words it follows that the flesh of the Son of God as a Divine nourishment works in the Soul of the worthy receiver the same effects Spiritually which the best Corporal nourishment produceth corporally in the body of those who take it Now the effects of corporal nourishment are four or five 1. It conserves life 2. It makes one grow or encrease 3. It fortifies us 4. It preserves us against distempers Infine it gives us strength to be able to labour and to comply with all our respective duties By these we may judge of the effects of the Holy Eucharist The first is to conserve Grace which is the life of the Soul and therefore it is called the Bread of Life the Bread which gives Life unto the World. The Second is to augment the same grace and encrease the Christian Virtues Faith Hope and Charity This effect however it be common to all the Sacraments yet it is more peculiar to this as being more particularly instituted for the nourishment of the Soul and to make us increase and proceed from Virtue to Virtue till we come to the house of God. The third is to strengthen us against sin and the temptations which incline that way hence the Councill of Trent affirm'd Sess 13. c. 2. that this Sacrament is a preservative against Mortal and a remedy against Venial Sin. The fourth effect is that it heals the distempers that is the passions and disorderly affections of the Soul. It weakens concupiscence or gives new strength to overcome it It diminishes Choler Envy Pride and other Vices as St. Bernard Serm. de Coena Domini excellently well observes If any one says he does not find so frequent or so violent motions of Anger Envy Impurity or of other like passions let him give thanks to the body and blood of our Lord for it is the vertue of the Sacrament which produces in him these effects and let him rejoyce that the worst of Vlcers begin to heal Lastly the Holy Eucharist gives perseverance in the grace of God and in the way of Salvation in the midst of the various imminent dangers which we encounter in this Life and particularly when we draw near death whence it was given sometimes to Martyrs when they were ready to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ and the Church always takes care to Communicate the sick when they are in danger of Death that so they may be Strengthened in that dangerous passage and happily arrive at the haven of Salvation by means of this divine nourishment then called the Viaticum which is as much as to say the Provision for that voiage All these admirable effects evidently prove the greatness and excellence of this divine Sacrament and ought effectually to move us frequently to approach unto it and not neglect so many and so signal favours as God there presents unto us Yet we are to take notice that it doth not produce these Effects except in such persons as are rightly disposed to receive it as it deserves Of these dispositions we will now discourse ARTICLE IV. Of the dispositions required to Communicate well and as we ought WE shall inferr the dispositions from the same principle from which we gathered the effects viz. from the nature of the nourishment and Spiritual food we receive in the Holy Euchrist and as it produces the same effects in the Soul that food doth into the Body so also it requives proportionable dispositions in the Soul that nourishment doth to be beneficial to the Body Now Corporall nourishment we know requires three dispositions Life Health Action for a dead body is uncapable to be nourished an infirm Stomack can never make a good digestion nor is it possible to convert the food into our substance except that health be accompanied with our action which is the reason that the body to be nourished requires to be alive to be sound and well and to have an action of its own Thus the Eucharist that Celestiall food requires three dispositions in the Soul and without them it doth no good but harm The first is Sanctifying Grace which is the life of the Soul as mortall Sin is the death incompatible with it depriving us of this Supernatural life of the Soul Without this life the Soul not only receives no benefit from Communion but suffers also much detriment from this holy Table inofmuch as she becomes guilty of a new mortall Sin a Sacriledge which she commits by inviting the Authour of Life into the habitation of Death the author of Light into the place of Darkness and Jesus Christ into the company of the Devil This made St. Paul 1 Cor. 21.28 advertise all Communicants to examen themselves well when they approach to this holy table because saith the Apostle he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks damnation to himself The Second disposition is the interiour Health of the Soul which requires 1st that she be free from any affection to veniall Sin. 2ly that she be not actually moved either with Passions or Affections which may hinder her in her application and address to Jesus Christ And altho' these defects do not render the Communicant absolutely unworthy or the Communion Sacrilegious yet they cause very ill effects and considerably diminish the fruits which otherwise it would produce They hinder the Soul from digesting this sacred food by good thoughts and holy affections And as nutriment which lies indigested upon the Stomack begets crudities and causes Sickness in the body so this divine sustenance by means of these indispositions becomes prejudicial to the Soul. Thereby we contract tepidity and coldness in devotion Charity and other Virtues are considerably diminish'd our good actions weak and feeble our selves by degrees insensible of all good things which conduce to Piety And thus by degrees at last we are often brought into mortall Sin. The Third disposition is Action that is actual devotion To receive the fruits of this Sacrament it is not sufficient that we be not indisposed or that we do not put any obstacle to its effects it is necessary also that in this so religious an action wherein we receive the Holy of Holys and the Author of Holiness it self we concur with dispositions of our own which consist in the practice of Christian Virtues Of which we shall speak below in the Second Part of this Instruction ARTICLE V. Of an Vnworthy Communion AN ancient Lawgiver being ask'd why he had made no Laws against Paricides made answer because he esteemed that crime impossible that there could not be found Children so degenerate and unnaturall as to attempt the life of their own Parents I would to God we could say the same with truth in the point of Instruction concerning unworthy Communion or that we could truly say that it is not necessary to advertise Christians to avoid that so horrid Sacriledge because it is impossible for a man professing himself a Christian ever to be guilty of so enormous a crime against
please our Lord to receive him in this manner and that you loose innumerable favours by this your so signally cold reception of him Consider how ill this corresponds with that pressing and ardent love with which he invites you to this Feast and with that earnest desire he hath to receive you there saying to you now what formerly he did to his Disciples Luc. 22.15 I have most earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you Thus when he invites a Soul unto him he doth not only require that she appear in his presence but he expects that she should make him to hear and understand her voice Come says he Cant. 2.14 my dear and well beloved Soul shew me thy face let me hear thy voice for thy voice is sweet and charming as thy countenance is beautifull and comely By the face he gives us to understand the beauty of the Soul which consists in Sanctifying grace and the Ornaments of the Virtues and by the Voice he points at the acts of these same Virtues which make a confort and harmony most pleasing and agreeable in the sight of God. ARTICLE III. The practice of the Act of Faith for the Communion LEt us now come to the practice of these excellent Virtues and see how they must be employed in the Holy Communion To perform them right we must be well instructed and fully convinced of the truths of this divine Mystery which we have explain'd above Amongst these verities there are three upon which one may practice with much benefit the acts of Faith viz. 1. The real presence of the Son of the God in the Eucharist 2. The Wonders which God works in this Holy Mystery 3. The effects which he produceth in his Soul who worthily receives Exercise your Faith upon these three points when you communicate but see that they be acts of a stedfast and fervent faith and for the easier performance of them ponder and detain your self upon the two first before Communion and entertain your thoughts upon the third which are the effects after Communion in the following manner An Act of Faith upon the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament MY Saviour Jesus Christ I firmly believe and from the bottom of my heart I hold that thou art truly present in the Sacred Host I believe that it contains thy Body and thy precious Blood accompany'd with thy Soul and thy Divinity I believe that by vertue of the words of Consecration and in the moment they are pronounced the Bread is changed into thy Body and the Wine into thy Blood. I believe this truth upon the assurance of thy holy words and upon the authority of thy holy Church which thus teaches me to believe I believe it firmly and freely without any hesitation renouncing with all my heart all doubts which may ever come into my mind concerning this Subject Mar. 9.23 Credo Domine adjuva incredulitatem meam Yes my God I believe it assist my incredulity by thy grace and augment in my heart thy faith Luc. 17.5 Domine adauge nobis fidem believing thus I adore thee in this blessed Sacrament from the bottom of my Soul I acknowledge thee for my Lord and for my God as St. Thomas did Jo. 20.28 Dominus meus Deus meus Vpon the Wonders which occur in the Blessed Sacrament MY Lord and my God I acknowledge all the mighty things which thou hast wrought in this Holy Mystery grant me I beseech thee grace to understand them for they far exceed the capacity of my Soul. Psal 105.2 Quis loquitur potentias Domini auditas fafiet omnes laudes ejus Who is he O my God who can recount thy wonders and duly proclaim thy praises I know by faith and I acknowledge that thou art really in the Sacred Host without departing from Heaven where thou art seated on the right hand of thy Eternal Father That thou art in innumerable places in the same instant and in as many as there are Consecrated Hosts That the substance of Bread and Wine is changed into that of thy body and thy blood That of Bread and Wine there remains only the accidents which subsist without their substance which supported them before and that now thou dost miraculously conserve them as before That thy Body is in that Host without taking up any place and that it is whole in the whole Host and whole in every part thereof That it is as whole and entire under the least part as under the greatest Host That when the Host is broken thy body is not divided but that it remains entire in each part of the Consecrated Host That when the Host is consummated thy Body is not consumed but only ceases to be where it was before That the good and bad equally receive thee as to the reality but unequally only as to the effect the one finding life therein the other death O my Saviour I acknowledge all these great truths I firmly believe all these wonders I adore thy power which hath wrought them I praise thy infinite goodness that was pleased to prepare them for me and I say from the bottom of my heart with David Psal 9. Confitebor tibi Domini in toto Corde meo Narrabo omnia mirabilia tua Latabor exultabo in te psallam nomini tuo altissime My God I will praise thee with my whole Heart and I will recount all thy admirable works I will rejoyce in thee and I will bless thy holy name I acknowledg that thou hast really fullfilled in this mystery the Prophecy of David Psa 110.4 wherein he said that as an especiall effect of thy mercy thou hast made an abridgment and memoriall of thy wonders in bestowing food upon those who fear thee In this faith and with this acknowledgment I make bold to approach at present to this adorable banquet where thou bestowest upon me this divine food of thy Body and Blood that thou mayst fill me with thy self and thy divine Spirit O Jesus grant that I may approach unto thee with the sense of the respect and humility which is due to thy infinite Majesty who am I O my God that thou shouldst work such great wonders for my sake vouchsafe at least that I be not unworthy of them and that at present I may receive thee with a pure heart with a clear conscience and with a sincere and true faith Pardon me my Sins which have rendered me most unworthy to approach unto thee I detest them from the bottom of my heart because O my God they are displeasing to thee I here renounce them for the future and I promise to be faithfull to thee Proceed then my soul raise thy self up to go and receive thy God and to receive at his hands all the favours which he hath prepared for thee in this divine Sacrament Convertere anima mea Psa 114.7 in requiem tuam quia Dominus bene fecit tibi Vpon the Effects which the Holy Eucharist is capable to
152. Chap. 3. Excellent Reasons out of the Council of Trent to shew why God remitting the Sin by Penance obliges the penitent Sinner to a Temporal punishment Pag. 156. Chap. 4. Wherein Satisfaction consists and whether it be essential to the Sacrament of Penance Pag. 159. Chap. 5. Of the Conditions which Satisfaction ought to have on behalf of the Ghostly Father Pag. 161. Chap. 6. Of the Conditions of Satisfaction in respect of the Penitent Pag. 167. Chap. 7. Of the Works which may be enjoined for Penance Pag. 172. Chap. 8. That the Penitent who truly desires to work his Salvation ought not to content himself with the Penance enjoined him in the Sacrament but he ought to perform others and how Pag. 175. Chap. 9. Of Sacramental Absolution what it is wherein it consists and what are its effects Pag. 178. Chap. 10. Of the dispositions necessary to receive Absolution and of the cases wherein it ought to be denied or deferr'd Pag. 179. Chap. 11. Of the Choice of a Confessor Pag. 182. PART V. OF the Preservation of Grace after Confession against relapse into Sin. Pag. 187. Chap. 1. Of the importance of this Subject Ibid. Chap. 2. How the relapse into Sin is a very great Evil. Pag. 190. Chap. 3. Of three great indignities which occur in the Sin of relapse the Ingratitude the Perfidiousness and the Contempt of God. Pag. 192. Chap. 4. That those who relapse frequently into their Sins have reason to dread their Salvation Pag. 196. Chap. 5. A further Confirmation of this truth from other proofs and first from the uncertainty of their Confessions who relapse frequently into their Sins Pag. 201. Chap. 6. An excellent Advertisement of St Gregory concerning the false Repentance of those who relapse into their former Sins Pag. 205. Chap. 7. That by relapsing into Sin we lose great part of the fruit of our precedent good Confessions Pag. 207. Chap. 8. That by frequent relapse into Sin one always falls into a worse condition then before Pag. 209. Chap. 9. That frequent relapse into Sin leads to final Impenitence and to an Evil death or to dye in mortal Sin. Pag. 212. Chap. 10. Of the remedies against relapse into Sin. Pag. 216. Chap. 11. Of the means which Penitents ought to observe to avoid any relapse into Sin. Pag. 224. A Table of Sins or an Examen of Conscience upon the Commandments of Gods Law and of the Church and upon the Seven Deadly Sins Pag. 229. The Examen upon the first Commandment Pag. 230. The Sins against Faith. Ibid. The Sins against Hope Pag. 234. The Sins against Charity Pag. 236. The Sins against the Virtue of Religion Pag. 238. The Sins against the care we ought to have of our Salvation Pag. 241. The Examen upon the Second Commandment Pag. 244. The Examen upon the Third Commandment Pag. 247. The Examen upon the Fourth Commandment Pag. 249. The Examen upon the Fifth Commandment Pag. 254. The Examen upon the Sixth Commandment Pag. 255. The Examen upon the Seventh Commandment Pag. 259. The Examen upon the Eighth Commandment Pag. 261. The Examen upon the 9. 10. Commandment Pag. 264. The Examen upon the precepts of the Church Pag. 265. The Examen concerning the Seven Deadly Sins Pag. 266. Of the Sin of Pride Ibid. Of Covetousness Luxury and Sloth Pag. 270. Of Gluttony Ibid. Of Envy Pag. 271. Of the Sin of Anger Pag. 272. The Examen of the Sins which one commits by another Pag. 274. The Examen of the Sins of Students Pag. 279. A TABLE of the Parts and Chapters contained in the Instruction concerning the Holy Communion THe Preface Pag. 281. Of the necessity of this Instruction and the order observed therein ibid. The Division of the Treatise Pag. 282. The First Part. Pag. 283. Of the Doctrine that is to say of the Truths it imports us to know concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist ibid. Chap. 1. Of Faith. Pag. 284. Quest 1. What is it that we are obliged to know concerning Faith in general Pag. 285. Qu. 2. What is Faith ibid. Qu. 3. Who is the Author of Faith ibid. Qu. 4. What is the Action Object and Motive of Faith Pag. 286. Qu. 5. By what ways it hath pleas'd God to convey these Truths unto us ibid. Qu. 6. What is the Rule of Faith Pag. 287. Qu. 7. What Qualities or Conditions ought our Faith to have Pag. 291. Chap. 2. Of the things we are obliged to believe Pag. 294. Art. 1. What are we obliged to believe of God Pag. 295. Art. 2. What are we obliged to believe of Jesus Christ Pag. 296. Qu. 1. What is Jesus Christ ibid. Qu. 2. Why was he made man Pag. 297. Qu. 3. In what doth the Incarnation consist ibid. Qu. 4. How was this Divine Vnion accomplish'd Pag. 298. Qu. 5. What is it that the Son of God hath done for our Redemption Pag. 299. Art. 3. What are we obliged to believe concerning the Church Pag. 300. Art. 4. What are we obliged to believe concerning the Sacraments Pag. 303. Chap. 3. Of the Holy Eucharist Pag. 306. Art. 1. Of the real prefence of the Son of God in the Eucharist and of what we are to believe concerning this Sacrament Pag. 307. Art. 2. Of the Wonders which occur in this Saerament Pag. 309. Art. 3. Of the Effects of the Holy Eucharist Pag. 311. Art. 4. Of the Dispositions required to Communicate well and as we ought Pag. 314. Art. 5. Of an unworthy Communion Pag. 316. Of the Damages which follow from an unworthy Communion Pag. 320. Art. 6. Of the end we ought to propose to our selves in the Holy Communion Pag. 322. PART II. OF the Practice of Communion or what we must do to Communicate well and as we ought Pag. 325. Chap. 1. Of Faith in as much as it serves for Communion Pag. 326. Art. 1. How necessary it is and in what manner Ib. Art. 2. That to Communicate well it is not sufficient to have Faith but we must practice the acts thereof and how profitable they are in Communion Pag. 327. Art. 3. The Practice of the acts of Faith for Communion Pag. 331. An Act of Faith upon the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament Pag. 332. Vpon the wonders which occur in the Blessed Sacrament Pag. 333. Vpon the effects which the Holy Eucharist is capable to produce in the Soul. Pag. 335. Chap. 2. Of Hope the second disposition for Communion Pag. 339. Art. 1. What is Hope ibid. Art. 2. Of the good which we expect by Hope Pag. 341. Art. 3. That it is necessary to distinguish well betwixt True and False Good and Bad Hope Pag. 344. Art. 4. Of the great Blessings which Hope derives upon us Pag. 347. Art. 5. That the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is of great use to fortify and augment Hope the Virtue in us Pag. 351. Art. 6. That the Practice of Hope is a good and great disposition to the Holy Communion
change sin alone it was sin alone that God could not endure in his most perfect Creatures The Heavens as Job saith are not pure in his presence and he hath found disorder even in the Angells Job 15. He found sin in Heaven and in the Angells themselves and he hath not pardoned them as St. Peter saith but hath chained them in Hell to be there Tormented and thereby to manifest unto all creatures the hatred he bears to Sin. 2 Pet. 2. If Sin was so dreadfull to the Angels in Heaven it hath not been less Terrible to men upon earth if it was able to banish them so quickly there it hath not been less effectual or less speedy in Shutting the Gates of Heaven against us here It was when the first man who being created in the grace of God after he had received all possible assurance of his Friendship both as to this world and to the next forgetfull of his duty and of himself treacherously conspired with his Capital Enemy and broke the Commandments of God in eating the forbidden fruit He had no sooner fall'n into this offence but the Anger God appeared against him and banished him with scorn out of the Earthly Paradise that Garden of delight where but a while before he had been placed with so much love Both he and all his posterity were condemned to labour death and all the miseries we even now groan under for that first transgression of the Law of God. But that which is yet more terrible is that the Gates of Heaven which till then were open were immediately shut as well against himself as against all his posterity without the least hopes of his ever being able to re-enter those happy mansions by any means he either of himself or any of his off-spring of themselves could use O sin how dreadfull art thou and what a train of misfortues dost thou bring after thee This misery and desolation continued four thousand years and more during which time no man ever entred into heaven not even the just themselves and those who dyed in the Grace of God untill the coming of the Son of God into the world who by his Death opened the Gates of Heaven so long shut During that time how many millions of souls were excluded for ever and without recovery from that celestiall inheritance This happened to all those who in that compass of time died in their Sins and without doing penance for them But after the way was open to heaven by the Merits of Jesus Christ how many are there still that enter not at all Hell is filled dayly with millions and Paradice continues in comparison like a desert Why so It is an effect of sin alone and impenitence O how well did the Wise man say it is sin which makes men miserable Miseros facit populos peccatum Prov. 14. Is it possible Theotime that you should run so slightly over these fatal and horrible effects of sin that they should not move you in the least I might here recount the innumerable miseries the continual and dayly effects of Sin Death which it hath introduced from the beginning barrenness of the Earth Rebellion of living creatures the deluge which drowned the world near two thousand years after the Creation Plagues and Pestilence war and famine and all the Miseries as well publick as private which we see and dayly feel are so many unfortunate effects of Sin whether of that of our first parent or of those which men continually commit For as the wise man saith Fire hail famine are made to revenge Sin. Eccl. 39. But I shall pass by all these evils altho' most dreadfull and horrible to come to others infinitely greater and more terrible whereof those are but the fore runners according to that infallible Testimony of the Son of God. Haec omnia initia sunt dolorum Mar. 13. all these miseries says he are but the beginnings of others far greater ARTICLE III. Of the effects of Sin in Hell. LEt us sink down into the Pit of Hell that so we may conceive a more lively apprehension of the enormity of Mortal Sin we shall there see the frightfull evills which this Monster hath produced and by the vastness of so many dreadfull effects frame a judgment of the malice of that cause which hath brought them forth and we shall there learn two things the first to detest Sin the author of so many evils The Second to conceive a wholesome fear of falling into that abiss of misery into which man is thrown by Sin. That which St Bernard said being most certain It is necessary we descend into Hell alive that is think seriously and often on it That we may escape falling into it at the hour of death Consider then Theotime attentively what Faith teacheth us concerning Hell that it is an Eternal fire which God hath prepared for the Devil and his Apostate Angels and with which he hath also decreed to punish the Sins of men who follow the rebellious example of those Ambitious Spirits This we learn from that terrible Sentence which the Son of God shall pronounce at the day of judgment against the wicked Go ye accursed into Everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Mat. 25. A dreadfull sentence which contains no more then four words but in those four words it comprehends Hell intirely and all the evils which compose it First it teacheth us that the fame punishment which is prepared for the Devils is also appointed for men and that they shall be Companions of those wicked and damned Spirits as they were their followers in their rebellion against God and by this we may see what Mortall sin is which renders us obnoxious to the same punishment and damnation with the Devils Ponder this well Theotime and behold what it is to be damned together with the Devils and as the Devils are damned and how great that offence must necessarily be which deserves a punishment equal to that with which the Devils are tormented But what will that punishment be I confess we are not able to comprehend but the Son of God by his infinite wisdom hath summ'd it up in four words that we may more easily conceive it Words which contain all the horror of Hell Go says he ye accursed into Everlasting fire Mat. 25. By these words are denoted the Separation from God the curse of God Fire and Eternity Behold in four words what Hell is behold the punishment of Mortal Sin To be separated from God to be accursed of God to be condemned to fire and that for ever Who can think of these things and not tremble with fear and horror Stay some time here Theotime this is not a subject to be read in hast revive these thoughts often and pause a while upon each of these frightfull punishments To be separated from God the Author and Fountain of all good whose only aspect gives a blessing to all Creatures and who no sooner turns away his face
will perpetually hate the punishment of sin from which however she shall never be delivered she will indeed continually employ her utmost endeavours to quit her self of her pain but to no purpose She will be incensed against her own torments and against God himself O what a torture is this could we but understand it rightly Quid iniquis voluntatibus tam contrarium quam semper conari impingere semper frustra And is there any torment continues the same St. Bernard greater then that of the depraved will of the damned to be always carried on the one side with a continual desire and to be met on the other with a continual resistance and all this to no purpose to no effect Quid tam paenale quam semper velle quod nunquam erit semper nolle quod nunquam non erit What affliction more painfull then always to desire that which will never come to pass and continually to wish to be freed from that which they shall perpetually eudure In aeternum non obtinebit quod vult quod non vult nihilominus sustinebit The Damned shall continue during all eternity without obtaining what he desires and yet shall everlastingly suffer the evils which he would not suffer Who saith St. Bernard will put all this in execution Rectus Dominus Deus noster qui justitias dilexit St. Bernard l. 5. de Considerat c. 12. It will be God who is upright and just and who for that reason can never agree with the unjust and depraved will of the Damned but on the contrary will perpetually resist it and eternally confound it A misfortune saith the same Saint which shall certainly befall all those who shall set themselves against that streight rule which knows not how to bend or yield to the contrary Vae universo quod obvium fortasse offenderit cedere nescia rectitudo Such shall be the effect of the curse of God upon the Damned from the first moment that it shall fall upon their heads Doth it not hence appear how dreadfull Damnation is But this is not all For in the third place those wretched and accursed Souls shall be cast into the torment of fire even into the fire of Hell. This is the Minister and Instrument of the Divine Justice the fruit and issue of Mortal Sin. Fire saith the Prophet shall go before and consume his Enemies all about him Psal 96.3 And in another place Our Lord in his anger shall surround them with trouble and flames of fire shall devour them Psal 20.10 But what fire Theotime That fire which the divine fury as the Scripture saith hath enkindled against the wicked and will burn even to the bottom of Hell. Deut. 32.22 That fire in comparison whereof our Elementary fire is but a painted Figure As St. Augustin saith that fire whose ardour is inconceivable which burn not only Bodies but Souls also and Spirits by a wonderfull Vertue which the divine justice grants unto it raising it above the power of Corporal nature to be able to torment unbodied creatures That fire which by another quality no less admirable burns all without either consuming any other or ever spending its own substance Our fire consumes the things it burns and when it hath wasted them spends it self for want of fuel but the fire of Hell is of a quite contrary nature It conserves its proper matter it burns without either consuming the matter or ever diminishing it self For this reason our saviour calls it ignis inextinguibilis an unextinguishable Fire and a Father of the Church hath given the reason Because the fire of Hell being created by God for the punishment of Sin it chastiseth the sin as it is commanded without consuming the Author Illa enim non casualis sed rationalis exustio quia culpam jubetur inquirere substantiam nescit absumere Euseb Emis hom 1. ad Manachos O Fire is it possible that men should fear thee so little is it not a wonderfull thing that so many words should be necessary to create in men a dread of that infernal fire whereas we are so sensible of that we see and feel amongst us If a small spark fall but on our hands it makes us cry out amain if one were constrained to put his finger in the fire but for a quarter of an hour he would not be able to endure it and yet the fear of the fire of Hell moves us not at all The Prophet crys out to all the world Who of you can dwell with a devouring fire or who can inhabit everlasting flames Isai 33.14 Yet in the mean time there are but very few that concern themselves to avoid that horrible torment or the object that deserves it which is sin or think seriously of the means to escape it at the hour of death which are Penance and a virtuous Life Ponder this Theotime and do not follow the throng of those blind people who run thus headlong to their ruine and without either foresight or prevention precipitate themselves into this infernal fire Now for the better prevention of this dreadfull misfortune let us consider its continuance which will not be for a day or a year or a hundred years but for all Eternity Inignem Aeternum that is this fire and all the other torments of the Damned shall never end they shall endure as long as God shall be God. In this life we have this comfort in our greatest afflictions that once they will have an end Death the most fearfull of all evils puts an end to all the rest in the worst of miseries one wishes that Death will come and it comes at last But in Hell we shall not have as much as this Satisfaction Death there is inexorable it is always present and allways absent The Damned see it continually it is always before their eyes and yet is always flying from them as it is said in the Apocalips c. 9.6 Men shall then seek Death and shall not find it they shall wish to dye and Death shall fly from them What more frightfull State then that where one can have no other comfort then that of Death and yet Death will never come there will be no other Life for those miserable Creatures then a perpetual Death and no other Death then to live continually amidst those Tortures as the learned St. Paulin in his Poetry said admirably well Vita erit sine fine mori mors Vivere poenis Et duranta suas pascere carne cruces Their Life shall be an endless Death and their death shall consist in this to live in Torments and by means of their never-to-be-consumed body continually to maintain their Punishment Their Torments saith another Father would incessantly destroy them but the justice of God will not permit them to dye and they will continue in that state for all eternity without ever putting an end to their misfortunes which will always fly from them and eternally avoid them Occidente poenâ vivificante
Temporall pains to be imposed upon the Penitent to the end he the Penitent may satisfy on his part according to his power and for other reasons which we shall speak of In the undertaking of this Temporall punishment consists the satisfaction whereof we speak in this place which is the third part of Penance CHAP. II. That God pardoning the Sin obliges to a temporal Punishment THis is a fundamental truth in the matter of satisfaction and it is very necessary to understand it well that we may know what satisfaction or a Penance is and how much it imports us to comply with it I said above that God ordinarily makes use of the second sort of reconciliation which imposeth an obligation at least to suffer some punishment for sin which is easy to be proved He hath always practiced this in the Old Testament Nay even from the beginning of the World. When he pardoned the first man his sin it was upon condition to do Penance by labour to which he condemned him and in effect it was a very severe Penance which continued all his Life When he pardoned David his sins of Adultery and Murther he told him by his Prophet that he should be chastised by the death of his Child and he remitted him nothing of all the menaces with which he threatned him by the same Prophet That he himself should see the dishonour of his house the dissention amongst his Children and other misfortunes which were foretold him and all which came to pass For this reason the Penitents of the Old Testament when they begged of God pardon of their sins they never as much as ask'd to be exempt from all punishment but only not to be chastised according to the rigour of the divine justice they desired to avoid his fury and the more fignal effects of his wrath but they submitted themselves to the fatherly correction he should be pleased to impose upon them Reprehend me not O Lord said David Psal 27. in thy Fury nor punish me in thy Wrath. And a little after he declares that he is ready to do Penance and to suffer for his Sins ibid. v. 18. Ecce ego in flagella paratus Sum I am prepared saith he for Scourges Another begs of God that he will Chastise him but not in his Fury Corripe me Domine veruntamen in judicio non in furore Hierem 10.24 There are a vast number of the like examples in the old Testament which shew evidently that God doth not pardon Sins but with an obligation to do Penance and that the Penitents of that time never pretended nor required to be exempt from suffering for their Sins Yea even there have been some of the most illuminated amongst them who have sounded into the depth of the punishment which God hath reserved to himself in the other Life and who knew that God punished after death the Sins of the just which had not been sufficiently expiated during Life So Judas Machabeus not only a great Captain but also high Priest of the Law after a signal Victory sent orders to Jerusalem to offer Sacrifice for the sins of the faithfull who had been slain in that fight And the Scripture 2. Mach. 12.46 approves that action as an holy and wholsome thought assuring us that by prayers and Sacrifices the dead are released from their Sins But this cannot be understood of Sin as to the fault or the eternall punishment which cannot be remitted after Death no more then the fault from whence it springs It must then be understood of the Temporall punishment which the dead ought to satisfy for in the other Life and from which they may be released by the Prayers and Sacrifices of the Living As to the new Law here also God hath still continued the same manner of receiving Christians into his Grace in obliging them to satisfaction by temporal punishment and that with so much more reason as the Law they profess is more holy and more perfect This is the Reason why our Saviour hath said Mat. 12.35 that at the day of Judgment we must give account of the least Sins as idle words This sentence shall be given after death There we shall give an account of our sins there to receive the punishment This shall not at all be an eternall punishment for they will not at all deserve it it must then be a temporall punishment which must be undergone and by which we must satisfy in the other Life if we have not satisfyed during this Hence also it is that the same Son of God by giving to his Apostles power to remit and retain sins hath also given that of binding and loosing Sinners This power of binding reacheth to many things but amongst others it contains the Power of obliging Penitents to make satisfaction for their sins and in releasing them from the bonds of the guilt and eternall punishment it imposes upon them a temporall pain for the satisfaction of the Divine Justice Thus the Church hath always urderstood that power of binding as the Council of Trent hath declared Ses 14. c. 8. adding Can. 15. an Anathema to those that hold the contrary This is the cause why the same Church which is infallible in the interpretation of the sentiments of her Spouse hath always made use of this power from the Apostles even unto this present time having always received Sinners unto the Sacrament of Penance by imposing upon them wholsome penances for their sins For which she her self hath made rules and Canons prescribing different penances for different sorts of Sins CHAP. III. Excellent reasons out of the Council of Trent to shew why God remitting the Sin by Penance obligeth the Penitent Sinner to a Temporal Punishment THe holy Council of Trent treating of Penance brings so efficacious and moving reasons to evince this truth that to omit them here Theotime would be to deprive you of a signal satisfaction It draws the first from the great equity of the Divine Justice which treats those in a different manner who are differently or unequally guilty as those are who have sinned before Baptisme and those who have offended after they have received it For as concerning the former as they have sinned with more ignorance and without having received so many graces as Christians have God remits them by Baptisme not only all their Sins but also all the punishment which he might justly exact in satisfaction for them granting them an absolute and entire pardon or an act of oblivion and indemnity of all that is passed in favour of their entrance into Christian Religion But he treats otherwise with them who relapse into sin after Baptisme whose faults are infinitly greater because then they have a clearer knowlege of the sin and offend after they have been delivered from the Slavery of Sin and the Devil After they have received the grace of the Holy Ghost by which there Soul became the dwelling place of God so that by sinning they violate the Temple of
he tells you that he is truly sorry that he hath offended God and promises to amend He often indeed speaks these words but they come not from his heart Or if they proceed from a sense of his Sins it is but lightly and by way of habit without having seriously thought of his amendment He believes he hath contrition but hath it not This is what happens frequently and then the Confessor cannot give absolution without putting himself in danger to commit a Secrilege He ought to defer it and give time to his Penitent to think as he ought of his amendment and render himself a subject worthy of Absolution This procedure surprises the Penitents when they find the Confessors treat them as they are obliged to do but these are in name only and not Penitents in effect who believe that Confession consists only in a declaration of their Sins and that when once they have declared them they have a right to receive Absolution and to oblige the Confessor to it They will be believed upon their single word when they say they are truly sorry for their Sins and that they will not commit them any more for the future although in their former Confessions they have always said the same and without effect These Penitents most grossly deceive themselves For they will judge their judges and teach their Physitians It belongs to the Confessor to judg of the state of the Penitent and see whether he be sufficiently disposed to receive absolution and whether or no he can securely give it This care is his duty as being oliged to give an account of this his function in the presence of Almighty God. It is the Bloud of the Son of God which he applys in the Sacrament and God will require an exact and rigourous account of him if he did distribute it to those that are unworthy of it Now judge Theotime whether the Penitent be not very unreasonable who would oblige his Confessor to give him Absolution when he the Confessor either doth not find him at all duly disposed or hath good grounds to doubt whether he be worthy of it Is not this to go about to damn himself and his Confessor too But if the Penitent be blamable in this occasion the Confessor is much more in fault when he yields so easily to the importunities of his Penitent as to give him a doubtfull absolution and which may be rather hurtfull then profitable to him He ought to remember that there are some cruel mercies hurtfull both to those to whom they are shewn and to those who shew them and that the good Physitian doth not desist from applying his remedies when he judges them necessary notwithstanding all the opposition his Patient makes He lets him cry out and complain being assured that what he does is necessary for the Patient who when he shall have recovered his health will not only be well contented to have suffered but also acknowledge the kindness his Physitian did him Saint Augustin says excellently well upon this Subject Epist ad Vincent He is not always a Friend who spares or is favourable to us nor he always an Enemy who chastizeth the Physitian who commands a Lunatick to be bound and awakes one in a Lethargy is troublesome to them both but it is because he loves them and by tormenting them he cures them The one and the other as long as they are sick are angry with him but as soon as they are cured they hold themselves much obliged to him for that he did not spare them Ambobus molestus ambos amat ambos sanat Ambo quamdiu aegri sunt indignantur sed ambo sani gratulantur It is true that a Confessor ought so to employ his Resolution as not to forget his sweet and obliging mildness but that he ought as much as possible to make the Penitent approve of what he ordains sweetening all things by the testimony of his affection and convincing him that what he advises is to acquit himself of his obligation and for the Salvation of his Soul. This is the Oyle of the Gospel Luc. 34. which he must employ with the Wine when he dresses the wounds of others Consciences endeavouring by Charity to sweeten the sharpest remedies which he is obliged to use therein Behold here the first good which the Confessor ought to have in view viz. to secure the Sacrament and to restore the Penitent to the grace of God. But yet there is a second which he is obliged also as far as he is able to procure viz. the amendment of the Penitent The Cure is good for nothing which is followed by a Relapse and the Physitian who is not concerned to prevent it complies but with half his duty and becomes himself guilty of the harm into which the sick man falls again and even of death it self if it befall him This is the reason why the Confessor is obliged not only to advertise the Penitent not to return to his Sins but also to shew him the means how to avoid them and to engage him to put them in execution These means are Penance Prayer satisfactory Works as Fasting Alms-deeds Mortification and others which we have handled above in the Fourth Part and whereof we shall yet speak in the following Chapter To which may be added certain conditional Penances that is some painfull things to be performed or suffered by the Penitent in case he return again unto his Sins and as often as he shall relapse therein as to Fast to give Alms or some other painfull work for each relapse The apprehensions of these sort of Punishments serve frequently as a Bridle to with-hold the Penitents when they are tempted to offend God. And lastly the deferring of Absolution when the Penitent doth not at all correct himself is frequently a very good remedy to make him amend his Life This makes the Penitent think seriously of amendment and labour to reform his Vices which make him unworthy of so great a good and punctually to comply with all that he the Confessor shall ordain him to the end he may be worthy This means ought to be applied with much Prudence and especially it behoveth the Confessor to make a vast distinction between Penitents who relapse into their Sins through frailty and those who return through malice that is to say either on set purpose or through an affected negligence He will know the former when he shall find that they are extreamly troubled to see themselves subject to those relapses that they use all their endeavours to abstain from Sin that they practice what means their Confessor appoints them And towards these he must use a far greater sweetness support their weakness Absolve them more easily seeing they continue to labour on their part to amend their Lives The latter are those who not only continue in their wickedness but do either nothing at all or very little to refrain from their Sins And towards these one must use more severity And as