that every moment we might be able to repeat them to our own Heart We should if it were possible habituate our Mind not to conceive its Thoughts and form its Meditations but in the terms which the Holy Ghost useth in the Psalms To the reading of Holy Scripture it will be profitable to add that of other good Books and herein I would give a Direction which some People have found very good which is to choose such Places and Chapters of Devotion which have once warmed you and to return often to the same places that your Heart may get an Habit of awakening it self at that view 'T is the ordinary Turn of all Minds to joyn certain motions of Heart with certain Images so as that assoon as the Images present ' emselves to the Mind those motions arise in the Heart for example if a Man has run an extream danger in a Wood the Image of a Forest will never offer it self to his Imagination but his Heart is seiz'd upon by some Chillness So our Heart having been once mov'd at the reading of some pious Discourse which had touch'd it to the Quick will not fail of being awaken'd at the presence of the same Thoughts in case we read them with a devout Intention and a design to be touch'd therewith This may be compar'd to what happens to barking Dogs which are quiet or otherwise as soon as they hear the Voice of those they are acquainted withal so the Heart being become familiar with those pious thoughts that had mov'd it oftentimes will evermore perceive in their Presence very near the same motions for it is not so with reading in holy Books as in Profane these please the first time the second the pleasure ceases but the third they are most insupportable The same thing perhaps may happen if you read a Book of Devotion for Divertisement to see there the neatness of Phrase and the beauty of Thoughts as this way of reading is for the Mind and not for the Heart one thing will not please you a second time This Thought discovers a Mystery to us somewhat obscure why that which touches some should not have the same influence over others Now the Reason is because all do not read with the same Dispositions and the same Intentions A Preacher that would preach an hour upon a pious Subject will read Books which may instruct him therein but if he has not a Soul naturally very devout they will have no great effects upon him because he comes with no Intention to be moved by them he only seeks for matter to fill up his hour Our Heart does very near what we would have it do insomuch as pious reading that it may be an help to Devotion ought to be done with a most devout Intention without which Condition it will be a very hard matter to make any progress in it But as much as the reading of good Books brings in Auxiliaries to Devotion so much it is ruined by the reading of bad ones 'T is a great shame to Christianity that now adays it makes more account of some mischievous Books than ever did the most corrupted Paganism Our Age and in particular this Kingdom might be justly noted with Infamy for that swarm of Romances which the effeminacy of our Hearts the corruption of our Minds and the wiles of the Devil have sent into the World We must needs be great Lovers of Lying since fifty Years have produced more Fables than six thousand Years could produce Histories and the Church must needs be very much corrupted to suffer and as it were to authorize such shameless Products so full of impure Imaginations Every devout Soul will have those Legends in Detestation for certain it is that nothing puts the Heart into greater Disorder I wish People be safe from the last Corruption and they proceed not even to the acting and imitating those irregular Examples in good earnest which they saw before in Jest however 't is sure that from the reading of these Books the Mind returns loaded with Images which grieve and drive away the Spirit of God and which are absolutely inconsistent with the Spirit of Devotion Meditation IF thou art ignorant O my Soul in the things which concern thy Salvation it 's wholly thy own fault Thy God opens two great books before thine Eyes where thou mayst be taught and instructed in the wonders of Heaven and of thy Salvation Often have I cast my Eyes upon Nature upon Heaven Earth the Mountains Rivers Fields and Forests oft have I carried my Eyes to the Planets and to the Stars But to my confusion I avow these Contemplations were barren done negligently without Application and Reflexion Do that therefore now O my Soul which thou hast never done yet view the Heavens and admire their Greatness and vast Extension Acknowledge the Greatness of the Maker his Strength his Wisdom his Power See how he has on purpose painted himself in all places and left his foot-steps wheresoever he hath past Look upon the Sun which pours forth so much fire which men call the Light of the World This is the Image of Thy God who is Light himself In thee is the Well of Life and in thy Light shall we see Light That innumerable multitude of fires that burn in the Firmament is the Emblem of those glorious Souls which shine in the highest Heaven of the blessed The rapidity of those vast and prodigious Machines which roul over thy head ought to make thee think of that robust Art which gives them their swing and impresses upon 'em their Motions The equality and justness of those Motions as regular as swift preaches to thee the Wisdom and Evenness of God's Actions who does nothing but what is just and reasonable The magnificence of those visible Heavens may without much ado conduct thy Meditation to the thought of another life and give thee some foretaste and conception of the Glory God prepares for thee in Paradice Those visible heavens so Splendid so Beautiful are but the threshold of that Palace where God makes ready an abode for thee Oh my Soul how Rich and Glorious must that house be whose very Avenues and Entries are so fine and pompous If from the heavens thou descendest into the Air which is the region of Storms and Tempests of Rains and Dews in the latter thou wilt see the Emblems of God's Favour and in the former the Messengers of his Vengance and the Instruments of his Fury The one will lead thee to the Consideration of his Justice and the other to the Consideration of his Mercy If thou descendest to the Earth thou wilt discover almost every where around thee an incredible multitude of sundry Objects that will instruct thee divers ways Some as well as the Heavens will speak to thee of God's Wisdom and Power Others will tell thee of thy own Weakness and Vanity of Death and the Necessity of dying of the Inconstancy of humane things and will give thee
of his Closet we may say he shuts the door to the World saying to himself Get ye gone ye worldly Thoughts retire ye Objects of Vanity and approach not near this place let me rejoyce in the quiet of this secure Sanctuary and suffer me to give my self wholly up to my God The pious Soul after this manner dies many times a day for Death does not more efface the Images of worldly things than Devotion when it takes a Christian out of the World This Soul may say at such a time The World is crucified unto me and I unto the World I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the Life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me We need not wonder if the World quits the place in this moment since I suppose that it before took up but very little Room in the Soul whereof I speak God comes to possess it wholly of which he had before the better for the devout Heart ventures to say The whole is in God and God is in every part In this state if by peradventure it casts its Eyes upon the World it looks down from on high and with an Eye of Contempt Alas What are these same Riches says the faithful Soul these Honours and Advantages which frequently terminate in eternal Death to compare with the Riches that God here bestows upon me But near to God himself whom I possess these earthly Goods will vanish and be lost but I will never lose him who holds me and whom I hold and Death which will disrobe the Living of their Pomp will invest me with new Glory The fourth Effect of Devotion is an Alacrity in running and advancing in the Practise of Piety A General flies to the Combat when he sees an assured Victory but the devout Person has other kind of wings which make him fly whither Devotion conducts him He knows not that 't is the drooping and weight of the Body that retains them who are call'd to Travel he has not the Sentiments of the Sluggard who rouls upon his Bed as a Gate upon its Hinges who fight Battles with his Boulster and wages Wars with Sleep and Idleness with a Design to be vanquished He is one of those Eagles of which some think our Saviour spoke Where the dead Body is thither will the Eagles be gathered together He knows that he shall find his Jesus once dead but now alive either in the Church or in his Closet he flies thither with the Swiftness of an hungry Eagle nothing is capable of stopping him Friends Enemies Employs Occupations Prayers Menaces Fears and Dangers all useless for in posting he can surmount all Obstaeles in the way Another Effect of Devotion is a certain Elevation of Soul which I cannot term otherwise than a sort of Extasie whereby the Soul is as it were ravish'd from its self 'T is so knit to the Contemplation of Coelestial Objects that not only it has no more intelligence of earthly things but it has no Sense no Ears no Eyes it sees not it understands not St. Peter while he prayed saw the Heavens opened and a certain Vessel descending to the Earth as it had been a great sheet knit at the four Corners St. Paul in Prayer was ravished even to the third Heaven and the Devout even at this time of day have their Extasie They see with Stephen the Heavens opened they are lifted up to Heaven with St. Paul for they enter into a secret Commerce with God The Soul inwardly is so taken up that it sees nothing at all of what passes without and contributing its whole force to the Contemplation of God no Wonder it has no more for other Objects Blessed are they says St. Basil who are fill'd with and infolded in the Contemplation of this true Beauty since being bound to it by the Cords of Charity and of an heavenly and divine Love they forget their Parents Friends Houses they forget even the necessity of eating and drinking And now why should it not be so in the Offices of Piety when ev'ry day this happens to us in the Affairs of the World While we are strongly fixt to Reading to disintangle a crabbed and knotty matter while we answer an Adversary a thousand Objects pass before our eyes whereof we do not take notice The devout Soul is so shut into it self so well gathered up and compacted that no external thing is able to move it If it prays it is intirely in Heaven if it hears it is wholly tyed up to the Tongue of him that speaks if it reads its heart is always where the eyes terminate themselves if it meditates it is all over plunged in it's subject and if a Flock of Birds of vain and light Thoughts come to soil its Sacrifice as that of Abraham it scares them away incontinently This is that which I understand by the Extasie of Devotion otherwise if you take this term for effectual Ravishments which were the Priviledges of the Prophets and Saints of the first Order I must take an infinite deal of pains to believe that the Holinesses of the Roman Cloyster do oblige God as some would fain perswade us so ordinarily to communicate such extraordinary Graces Now a days we do not see those Devotions which lift up not only the Souls but make the Body to lose its Earth and raise it to the very Clouds Nevertheless if we would believe some who call themselves good Authors there is nothing more common The last Effect of Devotion that I shall mention is a certain Fire that warms the Heart One cannot well conceive it unless one had felt it and I cannot express it otherwise than in the words of holy men Did not our Heart burn within us while he talked with us and while he opened to us the Scriptures My Heart was hot within me while I was meditating the Fire burned then spake I with my Tongue We are told how the Faces of the Saints have been oftentimes seen to be bright and inflamed in the midst of their Devotions which could not proceed but from the glowing and fiery affection of the Heart which manifests it self accordingly in the Countenance This Fire we may call a Fermentation of the Spirits of Piety which not seldom make Impressions even in the eyes And hence it may be came the shining of St. Stephen's Face of which it is said that his Enemies saw it as if it had been the Face of an Angel his Zeal and his Devotion were evident in his Eyes and render'd 'em sparkling Now this Lightning is not without its Rain I mean that this Fire is ordinarily accompanied with Tears The Heart is heated blows up that Heat makes it grow bigger then it self grows tender and at last the Eyes melt into Tears St. Austin represents himself in one of these Illuminations or rather Inflamations of Heart After says he that a strong Meditation
had drawn out all my Misery from the bottom where it lay hid to present it to the Eyes of my Heart there arose a great Tempest which was followed by a great Shower of Tears This weeping does not always come from a Sense of Sin 't is sometimes caused by a jarring diversity of Thoughts and a confusion of good Emotions which cast the Soul into a sort of Disorder but which is much better than the greatest Calm Meditation HOW were it to be wisht that men were as holy as they are Eloquent and knowing pourtraicts they make but where shall we find the Originals I see plainly that the characters of true Devotion are curious and ravishing but alas the more I enter into this Meditation the more do I continue confus'd When I consider what I ought to be to be devout and I examin what I my self am I find that I am nothing or that I am not just what I should be I do not find in my self those ardent desires to be with my God and to converse with him by holy Prayer and Meditation My Soul languishes but it is not after the house of my God nor after the solitude of my Cabinet It languishes for it is feeble and weak in all the motions of Piety I do violence to my own heart in drawing it out of the clutches of the World to put it into the hands of God I enter into my Closet to do my Exercises of Piety rather to acquit my self of a Duty which I have imposed on my self than to follow my own inclinations Where is that Joy which I ought to taste in the Acts of my Devotion Where is that being unbound from the World renouncing of all carnal thoughts where is that Fervour and Alacrity the Extasies the Flames the Illuminations of that heavenly fire whereof I am a reading the description All is dead in me If I would quit the World to enter into my Closet I carry it still along with me In all the faculties of my Soul I feel a monstrous weight and dulness which arrests all my Elevations and makes me tumble down back again to the Earth my Jertings up are feeble and of a short Durance they hardly go half Way to Heaven Prayer HAve pity on my sad Estate my Father and my God Draw me and I will run after thee Why should I remain in the shadow of Death Thou Sun of righteousness that carriest healing in thy Wings raise me up and quicken me Let the East from on high visit me with the Bowels of his Mercy Let my heart burn within me whilst I read thy Scriptures and hear thy Word Let my Prayers be ardent and my Piety constantly sustained by the force and flames of thy Grace and loving kindness And thou my Soul do not attend this loving kindness with Arms across go meet it call and say Come Lord Jesus come quickly O God of my Salvation awaken my heart Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee Life Chase away sloath let it no longer lye in the bed of security banish all coldness rid thy self of that burthensome weight that oppresses thee Take the Wings of an Eagle and to Heaven fly into the bosom of thy Saviour and thou shalt find Sweets which thou hast never yet tasted never seen never heard of and which never enter'd into thy Imagination to conceive CHAP. III. The great necessity of Devotion WHO can doubt on 't and is it not sufficient barely to know and to describe it to perswade us to it Devotion is the Soul of the Soul and the very Life of Piety 'T is that which sets a price and value upon the Duties and the Worship of a faithful Soul A due Preparation is necessary to every thing An Orator who is to speak in publick first amasses his matter together and then assays to put it into a good Form A Souldier being to fight prepares his Army and rouzes his courage He that goes to a Marriage puts on a Wedding Garment And why then do we take upon us to present our selves before God in Prayer in reading or in hearing his Word in imploring his Assistance or rendring him Actions of Gratitude without having the holy disposition of Piety and Devotion that are before him of so great Price We do ever that thing well which we do heartily but when the Heart is no Party in the business it avails nothing The Souldier who carries not his Heart along with him turns his back in the day of battle and the Orator whose Heart is not toucht with what he says will never touch that of others If without the Heart we cannot perform the works of the Tongue and of the Hand how shall the work of the heart it self be done without the Heart This is what I call the Exercises of Piety and the Service of God A Lute can it be plaid upon unless it be string'd and tun'd can a Bow shoot unless it be bent the Heart is an Instrument and a Lute the sound whereof charms the Ears of the Almighty but it must be strung with all its Vertues as with strings and Devotion must be to it a kind of Soul that makes every thing else to act Prayer is an Arrow that flies to the Heav'ns but Devotion only gives it both strength and Feathers Prayer is a Sacrifice and an offering of the Heart We must not therefore present common Riches to God without preparation and choice and the Passover-Lamb was separated from the Flock four days before its Immolation Let not the Sinner then offer to God dirty and soyl'd Prayers but pure and devout ones let him separate his heart from the vanities of the World and the Folly of his vain thoughts if he will be well-pleasing to God Without Devotion the Soul is dead the heart is but in its Body as in its Grave What rashness then to lay a dead and corrupted Beast upon the Altars of God will not God say I hate your Oblations the Peace-Offerings of your fat Beasts and the perfume of your Incense I cannot away with them Devotion is a Fire without which our Sacrifices could not be consumed It 's a Fire coming down from Heav'n it 's an emanation of the Rays of the Sun of Righteousness it s what must lift up the Smoak of our incense to Heay'n Assure thy self thou Christian Soul that thy offerings are in the right way and that the Flames of Devotion are alone capable of piercing those Clouds thickned by Iniquity that separate us from God The matter that makes thunder-bolts so massy and heavy would not alwayes be mounted in the middle Region of the Air from whence we see 'em hurl'd down upon the Earth were it not carried upon the Wings of some inflamed Exalations In like manner our Earthly Prayers as well as our hearts would not be able to mount the Skies did not the flames of Devotion lift them up So that we ought to put our
an hundred other Lessons But all this is nothing to compare with the Knowledge to be had from the reading of that other book which God hath dictated to his Prophets and Apostles 'T is there thou mayest see the Abysses of the Divine Wisdom the infinity of his Love and the depths of his Mercy Without engaging thy self very deep in these Abysses what Fruit canst thou not reap from the Death of my Saviour and the Contemplation of his Cross thou wilt learn there how thou art to love for that is the School of Love thou wilt view thy Divine Saviour eaten up with the zeal of God's House burnt with the Flames of Charity He so loved the World that he gave himself up to Death for the World and that to a shameful cruel and tormenting death even that of the Cross He expos'd himself to all the arrows of God's Wrath he suckt the venom and underwent the weight of his Indignation and for whom for his Enemies 'T is thus O my Soul thou must Love This is but a very small part of the things thou mayst learn in that heavenly Book Prayer BVT O Lord I read in vain I meditate without success O my Sun infuse thy Rayes into my Heart open mine Eyes that I may see the wond'rous things of thy Law Make thy Word to be in me like a two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing of my Soul my Joynts and Marrow Thy Word is truth sanctifie me by thy Truth Let my Heart burn within me when thou speakest and declarest to me the Scriptures Let me receive thy word with a thirsty Soul and let it become unto me a Spring of living Waters bubling up to Eternal Life that I may be conducted by the Rivers of thy Grace to the Ocean of Glory CHAP. IX The fourth particular help to Devotion The use of Prayer I Do not design here to make any Commendation of Prayer nor to display all it's Uses which both the Antients and Moderns have done very Amply I shall only say that 't is one of the surest means to purifie the Soul since there is no Action whereby we approach nearer to God no time wherein he communicates himself more to us He hath been very often observ'd to give his Extraordinary inspirations in Prayer In praying St Peter fell into an Extasie Paul was ravisht to the third Heaven Cornelius in his Prayers receiv'd the Vision of an Angel Monica St Austin's Mother after her Prayers and Tears for the Salvation of her Son had in her dream that excellent Revelation of his Conversion An Angel tells her Afflict not thy self thy Son is with thee As God is the Sun of our Soul and jets his beams perpendicularly into our Hearts he must necessarily clarifie and heat them he disperses the vapours of the Inferiour part and draws his own Image there Now this Communication of the Raies of Grace is never made more than in Prayer I shall not stay to examine any further the Conditions with which Prayers should be made to be Devout it 's already shown enough that they ought to be Attentive Persevering and Ardent I shall only give here two Advices the one to avoid Weariness the other to avoid Distraction First I say that few Souls are capable of long Prayers For to render a Prayer perfectly devout there 's need of an extreme Contention of Mind an extraordinary Elevation and an entire loosening ones self from the World Now these Actions do a kind of Violence to the Soul which naturally tends to a releasing of it self and therefore they cannot be of any long Continuance If we give no relaxation to the Heart it takes it and rambles some where or other in spite of our teeth so as I would have the exercises of Devotion to be long tho divided into little spaces of time that they have many parts and each of 'em be short Devotion is composed of three principal Acts Reading Meditation and Prayer each of these need not be done presently so as to follow one another but they may be mingled for we must allow some grains to the Souls Weakness and we must keep it from disgust by variety A little reading may be the first degree of it's Elevation a little meditation on that reading will lift it a degree higher and after the reading and meditation a short Prayer will lead it to the highest degree of forgetting the World after which it will return wholly new to reading and Meditation in the same order In Prayer it will fly through the Air by the force of its own Wings and at its return to reading it will do like those Birds that weary with flying come to repose themselves not on the Earth but some very high Tree of their own choice so our devout Soul will come to rest it self not by falling on the Earth for 't will never set foot there nor permit the mind to return to the World but it will continue elevated upon the Props of the holy Prophets and Apostles Vr and Aaron will sustain it lifted up towards the Heaven and from thence taking its flight it will by little and little rise upon the Wings of Meditation untill it return by Prayers whither it was first lifted up This method undoubtedly will give it time to renew its strength it cannot hold out long if its course be push'd on to the utmost of its vigour but by taking breath and marching fairly on from time to time it will make a very great advance in a day The other Direction I would give regards those who having not been busied about the operations of the Mind are less proper for the great Elevations These People ordinarily make their Devotions in Prayers pronounced by heart from which way Distractions are almost inseparable These I would counsel to endeavour to untye themselves from Words and hold only to the Sense I do not mean that in their Family-Prayers they should dispense themselves from their Forms I know very well that all the World has not the gift of forming their thoughts and putting them into an order which may edifie the Publick but for the Devotions of the Closet they are rather to be made by Heart than by the Tongue When the Imagination does not make some endeavour for the production of its Thoughts and the choice of its Words in following the beaten Road which it fears not to lose it never fails of going somewhither else as having nothing to do in the place where we would retain it but when it gives Attention to the manner in which is necessary to express the things which the Heart has conceiv'd the Heart and the Imagination uniting their Forces make up a compleat Attention I cannot endure to hear some say That all the World is not capable of composing all are not able to compose for Men but to compose for God they are able Let us make never such Efforts to speak well we stammer in the Mouth before the Lord and
and we have need of a free mind They make real Joys and Griefs to spring up for imaginary Adventures Into the Mind they put Idea's and into the Heart vain Motions which ruine the holy Dispositions that we would establish in a devout Soul The same I say of a Play a Fury which agitates men like a kind of Demoniac Spirit A Man sees his Life and his Death that I may so speak his Fortune and his Misfortune a rouling with inconceivable Transports and Inquietudes His Soul is agitated at the same time with a thousand Passions with Fears Desires Hopes and his Heart is entirely put besides the Seat Is such a Man in a Condition to lift up his Soul to God Such fine Devotions as these are they which are made after having past half the Night in this exercise The Tempest has been over great a long time will the Waves be moving the Soul will be a good while levelling it self and yet after this the Sweetnesses Devotion will not be according to the Palate for thâ— they are not carnal Pleasures of which alone it sensible Whence it comes to pass that young Peâ—ple are very rarely fit for the Elevations of Devotion They are but lately come into the World and all 〈◊〉 it appears mighty fine These Pleasures they gâ—â— down by long Draughts and nothing appears pleasâ—â— unto 'em but what flatters Flesh and Blood whiâ—â— boils in their Veins Hence also it comes that thâ— Constitution where the Blood has the Ascendaâ—â—â— which is the Temperament of the World's Joy is 〈◊〉 proper for Devotion than that which has the Ingredâ—ents of Earth and Melancholy the former is like 〈◊〉 Matter extreamly combustible which takes fire 〈◊〉 the least Sparkle but the latter being more difficuâ— to be moved is less sensible of what charms other and that which pierces through them negligentâ—â— passes it by We ought therefore to draw Men out of this erroâ— They imagine they can divide themselves betwiâ—â— heavenly and earthly Joy but it is impossible In thâ— Rank of unclean Creatures the Law plac'd those Amphibious Birds which both swim and flye and live in 〈◊〉 double Element of Air and Water This is the Eâ—â—blem of worldly Men evermore they swim in fleshly Pleasure and sometimes by weak Soarings they try to get out thence and reach Heaven but it happenâ— to 'em just as it does to those Aquatic Fowls whose flight goes no further than to touch and curle the Superficies of the Water with their Wings and then they forthwith fall down again Delicate and rare says St. Bernard is the Divine Consolation 't is a chast Woman but jealous who deserving only to be beloved cannot give her self to him that runs after strange Women Wherefore Solomon pronounceth Vanity upon all the Pleasures of the Earth whereof he had made a very large Experience It 's for this also that David declares so of ten that he will not have any other Pleasure than that of his God To draw near to God is my Good to be united to him is my All. Forsake all says St. Austin and thou shalt find all for that Man will find all in God that despises all for God's sake Behold here one of the main Counsels which can be given to pious Minds which undertake to dispose themselves to Devotion Renounce renounce thou devout Soul all the Pleasures of the Earth and make choice of Spiritual ones let reading in holy Writings charm thee as worldly-minded People are charmed by their ill Books let religious Assemblies and preaching of the Word divert thee as much as they divert themselves by their criminal Shows let the Works of Mercy toward the Poor and Afflicted be used by thee as the men of the Age use their vain Courses their Sports and their Converse and if thou takest any Recreations and Refreshments let Honesty and severe Vertue be the Governess of all thy Pleasures Meditation HOW unhappy art thou O my Soul to be born in Aegypt and not to be ensible of the blessings of the true Canaan or this reason thou turnest thy eyes so ofâ—en upon the World and at the same â—our that thy Heart should be intite in â—eaven at the time of thy Devotion and â—ravers thou thinkest on Onions Garlick â—nd Flesh-pots which thou didst eat when thou wast the Slave of the Devil and thâ— World Thou hast not yet tasted thâ— delights of Pious and Devout Souls that say I am satisfied as with Marrow and Fatnesâ— Oh! how good the Lord is I have tasted him He brought me into his Banquetting-House His Love is sweeter than Wine and thâ— Honey Let him kiss me with the Kisses 〈◊〉 his Mouth Would to God I were honoured with these secret communication whereof my Saviour makes some Priviledged Souls to partake which fill them witâ— Joy even in the midst of Torments anâ— make them find musick in Prisons and 〈◊〉 the rattling of their Irons Learn O mâ— Soul learn to seek thy Pleasures and Dâ—lights in God he is the Source All Joâ— that comes not from him terminates aâ— length in grief saddness lamentations dâ—spair and gnashing of Teeth What doâ— my heart wish for what does it hunger anâ— thirst after dost thou love Beauty In Goâ— thou wilt find it and God will give it thâ— thy self for thou wilt become glorious anâ— full of light by the commerce thou shaâ— have with him Dost thou love Life anâ— Health He is the well of Life and in 〈◊〉 Light shall we see Light and he will communicate a Life to thee ever healthful and vigorous that is Eternal Life Dost thou love pleasures Lo he will make thee drink at the Stream of his Delights He will fill thee with the Wine prepared by the Divine Wisdom that saith I have mixt my Wine I have killed my fat Beasts He will cause thee to see such Objects as will ravish thee He will make thee hear a sweet and charming Musick in the consort of Angels and Saints who eternally sing the praises of our God After so many Blessings either already received or already possest in hope can I still be at all sensible of the vain Pleasures of the Earth Prayer O My God my divine Saviour come and fill my Soul with those sweetnesses that thou communicatest to thy faithful servants give me the bread which came down from Heaven the true Manna and bread of Angels that makes me taste of pleasures which stifle and choak the sense of worldly pleasures and the taste of sublunary divertisements Let thy Sabbaths be my Feast days Let thy word be sweeter to me than Honey and than the drops of Honey And let the meditation of those joys which thou preparest for me in Heaven ravish me in such a manner that I may be no more either the World's or my own but be intirely Thine Make Heaven to descend upon Earth in my favour Enlarge my heart Make there a little Paradise Shed down upon it so great an abundance of thy Light of
Grace as may imitate and approach the Light of Glory Make thy Rivers to run a cross this Paradise Plant therein the Tree of Life And lay up there so grand an influence of good things that my own Wealth may make me look upon that of the World with an high disdain and contempt and that from under the Throne where thou shalt have plac'd my Soul it may consider all the Palaces of the World like meer Cottages CHAP. IV. Of Worldly Troubles and Cares a fourth Source of Indevotion NOW we come to another branch of the Love of the World and a new obstacle to Devotion I mean earthly Cares and Riches Black and horrid Devils that come to cross us that draw us frequently out of the company of our Lord Christ Jesus to lead us among Sepulchres and that walk as in the sad Ruines of our Fortune and Grandeur There are more unhappy than happy Persons in the World so that this temptation is at least as ordinary as the precedent are and whereas the World possesses our Hearts when we have lost it we bewail it most bitterly A man whom against his will a contrary Wind drives from the Haven where he would be always turns his Eyes on that side and does not lose the View of it but with inconceivable Regret If he would take any rest the Images of his Country his dear Children and his Friends return incessantly into his mind to plague him and continue his Torture So the afflicted Soul that would retire into its self to be united with God doth see amidst its Exercises the Images of its misfortunes which awaken its Grief and draw it from Heaven into the bottomless pit These are the Wasps and Flies whose Stings are so piercing whilst we are fixt so on holy Work and give up to it our whole attention then these come and prick us so to the quick that we are forced to lay our hands on the part affected These are the Whips wherewith the Taskmasters of Aegypt serve ' emselves to hasten us to the work of the Flesh and the labour of Bricks These Task-masters are the Devils that say with Pharaoh this People is idle since they will serve their own God let us redouble their Imployments and hence they rowze up those smarting and stinging cares recalling into the memory of one the loss of a Cause in a Court of Judicature and of another the Ill estate of his affairs an he ruine of his Family And these thoughts like so many stings hasten a man to return to his works of Straw to his worldly occupation that make him to forget God's Service When therefore we would espouse our selves in the bosom of our God we must drive and fright away these Gnats that whizz about our Ears and we must lay these Demons And as the Spouse said I charge you O ye Daughters of Jerusalem by the Roes and by the Hinds of the Field that ye stir not up nor awake my Love till he please So we ought to say Go ye carnal thoughts thy earthly anxities and netling Cares away ye Devils return into your bottomless pits let my Soul rest and do not disturb its holy Conversations do not draw it out of the Arms of its beloved whose possession makes up all its Joy and all its Beatitude Good remedies there are against this Temptation which we ought to make use of The first is to discomfit and destroy in us the love of the World when we shall love it no more we shall no more be sensible of the mischiefs and misfortunes that befall us on that side So we do'nt love Money Riches nor Grandeur we shall not be touched with the loss of them So we love God only we shall evermore be content because we shall never lose him The World makes men pay Interest for its Pleasures the grief it causes in abandoning us is much greater than the joy we taste in possessing it and therefore we should diffeize our selves in good time that we may lose it without trouble If we have cares that seem lawful unto us and which we know not how to part withall let us follow the precept and example of David Cast thy care upon God and he will take care for thee We do not want examples to maintain this reliance We can produce an Elijah that was fed by Ravens a Prophet in the Lions Den that was respected by those Monsters Israelites in uncultivated and desolate Places upon whom the very Heavens rained down Bread Have we need of Assurance and Promises see that of our Lord Jesus Are not two Sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father Fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many Sparrows Behold the Fowls of the Air they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them God that takes care of the young Ravens that call upon him will he desert us without doubt we must have a great stock of Incredulity to resist so great Promises After all let us remember to think how our Cares do change nothing at all in the state of our Concerns and how they turn our Souls topsie turvy and render them incapable of Devotion Upon which account our ever blessed Jesus would not have us take care for the Morrow for fear it should trouble our Devotion to day Wherefore in entring into our Closet we must say to our selves why dost thou take care for so many things and it may be thou must die to morrow Afraid thou art of wanting necessaries for Life but thou considerest not that these necessaries may be reduced into a small compass Thou hast lost some Wealth thou art afraid of losing it 't is therefore God hath retrencht thee of the superfluity Whereas how canst thou be afraid of wanting any manner of thing when in that moment thou goest to find God to whom appertain all things and addest with St. Austin Cast thy self O my Soul into the Arms of God and fear not lest he should let thee fall for his Arms sustain Heaven and Earth And having said this shut the door against all the troubles of the Flesh and cast them under thy feet as thou fallest on thy Knees Meditation ALas I have good reason to weep Oh that my Head were Waters and mine Eyes a Fountain of Tears that I might bewail my Sins This is a sadness after a godly sort and a Repentance not to be repented of In this Respect mine Eyes are without moisture and dry as Rocks Oh! that Moses his Rod struck me and the Terrour of Gods Judgments seiz'd me that I might be able to cast out Currents of Water Yet nevertheless I do not want tears to mourn my mishaps and my worldly misfortunes So that I am not covetous of Tears but I distribute 'em ill Wherefore O my Soul art thou so toucht at the loss of some goods whereof thou had'st only the use
not think it ill they should be invested with Purple and it is highly necessary that they should be surrounded with a splendour to surprise the sense so as more easily to obtain that veneration from the heart which is due to them This is an ordinary Illusion of the Senses which makes us consider how great that is which dazles them but it is an Illusion which in this case is of some use Where there is the true greatness of Quality and Authority an apparent grandeur may be indured although by excess there may be Sin here as well as elsewhere Great men resemble those Giants who were not content with their natural greatness but lifted their hands up towards Heaven to be seen afar off Above all this is a senseless pleasure when one is little in all respects to please himself with appearing Great and debasing the Purple to the Dust which should not appear but upon or near the Throne This is a vice of our Age wherein I believe we surpass all other Ages and the corruption is gone so far that it is made a duty to follow it For some wise and pious Persons there are who propose this dangerous maxime with a great deal of Confidence That there ought no difference to be made that every one should be apparell'd according to his condition that we are not to affect Singularity In a word they boldly blame those Women who professing a great Devotion wear no other than very mean cloaths at a mighty distance from the Luxury of Persons of their Rank A very strange thing this that we should be so far removed from Piety and have so much fear of approaching it as to fly even the Appearances thereof According to this Maxime 't is held that Christian Women be cloathed with the most rich and magnificent Stuffs that they be cover'd with Gold and precious Stones since all Persons of quality go so If they retrench themselves of these Vanities to do Alms they are accus'd of being Devoto's The mischief it seems is without remedy when 't comes to this The Church once believed it did infinitely relax its self when it tolerated these Disorders but I am afraid it must shortly come to give them its Approbation I would fain know of these People that maintain this Maxime in what place they might find it It is not in the holy Scripture for St. Paul expresly forbids Christian Women the use of Gold and broidred hair It is not in the Fathers for they never speak with more vigour than when they speak against the luxury and pomp of Apparel they call it the Pomp of the Devil In all places they preach against this Vanity and say that by the Laws of Charity we are obliged to renounce these superfluities to cloath the Poor to comfort the Miserable to uphold the Church when it staggers or is in a low condition They say that Simplicity and Plainness of Array is a sign of Piety and renouncing the World But what is meant when they say we must make no distinction must we be carried away by the stream because it is a general and common evil must not we labour to guard our selves from it must no one dare to get out of the crowd of those that destroy themselves for my part I believe quite contrary we ought to separate our selves if we have courage enough to do it I would know whether that sovereign Moderation be not as good in Clothes as in other things if it be good can it be evil to give examples of it on the other side is it not glorious to march the first in the way of Virtue Apparel I know has been always different according to the diversity of conditions But first we are to observe that in our age there are no People but carry a Magnificenee infinitely above their Condition Now it hath always been accounted glorious to a man to do what he ought according to the Estate wherein he is when he his only to do his Duty Moreover Men did not heretofore distinguish their Condition so exactly as they do now adays The difference of Conditions must have been extreamly sensible and great if it were permitted 'em to distinguish themselves from others by Magnificence It was not sufficient to be rich only or of a Birth a little elevated above the common people And now if it be permitted to every one to be cloathed and have a Retinue according to his Condition Pride and Vanity that mark the bounds which distinguish conditions will push men on to strange excesses 'T is also good to consider that there 's a great difference betwixt tolerating a thing as permitted and authorizing it as necessary Great Men may be suffer'd to distinguish themselves from others by their Train Equipage and Habit provided this does not go to the Excess that reigns in our Age But never ought we to make this their Duty nor to say to them be not particular from the rest of your Rank On the contrary we are to let them know that it is glorious to them to renounce these unhappy Vanities which are displeasing to God In short certain it is that never was this Maxime more dangerous than in our Age the keeping up one's Quality in the style of the World that is to expend one's whole estate in Vanities Habits Ornaments Equipages and in things of that nature When therefore any one says to a Gentleman be not singular doe as other persons of your Quality he certainly authorizes this unhappy prodigality which puts people out of a Condition to be liberal towards the maintenance of the Church So that men may say what they will but I will never believe that any one is endued with perfect Devotion as long as I see him environed with the vain pomp of the World One cannot have a true Devotion unless he is truly humble Now this reason why we should make such unprofitable Expences to maintain our quality in the World draws its rise from Pride The true Christian considering himself in himself and with regard had to God knows he is nought but Dust and Ashes and nothing before God He is not ignorant that God hath no respect of Persons nor is acquainted with these differences of Conditions Thus each truly devout Soul will without doubt renounce all those excessive Ornaments and spare all those superfluous expences to do good works withall In short we are not to persuade our selves that this Instruction which is really that of Christ himself brings us into a Path that leads us to Superstition and that pious Persons are obliged to apparel themselves after a base and extravagant manner 'T is in this respect we may say that we are to affect nothing But there is a vast distance between the magnificence of this Age and those cloaths that render men ridiculous I could not refuse this small Digression to combat the corruption of the age in favour to many upright Souls that desire to do their Duty but
as a barren and dry Land â—ere no Water is when shall I come and appear before God But alas I find not in me these thoughts and motions I find there a great barrenness and as it were a general privation of Heavenly Graces I meet only with some languishing desires that perish in the moment of their birth My Faith is wavering my Charity cold my Hope weak my Zeal almost extinct and my Devotion luke-warm A waken thy self immediately O my Soul if thou wouldst be united to thy God if thou would'st love him and be beloved by him 〈◊〉 thou wouldst have him kindle the pure Flames of Devotion in thy Soul thou must will it desire it ask it This Good this great Good deserves that thou shouldst make the first steps and get before it Do not say unto me that thou art shackled up in unhappy Chains and the Flesh calls and perswades thee to the contrary that thou wouldst but thou canst not be Pious that thou wouldst this moment but thou canst not will it any time long Alas if thou willest it O my Soul it may be done these Chains of thy will are voluntary Chains these bonds are evil Habits and ingagements in Corruption which are so far from lessening thy Sin that they render thee the more culpable In this sort of thingâ— we do all that we will and when we do not that which we will 't is because we will it with a most imperfect will Prayer O Most merciful Saviour I am very sensible I am not truâ—â— Devout because I have not the will to be so but alaâ—â— though the Cords that tye up my will to work evil be voluntary yet they are not the less strong nor the less easie to be dissolved My corruption is in my Will and therefore 〈◊〉 cannot conquer it by my will alone Thy Grace is sufficienâ— for me but without it I can do nothing Come then coâ—my Deliverer and break these Chains under which I groan I will not let thee go till thou hast blessed me Create in me a pure Heart and renew a right Spirit within me Let thy free Spirit sustain me It would be in vain to seek counseâ— â—nd aid to promote and succour my Devotion Without thee â—esigns fail of their success and councils are unprofitable We can scarce guard Cities or build Houses unless thou â—â—tchest unless thou put to thine hand all our cares and â—â—our becomes vain Hear my Prayers O God and let not 〈◊〉 Meditations be fruitless Quicken the Divine word of thy â—ly Spirit that it may enkindle my heart as a Fire and â—â—at I may be forthwith delivered from those coldnesses â—â—ich rack and torture me so as I may be filled with Dâ—â—â—tion as much as I can wish to be so CHAP. II. The second general Advice To lead an holy Life and practice all the Vertues WE have already said somewhat of the necessity of living well to become truly devout but the Subject is too important to make a halt or stop there â—nd therefore let us now consider that there is no â—â—ion more streight than that of a faithful Soul with â—s God in the acts of Devotion 't is a secret comâ—erce 't is to see God face to face and speak with â—im as one intimate Friend speaks with another All â—â—at is conceiv'd of the Union betwixt the Husband and â—â—e Wife between the Father and the Son betwixt the â—ody and a Member is not strong enough to represent 〈◊〉 us the Union of a Soul that flies to Heaven upon â—he Wings of Hope and Faith and to which God disâ—â—vers the inestimable treasures of his Love God â—nters into it and it into God and so they beâ—â—me one But who doth not see that to smooth â—he way to himself towards so strict an union he must be â—ure even as he is Pure the heavenly Lamp suffers no â—ening nor mixture of Day or Night God who is â—ight cannot be united to a Soul that is in Darkness If there be any Vertue for which we are owing to the Holy Ghoft's presence in us it is Devotion Now we know well enough by what we may obtain this presence of the H. Spirit 'T is not by the magnificence of the house but its neatness when the evil Spiriâ— goeth out of the house and at his return findeth iâ— swept and garnished he returns asham'd and cannot enter thereinto without the help of six other Spirits more wicked than himself That which drives the evil Spirit away attracts the holy one and he does not make our heart to be his Temple unless we banisâ— thence all Impurity Moses carves and polishes two Tables of Stone God engraves his Law thereon A Painter cleanses his linnen-cloth before he draws oâ— it the Picture of a Prince We have two carnal tables of the Heart the Understanding and Will but we are not to hope that God will write his Laws or the H. Ghost paint his Image thereon unless they be neaâ— and polished Thou devout and pious Soul which wishest to see God abiding in thee and his love in thy heart cleanse the table of thy Understanding from those many Errours Prejudices fond Imaginations and evâ—â— thoughts cleanse the table of thy Will from those sinful Inclinations and vicious Habits When both these tables shall become blank and white undoubtedly God will come to paint and engrave his Image thereon Devotion is an entrance into Gods Cabinet 〈◊〉 brought me says the Spouse to the Banquetting-house but no one enters there unless he have the Weddingâ— Garment on and be gracefully deck'd with Faith Hope and Charity unless he put on the Lord Jesâ—â— Christ and the Bowels of Mercy of a meek Mind 〈◊〉 Righteousness and Holiness Devotion is an Elevationâ— of the Soul and Sin a Clog to it If we burthen the Soul with these Weights how shall it lift it self up We are therefore to discharge our Heart of one Sin to day to morrow of another to subdue Covetousness one day to attack Pride another Ambition and the more thy Heart is thus engag'd the more free will thy Devotion be Above all we ought to remember that our Heart is the most delicate and tender part of â—s there 's no need of putting it into Disorder We â—overthrow it with Age but to re-establish it is the â—â—nost Difficulty It is the eye of the Soul any chip â—ny grain of Dust is able to destroy it It is Milk which is corrupted by the Air 's Motion only and by Thunder 't is a Lute that is put out of Tune by unseaâ—â—â—able Distempers of the Air and certainly true Sanctification has more parts than a Lute hath strings so that this holiness of the Heart is ruined by the disorder of one of those parts as one bad Sound destroys â—ll the Harmony of a Consort and therefore with a â—onderful Care we ought to guard our Heart and every part thereof The Soul resembles a Sea and it's Passions the Winds If you do
meanness of my own Strength or to speak better my Weakness and my Nothing I aim at great things for I aim at becoming one with my God I would become like him I would renew his Image in me I would cleanse my Heart so corrupt with Sin I would rebuild this great House which Sin and the Devil have brought to ruin I would ascend the Throne I wou'd become King and Priest to God my Father Alas my Soul where in thy self wilt thou find strength to do such great things thou who art only Darkness Weakness and Pollution If thou had'st no other Enemy to engage with but the Devil how wilt thou vanquish that red Dragon which hath seven Heads and ten Horns That wicked Serpent at the beginning poysoned our first Parents with the breath of his Mouth And now he infects all the Sources where we drink he lays his Snares in all our Paths and more especially he never makes greater Endeavours to destroy us than when we make ours to unite us to God by Prayer and Devotion then he stirs up all the Fantomes of our Imagination to carry us out from God's Presence He raises the Waves of our Passions and Concupiscence to keep us from that safe Harbour And truly 't is his Interest to do thus for thou never fightest him O my Soul with more Success than by Prayer when fervent and devout so that he mingles Heaven and Earth together to distract thee and instill into thee Sentiments of Coldness Do notflatter thy self if thou dost not see the Enemy with thy fleshly Eyes yet he shoots his fiery Darts at thee he speaks with thee he attacks thee he tempts thee by the mouth of thy Lust which never fails him and has made a League with him But still O my Soul lose no Courage if thou canst do nothing of thy self thou canst do all things through thy Saviour who strengthens thee Watch be sober persevere lay this evil Spirit and drive him far from thee Resist the Devil and he will flee from you He presses upon none but those that give back Prayer AND thou O Lord Jesus my Redeemer the great Spirit of Light oppose thy self for me to this Spirit of Darkness Let the Lion of the Tribe of Juda break the Jaw-bones of that roaring Lion that turns upon me to devour me Let the holy Seed of the Woman break this Serpent's head give me Antidotes against his Poyson Let thy Grace heal the Wounds which his Bitings and Stings have made in my Soul Vphold me in all the Difficulties which that dangerous Enemy makes me meet with in my Spiritual Exercises When I enter into my Closet or thy Temple be like a brazen Wall about me to defend me from the Access of Evil Spirits So as under the Wings of thy Protection and Love I may live during these Moments in a clear and calm Air in a profound Peace by favour whereof I may consecrate to thee all my Thoughts my Will my Heart my Vnderstanding and my Imagination and nothing may withdraw me from thee CHAP. V. The fifth general Direction to help Devotion To have God always before our Eyes THis is a Remedy for most Mischiefs but 't is particularly so against Indevotion I shall say by and by that the Faithful ought to have their hours of Devotion wherein to retrace expresly the Idea's of the Divinity in their Mind and awaken it to remember his Benefits and Graces But this is not what I mean at present I speak of that continual and as it were habitual Thought of God which is never to be abandoned 'T is a delicate and most spiritual Meditation which comes a cross to rob our worldly Affairs of those Moments which it consecrates to Heaven 'T is a sublime Operation of an Understanding illuminated by the light of Grace that finds God all in all that mixeth him in all our Actions and spieth him out in all Objects 'T is an act of the Soul whereby amid humane Affairs it turns without Violence to God-ward thorough an Habit it has acquir'd It makes all things to be as so many Ladders to scale Heaven and all Objects to put one in mind of God An Artificer while he is working a Traveller in his Journey a Scholar in his Study will find means to sanctifie what each does in causing God to intervene by pious Reflections Let the Lamb follow thee O faithful Soul whithersoever thou goest that thou may'st be able one day to follow him whither he shall go If thou art lying down in thy Bed think on the Tomb of thy Saviour who for thy Salvation was pleased to enter into the Chambers of Death Art thou near falling on sleep think on Christ whose eyes were shut by the sleep of Death An Infant just born will recall to thee the thought of thy Lord's Abasement and Humility in his Birth An unhappy Person that suffers for his fins will bring thee to think on Jesus who suffered for thine One that asks an Alms will ask it for Christ his sake or will tell thee that he became poor that thou might'st be rich In a word out of all things 't is easie for thee to extract an Occasion to think on thy God What shall I say of the Objects of Nature that put thee in mind of him almost against thy Will If thou risest betimes thou canst not see the Sun rising without thinking on him that has made this work and without being reminded of the Sun of thy Soul who pours forth the gleams of his Grace into thy Heart to disperse thence all Darkness The Woods the Rivers the Mountains the Feilds cover'd with harvest Corn the Trees Fruits Flowers all in short will entertain and complement thee with thy God For the Heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy Work The Flyes and Worms themselves speak this since we see the Divinity showing in them For as St Austin says well this worker in such a manner appears great in great things that he does not appear lesss great in the least of his works We are therefore to form an Habit to our selves of thinking on God even while we do every thing and this will be the true way of doing well what we do and engaging God to do it with us Now there are some Employments which take not the Soul intirely up A workman at his work or a woman in such concerns as are ordinary to that Sex will roul about in their Imagination a thousand Chimerical designs wander up and down every where and think of an hundred things successively But what is it restrains 'em from giving up to God that part of their Soul and Attention which they deduct from their other work why will they not think of their Redeemer of the Obligarions they have to him and the Acknowledgement and Recollection which they rather owe to him than to a vain chat and conversation they have had some where or other or some adventure
ought to be the first thing in our Hearts so he must be the last too for he saith I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End Let him open the door of our thoughts in the morning and shut it up in the Evening This will be a Seal which the Devils will respect tho we be disarmed all while asleep they will tremble at our sight and will not dare to come near us The destroying Angel in passing by will reverence this Impression and this fruit of the Blood of the Lamb. These Evening-Devotions will be an holy Seed cast on good Land which will not fail to spring up in the morning since the heart will find it no trouble to begin the present Journey where it had ended the preceding one And in as much as 't is true that the Soul abandon'd to its self in sleep is naturally carried to the last Objects of its waking we need not doubt but the dreams will be happy and the Images which arise from those last impressions which Piety had made upon the Heart will be very sweet ones The night it self is perfectly a friend to Devotion 'T is there that recollectings are very easie the Soul being not dissipated by present Objects Nothing is sweeter than to fill the heart with God when void of other things God is well pleas'd if a faithful Soul makes an Altar of its bed and makes him its vows in a retreat where are no witnesses Let thy body be laid provided thy Soul be elevated and thou fall upon the knees of thy Heart as Clemens Romanus phrases it These nightly Communications with God seem more near and strict since laying our selves down in our beds we bid fare-well to the World and banish its cares and troubles from us to give repose to the body The Soul finds it self in a blest estate and at its waking being disengaged from the World it hath all manner of Liberty to mount up to God Thus we see that a great â—â—rt of David's Psalms were compos'd in the night I will bless the Lord says he in the sixteenth Psalm who â—ath given me Counsel my reins also instruct me in the night â—eason He assures us in the sixth Psalm that he waters is bed with his Tears and the spouse saith by night I â—ught him whom my Soul loveth In a word we learn â—â—om History that Antony the Patriarch of the Hermits â—omplain'd very frequently of the Sun's return very â—ear in these Terms Why comest thou O Sun to trouble the rest of my Soul why risest thou so soon to tear me away from the service of my God why comest thou to rob me of the sight of my true Sun Meditation THE measure of God's love is to have neither measures nor bounds it is to contain all the degrees of Love The true rule for the hours of Devotion is to consecrate all our hours to him This is what thou oughtest to do O my Soul but thou canst not For thou draggest after thee a bodily prison which is an hindrance to thee Thy Affections cannot be tam'd so far thou art subject even to worldly necessities which will not suffer it How happy wilt thou be then when thou art in such a place where thou mayst give up all thy hours to thy Creator and Redeemer There being deliver'd from the bonds of Flesh thou wilt serve the father of Spirits in perfect Liberty But now thou dividest thy time betwixt thy Employments thy Divertisements thy Repasts and thy Devotions But then these four things shall not be distinct they shall all be blended together Thy continual occupation shall be to sing the praises of thy God and to contemplate his Glory Thy meat and drink shall be to do the will of thy Father which is in Heaven Thy Pleasure and Divertisement will be in a most intimate injoyment to possess him who is the Source of all Joy Thou shalt have no more hours of Devotion for this fourth thing will be mixt in the three others Thou shalt be ever all Flame and all Fire for the service of thy God in this will consisithy chief happiness wouldst thou then here belowâ— approach near the Glories of Paradice multiply and continue as far as thou canst thy Commerces and Communications with God If thou wert always with God God would be always with thee Now where God is there is Paradice When thou enterest into thy Close with most devout Dispositions God enters there with thee and after him a whole troop of Angels Cherubims and Seraphims for he incamps his Angels about them that fear him and especially at such times as they fear and serve him No Object is more charming to the Angels who seek the good and well-sare of Men than to see a person truly devout falling on his Face to the Earth bathing his Couch and Bosom in Tears breathing the most ardent sighs towards Heaven carrying his Eyes thither where his heart is and stretching forth pure hands to God that he may embrace him There is Joy in Heaven for one devout Soul as well â—s for one penitent sinner Wherefore it is Heaven seems to descend and come down as it were to this Spectacle Labour then O my Soul to be ever prastising Devotion as well as Repentance that Heaven may be glad and thy God come often to thee By these frequent Communications thou wilt become right like the Face of Moses The rays of that divine Sun will peirce and illuminate thee they will baâ—ish the Darkness out of thee and melt the Ice and Coldness that makes thee so heavy and neglectful And â—y beholding him often thou wilt become his Glass â—nd wilt be changed into the same Image from Glory 〈◊〉 Glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. Prayer O Sun of my Soul I seek thee with all my Strength hide not thy self from me and suffer no Eclipse disperse those Clouds which cover and separate thee â—â—rn me and rob me of the view of thy Light My sins â—confess continually raise thick filthy and malign vapours which may grow into Clouds and these Clouds afterwards â—â—duce the Storms and Thunders of thy severe Justice 〈◊〉 thou wouldst punish me as I deserve But from hence â—â—â—th O Lord hinder these Vapours from arising and dry 〈◊〉 their Source Let not my Heart be any more as a â—â—arsh full of unmoving and putrified Waters but let it be a living and pure Fountain Let it be no more an accursed Field abounding in Poysons but a fertile one in Flowers and Fruits of good-living and let none fly up to thee but sweet and kind Exhalations Prayers and giving of thanks that may cause a sweet-smelling Savour of atonement Let those sweet vapours be chang'd into sweet dews and let thy Grace falling upon my Soul like rain upon a thirsty Land make it to rejoyce and flourish and bring forth fruits of Righteousness Thou art my Light lighten me in the Darkness of the Night when I call upon thee in
with relation to God there can be no other difference betwixt the most eloquent and him that is least so than between one Child and another God understandeth all Languages and all Stiles he requires no Order nor Elegance the most confused Thoughts that come in a Crowd from the Heart are often most pleasing to him he hears the Sighs of the Dumb he knows what we desire better than we can speak or oftentimes conceive for The Spirit of God as St. Paul says maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered After all there are none but know what they want and by consequence none but can pray for Prayer is nothing but a weaving of Desires for those things which we stand in need of for the present Life the Salvation of the Soul and the Life to come The Passions are eloquent and the Imagination is warmed by its sympathy with the Heart wherefore those Persons that excuse themselves upon the smallness of their Light when they are inflamed with Choler never want Words and certainly if their Heart be heated with the Fire of Devotion the Imagination will be very sensible of it and they cannot complain of want of Thoughts or Expressions Meditation THou hast never well comprised O my Soul how much honour thy God does thee in permitting thee to cast thy self at his Feet thou art not sensible of this Favour Thou believest that God does owe thee it for that thou wilt humble thy self before him Thou remembrest not how dear and scarce are the Audiences before the Kings of the earth which yet are in the presence of God but a Shadow a Nothing The King of Kings is pleased to lend his ear to thee to hear thee to succour thee his Throne is accessible at all times To approach thither there is no need either of Favour or Friends or Credit or painful Sollicitations or troublesome Attendings notwithstanding what is that Throne and how great its Magnificence and Glory Thereon God is seated environed with a Light whose lustre dazles the eyes of Seraphims all around millions of Angels and Arch-Angels falling upon their Faces on the right hand Rivers of Milk and Honey which his Children drink of on the left are Torrents of Fire to devour his Adversaries on the one side is Hell and Death and the dreadful Ministers of Divine Vengeance and on the other Heaven and Paradise with the glorious Rewards which God prepares for those whom he loves Thou dost not see this O my Soul and therefore thou art the less touch'd but thou oughtst to believe it though the Veil of thy Flesh rob thee of the fight Therefore represent to thy self the Magnificence of that Throne tremble admire and be fill'd with Gratitude for that being corrupted by the Commerce thou hast with a miserable Body abiding in an House of Clay and having thy Seat in the Dust thou canst nevertheless at all times with liberty present thy self before him who sits upon the Cherubims who flies upon the Wings of the Wind who maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a Flame of Fire Thou hast the permission to pray but thou knowest not how to pray and that because thou knowest not to love One intimate Friend never wants things to discourse on to another when our Heart is perfectly opened to any one and we have received his Soul into our Breast we are never short Alas my Soul If thou lovedst thy God perfectly thou wouldst be never weary with entertaining him never would thy Imagination be congealed thy Tongue remain speechless or thou want Words thy Mouth would pour it self forth like a Torrent and thy Prayers would roul like a Flame but thou languishest in thy Prayers since thou dost not speak to God as thy nearest and best Friend the barrenness of thy Heart comes from the coldness of thy Love Prayer O Holy Spirit which art Love it self in the most adorable Trinity O Spirit of Prayer make Intercession for me with dumb interrupted Groans and such as cannot be exprest Teach me how I ought to pray I know almost what ought to be the Matter of my Prayers but I am ignorant how to give them their form I feel in my self a Chaos of confused Thoughts and Motions which I cannot unmixe or disentangle the Light is found blended with Darkness worldly with heavenly thoughts O holy spirit which at the world's beginning didst in the like Chaos draw Light out of Darkness and Order out of Confusion stretch forth thy wings upon the wavering waters of my thoughts and hatch them into well conceiv'd formed and digested Prayers Thou makest the dumb to speak and givest Eloquence to those that are slow of speech Touch my Tongue with a coal from thy Altar that my Lips may be purified my mouth opened and I may declare thy Praises Warm my heart and fill it with devout and pious thoughts that from the abundance of my heart my mouth may speak And thou O Lord Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant our great High-Priest receive my Prayers as Incense and carry them before that adorable Throne upon which thy Father sitteth make them to smoke before him make them a sweet smelling Odour of Atonement that these calves of my Lips may be acceptable to him and because my Offerings are imperfect cover them with thy perfect Righteousness obtain through thy Intecessions what my Prayers alone would never obtain CHAP. X. The fifth particular help to Devotion Fasting and Mortification NONE can deny that Fasting and Mortification are most necessary helps to Devotion unless they will deny the Scripture and the Maximes of the Fathers of the Church The Scripture seldom separates Prayer from Fasting it gives to both joyntly the force of driving away the most dangerous Demons This kind of Devil goeth not out but by Prayer and Fasting The Flesh is an head-strong Horse which we cannot manage but by holding in the Bridle it 's a Lion which we must not feed so long till he is grown fat unless we would augment his Cruelty and cast our selves into the danger of being devoured by him The Body if we mark is the same Flesh whereof the Gospel complains so strongly and in so many places of which 't is said that it is an Enemy to God and its fruits are Debauchery Strife Sedition Murder Hatred Envying Ambition and Covetousness So that to hinder the product of these fruits 't is good to keep this plant in continual great dryness for if we besprinkle this root of bitterness with carnal Pleasures it will shoot up its sprouts on high and turn us out of the way of our Salvation As plants which are very tall and surmount their Neighbours leave them in a bad Estate in sucking all the fatness of the Earth from 'em so the Flesh grows not fat but at the Expence of the Soul which it deprives of Comfort and leaves it in a great bareness of Fruit. A great meal is a very bad preparative for the