to him appertain all the differences of time the past present future but among these he loves the present time and he says I am what I am or he who is and not he who shall be He that would be like God and please him must speak as he does I am he that is righteous holy separate from sinners devoted to God consecrated to his Service Heretofore God required our first-sruits and the first born of our Herds and likewise of our Children Abraham rose betimes in the morning to go and sacrifice his Son and God commanded that an immortal Fire should burn in his Temple for the perpetual Sacrifice of Morning as well as Evening This signifies God would be served first and our Firsts are to be consecrated to him he wills not we should say to him Come and follow me if the World leaves any thing remaining thou shalt have it He loves not those People that say unto him Let us first do such a thing or go to such a place c. He answers them Let the dead bury their dead come ye and follow me For having put your hands to the Plough if ye look back ye are not fit for the Kingdom of God Few persons there are but confess That one time or other in ones Life it is necessary to think on God They only dispute about the time One says I will become a good Christian when I have finish'd my House another when I have made my Fortune and young People say when we are old and have tasted the pleasures of Life in a word All remit this great Affair to Futurity Since they confess that 't is of absolute necessity to give up themselves to God and that without this Hell and Death eternal are inevitable is it not the greatest Fury and Madness to deal thus and to remit an Affair of so great Importance to the time to come whereof we can in no wise be assured Young People you Idolaters of Pleasure make use of the Example of the rich man who said in the Evening to his Soul Eat drink and be merry thou hast laid up Goods for many years when that very Night that Soul to which he had given such bad Counsel was required of him Who has given you Assurances that you shall arrive to old Age Or have ye made a Treaty with God that in what Estate soever Death shall surprise you Heaven shall receive you If Death re'ncounters you cover'd with Vices coming from a Comedy at the Theatre or from a Debauch at the Tipling-house or any place more infamous Do ye believe ye are in a good Condition to say at the Gate of Heaven Lord Lord open unto us It will be answer'd Go I know you not ye Workers of Iniquity Ye will say without doubt We have sinned against Heaven and against thee we are not worthy to be called thy Sons but spare us and impute all our Sins to our Youth This will do nothing God cannot in favour of Youth disannul that irrevocable Edict Nothing impure can enter into my Holy City The Jewish Doctors who frequently happen to say very good things say Remember thy God and turn to him only one day before thy Death This is extraordinarily well said think therefore of thy God to day for to morrow perhaps thou shalt dye What do we do then when we dispose of the time to come and say To morrow we will set upon such a sort of Pleasure the day after we will act a Debauch we will live in this manner for fifty or sixty years and after that we will think of a Retreat to God Truly we imitate those ambitious and visionary Princes who upon the only hope of making Conquests divide before-hand the Provinces and dispose of the Governments which are none of their own To whom belongs the time to come Without doubt to God only who holds it as in Store-houses and lets it run as pleaseth him who stops its Source or prolongs its Current so that when we distribute the time to come we take upon us to bestow what is Gods and none of our own and which perhaps never will be and yet we destine and divide it before-hand to sundry uses And this is the utmost Folly even in the opinion of the World and noted by many Proverbs that are very well known Since therefore it is absolutely necessary to devote our selves to God is it not to be done when it is most easie And I maintain it 's easier to love God and be converted to him when we are young than in old Age. This seems to be a Paradox because in that Age the Blood boils the Flesh is vigorous and Sin sticks to the Entrails We have a peculiar and sovereign taste in all worldly Pleasures True indeed when once we have let the Reins loose to Concupiscence in our Youth it is well nigh impossible to stop its impetuous Passion and Fury It ought to dry up the Springs that it may put an end to these Disorders But if in good time we turn our Souls to God and to Devotion it is sure we shall improve therein incomparably much better than in old Age to what thing oever young Men are carried they are carried to it with Violence and Ardour 'T is the Temper of that Age if there be a good Conduct made of those first Fâ—â—es there will thence arise an excellent Zeal and an holy fervour of Devotion as we see in them who know how to make a right use and serve themselves of the Rapidness of Torrents and Rivers to turn Mills and Machines of great advantage to the Life of Mankind On the contrary Experience teaches us that Devotion relents and slackens with Age and old men are more put to it to chasen and heat their Hearts in pious Duties their Soul is hard'ned 't is not touch'd nor moved with so much ease because it is not so tender as it was the fire of Zeal seeming to be diminish'd by the diminution of natural heat Whence come the Difficulties we meet withal in the work of Conversion Certainly none of them there are but what augment and encrease with Age. This difficulty of thinking on God proceeds from Custom and Habit. Now Custom by Age becomes a Tyrant it comes from the Devil and when once it has establish'd its Tyranny by a long Possession 't is almost impossible to destroy it At first it comes alone by it self but in a little while it is call'd Legion and such a Devil as cannot be conjur'd out by a Get thee behind me Satan and cannot be chased away but by Prayer and Fasting Again our Faculties are us'd to it and the Soul loses its strength it is no longer capable of a Design and Enterprize so vigorous as to turn to God and break with Sin In short this Difficulty proceeds from that God leaves off calling upon and inviting and offering his Grace and his Patience is changed into a just Fury and Indignation when it
of his Closet we may say he shuts the door to the World saying to himself Get ye gone ye worldly Thoughts retire ye Objects of Vanity and approach not near this place let me rejoyce in the quiet of this secure Sanctuary and suffer me to give my self wholly up to my God The pious Soul after this manner dies many times a day for Death does not more efface the Images of worldly things than Devotion when it takes a Christian out of the World This Soul may say at such a time The World is crucified unto me and I unto the World I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the Life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me We need not wonder if the World quits the place in this moment since I suppose that it before took up but very little Room in the Soul whereof I speak God comes to possess it wholly of which he had before the better for the devout Heart ventures to say The whole is in God and God is in every part In this state if by peradventure it casts its Eyes upon the World it looks down from on high and with an Eye of Contempt Alas What are these same Riches says the faithful Soul these Honours and Advantages which frequently terminate in eternal Death to compare with the Riches that God here bestows upon me But near to God himself whom I possess these earthly Goods will vanish and be lost but I will never lose him who holds me and whom I hold and Death which will disrobe the Living of their Pomp will invest me with new Glory The fourth Effect of Devotion is an Alacrity in running and advancing in the Practise of Piety A General flies to the Combat when he sees an assured Victory but the devout Person has other kind of wings which make him fly whither Devotion conducts him He knows not that 't is the drooping and weight of the Body that retains them who are call'd to Travel he has not the Sentiments of the Sluggard who rouls upon his Bed as a Gate upon its Hinges who fight Battles with his Boulster and wages Wars with Sleep and Idleness with a Design to be vanquished He is one of those Eagles of which some think our Saviour spoke Where the dead Body is thither will the Eagles be gathered together He knows that he shall find his Jesus once dead but now alive either in the Church or in his Closet he flies thither with the Swiftness of an hungry Eagle nothing is capable of stopping him Friends Enemies Employs Occupations Prayers Menaces Fears and Dangers all useless for in posting he can surmount all Obstaeles in the way Another Effect of Devotion is a certain Elevation of Soul which I cannot term otherwise than a sort of Extasie whereby the Soul is as it were ravish'd from its self 'T is so knit to the Contemplation of Coelestial Objects that not only it has no more intelligence of earthly things but it has no Sense no Ears no Eyes it sees not it understands not St. Peter while he prayed saw the Heavens opened and a certain Vessel descending to the Earth as it had been a great sheet knit at the four Corners St. Paul in Prayer was ravished even to the third Heaven and the Devout even at this time of day have their Extasie They see with Stephen the Heavens opened they are lifted up to Heaven with St. Paul for they enter into a secret Commerce with God The Soul inwardly is so taken up that it sees nothing at all of what passes without and contributing its whole force to the Contemplation of God no Wonder it has no more for other Objects Blessed are they says St. Basil who are fill'd with and infolded in the Contemplation of this true Beauty since being bound to it by the Cords of Charity and of an heavenly and divine Love they forget their Parents Friends Houses they forget even the necessity of eating and drinking And now why should it not be so in the Offices of Piety when ev'ry day this happens to us in the Affairs of the World While we are strongly fixt to Reading to disintangle a crabbed and knotty matter while we answer an Adversary a thousand Objects pass before our eyes whereof we do not take notice The devout Soul is so shut into it self so well gathered up and compacted that no external thing is able to move it If it prays it is intirely in Heaven if it hears it is wholly tyed up to the Tongue of him that speaks if it reads its heart is always where the eyes terminate themselves if it meditates it is all over plunged in it's subject and if a Flock of Birds of vain and light Thoughts come to soil its Sacrifice as that of Abraham it scares them away incontinently This is that which I understand by the Extasie of Devotion otherwise if you take this term for effectual Ravishments which were the Priviledges of the Prophets and Saints of the first Order I must take an infinite deal of pains to believe that the Holinesses of the Roman Cloyster do oblige God as some would fain perswade us so ordinarily to communicate such extraordinary Graces Now a days we do not see those Devotions which lift up not only the Souls but make the Body to lose its Earth and raise it to the very Clouds Nevertheless if we would believe some who call themselves good Authors there is nothing more common The last Effect of Devotion that I shall mention is a certain Fire that warms the Heart One cannot well conceive it unless one had felt it and I cannot express it otherwise than in the words of holy men Did not our Heart burn within us while he talked with us and while he opened to us the Scriptures My Heart was hot within me while I was meditating the Fire burned then spake I with my Tongue We are told how the Faces of the Saints have been oftentimes seen to be bright and inflamed in the midst of their Devotions which could not proceed but from the glowing and fiery affection of the Heart which manifests it self accordingly in the Countenance This Fire we may call a Fermentation of the Spirits of Piety which not seldom make Impressions even in the eyes And hence it may be came the shining of St. Stephen's Face of which it is said that his Enemies saw it as if it had been the Face of an Angel his Zeal and his Devotion were evident in his Eyes and render'd 'em sparkling Now this Lightning is not without its Rain I mean that this Fire is ordinarily accompanied with Tears The Heart is heated blows up that Heat makes it grow bigger then it self grows tender and at last the Eyes melt into Tears St. Austin represents himself in one of these Illuminations or rather Inflamations of Heart After says he that a strong Meditation
heart into a good condition to hope a good success of its worship Tho never so much prepared it cannot be too good for him to whom we ought to present it It will be an acceptable thing to be receiv'd in this Estate And what on the contrary can we expect in presenting to him an indevout Soul but a shameful and sad refusal God does not hear our prayers unless the Heart be disposed to make them Seek and ye shall find saith our Lord but seek with zeal otherwise ye shall not find God said once I was found of them that sought me not But this does not happen every day this is but one of those singular events whereby general Rules are not established But the Law in common bears Ask and it shall be given Lay hold on the Kingdom of Heaven and thou shalt obtain it To what is not Devotion useful It is of use in all Places all times and all things as well in the Closet as the Church thereby we hear the Word pronounced by men as if it were truly the word of God and receive it as the dry and chapped Earth does the rain Hereby the Consecration of the Divine benefits touches us the thought of God's love inflames us his promises comfort us his threatnings terrifie us and his Consolations have their Efficacy upon us Without this the word which ought to be a two-edged Sword recoyls and turns its edge on the hardness of our hearts and without this we joyn the Sin of Insensibility to that of Impenitence By this we look upon every thing in the Church with veneration the Preacher as the Embassador of the Gospel his Word as the voice of Heaven The Faithful as the Children of God and as it were a Troop of Angels that always rejoyce in his presence the Sacraments as precious vessels the appearance whereof is contemptible but which do contain the Treasures of his Grace and Mercy It 's Devotion that makes our Closets to become little Churches whether the Divinity descends and upon which it extends its Wings like the Cherubims over the Mercy-seat where God speaks to our heart as we speak to his ears where he makes us understand his Oracles and taste his Consolations where he says to us in a still small voice My Son or my Daughter Be of good chear arise thy Sins are forgiven thee Oh! how blessed is the faithful Soul that God honours with such sacred Entertainments Now he does never do this but when call'd upon if not forced by an ardent Devotion These desires of Devotion may be the Eyes of the Spouse whereof it is said Turn away thine Eyes from me for they have overcome me Far be from hence those prophane Wretches that know not the use of Devotion They say that Valour is the Rampart of Estates and the Tutelary Angel of the Publick and of Privates that Liberality sweetens the misfortunes of the miserable that Justice is the nurse of Peace and the ligament of Society that Temperance causes tranquillity of mind and health of Body But say they Devotion 't is alone that is good for nothing but to render the mind weak and effeminate and to depress the Spirits Do not call so universal a Vertue unprofitable without which all the rest are meer shadows for he that having not a habit of Devotion does not refer all his vertues to the Glory of God is a bad good man Do not call that an useless Virtue which appeases the wrath of God and turns away the Tempests flying over States a Virtue which had drawn Sodom out of the Fire had there been found there but ten devout Persons like Abraham who would have Devoutly with him interceded for it a Virtue which saves the Church so often from ship-wrack a Virtue which in the Conscience raises up and establishes a profound Peace and a Divine Light Do not fay that it softens the Mind seeing it confirms the Courage makes men run to death as to a Feast makes 'em to despise Perils and in its occasions mannages nothing wherein the Glory of God is not concerned Meditation SEE one of the causes of my luke-warmness and one of the reasons why my Soul is little devout The necessity of Devotion it comprehends not whereas it knows that Food is necessary for the conservation of its bodily Life It desires nourishment with a great ardour and searches after it with a marvellous diligence But negligent it is in all those things which serve to nourish Piety and the flames of Devotion since it does not beleive that 't is of any great use Thou see'st O my Soul some who save themselves with a languishing Piety and go to Heaven at a very slow pace Thou persuadest thy self that God will not be more rigorous to thee and that there will not be more exacted from thee than from others But alas what an errour and fallacy is there in this reasoning Such an one as thou believest to be in the way to Heaven is a marching towards Hell There is such a way that seems right to man the end of which nevertheless is Death These chill Devotions wherewith People believe God is well paid are oftentimes very fruitless They may think it fine one day to say we have prayed to thee we have invok'd thy Name we have served thee The Lord will not fail to answer I do not know who ye are go far from me ye that are neither cold nor hot I will cast you up out of my mouth Prayer MY God conduct my Soul in the surest path I know not how to sound thy Mercy nor do I know how far the severity of thy Juctice will carry it self and no further I know not whether thou wilt pardon so many People that serve thee with so little Zeal and so much indevotion That which I know is that they are unworthy of thy clemency anâ— that they cannot be saved unless they sincerâ—ly repent of having served thee with so much indifference Let the Candle of my Soul thâ— holy Spirit which has inlightened thy Church in all ages and the faithful at all times inspire me with such frankincense of Devotion as with which I know that one may be saved and without which I know not if one caâ— be saved Kindle my heart that it may be an Altar where an eternal Fire may burn in which all my sacrifices may be consumed and which may make all my prayers as thâ— Perfumes of incense to mount up in thy Presence CHAP. IV. That Devotion is extremely rare and neglected HERE is an Exception to the general Rule that things rare are esteemed nothing in the World more rare than Devotion and nothing more neglected Herein men do not sin through Ignorance they know very well what we have said in the precedent Chapter that without these devout dispositions or Prayers they cannot please God Nevertheless one cannot Express the horrible negligence with which they perform this pious Duty as well as all others
with relation to God there can be no other difference betwixt the most eloquent and him that is least so than between one Child and another God understandeth all Languages and all Stiles he requires no Order nor Elegance the most confused Thoughts that come in a Crowd from the Heart are often most pleasing to him he hears the Sighs of the Dumb he knows what we desire better than we can speak or oftentimes conceive for The Spirit of God as St. Paul says maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered After all there are none but know what they want and by consequence none but can pray for Prayer is nothing but a weaving of Desires for those things which we stand in need of for the present Life the Salvation of the Soul and the Life to come The Passions are eloquent and the Imagination is warmed by its sympathy with the Heart wherefore those Persons that excuse themselves upon the smallness of their Light when they are inflamed with Choler never want Words and certainly if their Heart be heated with the Fire of Devotion the Imagination will be very sensible of it and they cannot complain of want of Thoughts or Expressions Meditation THou hast never well comprised O my Soul how much honour thy God does thee in permitting thee to cast thy self at his Feet thou art not sensible of this Favour Thou believest that God does owe thee it for that thou wilt humble thy self before him Thou remembrest not how dear and scarce are the Audiences before the Kings of the earth which yet are in the presence of God but a Shadow a Nothing The King of Kings is pleased to lend his ear to thee to hear thee to succour thee his Throne is accessible at all times To approach thither there is no need either of Favour or Friends or Credit or painful Sollicitations or troublesome Attendings notwithstanding what is that Throne and how great its Magnificence and Glory Thereon God is seated environed with a Light whose lustre dazles the eyes of Seraphims all around millions of Angels and Arch-Angels falling upon their Faces on the right hand Rivers of Milk and Honey which his Children drink of on the left are Torrents of Fire to devour his Adversaries on the one side is Hell and Death and the dreadful Ministers of Divine Vengeance and on the other Heaven and Paradise with the glorious Rewards which God prepares for those whom he loves Thou dost not see this O my Soul and therefore thou art the less touch'd but thou oughtst to believe it though the Veil of thy Flesh rob thee of the fight Therefore represent to thy self the Magnificence of that Throne tremble admire and be fill'd with Gratitude for that being corrupted by the Commerce thou hast with a miserable Body abiding in an House of Clay and having thy Seat in the Dust thou canst nevertheless at all times with liberty present thy self before him who sits upon the Cherubims who flies upon the Wings of the Wind who maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a Flame of Fire Thou hast the permission to pray but thou knowest not how to pray and that because thou knowest not to love One intimate Friend never wants things to discourse on to another when our Heart is perfectly opened to any one and we have received his Soul into our Breast we are never short Alas my Soul If thou lovedst thy God perfectly thou wouldst be never weary with entertaining him never would thy Imagination be congealed thy Tongue remain speechless or thou want Words thy Mouth would pour it self forth like a Torrent and thy Prayers would roul like a Flame but thou languishest in thy Prayers since thou dost not speak to God as thy nearest and best Friend the barrenness of thy Heart comes from the coldness of thy Love Prayer O Holy Spirit which art Love it self in the most adorable Trinity O Spirit of Prayer make Intercession for me with dumb interrupted Groans and such as cannot be exprest Teach me how I ought to pray I know almost what ought to be the Matter of my Prayers but I am ignorant how to give them their form I feel in my self a Chaos of confused Thoughts and Motions which I cannot unmixe or disentangle the Light is found blended with Darkness worldly with heavenly thoughts O holy spirit which at the world's beginning didst in the like Chaos draw Light out of Darkness and Order out of Confusion stretch forth thy wings upon the wavering waters of my thoughts and hatch them into well conceiv'd formed and digested Prayers Thou makest the dumb to speak and givest Eloquence to those that are slow of speech Touch my Tongue with a coal from thy Altar that my Lips may be purified my mouth opened and I may declare thy Praises Warm my heart and fill it with devout and pious thoughts that from the abundance of my heart my mouth may speak And thou O Lord Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant our great High-Priest receive my Prayers as Incense and carry them before that adorable Throne upon which thy Father sitteth make them to smoke before him make them a sweet smelling Odour of Atonement that these calves of my Lips may be acceptable to him and because my Offerings are imperfect cover them with thy perfect Righteousness obtain through thy Intecessions what my Prayers alone would never obtain CHAP. X. The fifth particular help to Devotion Fasting and Mortification NONE can deny that Fasting and Mortification are most necessary helps to Devotion unless they will deny the Scripture and the Maximes of the Fathers of the Church The Scripture seldom separates Prayer from Fasting it gives to both joyntly the force of driving away the most dangerous Demons This kind of Devil goeth not out but by Prayer and Fasting The Flesh is an head-strong Horse which we cannot manage but by holding in the Bridle it 's a Lion which we must not feed so long till he is grown fat unless we would augment his Cruelty and cast our selves into the danger of being devoured by him The Body if we mark is the same Flesh whereof the Gospel complains so strongly and in so many places of which 't is said that it is an Enemy to God and its fruits are Debauchery Strife Sedition Murder Hatred Envying Ambition and Covetousness So that to hinder the product of these fruits 't is good to keep this plant in continual great dryness for if we besprinkle this root of bitterness with carnal Pleasures it will shoot up its sprouts on high and turn us out of the way of our Salvation As plants which are very tall and surmount their Neighbours leave them in a bad Estate in sucking all the fatness of the Earth from 'em so the Flesh grows not fat but at the Expence of the Soul which it deprives of Comfort and leaves it in a great bareness of Fruit. A great meal is a very bad preparative for the
and we have need of a free mind They make real Joys and Griefs to spring up for imaginary Adventures Into the Mind they put Idea's and into the Heart vain Motions which ruine the holy Dispositions that we would establish in a devout Soul The same I say of a Play a Fury which agitates men like a kind of Demoniac Spirit A Man sees his Life and his Death that I may so speak his Fortune and his Misfortune a rouling with inconceivable Transports and Inquietudes His Soul is agitated at the same time with a thousand Passions with Fears Desires Hopes and his Heart is entirely put besides the Seat Is such a Man in a Condition to lift up his Soul to God Such fine Devotions as these are they which are made after having past half the Night in this exercise The Tempest has been over great a long time will the Waves be moving the Soul will be a good while levelling it self and yet after this the Sweetnesses Devotion will not be according to the Palate for thâ— they are not carnal Pleasures of which alone it sensible Whence it comes to pass that young Peâ—ple are very rarely fit for the Elevations of Devotion They are but lately come into the World and all 〈◊〉 it appears mighty fine These Pleasures they gâ—â— down by long Draughts and nothing appears pleasâ—â— unto 'em but what flatters Flesh and Blood whiâ—â— boils in their Veins Hence also it comes that thâ— Constitution where the Blood has the Ascendaâ—â—â— which is the Temperament of the World's Joy is 〈◊〉 proper for Devotion than that which has the Ingredâ—ents of Earth and Melancholy the former is like 〈◊〉 Matter extreamly combustible which takes fire 〈◊〉 the least Sparkle but the latter being more difficuâ— to be moved is less sensible of what charms other and that which pierces through them negligentâ—â— passes it by We ought therefore to draw Men out of this erroâ— They imagine they can divide themselves betwiâ—â— heavenly and earthly Joy but it is impossible In thâ— Rank of unclean Creatures the Law plac'd those Amphibious Birds which both swim and flye and live in 〈◊〉 double Element of Air and Water This is the Eâ—â—blem of worldly Men evermore they swim in fleshly Pleasure and sometimes by weak Soarings they try to get out thence and reach Heaven but it happenâ— to 'em just as it does to those Aquatic Fowls whose flight goes no further than to touch and curle the Superficies of the Water with their Wings and then they forthwith fall down again Delicate and rare says St. Bernard is the Divine Consolation 't is a chast Woman but jealous who deserving only to be beloved cannot give her self to him that runs after strange Women Wherefore Solomon pronounceth Vanity upon all the Pleasures of the Earth whereof he had made a very large Experience It 's for this also that David declares so of ten that he will not have any other Pleasure than that of his God To draw near to God is my Good to be united to him is my All. Forsake all says St. Austin and thou shalt find all for that Man will find all in God that despises all for God's sake Behold here one of the main Counsels which can be given to pious Minds which undertake to dispose themselves to Devotion Renounce renounce thou devout Soul all the Pleasures of the Earth and make choice of Spiritual ones let reading in holy Writings charm thee as worldly-minded People are charmed by their ill Books let religious Assemblies and preaching of the Word divert thee as much as they divert themselves by their criminal Shows let the Works of Mercy toward the Poor and Afflicted be used by thee as the men of the Age use their vain Courses their Sports and their Converse and if thou takest any Recreations and Refreshments let Honesty and severe Vertue be the Governess of all thy Pleasures Meditation HOW unhappy art thou O my Soul to be born in Aegypt and not to be ensible of the blessings of the true Canaan or this reason thou turnest thy eyes so ofâ—en upon the World and at the same â—our that thy Heart should be intite in â—eaven at the time of thy Devotion and â—ravers thou thinkest on Onions Garlick â—nd Flesh-pots which thou didst eat when thou wast the Slave of the Devil and thâ— World Thou hast not yet tasted thâ— delights of Pious and Devout Souls that say I am satisfied as with Marrow and Fatnesâ— Oh! how good the Lord is I have tasted him He brought me into his Banquetting-House His Love is sweeter than Wine and thâ— Honey Let him kiss me with the Kisses 〈◊〉 his Mouth Would to God I were honoured with these secret communication whereof my Saviour makes some Priviledged Souls to partake which fill them witâ— Joy even in the midst of Torments anâ— make them find musick in Prisons and 〈◊〉 the rattling of their Irons Learn O mâ— Soul learn to seek thy Pleasures and Dâ—lights in God he is the Source All Joâ— that comes not from him terminates aâ— length in grief saddness lamentations dâ—spair and gnashing of Teeth What doâ— my heart wish for what does it hunger anâ— thirst after dost thou love Beauty In Goâ— thou wilt find it and God will give it thâ— thy self for thou wilt become glorious anâ— full of light by the commerce thou shaâ— have with him Dost thou love Life anâ— Health He is the well of Life and in 〈◊〉 Light shall we see Light and he will communicate a Life to thee ever healthful and vigorous that is Eternal Life Dost thou love pleasures Lo he will make thee drink at the Stream of his Delights He will fill thee with the Wine prepared by the Divine Wisdom that saith I have mixt my Wine I have killed my fat Beasts He will cause thee to see such Objects as will ravish thee He will make thee hear a sweet and charming Musick in the consort of Angels and Saints who eternally sing the praises of our God After so many Blessings either already received or already possest in hope can I still be at all sensible of the vain Pleasures of the Earth Prayer O My God my divine Saviour come and fill my Soul with those sweetnesses that thou communicatest to thy faithful servants give me the bread which came down from Heaven the true Manna and bread of Angels that makes me taste of pleasures which stifle and choak the sense of worldly pleasures and the taste of sublunary divertisements Let thy Sabbaths be my Feast days Let thy word be sweeter to me than Honey and than the drops of Honey And let the meditation of those joys which thou preparest for me in Heaven ravish me in such a manner that I may be no more either the World's or my own but be intirely Thine Make Heaven to descend upon Earth in my favour Enlarge my heart Make there a little Paradise Shed down upon it so great an abundance of thy Light of
and which Death at least would have infallibly ravisht from thee Dost thou not know that the World and its Fortunes are all of Glass They shine but they are brittle The least blow shatters them and makes 'em to flye into a thousand pieces why then shouldest thou think it strange that Glass should break between thy Fingers Why art thou so sensible of Injuries and Offences And why dost thou make the malignity of another thy own misery why dost thou so bitterly lament the loss of some Persons that Death has taken up from thee they were not thine they were Gods who lent 'em thee and has retaken them In short Why art thou so prodigal of Tears whereof thou reapest no fruit that is to imploy ones Labour in that which profiteth not When thou bewailest O my Soul thy misfortunes thy tears do not make thy misfortunes to cease but mourn for thy Sins and thy Tears will destroy them They will whirl them away like a Torrent or a Deluge and they will be found no more Thy carnal anxieties trouble thy Devotion But the Grief which thou shalt have for thy Sins and Infirmities will augment it and God will comfort thee Prayer COme therefore thou Holy Ghost the Comforter who wert promised to us by the Son in behalf of the Father Come sweeten my bitter Anguishes by thy Delights and Mercies Come and recompence my losses by thy Riches Give me such joy as passes all understanding Give me Piety that I may have contentment of Mind and that the one and the other being joyned together may be great Gain to me and compose my soverign happiness Come and place my Soul in so firm a Seat and Posture that it may never be jogged or stagger'd even by the rudest blows Come and restore back to me what I have lost Goods Possessions Houses Husband Wife Children Kindred and my dearest Frinds Come my dear Saviour and let me possess thee perfectly instead of all things The World has taken away all it hath given me But it cannot ravish from me what thou shalt bestow upon me I make a Sacrifice to thee of all the Goods which I have lost If I have not lost 'em for thy Name yet at least I at present patiently suffer the loss of them for thy Name 's sake And therefore I hope thou wilt reward me as if I had lost them for thee In this Hope I banish my Cares and Troubles far from me to the end they may come no more to disturb and interrupt my Repose O my God make the Walls of my Closet impenetrable Ramparts such as cannot be pierced by the Darts of my persecuting Enemies So that I may be there in thy Presence as in a quiet and safe Haven against the Tempests wherein my Life is lost and that so the Commerce which my Soul would have with thee may not be interrupted by the remembrance of my Misfortunes but I may forget all my Griefs and Calamities in thy Presence CHAP. V. Of Excessive Business A fifth Source of Indevotion THIS is also another branch of the Love of the World and another let and hindrance to Devotion We love the World and give up our selves intirely to its Imployments One imploys himself in Traffique and thinks of nothing else Another he is oppressed with the Affairs of other men which he makes his own through interest He pleads as he saith for the defence of Justice but it is too often for iniquity and though he gains his Cause yet he loses his Conscience A physician Visits his Patients with a design to make 'em pay dear for his Services and Attendance The man of business is ever thumbing his Arithmetick The Mechanick exercising his Trade the Husband-man Agriculture And to these several ways goes the greatest and best part of their time And so much is the World corrupted as they think they deserve praises in that among the sundry ways of spending time this is the most innocent but it becomes criminal as soon as it robs us of our God and slackens our Piety The mind of man is so made as it cannot vigorously tend but to one Mark it cannot ardently will but one thing insomuch as if thou givest up the ardour and force of thy desires to thy Family and thy Occupations God will but partake of the Reliques of thy Soul and thy languishing motions I do not pretend here as if Persons of all conditions could give up themselves wholly to contemplation This contemplative Life is the Life of Angels and not of men and since that we are in part Body we must also live after a manner partly corporal A Bird let its wings be never so strong cannot always be flying A Soul has not strength enough to be evermore lifted up to Heaven I know moreover we ought to serve the necessities of Nature In a word I do not oppose the Order that man has received from God to eat his Bread by the sweat of his Brows and by his labour six days in the Week all I aim at is that the imployments of Martha may not hinder the work of Mary and that the Body being the worse Part of us may not carry away the better part of our time If there be any thing wherein we ought to laud and praise the great condescention of God to us it is in this all our time is his but he pleased to give us six parts in seven Six days shalt thou labour and on the seventh rest Seeing he has forgone so much we ought at least to be very exact to pay him this Tythe of our time one day in seven one hour in seven Six hours therefore should not slip by in a day without returning to God to give him the seventh Do more and imagine not you can do too much since you owe him all Why will you not have the same regard and consideration for the Soul as you have for the Body On it you bestow Refreshment and Rest and for this you intercept your most important Concerns that you may repair the decayed forces of Nature Take heed there be not made too great a dissipation of the Spirits of Grace call the Soul to its exercises of Devotion as to repasts which renders it vigorous and as to sleep during which it lyes in the Arms of its God labour often in this Divine Recollection and to withdraw the Soul from those wandring courses it makes in humane affairs Meals and repasts hastily taken are followed with a difficult digestion and very little nourishment and therefore we repose our selves while we eat let not any one tâ—en imagin he can serve God whilst he is doing something else These stirrings and turbulent Devotions are of ill consequence and instead of nourishing do load and clog the Conscience We must therefore in our ordinary imployments set aside some hour wherein our Souls may retire themselves as it were in an Haven to rejoyce over a Calm after a boysterous Tempest Whilst the Water
flesh and bloud and tastes nothing but what flatters this Flesh and Bloud And therefore among sensual Pleasures there are permitted our Devout Person only those which are moderate The Senses love to receive strong impressions of Objects provided there be no wound in the case the imagination loves also to be powerfully moved But all these emotions make such mighty impressions upon the Soul as it hardly can come to it self again And therefore they ought carefully to be avoided But if we would have more sensible proofs that the heart the passions and the senses are not to be consulted about the choice of Pleasures let us hear experience and cast an eye upon the disorders of the world Such are the consequences of this blindness in men who follow their own heart and senses in the choice of Goods and Pleasures Why did the first Woman lay hold on the forbidden fruit because it was good and pleasant to the eye she hearkened to her Heart and Senses How did corruption arise to that high pitch in the World that it forced God's Justice to bring upon it a terrible Deiuge Because the Sons of God saw the Daughters of men that they were fair they stopt their Ears to the voice of God which call'd upon them they heark'ned to the sollicitations of their own sensual heart they took them Wives of all which they chose and corrupted themselves with them Did not David commit Adultery and Murder in a little time because he gave ear to his senses and heart and let his passions seduce him did not Solomon become an Idolater because his sinful love for Women having blinded his eyes separated him from God and stopt the Ears of his Soul so as his mind heard only the voice of his Passions and his Senses Lastly did not St. Peter deny his Lord and Master for that his heart his senses his imagination made him see present Death in an affrightful posture and he consulted neither God nor his own reason We seem here to blend and confound Innocence with Sin in speaking of our Heart and our Senses as common Sources of our errours Since that the Senses may seem rather to be unhappy and unfortunate than Criminal and Sinful True the Senses are subject to two unhappinesses The first is to be forced to receive Objects which are sinful and capable of transferring Images of corruption to the Heart such are evil Examples scandalous Actions and Words The other misfortune of the Senses is that they take in innocent Objects and sometimes in an innocent manner and these Images do spoyl and corrupt themselves in the Heart Nevertheless I think we ought not to separate the Senses from the Heart they make but one and the same thing This is a Match at the end of which lies a great heap of Gun-powder The Hear and the Imagination are the inward extremity of this Match they are the Magazine of Powder The Senses are the other end to which the Objects set fire This Fire slides or rather it flies along the Match It enkindles the Imagination and puts the Heart into a flame And therefore the holy Spirit puts for the same thing To walk in the ways of ones heart and in the sight of ones Eyes In short if we would be perfectly assured that our Heart and Senses are evil Counsellors in this affair hear what the holy Scripture saith it considers our Heart as the root of all our Evils Every imagination of the thoughts of Man's heart is only evil continually The Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts false Witness Blasphemies These are the things which defile a Man The holy Ghost represents the Heart to us as blind wrapt up in a thick Cloud and profound darkness it speaks of it as of a kind of Death it is of the Earth it is carnal How then canan Heart thus composed and fram'd judge of the true Goods and Pleasures How can there come any thing good from a poysoned Spring And thus we see that the Wife man puts this Maxime among the members of those we are to detest and abominate Walk in the ways of thine Heart and in the sight of thine Eyes I should end here were it unnecessary to take off one Scandal that may be taken at what we have said that sensual Pleasure is a Good and even a Good for the Soul For in a word if the Soul be that not only which perceives and which tastes Pleasure and if Pleasure be a Good 't is a Good of the Soul If it be a good then some will say we are to seek and love it It 's not sufficient to answer that this is a Good of the Body only that is not absolutly true 't is in some sort the good of the Soul because the Soul tastes it Further if this Good were only for the Body yet it does not follow it should therefore be of necessity unlawful since we are not always forbidden to seek the Good of the Body But we ought not only to consider a thing in its self to know whether it be good or bad we must consider it in its causes and its effects in what precedes it what may be the consequence of it I mean that the Pleasure which comes to the Soul by the Body is a sort of Good considered in it self Look upon its Source and see to what it produces The Source is Sin is Impurity is Rebellion against the law of our Creator What it produces is a disunion between God and our Soul 't is a pawning our selves to Death 't is the pain of everlasting burnings How can we under the Idea of a Good conceive a thing which is incompast about by so many moral Impurities and such real Mischiefs If therefore bodily Pleasure can be called a Good with respect to the present sentiment of the Soul it 's an Evil in all other regards it 's an Evil to speak Absolutely and therefore the wifest men of all Ages have plac'd it among the false Goods for a true Good ought to be good on every side we view it The Soul then has no true Pleasure but what arises from its union with God And this union is fortified according to the measure that we loosen our selves from sensible things and are united to God by the knowledge of his Truth Not of those Verities which Philosophy seeks after and never finds with any certainty but of those Divine truths which Faith discovers to us of those wholsome Verities which are the Candle of the Soul Thy Word is a Lamp to my Feet and a light to my Paths It enlightens the Eyes and makes wise the simple The second Bond whereby we are united to God is Virtue the Practice of which renders us like to our Creator renews his Image in us and makes us to be the Copies of that Beauty whereof he 's the original the third cord is
has been a long time abus'd But above all let us consider how strong the Habits of Luxury and Debauchery do become when we permit them to take Root and let 'em arrive even to old Age. The young Plant which might be pluck'd up with one hand is now a trunck of immense Greatness which resists the Hatchet and Wedge This little Monster the love of Voluptuousness which might have been easily stifled at its Birth is become so great and so terrible as there is now no attacking nor fighting with it Sins simply considered do not become more strong by Age their number is multiplied These are Snow-Balls that wax bigger and bigger in rowling these are Torrents which swell bigger the farther they remove from their Spring-head 't was an easie matter at first to pass over them on foot but now one cannot cross them by swimming Now the number of multiplied Sins augments the difficulty of Devotion and Conversion We read in the Life of the Holy Fathers That an Angel made one of those solitary Inhabitants of the Desart to see in a Vision an old Man that cut Wood in the Forest to get a Burthen for his Back with design to carry them away When the Fardle was extreamly big he essay'd to lift it up upon himself but finding it too heavy he let it fall to the ground and fell a cutting new Wood and added it to his Burthen whereupon he endeavoured again to lift it up but that was more impossible for him than before Nevertheless it tumbling down again he put more Wood to it still and this he did several times The solitary Person admir'd the Folly of this old Man till the Angel took up his Speech and said Thou see'st this old Man he is the Emblem of Worldlings they heap Sins upon Sins a design of lifting themselves up to God comes across presently they sink under the burthen of their Sins They begin again to commit new Crimes as if this burthen by encreasing would become much lighter When they have push'd on their Excesses a good way a new desire of devoting themselves to God overtakes them but the burthen of their Sins is become very great and consequently the motions of Elevation are the more difficult This Parable was composed for our Subject and against those unhappy People that dedicate their youthful years to the Pleasures of the World and remit the practise of Devotion and the lifting up of their Souls to God to another time St Austin in expounding the History of Lazarus his Resurrection asks why our Lord employs Sighs Tears Prayers and a loud voice to raise him again from the dead which he did not do for the others whom he reviv'd as for the young man of Naim whose biere he toucht only and Jairus's Daughter to whom he only said Talitha Cumi Maid arise 'T is says he because Lazarus had been dead four days Our Lord would give us an Image of the Difficulty to be met withall in a smners Conversion when he is confirm'd in his sin The first day says that Father is that of Pleasure which we taste in the sin The second is that of Consent The third is that of Love and Application to the pleasure of the sin and the fourth is mere Custom and Habit. When we are come to this we cannot be raised again we cannot be converted to God but by Cries and Tears and the Voice of the Lord fruitfal in Miracles This methinks makes us comprehend well the interest we have to think on God in due time and to consecrate our Youth to Devotion 〈◊〉 know very well that the end obtains the Crown but I know too that 't is of the highest importance to begin well that we may end happily An Arrow which wanders and slides from towards the Butt just as it parts from the Bow will be found at a monstrous distance from the Butt before it comes to its journeys end One that in his youth is plung'd into debauchery and abandons himself to sensual pleasures will find himself far remov'd from God in his old age he must take a great deal of trouble to bring himself back again from such an Aloof And therefore I conclude with the wise man Young man Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth Meditation WHY dost thou delay O my Soul after these Considerations Dost not thou apprehend the necessity there is of consecrating thy self without any shifting or lingring to the service of thy God Thou evermore sayest to morrow to morrow but this morrow never comes and the day of thy Separation from the body will come in an hour when thou lookest not for it When thy God calls upon thee thou tellest him the Words of a slothful and sleepy Person Presently I say presently St. August Confess l. 8. cap. 5. let me alone a little but one Moment longer but this presently never comes and this Moment is an everlasting one I see thou art displeas'd at obliging thee to give up thy self so soon to God This is too soon say'st thou to begin and will it not be time enough some years hence Wicked and ungrateful canst thou think too soon on thy God It is just thou shouldst think of him assoon as thou beginnest to be and to know thy self since he thought on thee and thy Salvation from Eternity His Essence had no beginning and his Love for thee had none too Both Eternal What didst thou do to this great God to engage him to love thee so long a while before He lov'd thee before thou wast amiable He saw thee in thy Nothing and in the Abysse of thy Corruption and from all Eternity he prepared means for thee to get out of that Abysse he prepared thee a Redeemer He did not reserve one moment in Eternity which he has not given thee and thou would'st retrench from him many years of this short and uncertain Life whereof thou hast the use here below Perhaps thou wilt say that it would not be unjust if thy time were divided betwixt thy God and thee and that it is hard to give all one hath without reserving any thing to ones self But dost not thou consider that thy God has given thee all things He has given thee the Heaven and the Earth the Fields Rivers Fountains Plants Trees and Fruits hath he reserv'd any thing to himself Has not he given himself too entirely to thee has he not given thee his only Son and still has not he given him up to Death it self for thee wouldst not thou then be very ungrateful O my soul if thou wouldst divide with God and rob him of any thing which thou hast But alas when thou thinkest and speakest thus thou dost not well understand thy own interests Thou supposest that thou losest from thy self all the time thou givest to thy God whereas on the other side thou savest only those moments from ship-wrack which thou consecratest to him All the rest of thy time is lâ—st being
an hundred other Lessons But all this is nothing to compare with the Knowledge to be had from the reading of that other book which God hath dictated to his Prophets and Apostles 'T is there thou mayest see the Abysses of the Divine Wisdom the infinity of his Love and the depths of his Mercy Without engaging thy self very deep in these Abysses what Fruit canst thou not reap from the Death of my Saviour and the Contemplation of his Cross thou wilt learn there how thou art to love for that is the School of Love thou wilt view thy Divine Saviour eaten up with the zeal of God's House burnt with the Flames of Charity He so loved the World that he gave himself up to Death for the World and that to a shameful cruel and tormenting death even that of the Cross He expos'd himself to all the arrows of God's Wrath he suckt the venom and underwent the weight of his Indignation and for whom for his Enemies 'T is thus O my Soul thou must Love This is but a very small part of the things thou mayst learn in that heavenly Book Prayer BVT O Lord I read in vain I meditate without success O my Sun infuse thy Rayes into my Heart open mine Eyes that I may see the wond'rous things of thy Law Make thy Word to be in me like a two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing of my Soul my Joynts and Marrow Thy Word is truth sanctifie me by thy Truth Let my Heart burn within me when thou speakest and declarest to me the Scriptures Let me receive thy word with a thirsty Soul and let it become unto me a Spring of living Waters bubling up to Eternal Life that I may be conducted by the Rivers of thy Grace to the Ocean of Glory CHAP. IX The fourth particular help to Devotion The use of Prayer I Do not design here to make any Commendation of Prayer nor to display all it's Uses which both the Antients and Moderns have done very Amply I shall only say that 't is one of the surest means to purifie the Soul since there is no Action whereby we approach nearer to God no time wherein he communicates himself more to us He hath been very often observ'd to give his Extraordinary inspirations in Prayer In praying St Peter fell into an Extasie Paul was ravisht to the third Heaven Cornelius in his Prayers receiv'd the Vision of an Angel Monica St Austin's Mother after her Prayers and Tears for the Salvation of her Son had in her dream that excellent Revelation of his Conversion An Angel tells her Afflict not thy self thy Son is with thee As God is the Sun of our Soul and jets his beams perpendicularly into our Hearts he must necessarily clarifie and heat them he disperses the vapours of the Inferiour part and draws his own Image there Now this Communication of the Raies of Grace is never made more than in Prayer I shall not stay to examine any further the Conditions with which Prayers should be made to be Devout it 's already shown enough that they ought to be Attentive Persevering and Ardent I shall only give here two Advices the one to avoid Weariness the other to avoid Distraction First I say that few Souls are capable of long Prayers For to render a Prayer perfectly devout there 's need of an extreme Contention of Mind an extraordinary Elevation and an entire loosening ones self from the World Now these Actions do a kind of Violence to the Soul which naturally tends to a releasing of it self and therefore they cannot be of any long Continuance If we give no relaxation to the Heart it takes it and rambles some where or other in spite of our teeth so as I would have the exercises of Devotion to be long tho divided into little spaces of time that they have many parts and each of 'em be short Devotion is composed of three principal Acts Reading Meditation and Prayer each of these need not be done presently so as to follow one another but they may be mingled for we must allow some grains to the Souls Weakness and we must keep it from disgust by variety A little reading may be the first degree of it's Elevation a little meditation on that reading will lift it a degree higher and after the reading and meditation a short Prayer will lead it to the highest degree of forgetting the World after which it will return wholly new to reading and Meditation in the same order In Prayer it will fly through the Air by the force of its own Wings and at its return to reading it will do like those Birds that weary with flying come to repose themselves not on the Earth but some very high Tree of their own choice so our devout Soul will come to rest it self not by falling on the Earth for 't will never set foot there nor permit the mind to return to the World but it will continue elevated upon the Props of the holy Prophets and Apostles Vr and Aaron will sustain it lifted up towards the Heaven and from thence taking its flight it will by little and little rise upon the Wings of Meditation untill it return by Prayers whither it was first lifted up This method undoubtedly will give it time to renew its strength it cannot hold out long if its course be push'd on to the utmost of its vigour but by taking breath and marching fairly on from time to time it will make a very great advance in a day The other Direction I would give regards those who having not been busied about the operations of the Mind are less proper for the great Elevations These People ordinarily make their Devotions in Prayers pronounced by heart from which way Distractions are almost inseparable These I would counsel to endeavour to untye themselves from Words and hold only to the Sense I do not mean that in their Family-Prayers they should dispense themselves from their Forms I know very well that all the World has not the gift of forming their thoughts and putting them into an order which may edifie the Publick but for the Devotions of the Closet they are rather to be made by Heart than by the Tongue When the Imagination does not make some endeavour for the production of its Thoughts and the choice of its Words in following the beaten Road which it fears not to lose it never fails of going somewhither else as having nothing to do in the place where we would retain it but when it gives Attention to the manner in which is necessary to express the things which the Heart has conceiv'd the Heart and the Imagination uniting their Forces make up a compleat Attention I cannot endure to hear some say That all the World is not capable of composing all are not able to compose for Men but to compose for God they are able Let us make never such Efforts to speak well we stammer in the Mouth before the Lord and