had cost me never so much could I take too much pains to avoid damnation Add to these inconcevable torments to these cruel regrets the the irreconciliable loss of the supreme Good the sence of a God ittated to Eternity of a God lost without recovery lost for ever this is the height and perfection of their misery they never cease to be the Victims of the Divine wrath and vengeance we must know what God is before we can be able to conceive what it is to loose him without hope tho we are solittle affected with it now they who have lost him have other thoughts How insupportable will be the remembrance that I had a Redeemer but I slighted the price by which I was redeemed that my Saviour lov'd me to such a degree and that it is impossible for me to love him that I am hated by him and that he will never have any compassion on my misery O! my Dear Saviour who hast suffer'd so much so recall me who hast bought me with so great a price that I might not be lost thou will take pleasure to see me plung'd into this fiery gulph thou will heap everlasting misery on me without mercy thou wilt be no longer my Father nor my Saviour no wonder if Hell be a place of weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth of despair and woe since the Almighty who made the world by one act of his will do's all he can seems to exert all his power force to make a wretched Creature suffer There is an Hell and yet there are Sinners Christians believe there is an Hell and yet this hell is full of Christians There is an Hell and at this very moment an infinite number of miserable Souls are tormented in it 't is certain that many of those with whom we converse that many of those who read this and who meditate on the torments of Hell will one day be cast into those everlasting flames And am not I like to be one of them Divine Saviour thou hast not bought me to destroy me but hast not thou also shed thy blood for those that are lost This makes me fear and tremble but what good will this fear do me if I loose my Soul Oh! my good Master I wil be sav'd what ever it cost me I humbly beseech thee by thy precious blood suffer me not to be damn'd what will it advance thy glory to shut me up for ever in that abyss of fire and flames Non mortui laudabunt te neque omnes qui descendunt in infernum Psalm 113.17 They who do go down to Hell do not praise thy name they do not love thee there if thou sufferest me to fall into Hell it will only augment the number of those who hate and blaspheme thee My God! I will be sav'd tho all the rest of the world were lost thou wouldst have me be sav'd I trust in thy mercy and hope that thou will place me among thy Elect. SECOND POINT Consider that the torments of Hell are not onely universall excessive and dreadfull they are Eternal too notwithstanding all their horror there is no hope that they can either end or diminish What must be the thoughts of a damn'd Soul when after infinite millions of years she casts her eyes from that abyss of Eternity upon the short moment of her Life and can hardly find it after that vast number of ages which are past since she came there Life tho consider'd never so near appears but a moment the time past of it seems but an instant to us who live and when we come to dye tho we have liv'd long we can hardly persuade our selves that there hath been any interval between the day of our births and the prefent Day all that is past seems a Dream what then will it be after Death when so many millions of years are over when our descendants for many generations are all forgotten when time has ruin'd our houses destroy'd the Citys and overturn'd the Kingdoms wherein we liv'd when the end of Ages shall have bury'd the whole Universe in its own ashes and infinite millions of Ages after This is dreadful but all this is not Eternity when a damn'd soul shall have suffered all theis while and an hunded thousand times as much 't is nothing to Eternity Were one of the damn'd oblidg'd to fill the hollow of a mans hand with his tears and to drop but one single tear at the end of each thousand years what a terrible duration would this be Cain the first of the damn'd would have shed but six or seven Judas but one but if he were oblidg'd at the same rate to make a brook or a river of his tears to fill the Sea or the vast extent between heaven and Earth what a prodigious length of time would this require Our imagination is lost and confounded in so vast a duration but all this great and inconceva bleextent of time is nothing to Eternity A time will come when every one of those wretched Souls will be able tosay one tear for every thousand years that I have been in Hell would have drown'd the Universe and fill'd up the immense space between Heaven and Earth and yet I have an Eternity of unspeakable torments still to suffer all I have suffered is nothing to this Eternity after millions of Ages as many times multiplyed after an extensive duration in which our thoughts are lost the fire of Hell will be as violent and fierce the damn'd will be as capable of torment and as sensible of their pains and God as incens'd as far from being appeas'd as the first moment Oh! dreadfull Oh! incomprehensible Eternity were we only to burn for every wicked thought as many millions of Ages as we have liv'd days hours or minutes our pains would have an end at last but to know certainly that our torments will never end alwayes to suffer be assured that we shall alwayes suffer to be allwayes thinking on the happiness we have lost on the torments we have brought upon our selves on the means of avoiding them which we have had to have continually before our eyes the vanity of every thing we have preferr'd to God and the little while that our pleasures have lasted the unutterable sweetness we might have tasted in his service the vast difference between the pains we fear'd in the practise of virtue and those which we are now forc'd to suffer in the flames of Hell to have the thoughts of this Eternity allwayes present and to burn rage and despair for ever my God! what misery If these reflections do not convert us if the prospect of those Torments of this Eternity do's not touch us if the fear of this everlasting regret do's not wean us from Sin and from our vain amusements are we rational creatures are we Christians These terrible veritys have made so many Martyrs have peopled the deserts and daily fill the Convents what do we think of these men
selfe Love and pride cannot please themselves here because there is no noise or ostentation Let us now take a view of the dispositions methods whereby we may receive most profit A sence of our want of it and a persuasion that this practise may be very useful to us is one good disposition The rest which we ought to have if we would receive benefit are almost the same which the Author of the retreat according to the spirit methode of Saint Ignatius sets down in his Preface and they are chiefly five The first is an unfeigned desire to think seriously of our salvation a firm Resolution not to flatter our selvs but to examine carefully and axactly without disguising any thing the state of our souls what progress we make in the way of Perfection what benefit we receive by the sacraments what ground we gain whether we be victorious over our selves and whether we be insueh a state as we would venture to appear before God in to give an account of our Lives In fine whether we be such now as we would desire to be at the hour of Death But all our examinations and discovery's will be to no purpose unless we add to them a firm resolution to correct what ever is amiss this is not one of those barren devotions which for the most part serve only to amuse the imperfect and render them more faulty they who have not a real design and an earnest desire to walk with God will find but little satisfaction in it their coldness and indifference will soon make them weary The second Disposition is an humble distrust of our selves supported by a firm confidence in God knowing that salvation is chiefly his work and that without him we can do nothing assuring our selves that since he hath inspir'd us with the desire of retiring once a month he will not refuse us the necessary graces to profit by it And indeed this desire of making use of the best means to convert our selves to God is an evident proof that he who inspires it would fain have us turn and live and we find by experience that those unhappy men who dye in their sins are such as made but very litle use of this excellent means of Conversion The third Disposition is a free heart that gives its selfe to God without reserve saying with Saint Paul Acts. 9.6 Psal 56.8 Lord what wouldst thou have me to do or with David My heart is ready O God my heart is ready to do thy will The want of this disposition is the cause that the most pious practises are without effect For when we think of an entire conversion we are too often irresolute we will will not we know not what we would have and very often we imagine that we desire what we really and indeed do not desire We are for capitulating with our maker we are for retaining some part of what we promise him we deliberate on every thing he requires we dispute with him on every occasion My God! what is it we fear to throw our selves entirely on thee we are convinc'd that 't is the best thing we can do but we are unwilling to do it because we foresee that if we once give our selves to thee we shall soon grow weary of the Creatures The communications of thy self to us will not fail to render us sensible of vanity and make us loath them and we are unwilling to be made sensible of it or to loath them this is what we fear The fourth Disposition is a ponctual observance of the order and rule of our Rerreat an exactness in every part of it neglecting nothing that can contribute to our doing it well judging nothing little that is capable of advancing so great a work as our salvation being fully persuaded of this Truthe that the great profit of this devotion depends on exactness in the least things Whether it be that this carefulness is an evident proof of our sincerity or that it prevails with God to refuse none of his Graces to those who neglect nothing to please him The Fifth disposition which is at is were the soul of all spiritual Retreats is a perfect solitude both inward and outward keeping our selves in a profound recollection and silence And avoiding every thing that can any way distract us When an indolent soul is eight or ten days in retreat the Devil easily finds some occasion to disgust it with its holy employment it thinks the time long when it has none but God to converse with When it do's not find many spiritual consolations in prayer when its thoughts are almost continually distracted its want of fervour and the imperfection of its desires to be converted render the most holy exercises of devotion very unpleasant Eight days in Retreat seem an age so that it counts all the hours and wishes for the last But to these dangers we are not expos'd in one day's Retreat 't is but one day and if we make a right use of it we may gain as much and perhaps more profit then in a longer Retreat which ought certainly to engage us to neglect nothing whereby we may improve such a precious season to the best advantage One Day in thirty is but a small matter let us give it heartily and cheerfully to God let us be very exact in the performance of the spiritual excercises that we may have nothing to reproach our selves One day is quickly over and it will be our unspeakable comfort to have past it well CHAP IV. How we are to spend the Day of Retreat IT being left to every ones convenience to choose what day he pleases for this Reâ—â—eat we should pitch upon the day wherein we may have the least interruption and which we can best have to our selves If it be possible we should receive the same day Men of business and tradesmen would do well to choose an Holiday Religious men some day wherein they can without distraction give themselves entirely to this holy exercise We should endeavour to spend halfe an hour in Meditation the night before to dispose us for the duty 's of the day at least we should read attentively the preparatory Meditation compos'd for that end and if we have opportunity we should at the same time with the same design visit our Redeemer in the Blessed Sacrament We must observe a profound silence during the whole Day to which we must add an inward recollection we must spend it in exact solitude as far as our condition will permit but we are not hereby oblig'd to neglect any of the duty 's of our calling nor are Religious persons forbid their ordinary recreations much less the Dutys of their vocation We must make this Day the three Meditations design'd for each Month and pass an hour in reflecting on the practical Truths of Religion our Confession should be larger and more particular then ordinary that we may thereby endeavour to repair the faults
of former Confessions chiefly to excite a true contrition in our hearts wherein in all sorts of people and even the best Christians are too often faulty We must hear Mass and receive as if were to be our last Communion and we must perform all the other exercises in the same disposition Priests should examin themselves particularly whether their Lives are suitable to the Holiness of their Character whether they celebrate with such affection as become men who are really penetrated with what they profess to believe Let them offer that adorable Sacrifice with such a fervent Devotion that this Days Mass may be an atonement for the faults they have been guilty of in all the rest and be a model of those they shall say for the future making it their great business to profit by this more than they have yet done We must be very careful to keep ourselves retir'd and to avoid every thing that can possibly distract us there us no danger of thinking the time long we shall find employment for every moment and one day so fill'd up is soon pass'd it is but a day let us make it indeed a day of retreat all the time we are not in the Church we should keep our selves shut up in our Chamber and indeed it would be well to do most of our spiritual Exercises in the Chamber unless we have conveniency of being as much retir'd before the blessed Sacrament Because this Exercise is very usefull to all sorts of men and the great est part cannot meditate I have calculated these Meditations for the greater number to that end I have made them long that they may find matter enough to take them up for an hour together that the very reading of them may be truly à Meditation and that they may be profitable Such as can meditate may make use of what part of them they find most for their purpose but these as well as the others must be very careful to avoid a fault to which most who meditate on the truths of our Religion are too subject They must not content themselves with believing them and think their work done when they are once convinced It is not enough to believe those important Truths the Devils believe as much perhaps more then we and tremble We must not stop at speculation we must reduce them to practise Our Meditations must all tend to reform us 'T is not sufficient to read and believe the Truth of what we read we must attentively consider every point and apply it to our selves We must examine its consequences and make those reflexions on them as we would do if we were on our death bed when we know we shall have little or no time left to profit by them Let this be your way of Meditation if you read do it with attention pause upon each passage that affects you most Put the question to your selfe is this true have I liv'd up to these Rules what is it they require of me for the future And then reflect seriously on the dismall consequences attending your negligence if this double discovery do not produce more fruit then your former Meditations have yet done You need not trouble your self to read the whole Meditation if one single reflection take up all the hour provided you receive good by it you have spent that hour well And the rest of the Meditation may serve you to read some other time of the day which is not absolutely allotted to some particular exercise A right consideration is very useful and therefore to be carefully perform'd It consists in reading with application the Reflections at the end of the Book you may pass lightly over those which are less suitable to you and dwell longer on such heads as you find affect you most and which are most proper for you Besides the hour usually spent after dinner in consideration it would be well to allott half an hour in the morning for Religious men to reflect on the observation of their Rules and others on the duty 's of their particular callings observing exactly wherein they have fail'd and prescribing to themselves such methods as may be most efficacious for their amendment if we cannot spate half an hour we may divide the hour of consideration one half for general reflections and the second for those that concern our particular Rules and the duty 's of our Callings And here we are always to remember that we must not content our selves in these spiritual exercises to form good designs and take strong resolutions of changing our Lives it is to no purpose to resolve though we seem to do it never so sincerely unless we likewise fix the particular means and methods by which we may effectually practise what we have resolv'd It is not our business to read much let uâ— read less and profit more we should choose to read only what is useful to us 'T is not sufficient to be able to say that we have read some spiritual discourse we must read with a design to grow better by what we read We have already observ'd that Religious persons are not hereby dispens'd from the exercises of their Community's nor even from their usual recreations but having discover'd by their Examinations the faults they are subject to in those Exercises and recreations they should begin that very Day to reap the benefit of their Retreat by beginning to correct themselves and reform those faults carrying themselves in every occasion â—s men who are already chang'd And being careful now more then ever to lift up their hearts fervently to God and beg him to preserve thâ—m from that distraction and dissipation of mind which generally accompany'is conversation The great design of this spiritual Retreat being to prepare us for Death I have compos'd a third Meditation on the sentiments we shall have in that last hour to be read in every Retreat And it being the most proper subject for the End I propos'd to my selfe I judg'd the same Meditation might be renew'd every Month. The chief benefit we are to receive by this pious Exercises being a reformation of all the faults we have discover'd in our selves since the last Retreat a more earnest longing for perfection the getting the Victory over our favourite Passion a more ardent Love to our Redeemer particularly in the adorable Sacrament and a greater exactness in all our Duty 's we are at the begining of each Retreat to propose these things to our selves as the end for which we make it And seeing it is a direct preparation for Death we are to come out of it in such a state as we would desire to be in if we were immediately to dye And we must be careful to keep our selves in the same disposition General resolutions are commonly useless and to no purpose our best way is to pitch upon some particular fault which may be the subject of our daily Examination and to regulate the means which we will every day
Pro. 1.28 then he will laugh at the sinner he will mock at his misery when he cry's for mercy he will not answer and will have no regard to his prayers T is true we seldom see any dye ill who have liv'd well but 't is much more rare to see any dye well who have liv'd ill 2. A more particular manner of preparation and which is most suit able for this day of Retreat is to do all the Exercises of the Day as if it were the last Day of your Life endeavouring to put your selfe into such a disposition as you would desire to be in at the hour of Death To that end consider seriously at the close of each Meditation what your thoughts on that subject would be if you were just going to give up an account to God of your whole Life And particularly examine what it is that would most trouble you if you were now a dying Three things usually disturb dying men 1. Their neglect of the Duty 's of their station 2. Their frequenting the Sacraments without profit 3. Their abuse of the meanes of perfection which they have enjoy'd their having rendred useless the inspirations and graces which they have receiv'd We should examine strictly this Day especially during the meditation on Death whether we have nothing to reproach our selves on these heads how we have hitherto discharg'd the duty 's of our calling whether we are punctual and careful now If we are engag'd in the world do we live in it like Christians according to our Saviours maxims If we have the happiness to be Religious are we exact in keeping our vows and obseving our Rule If we have the honour to be Priests do our Lives answer the holiness of our Caracter In what ever station we are have we done our duty in it are we satisfy'd with our condition And should we not be sorry if we were going to dye that we have made no greater progress in the way of Perfection Do not our frequent Confessions without any amendment and our reiterated unprofitable Communions fly in our faces Jesus Christ hath fed us with his precious body and blood do we grow stronger by that Divine food what should we answer to that impartial judge if we were now before him commanded to give an account of his blood Do we say or hear Mass with that piety Devotion as becomes a Sacrifice which is the holyest act of our Religion Would a Priest find comfort if he were now to dye in the Remembrance of the sentiments with which he hath so often celebrated And could he rejoyce before God in having frequently offer'd that adorable Sacrifice Have we not made an ill use of those precious Graces which our Redeemer purchas'd for us with his Blood how many inspirations have we neglected how many good desires have we stifled we must give an exact account of all these favours are we ready to do it if we were to dye this moment Are we able to shew that we have improv'd our talents We know it is not enough to keep them can we shew that we have augmented them These should be the heads of our examination at the end of the Meditation on Death we should make our Confession as if it were our last and endeavour to repair what ever we have reason to fear has been amiss in our former We should do well to make some reflections on the state of our affaires and order them so as they may not disturb us when we come to dye In short we must endeavour to end the Day in such a state as we would desire to be in the last moment and we must close up all with a sacrifice of our selves our possessions our healths our Lives to Christ begging him to dispose absolutely of them for the advancement of his Glory and submitting our selves entirely and freely to Death when ever he pleases We must then devote ourselves wholly to the Blessed Virgin beseech her to stand by us in this difficult time we must address some prayers to S. Joseph to our Guardian Angels who are able to give us very powerful succors and summ up all our desires with begging the grace of perseverance in some particular prayer as we judge most proper 3. A third Method is to set one Day a part every year to prepare for Death to consecrate it entirely to that work and do that Day what we must do when we come to dye what we shall then wish we had done and what we shall not be able to do upon a Death Bed The Evening before we must put our affairs in such order that we may meet with no interruption next day for the work of the Day requires an absolute Retreat and a perfect tranquillity of mind if we have conveniency we should begin with visiting the holy Sacrament beseeching our our Redeemer by the merits of his Death to give us grace to dispose our selves to dye well Then we should address our selves in a particular manner to the Blessed Virgin whose protection is so necessary in that last hour to Saint Michael our good Angels S. Joseph and the Saint whose name we bear we should do well to say the Vespers for the dead and so close our preparation for the next Day with half an hour of Meditation on the improvement of Time the meanes and Graces which God hath bestowed on us to work out our salvation and the little pains we have taken for it The Parable in the sixteenth of S. Redde rationem villicationis tuae Luke 16.2 Luke is proper to be the subject of the Meditation where the Rich man who was disatisfy'd with his steward requires him to give an account of his conduct since he took the charge of his affaires or else we may choose the other parable of the barren figtree which is already propos'd for the evening before the Retreat Luke 13.6 We are to spend the rest of the Evening in solitude retir'd from the noise and distraction of the world wholly employ'd in taking care of our salvation in making a general Confession of our whole Lives or of one or so many years as our Director thinks fit And we must omit nothing that may serve to put our souls into soo good a state that we may have nothing to reproach our selves no scrupules concerning our past Life that we may be able to look on the next Day as the last of our Lives to employ it as we would employ the last Let us begin the Day with blessing God who hath been pleas'd to give us yet longer time and to inspire us with the design of preparing for Death And prostrate before the Crucifix let us offer up our selves our health our goods our Lives an absolute Sacrifice to God submitting our selves heartily to whatever kind of Death he thinks fit to send accepting it in satisfaction for our sins in union with the Death of Jesus Christ Then let us meditate
A SPIRITUAL RETREAT FOR ONE DAY IN EVERY MONTH By a Priest of the Society of Jesus Translated out of French In the Year 1698 THE PREFACE THE design of publishing this Book is to furnish all sorts of Christians with an easy method of Retreat especially such whose business will not afford them leisure for an Annual Retreat of eight or ten Days together It is hoped that the facility of making these Retreats will render them more usual and ther fore for the help of those who being wholly strangers to these pious Exercises stand in need of more particular directions you will find some Chapters in the beginning of the Book and before the Meditations of the necessity of Retreat and of the methods of doing it well The Body and principal part of the Book consists of meditations on the great Truths of our Holy Religion In which I have endeavour'd to choose the most proper subjects and to put them in such an order and treat them so at large as may render them most capable of making a due impression on those who attentively and seriously consider them And because our design in these Retreats ought to be to prepare our selves by a true change of Life for an happy Death I have repeated the Meditation of Death every month and have added a new exercise of Preparation for it which may be very useful if we put it in practise with such dispositions as it requires And to render it more easy I have been very particular in specifying the Sentiments we ought to entertain and in inserting the most suitable Prayers to inspire those Sentiments The last Part contains Christian Reflections upon different subjects to supply the place of those Considerations whic are proposed in other Books of Spiritual Retreat for private Reading and entertainment In the number variety of which Reflections every Reader will find some thing profitable according to his state and disposition A TABLE THE PREFACE CHAP. I. OF Spiritual Retreat p. 1 CHAP. II. Of the great importance of making one Days Retreat every Month 9 CHAP. III. Of the dispositions in which we must be to make the Retreat with profit 21 CHAP. IV. How we are to spend the Day in Retreat 27 A MEDITATION to prepare for Retreat 37 JANUARY JULY I. MEDITATION Of Mans End 50 II. MEDITATION Of the means that which are given us to attain our ultimate End 65 III. MEDITATION Of the Sentiments we shall have at the hour of Death 75 OF PREPARATION for Death 102 FEBRUARY AUGUST I. MEDITATION Of the importance of Salvation 133 II. MEDITATION Of the Motives which we have to apply our selves continually to the business ef our Salvation 148 III. MEDITATION Of the Sentiments we shall have at the hour of Death 158 MARCH SEPTEMBER I. MEDITATION Of the small number of those that are saved 159 II. MEDITATION Of Sin 175 III. MEDITATION Of the Sentiments we shall have at the hour of Death 189 APRIL OCTOBER I. MEDITATION That we ought not to delay our Conversion 190 II. MEDITATION Of the good use of Time 205 III. MEDITATION Of the Sentiments we shall have at the hour of Death 215 MAY NOVEMBER I. MEDITATION Of the un willingness of most Christians and the insincerity of their desires to be saved 216 II. MEDITATION Of Lukewarmness 231 III. MEDITATION Of the Sentiments we shall have at the hour of Death 244 JUNE DECEMBER I. MEDITATION Of Hell 245 II. MEDITATION Of the Fruits of pennance 262 III. MEDITATION Of the Sentiments we shall have at the hour of Death 275 CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS Which may serve for matter of Consideration every Day of Retreat 276 Of Salvation 276 Of the importance of Salvation 277 Of our indifference for Salvation 278 Of the false pretences of worldly men about Salvation 280 Of the facility of Salvation 282 Of the ill use of the means of Salvatéon 283 Of want of Faith 285 Of the thoughts of Hell 286 Of a miserable Eternity 286 Of the pretended Conversion of the Imperfect 292 Of the false Idea which many frame to themselves of virtue 294 Of the little progress we make in Virtue 295 Of the proper Virtues for every condition 296 Of the World 298 Of the confidence we ought to have in the merits of Christ 304 Of our indifference to please God 305 Of Confession 307 Of Private Friendships 310 Of the happiness of a Religious Life 313 Of the confidence we ought to have in the merits of Jesus-Christ present in the Eucharist 318 Of true fervour 319 Of voluntary Poverty 322 Of Aridity in the exercises of Piety 321 Of the facility with which we engage our selves in the world 322 Of the false Idea's which we have of holiness 324 Of the Sanctity proper to every Station 326 Of small Faults 327 Of Fidelity in little things 332 Of the source of our Imperfections 333 Of the false complaisance which we have for others 335 Of exactness 336 Of the Artifices of Selfe Love 337 Of the tender Love of God to those who serve him 338 How farr we are to imitate virtuous men 341 Of insensibility proceeding from careleness 342 Of the thoughts of Death 344 Of our condescension to the Imperfect 545 Of natural inclinations to Virtue 346 Of true Zeal 347 Of sincerity in the Service of God 348 Of submission of our Wills 350 Of the Love of Christ 351 THE END OF THE TABLE NOs infrascripti Sacrae Facultatis Parisiensis Doctores Theologi testamur nihil esse in hac traductione libri tui titulus Retraite spiuituelle pour un jour chaque mois aut fidei aut pietati dissonum Datum Parisiis die 22. Julii 1700. JOANNES INGLETON THOMAS WITHAM FIDEM facio testimonium hoc cui subscripserant Magistri Joannes Ingleton Thomas Witham ejus esse authoritatis ut ei facile credatur secure ambo sunt Angli in Facultate Parisiensi Doctores Pii eruditi quorum Chirographum hic appositum probe novi Die Augusti prima 1700. PIROT A SPIRITUAL RETREAT FOR ONE DAY IN THE MONTH CHAP. I. Of spiritual Retreat OF all pious Exercises there is none more proper to convert a soul then a spiritual Retreat And it is perhaps the onely one that is never unprofitable When every thing contributes either to pervert or distract us it is not at all strange that the most awakening Doctrines of our Religion make but a light impression But when we retire our selves from the noise and disturbance of the world when we set our selves to meditate at leisure on those great Truths which we had never seriously enough considered which appear to us then in another manner when our application enables us to penetrate the true sence of them and every thing helps to discover all their consequences it is almost impossible for us not to be affected with them Especially since this is a a Time wherein grace flows more abundantly and wherein our hearts are best dispos'd
they will certainly repent one day if they have not done it already and can they be affraid to spend eight days in the compass of every year in preparing for another Life in securing their Salvation CHAP II. Of the great importance of making one day's Retreat every Month. T is not very hard to make men sensible that a spiritual Retreat is an excellent means to amend our Lives and work out our salvation but the difficulty lyes in persuading them that they may find time for it if they will Eight days seem very long to them and indeed there are many who cannot spare so much time together Multitude of business the care of a family want of health the necessary duty 's of their callings are the reasons or pretences where by some excuse themselves from making a retreat of eight days but no man can pretend that he his not able to allow one day in a month to that holy Exercise Is any thing more reasonable then this He may choose what day he pleases which renders it as easy as it is useful You are desir'd tospend one day in a Month to take care of what concerns you more then all things in the world to apply your selves to the great business of your Life upon which Eternity depends that when you have spent a whole month in what you call business which is rather the business of others then your own you would give one day to the only business that regards your self that after having labour'd for the world you would labour one day for everlasting happiness Would any man refuse one day in a Month to serve his Friend Alas how many do men loose every Month in vain pleasure in play in trifling folly ' you are desir'd tospend but one for your soul you must surely be very indifferent for salvation and very careless of what becomes of you hereafter if you refuse it Especially since the following Chapters will render this practise so very easy that it seems impossible for any one reasonably to decline it How industrious are Merchants to improve every opportunity ofacquiring Riches How exact are they in stating their accounts from time to time and observing how they thrive what they have gain'd or lost Thus let us take one day at least to examine carefully the state of our Consciences and what progress we make in virtue The great benefit of this Christian practise is visible all sorts of men may find good by it 't is very efficacious to reclaim sinners from their disorders and make them return to God to confirm the virtuous and to elevate them to the highest degree of Christian perfection Besides the usefulness of meditating on the most important truths of Religion it is almost impossible that a man who sets aside his most serious business and retires from the world to employ one day every Month in the serious consideration of the state of his soul should not succeed God who seeks us with so much patience when we fly from him and who is not weary of offering us mercy not with standing our refusals but calls on us even when our earnestness after the world makes us deaf to his call will never hide himselfe from those who come so often to meet him in the midst of solitude he will never refuse to communicate himselfe abundantly to those who withdraw themselves from all things to hearken to him Neither our condition nor our employements require this of us nor do we do it out of custom or osstentation which is so inseparable from other acts of Piety none of all these lead us to Retreat nothing but a sincere desire to work out our salvation can bring us there and can a sincere desire be ineffectual Can it be attended with small profit 'T is hardly possible that a man who sets a part one day in a month to study the methods of living well should live disorderly Nor is he in danger of being surpriz'd by Death who so frequently and so exactly prepares for it But the importance of this Retreat will appear much greater if wee consider the necessity we lye under to reflect often on the great verity's of our Faith T is from the want of this Reflection that we see so few Christians live up to the purity of their Profession We see but few truly virtuous tho they are oblig'd to be so in a very high degree because men seldom reflect on the divine Truths they content themselves with submitting their Reason to Faith they think it enough to believe But tho we do not find many infidels in the Church yet Jam a fraid wee find fewer Christians who seriously consider what they believe And this is the Reason that what we believe of the End of our Creation of the small number of the elect of the pains of Hell and of everlasting misery make so slight an impression on us This want of Reflection has allway's been and still is the usual cause of our sins of our return to them after we have resolv'd to quit them and of our advancing no more in piety For as without reflecting on what we read we shall learn but little by our reading so we shall make small progress in virtue if wee do not frequently reflect on what we believe 'T is generally from serious Reflections that great Conversions spring and without it the most terrible Doctrines of Christianity the most amasing accidents and the most sensible Graces will have no great Effect on us Can a man who attentively considers the vanity of the world and all its allurements who reflects seriously on what he beleives of Hell judgment and Eternity who is affected with its rigours and who foresees its consequences Can such a man refuse to yield himselfe to the divine Grace which allways makes use of those happy moments T is these Reflections that have peopled the desarts that fill our Convents every Day and that recall so many sinners from their Evill ways If wee could once perswade men to reflect of ten we should find their lives reform'd we should see the ancient fervour of Religious houstes renew'd this would be a sure way to prevent the greatest disorders and to make saints This is what you are to do in your Retreat spend the day in reflecting seriously on the great Truths of our Religion in examining your life and meditating on the points of your Faith 'T is properly a Day Reflection which you may easily see must needs be useful and that it concerns you very much to do it well The Eight days retreat is for the same end but besides that the length of the Time is afalse Pretense to several for performing it very carelessly this must be more profitable because that is usually made but once a year this every month This is no new Devotion but the practise of the greatest saints of Latter ages T is to this divine art that Saint Ignatius Founder of the Society of Jesus confesses
he ow'd his progress in virtue and therefore he was so careful to recommend it to his Children By these Retreats Saint Stanislaus a novice of the same Society preserv'd his innocence and acquird that tender devotion and that admirable Piety in a little time which he practis'd in an ordinary way of Life T is by the same Retreats that Blessed Lewis Gonzaga more illustrious by his sanctity then by his birth arriv'd to that sublime perfection for which we admire him And 't is without doubt from these Examples that we see it so frequently practis'd by those truly pious souls who desire to advance towards perfection But the first and great Example of these frequent and short Retreats is Christ himself who often withdrew from the multitude that followed him and even from his own Disciples to some mountain or desart and the benefit which is daily receiv'd by this practise is an evident proof that it is pleasing to him We need not seek this solitude out of our own houses we need not neglect our business or omit any of the Duty 's of our calling How many Sondays and Holidays are there in every Month we may choose one of these that in which we shall have most leisure all that is desir'd of you is to retrench a visit or two to deny your selves some hours of diversion and such frivolous occupations that you may the better take care of your salvation And can you be so much your own Enemy as to think Eternal happiness do's not deserve one Day in thirty You must certainly think heaven worth very little if it be not worth your trying so efficacious and so easy a method to obtain it In reality tho it cost you never so much you cannot buy the blessing of a good Conscience too dear that inward peace which surpasses imagination that sweet confidence in the mercy of God and all those innumerable advantages which are the constant fruits of this care of your salvation can never be bought dear is one day too much for this great work Can one ask less 'T is astonishing that we must beforc'd to use arguments to perswade men to allow one day to make themselves happy We must expect that the Devil who is the declar'd Enemy our souls and who knows how many have been deliver'd from his power by these Retreats will certainly employ all his devices to hinder us from making them to this End he will not fail to throw rubs in our way he will represent an hundred little difficulties to our imaginations capable to dishearten an irresolute soul sometimes we shall imagine our selves indisposed some times out of humour he will suggest to us a thousand false Reasons to persuade us to put it off till another time that he may bring us under a kind of necessity of not doing it at all for when he has once gain'd upon us to deferr it we shall meet with a multitude of trivial affaires which hall seem pressing till by putting it of from time to time we come at last to neglect it wholly Let us then oppose a generous and fix'd resolution and good will to the artifices of the Tempter and all these seeming difficulties will soon vanish This useful and necessary devotion is proper for all sorts of Christians of what state or condition so ever 'T is equally beneficial to Religious and seculars they who are not yet converted they who begin to seek perfection they who are already advanc'd in the way will all find profit by it Especially the lukewarm careless souls can never find a surer Remedy their condition is already very dangerous and if this do's not cure them it is much to be feared that they are past hopes Church men and Religious are oblig'd by their vocation to agreater perfection then other Christians this practise is an excellent means to obtain it and ther is no sort of men who can with so much ease set apart one Day in a month for it If after all this there be found among those who are consecrated to God any lazy soul who under pretence of want of leisure can not or will not find time for this holy Exercise he will do well to consider what Saint Augustin writes to his Bishop Valerius on the same subject what answer shall I give to God saith that great Saint shall I tell him that a multitude of Ecclesiastical affaires took up all my Time so that I could have no leisure for Retreat to seek perfection Quid enim responsurus sum Domino judici non poteram cùm Ecclesiasticis negotis impedirer si ergo mihi dicat serre nequaÌ„ si villa Ecclesia .... vir ad dicendum agriculturam meam vacationem temporis tibi defuisse causaris quid respondeam rogote Aug. Epist 148. ad Valerian but if he reply O wicked servant You would have found leisure enough to absent your selfe to go to Law with any one that invaded your Rights or that offer'd to deprive your Church of part of that revenu which is only useful for the relief of the poor but you could not find time to retire for your own sanctification though you knew how necessary it was to enable you to assist the Poor and convert all sorts of people what shall J answer to this reproach so what shall we answer to the question that will be put to us one day if we be now so indifferent for salvation as not to find eight or ten days for serious meditation But my God! what shall we answer if we refuse to spend onely one day in a month in-Retreat The pretence of business being inseparable from every Day will not hold here some days indeed you may be oblig'd to follow it you are therefore at Liberty to choose what day you will but if you object that it takes up every moment of our time I must then give you the same Counsel which S. Abrumpatur illa inâ—erminabilis secularium negotiorum catena primas apud eos curas quae prima habentur obtineant summas que sibi sollititudinis partes salus quaesumma est vendicet haec nos occupet jam non prima S. Eucher Epis Lugd in Epis ad Valerian Eucherius gives to Valerian Break that endless chaine of business the business of your salvation is the first and greatest business you can have give it hence forth your first and chiefest care let it be not only your principal business during your Retreat but your only business which requires all your application CHAP III. Of the Dispositions in which we must be be to make the Retreat with Profit THE benefit of all pious exercises depends very much on our motives on the dispositions of our souls and on the means of performing them We can have no ill motive in so holy a practise nothing but a sincere desire to amend our Lives and to increase in virtue can lead us to retreat it is not likely we should have other motives
not seem that his care to make us fruitful serves only to make us more unprofitable But that which ought to humble us more is that after having spent ten or twenty years in the way of Perfection we should think ourselves happy to be as much advanc'd as as we were when we began Yet still the time passes and the year draws towards an end when the owner weary of the barrenness of his Fig-tree after so much pains is resolv'd to cut it down cast it into the Fire THIRD POINT Consider the danger to which we expose ourselves while we are unprofitable and what Reason we have to fear least we draw upon our heads the vengeance of God and the terrible sentence of Reprobation which he has pronounc'd against the Barren Tree How many Graces have we lost Of how many have we depriv'd our selves Those Graces which we have made useless by our unfaith fulness are the fruits of the Death and of the blood of Christ were sufficient to convert the Heathens and increase the number of Saints in heaven after having augmented the number of true Christians on Earth How many years together has the blessed Jesus visited us to see if we would bring forth fruit and hath either found nothing but leaves oâ— such fruit as the Vale of Sodom produces fair to the Eye but rottenness and ashes at the heart Has he not then just reason to say to us as he did to his vineyard by the Prophet Quid est quod debuultra facere vincae meâ—â— non feci Is 5.4 What could I do more for my Vineyard that I have not done in it After all my care pains to improve it when Jexpected it should bing forth good grapes it brought forth wil'd Grapes May not our saviour make us the same reproach we know it is too well grounded what answer shall we give But let us fear and tremble when we come to consider the just vengeance which he resolves to take on this unfruitful vine Et uune vobis ostendam quid ego faciam vineae auferam sepem ejus ponam eam desertam non putabitur non fodietur ascendent vepres spinae nubibus mandabo ne pluant super eam imbrem x. 5.6 And now I will shew what I will do to my Vineyard I will take away the hedg thereof and it shall be eaten up I will break down the walls there of and it shall be trodden down I will lay it wast it shall not be prun'd or dig'd but there shall come brayars and thorns and that its ruine may be without remedy I will command the clouds not to rain upon such ungrateful ground which brings forth only bad fruit We may easily understand the meaning of these words let us now apply them to our selves we have hitherto brought forth only leaves rotten fruit God will therefore deprive us of those great helps which we render useless When that hedge is once taken away that inward recollection once lost our hearts will run after every object and we shall become a prey to our unruly Passions God will speak no more to our hearts All the exhortations and Counsells of wise and zealous Directors will make no impression on us the source of Grace will bedry'd up and what will become of a soul in this wretched state which every one that continues barren and unprofitable must certainly expect Is there no danger of our being like a dead branch which cut off from its trunk withers and is good for nothing but the Fire Let us remember Matt. 25.26 c. the slothful servant was not condemn'd for losing his Talent but for not improving it and 't is not only the tree that bringeth forth no fruit Matt. 3.10 but every Tree that bringeth not forth good Fruit shall be cut down burn'd We flatter our selves that God will wait a little longer Jam enim securis ad radicem arboris posita est Matt. 3.10 but perhaps the ax is already laid to the root of the Tree this perhaps is the last offer of Grace the last time that God will call upon us the last opportunity we shal ever have to become fruitful God hath already waited so long he hath so often warned and exhorted us he has so often look'd whether we began to bear fruit after all his care pains finding his expectation not comply'd with justly incens'd at our long barrenness he is it may be ready to pronounce the sentence which was given against the barren fig-tree Succide ergo illam ut quid terram occupat Luc 3.7 Cut it down why cumbreth it the ground throw that unprofitable tree into the fire why should Isuffer it any longer to take up the place of a tree that would bring forth good fruit This in consequence of this dreadful sentence that so many who began well but did not faithfully correspond with the divine grace have ended so ill That so many who were call'd did not persevere but have left their place and their Crown to others who became wise by their Example Have not we reason to fear it may be our case after all God has done to make us bear good fruit have we made suitable returns for all his pains have not the few good works we have done been spoil'd by ill motives And are we rich in virtues and merits O my God enter not into judgment with thy servant for no man living is innocent before thee I confess that I have been hitherto not only a barren but a rotten Tree I have been unprofitable in such fruitfull ground and am good for no thing but to be cast into the fiâ—e Patientiam habe in me Matt. 18.29 but oh have patience yet a little with me not for a year but for one day and I trust by the assistance of thy grace to make such good use of this day that I shall be no longer unfruitful I dare hope that thou would'st not have inclin'd my will to seek the insolitude thou would'st not have inspir'd me with the desire nor afforded me time for this retreat were it not that thou art willing to deferr the punishment I deserve for my unfaithfulness to thy Grace and for making no better use of thy assistance Perhaps this is the last Day of thy for bearance I have all the reason in in the world to apprehend that if I make not good use of this day thou hast determin'd to delay my sentence no longer But I rely wholly upon thy infinite mercy and am resolv'd so to spend this Day that if it should be the last of my Life I may be able to appear before thee and present thee the Fruits of it JANUARY AND JULY FIRST MEDITATION OF MANS END FIRST POINT Man was created to serve God SECOND POINT Man was created to save himselfe in serving God FIRST POINT COnsider that we came not into the world by chance God
of any thing wherein a man would be thought mad or at least imprudent that should talk to us of business Is a sick or dying man in a condition to talk of business And yet it is to this time which we our selves acknowledge to very unfit for the most trivial affaires that we deferr the greatest business in the world the business of Salvation of Eternity How can we think of being converted one day and yet deferr it though but to the next day The design of being converted implies that we believe our Souls in danger that we are sensible of want of Love to God that we do not serve him faithfully That we are out of his favour and that we dare not dye in the state in which welive He who deferrs his Conversion wilfully lives in a continual danger by which so many perish every Day he refuses to love God is content to be out of favour with him he resolves to live in à State wherein he is afraid to dye and this after serious reflection and after several designs to change his Life he resolves to persist in enmity to God at the very time when God tenders him his Grace and presses him to accept his Friendship Can any Christian can any rational man make this reflection afterwards deferr his Conversion one moment Alas my Dear Saviour I am but too capable of doing this these reflections and an hundred more will be to no purpose if thou dost not convert me Oh! do it for thy mercys sake as this is the day wherein I resolve to be converted so let it be the Day of my perfect Conversion SECOND MEDITATION OF THE GOOD VSE of Time FIRST POINT That Time is very precious SECOND POINT That the loss of Time can never be repaired FIRST POINT COnsider that nothing is so precious as Time every moment is worth an Eternity that the glory of the Saints the Eternal joys of heaven which Christ hath purchas'd for us by his blood are the reward of the good use we make of our Time Time is so precious that the smallest part of it is worth more than all the honours and Riches in the world tho we employ but one moment to get all those honours and Riches if that be all we gain by it God who judges righteously will look upon that moment as lost If a damn'd Soul were master all the Kingdoms of the Earth he would give them all and all its Treasures for one of those precious minutes which he for merly spent in folly and which we loose every Day Comprehend if you can what Grace and the possession of God is this Grace this God are the price of our Time which is given us onely to obtain more grace and by its assistance to merit the enjoyment of God and it is certain that by every moment we spend for any thing else we loose more than the whole world can repay The Saints in Heaven by reiterated perfect acts of vertue to Eternity can not merit a greater degree of Glory yet this I can merit every moment if I will by one true act of Love to God Reprobates will not be able to satisfy the divine justice nor to obtain the pardon of one sin by all their regrets and tears nor by an Eternity of dread ful Sufferings but I may do it every moment by one sigh or one tear by one act of contrition I may appease the wrath of God Eternal happiness or misery will be the consequence of my use or abuse of Time I can work out my Salvation onely while Time lasts how then can men be so much at a loss how to employ their time how can they amuse themselves and be taken up with trifles only to passe away the time You do not know how to spend the Time Have you never offended God are you not oblig'd to him have you receiv'd no favours from him Ought not you to adore and serve him The glorious Saints do not think Eternity too long to love to praise to bless and honour him and shall we think an hour of a day too long You dont know what to do have you no sins to grieve for Dont you know that Jesus-Christ is in person on the Altar where he expects to be ador'd is ador'd but by few and can you want employment for your time we are never at a loss how to spend our time but when we have most time to serve and love God For we can spend whole days in business and vain pleasures in offending God and destroying our Souls with hout being uneasy or thinking the Time long Let us consider that we can secure our Salvation only while Time lasts and that all the time of our lives is given us only for this End how careful ought we then to be of improving it every moment is precious we loose all if we loose our time But do we much value this loss Do we think that there is such a thing as the loss of time we improve every moment for things of no consequence we are cast down at disapointments and with all our care and diligence we are continually afraid that we shall want Time But alas a Time wil come when we shall think otherwise because we shall have juster thoughts a time will come wherein we shall regret those favorable days and hours which we mispend now A time will come when we would give all the world to recall some of those precious moments which we now throw away and wilfully loose when we shall be torn with despair to find that they are all lost and that time is past Then you will cry out Oh! that I were now in the condition I was in such a Day of my Life when I was meditating upon the improvement of Time Oh! that I had now the same health and strength my God! what would I not do but wretch that I am I foresaw this despair which torments me now for having lost my Time why did I make no use of that foresight nor of that Time Time is short it ends with our Lives wee have already pass'd the greatest part of them and to what purpose what use have I made of this last year how much time have I lost in doing what I ought not or in omitting what I ought to have done and how little of it have I spent in doing my duty My God! what a terrible account have I to give of my Time of these present Reflctions How can I expect mercy from God if I make no better use of what is left if I deferr my Conversion any longer how many are dead who were in better health than I some months ago how many seem now in their full vigour who will be in the grave before the year is past and how do I know that I shall not be one of them Let us then work while we have time we cannot expect it should be long and therefore let us not