of the singular advantages of Holy Communion and Effectually be made Partakers of those Graces which God is ready to bestow by means of this Blessed Sacrament As for the Second Part it is to be perused and Practized for this effect it will be very proper to peruse it often and with Attention but particularly upon the Eve and day of Communion PART I. Of the Doctrin that is to say of the Truths which it Imports us to know concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist A Christian Communicant that he may receive worthily if as yet he know them not distinctly ought to be well instructed in three things of which two are generall the third is particular to this Sacrament First he must be instructed in Faith in Generall without which it is impossible to attain to the knowledge of this great Mystery of the Eucharist He must understand perfectly well what God hath reveal'd concerning this Virtue which is the Basis and ground-work of Salvation As Saint Paul saith Heb. 11.1 The Substance of the things to be hoped for Secondly He must have a true Notion of the Principal Mysteries of Faith in Particular as of the Blessed Trinity the Incarnation the Redemption the Catholick Chuch for except he believe these Truths it is impossible ever to come either to the knowledg or belief of that of the Holy Eucharist Thirdly He must be throughly informed in what concerns this Sacrament in particular viz. in the principal truths which appertain unto it as the real presence of the Son of God in the Cousecrated Host The change of the substance of the Bread and Wine into that of his Body and Blood The great wonders which meet in this Mystery The effects which it produces in the Soul of the worthy receiver The dispositions with which it ought to be received Following this order I shall divide this First Part into three Chapters whereof the First shall treat of Faith the Second of the Principal Mysteries of our Faith the Third of what concerns this Sacrament in particular And we shall divide the Chapters into Articles or Questions as necessity shall require CHAP. I. Of Faith. FOR your greater ease we shall treat of this Subject by way of Question and Answers immediately subjoyn'd Question I. What is it we are obliged to know concerning Faith in general SEven things viz. What Faith is who is the Author of it what its action its object its motive its rule and what the conditions it requires that it may be perfect Quest II. What is Faith IT is a gift of God or a light from above by which man being illuminated doth firmly believe all those things which God hath revealed and proposed to his Church to be believed whether written or unwritten In this definition is comprised all whatsoever as is abovesaid we are obliged to know concerning Faith. And first it teacheth us that Faith is a Supernatural light proceeding not from us but from God and which makes us assent to those truths the belief whereof is necessary for Salvation It teacheth us also who is the Author of Faith what its action the rest as we shall see by the Replies to the following Questions Quest III. Who is the Author of Faith I Answer God alone Faith is a gift of God saith the Apostle Ephes 2.8 and there is none but he can give it He bestows it upon us by enlightning our understanding in a supernatural way and inclining the will to follow by her consent the light which is proposed unto her The will indeed concurrs and doth well in accepting and agreeing with the truth which is proposed unto her but it is God alone who is the first and principal cause wherefore it is very necessary that we beg and require it at his hands Quest IV. What is the Action Object and Motive of Faith TO believe that is to hold a truth for certain and assured without the least doubt thereof is the proper act of Faith. The object that is the things which we are oblig'd to believe are all the truths which God hath revealed and which are therefore proposed that we may assent unto them The motive or reason why we ought to believe is the divine revelation For one believes a truth because God who neither can deceive us nor be deceived in what he reveals unto us hath revealed it And this revelation for this reason is always infallible Quest V. By what ways hath God revealed the Truth unto us BY two By the Holy Scripture and by Tradition These are the two ways whereby God hath been pleased to manifest his holy truths and both of them are equally infallible because both are equall the one written the other the unwritten word of God. Quest VI. Which is the Rule of Faith WE call that the Rule of Faith whereby we discern the revelations which come from those which do not come from God for it is certain that there are some false revelations and which the Devil the Author of Lies proposes by his Ministers and therefore that we may not be be deceived we have a certain rule This rule is the judgment or the interpretation of the Holy Church to which God hath given that Power and promised the assistance of his Holy Spirit that it also may never be deceived The Proofs are manifest in the Scripture Behold Mat. 28.20 saith he I am with you even untill the end of the World. He also said Mat. 16.18 Vpon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And the Apostle saith afterwards 1. Tim. 3.15 that the Church is the House of God and that it is the Pillar and Ground of Truth The Son of God commands us to hearken to it even as to himself Luc. 10.16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me And he saith Mat. 18.17 he who will not hear the Church let him be accounted as a heathen or Publican Without this Rule we can have no Faith because without it we can neither be assured of the Divine Revelation nor of the true Scriptures nor of their true Sense wherefore Hereticks who refuse to follow the Judgment of the Church have neither Faith not even any certainty of any thing they believe They say indeed that they follow the Scripture but they deceive themselves For first How do they know that there is such a thing as Scripture but by the Testimony of the Catholick Church which assures us of it and hath conserved it from time to time even untill their times Did not St. Augustin contra Epist fundam c. 5. say and with good reason that he would not believe the Gospel except he were moved unto it by the authority of the Catholick Church and that if we believe the Church when it tells us that we must believe the Gospel why should we not believe it when it forbids us to believe Manicheus or Hereticks Secondly It is not enough to
follow the Scripture except also they follow and be assured of the true Sense of Scripture for as St. Augustin in tract 18. in Jo. saith Heresy springs from no other source but from good Scripture ill understood and boldly maintained And St. Hilary l. 2. ad Constant August saith excellently well That there is no Heretick but maintains his Blasphemies by the Scripture If they fay that the Holy Ghost inspires them with the true Sense of the Scriptures and the right understanding of the Mysteries therein contained The Answer is impertinent for there was never any Heretick who had not this same Plea. Secondly If it be so why are there so many different Sentiments amongst them and that in Points of Faith Can the Holy Ghost be contrary to or contradict himself Is it possible that he should inspire both truth and falshood 3ly who is it that doth not perceive that this answer were it good would authorize as many religions as there are men for every one will easily say that he hath the Holy Ghost Lastly why do they desire that others should believe them whilst they affirm that they have the H. Ghost having nothing besides there own assertion to justify what they say since they themselves refuse to believe the Church which requires their assent by so just a title as is the promise made her by the Son of God of the continuall assistance of his H. Spirit even to the end of the world We must then conclude and hold for a certain truth that it is neither our private judgment nor our interiour perswasion however we may believe it comes from the Holy Ghost which is capable to serve us as a rule in points of Faith or can make us see which is a true and which a false revelation but it is the sole Testimony of the Catholick Church and the judgment which she forms of the divine truths which is and ought to be the rule of our belief For whilst we submit our selves to her judgment we cannot fall As we cannot but mistake and err when tho' never so little we depart from the doctrine of the Church We find in the Church four conditions required for the rule of saith To be a rule it must at one and the same time be One Certain Manifest and Visible The Church is One for as there can be but one Faith so there can be no more then one true Church as it is said in the Nicene Creed Et unam Sanctam Catholicam Apostolicam Ecclesiam The judgment of the Church is Certain in points of faith since she can never fail being as the Apostle saith the Pillar and ground of truth It is Manifest because clearly proposed and by word of mouth explained upon occasion of any Emergent difficulty in matters of faith The Church for this reason was Established by the Son of God his will is that we have recourse unto her in these occasions according as it was also practiced in the Old Testament where it is said Mal. 2.7 that the lips of the Priest do conserve knowledge and one must seek the Law from his mouth And the Apostle assures us that the same method is to be observed in the New Testament when he saith Ephes 4.11 that the Son of God hath established some Apostles some Pastours and other some Doctors for the administration of his word for the building up of the body of Jesus Christ that is his Church That we may not be like Children wavering in uncertainty and carried away with every wind of Doctrine And for this reason also St. Augustin affirms that in all difficulties which occurr concerning any questions or matters of Faith we must make our addresses to the Church If any one saith he cont Crescon fear to be deceived in the obscurity of this question let him consult the Church Si quis falli metuit hujus obscuritate questionis Ecclesiam de illâ consulat Lastly the Church is Visible as consisting of Pastours who have succeeded one another ever since the Apostles even unto this present time and as in all ages one might so at this very time one may easily address himself unto them to be instructed in all what concerns our faith This is the City whereof the Son of God speaks Mat. 5.14 which is built upon a Mountain to which all the World may have access as it was foretold by Isaias Chap. 2.3 Come and ascend to the mountain of our Lord to the House of the God of Jacob. It will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths for the Law will come forth of Sion and the word of our Lord from Jerusalem It was to this City that St. Augustin de Vnitat Eecles c. 14. sent the Donatists when he said to them you have the City whereof he himself who built it said that it was a City built upon a Mountain and could not be hidden I have staid and dilated my self on set purpose upon this Subject of the Rule of Faith because it is of great concern in this affair and upon which all the rest as far as concerns us depends it is a Principle and Fundamental Maxim in matters of Faith That we must hearken to and obey the Church we must receive the Divine Revelations from her alone and the Interpretation she gives of the Holy Scripture and Tradition which are the two ways by which as is abovesaid God hath been pleased to convey his Divine Truths the Mysteries of our Holy Faith unto us Quest VII What Qualities or Conditions ought our Faith to have IT follows from what we have already said that Faith to be perfect must have three qualities or Conditions it must be Humble Vniversal and Firm or fixed and steddy Humble that is in matters of Faith we are to submit our selves to the judgment of the Church and not to be wedded to our proper sense nor to our interiour persuasion nor to the judgment of any particular Person as we have shew'd above Thus God ordained it in the Old Testament Deut. 17.8 where he commanded that in the difficulties which should occurr concerning the performance of the Law every one should have recourse to the Priests follow exactly their decision and that under pain of Death in case one should be refractory or disobedient And in the New Testament he hath decreed that he who will not hear the Church shall be accounted as an Infidel Vniversal that is it ought to comprehend and believe generally all the truths which are proposed by the Church to be believed without excepting any and the reason is evident because the Church which proposeth them by reason of the assistance of the Holy Ghost which is promised her without restriction is equally infallible in all her Judgments and can be no more deceived in the least then in the greatest Mystery of our Faith and as St. Augustin contra Epist fundam speaking of the Books of the Sacred Scripture saith excellently well If
Damasus Epi. 57. that he was resolved never to depart from him but inseparably to unite himself unto him as to one who held the Chair of St. Peter upon which says he I know that the Church is built Adding that the Church thus built is the only house where it is lawfull to Eat the Paschal Lamb the Ark of Noah out of which during the Flood none were saved he that doth not gather with the Pope scattereth that is he who is not united to Jesus Christ doth associate himself with Anti-Christ Fifthly we are also obliged to believe that this true Church is Infallible in her judgments in matters of Faith and Doctrine concerning manners whether she be or be not assembled in the persons of her Pastours and Head viz. the Pope and Bishops she holds universally one and the same Doctrine This is also an Article of Faith grounded upon the word of the Son of God who hath promised that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against her his Church from whence it follows that she never either fell or ever shall fall into the least error in points of faith she being as the Apostle affirms the Pillar and ground of truth But we have already prov'd this truth above in the first Article Now from all what we have said both in the first Article and in the present question it follows that we must conclude and hold this for a certain and infallible truth that all saithfull Christians whosoever desire to be assured in points of faith and sound Doctrine concerning Manners and to avoid error in a matter of so great concern must of necessity adhere and stick close solely inseperably to the Holy Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church and hear and follow her Judgment and Doctrine in all things ARTICLE IV. What are we obliged to believe concerning the Sacraments I Believe the Remission of Sins We are obliged to believe what the Church hath always taught concerning the Sacraments viz. First that they are the means instituted by God thereby either to confer his Grace upon us or to augment what we have already received or to restore what we had lost as it is expressed in the Councill of Trent Sess 7. Proaem Secondly that a Sacrament may be rightly defined in this manner a Visible signe of invisible grace instituted by God for our sanctification 3. That this Visible sign consists and is as it were composed of two parts viz. the sensible thing which is applyed in the Sacrament as water in Baptism and the words which are pronounced as in the same Beptism these words I baptize thee c. according to that received doctrine delivered by St. Augustin Accedit verbum ad Elementum fit Sacramentum By the joyning of the words with the Element or Material thing the Sacrament becomes compleat One of these two parts is called the matter the other the form of the Sacrament 4. That the Sacrament being applyed by a lawfull Minister either gives or augments Sanctifying Grace in the Soul of the worthy receiver 5. That there are Seven Sacraments viz. Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Penance Extreme Unction Order Matrimony Baptism makes us the Children of Jesus Christ Washing us from the Stains of Original sin and enlivening our Soul with the Life of Grace whence St. Paul calls Baptism Tit. 3.5 the laver of regeneration and the renovation of the Holy Ghost Confirmation strengthens us and conserves and confirms us in the faith we received in Baptism The Holy Eucharist is the nourishment of the Soul for as by Meat and Drink our decayed Spirits are revived so by the use of the Blessed Sacrament those damages which Charity dayly suffers from humane frailty are repaired Penance restores us to the Grace of God which we had lost by sin Extreme Unction gives us strength at the hour of death that we may be the better able to fight against our Ghostly Enemy in that last Moment upon which Eternily depends it is a remedy against Spirituall weakness contracted by our former Sins Order consecrates the Ministers of Christ and gives them power to conferr the Sacraments Matrimony sanctifies the contract betwixt man and woman and gives them grace to comply with the obligations which they draw upon themselves by that indissoluble Bond instituted by God for the propagation of Mankind and raised to the dignity of a Sacrament by our Saviour Christ Altho' all or every one of the Sacraments do cause sanctifying grace yet they do not every one produce it in the same manner for there are two viz. Baptism and Penance instituted for the remission of Sins which conferr it upon those whom they find void of grace from whence it is that they are called the Sacraments of the dead that is to say of those who are dead in the sight of God in the state of Mortal Sin whom they raise up from that death to the life of grace whereas all the rest are called the Sacraments of the living in as much as they encrease the grace they find precedently in the Soul and to receive any one of these worthily it is necessary that we be in the state of grace The Soul by each Sacrament is not only sanctified by habitual but also endowed with actual grace that is with a vigour and strength towards the compassing of those particular effects for which it was first instituted and ordained Moreover there are three which imprint a character in the Soul Baptism Confirmation and Order this Character is a Spiritual Mark or Seal which God makes in his Soul who receives any of these three Sacraments which impression because it can never be rased out none of these three Sacraments can be reiterated or received the second time by the same Person without a Sacrilege CHAP. III. Of the Holy Eucharist ALL what we have said hitherto whether of Faith in general or in particular of the Divinity it self of the Incarnation of the Son of God of the Holy Church and of the Sacraments serve only as so many steps or dispositions to the belief of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and to render the understanding of this adorable Mystery more easy to us which therefore we shall here endeavour to explain as brief and short as possibly we may I shall reduce all whatsoever we are obliged to know concerning it into four heads 1. The real prefence of the Son of God in the Sacrament 2. The Wonders inseparably annext unto it 3. The effects which it is capable to produce 4. The dispositions necessary to receive it ARTICLE I. Of the real presence of the Son of God in the Holy Eucharist and of what we are to believe concerning this Sacrament WE are obliged to believe that it is a Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ wherein he gives us really and truly his Body and Blood under the species or exteriour appearance of Bread and Wine for our Spiritual nourishment and refection There is not any one particle of this general
I believe the Gospel I must also necessarily believe the Acts of the Apostles because the same Authority of the Catholick Church obliges to believe them both We may say the same of all the other truths which are proposed by the Church for if we believe one we ought also to believe the others because it is the same Authority and the same Church which proposes and gives us assurance of them both And the same St. Augustin l. 16. cont Faust c. 3. speaking of Hereticks and those who would give credit to nothing but their own will. You says he who in the Gospell believe what you please and what you like not reject You rather give credit to your selves then to the Gospell because when led by your private Spirit you approve what pleaseth and disapprove what displeases you in Scripture you do not at all submit your selves to the authority of holy writ there to find out your faith but rather you subject the Scripture to your selves to judge of it according to your will. In fine Faith ought to be firm that is fixed steddy and free from any at least voluntary doubt And this also for the same reason the infallible authority of the Church which proposes unto us the divine truths the objects of our Faith and cannot be deceived in what she proposes to us So that there is no more reason to doubt of any one truth then of all the rest And there is not a better way to dispell with ease the doubts which arise against any one article of our faith then to reflect upon the others which one believes with all the certainty imaginable which yet are no otherwise grounded then upon the same authority of the Church for if we do not doubt of those neither ought we to question these In all the doubts which may occur concerning any point or points of faith whether they arise from our own imaginations or spring from occasion of Heresy new doctrins or scandall given in the Church we ought to have recourse to this authority as to a secure refuge A refuge where we shall find the divine Protection against the contradiction of evill tongues as the Psalmist hath it and after him St. Augustin in those excellent words which he delivers upon that passage of Psa 30. exposi 2. Serm. 3. Preteges eos in tabernaculo tuo a condictione linguarum If you find tongues which contratradict you heresies raised up against you and divisions which oppose you have recourse to the Tabernacle of God adhere and stick fast to the Catholick Church do not depart from this rule of Truth and you shall be protected and guarded from the contradiction of tongues in the Tabernacle of God. Behold not only a wholsome but also a necessary advice which ought to be practised upon occasion of any doubts in faith and especially in the beginning of any heresy And had the hereticks of our time follow'd this good councell they would never so unfortunately have continued obstinate in their errour or drawn others into the same ruin as they have done CHAP. II. Of the things we are obliged to believe WE shall reduce them to four heads 1. The Divinity or what we are obliged to believe of God. 2. The Incarnation or the Humanity of the Son of God which shall comprehend what we are to be believe of Jesus Christ 3. The Church 4. The Sacraments These four things are all contained in the Apostles Creed ARTICLE I. What are we oblig'd to believe of God FOur things The First I believe in God that God is that is that there is one only true God who is an uncreated Being Eternall Independent Infinite in perfections in Knowledge in Power in Wisdom in Goodness in Justice and in all other things Secondly The Father Almighty and in his only Son I believe in the Holy Ghost that in God there are three Persons The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost That all these three are but one true God having the self same divine Essence the self same Wisdom the self same Goodness the self same Power and so of the other divine perfections That the Son the Eternal Word proceeds from the understanding of the Father by a perfect Knowledge which the Father conceives of himself by which he expresses his Image in the Son. And the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son by a Mutuall love which they bear one another That these Processions do not cause any inequality or dependence or priority amongst the Divine Persons who are all Equall and Eternall as being all but one only true God One in Nature and three in Persons Thirdly Creator of Heaven and Earth That God is the authour and creator of all things that he hath made both Heaven and Earth and all the creatures therein whether visible or invisible of nothing by his only word That he conserves them by his power and governs them by his wisdom Fourthly Life Everlasting That as he is the beginning and first cause so also he is the end of all things and particularly of Men and Angels whom he created to adore and serve him and for whom he hath prepared eternall happiness which will consist in this that the blessed shall see him perfectly and enjoy him as he is in himself and this enjoyment shall endure for all eternity it shall never no never end ARTICLE II. What are we obliged to believe of Jesus Christ FOR the greater facility and distinctions sake we shall divide this Article into Questions Quest I. What is Jesus Christ And in Jesus Christ his only Son. HE is the Son of God the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who was Incarnate that is made Man for us men and for our Salvation But Quest II. Why was he made Man TO redeem man from the Sentence of everlasting death which we had all incurred by disobedience of the first man and to give full satisfaction to the Divine Justice as well for that first or Original Sin as for all the rest which have been committed ever since by other men Quest III. This Incarnation in what doth it consist Who was conceived of the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary IT consists in the strict and personal union of the Eternall word with human nature that is with a mortall body and an immortall Soul such as we have from which union there results a compound whom we call Jesus Christ true God and at the same time true man. Whence it plainly follows that in Jesus Christ there are two Natures and one only Person viz. the one divine the other humane nature both united in one the same Person of the Son of God or the eternal word whereas on the contrary in the divinity there is but one Nature three Persons By this Union the Divinity was neither changed into the Humanity nor the Humanity into the Divinity of our Lord for that is impossible But both natures enjoying either of them their own perfections
is with more Fervour and with a more Humble Contrite Spirit they are performed by so much more easily they obtain what they demand In fine with all these admirable qualities they have yet another of no less note which in all reason should make them more lovely more desirable And it is this they are good against the maladies of the Soul and serve not only as a remedy to cure past Sins but also as a preservative against them for the future CHAP. VIII That the Penitent who truly desires to work his Salvation ought not to satisfy himself with the Pennance enjoyned him in the Sacrament but he ought to perform others and how IT is a great errour and very common amongst Penitents to satisfy themselves if they comply with the Penance that is enjoyned them and to believe that they have done enough when they have performed the Penance such as it was tho' frequently far inferiour to what it ought to be This abuse is the cause of many evils and particularly above the rest of the small progress one makes in vertue of loose living and relapses into Sin it being certain that if we did Penance as we ought for our past offences we should not so easily fall into other sins Mistake not then Theotime but be perswaded that you ought to do other Penances besides those that are enjoyned you in your Confessions and this for several Reasons First the better to satisfy the Divine Justice for your past Sins and by little and little to diminish the punishment which yet remains due from you to be payed 2ly to make you more gratefull and acceptable in the sight of God after your Sins and to merit at his hands those graces which by your former crimes you had justly lost 3ly To restrain you from offending God and relapsing into those Sins for which you see your self obliged to suffer 4ly To cure the vicious and wicked inclinations of your Soul by exercising the acts of contrary virtues All these are the reasons of the Council of Trent cited above in the 5th Chapter to which I refer my self This is the cause why the same Council hath said Ses 6. c. 13. That the Life of a Christian ought to be a perpetual Penance and that the just ought to work their Salvation with fear and trembling by Labour by Watchings Almsdeeds Prayers Fastings and by Chastity And these maxims are drawn from the Gospell the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and his Apostles so that there is not the least ground to doubt of the truth thereof Wherefore dear Theotime I exhort you to reflect seriously upon this truth and convince your self that it is necessary for you to do Penance in whatsoever state you are if you intend to live like a Christian It is a great errour to beleive that Penance belongs only to Religious it is the duty of all Christians and of all those that hope to save their Souls But you will ask me how it is to be done Behold the most easy means can be imagined Penance consists in two things in a detestation of Sin and in suffering in order to satisfy for the injury it hath done to God. One of these is in the heart the other in action Comply with them both and you will perform a very profitable Penance First conserve always in your heart a true regret or sorowfull sense for having offended God. And to conserve it better accustome your self dayly to renew it elicit acts of sorrow in your prayers as at Morning and Night demanding of him pardon for your Sins and detesting them from the bottom of your heart Secondly suffer for your Sins and that two ways first by imposing upon your self some action of Penance to perform every day One while a recital of some prayers otherwhile a distribution of almes sometimes mortification as abstinence or retrenchment of some lawfull pleasures as divertisements or the like But all this must be done upon the motive of making satisfaction for injurys done to God which is the Spirit of Penance 2ly accepting willingly and with the same spirit of Penance and satisfaction all the pains and evils which dayly befall you As the inconveniences of Life the disorders of Body the troubles of mind disgusts loss of goods poverty necessities afflictions either private or publick and generally all the evills which occur and whereof this life is so fertile and abounding But especially the particular pains and hardships which you are forced to suffer in the state and vocation where God hath placed you there not being any where one is not obliged to labour and take pains All these afflictions and troubles we may make use of to do penance and satisfy for our Sins upon condition we suffer them with patience as the Council of Trent hath declared sess 14. c. 8 9. and with sorrow for our offences Whereas on the contrary when we undergo them without patience and without offering them up to God for the remission of our Sins and for satisfaction of the punishment which we have deserved our sufferings are not only not mitigated but also render'd unprofitable without bringing either any benefit for the future or any Comfort for the present which is a thing which we ought to observe well in this place CHAP. IX Of Sacramentall Absolution What it is Wherein it consists and what are its Effects ALtho' Absolution be a part of the Priests office yet it is very fitting that the Penitents should be instructed in it to the end they may receive it with respect and sutable dispositions First he must know that as in every Sacrament there are two parts whereof one is called the matter the other the form Absolution is the form of the Sacrament of penance and without it there is neither a Sacrament nor remission of Sins by vertue of it This Absolution is a juridicall sentence pronounced by the Priest upon the Penitent by which after that he hath taken cognisance of the Sins which the Penitent hath confessed and of his good disposition to receive the remission of them and after that he hath enjoyned him a convenient Penance he remits his Sins on the behalf of God and by the authority which he hath given him It consists but in these three words which are essentiall to it I absolve thee from thy Sins all the other which the Priests says before and after them are Prayers which the Holy Church hath instituted to implore the Grace and Mercy of God upon the Penitent and which may be omitted in case of necessity The effects of the Absolution are to remit the Sin as far as concerns the fault or offence of God and the Eternall punishment and blot out the stains which Sin had caused in the Soul and recover the favour and freindship of God by the means of sanctifying Grace which it bestows upon him and revive in him all the precedent merits which were mortifyed and lost by sin It produceth all these
Heaven taking his pleasure in this Life should love his Inn better then his own House 4. This Hope makes the Just Man labour for his Salvation and becoming daily better and better render himself worthy of his heavenly vocation as St. John saith 1 Jo. 3.3 Every one who hath this hope in God doth Sanctify himself as God is holy This hope gives him strength to conquer all difficulties and wings to fly in the way of Gods commandments as the Prophet Isay 40.31 speaks They who hope in God says he shall change their strength that is receive a new force they shall have wings as an Angel they shall run with ease they shall travel without failing by the way 5ly This same Hope encourageth us in temptations it gives us strength to encounter them For what greater encouragement can there be in these occasions then to know that God is with us that he assists us in the fight and gives us strength to overcome and that he hath prepared an eternal reward for those that conquer He whose heart is replenished with Hope doth he not say with David whensoever he is tempted Ps 22.4 O my God I will not be afraid of any harm being thou art with me Ps 26.1 Our Lord is my light and my Salvation whom should I fear v. 3. If war shall be rais'd against me I will hope in him Ps 7.1 O Lord I hope in thee save me and deliver me from all my persecutors For this reason St. Paul 1. Thes 5.8 calls hope the Helmet of Christians Take says he for thy helmet the hope of Salvation For as a head-peice it preserves us from the blows of the enemy and the mortall wounds which he endeavours to give us In fine Hope guards us excellently well and is of infinite use in afflictions of which this mortall life is full Herein it is that we find our refuge our comfort and our strength when we consider with attention that these miseries cannot last always they will have an end and will be followed with an eternall joy if we suffer them with patience as it is but fit and just we should And when we ponder well upon those excellent words of St. Paul 2. Cor 4.17 wherein he assures us That the momentary and light afflictions which we at present endure work exceedingly above measure a weight of unconceivable glory and happiness which shall never end It is then when after the example of this glorious Apostle we shall rejoyce and esteem our selves happy in our afflictions being assured of this truth wherein he affirms Rom. 5.3 that Affliction causeth Patience Patience trys our strength this tryall confirms our Hopes and Hope will never confound us so as to permit our expectations to be frustrate Wherefore the same Apostle says Heb. 6.19 That this holy hope is to Christians that which the anchor is to a Ship which keeps it secure and steady amidst the tempestuous waves and preserves it against the violence of the winds O holy Virtue what blessings by thy means accrue unto us did we but fall into the account and know them Endeavour Theotime to make thy self master in an happy hour of this great virtue and to practise it with advantage to thy Soul and to this effect peruse carefully and with attention this little we shall say upon this Subject ARTICLE V. That the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is of great use to fortify and augment Hope the Virtue in us GOD endowed us with this Virtue when first he justified us in Baptism where we received Sanctifying Grace with the gifts of Faith Hope and Charity and other Christian Virtues It is encreased I confess together with the other Virtues by the frequent acts which we elicite and by good works which we perform in the State of Grace but it is also certain that it receives much strength and wonderfull growth by the most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist which may easily be evinced from the two things which as is above said are the object of Hope viz. Grace in this Life and in the next the Glory as well of Body as of Soul. As for Glory there is not any thing that confirms us more in the Hope of it then this Divine Sacrament wherein we receive the very Person himself the possession of whom compleats all our glory and our happiness for what greater security can we have that we shall one day enjoy God himself then by this bounty he hath shewed in communicating himself unto us in this life Could he afford us a more secure pledge then he himself is to which he hath also vouchsafed to add the assurance of his word saying Jo. 6.58 that he who eateth this bread shall live for ever And for the glory of the body it is no less confirmed unto us by this Sacrament being the Son of God hath told us Ibid 56. that he who eateth his body and drinketh his blood shall have life Everlasting and that he will raise him again at the last day And in effect the Fathers of the Church have often proved the Resurrection from the holy Eucharist and they have held that the life-giving flesh of Jesus Christ as they have frequently called it hath a particular vertue to raise from death to life those bodies it shall touch and conserve them to immortality much more efficaciously then the bones of Elizeus had vertue by their touch to raise a dead man to life This truth is no less certain in respect of grace For if we consider habituall or Sanctifying grace this divine Sacrament is a powerfull means to conserve it as also to increase it in the Soul in an high degree as often as we shall worthyly receive it And as for actuall graces which are as we said so many helps illuminations good and pious motions which the divine goodness hath bestowed upon us for the conservation of his grace and with which he inspires us that we may avoid evil and employ our selves totally in good so many protections which he affords us in the time when our Salvation is in danger it is questionless to this Sacrament that we owe the greatest part thereof as we clearly made out Part 1. Chap. 3. Art. 3. The reason is evident because this Sacrament containing as it really and truly doth Jesus Christ who is the Author and source of all Blessings it cannot be but that it must needs communicate them in abundance to those who worthily receive it If by the other Sacraments we are enrich'd with so many Graces by the only vertue which the Son of God hath granted to them how many more may we in reason expect from this where the same Son of God is present not only by some communication of his vertue but by himself in Person God once gave Manna to the Israelites and he sustained them therewith for the full space of forty years the time which their Pilgrimage towards the land of Promise endur'd in the Desert This Manna fell