Mens Expence learning by their Example to avoid that irreparable Misfortune into which they are faln by their Idleness O dear Child for the love you ought to have for your Salvation fly absolutely this Vice I beseech you which is one of the greatest Impediments you could put And that you may remember to avoid it remember to perform two things The First is Two Practices against Idleness To apply your self to some modest Exercise which may keep you busi'd for the Time of your Youth and that you may perform it as you ought see what we have spoken of it above in Part 2. Chap. 12. The Second is That you take care as much as you can never to be Idle any more without doing something use constantly some Action whether of Labor wherein you are engag'd or Reading or Divertisement Let your Recreations be accompany'd with Actions either of Body or Mind The Devil seeks no better opportunity than to find you Idle that he may tempt and suprise you For this reason practise diligently that excellent Precept of S. Jerom * Facito aliquid operis ut te semper diabolus inveniat occupatum Hieron Epist ad Rust Be doing always something that the Devil may always find you employ'd CHAP. VIII The Eighth Obstacle Impurity WE are now come to the greatest most powerful and most universal of all the Obstacles of the Salvation of Youth viz. the Sin of Impurity At the Entrance whereof I cannot refrain from uttering that Expression of the Prophet Jeremy * Quis dabit capiti meo aquam oculis meis fontem lachrymarum plorabo die nocte interfectos filiae populi mei Jerem. 5. O that my Head were full of Water and my Eyes had a Fountain of Tears that I might weep Day and Night for the Desolation of my People For who can attentively consider the infinit number of young People which this Sin keeps miserably enslav'd the havock it makes of their Souls the innumerable Offences it causes them to commit the Disorders it brings to them the Misfortunes into which it daily precipitates them and chiefly the height of Misery viz. the ruin of their Soul and Eternal Damnation Who can consider these things I say without having his Heart pierc'd with Sorrow and without being mov'd with Compassion to advertise them of the Danger and afford them Assistance to withdraw them from the Misfortune into which they blindly run For this reason Theotime I beseech you six here your Thoughts and read attentively some Points of which I am to Discourse with you concerning this Sin that I may raise in your Mind the horror and apprehension you ought to have of it as of the greatest Enemy of your Salvation and of the certain cause of your Destruction ARTICLE I. That the Sin of Impurity is the greatest Enemy of Youth and Damns more than all other Vices together I would to God this Proposition were rather a Dream than a Truth and that there were as much reason to question the certainty as to hold it for infallible But it is made too clear and visible by daily Experience which evidently discovers two things 1. That a great part of Youth is addicted to this miserable Sin. 2. That amongst those who are inclin'd to it there are many who are no less subject to other Sins than that First Youth much given to the Sins of Impurity Is it not a most deplorable thing to see the innocentest Age of Life so corrupted by that infamous Sin and the most flourishing Portion of Gods Church dishonor'd in such a manner by that detestable Vice They are no sooner capable of Reason but this Vice attacks and gains upon them it creeps into their Mind it possesses their Desires it seises on their Thoughts it inflames their Hearts with a love of dishonest Pleasures which daily encreasing with Age becomes so strong that it is almost impossible to extinguish it This arises partly from the Corruption of Nature Three Causes of Impurity Sensus cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua Gen. 8.3 which as the Sacred Scripture takes notice is inclin'd to Evil from its Youth partly from the Temper and Constitution of that Age which the
tenderness of the Body and heat of Blood makes more susceptible of the Impression of Sensual Pleasures and partly also from the malice of the Devil which assaults Man in his Youth on the weakest side making use of the frailty of the Flesh to take possession of the Spirit and as * Adversum juvenes puellas aetates ardore hostis noster ahutitur in flammat rotam nativitatis nostrae Haec sunt ignita diaboli jacula quae simul vulnerant inflammant à Rege Babilonio tribus pueris praeparantur S. Hieron Epist. ad Demetriad S. Jerom judiciously observes takes advantage of the Heat of Youth by which he raises in their Heart the Fire of unchast Love enkindling in them a more burning and cruel Furnace than that which the King of Babylon caus'd to be prepar'd for the three innocent Children of Israel because that could but consume their Bodies but this scorches their Souls and prepares them by that impure Flame for another Fire which shall never be consum'd O Theotime they who attentively consider the Corruption of Manners which is found in Youth can never be sufficiently sorry for them But that which deserves most to be lamented is that it frequently falls out that there is nothing but this Sin which is the cause of it it being certain that there are many who are not subject to any other considerable Vices or if they be they are the Effects of this and if they were freed from this they would lead a perfectly pure and innocent Life Whereas on the contrary Haec adversus adolescentiam prima sunt arma daemonum non sic avaritia quatit inflat superbia delectat ambitio S. Jer. Epist ad Eustechium permitting themselves to be overcome by this unclean Passion they live a Life full of Iniquities and heaping up daily new Sins and perverse Habits cast themselves into so deplorable a State that they are often out of hopes of Amendment and Salvation O misfortunate Sin must thou thus destroy Men when they begin to work for their Salvation must thou forcibly take away from God so many beauteous Souls which without thee would live in innocence to sacrifice them to Pleasures and by Pleasures to the Devil and everlasting Flames Cursed Incontinence who is there that can hate thee as thou deservest To apprehend it more clearly Theotime read attentively that which follows and judge of the Cause by its Effects ARTICLE II. Of the sad Effects of the Sin of Impurity The Author of the Book De bono pudicitiae attributed to St. Cyprian describes briefly a great number of the misfortunate Effects of this Sin For he says that * Impudicitia semper est detestanda obscoenum ludibrium reddens ministris suis nec corporibus parcens nec animis debellatis propriis moribus totum hominem suum sub triumphum libidinis mittit blanda prius ut plus noceat dum placet Ea hauriens rem cum pudore cupiditatum infesta tabies incendium conscientiae bonae mater impoenitentiae ruina melioris aetatis Auth. de bon Pud Immodesty is a detestable Passion which spares neither Souls nor Bodies which renders Men absolutely Slaves of dishonest Love flattering them at the beginning that it might more effectually destroy them When it hath gotten possession of their Hearts it drains their Goods together with their Shamefac'dness It excites Passions even to excess it destroys a good Conscience it is the Mother of Impenitence the loss and ruin of the best part of Age that is of Youth Omitting the Damage that Sin causes to the Body Honor and Possessions I shall insist only upon the dreadful Effects it produces in the Soul which I reduce to Five or Six The First is First Effect the destruction of the Fear of God. the destruction of the Fear of God which it works in the Soul and the ruin of all good Inclinations Experience shews this Effect so common that we need not seek any other Proof we see many young People well Educated who have very good Inclinations in their Youth an aversion from Evil a great affection to Piety the Fear of God strongly imprinted in their Souls Now all these good Qualities remain if the Sin of Impurity doth not take possession of their Heart but when that hath once enter'd into their Mind it entirely subverts them It creeps in first by immodest Thoughts the Thoughts produce the desire of wanton Pleasures the Desire moves to unchast Actions these Sins repeated and multiply'd ruin all the good Inclinations things now appear far otherwise than before the Sin now seems no more so great it becomes more familiar to them and such an one who before had a great apprehension of one sole mortal Sin when he is once overcome by this brutish Passion is not dismay'd to commit them by hundreds and thousands O God what a Change what a subversion is this of a Conscience The Second Effect of this Sin Second Effect A Disrelish of Vertue is a Disrelishing and even an Aversion to Vertue and to all pious and wholsom Things It is not to be conceiv'd how those who are infected with this Vice have an aversion to Divine Things and Salvation Prayer is tedious to them and Sacraments contemptible the Word of God moves them not reading of pious Books is insupportable This is too manifest by Experience and no wonder Theotime he who is Distemper'd with a Fever takes no delight in the most delicious Meats on the contrary they seem to him bitter because his Tast is deprav'd with some bitter Quality Thus he who is once seis'd by this burning Fever of Impurity finds a wonderful loathing and dislike of all the most pious and wholsome Things by reason he hath his Heart infected with carnal and impure Affections which permit him not to relish the sweetness of holy Things a Animalis homo non percipit ea quae Dei sunt The natural man says S. Paul that is who follows the Motions of the Animal or Sensible part tasts not the things which are of God. And b Qui secundum carnem sunt quae carnis sunt sapiunt Rom. 5. those who live according to flesh relish only the things of the flesh The Third Effect is a Blindness of Mind which this Sin produces in the Soul Third Effect Blindness of Mind which hinders her from discerning Good from Bad and judging of things as she ought It is impossible that a Mind once possess'd by that Passion should not have its Judgment perverted and should not determin of things of Salvation quite contrary to Truth The Tie and Inclination it hath to that Sin makes it not account it so great an Evil for we ordinarily judg according to our Inclinations and that it can withdraw it self when it pleases it hinders it from seeing the wicked Consequences and Misfortunes this Vice brings after it It takes away the remembrance of the Divine Judgments and
Remedy is to resist it betimes and in its first assaults before it hath gotten possession and render'd it self Master of your Heart This The necessity of this Remedy Theotime is the great Remedy against this Sin and principally in Youth wherein it is so necessary that for want of practising it the greatest part of young Men are misfortunately engag'd in this Vice and oftentimes so deeply that they are never able to free themselve or with very great trouble It is the chief Maxim for all Distempers whether of Body or Soul to apply their Remedies in the beginning Principiis obsta sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas invaluere moras The Motions unto Ill at first withstand The Cure's too late when Vice has got Command Now if the practice of this Maxim be necessary in all both Corporal and Spiritual Distempers it is particularly in this Sin of Impurity which is easily increas'd and makes a wonderful progress in a small time For this reason the Fathers have recommended it with much care hearken Theotime to what they shall deliver to you St. Cyprian says Diaboli primis titillationibus obviandum nec foveri debet coluber donec in draconem formetur Cypr. de jejunio Diabolus Serpens est lubricus cujus capiti hoc est primae suggestioni si non resistitur totus in interna cordis dum non sentitur illabitur S. Hier. in c. 9. Eccles Quid est libido nisi ignis Quid virtutes nisi flores Quid item turpes cogitationes nisi paleae Quis autem nesciat si in paleis ignis negligenter extinguitur ex parva scintilla omnes paleae accenduntur Qui ergo virtutum flores in mente non vult exurere ita debet libidinis ignem extinguere ut per tenuem scintillam nunquam possit ardere S. Greg. in c. 25. 1 Reg. l. 6. That we must resist the first Temptations of the Devil and to do otherwise is to cherish an Adder which will grow up into a Serpent able to devour him who harbour'd it S. Jerom says That the Devil is a creeping Serpent and as to keep a Serpent from entring into a Hole we hinder it from putting in its Head which being once enter'd it cannot be stopt from introducing its whole Body So to hinder the Devil from having admittance into our Soul by Sin we must resist the first Temptations which if not withstood he insensibly creeps into the Heart and makes himself Master of it St. Gregory says That Impurity is enkindled in the Soul like Fire in Straw and as if one doth not quickly and entirely extinguish the Fire it burns all that it encounters so if the Flame of Incontinence be not carefully put out it causes a Fire in the Soul which is often without remedy But give ear In initio cogitationis iniquae repelle fugiet à te cogitatio prava delectationem parit delectatio consensum consensus actionem actio consuetudinem consuetudo necessitatem necessitas mortem Sicut vipera à filiis suis in utero positis lacerata perimitur ita nos cogitationes nostrae intra nos nutritrae occidunt S. Bern. lib. de interi Dom. cap. 39. Theotime to the excellent Counsel of St. Bernard with the reason he there adds Reject evil Thoughts at the beginning and they will fly from you Lascivious Thoughts which are not resisted cause Delight Delight draws on Consent Consent produces the Action from the Action springs a Habit from a Habit Necessity and from Necessity Death And as the Viper is kill'd by the little ones she carries in her Womb so we receive Death by our vicious Thoughts when we nourish them in our Hearts The Reason of this Maxim so much recommended by the Saints is that it is easiest to resist the Sin of Impurity at the beginning and very hard to surmount it when it is become inveterate and strengthned by a long Habit. To comprehend better the greatness of this Difficulty see what we have said in the First Part of the trouble one is to undergo for his Salvation when he hath liv'd ill in his Youth for all that we have said above and the Examples we have brought are particularly to be understood of the Sin of Incontinence ARTICLE V. That we must avoid the Causes of Impurity The Second Means against the Sin of Immodesty is to avoid carefully the Causes and Occasions of it Second Remedy A Means absolutely necessary it being certain that to hinder the Effect we must take away the Cause and he who puts himself in the Occasion of Evil cannot avoid falling into it because according to the Maxim Qui amat periculum peribat in illo He who loveth Danger shall perish therein The first Cause we must fly is Idleness First Cause to be avoided Idleness which is the Mother of all Vices as we have said but principally of this It is that which opens the door to evil Thoughts Omnium cogitationum malarum tentationum sentina and immodest Desires which increase extreamly in an idle Mind and make it commit a vast number of Sins It is the Sink and Receptacle of impure Temptations according to St. Bernard Impurity says he Luxuria cito deripit homines otio deditos gravius urit quem otiosum invenit S. Bern. Serm. ad Frat. de Mon. Dei. hath never a greater advantage to surprise Men than in Idleness it burns more violently those it finds lull'd asleep in Vice. This Verity is so common that the Pagans themselves have taught it us Otia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus Contemptaeque jacent sine luce faces Quaeritur Aegyptus quare sit factus adulter In promptu causa est desidiosus erat If Sloth be banisht Cupid's Bow 's unbent His Torch extinct and all his Arrows spent Why did the Egyptian Adultery commit The Reason's clear he first did Sloth admit Have a care then Theotime to fly as much as you can this great Cause of Impurity never remaining Idle but especially when you are all alone See what we have said of Idleness in the former Chapter and of employment of Time in Part 2. Chap. 14. The Second Cause of Impurity is Intemperance in Eating and Drinking Second Cause with which it is impossible to conserve Chastity in whatsoever Age it be principally in Youth The Heat of Blood which boils in that Age excites them very much to Sensual Pleasures but when it is assisted by exterior Causes as Wine and good Cheer it produces an incredible disturbance Hearken to what S. Jerom says who speaks of it by his own Experience In his Epistle to Furia he says a Non Aetnaei ignes non Vulcania tellus non Vesuvius aut Olympus tantis ardoribus aestuant ut juveniles medullae vino dapibus inflammatae S. Jer. de Virg. Serv. That Mount Aetna Mount Vesuvius and Mount Olympus which continually exhale Fire and Flames did not
quo curvantur qui portant orbem Job 9. Columnae coeli contremiscunt pavent ad nutum ejus Job 26. A saeculo confregisti jugum meum repulisti vincula mea dixisti non serviam Jer. 2. Peccatum est exhonorare Deum quod non debet facere homo etiamsi necesse erat perire S. Aug. A God whom all Creatures adore in whose Presence the Angels tremble You are going to revolt from him to cast off the Yoke of his Obedience and say Non serviam I will not Serve You wretched Man pitiful Creature you go to resist your Creator in his Face O God what an Indignity is this Do you understand Theotime that the Injury Sin does to God is so great that it were better the whole World were subverted than one sole Sin committed 4. If you could conceal your Sin from God and not offend him in his Presence Quem times major est omnibus ipse timendus est in publico ipse in secreto Procedis videris intras videris sucerna ardet videt te lucerna extincta est videt te in cubili intras videt te in corde versaris videt te ipsum time cui cura est ut te videat vel timendo castus esto aut si peccare vis quaere ubi non te videat fac quod vis S. Aug. Ser. 46. de Verbis Dom. Quo ibo à spiritu tuo quo à facie tua fugiam Psal 138. Ego sum judex testis dicit Dominus Jer. 29.23 Videt te angelus malus videt te angelus bonus videt bonis malis major angelis Deus c. sub cujus oculis velle delinquere tam insanum est quam horrendum incidere in manus Dei viventis S. Bern. de Conversione ad Clericos cap. 16. you were less culpable but you go to offend him before his Face knowing well that he sees you considers you and regards with horror the Sin you are about to commit What greater Affront can you offer him than this You would blush for shame if you should think to be seen by a Man in this Action and have you no confusion to be seen by God himself and to do that in his adorable Presence which you would be asham'd to do in the presence of the most miserable of all Men Can you shew a greater Contempt of God than this O how blind are you If you will offend God seek at least a Place where he is not and if you cannot find it be asham'd to let that holy and adorable Eye see you in your Sin And be afraid to commit a Crime before the Face of him who is at the same time both Witness and Judg and who could strike you dead in the moment you have accomplish'd it Cast your Eyes upon the Goodness of him you are going to offend Haeccine reddis Domino popule stulte insipiens nunquid non ipse est Pater tuus qui possidet te fecit creavit te incrassatus est dilectus recalcitravit dereliquit Deum fautorem suum recessit à Deo salutari suo Deum qui te genuit dereliquisti oblitus es Domini creatoris tui vidit Dominus ad iracundiam concitatus est Deut. 32. Quid est quod dilectus meus in domo mea fecit scelera multa Jer. 11. Popule mi quid feci tibi aut quid molestus fui tibi responde mihi Mich. 6. Who is it that you assault Nothing less than your Celestial Father who hath made you what you are who hath given you all that you possess who conserves you incessantly and without whose assistance you could not move a Hand You breathe only by the Air he gives you and if he should abandon you but one moment you would fall presently into nothing Look upon your self from Head to Toe and you will find nothing but what comes from God Yet you in the midst of all these Favors and all these Benefits go about criminally to offend him despising the Goodness of so liberal a God the Love of so kind a Father making use of his own Blessings against him and to offer an Injury to him Go you ungrateful and degenetate Child more cruel than Beasts Tigers have a love for him that feeds them and you care not to offend the Author of all the Good you have Come now to that incomprehensible Abyss of the Divine Bounty to the Master-piece of his Love the Passion of his Son Jesus Christ It is here Theotime it is here where you will find wherewith entirely to break the greatest Attempts of the most violent Temptations more than any where else Cast your Eyes upon your Saviour nail'd upon the Cross Cum me pul sat aliqua turpis cogitatio recurro ad vulnera Christi cum me premit caro mea recordatione vulnerum Domini me resurgo in omnibus adversitatibus non inveni tam efficax remedium quam vulnera Christi S. Aug. Manual c. 22. Nullum tam potens est tam efficax contra ardorem libidinis medicamentum quam mors Redemptoris mei Ibid. cap. 23. Rursum crucifigentes sibimet ipsis filium Dei ostentui habentes Hebr. 6. all cover'd with Wounds overwhelm'd with Grief dying for your Salvation Fix there your Sight and Thoughts consider meditate attentively all that he Suffer'd Remember that it was for you and for the Sins you have committed that he Suffer'd in such a manner and see whether you have a Heart hard and cruel enough to resolve to offend again a God dying for your Salvation and crucifie him anew by mortal Sin. Altho' dear Child the view of a God Crucifi'd for your Sins shall not be capable to hinder you from offending him will not the Blood he shed for your Salvation soften your Heart Will not all the Griefs he endur'd for you have force to make you love him All the Wounds he receiv'd are so many Mouths and Voices which declare to you a horror for Sin and a love for Jesus and can you behold them without either having a horror for Sin which Crucifi'd Christ Jesus or a love for Jesus Christ Crucifi'd for your Sins O Jesus permit it not but cause by thy Goodness that the sole thought of thy Death so touch our Hearts in Temptations that it raise in us a horror of Sin and make us resolve to chuse rather to die than offend him again who hath suffer'd Death for our Love. ARTICLE IV. How we must behave our selves in Temptations From the moment that you perceive your self to be assaulted with a Temptation which offers to enter into your Mind Nolo sinas cogitationem crescere nihil in te Babylonium nihil confusionis adolescat Dum parvus est hostis interfice Ne nequitia ne zizania crescant elidatur in semine Audi Psalmistam dicentem Filia Babylonis misera beatus qui non tenebit allidet parvulos tuos ad Petram
here also find others have a care to encounter them in good time that you may shun them and clear your self from them demanding daily of God for this effect the assistance of his Grace Exiguo enim conceditur misericordia potentes autem potenter tormenta patientur Sap. 6. Remember that the Justice of God will be severe towards the Great and Noble and their Sins will be punish'd more rigorously than those of others as it is said in the Book of Wisdom 5. Fifth Advice Make your Nobility advance Vertue You will say How can this be See how If being Noble you be Vertuous Minimè quidem Deus est acceptor personarum nescio tamen quo pacto virtus in nobili plus placet S. Bern. Epist ad Sophi first your Vertue will be in some manner more agreeable to God according to the Judgment of St. Bernard Besides your Example will move others to Vertue your Discourse will have more authority to persuade them to Good They will give credit to you when you mildly reprehend their Faults You will have Means to comfort the Afflicted Credit to relieve the Oppressed You may often take up Quarrels and reconcile Enemies Practise your self in all these things and God will give a Blessing to your Nobility and you will be Noble both before God and Men. See yet many things which concern Nobility in Part 5. Chap. 11. Article 1.3 4. CHAP. XII Particular Obstacles of young Incumbents or such as have Benefices without Cure. I Shall not Discourse to you here of all the Obstacles which Benefices may bring to the Salvation of Incumbents but only of those you may meet with during your Youth reserving to speak of the others at the End of this Work. Here I shall only take notice of Four amongst others The First consists in this First Obstacle That being an Incumbent from your Youth the Benefice designs you to an Ecclesiastical State before you be capable to make choice of it and perhaps you are not fit for it nor call'd by God and perhaps as it often happens you have an aversion and repugnance to it This Obstacle is of great Consequence and deserves to be well consider'd For those who enter thus into an Ecclesiastical State put themselves in danger of committing great Faults therein and of never obtaining their Salvation because that State bringing with it vast Obligations and requiring a greater Stock of Vertues and Perfections than others requires a more advis'd Deliberation and chiefly a Vocation from God. I shall appoint a Remedy for this Obstacle hereafter The Second Obstacle springs from the more particular Obligation which the Benefice brings of living holily Second Obstacle All Christians are oblig'd to Vertue but the Clergy and Incumbents by reason of the Sanctity of their State have a stricter Obligation to it This Obligation renders their Sins more heinous and them more criminal in the sight of God and is the cause that when they are vicious they draw upon their Heads the Divine Anger and his forsaking them From whence it happens that they become more wicked than others more obstinate in Vice and more incapable of Correction and Amendment Third Obstacle The Third Obstacle comes from the Obligation they have to recite the Divine Office of which young Incumbents discharge themselves very badly altho' they be oblig'd to it under mortal Sin and omitting to say it are oblig'd to the restitution of the Fruits of their Benefice according to the number of the Days they have omitted it This Impediment of the Salvation of Incumbents is very great For the contempt of their Duty and these mortal Sins thus neglected and repeated rendring them more unworthy of the Grace of God are the Causes why they fall into many other Sins and into extream Disorders as we daily see The Fourth Obstacle arises from the Obligation they have of exterior Modesty Fourth Obstacle and an Ecclesiastical Habit because as the Council of Trent says admirably well Etsi habitus non faciat Monachum oportet tamen Clericos vestes proprio congruentes ordini semper deferre Ut per decentiam habitus extrinseci morum honestatem intrinsecam ostendant Conc. Trid. Sess 14. c. 5. Altho' the Habit makes not a Monk yet nevertheless the Clergy ought always to wear a Habit conformable to their State that by the modesty of their exterior Habit they may discover the interior Goodness of their Manners But now adays Incumbents and particularly young ones know nothing of this Obligation For we see them Cloath'd like others Abuses of this Obligation always in short Garments sometimes in undecent Colours cover'd with Laces and other worldly Ornaments like Lay-men in long Hair and often Curl'd and Powder'd like Courtiers This is an intolerable Abuse which causes many Disorders amongst Incumbents who not being distinguish'd from the Laity in their Habit do not believe their Duty to consist in their Life and Manners It is a Disobedience to the Church which in all her Councils complains of this Disorder and commands Incumbents to wear an Ecclesiastical Habit. It is a Contempt of Religion and of the Ecclesiastical State as the Council of Trent calls it It is a considerable Injustice for is it not an unjust Action to desire to live on the Patrimony of the Church and not be content to bear her Mark Let every one take care of this that will but Incumbents who live thus and will not change are not in the State of Grace neither can they receive Absolution if they have not a full purpose to wear an Ecclesiastical Habit. Now if not they but their Parents enjoy it as it often happens they are oblig'd to admonish them and the Parents are not in a good State of Conscience but sin grievously if they hinder them from wearing a Habit agreeable to their State. For the remedy of these Obstacles see what you are to do As for the First First Remedy consider whether you have a repugnance to an Ecclesiastical Life and whether you be not determin'd to undertake that State for in that case you cannot with a safe Conscience keep your Benefice you are oblig'd to quit it and advertise your Parents or those on whom you depend that you have no intention of being an Ecclesiastic If you be only unresolv'd not having as yet an absolute Will to be or not to be of that Condition you should endeavor to resolve the soonest you can Now if you have no repugnance but rather an Inclination to an Ecclesiastical Life think not that your Benefice ought to be a sufficient Mark of your Vocation for perhaps you are not fit for it Wherefore never desist from begging daily of God to know the State which is most proper for his Service and your own Salvation and performing all that you ought to make a good Choice of your Condition as we shall shew you hereafter For a remedy of the three other
Judgment of Reproach let him escape Fly as the Plague all Coversation of dishonest things which are really the plague and corruption of good Mannners and which cause a vast number of Sins in those who discourse of them and in those who hearken to them Fly also all dubious Expressions or such as incline to a double Sense which may give others occasion of impure Thoughts And lastly Avoid all Speeches or immodest Injuries which Men have so frequently in their Mouths and are not sufferable amongst the Debauch'd much less in you 2. In good or indifferent Discourses be not too ready or light in speaking but hearken before you speak There are some Humors which are always the first in Talking and the last in holding their Tongues who meddle with every thing interrupt others and speak of things they understand not It is the Sign of an ill-bred light indiscreet and sometimes of a proud Mind The Wiseman says excellently well * Vidisti hominem velocem ad loquendum stultitia magis sperandum est quam illius correctio Prov. 20. When you see a Man free in Talking you must expect from him more folly than Wisdom To regulate well your Speech see the Maxims you must observe 1. Speak little and hear much Rules for Speaking It is the chief Mark of a wise Mind to hearken to others and speak little The Scripture says that * Qui moderatur sermones suos doctus est prudens Stultus quoque si tacuerit sapiens reputabitur si compresserit labia sua intelligens Prov. 17. Utinam taceretis ut putaremini sapientes Job 1.13 Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum tardus vero ad loquendum Jac. 1. He who governs well his Speech is wise and advised And that Silence is so great a Sign of Wisdom that When it is found in a Man of small Vnderstanding it makes him esteem'd Discreet I speak not of a dull and melancholy Silence which springs from Stupidity and Heaviness but of a wise Silence which is observ'd by Modesty that it may give ear to others and speak in a proper time In Conversation when another speaks How we must behave our selves in Conversation have a care of Three things 1. Not to speak before you have heard what he says 2. Not to interrupt him who speaks 3. Not to be too hasty to Talk when something you understand not is well spoken of There are three Precepts of the Wiseman a Priusquam inaudias ne respondeas verbum in medio sermonum ne adjicias loqui Eccl. 11. Before you have heard answer nothing Speak not in the midst of a Discourse Learn before you speak For as it is said in the Proverbs b Antequam loquaris disce Eccles 18. Qui prius respondeat quam audiat stultum se esse demonstrat confusione dignum Prov. 18.24 He who speaks before he understands shews that he is unwise and worthy of Confusion When you shall be in some Honorable Company observe what the Wiseman appoints you to do * Adolescens loquere in tua causa vix cum necesse fuerit Si bis interrogatus fueris habeat caput responsum tuum In multis esto quasi inscius audire tacens simul quaerens Eccl. 12. Speak little and only when you are asked and let your Answer be short Seem not to be too knowing but in the most part of Conversations comport your self as if you understood nothing of the thing which is treated And this not by Dissimulation but by Modesty hearken to others being silent and ask to learn of them CHAP. XII Of other Vices of the Tongue and particularly of Swearing BEsides wicked and impertinent Discourses and a Vanity in Talking there are also many other Vices of the Tongue which Christian Modesty ought carefully to retrench the first whereof is Swearing To be addicted to Swearing is a very vicious Quality especially in young People I speak not of Oaths made by Religion to assure a Truth when sufficient Necessity requires a Necessity which seldom happens to young Persons but of those Oaths so common amongst Christians where the adorable Name of God is employ'd and taken in vain in the least Anger or first Impatience and sometimes by a setled Judgment from a detestable Custom of Swearing by the Name of God in all manner of Occasions This Sin is one of the wickedest Habits a Man can contract For 1. It is a Contempt of God Sanctum terribile nomen ejus Psal 110. Non assumes nomen Domini Dei tui in vanum Exod. 20 to bear so little Respect for his holy Name which all Creatures adore and whose Sanctity makes all the Angels to tremble and this notwithstanding the express Prohibition God hath made of it Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain 2. It is a notable Outrage offer'd to his Son Jesus-Christ to treat with so much Irreverence the precious Death he suffer'd for our Redemption and the adorable Blood he shed for our Salvation An Outrage which is no less than that he receiv'd by the Cruelty of his Executioners He was Scourged says St. Augustin with the Rods of the Jews and he is now Whipp'd by the blasphemous Tongues of wicked Christians And they sin no less who blaspheme Jesus Christ reigning in Heaven than those who blasphem'd him when he walk'd upon Earth 3. The Cause of many Sins This Vice causes many other Sins to be committed For besides that there is no Sin multiply'd like Swearing it draws the Curse of God upon those who are accustom'd to it by which they are abandon'd to their Passions Vir multum jurans replebitur iniquitate Eccl. 25. and to the Occasions of Sin For this reason the Wiseman said that He who Sweare often shall be fill'd with Iniquity 4. It is hard to be corrected This Vice is very hard to be corrected tho' never so little rooted it increases still with Age and becomes at length incapable of remedy as those who are subject to it do daily misfortunately experience Lastly The Sin of the Devil It suffices to say that this Sin is the Sin of the Devils who are pleas'd in nothing but in abusing the holy Name of God And it is a horrible thing that Christians who ought to Praise God upon Earth as the Angels Praise him in Heaven should offer him here the same Injuries as the Devils vomit out against him in Hell. O Theotime Blasphemers Punishment Qui blasphemaverit nomen Domini morte moriatur Lev. 24. Fly this detestable Sin abominable before God and Men odious in all manner of Persons but principally in young People Remember that the ancient Law condemn'd Blasphemers to Death and St. Paul deliver'd over to the Devils two Christians culpable of this Crime * Ut discant nou blasphemare 1 Tim. â— S. Greg. â—â—e 4. Diâ—l cap. 18. To teach them says he not
to blaspheme And St. Gregory relates how a Child accustom'd to Swear in his Impatiences by the Name of God was seis'd by a mortal Distemper and assaulted by malignant Spirits which caus'd him to depart this Life in his Fathers Arms who being too indulgent in Correcting him had bred up in this Child a great Sinner for Hell as the same Saint observes The Remedy of this Sin Remedy when one has never so little a Habit or Inclination to it is to fly the Causes as Anger Plays of Hazard wicked Company and all other things which every one knows to be to them an occasion of Swearing But above all it is a powerful and even necessary Remedy to impose upon ones self some rigorous Punishment for every time he shall fall into this Sin as some Alms some Prayers to be perform'd the same Day some Fasting to be observ'd soon after or some other painful Action Fly also all sorts of Oaths or Imprecations and certain Fashions of Speaking which not being Oaths are Dispositions to Swear upon Occasions Christian Modesty requires that we should not Swear at all according to that holy Precept of our Saviour * Ego autem dico vobis non jurare omnino sit autem sermo vester est est non non Quod autem his abundantius est a malo est Mat. 5. I say Swear not at all and let your Words be yea and nay what is said besides this comes from the Devil Of Detraction Detraction is another Sin of the Tongue which you ought not only to avoid but abhor To Detract What Detraction is is to report of another a Sin able to defame him which he hath not committed or else a Sin which he hath committed but is not known or publick for as long as the Sin of our Neighbor is secret to reveal it to them who knew it not is to do him an Injury Detraction is sometimes committed out of Malice It is done two ways as by Hatred Revenge Envy or Design to hurt our Neighbor Sometimes by Indiscretion and Lightness of Mind and by an Inclination one has to speak of the Evil he hath heard or knows of another which is too common amongst young People Altho' the first manner of Detraction be most criminal the second nevertheless is not without Sin for it always takes away the Reputation of our Neighbor it obliges to repair the Honor he was depriv'd of And this promptness to talk of others Defects is the result of a Mind defective in Charity or Prudence and often in both For Charity makes us conceal the Faults of others as we would have our own kept private and Prudence hinders us from speaking ill of another on purpose or without necessity Avoid this Sin Theotime as a vile thing It is odious to God and Man. Abominatio hominum detractor Prov. 24. unworthy of a generous or truly Christian Soul and as an odious Vice before both God and Men. A Detractor says the Wiseman is the the abomination of Men. Be not therefore light in speaking of others Defects Practice but keep them secret when you know them The Wiseman says excellently well Audisti verbum adversus proximum tuum commoriatu rin te Eccl. 19. When you have heard any Speech against your Neighbor let it die within you that is let it go no farther In fine conserve the Honor of another as you know it is dear to him and as you would desire he should conserve yours Yet it is to be observ'd An important Remark that it is not Detraction to speak of anothers Sin when it is for his Good or to hinder that it do not prejudice others when one tells it to a discreet Person who can or ought to apply a Remedy to it On the contrary it is always Charity to do so and there is frequently an Obligation of Conscience and a very strict Obligation in which one is sometimes defective out of Fearfulness or some vain Pretence he frames to himself which springs only from the want of Charity and affection to the Salvation of our Neighbor and which are the Causes that one is made culpable in the sight of God of the Sins of others See more of this Subject in Chap. 18. of this Part. Of Injuries and Reproaches Fly also Quarrels which are the Causes of many Evils as we shall shew hereafter And in Debates which arise avoid to speak injurious Words utter not Reproaches or Threats these are vile things and unworthy of a vertuous Soul. Homo assuetus verbis improperit in omnibus diebus non erudietur Eccl. 23. Call to mind that to return Injury for Injury Reproach for Reproach is to wash a Spot with Ink and make it yet more black for it is to blot out an Injury one hath done you which is often only in the Imagination with a Sin which is frequently mortal It is to defend your Honor to the prejudice of your Salvation if that can be accounted to defend your Honor which defends it by the ruin of anothers Credit The Spirit of Christianity is not only ignorant of offering an Injury but also of returning to those who first offer it you according to those excellent Maxims of S. Paul * Benedicite persequentibus vos benedicite nolite maledicere nulli malum pro malo reddentes non vosmetipsos defendentes fed date locum irae Noli vinci à malo sed vince in bono malum Rom. 12. Bless those who persecute you bless them and curse them not Render not Ill for Ill nor revenge your self nor give way to your Anger Permit not your self to be overcome by Ill but overcome Ill by Good that is the Ill which another do's you by the Good you render him This you 'll say is very hard 'T is true Theotime therefore you must learn to practise it betimes These Maxims are difficult to those who are not Instructed in their Youth and have not learn'd to live but according to the Inclinations of Nature yet they are facil to those who apply themselves in good time to do the Will of God and live according to the Spirit of his Son Jesus Christ by imitating his Example and practising his Maxims as a Christian ought to do otherwise he is a Christian in name and not in reality Of Sowers of Discord Have a care also of another Sin of the Tongue Non appelleris susurro c. Susurratori odium inimicitia contumelia Eccl. 5. which is but too common amongst young Persons yet very prejudicial It is to be the Author of Discords by Reports which are often made by Indiscretion not regarding the Evil which may from thence arise and sometimes out of a bad Design to stir up Divisions and Discords This Sin is great and more heinous than is imagin'd for it is the cause of many other Sins and of all the Ills which accompany Quarrels The Wiseman says that God detests it
* Sex sunt quae odit Dominus septimum detestatur anima ejus Oculos sublimes c. Et eum qui seminat inter fratres discordias Prov. 6. There are six things says he which God hates and there is a seventh which he detests that is he who sows Discords amongst his Brethren And Ecclesiasticus says Susurro bilinguis maledictus multos enim turbavit pacem habentes Eccl. 28. v. 13. Vir peccator turbavit amicos in medio pacem habentium immittet inimicitiam Ibid. v. 9. that The Sower of Discord is cursed because he troubles those who are in Peace and it is only the part of a wicked Man to disturb his Friends and raise Division in Minds that are well united in Friendship Yes Theotime for as Peace and Union proceeds from God Discords and Dissentions spring from the Devil Audiant jurgiorum seminatores quod scriptum est Beati pacifici quia filii Dei vocabuntur Si filii Dei qui pacem faciunt proculdubio filii Satanae qui confundunt S. Greg. 3. part Pastor For this reason the Son of God in the Gospel says That Peace-makers that is those who apply themselve to procure or preserve Peace amongst Men are the Children of God. But if those who cause Peace are the Children of God Then adds S. Gregory excellently well those who disturb it are the Children of Satan Fly this Sin Theotime because it is most heinous and criminal detested both by God and Men. Keep a guard upon your Words to the end you may never say any thing which may cause any Discord amongst others but chiefly be not the Author of it by Malice or deliberate Purpose Conceive a horror against this Vice which can bring you nothing but inevitable Misfortune Of Lying There remains Lying which is none of the meanest amongst the Sins of the Tongue and it is by so much more important that you should be solidly Instructed therein as it is most ordinary amongst young Persons and the Custom of this Sin infinitly pernicious A Ly is always a Sin The Habit of Lying because it is always against Truth And altho' it be not a mortal Sin when it is not in a Business of Consequence nevertheless the Habit of Lying altho' lightly is not a light thing nor of small importance A Habit or Custom of Lying opens a Gate to an infinit number of other Vices The Vices it produces A Lying Spirit will become a Cheat and Deceiver in his Management Double in his Words Unfaithful in his Promises a Hypocrit in his Manners a Dissembler in his Actions a Flatterer and Faint-hearted when he should speak Truth Bold and Shameless to affirm Lies Impudent to maintain them as certain Truths a Swearer Detractor Mistrustful in respect of every one for as he is accustom'd to Ly he believes that others always speak false A Mind addicted to Lying will more easily tell them in great things and be involv'd in heinous Sins So that Theotime Very prejudicial to young People Noli velle mentiri omne mendacium assiduitas enim illius non est bona Eccl. 7. there are few Vices more pernicious and principally to Youth than this liberty of Lying For this reason the Wiseman advertises you Not to take Pleasure in any manner of Vntruth for a Custom or Habit of Lying is not good that is according to the Expression of the Scripture it is very bad In a word it is so wicked a Quality of the Mind to be a Lyar that the Scripture speaks strange things of it Abominatio est domino labia mendacia It says that God hath a horror for it That Lying Lips are an abomination to him as on the contrary those who love Sincerity in their Words gain his Friendship Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium Psal 6. He will destroy all those who are addicted to Lying It saith Opprobrium nequam in homine mendacium Potior fur quam assiduitas viri mendacis Eccl. 20. That amongst Men a Ly is an Infamy it will always be found in disorderly and ill-instructed Minds A Thief is more execusable than a Lyar and both of them will inherit Perdition Lastly It makes men like Devils This Vice makes one like the Devil who is pleas'd in nothing more than Lies Vos ex patre diabolo essis c. Joh. 8. It was he who first invented it and who is the Father thereof as the Son of God hath nam'd him with his own Mouth And S. Augustin after him says Quomodo Deus pater genuit filium veritatem sic diabolus lapsus genuit quasi filium mendacium S. Aug. Tract 42. in Joh. Cavete fratres mendacium quia omnes qui amant mendacium filii sunt diaboli qui non solum mendax est sed etiam pater inventor ipsius mendacii S. Ambr. in Serm. de Dominica Passione That as Truth comes from God Lying takes its origin from the Devil And S. Ambrose adds That those who love Lying are the Children of that detestable Fiend for the Children of God love Truth Fly entirely Theotime this pernicious Vice in all Occurrences but chiefly in two First When you speak of a thing of Importance that is when it prejudices your Neighbor in his Goods Honor or Health wherein you must have a great care and yet more if it be in your self Secondly When you speak to a Person who hath Authority over you for then a Ly is a very culpable Imposture as well by reason of the Respect you violate as because it frequently happens that those Falshoods notably prejudice your proper Good or that of your Neighbor In fine in whatsoever matter it be and to whatsoever Person you speak accustom your self never to tell a Lye on deliberate Purpose or with Reflection Love Truth and Sincerity in all your Words O what an excellent Quality is it in a young Man when he cannot tell an Untruth without Blushing The Just says the Wiseman Verbum mendax justus detestabitur Prov. 13. will detest a Lye. Demand of God that he give you a hatred of this Sin and frequently offer to him that Prayer of Salomon Vanitatem Vers 50. verba mendacia longe fac à me Remove from my Mind Vanity and lying Words CHAP. XIII Of Sobriety EXhort young Men to be Sober Juvenes hortare ut Sobrii sint Tit. 2. says the Apostle S. Paul to Titus his Disciple Sobriety Theotime in the Judgment of this great Apostle is necessary for Youth And altho' by this Name of Sobriety he comprehends generally the moderation of the Heat and Impetuosity of that Age which is naturally carry'd to an Excess in all things nevertheless he intends also particularly the moderation of the Excess in Eating and Drinking which are very ordinary in Youth and extream prejudicial to them As Sobriety consists in the moderation of Eating and Drinking Sobriety combats two Vices
to the greatest Saints THE INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH IN Christian Piety PART V. Of the Choice of a State of Life THIS Instruction would be imperfect and destitute of one of the best and most necessary Parts if after having shew'd how we must live during Youth it should not direct how to make a good Choice of the Condition or State wherein one ought to pass the remainder of his Life This Choice is a Subject whose Knowledge is by so much more necessary to young Persons as its Importance is unknown to the greatest part of Men and the Faults that are there committed are most commonly irreparable or if sometimes they be repair'd it is with very great pains and difficulty Besides they are not light or of small consequence because the issues of them are extended to all the Life of a Man and pass even to his Eternal Salvation of which they often draw the ruin after them For this reason Theotime I beseech you read attentively this last Part whether before you enter upon this Deliberation or when you shall be at the Point of making your Choice and also after you have made it for you will find therein whereby to profit at each of those Times CHAP. I. How important it is to make a good Choice of a State of Life THIS Importance is built upon two Truths Two Fundamental Truths in this matter which are to be supposed here as Fundamental in this matter The First is That altho' all States may be good yet all States are not good for every one and that such a State is profitable for one Man which will be hurtful for another all not having the same Inclinations nor the same Capacities nor the same Favors of God. The Second is That God who hath Establish'd by his Providence the diversity of States and Employments of the Life of Man distributes them differently by his Wisdom designing some for one Employment others for another As a Father of a Family divides amongst his Domesticks the Offices of his House according as he finds them fit For this reason he gives to Men different Inclinations divers natural Abilities as well Corporal as Spiritual and also distributes amongst them his Favors diversly according to the several Necessities of different States to which he calls them These two Truths thus presuppos'd evidently manifest how important it is to choose well ones State and Condition For if all States are not good for all it is then most important to choose advisedly that we may not fall into a State which may be contrary to us And if God call each Man to one State more particularly than another it follows that we must proceed therein with a great Circumspection to choose what is most conformable to his Will and for which he hath given us most Capacity and prepar'd most Favors This choice is of such consequence How important the Choice of a State is that on it depends all the Good of a Man both for this Life and for Eternal Salvation Be attentive Theotime to comprehend the Mischiefs into which all ill Choice of a Condition casts Men and into which it will cast you if you be defective therein First 1. For the present Life for the present Life What Good what Contentment can he have who is enter'd into a State which he hath ill chosen and for which he is not proper There is no Condition more miserable The Displeasure of seeing himself engag'd against his Inclination joyn'd with the Difficulties he undergoes to acquit himself of his Duty casts him into a Disquiet and Melancholy which incessantly gnaws him makes him insupportable to others and himself and find in his Condition a more horrid Prison than that of Criminals and Chains more unmerciful than those of Gally-slaves As for Salvation 2. For Salvation what can a Man do in that State For besides that Melancholy casts him into a continual Idleness and that Idleness into Vice and Perdition With what trouble must he effect his Salvation in a State wherein he hath neither Ability nor Vocation from God The want of these two things are the Causes why he will commit an infinit number of sins which he would not have done in another State. The defect of Capacity makes him find continual Difficulties in satisfying his Duty and the particular Obligation of his State. The defect of Vocation is the Cause why he wants many Favors he should have receiv'd in another Calling and of which he is made unworthy being enter'd rashly into this Condition without consulting God without demanding of him his Will. And certainly if we search into the Cause of the Disorders we see in each State Ecclesiastical Religious and Secular wherein many discharge themselves of their Duty very badly we shall find the greatest part of the Mischiefs spring from this Source that is from an ill Entrance into a State of Life and that the greatest part enter upon slight Grounds without Examining whether they are proper for it and call'd by God. For a Conclusion of this Importance A profitable Advice I exhort all those who deliberate about the Choice of their State attentively to reflect upon these three things 1. Upon the Displeasure and Sadness they will feel all their Life for having made an ill Choice of their Calling 2. The great number of Sins they will commit in a State they had lightly chosen and which they would not have committed in another Condition 3. The Danger to which they expose their Salvation in choosing after this manner They who will attentively consider these three things will take care not to be defective in an Affair of this Importance CHAP. II. Of the Faults that are ordinarily committed in this Choice I Find four sorts of Faults which young Men are accustom'd to fall into Four ordinary Faults in this Choice in this so important a Choice which are the Causes why they succeed therein so very badly First 1. They deliberate not They deliberate not at all upon this Choice and instead of choosing a State according to the Rules of Reason and after a long and serious Deliberation they engage themselves in a Calling sometimes by a sudden Passion and Fancy sometimes by Occasion and frequently by the sole Inclination they feel to one Condition rather than another without Examining whether they are proper for it whether it be for their Good and whether they shall effect therein their Salvation Secondly When they deliberate 2. They deliberate ill they propose things naughtily that is upon ill Grounds and regard other Ends than such as they ought to have before their Eyes in this Deliberation Some look upon the Sweetness of Life in the State they would embrace Others upon Riches and Preferment Others upon Honor and Reputation And in a word all regard Temporal Goods and the present Life but few propose Vertue and Eternal Salvation which chiefly and before all things ought to be consider'd One says This
is proper to promote me in the World and advance my Fortune but he doth not say it is fit to promote me in Vertue and effect my Salvation or else it is not sutable to me because I foresee I shall offend God in many Occurrences I see therein Obligations I cannot satisfie many Occasions and Dangers of ruining me This Fault is great and against all Reason for to deliberate wisely of the State wherein we must spend our Life we must cast our Eye upon the End for which our Life is given us This End is the Service of God and the Salvation of our Souls We must then refer the Calling we choose to that to do otherwise is to stray out of the Way at the beginning and suffer Shipwreck in the Port. The Third Fault is 3. Without Counsel That in deliberating on the Condition they ought to embrace they only consult with themselves without communicating or asking Counsel of any one This Fault is very common amongst young People and besides one of the greatest they can commit in this Choice For what appearance is there of deliberating well of the most important Affair of our Life in an Age wherein we have as yet neither Judgment nor Experience of any thing without taking Counsel of wise and discreet Persons This cannot but be the effect of an insupportable Rashness or certainly of a great Ignorance which deserves so much more compassion as it is the cause of many Mischiefs If the Wiseman recommend so much to young People * Ne innitaris prudentiae tuae Prov. 3. Fili sine consilio nihil facias post factum non poenitebit Eccl. 32. Not to trust to their own Judgment to do nothing without Counsel is it not in this so important Affair more than in any other where they ought to follow the Advice of the Holy Ghost himself Observe well this Fault for the Devil oft makes use of it to deceive young Persons in the Choice of their Calling We shall tell you hereafter with what kind of Persons you should consult in this Concern There is a Fourth Fault yet more dangerous 4. They consult not God. which is That in this Deliberation they consult not him who ought to be consulted with above all others viz. God himself They have no recourse to him by Prayer humbly to demand of him his holy Inspirations and Grace to know his Will altho' it be by him alone that we can succeed well in this Choice He is the Father of Lights he is the Author of good Counsels Besides it belongs to him to give us our Calling and the Employment wherein he would have us serve him in this Life we must receive it from his Hands He hath a mind that we should have recourse to him and to advise with him in important Affairs he accounts himself offended when we are defective therein and frequently he gives us not his Blessing See a convincing Example The Israelites desirous to sly the Persecution of their Enemies took a Resolution to return into Egypt out of their own Heads without consulting God to know what they should do He reproach'd them exceedingly by his Prophet and threatned them that their Design should not succeed but have a dreadful issue as in effect it had * Vae filii deserteres ut faceretis confilium non ex me ordiremini telam non per spiritum meum ut adderetis peccatum super peccatum qui ambulatis ut descendatis in Aegyptum os meum non interrogastis erit vobis fortitudo Pharaonis in confusionem fiducia umbrae Aegyptiae in ignominiam Isai 30. Wo says he be to you fugitive Children who abandon me to enter upon a Design without consulting me and to begin an Enterprise without expecting my Will adding to your former Sins a new one of taking your Resolution without my Counsel Your Design shall turn to your Misfortune and Confusion I would to God all those who deliberate of the Choice of their State had frequently these Words in their Memory CHAP. III. Of the Means to choose well a State of Life And First That a good Life during Youth is a Means highly necessary to succeed in this Choice AFter having shew'd you the Faults which are accustom'd to be committed in the Choice of a Condition I come to the Means you must employ to succeed therein The First I assign you is a Means on which few Persons reflect altho' it be most important in this Affair viz. A good Life during the time of Youth I promote this Means The Sins of Youth the cause of an ill Choice Theotime to teach you betimes a Truth which the greatest part of Men are ignorant of or learn it too late which is That there is no greater Obstacle to the Choice of a happy Calling than the Sins of Youth and that the most ordinary Cause of the bad Election many make of their Condition is a disorder'd Life and full of Sins which they lead whilst they are young It is not hard to manifest this Truth The Proof which many experience daily too much God in punishment of their Sins not affording them the Favor to know the Calling proper for them abandons them in this Choice of so great Importance as they have deserted his Service He denies them high Light as they have refus'd him their Obedience and Love. They have given their first Years to the Devil and God permits also that the Devil should deceive them in this Election making them undertake a State contrary to their Good. And as they would not hearken to the Voice of his Commandments and holy Inspirations he also gives not ear unto them when they have need of his Assistance * In vocabunt me non exaudiam mane consurgent non invenient me eo quod exosam habuerint disciplinam timorem Domini non susceperint Prov. 3. They shall call upon me says he and I will not hear them they shall seek after me and shall not find me because they have hated Instruction and have not receiv'd the Fear of God. The Scripture is also full of the like Menaces by which God assures us he will deny his Light to those who have made themselves unworthy by their Sins Those Threats which were utter'd by the Mouth of the Prophet Ezechiel are astonishing Many Persons of Quality being come to this Prophet to consult God by his Mediation God speaks to the Prophet and tells him * Fili hominis viri isti posuerunt immunditias suas in cordibus suis nunquid interrogatus respondebo eis Homo homo de domo Israel qui posuerit immunditias suas in corde suo Et venerit ad Prophetam interrogans per eum me Ego Dominus respondebo ei in multitudine immunditiarum suarum Ezech. 14. That he would not answer them that is he would not let them know his Will because they were wicked and still kept their
accustom'd to fall into in the choice of these two States which draw after them an infinite number of Miseries and frequently Eternal Damnation To perform this profitably I shall follow the Method I have already observ'd for the Ecclesiastical and Religious State. I shall Treat of two things concerning these two States 1. What we must consider to know them well 2. The Dispositions we must bring to enter well into that State and acquit our Selves worthily in it ARTICLE I. What we must know of a Marry'd Life There are four things to be known of this State its Holiness its Obligations its Advantages and its Dangers I say First that this State is Holy it having been Instituted and Sanctifi'd by God himself from the beginning of the World and since rais'd to the Dignity of a Sacrament by his Son Jesus Christ to sanctifie the Persons that would enter into it and to confer on them Graces necessary to acquit themselves worthily of it Thus this State is Holy every way by its Author who is God by the Dignity of the Sacrament which is annexed to it by the sanctifying Grace which it augments in those who duly receive it by the Favors and Assistances it affords them in their Necessities and in fine by the excellent Signification of the Union of Jesus Christ with the Church his Spouse which made S. Paul give it the Name of a * Sacramentum hoc magnum est ego autem dico in Christo in Ecclesia Ephes 5. great Sacrament Secondly The Holiness of this State brings with it great Obligations whereof the First is to enter into it Holily that is with the requisite Dispositions which we shall speak of hereafter The Second is to lead to holy and truly Christian Life in the Fear of God and in the Observation of his Commandments as it is said of the * Erant autem justi ambo ante Deum incedentes in omnibus mandatis justificationibus Domini sine querela Luc. 1. Father and Mother of S. John to observe an inviolable Fidelity to his Consort to use moderately lawful Pleasures and to refrain from those that are forbidden to Educate their Children in the Fear of God provide for their Necessities to have a care of their Temporal Settlement and much more of their Eternal Salvation Thirdly The Advantages of this State for Salvation are not so great as those of the Ecclesiastical or Religious Life It is also true that it requires not so high a Perfection And if there be any Advantage above those two States it is that not obliging to such strict things it leaves a greater facility for Salvation when there occur not other Obstacles besides As for the Temporal Advantages I place them not here to be consider'd because we look upon this State here only in reference to Salvation Moreover the Pleasures and Contentments that are found therein are not comparable to the Troubles and Adversities with which it is replenish'd according to that Expression of S. Paul who says that Afflictions are inevitable to Marry'd Persons Tribulationes carnis habebunt hujusmodi Fourthly The Dangers of this State are great in number and they are by so much greater as they are not discover'd nor often perceiv'd by those who are environ'd with them The First springs from the excessive and unreasonable Love that is frequently found between Marry'd Persons which is the cause of a vast number of Sins they commit by a criminal Complacence which makes them fear more to displease their Consort than offend God and draw upon them his Displeasure and Indignation The Second Danger arises from a Cause quite contrary to the former which is an Aversion they sometimes have for one another proceeding from the contrariety of Humors Jealousies or other like Causes An Aversion which draws after it a continual train of Sins and an abyss of Miseries The Third Danger comes from the irregular Love they have for their Children which is also an unexhaustible Source of Sins to Parents when thro' that foolish Love they apply all their Care for the Temporal Advantages of their Children as Health Beauty good Behavior to promote them in the World to heap up Riches for them which will only serve to destroy them to procure great Employments for them and in the mean time neglect their Education their Correction their Amendment their good Life and their Eternal Salvation The Fourth Danger is that of Loving the World too much and engaging themselves too deeply in the Affection of the Goods and Pleasures of this Life An Affection which makes them lose the tast and sense of real Goods which are those of Grace and Eternal Salvation This made S. Paul say * Qui cum uxore est solicitus est quae sunt mundi quomodo placeat uxori divisus est 1 Cor. 7. That he who is Marry'd is perplex'd with the Affairs of the World and his Spirit is divided between God and the World. All these Dangers are greater than can be exprest and Marry'd Persons have need of much Grace to avoid them ARTICLE II. The necessary Dispositions for a Marry'd State. We may say with truth that the greatest part of the Miseries which happen in a Marry'd Life springs from the bad Dispositions they bring with them and particularly the following The First is the bad Life of young People in their Youth and chiefly after they have finish'd their Studies until the time of their Marriage For if as the Wiseman says God will give a happy Marriage to those who have liv'd piously during their Youth it follows manifestly that he frequently punisheth the Sins of Youth by an unfortunate Marriage as we daily see The Second Fault is the bad Intention of those who enter into the State of Marriage who propose to themselves no other End in that State than Pleasure and the Contents they expect to find therein and which they conceive to be quite different from what in effect they are The Third is that which is committed in the choice of the Person they have a mind to Espouse A Choice which is ordinarily made without consulting God without any knowledge of the Disposition Manners or Humor of the Person with whom they are to be Engag'd for their whole Life and without any other Consideration than that of Interest or frequently by an indiscreet and ill-grounded Love. This is the Complaint of S. Jerom who says it often happens that there is no * Plerisque nulla est uxoris electio sed qualis obvenerit habenda si fatua si ambitiosa quodcunque vitii est post nu-ptias discimus Choice made in Marriages and that the Faults of the Women are not known till after they are Espoused The Fourth Cause springs from the bad Disposition they bring to the Sacrament of Matrimony Filii sanctorum sumus non postumus ita conjungi sicut Gentes quae ignorant Deum Tob. 8. which they often receive in a wicked
discover themselves to any Person they fly from those who may keep them in the good Path or set them right when they are gone astray which is the cause why they remove themselves so so far from them and often never or too late return to them Act not in this manner Theotime call to mind that St. Augustin attributes to this Cause the Disorder he fell into at the end of his Studies because he had no one to take care to root out the Vices which then grew in his Soul. Forget not also what the Scripture recounts of King Joas That he was vertuous as long as he was instructed by the High Priest Joiada Fecit Joas rectum coram Domino cunctis diebus quibus docuit cum Joiada sacerdos 4 Reg. 3. he had no sooner lost the Conduct of that holy Man but he became wicked and was misfortunately ruin'd ADVICE III. That young Men must fly carefully wicked Company and particularly that of young vicious Persons of their Profession The first Snare the Devil sets at that time for the Salvation of young People See Part 3. Chap. 9. is the meeting with wicked Company We have spoken above how hurtful it is principally at that time where it is dangerous beyond imagination The reason is because the World is full of them and it is impossible but that they should fall amongst them Besides they have not as yet sufficient Judgment to discern them nor sufficient Conduct to avoid them nor force of Mind to resist them The Wicked besiege them continually to draw them to their Disorders as it is said in the Proverbs * Fili mi si te lactaverint peccatores ne acquiescas eis Si dixerint veni nobiscum c. ne ambules cum eis Prov. 1. They tell them they must do as others do Complacence moves them and Shame hinders them from contradicting Thus they find themselves overcome and perverted in a small time O God Theotime who will deliver you from this so great and so present a Danger Stand mightily in fear of this Precipice if you desire your Salvation you can never sufficiently apprehend the Danger Beseech God daily that he would deliver you Stand upon your guard to avoid them or retire from them when you shall fall amongst them Amongst wicked Company have a care chiefly of those of your own Profession you will meet with them more frequently you will have more trouble to resist them we easilier permit our selves to be won by those that are like us a Postquam autem obiit Joiada ingressi sunt principes Juda adoraverunt Regem Qui delinitus obsequiis eorum acquievit eis Et dereliquerunt templum domini Dei patrum suorum Paral. 24. King Joas who had liv'd so holily during his Youth under the Conduct of the High Priest Joiada was preverted by his Courtiers so as by their solicitation to fall into Idolatry Stand upon your guard I say that at least you may not be corrupted by them altho ' you cannot absolutely avoid the meeting with such Company For this reason fly their Conversation as much as you can when you cannot avoid them stay not long with them find some Means to break off fairly from them O Theotime how happy would you be if after this so dangerous a time of Youth you might truly say as King David b Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me legem tuam non sum oblitus Psal 117. Protexisti me à conventu malignantium à multitudine operantium iniquitatem Psal 65. The Snares of Sinners have environ'd me thou hast preserv'd me O God from the Assembly of the Wicked and from the multitude of those who work Iniquity ADVICE IV. That they must apply themselves quickly to some Labor which may employ their Time and make them avoid Idleness which is then most dangerous and more than at any other time Idleness is the greatest cause of the Dissoluteness of young Men when they have finish'd their Studies It is the Mother of Vices and very hard to be avoided at that time Nature of her self is inclin'd to it and most of all in Youth after Labor and a Labor perform'd with some Restraint such as is that of Study or other Employments of young Men. For this reason when they begin to enjoy Liberty and to be Masters of themselves they give reins to Idleness with so much less Restraint as they have a long time sighed after it and know not the necessity of Labor at that time nor the great Damages Idleness will bring to them In this slothfulness Vice and ill Habits grow up in a short time as it happen'd to S. Augustin They think of nothing but Play and Pastimes following all their Pleasures seeking after Companions and all the Occasions of destroying themselves To avoid this Disorder Theotime I advise you to have a great care to fly at that time this so pernicious an Idleness Apply your self betimes to a regular Labor and chiefly to that which is necessary for you to make you capable and expert in the Profession you embrace you are oblig'd to it in Conscience and in the sight of God. Add thereto the Studies proper to improve your Mind as that of History as well Sacred as Profane Chronology Geography proper Language good Authors and other like Studies which are both honest profitable and pleasing If you will take pains you will find Means enough to employ your time well and besides the Profit of your Labor you will find therein most perfect Pleasures and Satisfaction of Mind Read Part 3. Chap. 7. to which all the Contentments of the World are not comparable ADVICE V. That young People ought to have a care of avoiding three ordinary Causes of their Ruin at that time Play Wine and Impurity These are the three great Rocks on which at this time young People split and to which Idleness and Company bring them and cause their Shipwreck Some are lost by the irregular love of Gaming which occasions an excessive loss of Time prodigality of their Means Vexation and Despair and casts them frequently into Extremities Others by the excess of Wine and good Cheer which they seek then as their chiefest Happiness and which besides the ruin of their Health and Fortunes is frequently the cause of sad Mischiefs Others and the greatest part by the detestable Sin of Impurity which so universally possesses young People and principally at that time and often by all these together I beseech you dear Theotime in the Name of God to observe attentively these three Evils as the three Precipices you are to avoid at that time See what we have said above of each of these in Part 3. Chap. 8. and in Part 4. Chap. 20. Use all possible Endeavors to fly them and be confident that upon this Flight depends all your Good and Salvation ADVICE VI. That they must avoid at that time Irresolution concerning the State they ought to choose
as the Matter of your Meditation shall direct But chiefly forget not to come to good Resolutions for it would be to offer a great Injury to God to have receiv'd from him good Motions and not to put them in Execution Wherefore you must always conclude your Meditation with firm Resolutions to practise the Good with which God hath inspir'd you in Prayer But this Resolution must be strong and efficacious let it therefore be follow'd by its Effect and that it may be such read and practise the Third and Fourth Advice which you will find in the following Article Finish your Prayer by giving Thanks to God for the good Thoughts and Motions he hath bestow'd upon you and in humbly begging of him the Grace to put them in practice foresee the occasion you may have to practise them that you may be mindful of them You may perform this Exercise in a large quarter of an hour that time is not too long for an Action of such importance where you treat with God concerning your Salvation and wherein God do's you the Honor to hearken to you and communicate himself to you with so much Bounty As for the Days of Meditation it would be a great Blessing for you if you could perform it every Day In expecting that Blessing endeavor to perform it at least every Sunday and Feast on the Days of Confession and Communion and also on some Days before to prepare your self for it and some Days after to conserve the Fruit of it I add also the Days wherein you shall find your self mov'd with Temptations that in this Exercise you may find Arms to defend your self according to that remarkable Advertisement of our Lord * Vigilate orate ut non intretis in tentationem Mat. 26. Watch and Pray that you enter not into Temptation Make choice also of a commodious Place remov'd from Noise and wherein you may be all alone as much as you can that you may have less occasion of Distractions and more liberty to apply your self to God. ARTICLE XIII Some Advices concerning Meditation Before the finishing of this Treatise there remain some Advices to be given you to prevent the Difficulties which will occur in this holy Exercise and to make it solidly profitable to you ADVICE I. The First is That you diligently take care not to permit your Mind to be prepossess'd with any false Opinion against Meditation as to conceive that you are not capable of Meditating or that it is too much trouble or not necessary or the like This is the first Obstacle the Devil will put in your way to divert you entirely from this Exercise but we have already before taken notice of this Impediment and discover'd the vanity of that Illusion in the Eight First Articles wherefore read them attentively And chiefly concerning the Capacity remember that it is not your great Wit nor your high Studies which make you capable of Meditating but Humility and the knowledge of your own Disability to think or do any good Actions and the great Desire to profit in Vertue These are the Dispositions which render you capable of Meditating or rather of receiving the Lights and Motions of Divine Grace which are the things we seek in Meditation and not our proper Imaginations ADVICE II. The Second Advice is Not to be dismay'd with the Difficulties you may find in this Exercise as the trouble to apply your Mind Distractions Distasts and the like 1. Represent to your self that good things are not acquir'd without pains How much is there in Studies and other Exercises of Human Life from which yet we desist not by reason of that Difficulty 2. Consider that all Beginnings are difficult and that by Exercise they are overcome and chiefly by the Grace of God which is the first Mover to all good things but particularly in this Action where it is the prime and principal support 3. Make these Distractions serve for your Meditation and proceed in this manner Humble your self in the sight of God because you cannot keep your Mind attentive Acknowledge that it is thro' your Fault That your Sins are the cause That this springs from your Lightness and from the too much inclination you have to the Vanities and Pleasures of the World. Take from thence occasion to lament your Sins to demand pardon of God for them to purpose to fly from them for the future to correct the Levity of your Mind and to redress your disorderly Affections 4. Amongst all these Distractions account your self as a Beggar at the Gate of God from whom you beg an Alms. Doth a Beggar esteem himself repuls'd because he is not hearkned to at his first Request He continues soliciting he expects he comes again Act you in that manner persevere humbly a Si vis habere justitiam Dei esto mendicus Dei qui te monuit ut peteres S. Aug. Ser. 5. de verb. Dom. begging of God a good Thought for your Salvation Altho' you should spend all the time of your Meditation in this Demand you would not have perform'd much Call to mind that excellent Sentence of St. Augustin who says That b Cum aliquando tardius dat Deus commendat dona non negat diu desiderata dulcius obtinentur citius data vilescunt Ibid. when God do's not presently grant the Petition we desire it is not because he refuses us but because he would have us set such a value on his Favors as they deserve It being certain that we more esteem the things we obtain with much trouble and make less account of those we acquire without pains For this reason he adds c Pete quaere insta servat cibi Deus quod non vult cito dare ut discas magna magne desiderare Ibid. Ask seek urge God reserves the Favor to grant it at the end altho' he would not consent to it at the first that you might learn to solicit for great things with an ardent desire 5. In these Occasions behave your self like the poor Cananean who gain'd by her admirable Patience the Favor which the Son of God had refus'd her This Woman being afflicted came and cast her self at the Feet of our Lord to obtain the cure of her Daughter tormented with a malignant Spirit He passes on his Way without answering her one word She addresses her self to the Apostles who intercede for her but to no purpose Seeing her self thus rejected she puts her self forward and presents her self to him again with more instance than before O Lord assist me He answers roughly That it is not reasonable to take the Bread of the Children to cast it to the Dogs An Answer sufficient to repulse a most approv'd Patience She instead of being dejected by it takes advantage from his Words and makes use of them to obtain the Effect of her Prayer Ah Lord pardon me if I tell you that sometimes Bread is given to the Dogs for at least they are permitted to eat