wise men admire no thing that weak men don't admire what deserves it most because it is above their reach and they are incapable of judging those qualitys which you think deserve most admiration seem very indifferent to others they have as great an opinion of their own wisdom virtue and capacity as we have of ours we think they are partial to themselves and they judge the same of us Yet the world is some rimes very free of its praises because it sees every body desirous of them but if we reflect a little we shall find that those great marks of esteem those extraordinary praises are the very same words of course which we use every day to those whom we esteem least have we not observ'd that they who are most lavish of their praises to a mans face are the first that speak ill of him when they are at Liberty to vent their thoughts Can we have so little sence as to imagine that we are the only persons to whom men speak sincerely and that altho they praise all the rest of the world either out of rallery or at best out of civiliry custom yet they are in earnest when they praise us Many believe that all the world admires them when indeed all the world pitys them They persuade themselves that all their actions are taken notice of to their advantage because they do not consider that every mans thoughts are taken up with himselfe that he whom they think their admirer fancy 's that they admire him Add to these the many cruel troubles and vexations which men feell continually but are forc'd to dissemble how often in order to keep up their reputation are they oblig'd to spend more than their revenue how often do they find their fortunes decaying yer dare not moderate their expence They are forc'd to laugh when their hearts are ready to break the whole world is nothing but outside and grimace and he passes for the happiest man who can dissemble his griefs best 'T is the desire of Liberty that ordinarily engages men in the world but can men be in a greater subjection a more absolute dependance not only in the army but in business in every profession we are continually subject to the humours will of others Certainly a worldling is the uneasiest man living but it is his own fault he may render his troubles meritorious if he will he need not suffer so much to be a great Saint if he would but suffer for God Yes my God! the greatest part of Christians would think thy yoak insupportable if they were bound to do half so much to please thee as the world exacts of them they are certainly in the wrong not to make use of those plentiful means of sanctification which they all have they need not go out of their own Station to find opportunity 's of meriting very much They are incessantly complaining of the Vanity of the world yet they are every moment engaging themselves farther among those vanity's and grow every hour fonder of them Of the Confidence we ought to have in the merits of Christ The consideration that the merits and satisfaction of Christ belong to us is a solid ground of Confidence Let our wounds be never so dangerous we have a certain cure for them tho we were more in debt to the Divine justice than we are tho our debts be never so great we are in a condition to pay them all for we find in the merits of Christ in his precious blood a treasure that infinitely surpasses them he had no need of them for himselfe he hath bestow'd them on us so that though we should have been so unhappy as to have committed the most heinous crimes tho we saw the most terrible effects of the divine wrath ready to fall on us if we can but make one single act of true relyance on the satisfaction of Jesus offer it up to thee my God we shall no longer need to fear our own sins nor thy wrath being shelter'd from them by our Saviours Cross wash'd with his precious blood the merits of which he is pleas'd to apply to us Of our indifference to please God When we value any ones friend ship we endeavour says an eminent Servant of God to acquire preserve our selves in his favour by a thousand Services by shewing all the respect and zeal imaginable even in things to which our duty do's not absolutely oblige us by avoiding every thing which may in the least displease him The fear of punishment keeps us from attempting the Life of the man we hate we do neither good nor harm to those whom we think below our notice but when we deliberately frequently affront a man 't is an evident sign that we neither value his Love nor fear his hatred and if we do not offer him the highest injury's t is not because we care for his aversion but because we fear his power They who abstain only from great sins and allow themselves a Liberty in every thing else have reason to fear that charity is absolutely extinguish'd in their hearts and if they will examine themselves they shall find that it is only the apprehension of the severity with which God punishes heinous sins that keeps them from committing them they would willingly displease him if the sight of Hell did not stop them they wish with all their hearts they might sin without punishment This is a fearfull disposition yet it is the disposition of those who indulge themselves in deliberate Venial Sins God hath no share in the motives that make them abstain from great Crimes and therefore he is not obliged to assist them which renders it exceeding difficult for a man who desires to avoid only mortal Sins to be long free from them Of Confession Tho Sacrament of Penance is an easy and efficacious remedy for all the diseases of the Soul and a certain means to obtain the pardon of all our Sins nothing is more easy than to declare all our Sins to a Priest who represents Christ with a true and sincere sorrow for having offended our good gracious God who has lov'd us so well To what purpose do we confess our Sins if we are not sorry for them and resolv'd to Sin no more As it is easy so it is efficacious because all the merits of the Son of God are apply'd to us by this Sacrament But whence is it that we receive no more benefit by this Divine remedy Never were confessions more frequent never was there less amendment custom brings us to Confession and custom makes us return to the Sins we have confess'd as if we had no other design in frequenting the Sacrament but to grow familiar with our Sins If our coufessions be insincere we seem to have a design of rendriug our selves more criminal by our confessions we want contrition we content our selves with a slight superficial Sorrow especially when our interest
God who has created us only to serve him is pleas'd by a singular goodness so to order it that we cannot serve him without saving our selves He did from the beginning design our Eternal happiness in creating us for his Glory seeing that Eternal happiness is no otherwise propos'd then as a reward our whole life is given us only that we may deserve it by obedience to those Laws and Commandments which he hath made for that End And the desire of happiness which is natural to every man do's as it were by instinct advertise us in the midst of our disorders that we are plac'd in the world only to work out our Eternal salvation in Heaven The Checks of our Consciences which are hardly ever quite stifled cry loud to us that we put our selves in danger of being lost when we forget our end never so little And are not the fears of hell and of the dreadful judgements of God which shake the most hardned sinners a sufficient monitor telling us incessantly that we are in the world only to be saved This is the only business of all the world this is our last End we are not here to obtain great Employments or dignity's to render out selves excellent in this or that profession nor to establish a reputation by our good qualities You are rais'd to that dignity you are put in that dignity you are put in that station God has given you those qualitys made you successful only that these may be helps to your salvation may be the means to bring you more easily to him your last End We are then created only that we may be saved that we may avoid an Eternity of woe in Hell and obtain an happiness in Paradise which shall never end We are made only for Heaven we are but banish'd men here or at best but travellers who should rejoice when they find themselves near the End of their journy and of their banishment But do we look upon our selves as such Have we these thoughts of Heaven would any one that examines our conduct think that we believe our salvation to be our last End Men easily find means to attain their ends surely there are but few who make heaven their great design since there are so few who take the right methods to obtain it The End of a Merchant in his Trade of a scholar in his study's of a Courtier in his carriage of a soldier in the midst of dangers is easily known but is it as visible that every man in his station and employment seeks onely God and the salvation of his soul as his last End Yet what do's it profit a man to raise a great fortune to gain the whole world and loose his soul What is there in all the world that can make him amends for the loss of that It would have been much better for him not to have been born then not to be saved Let us remember that if we do not make God our soveraign happiness he will be our soveraign misery we may be wiâ—hout every thing else but we cannot be without this good tho a man be poor forsaken despis'd or forgo ten if he save his soul he will be happy to all Eternity and want nothing but let him be never so rich happy and esteem'd in the woâ—ld if he be damn'd he is miserable for ever What are those great extraordinary men who fill'd the world with their brave actions what are they the better for all the honour they gâ—in'd if they are damn'd suppose you saw the richest man in the world on his Deaâ—hbed one who had enjoy'd all sorts of pleasures who had arriv'd to the highest pitch of Glory and greatness who had been successful in all his undertakings and had only neglectâ—d his soul ask him what do all your wealth your greatness and your pleasures avail you all these are pass'd and gone as if they had never been but your soul which you have lost those pains which are the sad consequences of that loss will never pass away Let us consider what thoughts we shall have in those last moments what shall we then think of every thing that is now an obstacle to our salvation How will all our great designs and projects which took us up entirely appear then We venture our souls ra her then disoblige a friend then loose an opportunity of enriching our Children or of distinguishing our selves in the world What will our opinion of all this be when Death comes will the remembrance of all past greatness comfort a man who knows he is falling into Hell Will those pretended friends be much oblig'd to us for having ruin'd our selves to please them shall we be much oblig'd to them who are the cause of our damnation and for whose sakes we are lost Wretched Father that labours and sweats that ruins his health and shortens his Life to get an Estate for his Children and is damn'd for his pains who will thank him for it Who would not be rich if an earnest desire to be so were sufficient we may be saints if we will by the help of grace which is never wanting yet we are unwilling to be so And indeed if we are not saints it is because we will not 'T is surprising that men who love themselves so much should reflect so little on a matter of this consequence that men who in all other things are wise and prudent should yet every day go out of the world without having once seriously considered why they were sent into it whence they came and whither they are to go after Death And yet cheat themselves at last with an appearance of conversion O Divine saviour where is that passionate desire of our salvation which mov'd thee to do such great things How long wilt thou suffer so many souls to be lost for whom thou hast paid so great a price Art not thou still our God and are not we thy people Canst thou ever forget that thou art my saviour I have not indeed made a right use of my happiness in being design'd only for thee I have forgot thee to place my affections upon the Creatures I have wander'd out of the way that leads to my last End and refus'd to obey the voyce of the good shepherd who call'd me But now I see and repent of my wandring however unfaithful I have been the sence thou hast given me of my unfaithfulness makes me hope that thou wilt have mercy on me thou lovedst me when I did not love thee and when I did all I could to make thee hate me thou sought'st even when I fled most from thee O my God! wilt thou refuse me now that I am resolv'd to love thee wilt thou hide thy selfe from me now that I seek thee I cannot fear this from so infinitely good and merciful a God I acknowledge that I was made only to love and serve thee and I am resolv'd O my God by the assistance of
when we desire to succeed in any worldly business What a difference is there between a man following his business or his study and the same man working out his Salvation Were we as earnest for heaven as we are for honours and Riches we should soon be great Saints for we cannot be rich if we will but we may be be Saints if we will We are not contented to make use of all necessary means to obtain our temporal ends we employ even those that are not necessary and we justify all this care and pains by saying that we would not have any neglect to reproach our selves do we observe this maxim in the business of our soul shall we have nothing to reproach our selves on a Death bed If we do not design to be saved why do we make use of any means if we de design it why do we not make use of all is it not because some are more difficult than others but to what purpose do we practise onely those that are easy since they are all necessary Are we ignorant that he who do's not do all he ought to be saved is no more advanc'd than of he had done nothing Do we think some few and doubt ful means sufficient in a business of consequence And would we venture its success upon such means as common experience has found very improper for a business of that nature certainly the business of Salvation is a business of consequence Jesus-Christ hath declar'ed that he will have all or nothing that he will accept no divided heart there is no medium they who are not absolutely for him are against him Yet notwithstanding we all know this lukewarmness tepidity this divided heart is the cararacter of most Christians at this day Thus we live but did any of the Saints sanctify himselfe by such a Life Do not we our selves doubt of the Salvation of those who dye in such a State What shall we think of our condition if we don't take other measures after all these Reflections can we reasonably expect to be saved And that which makes our danger yet more visible is that our Lives are a manifest contradiction to our Faith and yet we do not mind it we are convinc'd that it is necessary to Salvation to believe the mistery of the Trinity and of the Eucharist notwithslanding all the difficulties that sence reason suggest because God hath reveal'd them but hath not the same God declared that he who will be saved must abhorr the maxims of the world that he mâ—st bear the cross daily ad must make use of those very means which I neglect wedurst not pretend a desire of Salvation if we refus'd to believe the least tittle of what Christ requires us to believe in order to be saved how then can I pretend that I desire to be saved if I practise onely some part of the means which he hath clearly told were absolutely necessary to Salvation But our Religion is too sincere not to condemn this contradiction between our Faith and manners it teaches us that God requires all or nothing surely he deserves very little if he do's not deserve all it would be better for us to give him none than not to give him all such a division is exceeding injurious to him for infine we carry our selves thus only to those whom we neither respect nor fear God abhorrs this conduct he hates tepidity more than coldness and therefore cannot endure to be serv'd by halves Absolute perfection is not necessary but our Saviour commands every one efficaciously to seek perfection in his station do not object that the number of these men of good will is so very small that if this be true there will be but few saved who can doubt of it after what Christ hath told us of the small number of the Elect Do we see many who love God with all their hearts how can we pretend that we are sinceeely desirous of Salvation while we do not obsewe this first and great Commandment while we make use onely of some meanes and neglect the rest while we satisfy our selves with some pretended good works of our own choosing and indulge our selves in our belov'd passion which is a continual Source of Sin I see now my God that I have not been truly willing that I have hitherto deceiv'd my selfe with a false desire which hath kept me in ignorance of the greatness of my danger but I am now resolv'd sincerly to be saved at anyrate And I have some grounds to believe that I am truly willing but it is thy grace my Dear Saviour that must render my desire efficacious I hope for it through thy mercy I am convinc'd of the necessity of using all the means this conviction hath dispos'd me to do whatever thou commandest Paratum cor meum Deus paraâ—um cor meum Ps 56.9 command now whatever thou pleasest 〈◊〉 will make no difficulty I will obey without any reserve SECOND MEDITATION OF LVKEWARMNESS FIRST POINT There is no state more dangerous than a Lukewarm state SECOND POINT It is harder to recover out of a Lukewarm state than from any other FIRST POINT COnsider that by a lukewarm State is meant a certain disposition of the Soul in which it contents its selfe with avoiding heinous sins but takes little care to avoid small faults it is negligent in spiritual duty 's its prayers are distracted its confessions without amendment its communions without fervour and without fruit it is unfaithful to the divine grace and sins without fear or remorse Such a soul grows indifferent to the greatest virtues and soon after disgusted with them its affections languish in the service of God so that the yoak of Christ seems heavy insupportable its thoughts are distracted so very little taken up with God or its selfe that it fuffers them to rove after every object it dares not retire in to its selfe because it can find no peace there In this condition it makes no scruple of exposing its selfe to the occasions of Sin if it do's any good 't is only by fiâ—s if it performs any duty 's 'tis only out of custom and provided is keeps some measures and avoids the reproaches of those of whom it stand in awe it is not at all sollicitous to please God whom it offends almost by every action It makes no difficulty of committing all sorts of venial Sins with deliberation it performs with reluctancy and uneasiness those devotions which it cannot avoid it enterrains an aversion for pious Christians because their vertue is an uneasy reproach to it it takes pleasures onely in the imperfect because their actions countenance its carelessness Hence proceed those pernicious friendehips to which so many pretended Friends ow their ruine those insipid rallerys on Christian exactness whereby they stiffle the small remainders of their fervour they are no sooner in this wreched state of Lukewarmness but they frame to themselves a false Conscience
under the shelter of which they frequent the Sacrements and do some good wocks yet still indulge themselves in secret aversions in envious jealousies in criminal and dangerous engagements in uneasiness murmuring against their Superiors in selfe Love and in pride which influence almost all their actions and in an hundred other faults of the same nature in the midst of which they live unconcern'd they persuade themselves that there is no great crime in all this and seek for excuses to palliate those faults which God condemns as heinous sins and which they themselves will condemn as such when they come to dye for then their passions will be no longer able to hinder them from seeing things as they are in themselves surely it is no hard matter to discover that the Salvation of a man in such a state as this is in great danger The State of a Soul in mortal sin is very dangerous but our Saviour judges a lukewarm state to be yet worse for he tells the Angel or Bishop of the Church of Laodicea I would ' thou wert either cold or hot for because thou art lukewarm and neither col nor hot I will cast thee out of my mouth as tainted offensive Do's Jesus-Christ who bears with the greatest Sinners who is alwayes ready to pardon them who did not abhorr even Judas himselfe do's he abhorr a lukewarm Soul hath he who is so tender towards Sinners no tenderness no love for a Soul that is neither cold nor hot What hopes then can such a Soul have of being saved We ought not to despair of the Salvation of the most notorious Sinner though his disorders and crimes have renderd his Conversion difficult we ought still to hope for he knows his Sins is therefore more capable of being made sensible of them and of hating them Tell the grearest Sinner of the severe judgments of God of Death and of the rigourf and duration of Eternal Torments the foree of these terrible verity's may alarm and convert him but all this makes no impression on a luke-warm Soul his condition is without remedy because it abstains from crying and scandalous Sins which startle a Soul that hath any fear left ' it do's not mind Spiritual and interior faults it mingles them with some actions of Piety so that they easily pass unregarded by a Conscience that is not exceeding tender and thus not knowing the greatness of its danger it do's noting to prevent it Nothing do's a Soul Good in this condition Prayers exhortations reading masses meditations Sacrements are all fructless whether it be that the little benefit it hath hithertho receiv'd by them gives it a disgust and takes away its desire to make use of them or that being accustom'd to them they have less effect that having heard these terrible truths discours'd of an hundred times and having as often discours'd of them its selfe to no purpose they make no impression on it It receives but few graces because of its unfaithfulness in those which it do's receive its faults are alwayes great because they are attended with an higher contempt a greater malice a blacker ingratitude than the faults of others this odious mixture of good and bad which composes the caracter of a lukewdarm Soul discovers clearly how injurious such a conduct is to God the seeming good works that it do's are a convincing proof that it hath not forgotten God but its careless and imperfect way of doing them shews how little it stands in awe of that God whom it serves with so much indifference and disgust And indeed this disgust is mutual it has an aversion to Christ and Christ hath an aversion to it no wonder that such men immediately after their communions are ready to return again to and renew their Sins as if they had not receiv'd the Opinion of their pretended good works tenders them proof against all wholesome advice they can hear it with all the coldness in the world and 't is this that makes so many good thoughts and holy inspirattons useless Hence proceeds the strange blindnefs of a lukewarm Souls and that horrible insensibility which is the heaviest of judgments and the utmost degree of misery And there fore S. Bernard and S. Bonavente declare that it is much easier to convert a worldling tho never so wicked than a Lukewarm Religious What hope is left for such a Soul there is no remedy for it it will not be cur'd because it is not sensible of its illness It is a sick Creature whose condition is the more desperate because it laughs at those who think its sick so that there is need of a greater miracle to convert a lukewarm Soul than to make the blind to see or to raise the dead to Life None but thou my God canst do it thou art able to cure the most inveterate diseases but thou hatest Lukewarmness and this makes me fear I cannot pray with that confidence as I would for the most scandalous sinner I acknowledge that I have been hirher to in a lukewarm State But since thou hast made me sensible of it I am persuaded thou desirest to draw me our of it Oh! let not this renewed grace which perhaps will be last thou wilt ever Offer me be ineffectual thou wouldst have me be saved I am resolv'd to be saved what then can hinder my Salvation SECOND POINT Consider that a lukewarm state is not only very dangerous but which is more strange it is almost impossible to recover a Soul out of it because he that would recover must be sensible of his being in danger which a tepid Soul is not An heinous Sinner easily knows his danger there are eertain favourable moments where in by the help of grace he discovers so much deformity in his Soul that he presently laments his misery which knowledge and confession render his conversion much less difficult But a lukewarm soul do's not believe that ke is lukewarm he that believes himselfe tepid ceases to be so for we are rarely sensible of our condition till we begâ—n to be fervent this renders the conversion of the lukewarm almost impossible for which way shall one go about to persuade them that they are in such a State Blindness is the first effect of Tepidity It s unfaithfulness being gradual it is less sensible of them then its faults grow habitual and at last it takes pleasures in them nothing toucheth it when it is in this condition and it suspectes nothing it is not sensible of any new fault it grows lukewarm without omitting one of its devotions 't is the imperfections of these very devotions that give birth to its tepidity and help it to deceive its selfe by covering its reall faults with a false appearance of vertue God himselfe who so loudly a larms the Sinner is now silent and will not awake him but leaves him to dye in this mortal Lethargy I will begin says he to cast thee out he do's not do it all
that none enter into heaven but those who do violence to themselves and yet we pretend to enter there without mortification The Life of man upon the earth is a perpetual warfare for S. Paul telles us that the desires of the flesh arc contrary to the desires of the Spirit and the desires of the spirit are contrary to those of the flesh how then can we hope to be victorious without the practise of Pennance We please our sensual appetites in every thing we are careful of our body 's even to excess we follow blindly our natural inclinations and in this condition we live without fear in the midst of the world where we are expos'd to the greatest dangers Certainly either we are of a different nature from the rest of mankind or the Devil stands in awe of us and respects us or we are confirm'd in Grace or else we are in danger which is much more probable to dye in our Sins Do's heaven cost the most fervent and generous souls so much and can we expect that the lazy and imperfect should gain it with less pains Saint Paul chastis'd his body he joyn'd a continual pennance to the cruell persecutions he suffered for fear of being perverted himselfe while he converted others And shall men who dare not pretend to be any thing near as perfect as S. Paul imagine that they have no need to practise mortification Were the Saints more frail than we Did they expect another recompense Did they follow another guide or serve another Master Their lives were a continual mortification are ours like them And can we call our selves the Disciples of Christ while we neglect to do pennance Our Saviour says if any man will come after me let him deny himselfe and bear his Cross daily True mortification is inseparable from true piety not only because no virtue can subsist long without a constant and generous mortification but also because no virtue is real that is not attended with it We have great reason to distrust our exercises of piety our good works every thing is to be suspected in those whose passions are strong who are unmortify'd It do's not seem that we are afraid of the difficulty we dislike the motive for what do we not suffer in the service of the world Alas if God requir'd of his servants all that the world exacts of those who serve it I am afraid he would have but few servants How to we constrain our selves every day to please those whom our Interest requires us to manage what mortification so severe and so continual as a Courtiers a Merchants intent upon his trade a Soldiers or a scholars Yet they are not dis courag'd they seem satisfy'd amydst all their sufferings but when God calls upon us to constrain our selves a little every thing is uneasy we find his yoak heavy virtue frights us we are disgusted and the sole thought of mortification makes us loose courage But oh we shall have other thoughts on a death bed when the image of Jesus-Christ crucifyed is presented to us will not the sight of it have a quite contrary effect it will upbraid our delicacy and increase our regret for having lead so lazy so sensual a Life for having neglected pennance and mortification They present a Crucifix to the dying but my God! do all the dying find much comfort in contemplating a crucifix at their Death is it possible my dear Jesus that the mortification which thou hast render'd so easy should seem hard and insupportable only when we are to practise it in conformity to thy example and for Love of thee Oh! my God! what should I do if thou hadst requir'd of thy servants if I were bound to do and suffer as much for salvation as I do and suffer to ruine my selfe thou requirest less than the world do's less than I do and suffer in its service and shall I refuse to do and suffer what is absolutely necessary for salvation what I have deserv'd by my offenses and what all the blessed Spirits in heaven have done and suffer'd that they might imitate thee God forbid that I should glory in any thing but in the Cross of our Lord Jesus-Christ Absit mihi gloriari in nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi per quem mihi mundus crucifixus est ego mundo Gal. 6.14 by whom the world is crucify'd to me and I unto the world SECOND POINT Consider that by the fruits of pennance is meant not only macerating our body's but chiefly the mortification of our passious and the Reformation of our Lives these are indeed the fruits which God expects from our Contrition and pennance by these marks we may know whether we have made good use of the Sacraments and whether we be truly sorry for our Sins and faithful to the Grace of God The Exercises of Devotion the frequentation of the Sacrements and the practise of good works are powerful means of perfection but while we retain our former passions with these powerful means while we are as proud as impatient as peevish as envious as difficult to be pleas'd as cholerik as unmortify'd as ful of selfe Love as before can we reasonably rely on these pretended exercises of Piety Mortification of the body is an exercise of Pennance but that pennance must have its fruit which consists in suppressing our passions in regulating our inclinations and in repairing the disorders of self-Love To what purpose do we confess so often if in a whole years time we have not perhaps reformed any one of the faults that we confess its is not enough for us to detest our Sins we must resolve to commit them no more and how can that resolution be sincere if we do not likewise resolve to avoid the least occasion of Sin The execution of this resolution is properly the fruit of pennance In good earnest if we know the efficacy of this Sacrament of pennance only by the fruits we find of it in our selves should we have an high Idea of it It is much to he feared that our using our selves by an unaccountable carelesness and especially by want of contrition to reap no profit by the Sacrament will render our disease incurable A Religious Life is a continual pennance but is there no danger of its being unfruitful What a miserable thing would it be for a Religious to have done penance so long without any fruit And what fruit can an unmortify'd Religious who is of a worldly spirit lukewarm and careless receive from all his pennance He is very much in the wrong who bears the Cross and will not tast the fruits of it he would not suffer more nay he would suffer much less for those fruits are ful of true sweetness It is certain that every body has very much to suffer in this life we shall meet with Crosses every where they who live most at their ease are not exempted let us at least bear them patiently let us unite
invites us to continue in our Sins or when we fancy they are common small ones we want resolution and vigorous purposes of amendment we content our selves with designing to committ the same sins no more but we will not avoid the occasions that have made us fall Which is a clear proof that our contrition is not sincere are we ignorant that the want of contrition is a grievous sin or if we do know it and pretend to strive to raise it in our Souls it is much to be fear'd that the Confessions of many are null for all that because the motive of this pretended Contrition is often onely the fear of being guilty of Sacriledge and hence it is that as soon as our Confession is over and we are no longer in danger of committing Sacriledge we relapse again into the same faults as if we had never confess'd them A man of sence who has seriously weigh'd the Reasons on both sides is not easily persuaded to change his design and can we imagine that our frequent falls were preceded by a sincere resolution to sin no more had we no motives to make that resolution If God was indeed our motive why did we so soon change our minds Did we take that generous resolution upon weak motives Since our motive subsists still why do we not continue in the same design We ought certainly to make but very little account of those confessions that are not followed with amendment My God! how will the remembrance of such confessions trouble and torment us when wâ— come to dye One visible marlâ— of true connrition is when we hate the occasions of Sin as much as Sin it selfe when we do indeed abhorr the smallest Sins Of Private Friendships Saint Basile teaches us that there should be a perfect union between all the Religious of the same Community Basil in Const Monast ca. 30. but no particular Friendships tho such private engagements may seem very innocent they are a for mall separation from all the rest of the body who loves one of his Brethren more than the rest shews by that preference that he do's not love the others perfectly and thereby he offends and wrongs the whole Community Serm. de instit Monach. These private unions adds the same Saint are a continual Seed of Discord of envy suspicions of distrust and hatred they give occasion to divisions to secret meetings cabals which are the ruine of Religion In those meetings one discovers his designs another vents his rash judgments a third complains a fourth reveals what he ought to keep secret hence proceed murmurings and backbitings uncharitable censures and undutifull reflections upon Superiours and by an unhappy contagion these ill dispositions communicate themselves from one to another and indeed the Devil has no temptation more dangerous and more capable of perverting the most fervent especially young men than these particular friendships As soon as one of these friends is vex'd and thinks himselfe ill us'd all the rest share in his discontent he gives his passion vent and they approve it either out of complaisance or a turbulent humour By this means they break their Rules to shew their friendship act contrary to their duty If such engagements were onely between the most virtuous yet they ought not to be suffer'd because they are particular But they are seldom found among the truly virtuous they are too opposite to real piety and are almost peculiar to the imperfect Observe a careless lazy Religious you will soon find him see king some particular Friendship contrary to the true spirit of charity and Religion Familiaritates aut colloquia ejusmodi haud exiguum detrimentum pariunt animae S. Ephr. to 1. Saint Ephrem tells us that those unions and private conferences are very prejudicial to the Soul are great obstacles to true Piety they destroy insensibly the spirit of Devotion and make the Soul weary of pious conversation they inspire a secret aversion for the fervent and render their very presence uneasy 't is in these particular friendships that the best resolutions miscarry in these the noblest sentiments which the Soul had entertain'd in prayer at the Communion at Mass are lost in these all the charitable remonstrances of superiours the saving counsells of Directors are rendred useless either by turning them into raillery or by advancing maxims directly contrary to the spirit of Jesus-Christ There are few virtues proof against these occasions Alas how many who had begun well have split upon this Rock and been at last miserably ruin'd by these dangerous engagements with their false Friends Therefore this Saint advises carefully to avoid such particular friendships to lay this down as a principle that in Religion we must have no such intimacy with any Our friendships must be only spiritual not built like those friendships upon flesh blood or any other humane considerations but founded only on God Of the happiness of a Religious Life How great is your Satisfaction O Religious Souls if you have given your selves without any reserve to Christ you must be very unhappy if you be not content with so good a master Every step you make in weaning your hearts from worldly objects that you may fix them more absolutely on him will be an addition to your happiness All you have to fear is least some part of your joy should proceed from that natural peace tranquility which a Life undisturb'd with cares and noise affords for then it would be a false joy you must seek the Cross you must choose and love that Cross which is most uneasy to you and most thwarts your inclinations you may easily find such a Cross every Day in your convent you will continually meet with something that contradicts your humour or displeases your fancy you ought to be watchful to make good use of these precious opportunitys of renouncing your own judment and will in all things without this submission your peace is imperfect and will soon be at an end 'T is a solid happiness to live in a Society where such perfect Piety and so much Virtue reigns tho the truly fervent soul who seeks onely God would not be the worse although there were less Piety in his Community because he is so taken up with watching over and correcting his own faults that he has no leisure to mind other mens every thing helps those who have a good intention the bad examples which corrupt the weak are so many incitements to increase his Love to his Redeemer that he may repair their negligence by his fervour and by an holy fear preserve himselfe from imitating them Yet it is a great advantage to be sorrounded with good examples to have alwayes those excellent models before our eyes to stirr us up to diligence and to make us a sham'd when we begin to languish We shall alwayes find such examples in numerous convents but if we have not living examples let us profit by
the loss of some Grace and by the loss of that Grace it is depriv'd of many others without whih it will certainly yeild to temptations in some occasions This made S. Greg. 3. part ad mâ—ral 34. Gregory say that little faults are in some respect more dangerous than great ones and S. Chrysostom speakes thus on the same subject Tho the proposition appear extraordinary and unheard of yet I am not afraid to tell you that sometimes it seems to me that we ought to take more care of avoiding small than great faults The enormity of these fills us with horror but we easily grow familiar with the others because we think them inconsiderable And after all this shall we neglect these little faults of which the Saints were more afraid than of heinous Sins says Saint Augustin whether the ship be sunk by the violence of the waves or by the negligence of the Mariners in not pumping out the water that enters at a small leak and he adds in another place You are upon your guard against great Sins but what have you done to preserve your selfe from little ones Don't you fear them have a care least after having thrown your heavy lading over boord to lighten your Ship least after having renounc'd every thing that seem'd considerable at your entrance into Religion the sand in the Hold sink it have a care least after having escap'd the violence of the storms in the tempestuous Sea of the world when you are just ready to enter into the port of Religion have a care least you perish upon little banks of Sand which seem'd nothing and which you neglected to shun The greatest Graces are commonly the fruit of fidelity in little things which is it selfe the effect of a greater degree of Love to God if we deprive our selves by our coldness and want of care of those extraordinary helps of those singular favours which inspire so much courage against the strongest Temptations which are so necessary in many cases how often shall we be in doubt whether we have not consented to temptation what a great advantage should we find at such a difficult time in having given our selves wholly to God and having thereby merited his special and free help by which we are sure to be enabled to resist all the efforts of the Tempter and without which we shall not only the expos'd to danger but we shall perhaps be overcome Of Fidelity in little things He that is faithful in little things wil be faithfull also in great things and indeed none but great Souls have this Fidelity They are indeed little things in themselves but it is no little thing to be faithful to God in the smallest matter yet this fidelity will be worth nothing if we be negligent in greater things but we must own that this Fidelity in little things is very great noble if we love much we shall neglect nothing that we know is pleasing to those we love God did not choose the stoutest boldest Israelites to overcome the Midianites one of the greatest victorys the children of Israel ever won was gain'd by three hundred men who did not kneel down to drink in the River In trecentis viris qui lambuerunt aquas liberaho vos Judic 7.7 What seems of less consequence than the holding up ones hands Yet the victory over the Amalekites depended so absolutely Cumque levaret Moyses manus vincebat Israel c. Exod. 17.11 on the lifting up Moses hands to heaven that when ever he held them down the Enemy prevailed What do you mean Joâ—sh cry'd the Prophet Elisha to smite the Earth but three times Si percussisses quinquies aut sexies percussisses Synain usque ad consumpptionem 4. Reg. 13.19 Josu 6.18.19 if you had smote it five or six times you should have been master of all Syria and have utterly destroyd your Enemys How slight was the ceremony on which depended the taking of Jericho O what a mock would our half devotes who despise small things have made of it when the walls fell down before the people of God Quia supes pauca fuisti fidelis intra in gaudium Domini tui â—â—uit 25.21.22 Infine 't is sufficient that Jesus-Christ assures us that heaven eternal hapiness and God himselfe is the reward of fidelity in little things Of the Source of our Imperfections Though the greatest part of Christians pretend to aspire to Perfection yet very few attain it because they are not really willing to be perfect they readily believe the Doctrines of the Gospell the important maximes upon which all true Piety is grounded but they are not sincere in the application of them They do not dispute the necessity of doing violence to our inclinations in order to obtain heaven but they find out specious Reasons to excuse themselves from that violence in certain occasions which require much pains they own themselves bound to subdue their passions they fight with them and frequently gain a kind of victory over them but they do not meddle with their reigning passions this is the cause that all their other victory 's signify nothing for they should have begun with this We must set a continual watch upon our selves and upon every motion of our hearts that we may suppress all our carnal desires the many al most imperceptible but continual selfish designs which make us seek only tho secretly to advance our interests a thousand other insinuations of selfe Love which surprise the most virtuous mingling themselves with their best actions take away all their merit or at least diminish their Perfection Of the false complaisance which we have for others True Piety is never iucommode it is full of Charity for all the world a solidly virtuous man is affable and obliging never troublesome or uneasy but allwayes in good humour still ready to do service to others and severe only to himselfe for the spirit of Christ is a spirit of Peace sweetness This Principle self Love which is ingenious in making advantage of every thing employs to deceive many who make profession of Piety by persuading them to draw consequences from it very different from the true spirit of Christ Under this pretence it would persuade us to please all the world to displease no not those who do not relish our Saviour maxims but how can we please him if we pretend not to displease them From hence proceeds that unhappy that unworthy complaisance which makes us so often asham'd to take Christs part to declare our selves boldly his Disciples because we would be complaisant and disoblige no body But where do we find that a punctual observance of our Rule that modesty recollection and purity and the doing our duty is disobliging If the imperfect are disoblig'd by these things we can not avoid displeasing them unless we are willing to betray our Consciences displease God Of Exactness We are not afraid of being thought weak
to ask if his Master means him Tu dixisti Matt. 6.64 Christ conceals it no longer but this answer which should have fill'd him with confusion makes no impression on his hardned heart he hears coldly that terrible threatning from his Saviours Vae homini illi per quem Filius hominis tradetur Matt. 26.24 mouth Woe to that mâ—â— by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed remains insensible Jesus condescends to wash his feet to give himselfe to him in the communion to exhort and threaten him yet nothing moves him nothing can stop him he goes out and puts his impious design in execution and accomplishes his black and malicious ingratitude by a treacherous kiss How should we tremble at the thought of this insensibility It is the most dreadful of judgments and so much the more dreadful in that it is not perceiv'd by those who lye under it The surest mark that we are not in that state is a fear least we should be in it nothing is so difficult as to convert those who are not sensible of their want of Conversion Of the thoughts of Death The thought of death is a most powerful argument to convince us of the vanitys of this Life we shall easily be disgusted with the empty pleasures of the would its imaginary honors and its false Riches for which we weary our selves if we seriously reflect where they all end in a winding sheet in a Coffin in a grave in worms and dust there are the end of all humane Pride and greatness Form as many vast projects as you please rely upon your wisdom friends and Riches you must quit them all whether you will or no and they will all abandon you Only thou o God! dost never forsake those who serve thee I will therefore love and serve thee none but thee Of our condescention to the Imperfect It is surprizing that men have so little consideration for fervent Christians while they have all the condescention in the world for the careless imperfect But we do not see the special hand of providence who herein favours those whom he loves most is a man truly virtuous we make no scruple of excercising his patience his desires are frequently cross'd and he is often forc'd to do what he do's not like yet at the same time we refuse nothing to the imperfect whether it be that we use them like sick men that are past recovery whom we let have what they please or that God by a terrible judgment lets them alone in this Life and leaves them to their own imaginations However hard this distinction seems it is much for the advantage of those who serve God faithfully and renders them much more esteem'd by all who judge wisely and who are animated by the Spirit of Jesus-Christ Of natural inclinations to Virtue Men of soft and peacable tempers who seem born with a natural propensity to virtue are in great danger of being but indifferently virtuous and of making no progress in the way of perfection if they do not heep a strict watch over all the motions of their hearts else their natural tranquility will degenerate in to an indolence which is very a greable to self Love so that they wil take no pains to acquire great virtues and will content themselves with an obscure Life with a seeming moderation not founded upon humility but the pure effect of self Love which is unwilling to take pains and chooses a moderate virtue for fear of meeting with oppositions and sufferings in the pursuit of a more sublime But alas they who satisfy themselves with an ordinary virtue will in all probability live and dye destitute of all true virtue Of true Zeal It is a dangerous fault to be uneasy when others do as many or more good works than we would to God that all Preachers were eminent and successful would to God that every Director of souls had the gift of wisdom and discerning of spirits the zeal and solid piety which are so necessary for all Directors so God be glorifyed what matter it whether I or another be the instrument when the good success of others in the exercise of their Ministry is a real satisfaction to us it is a sure sign that we seek only his Glory Of sincerity in the Service of God Many desire to be perfect and from time to time endeavour after it yet how few attain it That which hinders the greatest part from advancing in the way of virtue is a want of sincerity in Gods service some little affections which they do not and will not renounce 't is selfe Love disguis'd under thes specious names of moderation good sence prudence and civility in fine it is a certain secret pride which corrupts the greatest part of their best actions God will be serv'd with a dove like simplicity with an uprighteness of soul that cannot stoop to those little arts of selfe Love which are so prevalent every where we seek an easy Director we torment our brains to forge something like Reasons to excuse our selves from some duty 's which we know in our Consciences God requires of us but which we sind unpleasant and are unwilling to perform Do we think to deceive God by these artifices The number of those who seck God in spirit is very small who serve him with that true simplicity which is necessary to Perfection how many instead of endeavouring to pleasa God Study to persuade themselves that they may please their own Appetites in every thing without displeasing him If they make him any little Sacrifice They presently find out some way to make themselves amends How come so many Professors of Piety to be so very sensible in the imaginary points of Honour The tone of a voice a disobliging word disturbs them Let them make as much use as they please of the words Modest and humble true humility is inseparable from Patience and sweetness Many think that they are truly humble because they have a mean opinion of themselves but they deceive themselves if they are not willing that others should have the same thoughts of them It is not sufficient to know that we have no true virtue or merit we must be wiliing to have others believe it too Of submission of our wills It is generally said and perhaps not without appearance of Reason that devout men are fond of their own opinions but it is an error to think that men who will always follow their own Wills and are obstinately conceited of their own sentiments can be truly devout This submission of our Wills is that renouncing of our selves which Jesus-Christ requires so positively and commands so often in the Gospell and without which we cannot be his Disciples And indeed we can never be truly virtuous without this submission both of our Understanding and Will Of the Love of Christ. If any thing says agreat servant of God could shake my faith in the Mistery of the Eucharist it