projects of all the greatness and pleasures of worldly men In what a condition is a libertine who has neglected Jesus Christ all his Life which he has spent in sin and pleasure and in an extreme carelessness of Eternity what consolation can he find now in holding a Crucifix in his hand If he has no ressemblance of a crucify'd Jesus he was never sensibly affected with the terrible verity's of our holy Religion but laugh'd at the most serious Exercises of Piety what thoughts can he have when he has nothing but a Crucifix to entertain himselfe withal He may indeed make a good use of the little time that is left but alas his weakness and feares do compose his Reason and do not leave him the Liberty that is necessary to use it well Yet the Sick man dyes and there is little hope that the prayers of the Church should give him any consolarion they are indeed full of comfort for those who dye well but what comfort can they afford a dying sinner whom every word reproaches with the disorders of his Life What terror must it be to him to hear the Priest pronounce those words Proficiscere anima Christiana de hoc mundo Christian Soul go out of the world to him who lov'd the world so much who perhaps never lov'd any thing else nor ever made one step towards Heaven Go out there is no more to do you must leave all your delights tho you be never so fond of them unwilling to quit them you would leave nothing but you must dye to all The Charitable recommandation May'st thou enter into the habitation of peace Hodie sit in pace locus tous habitatio tua in sancta Sion and may'st thou dwell in the holy peace of Sion can be no comfort to one who knows they have no reason to make that prayer for him How can be expect any benefit from that petition Miserere Domine gemituum miserere lachrymarum ejus pity O Lord his sighs and let his teares prevail with thee if his grief proceeds only from his fondness of the world and if he weeps because he is forc'd to quit it and because he can sin no longer The priest go's on Agnosce Domine Creaturam tuam non à Diis alienis creatam sed à solo Deo vivo vero Look O Lord upon thy creature made by thy selfe and not by strange Gods own the work of thy hands But if the dying man has alwayes lov'd the Creature more then his Creator if his Life has not been at all conformable to the maxims of Christ how can he be like his Saviour in this last hour what must he expect seeing he is not like him and how terrible must his apprehensions be of what is to come after Death Great God! in what a condition is a dying man torn with grief and despair without hope If he have yet his sences left every thing that presents its selfe every thing he hears is an addition to his fear trouble and when he has lost his fences when external objects can make no more impression on him then the remembrance of all his Sins of all the ill he has done of all the good he has neglected when it was in his power or which he has done ill racks and torments him more How many are his Reflections yet all to no purpose he then sees his Error but it is too late to reap any benefit by it he repents of a great many things but that repentance adds new force to his torments because he knows it will do him no good How dos he grieve for not having done his duty when he was able how do's he despair of being able to do what he has left undone he would not reflect seriously on the great Truths of the Gospell while he might have done it to good purpose now he reflects and reflects at leisure but 't is a Cruel leisure for all the fruit of those Reflections is despair rage Now he is sensible of all the disorders of his Life he is now convinc'd of his Error but it s too late Oh! what must the sentiments of a person consecrated to God be when he sees his Eternal condition ready to be decided remembers how imperfect he hath been in a state which requires so much perfection to what end did I make such a doe in leaving the world and entring into Religion Was it to follow the maximes of the world there God hath called me by his Grace to an Ecclesiasticall or Religious state have I made good use of that Grace I quitted all and chose that perfect way of Life that I might dye in peace by dying like a saint but wretched Creature that I am did I consider that an happy Death is the consequence of an holy Life How often have I taught others this doctrine O! why have I made no better use of what I taught How have I been distracted in prayer how many Masses and Communions have done me no good how often have I confess'd my sins without leaving them how many graces have I rendred useless how many good works have I lost for want of right motives O my God! why have I taken so much pains to lose my selfe have left my Relations been insensible to their tears and all their caresses surmounted so many difficulties that I might secure my salvation And by loving my ease too much by setting my heart on trivial matters which one would have been asham'd of in a secular state I have been a lukewarm Religious I am now on my death bed torn with remorse oppress'd with fear trouble and having cause to doubt positivly of my salvation Oh! 't is terrible to pay so dear for such a Death And indeed what else can be the consequence of a careless Life when we come to consider seriously as we shall certainly do then that the least grace we have abus'd was sufficient to convert an infidel yet so many of them have ve not made one good Religious or good Christian When we shall discover a multitude of faults which we took no notice of before or which through the violence of our passions and our indifference we took for small ones but which now appear to be great sins What comfort can an imperfect Religious find then Will he seek it from the saints of his Order he hath dishonour'd them by his conduct Will he seek it in his Rule he has not observ'd it Will he hope to find comfort in God he hath offended and incens'd him by serving him so ill after having receiv'd so many favours from him How dismall must his apprehensions be after an irregular Life when he reflects I have but a few hours to live If I be out of the state of Grace I am lost for ever and I have not only some reason to fear that I am not in the state of Grace which fear the greatest saints
of former Confessions chiefly to excite a true contrition in our hearts wherein in all sorts of people and even the best Christians are too often faulty We must hear Mass and receive as if were to be our last Communion and we must perform all the other exercises in the same disposition Priests should examin themselves particularly whether their Lives are suitable to the Holiness of their Character whether they celebrate with such affection as become men who are really penetrated with what they profess to believe Let them offer that adorable Sacrifice with such a fervent Devotion that this Days Mass may be an atonement for the faults they have been guilty of in all the rest and be a model of those they shall say for the future making it their great business to profit by this more than they have yet done We must be very careful to keep ourselves retir'd and to avoid every thing that can possibly distract us there us no danger of thinking the time long we shall find employment for every moment and one day so fill'd up is soon pass'd it is but a day let us make it indeed a day of retreat all the time we are not in the Church we should keep our selves shut up in our Chamber and indeed it would be well to do most of our spiritual Exercises in the Chamber unless we have conveniency of being as much retir'd before the blessed Sacrament Because this Exercise is very usefull to all sorts of men and the great est part cannot meditate I have calculated these Meditations for the greater number to that end I have made them long that they may find matter enough to take them up for an hour together that the very reading of them may be truly à Meditation and that they may be profitable Such as can meditate may make use of what part of them they find most for their purpose but these as well as the others must be very careful to avoid a fault to which most who meditate on the truths of our Religion are too subject They must not content themselves with believing them and think their work done when they are once convinced It is not enough to believe those important Truths the Devils believe as much perhaps more then we and tremble We must not stop at speculation we must reduce them to practise Our Meditations must all tend to reform us 'T is not sufficient to read and believe the Truth of what we read we must attentively consider every point and apply it to our selves We must examine its consequences and make those reflexions on them as we would do if we were on our death bed when we know we shall have little or no time left to profit by them Let this be your way of Meditation if you read do it with attention pause upon each passage that affects you most Put the question to your selfe is this true have I liv'd up to these Rules what is it they require of me for the future And then reflect seriously on the dismall consequences attending your negligence if this double discovery do not produce more fruit then your former Meditations have yet done You need not trouble your self to read the whole Meditation if one single reflection take up all the hour provided you receive good by it you have spent that hour well And the rest of the Meditation may serve you to read some other time of the day which is not absolutely allotted to some particular exercise A right consideration is very useful and therefore to be carefully perform'd It consists in reading with application the Reflections at the end of the Book you may pass lightly over those which are less suitable to you and dwell longer on such heads as you find affect you most and which are most proper for you Besides the hour usually spent after dinner in consideration it would be well to allott half an hour in the morning for Religious men to reflect on the observation of their Rules and others on the duty 's of their particular callings observing exactly wherein they have fail'd and prescribing to themselves such methods as may be most efficacious for their amendment if we cannot spate half an hour we may divide the hour of consideration one half for general reflections and the second for those that concern our particular Rules and the duty 's of our Callings And here we are always to remember that we must not content our selves in these spiritual exercises to form good designs and take strong resolutions of changing our Lives it is to no purpose to resolve though we seem to do it never so sincerely unless we likewise fix the particular means and methods by which we may effectually practise what we have resolv'd It is not our business to read much let uâ— read less and profit more we should choose to read only what is useful to us 'T is not sufficient to be able to say that we have read some spiritual discourse we must read with a design to grow better by what we read We have already observ'd that Religious persons are not hereby dispens'd from the exercises of their Community's nor even from their usual recreations but having discover'd by their Examinations the faults they are subject to in those Exercises and recreations they should begin that very Day to reap the benefit of their Retreat by beginning to correct themselves and reform those faults carrying themselves in every occasion â—s men who are already chang'd And being careful now more then ever to lift up their hearts fervently to God and beg him to preserve thâ—m from that distraction and dissipation of mind which generally accompany'is conversation The great design of this spiritual Retreat being to prepare us for Death I have compos'd a third Meditation on the sentiments we shall have in that last hour to be read in every Retreat And it being the most proper subject for the End I propos'd to my selfe I judg'd the same Meditation might be renew'd every Month. The chief benefit we are to receive by this pious Exercises being a reformation of all the faults we have discover'd in our selves since the last Retreat a more earnest longing for perfection the getting the Victory over our favourite Passion a more ardent Love to our Redeemer particularly in the adorable Sacrament and a greater exactness in all our Duty 's we are at the begining of each Retreat to propose these things to our selves as the end for which we make it And seeing it is a direct preparation for Death we are to come out of it in such a state as we would desire to be in if we were immediately to dye And we must be careful to keep our selves in the same disposition General resolutions are commonly useless and to no purpose our best way is to pitch upon some particular fault which may be the subject of our daily Examination and to regulate the means which we will every day
had an end in drawing us out of nothing and that end was no other then his own glory he created us only to know love serve him we glorify him by knowing and loving him we shew our love by serving him and we serve him when we keep his Commandments This was his End design in our Creation he could have not created us but he could not create us for another End the disorders of our Lives may indeed make us forget our duty but it cannot change our ultimate End Let us be never so dissolute it will still be true that we are not sent into the world to heap up Riches to acquire honours to enjoy a multitude of pleasures become great we are sent into the world only to serve God Kings and their people the learn'd the ignorant the Rich and the poor are in the World only for this End Tho there be a great difference in mens conditions and a subordination among them tho some are born Masters and others subjects they are all made for the same ultimate End all agree in this point that they are created only to know to love to serve God The fire is not more created to give heat and the sun light then man is to love and serve God who has made that almost in fin to number of Creatures only to help us in attaining this End there being not one among them all which in its selfe do's not fournish us with a means to know God a motive to love and away to serve him We need only consult our own hearts on this subject and we shall find that the extreme dâ—sire to be happy which is implanted in our natures and the absolute impossibility of being so in this Life are a sensible proof that man was not made for any created object He must elevate his heart to God he will immediately find a full and perfect peace which alone fixes all his desires he feels a sweetness which he never felt any where else Fecisti nos Domine ad te inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te which is an evident mark that God alone is his End and he Center of his Rest We are then in the world only to serve God this is the End of all Men but do all men live for that End this is the only thing necessary of which the son of God speaks in the Gospel do we look upon it as such How earnest are we to accomplish our designs to acquit ourselves well of our employments and to serve our Princes Are we as earnest to serve God do not men generally act as if they valued every thing but him How often is the title of a man of the Gown or of the sword prefer'd to that of Gods servant How often do the Maxims of the World get the better of the Duty 's of a Christian Every one has his designs and seeks his own Ends surely we are not persuaded that God is our End seeing we take so little pains to seek him as such This Truth of Gods being our End is one of the first Tru h's we learn yet it is that which we think least of and are least affected with when we do think of it We are us'd from our Cradles to hear that we are created only to serve God but we are not at all touch'd with the meaning of those words which in all probability we never truly understood much less foresaw their consequences For if be true that I live in this world only to serve God then every one of my actions ought to be directed to him and it may be I have not in all my Life done any one single action onely for him This is the fundamental Verity of our Religion do we live up to this important Truth The whole Gospel is founded on this as its chief maxime but who that examines our manner our maxims can think that God is our ultimate End We think of every thing but God as if we thought him nothing We find time for every thing except for loving and serving God we are delighted with riches honours and pleasures God alone hath no charms for us And yet where can we find any true pleasure but in him only Thou Lord hast created us for thy selfe saith Saint Augustin and our hearts will be allwayes uneasy and unquiet till they rest in thee Have we not found this by frequent experience in those very things whereof we have been most fond were we satisfyed when we had obtain'd them has not the very possession been sufficient to digust us with them and make us slight them 't is to no purpose to deceive our selves that we may sin with less fear these very disgusts these continual disquiets are a secret voice which admonishes us that we are not made for the Creatures that every thing in the world is bur vanity amusement and vexation of spirit and that we are made only for God We cannot choose or make any other End to our selves he who gave us our being hath put us under an indispensable necessity of returning to him If he had left us at Liberty to make choice of God the infinite good for our last End could we have thought of any other and now that he has subjected us to the happy necessity of having no other we are very little concerned to attain it Ingrateful men are you not well enough provided for to have God for your last End Usquequo claudicatis in duas partes si Dominus est Deus sequimini eum 3. R g. 8.21 How long will you halt between two opinions If the Lord be God follow him why will you be divided between God and the World If God be your only master why do you not serve him alone My God! what do I stay for am I too young have I too much health am I afraid to serve thee too long if I begin so soon I who am left in the world onely to serve thee Alass I made no difficulty of spending the best part of my Life in unprofiâ—able amusements in the service of the World and now that I am disabus'd and convinc'd of my folly shall I refuse thee the rest of my Life shall I balance one moment to love thee 'T is strange that I stand in need of so many reasons reflections to resolve upon a thing of this importance of which Jam fully convinc'd but it is yet stranger that all these reflections do not make me resolve Do I stay till Jam at last Extremity till Jam told that I have but a few days left to think seriously of my Conversion No my God! it is resolv'd thou hast made me only for thy selfe and for the future I will be wholly thine 't is true I begin late to serve thee but Jam resolv'd to have this satisfaction in Dea h whenever it comes that I did begin to serve thee SECOND POINT Consider that
Order and he who has embrac'd them can never hope to be a Saint by any other means then the observation of the Rules Don't pretend that they seem of small consequence that they do noâ— bind you under pain of fin remember there is nothing little in the service of God Did you enter into Religion to seek perfection only when you were forc'd to it How will you distinguish your selfe from other Religious if it be not by exactness in your particular dutys And how will you pretend to merit supply's of grace proportionable to your necessity's if it be not by this exact observation of your Rule We need not wonder that so many Communions so many helps have no effect on us and that after all those advantages we are more lukewarm and have more reason to fear tho we seem to have made great progress 't is because we neglect the particular meanes which we have in our own hands this renders all the rest ineffectual As the best Physick do's us more harm then good when we neglect the least precautions Let not a Religious man who is careless of observing his Rule expect any benefit by his Communions Let not a worldly person who hath no care of his family who neglects the Duty 's of his particular station expect to be the better for all his pretended good works How should we like a servant that meanes never so well that do's never so many good things if he do's not his Duty And how can he do his Duty who do's not do what his Master commands Let us now reflect seriously on our conduct what use have we made of the meanes of salvation have we improv'd the particular God will not only examine and severely punish the Evil we have done but the Good we have not done when it was in our power and the good we have not done well Are we ready to give an account of our Lives immediately all the actions of our Lives should have God for their End and can we find one among them all that was done only for him Let us inquire what can be the cause that the Sacraments and the spiritual Exercises have hitherto done us so little good Let us impartially examine what use we have made of the meanes of perfection that are in our hands If we be engag'd in the world how have we discharg'd the duty 's of our condition If we be Religious or Ecclesiastiques how have we acquited our selves of our obligations and observ'd our Rule By this examination we shall be able to excite an hearty sorrow for our past faults and to make such Resolutions as may be effectual for our future amendment THIRD MEDITATION OF THE SENTIMENTS We shall have at the hour of Death FIRST POINT The sentiments of a dying man who has lead a sinful and lukewarm Lfe SECOND POINT The sentiments of a dying man who has liv'd a fervent virtuous Life FOr the better fixing your imagination and to avoid distraction suppose your selfe upon your death-bed having but a few hours to live reduc'd as you will be one day to the last extremity of weakness almost motionless continually unquiet your soul disorder'd with fear your heart already seiz'd by Death's convulsions your breath failing a cold sweat spreading its selfe over your whole body which smells already like a dead Corps your cheeks hollow your colour chang'd your hair moist with a mortal damp your eyes sunck staring frightfully leaving you only sight to disover your pitiful condition just ready to close themselves for ever Suppose your selfe abandon'd by all you lov'd in the World and upon the point of expiring in the Arms of some Domestick and unknown person Then for a second Prelude beg of God 'to assist you with his grace that you may be throwly affected with the consequences of that important moment where on Eternity depends so penetrated by it that it may make the same impression on you now as it will do when you see it approach that you may be there by incited to take the surest methods of Salvation FIRST POINT Consider how strangely a dying man is chang'd he who a few days ago was strong and in perfect health enjoying his Riches and honours and contriving great projects is all on a sudden confin'd to his bed reduc'd to extremity unable to help himselfe incapable of pleasure forc'd to abandon all to be abandon'd by all My God! what is man tho never so Rich and great since a few hours sickness are able to make him useless to all the world and render all the world of no use to him We think our selves happy when we have Riches enough to serve us many years but alas what are we the better for many years riches if we have not many years to enjoy them What is able to comfort a sinner in this miserable condition when the remembrance of past pleasures leave only a mortal regret behind them the fear of future pains makes him already begin to feel them When God and man when every thing in the world conspire to terrify and affright him How do the tears of Friends cut him to the heart and the Assistants encrease his apprehensions how sensible must the grief of his wife the tears of his Children and the hurry of his servants be to him with what fear has he recourse to desperate remedies and what a terror is it to find those remedies ineffectual And when to calm his frights his Confessor approaches can we think that the sight of him allay's his trouble he sweats is quite confounded and in this agony he is to prepare for death but is this a fit time is he in a condition to prepare when fear and trouble has weakned and clouded his Reason how can he go about it He speaks not his own thoughts or sentiments he onely repeats what he hears his Confessor say he neither knows what he says nor what he ought to say Even Jesus Christ himselfe whose presence in this last hour is the great consolation of a dying Saint visites the dying sinner only to upbraid him make him more sensible of his impiety's And indeed what benefit can he expect from the last Sacraments being so ill prepar'd to receive them With whom shall he find ease For as soon as he has receiv'd the rights of the Church his friends and Relations retire Let us now consider what his thoughts will be when the Priest only stays to present him the Crucifix inform him that there is no farther hopes of recovery that now being bereft of all Creatures Jesus Christ alone must be his refuge and consolation Jesus Christ crucifyed must be now your only hope you must seek strength in those sacred wounds against the fear of Death for they are able to soften all its rigours to swee ten its bitterness receive then Dear Brother this comfortable Object in whose Arms I leave you This is the End of all the vain
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
tobe Saints without following their Example what grounds have we to rely on the mercy of God when we make use of that mercy to hinder our Conversion Jesus-Christ has expressly condemn'd lukewarm souls yet do's not this tepidity reign among Christians Am I convinc'd that the number of the Elect is so small and shall I do nothing to be of that number Yes my God! were there to be but one soul saved since it depends on my will to be that soul I am resolv'd to be sav'd I acknowledge that I have done nothing for thy service which can make me hope but my confidence is founded on what thou art doing now for me Thy design in giving me this opportunity in exciting me to this resolution was not to increase my guilt I have no need of any other Argument to convince me that thou desirest my Salvation thanthis very fear which thou hast imprinted in my soul least I should not be of the number of thy chosen I have often rendred my best thoughts useless but my God I have reason to hope that this resolution which I now make to work out my salvation with all the earnestness in the world shall be effectual And because I have had too much experience that these pious designs are easyly forgotten I will begin this moment to turn to thee Dixi nune coepi haec mutatio dexterae Excelsi Ps 76.11 to devote my selfe entirely to thy service and I rely upon thy goodness for strength to persevere SECOND MEDITATION OF SIN FIRST POINT Of Mortal Sin SECOND POINT Of Venial Sin FIRST POINT COnsider that all the calamity's and misery's that are in the world or have been since the Creation proceed from mortal sin this is the cause of warrs plagues and Famines of the destruction of City's by fire and of men by sickness Eternal Damnation and Hell it selfe are the dismall effects of one Mortal sin How can we comprehend the heinousness of mortall sin seeing thô the Angels were the most perfect part of the Creation neither the nobleness of their nature nor all their perfections nor their fitness to glorify their maker to all Eternity nor their being particularly design'd for that end could exempt them from being plung'd into everlasting flames for one mortall sin of a moment express'd in a vain thought For one act of disobedience Adam was depriv'd of his original justice of all his natural and supernatural gifts by this one sin he lost the priviledge of immortality became subject himselfe and subjected his Posterity to those innumerable misery's under which wegroan so many thousand yeares are past and the Divine vengeance is not yet appeas'd nor will be till the end of Ages 't is the fire of this wrath that burns in Hell and will never be extinguish'd The consideration of the terrible punishment inflicted on mortal sin is a clear proof that it is the greatest of evils since God who is goodness its selfe and whose mercy is exalted above all his works is so very severe against one act of it How many persons eminent for virtue full of merits and arrived to a great degree of sanctity are now damn'd for one mortal sin If after three or fourscore years of penance after a long Life spent in the exercise of the most heroick virtues after having wrought miracles if we commit one mortall sin all our penance all our virtues will be counted for nothing we become Enemys to God and objects of his wrath vengeance By the severity of the punishment we may conceive some Idea of the crime but its enormity and the hatred which God bears to it are more visible in the pains he hath taken and what it hath cost him to destroy it Those inconcevable mistery's of the incarnation the nativity the Life the passion and the Death of the Eternal Son were wrought onely for the destruction of sin nothing less then all theblood of Christ could redeem one soul and after all this soul shall be damni'd for one mortal sin all the flames of Hell those Eternal flames could never cleanse the least sinful spot Can we believe this and live one moment in sin and notwithstanding this extreme danger continue to sin and to expose our selves every day to the occasions of committing it this is hardly to be imagin'd How shall we reconcile our Faith with our practise how shall we make our practise and our Reason agree we refuse no pains to oblige a friend we are wonderfully exact in every punctilio of good breeding but stupidly careless in the important duty 's of a Christian Life We own that most afflictions are the punishments of our sins we are all afraid of Hell yet we are not afraid of sin which is the cause of Hell how sensible are we of the smallest loss how uneasy how sad and often uncapable of comfort yet how insensible of the greatest of that irreparable loss which a million of worlds can never repair we sin but we are not sad neither do we stand in need of comfort Thô we had committed but one mortal sin in all our Lives it would be a just reason for continual humiliation it would be a just subject of fear and trembling to the last moment of our Lives We have sin'd we are in danger of renewing our sins we are uncertain of their pardon how can we be without fear Are we sure that we are in a state of Grace or do we hope so be cause of our reiterated confessions Alas who hath told us that our contrition was sincere that our sorrow was from a supernatural motive how can we be satisfy'd with our purposes and resolutions when we know by experience and by so many relapses how ineffectual they have often been Since God spared not the Angels that sin'd how ought we to tremble who have sin'd after the knowledge of their terrible punishment After having seen the son of God expire on a Cross to destroy sin can I imagine that God will hate sin less in me My God Sauiour who hast dyed for me which thou wouldst not do for the fallen Angels I humbly beseech thee by the merits of thy Death to give me that Grace which thou wouldst not offer them Give me an hearty sorrow for all my sins and incline my will to answer thy End in affording me this time for repentance which thou hast not given many others and to begin immediately SECOND POINT Consider that venial Sins seem small onely to those who have little faith and less Love they who love God truly look upon all sin with horror and are more afraid of it than of the grearest misery A venial sin is indeed a small sin but it is not a small evil as long as it is a sin it is agreater evil than a general desolation of the whole Universe and therefore the Saints of God have always judg'd yt all the creatures ought to think themselves happy if they could prevent one venial
when we desire to succeed in any worldly business What a difference is there between a man following his business or his study and the same man working out his Salvation Were we as earnest for heaven as we are for honours and Riches we should soon be great Saints for we cannot be rich if we will but we may be be Saints if we will We are not contented to make use of all necessary means to obtain our temporal ends we employ even those that are not necessary and we justify all this care and pains by saying that we would not have any neglect to reproach our selves do we observe this maxim in the business of our soul shall we have nothing to reproach our selves on a Death bed If we do not design to be saved why do we make use of any means if we de design it why do we not make use of all is it not because some are more difficult than others but to what purpose do we practise onely those that are easy since they are all necessary Are we ignorant that he who do's not do all he ought to be saved is no more advanc'd than of he had done nothing Do we think some few and doubt ful means sufficient in a business of consequence And would we venture its success upon such means as common experience has found very improper for a business of that nature certainly the business of Salvation is a business of consequence Jesus-Christ hath declar'ed that he will have all or nothing that he will accept no divided heart there is no medium they who are not absolutely for him are against him Yet notwithstanding we all know this lukewarmness tepidity this divided heart is the cararacter of most Christians at this day Thus we live but did any of the Saints sanctify himselfe by such a Life Do not we our selves doubt of the Salvation of those who dye in such a State What shall we think of our condition if we don't take other measures after all these Reflections can we reasonably expect to be saved And that which makes our danger yet more visible is that our Lives are a manifest contradiction to our Faith and yet we do not mind it we are convinc'd that it is necessary to Salvation to believe the mistery of the Trinity and of the Eucharist notwithslanding all the difficulties that sence reason suggest because God hath reveal'd them but hath not the same God declared that he who will be saved must abhorr the maxims of the world that he mâ—st bear the cross daily ad must make use of those very means which I neglect wedurst not pretend a desire of Salvation if we refus'd to believe the least tittle of what Christ requires us to believe in order to be saved how then can I pretend that I desire to be saved if I practise onely some part of the means which he hath clearly told were absolutely necessary to Salvation But our Religion is too sincere not to condemn this contradiction between our Faith and manners it teaches us that God requires all or nothing surely he deserves very little if he do's not deserve all it would be better for us to give him none than not to give him all such a division is exceeding injurious to him for infine we carry our selves thus only to those whom we neither respect nor fear God abhorrs this conduct he hates tepidity more than coldness and therefore cannot endure to be serv'd by halves Absolute perfection is not necessary but our Saviour commands every one efficaciously to seek perfection in his station do not object that the number of these men of good will is so very small that if this be true there will be but few saved who can doubt of it after what Christ hath told us of the small number of the Elect Do we see many who love God with all their hearts how can we pretend that we are sinceeely desirous of Salvation while we do not obsewe this first and great Commandment while we make use onely of some meanes and neglect the rest while we satisfy our selves with some pretended good works of our own choosing and indulge our selves in our belov'd passion which is a continual Source of Sin I see now my God that I have not been truly willing that I have hitherto deceiv'd my selfe with a false desire which hath kept me in ignorance of the greatness of my danger but I am now resolv'd sincerly to be saved at anyrate And I have some grounds to believe that I am truly willing but it is thy grace my Dear Saviour that must render my desire efficacious I hope for it through thy mercy I am convinc'd of the necessity of using all the means this conviction hath dispos'd me to do whatever thou commandest Paratum cor meum Deus paraâ—um cor meum Ps 56.9 command now whatever thou pleasest 〈◊〉 will make no difficulty I will obey without any reserve SECOND MEDITATION OF LVKEWARMNESS FIRST POINT There is no state more dangerous than a Lukewarm state SECOND POINT It is harder to recover out of a Lukewarm state than from any other FIRST POINT COnsider that by a lukewarm State is meant a certain disposition of the Soul in which it contents its selfe with avoiding heinous sins but takes little care to avoid small faults it is negligent in spiritual duty 's its prayers are distracted its confessions without amendment its communions without fervour and without fruit it is unfaithful to the divine grace and sins without fear or remorse Such a soul grows indifferent to the greatest virtues and soon after disgusted with them its affections languish in the service of God so that the yoak of Christ seems heavy insupportable its thoughts are distracted so very little taken up with God or its selfe that it fuffers them to rove after every object it dares not retire in to its selfe because it can find no peace there In this condition it makes no scruple of exposing its selfe to the occasions of Sin if it do's any good 't is only by fiâ—s if it performs any duty 's 'tis only out of custom and provided is keeps some measures and avoids the reproaches of those of whom it stand in awe it is not at all sollicitous to please God whom it offends almost by every action It makes no difficulty of committing all sorts of venial Sins with deliberation it performs with reluctancy and uneasiness those devotions which it cannot avoid it enterrains an aversion for pious Christians because their vertue is an uneasy reproach to it it takes pleasures onely in the imperfect because their actions countenance its carelessness Hence proceed those pernicious friendehips to which so many pretended Friends ow their ruine those insipid rallerys on Christian exactness whereby they stiffle the small remainders of their fervour they are no sooner in this wreched state of Lukewarmness but they frame to themselves a false Conscience
of Faith If we believ'd that the enjoyment of God that an Eternity of infinite happiness or misery which includes surpasses all other miserys depended on our diligence if we did really believe what we repeat so of ten that we can not serve God and the world at once that time is short and that Death approaches that each moment for ought we know may be our last if we did indeed believe that Salvation is our own work and that we onely can secure it that it is no matter what becomes of us here if we make sure of heaven that we loose all even temporal blessings by neglecting our Souls and that if we be truly careful of them we shall loose nothing not even worldly goods if we do seriously believe these things how can we be careful how can we be sollicitous for any thing but Salvation Of the false pretences of orldly men about Salvation T is very surprizing that men of Sence and wisdom who reason so well about every thing else should reason so very falsly when they are desired to think on and work out their Salvation they freely own that it is hard to secure it in the world they will make lively and pathetical deseriptions of the Corruptions of the Age they are very eloquent on the inevitable dangers to which men are expos'd in the world and they readily conclude that they who live in it stand in as much need of an Heroik virtue as the Religious in their Convents but when they are told that in order to Salvation it is necessary for them to overcome themselves to mortify their passions to follow the example of Christ and his Saints they pretend that these vertues do not belong to them that 't is not their business that their condition do's not oblige them to so great a Sacrifice and that none but Religious can live regulary and conformably to the maxims of Jesus-Christ Is it not natural to conclude from hence that either the work of Salvation is not a secular Christians business which is a most gross and damnable error or else that Secular Christians do indeed renounce their Salvation Of the Facility of Salvation Of the ill use of the means Salvation God could have put us under a necessity of seeking him continually as our ultimate End and of never departing from him but he must then have taken away our Liberty when we reflect on the vast number of Christians who loose their Souls we are ready to wish that he had subject'd us to that happy necessity of working out our Salvation that so we might not be tormented with the fear of Hell But could we desire him to secure our Salvation better than by putting into our own hands And because he has made me master of my destiny of my eternal happiness shall I therefore be unhappy Shal this render my Salvation doubtful shall this put me in greater danger I might have reason to be aftaid if it depended on another tho my best friend but it depends only on me by the help of grace which will never be wanting to me yet this is the chief cause of my ruine O my God! if I do not secure my Salvation now that thou hast made me master of it I must own that I deserve judgment without mercy nothing less than an Eteernal punishment Of the ill use of the means of Salvation Can we think of our unprofitableness under such powerful means of our slighting so many graces and rendring them useless to us without apprehending least God should say to us as the Apostle to the Ieâ—vs Vobis oporrebat primum loqui verbum Dei Act. 13.46 the word of God was first spoken to you You were born in the bosom of the Church you were transplanted into the fertile field of Religion into a ground cultivated by the Labours and water'd with the sweat and blood of him who is both God and man How many means and helps have we had to enable us to fulfill all the duty 's of our Station and to make us fruitfull in good works but since these means and assistances which were so proper to have made us bring forth an hundred fold have been useless to us have we not reason to fear least he should add But seeing you put that divine word from you Sed quoniam repellitis illud indignos vos judicatis aeternae vitae ecee conver timuâ— aâ—â— entes v. 46. judge your selves unworthy of everlasting Life be hold we turn to the Gentiles This sentence is already executed on Syria and on almost all the East where Christianity first began and a great part of the North particularly unhappy England those nations formerly such good Christians and who reckon among their Ancestors so many great Saints have in these latter times cut themselves off from the fold of Christ while the Indians and people of Iapan and many other barbarous nations are enter'd into the Church and have reviv'd the primitive fervour piety equalling the generosity of the most glorious Martyrs Of want of Faith Whence comes it that we make no difficulty of believing the mistery's of the Trinity of the Incarnation c. tho they are not only a bove our understandings but seem to shock our Reason Is it not because these mystery's do not contradict our passions but do we believe with the same facility the other truths of the Gospell the Doctrines of selfdenyal of contempt of the world of love of poverty and humiliation Yet my God! they are all grounded upon the same infaillible Authority thy holy word for ' t is as certain that we shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven if we do not deny our selves subdue our passions and love our Enemy's as it is that we shal never enter there if we are not baptis'd Yet we rely very much on our faith for every man pretends to be one of the faithful not considering that we have but a dead Faith and that we confound the knowledge of what we ought to believe with that true Christian Faith which is allway's fruitful in good works and without which there is no virtue Of the thoughts Hell We believe that there is an Hell of fire and dreadful torments and that one mortall sin is sufficient to condemn a soul to Eternal pains and yet are we much afraid of mortal Sin do we not fear Eternal flames and torment Our trembling at the thoughts of Hell shews we believe it If the thoughts of its pains be so terrible what will it be to feel them all how great will our despair and anguish be when we call to mind that we would not avoid that Hell at the thoughts of which we have so often trembled Of a miserable Eternity We talk very much of an unhappy Eternity but do we know what it is by often speaking of it we use our selves to the thoughts and so come to be very little affected with it A man