whether this be your Motive think often on it seriously without flattering your self for if another Motive incline you to that Calling your Design is not from God. Examin also whether you be fit for it and whether you have nothing that is incompatible with that Condition be it in Body or Mind Corporal Infirmities and bad Qualities of the Mind but chiefly all Lightness and Inconstancy render a Man unapt for that Calling 4. Above all things resolve not on your own Head and without taking good Counsel It is a very common Fault amongst young People many whereof put themselves into Religion without any other Counsel than that of their own Mind which frequently they admit there too easily From whence it often falls out that they are oblig'd to go out or having a shame to change they badly and without Vocation engage themselves therein Act not so Theotime but declare your Design to some prudent Person and particularly to your Ghostly Father and if you have not an ordinary one choose avertuous discreet and understanding one discover all your interior Thoughts to him and hearken humbly to his Advice When you have done thus for a good space of time that is at least for six Months or a Year If the Intention you have to be Religious continue still and your Intention also be such as it ought to be that is pure and holy and that you have convenient Dispositions of Mind and Body for that State you have reason to believe that your Inspiration comes from God and that he calls you to Religion But if this Inclination continues not it is a sign that it was only a human Motion Some may say that you ought readily to put in Execution the Inspirations from God and that to delay the Performance a long time is to put ones self in danger of losing them according to that Maxim of St. Ambrose Nescit tarda molimina Spiritus sancti gratia which says That the Grace of the Holy Ghost approves not of slow Endeavors I answer That it is true when you sufficiently know that the Inspiration comes from God but before you can have that knowledge you not only do well to defer it but you ought to delay principally in Affairs of consequence Now to come to this knowledge you must have time And in a word to do what we have said is not to be wanting to our Fidelity and Trust in the Grace of God but to practise faithfully the Maxim of the Holy Ghost himself who commands us Not to believe every Spirit but to try whether they come from God. This is not to put ones self in danger of losing ones Vocation but to comply with ones Duty to know the truth of it by sufficient Marks the best whereof is Perseverance to embrace it more zealously and to execute it with more fidelity In fine that you may be more convinc'd of this Maxim against the Oppositions you may find therein I shall add to it another particular Article ARTICLE III. That a Man must take time to know whether he be call'd to Religion If God gave us always certain and undoubted Marks of his Inspiration for great Enterprises questionless we should not take time to deliberate on them nor to put them in Execution but because he is not pleas'd ordinarily to deal with us in this manner and admonisheth us by the Apostle a Nolite omni Spiritui credere sed probate Spiritus si ex Deo sint 1 Jo. 4. Not to give credit to every Spirit but to try whether they come from him adding in another place That b Ipse Satanas transfigurat se in Angelum lucis 2 Cor. 11. the Spirit of Darkness frequently transforms himself into an Angel of Light There is no question but that it is so far from being a bad Action to defer in this Occasion that it is a thing absolutely necessary and conformable to the Order establish'd by God who would have us make use of Means proper to know his Will and of the Signs he hath given us to discern the Inspirations which come from his Grace from those which come not These Means are the three we have already given you above a good Life Prayer and Counsel A good Life takes away the greatest Obstacle to the Grace of God which is Sin and makes us most worthy of his Lights Prayer when it is humble fervent and perseverant makes us obtain them And good Counsel serves to direct us to know the Will of God and not take our own Inclination for a Divine Inspiration When our Lord had touch'd Paul and brought him to demand what he would have him do he sends him to Ananias to learn his Will from him This holy Man inspir'd by God comes to seek this new Convert who was at Prayer and declar'd to him on the part of God what he would have him do This is a Model of what you ought to do in this so important an Occasion Permit yourself to be mov'd by God for your Conversion and look upon it as your principal End Beg of him to know what his Will is that you should perform to do Penance Pray incessantly for this intent and go to take Counsel to learn there what you must do As for the Marks of a Vocation there are also three which are Humility Quiet of Mind and Perseverance By Humility I understand that Vertue which makes us wholly distrust our own Judgment in an Affair of such importance to follow that of the more wise By Quiet of Mind I mean a Disposition to follow the Will of God on whatsoever side it may incline when we shall sufficiently know it By Perseverance I understand the long continuance of an Inspiration amidst the Obstacles and Difficulties which occur These are the three most ordinary Marks by which the Spirit of God makes himself known to us and if any of those be wanting you have reason to doubt of your Vocation as on the contrary if you have them all together you have good cause to believe that God calls you If some say to you that there is no need of Deliberating so exactly about entring into Religion because there is a Year of Noviceship to try their Vocation by the Marks and Practices we have spoken of I answer That this would be true if it were as easie to go out of Religion as to enter into it and if this going out did not draw after it so many bad Consequences as ordinarily it doth But because it frequently happens that those who are enter'd into Religion are kept there by the fear of being accounted Inconstant or for some other human Consideration which makes them engage themselves in that State badly and without a Vocation or chancing to depart from Religion are look'd upon by the World as Inconstant contemn'd as People fit for nothing and what is yet worse it happens often that leaving the Religious Habit they also forsake Vertue and lead a Life very
is conquer'd Pag. 263. Artic. 8. Considerable Examples to teach us how we must encounter with Temptations Pag. 264. Chap. 10. Particular Obstacles to rich young Persons Pag. 269. Chap. 11. Particular Obstacles to Noble Persons Pag. 274. Chap. 12. Particular Obstacles of young Incumbents or such as have Benefices without Cure. Pag. 279. Chap. 13. Advice to Parents upon the same Subject Pag. 284. PART IV. OF the Vertues necessary for young Persons Pag. 289. Chap. 1. That young People ought to propose to themselves the Imitation of our Lord Jesus in his Youth Pag. 290. Chap. 2. Of the Fear of God. Pag. 294. Chap. 3. Of the Love of God. Pag. 296. Chap. 4. Of the Love of Parents Pag. 300. Chap. 5. Of other Persons whom young Men ought to honor Pag. 305. Chap. 6. Of Tractableness Pag. 307. Cap. 7. Of Obedience Pag. 308. Chap. 8. Of Chastity Pag. 309. Chap. 9. Of Shamefac'dness Pag. 312. Chap. 10. Of Modesty Pag. 315. Chap. 11. Of Modesty in Words Pag. 320. Chap. 12. Of other Vices of the Tongue and particularly of Swearing Pag. 322. Of Detraction Pag. 326. Of Injuries and Reproaches Pag. 327. Of Sowers of Discord Pag. 329. Of Lying Pag. 330. Chap. 13. Of Sobriety Pag. 333 Chap. 14. Of Meekness and Anger Pag. 337. Remedies against Anger Pag. 341. Chap. 15. Of Peace with our Neighbor against Quarrels and Enmities Pag. 344. Chap. 16. Of Pardon of Injuries against Revenge Pag. 348. Chap. 17. Of the Love of our Neighbor Pag. 353. Chap. 18. Of Fraternal Correction or of the Obligation of hindering the Ill of another when one can Pag. 357. Chap. 19. Of Friendships Pag. 365. Chap. 20. Of Sports and Recreations Pag. 369. Chap. 21. Of Liberality against Covetousness Pag. 372. Chap. 22. Of Humility Pag. 377. PART V. OF the Choice of a State of Life Pag. 384. Chap. 1. How important it is to make a good Choice of a State of Life Pag. 385. Chap. 2. Of the Faults that are ordinarily committed in this Choice Pag. 388. Chap. 3. Of the Means to chuse well a State of Life And First That a good Life during Youth is a Means highly necessary to succeed in this Choice Pag. 392. Chap. 4. That to succeed well in the Choice of a State of Life it is most important to think of it before one be in the Time of Choosing Pag. 397. Chap. 5. Of the Means which must be employ'd when one deliberates on the Choice of a State of Life Pag. 399. Chap. 6. What is to be done when a Man is upon the point of chusing his State. Pag. 401. Chap. 7. Of the Qualities those ought to have of whom Counsel is to be taken for the Choice of a State of Life Pag. 406. Chap. 8. Whether Parents are to be hearkned to in this Choice Pag. 408. Chap. 9. Of the different States of Life and first of the Ecclesiastical State. Pag. 411. Artic. 1. Of the greatness of the Obligations and Dangers of an Ecclesiastical State. Pag. 412. Artic. 2. Of the Vocation to an Ecclesiastical State. Pag. 417. Artic. 3. Of the Preparation necessary for an Ecclesiastical State. Pag. 420. Artic. 4. The Conclusion of the precedent Chapter Pag. 424. Chap. 10. Of a Religious State. Pag. 429. Artic. 1. What a Religious State is What its Obligations its Advantages and Dangers are Pag. 430. Artic. 2. What is to be done to know whether one be call'd to Religion Pag. 433. Artic. 3. That a Man must take time to know whether he be call'd to Religion Pag. 437. Chap. 11. Of the divers States of a Secular Life Pag. 440. Artic. 1. Of the Condition of the Great and of those who Govern others Pag. 441. Artic. 2. Of the Offices of Justice and Magistracy Pag. 451. Artic. 3. Of a Court Life Pag. 456. Artic. 4. Of the Profession of Arms. Pag. 459. Artic. 5. Of other Conditions of a Secular Life Pag. 467. Chap. 12. Of the State of Marriage Pag. 470. Artic. 1. What we must know of a Marry'd Life Pag. 471. Artic. 2. The necessary Dispositions for a Marry'd State. Pag. 474. Artic. 3. The Conclusion of the foregoing Chapter Pag. 483. Chap. 13. Of a Single Life Pag. 486. Chap. 14. Most important Advices for young Persons who begin to enter into the World. Pag. 492. Advice 1. That the time of issuing out of Youth and entring into the World is the most dangerous of all the Life and many are shipwreckt therein Pag. 494. Adv. 2. That the chief care of young Men who enter into the World ought to be to conserve the Sentiments and Practices of Piety which they have observ'd in their Youth Pag. 497. Adv. 3. That young Men must fly carefully wicked Company and particularly that of young vicious Persons of their Profession Pag. 499. Adv. 4. That they must apply themselves quickly to some Labor which may employ their Time and make them avoid Idleness which is then most dangerous and more than at any other time Pag. 500. Adv. 5. That young People ought to have a care of avoiding three ordinary Causes of their Ruin at that time Play Wine and Impurity Pag. 502. Adv. 6. That they must avoid at that time Irresolution concerning the State they ought to chuse and after the Choice not easily nor without great reason change Pag. 503. Adv. 7. That young Men ought to foresee the Dangers and Obligations of their Profession and firmly purpose to avoid those Dangers and acquit themselves of their Obligations and live in their Profession like vertuous Men and according to God. Pag. 505. Adv. 8. That they must accustom themselves betimes not to be asham'd of Vertue nor of performing the Actions thereof Pag. 506. Adv. 9. That they must have a care to embrace a solid and real Vertue and not an apparent and deceitful Piety Pag. 507. Adv. 10. That young Persons ought to fix themselves more and more in the solid Sentiments of Faith and Religion Pag. 511. Adv. 11. That they must be strongly setled in the Christian Maxims opposite to those of the World. Pag. 514. Chap. 15. Christian Maxims Pag. 516. Maxim 1. That we are not created for this present Life but for Heaven ibid. Max. 2. That the most important Affair which we have in this Life is our Salvation ib. Max. 3. That Salvation is not obtain'd without Pains and Labor Pag. 517. Max. 4. That our chiefest care in this Life must be to please God and live in his Grace ib. Max. 5. That we cannot be in the Grace of God without having a constant Resolution never to offend him upon any score Pag. 518. Max. 6. That Sin is the greatest Evil which can befall a Man. ib. Max. 7. That the worst of all Misfortunes is to die in Mortal Sin. Pag. 519. Max. 8. That this Misfortune happens to many and to those who think not of it ib. Max. 9. That we must think frequently on Death Judgment and Eternity Pag. 520. Max. 10. That we must
good Angel and to your Patron Perform all this in a small time but with much fervor and be assur'd Theotime that if you be diligent in this Exercise you will find the Truth of the Wiseman's Expression who says that * Qui mane vigilaverint ad me invenient me Prov. 8. They who watch for her in the Morning shall find her CHAP. XII Of Evening Prayer IF it be a Business of Importance to begin well the Day Tenth Means Evening Prayer it is of no less to finish it perfectly In the ancient Law God had not only commanded a Sacrifice for every Morning but also for every Night to teach us that as we ought to Adore him in the beginning of the Day so we owe him our Acknowledgment at the end of the Day The principal part of this Action is the Examen of Conscience The Advantages of Examen of Conscience at Night which is a thing wherein you ought not to fail if you seriously desire to advance in Vertue 1. It is a powerful Means to cure ill Habits to avoid the relapse into Sin or readily to clear ones self of them 2. It helps to discover the Faults one has committed to amend them and preserve ones self from them to continue a hatred of mortal Sin and a Will not to commit it any more 3. Without this Exercise we fall into many Offences which being neglected lead us to mortal Sin we are lull'd asleep in Sin without a desire or thought of freeing our selves 4. By this Exercise ordinary Confessions are made more easie and frequent we amend our Lives we prevent an unprovided Death we prepare our selves for Death Judgment and Eternity And it is in this Action that we excellently well practise that admirable Document of the Wiseman * Ante judicium interroga teipsum in conspectu Dei invenies propitiationem Eccl. 18. Before Judgment Examine your self and you will find Mercy when you are in the sight of God. Have a care then Theotime daily to perform this so holy and important an Exercise wherein take notice of the Order you shall observe At Night being upon your Knees before you go to Bed 1. Adore God and give him Thanks for all his Favours and particularly for having conserv'd you that Day and preserv'd you from Misfortunes which might have befall'n you 2. Beg of him the Grace of seeing the Sins you have committed that Day to demand Pardon of him and amend your Life 3. Examine your Conscience concerning the Sins you most ordinarily fall into For this effect pass over in your Memory the principal Actions you have done from Morning till Night and take notice of the Faults you may have committed therein Recollect your self whether you have had any Temptations that Day Examine how you have behav'd your self in them whether you have readily resisted them or with negligence Take notice of what Company you have been in and whether at the same time you have acted any thing indecently either by giving ill Example in Word or Deed or not hindring others wicked Actions when you might divert them Consider whether you have employ'd well your time all day or unprofitably lost it and so of the rest 4. After you have taken notice of the Sins you have committed stir up in your self a Sorrow for them humbly beg Pardon of God for them make a Resolution to correct your self the Day following and keep them in your Memory to Confess them at your first Confession If amongst these Sins there should be any that by misfortune were mortal O God Theotime rise not up from your Prayers till you have abundantly deplor'd your Misery and conceiv'd an extreme Regret for having so grievously offended so holy and adorable a God. Beg of him Pardon with all the the Contrition of your Heart and protest unto him that you will Confess it as soon as possible and to Morrow if you can 5. Recommend unto God your Soul and your Body Desire him that he will Preserve you from all Misfortunes that Night and principally from Sin. Offer your Prayers to the Blessed Virgin your Angel-Guardian your Patron and all the Saints together An important Advice And as at the beginning of the Day you demanded of God the Grace to Live well so at the end remember to beg of him the Grace to Die well The End we make of every Day is an Image of the End we shall one Day make of our Life Finish therefore every Day as you would one Day finish your Life CHAP. XIII Of Assisting devoutly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar THE most holy and adorable Sacrifice of the Altar Eleventh Means is the greatest of all our Mysteries and the most excellent Action of our Religion It is a Sacrifice which our Saviour Jesus Christ hath Instituted wherein by the real Oblation of his Body and Blood. 1. We give God the greatest Honor he can receive 2. We worthily return him Thanks for his Benefits 3. We render him propitious to pardon our Offences 4. We obtain his Graces and Favors And that which the ancient Law did by four sorts of Sacrifices we perform and that more perfectly by this alone which is altogether Latreutick that is Honouring God Eucharistick that is Thanksgiving Propitiatory Rendring God Favourable and Impetratory Obtaining Graces from him They who are present at this Holy Sacrifice partake of these four sorts of Effects and receive great Advantages thereby supposing they Hear it as they ought To Assist at it therefore as we ought Three things are necessary Attention Respect and Devotion Attention To have the Mind present and attentive to the Divine Action Respect To be present with a great Modesty as to the Exterior and a profound Reverence of the Soul at this adorable Sacrifice at which the Angels themselves Assist with fear and trembling Devotion Not to Hear it negligently and by custom as many times we do but on Design to partake of the four Effects of this Sacrifice viz. To give him Thanks for his Favors To implore his Mercy for our Sins To demand Favors and chiefly that of Converting our Selves entirely to him And to live for ever in his Service Endeavour then Theotime to be present daily as much as you can at this sublime Sacrifice but be mindful to be present with the three Dispositions we spoke of Attention Respect and Devotion There are many different Ways prescrib'd to Assist devoutly at this Holy Sacrifice but supposing you be present with these three Conditions and perform therein those four Things we took notice of Adoring God there profoundly Begging Pardon of him Rendring him Thanks for his Favors and Imploring his Grace for your felf and others This is the most profitable Method you can follow These Four Things ought to be perform'd principally after the Consecration until Communion and for the time that goes before Consecration you may employ it in reciting some Prayers or if you be capable in
Clericus esse merearis ut adolescentiam tuam nulla sorde commacules ut ad altare Christi quasi de thalamo virgo procedas S. Hier. Ep. ad Rustic Live so holily in your Monastery says he to him that you may deserve to be of the Clergy and not defiling your Youth by Sin you may approach to the Altar of Jesus Christ in a perfect Purity Meditate well upon this Advice Theotime consider it often and conceive it spoken to your self and certainly with much more Reason for if a young Religious living in the observance of a Monastical Rule must have a care of himself to make himself worthy of an Ecclesiastical State by a holy Life how much more care and pains ought you to take who live in the World where you have not the Advantages of a Regular Life Secondly 2. By the Study of Sciences necessary for an Ecclesiastic When you prepare your self for an Ecclesiastical State by a vertuous Life remember to joyn with the Exercises of Piety diligent Labor and continual Study to make your self capable to serve God in that Calling This Labor is no less necessary for an Ecclesiastical State than that of Sanctity You are oblig'd to it in Conscience and if you apply not your self carefully to it you render your self unworthy of that Calling * Quia tu repulisti scientiam repellam te ne sacerdotio fungaris mihi Oseae 4. For God will reject from his Priesthood him who hath rejected Science And moreover you make your self guilty in the sight of God of all the Mischiefs which happen thro' your Ignorance The Ignorance of Priests is the greatest Evil that can be found in the Church The great Evils which spring from the Ignorance of Priests it being the chiefest Cause of the Corruption of the People and Loss of Souls It is impossible but that an ignorant Ecclesiastic should be Slothful and Idle not being able to apply himself to his Studies and that Idleness should cast him into Vice as we daily see Now altho' he should not be vicious Idleness alone is criminal in a Priest Add the Mischiefs which the Ignorance of Ecclesiastics causes in respect of the People For it either hinders them from laboring for the Salvation of Souls from whence the People suffer much losing the Assistance they ought to receive from them for their Eternal Salvation or else renders them incapable of sufficiently acquitting themselves of that labor and is the Cause that many Souls are Damn'd by their Incapacity which bars them from Instructing them in those things they ought to know and in a word from directing them in the Way of Salvation which the greatest part know not It is not to be conceiv'd how many Souls are lost by the Ignorance of Priests * Quid enim periculi sit ubi non invenit Pastor pascua dux ignorat itineris viam servus nescit Domini voluntatem Ecclesia quotidie multipliciter miserabiliter experitur S. Bern. in Declamat The Church saith St. Bernard hath daily a great and lamentable Experience of the Danger Souls are expos'd unto when the Pastor wants wherewith to feed his Sheep when the Guide knows not the Way by which he should conduct them to Salvation nor the Servant the Will of his Master which he ought to declare to others O my dear Theotime reflect well upon these things and be afraid lest by your Ignorance you make your self the Cause of the ruin of Souls redeem'd by the Blood of Jesus Christ Addict your self seriously to the Study necessary for an Ecclesiastic and assign for the Mark at which you aim the making your self the most capable you can of serving God in the State to which he hath call'd you In fine An important Advice Whether in Deliberating on this Condition or Preparing your self for it set frequently before your Eyes those excellent Words of S. Augustin writing to a Friend of his who demanded of him Counsel concerning an Ecclesiastical State. * Ante omnia peto ut cogitet religiosa prudentia tua nihil esse in hac vita maxime hoc tempore facilius levius hominibus acceptabilius Episcopi Presbyteri Diaconi Officio si persunctorie adulatorie res agatur sed nihil apud Deum miserabilius tristius damnabilius Item nihil esse in hac vita maxime hoc tempore difficilius laboriosius periculosius Episcopi Presbyteri aut Diaconi Officio sed apud Deum nihil beatius si eo modo militetur quo noster Imperator jubet S. Aug. Epist 184. I entreat you says he before all things that by your Vertuous Wisdom you will consider well that there is nothing in this Life and principally at this Time more easie more light and more acceptable to Men than the Charge of a Bishop of a Priest or of a Deacon if negligently or flatteringly it be discharged yet there is nothing more miserable more dreadful and more damnable in the sight of God. Besides there is nothing in this Life and at this Time more difficult more painful and more dangerous than the Office of a Bishop Priest or Deacon if they acquit themselves of it as they ought and according to the Will of our Master as also there is nothing more happy in the sight of God. CHAP. X. Of a Religious State. AFTER the Ecclesiastical State I come to the Religious the Choice whereof is of no less Consequence than that of the former nor subject to less Faults It is an excellent thing that a Religious who having once forsaken all things should have no other care than to please God by the practice of Penance and Humility living in the exact observance of his Rule and keeping himself retir'd from the Commerce of the World that he may addict himself entirely to the Study of real and solid Perfection But on the contrary it is a sad and deplorable thing that a Religious who is only religious in Habit and making a particular Profession of Perfection is farther from it than the most imperfect Layman loving the World and worldly things subject even to the most gross Vices or having overcome corporal Vices as Impurity Gluttony and the like permits himself to be carry'd away by spiritual Sins as Anger Ambition Envy Discord Enmity and other like which are by so much more dangerous as they are less sensible I omit to speak of those who being enter'd too easily into Religion and without a Vocation from God repent themselves afterwards for being too lightly engag'd in a Business of such Imtance A Repentance which frequently casts them into great Disorders and sometimes carries them even to Apostacy To make a good Choice of this State Two things to be consider'd in a Religious Life two things are necessary 1. To know it well that is to say to understand what it is its Obligations its Advantages and its Dangers 2. To be Instructed well in in the Means he
must make use of to deliberate on it and to know whether he be call'd to it This is what we shall Treat of in the three following Articles ARTICLE I. What a Religious State is What its Obligations its Advantages and Dangers are A Religious Life according to S. Thomas is a Means instituted to acquire Sanctity Status religionis est exercitium quoddam ad sanctitatem assequendam S. Thom. 2.2 Quaest 189. Art. 1. Not an exterior Sanctity which appears in the Habit and exterior Actions of Piety but in an interior Holiness which consists in the Sanctification of the Soul which is effected by the mortification of the Passions by the abridgment of disorderly Passions by the stripping her self from all Inclination to Creatures and Self-love by a strict Union with God thro' Charity For this End do they leave the World that with less hindrance and more freedom they may apply themselves to these Exercises For this do they renounce all worldly Goods and Contentments not only in Affection as all Christians are oblig'd to renounce them but also in Effect that they may more freely and perfectly give themselves to God. And Lastly To acquire this interior Sanctity they practise Austerities Obediences and all the Rules of Religion which are made only for that End. The Obligations of this kind of Life are great Its Obligations for it obliges to observe an exact Chastity a perfect Poverty remov'd not only from the Possession of any Goods but from all Affection to earthly things with an entire renunciation of their proper Will to follow that of their Superiors and to sanctifie themselves interiorly by the practice of Christian Vertues of which we have already spoken As the Obligations of this State are strict there are also singular Advantages Its Advantages which * Quae est ista tam preciosa margarita nonne haec Religio sancta pura immaculata in qua homo vivit purius cadit rarius surgit velocius incedit cautius irroratur frequentius quiescit securius moritur fiducius purgatur citius praemiatur copiosius S. Bern. Hom. de verbis Domini simile est regnum coelorum homini negotiatori S. Bernard handles in one of his Sermons where he says That in Religion a Man lives more purely is rais'd more readily walks more cautiously is more frequently bedew'd with Divine Grace reposes with more security dies with less fear is sooner purg'd in the other Life and more abundantly recompenc'd in Heaven But this is to be understood as he himself says of a holy pure and immaculate Religion that is a Religion observ'd holily wherein they labor solidly for interior Sanctity as has been said This State hath no small Dangers as well as great Advantages Its Dangers the same * Recta quidem semita vestra securior conjugatorum vita non tamen omnino secura Timendum enim periculum triplex id est ne forte aequare se alteri aut respicere retro aut certe in medio ponte stare seu residere quis velit S. Bern. de tribus ordinibus S. Bernard reduces them to three The First Danger is of falling into Pride and a good Opinion of ones self which creeps so easily and insensibly into pious Actions whose merit it greatly diminisheth and many times absolutely ruins The Second is the Danger of looking back to return unto the World either in Effect or by Affection and Desire The Third is of growing loose in the Exercise of a Religious life It is a Way as the same Saint says wherein one must necessarily either advance or retire and if a Man grows slack he falls into Disorder which makes him in the Habit of Religion and Piety lead a most secular Life and full of Vices and which is by so much more dangerous as being really wicked it bears the appearance of Vertue The first of these Dangers ordinarily springs from this that Men judge of Sanctity by the Exterior and one esteems himself such as he seems in appearance not regarding that Sanctity consists in the Vertues of the Soul and chiefly in the practice of a solid and perfect Humility The Second and Third arise most frequently from conversing with the World which is infinitely dangerous for Religious Persons as * Necesse est ut quisque religiosus si falvari desiderat saeculum contemnat sese intra monasterii claustra concludat S. Bern. lib. debene vivend Serm. 66. S. Bernard says and all three together proceed from the want of a true Vocation to Religion These Theotime are the principal things you ought to consider if you deliberate on a Religious Calling Now to the end you may proceed with more assurance in this Deliberation I shall tell you the Order you must observe therein and what you must do to know whether you be call'd to it ARTICLE II. What is to be done to know whether one be call'd to Religion First If you perceive in your self a strong Motion to that State have a care not to reject it because perhaps it is a Vocation from God nor also to embrace it suddenly being it may be only a human Motion You must examin whether it be God who speaks interiorly to you for if it be you must hear and follow him whither he calls you if it be not you must remain as you are But how should I know that you 'll say See the Means Take a good space of time to apply your self to this important Affair and during that time practise exactly four things 1. Refrain from any Conversation with those who would move or excite you to be Religious The Reason is very manifest for as soon as you shall be solicited to it you will not know how to discern whether the Inclination you have to it comes from the Inspiration of God or the Persuasion of Men. 2. Beg daily of God with great earnestness that he would be pleas'd to make his Will known to you and confirm you in this Motion if it come from him or take it away if it come not from him Say to him as S. Peter did a Domine si tu es jube me venire ad te Mat. 14. Lord if it be thou who speakest command me to come to thee Declare that you are ready to hearken to him as young Samuel b Loquere Domine quia audit servus tuus 1 Reg. 3. Speak Lord for thy Servant hears thee and say with S. Paul c Domine quid me vis facere Act 9. Lord what wilt thou have me do 3. Examin diligently 1. The Obligations Advantages and Dangers of a Religious Life of which we have spoken above 2. The Intention you bring to this State. The Intention that must be had to enter into Religion The Intention which must be had in this Design is to withdraw your self from the World to do Penance and to be sanctifi'd interiorly by the practice of Christian Vertues See
Thieves themselves because being constituted to render to every one what belongs to him you are the first who have violently taken his Goods In fine Theotime have a great care of Judging or Governing others except you have Four Qualities Four Qualities requir'd in Judges which the Sacred Scripture requires in those who Judge or Govern which are Wisdom The Fear of God The Love of Justice And the Hatred of Covetousness These are the Four Conditions which the Scripture points at in the wise Counsel Jethro gave to Moses Provide de omni plebe vitos sapientes timenres Deum in quibas in veritas qui oderint avaritiam constitue ex eis tribunos centuriones qui judicent populum Exod. 18. by which he advis'd him to choose wise Men fearing God loving Truth that is Justice and Enemies of Avarice to Govern the People of Israel These Four Qualities with all that we have said of Judges and Magistrates must proportionably be understood of Advocates and Solicitors of whom we shall speak hereafter of all Officers and of all those who have Publick Charges ARTICLE III. Of a Court-Life This Life is full of Dangers and Precipices The Dangers of a Courtiers Life which are very hardly to be avoided by them who are engag'd therein Common Vertues are easily there corrupted the most solid are there shaken and it is very difficult not to be destroy'd in it It is a Life wherein Pride Ambition Vanity Idleness Excess Intemperance a disordinate love of Pleasures an insatiable Covetousness of the Goods of the World do apparently reign If there be any Religion it is only in shew and hypocrisie every one makes so much appear as is necessary to arrive at his End. Solid Vertue is there contemn'd mock'd and many times persecuted An insatiable desire of growing Great possesses the Minds of all Every one thinks of nothing but his Interest and Fortune From thence spring the Flattering of Great ones a loose Complacence towards all the World unworthy Submission false Friendships Dissimulation which shews a pleasing Countenance to those whom they hate in their Heart From thence Envies Cozening Cheats malicious Intrigues unjust Means to supplant others and to advance themselves at their Expence From thence irreconcilable Enmities Revenge and many dreadful Accidents take their rise If things be so how can one be Sav'd in this Condition you 'll say And what must they do who see themselves destinated for that State I answer that altho' Salvation be not absolutely impossible in that Condition yet it is very difficult and those who see themselves like to be engag'd therein ought to stand in great fear and arm themselves with great Precautions against the Dangers of that Life See here what you must bring with you if any Necessity or Birth or any Office design you for that State. The First Precaution is 1. Precaution to bring thither a Mind fully convinc'd of the Vanity of Earthly things of Greatness of Riches of Pleasures all these things pass and you shall pass with them but Eternity shall never pass The Second is 2. Precaution to bring with you a Mind limited in the desire of preferring your self and advancing your Fortune confine your self to your Condition and as for the rest make account that the great Fortune you are to raise is to procure your Salvation What doth it profit a Man says the Son of God to get the whole World and lose his own Soul to be happy for a short time and miserable for all Eternity O what an admirable Fortune is that Theotime to gain Heaven The Third is 3. Precaution to make a firm Resolution to live like a true Christian and never to offend God upon any Account whatsoever Renew often this Resolution and demand of God daily the Grace to observe it faithfully The Fourth is 4. Precaution to carry your self wisely in all your Actions Offend no one be Circumspect Civil ready to offer your Service to oblige all that you can and that not out of a worldly Compliance nor Policy but out of Charity Dissemble much the things which shall be said or done to you Give not credit easily to Reports which are spread abroad which ordinarily are false or upon some ill Design Have a care of the Friendship you contract lest it should be with a Person whose Example or Conversation might change your Mind and withdraw you from the Path of Vertue which is much to be fear'd in a Life at Court. In fine as this State is full of Dangers you have need of arming your self strongly by frequent and daily Prayers by frequenting the Sacraments by the Counsel of a wise Person by the Reading of pious Books and by the Example of those who liv'd holily in the Court of Princes or those who yet lead there their Life in great Vertue ARTICLE IV. Of the Profession of Arms. This Condition is no less dangerous than the former and abounding with as many Obstacles of Salvation It is good in it self it being necessary for the Conservation of the Realm against the Violences of Strangers and for the Defence of Religion against her Enemies but it is become so corrupted that it is almost impossible to be Sav'd therein Amongst the Vices which reign in this Profession there are Five very common and most enormous ones The First is a great Irreligion which makes them contemn the Service of God and their own Salvation And this Irreligion frequently extends it self to Impiety Atheism The Second an execrable Custom of Swearing and Blaspheming The Third an unbridled Impurity which reigns in that Calling in an incredible manner The Fourth a madness of Duelling which miserably sacrifices to the Devil and Eternal Flames a vast number of that Profession The Fifth consists in Rapines unjust Exactions Violences and ill Treating those who cannot resist It is a most difficult thing to be of that Profession and not to fall into these Vices The wisest and most vertuous learn them sooner or later and are deprav'd at the end by the Example or Persuasion of others O Theotime if any inevitable Necessity destinate you for that State know that you cannot sufficiently apprehend your Danger and if you will avoid your Eternal Ruin you have need of arming your self powerfully against these Enemies and Dangers which environ you 1. Embrace not that Calling but with Reason and for a good Cause as because your Birth obliges you thereto * Non enim militare delictum est sed propter praedam militare peccatum est S. Aug. Serm. 19. de Verb. Domini or for Publick Necessity or other good Reason and not for a Capricho and Licenciousness for Idleness and Sloth for a desire of raising your Fortune nor much less to enrich your self by Spoils Robberies and Extortions These are the most ordinary Motives of those who cast themselves into that Condition Apud omnem Christianum prima honestatis debet
demanded neither Riches nor Pleasures nor Glory nor any of the things which young People are accustom'd so greedily to seek after but only Vertue and Wisdom This Choice was so pleasing to God Plâ—â—uit sermo coâ—aâ— Domino â—â—oâ— Sâ—loâ—â—on poâ—â—â—lasset hujusmodi rem Et ait Dominus Salomoni quia postulasti verbum hoc c. 3. Reg. 4. Et veniebant de cunctis populis ad audiendam sapientiam Salomonis ab universis regibus terrae qui audiebant sapientiam ejus Cumque esset sapientissimus Ecclesiastes docuit populum enarravit quae fecerat investigans composuit parabolas multas quaesivit verba utilia conscripsit sermones rectissimos ac veritate plenos Eccl. 1 2. Rex autem Salomon adamavit mulieres alienigenas multas c. His copulatus est ardentissimo amore averterunt mulieres cor ejus Cumque jam esset senex depravatum est cor ejus per mulieres ut sequeretur Deos alienos 3 Reg. 11. that he granted him a Wisdom by which he surpassed all Men that ever had been or should be after him With this great Wisdom he spends the better part of his Life in an eminent Vertue acceptable to God honor'd and almost ador'd by Men who came from all Parts of the World to hear his Wisdom Governing his People with an admirable Conduct instructing them in the Service of God by his wise Discourses and by the Sacred Books he had compos'd full of Divine Wisdom dictated by the Holy Ghost himself Now after all this O Theotime who could believe it if the Scripture had not said it after all these Favors and all these Wonders this incomparable Man fell so misfortunately that he cast himself into a dreadful Precipice This great Light was ecclipsed this so admirable Wisdom permitted it self to be surpris'd and this great Wit who had been the wisest of Mortals letting his Heart be conquer'd by the Love of Women lost in a short time all his Wisdom and became infatuated even to such a degree as to commit Idolatry with his Idolatrous Women and to adore as many Idols as he had Women of different Religions O human Misery how great art thou O the Weakness and Inconstancy of Man Who is there that ought not to tremble after this terrible Example If the highest Vertues fall so miserably what ought not common and mean Vertues to fear Wo and wo again to those who have lost Perseverance and who have departed from the Path of Vertue to go astray in the great Road of Vice. O my dear Theotime let us learn by this Example to a Cum metu tremore salutem vestram operamini Phil. 2. work out our Salvation with fear and trembling not to trust to our own past Merits but to be always upon our guard b Qui stat videat ne cadat 1 Cor. 10. He who thinks he stands let him have a care of falling He did not say He who shall have begun but c Qui perseveraverit usque in finem hic salvus erit Mat. 24. He who shall have persever'd until the end shall be sav'd To avoid this Misfortune see here the Means you must practise 1. Be faithful to the Divine Favors for as the holy Council of Trent says admirably * Deus enim nisi illius gratiae defuerimus sicut caepit opus bonum ita perficiet operans velle perficere Conc. Trid. Sess 6. c. 13. Except we be wanting to the Grace of God he will perfect in us the Happiness he hath begun working in us the will and accomplishment 2. Live always in Humility in Fear in a Distrust of your self in the Exercise of good Works for according to the Doctrin of the same Council * In Dei auxilio sirmissimam spem collocare reponere omnes debent c. Veruntamen qui se existimant stare videant ne cadant cum timore tremore salutem suam operentur in laboribus in vigiliis in eleemosynis in orationibus oblationibus jejuniis castitate Formidare enim debent scientes quod in spem gloriae at nondum in gloriam renati sunt de pugna quae superest cum carne cum mundo cum diabolo in qua victores esse non possunt nisi cum gratia Dei Apostolo obtemperent dicenti debitores sumus non carni ut secundum carnem vivamus si autem Spiritu facta carnis mortificaveritis vivetes Sup. Altho' every one should firmly trust to the Divine Assistance yet nevertheless those who think they stand ought to have a care they fall not and work their Salvation with fear and trembling by Labor by Watching by Alms by Prayers by Offerings by Fasts by Charity Because not being as yet regenerated to Glory but only to the Hopes of enjoying it they ought to stand in fear of the Battel with the World the Flesh and the Devil in which they must yet engage and in which they cannot conquer unless by the Grace of God they obey the Apostle who admonishes us not to live according to the Flesh for if we live according to it we shall die but if by the Spirit we shall mortifie in us the works of the Flesh we shall live 3. The Third Means is diligently to have a care of Five things 1. To fly the dangerous Occasions of offending God for he who preserves not himself from Danger shall fall therein 2. Not to lapse into a Remissness but to rise as soon as we are fall'n because that easily leads to Sin. 3. To avoid the Sins of Omission and amongst others those which are against the Obligations of ones State pious Persons often trip grosly in this Point 4. To preserve your self from a secret Presumption which insensibly mingling it self with Vertue is a great Disposition to a Fall and Precipice 5. To avoid a multitude of Venial sins which being neglected lead to Mortal * Qui spernit modica paulatim decidet Eccl. 19. He who despises small Faults says the Wiseman will fall by little and little 4. The Fourth Means is to Examin often the Condition of your Soul her Habits her Inclinations her Affections to know those which are ill and correct them For this reason you must frequently reflect upon your self and from time to time or at least once a Year review and renew your interior State that you may get fresh Forces in the Service of God. To read often the Advices given above in Ch. 14. and Christian Maxims in Ch. 15. will also help very much And in fine the great necessary and most effectual Means is to Pray much and beg of God frequently this holy Perseverance Hence it is that the Son of God says that a Vigilate orate Marc. 13. Oportet semper orare non deficere Luc. 13. we must Watch and Pray that we must Pray always without intermission S. Augustin says that it is only granted to those that Pray