did not the following surpass it For the Holy Spirit is the Love of the Faithful as he is the Love of the Father and of the Son But to understand this truth we must inform you that the Word being begotten of the Father by the Understanding is his onely Son and that the Holy Ghost being produced by the Will is his Love The Father and the Son reciprocally love one another by this mutual charity they finde their happiness in this common dilection and should they cease to love they would cease to be happie Having a minde to exalt us to their happiness they raise us also to their love and pouring forth charity into our souls they make us capable of loving them For God is so great that he can neither be known but by his own Light nor lov'd but by his own Love the Holy Spirit must enlighten our Souls warm our Wills and by the purity of his flames purge away the impurity of our affections he transforms us into himself to make us happie This holy Love is a particular effect of the Holy Spirit the beams that heat us are an emanation from that Divine fire that burns the Seraphims and the charity that raiseth us above the condition of men is a spark of that personal charity wherewith the Father and the Son love each other from all eternity But that we may not challenge the Holy Spirit as sparing of his favours he hath vouchsafed to be the accomplishment of the Church as he is the accomplishment and perfection of the Trinity For though there be no defects in God though this Sun is never clouded nor eclipsed this Supreme Truth labours under no shadows nor errours this excellent Beauty hath no spots nor blemishes and this amiable goodness be full of charms and graces yet may the Holy Ghost be called the Complement thereof The Father begins this adorable Circle which the Son continues and the Holy Spirit finisheth he it is that bounds the Divine emanations draws forth the fruitfulness of those that cause his production and if it be lawful to speak of an ineffable mystery and to subject to the laws of Time Eternity it self God is not compleated but by the production of the holy Spirit He is the rest of the Father and the Son his person is the perfection of the Trinity and this Divine mystery would want its full proportion did it not include the Holy Spirit with the two Persons from whence he proceeded The holy Scriptures to afford us some light of this verity attribute all the perfection of the works of God to the blessed Spirit They represent him to us moving upon the waters in the Creation of the world finishing by his Fecundity what the Father and the Son had produced by their Power They teach us that it was he that gave motion to the Heavens influences to the Stars heat to the Sun They inform us that 't was by his vertue that the earth became fruitful and that from his goodness she received that secret Fermentation that to this day renders her the Mother and the Nurse of all things living And the Gospel to give this Truth its full extent instructs us that 't is the holy Ghost who by his graces in the Church makes up what Jesus Christ hath begun in it by his travels He is his Vicar and Lieutenant he came down upon the earth after the other ascended up to heaven nor hath he any other designe in his descension then to compleat all the works of Jesus Christ The Apostles were yet but embryo's in Christianity when the Son of God left them three yeers of conversation was not able to perfect them the greatest part of the discourses of their Divine Master seemed to them nothing but Aenigma's his Maximes Paradoxes his Promises pleasing Illusions every thing was a mormo to these timorous spirits ths name of the Cross scandalized them and so many Miracles wrought in their presence were unable to calm their Fear or heighten their Courage To finish these demi-works the Holy Ghost came into the world he descended upon their heads in the shape of fiery tongues to make them eloquent and bold he inspired them with Charity to cure them of Fear made them Lovers thereby to make them Martyrs he cleared their Understanding warmed their Will that light and heat being blended together they might more easily overcome Philosophers and Tyrants Finally he set up a Throne in their hearts that speaking by their mouthes and acting by their hands he might render them accomplisht pieces to the service of their Master And indeed we must acknowledge the Apostles changed their condition after the descent of the Holy Ghost their Fear vanished as soon as they were confirmed by his Strength the Cross seem'd strew'd with Charms as soon as they were kindled with his Flames they found Sweetness even in Torments Glory in Affronts Venit Vicarius Redemptoris ut beneficia quae Salvator Dominus inchoavit Spiritus sancti virtute consammet quod ille redemit iste sanctificet quod ille acquisivit iste custodiat Aug. Serm. 1. Feria 32. Pentec and Riches in Poverty This made S. Augustine say that the Holy Spirit came to finish in Power what the Son of God had begun in Weakness to sanctifie what the other had redeemed and to preserve what Christ had purchased If you seek saith the same S. Augustine what was wanting to the Apostles and what might be added to their perfection by the coming down of the Holy Ghost I will tell you Before that happie moment they had Faith but they had neither Constancie nor Fidelity they were able to forsake their possessions to follow Jesus Christ but they would not lose their lives to glorifie him they were able indeed to preach the Gospel but knew not how to signe it with their blood nor seal it with their death they were vertuous as long as they conversed with the Son of God up on earth but they were not grown up to perfection till the Holy Ghost had communicated to them his graces and adding force to charity had made them the Foundations of the Church the Fathers of the Faithful the Terrour of Devils and the Astonishment of Tyrants Finally 't is the holy Spirit according to the saying of S. John Damascen that perfects the Christians because 't is he that Quickens them by Grace and Deifies them with Glory So that we are obliged to confess that he enters into alliance with them that he is the same to the Church that he is to the Trinity and that after he hath been our Bond our Gift and our Love upon Earth he will be our Accomplishment in Heaven The Fourth DISCOURSE That the Holy Ghost seems to be to Christians what he is to the Son of God IT is not without ground that the Christian is called the Image of Jesus Christ since he is his other Self the one possessing by Grace what the other doth by
glory and humility which ravisheth Christians and confounds Infidels These cannot comprehend that the Son of Man is the Son of God that he that is equall to the Father is his servant that he gives Orders and receives them that he commands and obeyes that he comes down upon the earth and yet never leaves heaven that he dies and still lives that he is confin'd in a Sepulcher and yet fills the whole world This Miracle prepares us for the belief of another no lesse strange then the former For if we consult the Holy Scriptures we shall find that the Son of God was made the Son of man for no other end then to make us the Children of God he was humbled that we might be exalted and he hath facilitated the belief of our future greatness by the example of his debasement His birth is a pledge of ours he was born of a woman but to assure us that we might be born of God neither was he apparelled with the flesh in the womb but to perswade us that one day we shall be clothed with glory in the heavens And this is the Argument the most illuminated of the Evangelists makes use of to establish our second Generation for having taught us that Baptisme and Faith give us God for our Father fearing lest so high a promise find no credit in our understanding * Venit Filius ut illo participantemortalitatem nostram per dilectionem nos efficeret participes divinitatis suae per adoptionem Aug. de Cons Evangel he gives us the Generation of the Word for an assurance of our Regeneration and having ravished all men with those magnificent words He gave them power to become the Sons of God hee discovers the cause of that miracle and clearing us of one wonder by telling a greater he tells us man may become God since God by an excesse of love was willing to become man And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us This is the admirable argumentation of St. John and the solid establishment of our greatness 'T is by this unparallel'd example that hee prepares us for the belief of our mysteries this is the proof all the Fathers make use of to perswade us that the misery of our condition can no way hinder us from being the children of God since the glory of the Word was no obstacle to his being made man Give me leave to expresse these wonders in the words of S. August Vt homines nascerentur ex Deo primo ex ipsis natus est Deus Non quaesivit quidem nisi matrem in terra quia jam patrem habebat in coelo natus ex Deo per quem efficeremur natus ex foemina per quem resiceremur Noli ergo mirari quia efficeris Filius Dei pergrat am quia nasceris ex Deo per verbum ejus prius ipsum Verbum voluit nasci ex homine ut tu securus nascereris ex Deo diceres nasci voluit Deus ex homine ut immortalem me faceret pro me mortaliter nascitur Aug. Tract 2. in Joan. and to joyn the pomp of his eloquence to the majesty of my subject God that makes all things with so much justice was willing to bee born of a woman that men might might be born of him He sought out but one Mother upon the earth because he had already one Father in heaven being born of his Father he made us being born of his mother he re-made us associating by an admirable conjunction the quality of Creator with that of Redeemer Wonder not then if by grace ye are the Sons of God since ye are born of him by his word nor thinke it strange that ye shall be one day immortall in glory since God in his second Generation became mortall was willing to suffer death upon the Crosse for our salvation Thus his Charity makes us like him his goodness surpasseth the miseries of our nature and renders us partakers of his glory so that there is no Christian but may boast that his Baptisme confers upon him by grace all the advantages Jesus Christ possesseth by nature and that the Mystery of the Incarnation being repeated in the faithfull by their new Birth exalts them by a happy Indulgence to the greatness of Jesus Christ The Sixth DISCOURSE Of the Adoption of Christians and the advantages it hath above the Adoption of Men. IF it be true that the end why the Son of God was made the son of Man was that we might be made the children of God we need not think it strange that the adoption of a Christian is one of the chiefest effects of Baptism nor that man changing his condition by his regeneration change also his Father and Mother But it is a thing very well worthy our admiration to consider that he is adopted by a Father who having an onely Son equal to himself should in reason cast out all adopted children were he not obliged to accept them at the intreaty of his own proper Son Adoptio nuptiarum subsidium fortunae remedium supplet sterilitati vel orbitati Jurisc For to take this Truth at the rise and unfold the wonders contained in it we must know that Adoption was invented among men to supply the barrenesse of Parents or the death of children Indeed t is a thing never heard of that a Father to whom Nature hath given a Son should adopt another and seek that in a strange Family which he may find in his own He would beleeve himself to offend against paternal charity should he divide it and injurious to his Son should he assigne him coheirs Though this be his only one he never resolves to provide him companions neither hath he ever recourse to this remedy but when the death of his son makes it lawfull in making it necessary In the mean time the Eternal Father adopts us though he have an immortal Son he extends his affections to us and admits us into his Family to make us share in his Inheritance But that which most furprifeth us in this Oeconomy is That he undertakes this designe at the request of his Son nor does he honour us with the condition of Children till Jesus Christ hath honoured us with that of Brethren 'T is one of the chiefest motives of his incarnation and we may say that he had never chosen a Mother upon earth but that he might have Brethren in heaven He is the onely begotten in the bosom of his Father He shares not this quality with the Holy Ghost and as their processions are different one is the Son the other the Spirit of the Father the One remains in his bosom the Other in his heart the One proceeds by Knowledge the Other by Love But this onely Son is first born of the chaste spotless womb of the Virgin by his temporal birth he gains Brethren and clothing them with the robes of his merits obligeth his Father to avow them for his Children For we
confess that all we do is rather of God then of our selves He says the same thing again speaking of Perseverance and perswades all the Faithful that their salvation ought to be founded upon their humility because God hath indued them with Graces whereby they are made acquainted with his power and their own weakness For he will not have the Saints glorifie themselves for their perseverance in good out of their own abilities but from the assistance of his Grace neither hath he given them a succour equal to that he bestowed upon the first man whereby he might have persevered if he would because foreseeing that they would not persevere had they not from him the power and the wil he hath given them both out of his pure mercy Indeed their will is so effectually warm'd by the holy Spirit that they are able to doe the good because they wil and they will it because God hath inspir'd them with a will to it For did God abandon them to themselves in this infirmity which serves as a remedy against their pride and did he give them no other assistance but that by which Adam might have persevered if he would they would stoop to the assaults of temptations in the frailty of their flesh nor would they ever persevere because the weakness of their will would not suffer them to will the good at all or to will it so strongly as to doe it Therefore God desiring to succour their misery hath given them a grace that so moves this rationall faculty that she never resists it that in her weakness she may be vigorous enough to surmount all the adversities of life But because these manners of speeches might perswade the ignorant that a grace that acts so energetically would destroy liberty Saint Augustine instructs us that her force consists in her sweetness that she works upon the will only by the pleasure she there produceth nor that she is victorious but because she is agreeable This is the second truth that remains to be proved to satisfie my promise and to manifest the last resemblance between Concupiscence and Charity Though the former be sometimes so violent that she hardly leaves the sinner any liberty to resist she never employs force to extort his consent she is not of the humour of those tyrants which make use of nothing but torments to reduce their subjects to their designs and knowing that Empires are preserv'd by the same means they are acquired endeavour to keep that by cruelty they have gotten by violence But she corrupts the wil by pleasure proposing nothing but what is delightful she dexterously mixeth smiles with frowns profit with loss glory with shame and so artificially disguiseth the objects shee presents sinners with that they complain not even in the midst of their torments 'T is shee that sweetens the laborious travels of Conquerors charms the discontents of the Covetous comforts the Lascivious in the tortures that accompany their wantonness she gilds the chaines of al lthe slaves that follow her makes them acceptable when she cannot make them glorious sowing pleasure where shee cannot sow profit nor reputation Thence it comes to passe that her Empire is so firmly established among finners that to destroy it grace must change their wils subduing the vanity of their criminall pleasures by the truth of her innocent delights For she walks in the steps of her enemy she imitates her she intends to ruine and benefiting by her wiles she never sets upon the will of a sinner but she is seconded with pleasure her chiefe Stratagem is to render vertue agreeable to take off that austerity that suffers her not to be accosted and to lay all her Stoicall morosity upon the face of sin This is it that Saint Augustine declares by those words where he exhorts a sinner to be converted Confess your selves saith he in the presence of Almighty God and you shall obtain from his bounty that the vertue which seem'd so stern will seem sweet and easie When he hath wrought this first miracle you shal finde that facil which now you apprehend as impossible you shall have as much satisfaction in justice as formerly you had in iniquity Sobriety will relish better then drunkenness you will discern more charms in Alms then in Robbery and taste a farre richer pleasure in giving your own then in taking that of your neighbour Prayer will out-vie the Pastimes of the Theatre Psalmes and Hymnes will entertain you better then amorous Sonnets or the Aires of the Court you will goe to Church more chearfully then ever you went to a Play and reflecting upon the change of your heart you will acknowledge Grace the cause thereof and that the barren ground of your soul bare no fruits but because the Lord hath been pleased to water it with the perfumes of his Divine Influences For 't is an undoubted Maxime that Good though never so excellent begins not to be desired till it begin to be pleasurable Though it have more charms then beauty more lustre then glory more invitations then profit if it convey not pleasure into the will it knows not how to beget love Pleasure is the Load-stone that draws all hearts that are capable of love 't is the poyson that distils into the heart of all sinners and the only answer they return those that condemn them They oppose nothing but pleasure against all reproaches and when truth it self accuseth them they have but one reason wherewith to defend themselves they cannot forsooth leave that they take so much delight in Indeed they would never sin did not pleasure solicit them nor would the Devil ever master their will did he not make use of pleasure to gain their consent He employs the same devices against them he did against our first Father he makes use of the flesh to gain the spirit as he dealt with the woman to seduce the man he tries by suggestion to produce pleasure in his heart that pleasure may quicken sin He knows that this Commander is too free to be compell'd but he knows also that he is too amorous to hold out if he call not in another to his aid whereby he may be defended This also is the way God deals with souls to gain them he useth not his power but his sweetness he employs not his threats but his promises and when he intends to vanquish a creature he makes not use of pain but of pleasure he combates sensual delights with spiritual ones he opposeth the charms of vertue against the allurements of sin he inspires thoughts so sweet and so powerful that they blot out all those of the Earth and knowing very well that the Will always complies with the more predominant delectation that solicits her he is content to be lik't that he may be victorious For if Concupiscence contest with Grace about the conquest of a heart she that promiseth the highest pleasure shall prevail and though never so free the Helen will be overcome by the
other happily guides us in it The one purifies our soul by Labour the other unites us to God by Prayer The one keeps the Commandments and the other receives the Recompence The one is afflicted with grief because it bewails his sins with the Penitents the other is bathed in pleasure because it participates in the felicity of the Blessed The same Doctor all whose Maximes are Truths gives us another Division of Vertues from the difference of our conditions and being not far from that Principle we are going to explain attributes but one Vertue to the Blessed and leaves all the rest to the Faithful They indeed finde all their happiness in the Supreme Good which they are in possession of their Love makes up the total of their felicity and that ineffable Union that transforms them into him they love is the onely Vertue that for ever takes them up in the fruition of Glory Prudence is not requisite because there is no darkness to be dissipated nor misfortunes to be prevented Fortitude is useless because there are no sorrows to struggle with Temperance serves to no end because all their delights are innocent and lawful Neither is there any employment for their Justice because in the Tabernacle of Glory there are neither miserable to be protected nor criminals to be punished Thus as that incomparable Doctor goes on they practise but one Vertue and by a happie encounter this Vertue is their recompence because uniting them to God it makes them finde their felicity in him 'T is true that as the Supreme Good contains all other Goods we may say also that all the Vertues are comprehended in this and their several denominations may be imposed upon it It is Prudence because it illuminates them with the brightness of God himself Fortitude because it unites them so firmly with him that nothing can separate them Temperance because it makes them chastly embrace the Chief Good and in the delights they taste of they seek not so much their Pleasure as his Glory Justice because it subjects them to their Soveraign making them finde their Happiness in their Submission But as there is some analogie between the condition of the Blessed and that of the Faithful at the same time that S. Augustine separates them he associates them again and confounding their Vertues together saith that during this life Love is the onely vertue of Christians and that there is none other but to love that which is amiable So that to facilitate the acquisition of that object we place our affections upon by chusing sutable and convenient means is Prudence Not to be discouraged or diverted by Grief is Fortitude Not to be drawn away by Pleasures is Temperance and not to be kept off by the vain pomp and grandetza's of the world is Justice He lodgeth these Vertues in Glory which he seems to have banished thence and acknowledgeth that the Blessed enjoy them as well as the Faithful but with this difference That upon the earth they are in Act in heaven in Habit upon the earth they serve for a Defence in heaven for an Ornament upon the earth in Exercise in heaven in their Acquiescence upon the earth they are the sure Land-marks guiding the Faithful to their journeys end in heaven they happily unite the Faithful in an inseparable Bond of Communion But because this Doctrine is not fully conformable to that which is commonly received and that we have borrowed from Philosophers the Division and the Quality of Vertues let us say with them that we judge of their number by our obligations and our necessities We are upon the earth for no other end but to Know and Love to Suffer and to Do our whole life is spent in these two employments and if we be not absolutely unprofitable we must raise our selves to the Knowledge and Love of the Supreme Good and resolve if we be not altogether lazie by our Courage to overcome all the difficulties which occur in the course of our life Thence it comes to pass that we have need of different Vertues Bonam vitam ego puto Deum cognoscere amare mala pati bona facere sic perseverare usque ad mortem Bern. and that according to the designes we form we are obliged sometimes to have recourse to the Divine vertues sometimes to the Moral Inasmuch as God is surrounded with Light that darkens us our Understanding must necessarily be cleared by Faith that we may know him In that he is an Infinite Good our soul must be fortified with Hope that we may search after him and our Will warmed with Charity that we may love him For though Good be amiable and the Supreme Good transcendently amiable yet is it so far above our reach that without Grace we cannot approach unto it and as we must be clarified by his Light that we may know him so must we be warmed by his Calentures that we may affectionately close with him Thus Faith Hope and Charity are the Vertues by means whereof we treat with God But because Man is born for Society in serving God he is bound to assist his Neighbour Charity hath a double respect having united us to the Supreme Good for love of it she unites us to our Like and obligeth us to love them as we do our selves Were this Vertue in its full vigour 't would be sufficient alone Lex venit in subsidium amicitiae Atistot and as Philosophers have observed that Laws would be useless did Friendship raign in mens hearts I dare affirm did Charity set up her throne in ours the Vertues would be idle among Christians or act onely by her orders and directions But whether we have not as yet attained this Perfection or that the number of Subjects contributes to the Greatness of Soveraigns she hath under her command Four Vertues which are called Cardinal that act by her motions and execute her designes Prudence clears our Understandings to act helps us to discern Good from Evil and Truth from Falshood For as there are Evils which under a fair shew deceive us and Lyes that finde more credit then some Truths Prudence must serve us for a Guide and in so important an election secure us from mistakes Justice gives every one his due makes our Interests yeeld to Reason preserves Peace in the inequality of our conditions and taking original righteousness for an example which made a harmony between foul and body this sets Man at union with himself and by a necessary consequence accommodates him with his neighbour Therefore is it that Repentance and Humility are as rivulets flowing from this Fountain and as rays issuing from this Sun For Repentance is nothing but a severe Justice that animates the sinner against himself that obliges him to act the part of a witness in accusing of a judge in condemning of an executioner in punishing himself Humility is nothing but a modest and true Justice which considering the Majestie of the Creator
or serve him he cannot refuse Heaven to those that die in love with him Thence it comes to pass that Christians who know that all their advantage consists in Charity make this vertue their principal employment they despise not others for they possess all in this one But being fully perswaded it must be their felicity in heaven they make it their business whilst they are upon the earth These Divine Lovers can do nothing but love they imitate the Seraphims whose Essence and Exercise is Love they burn with the same Fire that makes them live they swim in flames and as if they had forgotten all the vertues to learn one they spend their whole life in this amorous entertainment If they fear 't is to offend him whom their soul loveth if they hope 't is to possess him if they rejoyce 't is for being united to him if they are afflicted 't is for being separated from him When they have to do with their Neighbour 't is upon this wheel that they move they look onely upon God in his Creatures and upon Jesus Christ in his Members if they sometimes adhere unto them out of a natural inclination Divine Love furnisheth them with wings to soar above them and with strength to be disentangled from them Finally Love so well manageth the whole course of their life that leaving Respect to Domesticks Hope to Mercenaries Fear to Slaves Light to the Learned they reserve onely Charity for themselves and are of the humour of that faithful Lover who being confined to solitude had no other diversion but her Love In consideration whereof Dei unicum opus est se intueri se amare Plato I finde their condition very glorious because they treat with God as God doth with himself for his whole happiness consists in knowing and loving Himself and should he intermit this employment he would cease to be happie He sees the Creatures in seeing himself he loves Them in loving Himself and without going forth of his own Nature he findes his felicity in his Knowledge and in his Love The Christian by an admirable priviledge is advanced to this high degree of glory Solus est Amor ex omnibus animae motibus in quo poteâ— Creatura respondere Creatori de simili mutuam rependere viâ—eÌ„ Bernard he enters into society with God treats with him as with his Peer and it seems being no longer his Slave becomes his Equal in becoming his Friend Greatness is so opposite to Love that Kings are fain in a manner to depose themselves when they have a minde to love their Subjects That Majestie wherewith they are encircled is fitter to strike Fear and Consternation then Confidence If they descend not from their Throne lay not by their Crown and Scepter they can have no Friends because no Equals Therefore hath Aristotle observed that Subjects could not contract Alliance with their Soveraigns that the disparity of their Conditions permitted not those privacies which maintain Friendship among men and as long as Kings remain in their Grandeur Subjects must continue in their Respect In the mean time Charity findes out an Expedient to unite the Christian with God exalteth the One without debasing the Other equals in some sort their conditions and as it obliged God to make himself Man hath given Man a power to make himself God Nor must we think it strange that this Vertue is the original of our Happiness because it is the source of our Merit and nothing makes us more commendable then Love Though every thing have its estimate in the Church Order banisheth Confusion and in this vast Body every part hath its priviledge and employments nevertheless the whole perfection consists in Charity he that knows best how to love is most accomplisht and without respecting his actions or his sufferings we consider onely the measure of his Love The Son of God would not have our merit fastned to those conditions which depend not upon our selves nor that Greatness or Riches should difference his Subjects He would not place Perfection in Alms because the Rich onely can dispense them he would not tye it to Preaching because that Gift is reserved for his Ministers he would not limit it to Austerity because that requires a strong Constitution he would not fix it in Martyrdom because that depends upon Persecution with which the Church is not always afflicted But he hath established it in Charity where nothing is easier then this Vertue The Ignorant and the Learned are equally admitted to it Kings are not more capable of it then their Subjects and if Martyrs pretend some advantage above the rest of the Faithful they have a greater obligation to their Love then to their Torments The greatest Saint is not he that hath Suffered most or Done most but he that hath Loved most All his Merit consists in Charity if occasions be wanting he hath recourse to his desires and he may boast that being a Lover he is Liberal in Poverty Learned in Ignorance a Martyr in the Serenity of conversation Though all these advantages oblige us to Love that which God witnesseth to us is the greatest endearment of affection for there are conditions in his Indulgencies which cannot be found in our Expressions and his love is so powerful and so noble that 't is easie to judge it cannot proceed but from an abyss of Goodness It is Eternal and before all worlds God expects not till we subsist to shew his kindness towards us his love makes inquisition after us in the confused heap of Nothing as well as his power he cherisheth us in what he is pleased to put into us and separating us from all those Creatures which shall never see the light makes us the objects of his Liberality Our Crimes stop not the current of his Love he loves us in our Delinquency and that which ought to provoke his Justice to punish us provokes his Mercy to deliver us In Non-entity he loves Ignorant Creatures in Sin he loves ungrateful ones to the former he gives Being to the later he gives Grace and to both of them he makes it appear that his Love is Eternal and Fruitful Men Love nothing but what is lovely either really or in shew they discover in their friends those qualities they plant not there and whatever height of greatness fortune shall advance them to they can bestow upon them only riches or honour if their favorites have any blemish in soul or body they cannot mend it and unhappy in their affections they are constrained either to hate the man for his imperfection or to love the imperfection for the man But God whose love is equally powerful and pregnant makes that amiable which he pleaseth to set his love upon he himself forms his own object he puts that in his friends which he means to esteem and by a prodigy which surpasseth all wonder Meretricem invenit virginem fecit faedam amavit ne faeda remaneret Au. he
genus humanum Eeclesiae contulit unitate ut quod discordia dissipaverat colligeret charitas Aug. ser 3. de Pentecost when God intending to stop the progresse of that proud Tower the aspiring Posterity of Noah rays'd to get them a Name confounded their Language and scattered the people by the division of their Dialects But it was a far greater wonder when the Holy Ghost to unite all Nations honoured the Apostles with the gift of Tongues and made one man speak the Language of the Universe that the Gospel might be preached without an Interpreter through all the Provinces of the World And we must confesse the Church was never more glorious then when consisting but of one people it already spake the Language of all Countreys and proclaimed by this Miracle that her Conquests were to have no bounds but those of the Universe To this day she enjoyes this Priviledge but with lesse splendour she speaks all Languages because she possesseth some of all people she hath that in her progresse which was conferred upon her at her birth and she owns that amongst all the Faithfull Loquor omnibus linguis quia in co sum Christi corpore hoc est in Ecclesia quae loquitur jam omnibus linguis Aug. in psal 54. which heretofore was eminent in every one of the Apostles Therefore saith S. Augustine is the gift of Tongues now superfluous because the Church having over-spread all the Earth she finds in the meanest of her Disciples what was consin'd heretofore to the Colledge of her Masters and she may boast she hath lost nothing of her antient Priviledges because the goods of a Body being common among the Members she hath no children that speak not all sort of Tongues by the mouth of their brethren But because speech without the effect is but a dead letter the same Spirit that gave the Church the gift of Tongues gave her also the power of working Miracles she hath subjects to whom nothing is impossible Nature submits to their orders Faith that inanimates them makes them absolute in the state of their Soveraign The Sun stands still in the midst of his Course to doe homage to their words the Sea becomes firm under their feet and the Earth trembles under those of their Enemies and they oblige that common Mother to make a sepulcher of her Womb to swallow them up alive Indeed this favour that exalts them so high is transient to humble them Donum miraculorum sicut aliae gratiae gratis datae non sunt in sanctis nisi per modum transeuntis D. Tho. their will is not the rule but the motion of the Holy Ghost they act not but when hee acts with them they work miracles when they receive the power from him and assoon as ever he leaves them they return to their former inability Miracles cost them prayers and teares they acknowledge their dependance even whilst they exercise their Empire and whilst all people look upon them as Gods they finde themselvs oblig'd to confesse that they are nothing but mear Creatures Is it not a wonder that St. Paul drives away Divels heals the sick and yet by his prayers cannot deliver either himself from that Divel or that malady which exercised his humility as much as his patience Finally this Spirit that acted so powerfully by the hands of the Apostles establishing the Gospel no lesse by their miracles then by their words fortified them in persecutions and gave them courage at the same time to triumph over grief and pleasure too For as the Tyrants employd subtilty and violence power and policy to vanquish the Martyrs making use of threats and promises to astonish or seduce the Apostles it was requisite that the Holy Ghost should inspire them with continence and strength and that Grace serving them instead of a Sword and Buckler gain'd them as many Victories as they were bid Battels His power never appeared more glorious then upon this occasion Quld magnum est si fortis Angelus magnum est si fortis est Caro sed unde fortis Caro unde forte vas fictile nisi à Domino Aug. in Psal 238. Miracles have not procured so many conquests as persecutions have the Saints never got so much credit by their power as by their constancy and infidell Rome hath more admired the patience of the Martyrs then the puissance of the Apostles In the meane time he that shall consider these effects in their primitive cause will confesse that one and the same spirit hath produced them and that as he inanimates the Church by his presence so by his assistance he communicates the understanding of Tongues the knowledge of things to come the power of Miracles and the victory over torments Wherefore the Church knowing very well that she owes all to the Holy Spirit Nihil agunt fideles inconsulto Spiritu Sancto quae petunt illi commendant quae accipiunt illi adscribunt Bernard undertakes nothing but by his direction and being perswaded that she hath no strength which she is not beholding to his ayd for she forms no design wherein she implores not his succour and when any happy successe compleats the Enterprise she gives publick testimony by her Eucharisticall deportment that she is beholding to the favour of the Holy Ghost for the benefit she rejoyceth in The Third DISCOURSE That the Holy Spirit is in some sort the same to Christians that hee is to the Father and the Son from all Eternity THe alliance that the Eternall Word hath contracted with men is the source and originall of that which the Father and the Holy Spirit contract with the same Creatures The Father loves us as his children because we are the brethren of his only Son Heaven is as well our inheritance as our recompence and the quality of mercenaries or souldiers which we beare is no barre to that of children and heirs The Holy Spirit hath an influence also upon our souls by charity hee rears an altar in our hearts and of the members of our body he vouchsafes to make living Temples But as his infinite love hath no bounds his communications are much aforehand and by an excesse of goodnesse he was pleased to bee in time to the faithfull what he is in the Trinity to the Father and his only Sonne The whole Scripture teacheth us that the Holy Spirit is a sacred bond uniting the Father and the Son from all Eternity The Church which is very wel-sighted in these profound Mysteries Nexus amoris quo conjungitur Pater cum filio filius cum Patre cals him the True-loves-Knot The conclusion of her prayers clearly instruct us that the Father and the Son reign together in the unity of the Spirit Admit they were not one and the same Thing by their Essence they would be one and the same Principle by the Holy Spirit since all Theologie knowes very well that the Father and the Son are admirably united together to
enough above the rest of creatures and though it leave him his liberty considers not sufficiently the dignity of his extraction For it seems God deals with Men as with the Elements that he makes scarce any difference between Angels and Beasts and that this Soveraign governs so absolutely in his State that he much more regards his own glory then the welfare of his subjects He determines also free creatures as well as necessary if he oppresse not their liberty he takes no pains to gain it and more solicitous to make himselfe obeyed then loved he masters the will rather by force then sweetnesse The second passeth into another extream and seems to be so carefull of the salvation of man that it neglects the glory of God makes his grace a bondage opens heaven to all the world makes Mercy sparkle abroad to the detriment of Justice ascribes more to liberty then to grace renders man insolent since his Fall will have him as familiar with God since his rebellion as during his innocence Imagines that nature received no blemishes by sin and that the will under the thraldome of Concupiscence is as vigorous as under the Empire of Originall righteousnesse The third handles Grace a little more respectfully then the second 't is me thinks a bold opinion but not impudent it covers self-love under honourable pretences it bestowes that upon the Mercy of God that it takes from his Justice it intitles not liberty so absolutely to salvation but it preserves the rights of Grace which if it make not victorious it makes at least wel-disposed if it reign not over the will it does over the inclinations and if it offers a sufficient grace to all men it confesseth neverthelesse the effect is not produced but when it agrees with the constitution or humour of Man But after all this it seems to overturn the order of Predestination gives more to merits then to grace imposes Laws upon its Soveraign and obliges him when he means to save a sinner to consult rather their dispositions then his own will and pleasure Let us see what Saint Augustine hath most constantly believed concerning this Subject and lest we mistake our way take him for a guide that hath so generously defended its Cause against the Impiety of Hereticks The Fift DISCOURSE Wherein precisely consists the power of Effectuall Grace THere is no man but may observe that the Loadstone draws iron to it but there is no Philosopher can discover wherein this vertue consists We need but open our eyes to see how this stone which may be called one of the miracles of Nature lifts up the iron assoon as moved towards it that it gives a kind of feeling to this senslesse metal and in despite of its hardness softens it into a tendernesse of affection We behold with astonishment that it leaps from the Earth to follow that which draws it that it steals from it self to embrace it Quid ferri duritia pugnatius sed cedit patitur amores trahitur namque à magnete lapiâ—e domitrix illa rerum omnium materia ad inane nescio quid currit atque ut propius venit assistit teneturque complexu haeret Pli. lib. 36. cap. 16. and clings so strongly to it that violence must be used to part them But certainly 't is very difficult to comprehend what is that secret vertue that imprints this power in the Loadstone The whole Body of Philosophers have troubled themselves to no purpose to discover it whatever pains they have taken and whatever watchings they have spent in this study they have not to this day been able to find out the occult cause of so evident an effect they are ignorant whence this sympathy between the Loadstone and the Iron grows nor can they render a reason why this stone attracts this metal and not others they know not whether this attraction have more of sweetness or of force whether it draw the Iron by affecting it or by forcing it and whether it complies with its inclination or over-bears its weight and obstinacy What I have said of the Loadstone may as truly be verified of Grace Its power is so publick and its attempts so common that there is no body but knows and admires them It triumphs daily over the liberty of sinners lifts these wretches from the Earth enlightens the blind softens the obdurate converts the obstinate and subdues these rebels But though all the Faithful acknowledge a vertue whose effects they resent they know not precisely wherein it consists they are divided in their opinions and though they all take S. Augustine for their Master they express themselves in such different terms that though taught in the same School it seems they have not all learnt the same Lesson Inasmuch as this incomparable Doctor is pleased in all his Works to break forth in commendations of Grace consacring all his Labours to the glory of that which drew him out of his sin he sometimes admires its Force and seems to place all its vertue in its invincible puissance he will have it the mistress of hearts strongly over-ruling the Will of sinners and like a Soverain more respecting her own Majesty then the Inclination of her subjects Sometimes he changeth his language and meditating rather to preserve the Liberty of Man then the Power of Grace he seems to place its vertue in its compliance he represents it to us as a sweet perswasion flattering man to gain him setting upon him where he is weakest to overcome him studying his inclinations to make him in love entring into his meaning to accommodate it to that of its own and like Lovers who become complacent onely to become absolute stoops to the liberty of the sinner to triumph over it nor is his slave but to become his mistress Sometimes he walks between these two Extremes and joyning force with sweetness he speaks of Grace as of a victorious complacency he describes her as a Queen displaying her Beauty as well as her Power to keep her subjects in obedience and knowing that Nature hath given her as many Allurements as she hath done Forces unites both together to tame the rebels of her State She imitates the conduct of Providence whereof shee is an emanation and mingling Sweetness with Authority executes her designes leading men whither she pleaseth These three manners whereby S. Augustine expresseth himself in his Writings have produced three Opinions in the Church which acknowledge him for Master boasting to be of his minde and to stand to his Doctrine The first is that which is ascribed to S. Thomas which delivering it self in terms very significant but somewhat barbarous placeth the power of Grace in Predetermination Those that hold this Opinion will have God always preserve his Soveraignty when he deals with the Creature Voluntas Dei est prima summa omnium causa Aug. lib. 3. de Trin. applying him as he will and using rather compulsion then fair means discovers a desire
more delight him Nay the Lascivious wanton is not so much in love with beauty as with pleasure because he placeth his affection sometimes upon objects that have no appearance of beauty and many times forsakes a handsome woman to court a deformed one Thus pleasure is a powerfull charm that masters all hearts plunders liberties and makes slaves that never complain of their bondage because they are voluntary Lovers that seek the secret of purchasing affection study nothing but complacency being assured they shall produce love in that heart where they have begot pleasure Flatterers never insinuate into the minds of great men but by rendring themselves acceptable nor doe their false Commendations steal in at the ears but because pleasure takes up the place of truth The very Devils though our mortall enemies seduce us not but because they please us and had they not found out the art of mixing pleasure with sin all their temptations would be fruitless But the will of man though never so free hath such an inclination toward pleasure that did she never so strongly barracado her self she could not possibly resist it she holds out against truth because she is blind and sees not the beauties 't is adorned with she secures her self against violence because she is free and naturally opposeth whatever seems to incroach upon her liberty she does not acquiesce in reason because she is deaf nor hears any discourse but such as charms the understanding by convincing it But pleasure hath allurements which she can no wayes withstand she trembles when ever it sets upon her she is afraid to lose her liberty in his presence and knowing the power it hath over her inclinations she cals in sorrow to her succour to guard her against this pleasing enemy If it be true that pleasure reigns absolutely over the will we need not think it strange that grace which is nothing else but a victorious suavity hath such advantage over her for besides that this Heavenly influence surpasseth all the delights in the world that charm us having more allurements then glory and beauty that makes so many Lovers and Martyrs it insinuates much deeper into the will then whatever ravisheth us mortals Tunc enim bonum concupisci incipit cum dulcescere incipit ergo benedictio dulcedinis est gratia Dei qua fit in nobis ut nos delectet cupiamus hoc est amemus quod praecipit nobis Aug. Being in the hands of Jesus Christ whom nothing can resist it glides into the very Center of our heart making impressions there that are never more strong then when they are most agreeable thence it cashieres all pleasures that have unjustly usurpt upon us and knowing all the weaknesses of the place it sets upon we need not wonder if she make her self mistresse Other pleasures enter not into the will but at the gate of the senses they have lost half their strength before they can make their approach and her inclinations being unknown to them they many times cause aversion intending to procure love But grace wooes the heart without the mediation of the senses and more powerfull then pleasures that act not upon all the faculties of the soul carries light into the understanding faithfulnesse into the memory and pleasure into the will so that we need not wonder if the sinner suffer himself to be overcome by a Divine quality that sheds delight into all the powers and faculties of the soul That which Grace effects thus agreeably by pleasure it brings to pass more powerfully by Love For according to the judgement of S. Augustine Amor imperiü babet super omnes animae vires propter hoc quod ejus objectum est bonum Aristo Di. Tho. and when God means to convert a sinner his sole design is to make him his Lover Love is the Master of all hearts There is no impossibility this passion undertakes not Miracles are his sports and all the prodigies Antiquity hath teem'd with are nothing but the effects of this Soveraign Scripture is never more eloquent then when it intends to express the force thereof nothing satisfies it in this design all words seem too weak to express its conceptions and finding no comparisons that answer the dignity of the subject it descends to the Tombes where having considered the Trophies of death is forc'd to confess that his power equals not that of Love it passeth to the very Center of the Earth observes the unrelenting hardness of Hel and comparing the pains of the damned with the anxiety of lovers leaves us in doubt whether Hel or Love be more pitiless But not to aggravate his power by such strange comparisons let it suffice to judg of him by his effects Though he be the son of the Wil yet is he the Master he disposeth so absolutely of his Mother that she hath no motions but what her Son inspires her with she undertakes nothing but by his orders 't is the weight that sets her a going the Loadstone that attracts her the King that governs her and she so absolutely depends upon his power that nothing but another love can dis-engage her she is so fierce or so free that neither violence nor fear can tame her she laughs at tortures preserves her liberty in the midst of fetters and many times torments make her but more wilfull Only Love mollifies her hardness his charmes gain upon her what sorrow cannot and experience teacheth us there is no surer Command then that which is founded upon Love In the mean time Vanity which is almost the inseparable companion of Greatness perswades Kings that 't is a debasement to seek the love of their subjects and seduced by this false Maxime they endeavour to make themselves feared not being able to make themselves beloved But God who hath formed the heart of man and knows how they may be vanquished without being forc'd owes all his Conquests to his Love he never appears more absolute then when he tames a rebellious Will when of an Enemy he makes a Lover and changing his inclinations sweetly compels him to fall in love with him Forinsecus terret per Legem intrinsecus delectat per Amorem Aug. His Power sparkles in his Corrections he astonisheth sinners when he loosens the mountains from their foundations when he makes the earth shake under their feet the thunder rumble over their heads and threatens the world with an universal Deluge or a general Conflagration But all these menaces convert not the Guilty the fear that terrifies them reduceth them not to their duty their heart remains criminal when their mouthes and their hands be innocent and if God inspire not his love into them he punisheth indeed their offence but changeth not their Will This prodigious Metamorphosis is reserved for his love 't is his charity that must triumph over rebels nor is there any thing but his Grace that by its imperious sweetness can oblige a sinner to love him I am not
sinner whose conversion may not be hop'd for she prayes for those that despitefully use her that after the example of Jesus Christ she may make her tormentors her friends In as much as this Discourse draws to an end I must be more briefe in the other definitions of Charity and say succinctly with Saint Augustine that she is the love of the true good because to speak properly she adheres onely to God in consideration of whom she despiseth all other goods which are nothing but lies or illusions The desire and possession whereof she leaves to concupiscence she envies not her false felicity because she knows 't is really but a true misery and by means of those lights that came down from heaven she never troubles her selfe to acquire those Goods which make not the possessours better because they cannot use them well if they be not good before they take them in possession By a necessary Consequence Charity is a love which makes us tender of those goods wee cannot lose against our wills I wonder not that Concupiscence is poore because the preservation of her riches depends not upon her will shee may be rob'd of all that shee loves violence or injustice may spoil her of her treasures calumny may black her reputation grief may damp her pleasures death whose only name brings so much terrour with it may take away her life But Charity who hath this advantage that shee hath chosen the better part is well assured it shall never be taken from her she loves a Good she cannot be plundred of she knows that Fortune hath no Dominion over Grace that the severity of torments and the sweetnesse of pleasures cannot impair her felicity This is it that St Augustine hath so happily express'd in those words which contain the Encomium and the definition of Charity Charitas est amor rerum quas non nisi volentes amittimus 'T is the love of things which we part not with but when we have a mind to it Inasmuch as there is great affinity between the supreme Good and dilection St Augustine hath drawn from one and the same Principle their common advantage for he teacheth us that as Love is not charitable but when it respects a Good which cannot be taken away the Good also is not true but when he that possesseth it cannot lose it but by his own fault Nolite amare praesentia quae possessa onerant amata inquinant amissa cruciant Ber. Solid good saith he is of such a nature that 't is never lost unless a man will The Covetous every day lose their riches with sorrow of heart the Ambitious fall from their dignities with grief of minde and the immodest Wantons testifie by their tears that the deprivation of what they love is no voluntary losse But this Good that inspires us with Goodness can neither be acquired nor lost without our own consent Thence ariseth another Definition of Charity and a second opposition to Concupiscence her Enemy This makes us slaves of what we love finde Servitude where we expect Soveraignty punisheth our Ambition in deceiving it as she imitates the Divel who ruin'd us by his promises she throws us into thraldom by filling us with the hope of Liberty There is no sinner but is sensible of his torment The Covetous are the slaves of their wealth a great Fortune is a glorious servitude and all those that are ingaged in love are intangled in a Captivity Therefore hath Augustine said admirably well Men become vassals of the Creatures when by unjust means they endeavour to make themselves Masters 'T is Charity onely that exalteth us in humbling us and more happy then Concupiscence makes us finde liberty in bondage soveraignty in obedience for submitting to God we soar above all sublunary things by teaching us to obey we learn to command and imposing but one Soveraign over us gives us as many subjects as there are creatures Finally to conclude this Discourse with a Definition which may be called the Panegyrick of Charity we say shee is the Love of eternall Goods as Concupisence is of perishable ones This vertue is so generous that after the example of Eagles which look only upon the Sun shee considers only God when shee expresseth any affection to men or Angels she riseth as high as the Creator she would conceive her self unjust did she love any thing but for God and making her glory of that Maxime she bespeaks God by the mouth of one of his Lovers with these excellent words Minus te amat qui tecum aliquid amat non propter te Aug. He loves thee not at all who loves any thing with thee which he loves not for thy sake Concupiscence on the contrary is wedded to the creatures runs along unhappily with them finds sorrow where shee looks for content and seeing those objects perish which were the Fuell to her flames is forced to wast away in sad lamentations and to begin those complaints here which will last for ever in the dominions of Hell The Sixth DISCOURSE Of the Properties and Effects of Charity IF the Learned Tertullian had reason to call the Devil Gods Ape me thinks I may stile Concupiscence the Ape of Charity because she endeavours to copy her thereby to obscure her promising her slaves the same advantages Charity makes her subjects hope for she takes the same course continues the same designs and in her opposition is so perfect a Transcript of this excellent Original that the most part of Philosophers confound them together Their ends are rather contrary then different but the means they make use of to come thither are altogether alike Their Principles are opposite but their Conclusions run parallel Their thoughts clash but their language agrees so that to compleat the Portraicture of Charity I must draw the Picture of Concupiscence and make use of the same colours to paint them both Concupiscence or self-love is active the greater it is in the source the more violent is it in the effects nothing can stop its fury and all the disorders we see in the world are the works of this irregular passion she changeth her name according to the objects she fixeth upon and adhering to Glory or Profit or Pleasure she is styled Ambition Lust or Avarice But in all these different conditions she is ever active and by no means sits still Sometimes she beats an Alarum to war to increase her reputation in enlarging her Empire Sometimes she passeth the Seas to get riches and driven by want which never forsakes her feeds her wolfe supposing to allay his appetite Sometimes she sets upon Chastity and making use of a thousand subtilties to corrupt it troubles whole Nature to purchase her satisfaction Therefore is it that Saint Augustine who was so well acquainted with the humour of Concupiscence says that no love was idle that 't was active assoon as born that the oppositions made against it double its fury and judging its strength by
receives is digested by the Stomack and is turned to Blood in the Liver thence it is conveyed by the Veins into all the parts of the body which assimilating it into their substance gives it as many forms as they themselves have There by a strange prodigie the same aliment is softned into Flesh hardned into Bones stiffned into Sinews extended into Cartilages its superfluities are not useless and if we be-believe Physitians they serve to nourish our Hair and our Nails whereof the first is the ornament of the Head the second the defence of the Hand Who will not acknowledge that Man is very dear to God since he works so many Miracles to feed him and produceth so many several Meats to entertain a life common to him with beasts But inasmuch as that of the Soul is much more noble the nourishment whereby it is preserved is exceedingly more excellent and if in the order of Nature God hath made so many prodigies to nourish Man he works many more in the order of Grace to entertain the Christian For the body of his oncly Son is the food of the Faithful they live upon that Blood which begat them on the Cross that the same Principle which gave them their life may preserve it This Body is formed upon our Altars by the Word of Jesus Christ himself the Priests are onely the Ministers or Interpreters they repeat what he delivered in the Supper they do that in the Church that he did at Jerusalem and offering up this Sacrifice to the Eternal Father make provision to nourish the Faithful Thus in Nature and in Grace 't is the Word of God that makes us live and we may truely say Non in solo pane vivit homo sed in omni verbo quod procedit ex ore Dei But this Bread that nourisheth our souls is not of the same quality with that that nourisheth our Bodies For the Corn whereof this is made owes its Life to its Death nor can increase till it be corrupted but that which is exhibited to us upon our Altars felt corruption onely on the Cross where dying to procure us life he himself boasted that he was the Grain of Corn whose fruitfulness proceeds from its corruption Si mortuum fuerit multum fructum affert But now it is incorruptible in our Tabernacles death can no more injure it the Glory that invests it secures it from our fury as well as our wrongs We must acknowledge nevertheless that its presence depends upon the species that cover it it ceaseth to be with us when the heat hath digested them or time consumed them and though he remain by his Grace his body is absent which is tied to accidents as to chains his love hath forged for it He never dispenseth with this bondage the treachery of Judas could not make him violate the laws he had prescribed the blinde fury of Hereticks cannot compel him out of this prison and the impiety of Sinners hath not been able to force him to quit their hearts till the species that preserved him there be consumed by the natural heat He is as faithful to observe his promises as to obey the will of his Father and as the blasphemies of the Jews could not make him descend from the Cross to give them proofs of his Innocence and of his Divinity the sacriledges of prophane Christians cannot make him desert the Hoast where his love and fidelity hold him prisoner Though he be subject to all these humiliations to become our nourishment he is not liable for all that to all the conditions of Nutriment For he passeth not into our substance he is not changed into those that receive him and in his debasement he reserves himself the power to convert them into him His being our Food hinders him not from being our God he acts upon those that feed upon him he makes an impression of his Divine qualities in their souls and if he changeth not their Nature at least he makes them change their Condition and their Life Neither ought this to seem strange to those that consider that Natural meats communicate their qualities to us and by a mutual Metamorphosis we are changed into them when they are assimilated into us 'T is believed that Nero was therefore cruel because he suckt the milk of a cruel Nurse and that Achilles was therefore valiant because his Master nourished him with the marrow of Lions Experience it self teacheth us that people draw their humours from the earth that bears them and the heaven that covers them Those that are bred among Rocks are savage those that live in the fertile Plains are more tractable Therefore we need not wonder if the Christians feeding upon a Divine meat do so easily change their inclinations Auâ—ite officaciam communionem corporis sanguinu Domini nos Jesu Christo Jesus Christus nobis in unitate foederatur inenarrabili sicut ipse dicit Qui manducat carnem meum in me manet ego in eo Bern. because more powerful and successful then ordinary food it hath the vertue of conveying its own qualities and of changing the guests into it self And from this Principle do the Fathers draw the obligation the Christians have to be gods upon earth because they receive a God in the Eucharist who acting according to the extent of his power would transform them into himself were not his Divine operations hindered by the weakness or malice of the recipient But that which is begun upon Earth is happily perfected in Heaven where Divinity being the food of the Blessed raiseth them to a condition where leaving off to be Mortals they commence Gods Indeed the holy Scripture teacheth us that the Beatifical state is a Feast where God communicating his Essence to Angels and Men makes them in one dish taste all imaginable delights For though there be diversity of conditions among the Blessed though the degrees of Glory answer the degrees of Love and those who have been most affectionate are those that God most honours yet all Theology confesseth that the Divine Essence is the only object of their felicity that every one enjoys all without division that though common to all 't is notwithstanding proper to each particular that being wholly communicated to one it takes nothing from the rest and more excellent then the light which enlightens one man as perfectly as the whole world it is as fully communicated to the lowest Angel as to the highest Seraphim God is divided upon the Earth without interessing his simplicity he communicates himself to the faithful but in part and handling every one according to their Merit and his Grate is not always the same to one that he is to another He hath manifested his Wisdome in Solomon his Clemency in David his Patience in Job his Love in Saint Peter his Zeal in Saint Paul his Purity in Saint John and his other perfections in the rest of the Faithful But at the end of the world God
it which is displeasing to God But in expectation of this happy houre they must begin their sacrifice here and by little and little destroying what is contrary to Grace make Holocausts of all their inordinate inclinations For we learn from Origen that though we are no longer under the Law of Moses we are not dispensed with for sacrificing but as the Law of Grace is the accomplishment of the other we ought to immolate all those passions that were represented to us by the Beasts they slaughtered at the foot of the Altar We satisfie this duty when we set upon our criminal affections and full of zeal and courage we endeavour to stifle them We immolate a Bull when we tame our pride and labour to kill this sin that gives life to all others we sacrifice a Goat when we quench the lustful flames of impurity and by a divine fire mortifie this infernal one which devours all vertues we slay a Ram when we subdue our anger disarm this seditious passion calm this raging sea and manacle this fury which troubles the tranquillity of our mind we offer Pigeons and Turtles when we banish those volatile inordinations which divert us from piety and engage our minds in the affairs of the world But if we have subjected our passions to the dominion of reason and by a happy barrenness the Earth of our Intellectual part breeds no monsters which we may offer up to God we must seek into our body and of our members make innocent sacrifices For the great Apostle of the Gentiles teacheth us that we are obliged to offer our bodies a lively sacrifice and to pacifie the anger of Heaven by a holy oblation acceptable to him Vt exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem as if he would say that we ought to die to sin that we may live to Grace and the members which have served heretofore to the tyranny of Concupiscence may now become serviceable to the lawful power of Charity or he would advertise us that if in the Old Testament only dead Victims were offered up to God in the New we must offer up living ones and that mortification working in the Christian what death did in the Beasts we must joyn the two sacrifices together and accord death with life to satisfie the Divine Justice Thus the whole exercise of a Christian is to make war upon their bodies and to gain victories over themselves they vanquish their enemies in facrificing their members and they may boast that in offering sacrifices to God they erect trophies to themselves In consideration of these Truths me thinks we may say with Origen that all the faithfull are Victims and that in the difference of their conditions they agree in this common quality If any thing distinguish them 't is the degree of their love and the perfection of their Sacrifice The Apostles saith He were the first Victims because they forsook all to follow their Master and having given him their heart by Charity their spirit by Faith their goods by Poverty they moreover consecrated their bodies by the Repentance of their life and by the cruelty of their death The Martyrs immediately succeed them because having a long time laboured by Grief at last they have perfected their sacrifice by Martyrdom The Virgins hold the Third place because they triumph over their bodies tame a hundred severall ways this domestick Enemy and not content to consecrate him by purity borrow the assistance of pennance to mortifie him by contrition The Continent and the Married follow these close and if in their sacrifice they destroy not the Victim they put it at least in a condition that it no more rebels against the Sacrificers and where it expects with patience for death Castitas viduitas de bonis carnis Deo adolentur Tertul. to finish that which Continence hath begun Tertullian was much of this opinion when he said That our bodies furnished us with Victims as well as vertues and that Fasting Silence and Chastity were fruits of this Tree which might be gathered to make an offering for Jesus Christ For though the Body be the least part of man 't is not the most unprofitable its imperfections are advantageous to us its rebellions serve us for Tryals and Grace which is ingenious turns the most part of its miseries into remedies The infirmities which trouble its health help our Sacrifice and the diseased person that suffers his afflictions patiently is a victim who though not innocent is notwithstanding well-pleasing to Jesus Christ Poverty which strips us of superfluities or of necessaries which reduceth us to the condition our Birth found us in and whither Death will bring us is a sacrifice which gains us as much merit as it procures us inconvenience Nay Death it self which seems the eldest daughter of sin who shews all the horrours of her father upon her countenance is not so much the destruction as the sacrifice of our Body she imitates the severity of fire and sword she she alone does what the knife and the pile of wood somtimes did and reduceth the victim to ashes having deprived it of life she serves for the Divine Justice and Mercy together Deficit homo ad Gloriam moritur a◠vitam perit ad salutē mors per Christum commendatio facta est Charitatis Chrysost she prepares the body for Immortality nor despoils it of corruption but to apparell it with Glory This is it that imprints so violent a desire of Death in the hearts of the faithful which makes them in the midst of their prosperity call her in to their assistance and wish that comming to end their life she may come to perfect their sacrifice For it seems she hath changed Nature since Jesus Christ consecrated her in his person she is like those waters that take the taste and colour of those Minerals through which they pass she hath lost all her gastliness and hath some secret beauties which beget love in the soul of all Saints She that led us to the gates of hell lifts us up to heaven she that was the mother of shame and sadness is now the mother of joy and glory she that filled us with despair buoys us up with hope she that established the Empire of sin destroys it in a word she that was the Chastisement of our Crime is now the Sacrifice of our Love For this end have all the greatest Saints made the Panegyrick of death they have rendered thanks to the Divine Justice that inflicts a punishment upon us which shortens our misery and advanceth our happiness which separates us from the world and unites us to Jesus Christ and under a false appearance of rigour delivers us from the dangers that threaten us the griefs that torment us and the sins that tyrannize over us This made that famous Penitent say He was just that expected death but he was holy that desired it Finally this drew that Elogie out of the mouth of S. Paul
please us and when self-denial hath perfectly separated us they lose the boldnesse to set upon us and the hope of overcoming us Therefore doth S. Augustine admirably conclude that he that only loves that good which cannot be taken from him is truly invincible and Seneca founded upon the same principle had reason to say that Alexander was vanquished by Diogenes because he found a Philosopher to whom he could give nothing and from whom he could take nothing away Indeed the ambitious are not subdued but because they are afraid to lose their honour the immodest are not gain'd but because they have a mind to preserve their love nor are the covetous engaged in injustice but because they cannot resolve to part with riches But the Saints who are wedded only to God laught at Tyrants and Devils and cruelty being not able to ravish from them what they love they happily associate the quality of Conquerour with that of a Soldier Let us adde that the believer is invincible if he be perfectly united to Jesus Christ our strength depends upon this union and when the Devil breaks the secured bonds he hath an advantage against us He defeated us in the person of Adam he vanquished all men in one he gain'd a hundred victories in one duel But he hath lost all his advantages against Jesus Christ in him we are Conquerours and as S. Augustine saith his victory would not be perfect if he did not still conquer the world in his members Let us therefore unite our selves to him that we may be invincible When we feel the solicitations of the flesh or the Devil and these two Tyrants confederate together endeavour to over-power us let us implore the assistance of our Head and nothing presuming upon our own abilities but promising our selves all from his Grace render the honour to him of whom we hold the victory The Fourth DISCOURSE That the Christian is a King and a Slave THough the Christian be a Conquerour he ceaseth not to be a slave and though he be called to Liberty he finds himself engaged in a happy servitude which subjecting him to his Soveraign raiseth him above all creatures For as in the state of Jesus Christ grief is the mother of pleasure and humility the midwife to greatnesse servitude begets liberty and to be truly free we must be Christs bond-men All the Saints were of this belief and whilst they lived upon the Earth they have been proud of those chains the love of God loaded them with Saint Paul makes it his boast that he was the slave of the Son of God he many times prefers this quality before that of an Apostle and he had rather be known by his Chain then by his Preaching The Blessed Virgin makes her apology from this advantage and being chosen by the Eternal Word to be his Mother protests she will be his Handmaid and that the dignity wherewith she was honoured shall never make her leave the affections of a servant Ecce Ancilla Domini But because there are many conditions of Servitude it is fit to take notice of them in this Discourse and to see what sort that of the Christians ought to be The first is founded in Nature we bear the Character of it in our very essentials we are Gods Vassals because we are his Creatures there is no Greatness can give us a dispensation from this Thraldome Kings are obedient to his will their hearts are in his hands and as there is in every thing a secret obedience which maugre the proper inclination subjects it to the power of the Creator so there is in every man a naturall submission which without violating his Liberty makes him stoop to the command of the Almighty The second Servitude somewhat different from the former is a forced subjection making Caitiffs obey their Soveraign even whilst they resist him to follow his Ordinances whilst they contemn his laws and to be serviceable to his Justcie when they would not be wrought upon by his Mercy The third is a Servitude arising from fear which makes slaves more sollicitous after their own interest then the glory of their Master and are more apprehensive of the punishment then of the sin These slaves are guilty in his eyes who reads their souls if their hands or mouth be Innocent their heart is Criminall and if they commit not the act of sin they preserve the desire of it in the inmost recesses of their Will The fourth and last Servitude is voluntary because amorous these slaves love their master Boni servi sumus quande ipsum qui jubet diligimus nec aliud in nostra servitute commodum quaerimus quam ut ad ipsum pervenire valeamus August and seek nothing but his Glory whatever pleaseth him is agreeable to them all his commands seem easie and having no other inclinations then his finde their happinesse in their bondage Thence it comes to passe that it is profitable glorious welcom accompanied with none of those conditions that make slavery painfull Slaves labour not but for their master they till the ground but reap not the fruits they plant vineyards and drink not of the wine they suffer much pain and another tastes the pleasure They are not as wives called in to a community of Goods they are not as Children admitted to share in the inheritance and by a misfortune which seems to violate all the Laws of Nature they neither dispose of their estate nor of their persons But the slaves of the son of God finde riches in their servitude their Master adopting them for his children makes them his Heirs and before he gives them his Glory for their Portion gives them the disposall of the Earth for Assurance For these Great Saints who may be called the Royall slaves of the son of God bear rule in his State The sun riseth only to enlighten them the Earth is fruitfull for no other end but to nourish them Kings reign to be their Conductors Tyrants are their persecutors only to exercise them and whole Nature travels for their glory and their salvation The seasons respect their Commands diseases obey their words these animated Nothings which being the works of sin should not in reason acknowledg their power are subject to their Empire and the Miracles these work in the world are proofs that their service puts them in possession of all the goods of their Master Vnus est sapiens cujus omnia sunt nec ex diffic li tuenda quemadmodum Dii immortales regnum inermes regunt ita hic officia sua quamvis laâ—issime pateant sine tumultu obit Senec. 7. Bene. cap. 3. They are in deed what the Stoicks Wise man never was but in speculation All things belong to them without injustice they keep them without disquietness they are not obliged to send Lieutenants into remote Provinces nor to maintain Garisons upon the Frontiers to stop the incursion of Enemies They govern without arms and souldiers and which way
as in that of an Elect. This Attribute is not lesse delicate then zealous all transgressions scandalize it nor does any thing bear the stamp of sin that does not offer it violence she hath more enemies then the rest of her sisters and if the other perfections of God are dishonoured by some particular crimes this is by all inquities of what kind soever Those that sin of infirmity and pretend to find their excuse in the cause of their offence dash only upon the power of the Almighty Those that sin out of ignorance and conceive themselves not guilty because they are blind offend only the wisdom of God Those that transgress out of malice and who are less excusable because more enlightned wound only the Goodness of God and though so highly criminal perswade themselves that wronging but one of his perfections the rest will be favourable towards them But all sinners together injure Holiness and as there is not one who turns not his back upon the Creator to embrace the creature neither is there any that dishonours not this Attribute whose principal design is to unite them to their Creator Though Sanctity be thus injuriously dealt with it ceaseth not to be most profitable to Christians and so well manageth their interests with those of God that it produceth all the miracles which so highly advance his Greatness and their merit All the other perfections study more our glory then our salvation Power makes only Kings and when it would draw admiration from mortals Singula Dei Attâ—ibuta singulos Angelorü hominü ordines effinxerunt Marsil Fisci de religione is content to raise Shepheards to the Throne Wisdom makes Philosophers and communicating to them a part of its light gives them the understanding of the works of God Providence makes Politicians or Prophets and discovering to both of them the secrets of futurity inspires them with a science which is not learnt in the Schools But Holiness more happy and more powerful makes Saints which are Gods Master-pieces separates them from the creatures and unites them to the Creator transforms them into him or to use the words of Scripture makes commenced Gods by Grace and perfect Gods by Glory 'T is to this height of honour that all Christians are destin'd They bear this glorious title in the Gospel Saint Paul treats them as Saints in all his Epistles and as their sanctity is an effusion of Gods it obligeth them to knock off from all things that they may be united to him and to cling so close unto him that nothing can separate them Therefore is it that the Religion that leads us to Holiness invites us to a Divorce with all things else The Son of God admits none into his School of whom he exacts not this promise The Church who imitates him as her Husband requires this disposition of all her Children when she conceives them in her womb by the operation of the Holy Ghost and the vertue of the waters of Baptism she will have them renounce the vanities of the world and like the Apostles forsake their riches in deed or in affection The first is matter of counsel the second of obligation Multum deseruit qui voluntatem babendi dereliquit à sequentibus Christum tanta relicta sunt quanta à non sequentibus defiderari potuerunt Greg neither is there any creature who is not bound to say with Saint Peter Ecce nos reliquimus omnia I know there are those that laugh at the Confession of this Apostle and with Saint Hierome find it no hard matter for a man to leave all whose whole demeans was but a skiffe and a net But had they well considered the vast extent of our hopes and our desires they would find this man left very much because he bid adiew to all things these two passions could possibly promise him This first disposition is not the only abnegation the Son of God requires of us it serves but for a step to ascend to a more difficult one and having injoyn'd us the contempt of riches obligeth us to deny our selves 'T is not enough to be admitted into his School for a man to forsake his goods he must withall renounce his inclinations and pursuing the evil into its very root offer up his will for an Holocaust Had he been content with the first disposition he had exacted no more of his Disciples then vain-glory had obtain'd of its vassal Philosophers have parted with their goods to defend themselves from covetousness or discontent which usually accompanies great fortunes The Ambitious are so deeply in love with glory that they contentedly part with all riches The Prodigal seem as it were angry with money and the lavish expences they make testifies they more undervalue then prize them But both of them are wedded to themselves the more they strip themselves of their goods the more are they wrapt up in their inclinations and the less they have of avarice the more are they puft up with pride and vain-glory Therefore is it that the Son of God willing wholly to to cure man passeth from Poverty to Self-denial and having counselled us to part with our riches commands us to shake hands with our selves Saint Paul following the steps of his Master teacheth us that they only who have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof deserve the name of Christians and speaking elsewhere of himself witnesseth that to live to God he was bound to crucifie himself with Jesus Christ He makes them pass for enemies to the Cross who love themselves and not content to declaim against uncleanness makes an invective against those stately sins which including man within himself left him not above the degree of beasts but to equal him with Devils Finally he will have all those who are risen with the Son of God to be taken up with the contempt of the Earth and to be quickned with the desires of Heaven Though this first condition of Holiness gives us occasion to see that there are very few Saints in the world the second which is union with God will more strongly perswade us of it For sin being nothing but a separation from God holiness which is so opposite thereto is nothing but an alliance with God Those that are most united to him are the greatest Saints nor does any thing more gloriously distinguish Christians from Philosophers then this happy connexion Every Sect hath formed an Idea of the supream good and done their utmost to fasten their Disciples to it The Epicures who acknowledge no other good but voluptuousness had no other passion but for this Goddess The Stoicks who adored nothing but the mind spent all their veneration upon this Idol and the Academicks who doated only upon Morall vertue laboured meerly to gain her But Christians who know that pleasure makes none but effeminate that the love of understanding renders men arrogant and that of vertue it self when it mounts not high enough makes only idolaters set
their affections upon the supream good and seeking their felicity in God say with David Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est 'T is in this point properly that holinesse consists he that wisheth any thing else is blind or wretched and he that wasts himself with other desires is not yet fully informed that the supream good is the end and rest of the Christian Therefore is it that Saint Augustine speaking to his Auditors uttered these notable words Let us be grieved to see men distracted with the diversity of their desires Let us see their different conditions which arise from the difference of their designs Let some take arms and seek for Glory in the mouth of Danger hazard their lives to get themselves a Name and place their happinesse in killing and slaying Let others more harmlesse but not lesse ambitious plead at the Barr gain reputation in defending Innocence and aspire to the Glory of Orators being not able to purchase that of Conquerors Let others more humble but not lesse interessed hold commerce and Traffique with Strangers passe the Seas to content their Avarice descend into the bowels of the Earth to dig out Treasures Let others more Innocent but not lesse miserable till the ground master barrenness by their laborious Improvement and at the years end reap a rich and plentifull harvest Let all these different Conditions divide the heap of perishable Goods between them but let Beleevers instructed in a better School protest that God is their portion and that now and for ever they will have no other Inheritance These last words insinuate to us the last circumstance of Holiness which is not true if it be not Constant and pertinent A little to clear this Truth we must know there is no Christian that is not united to God the Character he received in his Baptism is a mark of his dependance Faith which he retains with sin is a sacred tye fastning him to Jesus Christ and gives him the honour to be a member of his Body Charity is a perfect Bond compleating what the others have begun which knits him so close to his Head that their Good and Evill are indivisible But if the Christian intend to be Holy Perseverance must second Charity and this faithfull vertue link them so constantly to the son of God that nothing can separate them Many heard his words admired his miracles loved his person who because they fell off attained not to that excellent title of Saints 'T is this last Condition which Crownes Holinesse the ultimate Character distinguishing the Elect from the Reprobate Finally Absque perseverantia nec qui pugnat victoriam nec palmā victor consequitur Bernard 't is this glorious mark that finisheth our salvation and begins our Beatitude It depends absolutely upon the good pleasure of God and as he refuseth it not without Justice neither does he indulge it but out of exceeding mercy It fixeth our will without constraining it renders it immoveable without taking away its liberty and gives it so much force that it equally triumphs over Griefs that astonish us and pleasures that corrupt us He that hath not this Grace cannot complain nor can he persevere He cannot complain because God denies it not but to his sin nor is his Reprobation founded upon any thing but his Infidelity He cannot persevere because this assistance depends not upon his Merit It being the immutable Decree of Gods good will and pleasure which makes men Saints and blessed It is by vertue of this Eternal ordinance that they resist temptations ouer-rule Tyrants and vanquish Devils 'T is by vertue of this internall Grace that they defie all Creatures and say with Saint Paul That nothing can separate them from Jesus Christ I am sure saith that Great Apostle that Death with his terrors Life with its charms Angels with their beauties Devils with their deformities Things present with their allurements Things future with their promises Heaven with its glory Hell with its torment can never separate me from the love of God And indeed how should they saith St Augustine because Death though never so hideous leads us to Him Life is found in his possession Angels and Devils are the Ministers of his Justice or of his mercy Things present are false Things to come uncertain Hell with God would be my Happinesse and Paradise without him my Torment Or if we will take this passage another way let us say again with Saint Augustine That nothing can separate us from Jesus Christ Not Death because there is none so dismall as to be deprived of his Love Not the Angels because being united to him we are stronger then all Spirits combined together Not the vexations of life because they are sweet when undergone for his Honour and serve only to give us a nearer conjunction to his person Not things to come because nothing can be bestowed nor promised which can countervail him Not Heaven because it is the recompence of those that serve him Not Hell because it is made for none but those that forsake him From all this Discourse it is easie to judge that the perfect Christian is a Saint that he ought to be wholly unbottomed from all things and so closely united to Jesus Christ that nothing can remove him But 't is easie to judge withall that we are at a great distance from Holiness because a small Interest a weak Temptation a shameful pleasure a light Injury separates us daily from him for whom we ought to sacrifice our Interests renounce our pleasures subdue our Temptations and forget our Injuries The Sixth DISCOURSE That the Christian is a Martyr THe condition of Christians would be very miserable did their vertue depend upon their Enemies and were they so streightened that they could not compass the Crown of Martyrdom but must be beholding to the Cruelty of Tyrants But the Peace of the Church hath her Martyrs as well as her Persecution Love is witty enough to exercise their Courage without employing the fury of Infidels Every Christian may without Impiety be his own Executioner and provided he live according to the Laws the son of God hath prescribed him will finde his punishment in his obedience All the vertues of Christianity will assist him in this designe Every Maxime of the Gospel will make a part in his Agony and having practised all that Jesus Christ commands or counsels he may boast though he be an unprofitable servant he ceaseth not to be a faithful Martyr For if it be true that the Cause and the Punishment makes the Martyrs we must confess that all they that live according to the Laws of Christianity may lawfully pretend to this glorious quality because they suffer much and for the height of their happiness they suffer for the Son of God This last condition is so necessary that in the judgement of S. Augustine 't is not so much the Punishment as the Cause that makes the Martyr The Gally-slaves that tug at the Oar
the Captives that pine away for the loss of Liberty in prisons and those Miscreants that are broken upon the Wheel endure the extremity of Torments but because their sin is the cause of their punishment they may be sufferers but they cannot be Martyrs To deserve this Quality Nemo se extollat glorietur de passione nam si attendamus solâ—s passiones coronantur latrones si de passione gloriandum est potest ipse diabolus gloriari Aug. the interest of God must be mixt with Grief and the suffering takes its estimate from the justice of the Cause The Macchabees are Martyrs because they suffered for the Law of God and rather then violate it courageously lost their lives S. John Baptist augments the number of these glorious Champions because he died for the defence of Chastity and is the first victim this excellent vertue receiv'd The Saints who have spilt their blood in the Churches quarrels and have fought against Infidels or Hereticks for the interest of Faith justly deserve the quality of Martyrs and the Christian happily shares it with them because he suffers in obedience to Jesus Christ For when he pardons those that persecute him stifles those just resentments which are occasioned by injuries when he gives Calumny leave to blast his reputation and loseth Goods or Honour because he will not break the Commandments or violate the Counsels of the Son of God Non Martyrium sola effusio sanguinis consummat necsola dat palmam exustio flammarum pervenitur non solum occasu sed etiam contemptu Carnis ad Coronam Aug. Ser. 46 de Sanctis he is not less worthy of the name of Martyr then those that have shed their blood for the defence of his honour 'T is of such a one that we may say Occasion was wanting to his Will and that he had been in the Catalogue of Martyrs had he lived in the time of persecution But not to betray the Cause that I defend I am obliged to say that to be vertuous is title enough to be a Martyr For since Nature is corrupted by sin there is no Vertue that is not accompanied with Grief We learn Vices without a Master we carry the seeds of them in our souls and preventing bad examples we act wickedness before we have seen it But Christian vertues are so difficult that their conquest costs us much labour and travel we learn them with much ado forget them easily preserve them with care neither is it Nature nor Art but Grace and Sorrow that forms the Habit in us They cross our Inclinations we must fight to gain them and seeing wickedness is passed into our Nature Vertues are become our Torments The Darkness we come into the world with clouds the light of our Prudence the infirmities we have inherited from our first Father make the victory over Strength extremely difficult Interest which is inseparable from Self-love is an opposition naturally set against Justice and this heat without which we cannot live and by a deplorable unhappiness entertains the flames of Impurity is an obstacle to Continence It produceth thoughts which stain the lustre of this Vertue motions which trouble its rest so that S. Augustine had great reason to say that of all the Trials of a Christian the most furious was that of Chastity where the Conflict is so long the Victory so rare and the Danger so great I would adde to the words of this holy man without varrying much from his conceit that 't is the sharpest Martyrdom a Believer can endure because he confesseth in another place that to mortifie the Flesh to tame Pride makes up the best part of the Martyr 'T is perhaps upon this ground that the rigid Tertullian who hath defended the advantages of Chastity with the prejudice of Truth it self hath acknowledged this vertue so austere that 't is easier to die for her Majus est in castitate vivere quà m pro castitate mori Terâ— then to live with her As if he would tacitely insinuate that 't is a harder matter to be chaste then to be a Martyr and that a Christian who hath overcome impurity may easily subdue grief If having considered the severity of the Vertues we consider the rigour of the Gospel we shal finde it cannot be obeyed without the badg of Martyrdom Every People hath its Laws and there are none so barbarous whom Nature or Custom have not furnished with some Policy The Greeks lived according to the Laws of their Sages The Romanes followed the Twelve Tables and those that had neither Kings nor Law-givers have had for their guide the light of Nature which is a relique of Innocence The Jews were governed by the Law of Moses which if it gave them not strength enough to combat sin it gave them light enough to know and avoid it But the Christian hath so severe a Law that if Love did not sweeten the severity thereof it would drive men to despair and more tragical then Judaism would occasion not onely prevaricators but obstinate and hardned disciples For it hath not one Article which is not a Paradox and which thwarts not the Reason as well as the Inclinations of sinners The First is that to love God aright we must hate our selves and bestowing all our affection upon him reserve nothing but hatred for our selves The second is to renounce our Will that is to say to quit all the advantages Nature hath endued us with not to reason in our Mysteries not to listen to our Inclinations in the practise of Vertues The Third which is not less rigid and seems to violate the sweetest Laws of Nature obligeth us to forsake father and mother and to trample upon the belly of her that bare us to follow the voice of him that calls us to his service But the Fourth which hath to deal with the dearest and most violent of our Passions commands us to pardon our enemies to forget the injuries they have done us and to stifle all those just resentments the love of honour or of life can possess us with Who will not pronounce these Laws so many tortures these Commandments so many Pursuivants making inquisition after our Inclinations into the very inmost recesses of our Wils and one while lopping of love another while Hatred subjects us to as many sufferings as Martyrs undergo whose arms or legs were chopt off by the cruelty of Tyrants This made S. Augustine confess that the life of a Christian was a painful Martyrdom Vita Christiani si secundum Evangelium vivat crux est Martyrium Aug. nor that any man could observe the Laws of the Gospel but must condemn himself to a punishment as grievous as that of the Cross For this reason also will I make it appear in this following Discourse that Christians suffer more then the Martyrs These glorious Heroes of the Church suffered for the most part but in the body their souls were quiet in the midst of
only from his hands who sees her thoughts and knows her courage But the highest advantage of the Christian above the Martyr is that this mans trial endures but a few days Nature is so good a mother that she hath provided remedies for her children against the violent irruption of discontents she hath made the chains that unite the soul to the body so brittle that the least torments are able to break them tortures quickly end or we end with them and experience teacheth us that a punishment cannot be long when violent and extream Criminals must be husbanded if you will have them endure they must have respite if we intend to torture them for any long time their weaknes will rid them of their Exeeutioners and death stepping in to the succour of these wretches delivers them from their persecutors Therefore is the punishment inflicted upon Martyrs short many times one day saw both its beginning and its end and when Grace wrought no miracle for their preservation Nature used her endeavours to succour them But the Martyrdom of Christians lasts the best part of an age Repentance that afflicts them imitates the Divine Justice it makes an agreement between life and death lengthens that to prolong their misery and draws out the thred of their sorrows to prove them more durably miserable For mortification which constitutes the chiefest exercise of penitents is it not a long and cruell death which Disciplines the body afflicts the spirits nor gives any intermission to the disconsolate Penitentiary but to heighten his austerity This made S. Bernard say that the mortification of the flesh was a kind of punishment not so cruel indeed but much more irksome then that of Martyrs and recompensing the sweetnesse by the duration makes the penitent languish as long as he lives But after all these differences we must confesse that the Martyrs having been Christians as well as others have suffered a double punishment and living in penance were prepared for Martyrdom For as Tertullian observes the course of their life was a severe probation wherein they disposed themselves to grief by austerity to the prison by solitude to a short death by a long mortification Therefore tortures never startled these men who provided for them by a witty cruelty and in so happy an age the Church had no children who were not the Martyrs of Penance when they could not be of Persecution The Seventh DISCOURSE That the Christian is a Lover THere is none but knows that the Son of God is a new Man that he is prodigious in his Constitution assembling Heaven with Earth Time with Eternity That he hath a God for his Principle and a Virgin for his Mother that he is the Son and the Father of his Spouse that he gave her life upon the Cross and receives life from her upon the Altar That he is the Priest and the Victim of his sacrifice the Judge and the Advocate of his parties and by a strange prodigy the Brother and the God of his Subjects As he is New in his composition he is New in his Councels and his Commandements Ille qui ven't vetustatem nostram sua novitate solvere mandato novo fecit hominem novum Aug. Serm. 39. de Temp. He will have his Disciples mutually love one another and Love to be the Fundamental Law of his State It seems he would alter nothing neither in Policy nor in Morality and leaving men in the Light Reason and Faith had already inspired them with was content to bequeath them a New Love His intendment is that all his Disciples be Lovers that all their Qualities be included in this and that the Christian find his full perfection in sole Charity 'T is in effect the only vertue recommended to us and when Jesus Christ lays the foundations of his Empire Charitas omnia suffert omnia credit omnia sperat animo sustiuet 1 Cor. 13. he requires nothing but Love from his subjects S. Paul confounds all the vertues with Charity and teacheth us that he that Loves is endued with Faith with Hope with Fortitude S. Augustin his faithfull Interpreter acknowledgeth but one vertue and if he gives it different names it is to express its divers effects or different qualities All the rest are reduced to this one and as the Passions are nothing but the motions of love we may say that the vertues are nothing but the Ministers of Charity The morality of a Christian is easie and succinct he is not bound to exercise himself in Patience to be established in Justice to be instructed in Prudence Charity gives him an interest in all these glorious Qualities and being a Lover he may boast himself Couragious Just Prudent Assoon as he knows how to Love he is able to guide himself his Light encreaseth with his Heat and without consulting the mysteries of the Politicks he becomes a Statesman assoon as ever he falls in love with Jesus Christ As pleasures cannot corrupt him grief cannot astonish him His Love inspires him with Magnanimity and Temperance and being united to God by Charity neither the Promises nor the Threats of the world are able to separate him he is incapable of committing an injustice as long as he keeps his affection and rendring his Soveraign his due learns at the same time to carry himself fairly towards his Equals and Inferiours If Love constitute the Christians vertue it constitutes his difference also For as Reason distinguisheth Man from Beasts makes him equall with the Angels and in Nature is accounted his principal advantage we may say that Charity divides the Christian from the sinner and being his richest ornament is also his noblest difference All the Faithful are clarified with the Light of Faith they receive in Baptism a Character which time cannot deface they flatter themselves with a hope which though unjust is notwithstanding sometimes true The Church which comes short of the Knowledge of her Beloved admits them to the Participation of her Mysteries and being unable to read their hearts suffers sacrilegious persons because she cannot tell how to hinder them Nay Jesus Christ himself honours them many times with his choicest favours discovers the secrets of Futurity to his enemies gives them an absolute power in his State and suffers those that offend him to drive away Devils and to cure the sick But Charity is the priviledge of his Friends 't is the glorious mark distinguishing them from Reprobates and the only vertue that is inconsistent with sin A man may be burnt in the flames and give testimony of his Courage in the midst of torments though he be not at all acceptable to God a man may dive into all the Mysteries of Religion and not be affected with them may give his goods to the poor and have his soul full of vain-glory But a man cannot have Charity and be upon ill terms with Jesus Christ those that love him are his Beloved and if he indulge some favours to those that fear
Sacrifice that is offered is no longer a Sacriledge to be detested It is not Cruelty that makes Jesus Christ die but Piety 'T is no longer a Crime but an act of Religion to immolate him neither is he offered by the hands of Executioners but of Priests The Father receives this Sacrifice with Pleasure without Indignation the Son presents himself with Affection free from Sorrow Nature beholds it with Respect and no Horrour and Men partake of it Profitably and without Sin The fourth and last difference is that the Sacrifice of the Cross merits all and applies nothing and contrarily that of the Altar merits nothing and applies all For the comprehending of this Truth we must know that General Causes are the sources of all things nothing is produced here belowe that flows not from their fecundity the very operation of Particular Causes is an emanation of their vertue Did the Sun cease to shine all things of the world would not onely cease to act but also to subsist this goodly Star maintains them with its aspects and though he be not their Creator he is in some sort their Preserver But though he equally shed heat and light over all Creatures yet must we confess some receive his influences more favourably and apply them more faithfully With the Clouds he forms those Meteors which pleasantly ravish the eyes of the beholders with dew he enamels the Flowers which serve for an ornament to our Gardens with the Earth he produceth Gold and Iron which Avarice and Cruelty employed to a hundred different uses But did not these Causes that apply his power weaken his vertue and were there a Sun here belowe to receive his influences without confining them all the world are of opinion he would produce far nobler effects Virtus Causae generalis recipitur à causa particulari secundum suam agendi capacitatem D. Tho. and that in stead of Roses and Lilies we should see nothing but Stars in our Walks and Gardens But because he cannot act alone and the Causes that apply him debilitate his power we behold nothing here belowe answerable either to his excellency or beauty What we see in Nature we believe in Grace General Causes produce all but apply nothing Particular Causes produce nothing but apply all The death of Jesus Christ is the Spring-head of all Merit the Faithful can hope for nothing which is not acquired by that Sacrifice Heaven is not so much the recompence of their Vertue as of its Value and if the quality of Members which ties them to Jesus Christ as to their Head did not give them part in his merits they could not pretend to the inheritance of heaven In the mean time so powerful a Cause produceth nothing if not applied this fruitful Fountain sends forth no streams if there be no Chanels disposed to receive them Mors Christi Fons omnium bonorum Sacramenta vero Rivuli and this Star which darts forth so much heat and light makes neither flowers nor fruit grow up in the Church if there be not some secondary cause which conveys its vertue to us Therefore hath the Son of God instituted Sacraments in his Church which happily apply whatever he hath liberally merited for us upon the Cross They are so many Pipes issuing his blood into our hearts so many Suns carrying their influences into our souls but they have this unhappiness in applying his merits they weaken them and not being capable of receiving all his vertue neither have they the power of communicating it to us Every Sacrament operates in us according to its particular condition Baptism gives us our new birth Sacramenta novae legis representant passionē Christi à qua fluxerunt sicut effectus representant causam Hugo à Sancto Victor Confirmation strengthens us Repentance raiseth us Ordination designes us to the service of the Altar and being second causes they limit the vertue of this universal cause which they apply unto us But the Sacrifice of the Altar more happie and more powerful then the rest applies the merits of the Cross without any limitation It procures us all kinde of Graces hath the power to produce and raise us gives us life and strength unites us to God and takes us off from the world weakens concupiscence and sin and the Son of God finding himself applied by himself there are no wonderful effects which he cannot give a product to There he merits nothing because he is at the end of his Course in the place of his Rest and in the time of his Recompence But he applies all because being equal to himself he hath gained nothing by the Sacrifice of the Cross which he cannot communicate by the Sacrifice of the Altar Nothing can hinder his divine operations but our Weakness or our Malice for as he acts with Free causes without constraining them we must lend him our Will for our Sanctification that making him Master of our hearts we may in some sort assist him to raign absolutely in his State and prepare our selves worthily to receive at the Altar those Graces he hath merited for us upon the Cross The Tenth DISCOURSE Of the Obligation the Christian hath to sacrifice himself to God SInce the Son of God hath united in his person the Humane Nature with the Divine Deus erat homo factus est suscepit humanitatē non amisit divinitatem factus humilis mansit sublimis natus est homo non destitit esse Deus Aug. lib. de quinq haeres cap. 5. and mastering the difficulties which stood in opposition to the execution of so great a design hath effected this admirable Master-piece which accords baseness with greatness misery with happiness it seems he hath taken pleasure to conjoin in his person all those qualities which clash in others so that we may say he hath pacified all the differences that were in Heaven and in Earth Indeed he is the Father and the Son of the Church he produced her upon the Cross and is produced by her upon the Altar He is the Son and the Servant of his Father he associates two qualities which appear incompatible in men and tempering respect with love teacheth us that Gods being his Father hinders him not from being his Soveraign He is our Advocate and our Judge having pleaded our cause he pronounceth our sentence and I know not whether it be a ground of fear or of confidence in that we are assured that he that is entred into our obligations is admitted also into the rights of his Father and that one day he will punish those for whom he hath satisfied upon the Cross But if there be any qualities whose alliance ravisheth us in the person of Jesus Christ we must confess 't is that of Priest and Sacrifice These two are so different among men that nothing but a supream power or an extream love could unite them together When the Synagogue would represent us with the Sacrifice of the Son of God
in that of Isaac it was obliged to separate the Priest from the Victime and to arm the hands of the Father to immolate his only Son In the mean time Jesus Christ unites them in his person and in this adorable Sacrifice which he offers to his Father whether on the Cross or on the Altar he is both the Priest that consecrateth and the Victime that is immolated Inasmuch as Jesus Christ saith Saint Augustine is our God and our Temple he is also our Sacrifice and our Priest He is the Priest that reconciles us he is the Sacrifice whereby we are reconciled and the same Doctor admiring the novelties of the sacrifice of the Cross expresseth his wonder by these words The Altar of the Sacrifice is new because the Immolation is new and admirable For he that is the Sacrifice is the Priest the Sacrifice according to the Flesh the Priest according to the Spirit and both according to his Humanity He that offereth and he that is offered is one and the same person and these qualities which have so little analogy are found united in the sacrifice of the Cross Inasmuch as the Christian is the Image of Jesus Christ and this glorious title obligeth him to transcribe his original he ought to sacrifice himself as he did and to be both the Priest and the Oblation together Indeed if we descend into the Mysteries of our Religion and consider with the eye of Faith what we are not able to discover with the light of reason we shall find that we are immolated upon the Altar with the Son of God and that after his example we are both the sacrificers and the sacrifice For Jesus Christ is not offered all alone in our Temples he is immolated by the hands of the Priests and at the same time that he offers his natural body to his Father he offers also his mystical body so that offering himself to his Father by his Church and offering his Church together with himself he teacheth all the Faithful to joyn the quality of Priests with that of Victimes This is it that Saint Augustine informs us of in his Book De Civitate Dei Per hoc sacerdos est ipse offerens ipse oblatio cujus rei Sacramentum quotidianū esse voluit Ecclesiae sacrificiū quae cum ipsius capitis corpus sit seipsam per ipsū discit offerre Aug. lib. 10. de Civit. ca. 6. where searching into our mysteries he finds that the Church offers her self with her Beloved upon our Altars and that in the same sacrifice she is both Priestess and Oblation His words are too elegant to be omitted neither must it be a less Doctor then he that must appear that Protector of so important a Verity 'T is particularly saith he in unity that the sacrifice of Christians consists where being many in number we make up but one body with Jesus Christ this is it that the Church daily does in this Sacrament which is so well known to the Faithfull wherein is demonstrated that in the Oblation she offers she her self is offered that after the example of her Beloved she may be in the same sacrifice Priestess and Victime From this passage may easily be inferred that the Faithful are offered with Christ upon the Altar that the Host that contains him is large enough to contain all his members and that his mysticall body being immolated with his natural body he obligeth all Christians to associate as he doth the quality of Victime with that of a Priest But if leaving the Altar we consider the Faithful in the course of their life we shall see there is none but ought to sacrifice himself and who either in his body or in his soul may not find Victimes to offer to God There is no more need of providing Buls or Goats with the Jews to lay upon our Altars The time of the Mosaical Law is past truths have succeeded figures and if we rightly understand the secret of our mysteries Noli extrinsecus thura comparare sed dic In me sunt Deus vota tua noli extrinsecus pecus quod mactes inquirere habes in te quod occidas Aug. in Psal 51. it becomes us to offer those things these Animals represent We have whereof to sacrifice within our selves there is not any passion in our soul nor part in our body whereof we may not make an innocent Victime Indeed Christian Religion converting the sinner into a sacrifice obligeth him to immolate to God all that he is He is deficient in the lawfullest of his duties if his whole life be not a sacrifice and being compounded of soul and body he ought to sacrifice both that he may have the honour to be a perfect Holocaust The vertues are auxiliaries which facilitate these means and it seems these glorious habits are given us for no other end then to teach us to sacrifice to God all the faculties of our soul Inasmuch as the will is the noblest and this Soveraign being once perfectly gained over to God gives him an absolute dominion over all the rest there are some vertues which have no other employment but to be made victimes Sorrow which discovers to man the excess of his crime labours to convert him it bruiseth his heart by the violence of a holy contrition and if it cannot draw bloud from this sacrifice it draws tears which are more acceptable to God then the bloud of beasts This made David say that the spirit broken and afflicted was a true sacrifice and that he who sometimes refuseth Goats and Lambs never despiseth a heart that Repentance and Humility offers up unto him Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus Obedience comes in to the succour of grief this beats down the pride of the will masters that imperious faculty and changing her triumph into a sacrifice obligeth her to die to her own inclinations that she may live to those of the Grace of Jesus Christ But love happily finisheth this design he burns the victime with his flames to render it an Holocaust and finding the means to put to death an immortall power teacheth us that a pure spirit may offer sacrifices to God For there is no lover but knows that love imitates death that he commits innocent murders and by stratagems which himself is only privy to makes sin die in us that Grace may live If the will become a Victim by means of Charity the understanding is offered up to God by the intervening of faith This vertue subjects it to her Empire perswades truths she explicates not she obligeth a man to suspend his judgement to renounce his reason and to give his senses the lye she engageth him to offer as many sacrifices as she propounds mysteries and by a power which would seem tyrannical were it not legitimate forbids him the use of reasoning in matters of religion The memory after the example of the understanding is immolated to God by remembrance and forgetfulness These two