enough c Vae tempori illi Domine in quo non te amavi vae tempori illi in quo te graviter off mdi My God! I curse the Day that I neglected to love thee I curse the Day wherein I offended thee d Dominus illuminatio mea salus mea Dominus protector vitae meae à quo trepidabo Ps 26. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is the Protector of my Life of whom shall I be a fraid e Etiamsi-consistant adversum me castra non time bircor meum Ps 26.5 Si ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis non timebo mala quoniam tu mecum es Ps 22.4 Though men should en camp against me my heart will not be terrifyed though I walk in the midst of the shadow of Death I will fear no evil because thou art with me b Etiamsi occideris me in te sperabo Domine Job 13.15 Though thou slay me yet I will trust in thee c Sperantem in Domino misericordia circundabit Ps 3.10 Mercy shall compass him about that hopeth in the Lord. d Adauge in me Domine fidem adauge spē adauge charitat em Lord increase my faith increase my hope increase my Love e Paratum cor meum Deus paratum cor meum Ps 56.8 My heart is ready O God! my heart is ready f Sive morimur sive vivimus Domini sumus Rom. 14.8 Whether we live or dye we are the Lord 's g Dominus est faciat quod bonum est in oculis suis 5. Reg. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seemeth good in his sight h Si bona susceptimus de manu Domini mala quare non sustinebimus Job 2.10 We have received good at the hand of the Lord and shall we not also receive evil i Justè patimur Domine quia peccavimus tibi Jer. 14.25 We suffery justly O Lord because we have sinned against thee FEBRUARY AND AUGUST FIRST MEDITATION Of the importance of salvation FIRST POINT The husiness of our salvation is the most important of all business SECOND POINT The business of our salvation is our onely business FIRST POINT COnsider that no business is of so great importance to us as the business of our salvation an Eternity of happiness or misery depends on the success of this All other affaires are only permitted as they are subservient to this great Work If we lose this we lose all for we lose God who is all good without whom there can be no good if we fail in this he is lost to us and lost for ever without recovery Salvation is our own business every thing else is forreign to us in other things we do the business of our Children our Friends our family our Country or of the Community to which we belong and not precisely our own business every thing else is a business of Time this of Eternity If we lose other business tho of the highest importance we may find a remedy or if we do not we shall be no losers provided we succeed in this The loss of our souls is the only irreparable loss Eternity its selfe will not be sufficient to deplore it Shall we be able to comfort our selves with the thoughts that we have been success full in all our other business of no consequence and and have only neglected this which is the only business of Eternity 'T is no matter tho we live obscurely and forgotten without friends or support and dye poor provided we secure our salvation But what will all our Riches and power all our knowledge and wisdom avail us if we loose our souls Tho all the world should conspire together they will never be able to deprive a man of Heaven make him miserable to all Eternity Neither will they be able to make one damn'd soul happy Quid prodest homini si universum mundum lucretur c. Luc 6.25 so much as mitigate his Torments What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul or what can he give in exchange for his soul Is it possible that this business of Eternity is the onely business of consequence we have to do and that yet we should neglect this most and lay it least to heart We fancy that our studies our trade our diversions that our visits and conversation are of great importance to us they take up all our time we can never find leisure enough for them we are unwilling to deferr them but when we should think seriously of our souls we make no difficulty of deferring we imagine it is too soon that we shall have time enough and yet which is still more surprizing we are never at leasure to set about it Certainly we must have odd notions of Eternal happiness since we are so carless of securing it would we be content to take no more pains and spend no more time in our study's and in temporal affaires then we do in what concerns ous Eternal salvation If our salvation depended on a nother could he have so little zeal or charity as to neglect it more then we do our selves Tho we know it depends wholly on our own care What pains do's every man take in his calling If we have a child to provid for if we have a design tojoyn in partnership with a Merchant how careful are we to inform our selves to examine to advise with our ffriends what measures do we not observe what precautions do we not take we think we can never be too sure But are we to spend a little time for salvation we think a very little too much Salvation is the business of Eternity but it must be done in time we have need of all our Time for it God gives us our whole Life to think of it he judged it was all little enough but we imagine it may be done inless If we spent in working out our salvation the hundredth part of the Time and pains we throw a way in worldy business we should soon be great saints This is the only necessary business we can have and yet we hardly allot a little Time for it nay we grudge it even that little By our proceedings one would think that we believe God our debtor and oblig'd to us for beeing saved If a man of business or Letters pass one whole day in accquitting himselfe of the duty 's of a Christian he looks upon that day as lost But we spend whole months in vain studys or in worldly business and call this spending the time well Salvation is our great and chief business now a mans chief business takes up all his thoughts hardly gives him time to think of any other if this succeds he comforts himselfe for the miscarriage of the rest We commonly put off the care of our salvation our to our last sickness that is we put of the business
selfe Love and pride cannot please themselves here because there is no noise or ostentation Let us now take a view of the dispositions methods whereby we may receive most profit A sence of our want of it and a persuasion that this practise may be very useful to us is one good disposition The rest which we ought to have if we would receive benefit are almost the same which the Author of the retreat according to the spirit methode of Saint Ignatius sets down in his Preface and they are chiefly five The first is an unfeigned desire to think seriously of our salvation a firm Resolution not to flatter our selvs but to examine carefully and axactly without disguising any thing the state of our souls what progress we make in the way of Perfection what benefit we receive by the sacraments what ground we gain whether we be victorious over our selves and whether we be insueh a state as we would venture to appear before God in to give an account of our Lives In fine whether we be such now as we would desire to be at the hour of Death But all our examinations and discovery's will be to no purpose unless we add to them a firm resolution to correct what ever is amiss this is not one of those barren devotions which for the most part serve only to amuse the imperfect and render them more faulty they who have not a real design and an earnest desire to walk with God will find but little satisfaction in it their coldness and indifference will soon make them weary The second Disposition is an humble distrust of our selves supported by a firm confidence in God knowing that salvation is chiefly his work and that without him we can do nothing assuring our selves that since he hath inspir'd us with the desire of retiring once a month he will not refuse us the necessary graces to profit by it And indeed this desire of making use of the best means to convert our selves to God is an evident proof that he who inspires it would fain have us turn and live and we find by experience that those unhappy men who dye in their sins are such as made but very litle use of this excellent means of Conversion The third Disposition is a free heart that gives its selfe to God without reserve saying with Saint Paul Acts. 9.6 Psal 56.8 Lord what wouldst thou have me to do or with David My heart is ready O God my heart is ready to do thy will The want of this disposition is the cause that the most pious practises are without effect For when we think of an entire conversion we are too often irresolute we will will not we know not what we would have and very often we imagine that we desire what we really and indeed do not desire We are for capitulating with our maker we are for retaining some part of what we promise him we deliberate on every thing he requires we dispute with him on every occasion My God! what is it we fear to throw our selves entirely on thee we are convinc'd that 't is the best thing we can do but we are unwilling to do it because we foresee that if we once give our selves to thee we shall soon grow weary of the Creatures The communications of thy self to us will not fail to render us sensible of vanity and make us loath them and we are unwilling to be made sensible of it or to loath them this is what we fear The fourth Disposition is a ponctual observance of the order and rule of our Rerreat an exactness in every part of it neglecting nothing that can contribute to our doing it well judging nothing little that is capable of advancing so great a work as our salvation being fully persuaded of this Truthe that the great profit of this devotion depends on exactness in the least things Whether it be that this carefulness is an evident proof of our sincerity or that it prevails with God to refuse none of his Graces to those who neglect nothing to please him The Fifth disposition which is at is were the soul of all spiritual Retreats is a perfect solitude both inward and outward keeping our selves in a profound recollection and silence And avoiding every thing that can any way distract us When an indolent soul is eight or ten days in retreat the Devil easily finds some occasion to disgust it with its holy employment it thinks the time long when it has none but God to converse with When it do's not find many spiritual consolations in prayer when its thoughts are almost continually distracted its want of fervour and the imperfection of its desires to be converted render the most holy exercises of devotion very unpleasant Eight days in Retreat seem an age so that it counts all the hours and wishes for the last But to these dangers we are not expos'd in one day's Retreat 't is but one day and if we make a right use of it we may gain as much and perhaps more profit then in a longer Retreat which ought certainly to engage us to neglect nothing whereby we may improve such a precious season to the best advantage One Day in thirty is but a small matter let us give it heartily and cheerfully to God let us be very exact in the performance of the spiritual excercises that we may have nothing to reproach our selves One day is quickly over and it will be our unspeakable comfort to have past it well CHAP IV. How we are to spend the Day of Retreat IT being left to every ones convenience to choose what day he pleases for this Reâ—â—eat we should pitch upon the day wherein we may have the least interruption and which we can best have to our selves If it be possible we should receive the same day Men of business and tradesmen would do well to choose an Holiday Religious men some day wherein they can without distraction give themselves entirely to this holy exercise We should endeavour to spend halfe an hour in Meditation the night before to dispose us for the duty 's of the day at least we should read attentively the preparatory Meditation compos'd for that end and if we have opportunity we should at the same time with the same design visit our Redeemer in the Blessed Sacrament We must observe a profound silence during the whole Day to which we must add an inward recollection we must spend it in exact solitude as far as our condition will permit but we are not hereby oblig'd to neglect any of the duty 's of our calling nor are Religious persons forbid their ordinary recreations much less the Dutys of their vocation We must make this Day the three Meditations design'd for each Month and pass an hour in reflecting on the practical Truths of Religion our Confession should be larger and more particular then ordinary that we may thereby endeavour to repair the faults
have but cause to doubt positively that I am not In this extremity all that he hath heard of judgment of Hell Eternity come afresh in his mind affright him in a terrible manner 'T is wonderful that he who some few days ago was full of doubts and uncertaintys is now fully convinc'd of the truths which he was then so unwilling to believe Behold his fears see how he trembles and quakes at the thoughts of Death judgment We sometimes meet with men who turn the most serious exercises of Piety into Rallery and call the exactness of those fervent souls who are punctual in performing the smallest dutys of their station preciseness and weakness Let these men who imagine they have reason to censure and act thus continue to think so at this hour and mantain their character of wits to the last if they can If they were in the right let them please themselves now with calling exactness and devotion preciseness and scrupulosity They have made a false conscience to themselves under its shadow they lull themselves in a false security let rhem now maintain that imaginary systeme Alas 't is the remembrance of these very things that now drives them to despair While we are in health our passions blind us ill examples seduce us we are charm'd with present objets the hurry of business takes us up and we industriously avoid serious Reflections on the Truths of Religion even our Faith is halfe dead stifled by the corruption of our manners but at the approach of Death it revives to terrify distract us like the Faith of the Devils it makes us tremble but do's not convert us Every body is convinc'd that when Death comes we shall repent our neglect of mortification our worldly voluptuous Lives our having done so very few good works and having liv'd no better and yet which is exceeding strange after all these reflections after being fully convinc'd of them how few take pains to amend their Lives My God! how long shall we make these useful rections and yet live so unlike Christians Death makes us see clearly then our prejudices and prepossessions vanish formerly we saw but were not sensible of the vanity emptiness of every thing in the world but now we both see and feel it and wonder at our stupidity in finding it no sooner and in not discovering our double want We find we were deceiv'd and at the same time find to our unspeakable an speakable anguish that we are ruin'd by that Error and that we cannot recover what it has made us loose A Dead man is indeed a mournful but an useful sight very proper to disabuse us and to alienate our affections from the pleasures of this Life the most accomplish'd man in the World inspires horror when he is dead immediately all is silent the Corps is cover'd the Curtains drawn and every body retires where is now his beauty and good miene where is his agreeable humour what is become of all his projects great fortune you see what is the end of all But what is become of his soul what must be done with this corrupted body which begins already to grow offensive Not withstanding all its greatness notwithstanding all its charms though the most Lovely in the world every body fly's it Husband wife Children Relations Friends neighbours servants are all striving to be rid of it those who lov'd it best are most desirous to have it carried away and most uneasy to hear it spoken of It s nearest and best friends hire men to throw it to the worms they make hast to nail it up they hide it in the ground and we cannot without horrour think of its condition a few days after You are forgot as soon as bury'd every one returns to his business your Friends seek other Friends take new measures and hardly think any more of you They concern themselves no more about you then if you had never liv'd no body fears your anger nor desires your favour they often undo all you had done within a little time you are not so much as talk'd of At your Death indeed some teares may possibly be shed by your Relations and Friends for the loss of some pleasure or advantage which they expected from you teares are common but the greatest part of those teares are only grimace they will soon be comforted especially if they gain by your Death any part of your Estate falls to them We may guess what others will do for us by what we have done for others after their Death Our grief for a friend and Relation has been soon appeas'd and though they were so wretched as to have ruin'd their souls for our sakes have we thought our selves much oblig'd to them After all this can we make any great account of the world and its pleasures 'T is indeed very surprising that we think so seldom of Death but t is much more surprizing that we can think once of it and not be converted How many live as if they were sure they should never dye were to dye more then once as if they should lose nothing by dying ill or as if they could recover that loss after Death Is not this our case And what will our thought be on a Death Bed when we call to mind the reflections we now make if we reape no benefit by them SECOND POINT Consider how happy a thing it is to dye when one has liv'd well Death is the punishment of sin it can therefore be a real trouble only to those who are defil'd with sin It must needs be a subject of great joy and pleasure to those who have led a virtuous Life How can they dye unhappily since they dye saints The Death of a Righteous man saith the Prophet is precious before God consequently dear to him for one alwayes esteemes and takes care of what is precious 'T is no matter to a good man to dye destitute of all humane aid tho he dye suddenly he never dyes unprepared God takes a peculiar care of him he dyes happily because his Death is precious in the sight of his God Every thing ought to contribute to his consolation how great must his joy then be when he reflects that he has liv'd like a Christian led a penitential Life The sight of what is to come will most certainly alleviate the pains of his present condition He is now got over all the difficulties in the way to heaven fasting mortification labours austerity pennance all is over What a satisfaction is it in Death to know that the hath done all the good that was required of him and avoided the ill which he might have done especially when he thinks on the remorse of Conscience which would have tormented him if he had done otherwise The longest Life seems then but a moment from the Cradle to the Tomb what a satisfaction must it be to a dying Christian that instead of omitting he has done
his Duty what would the greatest fortune avail me says the dying man what good could powerful friends do me now If I had spent my time in pleasures and follow'd the maxims of the world of what use would they be to me now I therefore condemn now and will condemn to all Eternity the maxims of the world all the Friendships on Earth cannot deferr my Death one moment I am for ever banish'd from all Company all the pleasures of the world are not able to moderate one of my least Pains and if I had fixt my heart on them I should now have nothing left but the regret of having weary'd my selfe for my own ruine He applauds himselfe for having been so wise as to contemn those vanity's which would leave him now whether he would or no if he had not left them T is sweet t is comfortable at the hour of death to think that one has left them His great business was to save his soul to make sure of an happy Eternity if he had been successful in every thing else and had not secur'd his salvation he would have done nothing he was in danger of not doing it and what would becoâ—â— of him if he had not He trembles with fear at this thought but having by the grace of God apply'd himselfe chiefly to that great work the same thought fills him with comfort Let us suppose that a man has taken a long journey about an impottant business on which his fortune His honour and his Life depends that he comes just time enough to have audience of his Prince and to justify his conduct and finds that if he had staid an hour or two longer he would have come too late have lost his cause and been condemn'd to Death How glad is he that he did not trifile away his time upon the road But if by his diligence he not only sav'd his life but gain'd an Estate honours and dignitys and became his Princes favourite would he repine because he had miss'd some little pleasures neglected some conveniences which he might have found in the way if he had stay'd for them And by staying for which he knew several who came on the same business with him had lost their cause and their Lives remembrance of past dangers gives us real pleasure and we delight to talk of them so the difficulties we have gone through for the love of God will be very sweet to us at the hour of Death Did it ever come into a mans thoughts on his death bed to regret that he had not diverted and pleas'd himself enough in the World We very often repent the having pleas'd our selves too much we regret the time we have thrown away in vain worldly diversions while we neglected mortification Alas are not all our Lives full of nothing else but these very things of which we repent when come to dye Did ever Religious man at the hour of Death repent his having willingly and meritoriously left his Relations his wealth the world which he must now leave whether he will or no gain nothing by his leaving it an imperfect Religious will repent of his imperfections but not of his being Religious The thoughts of Death terrify the stoutest make the wicked tremble but they fill the Saints with joy He is A good man says S. John Climacus that do's not fear Death but he is a Saint who desires it Then it is that those who have lov'd their Redeemer find a mighty sweetness in receiving the Viaticum being able to say come Lord Jesus my heart is ready A crucifix must needs be welcome on a Death bed to a man who has born the Cross all his Life and liv'd by it Proficiscere anima Christiana de hoc mundo With what pleasure do's he hear himselfe invited to leave the world which he values so little and to take possession of the New Jerusalem after which he has sigh'd like a Prince recall'd to his throne like a valiant soldier whom his soveraign sends for to come and receive the reward of all his fatigues and combats T is true the sight of his sins may justly make him fear but the view of the Crucifix the prayers of the Church the assistance of the Saints and especially of the Queen of Saints of Jesus-Christ himselfe inspires him with confidence in the mercy of God which no temptation or trouble is able to disturb The sight of his good works makes him confident but not vain being persuaded that the divine goodness who has guided him by his grace during this Life will not leave him in this last hour his tenderness devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the remembrance of her past favours will afford him no less joy and comfort This fervent sâ—ul lov'd his Saviour and long'd to be with him and now rejoyces in expectatien of that happy moment which will unite him to that dear Saviour for ever What a sweetness do's he find in pronouncing the name of Jesus whom he lov'd with so much tenderness fervour What a difference is there between the death of a Saint and the death of a wicked man a difference that is seen even after their Death The Corps of the former inspires veneration not with standing the natural horror we have for dead Bodys and for every thing about them so that we are not unwilling to come near them neither the body of a Saint nor any thing about it frights us we are not afraid to enter into the Chamber where it lyes we are earnest to get some thing that belong'd to it we kiss it we strive to touch it his death is not only agreeable to him but to us to such is the power of Holiness that it takes away all the horror of a Corps and renders it venerable and precious We are all charm'd with the Death of a Saint Is it not then very strange that our desire to dye like him do's not excite us to live better We are all ready to say with the Prophet Let me dye the death of the just and let my latter end be like his But to what purpose is this lazy wish while we will not imitate his Life Are we ignorant that the satisfaction which the Saints find in Death is the ordinary fruit of the holiness of their Lives we should have liv'd like them in a continual mortification of our passions in an entire renouncing contempt of the world an uninterrupted practise of all Christian virtues and an exact performance of the duty 's of our station What is the reason that we take no more care to prepare for Death seeing there is nothing of so great importance that all depends upon dying well and that if whe dye ill we can never repair our loss oh 't is a wretched thing to be reduc'd in in the last moment of our lives to unprofitable regrets Tho you were the greatest admirer of the world thou you were never so
an hour on Death on what we shall suffer feel and think then let us endeavour to become sensible that it is not farr off and to put on such dispositions as we shall have at its approach Let us reflect seriously on the rigour of Death how without any exception it deprives us of all things on the condition of our body 's in the grave and how soon we shall be forgotten in the world how little our Relations our Friends and acquaintance will think of us as if we had never liv'd Let us affect our selves with the vanity of all that charms us here with the folly of placing our happiness or our hopes on the Creatures Riches honors pleasures all vanish are as nothing at the sight of Death but above all let us press home the importance of dying well the danger of dying ill if we do not prepare for it betimes and that it will be to little purpose for us to put off our preparation to a Death-Bed This Meditation should produce sincere resolutions that we will immediately begin to do what when Death comes we shall wish we had done sooner and what we shall not be able to de if we deferr it till then And because external objects very much contribute to render us more recollected we may follow their Examples who make their Chambers as obscure as they can who have the representation of Death before them leaving onely just light enough to discern it Others suppose themselves ready to expire and with a Crucifix in their hands seek all their consolation from that amiable object Others hang their Chamber with mourning and endeavour by the sight of their winding sheets to represent Death approching These funeral objects have a certain mournful air which is capable of making agreat impression Our Confession must bu such as we would make if we were dying we must omitt nothing we must disguise nothing that may give us any trouble we must lay our souls entirely open that our Confessor may be as well acquainted with our interior as we are our selves We must shew him all that passes in our hearts all that God sees there and which he will one day expose to all the World if we do not prevent that terrible discovery by a full and entire Confession Hove all we must be truly contrite which is the point wherein we are oftenest deficient Say to your soul that you are working for Eternity t is not a Ceremony you are about you are now to blot out all your past fins to do this work in such a manner that you may be in no need of doing it again were you immediately to dye Examine your selfe carefully on these Articles the restitution of your neighbours goods the reparation of his honour blasted by your censures the example you have given the repidity and slothfulness of your Life your Enmity's and hatreds your want of godly sorrow of sincerity and of resolutions of amendment in your Confessions the sins of your youth those which your interest hath made you commit the ill habits in wich you have indulg'd your selfe the dangerous engagements you would not break the next accafions of sin which you would not avoid the darling passion the beloved sin which men hardly ever mortify which is the source of all their disorders your inordinate Love of pleasure your wilful ignorance of the duty 's of your station your abusive and scandalous railleries the ill use of the Sacraments of time of Grace If you be Religious search into the violation of your vows your carelessness indischarging the particular duty 's of your Calling These are the things which do generally disturb us on a Death-bed and make our Salvation doubtful when restitution reparation of honour to those we have aspers'd when quitting the occasions of sin reconciling our selves to our Ennemies precede our Confession it is the best sign that our sorrow and resolutions are sincere We should look upon this days communion as the Viaticum and imagine that we hear the Priest when he puts the blessed Host into our Mouths says Accipe viaticum Frater corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi c. Receive Dear Brether the precious body and blood of Jesus Christ your Saviour to be your viaticum in your passage to Eternity The Acts following the Communion must be suitable to the condition of a dying Christian which we shall not be able to make when we are indeed expiring Having regulated our Consciences let us then put our temporal affairs in order as if we were going to dye Fac Testamentum tuuÌ„ dum sanus es dum sapiens es dum tuus es Make your will saith Saint Augustin while you are yet in health while you have your sences free while you are Master of your Time of your selfe In your last sickness continues the same Father you will be exposed to so many flatteries â— In inâ—mitat blanditiis minis duceris ubi tu non vis importunities and surprises that it will not be your will but the will of those about you Besides your time will then be too precious and too short to spend any of it in worldly matters but you must be careful not to forget your selfe while you provide for others you forget your selfe if you give nothing to the Poor Let the remainder of the Day be employed in good works in a profound solitude and recollection and in reading some spiritual Book that treats of Death Father Colombiere's three discourses on that subject are admirable and may be very useful if we peruse them carefully Or else we may read the foregoing Meditation on the sentiments which we shall have at the hour of Death Let us pass one hour in consideration on the duty 's of our private station especially on those particulars which may trouble us on a Death hed and we may reap great benefit by being attentive to the prayers of the Church for dying persons either in the administration of the Sacrament of extreme unction or in the Recommendation of the soul to God It is evident that we ought to debarr our selves all manner of conversation during the whole Day we must speak only to our Director unless we visit some poor sick or dying person not only to comfort and assist them but also to raise in our selves a more lively image of what we shall be one day We must close the Day with a Meditation on Judgment on the different conditions of a fervent and alukewarm soul going to appear befor God The chief fruits of this Christian practise are these we must be perfectly wean'd from every thing of which we know Death will deprivus to which we must add an exceeding horror of all mortal sin Reformation of our Lives and a sincere desire to lay up a treasure of merits by the practise of virtue and Good works SECT III. PRAYERS AND Ejaculations to help us to dye well THe time of our last sickness
of any thing wherein a man would be thought mad or at least imprudent that should talk to us of business Is a sick or dying man in a condition to talk of business And yet it is to this time which we our selves acknowledge to very unfit for the most trivial affaires that we deferr the greatest business in the world the business of Salvation of Eternity How can we think of being converted one day and yet deferr it though but to the next day The design of being converted implies that we believe our Souls in danger that we are sensible of want of Love to God that we do not serve him faithfully That we are out of his favour and that we dare not dye in the state in which welive He who deferrs his Conversion wilfully lives in a continual danger by which so many perish every Day he refuses to love God is content to be out of favour with him he resolves to live in à State wherein he is afraid to dye and this after serious reflection and after several designs to change his Life he resolves to persist in enmity to God at the very time when God tenders him his Grace and presses him to accept his Friendship Can any Christian can any rational man make this reflection afterwards deferr his Conversion one moment Alas my Dear Saviour I am but too capable of doing this these reflections and an hundred more will be to no purpose if thou dost not convert me Oh! do it for thy mercys sake as this is the day wherein I resolve to be converted so let it be the Day of my perfect Conversion SECOND MEDITATION OF THE GOOD VSE of Time FIRST POINT That Time is very precious SECOND POINT That the loss of Time can never be repaired FIRST POINT COnsider that nothing is so precious as Time every moment is worth an Eternity that the glory of the Saints the Eternal joys of heaven which Christ hath purchas'd for us by his blood are the reward of the good use we make of our Time Time is so precious that the smallest part of it is worth more than all the honours and Riches in the world tho we employ but one moment to get all those honours and Riches if that be all we gain by it God who judges righteously will look upon that moment as lost If a damn'd Soul were master all the Kingdoms of the Earth he would give them all and all its Treasures for one of those precious minutes which he for merly spent in folly and which we loose every Day Comprehend if you can what Grace and the possession of God is this Grace this God are the price of our Time which is given us onely to obtain more grace and by its assistance to merit the enjoyment of God and it is certain that by every moment we spend for any thing else we loose more than the whole world can repay The Saints in Heaven by reiterated perfect acts of vertue to Eternity can not merit a greater degree of Glory yet this I can merit every moment if I will by one true act of Love to God Reprobates will not be able to satisfy the divine justice nor to obtain the pardon of one sin by all their regrets and tears nor by an Eternity of dread ful Sufferings but I may do it every moment by one sigh or one tear by one act of contrition I may appease the wrath of God Eternal happiness or misery will be the consequence of my use or abuse of Time I can work out my Salvation onely while Time lasts how then can men be so much at a loss how to employ their time how can they amuse themselves and be taken up with trifles only to passe away the time You do not know how to spend the Time Have you never offended God are you not oblig'd to him have you receiv'd no favours from him Ought not you to adore and serve him The glorious Saints do not think Eternity too long to love to praise to bless and honour him and shall we think an hour of a day too long You dont know what to do have you no sins to grieve for Dont you know that Jesus-Christ is in person on the Altar where he expects to be ador'd is ador'd but by few and can you want employment for your time we are never at a loss how to spend our time but when we have most time to serve and love God For we can spend whole days in business and vain pleasures in offending God and destroying our Souls with hout being uneasy or thinking the Time long Let us consider that we can secure our Salvation only while Time lasts and that all the time of our lives is given us only for this End how careful ought we then to be of improving it every moment is precious we loose all if we loose our time But do we much value this loss Do we think that there is such a thing as the loss of time we improve every moment for things of no consequence we are cast down at disapointments and with all our care and diligence we are continually afraid that we shall want Time But alas a Time wil come when we shall think otherwise because we shall have juster thoughts a time will come wherein we shall regret those favorable days and hours which we mispend now A time will come when we would give all the world to recall some of those precious moments which we now throw away and wilfully loose when we shall be torn with despair to find that they are all lost and that time is past Then you will cry out Oh! that I were now in the condition I was in such a Day of my Life when I was meditating upon the improvement of Time Oh! that I had now the same health and strength my God! what would I not do but wretch that I am I foresaw this despair which torments me now for having lost my Time why did I make no use of that foresight nor of that Time Time is short it ends with our Lives wee have already pass'd the greatest part of them and to what purpose what use have I made of this last year how much time have I lost in doing what I ought not or in omitting what I ought to have done and how little of it have I spent in doing my duty My God! what a terrible account have I to give of my Time of these present Reflctions How can I expect mercy from God if I make no better use of what is left if I deferr my Conversion any longer how many are dead who were in better health than I some months ago how many seem now in their full vigour who will be in the grave before the year is past and how do I know that I shall not be one of them Let us then work while we have time we cannot expect it should be long and therefore let us not
deferr our Conversion one moment SECOND POINT COnsider that you can never repair the loss of Time that all you can do will never recall one moment and if you be capable of reflection and be seriously desirous of Salvation this will be sufficient to convince you of the importance of redeeming time It is certain that all the moments of our Lives are counted let us employ them well or ill we shall not increase their number for it is fix'd and lessens continually An hour ago we had so much more time to work out our Salvation an hour hence we shall have so much less Tho we live holily after the example of Sainr Paul and do not loose one moment of what is left yet it is most certain that a moment once gone will return no more and that if it be employed ill 't is lost If we employ the rest of our time well we may escape the dangers into which our abuse of the past has brought us but we cannot undo what we have done we have still lost so many precious hours and with them all the graces which God would have bestowed on us all the good we might have done in them My God! what a loss is this so many moments lost since we had first the use of reason and with them so many graces beyond recovery When we spend hours and days in vanity we call it passing the Time a phrase very unfit for a Christians mouth we pass a way the time Time it self passes away the Time so pass'd is lost and neither it nor the graces we could have merited in it will return any more The Grace of Predestination is in some manner annex'd to some certain moments what will become of us if God has fix'd ours to some of those moments that are past lost The fear of having lost it is indeed a sure and sensible mark that I am not yet deprived of it but what must I expect if I let slip this opportunity and do not grow better by this fear We know time is precious and short and yet we complain it passes slowly we are continually wishing for some time to come whence proceeds this uneasiness are we weary of living no but we make ill use of our Time and that loss which we see and feel disturbs our quiet and makes us think the time long All our pleasures and diversions cannot free us from this uneasiness which never quits those who loose their Time But they who improve it well for their Salvation are not subject to this uneasiness nothing is so easy so full of peace as they Many Saints have with Saint Paul desired to be deliver'd from their Exile that they might perfectly enjoy their God and be out of danger of losing him but we never find that they were uneasy in the discharge of their duty 's in doing the will of God So true it is that to be entirely satisfy'd and contented we need onely make a good use of time by yielding obedience to the Divine Will But here let us examine what use we have made of our Time it s pass'd if it be lost too how great is our loss how shall we repair it If we had improv'd those many moments hours and days as a Christian ought to do we should now reap the fruit in spirituall consolations instead of which we feel nothing but regrett for having lost so much time and terrible apprehensions for the exact account we must give of it Let us therefore at least make good use of what is left for the period of our Life is fix'd and we draw nearer it every moment a time will come when we can improve Time no longer because it will be follow'd by Eternity Quia tempus non erit amplius Apec 10.6 Let us for the future improve the little that remains and not loose one single moment THIRD MEDITATION OF THE SENTIMENTS we shall have at the hour of Death SEE THE THIRD MEDITATION For the month of January MAY OCTOBER FIRST MEDITATION OF THE WILLINGNESS of most Christians and the insincerity of their desires to be saved FIRST POINT He who sincerely desires to be saved must make use of the meanes SECOND POINT It is not enough to make use of some means but we must make use of all the necessary means of Salvation FIRST POINT COnsider that altho every man pretends to be willing to be saved yet there are but very few truly willing The most hardned Sinner will sometimes tell you that he intends to be converted the most unfaithfull Religious believes himself desirous of perfection because no man is so mad or so much his own Enemy as to be fond of ruine and we know that without Conversion we are ruin'd for ever But if we stop there and content our selves with saying we desire it without making use of the means we have indeed the thought of Conversion but not the will If we consult either our faith or Reason the torments of Hell will mahe us afraid and the great Truths of our Religion will startle us but we deceive our selves if we take this for Conversion t is onely a conviction that we ought to be converted A good natural disposition or Education may inspire us with an admiration of virtue and an horror of vice but the understanding has a greater thare in these Sentiments than the will and it is much to be feared that such an aversion to Sin is onely an hatred of its dismall consequences and such a love of Piety is no more than an agreable Idea of the happiness that attends it without any efficacious desire of Salvation Let us not deceive our selves we we shall not be judg'd according to the good thoughts we have entertain'd but according to the good works we have done Hell is full of souls who were as willing to be saved as the greatest part of Christians are and can we content our selves with no better a will than theirs We do not design to be damn'd there is not one Soul in Hell that ever design'd it but like a frantick sick man who says he would fain be well yet will not take any thing to make him so who satisfy's himselfe with thinking on the benefits of health but will make use of no means to be cur'd so we desire to be sav'd but we will not make use of the means of Salvation Can any man in his wits imagine that this is the way to Heaven and what truth would there be in our Religion if it were Can we fancy that a faint desire is sufficient to save us with out use of means all the damn'd Souls have had that desire Can we entertain a thought so injurious to the wisdom of Jesus-Christ and so unworthy of our holy Faith Christ will not have the most labourious carefull Christians believe themselves out of danger and sure of their reward tho they have neglect'd none of the means of Salvation tho they have
world We readily confess that they whom God calls particularly to his service are happy that being free from the vexations to which men who live in the world are expos'd they enjoy a sweet peace and tranquility of Conscience which is the ordinary fruit of virtue How often do the greatest worldlings own that a Religious man is happy yet no sooner do's a young man design to quit the world and to embrace this happy state but he meets with a multitude of obstacles from his friends and Relations who suggest to him that he ought to spend some years in trying the truth of his vocation they make a lively description of what he must expect to suffer in the state of Life which he designs to follow and they exagerate all the difficulties of if One would think by their tears that he was going to make himselfe unhappy or at least to hazard his Life and his Soul too But if he has a mind to continue in the world they do not think so many precautions necessary nor do they require so much time to resolve they know this vocation is much more perilous yet they do not exact so long a tryall instead of aggravating the difficulties they study to disguise them and to palliate those real evils wâ—â—ch they can not hide with what pleasure do they see an onely son of great hopes engage himselfe in the world they never trouble themselves to enquire whether he has thought sufficiently of it on the contrary they fear nothing so much as his entertaining the design of leaving it what can be the cause of this can Salvation be better secur'd in the world no certainly but the true Reason is that Salvation is generally the last thing men think of when they are deliberating what course of Life to choose Of the false Idea's which men have of Holiness T is exceeding strange every man considers holiness with reference to the Station in which he is not and but few apply themselves to acquire that holiness which is proper to their own Station the Poor are taken up with thinking on the opportunities the Rich have to be sav'd and the rich are persuaded that it is an easy matter to sanctify ones selfe when one is free from the obstacles that proceed from wealth the young think no reason so proper to work for Salvation as old Age Youth say they is a time of pleasure we will think of Salvation another time And the Aged continually regret the means of Sanctification which they enjoy'd in theyr youth and find themselves incapable of many good works wich they could have done then Seculars place holiness in the austerity's peculiar to a Religious Life and from thence conclude their condition unfit for it and the Religious often loose courage in the way of perfection which they have chosen because they consider Sanctity only in hair shirts and sackcloth and in those heroique actions which we admire in the Lives of some great Saints And thus by framing a false Idea of Holiness the greatest part of Christians are disguisted with it and live as if there were no Sanctity proper for their Station My God! how many mischiefs proceed from this mistake Of the Sanctity proper for every Station Every man should examine what Sanctity is requir'd of him in the Station to which God hath called him Haec est voluntas Dei Sanctificatio vestra 1. Thesâ— 4.2 the will of God is that we should be Saints but we shall never be Saints if we are not exact in the discharge of those particular duty 's which belong to our condition The virtue requir'd of a General is not proper for a Tradesman the dutys of a magistrate or of a master of a Family are very different from those which God expects from an Hermite that virtue which is proper for Seculars will not suffice for Religious men even their perfection has different degrees the virtue of a beginner differs exceedingly from that which God exacts from the most perfect the surest most efficacious way to be a Saint is to seek perfection onely in our Station It is for this end that the Church sets before us the examples of great Saints of all ages and conditions The wise woman whom the Scripture celebrates with so much applause became a Saint in looking after her family Saint Louis upon the throne Saint Isidore at the plough Saint Elzear at Court and by the help of that grace which is never wanting to us every man may if he will arrive to the perfection of his state and Calling Of Small Faults He who despiseth little things shall fall by degrees Qui spernie modica paulatim decidet Eceles 19. â—â— saith the Author of Ecclesiasticus upon which an eminent servant of God remarks that the doctrine contain'd in those words is of great importance to all the world especially to those who aspire to perfection for great matters recommend themselves so that we are naturally more careful and exact in them but little things are easily neglected because we think them of no consequence but we deceive our selves the danger is greater than we imagine it is this negligence in those small things that has hindred so many from becoming eminently virtuous and perfect in their Station Saint Bernard observes that they who commit the most horrid impyety's begin at first with little faults A minimis incipiunt qui in maxima proruunt nemo repente fit summus no man is excessively wicked on a sudden the diseases of the Soul are like those of the body contracted by degrees if a little cold a light indisposition had been taken in time when it was so easy to cure it the dying man had been now in perfect health so when you see a servant of God fall into some scandalous Sin you may besure adds that great Saint that this is not his first fault it is rare to see a man whâ— has preserv'd the piety of an innocent Life for a great while together suddenly committ a grievous Sin if he had taken a little care at first he might exsily have prevented the progress of Sin but because men despis'd the danger while it is small be cause they slight and indulged themselves in little imperfections hence proceed the terrible falls of those who had liv'd so well before The consideration that so many souls are ruin'd by such small beginnings is sufficient to make us wonder and tremble would to God men were thorowly persuaded of this important Truth on which depends the Salvation or at least the perfection of the greatest part of mankind The Devil is too cunning to tempt a servant of God to a violation of essentiall dutys at first he would have but small success if he begun with solliciting a fearful Soul to commit a mortal Sin and therefore he insinuates himselfe by such small things till he hath got footing before the Soul perceives it these infidelity's in small things are alwayes punish'd with