the Nobility we need only make a little Reflection upon the Life of Great Men. We see a prodigious Pride reign in them which makes them contemn all the World and esteem all others infinitly below them Ambition and a desire of growing Great perpetually possesses them They are extravagantly addicted to all their Pleasures Lovers of Delights Bold and Shameless to publish their Sins and glory in them Envious in the highest degree Ty'd to their Interest Affecting none but themselves Unjust Violent Harsh and often Cruel towards others especially their Inferiors Impatient and Cholerick Given to Swearing and Blasphemies Revengeful even to excess not being able to suffer or dissemble the least Injury which frequently is grounded only in their Imagination and even make open profession never to endure or dissemble any O God! what a Life is this for Men who make profession of Christian Religion And that which accomplishes the Misfortune of this Condition is The detestable Passion for Duels that detestable Passion for Duels with which they are so continually possest that there is scarce a moment in their Life wherein they have not a Resolution to expose themselves to Fight upon the first Injury or at least at the first Challenge A Resolution which keeps them in a continual mortal Sin and hinders them from ever being in the Grace of God. Not to mention the Contempt of Religion Sensuality and Impiety which usually reign in that State and especially now adays where there are found so many who say unto God Qui dixerunt Deo recede a nobis scientam viarum tuarum nolumus Quis est omnipotens ut serviamus ei Et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum Job 21. as the Impious said in the Scripture Depart from us we will not have the knowledge of thy ways Who is the all-powerful who says that we must serve him What doth it profit us to Pray unto him Is not this a thing much to be deplor'd to see in the midst of Christianity the fairest part of Christian States to be most corrupted And that Nobility which is given as a Recompence of Vertue and to excite others thereto should become the Source of Vice and the Fountain of the Corruption of Noble Persons So that it is a Mark of Reprobation to many and it were more desirable for the greatest part of Noble-men that they had never been born For what advantage is it to be Great before Men and to be wretched and contemptible in the sight of God a Quid prodest quod liber est in natura qui servus est in conscientia Euseb Emiss Hom. 3. de Pascate To be honor'd by Men and hated by God To Command others and to be a Slave to Vice and his own Passions And in a word To be happy in this World and damn'd for ever being of the number of those who eternally cry out b Quid nobis profuit superbia aut divitiarum jactantia quid contulit nobis Tansierunt ista omnia tanquam umbra Ergo erravimus à via veritatis Sap. 5. What did our Pride profit us What advantage hath the pomp of Riches brought to us All those things are passed away like a Shadow Wherefore we have err'd from the Way of Truth O my dear Theotime if you be Noble I beseech you to make here a serious Reflection upon your self and upon the Danger your Nobility exposes your Salvation to Distrust your State and be afraid lest it should ruin you By how much more you are rais'd in Condition by so much more have you an Obligation to Vertue and are in greater hazard of Destruction Remedies against the Obstacle of Nobility Labor earnestly for your Salvation and use all possible diligence that your Nobility be not a cause of you Damnation as it is to many For this Effect practise the following Advices 1. First Advice Understand perfectly what true Nobility is Nobility is inseparable from Vertue it takes its origin from thence and is only conserv'd by it It hath been bestow'd upon your Ancestors in recompence of their worthy Actions if you imitate them in their Vertue you will merit the Title of Noble if you imitate them not you have but a false and imaginary Nobility 2. Know Second Advice that besides this Nobility Instituted by Men there is a Divine Nobility infinitely rais'd above this which is that which is acquir'd by Grace Videte qualem charitatem dedit nobis Pater ut filii Dei nominemur simus 1 Joh. 3. Intellige tibi esse genus de coelo age vivendo sancto respondeas patri Dei silium ut se probat qui vitiis non obscuratur humanis qui divinis virtutibus elucescit Chrysolog Serm. 6 7. For if Nobility consists in being born of Illustrious Parents and of those that are considerable in the World what Nobility will it be to be made the Child of God Coheir of Jesus Christ predestinated to possess the the Kingdom of Heaven This Theotime is the great the prime and the true Nobility if you possess this you are really Noble and if you have it not how Noble soever you may be before Men you are most Infamous and Abominable in the sight of God. 3. This being so Third Advice permit not your self to be puft up with Pride and Arrogancy for your Nobility Mala nobilitas quae se per superbiam apud Deum reddit ignobilem Aug. Serm. 27. That is a wicked Nobility says St. Augustin which makes you contemptible in the sight of God by its Pride On the contrary by so much more Humble as you are more Noble according to the Precept of the Wiseman a Quanto magnus es humilia te in omnibus apud Deum invenies gratiam Eccl. 3. By how much greater you are says he by so much humble your self more in all things and by this means you will render your self agreeable to God. It is an excellent Advice like that which S. Jerom gives to Noblemen b Nulli te unquam de generis nobilitate praeponas nec inseriores quasque aut humili loco natas te inferiores putes Nescit religio nostra personas accipere nec conditiones hominum sed animos inspicit singulorum servum nobilem de moribus pronunciat c. S. Jerom. Epist ad Celant Prefer not your self before others by reason of your Nobility and contemn not those who are not Noble Our Religion hath no respect to Persons it regards not the Condition of Men but their Minds it judgeth of Nobility by their Manners There is no Nobility in the sight of God but not to serve Sin. The height of Nobility is to be Illustrious in Vertues O what an excellent and necessary Advice is this for Noblemen 4. Fourth Advice Endeavor to observe well the ordinary Vices of the Nobility that you may carefully avoid them we have hinted at some of them you will
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
more capable of Labor which it could not be able to undergo if it were always employ'd So that Labor is the End and Motive of Sport and Recreation From thence three Conditions follow Three Conditions to be observ'd which must be observ'd in Play that it may be good and vertuous The First Moderation To keep therein a civil Moderation for if it be taken in excess it is no more a Recreation but rather an Employment it is not to Play to be made more fit for Labor which is the sole End Pastime ought to have but only for Pleasure which is a vicious End yea it is to make one unsit for Labor because excess of Play dissipates the Spirits enfeebles the Forces of the Body and oftentimes considerably prejudices the Health by the Distempers it causes The Second Condition is An orderly Affection Not to have a disorderly Affection to Play as it happens frequently to young Persons This Affection makes them fall into the Excess we spoke of lose much Time think continually of the Means to divert themselves It is the cause that they almost never apply themselves seriously to Labor and when their Body is at Study their Mind is at their Sport and Divertisement The Third Condition is Avoiding the Cames of Hazard To fly as much as possible the Plays of Hazard such Plays keep the Mind too much ty'd to them principally young Peoples They serve not to recreate the Spirits but to give them more disturbance It is hard to observe therein a Moderation one is so engag'd either by Loss or Gain They Play there only out of Covetousness The bad Effects of Play. and to gain which is a wicked End Add the ordinary Losses one suffers which leave after them Displeasure Vexation and Despair Joyn to these the Cheats unjust Gains Choler Swearing Quarrels of which these sorts of Plays are ordinarily full The excessive loss of Time the dissipation of Mind and Goods the wicked Habits of Anger of Impatience of Swearing of Lying of Covetousness and many others which Play produces The disorderly Inclination to Play which continues all their Life and frequently ruins their Possessions and Honor and reduces them to extream Miseries as we daily see but by too many Examples and in fine makes a Man incapable of any Good. Avoid these Sports Theotime Practice as absolutely contrary to your Salvation and Happiness and addict not your self but to honest Pastimes which serve for the Divertisement of the Mind or Exercise of the Body observing therein the Conditions we have spoken of and chiefly keeping your self from Excesses which * Relaxabantur etiam mihi ad ludendum habenae ultra temperamentum severitatis in dissolutionem affectionum variarum S. Aug. lib. 2. Confes S. Augustin in his Confessions acknowledg'd to be one of the Causes of the depravation of his Youth Now this Excess is understood not only of the Time employ'd therein which ought to be well regulated but also of the Mony you Play which ought always to be very little otherwise you will Play for Gain and not for Recreation and the Sport will be a Hell and Disquiet rather than a Divertisement Besides the Mony you lose at Play would be better employ'd amongst the Poor whose Necessities will cry one day to God for your Excesses and against those of all Gamesters CHAP. XXI Of Liberality against Covetousness ALtho' it may seem that Covetousness is not an ordinary Vice amongst young Persons Youth must be arm'd against Covetousness yet it is very necessary to arm them against this Passion which easily taking root in young Souls is insensibly augmented and causes vast Disorders in their Life There are two sorts of Covetousness Two sorts of Covetousness The one which makes us love Mony to heap it up to get Treasures and Purchases The other which makes us affect it to dispose and employ it for our proper Pleasures The First is very rare amongst young People but the Second is very ordinary with them and highly prejudicial Experience makes appear that it is ordinary with them How ordinary among young Persons for as they earnestly love their Pleasures they seek after all Means to satisfie them which cannot be effected without Mony From hence it comes that they apply all their Endeavors to get it From hence the Cheats and Tricks they make use of towards their Parents to get it from them From hence their Cozening in Play their Hard-heartedness to the Poor and sometimes Robberies and unjust Ways to procure it From hence the love of Riches which we see in young Spirits the desires of great Fortunes the imaginary Designs they lay to purchase them This Passion having thus taken its beginning in Youth easily increases How prejudicial and strengthening it self by Age becomes so strangely rooted that it can never be pull'd up all the remainder of their Life And it causes that so general a Disorder which is found amongst Christians and which the Prophet deplores when he says that a A minore usque ad majorem omnes avaritiae student Jer. 16.13 From the least to the greatest all are given to Covetousness that is to the irregular love of the things of the World which b Radix omnium malorum est cupiditas 1 Tim. 6. S. Paul says is The root of all Evils This Vice takes its origin from three Causes in Youth The First is Three Causes of Avarice in young Men. what we have now spoken of The Second is the common Example of the World which they see loves and esteems Mony above all things and runs after it with insatiable greediness The Third is the Fault of Parents who inspire this Love into their Children from their tender Years Discoursing of nothing but the Care to get their Livelihood if they be Mean or Poor or of advancing and aspiring to a higher Fortune if they be Rich teaching thus their Children that which S. Cyprian reproaches them for that is Filios tuos doces patrimonium magis amare quam Christum S. Cypr. lib. de oper Eleem. To love more their Riches than Jesus Christ and to labor in such a manner for the Goods of this mortal Life that they think little or nothing on the Eternal This Evil dear Theotime must be prevented in good time It must be prevented betimes and hindred from taking possession of your Heart it being certain that there is no Vice which increases more with Age than this and which becomes more incapable of remedy For this Effect take notice of what I counsel you 1. First Means Being as we have said that the greatest Cause of this Covetousness in young People springs from the love of Pleasures use all your Endeavors to moderate that Passion which may be said to be one of the greatest Mischiefs of Youth the Cause of all the Misfortunes it commits and the chiefest Obstacle of all the Good
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
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
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
Postea surgimus simul omnes preces fundimus precibus peractis panis offertur vinum aqua Praepositus quantum potest preces gratiarum actiones fundit populus faustè acclamat Amen Et distributio communicatio fit oblatorum unicuique absentibus autem per Diaconum mittitur caeterum qui copiosiores sunt volunt pro arbitrio suo quod visum est contribuant quod ita colligitur apud Praepositum de ponitur atque ille opitulatur pupillis viduis his qui propter morbum aut alium casum egent quique in vinculis sunt peregrinis ut verbo dicam indigentium is omnium curator est S. Justin Apol. 2. On the Day which is call'd Sunday there are assembled all those who live in the Town or Country and there are read the Book of the Apostles or the Writings of the Prophets according as time permits After the Reading he who Presides makes a Discourse by which he Instructs the People and Exhorts them to Practise those excellent things which were read Afterwards we all rise and offer our Prayers to God. These things being finish'd there is an Oblation made of Bread Wine and Water the Celebrant continuing his Prayers and Thanksgiving the People answering by their Acclamations Amen Then is perform'd the Distribution and Communication of the holy Mysteries to every one present Lastly those who are more wealthy give their Alms which are gather'd and sent into the Hands of the Superior who employs them to the Necessities of the Poor of whom he is to take a care Tertullian in his Apologetick Chap. 36. says * Coimus in coenam congregationem ut ad Deum quasi manufacta precationibus ambiamus orantes haec vis Deo grata est Coimus ad literarum divinarum commemorationem si quid praesentium temporum qualitas aut praemonere cogit aut recognoscere Certe fidem sanctis vocibus poscimus spem erigimus fiduciam figimus Disciplinam Praeceptorum nihilominus inculcationibus densamus Ibidem etiam exhortationes castigationes censura divina Nam judicatur magno cum pondere ut apud certos de Dei conspectu summumque suturi judicii praejudicium est Si quis ita deliquit ut a congregatione conventus omnis sancti commercii relelegetur Tertul. Apol. cap. 39. That the Christians assembled together in Companies forming as it were a Body of an Army wherein by their Prayers they encounter with God to whom this kind of violence is very pleasing In these Meetings something of Scripture is read which serves to nourish Faith to raise Hope and strengthen the Courage of the Faithful There are made necessary Exhortations and Admonitions to every one And also when any one had committed a Fault that deserv'd Chastisement he was punish'd by being excluded from the entrance into these holy Places of Assemblies which was accounted one of the greatest Punishments Afterwards he speaks of Alms which are there given for the Relief of the Poor and Afflicted Concerning which we must take notice that during the Three first Ages of the Church wherein She liv'd amongst Persecutions it frequently happen'd that the Christians had not any appointed Places at least public wherein to make their Congregations but perform'd them in private Houses or often in secret But after it pleas'd God to give Peace and Liberty to the Church under Christian Emperors they began boldly to build Churches where the Faithful assembled on Sundays and Feasts under the Conduct of a Pastor who was given them to have a care of their Souls It was then when the use of Parishes and of the Parochial Mass on these holy Days became to appear in its lustre and since that time it hath always been conserv'd in the Churches and recommended to the Faithful with much care as a thing necessary for the Service of God and the Salvation of Souls for the the Instruction of People and Conduct of Manners and to conserve the Order and Discipline of the Church it hath been also commanded as a thing of Obligation This appears in the greatest part of Councils as well General as Particular which have been held since and lately in the Council of Trent which renewing and relying upon the former in the 22th Session Orders Bishops to * Moneant etiam eundem populum ut frequentes ad suas parochias saltem diebus dominicis majoribus festis accedant Concil Trid. Sess 22. Moneat Episcopus populum diligenter teneri unumquemque Parochiae suae interesse ubi commodè id fieri potest Sess 24. cap. 4. advertize their People to go frequently to their Parishes at least upon Sundays and solemn Feasts and to constrain them thereto by Ecclesiastical Censures And in the 24th Session it Ordains also That Bishops carefully admonish their People that every one is oblig'd to be present at the Parish to hear there the Word of God when it can be perform'd without considerable Inconvenience This is the Institution of Parishes and Parochial Masses from whence it is easie to gather Three things from the ignorance of which doth spring the Contempt which is offer'd to them viz. their Antiquity End and Obligation They are as ancient as the Church her self Their End to Govern the Christian People with Order and Ease every one having his proper Pastor to watch over his Salvation and every Pastor his Church which is as it were his Flock where the Sheep are assembled to receive their Spiritual Sustenance the cure of their Distempers Instructions and necessary Admonitions briefly to hear by his Voice that of the Sovereign Pastor of Souls whose Place he represents And as to the Obligation it is sufficient to manifest by the End of that Instruction so necessary for the Salvation of Souls and Decrees of Councils so often repeated make it appear that it is very strict and that without a great and just Cause one cannot be therein dispensed Things being thus is it not a thing worthy of astonishment to see so holy and necessary an Institution neglected and despis'd after such a manner that it seems as if Parishes were but for a few of the meaner sort for aged Men and young Girls and that Christians should now adays contemn a thing the privation whereof was heretofore a Punishment for the greatest Crimes This Contempt befalls many for different Reasons Some do it out of a pure want of Devotion which makes them apprehend the length of the Parish Mass upon a Day dedicated to Piety and seek a short one that they may employ the remainder of the Holy Day in Idleness in Vanities and Recreations What shame is it for Christians to make so little account of the sanctification of Feasts of the Ordinances of God and of his Church and of their own Salvation that they should rather choose miserably to spend the time of the Service of God in Fooleries than to employ it in the Divine Honor and the
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
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
God upon themselves for God is pleas'd to favor the Humble and those who fear him as on the contrary he rejects the Proud and those who trust in their own Power and glory in the multitude of their Riches I say this Theotime to the end I may admonish you that if God hath order'd you to be born in a good and rich Condion you take a care that your Riches serve not for your Damnation as they do daily to many like you Quam difficice qui pecunias habent in regnum Dei intrabunt Lucae 18. the multitude whereof makes but too evident that Truth deliver'd by the Mouth of Jesus Christ who says How difficult is it for the Rich to be saved Wherefore you have need to perform Three things 1. Three Remedies Be fully persuaded as it is most certain that your Riches may much prejudice your Salvation if you have not a great care to preserve your self from the Impediments they cause and employ them usefully 2. Understand what these Obstacles are that you may diligently avoid them There are many in them but those which are most particular are these viz. Pride Untractableness Idleness Love of Pleasures Vicious Company and Flatteries of Men Have a care of all these things Be Humble in your Riches Nihilest quod sic generent divitiae quomodo superbiam omne pomum omne lignum habet vermem suum vermis divitiarum superbia est Aug. Ser. 5. de ver Domini Quid prodest stulto habere divitias cum sapientiam emere non possit Pro. 17. considering on one side the danger they daily put you in of offending God and ruining your self and on the other side the exact Account you must render to God of the good use you have made of them Wherefore do you glory in the Riches you possess which God can take away in a moment and with which as the Wise man says you know not how to obtain the true Riches of the Mind that is Wisdom and Vertue Riches which if you possess them not you with all your Goods are but like a Horse richly Trapped which with all his Ornaments is but a Beast without Reason Render your self easie to be taught and Tractable be ready to learn and willing to be reprehended and be persuaded that by how much you are Nobler and Richer by so much ought you to be better instructed because you have so much more occasion of failing and your Faults are of greater consequence than others Fly Idleness so natural to the Rich. In labore hominum non sunt cum hominibus non flagellabuntur Ps 72. Peccare volunt sed non flagellari cum hominibus unde timendum est ne flagellentur cum daemonibus S. Bern. Serm. ad Pastores Remember that the Rich as the Scripture says are not in trouble as other Men and not subject to the Afflictions of others But S. Bernard adds That there is great reason to fear lest they should be afflicted with the Devils Preserve your self carefully from Dainties which are the Baits of Pleasures Remember that Chastity is in the midst of Dangers and Precipices when surrounded with Riches where daintiness of Nourishment of Garments of Lying and a thousand other Occasions expose it to a continual hazard of Ruin if not resisted with incredible Diligence Vae qui opulenti estis in Sion c. qui dormitis in lectis eburneis lascivitis in stratis vestris qui comeditis agnum de grege c. bibentes vinum in phialis c. Amos 6. Vae vobis divitibus quia habetis consolationem vestram Lue. 6. Wo be to the Rich says the Prophet who sleep in curious Beds who seek Pleasure in their delicious Couches who Feast taking all Delight whilst the Poor is in Misery without shewing any Compassion towards him And the Son of God says Wo be to the Rich because they have their Consolation in this World. Withdraw your self from wicked Company which your Riches will easily attract as a Prey invites Birds See what we have said above Chap. 6. Permit not your self to be surpris'd by Flattery Adulatorum quoque assentationes noxia blandimenta fallaciae velut quasdam pestes animae fuge nihil est quod tam facile corrumpat mentes hominum S. Hier. Epist ad Celan which always accompanies the Rich and which ordinarily perverts their Mind and principally young Persons Give not credit to any thing they shall say in your Commendation for either they commend you for Things that deserve not Praise as your Condition your Wealth your good Behaviour or other like things or for things you have not as Science Wisdom Vertue or if you have them they come not from you There remains the Third thing you are to perform that is to make good use of your Riches I shall appoint you no other than that which S. Paul order'd Timothy to prescribe to the Rich consider what he says and comprehend it well a Divitibus hujus saeculi praecipe non sublime sapere neque sperare in incerto divitiarum sed in Deo vivo qui praestat nobis omnia ad sruendum bene agere divites fieri in bonis operibus facile tribuere communicare Thesaurare sibi fundamentum bonum in futurum ut apprehendant veram vitam Tim. 6. Command the Rich of the World that they be not high-minded that they put not their confidence in the uncertainty of Riches but in the living God who giveth us abundantly all things to enjoy that they apply themselves to Vertue and be rich in good Works that they give Alms freely and communicate their Goods to those that want that they lay up store for the time to come and to obtain Eternal Life This Theotime is the use of Riches which the Holy Ghost prescribes to the Wealthy and which you ought exactly to practise if you will take care that you be not destroy'd by your Possessions After all this keep in your Mind that great Truth S. Cyprian teaches you which is b Tentatio est Patrimonium grande nisi ad usus bonos census operetur ut Patrimonio suo unusquisque locupletior magis redimere debeat quam augere delicta S. Cypr. lib. de Habit. Virgi That a great Patrimony is a Temptation if the Revenue one possesses be not employ'd in pious Vses and by how much any one abounds in Wealth by so much more ought he to make use of it to redeem his Sins and not to multiply them CHAP. XI Particular Obstacles to Noble Persons TO put Nobility amongst the Obstacles of Vertue were to offer an Injury to it but we shall do no wrong to Truth if we say that the ill use which Persons in Dignity make of it is a great Impediment to their Salvation and frequently the cause of their Ruin and Damnation To see this Truth and clearly understand that there is no State ordinarily more corrupt nor fill'd with Vice than that of
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
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
Clericus esse merearis ut adolescentiam tuam nulla sorde commacules ut ad altare Christi quasi de thalamo virgo procedas S. Hier. Ep. ad Rustic Live so holily in your Monastery says he to him that you may deserve to be of the Clergy and not defiling your Youth by Sin you may approach to the Altar of Jesus Christ in a perfect Purity Meditate well upon this Advice Theotime consider it often and conceive it spoken to your self and certainly with much more Reason for if a young Religious living in the observance of a Monastical Rule must have a care of himself to make himself worthy of an Ecclesiastical State by a holy Life how much more care and pains ought you to take who live in the World where you have not the Advantages of a Regular Life Secondly 2. By the Study of Sciences necessary for an Ecclesiastic When you prepare your self for an Ecclesiastical State by a vertuous Life remember to joyn with the Exercises of Piety diligent Labor and continual Study to make your self capable to serve God in that Calling This Labor is no less necessary for an Ecclesiastical State than that of Sanctity You are oblig'd to it in Conscience and if you apply not your self carefully to it you render your self unworthy of that Calling * Quia tu repulisti scientiam repellam te ne sacerdotio fungaris mihi Oseae 4. For God will reject from his Priesthood him who hath rejected Science And moreover you make your self guilty in the sight of God of all the Mischiefs which happen thro' your Ignorance The Ignorance of Priests is the greatest Evil that can be found in the Church The great Evils which spring from the Ignorance of Priests it being the chiefest Cause of the Corruption of the People and Loss of Souls It is impossible but that an ignorant Ecclesiastic should be Slothful and Idle not being able to apply himself to his Studies and that Idleness should cast him into Vice as we daily see Now altho' he should not be vicious Idleness alone is criminal in a Priest Add the Mischiefs which the Ignorance of Ecclesiastics causes in respect of the People For it either hinders them from laboring for the Salvation of Souls from whence the People suffer much losing the Assistance they ought to receive from them for their Eternal Salvation or else renders them incapable of sufficiently acquitting themselves of that labor and is the Cause that many Souls are Damn'd by their Incapacity which bars them from Instructing them in those things they ought to know and in a word from directing them in the Way of Salvation which the greatest part know not It is not to be conceiv'd how many Souls are lost by the Ignorance of Priests * Quid enim periculi sit ubi non invenit Pastor pascua dux ignorat itineris viam servus nescit Domini voluntatem Ecclesia quotidie multipliciter miserabiliter experitur S. Bern. in Declamat The Church saith St. Bernard hath daily a great and lamentable Experience of the Danger Souls are expos'd unto when the Pastor wants wherewith to feed his Sheep when the Guide knows not the Way by which he should conduct them to Salvation nor the Servant the Will of his Master which he ought to declare to others O my dear Theotime reflect well upon these things and be afraid lest by your Ignorance you make your self the Cause of the ruin of Souls redeem'd by the Blood of Jesus Christ Addict your self seriously to the Study necessary for an Ecclesiastic and assign for the Mark at which you aim the making your self the most capable you can of serving God in the State to which he hath call'd you In fine An important Advice Whether in Deliberating on this Condition or Preparing your self for it set frequently before your Eyes those excellent Words of S. Augustin writing to a Friend of his who demanded of him Counsel concerning an Ecclesiastical State. * Ante omnia peto ut cogitet religiosa prudentia tua nihil esse in hac vita maxime hoc tempore facilius levius hominibus acceptabilius Episcopi Presbyteri Diaconi Officio si persunctorie adulatorie res agatur sed nihil apud Deum miserabilius tristius damnabilius Item nihil esse in hac vita maxime hoc tempore difficilius laboriosius periculosius Episcopi Presbyteri aut Diaconi Officio sed apud Deum nihil beatius si eo modo militetur quo noster Imperator jubet S. Aug. Epist 184. I entreat you says he before all things that by your Vertuous Wisdom you will consider well that there is nothing in this Life and principally at this Time more easie more light and more acceptable to Men than the Charge of a Bishop of a Priest or of a Deacon if negligently or flatteringly it be discharged yet there is nothing more miserable more dreadful and more damnable in the sight of God. Besides there is nothing in this Life and at this Time more difficult more painful and more dangerous than the Office of a Bishop Priest or Deacon if they acquit themselves of it as they ought and according to the Will of our Master as also there is nothing more happy in the sight of God. CHAP. X. Of a Religious State. AFTER the Ecclesiastical State I come to the Religious the Choice whereof is of no less Consequence than that of the former nor subject to less Faults It is an excellent thing that a Religious who having once forsaken all things should have no other care than to please God by the practice of Penance and Humility living in the exact observance of his Rule and keeping himself retir'd from the Commerce of the World that he may addict himself entirely to the Study of real and solid Perfection But on the contrary it is a sad and deplorable thing that a Religious who is only religious in Habit and making a particular Profession of Perfection is farther from it than the most imperfect Layman loving the World and worldly things subject even to the most gross Vices or having overcome corporal Vices as Impurity Gluttony and the like permits himself to be carry'd away by spiritual Sins as Anger Ambition Envy Discord Enmity and other like which are by so much more dangerous as they are less sensible I omit to speak of those who being enter'd too easily into Religion and without a Vocation from God repent themselves afterwards for being too lightly engag'd in a Business of such Imtance A Repentance which frequently casts them into great Disorders and sometimes carries them even to Apostacy To make a good Choice of this State Two things to be consider'd in a Religious Life two things are necessary 1. To know it well that is to say to understand what it is its Obligations its Advantages and its Dangers 2. To be Instructed well in in the Means he
your Courage in good Occasions for the Service of your Prince and Country If he threaten to assault you wheresoever he shall find you answer That you will defend your self but make no Appointment either directly or indirectly saying I pass by such a Place or the like If after this he attack you defend your self 5. Avoid the Causes of Duels as Quarrels and Enmities Offend no Person or if by Imprudence or otherwise you wrong any one give him Satisfaction and declare you had no intention to offend him This is what concerns Duels As for what remains towards the regulating your Life be no Swearer and Blasphemer as others See what we have said of Oaths Ornet mores tuos pudicitia conjugalis ornet sobrietas frugalitas Valde enim turpe est ut quem non vincit homo vincat libido obruatur vino qui non vincitur ferro S. Aug. Epist 205. ad Bonifac. Part 4. Chap. 12. Fly Impurity like Death there is nothing more unworthy of a generous Soul and besides it is the Source of all the Misfortunes which befall those of your Profession See what hath been said of this Vice Part 3. Chap. 8. Hinder Disorders as Duels Blasphemies Injustices Robberies Vexations Violences Sacrileges and all other Mischiefs which Soldiers may commit You are oblig'd to it when you can and chiefly if you have Command You shall answer to God for all the Disorders which shall be acted under you if you have not us'd all your Endeavors to stop them And you are oblig'd to make Restitution for all the Damage which is done to others by your Fault Have a care of ever commanding to do an Injustice or even to put in Execution the Commands of others which you clearly see to be unjust Be assisting to the Afflicted Erue eos qui ducuntur ad mortem qui trahuntur ad interitum liberare necesses Prov. 24. protect the Poor and all those who suffer Violence or Injustice Be not insolent in Victory nor cruel towards the Conquer'd but mild and favorable as much as Prudence will permit following that Maxim of S. Augustin Hostem pugnantem necessitas perimat non voluntas Sicut enim rebellanti resistenti violentia redditur ita victo vel capto misericordia jam debetur maxime in quo pacis perturbatio non timetur S. Aug. supra who says That as Force is us'd toward the Enemy who resists so Mercy ought to be shewn to him who is overcome when he is no more in a Condition to hurt Examin often your Conscience to keep your self still in a good State Confess frequently beg of God daily that he would give you Grace to avoid the Dangers of your State and Condition ARTICLE V. Of other Conditions of a Secular Life The Four Conditions whereof we have spoken are the most difficult and dangerous of a Secular Life for this reason we were oblig'd to handle them more at large Others also have their Difficulties and Dangers which are necessary to be foreseen when one deliberates on them to be arm'd in respect of them and prepar'd to surmount them I shall here only run over the most considerable Counsellors and Solicitors are to avoid Ignorance in their Profession Rashness in Affairs undertaking the Defence of bad Causes that are either unjust or ill grounded counselling a Process in most doubtful Affairs answering according to the Affection of the Parties rendring all Businesses probable Hi sunt qui docuerunt linguas suas loqui mendacium diserti adversus justitiam eruditi pro falsitate sapientes ut faciant malum eloquentes ut impugnent verum S. Bern. lib. 1. de Consid cap. 10. making use of Cheats Surprises Cozening Falsity Injustices Detraction of the Neighbor in defending themselves speaking of the Ill he hath not done revealing what is secret when it doth not appertain to the Cause making Invectives offering all sorts of Injuries wherein they give themselves an incredible Licence as if it were permitted to violate Charity to conserve ones Right making their Clients suffer by Delays and Negligences prolonging unjustly the Suits to render the Opponents Poor and put them into an Incapacity of pursuing their just Right pronouncing unjust Judgments exacting more than they ought for their Wages and particularly of poor and mean People following poor Mens Businesses negligently continuing the Suits which might easily be ended animating Parties one against another fomenting Divisions and Enmities and having with these Businesses their Minds so much employ'd that they almost never or very rarely think of God or their Salvation which is too ordinary amongst those of their Profession who often revolve in their thoughts every thing except themselves and who following the Temporal Affairs of their Neighbor neglect the most important Affair of their own Salvation Physicians who are of a necessary Profession for the Life and Conversation of Men must avoid being ignorant in their Science rash in their Advice negligent in knowing exactly the Distempers they meddle with and studying for the Remedies too confident in their own Sufficiency little careful of the Salvation of their Patients not admonishing them in good time to set in order their Conscience which is the cause why many die in a bad State thro' the Physicians Fault too complacent in giving Judgment and putting them to Charges without sufficient necessity too free in attributing much to Nature and little to God who is the Author of Nature and other like things I add the Dangers of Chastity to which they are often expos'd by reason of the necessity they have of treating with Objects which may excite Impurity which is a Reason why they should have a great Precaution against this Vice. Merchants ought to avoid Covetousness or the excessive desire of Gain or Riches which totally possesses their Mind Deceits disguising or falsifying Merchandizes breaking their Word unjust and excessive Gain Usury and other Disorders The same in proportion is to be said of Artificers and other Professions which have relation or combination with the former Thus in every Profession there are Vices and Dangers which must be known before one enters into them that they may have a care of them because without this Precaution they follow the great Road of others are engag'd in the Abuses of their Profession and by these Abuses in the ruin of their Salvation CHAP. XII Of the State of Marriage WHEN you shall be enter'd in to one of the former Employments of a Civil Life you must come ere long to settle in the World which ordinarily is perform'd by Marriage and sometimes tho' more rarely by an unmarry'd Life I spoke nothing of these States in the first Impressions of this Book but after I made reffection of it when I review'd it for this Edition I conceiv'd it very proper to speak to you of them and give you some necessary Advices to make you avoid a great number of most important Faults which Men are
what find you in Heaven that can render you happy Will it be the sight of the Firmament with all those beauteous Stars Of the Sun Vas admirabile opus excelsi Eccles 43. that admirable Vessel that excellent Work of God And of all that is Wonderful and Great in Heaven Not at all All these things are not capable to effect your Felicity God has esteem'd them too mean for you he made them for your Service not to be the Object and Cause of your Happiness In a word Consider all that is in the Universe and all those vast and wonderful things which God hath Created all this is not able to accomplish your Beatitude and God hath not made you for any of these things For what then For nothing less than himself to possess and enjoy him in Heaven He hath not judg'd the most beauteous of his Creatures worthy of you he hath given himself to be the Object of your Happiness Nimirum ad imaginem Dei facta anima rationalis caeteris omnibus occupari potest repleri omnino non potest capacem Dei quicquid Deo minus est non implebit S. Beru in Declama For this reason he communicated to you a Soul form'd to his Image capable to possess him and which by reason of this Capacity is never content nor satisfy'd with the Possessions and Delights of this Life as every one sensibly finds by Experience You were not then made for Creatures dear Theotime but for the Creator Your last End is not the enjoyment of Created things but of God himself You were Created to be Happy by the possession of a God in Heaven Oculus non vidit nec auris audivit nec in cor hominis ascendit quae praeparavit Deus iis qui diligunt illum 1 Cor. 2. and to reign with him in a Felicity incomprehensible to Human Understanding And this for all Eternity that is for a Time which shall never end and shall continue as long as God himself This is the most noble End for which you are design'd This is the Inheritance which your Celestial Father hath prepared for you This is the End for which he hath Created you and at which the Creation of all this visible World which was fram'd for your sake doth aim This being so convert your thoughts now upon your self to make reflection upon Two things First What have you done hitherto in order to that blessed End for which God hath design'd you Two important Reflections upon the last End. Have you aspir'd thither with all your Heart Have you endeavour'd to make your self worthy Alas perhaps as yet you have not had a serious thought of it perhaps you are far remov'd from it by a Life full of Sins imitating the generality of Men who turn their Backs to that happy Country to which their Heavenly Father calls them O Blindness of Men how great art thou O my dear Child how do I deplore your Misfortune if you be of that number Wherefore consider in the Second place what you have to do from henceforth in order to obtain that happy End for which you are Created How long will it be that you will think so little of your dear Country How long will you forget Heaven O you Child of Heaven O Man S. Pet. Chrysol Serm. 71. O homo quid tibi commune cum terris qui confiteris tibi genus esse de coelis ergo coelestem vitam monstra in habitatione terrena quia si quid in te gesserit terrena cogitatio coelo maculam coelesti generi injurium intulisti saith S. Peter Chrysologus what have you common with the Earth you who acknowledg your self of a Heavenly Extraction when you say Our Father which art in Heaven Manifest therefore a Celestial Life in an Earthly Habitation If you live otherwise you stain your noble Stock and offer a great Injury to your Heavenly Origin Conclude then dear Theotime and make here a holy Resolution to aspire to that happy End for which you were Created and to labour carefully to make your self worthy by a Life not degenerating from that of the Child of God design'd to possess Heaven and God himself entirely flying Sin the only Obstacle which can divert you from it and destroy you for ever CHAP. II. Of our Vocation to the Grace of Baptism and the Obligations thereof MOTIVE II. AFTER you have known the End for which God hath Created you Means to come to the last End or necessary Knowledg you must understand the Means he hath appointed to obtain it which consists in the Favour he hath done you in making you a Christian and withdrawing you by the Grace of Baptism from the universal Destruction of Mankind caus'd by Sin. Here Theotime you ought to apply a serious Attention to comprehend the greatness of this inestimable Benefit which is a Business of vast Importance to be known in your Youth to avoid the ordinary Misfortune of Christians the greatest part of whom are absolutely ignorant of what it is to be a Christian and of what that Name and State obliges them to This is the cause why they are so undeserving leading a Life altogether contrary to the Sanctity of their State and why they are misfortunately lost in the Vocation wherein alone they might be Saved For this reason I beseech you in the Name of God to read attentively this Chapter which I shall divide into two Articles ARTICLE I. Of the Excellence of the State of a Christian and of the Favour God hath bestow'd on him whom he hath call'd to this State. YOU are a Christian Theotime What it is to be a Christian by the Grace of God but do you understand what this is and what you are in this Quality Take notice of it and learn to know the great Favour God bestow'd on you upon the Day of your Baptism By the Baptism which you have receiv'd you are wash'd from Original Sin by the Merits of the a Qui dilexit nos lavit nos à peccatis nostris in sanguine suo Apoc 1. Blood of Jesus Christ withdrawn from the universal Curse of Mankind incurr'd by Sin b Eramus naturâ filii irae sicut caeteri Deus autem qui dives est in misericor dia propter nimiam charitatem suam qua dilexit nos convivificavit nos in Christo Eph. 2. deliver'd from the Power of the Devil You have been made the c Omnes filii Dei estis per fidem in Christo Jesu Gal. 2. Son of God the Disciple of Jesus Christ your Saviour You have acquir'd God for your Father Jesus Christ for your d Magister vester unus est Christus Matt. 23. Master your Instructer your Example and for the Rule of your Life The Holy Church for your Mother and Tutress The Angels for your Guardians the Saints for your Intercessors You have been made the e Templum Dei estis Spiritus
ab adolescentia sua Thren 3. good for a Man to carry his Yoke from his Youth that is to addict himself to Vertue and to bear the pleasing Yoke of Gods Commandments Why in Ecclesiasticus doth it exhort young People so powerfully to Vertue by those excellent Words able to win the most insensible Hearts Son d Fili à juventute tua accipe doctrinam usque ad canos invenies sapientiam quasi is qui arat seminat accede ad eam sustine bonos fructus illius in opere enim illius paululum laborabis cito edes de generationibus illius Quam aspera est nimium sapientiae indoctis hominibus non permanebit in illa excors Quibus autem cognita est permanet usque ad conspectum Dei. Eccl. 6. receive Instructions from your Youth and you shall find Wisdom even to the end of your Life Approach unto it as he who would Cultivate the Earth that is with Care and Labour and expect the pleasing Fruit which it will bring you You will labour a little to obtain it but soon after you will tast of its admirable Fruits 'T is true Vertue is hard and difficult but it is only to those who are insensible and vicious But those who have once known it well find it pleasing and never part with it any more and it will continue with them even to the last accomplishment of their Salvation in Eternal Glory And all the rest of that Chapter is but a continual Exhortation to young People to become Vertuous Wherefore in the Twenty fifth Chapter doth it say Quae in juventute tua non congregasti quomodo in senectute tua invenies Eccl. 25. That it is impossible to find in old Age what was not laid up in Youth And Lastly Amongst the Books of Sacred Scripture why was there one expresly made for the Instruction of Youth which is that of Proverbs Doth not all this manifestly discover that the Holy Ghost would give Men to understand that the Time of Youth is of extream Consequence and the greatest Part esteem it not And that all Happiness and Misfortune of Men whether in this Life or in the next depends ordinarily on that Time well or ill bestow'd It being commonly most certain that those obtain their Salvation who in their Youth are bred up in the Fear of God and Observation of his Commandments And that those who have not been Educated in that Fear of God or who cast it from before their Eyes to follow Sin with more Liberty do misfortunately Perish All this Truth is rais'd from those Two Foundations whereof the First is That those who have follow'd Vertue in their Youth continue easily therein all the remainder of their Life And the Second That on the contrary those who have given themselves over to Sin at that time do very hardly correct themselves and most frequently are never withdrawn We shall discover these two Truths more amply in the following Chapters CHAP. VIII That those who have follow'd Vertue in their Youth conserve it easily all the remainder of their Life EXperience makes this Proposition so evident Eighth Motive that it is accounted a thing most certain in the Sentiment of the Sacred Scripture and understanding Men. To make you more sensible of it I shall discover unto you the Reasons thereof relying upon both those Authorities The First is That Habits gotten in Youth are conserv'd a long time and are not easily lost This is clear in the Holy Scripture Prov. 22. The young Man will not leave in his old Age the manner of Living he hath once begun that is very rarely It is incredible how powerful the first Impressions are and how deeply the first Habits are rooted in young Souls The first Impressions of young Minds saith S. Jerom are very hardly defaced S. Jero Epist ad Laet. Difficulter eraditur quod rudes animi perbiberunt lanarum conchylia quis in pristinum candorem revocet recens testa diu saporem retinet odorem quo primum imbuta est Wooll which hath once taken its first Tincture doth not easily lose it to return to its former Candor And an Earthen Vessel keeps long the Smell and Tast of that Liquor wherewith it was first Season'd For this Reason the Scripture says a Thren 3. That it is good that is to say very important for a Man to addict himself to Vertue in his Youth Because having acquir'd it in that Time it is easily conserv'd the remainder of ones Life As it says in that other place b Eccl. 6. Receive Instruction in your Youth and you shall find Wisdom even unto the end of your Life S. Bernard says S. Bern. lib. De ordi vitae Multi senes diu viventes nihil proficientes quia nullas sibi in opportuno tempore divitias congregarunt That we need not seek any other Causes why we see so many old Men full of Vices and destitute of all sorts of Vertues but because they acquir'd them not in their Youth which is the proper Time for it * Senectus eorum qui adolescentiam suam honestis artibus instrukerunt in lege Domini meditati sunt aetate fit doctior usu certior processu temporis sapientior veterum studiorum dulâ—issimos fructus metit Jerom. Epist ad Nepot And S. Jerom describing the excellent Qualities of the old Age of those who apply'd themselves to Vertue in their Youth saith That they become more Knowing by their Age more Assur'd by Experience more Discreet by the Process of Time and gather the agreeable Fruits of the ancient Labours of their Youth The Second Reason is because Youth is the Time of most violent Temptations which being overcome we easily surmount all others The Temptations of Pleasure are without question the most violent Inter omnia Christianorum certamina duriora sunt praelia castitatis ubi quotidiana pugna rara victoria S. Aug. Serm. 250. de temp Quem tormenta non vicerant superabat voluptas Jer. in vit Paulin. they sometimes conquer those whom Torments could not overcome Now altho' these Temptations are common to all Ages yet nevertheless it is most certain that they are ordinarily more strong and frequent in Youth which as * Adolescentia multa corporis bella sustinet inter incentiva vitiorum carnis titillationes quasi ignis in lignis viridibus suffocatur S. Jerom. Epist ad Nepot S. Jerom says is a continual Combat of Chastity and being environ'd with the Occasions of Sin and urg'd by the Provocations of the Flesh it suffers very much to conserve its Purity like Fire that is almost choak'd with green Wood heap'd upon it But when by the Succours of Divine Grace which as we have shewn above are greater and more abundant in Youth as the Temptations are more frequent and impetuous one has gain'd the Victory in these first Encounters it happens
he suffer'd this with an admirable Meekness comforting himself in the satisfaction of his Innocence of which he had God for Witness and Protector And God who had always been with him leaves him not on this Occasion but as the Sacred Scripture says * Descenditque cum illo in foveam in vinculis non dereliquit eum donec afferret illi Sceptrum regni Sap. 15. he descended with him into the Cistern assisting him with his Grace and wonderfully delivering him as he did presently after To these two Trials succeeds the Third yet greater This was the high Prosperity to which he was rais'd For having Interpreted Pharaoh's Dream by the Knowledge God gave him of Things to come Gen. 41. this King not only delivers him out of Prison but makes him the Chiefest of all his Kingdom over which he gave him a general Charge with an absolute Power to dispose of all things according to his Will and with a Command to all his Subjects to Obey him as himself In this high Degree of Fortune which ordinarily dazles Mens Eyes and where mean Vertues are lost and quickly ruin'd Joseph remains firm in his former Vertue always like himself The forgetfulness of God Pride Covetousness Revenge which are accustom'd to attend upon high Fortunes could never prevail upon his Mind Having occasion to revenge himself of his Brothers who came into Egypt to make their Provision during a severe Famine he not only refuses to do it but receives them with such Tenderness and Testimonies of Affection as draw Tears from those who read the Account the Scripture gives of it He governs himself in his Charge with so much Justice Gen. 45. that never any made Complaint of his Conduct And on the contrary the Egyptians did Honourably acknowledge him for their Deliverer being freed from Want during a Seven-years Famine by his eminent Prudence which purchas'd for him in those Countries the Name of The Saviour of the World. He persever'd thus in Vertue and Fear of God in the midst of his Grandeurs from the Age of Thirty when he was rais'd to that Fortune even to the Age of an Hundred and ten wherein he dy'd O Theotime reflect well upon this Example and learn from it what a Vertue acquir'd in Youth is able to do I should content my self with this Example if that which follows were not also admirable to discover the same Verity It is of Toby the Father of young Toby of whom the Scripture reports things full of Admiration which he perform'd first in his Youth and afterwards in the remainder of his Life See what it says Toby was a young Man of the Tribe and City of Nephthali Second Example of Toby Tob. 2. Cumque esset Junior omnibus in tribu Nephthali nihil tamen Puerile gessit in opere Denique cum irent omnes ad vitulos aureos quos Jeroboam fecerat Rex Israel Hic solus fugiebat consortium omnium pergebat in Jerusalem ad Templum Domini ibi adorabat Dominum Deum Israel omnia primitiva sua decimas suas fideliter offerens Haec his similia secundum legem Dei puerilus observabat and altho' he were the youngest of all those of his Tribe yet nothing of Youth or Childishness appeard in his Actions And when all others went to Sacrifice to the Golden Calf of Jeroboam King of Israel he alone flying the Company of them went to Jerusalem to the Temple of God and there Ador'd the God of Israel Offering to him faithfully all his First-fruits and Tenths He perform'd these things adds the Scripture and many other such like according to the Law of God being yet very young O the admirable Life Theotime of a young Man who acted nothing Childish that is nothing contrary to Vertue who permitted not himself to be carry'd away by the Torrent of ill Example continuing in the Service of God when all others withdrew themselves from it A Youth spent so vertuously could not but be follow'd by a perfect and a Saintly Life as you shall see Toby being come to Mans Age In captivitate positus viam veritatis non deseruit was sent into Captivity by the Assyrians with all his Country-men to the City of Ninive Being there he departed not from the Path of Vertue which he had so happily enter'd in his Youth For First Et cum ederent ex cibis Gentilium Ipse custodivit animam suam nunquam contaminatus est in escis eorum As he had learn'd in his Youth to resist the wicked Examples of others he permitted not himself to be corrupted in his Captivity by the Example of his Country-men who eat licentiously the Meat of Gentiles which the Law of God forbad them Secondly Having receiv'd from the King of the Assyrians whose special Favour he had gain'd by the reputation of his Vertue Permission to go freely thro' all his Kingdom he went to Visit all those who were in Captivity Pergebat ergò ad omnes qui erant in captivitate monita Salutis dabat eis and gave them Admonishments concerning their Salvation Exhorting them to continue faithfully in the Service of God. Thirdly The Affliction of the Captiv'd Israelites being become more severe he daily went to Visit and Comfort them Distributed amongst them what he was able to give them Fed the Hungry Cloth'd the Naked and had a particular Care with an unparallell'd Charity to Bury all the Dead he found notwithstanding the Displeasure of the King which he had incurr'd by that Action even to the danger of his Life But what is yet more admirable is the Patience with which he endur'd the most sensible Affliction of Blindness which befell him by an unexpected Accident in the Fifty sixth Year of his Age. One Day as he return'd to his House weary'd with the Burial of many Dead he chanc'd to fall asleep under a Wall from the top whereof the Dung out of a Swallows Nest fell upon his Eyes and took away his Sight This was doubtless a very great Affliction and a most rigorous Trial but he supported it with so admirable a Patience that the Sacred Scripture compares it to that of Job And that which is most considerable is that it attributed the Cause thereof to the Piety and Fear of God wherein he had liv'd in his Youth Behold what it says a Hanc autem tentationem ideo permisit Deus evenire illi ut posteris daretur exemplum patientiae ejus sicut sancti Job Nam cum ab insantia sua semper Deum timuerit mandata ejus custodierit non est contristatus contra Deum quod plaga caecitatis evenerit ei sed immobilis in Dei timore permansit agens gratias Deo omnibus diebus vitae suae Now God permitted that this Temptation should befall him to give to Posterity an Example of his Patience as of that of holy Job For whereas he always feared
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
non fatageret idem pater qualis crescerem tibi aut quam castus essem dummodo essem disertus Ibid. Volebat enim illa secreto memini ut monuerit cum solicitudine ingenti ne fornicarer Qui mihi monitus muliebres videbantur quibus obtemperare erubescerem Ibid. The little Care his Father took for his Salvation and Manners concerning himself little that his Son should be Vertuous so that he became Learned and Eloquent as it happens to many Fathers Thirdly The Contempt of the Admonitions of his Mother who knowing her Sons Mind exhorted him continually not to permit himself to be carry'd away by the Excesses of Impurity but to no Effect Fourthly Quid dignum vituperio nisi vitium ego ne vituperarer vitiosior fiebam ubi non suberat quo admisso aequarer perditis fingebam me fecisse quod non feceram ne viderer abjectior quo eram innocentior ne vilior haberer quo eram castior Ibid. The wicked Examples of those of his Age so much prevail'd upon his Mind that he endeavour'd to be more Impious to the end he might be more like unto them and when he saw himself surpass'd by them in Wickedness he feign'd some Naughtiness which he had never committed fearing to be contemn'd by how much he appear'd less Vicious than others Fifthly Relaxabantur etiam mihi ad ludendum habenae ultra temperamentum severitatis in dissolutionem affectionum variarum Et in omnibus erat caligo intercludens mihi Deus meus serenitatem veritatis tuae prodibat tanquam ex adipe iniquitas mea Ibid. Cap. 5. The great Liberty his Parents gave him for Play and Recreations as he himself also takes notice These Causes cast him into Vice and cherish'd him in his Disorders the space of Three Years after which he began to open his Eyes and acknowledge his Misery It is here Theotime where you shall know the great Difficulty with which one withdraws himself from the Vices of his Youth Being Nineteen Years of Age he conceiv'd very effectual thoughts of his Salvation which God rais'd in him by reading * Ille vero Liber mutavit affectum meum ad teipsum Domine mutavit preces meas ac vota ac desideria mea fecit alia a Book of Cicero whose Title is Hortensius containing an Exhortation to Wisdom The reading of this Book as he himself saith chang'd presently his Mind and Inclinations and made him convert his Thoughts upon God and alter his Desires Viluit mihi repentè omnis vana spes immortalitatem sapientiae concupiscebam aestu cordis incredibili Et surgere jam caeperam ut ad te redirem Quomodo ardebam revelare à terrenis ad te Lib. 3. cap. 4. He began to contemn temporal and perishable Goods and Pleasures and to aspire with an incredible Longing after the Beauty of Wisdom which never perisheth And from that Time he began to depart from Vice and to return to God with a most ardent Desire Who would not have believ'd but that these good Motions would have been soon follow'd by a perfect Conversion But alas Theotime what is not a wicked Habit contracted in Youth able to do Vice and wicked Inclinations had so seis'd upon his Heart that altho' these Thoughts of his Conversion were very strong and that he us'd all his Endeavours to recover himself from that Puddle of Dirt wherein he was plung'd yet he continu'd therein not only a Day a Month a Year but from the Nineteenth to the Thirtieth Year of his Age And the Vices contracted in Three Years of his Youth kept him in Slavery Twelve whole Years During which Time he not only remain'd in his former Disorders but fell into others yet greater For as Immodesty leads to Error and Blindness he lapsed into the Heresie of Manichaeus wherein he continu'd Nine Years joyning to his Heresie the continual keeping of a Concubine in which State he liv'd from his first Corruption until the Time of his Conversion Being about Thirty Years of Age he thinks more seriously of his Conversion than formerly as he describes it in the Sixth Book Chap. 11. But hearken Theotime with what trouble he purchas'd his Design After that first Thought Cum haec dicebant alternabant hi venti impellebant huc atque illuc cor meum transibant tempora tardabam converti ad Dominum Deum deferebam de die in diem vivere in te non deferebam quotidie in meipso mori he remain'd yet above Two Years in his wicked Life deferring daily as he saith himself to be Converted unto God and to seek in him the Life of Grace not reflecting on the Death he caus'd in himself by his deprav'd Life He ought to have employ'd much Time in curing his Understanding and rooting out the Errors and Ignorances which yet remain'd of his Life past as he describes them in the Seventh Book and convincing himself of the necessity of his Conversion His Understanding being overcome Et non erat jam ulla excusatio qua videri mihi solebam propterea me nondum contempto saeculo servire tibi quia incerta mihi esset perceptio veritatis jam enim ipsa certa erat ego autem adhuc terra obligatus militare tibi recusabam impedimentis omnibus sic timebam expediri quemadmodum impediri temendum est Lib. 8. cap. 5. Et ego ad me quae non in me dixi quibus sententiarum verberibus non flagellavi animam meam ut sequeretur me conantem post te ire renitebatur Recusabat non se excusabat Consumpta erant convicta argumenta omnia Remanserat muta trepidatio quasi mortem reformidabat restringi à fluxu consuetudinis quo tabescebat mortem Cap. 7. and his Will not yet submitting the vicious Habits did in such a manner possess his Heart that they made him fear his Amendment more than his Life as he himself testifies He should have rooted out the Vices one after another Ambition Covetousness Impurity Ambition and Covetousness were soon banisht out of his Soul but that misfortunate Impurity kept yet a firm possession He was so enslav'd therewith Mihi displicebat quod agebam in saeculo oneri mihi valde erat non jam inflammantibus cupiditatiâ—us ut solebant spe honoris pecuniae ad tolerandam illam servitutem tam gravem Sed adhuc tenaciter colligabar ex femina Lib. 5. cap. 1. Putabam me miserum fore si feminae privarer amplexibus Lib. 6. cap. 11. that he thought he should never have been able to have got his Liberty accounting it an extreme Misery to be depriv'd of those ignominious Pleasures which are the source of all Misfortunes And Lastly The difficulty of his Conversion was so great that after many Combats which he underwent in his Soul during the space of Fourteen or Fifteen Years after the Solicitude Prayers and Tears
soon into their first Distempers and into the Sins they had forsaken So that Theotime you must hold it for an undoubted Maxim That if you have a true Design to live in Vertue you must frequently approach to the Sacrament of Penance and if not you will never be difengag'd from Vice not from the Way of Perdition which I shall clearly discover by the following Reasons First First Reason Because altho' you may be some time without falling into mortal Sin nevertheless without frequent Confession you cannot avoid a great number of other Sins which being multiply'd and neglected lead to mortal Sin. Secondly Second Reason Without frequent Confession you may be secretly engag'd in wicked Habits which you will not believe to be such and will be expos'd to many dangerous Occasions from which you cannot guard your self unless you be Admonish'd Now you cannot be Advertis'd but by often discovering your Conscience to a discreet Confessor who will take notice of them and give you warning to avoid them Thirdly Third Reason It is impossible that you should continue a long time without being assaulted by Temptations and principally against Chastity Now I maintain that it is impossible you should resist them without frequent Confession Do what you will if you make not often use of this Remedy you will infallibly be subdu'd Experience will make you see it He that neglects Help will fall into Sickness and from Sickness come to Death Fourthly Fourth Reason Confession Theotime is a Help and Remedy against Sin. 1. Because it being a Sacrament it gives Grace to resist it 2. Because it makes us renew the Detestation of Sin and the Resolution not to commit it any more 3. Because the Admonitions of the Ghostly Father in Confession awake the Penitent and encourage him anew to fly from Sin and to be faithful to God. 4. Because the Penitent declaring his Temptations to his Confessor learns from him the Means to resist them yea this only discovering the Temptations is an effectual Remedy to overcome them The malignant Spirit fears nothing so much as to be discover'd He is a Serpent which hides himself when he would bite and flies away when he is perceiv'd He is a right Thief who hath no mind to appear in open day and he hath no greater Policy to destroy young Souls than to make them be silent in the Affairs of their Conscience and to hinder them from manifesting to any one the State of their Soul to the end that in this pernicious Silence they may find no Help to resist their Temptations nor Means to withdraw themselves from their Vices * Peccatum proditum citò curatur crimen vero tacendo ampliatur vitium si patet fit ex magno pusillum si latet fit ex minimo magnum S. Bern. Serm. de interiori domo cap. 37. Sin says S. Bernard is soon cur'd when it is declar'd but it encreases by silence If one discover it from great it becomes little and if one conceal it of little it becomes great After these Reasons I doubt not dear Theotime but that you are fully convinc'd of the necessity of Confessing often and being this is an Affair of great Consequence and a Man commits many Faults therein I have many Advices to give you which I beseech you read attentively and take notice of them well Important Advices concerning Confession First First Advice Confess your self at least once a Month without failing therein If you have frequent Temptations you ought to Confess oftner and principally at the time wherein you perceive the Temptations begin to assault you most strongly Fake notice well of this Advice for it is of great importance and for want of practising it many relapse miserably into Sin. Secondly Second Advice Have a care of falling into that Offence of many who never think of Confessing themselves but when they have yielded to a Temptation It is a deplorable Abuse by which the Devil misfortunately seduces many Souls For what a great folly is it not to apply ones thoughts to a Remedy till after he is fall'n into a mortal Distemper when it might have been prevented by Help in time according to the Counsel of the Wiseman Eccl. 15. Ante languorem adhibe medicinam Apply the Remedy to prevent the Distemper Thirdly Third Advice Have a care also of another greater Fault of those who having been subdu'd by a Temptation instead of quickly raising themselves and having recourse to the Sacrament of Penance permit themselves to yield to all Occasions neglecting to Confess themselves whether for fear remissness or negligence of their Salvation until the Occurrence of some great Feast obliges them thereunto This Abuse is common amongst young Persons and the Cause that many fall back after good Resolutions and often relapse presently after into Vice. We must not lose Courage for having fall'n but raise our selves presently and make use of that Slip for our Advantage and stand better on our Guard for the future Fourthly Fourth Advice Confess your self usually to your ordinary Confessor as often as you can so that nevertheless if you find him not you go to another and let not his Absence be the Cause of your failing to Confess your self when there is a Reason for it Fifthly Fisth Advice Be assur'd that the Devil will use all his Endeavors to hinder you from Confessing often he will oppose all Obstacles imaginable Sometimes he will make you believe it is too much trouble sometimes that you are not sufficiently prepar'd sometimes that you have no need at another time he makes some Business fall out oftentimes he will raise up some Disgust against Confession sometimes and very frequently he will endeavor to withdraw you from it by a certain foolish Shame which he is accustom'd to stir up in those of your Age by which he makes them blush to perform Acts of Piety A thousand other Impediments will he suggest to hinder you from so prositable and necessary a Means of your Salvation But in the Name of God Theotime pass by all these Hindrances and look upon all those Thoughts which aim at withdrawing you from Confession as Temptation of the Devil Now to Confess well endeavor to observe diligently that which follows 1. Means to Confess well Examine your Conscience the best you can concerning Sins to which you are most inclin'd 2. After Examination stir up in your self a Sorrow for having offended God and beg Pardon of him with all your Heart 3. Approach to Confession with much Respect and Modesty representing to your self that you are going to appear before God as before your Judge to implore his Mercy And if you be oblig'd to expect before you can be Confess'd keep your self in an humble and modest Posture Praying or Reading some good Book 4. Declare your Sins humbly and plainly making your Confessor understand them clearly There are some who Confess but half their Sins
following the Priest in all he shall say or do in every part of the Sacrifice That is in begging Pardon of God with him during the Introit and Kyrie eleison making humble Suit to him during the Prayers hearkning attentively to the Epistle and Gospel representing unto your self Jesus Christ who speaks unto you endeavouring to keep in your Memory what Instruction you receive from his holy Word At Credo making Profession of Faith with the Priest at the Offertory Offering with him at the Preface when he says Sursum corda raising your Heart to God to keep you more attentive and disposing your self to Adore our Saviour at the Consecration and performing the Four Things we have spoken of CHAP. XIV Of Labor and Employment of Time. IT is not sufficient to begin well Twelfth Means and piously end the Day in the manner we have said we must also employ it profitably in some vertuous Labor there being nothing so contrary to Vertue nor more a Friend to Vice than Idleness principally in young Persons as we shall shew you hereafter Part 3. Chap. 7. Wherefore Theotime if you sincerely desire to live in Vertue you must add this Means to the former and be perswaded that to live vertuously it is absolutely necessary for you to fly Idleness and bestow your Pains faithfully in the Employment of your Condition Hearken to me Son says the Wiseman Audi me fili ne spernas me in novissimo invenies verba mea in omnibus operibus tuis esto velox omnis infirmitas non accedet tibi Eccl. 31. and contemn not my Admonitions and you will find how profitable they will be to you in the end Be prompt and diligent in all your Works and by this you will avoid all sorts of Infirmities Idleness causes many Distempers of the Body which weaken its Forces it heaps up many ill Humors which corrupts it But it brings many more and far more dangerous to the Soul which it makes apt to receive all manner of Vices For as Exercise is necessary for the Health of the Body so Employment and Labor are needful for the Health of the Soul for it is impossible to conserve it without that Means Have a care then Theotime Practice diligently to employ your self every Day in the Labor of the Condition wherein God has put you Look not upon it as a thing troublesom painful or tedious but as an Exercise bestow'd on you by God to employ your self therein faithfully and as a necessary Means of your Salvation to avoid Idleness which is the Mother of all Vices and the Cause of the Ruine of young People Offer it to God every Morning and when you begin beseech him he would give a Blessing to it and that it may succeed to his Glory and your Salvation Now if this Advice be necessary in all the Conditions wherein the Lives of different Men are spent it is most of all necessary in the Profession of Students If you are call'd thereto you ought to employ your self therein more faithfully than in any other Condition not only because God hath placed you in that Exercise and that it is a Means to avoid Idleness but also because if you be negligent in this State you lose the Time proper to learn in which is that of Youth which you can never repair You lose the Occasion of rendring your self capable of any Employment as we see it daily happens to many who having lost their Time during their Studies continue slothful and unprofitable all the rest of their Life and many times become vicious and wicked O Theotime you ought to make a great Scruple of losing this so precious a Time You shall give an exact account thereof at the Judgment of God. * Si quis ignorat ignorabitur 1 Cor. 14. Qui vitat discere incidet in mala Prov. 17.16 The ignorant shall be uuknown and he who refuseth to learn shall fall into many Misfortunes CHAP. XV. Of the Knowledge of ones self very necessary for young People AMongst all the Means which conduce to Vertue Thirteenth Means the Knowledge of ones self is one of the most important And it is so necessary that it is impossible to attain to Vertue without it For this Reason it hath always been so much recommended by Authors who have written of a Christian Life And the Pagans themselves have always had it in much Esteem having receiv'd as an Instruction come from Heaven these two Words which were written upon the Gate of the Temple of Apollo at Delphos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know thy self By this Knowledge is to be understood a serious and frequent Reflection which one makes of himself to take notice of the Inclinations of the Soul the Passions which bear dominion there the Vices which spring up or encrease that he may correct them with convenient Remedies according to the measure that he perceives them This Knowledge is necessary for all Men and for want of exercising our selves therein the greatest part of them remain all their Lives subject to many Vices But it is chiefly necessary for young Persons because they are in an Age wherein their Passions begin to spring in which Time it is very important to observe them and stop them for Two Reasons 1. Because they are more easie to be cur'd in their beginning and stifled in their birth than corrected when they are become stronger 2. Because following that most judicious Remark of St. Ambrose * Tunc maximè insidiatur adversarius quando videt in nobis passiones aliquas generari tunc fomites movet laqueos parat Ambr. lib. 1. Off. c. 4. The Devil tempts Men most violently at that time when when he sees some Passion arising in their Soul for it is then says this Great Man that he excites most of all the Causes and lays Ambushes to engage them more therein For this Reason dear Theotime I exhort you to Exercise your self in this Knowledge of your self as in a thing which is infinitely necessary or to say better it is not I who recommend this Means it is the Holy Ghost himself who gives it in that excellent Instruction in the 37th Chapter of Ecclesiasticus by the Mouth of the Wiseman a Fili in vita tua tenta animam tuam si fuerit nequam non des ei potestatem Eccl. 37. Son examine your Soul all your Life-time and if you find her inclining to Evil give her not liberty He gives the Reason in another place b Anima nequam disperdet eum qui illam habet Eccl. 6. Because a Soul which hath a propension to Wickedness will destroy him who possesseth her And in the 18th Chapter he gives us to understand what it is Not to give liberty to our Soul viz. Not to follow her Motions and deprav'd Inclinations but carefully to repress them c Post concupiscentias tuas non eas à voluntate tua avertere
of your Soul she must answer for you to God she must conduct you during your Life to the Point of Salvation and assist you at the Hour of Death Love her tenderly as a Child loves his Mother be obedient to her receive from her your spiritual Sustenance of Doctrin and of the holy Sacraments walk under her Eye and Government with Respect and Confidence receive from others all the assistance you can but expect from her your principal Conduct and be zealous to follow that great Advertisement of the Apostle Obedite Praepositis vestris subjacete eis Ipsi enim pervigilant quasi rationem pro animabus vestris reddituri ut cum gaudio hoc faciant non gementes hoc enim non expedit vobis Heb. 12. Obey your Superiors and be subject to them for they watch over you as being to give an account of your Souls that they may perform their Duty with joy and not with sorrow for that is not convenient for you The End of the Second Part. THE INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH IN Christian Piety PART III. Of the Obstacles which divert young Persons from Vertue IT is not sufficient for him who Conducts another in a Voyage to shew him the Way he must keep and the Means he must make use of to arrive at the Place assign'd he must also advertise him of the Dangers he will Encounter in the Way and arm him against all Obstacles which may retard or hinder the happy Success of his Voyage Thus the Angel Raphael of whom we have spoken above did not content himself to guide young Toby but secur'd him from the Obstacles which presented themselves to him in the Way and amongst others from the Monster he met with upon the brink of the River Tigris from which he not only protected him but caus'd him to reap a great Advantage by it For this reason dear Theotime after having shew'd you the Way to Salvation and the Means you ought to practise to acquire Vertue in your Youth it is necessary I should discover unto you the Impediments you shall find in the Way This is what I shall perform in this Third Part wherein I shall lay open the Causes which are accustom'd to destroy those of your Age in withdrawing them from Vertue and casting them into Vice and I shall shew you the Means how to preserve and even advantage your self very much by them for your improvement in Vertue CHAP. I. The first Obstacle of the Salvation of Youth the want of Instruction THE first Hindrance of the Salvation of young Persons is Ignorance or want of Instruction We must know a Good that we may love it and to know it it is necessary we should be Instructed therein we not being able to our selves to learn it who bring nothing with us into the World but Ignorance and Sin. God says by his Prophet that a Propterea captivus ducuts est populus meus quia non habuit scientiam Isa 5. his People were sent into Captivity because they had not Science that is the Instruction and Knowledge of their Salvation And the Wiseman says that b Ubi non est scientia animae non est bonum Prov. 19. where there is no Science there is no good for the Salvation of Souls This Impediment is great and it is the first Fountain of the corruption of Youth It is by so much more to be deplor'd as it is common and extended to many it being certain that the greatest part of Youth is lost for want of Instruction and not being solidly Train'd up in the Maxims of Vertue Fathers neglect to Instruct their Children in true Piety and bestow all their Care in Educating them in Vanity in Pleasures in the love of Earthly Goods and in the Maxims of the World. Masters employ often the greatest part of their Labor to advance their Scholars in Learning and very little to make them understand the Science of Salvation Children concern themselves little to be Instructed and frequently fly Instruction all they can which is the reason why they continue in Ignorance in wicked Habits and are lost without remedy For the Proof of this Verity I shall recount you here two Examples quite contrary * Quis enim hominum non extollebat laudibus tunc patrem meum quod ultra vires rei familiaris suae impenderet fillo quidquid etiam longè peregrinanti studiorum causa opus esset cum interea non satageret idem pater qualis crescerem tibi aut quam castus essem dummodo lessem disertus aut potius desertus à cultura tua Deus qui es unus verus bonus Dominus agri cordis mei Aug. lib. 2. Conf. cap. 3. S. Augustin in his Confessions deploring the Corruption of his Youth attributes a great cause of it to the want of Instruction and to the blindness of his Father who using all Endeavors to advance his Son in his Studies and make him Learned and Eloquent neglected in the mean time the most necessary thing viz. the Care of his Manners and of his Instruction in Vertue without which all Science could but serve to render him more displeasing to God and more remov'd from his Grace On the contrary the Scripture making a recital of the generous Action of chast Susanna who chose rather to expose her self to the false Accusations of those two infamous old Men and to be prosecuted to Death than to Sin in the sight of God by consenting to a detestable Crime which those wretched Men solicited her to attributed the Cause of this holy Action to her Piety and to her Instruction receiv'd from her Parents the Words it makes use of are remarkable * Joachim accepit uxorem nomine Susannam filiam Helciae pulchram nimis timentem Deum parentes enim ejus cum effent justi erudierunt filiam suam secundum legem Moysi Dan. 13. She had the fear of God because her Parents being just had instructed her according to the Law of Moses O dear Theotime Practice have a care of this Obstacle as of one of the greatest Impediments of your Salvation love and seek Instruction And if God hath bestow'd upon you Parents or Masters who are solicitous to put you into the Path of Vertue give him Thanks for this incomparable Favor and use your Endeavor to advantage your self thereby But if your Parents have not sufficient care of your Instruction in Vertue seek after it your self by the Means we have pointed at above in Part 2. Chap. 3 4 5. and call to mind often that excellent Sentence of Solomon * Cor sapiens quaerit doctrinam os stultorum pascitur imperitia Prov. 15. A wise Heart seeks Instruction and the unwise is pleas'd with Ignorance CHAP. II. The Second Obstacle the too much Indulgence of Parents their ill Example and the bad Instruction they give their Children IT is but too true that the Ruin of Children springs most commonly from
the Fault of Parents who are wanting in this great Obligation God hath impos'd upon them of Educating them in his Fear and disposing them to Vertue Now there are four Defects which Parents may be guilty of in this Obligation which most frequently are the Cause of the Corruption and Ruin of Children Four Faults Parents may commit in the Instruction of their Children 1. When they neglect to Instruct them in the knowledge of Vertue and their Salvation 2. When they are too Indulgent in their Place giving too much Liberty and not Correcting them when they do ill 3. When they give them bad Example by their Actions 4. When they suborn them in things contrary to Piety We have spoken above of the First Defect As to the Second it is not to be imagin'd how common this Fault is amongst Parents and how it daily destroys Children appears by Experience The greatest part of fathers and Masters affect their Children with a foolish and blind Love which regards nothing but the present and sensible Good of their Children and are afraid to give them the least trouble by keeping them within the Bounds of Vertue by a discreet Admonition or by a reasonable Correction they choose rather to leave them in their wicked Inclinations which for want of Correction encreasing with Age make them wicked and vicious for all the remainder of this Life and miserable after this Life for all Eternity Misfortunate Parents who by this sort of Mildness precipitate themselves with their Children into the deep Pit of Wickedness like those foolish Animals which kill their young ones by the vehemence of embracing them Blind Fathers who see not that this Mercy you shew to your Children is the greatest Cruelty you can exercise in your Condition and you would not be so cruel if you took away their Life with your own Hands it being certain that by this Inhumanity you would but destroy their Bodies whereas by your Mildness you cause the ruin of their Souls and the eternal loss of their Salvation The time will come wherein your Children will lay their Curses on you will require of God revenge against you and will accuse you as the Authors of their Misfortune witness he who being Condemn'd to Death cry'd out aloud It is not the Judge but my Mother who is the Cause of my Punishment Your culpable Meekness will one day draw upon you the Curse of God and also upon your Children Upon your selves because you have neither Instructed nor Corrected them when they stood in need Upon your Children because they made use of your Indulgence to give themselves over to vice and Disorder See the Example of the High Priest Heli recounted above and learn from that terrible Punishment God laid upon him what you ought to expect For all the Miseries which besel as well him as his Children and his whole House and for their first and principal Source the great Indulgence he had towards his Children not Correcting them for their Sins This is the Testimony God himself gives thereof I will judge says he the House of Heli Praedixi quod judicaturus essem domum ejus propter iniquitatem eo quod noverat indignè agere filios non corripuerit eos 1 Reg. 3. by reason of his Iniquity because having knowledge of the wicked Life of his Children he hath neither reprehended nor corrected them I cannot sufficiently exaggerate this Fault of Parents Theotime to raise in you so great a horror as it deserves Practice It is to admonish you if God hath bestow'd upon you wise and vertuous Parents who have had a great care to Instruct you in Vertue to Reprehend you when you were faulty that you acknowledge the Obligation you owe to God and make good use of this high Favor by rendring your self pliable and easie to be Instructed by their Admonitions But on the contrary if your Parents forgetful of their own Duty and your Salvation fail to reprehend you when you commit any Misdemeanor have a great care lest you be ruin'd by their misfortunate Indulgence Beg of God very earnestly that he would change their Disposition and give you Masters who would supply their Defect and take notice of your Actions to redress them when you shall wander never so little out of the Path of Vertue I say the same if your Parents be not only negligent in reprehending you but what is yet worse if they give you ill Example teaching you as it often happens by their Actions to love the Pleasures of this Life to desire Riches without measure to affect Vanity to be Proud Ambitious Cholerick seeking Revenge not suffering the least Injury Immodest in Words addicted to Feasting to Drunkenness to Impurity and other like things And yet more if they be so miserable as to teach you by their Discourses one or many Vices approve or praise them when you have committed them O God dear Child stand in fear of all these Occasions you cannot be in a greater danger of your Salvation and having recourse to God beseech him that he would illuminate you to discern Good from Evil that he would strengthen your Mind against the bad Impressions you shall receive and not be destroy'd by their Fault who ought to be the first who should contribute to your Salvation CHAP. III. The Third Obstacle of the Salvation of Youth the Vntractableness of young Persons SAint Jerom says excellently well Saepe magister peccat saepe discipulus nonnunquam patris vitium est nonnunquam filii ut male erudiatur S. Hier. in cap. 6. Michaeae That altho' the depravation of Children springs often from the Parents and Masters Pault yet it very frequently proceeds also from the Childrens Wickedness who will not receive Instruction and this Fault is call'd Vntractableness This Untractableness is a want of submission to the Conduct of others or a secret Presumption of ones self by which one will not be inform'd of the Truth he ought to know nor receive Advice in those things he ought to do nor be Reprov'd and Corrected when he has err'd nor Exhorted to Good when he has done amiss This Vice is one of the worst Qualities a Mind can be infected with A very bad Quality of the Mind For if we regard its Causes it proceeds from Pride Its Causes which makes them contemn all that comes from another or from Obstinacy or Confidence in their own Judgment or from a too great Lightness of Mind which considers nothing and which makes them despise the most important things If we consider its Effects Its Effects it infallibly causes the Corruption and Ruin of those who are infected with it being it takes away all Means of Correction or Amendment for how should one do Good if he will not know it How correct his Faults if he will not be rebuked The Sick who will acknowledg his Distemper and rejects the Remedies for it is out of hope of any
of Vanities and Grandeurs These Conversations Theotime are very hurtful altho' they seem not so for they attack Vertue in the Root and secretly destroy it Fly the Company of idle and lewd young People Idle young Persons who have no Employment or comply very ill with that wherein they are engag'd Their Example will bring you to Slothfulness they will induce you to it by their Discourses they will persuade you to leave your Employment and Labor and pass your time in Merriment They will teach you to love a Play to haunt Tipling-houses to frequent Balls and Comedies And from this Idle Life they will cast you into Disorders Observe well this Advice and assure your self absolutely that there are no Companions more dangerous for you than they For Conclusion Theotime remember one thing That sooner or later the Divine Vengeance will surprise the Wicked whether visibly or invisibly a In synagoga peccantium exardebit ignis in gente incredibili exardescet ira Eccl. 16.16 The Fire of the Divine Choler says the Wiseman will be enkindled against the Assembly of the Impious and against the Rebellious who refuse to obey the Commandments If you be found amongst them you will be involv'd in their Ruin. b Via peccantium complanata lapidibus in fine illorum inseri tenebrae poenae Eccl. 21.10 The way of Sinners seems sweet and agreeable but in the end they will find Death Darkness and Damnation For this reason I say to you with the Prophet c Recedite à tabernaculis hominum impiorum ne involvamini in peccatis eorum Num. 16.26 Withdraw your self from them lest you be involv'd in their Sins and Ruin. Wo be to him who being forewarn'd avoids not this Precipice and eternal Misfortune See a little below Chap. 8. Art. 3. the History of a young Man who being perverted by wicked Company dy'd in Despair crying out Wo be to him who hath seduc'd me There remain's here to speak of the Conversation with the Good but we have plac'd that before amongst the Means to acquire Vertue Part. 2. Chap. 18. CHAP. VII The Seventh Obstacle of the Salvation of Youth Idleness THIS Theotime is one of the greatest Obstacles of your Salvation and that which produceth or nourisheth all the precedent and many others Idleness brings Ignorance and want of Instruction which cannot be gotten without Labor It is that which breeds Untractableness for a slothful Mind will learn nothing The apprehension it hath of taking pains makes it esteem it self sufficiently Knowing and refuse to receive the Instruction and Counsel of others a Sapientior sibi piger videtur septem viris loquentibus sententias Prov. 26.16 The slothful says the Scripture accounts himself wiser than many who Instruct others with their Documents Idleness is the cause of Inconstancy b Piger vult non vult Prov. 13.4 The slothful will and will not To day he desires one thing to morrow another To day he will be Good to morrow he changes his Resolution Idleness causes a Shame to do well and takes away the Courage he ought to have in the pursuit of Vertue c Pigrum dejicit timor Prov. 18.9 Fear makes the slothful lose courage Idleness makes him seek and find wicked Company and dangerous Recreations Idleness ordinarily is the Mother of that misfortunate Sin which so deplorably destroys a great part of Youth the Sin of Impurity of which we shall speak in the following Chapter In a word There are no Sins no Disorders no Occasions of Destruction whereof Idleness is not the cause and brings with it This is the reason which made S. Bernard justly call it d Omnium cogitationum malarum tentationum inutilium sentina mater nugarum noverca virtutum mors animae vivi hominis sepultura sentina omnium malorum The Sink of all Temptations and wicked Thoughts the Mother of Follies and Stepmother of Vertues the Death of the Soul the Sepulchre of a living Man the Receptacle of all Evil And the Holy Ghost himself names it The Mistress which teacheth many Sins Multam malitiam docuit otiositas Alas Theotime is it not a very deplorable thing How common amongst young Persons to see the Sin which is the Fountain of so many Evils to be so common amongst Youth that it seems to become natural to them You see the greatest part live after an idle and negligent manner flying from Labor like Death it self not applying themselves to any constant Exercise or if they undertake any they presently abandon it or at best acquit themselves very ill of it They have no affection nor thought but for Pleasures and Divertisements Playing Walking Good-chear Sleeping are the most considerable Employments of their Life and the most serious Occupations of their Minds And from thence spring all the Disorders into which we daily see them fall How pernicious the unbridled Affection to the Pleasures of this Life the Disrelishing of Vertue the Ignorance of the most necessary things the Forgetfulness of God and Eternal Salvation From thence wicked Companions and the Occasions of Debauches From thence all Vices and all bad Inclinations which encrease in their Souls more abundantly than ill Weeds in a fertil Earth which the Gardners Hand neglects to cultivate And from thence in fine it ariseth that they become unuseful for any Good which by their Labor they might have made themselves capable of and that the Vices contracted by the Idleness of their Youth renders them wicked and unprofitable all the remainder of their Life I would to God it were as easie to root out Vice from the Souls of young People as it is facil to make appear the deplorable Effects and vicious Consequences of it But this Evil hath in such a manner taken possession of their Hearts that they will not so much as know it or knowing will not cure it * Usque quo piger dormies quando consurges à somno tuo paululum dormitabis paululum conseres manus ut dormias veniet tibi quasi viator egestas pauperies sicut vir armatus Prov. 6. O slothful says the Wiseman how long will you sleep when will you awake from that profound Sleep of Idleness which hath made you so drowsie and which will bring you to a poverty of all good which will surprise you suddenly and seize upon you like an armed man. Open your Heart dear Theotime to the Voice of this Divine Spirit to banish Idleness from thence or hinder it from ever coming there For this end fortifie your Mind against this Vice by the following Reflections The Remedy which I beseech you to read often and attentively 1. All Men are oblig'd to Labor In sudore vultus tui vesceris panem Gen. 5. Homo ad laborem natus si laborem resugit non sacit id ad quod natus est quid respondebit ei qui mittit illum qui
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
it brings after it Regard not the Pain and Difficulty of resistance but the Joy Consolation and Benefit you will receive from thence If you act thus you will find that the Temptation will in a small time vanish The Second Deceit by which the Devil seduces young People Second Artifice is to propose unto them in the Temptation the easiness of getting Pardon and perswade them that they will do Penance and Confess themselves of it Alas Theotime how frequently doth it fall out and too often that in the Combat of Temptation the Conscience resisting on her side by the good Motions God gives her this misfortunate Thought comes into the Mind I will Confess my self of it I will do Penance for it And with this Thought one miserably resolves to commit this Sin. What then If you imagin'd that God presently after the Sin would cast you into the Pit of Hell you would not attempt to offend him And because you hope he will pardon you do not you scruple to displease him O what Impiety is this O Wickedness Will you be Impious because God is Good Do you offend him because he will pardon you What greater Affront can be offer'd to God O Theotime if ever this Thought come into your Mind reject it as a Blasphemy and as a Wile of the Devil by which he would cast you into the abyss of Sin. The Third Deceit of the Devil towards young Persons is Third Artifice that after he hath made them sometimes yield to his Temptations by the former Artifices he puts into their Mind this false and wicked Opinion That it is impossible to resist Temptations and to abstain from Sin to the end that being possess'd with this Persuasion they may make no Endeavors to resist them and give themselves over to Evil without any restraint The falseness of this Persuasion A detestable Persuasion a diabolical Invention which is so much more deplorable as being most false and pernicious it is nevertheless most common amongst young People O insensati Galatae Quis vos fascinavit non obedire veritati persuasio haec non est ex eo qui vocat vos Gal. 3. Poor insensible Creatures what is it that dazles you thus so that you cannot see the Truth more clear than day Do you not see how this Thought is injurious to the Mercy of your Saviour who hath shed his Blood to merit for you Grace to resist in these Occasions and who stretches out his Arms to succor you This Persuasion comes not from him who calls you to him to save you but from the Devil who seeks to destroy you without recovery O dear Child The Remedies permit not your self ever to be seduced by this execrable Thought but in the midst of the most violent Temptations call to mind the Mercy of your Saviour who never abandons those who hope in him * Circumdederunt me undique non erat qui adjuvaret memoratus sum misericordiae tuae Domine cooperationis tuae quae à sa culo sunt quoniam eruis sustinentes te Domine liberasti me de perditione Eccl. 5. Tribulations says the Wiseman have environ'd me on every side and there was no one that would assist me I call'd to mind thy Mercy O God knowing that thou succorest those who trust in thee and thou hast deliver'd me from my destruction These are the three most ordinary Artifices the Devil makes use of against young Persons in their Temptations and all three are pursu'd in order For first he hides from them the Evil and makes them believe it is not so great as in reality it is Next he persuades them that they may easily discharge themselve of it And in fine when he hath them deeply engag'd he makes the Difficulty to abstain vast and prodigious in appearance that they may not attempt to acquit themselves of it Reflect well upon these three Artifices and have a care not to be deluded by them ARTICLE VI. Of two considerable Faults which ordinarily happen to young Persons in Temptations Besides the Fault they commit who permit themselves to be deceiv'd by the three former Artifices they fall into two others which cause great Difficulties in them and which you must observe that you may carefully avoid them The First is that when they see themselves attacked by frequent Temptations First Fault they presently become impatient and after having resisted for a while lose courage and yield to the Enemy believing that they cannot resist him This Error is very ordinary amongst young People and it gives a great advantage to the Enemy of their Salvation over them Heretofore the City of Bethulia in Juda being Besieg'd by Holofernes the principal People of the Town with all the Commonalty betook themselves to their Prayers to obtain of God their Deliverance And seeing God did not hear them so soon as they expected they resolv'd to deliver themselves if Succor did not come in Five Days The couragious Judith being advertis'd of this Resolution disapprov'd it much and highly reprehended them saying * Qui estis vos qui tentatis Dominum non est iste sermo qui misericordiam provocat sed potius qui iram excitet surorem accendat Posuistis vos tempus miserationi Domini in arbitrium vestrum constituistis ei Sed quia patiens est Dominus in hoc ipso poeniteamus indulgentiam ejus fusis lacrymis postulemus Expectemus humiles consolationem ejus Judith 8. Who are you that thus tempt our Lord This Design is not to attract the Divine Bounty to you but to provoke his Fury and Revenge What have you limited a Time for the Mercy of God and appointed a Day to succor you We must not proceed in this manner Let us do Penance let us demand Pardon with many Tears and with all humility expect his Comfort I say the same to you dear Theotime when you vex your self in Temptations and despairing to be able to resist them you take a Resolution at length to deliver your self over to your Enemy you offer a great Injury to God for this is to distrust his Grace and dispose of it as you please This is not the Means to obtain it but on the contrary to make you fall more dangerously into the Temptations and Sin. No no we must not act thus we must have patience in Temptations and humbly expect the Divine Grace Deus enim nisi ipsi illius gratiae defuerint sicutopus bonum coepit ita perficiet operans velle perficere Con. Tr. Ses 6. cap. 13. which will never fail you except you be wanting to it first If you persevere couragiously to resist he will either deliver you from the Temptations or give you Grace to overcome them Remember that the greatest Saints have been tempted like you and much more Call to mind the Apostle S. Paul who having demanded of God to be deliver'd from great Temptations
Obstacles Remedy for the three other Obstacles labor to acquit your self of three Obligations of your Benefice which I even now hinted to you Live Vertuously endeavoring to render your Youth pleasing to God Recite your Office exactly and devoutly Be Cloth'd like an Incumbent that is not being in Holy Orders in a black Habit without Ornaments your Hair very modest wear a long Garment as much as you can upon Sundays and Feasts and always when you partake of the Sacraments of Confession and Communion If you do thus Theotime it will befall you as it did the Prophet Samuel who was Dedicated by his Parents in his Childhood to Serve in the Tabernacle of God This young Child behav'd himself so faithfully in that Place Puer autem Samuel proficiebat at que crescebat placebat tam Deo quam hominibus Crevit autem Samuel erat Dominus cum eo Et cognovit universus Israel quod fidelis Samuel Propheta esset Domini 1 Reg. 2. that he became agreeable to God according to the proportion he increas'd in Age and as the Scripture says God was with him and the Services he did in the Tabernacle during his Youth were so pleasing to him that he chose him for his Prophet and manifested to all his People the choice he had made Thus Theotime if you serve God faithfully in an Ecclesiastical State to which by your Benefice you are Dedicated in your Youth God will give a Blessing to the Entrance you have made and will do you the Favor one day to employ you to serve him in that holy State and procure thereby your own Glory and the Salvation of Souls CHAP. XIII Advice to Parents upon the same Subject AS the Parents are the first Causes of all the Obstacles which Benefices bring to the Salvation of their Children it is necessary to give them here a very important Advice that they may afford a convenient Remedy They are the Persons who with an insatiable Greediness seek Benefices for their Children They make them take the 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—cal State before they know what it is They inconsiderately charge them with Benefices who Present themselves without being concern'd to know whether they be fit or Call'd by God or whether they will discharge the great Obligations of that Calling All their Care aims at finding Benefices and sometimes by ill and dangerous Ways at advancing the Revenue receiving and disposing of it as they please against the Intention of the Founders and of the Church her self making their Children learn a little Latin neglecting in the mean time all the rest which is most necessary viz. the Care of making their Children acquit themselves of the Obligations of their State say their Office wear an Ecclesiastical Habit live conformable to their Profession and of causing them to be bred up in an Ecclesiastical Spirit and instructed in the knowledge of their Duty O wicked Parents who for a little Temporal Wealth charge themselves with all the Sins of their Children and with their Children engage themselves in an inevitable Damnation And yet more misfortunate the Uncles and other Relations of Incumbents who have no less disordinate Affection for their Nephews and Cousins whom they blindly charge with Benefices and themselves with all the Ill they cause in the Church as we daily see * Huic parvulo forsitan nondum nato Ecclesiastica jam Beneficia provida parentum solicitudo parabat Illum Praepositus aut Decanus ut sibi succederet plusquam Materno educabit affectu in deliciis enutriens delictis Ille dignus Archidiaconatu quia filius principis magis autem si sit Episcopi consobrinus in quo nimirum tota videtur Episcopatus progenies S. Bern. in Declamationibus This was a Disorder which St. Bernard deplor'd in his Time whose Words I shall put in the Margin The Remedy of this Evil is in the Hands of the Parents themselves it belongs to them to moderate that great Greediness they have for Benefices to make more account of the Salvation of their Children than of their Temporal Possessions and prefer the Quiet of their Conscience before the Advancement of their Families which Benefices instead of raising as they think frequently ruin For this effect they ought to have a care not to bestow Benefices upon their Children without having seriously consider'd their Spirit their Inclinations and the Dispositions they have to an Ecclesiastical Calling And that they may perform it with more certainty they should not be Judges thereof themselves but make the Inclinations of their Children be Examin'd by able Persons to whom the Children may freely declare their repugnance if they have any to that Dignity as it frequently happens who might judge religiously of their Dispositions for the same State without Interest without Complacence and declare sincerely to the Fathers the Judgment they make of them whether they think the Children fit for an Ecclesiastical Calling as much as they may guess in that Age. The Fathers may follow their Judgment with the ensuing Precautions viz. To take a great care of the Education of the Children they design for the Church Make them be brought up in the Fear of God in an Ecclesiastical Spirit in the Knowledge of their State and its Obligations and not in the Vanity and Spirit of the World as they often do For this end commit them to Persons of Piety of Prudence of Learning who have the Zeal of an Ecclesiastical Spirit Have a care that they acquit themselves of the Obligation of their Office That they wear the Habit of Clergy-men at least as we have said in the precedent Chapter That they live holily as Children destin'd to the Church Dispose well of the Revenues of the Benefices employing it to discharge their Duty in an honest and moderate Maintenance of an Incumbent and the rest in pious Works And in fine they ought to observe the Manners and Inclinations of their Children informing themselves by their Masters to whom they are committed and whether they know they be inclin'd to an Ecclesiastical State or have not convenient Dispositions for it for then they are oblig'd to dispose of their Children in some other Employ If they do otherwise than what we have said they render themselves culpable of a vast number of Sins which their Children commit in an Ecclesiastical Calling which is a horrible thing to reflect on and for the Temporal Goods they have too much affected they will incur their Eternal Damnation and that of their Children Now to the end they may be more convinc'd of their Obligation concerning this Subject let them take the pains to read the former Chapter and also Chap. 9. of Part 5. The End of the Third Part. THE INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH IN Christian Piety PART IV. Of the Vertues necessary for young Persons THIS Theotime is the chiefest part of your Instruction to which the three former relate as the Means to their End for after the Proposal of the
it can do In the Name of God pass not from this Place without making Reflections upon it 2. Second Means That the love of Mony may not take possession of your Soul think often of that great Maxim of St. Paul that Covetousness is the root of all Evil. These Evils are the Sins of the World and the Misfortunes with which it is replenish'd whereof the greatest part springs from this wicked Cause as it would be easie to make it appear 3. Third Means Be persuaded that Riches damn many of the World be they Rich or Poor the Rich by the ill Use the Poor by Covetousness Know says the same Apostle Hoc scitote intelligentes quod omnis fornicator aut immundus aut avarus quod est idolorum servitus non habet haereditatem in regno Christi Dei. Ephes 5. that the Covetous hath no part in the Kingdom of God. 4. Fourth Means Accustom your self not to desire Mony but for your Necessity and for your civil and modest Recreations and when you lack it bear that Want with Patience considering how many Poor there are who have not Necessaries and that you are no better than they Above all never make use of Deceits Surprises nor any other unlawful way of getting it 5. Fifth Means Avoid certain Actions which are the Marks or Effects of Avarice in young People and which excite it much as to Play for Gain to be too fearful of losing at Play to Dispute for a small thing to keep any thing from another and much more never to take any thing be it what it will which is besides the Sin committed a damnable Custom and of very dangerous Consequence 6. Love the Poor give Alms freely Sixth Means abridge some part of the Mony you have for your Recreations to supply their Necessities Is it not a shame in you to be prodigal in your Pleasures in your Clothes in your Superfluities and to be so Covetous so hard for the Necessities of the Poor who are Men like you Christians like you and sometimes better than you in the sight of God My Child said the good old Toby to his Son Ex substantia tua fac eleemosynam noli avertere faciem tuam ab ullo paupere ita enim fiet ut nec à te a vertatur facies Domini Quomodo potueris ita esto misericors si multum tibi fuerit abundanter tribue si exiguum tibi fuerit etiam exiguum libenter impertiri stude Praemium enim bonum tibi thesaurizas in die necessitatis Quoniam eleemosyna ab omni peccato à morte liberat non patietur animam ire in tenebras Fiducia magna erit coram summo Deo eleemosyna omnibus facientibus eam Tob. 4. give Alms of thy Substance and turn not thy Face from any Poor lest God turn his Face from thee Give Alms according to thy ability if thou hast but little be not afraid to give a little for thou layest up a good Store for thy self against the day of necessity Because Alms delivers from Death and suffereth not the Soul to come into Darkness for Alms is a good Gift before the most High to all them who use it Consider well these Words Theotime and engrave them deeply in your Mind In fine you are either Poor or of a mean Fortune or Rich. If you be Poor beg of God the Grace to take your Poverty with Patience for Penance and for his Love. Confide in his Providence which will never be wanting to his Servants Si soenum agri sic vestit Deus quanto magis vos modicae fidei Quaerite ergo primum regnum Dei justitiam ejus haec omnia adjicientur vobis Mat. 6. If God hath care of the least Creatures according to the Saying of our Lord how much more will he have of you Seek then says he first the Kingdom of Heaven and all things necessary shall be given you Read the Sixth Chapter of S. Matth. from Verse 24. If you be of a mean Fortune have a care to be content and not to disquiet your self by the desire of a greater Call to mind what S. Paul says Qui volunt divites fieri incidunt in tentationem in laqueos Diaboli in desideria multa inutilia nociva quae mergunt homines in interitum radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas 1 Tim. 6. that Those who desire to be Rich fall into temptation and snares of the Devil and into many wicked Desires which plunge them in perdition because Covetousness is the root of all Evil. Wherefore practise the best you can that great Maxim which the same Apostle gives to Christians * Sint mores sine avaritia contenti praesentibus ipse enim dixit non te deseram Heb. 6. Let there be no Covetousness in your Manners being contented with the Goods you possess being God hath said I will not forsake you If you be Rich stand in great fear of your Riches for your Salvation Vae vobis divitibus quia habetis consolationem vestram Luc. 6. Wo be to the Rich says the Son of God because they have here their Consolation Upon the ocasion of a rich young Man he said that it is very difficult for the Rich to be Saved To avoid the Dangers thereof read and practise what we have said in the Chapter of the Obstacles of rich young Persons in Part 3. Chap. 10. CHAP. XXII Of Humility I Have reserv'd this Vertue for the last as that which gives Perfection to all others and which is necessary to conserve them and make them increase in young Souls Pride is an inordinate Esteem of ones self Pride creeps easily into young Minds is most pernicious to all Men but particularly to young Persons It naturally creeps into their Mind according to the measure that they advance in Age in Vertue in Science or such other Perfections which they have or think they have It makes them incapable of all good Impressions and opens them the way to all sorts of Vices My Child Superbiam nunquam in tuo sensu aut tuo verbo dominari permittas in ipsa enim initium sumpsit omnis perditio Tob. 4. Initium omnis peccati est superbia Eccl. 10. have a care that Pride never bear dominion in your Thoughts or Words because from it all the Misfortunes of the World arise said the holy Man Toby to his Son. I say unto you also Pride must be repressed by Humility Theotime preserve your self from Pride permit it not to take possession of your Mind banish it far from you Humility is necessary for you Not a Humility of Behavior or Words but a true solid interior Humility an Humility which renders you humble in these three manners Three sorts of Humility in your self towards God and towards Men. 1. 1. In ones self Be humble in your self that is in your own proper
different from what they had begun in Religion For all these Reasons I continue to say that a Man must Examin the Vocation before he enters into Religion and for this intent take all the time that shall be necessary to be morally assur'd of it Act so then Theotime if you perceive your self mov'd to Religion and be not afraid of losing your Vocation if you put it not suddenly in Execution for if you practise faithfully what we have said with a sincere Intention to know the Will of God you will not fail in the Resolution you shall take God will conduct you in that Deliberation to the State he hath prepar'd for you and if he call you to Religion he will confirm you in that Desire by the Perseverance he will give you and perfect in you the good Work he shall have begun according to that Expression of S. Paul Qui caepit in vos opus bonum perficiet confirmabit solidabitque After all when you resolve to embrace a Religious Life remember to prefer amongst the Religious those where a Regular Life is most exactly observ'd and where they solidly labor to gain Piety and as much as you can where there is least Communication with the World. CHAP. XI Of the divers States of a Secular Life AS the Life of Ecclesiastics and Religigious has its Dangers the Secular Life hath also its Perils which are not small he who deliberates on it ought necessarily to foresee them And these Dangers are different according to the divers States of that Life Wherefore I Treat here of the principal Callings of a Secular Life to the end every one may Examin that which he will embrace and may know well its Obligations ARTICLE I. Of the Condition of the Great and of those who Govern others If there be a difficult and dangerous Condition in the World Maxims to be observ'd by those who Govern others it is the Office of those who are call'd to Govern others as Kings and Princes who have Sovereign Authority Lords of particular Places who have an inferior Authority Magistrates and Publick Officers who have an assign'd Authority committed to them by the Prince If then by your Condition or for any other Cause you see your self design'd for a State of Government you ought to arm your self against the great Difficulties and innumerable Dangers of that State with wholsom Christian Maxims whereof these are the principal which I beseech you read attentively 1. Have a care of giving access to the thoughts of Pride or Presumption for seeing your self rais'd above others Remember that by how much higher you are rais'd by so much more have you reason to fear according to that Maxim of the Scripture a Quanto major es humilia te in omnibus Eccl. 3. By how much you are greater humble your self in all things b Rectorem posuerunt te noli extolli Eccl. 30. Is Authority conferr'd upon you be not puffed up 2. Consider not your State as a Happiness but as a weighty Charge nor as a thing given you for your good but for the benefit of others Know that those whom you Command are not made for you but you for them They ow Respect and Obedience to you and you ow to them things that are far more difficult that is Care Assistance Conservation and Justice 3. Believe firmly that how great Power soever you have you hold it from God and that you are his Minister and his Servant for the Government of Men and by consequence that you ought to Govern according to his Will and shall give him an exact Account of your Conduct 4. Place frequently before your Eyes that dreadful Truth of the Sacred Scripture a Judicium durissimum his qui praesunt fiet Potentes potenter tormenta patientur Sap. 6.6 7. A rigorous Judgment shall they have who Rule The Powerful shall be powerfully tormented Now there are two things you ought to have a care of in your Condition Governors ought to have a care of two things the First to Live well the Second to Govern well As for the First 1. To Live well you must live like a vertuous Man governing your Passions having the Law of God for the Rule of your Actions considering that it is a shameful thing to Govern others and to be ignorant of governing ones self to Command Men and to be a Servant and Slave to his own Passions and the Devil You are oblig'd to it by the Rank you bear for you hold the place of God you ought to imitate his Sanctity as you represent his Person in Power and Authority You are also oblig'd to it for the benefit of your Inferiors who cannot but be miserable when they are Govern'd by a wicked Man. a In multiplicatione justorum laetabitur vulgus cum impii sumpserint principatum gemet populus Prov. 29. The People shall rejoyce says the Wiseman in the multiplication of the Just but will lament when the Wicked hold the Government For this reason in the ancient Law God had commanded that the King and it ought to be understood of all those who Command should always have with him the Book of the Law and should read it daily b Ut discat timere Dominum Deum suum custodire verba ceremonias ejus quae in lege praecepta sunt Deut. 17. To the end says he he may learn to fear the Lord his God and observe his Words and the Ceremonies which are there commanded Moreover your Example will much influence your Superiors if you be good they will imitate your Vertue if you be vicious they will take all liberty to be wicked according to the Maxim of the Wiseman c Secundum judicem populi sic ministri ejus Qualis rector est civitatis sic habitantes in ea Eccl. 10. As the Judge of the People is himself so are his Officers The Inhabitants of a City conform themselves to him who Governs them By your Example you will cause many Blessings or much Mischief and you will be guilty in the sight of God of all the Sins others shall commit by your Imitation Call to mind the History of Jeroboam King of Israel A remarkable Example This Man being rais'd to the Government of the Ten Tribes of Israel had no sooner the Authority in his Hand but he misfortunately abus'd it abandoning the Service of the true God to adore Idols His Example had so great a force that he not only drew to his Imitation all that great People he Commanded who became Idolaters like him but also made that Sin of Idolatry hold on its Course in all his Successors during the space of Two hundred Years and more and the Sacred Scripture had such a horror for the Mischief this misfortunate Prince caus'd by his Example that almost every time it speaks of him it says a Tradet Dominus Israel propter peccata Jeroboam qui peccavit fecit
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
State and from all the Disorders that are committed in the Celebration of the Nuptials as well by the Marry'd as by those who are invited For how can God give his Benediction to a Marriage wherein the Parties bring a Heart full of lewd Thoughts and unchast Desires where they make Expences of Garments and Feasts which offend Christian Modesty and frequently exceed their State and Ability and where all things pass in a licencious freedom of saying and doing any thing So that these Nuptials are rather the Triumph of impure Love and a Feast of the Devil than a Marriage of Christians which ought to be consecrated to Modesty and sanctifi'd by the Presence of Jesus Christ These are the the most ordinary Causes of bad Marriages and of all the Miseries and Misfortunes which arise from thence From whence it follows that the first Means to succeed well in so great and important an Enterprise is carefully to avoid all these so dreadful Causes To perform this with success this is what you shall do You must be convinc'd of three Truths which are certain and undoubted Maxims in this matter The First is That the greatest Happiness that can befall him who embraces a Marry'd Life is to succeed well in the choice of the Person he would Espouse as on the contrary there is no greater Misfortune than to prosper ill in this Occasion The Second is That this good success can only come from God. And the Third That God doth not ordinarily shew this Favor but to those who have liv'd well or have done Penance and have not fall'n into the Faults we have pointed at These three Truths are express'd by the Holy Ghost himself he teaches the First when he says by the Mouth of the Wiseman a Qui invenit mulierem bonam invenit bonum hauriet salutem à domino Prov. 18. Mulieris bonae beatus vir Eccl. 26. That he who hath found a good Wife hath found a great Blessing for a good Wife makes her Husband happy That it is a Blessing which surpasses all Blessings That there is nothing which can be compar'd to a vertuous Wife And on the contrary he saith That b Qui tenet mulierem nequam quasi qui apprehendit scorpionem he who hath met with a wicked Wife is like him who hath taken up a Scorpion in his Hand And that c Commorari leoni draconi placebit quam habitare cum muliere nequam Eccl. 25. the Company of a Lion or Serpent is more supportable than that of a bad Wife The Second Truth is express'd by these excellent Words That d Datum Dei est mulier sensata tacita non est immutatio eruditae animae Eccl. 26. a prudent and discreet Wife is the Gift of God to which there is nothing comparable And in the Proverbs That e Domus divitiae dantur à parentibus à Domino autem proprie uxor prudens Prov. 19. Parents may well give a House and Riches to their Children but it appertains only to God to give a discreet Wife The Third Truth is a consequence of the Second for if God gives this great Blessing it follows also that a Man must merit it from him as he himself hath declar'd by the same Wiseman who says f Pars bona mulier bona in parte timentium Deum dabitur viro pro factio bonis Eccl. 26. A Man is happy when he finds a good Wife and that it is the Portion of those who fear God and that God gives it to Man in recompence of his good Actions And the Angel Raphael says to the Father of young Sara that his Daughter was reserv'd for young Toby because he fear'd God and that the others had been unworthy of her by reason of their Sins Huic timenti Deum debetur conjux filia tua propterea alius non potuit habere eam The Second thing you shall have to do when you shall be fully convinc'd of these Truths is to concern your self to avoid the four Faults we mention'd which are the most ordinary Causes of bad Marriages and by avoiding them to practise the contrary Actions which are the necessary Dispositions for Marriage First then Live well during your Youth Be Chast and let not the love of Pleasures take possession of your Heart Follow not the Torrent of the bad Example of those of your Age who gape after nothing but Pleasures Be afraid lest God punish you by the same way by which you shall have sinn'd and that for the Pleasures you shall have taken during your Youth which are soon past he send you the anguish and trouble of a misfortunate Marriage which will continue all your Life Secondly When you shall be at the time of thinking of Marriage be careful to look upon it with a chast and pure Eye and have nothing but a holy Intention which seeks not Pleasure and Delight in so pious a thing but the vertuous End which a Christian ought to propose to himself The Angel Raphael hath declar'd it in a word to young Toby a Accipies virginem cum timore Domini amore filiorum magis quam libidine ductus Tob. 6. You shall Marry in the Fear of God with an intention of having Children and not thro' a love of Pleasures Call to mind the terrible Example of the seven Husbands of young Sara who were all stifled by the Devil on the Day of their Nuptials and learn from thence the Cause which the same Angel told to Toby b Audi me ostendam tibi qui sunt quibus praevalere potest daemonium Hi namque qui conjugium ita suscipiunt ut Deum à se à sua mente excludant suae libidini ita vacent sicut equus mulus quibus non est intellectus habet potestatem Daemonium super eos Ibid. Give ear to me says he to him and I shall tell you who those are over whom the Devil hath power For those who enter into Marriage not having God with them or thinking on him and who only seek wanton Pleasures as Beasts which have no Reason are they over whom the Devil hath power Imprint these words deeply in your Mind and know that if the Devil only kill'd those immediately who abus'd the Sanctity of Marriage he wants not other Means to exercise over them the power God hath given him whereof he discovers but too many Effects by all the Miseries with which he infests Marriage They who would not fall into them ought to avoid the Cause and have nothing but a chast Love in their Heart so that they may truly say to God those excellent words of young Toby * Et nunc Domine tu scis quia non luxuriae causa accipio sororem meam conjugem sed sola posteritatis dilectione in qua benedicatur nomen tuum in saecula saeculorum Tob. 8. Lord thou knowest that it is not the love of Pleasures which makes me
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
the Crums which fall from their Master's Table I also demand nothing more than the remainder of the Favors you shew to your Children Our Lord took so much content in seeing the Faith Humility and Patience of this afflicted Person that praising her highly he said to her O Woman great is thy Faith be it to thee as thou desirest Imitate in your Prayer this admirable Example and still when you beg of God any Grace for your Salvation altho' God answer you not by some good Thoughts continue intreating Domine adjuva me Lord assist me Have recourse to the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Saints as the Cananean to that of the Apostles If these Coldnesses chancing to continue your Conscience tell you that they are your Sins which are the cause and that they render you unworthy of the Favors you request Acknowledge humbly the truth and declaring that it is so say from your Heart as the Cananean It is true O God it is not reasonable that thou shouldst give the Bread of thy Children to Dogs that is to Sinners such as I am but at least as the Crums of Bread which fall from the Table are allow'd to the Dogs deny me not those which fall from thine grant me some small remainder of those abundant Graces which thou pourest upon those who faithfully serve thee If you persevere thus God will grant your Petition and recompence your Faith your Humility and your Patience And altho' he should give you no good Thoughts at all upon the Subject you would Meditate that Patience that Humility that stedfast Faith which you exercise will be more pleasing to him than any thing else and more profitable to you and this will be the best Fruit of your Prayer Thus Theotime you shall lose nothing for in seeking God on one side you will find him on the other and you will experience the truth of that excellent Observation made by the great St. Bernard * Dico tibi solus est Deus qui frustra nunquam quaeri potest nec etiam cum inveniri non potest S. Bern. l. 5. de Consider c. 11. That amongst all the things we seek for only God is never sought for in vain even when we imagin we cannot find him ADVICE III. The Third Advice is That in every Meditation you still be mindful of the End for which you Meditate which is the Sanctification of your Soul and to make you really vertuous in the sight of God so that the Meditation which doth not improve you is not a Meditation nor Prayer but a Speculative Study which is sometimes more prejudicial than profitable The Meditation which is perform'd without a prospect of this End is full of an infinite number of most dangerous Defects It makes us stop at the Thoughts and not at the Affections at the subtil Imaginations and not at the solid at those which delight the Mind and not at those which move the Heart If we pass to Affections it is to those which are found most agreeable and not to those which are most necessary such as the hatred of Sin the desire of mortifying our Passions and correcting our Vices We content our selves with the Affection and omit the Resolutions and if we proceed to Resolutions we content our selves with general ones without descending to Particulars For Example we say I would be Humble Chast Temperate but we do not say I will be Humble in that Occasion I will Obey when I shall be Commanded I will acknowledg my Fault when I shall be Reprehended and other like I will be Chast by resisting Temptations thro' such and such Means I will avoid such Occasions which are dangerous for me I will shun Idleness c. And in fine if we come to some particular Resolutions we make them but weakly and not with force and vigor from whence it comes to pass that we accomplish them not and so they are as unprofitable as if they were not made at all All these Faults in Meditation spring from the first that we propose not effectually in Meditating the Sanctification of our Soul by the solid Practice of Vertue From hence it comes that this manner of Meditation prejudices more than it profits because it is apt to give to those who act thus a very good Opinion of themselves a Contempt of others and a Confidence in their Merits It makes them much addicted to their own Judgment and Will and believe they are Saints by Meditating on holy things altho' they practise them not which is a very great Mischief not only to them but to others who take from thence an occasion to blame Meditation and Devotion whereas they are not the cause of these Disorders but the ill use these Persons make of them For this reason Theotime when you apply your self to this holy Exercise propose to your self strongly that End to make your self Vertuous and believe that that Meditation is unprofitable from which you depart without a particular Resolution of correcting your self and of loving God more than you have done as yet ADVICE IV. But it is not sufficient to refer Meditation to the practice of Vertue we must also be careful to relate it to the practice of the most solid Vertues as Faith Humility the Love of God and our Neighbor Chastity Temperance and others and chiefly those we have most need of in the present State wherein we find our selves and whose Occasions occur most frequently This Advice is one of the most important which can be given in this Matter for to what purpose is it to propose to our selves in Meditating fair and apparent Vertues and in the mean time omit the more solid which are the Groundwork and Foundation of all others and which making less shew are notwithstanding more necessary To what end for Example do we propose to our selves to be very liberal to the Poor if we had Means to suffer great Persecutions for Gods sake if they should befall us with other like things and neglect the Vertues we stand in present want of as Chastity Humility Meekness toward our Neighbor or those which we have every Day occasion to practise as the mortifying our Passions refraining our Anger suffering our Neighbor obeying our Superiors In a word Meditation is a Means to sanctifie our Souls This Sanctification consists in moderating our Passions correcting our Vices and by consequence in acquiring the contrary Vertues It ought therefore to be necessarily referr'd to that End and to produce that Effect otherwise it is not a Meditation but a pure Illusion And those who make use of it so abuse the most holy and wholsom thing which they render unprofitable to themselves and contemptible to others Act not in this manner Theotime Meditate really to sanctifie your Soul to mortifie your Passions to correct the Vices which bear dominion in you to practise true and solid Vertues and those you stand in most need of in your present State. CONCLVSION This is what I had to propose to you upon this Subject of Meditation To conclude I have but two Words to say to you Read and Practise Read to instruct your self in a thing which as yet you know not to convince your self that Meditation is not so difficult as you might conceive it but that you may practise it and that it may be very beneficial to you Read to learn the Method of it and practise the same But content not your self with the Reading proceed to the Practice and Exercise of so pious a thing Try what you can do therein or rather what God will give you the Grace to perform Be assur'd he will give you much if you approach to it with a sincere Intention to please him and to learn in that Divine School the Truths of your Salvation and to practise them faithfully Be not dismay'd for the Difficulties be faithful and perseverant and God will bestow upon you the Means to surmount them Call to mind that Sentence of the Prophet That a Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in se animae quaerenti illum Thren 3. God is good to those who hope in him and to Souls which in reality search after him Seek after him in your Prayers and Meditations and you will find him if you search faithfully b Petite accipietis quaerite c. Ask and it shall be granted to you seek and you shall find knock at the Door and it shall be open'd to you c Gustate videte quam suavis est Dominus Psa 51. Tast Theotime and experience how sweet and pleasant God is in this pious Exercise and you will find by experience and in effect the truth of that Sentence of the Divine Wisdom d Beatus homo qui audit me qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie observat ad postes ostii mei Qui me invenerit inveniet vitam hauriet salutem à Domino Prov. 8. Blessed is he who hears me and who watches often at my Door and waits at my Gates He who shall find me shall find Life and receive Salvation from the Hand of our Lord. FINIS