was yet in the flower of his age he pardoned his youth Alterius aetate prima motus sum alterius ultima alium dignitati donavi alium humilitati queties nullam inveneram misericordiae causam mihi peperci Sen. lib. 1. de Clem. c. 1. and that extravagancy which ever accompanies it when he was stricken in yeers he pardoned his gray hairs and left death the charge of the execution when he was of a good House he respected his birth and balancing the good services of his Ancestors with his crimes conceived he did justice to them in shewing mercy to him when he was of an obscure mean Family he contemned an offender whose example could not any way prejudice the Common-wealth But when there was a prisoner presented whose crimes seemed to obstruct his Clemency and command his Severity he used an innocent stratagem and remembring that he was the Head of that transgressing Member he pardoned him in consideration of that Alliance and spared himself in the person of that delinquent Though all this Discourse make it evident that there is no stricter relation then that between Kings and their Subjects yet must we confess 't is rather Imaginary then Veritable For besides that experience teacheth us that Kings who live in pleasure seldom think of the miseries of their People Reason instructs us that there is nothing but Nature or Grace that can unite men to one another All those Alliances that are founded onely upon Inclinations or Duty stamp no Character and if Religion second not the Politicks they can neither oblige Subjects to expose their lives for the safety of their Prince nor Princes for that of their Subjects Whatever Oracles Morality pronounceth upon this occasion whatever Colours Eloquence adorns the actions of Souldiers with who have spilt their blood for the honour of their Soveraigns they never lookt upon them as their Head and if they set upon their enemies in spight of the thunder of the Canon 't was not so much for the preservation of their Person as out of a hope of Glory or expectation of a Reward There is no true Alliance but that which is established upon the Flesh or upon the Spirit and among so many Chiefs that govern their States there is none but Jesus Christ that is really united with his Subjects He lives in them by Grace and as Faith and Charity are able to make him present in all his members it is sufficient to be Faithfull or Charitable to make up one part of his Mysticall Body Thence it comes to passe that he shares with his members in all the Good or Evill they receive that his Glory hinders him not from having a fellow-feeling of their miseries and though in Heaven yet ceaseth not to suffer with them upon Earth The distance of place disjoyns him not from his Mysticall Body he is with men though among the Angels and this Bridegroom that reigns with the Church Triumphant fights yet with the Militant These two Churches make up his Spouse he loves them both as one he gives himself to both of them not imitating the Saints who leaving their ashes to the Church Militant translate their souls to the Church Triumphant he imparts himself to both without being divided to either and to take away all shadow of jealousie resides as truly among the Faithfull Caput nostrum est in coelo nos in illo ibi sursum Ecce jam pignus habomus unde nos fide spe charitate cum capite noâ—â—ro sumus in coelo in aeternuÌ„ quia ipsum bonitate divinitate unitate nobiscum est in terra atque ad consummatione saeculi Aug. in Psal 26. Ser. 2. as among the Beatificall He respects onely the difference of their conditions in the favours he confers upon them For the Church Triumphant being in possession he discovers to them his beauties declares to them his secrets and gives them a portion of his felicity But the Church Militant being still in hope he hides his face to increase her love he speaks to her darkly in Aenigma's to exercise her faith he takes her into his sufferings to increase her merits nor does he shew himselfe to her but under the vailes and curtaines of our Sacraments to put an edge upon her desires But he is equally united with both of them by that charity which makes him their Bridegroom and their Head We see also in the Scripture that he is sensible of all the outrages that are done to his members and that from Heaven above where he reigns with the Angels he suffers with the Faithfull upon the earth When Saul persecuted the Infant Church endeavouring to stiffle it in the Cradle when rage in his heart threats in his mouth arms in his hands sent him to make inquisition after her tender ones from Jerusalem as far as Damascus the Son of God complains of this violence as if done against his own Person and the neer relation he hath contracted with them obliged him to professe that in offending them they wounded him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Jesus Christ had sufficiently honoured the Faithfull saith Saint Augustine had he been contented to call them his Friends or his Brethren and one so glorious a condition had shrowded them from the rage and fury of so cruell a persecutor but he had prejudiced his love and his veracity had he used other terms Being the Head of the Christians and happily affianced to them he must of necessity mingle their injuries with his and to aggravate the greatnesse of this outrage he informed him that was the Authour that no man could offend the Christians but he must wound him nor hurt men but he must injure the only Son of God Let us hear Saint Augustine upon this Subject and see how he handles this mystery of Unity Jesus Christ was in Heaven when hee converted Saint Paul and of a Persecutor made him an Apostle Whence comes it then that in reproaching him with his Crime he saith Saul why persecutest thou me This furious Assasinate had he climbd up to Heaven to declare Warre against Iesus Christ Meant he to imitate the pride of those ambitious Angels that set upon him in the midst of his Glory Saul persecuced the Christians and not Iesus Christ that reigned with his Father in Heaven But because he lived in the Faithfull he suffered with his members and established that Maxime which this Apostle was one day to preach If one member suffer all the members suffer with it he uses this language to Saul and speaks to him with an Emphasis Why doest thou persecute me The glory wherewith I am surrounded renders thy attempts fruitlesse and whatever hatred thou hast conceived against me thou canst not injure my Greatnesse Know neverthesse that I live still in my Faithfull ones that they are my members that I am their Head and that in persecuting them thou persecutest me in their person Ought not this my Brethren to astonish
period to his Controversies he is continually infested with a Domestick and intestine war Though Repentance subdue the Body by its Austerities and Prayer elevate the Soul by its Raptures both Soul and Body continually rebel against the Spirit of God Indicitur enim bellum non solum adversus suggestiones Diaboli sed etiam adversus teipsum sed ex qua parte tibi displices jungeris Deo idoneus eris ad vincendum te quia tecum est qui omnia superat quare autem permittitur ut diu contra te litiges donec absorbeantur omnes cupiditates ut intelligas in te poenam tuam In te ex teipso est flagellum tuum est rixa tua tecum sic vindicatur in rebellem contra Deum ut ipse sit sibi bellum qui pacem noluit habere cum Deo Aug. in Psal 75. The greatest Saints complain of these disorders and wish an End of their life to finde an End of their Conflicts The internal peace that always accompanies a good Conscience is not able to reconcile these two Enemies and experience teacheth us that peace and war wil sooner shake hands in a Kingdom then Concupiscence and Charity in a CHRISTIAN But certainly I never wonder at his Discord since he hath two Fathers two Births and two Principles He hath two Fathers because he came from Adam and from Jesus Christ and deriving from one the Life of Sin he derives from the other the Life of Grace Thus by a strange wonder he is at the same time Innocent and Guilty he hopes for heaven as his Inheritance and is affraid of hel as the place of his torment and pursuing the severall Interests he hath received from these two Parents he is toss'd continually between hope and fear He is * Primas homo Adam sic olim defunctus est ut tamen post illum secundus sit homo Christus cum tot hominum millia inter illum hunc orta sint ideo manifestum pertinere ad illum omnem qui ex illa successione propagatur nascitur sicut ad istum pertinet omnis qui gratiae largitate in illo renascitur unde fit ut totum genus humanum quodammodo sint homines duo primus secundus Ex sent Prosp 299. Adam and Jesus both together in his person he unites their names aswell as their qualities he resents their diverse inclinations and holding something of these two Fathers hee beares the Crime of the one and the Innocencie of the other They reigne successively in his person and the chief Imployment of his life is to make the first dye and the second live This Parricide is innocent all Christians are obliged to commit it neither doth Jesus Christ acknowledge them for his children who endeavour not to strangle this Father who made them liable to Death before he entitled them to Life They cannot dispense with themselves from this murder and whosoever spares Adam in his person gives evidence he hath no minde that Jesus Christ should reign there Adam himself allowes of this cruelty in heaven where he now triumphs amongst the Angels he desires to dye in his Children that he may see him live there who hath repair'd his breach and if there were any thing that could trouble his happinesse it would be this that he sees his sin still to reign in his posterity that he stifles Christ in their souls and makes him suffer death upon Earth by whose benefit he enjoys life in Heaven He complains that he cannot utterly perish in his off-spring that he reigns there to this day against his will and that for punishment of a sin whereof he made them stand convicted before they were born they continue to make him guilty after that he is dead But nothing afflicts him so much as to behold sin in some sort more powerfull then Grace that the One overspreads all mankinde the Other onely the * Contra carnis concupiscentiam ità confligunt Sancti non ei consentientes ad malum ut tamen ejus motibus quibus repugnantibus resistunt non careant in hac vita Aug. l. 1. Retra cap. 13. Faithfull that sin oftentimes destroyes all Grace but Grace can never wholly destroy all sin Lastly that Adam utterly exterminates Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ can never perfectly slay Adam These two Fathers are conveyed to their posterity by two different Productions the first is shamefull and guilty the second is glorious and innocent The first is inseparable from sin For though it be noble according to the Lawes of the world 't is alwaies ignominious according to the Laws of God and though it appeare innocent to the eies of men 't is alwaies Criminall in the sight of Angels The Saints acknowledge it with grief and though the Issue of lawfull Beds they cease not to confesse that they were * Nunquid David de adulterio natus erat de Jesse viro justo Conjuge ipsius quid est quod se dicit in iniquitate conceptum nisi quia trahitur iniquitas ex Adam Aug. in Ps 50. born in sin The second is ever joined with Grace it gives us God for our Father the Church for our Mother and Heaven for our Inheritance We cannot better expresse their differences then in the words of St. Augustine * Duae sunt nativitates una de terra alia de Coelo una de Carne alia de Spiritu una de mortalitate alia de aeternitate una de Masculo Foemina alia de Deo Ecclesia Aug. Tract 11. in Joan. Sicut eos vita spiritus regenerat sideles in Christo sic eos Corpus mortis in Adam generat Peccatores Illa enim carnalis generatio est haec spiritualis illa facit filios carnis haec spiritûs illa filios mortis haec Resurrectionis illa filios saeculi haec filios Dei illa filios irae haec filios misericordiae ac per hoc illa peccato originali obligatos illa omnis vinculo peccati liberatos August lib. 1. de Pecca men who tells us The one comes from the Earth and returns thither again the other comes from Heaven and ascends thither again the one draws it 's Originall from the Flesh the other from the Spirit the one tends to Death the other to Eternity the one proceeds from Man and Woman the other from God and the Church Or to deliver the same Truth in other terms we may adde with the same Saint That the Life of the Spirit regenerates the Faithfull in Jesus Christ and the Death of the Body begets sinners in Adam That of these two Births the One is Carnal the Other Spiritual The One produceth Angels the Other engenders Men The One designes them to Death the Other prepares them for the Resurrection The One renders them the children of the Devil the Other makes them the children of God The One exposeth them to his Wrath the Other to his Mercy Finally
the faithfull and having deposed for the Divinity of him deposeth daily for the Innocence of these For we know by Scripture that the same Spirit that spake heretofore by the Prophets hath since spoken by the Apostles and having foretold the Ages past the wonders that Jesus ought to doe revealed them to the generations to come that all men might bee fully informed of the Mysteries concerning him to whom they were beholding for their salvation This Spirit is the testimony of Jesus and of the faithfull because he hath formed them and knows all their thoughts whereof hee is the first Principle and Author This also was he that descended upon the head of the Son of God in the forme of a Dove during the ceremonies of his Baptisme 't was he that discovered to S. John Baptist his Innocence and taught him without speaking that he was that Lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the world And hee it is that daily performs the same office to Christians For having been their Master he vouchsafes to be their witnesse he speaks to the eternall Father in their behalfe having pleaded their cause he gives them assurance of their salvation The Rest that calmes the waves of their conscience is an effect of his testimony those sighes and groans he draws from the bottome of their heart those desires he inspires them with for everlasting good things those scorns he furnisheth them with for perishable ones are so many Earnests which the Elect have of his love and their salvation if there be some remainders now and then of Fear amidst their Hope 't is to preserve them from Negligence or from Pride and to make them profess that they finde in him a Divine Principle a wise Director a knowing Master and a faithful Witness The Fifth DISCOURSE That the presence of the Holy Spirit gives life to the Christian and his absence causeth his death ONe of the chiefest advantages we shall partake of in Glory is that God will be to us in stead of all things and that finding in him the accomplishment of all our desires we shall there meet with our perfect felicity He will be the Temple of the Blessed because they shall lodge in his Divine Essence He will be for a garment to them because they shall be cloathed with his light He will be their nourishment because he gives them eternal life and according to the language of S. Paul he will be All in all to these blessed inhabitants The Holy Spirit seems to have a minde to make us taste upon Earth the Happiness of Heaven inasmuch as he is all things to us in the Church that he informs us in our doubts comforts us in our afflictions assists us in our conflicts teacheth us in our prayers For Christians owe all that they are and all that they do to the holy Spirit They live by his presence act by his power understand by his light and love by his charity All their advantages flow from him If they are Saints 't is he that sanctifies them if they are free 't is he that sets them at liberty if they are generous 't is he that encourageth them and if they be wise 't is he that enlightens them In the mean time the most part of the Faithful are ungrateful to the holy Spirit Liberalitem Dei servitutem faciunt Tert. They attribute that to their own power which they derive from his and turning his grace into a slavery they would pass for the Authors of a work whereof they are at most but the Ministers Therefore will I spend this Discourse to let them see that the holy Spirit inanimates them and that as by his presence he makes them live so by his withdrawing himself he makes them die A Man and a Christian have some resemblance in their difference they live both of them by the Spirit and their life is rather spiritual then animal For though Man have a body composed of the Elements which hath need of the Air to breathe of the Earth to bear it of Food to nourish it and of Light to make it see yet is his soul the principle of his life This Form inanimates the heart giving it motion whereby all the other parts live The absence of the soul is the death of the body its presence the life and when grief or weakness separates them Man ceaseth to be a living creature Inasmuch as a Christian is more excellent then a Man by so much is his life more sublime and he hath a nobler principle of his Being For the holy Spirit is his Soul and paring off whatever defects that name may include he is the Form that inanimates the Believer Though he have an Understanding that reasoneth a Memory that preserves his conceptions and a Will free and absolute yet does he live by the holy Spirit and receive from him a supernatural life which makes him capable of God As long as he is united to this Spirit he is alive assoon as he is parted from him he is dead And 't is a miracle saith S. Augustine that the soul dead by sin does nevertheless enliven the body and that notwithstanding that imperfection Aliud est in anima unde corpus vivificatur aliud unde ipsa anima vivificatur Melius quippe anima quam corpus sed melius quam ipsa est Deus est ergo ipsa etiamsi sit insipiens injusta impia vita corporis Aug. Tract 19. in Joan. it have wherewithal still to reason in the finding out of Sciences and to manage it self in its affairs and negotiations It is true therefore that the absence of the holy Spirit greatly impaireth the vigour and clearness of Man for the life of Man as a Reasonable creature and as a Christian are so intimately united together that the one cannot be separated from the other without an extreme detriment and enfeebling of the creature The Christian merits not till he begin to reason Grace is idle in his soul when Reason is not yet formed in it and all Divines are of opinion that children baptized have no other merits but those of Jesus Christ Heaven is their Inheritance but not their Recompence they are in the condition of Heirs but not of Souldiers and the Crown they receive is rather the Consequence of their good Fortune then the Reward of their Labour Man is yet more deplorable when he loseth Grace then when the Christian loseth Reason for besides that none of his actions are any longer meritorious that he does nothing pleasing to God and having lost the Principle of his supernatural life he is destitute of all recompence and desert he hath moreover contracted this misfortune Vita infidelium peccatum est nihil est bonum sine summo bono ubi enim deest agnitio aeternae veritatis falsa virtus est etiam in optimis moribus Prosp sen 106 that he is become the slave of Concupiscence which throws Darkness over his
Nature Thus was he torn in pieces by lions in the person of S. Ignatius devoured by flames in that of S. Laurence stoned in that of S. Stephen beheaded in that of S. Paul and this great Apostle that knew the desires of Jesus Christ rejoyced to accomplish them by his sufferings and to be one of those Victims whereby he adored the Justice and the Soveraignty of his Father But not to urge this conceit any further 't is enough that we learn from it that Jesus and the Church are united in their sufferings upon earth and by a necessary consequence assures us they shall be so one day in their rest in heaven For though the Church sigh here belowe she knows her Beloved will keep his word that having had a part in his sorrows she shall have a share in his triumphs and having been two in one Flesh they shall be two in one and the same Felicity She hath the promises of Jesus Christ for caution of her hope and when she remembers the prayer her Beloved made to his Father in her behalf she expects the performance with constancy of assurance Father I will that where I am there also my servants be Whenever Jesus Christ speaks to his Father 't is with so much respect that he seems rather a Servant then a Son when he asks that his Church may reign with him in his glory 't is with so much freedom of speech that he seems equal to his Father and that his demand is rather a determination then a prayer Volo Pater so that the Church who hath passed thorow all the degrees of unity with her Beloved expects this last with confidence and makes no more doubt of the Eternity of her rest then of the Verity of the words of her Beloved She believes that the union he hath contracted with her puts her in possession of her hopes that she enjoys in him what she hopes for in her self that she is glorious in her Body because she is so in her Head and that during the evils she suffers Ubi portio mea regnat ibi me regnare puto ubi caput meum dominatur ibi me dominari sentio D. Max. Serm. 3. she may boast her self happie because nothing is wanting to the felicity of her Beloved She hath now in Christ what she hopes for in her self and according to the judgement of S. Maxime she believes to raign there already where the most illustrious part of her Body reigns and conceives her self exalted above the Angels in the person of him that considers her as his Spouse and looks upon them as his Subjects The Seventh DISCOURSE That the quality of the Members of Jesus Christ is no more advantageous to Christians then that of the Brethren of Jesus Christ IT is not without great reason Unigenitus Dei factus est hominis filius ut qui Creator mundi erat fieret Redemptor Aug. that the same God that created us by his Power hath redeemed us by his Mercy For these two favours being extreme we should have had much ado equally to have acknowledged them Having but one heart to love with we must of necessity have divided our affections and the benefit of Redemption surpassing that of Creation we had been constrained to prefer our Redeemer before our Creator But the Divine Providence saith S. Bernard hath delivered us from this perplexity for he that drew us out of Nothing hath drawn us out of Sin and he that Created us is the same that Redeemed us so that without any fear of Jealousie we may compare these two benefits and give one the pre-eminence without injuring him of whom we have received them Me thinks I may say the same concerning the subject I am in hand with and free from any apprehension confront the quality of Brethren with that of Members because we hold them both of Jesus Christ and that the same who was pleased to be our Brother disdained not to be our Head Nature hath found out no alliance neerer then that of Brothers and Members and though she be so ingenious she hath not been able to link men in a stronger bond of relation then in giving them one and the same Father or one and the same Head Brothers are Slips of the same Stock if they ascend one degree they will finde that before their conception they made one portion of their Father and that before their birth they were a part of the bowels of their mother Friendship which is so much esteemed of in the world is but a Copie of this Alliance Friends are Brethren that our Will bestows upon us and Brethren are Friends that Nature stores us with but as that which is voluntary never equals that which is natural 't is very hard for Friends to love so tenderly as Brothers do Nevertheless if the affinity of these begin by Unity it insensibly tends to Division Brothers children are but Cousins their Grandchildren are yet at a farther distance and it falls out in time that those that issued from one father become by continuance of Generations strangers and enemies I know very well that Christians have priviledges that raise them above the condition of Men and that Grace more powerful then Nature hath given them a Father and Mother from whom they are never divided For the Son of God unites us to his Person in begetting us of children he makes us members and as if the Alliance of Father were not strict enough he becomes our Head that subsisting in him our life may be inseparable from his The Church imitates the charity of her Beloved she is so tenderly affected towards her children that she brings them up in the same bosome where she conceived them There are none but Hereticks that go out from her and they as Vipers must tear her bowels and offer violence to her Love in making a breach in her Unity Though other Mothers bear their children Nine months with an affection that solaceth their travel yet do they long to be eased of that painful load and the Infant desires to quit that troublesome prison Both of them do their utmost for a separation and if the children seek their liberty the mothers are as earnest after their delivery But the Church is so good a Mother she is never rid of her burden they always make a part of her inwards as they always are a part of the body of their Father they are born in the same place they are formed and as their Regeneration divides them not from Jesus Christ their Generation divorces them not from the Church But who sees not that to entertain this Union the quality of Members comes in to the assistance of that of Children and that the Faithful are much more knit together for being Members of the same Head then for being Children of the same Father We make up one Body with him Time that divides Brothers cannot divide Christians and as nothing but death can disjoyn the members
the Eucharist the Consummation hereof we have engaged our word when we were admitted into the Church and receiving the character of our servitude we have given bond for our Faithfulness But in the Mystery of the Eucharist he deals with our souls as with his Spouse we become flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone he enters into our bosome and we into his his body and ours are animated with the same Spirit and partaking in all the qualities of our Beloved we have right to his most glorious priviledges But so noble an Alliance requires a great affection and much fidelity This Lover is jealous he will raign alone in the hearts that he possesseth as he cannot endure a Competitor in his State so neither can he a Rival in his Love he will have nothing loved but for his sake and because our adhesion to the Creature is not without imperfections he never beholds it without grief nor leaves it without punishment Whatever is prejudicial to Fidelity displeaseth he never breaks his word and therefore cannot endure we should fail of our duty He will keep what he hath once gotten and seeing his Power is equal to his Love he is as severe in his Revenge as he is liberal in his Favours When I consider the obligations we have to his Goodness I never wonder that his Justice corrects us but I am ashamed there should be any souls so negligently careless as to provoke him and that after so many favours any should be so wretched as to betray their duty and abandon Jesus Christ Nevertheless this crime is so common among Christians that those who will not break their word with an Enemy take no care to be true to the Son of God basely desert his party lodge the devil in the same Throne where they had seated their Soveraign and take an Adulterer into the bed from whence they have driven their lawful Husband If the remembrance of his favours cannot produce love in our souls the terrour of punishments must beget Fear For if he be our Beloved in the Eucharist he is also our Judge and having fruitlesly exhibited testimonies of his Goodness Qui enim manducat bibit indigne judicium fibi manducat hibit non dijudicans corpus Domini 1 Cor. 11. will sensibly inflict marks of his indignation The great Apostle of the Gentiles tells us that he that receiveth unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself that the Devil being the Minister of the Divine Justice takes visible possession of the soul of that Delinquent that he erects an Altar in his heart and of his slave making his victime engageth him in despair having engaged him in Sacriledge Et post buccellū introivit in cum Satanas Joan. 13. Thus dealt he with Judas when he had communicated unworthily The Evangelist observes that he entred into his soul urged him to execute his abominable design for a light interest obliterated out of his mind the remembrance of all the favours he had received from his Master and tumbling him from one precipice to another from Covetousnesse tempted him to Treachery from Treason to Sacriledge Diabolus intravit in cor ut traderet eum Judas quomodo intravit in cor nisi immittendo iniquas persuasiones cogitatienibus iniquorum Aug. de Consen Evang from Sacriledge to Parricide and from Parricide to Desperation For when the wicked spirit that possessed him had counselled him to betray the Son of God he counselled him to hang himself and setting him against himself made him make use of his own hands to inflict a just and cruel death upon himself Finally there is no mystery wherein the Son of God manifests more love or more severity where he obligeth more dearly or punisheth more strictly or pardons more rarely and because the crimes committed here are the greatest it seems the vengeance inflicted upon them is most memorable The first of all sinners is a great Saint in Heaven The man that was our Father and our Parricide both together De illo quidem primo homine patre generis humani quod eum in inferno solverit Christus Ecclesia fere tot a consentit quod eam non inaniter credidisse credendum est Aug. Epist 99. ad Enod The Criminal who is accessory to all the transgressions of the world The Father that engageth all his posterity in his offences and his punishment The Rebel who makes an Insurrection of all his Descendants against their lawful Soveraign That unfortunate Chief who lives yet after his death sins still in his members and by a dreadful prodigy being happy in his person is miserable and guilty in his posterity That old man who is new born in every sinner and in one word That Adam who committed a fault whole nature bewails to this day found his pard on in his repentance and whiles he sees Hel pepled with his off-spring enjoys glory with the Angels in Heaven That great King whom God raised to the Throne against all humane probability That Stripling who without arms gave a Gyant battle That Shepheard whose Crook was turned into a Scepter who reckoned his victories by his combats and boasted that the Lord of Hosts had trained him up in the Discipline of War This Prince who forgetting all these favours joyned Murder to Adultery and made an Innocent dye to cloak the dishonour of a debauched woman This glorious Criminal who saw all the Vials of Heaven poured down upon his Head his Kingdome divided his subjects revolted and his own children in the head of an Army against him This famous Delinquent reigns in glory with the Son of God his tears have washed away his iniquities and his grief more powerful then his offence opened him the gate of Heaven That Apostle who having received so many testimonies of affection from his Master forsook him so shamefully in the Garden of Gethsemane denyed him so openly in the house of Caiaphas is as great in Heaven as he was upon Earth The Church to this day reverenceth his Injunctions the Popes boast themselves his Successours and all the faithful glory in being his children That young man full of zeal and and fury who intended to strangle Christianity in the very Cradle who was the boutefew of the first persecution against the Disciples of Jesus who stoned Saint Stephen by their hands whose cloaths he kept De caelo vocavi una voce percussi alia erexi elegi tertia implevi misi quarta liberavi coronavi Aug. hath found his salvation in his sin He was converted when he went about to plunge himself in the bloud of the first believers he received Grace when he was upon the very point of encreasing the number of Parricides in one moment he became a Preacher of the Gospel an Apostle of the Son of God and the Master of the Gentiles But the first that ever profaned the Body of Jesus Christ and committed a Sacriledge in approaching the Altar
Sacrifice that is offered is no longer a Sacriledge to be detested It is not Cruelty that makes Jesus Christ die but Piety 'T is no longer a Crime but an act of Religion to immolate him neither is he offered by the hands of Executioners but of Priests The Father receives this Sacrifice with Pleasure without Indignation the Son presents himself with Affection free from Sorrow Nature beholds it with Respect and no Horrour and Men partake of it Profitably and without Sin The fourth and last difference is that the Sacrifice of the Cross merits all and applies nothing and contrarily that of the Altar merits nothing and applies all For the comprehending of this Truth we must know that General Causes are the sources of all things nothing is produced here belowe that flows not from their fecundity the very operation of Particular Causes is an emanation of their vertue Did the Sun cease to shine all things of the world would not onely cease to act but also to subsist this goodly Star maintains them with its aspects and though he be not their Creator he is in some sort their Preserver But though he equally shed heat and light over all Creatures yet must we confess some receive his influences more favourably and apply them more faithfully With the Clouds he forms those Meteors which pleasantly ravish the eyes of the beholders with dew he enamels the Flowers which serve for an ornament to our Gardens with the Earth he produceth Gold and Iron which Avarice and Cruelty employed to a hundred different uses But did not these Causes that apply his power weaken his vertue and were there a Sun here belowe to receive his influences without confining them all the world are of opinion he would produce far nobler effects Virtus Causae generalis recipitur à causa particulari secundum suam agendi capacitatem D. Tho. and that in stead of Roses and Lilies we should see nothing but Stars in our Walks and Gardens But because he cannot act alone and the Causes that apply him debilitate his power we behold nothing here belowe answerable either to his excellency or beauty What we see in Nature we believe in Grace General Causes produce all but apply nothing Particular Causes produce nothing but apply all The death of Jesus Christ is the Spring-head of all Merit the Faithful can hope for nothing which is not acquired by that Sacrifice Heaven is not so much the recompence of their Vertue as of its Value and if the quality of Members which ties them to Jesus Christ as to their Head did not give them part in his merits they could not pretend to the inheritance of heaven In the mean time so powerful a Cause produceth nothing if not applied this fruitful Fountain sends forth no streams if there be no Chanels disposed to receive them Mors Christi Fons omnium bonorum Sacramenta vero Rivuli and this Star which darts forth so much heat and light makes neither flowers nor fruit grow up in the Church if there be not some secondary cause which conveys its vertue to us Therefore hath the Son of God instituted Sacraments in his Church which happily apply whatever he hath liberally merited for us upon the Cross They are so many Pipes issuing his blood into our hearts so many Suns carrying their influences into our souls but they have this unhappiness in applying his merits they weaken them and not being capable of receiving all his vertue neither have they the power of communicating it to us Every Sacrament operates in us according to its particular condition Baptism gives us our new birth Sacramenta novae legis representant passionē Christi à qua fluxerunt sicut effectus representant causam Hugo à Sancto Victor Confirmation strengthens us Repentance raiseth us Ordination designes us to the service of the Altar and being second causes they limit the vertue of this universal cause which they apply unto us But the Sacrifice of the Altar more happie and more powerful then the rest applies the merits of the Cross without any limitation It procures us all kinde of Graces hath the power to produce and raise us gives us life and strength unites us to God and takes us off from the world weakens concupiscence and sin and the Son of God finding himself applied by himself there are no wonderful effects which he cannot give a product to There he merits nothing because he is at the end of his Course in the place of his Rest and in the time of his Recompence But he applies all because being equal to himself he hath gained nothing by the Sacrifice of the Cross which he cannot communicate by the Sacrifice of the Altar Nothing can hinder his divine operations but our Weakness or our Malice for as he acts with Free causes without constraining them we must lend him our Will for our Sanctification that making him Master of our hearts we may in some sort assist him to raign absolutely in his State and prepare our selves worthily to receive at the Altar those Graces he hath merited for us upon the Cross The Tenth DISCOURSE Of the Obligation the Christian hath to sacrifice himself to God SInce the Son of God hath united in his person the Humane Nature with the Divine Deus erat homo factus est suscepit humanitatē non amisit divinitatem factus humilis mansit sublimis natus est homo non destitit esse Deus Aug. lib. de quinq haeres cap. 5. and mastering the difficulties which stood in opposition to the execution of so great a design hath effected this admirable Master-piece which accords baseness with greatness misery with happiness it seems he hath taken pleasure to conjoin in his person all those qualities which clash in others so that we may say he hath pacified all the differences that were in Heaven and in Earth Indeed he is the Father and the Son of the Church he produced her upon the Cross and is produced by her upon the Altar He is the Son and the Servant of his Father he associates two qualities which appear incompatible in men and tempering respect with love teacheth us that Gods being his Father hinders him not from being his Soveraign He is our Advocate and our Judge having pleaded our cause he pronounceth our sentence and I know not whether it be a ground of fear or of confidence in that we are assured that he that is entred into our obligations is admitted also into the rights of his Father and that one day he will punish those for whom he hath satisfied upon the Cross But if there be any qualities whose alliance ravisheth us in the person of Jesus Christ we must confess 't is that of Priest and Sacrifice These two are so different among men that nothing but a supream power or an extream love could unite them together When the Synagogue would represent us with the Sacrifice of the Son of God
merâ—es redditur Aug. Psal 103. Ser. 3 The doctrine of S. Augustine doth not destroy it self though he teach us that Grace is not due to the Creature he never told us that it was not due to Jesus Christ and where he said that it was justly refus'd Christians he alwaies presupposed that they had committed some Crimes which rendred them unworthy There is some secret in Grace which yet we understand not whereby it comes to passe that without destroying the vertue of its efficacy we may resist its operation its charms perhaps are not so strong that they are alwaies inevitable its powers rob us not of our liberty and though it be very often victorious yet it is sometimes worsted We have a miserable power remaining in us to resist its motions and did it infallibly without any intermission produce its effect the Saints would not complain of their Infidelity Whatever good we doe bears witness of the great Empire it hath over our wills since it changeth them without compelling them and a thousand times more powerfull then eloquence it makes the sinner act what he never had a mind to before it knowes how to conquer our rebellion and its charmes are so sweetly prevalent that they master the most obstinate and subject the most rebellious But the evill we doe is an argument that our liberty may resist it that at all times it acts not with the like force and if at its birth it work more vigorously in its progress it growes more languishing and remisse In this point consists all the difficulty this is the secret God hath not been willing to discover to us 't is the cause of our differences and I am of opinion this will never be understood till Jesus Christ raise up some new light in his Church I reverence Saint Augustine when he defends the party of grace when he sets it above mans freewill when he stiles it victorious and to expresse its efficacy affirmes that it infallibly produceth its effect I am ravished when I read that great Doctor how he makes man stoop to God the will to grace salvation to mercy But withall I respect the Councel of Trent teaching us that our liberty may resist grace that when it receives its impressions it may reject them and that in the very motion whereby 't is carried it may remain obstinate and unmoveable what ever is said to reconcile these two opinions doth not at all satisfie me and whatsoever answer is returnd I alwaies meet with difficulties great enough to perswade me that earth is not the mansion of light I honour S. Augustine and the Holy Sea I subscribe to the Anathema's the Church hath thundered out against Pelagians Calvinists and as I believe that Sin hath not destroyed the Liberty of Man neither do I believe that Free-will ruines the power of Grace But to return where I left I hold for certain that God is never wanting to the Covenant he made with the Christian in Baptism that he never forsakes him till he be forsaken by him and that there is always some secret infidelity on mans part that renders him unworthy of the assistance God would afford him his grace is many times offered to the Christian though it be not due to him and as he is constantly obliged to combat sin I conceive he hath continually some helps which he scarce ever fails of If God make us sensible of our weakness 't is that he may oblige us to have recourse to his goodness if he suffer us to fall 't is to punish us and the withdrawing of his grace supposeth always some notable infidelity When he pardons in Baptism 't is with as much Sincerity as Mercy he doth not quicken a sin that he hath made to die he goes not to Adam to seek for motives to destroy a man that begins to revive in Jesus Christ and I verily believe he never refuses grace to a Christian for an offence he hath so solemnly pardoned But we must certainly confess that we observe not our promises with the same faithfulness and that we are many times wanting to those oaths and protestations we have made in Baptism For the Christian publikely vows that he doth renounce the devil That he dies to himself to live to Jesus Christ That he will be crucified with him and as he takes his party he is resolved to fight his enemies Let us examine these promises in particular and see what they exact from us Baptism in those of age begins by Instruction in children by Exorcism it presupposeth that they are possest with Devils whom if they torment not as a Tyrant they command as a Soveraign If this Maxime be not true the Ceremonies of Baptism must pass for illusions and the Church to amaze us with vain fears increaseth the misery of our thraldom to augment the benefit of our deliverance when she sets us free from this shameful captivity she obligeth us to have no more commerce with the Evil spirit and knowing that the World is his State that it lives under his Laws follows his Maximes obeys his Directions she gives us in charge to hate it and to the end we may submit to her injunctions we promise by the mouth of our Godfathers to renounce the World as well as the Devil But because the grace that defaceth Sin destroys not Concupiscence but this monster still lives in our flesh stirs up disorders there makes parties and raiseth seditions we engage moreover to weaken his Empire to combat his designes to check his motions Thus the Christians in their Baptism are obliged to a War nay to Death they must die if they intend to live they must fight if they mean to overcome and knowing that the New man is a souldier they must consider Life as a Combat the Earth as the Pitched Field and the Devil the World and the Flesh as irreconcileable Enemies In the rere of these marcheth a terrible Troop of sins which Christians are bound to grapple with and subdue For the grace they have received in Baptism differs much from that which Adam received in the state of Innocence His was quiet and gave no alarms it subjected the Soul to God the Body to the Soul and the Senses to Reason its commands were executed without the least dispute it found no resistance in its subjects and as it commanded with Gentleness it was obeyed with chearfulness This of Christians is obliged to joyn Force with Sweetness and as the most part of its subjects are rebels they must be threatned to reduce them to their duty It commands always with the sword in the hand and knowing very well that when a people are up Justice can execute nothing if it be not assisted with force it must be feared that it may be obeyed Hence it is that it calls in severe vertues to its aid which make the Body afflict the Senses and swallow up the Passions But use what endeavour it will it findes by woful
did not the following surpass it For the Holy Spirit is the Love of the Faithful as he is the Love of the Father and of the Son But to understand this truth we must inform you that the Word being begotten of the Father by the Understanding is his onely Son and that the Holy Ghost being produced by the Will is his Love The Father and the Son reciprocally love one another by this mutual charity they finde their happiness in this common dilection and should they cease to love they would cease to be happie Having a minde to exalt us to their happiness they raise us also to their love and pouring forth charity into our souls they make us capable of loving them For God is so great that he can neither be known but by his own Light nor lov'd but by his own Love the Holy Spirit must enlighten our Souls warm our Wills and by the purity of his flames purge away the impurity of our affections he transforms us into himself to make us happie This holy Love is a particular effect of the Holy Spirit the beams that heat us are an emanation from that Divine fire that burns the Seraphims and the charity that raiseth us above the condition of men is a spark of that personal charity wherewith the Father and the Son love each other from all eternity But that we may not challenge the Holy Spirit as sparing of his favours he hath vouchsafed to be the accomplishment of the Church as he is the accomplishment and perfection of the Trinity For though there be no defects in God though this Sun is never clouded nor eclipsed this Supreme Truth labours under no shadows nor errours this excellent Beauty hath no spots nor blemishes and this amiable goodness be full of charms and graces yet may the Holy Ghost be called the Complement thereof The Father begins this adorable Circle which the Son continues and the Holy Spirit finisheth he it is that bounds the Divine emanations draws forth the fruitfulness of those that cause his production and if it be lawful to speak of an ineffable mystery and to subject to the laws of Time Eternity it self God is not compleated but by the production of the holy Spirit He is the rest of the Father and the Son his person is the perfection of the Trinity and this Divine mystery would want its full proportion did it not include the Holy Spirit with the two Persons from whence he proceeded The holy Scriptures to afford us some light of this verity attribute all the perfection of the works of God to the blessed Spirit They represent him to us moving upon the waters in the Creation of the world finishing by his Fecundity what the Father and the Son had produced by their Power They teach us that it was he that gave motion to the Heavens influences to the Stars heat to the Sun They inform us that 't was by his vertue that the earth became fruitful and that from his goodness she received that secret Fermentation that to this day renders her the Mother and the Nurse of all things living And the Gospel to give this Truth its full extent instructs us that 't is the holy Ghost who by his graces in the Church makes up what Jesus Christ hath begun in it by his travels He is his Vicar and Lieutenant he came down upon the earth after the other ascended up to heaven nor hath he any other designe in his descension then to compleat all the works of Jesus Christ The Apostles were yet but embryo's in Christianity when the Son of God left them three yeers of conversation was not able to perfect them the greatest part of the discourses of their Divine Master seemed to them nothing but Aenigma's his Maximes Paradoxes his Promises pleasing Illusions every thing was a mormo to these timorous spirits ths name of the Cross scandalized them and so many Miracles wrought in their presence were unable to calm their Fear or heighten their Courage To finish these demi-works the Holy Ghost came into the world he descended upon their heads in the shape of fiery tongues to make them eloquent and bold he inspired them with Charity to cure them of Fear made them Lovers thereby to make them Martyrs he cleared their Understanding warmed their Will that light and heat being blended together they might more easily overcome Philosophers and Tyrants Finally he set up a Throne in their hearts that speaking by their mouthes and acting by their hands he might render them accomplisht pieces to the service of their Master And indeed we must acknowledge the Apostles changed their condition after the descent of the Holy Ghost their Fear vanished as soon as they were confirmed by his Strength the Cross seem'd strew'd with Charms as soon as they were kindled with his Flames they found Sweetness even in Torments Glory in Affronts Venit Vicarius Redemptoris ut beneficia quae Salvator Dominus inchoavit Spiritus sancti virtute consammet quod ille redemit iste sanctificet quod ille acquisivit iste custodiat Aug. Serm. 1. Feria 32. Pentec and Riches in Poverty This made S. Augustine say that the Holy Spirit came to finish in Power what the Son of God had begun in Weakness to sanctifie what the other had redeemed and to preserve what Christ had purchased If you seek saith the same S. Augustine what was wanting to the Apostles and what might be added to their perfection by the coming down of the Holy Ghost I will tell you Before that happie moment they had Faith but they had neither Constancie nor Fidelity they were able to forsake their possessions to follow Jesus Christ but they would not lose their lives to glorifie him they were able indeed to preach the Gospel but knew not how to signe it with their blood nor seal it with their death they were vertuous as long as they conversed with the Son of God up on earth but they were not grown up to perfection till the Holy Ghost had communicated to them his graces and adding force to charity had made them the Foundations of the Church the Fathers of the Faithful the Terrour of Devils and the Astonishment of Tyrants Finally 't is the holy Spirit according to the saying of S. John Damascen that perfects the Christians because 't is he that Quickens them by Grace and Deifies them with Glory So that we are obliged to confess that he enters into alliance with them that he is the same to the Church that he is to the Trinity and that after he hath been our Bond our Gift and our Love upon Earth he will be our Accomplishment in Heaven The Fourth DISCOURSE That the Holy Ghost seems to be to Christians what he is to the Son of God IT is not without ground that the Christian is called the Image of Jesus Christ since he is his other Self the one possessing by Grace what the other doth by
nihilo salvos facies illos nuila ergo hujus bona merita praecesseraut de quibus salvaretur imo talia praecesserant de quibus damnaretur Aug. in psal 55. and since the goodnesse of God is so jealous of our salvation it should of necessity furnish us with assistance upon all occasions There were some colour for this objection were Grace a debt but since 't is an Almes which God is no way bound to bestow upon any body I know not what pretence they have to complaine against its want of universality since in strictnesse of justice it might be refused to all the world The Holy Spirit is the Lord and Master of Grace he disposeth of it as pleaseth him and if sometimes he deny it there is none that can complaine The children of Adam lost it by the sin of their Father and the members of Jesus Christ lose it by their own The former are excluded by their birth the second by their infidelity The former are unfortunate the latter criminall and both of them living or dying in sin may justly expect nothing but condemnation But they reply 't is necessary that the holy Spirit acting in and by free creatures depend in his motions upon their will and concurre so gently with their free-will that they be rather the Authors then the Instruments of their salvation For we cannot conceive this dominion of the holy Spirit over mens hearts but withall we must apprehend some violence which diminisheth their merit and weakens their liberty Nature Reason and Faith furnish us with answers to satisfie these difficulties For when nature unites the soul and body together she intends that the Noblest should be the most powerfull that all the Authority appertains to him and that he shou ld be the Master of that part which is inferiour to him in dignity When morality united man with the Angel and gave Geniusse's to Philosophers and Emperours she was not afraid to injure the Liberty of Pupils by advancing the power of their Tutelary Angels nor did she never beleeve that Nocrates was a slave because obedient to his Familiar This Spirit whether good or bad indifferently applied him to all things he was his Councellor in his highest enterprises and the will of this Philosopher was so plyant to the motions of his genius that himself confesseth in Plato that he was rather Passive then Active Movebatur Socrates à Genio suo ut quaedam ageret à quibusdam abstineret saepe compellebatur Plut. de Socra daem In the mean time he complains not that he was forced he found pleasure in servitude and because his submission was voluntary he beleeved and that not without reason that obedience is no prejudice to liberty Faith perswades the same truth upon much stronger arguments for when it unites the holy Spirit with man it gives all the advantage to the Creator without supposing the least injury done to the creature it knows that God is more intimate with man then man with himself that he flows in upon the very essence of his will that he can change all his inclinations and being the Master of his workmanship can dispose of it as he pleaseth without the least umbrage of constraint His Providence leads men to their end with as much force as sweetness his force hurts not their liberty because accompanied with sweetnesse and his sweetnesse wrongs not his Majesty because attended with force whatever he does he always acts like a Soveraign his will findes no opposition that it surmounts not and when he intends to execute his designes he knowes as well how to prepare the heart of the guilty as of the innocent The first motions of Grace require no predispositions in the soul the second beget a consent without constraint and both of them bear away man with so much force and sweetnesse that he is never more free then when he is most powerfully drawn Sweetnesse so well tempers force that it is never violent and force so fully encourageth sweetnesse that it meets with no impediment it overcomes not Thus God is absolutely obeyed man sweetly born away the one findes his glory in his power the other his salvation in his obedience and both of them after a divers manner finish one and the same work This conduct is so distant from compulsion that the stronger it is the more gentle is it the more subject man is to it the freer his condition the lesse opposition hee hath the more happy is hee and perfect Jesus Christ owes one part of his Sanctity to the obedience hee rendered to the Holy Spirit the happy impotency hee was endued with not to resist him diminished neither his merit nor his liberty and hee blotted out our transgressions because hee was as necessarily as freely subject to his ordinances The nearer Christians approach to this state the more perfect are they the more powerfull their grace is the stronger is their liberty the more effectuall the inspirations of the Spirit are the easier and more acceptable is there conversion The sixth DISCOURSE That the Holy Spirit teacheth the Christian to pray NAture whose providence cannot be sufficiently admired hath beene pleased that those things that are most necessary should be most common and that as it were preventing the desires of men they should of their own accord offer themselves to those that enquire not after them There is nothing more necessary then light for besides that it is the channel whereby the Sun sheds his Influences upon the Earth it serves for a guide to them that walk discovers all the beauties of the world and happily expresseth those of its Creator So is there nothing more common in nature it is communicated to all people it suffers no partition and covetousnesse and ambition which have divided Sea and Land have found no way how to canton the light As the Aire is more necessary then this so is it also more common it enters into prisons where day never dawns it entertains those wretches with life who have lost their liberty it steales into the depths of the Sea and the bowels of the Earth neither is there any creature that is not refreshed by its acceptable humidity Grace imitates nature it is prodigall of its Treasures the more Christians stand in need of them the more frequently are they dispenced unto them and out of the care it takes of their salvation its good pleasure is that the most usefull favours are also the easiest to be obtained Prayer is an excellent proofe of this truth for in the condition we are there is no beleever that stands not in need thereof the daily miseries they suffer obliges them to make use of it and amongst so many enemies that set upon them they have no weapon but this wherewith to defend themselves 'T is the portion of the Church Militant and being still in conflict she cannot implore succour from heaven but by the mediation of Prayer Angeli beati de
Salute sua sunt securi de nostra solliciti Greg. Mag. The Church Triumphant is wholly taken up with Allelujahs being freed from miseries she makes no vows but for us and she hath no other businesse but eternally to blesse him that is the Fountain of her blessednesse But the Church Militant who lives in a strange Countrey who hath as many enemies as neighbours and who is well assured that the very name she bears obliges her to combate importunes Heaven by her prayers sends up sighs to her Well-beloved and cals upon him for help by the frequency of supplications If Prayer be thus necessary 't is yet more common for the Son of God tels us that blessings cost us onely the pains to ask for them Ask and ye shall receive Saint Paul will have us use this remedy in all our distresses offering up this sacrifice in all places Volo vos orare omni loco and Saint Augustine the faithfull Interpreter of this great Apostle assures us that to pray well there is nothing required but to desire well that our intercession continues as long as our desires doe and that in keeping silence we speak to God when we addresse our wishes to him but though this remedy be so necessary and so common yet is it neverthelesse of difficult performance and to know well how to use it the holy Spirit must instruct us The Scripture whose words are Oracles conferres this Elogie upon him particularly it teacheth us that he it is that animates our prayers by his calentures that inspires us with this confidence which gives us boldnesse to call God our Father which draws tears from our eyes sighs from our hearts and with groanes that cannot be expressed whereof he is the Authour blots out our sins and comforts our miseries In a word if we beleeve the great Apostle we know not the art to pray if we have not learnt it in the School of the holy Spirit the evils that oppresse us may indeed inspire us with eloquence but not indite our prayer and whatever need we feel if Grace prevent us not we cannot obtain a remedy Self-love so blindes us that if we be led by it we shall rather beg our ruine then our salvation Man is in so profound an ignorance that he knows not what is profitable or prejudiciall to him he many times conceives designes the accomplishments whereof are sad and dismall to him and Seneca had reason to say that God was incensed when he granted our requests If the ambitious give the reins to his passion that possesses him he will never aske any thing but honours and not consulting whether Glory stain his humility all his vows will have no other aim but the increase of his Fortune If the Covetous take councell of his Interest his prayers serve onely his covetousnesse even to the injuring of his Creatour whom he will never strive to gain but that he may be the Minister of his unjust desires If the Lascivious pursue the motion of wantonnesse that tyranniseth over him perhaps he will grow insolent enough to demand of God the glutting of his brutish passion so that according to the language of the Scripture his prayer will be turned into sin and the more Petitions he puts up the more offences will he commit If a man who breathes nothing but revenge implore the aid of Heaven in that wretched condition his inclination stronger then his reason will oblige him to interesse the Son of God in his injuries and out of an impudence worthy to be punished endeavour to engage him in his quarrell who died upon the Crosse for the salvation of his enemies Finally the prayer of every sinner will be a high sacriledge and he will draw down upon his head the thunder of heaven even then when he thinks to appease its anger But when the Christian suffers himselfe to be guided by the Spirit he intreats nothing of God but what is well-pleasing to him all his conceptions are not lesse beneficiall to himselfe then glorious for Jesus Christ and as the Principle that quickens him is Divine all the Prayers that flow thence are Divine and Heavenly too The glory of God is always dearer to him then his salvation he never separates the publick good from his own private interest he prays for his Family when he petitions for the State and knowing very well that he is a living member of the mysticall body of Jesus Christ he never makes any supplications that are prejudiciall to the Church The second Advantage we draw from the assistance of the holy Spirit in Prayer is that he makes known to us the secrets to come and carrying us beyond the present time markes out all those disasters the injustice of our desires threaten us with Our ignorance is one of the chiefest causes of our misfortunes if we could read in those eternall Annals where mens adventures are imprinted we should perceive that the greatest part of our desires are more disadvantageous to us then the imprecations of our enemies we are inquisitive after the causes of our disgrace in the night of futurity we hasten our ruine by our impatience and Heaven may easily plead excuse for our mischances since they are very often the effects of our own prayers God never takes greater vengeance on us then when he grants us what we so earnestly importune him for nor is he ever more opposite to our salvation then when he shews himself most favourable to our requests our Fathers and Mothers contribute to our damnation their wishes make us miserable and we need not wonder that calamities overwhelm us seeing we live amongst the Anathema's of our nearest relations The holy Spirit happily remedies this disorder for knowing the full extent of Eternity he sees all the events that are to happen in the sequell of succeeding generations so that he never inspires us with meditations that are not profitable to us he diverts us from those wishes which are prejudiciall to our salvation he will not suffer us to ask a Curse instead of a Blessing and when he breathes in our heart or speaks by our mouth our prayers always carry their reward with them the very deniall of them is usefull and when he forbears to grant what we besought him for 't is to exercise our patience and crown our humility If he have so much respect to our interest he hath no lesse to the Glory of Jesus Christ and he so well sorts his honour and our good together that whatsoever is helpfull to us is honourable to him The greatest part of sinners intreat of God those things that are opposite to his will or unworthy of his greatnesse For whether passion transport them or ignorance blind them they require honours of him that was born in a Stable and died upon a Crosse they expect pleasures from him who spent his whole life in sorrow and whom the Scriptures by way of Excellency style a Man of Griefes they hope for riches
them But Saint Augustine informs us that he acts otherwise with sinners then with the godly and that he carries himselfe after another fashion with those he moves only Aliter adjuvat nondum inhabitans aliter habitans nam nondum inhabitans adjuvat ut sint fideles inhabitans adjuvat jam fideles Aug. Epist ad Sixtum then with those whom he inanimates He assists the former that they may be converted he helps the second that they may persevere in the former he inspires faith in the later charity to the one he opens the door of the Church to the other the gate of Heaven But finally 't is one and the same Spirit that aids all Christians in their different conversations 'T is he that triumphs over the Executioners in the Martyrs that combates Hereticks in the Doctours that subdues the flesh in the Continent that despiseth the pleasures of the world in the Anchorites that conquers sinne in the Penitents and that leads all the Elect from the Camp of the Church Militant into the bosome of the Church Triumphant The Ninth DISCOURSE That the HOLYSPIRIT is the CHRISTIANS Comforter SIn and Misery were borne into the world both upon a day assoon as ever man became criminall he became miserable Peccavit anima ideo misera est liberum arbitrium accepit quo usa est quemadmodum voluit lapsa est ejecta est de beatitudine implicata est misertis Aug. contra Fortu. Disp 2. punishment followed transgression so close upon the heeles that he lost his happinesse as soon as he had lost his innocence Ever since this fatall moment his life hath been but a continued Train of miseries insensibly leading him to the Chambers of death The Hydra of the Poets never was so fruitfully pregnant and Fiction with all it's inventions could never yet represent the story of our misfortunes Nor Age nor Sexe nor Condition give any person a dispensation Infants are wretched in the Cradle that innocent Age that hath no other sinne then that of Adam is sensible of pains as sharp as those that accompany old age Women who somtimes shake off obedience to their Husbands cannot escape the pangs of griefe and Kings who are so absolute in their State have no Guards that can stop sicknesse and sadnesse from entring into their Palaces These two enemies of man-kind creep every where their dominion knowes no bounds where ever there are men they finde subjects and create miserable Indeed Christians meet with a great deale of consolation in these distresses for besides that the hope of futurity sweetens their present evils that the example of Jesus Christ gives them encouragement that the constancy of Martyrs bear up their spirits they have received the Holy Spirit that comforts them in their troubles and supplies them with as many remedies as misfortune takes upon it shapes to assault them Let us reduce both of them to four heads and make it appear in their discourses that 't is not in vaine that man beares the name of miserable and the Holy Spirit that of a Comforter One of the fearfullest torments of man a sinner is that the two parts whereof he is made cannot agree In te ex teipso est flagellum tuum fit rixa tua tecum lucta est in illo corpore quamdiu vivimus pugnamus quamdiu pugnamus periclitamur Aug. The body and the soule are always upon bad terms their love is turned into hate and if there be any agreement between them 't is always to the disadvantage of the nobler part All is out of order in the master-piece of the Creation Earth is higher then Heaven the Beast domineers over the Angell the Spirit stoops to the Body and Passions are the Mistresses of Reason The Saints groan under this disorder they invoke death to be freed from this Tyranny and they intreat an end of their life that they may see an end of a Combate whose event is so doubtfull The Holy Spirit accommodates this difference by his grace for he takes part with the soule against the body he subjects the soule to God thereby to subject the body to the soule he sets things in the state they were in during the time of Innocence and so suppresseth the revolts of the flesh that if the Spirit be not absolute it is at least the strongest in the Saints 'T is the grace of our heavenly Comforter say the Fathers of the Church that sweetens our discontents that quencheth the impure flames that concupiscence kindles in our hearts that subdues those violent passions whose first motions are of so difficult coercion 'T is it that charmes those deceitfull hopes and desires that promise us felicity in the World and which finally following the Inclinations of this Spirit whereof it is the Image inables the Christian to be revenged of those rebells that disturb the quiet of his person The second punishment of guilty man is to see himselfe exiled from heaven and constrain'd to endure a banishment as long as life Indeed he undergoes here all the miseries of an exterminated person he is deprived of his goods and lives not but upon borrowing or almes he is driven out of Paradise fallen from all those honours that equal'd his condition to that of Angels and reduced to a deplorarable state Homo cum in honore esset non intellexit ideo comparatus est jumentis insipientibus Psal 48. rendring his fortune little different from that of beasts He never looks up to heaven but if there be any spark of piety remaining he bewailes his offence and is afflicted at his banishment Griefe puts these complaints in his mouth Wo is me because my habitation is prolonged He is afraid least the snares that are scattered in the place of his residence entangle him if he suffer any calamity he presently reflects upon the happinesse he hath lost and if he taste any pleasures he misstrusts lest they engage him in the world For Christians are threatned with this double evill and if they take not good heed they are in danger to love their exile and forget their Countrey they settle their fortune upon earth they build as if they never meant to remove they are strongly taken up with the present world and they lose all beliefe of the future and a man hath much adoe to perswade them that so delightfull an Abode is the place of their Banishment and the Theater of their Torment They must be made feele their miseries that they may have some desire towards another life and we think we have gained much upon their Spirit when they will be perswaded to look with an indifferent eye upon the place of their birth Therefore is it that Richardus de Sancto Victore divides men into three ranks the first is those that are fastened to their Countrey whom he calls Delicate Delicatus est cui patria dulcis fortis cui omne solum patria perfâ—ctus cui omnis terra exilium est
august solemnity then what appeared at the Death of Jesus Christ Men lament the death of their Soveraigns they expresse some sadnesse though for the most part 't is either counterfeit or interessed Those that expected their liberality are afflicted at their death those that feared their power or their displeasure rejoyce But were they so generally beloved that the regret was universall at least we must confesse that Nature would not weep over their Funerals she would be insensible of their death nor would she disorder her Course to witnesse her Lamentation This honour was reserved for Jesus Christ There was never any King but he registred by quick and dead None but this Innocent drew tears from the Stars and the Son of God is the only Soveraign whose obsequies all creatures solemnly attended 'T is true his Mysticall Body partakes of this honour with him Nature hath many times wrought miracles to publish the Innocence of Martyrs the fire hath lost his heat that it might not be instrumentall to their punishment wilde Beasts have waxed tame at their feet Omnes Martyres Deus Spiritualiter liberavit neminem Spritualiter deseruit visibiliter tamē quosdā deseruisse visus est quosdam eripuisse sed ideo quosdam eripuit neputes illum non potuisse eripere ubi non cripuit secretiorem intelligas voluntatem Aug. Tract 8. in Epist 10. and acknowledging in them a Grace more powerfull then that of Originall Righteousnesse they have many times forgot that fiercenesse the sin of man indued them with The Sea hath suffered violence to preserve them hath gently transported them upon his waves or suspending his waters as it were into Wals and Arches hath erected them Temples in his lowest Abysses But the Scripture whose every word is an Oracle teacheth us that the death of the Mysticall Body of Christ shall receive the same honours at the end of the world that his Naturall Body received in Mount Calvary For when the number of the Elect shall be perfect when Jesus Christ coming to judge the quick and the dead shall cut off the corrupted members from his Mysticall Body and remove those from his person that were united to it only by a vain Character and an unprofitable Faith the same prodigies that appeared at his death shall appear at this Judgement and according to the language of the Fathers Nature that bewailed Jesus Christ in his Naturall Body shall bewail him again in his Mysticall Body and all creatures shall put on mourning for the death of their Soveraign Finally these two Bodies shall have the same destiny after their Resurrection as they had the same during their Life for the one shall be glorified as the other and they shall both receive the recompence due to their labours The Son of God rose gloriously out of his Tomb after he had given assurance to his Apostles he was taken up into Heaven to reign there eternally with his Father The Angels made a part of his Triumph the Captives he delivered from the Lymbo's waited upon him those gates of Brasse and Steel that had been shut since the sin of Man opened at his word and his Body that was pierc'd with the nails rent with stripes torn with thorns was set at the right hand of his Father upon a Throne whose ornament was Justice and the foundation Mercy His Mysticall Body shall always receive the same glorious entertainment the Faithfull are admitted into the company of the Blessed the Saints shall reign in Heaven with the Angels they shall be mingled in their Hierarchies according to their merits and as heretofore of the Jew and Gentile was made one Church Militant of Men and Angels is daily made one Church Triumphant The bodies of the Faithfull shall accompany their souls in glory in the generall Resurrection those members that have suffered in the quarrell of Jesus Christ shall be freed from all miseries the Divine Providence shall rouze them out of their dormitories by the clattering sound of a miraculous trumpet it will find in spite of the flames those that have been burnt to ashes in spite of the waters those that have been swallowed up in the deep and working as many miracles as there shall be diversities of death to overcome shall treat the Faithfull as it hath already treated Jesus Christ so that we may say of both the Bodies of the Son of God those glorious words of the Apostle Great is the Mysterie of Godlinesse Indeed 't is a Sacrament of Piety that the Word was pleased to be allied to our nature and to the Church to have a Naturall Body and a Mysticall Body Which was manifested in the flesh both of them were manifested in the flesh because it was requisite that the Word should be made Incarnate to Espouse his Church Justified in the Spirit Both of them were justified in the Spirit because they are purely his work and the Regeneration of Beleevers is an Image of the Birth of Jesus Christ Seen of Angels Both of them appeared to Angels in that the same Spirits that waited upon the Son of God assisted his Spouse and extend their care over all her children Preached to the Gentiles beleeved on in the world Both of them were preached to the Gentiles by the Apostles and the mystery of the Incarnation joyned to that of their Vocation hath made up the best part of the Gospel Both of them were beleeved on in the world nor hath any thing more perswaded us of our future greatenesse then the condescention of the Eternall world Received up into Glory Finally both of them were exalted into Glory there to reign everlastingly that the blessedness of Iesus Christ may have its accomplishment and he be as happy in his Members as in his Person The Sixt DISCOURSE That the Church is the Spouse of Jesus Christ because she is his Body and of the Community of their Marriage ONe of the ancientest qualities of Iesus Christ is that of a Bridegroom Tanquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo Psal 18. the Prophets have honoured him with this title in the Old Testament David in the forty fifth Psalm hath made his Epithalamium and Saint Iohn who was the end of Types and Figures and the Silence of the Prophets gave out that he was the Friend of the Bridegroom But Adam is the first that descovered to us this mystery and by his marriage represented to us that of Iesus Christ with his Church For besides that his wife was taken out of his side whilst he lay asleep as the Church was out of the side of the Son of God when he was dead we know that the Laws of that marriage more respected the second Adam then the first He having neither Father nor Mother was not obliged to forsake them to cleave unto his wife But Iesus Christ at his Incarnation left his Father when he took upon him the form of a Servant and his Mother at his Passion when he suffered death for
same St. Augustine sinners have no more excuse nor can they lay their sins upon their ignorance because God to ease their memory seems to abbreviate his Doctrine in abbreviating his Word Incarnate and cloathed it with so much light that the most Ignorant may understand it It is short that it may be remembred cleer that it may bee comprehended and this treasure notwithstanding its preciousnes is so easie to be discovered that it costs us no pains to have it but to ask for it Let us adde further with Saint Paul to explain the nature of a vertue that seems inexplicable that it is the source of all good things In charitate radicati not only because it imparts life but merit and goodnes For when Hope or Faith are divided from Charity they die or languish and when Justice or Temperance are animated with any other Spirit they are criminall or unfortunate I know there are some Vertues that share in this glory with Charity that Faith is called the principle of Christian life because it is the first that God sheds abroad into mens souls that Humility is the root because 't is alwaies hid in the Earth nor shines forth but by those fruits that spring from it but both of them owe their worth to Charity because without it the former is unprofitable the second hypocriticall If leaving the Apostles we consider what the Fathers of the Church have spoken of Charity we shall finde all their writings so many panegyricks of this vertue that they are never more eloquent then when they discourse of charity and looking upon her as the Queen of vertues speak of her with that respect which is due to Soveraigns Saint Augustine who hath no lesse defended the part of Charity then of Grace seeing in a thousand passages he is pleased to confound them saith that this excellent vertue is the only Science of Christians that it comprehends what ever we know already and what ever we are yet ignorant of that it is the principle upon which all other knowledges do depend and that it imbraceth in her chaste bosome what ever is scattered in the garden of the Scriptures that it shines forth in those mysteries we are acquainted with and lies hid in those we are yet ignorant of Thence it comes to passe that this great Saint ingaging himselfe in the proofe of this verity makes us see that Love is the Epitome of all Sciences and that to be learned is to be charitable What lights saith he can we finde in the writings of Philosophers which we may not discover in this Commandment which obligeth us to love God above all things and our neighbour as our selfe There you shall finde the secrets of naturall Philosophy because the true causes of the Creatures are in God as in their Principle there you shall perceive the precepts of Morality because we cannot form a good life but in loving what is amiable and withall in loving it as much as is meet there you shall read the demonstrations of Logick because the reasonable soul ought not to seek nor indeed can finde reason and truth any where but in him that is the fruitfull source thereof There you shall discover the mysteries of the Politicks because the preservation of States and the right conduct of Monarchies depends upon the fair correspondence and fidelity of the Subjects who will never love themselves sincerely if they love not the supreme Good God and if for the love of him who cannot be deceived together with him they love not all their like The Master of the Sentences Charitas est dilectio qua diligitur Deus propter se proximus propter Deum vel in Deo magis Senten who deserves that name for no other reason but because he is the Disciple of Saint Augustine walking in his steps that he may not wander and following his principles that he may not mistake teacheth us that charity is a love as just as it is discerning which weighing the condition of persons loves God for himselfe and his neighbour for Gods sake Indeed 't is a kinde of iniquity to seek for motives to love God out of God himselfe he ought to be the cause of our love if we respect his recompences rather then his perfections we are mercenaries if we stand more in fear of stripes then of his frowns we are slaves and as Saint Augustine saith if we are more taken with his gifts then his goodnesse we are adulterers Charity that it may be holy must be chaste or to speak more truly it ceaseth to be charity when it ceaseth to be chaste our love changeth it's nature as soon as it changeth it's motive when it fastens upon our interests it becomes concupiscence and when a man loves God only to purchase perishable goods or to avoid eternall pains me thinks he better deserves the name of Slave then that of Lover I am asham'd that we should deal with God as we would not be dealt with our selves could we read mens hearts we should be extreamly offended at the carriage of those friends who more respect our fortune then our person and who consulting only their own interests study not so much our glory as their own profit There is no Master will keep servants who serve him only because they cannot impunely offend him who obey him meerly for fear of the lash respect not his commands but because they fear his anger and certainly he would be well grounded in this resolution because there is no body but knowes that a slave who hath no other obligation but his fear manumits himselfe as soon as he looseth it and neglects the service of his Master when he hopes for no more recompences nor stands in fear of no more punishments If we believe Saint Augustine such a slave hath innocent hands with a guilty heart Sin lodgeth still in his soule with fear he overcomes not his inclination but out of the apprehension of pain he loves what he dares not do and by an infallible consequence he hates the Master that forbids his undertakings Therefore doth Charity which is so contrary to Concupiscence banish fear from their soules in whom it resides It seeks the honour of him she loveth sacrificeth her Interests to the glory of God and having none but commendable motives loves him not because he is beneficiall but because he is indeed amiable when she communicates her affection by endowments to her neighbour she looks only upon him whose image he is and not considering those reasons that are the inducements of interessed soules it is enough that a creature is capable of possessing God to merit a charitable affection Thence it comes to passe that she renders the same duties to her enemies cherisheth them that injure her and insensible of their wrongs pardons those that trample upon her The will of her God sets all her motions awork though inordinate nature counsell her she remains constant in her resolutions and knowing there is no
its violence finds nothing impossible Thence is it that the ambitious conceive so many designs that surpass humane power and hardning themselves against all difficulties had rather break then bow Thence comes it to passe that the covetous undergoe so many miseries to fill their coffers and are exposed to the fury of all the elements to comply with that passion that tyrannizeth over them These attempts are the images of those Charity effects which is yet more active then Concupiscence For as her hope is founded upon God and the greatness of her Conquests heightens her courage whereby she travels for Eternity she believes there is no pain she ought not to suffer nor difficulties she must not overcome Nothing seems hard when it may serve her turn and measuring her force by her affection imagines nothing ought to check her enterprises Nihil difficile videtur amanti amor enim nomeÌ„ difficultatis erubescit Bern. She chides her laziness when she deliberates she is afraid her weaknesse should be objected to her when she parlies for composition and she is so used to overcome that she looks upon difficulties not so much as a true excuse as a shamefull pretence Thus the Martyrs have traversed the flames to find Jesus Christ The Virgins have provoked wild Beasts that they might be the sooner with their Beloved The Anchorites have contested with grief that they might carry Heaven by violence Finally Charity is of the nature of fire she cannot lie still she sets upon her body when she finds no other enemy and that she may not be unprofitable seeks for occasions of suffering when she wants those of acting And this is the second resemblance between these two Loves For Concupiscence hath her Martyrs as well as Charity she suffers for what she loves and as doing and suffering are mutually in the world she gives proof of her courage in these two different conditions From the evils she undergoes she extracts vanity she makes them her happinesse when they are past and lest they should slip out of her memory she ruminates upon them in her solitudes and entertains her self with them in companies she hath some satisfaction in her Martyrdome when she thinks it will be an argument of her Constancy or of her Fidelity nor is she troubled to be made the prey of Flames or of Lions provided she may evidence her Courage and her Affection Charity thrives better in this design then Concupiscence she hath made many more Martyrs then vain-glory hath as she takes her birth from the Crosse so is she never more vigorous nor content then when she swims in her own bloud she is witty to invent occasions of suffering and becomes her own tormentor when she can meet with no other The absence of her Beloved is the greatest part of her punishment and conceiving that torments may shorten her banishment she is inquisitive after them as the remedies of her languishing Therefore doe these Divine Lovers suffer always upon Earth the peace of the Church frees not them from persecution and though the Princes that govern them are Christians they meet with Tyrants that persecute them Every failing is their torture every moment makes them languish and they die a thousand times in a day because they will not die at last Indeed their Love which is as witty as cruel learns them innocent murders they commit Parricides without a Crime they kill Adam in their person that Jesus Christ may live there they take vengeance of this Father that made them guilty and destroying whatever they received from him of every one of their inclinations they make a reasonable sacrifice But the Master-piece of Love is that it makes that present which we love and in despight of absence unites us with it Remoteness is certainly one of the greatest torments of Love he shuns it as his mortallest enemy and employs all his stratagems to be secured from it he hath recourse to Presents knowing very well that they are the remembrancers of the absent and that 't is very hard to forget a person to whom we are beholding he entertains himself by the commerce of Letters he writes to those he cannot speak to he beguiles his Passion with a picture and not being able to see his friend he is satisfied with beholding his portraicture But when all these inventions content not he reflects upon himself and making use of his thoughts and desires he goes upon the quest and retrives him whose absence caused his punishment For the Understanding is an imperious faculty which by a Natural Magick renders absent things present excelling the Imagery of Painters because her Idea's can speak and the same spirit that gives them life infuses motion into them and speech If Love be not satisfied with this invention he obligeth the Will to enquire out what she affecteth and to quit the body and the soul to be united to the object of her sorrow To obey her Soveraign she commands her desires to bestir themselves to prevent the diligence of the windes and passeth Sea and Land to seek the Subject of her vexation to the worlds end She pursues the Posts she hath dispatched imitates the agility of Angels and like those spirits finding themselves wherever they operate clings in spight of absence to what she loveth In these admirable courses she arrives at her journeys end without passing any middle distance she traverseth Kingdoms in a moment and disengaging her self from the body she informs findes her self miraculously in the subject she loves Concupiscence works the same Miracles every day she makes use of the Understanding and of the Will for her satisfaction she employs these two faculties to content her Passion and when the ears or the eyes can tell her no news of the remote objects that torment her she hath recourse to her thoughts and desire to bring them to her presence But we must confess that Charity acts this part much better for though that which she loves be in heaven she journeys thither without weariness she goes to seek him whom the Angels enjoy Iter tuum ad caelum voluntas tua gradus tui affecius tui ambulas affectibus non pedibus accedis ad Deum amando recedis negâ—igendo stans in terra in caelo es si diligas Deum Aug. and leaving the Sun and Stars belowe her is swallowed up in that Abyss of Glory whose elongation caused her torment For S. Augustine excellently informs me our Affections are our Wings and our Will is our Guide to conduct us to heaven You think perhaps you must build a tower to ascend thither that the Angels must be invited down to assist you or that the wings of a dove must be borrowed to convey you thither but your Love is your Pole-star by your Desires you scale those heavenly regions by your negligence you stand at distance from them and loving God upon the earth you may boast your selves already in heaven For it is not with the
for considering the advantages which he promised himself by death how that it would unite him to Jesus Christ he called it by a new name his Gains and his Riches it enters into his minde as the recompence of his travels an indempnity for his losses and the most assured purchase he could make in this world Mihi vivere Christus est mori lucrum Thus every Christian may easily become a Victim because death is a favourable occasion and being well managed may serve to expiate our sins to satisfie the Divine Justice and to imitate the charity of Jesus But the misfortune is that Love is wanting in this Sacrifice and holding a language far different from that of Isaac we are obliged to say We finde the Sacrifice but there is neither knife nor fire to consume it Indeed all men die but few Christians make good use of their death and there are none but the Elect who turning it into a Holocaust know so well how to use it that it opens them the gate of heaven The Third DISCOURSE That the Christian is a Souldier and a Conqueror THe God whom we adore takes his Glory as well from War as from Rest and if he be called in Scripture the God of peace he is as often called the Lord of hosts His Angels are the souldiers that wait upon him to the Battel who avenge him of his enemies Numquid est numerus militum ejus the Stars which keep watch as Sentinels about his Palace bear the name of the Militia in the language of the Prophets Militia coelorum and all those that serve him for Ministers in his Embassies serve him for Combatants in his Conquests Therefore did the Angels who gave notice to the Shepherds of the birth of Jesus Christ take their name from their principal employment and called themselves the heavenly Host Multitudo Militiae coelstis and when the Son of God was taken in the garden of Olives and blamed Saint Peter who would have hindered the work of our Salvation he told his disciples that it was easie for him to ask of his Father legions of Angels to defend him from his enemies Men are considered under this quality upon earth the holy Scripture calls them Souldiers and if we believe the testimony of Job their whole life is a continual warfare They have as many Enemies as Subjects Rebellion is spread over every corner of their State the parts whereof they are composed are revolted and which way soever they turn themselves they finde occasions of Fighting Christians are yet more obliged to War then Men the Sacrament that enables them withal engageth them into the combat Labora sicut bonus miles Christi 2 Tim. 2. Nemo coronabitur nifi vicerit neque vincet n si certaverit quis autem certet nisi inimicū habeat Ex Sent. Prosp The Earth is the Field where they try the Mastery and these terms of a List a Crown a Souldier which S. Paul so often useth in his Epistles are so many proofs of so known a Truth The Church it self is an Army the Christians whereof it is formed are the Souldiers and the Scripture describes her in arms in these words Terribilis ut Castrorum acies ordinata Wherein it seems we may behold the difference between a Camp and a City Both of them are Bodies which have their Head and Members their Laws and Policie their designes and employments But in Cities we observe a pleasing variety of conditions equally contributing to their advantage and beauty There we see Priests who chant forth the praises of God in his Temple who load his Altars with offerings and mixing their tears with the blood of the Victims endeavour to appease his just indignation There are Magistrates which end Controversies maintain Peace among the People and make Justice raign in Families There are Merchants which traffick with strangers who by their Commerce occasion Plenty and by their diligence supply all necessities But difference of condition seems to be banished from Armies as all fight so all are souldiers those that command and those that obey bear this quality and both of them place their glory in their valour Therefore the Church being an Army those it consists of must necessarily fight the most feeble must be courageous the women must be Amazones and all Christians forgetting the difference of their conditions must take upon them the quality of Souldiers Enemies will not be wanting to exercise their courage because the World the Flesh and the Devil hold intelligence to set upon them For the Christians war is at home whatever he hath received from Adam is an occasion of exercising him and for a punishment of his sin he is obliged to fight with himself The Flesh is never at agreement with the Spirit these two parties have always some difference to compose and though linkt together by natural chains and common interests cease not continually to make war upon one another They are two friends that usually fall out and two enemies that caress each other two friends that shake hands and two enemies that make mutual visits two friends that cannot endure one another and two enemies that can never be asunder This division is the first punishment of our sin and when we began to be upon ill terms with God we ceased to have any good correspondence with our selves But that which seems most troublesom is that one Combat furnisheth us with many enemies for as S. Augustine saith we daily fight in our heart in such a little room we finde whole armies and sometimes we grapple with Avarice sometimes with Pride sometimes with Impurity so that 't is very hard being set upon by so many enemies if we receive not some wound This Combat is obstinately disputed if there be some Truce there is no real Peace it lasts till death and if soul and body be not separated it is impossible to make them friends The Senses bring us false reports the Passions raise storms our Inclinations set up a party and to defend us from so many enemies we are obliged to borrow the assistance of Vertue Every Age hath its exercise Infancy is oppressed with Errour and Ignorance Youth is baited with Ambition and Wantonness Old-age is clogged with Anger and Peevishness so that there is no condition but hath need of Grace to defend it from those enemies that set upon it The Devil takes part with the Body to destroy us employs his wiles or his force to terrifie or seduce us he mingles himself with our Humours disorders our Passions troubles our Temper and as if he were the Soveraign of Man as well as the Prince of the World he deboists our Subjects to disquiet our Rest Sometimes he takes upon him the shape of a Lion and sometimes that of a Serpent that using subtilty and violence he may gain some advantage upon us He studies our inclinations to destroy us suits himself with our humours to surprise us and regulating his promises