profit 't is manifest that in the Night you will find nothing but Errours and Mischiefs Who would refuse to go his Journey while the Sun shines believing that he shall find his way better in the dark Therefore shake off idleness and embrace fervency and diligence Do you think you shall be able to find diligence at your Death when you have wasted all your Life in laziness and in sloth or that you shall find Amendment when you come to be judged Idleness being the Mother of all Vices The Saints call Idleness the Sepulchre of the Living because Worms Rottenness and Corruption are engendred by it and that it foments all kinds of Miseries together That holy Man understood it well who living in the Desart busied himself in carrying stones from one place to another and in bringing them back thither again and being asked why he did so he answered I avoid idleness or at least I master that body that would master me No Vice is so destructive to the Spirit nor so kind a Companion to the Flesh as idleness and although it seems the least is yet the cause of the greatest Evils Besides being slothful and idle in good there is no ill which does not encrease and become worse by it for it is the same thing as to set open the Gate of the Soul to all the Passions and Vices that shall have a mind to enter There is no Vice so mean but will adventure to assault an idle Man because it looks upon him as one that will not take the pains to make any resistance being so weak as to have yielded up himself even before he be attempted and so all wickednesses take confidence to come upon him and assume to themselves a Jurisdiction over him If the Devil be diligent watchful bold strong heedful crafty and cruel What will he be not able to do against a weak idle careless and disarmed Man The holy the spiritual and the diligent who night and day busie themselves in some vertuous Employment have much ado to escape free from the Assaults of the Devil How then shall the slothful be able to defend himself from so designing and so dangerous an Enemy So much thou dost encrease in holiness as thou dost encrease in diligence and therefore work always without ceasing for those works are Safety and Reward and do advance thee in Spirit and Charity The blessed Virgin came to so much Perfection by working for having begun with such unspeakable Graces she rose to more than can be imagined only by going on each moment encreasing and improving her former Gifts and Graces The holy Apostles were the Light of the World and observe how diligent they were They went about like the Sun in perpetual motion and by that means Twelve Men alone were able in a little more than Thirty Years to enlighten to reduce and to confound the blindness of the Gentiles throughout the whole World How could holy Persons in former Ages become in few Years such Prodigies of Holiness but by their diligence to encrease and redouble their Talents and by constantly following the Dictates of the Holy Spirit which governed them Even those valiant and ambitious Men that heretofore conquer'nt so many Nations and Countreys could never have done it but by diligence One of those being ask'd How in less than Nine Years he had gained so many Kingdoms answer'd Non procrastinando by not delaying till to Morrow If this be necessary for the Conquest of frail mortal and inconstant Kingdoms that are but Heaps of Dung What diligence and care is needful in us Christians for the gaining of the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven Traffick till I come says the Saviour of Souls Be industrious and suffer not your Talents to lie idle That slothful Servant who buried his Talent did no other harm but that he did so and sat down quietly by it and yet for all that the Lord condemns him to Hell and calls him wicked Servant Serve nequam Cursed of God because being lazy and sluggish he gave that to the Earth and to what is Sensual which was due to Heaven and to what is Spiritual Our Humane Condition and Misery can hardly hold to an Indifference If thou dost not labour in that which is good thou wilt take pains in that which is Evil not to watch is to fall asleep not to serve God and please him is little better than to offend him and in the Opinion of those who will allow no indifference in things it is as I have shew'd absolutely to offend him Believe me 't is not for nothing that Christ so often calls upon us to Watch He pronounced that word fourteen times and his blessed Lips exhort us to it so often with that very same word Watch. Sloth Idleness Omission and Negligence is the sleep of Death which carries us to Death Eternal Watch then for the Devil sleeps not for thine Appetite sleeps not Watch least the Bridegroom find thee without Oyl like the foolish Virgins when he shall come to judge thee Watch for the Thief goes about carefully to rob thy House Watch for the Infernal Lyon goes about seeking to devour thee Watch and expect the coming of thy Lord with thy Lamp burning when he shall come from the first Marriage unto the second that is from his first to his second Coming Finally If thou wilt be a true Spiritual Person thou must work and labour sweat and walk without stopping and with fervent steps follow the Lord who goes before thee carrying the Cross on his Divine Shoulders and giving strength breath and courage unto thy Fervency by his Love NOVEMBER The First WEEK Of the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit in General IT is time now to gather in the Fruits of this Spiritual Year that we may praise God in the advantages of a Plentiful Encrease St. Paul the Light and the Apostle of the Gentiles teacheth us That the Fruits of the Spirit are Twelve to wit Charity Peace Long-suffering Benignity Faith Continence Joy Patience Goodness Meekness Modesty and Chastity I admire that he puts the End in the Middle and seems to make the Root to be the Fruit For I should think that the Fruits of the Spirit were the Graces and the Blessings we have already treated of in some of the former Months that is to say a happy Death Absolution from Judgment a Pardon pronounced to us at the passing of that Sentence and the Reward Crown and Glory of the Blessed in the other Life which is given to those that have fought a good fight in this but to make the Fruit of the Spirit and of being vertuous to be Vertue it self seems to me either to put the end of Vertue in the middle or else to anticipate that Fruit in this Life which only can be attained perfectly in the Life Eternal But St. Paul by naming the excellent Fruits of the Spirit wisely answers the wicked of this World who hold the Spiritual Life for Folly and
places and orders of Men which sad and lamentable Evil as it is the desire of all good Men as far as in them lies to remedy so he believes an impartial and diligent perusal of this and such-like Spiritual Treatises will by the assistance of God's Grace be Instrumental to the producing of that blessed effect He found by reading this Book that in it were laid down the most profitable and useful Instructions the most affecting and forcible Arguments to allure to the Service of God and the most solid and substantial Nourishment that can be administred to Souls And this gave him Encouragment to undergo the pleasing Trouble of preparing it for a Publick Reading Which being effected his hearty Prayers to Almighty God are that his Endeavours may have their desired influence upon the Hearts and Minds of all that shall vouchsafe to peruse them and that that Devout and Heavenly Spirit may in some measure be communicated to them whereby the Spiritual Author of this Spiritual Year was acted in Designing and Perfecting so Divine and Profitable a Work THE Author's PREFACE THE Design of this Piece is to draw Souls to the serious Consideration of Eternity to move their Affections to the Love of Heavenly things and to bring them to a Contempt of those that are Temporal and transitory In it they will see much of what is treated at large in divers Spiritual Books and the substance of what lies dispersed in them summed up in this one not with that Spirit and Learning wherewith those Authors wrote but with equal desire for the good of Souls Indeed that which we are able to do is nothing in respect of what God does by that Grace which he hath tyed to the Ministry for without all doubt 't is He that does all He that moves all He that directs all He that amends all and brings all to Perfection Though St. Paul was a Vessel of Election full of the Spirit and might have had as great confidence in himself as any other Apostle yet this made him say That his Planting was nothing and his Watering nothing but that it was God that gave the Increase However it much animates the Labourers of the Gospel in the Spiritual Work to find that it often happens to them as it does to Husband-men who scatter their Seed on their Land with perfect heedlesness part of it falling beside and part being thrown from them with an uncertain direction only with a purpose to fill the Field with Seed and yet returning home afterwards to take their rest God while they are asleep sends Rain upon the Inheritance moistens the Earth disposes the Seed tempers the Heat seasons the Elements makes it rot revive and rise again so that even in Corruption it takes Root grows up and brings forth the full Ear. What did the Sower more than cast away the Seed from him as if he regarded it not And yet it springs up and gives an abundant increase All that he did was to prepare the Matter that God might work the Miracle which as St. Austin says is only little in Man's Consideration because he sees God work it so often This hope encourages me to scatter the Seeds of the Divine Word into the Hearts of the Faithful trusting that God who is the Worker of all that we do will give his Blessing his Grace and Power to the end that the Fruit may be multiplied which Effect in the Parable of the Sower his Divine Majesty intimates he useth to produce in those Souls who receive it with Attention and with a pious holy Affection it taking Root in them as in a fertile Soil But it may be some will say there be already so many Books of Devout Meditations that this might well have been spared they being so Holy and Spiritual and this not so being written by so wretched a sinner as I am To this I answer that though all other Persons might be questioned why they make Spiritual Treatises since there are so many yet that account ought not to be demanded from Bishops since it is a thing as proper to their Ministry to Write to Teach and Instruct as the very Name of a Pastor And in that Work 't is lawful for a Prelate to Teach not only Opportunely but in a manner Importunely as St. Paul teaches his Disciple Timothy who was Bishop of Ephesus Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and Doctrine that is by Sermons by Writing by Conversing and by Example And therefore We Bishops ought ever to fear the contrary Censure and Question Why do ye not write Spiritual Books And this being the more dreadful Censure we ought to embrace that which we have least need to fear and to avoid that which can most condemn us Moreover 't is a very affected and unreasonable Complaint of the Politick Censurer who is troubled that so many Spiritual Treatises come forth into the World for God can never be too much praised thereby nor can Evangelical Counsels be too often repeated nor Discourses that aim at the Salvation of Souls be too frequent though consisting of one same Matter To say the truth we have seen nothing else in the Church of God from the time that His Divine Majesty settled it with his Blood but this Succession of Doctrine which has accompanied that of those same Ministers whom by their Vocation and excellent Abilities he called and appointed for Masters of Christian Instruction The Four Evangelists wrote those four Books which contain all the Treasures of Grace in the Life and Death of our Saviour yet St. John did not forbear to write his three Epistles and the Revelation St. Luke the Acts of the Apostles St. Peter two Epistles and St. Paul fourteen St. James one St. Jude another and their Disciples Ignatius Polycarp and others did also write though they might have contented themselves with what the Apostles had done who were the General Ministers and Teachers of the Faith After these succeed the Doctors of the Greek and Latine Churches who filled the World with Writings without any prejudice to those or rather proceeding upon the same Doctrine and using it according to their purpose have enlightened and enriched the Church to the great profit and comfort of Souls That Book of the Imitation of Christ made by Thomas a Kempis which some call the Contempt of the World and others The Christian Pattern though it be a very little one is yet so full of weight that those other Spiritual Treatises which have been written since might seem superfluous yet for all that the Venerable Lewis de Granada having translated and incorporated it into his Meditations with those of another excellent Author which are very Heavenly both in their Spirit Style and Matter did not only make others after them but wrote also the Guide of Sinners which has reduced converted and guided so many as likewise the Symbol of the Faith and several
their Frailty can permit they need neither desire nor trouble themselves for more and if God shall please to give them any thing beyond that let them decline it with Humility or receive it with Reverence and preserve it with Fear working in all things with resignation and the Counsel of their Spiritual Guide for the Revelations whereby we are to be saved are already revealed to the Church and for the rest though they may be profitable yet they are not necessary to my Design To conclude I offer this Work such as it is full I confess of Imperfections to all that are desirous to improve and go forward in the Spiritual Life with a most affectionate desire of their good earnestly exhorting them to the principal end which the whole aims at namely to know how much earthly transitory things ought to be despised and therefore to flie from Vices to avoid Worldly Delights and to embrace those which are Heavenly and Eternal to practise the Vertues to frequent the Sacrament to Pray earnestly and often and finally to labour and take pains in the Kingdom of Grace that they may come to enjoy God eternally in the Kingdom of Glory AN INDEX OF THE Several Subjects treated of in each Month and Week of this Spiritual Year JANUARY Week I. OF the Frailty of Humane Nature Week II. Of the Weakness of Man and the Miseries of his Body Week III. Of the Miseries of the Soul and its Passions Week IV. Of the Miseries and Sins of each Man in particular FEBRUARY Week I. Of the Remembrance of Death Week II. How much it concerns the Soul to remember Death in the time of Life Week III. The dreadful Call of God to the sinner that defers Repentance till his Death Week IV. The Answer of a Repenting sinner and that we ought to prepare our selves for Death MARCH Week I. Of the particular Account that each man is to give immediately after his Death Week II. Of the Rectitude and Severity of the Judgment Week III. Of the means there are in this Life to prevent the Account and Judgment of the other Week IV. Of the Universal Judgment at the end of the World APRIL Week I. Of the Torments of Hell Week II. Of the Place of Hell Week III. Of the Company of the Damned and of their pain of Sense Week IV. Of the duration of the pain above-mentioned of the pain of Loss and of the Worm of Conscience MAY. Week I. Of the Divine Benefits Of the Benefit of Creation Week II. Of the Institution of Matrimony Of Civil Society and Government Week III. Of the Benefit of Preservation first of our Bodies Of Preservation from particucular dangers Of the Preservation of our Souls Of the Guard of Angels Week IV. Of the Benefit of Redemption JUNE Week I. Of Baptism and Confirmation Week II. Of Repentance and Absolution Of the Holy Eucharist A Prayer Week III. Of Frequenting the Sacrament Week IV. Of the Kingdom of Grace Of the Purity of Intentions Of Purity of Conscience JULY Week I. Of Temptations and the Grace of God in them That it is no easie matter to be sav'd but that it is necessary to fight Of the Grace of God Week II. Of the Glory of the Blessed Week III. Of the Imitation of the Life of our Blessed Saviour and of his Mysteries Of the Mystery of the Incarnation Of the Birth of our Lord. Week IV. Of the other Mysteries of our Lord till his Preaching and first of his Circumcision The Adoration of the Kings Of his Presentation in the Temple Of his Flight into Egypt Of the other Mysteries AUGUST Week I. Of the Baptism and Preaching of our Lord with his Doctrine Miracles and Parables Week II. The Eve of the Passion Of the last Supper and of the washing of his Disciples Feet Of the Institution of the Holy Sacrament Of the Consecration of the Apostles Week III. Of his Agony in the Garden his Death Resurrection and Ascension Week IV. Of the Exercise of the three Theological Vertues Faith Hope and Charity upon Contemplation of the Life and Death of our Saviour SEPTEMBER Week I. Of the Vertue of Religion and of the manner of governing the Cardinal and Moral Vertues by that of Religion Of the Application of Christian Works Week II. Of the three first of the Cardinal Vertues Prudence Justice Fortitude and first of Prudence Of Justice and of good and evil Judges Of Fortitude Week III. Of Temperance the Fourth of the Cardinal Vertues Of the manner of governing the Moral Vertues by the Cardinal Of Judging falsly Week IV. Of Humility and its contrary Pride OCTOBER Week I. Of Liberality and its contrary Covetousness Of Chastity and Abstinence The Mischiefs of Sensuality Of Remedies against Sensuality Of Gluttony Week II. Of Patience Of Anger Of Moderation in speaking and the mischiefs of the Tongue Of Silence Week III. Of Envy Remedies against Envy Of Charity to our Neighbours Of Courtesie Week IV. Of Diligence and Fervency and of the mischiefs of Omission and Sloth NOVEMBER Week I. Of the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit in general Of Charity the First Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week II. Of Peace the Second Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week III. Of Longanimity and Benignity the Third and Fourth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Week IV. Of Faith the Fifth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Continence the Sixth Fruit. DECEMBER Week I. Of Joy the Seventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Patience the Eighth Fruit. Week II. Of Goodness the Ninth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Meekness the Tenth Fruit. Week III. Of Modesty the Eleventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Chastity the Twelfth and last Fruit. Week IV. Of Perseverance and Prayer to God THE Spiritual Year JANVARY The First WEEK Of the Weakness of Humane Nature HEAR Son the Instruction of thy Father and learn to fear God who is thy true Father Consider thy beginning if thou desirest to have a good ending Look what thou art and thou wilt see what thou shalt be Know thy self and thou shalt know God Behold thy self that thou mayest behold him thou art blind from thy birth like the man in the Gospel and mayest recover thy sight as he did by putting Clay upon thine eyes That is the matter thou art made of and it had remain'd Clay for ever if the Spirit of God had not breathed life into it Thus thou seest what Humane Nature is and that it speaks nothing but weakness and frailty 2. Would'st thou see how strong it is Look how long it stood Man being created in Innocence scarce continu'd so for a few days some say hardly a few hours His Nature was so perfect and so strong that it was able to destroy it self and without any inward weakness it yielded in Adam and Eve to an outward Enemy What is it like to be now that it is sick and mortally wounded since it ruined it self when it was sound and healthful Man fell in Paradise in the
Therefore of all those Vertues thou oughtest to follow and exercise in this Spiritual Life there is none thou shouldest so deeply meditate upon nor so earnestly beg that God would give thee as that of holy Humility Though Humility be a Vertue as it is exercis'd yet it is a Gift as it is bestow'd and therefore it is needful to beg it of God with earnestness constancy and humbleness So great is our Pride and so great is our Vanity that without a particular succour and favour of our good Master Jesus we are not capable of true holy and perfect Humility Pride is so natural to us and so rooted in us that even when we exercise our selves in Employments of Humility we are wont unless God by Grace prevent it to make them the matter of our Vanity How mischievous must that needs be which turns our Remedy into a Mischief How great is my Pride if when I prostrate my self meekly and humbly I often rise up again proud insolent and disdainful Even in the midst of Humility there may spring up a Vanity of being Humble and an inward Pride may grow out of a Conceit of my Humility which is worse than an outward Pride cloath'd with Vanity for that when it hurts does undeceive but this both hurts and deceives together O Lord of Mercy and Pity that my Vanity should be so excessive as to make me unless thou prevent it grow vain and proud in the very Temple of Humility That I should profane those holy Walls and upon the Altar of the Lord set up the Idol of Dagon and that I should adore my self in that place where I ought to adore none but God alone Therefore beg Humility of God without ceasing and whatsoever thou shalt do that is orderly right honest good holy or perfect still beg of God Humility If thou wert able to give sight to the Blind strength to the Lame Ears to the Deaf nay even to raise the Dead yet tremble and pray to God for Humility If thou could'st speak as an Angel and do Works that might become a Seraphim If thou drawest all the World after thee and that for God if thou convertest Souls if thou art a Master in Spirit and Perfection and that all thou goest about succeeds to thy desires yet tremble and pray to God for Humility Believe me between Hell and those Successes Miracles and Perfections there is not the breadth of a finger I say not so much since all the distance between them is but thine own Will which is weaker and of less power than thy finger Dost thou work Miracles Why so did Judas Dost thou know much Lucifer knew more Art thou good Adam was much better Are thy Writings heavenly Those of David were much more so Hast thou Divine Revelations So had Solomon Yet some of these fell and others of them were lost for ever Humility I say Humility Stick close to that for thereby all things shall redound to thy profit and without it any thing may be thy ruine and destruction Go with humble confidence into the presence of the Lord with humbleness because thou art wicked and with confidence because he is infinitely good Go with contrition because he sees thy wickedness and go with cheerfulness because thou fixest thy eyes upon his goodness Never place the end of thy remedy in thy self nor believe in thy Works alone that thou shalt go to Heaven for them or that thine own hands and feet shall carry thee thither Thou shalt not enter there without them but neither shalt thou enter for them It is God that carries us to Heaven and his Grace his Goodness his Pity his Merits his Death Passion and Mercy for without these let us do what we can and take never so much pains we shall never be able to get thither It is a better Phrase to say God has taken him up to Heaven than to say He is gone to Heaven God carries us guides us helps us God calls pardons and crowns us and all this because he loves us Lazarus that holy Beggar was carried by Angels to Abraham's bosom but the rich Glutton went to Hell of himself God carries us to Heaven if we be sav'd and we condemn our selves if we be damned Dost thou look upon thy good works Thou owest them all to God Dost thou see the Repentance that reformes thee the Chastity that adorns thee and the Charity that enflames thee Thou art endebted for them all to God The Pot dress'd up with Flowers is not proud of them for it is but a little Earth and Dung honour'd by the hand of the Gardiner What hast thou that thou hast not received And if thou hast received it why dost thou foolishly boast as if thou hadst not received it They are the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles He that has wrought best in the Spiritual Life he that has been a Martyr of Perfection he that has liv'd so as to strike all the World with admiration of his Spirit and Fervour he that has most exercised himself in all Verrtues the most generous Martyr the glorious Apostles St. John the Baptist the most holy Virgin and all the Saints and just Persons at their entring and being crown'd in Glory do not give thanks to their own Excellencies nor ascribe their Salvation to themselves but unto God and to his Mercy Goodness Blood and precious Merits which gave them those Excellencies and Vertues They liv'd humbly they entred with humbleness into Heaven and they are crowned for their Humility Therefore be thou humble and do not think thy self the Author of thy Fortune when it is good but when it is bad acknowledge that thou art so Depend for all thy Fortune upon God Those hands that made and fashioned thee will preserve inform and reform thee Believe that of thy self thou art nothing but a source of misery and that thou hast no goodness nor any stability in thee but what is given thee by his Goodness Grace and Mercy Attribute all that is good and holy in thee to God to whom it all belongs but all that is evil wretched and imperfect to thy self for that only is thine own Labour sweat persevere exercise thy self in what is good and with care and diligence avoid all that is evil But in doing all this rely nothing upon thy self without God but trust all to him who is thy Helper within thee above thee and round about thee Then let the Humility which thou embracest inwardly shoot forth also outwardly in all thy Actions for it is not easie to believe that internal Humility can dwell with external Vanity Let thy words and actions suit with an humble heart for to praise and applaud ones self openly and pretend to be esteemed and respected does not make it very probable that Humility is lodged within The Humility of that Mind comes very short that cannot reach from the inside to the outside the distance being so little between one and the other
laugh at the Godly for mortifying and persecuting themselves with Abstinence and other Acts of Repentance living retir'd and abstracted from the World and despising Humane Delight and Felicity Loose and debauch'd Persons use to ask those of stricter Life What Fruit do ye get by that Mortification by that Solitariness and Fasting wherewith ye torment and destroy your selves Had you not better live merrily and enjoy the Pleasures of the Flesh as we do The Apostle replys What Fruits do we get Twelve heavenly Fruits the Holy Spirit gives us which we would not Exchange for all the Fruits for all the Delights and for all the Pleasures which the World can bestow And we must take notice that he most discreetly forbears to reckon for the present Fruits those Eight Beatitudes with which Christ begins his Sermon upon the Mount for they are Promises of Blessings in the future and though some of them are not without effect even in this Life yet they all chiefly regard the Life to come He says Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted that is with everlasting Comforts Blessed are the meek for they shall possess the earth that is the Land of the Living which is Heaven Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness that is do earnestly desire to be good for they shall be filled that is shall have most perfect goodness in Glory Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy that is at the Day of Judgment Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the children of God Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven St. Paul would not reckon these for the Fruits of the Spirit because our Saviour had spoken of them before in his Gospel and these are not the Fruits of our Banishment but of our Country Those Beatitudes are the Fruits of these other Twelve which St. Paul here nameth That which he meant was to turn the Argument upon those poor deceived Wretches of this World saying Do ye ask us What Fruit we have in mortifying our selves by the power of the Spirit We answer That we not only obtain Eternal Glory as Christ promised us in the Life to come and that proportionable to what we suffer here for he says We shall receive an hundred fold but that even in this Life he gives us Fruits of Glory Comfort Peace and Joy and the Spirit causes such heavenly Effects in us as give our Life the advantage far above all the Feasts and Merriments of yours St. Paul seems to compare Spiritual Delights with Sensual Pleasures and the Recreations of the Good with the Pastimes of the Wicked This appears in that he does not count Eternal Glory for the Fruit of the Spirit but those Effects which the Spirit it self produces in this Life which are Joy Peace Long-suffering c. as if he should have said The Spirit has two sorts of Fruits one for this Life which is an Internal Glory and the other for the Life to come which is both an External Internal and Supernal Glory Two Fruits one of Temporal Peace upon Earth and the other of Eternal Peace in Heaven This Question which sinners make to the righteous seems to correspond to that which St. Paul makes to sinners when he asks them What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed and they if they will answer truly can answer nothing but that Grief Misery and Confusion has been the Fruit of them but they answer only with another Question saying And you What Fruit do you get by following of Vertue To which St. Paul answers Not One Fruit but Twelve most savory and pleasant ones which are the cause of Eternal Fruits He likewise implicitly puts the Beatitudes for the Fruit of the Spirit and comprehends them in these Twelve as one that gives the name of the Effect to the Cause for it is as if he had said Do thou assure me that thou enjoyest these Twelve Fruits of the Spirit in this Life and I will assure thee that thou shalt enjoy those Eight Beatitudes in the other Life Do thou assure me that thou livest here in the Kingdom of Grace and I will assure thee that thou shalt Reign there for ever in the Kingdom of Glory 'T is true one would think that these Twelve Fruits which we now speak of gathering in and storing up for the Harvest of the Spiritual Year seem to be those common Vertues we spoke of in the Second Part but though they be like there is great difference between them for this Peace this Chastity this Charity this Benignity c. are not altogether the same with those there spoken of but these do presuppose those and these are a Supream Habit which God gives by his Holy Spirit whereby he raises facilitates perfects and crowns those Vertues which are there begun and brings them to an high and heroical Perfection The Reason upon which I ground my self is That those Vertues though they be serviceable for the Exercise of Grace yet they are not called the Fruits of the Spirit but Vertues which conduce to the Spirit and with which we begin and proceed in the Spiritual Life but these Fruits which St. Paul here mentions are more than Vertues they are Gifts and Fruits which grow from the Spirit and as a Tree after having been digged about manur'd prun'd and taken care of all the Year does by gathering an inward Sap beget the generative vertue of its Fruit defends it by its Bark in the Winter shelters it with its Leaves in the Summer seasons it with the Sun and the Air in the Autumn and lastly offers up its Fruit to be gathered by the owner which is the best of all his Labours So also these Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are the best of the Spiritual Life and much more excellent than those Vertues wherewith Men begin and go on in it at the first and these grow from them into a Fruit which by and through their means the Holy Spirit ripens and makes more fragrant more savoury and more substantial than all those Vertues of the beginning We will go on discoursing of these Twelve Fruits in the remaining Weeks of this Spiritual Year to the end that thou mayest rejoyce in finding That Blessedness is not only the Reward of Vertue but that Vertue it self is Blessedness already and that thou mayest see and know and feel within thy self that whatsoever is not Spirit and Vertue and the Love of God is nothing but Sadness Pain and Misery Of Charity the first Fruit of the Holy Spirit Here St. Paul the great Master of Souls seems in these Fruits and Gifts of the Holy Spirit to joyn the beginning with the end and the Root with the Fruit for he says that the two first Fruits which the Holy Ghost gives to a Spiritual Man are Charity and
is a full resignation to all that God doth disposeth or permitteth and there he quiets comforts and chears up himself where the Will of God is for in that the true Peace consists The Third WEEK Of the Third and Fourth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Longanimity and Benignity THE Apostle of the Gentiles proposes Longanimity as a Fruit of the Holy Spirit because it is not only profitable but necessary for the preservation of Peace and Charity and is a most excellent Vertue of Souls Longanimity signifies a dilating and enlargement of the heart which gives it a capacity of bearing both inward and outward Troubles and having this nothing affrights or amazes nothing terrifies nor afflicts it And if God did not give this admirable Fruit and Gift to the Soul it would be lost and fall away at every step and neither act with valour constancy nor perseverance The heart of Man is so little that it is not sufficient to give a small break-fast to a Kite and so of it self it is not capable of any great thing being so wretched a Morsel Can the Sea be contained in a Thimble Can the thing contained be greater than what contains it If the Vessel of this Human Nature that is Man's heart be so narrow what great thing can find room within it Now see the Miracle that God works with the Spiritual Man and how high a Fruit this Longanimity and the Enlarging of the Heart is which God gives to a Soul according to the measure it hath served loved and pleased him or according as he thinks fit to give it of his own good will making it so capacious as to be able to contain the Soveraign Gifts and Vertues of God and which is more even God himself who contains all things It would be a rare thing if a Man that lives in a poor little Cottage should of a sudden find himself in a Royal Stately and Majestick Palace or in a huge populous City What a wonderful Enlargement would that be of his poor Hermitage O Divine Beauty O heavenly Architect O immense good of Souls How vastly thou dilatest how strangely thou enlargest Man's heart with thy Grace and with thy Spirit Who does not sometimes see a Man great in Wit in Fortune and in Quality Who in a few years nay perhaps in a few Months before was busily running after childish Pleasures and drag'd along by his mean vile and sensual Appetite in such trouble anguish and affliction that his Soul hardly so big as a Child's Rattle was capable of nothing but empty Vanities his Heart being scarcely so big in comparison as a Pepper Corn mistaking every action stumbling at every step every thing afflicting him every thing tormenting him and God of a sudden entring into him and with Soveraign Light enlarging his Heart and spreading out his Mind by Longanimity he begins to despise and to mock at those things which he so fondly hunted after before and pretended to as things highly considerable but now being made capable of greater Matters turning his back to such mean vile Trifles he seeks after that which is really great and high that which is heavenly and unspeakable without ever resting or contenting himself till he have attained it What is this who enlarged that Heart Who stretched out that narrow Vessel which before was fill'd with a few small drops and now nothing can fill it but the unmeasurable Sea of the Passion of our Lord Who made a Giant of this Dwarf that before could hardly wield a Straw and now like Sampson is able to throw down and carry away Pillars and bear all the strong weaknesses of this Life Who hath made him that before cried as a Child because he could not get an Hobby-horse for such are the highest things the World can give now undervalue and despise whole Nature to ingulf himself in the vast Ocean of Grace Who hath made him that a while before followed hunted after and embraced Dung and Corruption to think the whole Heavens too little for him aiming to seek and possess the Creator of them and of himself Yesterday he was as busie in making little Houses of Sticks upon the Sand and covering them with Straw as Children are about making Dirt-Pies in some Corner and now he tramples upon the Stars and pretending to Eternity can content himself with no House but the Empyreal Heavens Who could work these Miracles but the Holy Ghost giving that Heart his Fruit and Blessing in that high Gift of Longanimity which enlarges it and dilates the Soul making it capable of those infinite good things that Supream Gift being the Tree which bears these admirable Fruits This St. Paul knew when he said When I was a Child I spoke as a Child I thought as a Child and did as a Child and in all that he acknowledged his own littleness but now that I am a Man I act as a Man and put away all childlish things Behold the difference between a Child and a Man In a Child all things are childish in a Man they are serious In a Child there is neither strength nor capacity he is a publick Necessity that lives upon Alms which Charity bestows upon him whether it be of his Parents or of his Nurse or of any other that takes pity on him A Man has strength and ability he is a publick Succour that is capable of any thing Now the same difference that there is between a Man and a Child nay a far greater there is between a good Spiritual Man and a wicked debauch'd Fellow that lives in a loose and sinful Course I say a much greater for the growth of a Child that becomes a Man is a natural Growth which is short limited and slow increasing by very insensible degrees and that hardly rises six Feet from the Ground in fourscore Years but the growth of a Man that was wicked and to whom God hath shewed the kindness to make him good and holy and to give him that Gift of Longanimity that is a growth of Grace in which there is no Geometrical material Distance or Degrees but is all Supernatural Behold the distance there is between Heaven and Earth that between an evil and good Man is yet greater Nay how far it is from Hell which is much lower than the Superficies of the Earth unto the Empyreal Heaven where God himself doth inhabit and so great is the distance between a vicious and a vertuous Person Now consider what difference there is between a heart when God hath enlarged it with this Gift of Longanimity and what it was before for that which was so fill'd with some trifling Passion that the Breast was not able to contain it but it broke forth and ran over through the Lips is made capable to receive even God himself so vast is the difference between an evil and a good Man And take notice that this place of St. Paul may also be understood not only of the infinite distance between the
should have said Although I do believe yet I fear my Incredulity and therefore O Lord I fain would believe with an higher Faith and with a more firm Assurance The Faith then which that Man desir'd over and above that which he had already is that Fruit which is here spoken of by St. Paul Consider that Faith for the want of which our Lord reproached St. Peter when he leaped out of the Ship into the Sea to go to adore him and feared and sunk and begged help whereupon the Lord stretching out his hand to succour him said Why art thou fearful O man of little Faith That Faith which our Saviour found wanting in St. Peter although he had so high a Faith as to throw himself into the Sea is this Fruit of the Spirit That Faith which gave him the boldness to leap into the Sea was great and that Faith which he had in crying out to the Lord for help was that Faith which we call the Theological Vertue but that which he wanted yet and which our Saviour found wanting in him was this high Gift of Faith Consider that Faith with which the same St. Peter being with St. John in the Porch of the Temple which was called Beautiful after the Passion of our Lord said unto the lame Man that begged an Alms of him Silver and Gold have I none but that which I have I give thee In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk and he cured him in such a manner that it seemed as if St. Peter had taken Strength and Faith as Money out of his Purse Now this Soveraign Gift of believing that God can and that God will work such a Miracle and that it will succeed according to his Faith is the Gift which St. Paul here speaks of Consider that Faith of the Centurion and that of the Canaanitish Woman which the Lord so highly commended that Faith is this Fruit of the Divine Spirit That Faith whereby the Gospel was propagated which the Lord gave to his Apostles after he had confirmed them in Grace and which was necessary to conquer the Gentile-World and which in less than an hundred years enlightened all the World so that those Trophies of Faith were seen and heard and felt in all places and the Echo of them resounded into all Countries that Faith which we might explain and set forth by many other Examples St. Paul here calls the Fruit of the Spirit but after Christ had formed and established his Church he hath very seldom given this kind of Faith unless unto some few that have led a very Spiritual Life and have often conquered the Flesh by the Spirit and have held the Inferiour part of Nature so subdued by Grace that God hath been pleased to bestow this high Gift of Grace upon them for the Service of his Church in some extraordinary occasion Some others will have this Faith and Fruit of the Spirit here mentioned to be an high Gift of believing the Truths of God and his Promises Behold that which the Blessed Virgin had in believing the Soveraign Mystery of the Incarnation of her Son and that profound Humility wherewith she captivated her own Understanding and her Will unto the Power of God Behold that Faith wherewith the Prophets believed and declared such Heavenly Mysteries long before they came to pass Behold that belief of Faith which the Lord found wanting in Moses and Aaron at the Waters of Strife in the Desart for which they were condemned never to enter into the Land of Canaan Behold that Faith which the Holy Angel Gabriel wanted in the Holy Priest Zachariah when he declared to him that the Baptist should be born of an Ancient Mother and struck him dumb because he believed not Behold that Faith which the three Children had in Babylon when they told the Tyrant that though he should cast them into the fiery Furnace or into the Den of Lions yet the Lord their God would deliver them nay and though he should nor deliver them yet would not they quit their Faith nor cease to believe in that same God which was a most excellent and discreet Answer Now this Fruit proceeded from the Spirit which governed those Holy Souls and others that have been favoured and adorned with this Heroical degree of Faith There be some also that say that this Gift or Fruit of the Holy Spirit is the Gift of Fidelity to keep Faith and Promise to our Neighbours Though this be holy profitable and necessary for if the due regard of this Vertue fall to the ground all Peace and Truth in Correspondency between Man and Man falls with it yet for all that I am of Opinion that this Holy Fruit is no other but that Supernatural Gift first mentioned and that whosoever has that shall have all the rest for they depend upon its Power and Vertue And therefore do thou act with Diligence and Constancy Pray continually with Fervency and love thy Redeemer ardently and tenderly for to those who do these things God grants this Fruit and excellent Gift of the Spirit Of Continence Continence which is the Sixth Fruit of the Spirit though it seem to be the Antidote of that Vice which is forbidden in the Seventh Commandment yet I do not believe that in this place it signifies the Fruit of Chastity for St. Paul puts that expresly for the last of the Twelve and it is not probable that he would offer us the same Fruit twice for that would be an imperfect repetition and cannot suit with the Wisdom of that Spirit which guided his holy Pen and so my Opinion is that in this place by Continence is meant an Universal Girdle or Wall that encompasses the honest Appetite on every side to the end that it may not go beyond the due compass allowed nor break forth to any thing prohibited but that it may preserve guide and promote the Fruit of the Holy Spirit Continence is a Gift and a general Vertue whereby whatsoever is loose and destructive whatsoever is opposite or repugnant to the Divine Spirit is restrained It is a Bridle to the Appetite and the Bit that curbs it and brings it so under subjection as to make it go right It is the Mother of the Spirit and that which most nourishes and advances the Vertues thereof making it to become great and heroical This Gift of Continence begets Mortification in all things subdues the Flesh and makes it yield to Reason It also begets self-denial whereby a Spiritual Man rejects his own Will and delivers himself up to be disposed by the Will of God It begets that Heroical Humility whereby he brings down Pride and flies from his own Excellency to prostrate himself before the Excellency of God This Girdle of Continence which St. Paul here speaks of that which the Lord bids us to gird our Loins withall against his coming to Judgment for being begirt therewith and having our Lamps burning in our hand we shall be admitted unto