either to errour or Impiety 10. The Tenth is to scoff at holy things the ceremonies of the Church to contemn them in his heart or by any action whatsoever 11. The Eleventh to abuse the words of the holy Scripture in applying them to wicked or prophane senses making them serve for jests or other ill uses 12. The Twelfth is to desire to know such things to come as appertain to God alone or those which are either past or present but totally hidden from us and for this end to employ unlawfull means as Soothsayers Magicians Fortune-tellers observe Omens cast Lotts or make use of other Superstitious Inventions 13. The thirteenth is to give credit to Dreams and Superstitions to employ Prayers or Sacred Names to ill uses to use Charms or other Inventions to the end to make ones self beloved to cure Diseases or to give a Spell whether to Men or Beasts All these are Mortal Sins even when the means seem innocent as Prayers or Sacred words if one believe they will certainly take effect For then as St. Augustin saith De medicin animae contra sortileg These are not remedies given us by Jesus Christ but rather Poyson which the Devil hath spread amongst holy things Non est in eis remedium Christi sed venenum Diaboli Sins against Hope Anchora quae nostrae stat pes bene fida salutis Motibus his quatitur dum Desperatio mentem Dejicit aut falsas addit Praesumptio vires I. 1. Hinc qui scelerum furiis agitantibus omnem Desperat veniam 2. vel ab his cessare modumque Ponere posse negans vitiis dimittit habenas Divinae contemptor opis spem laedit Et ille II. 1. Qui male confisus sperat placabile numen Dum nova praeteritis adjungens crimina 2. mores Mutare extremae differt in tempora vitae 3. Quique Deum tentans levis imprudensque periclis 4. Corporis aut animae sese objicit 5. auxiliique Non poscit coelestis opem praesentia cingunt Dum mala 6. praesidiis spernit melioribus uti Quae Deus ad nostram voluit conferre salutem 7. Rebus in adversis qui frangitur atque superbis Vocibus impatiens hominesque Deumque fatigat Hope is a Theological Virtue whereby we expect from the hand of God Eternal Salvation and the means whereby we may obtain it Two Sins there are diametrically opposit both contrary to this Virtue The one is hoping too little the other confiding too much the first is called Despair the other Presumption I. One sins by Despair 1. When one distrusts in the mercies of God or despairs to be ever able to obtain of God the remission of his Sins as it happened to Cain 2. When one despairs of amending ones Life and in this Despair abandons himself to all wickedness which is a mistrust or contempt of the grace of God. This Sin is but too common II. One sins by Presumption 1. When one hopes that God will allways forgive his Sins whatsoever life he leads and living in this hope he doth not at all concern himself to mend his Life 2. When one defers his conversion 'till the end of his life or puts off his Repentance 'till the honr of Death 3. When one willingly exposes himself to any danger of offending God as to Company Reading or any other thing by which he runs the hazard to offend This is what we call to tempt God. 4. When without necessity one exposes himself to some Corporal danger as Sickness Wounds or Death 5. When in these so remarkable dangers of Body or Soul one neglects his application and recourse to God by Prayer to implore his assistance 6. When in these same dangers one neglects the remedies which God hath instituted and appointed as those of Physick for the Body and those of Prayer and Sacraments for the Soul. One sins also against this Virtue in adversities when he is discouraged to that degree that he puts not his trust in God and more still when one is impatient or murmures against his Providence in Adversity or is exalted in his own thoughts in time of Prosperity attributing the good success or Honour to himself The Sins against Charity CHarity is a Theological Virtue which makes us to love God above all things whence it follows that every Mortal Sin is directly opposite to it totally destroys it Because the Sinner in every such Sin prefers the affection he bears to the thing wherein he offends before the love and bounden duty he owes to God who forbids the Sin. However there are some Sins more particularly opposed to this great Virtue whereof behold some examples Caelestem nullum non laedit crimen amorem Quod male divinum humano postponit amori Praecipuè tamen his virtutum maxima damnis Impetitur 1. Summae si quis bonitatis amarum Infandumque furens scelerata forte recepit Mente odium execrans blasphemans sancta Deique Dextram indignatus ferientem aut Judicis aequi Iram exhorrescens infensum quem timet odit 2. Praeterea ille nocens sanctum qui numen amore Diligit exiguo bona nec super omnia summum Prosequitur redamatque bonum peccare paratus Vt serventur opes vel honos aut vita caducis Postponens aeterna bonis 3. Hominum quoque amorem Posthabito quaesisse Deo quem non piget qui Esse suo gratus Domino nil curat at omnem Stultis ut placeat curam admovet atque laborem 4. Quem pudor aut vani revocat formido pericli Ne cupiat bona vel faciat quae conscius ipse Sancta jubere sibi novit mandata malumque Quod prohibent patrat humano compulsus amore 5. Inque Deum raro conversus segnius illum Cogitat aut loquitur tacito sub corde monentem Non andit Benefacta sui nec mente revolvens Auctoris dignas contemnit reddere grates The greatest sin against Charity is the hatred of God. This is a Sin the very thought whereof causes an horrour in the Soul and it is proper to the Devils and damned Souls Yet however sometimes it is found amongst men when a wicked Conscience oppress'd with misfortunes gives it self over to complaints against God as if he were the cause of them to execrations to Blasphemys and in fine to hate him whom he believes to be the cause of his miseries or from whom he fears the punishment of his crimes 2. The second is not to bear God the love which he requires at our hands that is the love above all things as he is the greatest and most amiable of all goods This happens when one is so disposed in mind that he will rather choose willfully to offend God then loose either some Honour Riches or life it self if it were necessary This Sin is but too common and one does not take notice of it 3. The third is to prefer the love of men before the love of God to be more fearfull of their
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
doing nothing then employ himself in any lawfull and commendable exercise which is a Sin that never comes alone but carries after it a large train of many others And in this point it is necessary to examen ones self seriously and distinctly The 2d is to be more carefull and Solicitous to labour in the concerns of our bodies or temporall advantages then for the Salvation of our Souls It is a very Common Sin of which however one seldome or never examens himself Consider then whether you have not often totally neglected and abandoned the care of your Soul being so far from taking any care to labour in this great concern as that you have not admitted even of a thought thereof How long time have you past in this negligence The 3d. is to slight in his heart piety and good works having a distast or an aversion for them as it happens but too often to those who continue in the negligence we have just now spoke of The 4th is to defer from day to day and from time to time the amendment of ones life or immediately to desist after one has begun it The 5th is to forsake those means which God hath vouchsaf't us for our amendment Such as are the Sacraments Penance Prayer good works Or else to perform indeed these duties but so ill and with so little devotion that they do one no good Thus you must here examen your self whether when you were conscious to your self that you were in danger to commit some mortall Sin you have employed these means to the end you might avoid it The 6th is when either despairing ever to be able to amend or presuming that God will pardon us at the last hour we give our selves over totally to vice without ever concerning our selves at all to amend our lives Which is properly what St. Paul calls Rom. 2.5 to heap up a treasure of the Wrath of God against our selves All these Sins deserve to be well examined The EXAMEN upon the Second Commandment Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain THere are four sorts of Sins which are forbidden in this Commandment or which may have relation to it viz. an unlawfull Oath Blasphemy Cursing the Sins against Vows which the following verses will explain Terribile sanctum nomen violare secunda Lex prohibet tantoque reum se crimine reddit I. In vanum jurans falsi testem vel iniqui Qui vocat ore Deum nulla aut ratione coactus II. In caelum erectus numen blasphemat eique Nomina sancta adimens male sanus veraque falsis Commutans Sanctum scelerata voce lacessit III. Tum furiis ipsum se devovet atque precatur Dira sibi horrendum dictu sociisque Deoque IV. Stultaque vota vovens 1. quae vel praestare nequibit 2. Aut non sunt placitura Deo. 3. Qui vota fidemque Rite datam revocat levis 4. aut dissolvere differt To form a right judgment of this Commandment You must observe that we do not here take this word Oath as it is vulgarly understood for so Blasphemy as well as Cursing is called an Oath but we take it precisely and properly for the use which is made of the name of God to affirm or deny a thing such an use of its own nature is not bad but on the contrary it is an act of Religion when it is accompanied with the three circumstances which holy writ Heirem 4.2 requires an Oath should have Truth Justice and Necessity Hence the Commandment doth not at all forbid to Swear but to Swear in vain that is without these three conditions Wherefore the first Sin against this Commandment is the taking a wicked Oath that is 1. When one Swears an untruth which one knows to be so 2. When one Swears an unjust thing to the prejudice of our neighbour 3. When one Swears without any necessity altho ' the thing be both true and just Now there is no necessity of an oath except the thing for which one swears be of great importance One Sins moreover by an evil Oath when one either Swears to do what he never designs to do or when one swears to do an evill thing in which case the Oath doth not at all oblige but it was a mortall Sin to Swear and it would be another to fulfill his Oath These kind of Oaths are Sworn when one says that he takes God to witness of a thing or that he Swears upon his Salvation upon the damnation of his Soul by the oath he owes to God that he may perish in that instant or such like Wherein it is necessary that they examen themselves particularly well who are accustomed to Swear and declare the number of these sins as near as they can The 2. Sin is that of Blasphemy that is to revile and villify Almighty God whether it be by denying him some perfection which is proper to him as in saying that he is not Just Good Wise c. or in attributing to him something unworthy of him as to say that he is the author of evill or the like Renouncing him either by word or thought Cursing him which never happens but to such Souls as are transported with rage and fury as in losses in Gaming or upon occasion of such other Crosses It is also a kind of Blasphemy to swear by the name of God by his Death by his Blood as often as all or any of these things shall be spoken in anger or thro' contempt and reproach and always in abusing Gods holy name and the adorable Misteries of our Redemption Those who are subject to these Sins ought strictly to examen themselves in all these points The 3. Sin is Cursing that is when to affirm a thing either mov'd by anger against any one or thro' impatience of his crosses and contradictions one flyes out into a passion so far as to wish harm to himself or others as death or some misfortune to wish at the Devil or the like Which choler but too often suggests to those who do not curb their passions The 4. concerns the abuse of Vows which are promises one makes to God. This abuse is offered many ways 1. In making a vow to do that which is impossible for him to fulfill 2. In vowing to do that which is evill and displeasing to Almighty God. 3. In breaking vows which one has made 4. In deferring too long to fulfill them without any lawfull cause of that delay The EXAMEN upon the Third Commandment Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day THat we may rightly understand the obligations of this Commandment it is necessary that we know the intention with which it was given which was that we might Honour God upon that day which for this end he hath reserved to himself Wherefore he forbids us servile works which might divert or hinder us from applying our selves unto him Whence it follows that this Commandment does not only oblige us
is with more Fervour and with a more Humble Contrite Spirit they are performed by so much more easily they obtain what they demand In fine with all these admirable qualities they have yet another of no less note which in all reason should make them more lovely more desirable And it is this they are good against the maladies of the Soul and serve not only as a remedy to cure past Sins but also as a preservative against them for the future CHAP. VIII That the Penitent who truly desires to work his Salvation ought not to satisfy himself with the Pennance enjoyned him in the Sacrament but he ought to perform others and how IT is a great errour and very common amongst Penitents to satisfy themselves if they comply with the Penance that is enjoyned them and to believe that they have done enough when they have performed the Penance such as it was tho' frequently far inferiour to what it ought to be This abuse is the cause of many evils and particularly above the rest of the small progress one makes in vertue of loose living and relapses into Sin it being certain that if we did Penance as we ought for our past offences we should not so easily fall into other sins Mistake not then Theotime but be perswaded that you ought to do other Penances besides those that are enjoyned you in your Confessions and this for several Reasons First the better to satisfy the Divine Justice for your past Sins and by little and little to diminish the punishment which yet remains due from you to be payed 2ly to make you more gratefull and acceptable in the sight of God after your Sins and to merit at his hands those graces which by your former crimes you had justly lost 3ly To restrain you from offending God and relapsing into those Sins for which you see your self obliged to suffer 4ly To cure the vicious and wicked inclinations of your Soul by exercising the acts of contrary virtues All these are the reasons of the Council of Trent cited above in the 5th Chapter to which I refer my self This is the cause why the same Council hath said Ses 6. c. 13. That the Life of a Christian ought to be a perpetual Penance and that the just ought to work their Salvation with fear and trembling by Labour by Watchings Almsdeeds Prayers Fastings and by Chastity And these maxims are drawn from the Gospell the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and his Apostles so that there is not the least ground to doubt of the truth thereof Wherefore dear Theotime I exhort you to reflect seriously upon this truth and convince your self that it is necessary for you to do Penance in whatsoever state you are if you intend to live like a Christian It is a great errour to beleive that Penance belongs only to Religious it is the duty of all Christians and of all those that hope to save their Souls But you will ask me how it is to be done Behold the most easy means can be imagined Penance consists in two things in a detestation of Sin and in suffering in order to satisfy for the injury it hath done to God. One of these is in the heart the other in action Comply with them both and you will perform a very profitable Penance First conserve always in your heart a true regret or sorowfull sense for having offended God. And to conserve it better accustome your self dayly to renew it elicit acts of sorrow in your prayers as at Morning and Night demanding of him pardon for your Sins and detesting them from the bottom of your heart Secondly suffer for your Sins and that two ways first by imposing upon your self some action of Penance to perform every day One while a recital of some prayers otherwhile a distribution of almes sometimes mortification as abstinence or retrenchment of some lawfull pleasures as divertisements or the like But all this must be done upon the motive of making satisfaction for injurys done to God which is the Spirit of Penance 2ly accepting willingly and with the same spirit of Penance and satisfaction all the pains and evils which dayly befall you As the inconveniences of Life the disorders of Body the troubles of mind disgusts loss of goods poverty necessities afflictions either private or publick and generally all the evills which occur and whereof this life is so fertile and abounding But especially the particular pains and hardships which you are forced to suffer in the state and vocation where God hath placed you there not being any where one is not obliged to labour and take pains All these afflictions and troubles we may make use of to do penance and satisfy for our Sins upon condition we suffer them with patience as the Council of Trent hath declared sess 14. c. 8 9. and with sorrow for our offences Whereas on the contrary when we undergo them without patience and without offering them up to God for the remission of our Sins and for satisfaction of the punishment which we have deserved our sufferings are not only not mitigated but also render'd unprofitable without bringing either any benefit for the future or any Comfort for the present which is a thing which we ought to observe well in this place CHAP. IX Of Sacramentall Absolution What it is Wherein it consists and what are its Effects ALtho' Absolution be a part of the Priests office yet it is very fitting that the Penitents should be instructed in it to the end they may receive it with respect and sutable dispositions First he must know that as in every Sacrament there are two parts whereof one is called the matter the other the form Absolution is the form of the Sacrament of penance and without it there is neither a Sacrament nor remission of Sins by vertue of it This Absolution is a juridicall sentence pronounced by the Priest upon the Penitent by which after that he hath taken cognisance of the Sins which the Penitent hath confessed and of his good disposition to receive the remission of them and after that he hath enjoyned him a convenient Penance he remits his Sins on the behalf of God and by the authority which he hath given him It consists but in these three words which are essentiall to it I absolve thee from thy Sins all the other which the Priests says before and after them are Prayers which the Holy Church hath instituted to implore the Grace and Mercy of God upon the Penitent and which may be omitted in case of necessity The effects of the Absolution are to remit the Sin as far as concerns the fault or offence of God and the Eternall punishment and blot out the stains which Sin had caused in the Soul and recover the favour and freindship of God by the means of sanctifying Grace which it bestows upon him and revive in him all the precedent merits which were mortifyed and lost by sin It produceth all these
to abstain from these sort of actions but also to honour God by good and profitable works We shall set them forth in the following verses Sanctificare diem post sex qui septimus orbes Volvitur sanctam menti indulgere quietem Auctorem ut proprium agnoscat veneretur ametque Tertia lex jubet a primis jam lata diebus 1. Hinc procul esse jubet manuum quo vita paratur Omne opus 2. humanis animumque avertere curis 3. Vt sancto vacet obsequio propriaeque saluti 4. Abstergatque dolens incauto quas sibi sordes Aspersit vesanus amor mundique suique Inde sacri quaerens caelestia pabula verbi Mentem avidam pascat sanctoque incendat amore 5. Quam male proh dolor haec servat mandata diebus Qui sacris ludos epulas vana secutus Gaudia criminibus foedat pia tempora festum Non mentis sed carnis agens male sanus Averno Consecrat omnipotens sibi quos sacravit honores 1. The first Sin against this Commandment is to do on the Sunday any servile works that is to say handy-works which have some temporall gain for their end Consider whether you have done any or whether you were the cause that others did either by making them labour in your service or for your divertisement without a considerable necessity 2. It is also a sin against this Commandment to be employed any considerable time upon holy-days in labouring about temporall affairs as Merchants Advocates Solicitors and other Officers of Justice do who spend one part of the Sunday in business and the other in recreation 3. Is the Sin of omission as not to employ ones selfon these holy-days in pious exercises and especially not to hear Mass as the Church expressly Commands under pain of Mortall sin or not to hear it well but without attention or reverence For altho' in this case one complys with the precepts of the Church yet he doth not satisfy that of God who commands us to perform well and piously all holy duties 4. Those cannot easily be exempt from Sin who on these holy-days neither think at all of God nor their Salvation who are neither present at divine service nor at Sermons but especially those who make a custome and an habit of it for this is to neglect the Sanctification of the Sunday and the end for which it was ordained which cannot be done without a great Sin. 5. The greatest and most greivous profanation of the Sunday and festivall-days is committed by those who spend these holy-days in idleness in gaming in dances in feasting and other recreations which instead of sanctifying the feasts are a dishonour to them and by this means God who ought on those days to be more particularly honoured is much offended These profanations of Sundays and holy-days are very common and yet great Sins And therefore every one is to examin himself strictly in this point The EXAMEN upon the Fourth Commandment Honour thy Father and thy Mother THis Commandment regulates the duty of Children towards their Father and Mother and by consequence or according to a necessary proportion that of other inferiours towards their Superiours viz. Of Schollars towards those that teach them Of Servants towards their Masters Of Subjects towards their Princes and Magistrates Of all the Faithfull towards their Ecclesiastical Prelates And reciprocally of all sorts of Superiours towards those who are Subject to them as you may see in the following Verses Quod Nati patribus debent quod jure magistris Discipuli servi Dominis quod subditus omnis His quibus aut populis dare jura aut pascere verbò Coelesti dedit omnipotens coeloque parare I. Lex quarta edicit statuitque reciproca cunctis Officia Hinc natos 1. venerari 2. amare parentes 3. Jussa sequi docet ac monitis parere 5. vereri Et dum corripiunt poenisque salubribus instant 6. Placare offensos verbis mollibus iras Mulcere aversis actu meliore placere II. 7. Confectos annis aegros inopesque levare Qua licet auxilio Patres eademque magistris III. Reddere discipulos servos parere fidemque IV. Praestare illaesam Reges ut subditi honorent V. Pastoresque suae quibus est data cura salutis Auscultent venerentur ament dicta sequantur VI. At patribus contra atque aliis lex aequa vicissim Praecipit 1. ut recto chara amplectantur amore Pignora 2. provideant naturae commoda primum 3. Praecipuam tamen aeternae veraeque salutis Curam habeant nec nata sibi sed debita coelo Dona Dei natos reputent 4. quos nosce supremum Auctorem rerum doceant pariterque vereri Coelestem redamare patrem 5. tum mente sagaci Explorent puerorum animos mollia fingant Ingenia sanctum verae pietatis amorem Alta mente bibant seros quae crescat in annos 6. Emendent peccata ruat ne labilis aetas In vitium nullis posthac cohibenda catenis 7. Corripiant juste stulta indulgentia natos Ne perimat paenasque timens adhibere salubres Aeternae addicat paenae puerosque patresque Ista docet lex sancta patres eademque magistris Praescribit dominisque quos neglecta suorum Reddere cura potest alieno crimine sontes The Sins which Children commit against their Fathers and Mothers are 1. To deny them their due respect as when they despise them interiourly in their heart or exteriourly by words scornfull gestures or actions 2. To be deficient in the love they owe them as when they hate them or wish their death or any other misfortune or forsake them in their necessity 3. To fail in their obedience if it be in a matter of Consequence it is a mortall Sin or else to obey them but not readily as with repugnance impatience or despight Or what is worse to obey them in things unlawfull 4. To slight to scoff at their reprehensions to take no notice of them or not to benefit themselves by them 5. To resist their corrections and wish them harm 6. To put them into passion and take no care to pacify them again by submissive words by obeying and complying with their desires 7. Not to assist them in their old age in their sickness and in what other necessities To these Sins may be added the not executing their last Will and Testament after their death or not to procure Prayers for them II. Disciples and Schollars owe to their masters and to all those who instruct them a great part of the same dutys as respect obedience and the like in which they should examen themselves III. Servants ought to examen themselves concerning the obedience they owe to their Masters whether they have fail'd either in their trust or in the dilligence which is required at their hands whether through their fault they have displeased them whether they have neglected their reasonable and just interest whether they have obey'd them in things unlawfull
carefully cooperate with his grace and also that we ought dayly to begg of him that he will vouchsafe to continue replenish our hearts therewith lest by our Sins we render our selves unworthy of them ARTICLE III. That it is necessary to distinguish well betwixt True and False Good and Bad Hope THis distinction is of the highest importance for as much as the greatest part of the world deceive themselves therein taking false for true and embracing an evill and sinfull instead of a good and virtuous Hope and from this mistake proceeds the damnation of innumerable Christians There is no one but hopes to be saved but because their hopes are ill grounded they hope other wise then they ought they lull themselves asleep in this foolish hope and approaching to their end they find themselves upon the brink of a precipice when they imagined they were arrived into the port and stood upon firm land Such is their Hope who expect Salvation notwithstanding they do not use the means to obtain it and who living ill hope to dy well now how many are there of these and what numbers are herein deceived Such is their hope who believe indeed that it is necessary for Salvation to live a good and virtuous life but still defer their conversion thinking that God will allways expect them as hitherto he hath done with patience to repentance notwithstanding their wicked course of life and the perpetuall abuses which they never cease to offer to his graces Such is their hope who Sin upon account of the confidence they have of Pardon and who are wont to say when they have offended that Gods mercy is great and that he will forget their Sins Such is their hope who imagine they shall be converted and return to God whensoere they please or that his grace will be allways in their power or that let them do what they will it will never forsake them Such is their hope who willfully and by some signall negligence of theirs expose themselves to the immediate occasions of Sin in hopes that God will preserve them Such is the hope of many cold and negligent tho' otherwise just people who relying upon a certain confidence of working their Salvation without much trouble suffer themselves to sleep frequenting remissly or seldom the means which God hath been pleased to grant us as most proper to conserve encrease in us his Grace such as are Prayer the Sacraments and good Works All these hopes are false and deceitfull and like false lights lead them into a precipice instead of conducting them into the Port their Salvation A man Endowed with Hope which is good and true expects not only from the hand of God the performances of his promise but himself also expects that this shall be done in the manner God hath promised He hopes to be partaker of the goods of Glory but not except he serve him with fidelity as he hath promised those who shall serve him who shall be faithfull in complying with the graces dispens'd unto him and shall persevere therein unto the end He expects in this life the goods of Grace thereby to obtain that of glory but endeavours at the same time not to put any obstacle or let on his side to the workings of it He demands them with much fervour and humility he hath a care to comply sincerely with them If he be in sin he doth Penance without delay but never offends in hopes of doing Penance and as St. Gregory advises he is fearfull to commit a sin which he doth not know whether or no he shall ever be sufficiently able to deplore In a word a man who truly hopes walks always in the midst between confidence and fear he trusts in God and mistrusts himself He hopes that God will not reject him but he fears lest himself should forsake his God he hopes that God will assist him but fears lest himself prove unfaithfull or defective in his duty And thus between this confidence and fear humbling himself in the presence of God he prays he labours endeavouring to secure his Salvation on the one side by flying from Sin and all the occasions of it and on the other by a due performance of good works In short Hope consists in or is at least attended with these four acts 1. A confidence to obtain from the divine goodness Everlasting life with all the graces necessary to acquire it 2. A vehement desire of Salvation for the expectation which we have of any great good is apt to raise in us an ardent great desire of it 3. A fear to lose it by our fault or any infidelity of ours a fear which ought not to produce any disquiet in the Soul but the hatred of sin which only can make us lose it 4. A firm and that an efficacious resolution to labour for Salvation a Resolution which makes one act and employ the means necessary to obtain that end as is abovesaid ARTICLE IV. Of the great blessings which Hope derives upon us WHen this great Virtue is well imprinted in a Soul it there produceth wonderfull Effects First It makes her love and desire Heaven her dear Country her native Soil it makes her sigh after her Eternal happyness it makes her fear lest she be frustrated of it by her fault and lose her self among the dangers of this Mortall Life so full of Rocks whereon Salvation so often suffers Shipwrack Secondly It makes her love the divine goodness which hath prepared so great blessings for her and hath put into her hands the means to acquire them Thirdly It makes her contemn this present life it disengageth her from the love of these goods and pleasures making her look upon them as transitory things which pass like a shaddow and yet which are not obtained but with much trouble nor possessed without solicitude nor lost without great grief It is for this reason that the just Man accounts himself in this life no otherwise then as a Pilgrim or Traveller upon his way to his Native soil knowing well as St. Paul Heb. 13.14 saith that here we have no permanent City or abode but we seek that which is to come after this life And as it would be a folly in a Traveller to set his affections upon an however gallant or stately Inn and desire to make it his abode so he whose soul is full of the hopes of Heaven accounts it madness to apply his mind to the goods of the earth and in these trifles lose his precious time and let slip the occasion of aiming at Heaven And St. Augustin observes excellently well that God by his Wisdom hath mingled afflictions and bitterness with all the even most innocent goods of this life so to disengage us from the affection to them in Psal 40. Docetur amare meliora per amaritudinem inferiorum ne viator tendens ad patriam stabulum amet pro domo sua Lest says he Man who is a Traveller upon his way to
Virgin that thou partake of the thanks which I am obliged to render to thy Son since he hath been pleas'd I should receive him in this Communion It was to thee that this living bread descended from heaven and from thee he took the body and blood which he gives us for our food Luc. 1.42 Blessed be thou amongst women and blessed be the fruit of thy womb Let the Angells praise thee for that thou hast given us this fruit of life and prepared for us this divine food which nourisheth us and brings us to everlasting bliss Help me to preserve this fruit that I may never loose it more And as thou hadst grace after thou hadst happily born him in thy womb to conserve him also more fortunately in thy heart obtain of him for me the like favour without which this Communion would not be usefull to me O Holy mother of God assist me that I may conceive in my Soul thy Son Jesus Christ that he may be born in me that he may dayly increase that he may there live and reign as absolute Lord and Master of my Soul. You may add here any of those prayers which the Church is used to make to her as the hymn Ave Maris Stella her Litanies or the like ARTICLE IX How we ought to spend the day of our Communion IT is an advice of very great consequence to spend all that day in Piety and Devotion wherein you have performed so holy so religious and so august an action and to honour that day by the exercise of good works upon which God hath been pleas'd to Sanctify you by his presence To spend it otherwise is to fail in your respect to Jesus Christ and it happens but too often that by this neglect of our duty we loose the greater part of the fruit which otherwise we might reap from the holy Table of Communion What then you are to do Theotime on that day is frequently in the day time to call to mind and seriously to reflect upon the honour you have received and to acknowledg that it is beyond your capacity sufficiently to esteem it 2ly Not to distract your mind either with vain divertisements or with unprofitable frivolous discourses but to be more serious modest and reserved in all the actions of that day remembring what honour it is how they value themselves who are admitted to the presence of a King and consequently what hath been done to you whilest you were chosen to be the Temple of Jesus Christ 3ly Employ all that day in good works as far as you are able as the rest of the morning in Divine Service or reading some good book After dinner in hearing the word of God assisting at Evensong and the remainder of the day either in discourse with good and virtuous persons or in reading At night in your prayers be not unmindfull to give God thanks for your Communion and for all the favours which he hath bestowed upon you Beseech him most earnestly that he will give you grace to benefit your self there-by the next day and all the remainder of your life and to practise well all the resolutions you have made upon this occasion But for the better complyance with these holy resolutions remember that you renew them every day in your morning prayers even to the day of your following Communion and at night in your examen of conscience see and consider well whether you have faithfully fullfill'd them or whether you have failed therein and broke your promise and in what that so you may rectify your self out of hand and set your self again into the right way of the Service of God and the path of your own Salvation ARTICLE X. Of frequent Communion NOthing remains but that I exhort you to Communicate often dear Theotime and benefit your self of the great advantages which God presents you with in this Divine Sacrament It is in reality a great benefit to have Communicated well in the manner we have but just now declared But if after this one abstain a long time from it he endangers himself to loose the fruit of the foregoing Communion by relapsing into Sin and the disorders of his former Life There is a certain proportion betwixt Spiritual and Corporal nourishment This requires we should take it as often as the necessity of our Body shall require and we need it according as the natural heat consumes our substance and whatsoever else serves for its subsistance The same we must affirm of Spiritual food which serves to repair the forces of the Soul which are continually diminished and weakened by Concupiscence and all the passions with which it is assaulted If these forces are not frequently recruited the Life of Grace is by degrees much weakned and totally lost at length Now that which serves to repair them is the Sacred Eucharist which renews our strength and restores our Soul to her former vigour weakening Concupiscence diminishing the Passions preserving her from Mortal nay even from Venial Sins as we have already said and proved at large After this is there any necessity of other motives to persuade either you or any other Christian to frequent Communion Certainly those who are willing to do what is pleasing in the sight of God and to continue in his grace have need of none And I suppose you are one of that number I exhort you then by the Charity of Jesus Christ and by the excess of love which he shewed us in bestowing himself upon us in this adorable Mystery as the best means for our Salvation that you will frequently approach unto him in this Divine Sacrament to the end he may remain in you and you in him according as he himself hath promised and you surely cannot but desire Consider that your Soul is always sick and that these Distempers if neglected may bring you to Eternal Death Come then to this great Physitian who only is able to cure you and preserve you from death by this Bread which he hath given as himself affirms for the Life of the World. Joan. 6.52 Panis quem ego dabo caro mea est pro mundi vita Ponder O ponder well upon the earnest desire he hath to relieve you in all your wants and the ardent love with which he calls and even compels you to come unto him Mat 11.28 Come to me all you that labour and are burthened and I will refresh you In me you shall find the repose which your Souls desire They who are not won with these so moving and vehement expressions do they not evidently shew that they are altogether insensible of the love which Jesus Christ hath so plainly testified he hath for them and that they are enemies to their own Salvation Is it possible that you should be one of these Look to it for if you be you are not of the number of the Children of God for Children listen and attend to the voice of their Father come to him willingly and
prudence imaginable with much Charity They complain of them they condemn them they fly from them and seek out the most indulgent and most commonly the most negligent in the performance of their duty There is a mean to be observed betwixt severity and sweetness we must mingle and temper the one with the other as well in the reprehensions which are proper to be given them as in the penances one ought to enjoyn And all this conformable to the dispositions of the Penitent for we must act with more sweetness with an humble and contrite Spirit and with more Severity with him who is void of these good qualities we must employ mildness towards timerous Souls and Severity towards those who are hard and difficult to be moved and so of others Thirdly there remains Prudence which is the third condition which Penance ought to have This is that which governs and directs the two precedent Conditions Justice Charity which applies them in their proper place as they ought to be Now this is not meer humane Prudence only but a Prudence inspired by God and which we ought to beg of him Wherefore the Council said above As much as the Holy Spirit and Prudence shall suggest unto him This Prudence in the enjoyning of Penance consists in the observance of many things but particularly three viz. that the Penitent be able to comply with the penance That it be advantageous to him And that it be secret for secret Sins The Confessour must foresee whether or no the Penitent be able to perform the penance enjoyn'd him he must enquire of him whether he can comply with it and know whether he understand the reasons he alledgeth and he must either shew him the means how to perform it or give him another penance He must as much as possible enjoyn such a penance as may be for the Salvation and amendment of the Penitent so that making satisfaction to the divine Justice he may be confirmed in his grace and in the way of virtue This is done excellently by the imposition of such satisfactory pains as serve also for a remedy against the Spirituall distempers of the Penitent For example Fasting against intemperance and Luxury Alms-deeds against Covetousness and Prodigality and so of the rest In fine the Penance must be Secret that is such as may be secretly performed and without being taken notice of by others so that there be no rational fear that by the Penance the Penitent may be judg'd to have committed some notorious Sin from whence Scandal may arise to others and infamy to the Penitent This is to be understood when the Sin is Secret and the Penitent is in good repute amongst those with whom he lives for if the Sins are publick or known to others or if he be not accounted a very good and virtuous man it is not only no harm that the Penance be known to others but it is often very proper and sometimes necessary that he may edify those by his Penance and Coversion whom he had scandalized by his wicked way of living CHAP. VI. Of the Conditions of Satisfaction in respect of the Penitent THE Penitent contributes two things to the Sacrament of Penance the acceptance of it and the putting it in execution which is the reason why the conditions which it requires of him are that it be well accepted and duly performed First the Penance must be well accepted and before the acceptance it is no part of the Sacrament because as the Council of Trent hath it the Sacrament is composed of three actions of the Pentient Contrition Confession and Satistisfaction Now Satisfaction begins to be an action of the Penitent by acceptance Secondly it is not only necessary that the Penance be accepted that so it may be a part of the Sacrament but the Penitent also is obliged to accept it if he intend to receive the Sacrament This Second follows out of the foregoing truth for the non-acceptance of the Penance would render the Sacrament defective at least in the integrity of its parts nay more it would signify that he hath no mind to satisfy the Divine justice and yet this mind or will is essential to the Sacrament and necessarily included in Contrition as is above declared Thirdly the Penitent is not only obliged to receive such a Satisfaction as himself thinks fit but such an one as the Priest shall judge reasonable And the reason is because the Priest is his Judge having power to oblige him to the punishment at the same time he remits his sins and by consequence the Penitent ought to follow and submit himself to the judgment of the Priest and if he refuse the Priest may deny to give him Absolution The Catechism of the Council of Trent de Penit. Sacram. n. 29. declares this truth in terms very proper to be cited in this place to convince the Penitents of this their obligation See how it speaks Penitentia est veluti quaedam delictorum compensatio ab ejus Voluntate profecta qui delinquit ac Dei arbitrio in quem peccatum commissum est constituta Quare voluntas compensandi requiritur in quo maxime contritio versatur Penitens sacerdotis judicio qui Dei personam gerit se subjiciat necesse est ut pro scelerum magnitudine paenam constituere in eum possit Penance is a certain Compensation or recompence for Sins that is a vertue or action by which one gives to God in some sort the honour which he had taken from him proceeding from the will of him who hath offended and appointed by the will of God against whom the Sin was committed wherefore the will of making recompence is also required in Penance as being the cheif part of Contrition and it is a necessity incumbent upon the Penitent to submit himself to the judgment of the Priest who represents in that place the person of God that he may ordain a punishment according to the greatness of the Sin. By this Authority Penitents may see the obligation they have to submit themselves to their Confessours and accept of the Penance they enjoyn in which Confessours also ought to proceed with much discretion as we have said regarding always what is most expedient for the Salvation of the Penitent In fine that this acceptance of the Penance may be well performed it must be done with these three conditions humbly willingly and sincerely Accept it then humbly Theotime that is with respect submitting your self to the judgment of your Confessor as your Judge your Father and your Physician and of him that holds the place of God if you find any difficulty in what he shall ordain declare it modestly and follow his directions Accept it willingly acknowledging that you deserve a greater punishment and that this chastisement is far less than what you owe to the Divine justice Accept it sincerely that is with a good and steddy will fully to perform all he shall Command you As
to the performance of the Penance it ought to be exact and faithfully complied with there is an obligation to discharge ones self of this Duty First because it is a part and belongs to the perfection of the Sacrament 2ly because it is enjoyn'd by an authority which hath power to oblige since God hath declared that to be bound in Heaven which the Priest binds upon Earth 3ly because it is in vertue of that acceptance one receives absolution There is then an obligation of complying with that penance which one hath accepted and he who on set purpose or by willfull negligence fails to perform it commits a Sin and an offence against God and this more or less greivously according as the omission is more or less considerable for if it be but a slight omission it is but a venial Sin but if it be a notorious omission as of the whole penance or the greatest part of it it may be a mortal Sin which is to be understood if the Penance was enjoyn'd in satisfaction for a Mortal Sin. Acquit your self then faithfully Theotime of your Penance as obeying God in the person of your Confessour discharge your self of the promise you have made him and compleat the Sacrament But remember to perform it willingly devoutly and secretly Willingly to avoid the fault which those commit who never perform it but with pain and trouble whereby they loose the greatest part of the merit they might otherwise have It is a strange thing that men should run after Sin with so much earnestness and pleasure and should have such an Aversion and Horrour against Penance which is a remedy against it And this is the complaint which Tertullian makes of his time Nauseabit ad antidotum qui hiavit ad venenum We nauseate the Remedy and love the Poyson Perform it also devoutly but especially with a true Spirit of repentance and an acknowledgment that it is a certain satisfaction you make to God for the injury you have done him by your Sins Place them always before your eyes deplore them as David did iniquicatem meam ego cognosco peccatum meum contra me est semper Psal 50.4 In fine perform your Penance secretly if it be great and if it be given you for great Sins but which are altogether unknown to those amongst whom you live that you may neither scandalise any one nor defame your self It was for these two reasons we said in the precedent Chapter that the Preist ought to enjoyn such a penance that may be secretly comply'd with when the Sins are wholly secret and the Penitent also must keep his Penance secret that he may avoid the same inconveniences And yet this is a thing wherein Penitents and particularly young people are frequently faulty declaring indiscreetly their penances to others which cannot but be of very ill consequence when their penances are signall and notorious If the penance be enjoyn'd you for Sins that are known to others as you ought not to affect to publish it so neither ought you to avoid the making of it known being it may serve for the edification of others and satisfy for the scandal which your Sins have caused CHAP. VII Of the Works which may be enjoyn'd for Penance THe most ordinary works of Penance are prayer fasting almsdeeds and whatsoever may have a relation to any of these three such as in respect of Prayer are reading pious books Meditation Confession hearing Mass In respect of fasting all the Mortifications of the body Labour retrenching our selves even of lawfull Pleasures Abstinence from things either Hurtfull or Dangerous In regard of Alms all the Helps and Assistances one can give to their Neighbour These three sorts of works are very proper for Penance and agree with it admirably well For first by these three works we submit to God all the goods which we possess the goods of the Mind those of the Body and of Fortune The goods of the mind by Prayer which subjects the Spirit to God those of the Body by Fasting and other Mortifications and those of Fortune by Almsdeeds Secondly because almost all our Sins consist in the abuse of some of these three things Pride proceeds from the abuse of the goods or advantages of the mind Luxury from those of the goods of the Body and from the abuse of our Riches proceeds Covetousness We repair that abuse by the three above-mentioned works Prayer humbles the mind Fasting tames the body and Alms makes good use of Riches These three works are highly praised and commended in the Scripture as having a wonderfull force to appease Gods anger after Sin and obtain of him all manner of favours It is said of prayers Judith 9.16 That the Prayers of the humble and good have always been pleasing to God. Eccle. 35.21 That the Prayer of him that humbles himself penetrates the Clouds Peircing as I may say the Heavens to mount to the Divine Throne and make it self be understood and graciously heard This made St. Augustine say that it is the same for Prayer to ascend unto Heaven as for Mercy to descend from thence Ascendit Oratio descendit miseratio And he adds elsewhere thâ—t to make Prayer mount more easily up to Heaven it is good to give it two wings viz. Fasting and Alms. As for Fasting it is said Tob. 12.8 That Prayer is good with Fasting That the Fasting and Penance of the Ninevites appeased Gods wrath against them When God exhorts his People to penance he assignes fasting as one of the most efficacious means Convert your selves to me in Fasting Tears and Lamentations Joel 2.13 And as for Alms it is said Tob. 4.11 That it delivers from Sin and Death And that it will not permit that the Soul which gives it should be lost That Dan. 4.24 by it we must redeem our Sins That Eccl. 29.15 we must hide our almes in the bosome of the poor and it will Pray and obtain of God an exemption from all evil for him that does it There is a great number of other passages in the Holy Scripture to shew how powerfull these three works are to obtain the mercy of God and remission of Sins These three works have each of them three singular qualities which render them more amiable and commend them to our more frequent practise For they are Satisfactory Meritorious and impetratorious They are Satisfactorious in respect of the temporal punishment by reason of the trouble which they give of Sins past either to the Body or Mind and by these pains or trouble willingly undergone one Satisfies for the punishments which are due to the Sins he hath committed They are meritorious in respect of grace and glory which is common to all good works performed in the state of Sanctifying grace They are impetratorious that is they have a particular vertue whereby to obtain of God the favours which we demand and that according to the intention of those who do them and by how much better that