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
heart into a good condition to hope a good success of its worship Tho never so much prepared it cannot be too good for him to whom we ought to present it It will be an acceptable thing to be receiv'd in this Estate And what on the contrary can we expect in presenting to him an indevout Soul but a shameful and sad refusal God does not hear our prayers unless the Heart be disposed to make them Seek and ye shall find saith our Lord but seek with zeal otherwise ye shall not find God said once I was found of them that sought me not But this does not happen every day this is but one of those singular events whereby general Rules are not established But the Law in common bears Ask and it shall be given Lay hold on the Kingdom of Heaven and thou shalt obtain it To what is not Devotion useful It is of use in all Places all times and all things as well in the Closet as the Church thereby we hear the Word pronounced by men as if it were truly the word of God and receive it as the dry and chapped Earth does the rain Hereby the Consecration of the Divine benefits touches us the thought of God's love inflames us his promises comfort us his threatnings terrifie us and his Consolations have their Efficacy upon us Without this the word which ought to be a two-edged Sword recoyls and turns its edge on the hardness of our hearts and without this we joyn the Sin of Insensibility to that of Impenitence By this we look upon every thing in the Church with veneration the Preacher as the Embassador of the Gospel his Word as the voice of Heaven The Faithful as the Children of God and as it were a Troop of Angels that always rejoyce in his presence the Sacraments as precious vessels the appearance whereof is contemptible but which do contain the Treasures of his Grace and Mercy It 's Devotion that makes our Closets to become little Churches whether the Divinity descends and upon which it extends its Wings like the Cherubims over the Mercy-seat where God speaks to our heart as we speak to his ears where he makes us understand his Oracles and taste his Consolations where he says to us in a still small voice My Son or my Daughter Be of good chear arise thy Sins are forgiven thee Oh! how blessed is the faithful Soul that God honours with such sacred Entertainments Now he does never do this but when call'd upon if not forced by an ardent Devotion These desires of Devotion may be the Eyes of the Spouse whereof it is said Turn away thine Eyes from me for they have overcome me Far be from hence those prophane Wretches that know not the use of Devotion They say that Valour is the Rampart of Estates and the Tutelary Angel of the Publick and of Privates that Liberality sweetens the misfortunes of the miserable that Justice is the nurse of Peace and the ligament of Society that Temperance causes tranquillity of mind and health of Body But say they Devotion 't is alone that is good for nothing but to render the mind weak and effeminate and to depress the Spirits Do not call so universal a Vertue unprofitable without which all the rest are meer shadows for he that having not a habit of Devotion does not refer all his vertues to the Glory of God is a bad good man Do not call that an useless Virtue which appeases the wrath of God and turns away the Tempests flying over States a Virtue which had drawn Sodom out of the Fire had there been found there but ten devout Persons like Abraham who would have Devoutly with him interceded for it a Virtue which saves the Church so often from ship-wrack a Virtue which in the Conscience raises up and establishes a profound Peace and a Divine Light Do not fay that it softens the Mind seeing it confirms the Courage makes men run to death as to a Feast makes 'em to despise Perils and in its occasions mannages nothing wherein the Glory of God is not concerned Meditation SEE one of the causes of my luke-warmness and one of the reasons why my Soul is little devout The necessity of Devotion it comprehends not whereas it knows that Food is necessary for the conservation of its bodily Life It desires nourishment with a great ardour and searches after it with a marvellous diligence But negligent it is in all those things which serve to nourish Piety and the flames of Devotion since it does not beleive that 't is of any great use Thou see'st O my Soul some who save themselves with a languishing Piety and go to Heaven at a very slow pace Thou persuadest thy self that God will not be more rigorous to thee and that there will not be more exacted from thee than from others But alas what an errour and fallacy is there in this reasoning Such an one as thou believest to be in the way to Heaven is a marching towards Hell There is such a way that seems right to man the end of which nevertheless is Death These chill Devotions wherewith People believe God is well paid are oftentimes very fruitless They may think it fine one day to say we have prayed to thee we have invok'd thy Name we have served thee The Lord will not fail to answer I do not know who ye are go far from me ye that are neither cold nor hot I will cast you up out of my mouth Prayer MY God conduct my Soul in the surest path I know not how to sound thy Mercy nor do I know how far the severity of thy Juctice will carry it self and no further I know not whether thou wilt pardon so many People that serve thee with so little Zeal and so much indevotion That which I know is that they are unworthy of thy clemency anâ— that they cannot be saved unless they sincerâ—ly repent of having served thee with so much indifference Let the Candle of my Soul thâ— holy Spirit which has inlightened thy Church in all ages and the faithful at all times inspire me with such frankincense of Devotion as with which I know that one may be saved and without which I know not if one caâ— be saved Kindle my heart that it may be an Altar where an eternal Fire may burn in which all my sacrifices may be consumed and which may make all my prayers as thâ— Perfumes of incense to mount up in thy Presence CHAP. IV. That Devotion is extremely rare and neglected HERE is an Exception to the general Rule that things rare are esteemed nothing in the World more rare than Devotion and nothing more neglected Herein men do not sin through Ignorance they know very well what we have said in the precedent Chapter that without these devout dispositions or Prayers they cannot please God Nevertheless one cannot Express the horrible negligence with which they perform this pious Duty as well as all others
is rouling or stirring it can neither receive nor reflect well the Image of the Sun so a Soul in continual action cannot receive the impressions of Grace the beams of the glorious Jesus nor the likeness of our great God Thou raging and rouling Sea hold thy self then still and hust stop thy Surges to be the Looking-glass of the Heavens to the intent all those matchless and illustrious lights may penetrate thee and paint themselves in thee How can the knowledge of God said St. Basil enter into a Soul taken up with a crowd of carnal thoughts It ought to be master of its time and its self to be presented to God Pharaoh knew this well since he told the Israelites What ye say come and let us sacrifice to our God proceeds from that ye are Idle Certain I am God does not love slothful People and how should he love idle Lives that will take account of every idle word But yet neither does he love People over busie Martha Martha says he Thou art cumbered and troubled about many things Thy Sister Mary has chosen the good Part. She did not labour about Evil things but too many things She did even good works in doing what she did she served our Lord she prepared him meat and drink If there could be excess in these holy Employments when they hinder us from approaching often enough to the Throne of Grace what must we believe touching the imployments of the World what people will be excluded from the sacred feast of our Saviour Why those men of Business one of whom forsooth bought a yoke of Oxen and will go to try them another has purchased an House and he must needs go see it a third is contracted to a Wife and he will wed her Such Persons will find the Gate shut and barr'd they come not time neither will they find any one to open unto theâ— It will be said to them as it was to others go ye wâ—kers of Nothing I know you not Let us not say the such a way I must go to day to morrow another must do such a thing and finish such an affair afterwaâ— I will think upon God! O my Soul Thy great concernâ—â— to set thee well with thy God 't is to consult him often about the Disposition wherein he is with thee 't is to sollicite his mercy and implore the succours of his Grace 't is to pay him thy just Homages and place all thy inteâ—est in him It is the one thing necessary choose then thâ— good part which shall not be taken away from thee Thiâ— one thing I do forgetting those things which are behinâ— and reaching forth unto those things which are before 〈◊〉 press toward the Mark. Let not therefore the Indevout Person come with his Objection from the multiplicity of his Affairs the most busie steal their moments for Pleasure and whâ— can't they then for a Duty Let no one oppose us with the goodness and innocence of particular Imployments nothing is innocent that renders us culpable before God in estranging us from him But what shall we say of those Persons who create to themselves affairs of vast and mighty importance in the due setting of a Tower or accurate scituation of a Spot who consult their Glass an hundred times to place every thing in its proper order who imploy the best part of their lives in-these Idle Businesses and amidst all this find scarce a minute to consecrate to Devotion I say that these Women are to render an account of all and of the time which they have so miserably squander'd away and of their Beauty whereof they have made so bad a use and of the unjust Division they have made betwixt God and their own Idol seeing they have given all their Hours to the Service of this and to God only some moments of unadvised and hasty Devotion Meditation Wretched Soul how miserable art thou to be obliged to serve perpetually a Body that renders thee nothing but evil for all the good that thou hast done it Thou travellest after many things Thou runnest from one end of the World to the other Thou venturest upon the Tempests of the Sea thou exposest thy self to their fury Thy Body is burnt by the heats of the Sun From Icy Climates thou passest into the Torrid Zone For whole years thou sail'st upon the mouth of Abysses to seek Riches Gold Silver precious Stones and all manner of Delicates If thou dost not do this thou dost somewhat else which is no better and thou sustain'st as great Labours and which are no less vain and all for a Body that is Dust and must return to Dust True it is that to take care of thy Body is a Yoak that God has laid upon thee but thou thy self makest this Yoak infinitely more weighty The Body would be content with a very little if thou would'st serve it as it should be served and by consequence it would rob thee of but a little time but thou givest it all What blindness and what fury is this Whaâ— will return to thee of all thy Labours Thâ— Body for which thou takest so much pains will carry nothing away with it of these Riches which thou amassest for it except a winding-sheet an herse-cloth and perchance will have and hold a short while five or six feet of Earth O my Soul it 's of thee thoâ— ought'st to think and for thee thou ought'st to provide Thou art a Queen and thou becomest a Slave Thou should'st be served and lo thou servest Thou neglectest to gather the true Riches together and therefore thou art poor blind and naked I counsel thee then to get Gold Rayments and Nourishment of him who saith Every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters buy Wine and Milk without Mony and without price Prayer MAke me O my God to know that thou art the sovereign Good the only good worthy alone to be sought after and worthy alone to be loved that I may no longer run after the vain Shadows of Greatness and Glory Make me to know the true Goods so as I may bestow all my Love and Care upon them So as I may no more make the principal workings of my thoughts to respect worldly Employments So as I may keep my Body under as a Slave that hath an inclination to rebell but that I may serve thee as a Master whose inclinations are ever favourable unto me Let me with assurance first of all seek thy Kingdom and thy Righteousness and then all the rest shall be added unto me Suffer no Ingratitude nor Distrust in my Soul Nor let it doubt of the Goodness of him who has given so many marks of his Care and Tenderness over it How can it fear O my God that thou wilt let it want any thing thou who feedest the young Ravens that cry unto thee and the Lions Whelps that lay them down in their Dens It labours about this Life as if it were to be Eternal and it
in an intire Privation of Carnal Pleasures fancies Death as a Messenger that brings him good news as a deliverer that is come to throw down the four Walls of his Prison down to the Ground and will leave a passage free on all sides to flye away to Heaven The Voluptuous they must be dragg'd to death they lay hold on every thing in the way to stop themselves they give place to necessity but they do it with an aukward and ill grace These therefore who multiply the pleasures of their Senses make themselves Chains the breaking whereof will cost them many a groan and many a tear But pious people who have renounc'd the pleasures of life cannot be in pain to forsake the present life since they have quitted that which life has most agreeable I should say here that the Pleasures of Sense are enemies to Devotion because they absolutely take away the taste of the Spiritual Pleasures which the faithful find in the commerce they have with God but that I have said it already and it is so evident both in Reason and Experience We know that those Slaves of sensual Pleasures look upon all that is said of the pleasures of Devotion as mere idle Stories Speak to them of the delights which the faithful Soul tasts when God speaks to it within its heart and during the silence of its passions of the sweetness it finds in meditating on the Love he hath for us and in contemplating on its Mysteries All this will appear to them as Dream and Vision Undoubtedly one is not sensible of the pleasures of the Mind but in proportion as he hath renounc'd those 〈◊〉 the Body And therefore we Christians are all so little touch'd with Spiritual pleasures with Prayer Meditation Contemplation because we are not of those who have perfectly renounced Sensual pleasures In this respect we must confess Rich and Great men are exposed to great Temptations their condition say they obliges them to draw after them a great equipage of Pleasures if it be so they are very unhappy And in prospect to this it may be our Saviour said How hard a thing is it for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Riches and Grandeur are continual Temptations to Voluptuousness and it 's very difficult for him that is always tempted not to yield sometimes But although Moderation and Temperance are praise-worthy when they are kept amid so many Enemies that conspire their ruin it is very rarely so and therefore Devotion is not so common among them who by their Rank fancy themselves obliged to live evermore in Pleasures In short if it be permitted us to draw proofs from Examples as without doubt it ought to be we may easily prove that the Spirit of Devotion and Christianity are enemies to Sensual Pleasures Whether are the Christians of our age that live with a freedom which austere morality calls Libertinage better entred in the spirit of Christianity than the Christians of former ages who led a most severe and rigorous life Many there have been who not finding a retreat secure enough in the World against the temptations of Voluptuousness have gone to seek it in Desarts where they found none but pure and innocent Objects some have worn Sack-cloth as John the Baptist and others residing in humane Society have prefer'd Fastings and mortification of the Body before Pleasures of the Sense Do ye believe that these people were wiser than us or are we wiser than them I know some will not hesitate on the matter but file these Austerities to the account of Fanaticism and Delusion of the Spirit of Errour But certainly this is a rash Judgment for which we appeal to the Tribunal of God to whom alone appertains the right of distinguishing Sincerity from Hypocrisie in such austere lives But would we have an example that is not subject to errour let us look up to our Lord Jesus Christ had his life any thing common with sensual pleasures You see him born in a Stable brought up in the house of a Carpenter you see him fast forty days in the Wilderness you see him live on the Alms of Women that followed him We hear him declaring that he had not whereon to lay his head We see him go on foot and without equipage from City to City And does this now relish of the Spirit of the World and a delicious Life Who can know better what is the spirit of Christianity than our Saviour himself and what are the effects of Devotion but he who was perfectly devoted to his Father after this let none tell me that our Lord was no enemy to Pleasures because he was present at Feasts and Nuptials It were to be wish'd that our Lord Jesus Christ were at all our Feasts We should not see Insolence and Debauchery to reign there Wisdom Temperance Sobriety and the highest moderation would march in his Train Meditation SEeing thou art compass'd about O my Soul with so great a cloud of witnesses run with patience the Race that is set before thee seeing so many so holy so excellent examples have gone before thee thou must follow and imitate them Wouldst thou follow an Elias in the Desart a Moses on the Mountain fasting forty days and not feed but on the bread of Ravens nor drink but of the water of a Torrent But these are particular Vocations that do not refer to thee Nevertheless if any one would imitate John Baptist wear Sack-cloth with him be clothed with Camels hair and eat locusts and wild-honey let 's not say because he is not come eating nor drinking he hath a Devil Have a care of making such rash judgments Those that come to exhort men to repentance must preach up mortification both in their actions and words and habit and food Thou hast great need O my heart both to mortifie thy self and to repent so as it would be very necessary that thy Body should carry Sack-cloath and Ashes But this example of John Baptist does not become a Law and if thy God hath not commanded it thee thou canst not be obliged thereby Behold then another example another model much more perfect which thou oughtest to follow and that is of thy Saviour the pattern by whose traces thou oughtest to guide thy steps Live as he did and thou wilt live well enough The Disciple should not hope to be greater than his Master He liv'd in the World but he was not of the World He eat and drank to give examples of Sobriety He convers'd with men to teach them to speak wisely and piously for he never open'd his mouth but for edification He is the model of all which thou oughtest to suffer to do to abstain from Suffer patiently with him the rebukes and the outrages of the World drink as he did with a spirit of Submission the cup of God's wrath when he shall present it thee do good works with him spend the day in doing good to the afflicted and the night in
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
to him appertain all the differences of time the past present future but among these he loves the present time and he says I am what I am or he who is and not he who shall be He that would be like God and please him must speak as he does I am he that is righteous holy separate from sinners devoted to God consecrated to his Service Heretofore God required our first-sruits and the first born of our Herds and likewise of our Children Abraham rose betimes in the morning to go and sacrifice his Son and God commanded that an immortal Fire should burn in his Temple for the perpetual Sacrifice of Morning as well as Evening This signifies God would be served first and our Firsts are to be consecrated to him he wills not we should say to him Come and follow me if the World leaves any thing remaining thou shalt have it He loves not those People that say unto him Let us first do such a thing or go to such a place c. He answers them Let the dead bury their dead come ye and follow me For having put your hands to the Plough if ye look back ye are not fit for the Kingdom of God Few persons there are but confess That one time or other in ones Life it is necessary to think on God They only dispute about the time One says I will become a good Christian when I have finish'd my House another when I have made my Fortune and young People say when we are old and have tasted the pleasures of Life in a word All remit this great Affair to Futurity Since they confess that 't is of absolute necessity to give up themselves to God and that without this Hell and Death eternal are inevitable is it not the greatest Fury and Madness to deal thus and to remit an Affair of so great Importance to the time to come whereof we can in no wise be assured Young People you Idolaters of Pleasure make use of the Example of the rich man who said in the Evening to his Soul Eat drink and be merry thou hast laid up Goods for many years when that very Night that Soul to which he had given such bad Counsel was required of him Who has given you Assurances that you shall arrive to old Age Or have ye made a Treaty with God that in what Estate soever Death shall surprise you Heaven shall receive you If Death re'ncounters you cover'd with Vices coming from a Comedy at the Theatre or from a Debauch at the Tipling-house or any place more infamous Do ye believe ye are in a good Condition to say at the Gate of Heaven Lord Lord open unto us It will be answer'd Go I know you not ye Workers of Iniquity Ye will say without doubt We have sinned against Heaven and against thee we are not worthy to be called thy Sons but spare us and impute all our Sins to our Youth This will do nothing God cannot in favour of Youth disannul that irrevocable Edict Nothing impure can enter into my Holy City The Jewish Doctors who frequently happen to say very good things say Remember thy God and turn to him only one day before thy Death This is extraordinarily well said think therefore of thy God to day for to morrow perhaps thou shalt dye What do we do then when we dispose of the time to come and say To morrow we will set upon such a sort of Pleasure the day after we will act a Debauch we will live in this manner for fifty or sixty years and after that we will think of a Retreat to God Truly we imitate those ambitious and visionary Princes who upon the only hope of making Conquests divide before-hand the Provinces and dispose of the Governments which are none of their own To whom belongs the time to come Without doubt to God only who holds it as in Store-houses and lets it run as pleaseth him who stops its Source or prolongs its Current so that when we distribute the time to come we take upon us to bestow what is Gods and none of our own and which perhaps never will be and yet we destine and divide it before-hand to sundry uses And this is the utmost Folly even in the opinion of the World and noted by many Proverbs that are very well known Since therefore it is absolutely necessary to devote our selves to God is it not to be done when it is most easie And I maintain it 's easier to love God and be converted to him when we are young than in old Age. This seems to be a Paradox because in that Age the Blood boils the Flesh is vigorous and Sin sticks to the Entrails We have a peculiar and sovereign taste in all worldly Pleasures True indeed when once we have let the Reins loose to Concupiscence in our Youth it is well nigh impossible to stop its impetuous Passion and Fury It ought to dry up the Springs that it may put an end to these Disorders But if in good time we turn our Souls to God and to Devotion it is sure we shall improve therein incomparably much better than in old Age to what thing oever young Men are carried they are carried to it with Violence and Ardour 'T is the Temper of that Age if there be a good Conduct made of those first Fâ—â—es there will thence arise an excellent Zeal and an holy fervour of Devotion as we see in them who know how to make a right use and serve themselves of the Rapidness of Torrents and Rivers to turn Mills and Machines of great advantage to the Life of Mankind On the contrary Experience teaches us that Devotion relents and slackens with Age and old men are more put to it to chasen and heat their Hearts in pious Duties their Soul is hard'ned 't is not touch'd nor moved with so much ease because it is not so tender as it was the fire of Zeal seeming to be diminish'd by the diminution of natural heat Whence come the Difficulties we meet withal in the work of Conversion Certainly none of them there are but what augment and encrease with Age. This difficulty of thinking on God proceeds from Custom and Habit. Now Custom by Age becomes a Tyrant it comes from the Devil and when once it has establish'd its Tyranny by a long Possession 't is almost impossible to destroy it At first it comes alone by it self but in a little while it is call'd Legion and such a Devil as cannot be conjur'd out by a Get thee behind me Satan and cannot be chased away but by Prayer and Fasting Again our Faculties are us'd to it and the Soul loses its strength it is no longer capable of a Design and Enterprize so vigorous as to turn to God and break with Sin In short this Difficulty proceeds from that God leaves off calling upon and inviting and offering his Grace and his Patience is changed into a just Fury and Indignation when it
has been a long time abus'd But above all let us consider how strong the Habits of Luxury and Debauchery do become when we permit them to take Root and let 'em arrive even to old Age. The young Plant which might be pluck'd up with one hand is now a trunck of immense Greatness which resists the Hatchet and Wedge This little Monster the love of Voluptuousness which might have been easily stifled at its Birth is become so great and so terrible as there is now no attacking nor fighting with it Sins simply considered do not become more strong by Age their number is multiplied These are Snow-Balls that wax bigger and bigger in rowling these are Torrents which swell bigger the farther they remove from their Spring-head 't was an easie matter at first to pass over them on foot but now one cannot cross them by swimming Now the number of multiplied Sins augments the difficulty of Devotion and Conversion We read in the Life of the Holy Fathers That an Angel made one of those solitary Inhabitants of the Desart to see in a Vision an old Man that cut Wood in the Forest to get a Burthen for his Back with design to carry them away When the Fardle was extreamly big he essay'd to lift it up upon himself but finding it too heavy he let it fall to the ground and fell a cutting new Wood and added it to his Burthen whereupon he endeavoured again to lift it up but that was more impossible for him than before Nevertheless it tumbling down again he put more Wood to it still and this he did several times The solitary Person admir'd the Folly of this old Man till the Angel took up his Speech and said Thou see'st this old Man he is the Emblem of Worldlings they heap Sins upon Sins a design of lifting themselves up to God comes across presently they sink under the burthen of their Sins They begin again to commit new Crimes as if this burthen by encreasing would become much lighter When they have push'd on their Excesses a good way a new desire of devoting themselves to God overtakes them but the burthen of their Sins is become very great and consequently the motions of Elevation are the more difficult This Parable was composed for our Subject and against those unhappy People that dedicate their youthful years to the Pleasures of the World and remit the practise of Devotion and the lifting up of their Souls to God to another time St Austin in expounding the History of Lazarus his Resurrection asks why our Lord employs Sighs Tears Prayers and a loud voice to raise him again from the dead which he did not do for the others whom he reviv'd as for the young man of Naim whose biere he toucht only and Jairus's Daughter to whom he only said Talitha Cumi Maid arise 'T is says he because Lazarus had been dead four days Our Lord would give us an Image of the Difficulty to be met withall in a smners Conversion when he is confirm'd in his sin The first day says that Father is that of Pleasure which we taste in the sin The second is that of Consent The third is that of Love and Application to the pleasure of the sin and the fourth is mere Custom and Habit. When we are come to this we cannot be raised again we cannot be converted to God but by Cries and Tears and the Voice of the Lord fruitfal in Miracles This methinks makes us comprehend well the interest we have to think on God in due time and to consecrate our Youth to Devotion 〈◊〉 know very well that the end obtains the Crown but I know too that 't is of the highest importance to begin well that we may end happily An Arrow which wanders and slides from towards the Butt just as it parts from the Bow will be found at a monstrous distance from the Butt before it comes to its journeys end One that in his youth is plung'd into debauchery and abandons himself to sensual pleasures will find himself far remov'd from God in his old age he must take a great deal of trouble to bring himself back again from such an Aloof And therefore I conclude with the wise man Young man Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth Meditation WHY dost thou delay O my Soul after these Considerations Dost not thou apprehend the necessity there is of consecrating thy self without any shifting or lingring to the service of thy God Thou evermore sayest to morrow to morrow but this morrow never comes and the day of thy Separation from the body will come in an hour when thou lookest not for it When thy God calls upon thee thou tellest him the Words of a slothful and sleepy Person Presently I say presently St. August Confess l. 8. cap. 5. let me alone a little but one Moment longer but this presently never comes and this Moment is an everlasting one I see thou art displeas'd at obliging thee to give up thy self so soon to God This is too soon say'st thou to begin and will it not be time enough some years hence Wicked and ungrateful canst thou think too soon on thy God It is just thou shouldst think of him assoon as thou beginnest to be and to know thy self since he thought on thee and thy Salvation from Eternity His Essence had no beginning and his Love for thee had none too Both Eternal What didst thou do to this great God to engage him to love thee so long a while before He lov'd thee before thou wast amiable He saw thee in thy Nothing and in the Abysse of thy Corruption and from all Eternity he prepared means for thee to get out of that Abysse he prepared thee a Redeemer He did not reserve one moment in Eternity which he has not given thee and thou would'st retrench from him many years of this short and uncertain Life whereof thou hast the use here below Perhaps thou wilt say that it would not be unjust if thy time were divided betwixt thy God and thee and that it is hard to give all one hath without reserving any thing to ones self But dost not thou consider that thy God has given thee all things He has given thee the Heaven and the Earth the Fields Rivers Fountains Plants Trees and Fruits hath he reserv'd any thing to himself Has not he given himself too entirely to thee has he not given thee his only Son and still has not he given him up to Death it self for thee wouldst not thou then be very ungrateful O my soul if thou wouldst divide with God and rob him of any thing which thou hast But alas when thou thinkest and speakest thus thou dost not well understand thy own interests Thou supposest that thou losest from thy self all the time thou givest to thy God whereas on the other side thou savest only those moments from ship-wrack which thou consecratest to him All the rest of thy time is lâ—st being
coufounded in that mighty abysse of what is past But the Moments thou givest to thy God are put in reserve thou wilt find them they will come before thee At the great Judgment they will be put to thy account and for some moments of Devotion thou shalt receive eternal Glory Do not therefore hang in suspence any longer O my Soul delay no more to renounce all the pleasures and all the hopes of the Age for to follow thy God only In him is the Well of Life in his Light thou shalt see Light thou shalt be fatted with the fat of his House and quench thy thirst in the Floud of his Pleasures In thy old age thou shalt not regret the loss of thy Youth Thy days shall not rise up in Judgment against thee to condemn thee when thou shalt be old and on the brink of Death The thought of thy God shall not put thee into an affright Thou wilt not look upon him as a Judge who comes to demand an account of so many years consumed in vain Pleasures but a Deliverer who will come to break thy Irons and as a Rewarder bringing days of Refreshment instead of painful and dolorous years which the World would make thee pass thorough Prayer O Most gracious and merciful Lord thou Guide of my Youth thou Light to the blind thou Instructer of the ignorant who enlightenest the simple bringest back those that have wandered into the way of Truth and perfectest praise out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings teach me thy ways and draw me out of the paths of the World make haste that I may do so too leave me not any longer in the World and in Sin By the effusion of thy Grace into my Soul make my Heart to desire thee that in desiring thee it may seek thee and in seeking thee it may find thee in finding thee it may love thee and in loving thee it may find in that love a sovereign Joy It is now too long a time I have consumed my self in my vain desires I would go to thee but I find not strength to vanquish those Habits wherein I am engaged by Custom Come therefore and tear me O my God out of the arms of Voluptuousness suffer not these delays of mine and if I should say yet a little while stay a little longer draw me by thy Powerfull Word and say unto me Awaken thou that sleepest arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light If words be not efficacious enough to raise me up touch the biere strike the Body wherein the Soul is as it were buried It sleepeth in its Tomb or rather it is dead bodily Pleasures have overwhelm'd or slain it Smite therefore the Body that the Soul may awake for it is better that I enter into Life having but one eye than having two eyes to be cast into Hell-fire It is better that my Flesh here below suffer some pains and that my Soul one day taste those infinite Pleasures which thou preparest for it on high I abide in Sodom and I love my abode thou sendest thy Angels to draw me thence thy Word and thy Mnisters to make me depart before the terrible day comes in which thou wilt tumble down torrents of fire and brimstone upon this wicked World but I ever find pretexts to delay Lay hold then of my hand and draw me out by the force of thy Grace that I perish not among the wicked Shew me the way of thy holy hill that I may save my self and thence without danger behold the deluges of Corruption which overspread the Country and the Torrents of thy Wrath and Vengeance which suddenly and amazingly overwhelm the World Alas If it would please thee O my God to make me taste the speritual Delights of thy Love I should not be so sensible of Earthly Pleasures and I should not linger so long to seek thee for I most ardently wish after happiness If therefore I knew that my Beatitude lyes in thee I should flye to find in thee that happiness which I seek O Lord since Pleasure is the only Load-stone capable of drawing my Soul make me taste a little of that Joy which I ought to find in thee make me to feel thy infinite Goodness that without delay I may run after thee and consecrate my self to thy service walking in Holiness and Righteousness all the dayes of my Life and setting my Affections on things above that when Christ who is my Life and Pleasure shall appear I may also appear with him in Glory PART IV. Of helps towards Devotion CHAP. I. The first General Advice is to will desire and ask Devâ—tion WE have seen from how many Sources Indevotion springs let us now try to vanquish those Difficulties by some Advices that may lead us to Devotion Those Advices I would give here are either general or particular But before I pass further we are to presuppose that he whom we would make devout must have a Mind himself to become so he that has not this Disposition will very unprofitably pass farther How many indevout persons have we in the World that do not desire Devotion for themselves and contemn it in others Of this sort we find some that are so hardy as to perswade themselves they have a Religion I am it may be says one as religious as another though I laugh at Devotion and devout Persons If they believe what they say most assuredly they cheat their own Heart and we must confess that these People are really profane Others there are that esteem Devotion in another and yet like it not for themselves it doth not fit right with the Spirit of the World which they make their Idol They approve the better side they admire it but they fancy as to their own particular they may be saved with less Trouble I know not whether these be better than the former yet they are a little nearer to the Disposition we seek after but still alas in how bad a Condition is their Conscience They are in this worse than the former that they sin against their own Sentiment they know their Masters Will and do it not They are afraid of doing too much provided they be sav'd it 's of no great Importance how What a thought is this Is not Paradise worth the purchasing at the Expence of some Tears some Prayers some hours of Humiliation And how can we imagine we can obtain Heaven by the less since we shall find a hard Task to arrive thither by the greater If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Vngodly and the Sinner appear Do ye believe ye backward and lukewarm Souls that a truly devout Person has too much Righteousness to open to himself the gate of Heaven Do not you know that all the World praises that Saying of St. Austin Woe to the most praise-worthy Life if it be examined without Mercy and what the Psalmist says If thou should'st mark Iniquities O Lord who shall stand I
quell and take our Heart lower till we have brought it to its Duty we are to read meditate pray let it be never so much against the Grain Although the Devil comes to fill your Mind with evil thoughts says St. Basil you ought not therefore to abandon the use of Prayer you are to make new and greater Endeavours You must pray to God he would be pleas'd to break this thick Wall of vain thoughts which separates you from him you must beseech him that your Soul may be able soon to get to him without being retarded by meeting vain and evil Objects And if the Enemy should come even with a plentiful supply of Distractions yet you are not to give back nor lose any Courage nor renounce Victory in the midst of the Combate You must persevere till God perceiving your Constancy come to fill you with the light of his Spirit put the Enemy to flight purifie your Understanding and furnish your Reason with a divine Light whereby your Soul being put into the Possession of a Tranquillity exempt from Troubles may serve God with a perfect Joy This holy Person insinuates a Reason to us which we ought to remember in the design of Perseverance which is That the Devil never leaves off tempting us therefore we are not to leave off resisting him our resistance doth not make him give back so that we must not be foiled by his Temptations God who is the Spectator of our Warfare and the Rewarder of our Labours will with Pleasure see the faithful Soul in conflict with it's Infirmities and Distractions and when it is well nigh being subdued will come at length and lend it his helping hand Perseverance is a vertue of such great use that we owe to it the best works of Nature of Art and of Grace If God had left the World imperfect instead of a Miracle he had made a Prodigy There are particularly certain works to which the last-hand is so essential that if we do not conclude them what had been begun doth intirely perish If you leave a Picture after its first rough-drawing and design these beginnings will not cease subsisting upon the cloath but if you carry a wheel half way upon an hill and then leave it to it self for a moment why presently it will get to the Valley's bottom again and your labour will not only be imperfect but will come just to nothing Devotion is of this last sort of things if you leave it half done what you had done will soon perish 'T is Penelope's web what is done by day is undone by night If thy life be not a perpetual day and if thou dost not incessantly toil to advance thy Piety by Practice one night only form'd by the darkness of Indevotion and the absence of Gods Grace will ruine the work of many years and one minute of laziness will destroy that which Courage upheld a long time had produced Thy Devotion O Christian Soul is no more than a spark Nourish this sacred fire preciously blow it without remission gather combustible matter to it from all sides make thee a treasure of good things turn oft towards Jesus Christ thy Sun and thy Star and this small sparkle will become a great fire and this fire will cause a kindling and that kindling will cast up flames and those flames will lift thee to Heaven But if thou neglect this spark it will go quite out Sampson delivers himself up into the arms of Dalilah he sleeps in her breast his hair is shav'd which is the seat of his strength and when the awakes he goes according to custom to take away the gates of Gath and break the cords of the Philistines but he doth not find himself the same Sampson So the Christian that is weakned by a non-assiduity to Devotion sleeps in the arms of Pleasure his Soul is enervated he thinks to return to his old wont of having commere with God but the Devil attacks and overthrows him by a load of evil thoughts under which his Devotion lyes bound as by so many Chains If the Heavens should stop only for a day perhaps there would follow a general slaughter and subversion of Nature and much more without doubt the inferior things would receive a considerable damage When the superior part of our Soul stops its divine motions we cannot question but that a great disorder arises in the lower part for the passions which would ever be the masters do manage wisely these moments of Relaxation to prepare a Revolt So that our Piety and Devotion must have the constancy swiftness and order of the heavenly motions so as this little World may be always in a good Estate Nothing should hinder or interrupt the course of Devotion You see Daniel all the terrours of Death could not stop him in his divine race He must be cast into the den of Lions if he invokes God yet this hinders him not from falling down at his set hours towards Jerusalem the holy City Above all let us be far from the way of the World that runs to its own affairs as if they were the most pressing Let us give to God preserably what belongs to him and let us be at no farther trouble for the rest 'T is said of the Serpent that he secures his head when he is pursued and exposes his body if he can't save it The hours consecrated to Devotion are the head of our life and 't is an holy prudence not to expose them but to draw them out of Danger least the Devil and the World devour them In short persevering is far better than violent Devotion 't is much better to go a little pace but to be going always that to run impetuous yet interrupted races Some are devout only by fits for a day nothing more ardent more humble more mov'd but on the morrow so well dryed up in the torrent of their Tears that you can't see so much as the tracks of ' em The ardency of this fever is so extremely well quench'd as the least heat is not to be found A constant mediocrity is preferable before these Excesses of a small Duration Not that I think it not very necessary that Devotion have its Festivals and labour extraordinarily to rewaken it self on certain dayes and times These are the Extraordinaries of Piety to which we are to return as frequently as we can and mainly never to want it at times destin'd to pious Uses and Works as the participation of the blessed Sacrament of our Lord's Body and Blood But beside these Extraordinaries I would have the Soul have it's ordinary course well regulated and if that cannot be done always with those great motions as it were to be wisht yet that it never fall in the least in the Respites and Intermissions Meditation HAve not I great reason to faint and despair of success in all my designs if I do but consider the greatness of the Undertakings the difficulties to be met withal therein and the
are to choose a Life that holds the middle betwixt these two Extreams But at least 't is without Controversie that Solitude is absolutely necessary at hours destin'd to Devotion Which is not to be taken in such a manner as to do any prejudice to holy Assemblies or Publick Devotions They have their Use for Devotion and under Pretext of praying in our Closet we are never to deprive our selves of so necessary an Aid to Piety True it is every where else our Senses are enemies to Self-recollection but there both the Senses and Imagination favour the motions of the devout Soul The looking upon Churches which are God's houses the presence of Angels who assist in those places the society of a multitude of Souls that joyn their Vows as well as their Voices together the Word of God resounding in our Ears the Prayers that are united and being conceived by many hearts make up but one Vow All these things extremely help the Soul to make its elevations and serve very much to banish worldly Ideas to make holy ones succeed in their stead Nay 't is not impossible too but that among such a crowd we may conserve Solitude it self A Soul truly devout in such places is so collected into its self that all the Objects which might do it an injury cannot find it the faithful Person is in the Closet of his own heart he leaves no door open but for God's Word and for things able to instill Piety but the doors are shut against the vain Objects that are too often to be seen in such places There is a Spiritual Solitude as well as a Corporeal sayes St. Bernard and that is only in the midst of a throng which is exempt from vain and frivolous thoughts But 't is an horrible Profaneness to have indevour Dispositions in the Church to have there an heart open to all Vainities to go thither to see and to be seen to hear to get matter to play upon and to catch at Syllables and Words How great an account will these People have to make 'T is enough sure to have offended man and God himself all the dayes in the Week there needs no coming on the Sunday to declare War against him in his face I shall not inlarge here to speak of the manner after which we should act in Religious Assemblies because I design here only to give Rules for Closet-Devotion Meditation WHere shall I find an happy Solitude that may be to me an assured Sanctuary against the Persecution of the enemies of my Soul If I go from the World I carry it along with me if I enter into my Closet I am followed by a crowd of fleshly thoughts that perfectute me cruelly When I would save my self in Desarts and dwell in the Rocks with the Owl and Cormorant Vulturs are there those griping Cares that would tear and prey upon my Entrails I should be assail'd there by Flocks of Birds and a multitude of vain and light Thoughts which would lift me up from my self to throw me into the World What must I do to remedy this great Evil Thou knowest the Remedy O Lord I do not know it do thou teach me Here below there is no Heaven that can shelter and shrowd me from these Tempests no charms that can lay these Devils and conjure down these Fantoms of my Imagination I must make me a new heart for this is not so much the World's fault as my own 'T is not because it pursues me but for that I have placed it within me and which way soever I go I carry it with me If my heart were pure and clean in the midst of Cities and the greatest Assemblies I should find Solitude My Soul being drawn up into it self would be environed on all sides with a contempt of the World as with a Rampart The love of God and Godliness would keep the Avenues They would be a good Guard and would drive all Objects away which might come to interrupt me so as I should be alwayes in a place of safety Prayer O Blessed Lord create in me a clean Heart purifie it from the vain Images of the World which Sin and Satan have engrav'd in my Soul that under the Wings of thy good Spirit and Love I may find that Sanctuary against my self which I seek every where but find no where But why O my God should not thy Grace while we are in the flesh be sufficient to deaden all its motions why should I have always these Amalekites and Moabites round about me while I march and advance towards the heavenly Canaan and the Jerusalem which is above why have we not here below those Rivers of Grace and why cannot I have a Floud and Sea to wash my Entrails and cleanse them from these miserable Impurities It is thy will O God that my Temptations be always near me and the Philistines be always upon me that I may watch and not sleep on the lap of Dalila It is thy will that I have evermore a Thorn in my Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me least I should be exalted above Measure O my Saviour command that the least Temptation as not seize upon me which is not common to man give me an happy success in all my Temptations and strength to be able to bear them It is true thy Grace is sufficient for me let it not fail me then let it work its work in the midst of my Infirmities let it disperse my different thoughts let it calm the Agitations of my Soul let it make me to find a Sanctuary where being far from Noise Passions and Affections I may consecrate to thee my Watchings my Words and my Thoughts where I may be able to sing thy Praises Eternally and celebrate thy divine Majesty CHAP. VIII The third particular Direction to help Devotion Meditation and Prayer THE Soul comes into the World at least as ill instructed in the affairs of Grace as in those of Nature It is in all respects a plain unscrolled Table and an Ignorant which has need to be informed in every thing Very easily it acquires the Knowledges which are necessary to the Conduct of Life because those Directions pass to it thorough the Senses and these Objects are of its own size but it hath need of the greatest endeavour to attain those Notices which regard the Spiritual Life since those Objects are disproportionate to its Strength and yet those Enowledges are of absolute necessity to the practising the Virtues and particularly that of Devotion This last Virtue is made up of Love and Zeal but we have not them but according to the degree of our Knowledge and therefore I know not of what nature those ignorant Devotions can be which are destitute of all Light and are not guided but by the Senses these are it may be rather weaknesses of Constitution than effects of Grace The Devotions of ignorant People are almost ever gross and superstitious they are ordinarily fix'd to sensible Objects
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
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