I believe the Gospel I must also necessarily believe the Acts of the Apostles because the same Authority of the Catholick Church obliges to believe them both We may say the same of all the other truths which are proposed by the Church for if we believe one we ought also to believe the others because it is the same Authority and the same Church which proposes and gives us assurance of them both And the same St. Augustin l. 16. cont Faust c. 3. speaking of Hereticks and those who would give credit to nothing but their own will. You says he who in the Gospell believe what you please and what you like not reject You rather give credit to your selves then to the Gospell because when led by your private Spirit you approve what pleaseth and disapprove what displeases you in Scripture you do not at all submit your selves to the authority of holy writ there to find out your faith but rather you subject the Scripture to your selves to judge of it according to your will. In fine Faith ought to be firm that is fixed steddy and free from any at least voluntary doubt And this also for the same reason the infallible authority of the Church which proposes unto us the divine truths the objects of our Faith and cannot be deceived in what she proposes to us So that there is no more reason to doubt of any one truth then of all the rest And there is not a better way to dispell with ease the doubts which arise against any one article of our faith then to reflect upon the others which one believes with all the certainty imaginable which yet are no otherwise grounded then upon the same authority of the Church for if we do not doubt of those neither ought we to question these In all the doubts which may occur concerning any point or points of faith whether they arise from our own imaginations or spring from occasion of Heresy new doctrins or scandall given in the Church we ought to have recourse to this authority as to a secure refuge A refuge where we shall find the divine Protection against the contradiction of evill tongues as the Psalmist hath it and after him St. Augustin in those excellent words which he delivers upon that passage of Psa 30. exposi 2. Serm. 3. Preteges eos in tabernaculo tuo a condictione linguarum If you find tongues which contratradict you heresies raised up against you and divisions which oppose you have recourse to the Tabernacle of God adhere and stick fast to the Catholick Church do not depart from this rule of Truth and you shall be protected and guarded from the contradiction of tongues in the Tabernacle of God. Behold not only a wholsome but also a necessary advice which ought to be practised upon occasion of any doubts in faith and especially in the beginning of any heresy And had the hereticks of our time follow'd this good councell they would never so unfortunately have continued obstinate in their errour or drawn others into the same ruin as they have done CHAP. II. Of the things we are obliged to believe WE shall reduce them to four heads 1. The Divinity or what we are obliged to believe of God. 2. The Incarnation or the Humanity of the Son of God which shall comprehend what we are to be believe of Jesus Christ 3. The Church 4. The Sacraments These four things are all contained in the Apostles Creed ARTICLE I. What are we oblig'd to believe of God FOur things The First I believe in God that God is that is that there is one only true God who is an uncreated Being Eternall Independent Infinite in perfections in Knowledge in Power in Wisdom in Goodness in Justice and in all other things Secondly The Father Almighty and in his only Son I believe in the Holy Ghost that in God there are three Persons The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost That all these three are but one true God having the self same divine Essence the self same Wisdom the self same Goodness the self same Power and so of the other divine perfections That the Son the Eternal Word proceeds from the understanding of the Father by a perfect Knowledge which the Father conceives of himself by which he expresses his Image in the Son. And the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son by a Mutuall love which they bear one another That these Processions do not cause any inequality or dependence or priority amongst the Divine Persons who are all Equall and Eternall as being all but one only true God One in Nature and three in Persons Thirdly Creator of Heaven and Earth That God is the authour and creator of all things that he hath made both Heaven and Earth and all the creatures therein whether visible or invisible of nothing by his only word That he conserves them by his power and governs them by his wisdom Fourthly Life Everlasting That as he is the beginning and first cause so also he is the end of all things and particularly of Men and Angels whom he created to adore and serve him and for whom he hath prepared eternall happiness which will consist in this that the blessed shall see him perfectly and enjoy him as he is in himself and this enjoyment shall endure for all eternity it shall never no never end ARTICLE II. What are we obliged to believe of Jesus Christ FOR the greater facility and distinctions sake we shall divide this Article into Questions Quest I. What is Jesus Christ And in Jesus Christ his only Son. HE is the Son of God the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who was Incarnate that is made Man for us men and for our Salvation But Quest II. Why was he made Man TO redeem man from the Sentence of everlasting death which we had all incurred by disobedience of the first man and to give full satisfaction to the Divine Justice as well for that first or Original Sin as for all the rest which have been committed ever since by other men Quest III. This Incarnation in what doth it consist Who was conceived of the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary IT consists in the strict and personal union of the Eternall word with human nature that is with a mortall body and an immortall Soul such as we have from which union there results a compound whom we call Jesus Christ true God and at the same time true man. Whence it plainly follows that in Jesus Christ there are two Natures and one only Person viz. the one divine the other humane nature both united in one the same Person of the Son of God or the eternal word whereas on the contrary in the divinity there is but one Nature three Persons By this Union the Divinity was neither changed into the Humanity nor the Humanity into the Divinity of our Lord for that is impossible But both natures enjoying either of them their own perfections
in lying Swearing Stealing beating c. IV. The Subjects whether they have fail'd to obey the King and the Magistrates to observe their Laws and their Commands and to bear a respect to their Persons V. Towards their Ecclesiastical Superiours as Bishops Curates Confessors whether one hath not fail'd to give ear to their Admonitions to shew them respect to love them and obey them whether on the contrary one hath contemned them spoken ill of them or murmured against them Fathers and Mothers reciprocally ought to examen whether they have performed their duty towards their Children whether they love them as they ought whether they have care to maintain them and to supply them in their other Corporal necessities whether they have been carefull of their Salvation and to provide them all things necessary for that end viz. to teach them to know God and fear him to love him as their Heavenly Father to instill into them the Sentiments of true Piety to redress their faults by opportune and convenient reprehensions to correct them when they stand in need not to flatter them in their vicious Inclinations as also not to be too severe towards them to give them good but never any bad Example Never to force them in the choice of their State of Life nor to love one more then another without a very good reason not to take from one to give to another except it be according to the exact rules of Justice The Sins of other Superiours may be examened upon all the Points here mentioned proportionably to what may appertain to every one in his proper Post Masters should consider how they have behaved themselves towards their Servants whether they have had a care of their Life and Conversation and of their Salvation whether they have been watchfull over their Actions reprehended their faults made them say their Prayers go to Mass on Sundays and Holy-days frequent the Sacraments Whether they have not commanded them to do some evil thing treated them too rudely either by words injuries or stroaks whether they have not paid their Wages and so of others The EXAMEN upon the Fifth Commandment Thou shalt not Kill THis Commandment forbids Murther and all that which comes near it or inclines that way that is either actually to hurt our Neighbour in his Body or to desire it This may happen in many ways which are ranked as it were in order in these following Verses Caedem hominis lex quinta vetat mentemque nocendi Hinc 2. iram 2. rixas 3. convicia probra 4. minasque 5. Vindictam 6. pugnas 7. verberae vulnera 8. mortes 9. Proditiones insidiasque venena furores 10. Invidiamque odiumque quodcunque improba menti Suggerit iratae rabies mitissima damnat Lex ab humanis longe congressibus arcet One must then examen himself 1. Whether he hath been enraged or angry against his Neighbour 2. Or hath Quarrelled with him 3. Whether in the quarrel he used any injurious or vilifying Language or reproachfull actions 4. Whether he hath threatened any one and how 5. Whether the effect that is the Revenge followed 6. Whether he hath fought against him or challenged him to the field or beaten him in effect 7. Or strucken or provoked or wounded him 8. If he have been the cause of his death 9. If he have made use of treachery to entrap him of Ambushes to hurt him of Poyson or other inventions of humane wrath 10. If one have kept a grudge or born malice against him how long it hath lasted and what evil effects have proceeded from it The EXAMEN upon the Sixth Commandment Thou shalt not Commit Adultery THis Commandment forbidding Adultery prohibits likewise all sorts of Sins of impurity and all whatsoever is opposite to Chastity as well of mind as body whereof these Verses will give an account Casta pudicitiam sexto Lex Ordine servat Et Vetat auditu aspectu sermone pudorem Laedere vel sactu tum nequis mente revolvat Turpe aliquid 2. Vel corde optet 3. Statuatue pudenda Perficere heu miserum si fecerit atque pudorem Nec vitae aequandum turpi violaverit actu 1. Ipse suum corpus male faedans 2. aut alienae Corruptor carnis 3. stuprans 4. incestus 5. adulter 5. Aut si naturae calcato jure peregit In quae caelestes arserunt crimina flammae There are three degrees in the sin of Impurity The First contains the sins of the exteriour Senses which serve as an entrance and dispositions to this Vice. The Second comprehends the interiour sins which are committed against purity in the mind The Third contains the different kinds of impure actions by which one actually commits that sin I. It is convenient then in the first place that we examen the acts of the exteriour senses 1. Of Hearing by which bad as well as good enters into the mind Whether one hath given Ear either to immodest words discourses or Songs wherein one may sin four ways 1. If one interiourly takes pleasure therein 2. If one shews that he willingly gives Ear unto them 3. If one does not hinder them when he may 4. If one do not avoid the company of those who speak them when it is not in his power to divert the discourse 2. Of the Sight and that in divers manners Whether one hath cast his eyes with pleasure or design upon immodest objects or such as are capable to raise ill thoughts as nakedness dishonest Pictures or Figures Women or Maids either entertaining at the same time Lascivious thoughts or being in danger to admit them which ordinarily is a Mortal Sin. Whether one hath read dishonest books treating of Love immodest Stories or other unchast things Whether one hath taken pleasure in reading them And altho' one took no delight therein yet the danger to which one exposes himself to admit it is the reason why one can ever scarce reade such Books without a Mortal fin Whether one has kept such books by him for he is obliged to rid himself of them Whether he hath imparted them to others Whether one hath neglected to suppress them when he might either by himself or by another 3. Of the Tongue one must examine whether he hath uttered immodest words or used expressions bearing a double sense or apt to create in the Soul impure thoughts Whether he hath held discourse or entertainments of this nature recounted wanton Stories reported his own or others wicked actions Whether one hath sollicited others to the sin of impurity Sung unchast Songs or recited immodest Verses 4. Of the Touch whether one hath touched himself immodestly that is having no necessity but only pleasure or with danger of impurity and yet more whether one hath touched another with either of these two circumstances of pleasure or danger II. The Second rank of immodest sins contains those which are committed in the mind and under this head we must examine three things 1. Whether one hath willingly
but all things are in trouble and confusion as the Prophet hath it Ps 103. To be cursed of God that is of Goodness it self To be cursed that is hated rejected with Indignation abandoned to all possible mischiefs without relief without comfort without hope To be condemned to Fire that is to the most horrible of all torments And this for all Eternity that is without hope ever to be delivered from it so that neither a hundred years nor a hundred thousand years nor a hundred thousand millions of years make up the least part of that dreadfull duration The unfortunate Damned shall be cursed of God for ever They shall be damned to the Fire of Hell and that for ever From that very moment that this final decree shall be pronounced against them there will be no further recourse or hope of relief This will be a dreadfull Thunder-bolt which if once it falls upon their guilty heads will never be withdrawn It will incessantly torture them without ever giving them the least repose And during all eternity they shall never forget those four words of their Condemnation Go ye accursed into everlasting Fire O mighty God! how terrible art thou in thy Judgments Is not he strangely blind and wonderfully insensible who fears not to fall into thy hands at the hour of Death Who can live without an apprehension of that horrible Thunder of thy final Judgment It is not like the punishments and afflictions which thou sendest to us during this life and yet how fearfull are we of these which last but for a time whereas that shall never end Sagittae thae transeunt vox tonitrui tui in rotâ Psal 76. Thy Arrows says the Prophet that is the afflictions of this life are but passing at least they end with life But that terrible Judgment which thou layest upon the wicked is a Thunder that shall never cease From the moment that it shall issue from thy hands it continually rowls over their heads and oppresses them without ceasing and yet makes them not to dye ARTICLE IV. A continuation of the same Subject THis Subject is too vast and too important to content our selves with the little that we have said Let us not leave it off so soon Theotime let us meditate again and again upon these four punishments of Mortal Sin that we may comprehend them well fear them and conceive a Sacred horror of the cause from whence they come First then the Damned shall be separated from God shall be cast out of his sight never to see him more and to be eternally deprived of the beatifical vision and of all the felicities included in it In a moment they shall see themselves fall'n from all those inestimable goods which God hath prepared for his faithfull servants which neither Eye hath seen nor Ear hath heard nor ever enter'd into the heart of man. 1 Cor. 2.9 Then they will perfectly know what they have lost they will be continually afflicted with rage and despair to see that they have lost so rich treasures without hopes of ever recovering them again Then will the Prophecy of David be fully accomplished which saith the sinner shall see the blessings and favours which God hath bestowed upon the just and finding himself deprived will rage with anger gnash his teeth and will pine away with grief and all his desires will be frustrated Psal 112. and avail him nothing for it is certain that God will make the damned know the happiness which they have lost and this knowledge will be one of their greatest punishments and the cause of all the rest and that which will highly increase this pain will be the knowledge of the cause viz. sin which hath cast them into this final or never-ending misery They will see that there was no other cursed cause of their utmost and irreparable desolation then that of sin and the sorrow which they shall conceive of this loss shall be so much more encreas'd as they shall more clearly understand that it was by their own fault that they are deprived of so great happiness in that they have preferred fleeting and deceitfull pleasures before real and eternal blessings From hence it is that their sorrow and never-ending lamentations spring from hence their tears and gnashing of teeth whereof the Son of God speaks in the Gospel but all to no purpose or effect As long as God shall be God they shall continually understand that Prophecy Vsque in aeternum non videbit lumen Psal 48.20 They shall for ever be deprived of light and those words of the Angel in the Apocalips c. 22.15 Foris canes impudici homicidae c. From Heaven shall be cast Doggs and lascivious persons Murderers and Idolaters and Lyers This is the miserable state to which those accursed of God shall be reduced being separated from him for evermore and that by a just judgment of God who will forget them in the other who forgot him in this present life as a father of the Church says excellently well Vltra nescientur a Deo qui Deum scire noluerunt morituri vitae morti sine fine victuri Euseb Emis hom 3. de Epiph. God will never acknowledge them for his servants who would never acknowledge God for their Master They shall dye to this mortal life to live eternally to an everlasting death This is a most horrible punishment but this shall not be all for in the Second place the Damned shall be accursed of God. What is it to be accursed Do you understand well this word Theotime to be Cursed and do you not tremble when you know it For to be cursed by God is not only to be out of his favour to be loathed by him which yet are dreadfull evils But it is to be detested of God in that manner so as to be rejected by him and abandoned to all possible misfortunes The Curse of Almighty God is not like that of men for this is but a desire or imprecation of some evil which one man wishes to another and this doth not allways take effect because men desire evils which they are not able to inflict But the curse of God is efficacious it causeth the evil which it wisheth puts it in execution without any one being able to hinder or resist it Voluntati enim ejas quis resistit Rom. 9. For if there be any resistance it is that which increaseth the curse and the evil which the cursed endure The opposition which will augment the curse of the Damned will consist in this Their wicked and rebellious will shall eternally resist the will of God and the will of God shall perpetually resist and confound theirs There never will be any agreement saith St. Bernard between those two wills because the one is just right and equitable the other is unjust perverse and wicked nunquam recto pravoque conveniet There will be an eternal opposition between these two wills The one will incessantly desire the other
do to acquit himself of it with advantage but also what the Confessour on his side is obliged to do that he the Penitent may receive with greater submission and more obedience the Peâ—ance which shall be enjoyn'd him The Penance then which is enjoyned by the Confessor must have three conditions It must be Just Charitable and Prudent that is impos'd with justice with charity and with Prudence with Justice in regard to the Honour and Interest of God with Charity in respect of the Salvation of the Penitent with Prudence in order to the forming a right judgment of the quality of the Penance that the foresight of the effects may follow These three conditions correspond to the three Characters of a Confessour in the Sacrament of Confession of a Judge of a Father of a Physician he ought there to behave himself as a just Judge as a charitable Father and as a wise Phisician First it must be Just that is proportion'd to the Sins as well in respect of the enormity as the number for if the Penance be too rigorous it is an injustice in respect of the Penitent if it be too light or easy it is an injustice done to God. The first happens very seldome but the second frequently and renders the Confessours very often extreamly culpable in the sight of God which are the reasons why God as S. Ciprian saith doth not receive from Penitents the Satisfaction which is due unto him Laborant ne Deo satisfiat lib 1. ep 3. This proportion of the Penance with the Sin is not to be understood of an exact and rigorous proportion for that cannot possibly be observed by man none but God knowing the Punishment which each Sin deserves But it is to be understood of a Morall and prudent proportion so that a greater proportion be assigned to greater or more numerous Sins and a lesser for less heinous and fewer Sins All this must be enjoyned according to the ability of the Penitent which depends upon the strength of their bodys the disposition of their minds their age their sex their state and the like And in this the Confessors ought to proceed with much circumspection remembring that they are not the absolute Masters and Arbiters in the imposing of Penances as they please but that they act as Ministers of Jesus Christ and that it doth not appertain to the servant to dispose at his pleasure of what belongs to his Master For this reason the Council of Trent speaking of Satisfaction gives this advertisment to Confessours worthy to be observ'd and which they ought always to have before their eyes I shall cite it in this place not only for the Confessours but also for the Penitents sake that they may know in this point the obligations heir Confessours have and that they may understand that they are not absolute masters of the Penances they enjoyn The Preists of our Lord saith the Council ses 14. c. 8. ought as far as the Holy Ghost and Prudence shall suggest unto them to enjoyn convenient and wholsome penances having regard to the quality of the Sins and the ability of the Penitents for fear lest if they should connive at their Sins and use them too indulgently enjoyning some light works for most heinous crimes they may become partakers of others Sins and afterwards they add That they have a particular care that the Penances they impose be not only a means to conserve the Penitents in Grace and cure their infirmities but also serve to punish their past offences Debent ergo Sacerdotes Domini quantum Spiritus prudentia suggesserit pro qualitate criminum poenitentium facultate salutares convenientes satisfactiones injungere ne si forte peccatis conniveant indulgentiùs cum penitentibus agant levissima quaedam opera pro gravissimis delictis injungendo alienorum peccatorum participes efficiantur Habeant autem prae oculis ut satisfactio quam imponunt non sit tantùm ad novae vitae custodiam infirmitatis medicamentum sed etiam ad praeteritorum peccatorum vindictam castigationem If Penitents would but consider well this advertisement and the obligation which their Confessours have to weigh well the penances they enioyn them they would not complain as frequently they do that their penances are too severe whereas they are far inferiour to what they deserve Next to Justice Charity is necessary in enjoyning of Penance where the Priest ought to be mindfull that he is a Father of his Penitent to communicate unto him the life of grace Now this is to be understood of a true reall Charity and according to the will of God which is the Salvation of the Sinner and which consequently ought to make him only solicitous for the Salvation of the Penitent using to that end both mild and severe remedies as he shall judg most proper and most convenient Thus Charity avoids two extreams the one of too severe Confessours who behave themselves in regard of their Penitents as some Fathers do towards their Children whom they treat always with so much rigour that they rather ruin them then amend them The other is of too soft and indulgent Confessours who either following their own facil and complaisant nature or negligently performing that dreadfull Office treat all their Penitents with an equall but less discreet sweetness enjoyning ordinarily but slight penances for Mortall Sins how great or how numerous so ever they be These two extreams are vicious and have frequently very ill consequences for the former renders Confession troublesome and tedious and discourageth Penitents The other makes it unprofitable or of little or no effect for their amendment This indiscreet mildness fausters them in their vices without putting them to the trouble to correct them as we see by too frequent experience and the acknowledgment of Penitents themselves who frequently avouch that this excessive mildness hath been very prejudiciall to them and indulged them in their Sins Those Ghostly fathers ought first to remember that by this their mildness they become guilty of others Sins according to the above cited advertisement of the Council of Trent in the 3. ch Secondly they wrong their Penitents in an high degree whilst they think to favour them They hinder them from doing Penance and from satisfying God by their good works and are the causes why they relapse into their Sins This is the Doctrine which St. Cyprian delivers in his 14. Epist Haec qui subtrahit fratribus decipit miserios ut qui possunt agere poenitentiam veram Deo patri misericordi precibus operibus suis satisfacere seducantur ut magis peccent And moreover they ought to consider that they are no less injurious to the Sacrament of Penance and to other Confessours who administer that Sacrament as they ought with more exactness For the Penitents accustomed to this great indulgence cannot endure Confessours who are more exact in their duty altho' they treat them with all the
to be faithfull to thee and to be all thine to serve thee with Body and Soul to correct the evil inclinations of them both to fight against my self and deny my self my wonted pleasures my Delights my Passions my Concupiscence my Anger my Ambition my own will and lastly all whatsoever may offend thee O my God. A Prayer to Jesus Christ DOmine Deus 1. Par. 29.18 Custodi in aeternum hanc voluntatem O my Saviour conserve in my Soul this holy resolution which thou hast given me and grant me grace to put it faithfully in execution I can do nothing of my self and without thy assistance I beg it of thee with all my heart that I may conquer all tho' almost innumerable difficulties which occurr in the way of my Salvation Regard me with the eyes of thy Mercy strengthen me daily with thy Grace Psal 24.16 Respice in me miserere mei quia unicus pauper sum ego Tribulationes cordis mei multiplicatae sunt de necessitatibus meis erue me When you have finished all these acts you may proceed and make use of the Prayers in your Manuall after Communion or other vooal Prayers according as your Devotion shall dictate to you And I say the same also of the Prayers which the same Manuals have as a preparation to Communion But all this is to be understood provided still that you apply your chief endeavours to the practise of the acts of some one or more of the precedent Virtues ARTICLE VII Advices concerning the precedent practices of Faith Hope and Charity THese are some prescriptions to be be observed concerning the practice which we have given you of these three Virtues in order to Communion The First is that it is not necessary to employ them all equally every time we Communinicate because they may be too long But it is enough that we insist particularly upon the practice of some one of the three and to direct the principall fruit of the Commmunion to that End. Thus you may choose for one Communion the practice of Faith for the next that of Hope and Charity for the third Secondly That you may reap the benefit of any of these Virtues you must prepare your self beforehand by reading the practices which we have given thereof you shall read then that which you intend to practice and take notice of the acts and endeavour to understand them well and make them your own Thirdly When the time of Communion shall be at hand you shall practice these acts as you reade them here But remember that your heart go along with your words that is to say that you reade them with attention and perform them with heart and mind To this end you must read them softly repeat and ruminate upon them within your self insisting upon those which move you most They are for the most part words taken out of Holy writ which I collected on purpose that you may learn them with more ease and that they may more efficaciously move you being the very words of the Holy Ghost In fine to conclude and reap the benefit of the practice of these three Virtues employ some part of the day of your Communion in pondering upon what you have practiced in the morning to this end reade the whole Chapter which concerns that Virtue and let it be the Spirituall Lesson for the day of your Communion ARTICLE VIII Another Advice of Prayer to the Blessed Virgin before and after Communion THis is what I recommend unto you most earnestly Dear Theotime that you do not forget the prayer to the Blessed Virgin before and after Communion Before Communion that you may obtain by her intercession the grace to Communicate worthyly conceiving as she did the Son of God in your heart before you receive him in your body as St. Ambrose affirm'd of her Prius concepit mente quam corpore And that you may be replenish'd with those holy dispositions whereby she merited to receive the Son of God himself into her womb and particularly with those of Purity and Humility which were the two virtues by which according to St. Bernard she attracted to her the Son of God She pleased him by her Virginity and conceived him by her Humility Virginitate placuit humilitate concepit For this reason you shall address your self unto her in this or some such like manner A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin before Communion O Blessed Virgin most worthy mother of God behold me upon the point of receiving him the very same person whom thou didst conceive in thy chast bowells and ready to partake of the adorable body and blood which he received from thee It concerns thee that he be received with all the respect and honour he deserves and that he be not unworthyly treated by those upon whom he bestows himself with so much love This is the cause why I address my self unto thee that thou wouldest vouchsafe to obtain of him in my behalf all the blessings which I stand in need of in this Communion Obtain of him that he take possession of my heart by love before he enter into my body by the Sacrament And that loving him I may be worthy to receive him Beg and by thy powerfull intercession obtain of him these dispositions for me these two important virtues which assured him unto thee and render'd thee deservedly his worthy mother I mean Purity and Humility That he find nothing in me which may tast either of Impurity or Pride And for this reason it is that I detest from my heart these two Sins which infinitely displease both him thee And I am fully resolv'd to use all my endeavours that I may perfectly acquire these two excellent virtues by which I heartily desire to please him and to imitate thee begging for this end his grace by thy holy intercession which I implore with all my heart After Communion YOu shall pray to her that by her intercession you may obtain grace to conserve her Son Jesus Christ whom you have corporally received also Spiritually in your Soul as she her self after she had conceived brought him into the world preserved him always in her heart by means of that love which kept her Soul continually fixed upon her dearly beloved Son a love whereby she enjoy'd a greater happiness then she did by being chosen the Mother of God according to the sentiment of a Father of the Church It is true says Venerable Bede in Luc. the Mother of God was truly happy upon this account that she became his Mother in the Incarnation and conceived him in her body but questionless she was much more happy for that she conserved him perpetually in her heart by love as she always did Form in your understanding a right conceit of this happiness and pray to the Blessed Virgin that she will obtain it for you for ever To this end direct the following prayer to her A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin after Communion IT is just O Blessed