the Fear of God. THE First Vertue that is necessary for you is the Fear of God it is that which next to Faith is the Basis and Groundwork of all others The Scripture calls it The beginning of Wisdom and it teacheth us that it is the first thing which ought to be inspir'd into young Souls For this reason Salomon Instructing Youth in his Proverbs begins his Instruction with this excellent Precept so often repeated in Scripture a Initium sapientiae timor Domini Prov. 5. The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom And the same Scripture in the History of holy Tobias observes expresly that being a Child b Genuit ex ea filium quem ab infantia timere Deum docuit abstinere ab omni peccato Tob. 1. He instructed him from his Infancy to fear God and to abstain from all Sins Now by this Fear we must not understand a gross and servil Fear that regards nothing but the Punishment and Chastisement which it apprehends more than the Offence What this Fear is but a respectful Fear by which considering the Greatness and Majesty of God his Sanctity his Power his Justice we conceive a profound Respect and apprehend above all things to fall by mortal Sin into the Displeasure of a God so Great so Holy so Powerful so Just We have already spoken of it above in Part 2. Chap. 1. That Theotime is the Fear of God which is the beginning of Wisdom and the foundation of true Piety Practice of the Fear of God. It is that to which I exhort you here for which you should chiefly and above all things labor As to the obtaining it see what you are to do First Demand it daily of God 1. Demand it for he is the Author of it Say to him frequently from the bottom of your Heart * Confige timore carnes meas à judiciis enim tuis tremui Psal 118. O God engrave thy Fear deeply in my Soul that it may restrain me from ever offending thee Secondly 2. Have a great Sense of the Greatness of God. Conceive a great Apprehension of the Greatness of God. He is the Sovereign Lord of all things infinite in all his Perfections in Majesty in Wisdom in Goodness in Power in Justice All Creatures adore him the Angels themselves tremble at the sight of his Grandeur All that is Great in the World is but an Atom before him and as he hath created all things by one sole Word he could destroy them all in one only Moment * Non est similis tui Domine magnus es tu magnum nomen tuum in sortitudine quis non timebit te ô Rex gentium Jer. 10. O Immense God there is none like unto thee said a Prophet thou art Great and thy Name is Great O King of Nations who will not fear thee Thirdly 3. Fear to displease God by sin Fear above all things to displease God * Timor Domini expellit peccatum Eccl. 5. and let that be the first and principal thing you regard in all your Actions whether God be not therein offended 4. 4. Speak of God with Respect When you speak of God never speak of him but with a profound Respect and endeavor to cause by your Example that he never be spoken of otherwise in your Presence CHAP. III. Of the Love of God. IF the Greatness of God oblige us to fear and honor him with a profound Respect The Love of God ought to be joyn'd with Fear his Goodness engages us as much to love him We must fear God by reason of his Greatness which renders him infinitely Adorable and we must love him because of his Goodness which makes him infinitely Amiable we must not separate these two things Fear and Love. a Timor Domini initium dilectionis The Fear of God is the beginning of Love as the Holy Scripture says and Love is the perfection of Fear b Qui sine timore est non poterit juscificari Eccl. 25. Qui non diligit manet in morte 1 Joh. 3. He who is without Fear cannot be justifi'd and he who Loves not remains in Death We must then love God dear Thotime for how can it be that we should not love Goodness it self and him who hath lov'd you first We must begin betimes to love God. But you must love him betimes and from your tender Years you must begin that quickly which you must do all your Life and during all Eternity The Love of God is our Sovereign Happiness and last End. We are created for that End God hath plac'd you in this World on no other Design than to love him and that coming to know him for your Creator you should render that which a Work ows to its Workman a Creature to its Creator a Child to his Father that is Love. And oblig'd thereto And to oblige you the better thereunto he hath added all imaginable Favors having design'd you for the Enjoyment of his Kingdom in Heaven Redeem'd you when you were lost and Redeem'd you by the Death of his only Son Call'd you to the Grace of Christianity Illuminated you with the Light of Faith Sanctifi'd you by his Grace Receiv'd you often into his Mercy after you had grievously offended him and a thousand other Blessings hath be bestow'd upon you O Theotime how is it possible not to love a God who hath lov'd you so much Now there are two things in God for which he ought to be belov'd Two Motives of the Love of God. The one is his Goodness which he manifests unto us by all the Favors and Blessings he bestows upon us The other is the Goodness he possesses in himself which makes him Sovereignly Amiable For if we might suppose a thing impossible viz. That God had never shew'd us any Favor yet he deserv'd to be infinitely belov'd by reason of the Sovereign Goodness and infinite Perfections he enjoys in himself which render him infinitely Amiable Now when I say we must love God I speak of both these two Loves and I mean that we must love him for the Benefits he hath bestow'd upon us and not only for them but also in consideration of his infinite Goodness which renders him so lovely that in the love of his Goodness consists the Eternal Happiness of both Men and Angels But take notice The essential Condition of the Love of God. Theotime that the Love of God to be real ought to have one very particular Condition which occurs not in any other Love For it doth not suffice to love God as we love Creatures but we must love him above all things that is more than all Creatures * Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo ex tota anima tua ex omnibus viribus tuis ex omni mente tua Luc. 20. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart that is
your Neighbor for the love of God but for the love of your self only And altho' God command you to love him who hath offended you exhorts you to it and accounts the Love you render to one like you as done to his own Person yet all this is not capable to make you quit the Resentment and hatred you bear in your Heart Say in fine that you pretend nothing to the Grace of God and Eternal Life being the Scripture teaches us That * Nos scimus quoniam translati sumus de morte ad vitam quoniam diligimus fratres Qui non diligit manet in morte 1 Joh. 3. we are transported from Death to Life by the Love we shew to our Brethren And that he who loves not remains in Death Let us conclude Theotime that either we must renounce Christianity the Love of God and Eternal Salvation or we must necessarily pardon Injuries love our Enemies and render Good for Evil. But as this Vertue is difficult in the Corruption of Nature and the Depravation of the World which cannot relish it you must learn it in good time Agnoscit se esse hominem qui novit ignoscere vias Christi sequitur qui carne suscepta maluit in hunc modum redemptor venire quam judex S. Amb. Orat. de obit Theod. and demand it frequently of God. Beg of him that he would give you a meek and peaceable Heart and which loves to render Good for Evil. Accustom your self from your Youth to pardon small Injuries not to render Ill for Ill that you may learn to pardon great ones upon occasion for the Love of him who hath saved you when he might most justly have destroy'd you for all Eternity CHAP. XVII Of the Love of our Neighbor THIS Vertue is the Mother of the three former and its Defects cause all the Disorders we have spoken of in the three last Chapters For Anger Dissentions Animosities Revenges spring only from the want of Charity and because we love not our Neighbor Christianly and as God commands us to love him It is a thing of most Importance that you be instructed in this Vertue because it is a Fundamental Vertue of Christianity * Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde proximum sicut te ipsum which is Establish'd upon these two Laws Love God above all things and your Neighbor as your self and yet very rare and badly practis'd amongst Christians The generality of Christians believe That to love their Parents their Friends A common Error concerning the Love of our Neighbor and those from whom they expect any Favor is sufficient and accounts the Affection to all other Men as indifferent This is not to love our Neighbor but our Selves Children from their Youth are bred up in this Opinion they are taught only to love those who do them good and hate those who do them hurt From hence arise all the Discords which disfigure the the Face of Christianity the Harshness with which Men treat one another the little Support they mutually give the small Assistance they afford them in their Necessities From thence the Propensity to Quarrels Injuries ill Treatments Hatred and Revenge It is very important to disabuse young Persons of this common Error and to instruct them in this Vertue so necessary for Salvation This Error proceeds from three things which ought to be known in this Vertue that is Three things to be known in the Love of our Neighbor Who are our Neighbors which must be lov'd The Motive for which they must be lov'd And in what this Love consists 1. 1. Who he is Our Neighbors which must be lov'd are all Men even the most unknown Great and Mean Poor and Rich Good and Bad Friend and Foe 2. 2. The Motive to love him The Motive for which they must be lov'd is because they are all the Children of God Created to his Image Redeem'd by the Blood of his Son Jesus Christ because God who is our common Father will have us love them as our Brethren and because Jesus Christ who is our common Savior hath commanded us to love them 3. 3. In what it consists This Love consists in three things In desiring Good to all In doing it when we can principally in their Temporal and Spiritual Good And in supporting their Defects and excusing their Faults This is Theotime true Charity which is one of the Foundations of Vertue the Mark of a Christian Spirit without which we cannot please God nor have any real Vertue and wherein it is necessary you be exercis'd in good time to acquire it 1. Practice 1. To desire Good to all Accustom your self to consider all Men as your Brethren and in this Quality to desire Good to all of them Be meek and amiable to all Have compassion on the Poor and Afflicted Be not envious at the Rich and all those in Prosperity Love the Good by reason of their Vertue the Wicked that they may become Good desiring the Perseverance of the former and the Conversion of the latter We must hate Sin which is the Work of Man but love Man who is the Work of God. 2. 2. To procure it when we can Being it is nothing to wish one Good except we do it when we can Use your self to be prompt and inclin'd to do Good to your Neighbor when you can Three sorts of Goods Now there are three sorts of Goods which we may procure to our Neighbor in his Body in his Honor and in his Soul. As for the First Assist others in their Necessities according to the Power and Occasions you have 1. Corporal Give Alms freely to the Poor O what an excellent Vertue in a young Man is Mercy and Compassion for the Poor Happy those who can say with Job * Ab infantia crevit mecum miseratio Job 21. Eleemosyna ab omni peccato morte liberat non patietur animam ire ad tenebras Tob. 4. Compassion hath increas'd with me from my Infancy Because it will attract a great abundance of Divine Blessings upon them during all their Life and at the Hour of our Death as it is said in the Scripture As for their Honor 2. Moral you ought to conserve it in your Neighbor as much as possible Hinder Calumnies and Detractions If one be accus'd of a Wickeness which he hath not done defend him and say that it is not so If one discover the Ill he hath done endeavor to excuse him and hinder that it be not spoken of any more Speak of some other Good he hath done or some good Quality he is endow'd with Shew that Detraction displeases you and exhort him who utters it to spare the Reputation of his Neighbor As for the Good of the Soul 3. Spiritual which consists in Vertue and Salvation since it is the greatest of all Goods you must use all possible Means to procure
long time For in the Ninth Year of his Reign the City of Jerusalem was Besieg'd by Nabuchadonosor King of Babylon and after Two Years Siege it was Taken Sackt and put to Fire and Sword the Temple Ransackt and Burnt those of the People who had escap'd the fury of the Sword or Famine were sent into Captivity And he flying with his Children was taken and brought before the proud King who after having receiv'd him with Expressions of Fury and Indignation caused his Childrens Throats to be cut before his Face and afterwards pull'd out his Eyes and made him be sent Captive into Babylon where he dy'd miserably undergoing the just Punishment of his Iniquities We must add to these Examples those which we have recounted in the Sixth Chapter being that all those of whom we spoke in that place are dead in their Sins and by Sins begun in their Youth These Examples are very common in Sacred Scripture the contrary are there very rare and as I have said we shall find but one only in the Old Testament who was truly Converted after he had liv'd wickedly in his Youth viz. Manasses and that by so strange a Means that it manifests more clear than Day the dreadful Difficulty with which one Corrects the wicked Inclinations of his younger Years This Prince having lost his Father Ezechias 4 Reg. 21. one of the most pious Kings of Juda at the Age of Twelve Years was Inheritor of his Crown but not of his Vertues For blotting out of his Mind presently the holy Examples and wise Documents he had receiv'd from him he addicts himself to all sorts of Vices and Impieties such as the Scripture recounts His Iniquities went on encreasing until the Fifteenth or according to others till the Two and twentieth Year of his Reign wherein God sent him an extreme Affliction He was taken by the Assyrians in the City of Jerusalem sent Captive into Babylon loaden with Irons and Chains cast into a frightful Prison where he was daily afflicted with a vast number of Miseries and Persecutions Being reduc'd to this extremity of Misery he began to open his Eyes and call upon him in his Afflictions whom he had forgotten in his Prosperity He acknowledg'd his Iniquities and begg'd Pardon for them with a truly contrite Heart and by the force of Tears and Prayers obtain'd from God his Deliverance After which he did Penance for his Sins and liv'd in Holiness all the remainder of his Life even to the Age of Sixty seven when he dy'd St. Jerom adds to this History a very remarkable Particularity which he took out of the Tradition of the Hebrews For Explicating what the Scripture says in general Terms * Qui posteaquam coangustatus est oravit Dominum Deum suum Hieron in ques Heb. in Paral. That Manasses being opprest with Affliction had recourse to God he saith that it was in the Extremity of a frightful Death to which he was expos'd He should have been put to Death in a great brazen Vessel pierc'd with many Holes set upon a hot Fire which heating the Vessel and penetrating it on every side should consume that miserable Prince by its Flames by so much the more cruel as it was tedious in duration He was shut up in this Vessel and the Fire kindled under him In this dreadful Representation of Death this misfortunate Prince apply'd not himself to God but first to the Idols which he had ador'd so strangely was he blinded with his former Sins But when he perceiv'd that it was to no end to invoke their Assistance he call'd to mind a Sentence of the Sacred Scripture which he had often heard from his Father in his Youth by which God promis'd his Succours * Dum quaesi eris Dominum Deum tuum invenies eum si tamen tâ—â—o corde quae ieris tota tribulatione animae tuae Deut. 4. to those who had recourse to him in their Tribulations and converted themselves to him with all their Heart and had a great Sorrow for their Sins He presently raises his Heart to God with Sighs and Lamentations and begs of him his Deliverance with such a Contrition for his Sins that God shew'd him Mercy and not only deliver'd him from that frightful Death but from his Slavery and made him return to Jerusalem where he spent the rest of his Life after the manner I have already touch'd See here Theotime a Conversion after a wicked Life of Youth but a Conversion purchas'd at a dear Rate CHAP. XIII Of the great Evils which spring from the wicked Life of Youth THE greatest of Evils is that whereof we speak Tenth Motive which obliges young People to Vertue viz. The loss of Salvation and Eternal Ruine which befalls many by the Sins of their Youth it being certain that Sins committed in that Age are the original Cause of Damnation to many But besides that there are many others issuing from the same Fountain which are necessary to be known dear Theotime to the end that knowing them you may conceive a greater horror of the Cause which produces them ARTICLE I. The first Evil viz. Death which the Sins of Youth hasten to very many I put in the first place Death hasten'd which happens to many young Persons in punishment of their Sins I do not mean that all those who die in the Flower of their Age die in punishment of the Sins they have committed nor also that all those who follow Vice in their Youth should be punish'd with an untimely Death I know very well that the Pious sometimes depart in the prime of their Youth and that this Death is a Recompence of their Vertue and an Effect of the Love God bears them according to that Testimony of the Sacred Scripture in the Book of Wisdom If the Just says the Wiseman Justus si morte praeoccupatus fuerit in refrigerio erit placens Deo factus dilectus vivens inter peccatores transsatus est Raptus est ne malitia mutaret intellectum ejus ne fictio deciperet animam illius facinatio enim nugacitatis obscurat bona inconstantia concupiscentiae transvertit sensum sine malitia consummatus in brevi explevit tempora multa placita enimerat Deo anima illius propter hoc properavit Dominus educere illum de medio iniquitatum Sap. 4. be prevented by Death he will find therein Repose and Salvation his Vertue having render'd him agreeable to God made him purchase his Love and merit to be taken out of this World where he liv'd amongst Sinners God withdrew him betimes lest Corruption should slip into his Mind and his Soul be deceiv'd with the false appearance of the Vanity and Pleasures of the World which delude Men and make them love those things which are most opposite to their Salvation I know also very well that there are many Sinners who live a long time and who grow old in the Vices they had contracted in their Youth
whereof it is spoken in the Second Book of Kings Chap. 16. with all his other Crimes did contribute thereunto What shall we say of Salomon Salomon Theotime who being the wisest of all Men singularly belov'd of God and favor'd by him with all desirable Graces permitting himself to be misfortunately carry'd away with unchast Love fell from that Sin to the basest of all Crimes that is Idolatry wherein he continu'd such a long time that it is not known whether he was ever rais'd from it and hath left all the World in doubt of his Salvation O dreadful Example O frightful Effect of the Sin of Uncleanness If this Sin were so frightful in Particulars Omnis caro corruperit viam suam Gen. 6. it hath no less spar'd Multitudes nor even the whole World. That dreadful Deluge which drown'd the whole Earth two thousand Years after its Creation was the first Effect of Impurity which had caus'd so prodigious a Corruption in all Human Nature that it provok'd the Divine Choler Tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus delebo inquit hominem quem creavi à facie terrae even to destroy by an universal Flood that same Nature the most excellent Workmanship of his Hands to extinguish in those Waters the Flames of that unchast Love which had caus'd such an universal Conslagration The Waters of the Deluge were scarce dry'd up Clamor Sodomaeorum Gomorraeorum multiplicatus est peccatum eorum aggravatum est nimis Gen. 19. Igitur pluit Dominus super Sodomam Gomorram sulphur ignem à Domino de coelo sed subvertit civitates has omnem circa regionem universos habitatores urbium cuncta terrae viventia Gen. 19. Quibus in testimonium nequitiae samigabunda constat deserta terra Sap. 19. when this detestable Sin beginning again to enkindle its first Flames oblig'd the Divine Justice to send another frightful Punishment upon those infamous Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah whose Impudence being arriv'd at the greatest height and crying to Heaven for Vengeance God showres down Fire and Brimstone visibly from Heaven which reduc'd into Ashes not only the Men and Cities but also all the neighboring Land which is yet to this day an infectious unwholsom Marsh to which Man dares not approach that it might serve as an Example to Posterity and teach the Immodest that the dishonest Fire with which they permit themselves to be inflam'd shall be punish'd with another Fire which shall burn always and never be consum'd To these Examples which are taken out of the Sacred Scripture and by consequence most certain I might add many others with which Histories abundantly furnish us I shall content my self with two which I have chosen out amongst others The First is recounted by St. Gregory in his Dialogues He saith S. Greg. lib. 4. Dial. cap. 35. there was one in his time nam'd Chrysorius a Man of Quality and very rich but as much abounding with Vices as he was wealthy in Riches but above all extreamly addicted to immodest Pleasures God resolving to put a period to those Sins he daily heap'd up one after another sends him a severe Sickness of which he died but with a Death very extraordinary Approaching to the greatest extremity of his Distemper he suddenly perceiv'd a multitude of malignant Spirits who presented themselves unto him in hideous Forms and made a shew as if they would immediately carry him into Hell. He began to tremble look agast and lamentably cry out for succour he turns himself on every side to avoid the sight of those horrid Shapes but which way soever he mov'd they were continually before his Eyes After many struglings feeling himself press'd and violent hands laid on him by those wicked Spirits he began horribly to cry out Truce till Morning Truce till Morning and shrieking thus his Soul was torn from his Body and he miserably departed without obtaining the Truce he requir'd O Incontinence the Mother of Impenitence If this Example be terrible that which follows is yet more frightful and ought to move you more powerfully It is related by John Gerson Chancellor of Paris who took it out of Thomas Cantipratensis Suffragan Bishop of Cambray who says he was an Eye-witness of it He says That being a young Scholar he had a Companion of his Studies with whom he had contracted a very strict Friendship a Person of Quality and endow'd with all the Vertues one could wish in a young Man. Happy if he had conserv'd that Treasure of Innocence But it chanc'd by a Misfortune too frequent to young Persons that he fell into wicked Company which kindled in his Heart the Fire of unchast Love This in a short time consum'd all his good Inclinations and cast him into the incredible Disorder of a Life full of Sins and Corruptions His Irregularities were visible to all the World and continues in this deprav'd Custom notwithstanding the Admonitions of his Friends And this Author says that he himself frequently exhorted him to return to the Way from which he had departed As he contemn'd all Advertisements God was resolv'd in his Person to shew an Example to young People who permit themselves to be blindly carry'd to this miserable Sin by a dreadful Accident which I shall recount to you Being once asleep at Midnight he was seis'd with a terrible Fright wherein being awak'd he began to cry out with a dreadful clamour All the House rises and every one comes to his assistance They ask him where his Sickness held him but could get no other Answer from him than hideous Outcries They cause the Priest to be sent for who exhorted him to think upon God and beg pardon of him for his Sins but in vain The Priest continuing to exhort him with many moving Expressions and Tears he turns towards him and looking upon him with ghastly Eyes spake thus to him in a lamentable Voice Wo be to him that seduced me Wo be to him that seduced me It is in vain to invoke the Grace of God I see Hell open ready to receive me After these Words which redoubled the Lamentations of all those who were present every one entreating him to recommend himself to God he turns to the other side and continuing his Clamors miserably and in Despair he died Ought not this Example Theotime to make all those tremble who are addicted to the Sin of Incontinency and principally young Persons to whom it doth particularly appertain to teach them how they ought to fly this abominable Sin and with what care they ought to preserve themselves from the Company of those misfortunate Spirits who corrupt the Vertue of others ARTICLE IV. Remedies against Impurity And first that this Sin must be resisted at the beginning After I have discover'd the Malice of this Sin I must shew the Remedies and afford you Means by which you may preserve your self from the Enemy of your Salvation The First which I shall prescribe First
more than all other things so that you love nothing above him as there is nothing greater or more amiable than he nor nothing equal to him as there is nothing which can match him And to speak briefly the Love of God consists in preferring God before all things Wherein the Love of God consists before the Goods of the World Pleasures Honor Friends and Life it self so that you must be prepar'd never to love these things to the prejudice of the Love you owe to God and be resolv'd rather to lose them a thousand times than to be wanting to the Obedience you are oblig'd to render unto him It is in this preference of God before all things wherein the essential Point of the Love of God consists a Preference without which it is impossible to love God nor by consequence to be in the State of Salvation O dear Theotime you must then labor to acquire this so amiable a Love and this so necessary a Preference to engrave it deeply in your Heart And to the end you be not deceiv'd therein by taking as very many do apparent Love for the real The Practice of the love of God. See the principal Acts you must practise therein by which you may know whether you love God truly or no. First 1. Have a horror for Sin. Above all things fear and have a horror of Sin because it is displeasing to God and infinitely opposite to his Goodness and be resolv'd never to commit a Sin upon any account whatsoever Secondly 2. Avoid venial Sins Fly venial Sins the most you can because they displease God and altho ' they destroy not Love yet they diminish and weaken it and dispose you to fall into mortal Sin. Thirdly 3. Labor to get Vertue Labor to acquire the Vertues so necessary for you and which he exacts from you It is the property of Love to desire to please him whom one loves Fourthly 4. Advance the Service of God. Wish often that God should be serv'd and lov'd as he deserves Be troubled when you see him offended hinder as much as you can that he may not be displeas'd and endeavor by your Words and Example to move others to love him But chiefly Theotime 5. Begin betimes to love God. practise these things in good time and begin from your Youth to love him whom you must never cease to love At whatsoever time you begin to love him it will be always too late and you will always have reason to express that Grief which S. Augustin did a Sero te amavi ô pulchritudo tam antiqua tam nova sero te amavi S. Aug. Conf. lib. 10. cap. 27. I have lov'd thee too late O ancient Beauty I have lov'd thee too late O Eternal Goodness Demand of him frequently the Grace to love him as you ought and daily say to him from your Heart those excellent Words of David b Quid enim mihi est in coelo à te quid volui super terram Deus cordis mei pars mea Deus in aeternum Psal 72. O God whether it be in Heaven or Hell I love nothing but thee thou art the God of my Heart and the Part which I eternally pretend to CHAP. IV. Of the Love of Parents HE who fears God Qui timet Deum honorat Parentes quasi Dominis serviet his qui se genuerunt Eccl. 3. says the Wiseman honors his Parents and will serve as his Masters those who gave him Birth Yes Theotime if you have the Fear of God in your Heart you will honor your Parents and all those to whom he hath given Authority over you because he desires it and commands it The Fear of God makes us honor our Parents Honor thy Father and thy Mother And if you honor them not you have neither the Fear nor Love of God. For to contemn a thing so holy which Nature her self inspires you with which God hath so strictly commanded you is not to have the Fear of God. There is no Menace with which he hath not threatned those Children who are wanting to their Duty a Qui affligit Patrem sugit Matrem ignominiosus erit infoelix Prov. 19. He says that He who afflicts his Father and flies from the discreet Admonitions of his Mother will become infamous and miserable b Qui maledicit patri matri extinguetur lucerna ejus in mediis tenebris Prov. 20. He who curses his Father or Mother shall perish his Light that is his Life shall be extinct in Darkness that is Death c Oculum qui subsannat patrem qui despicit partum matris suae suffodiunt eum corvi de torrentibus commedant eum filii aquilae Prov. 36. The Eye which mocks his Father and which despises the Mother who brought him forth deserves to be pull'd out by the Crows and eaten by young Eagles d Quam malae est famae qui derelinquit patrem est maledictus à Deo qui exasperat matrem Eccl. 3. He who abandons his Father hath lost his Honor before Men and he who vexes his Mother is cursed by God. I wish these Menaces were deeply engraven in the Minds of all Children who forget never so little their Duty towards their Parents Add to these Threats the rigorous Law God had establish'd in the old Testament against wicked Children The Severity of the Old Testament I shall cite it all entire that you may read it attentively If it happen says the Law that a Father hath a rebellious and disobedient Child who will not submit himself to the Commands of his Father and Mother and they have chastis'd him and he would not obey then shall his Father and his Mother take him and bring him where they keep Judgment and there they shall make their Complaints in this manner This our Son is stubborn and disobedient and will not obey our Admonition and seeks nothing but Debauches * Lapidibus obruet eum omnis populus civitatis morietur ut auferatis maium de medio vestri universus Israel audiens pertimescat Deut. 21. Then adds the Law he shall be stoned of the People of the City to Death so you shall take away the Evil from you that all may hear it and fear This is the severe Law God had Establish'd against rebellious Children And altho' it was not made in the Evangelical Law yet they ought no less to fear his Choler and Vengeance whereof but too many Effects daily appear by the visible Punishment he sends sooner or later to Children who fail in so holy and inviolable a Duty This Sin is one of those which God ordinarily punishes in this Life and there are scarce any wicked Children to whom some Punishment of God doth not befall in this Life which is often the beginning of an Eternal Chastisement But let us leave these Motives of terror and fear to stubborn
which is to advance you in Vertue 2. In placing your self in the Presence of God and begging of him the Favor to draw from the Subject you are going to Meditate on some pious Thoughts Affections and Resolutions for Salvation But this Prayer must be made from the bottom of your Heart desiring ardently to obtain that which you demand The Second is Meditation it self which consists in three Acts of which we have frequently spoken To raise good Thoughts Affections and Resolutions from the Subject on which you Meditate The Subject therefore to be Meditated on must be read and lookt over beforehand and after having made your Prayer to God the Mind must be apply'd to consider attentively the Thoughts you shall have had and the Motives you shall have read upon the matter or others with which God shall inspire you to draw from thence convenient Affections and Resolutions to practise them You must perform these three Acts in the Presence of God consider that from him all good Thoughts come demand them therefore of him very often and beseech him to speak to your Heart a Loquere Domine quia audit servus tuus 2 Reg. 3. Speak Lord for thy Servant hears thee b Audiam quid loquatur in me Dominus Psal 84. I will hearken to what our Lord shall speak within me In this Exercise is practis'd that holy Commerce of which we spoke above of speaking to God and hearing God when he speaks to us We speak to him in Praying to him and Ruminating in his Presence on the Subject on which we Meditate We hearken to him by expecting and receiving his holy Inspirations and entertaining them in our Heart and conserving them to put them in Practice But this Conference of speaking to God and hearkning to God in our Heart must be perform'd in Repose and Silence as the Prophet says that is with a quiet and attentive Mind and desirous to profit in Vertue The Third Part is the Conclusion which is effected only by Prayer wherein acknowledging two things in the sight of God viz. That all good Thoughts come from him and that we know not how to put them in practice but by his Grace we give him most humble thanks for those he hath bestow'd upon us and beseech him that he will give us the Grace to put them in practice Thus Theotime if you consider well the Oeconomy or Disposition of Meditation you will find that it is totally referr'd to two things to Pray and to Meditate this is all which is perform'd in that holy Exercise It is therefore sometimes call'd Meditation sometimes Mental Prayer And it is upon these two Actions that our Salvation and Sanctification depend We must Meditate to fill our Mind with the Knowledge of pious things but we must Pray to be illuminated by God in this Knowledge and that the Light we receive therein may inflame us with the Love of God. We ought therefore to say often with good King Ezechias * Sicut pullus hirundinis clamabo meditabor ut columba Isai 38. I will cry out like a young Swallow and will meditate like a Dove In fine Theotime we interiorly perform in this Exercise the same which the Prophet Elias did in a visible Sacrifice which he would offer to God He prepar'd the Victim and Wood to burn it and afterwards he set himself to Prayer to demand of God that he would be pleas'd to send him Fire from Heaven to burn that Holocaust Fire in reality descended and consum'd all the Sacrifice Thus in this holy Exercise of Prayer we prepare our Heart to sacrifice it to God we fill it with the Knowledge of pious things which are apt to inflame it with the Love of God but the Celestial Fire must descend upon it that is God must inflame it with his Grace and enkindle in it the Fire of his Love that same Fire which he himself came to bring into the World and which he earnestly desires should inflame all our Hearts ARTICLE X. The Subject on which we must Meditate After we have spoken of the Method of Meditation we must now speak of the Subject or Matter on which you may Meditate These Subjects are generally all the Truths of Salvation which God hath reveal'd and manifested to Men the knowledge whereof serves to excite us to the Love of God such are these which follow 1. The Greatness and Perfections of God as his Power Wisdom Goodness Justice Immensity and Eternity 2. The Favors of God towards Men as Creation Conservation Redemption Vocation to Christianity the Grace of Justification the particular Benefits we find we have receiv'd from him 3. The Nativity the Life the Actions the Miracles the Passion the Death the Resurrection the Ascension of our Saviour Jesus Christ with all his Divine Words are excellent and plentiful Subjects of Meditation 4 The four last things of Man that is his Death Judgment Heaven Hell. 5. Sin in general 6. The Sins or Vices in particular as Pride Impurity Intemperance Anger Covetousness Envy and all others 7. The Christian Vertues opposite to these Vices the Love of God the Love of our Neighbor Humility Chastity Meekness of Heart and others In fine We may Meditate upon Faith and by consequence upon the Articles of the Creed upon Hope and upon every Petition of the Pater Noster or Lord's Prayer upon Charity and at the same time upon the Commandments of God all which have relation to Charity Upon the first Subjects which are the Perfections of God we Meditate upon their greatness which may be learnt by Books which treat of them and we draw from thence convenient Affections as Admiration Respect Submission Fear Hope Love. Upon the Benefits of God we consider their greatness by the excellence of the thing which is given by the Greatness of him who gives them and who bestows Favors on us out of his pure Goodness without having any need of us by the meanness of him who receives the Benefits that is of our selves from thence we examin the good or ill Use we have made of them the ingratitude with which we have receiv'd them the good Use we are bound to make of them for the future Upon the Life and Actions of our Lord we consider the Circumstances which render them admirable the Vertues he made appear therein from thence we draw powerful Motives of Love of Acknowledgment and of Imitation Upon the four last things by looking on them attentively and as at hand we learn to know them to fear them and to prepare our selves for them in good time by a holy Life This is a very profitable and efficacious Meditation when it is often perform'd and with necessary application * Memorare novissima tua in aeternum non peccabis Eccl 7. Remember says the Wiseman the last things and you shall never sin Upon Sin in general there are two great Considerations which comprehend all others to be reflected on The
more capable of Labor which it could not be able to undergo if it were always employ'd So that Labor is the End and Motive of Sport and Recreation From thence three Conditions follow Three Conditions to be observ'd which must be observ'd in Play that it may be good and vertuous The First Moderation To keep therein a civil Moderation for if it be taken in excess it is no more a Recreation but rather an Employment it is not to Play to be made more fit for Labor which is the sole End Pastime ought to have but only for Pleasure which is a vicious End yea it is to make one unsit for Labor because excess of Play dissipates the Spirits enfeebles the Forces of the Body and oftentimes considerably prejudices the Health by the Distempers it causes The Second Condition is An orderly Affection Not to have a disorderly Affection to Play as it happens frequently to young Persons This Affection makes them fall into the Excess we spoke of lose much Time think continually of the Means to divert themselves It is the cause that they almost never apply themselves seriously to Labor and when their Body is at Study their Mind is at their Sport and Divertisement The Third Condition is Avoiding the Cames of Hazard To fly as much as possible the Plays of Hazard such Plays keep the Mind too much ty'd to them principally young Peoples They serve not to recreate the Spirits but to give them more disturbance It is hard to observe therein a Moderation one is so engag'd either by Loss or Gain They Play there only out of Covetousness The bad Effects of Play. and to gain which is a wicked End Add the ordinary Losses one suffers which leave after them Displeasure Vexation and Despair Joyn to these the Cheats unjust Gains Choler Swearing Quarrels of which these sorts of Plays are ordinarily full The excessive loss of Time the dissipation of Mind and Goods the wicked Habits of Anger of Impatience of Swearing of Lying of Covetousness and many others which Play produces The disorderly Inclination to Play which continues all their Life and frequently ruins their Possessions and Honor and reduces them to extream Miseries as we daily see but by too many Examples and in fine makes a Man incapable of any Good. Avoid these Sports Theotime Practice as absolutely contrary to your Salvation and Happiness and addict not your self but to honest Pastimes which serve for the Divertisement of the Mind or Exercise of the Body observing therein the Conditions we have spoken of and chiefly keeping your self from Excesses which * Relaxabantur etiam mihi ad ludendum habenae ultra temperamentum severitatis in dissolutionem affectionum variarum S. Aug. lib. 2. Confes S. Augustin in his Confessions acknowledg'd to be one of the Causes of the depravation of his Youth Now this Excess is understood not only of the Time employ'd therein which ought to be well regulated but also of the Mony you Play which ought always to be very little otherwise you will Play for Gain and not for Recreation and the Sport will be a Hell and Disquiet rather than a Divertisement Besides the Mony you lose at Play would be better employ'd amongst the Poor whose Necessities will cry one day to God for your Excesses and against those of all Gamesters CHAP. XXI Of Liberality against Covetousness ALtho' it may seem that Covetousness is not an ordinary Vice amongst young Persons Youth must be arm'd against Covetousness yet it is very necessary to arm them against this Passion which easily taking root in young Souls is insensibly augmented and causes vast Disorders in their Life There are two sorts of Covetousness Two sorts of Covetousness The one which makes us love Mony to heap it up to get Treasures and Purchases The other which makes us affect it to dispose and employ it for our proper Pleasures The First is very rare amongst young People but the Second is very ordinary with them and highly prejudicial Experience makes appear that it is ordinary with them How ordinary among young Persons for as they earnestly love their Pleasures they seek after all Means to satisfie them which cannot be effected without Mony From hence it comes that they apply all their Endeavors to get it From hence the Cheats and Tricks they make use of towards their Parents to get it from them From hence their Cozening in Play their Hard-heartedness to the Poor and sometimes Robberies and unjust Ways to procure it From hence the love of Riches which we see in young Spirits the desires of great Fortunes the imaginary Designs they lay to purchase them This Passion having thus taken its beginning in Youth easily increases How prejudicial and strengthening it self by Age becomes so strangely rooted that it can never be pull'd up all the remainder of their Life And it causes that so general a Disorder which is found amongst Christians and which the Prophet deplores when he says that a A minore usque ad majorem omnes avaritiae student Jer. 16.13 From the least to the greatest all are given to Covetousness that is to the irregular love of the things of the World which b Radix omnium malorum est cupiditas 1 Tim. 6. S. Paul says is The root of all Evils This Vice takes its origin from three Causes in Youth The First is Three Causes of Avarice in young Men. what we have now spoken of The Second is the common Example of the World which they see loves and esteems Mony above all things and runs after it with insatiable greediness The Third is the Fault of Parents who inspire this Love into their Children from their tender Years Discoursing of nothing but the Care to get their Livelihood if they be Mean or Poor or of advancing and aspiring to a higher Fortune if they be Rich teaching thus their Children that which S. Cyprian reproaches them for that is Filios tuos doces patrimonium magis amare quam Christum S. Cypr. lib. de oper Eleem. To love more their Riches than Jesus Christ and to labor in such a manner for the Goods of this mortal Life that they think little or nothing on the Eternal This Evil dear Theotime must be prevented in good time It must be prevented betimes and hindred from taking possession of your Heart it being certain that there is no Vice which increases more with Age than this and which becomes more incapable of remedy For this Effect take notice of what I counsel you 1. First Means Being as we have said that the greatest Cause of this Covetousness in young People springs from the love of Pleasures use all your Endeavors to moderate that Passion which may be said to be one of the greatest Mischiefs of Youth the Cause of all the Misfortunes it commits and the chiefest Obstacle of all the Good
it can do In the Name of God pass not from this Place without making Reflections upon it 2. Second Means That the love of Mony may not take possession of your Soul think often of that great Maxim of St. Paul that Covetousness is the root of all Evil. These Evils are the Sins of the World and the Misfortunes with which it is replenish'd whereof the greatest part springs from this wicked Cause as it would be easie to make it appear 3. Third Means Be persuaded that Riches damn many of the World be they Rich or Poor the Rich by the ill Use the Poor by Covetousness Know says the same Apostle Hoc scitote intelligentes quod omnis fornicator aut immundus aut avarus quod est idolorum servitus non habet haereditatem in regno Christi Dei. Ephes 5. that the Covetous hath no part in the Kingdom of God. 4. Fourth Means Accustom your self not to desire Mony but for your Necessity and for your civil and modest Recreations and when you lack it bear that Want with Patience considering how many Poor there are who have not Necessaries and that you are no better than they Above all never make use of Deceits Surprises nor any other unlawful way of getting it 5. Fifth Means Avoid certain Actions which are the Marks or Effects of Avarice in young People and which excite it much as to Play for Gain to be too fearful of losing at Play to Dispute for a small thing to keep any thing from another and much more never to take any thing be it what it will which is besides the Sin committed a damnable Custom and of very dangerous Consequence 6. Love the Poor give Alms freely Sixth Means abridge some part of the Mony you have for your Recreations to supply their Necessities Is it not a shame in you to be prodigal in your Pleasures in your Clothes in your Superfluities and to be so Covetous so hard for the Necessities of the Poor who are Men like you Christians like you and sometimes better than you in the sight of God My Child said the good old Toby to his Son Ex substantia tua fac eleemosynam noli avertere faciem tuam ab ullo paupere ita enim fiet ut nec à te a vertatur facies Domini Quomodo potueris ita esto misericors si multum tibi fuerit abundanter tribue si exiguum tibi fuerit etiam exiguum libenter impertiri stude Praemium enim bonum tibi thesaurizas in die necessitatis Quoniam eleemosyna ab omni peccato à morte liberat non patietur animam ire in tenebras Fiducia magna erit coram summo Deo eleemosyna omnibus facientibus eam Tob. 4. give Alms of thy Substance and turn not thy Face from any Poor lest God turn his Face from thee Give Alms according to thy ability if thou hast but little be not afraid to give a little for thou layest up a good Store for thy self against the day of necessity Because Alms delivers from Death and suffereth not the Soul to come into Darkness for Alms is a good Gift before the most High to all them who use it Consider well these Words Theotime and engrave them deeply in your Mind In fine you are either Poor or of a mean Fortune or Rich. If you be Poor beg of God the Grace to take your Poverty with Patience for Penance and for his Love. Confide in his Providence which will never be wanting to his Servants Si soenum agri sic vestit Deus quanto magis vos modicae fidei Quaerite ergo primum regnum Dei justitiam ejus haec omnia adjicientur vobis Mat. 6. If God hath care of the least Creatures according to the Saying of our Lord how much more will he have of you Seek then says he first the Kingdom of Heaven and all things necessary shall be given you Read the Sixth Chapter of S. Matth. from Verse 24. If you be of a mean Fortune have a care to be content and not to disquiet your self by the desire of a greater Call to mind what S. Paul says Qui volunt divites fieri incidunt in tentationem in laqueos Diaboli in desideria multa inutilia nociva quae mergunt homines in interitum radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas 1 Tim. 6. that Those who desire to be Rich fall into temptation and snares of the Devil and into many wicked Desires which plunge them in perdition because Covetousness is the root of all Evil. Wherefore practise the best you can that great Maxim which the same Apostle gives to Christians * Sint mores sine avaritia contenti praesentibus ipse enim dixit non te deseram Heb. 6. Let there be no Covetousness in your Manners being contented with the Goods you possess being God hath said I will not forsake you If you be Rich stand in great fear of your Riches for your Salvation Vae vobis divitibus quia habetis consolationem vestram Luc. 6. Wo be to the Rich says the Son of God because they have here their Consolation Upon the ocasion of a rich young Man he said that it is very difficult for the Rich to be Saved To avoid the Dangers thereof read and practise what we have said in the Chapter of the Obstacles of rich young Persons in Part 3. Chap. 10. CHAP. XXII Of Humility I Have reserv'd this Vertue for the last as that which gives Perfection to all others and which is necessary to conserve them and make them increase in young Souls Pride is an inordinate Esteem of ones self Pride creeps easily into young Minds is most pernicious to all Men but particularly to young Persons It naturally creeps into their Mind according to the measure that they advance in Age in Vertue in Science or such other Perfections which they have or think they have It makes them incapable of all good Impressions and opens them the way to all sorts of Vices My Child Superbiam nunquam in tuo sensu aut tuo verbo dominari permittas in ipsa enim initium sumpsit omnis perditio Tob. 4. Initium omnis peccati est superbia Eccl. 10. have a care that Pride never bear dominion in your Thoughts or Words because from it all the Misfortunes of the World arise said the holy Man Toby to his Son. I say unto you also Pride must be repressed by Humility Theotime preserve your self from Pride permit it not to take possession of your Mind banish it far from you Humility is necessary for you Not a Humility of Behavior or Words but a true solid interior Humility an Humility which renders you humble in these three manners Three sorts of Humility in your self towards God and towards Men. 1. 1. In ones self Be humble in your self that is in your own proper
to obtain this Grace of God demand the assistance of your good Angel. 3. Confess your self often during this time that is every Fortnight and Communicate also at the same time according to the Advice of your Confessor Be present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar as often as you can to demand of God therein his Assistance Give Alms according to your power and also perform some Fasts for this Intention Recommend this Affair to the Prayers of your Friends Let all the Good you do be referr'd to that End that is to obtain of God the Grace to choose well your Calling 4. Apply some Hour of the Day to think seriously on the State you must choose and to deliberate of it within your self The first thing to be Examin'd in this Deliberation Three things to be done in this Deliberation is the choice of two general States under which all others are comprehended that is the State of Continence and that of Marriage The State of Continence comprises principally the Ecclesiastical and Religious State the State of Marriage comprehends the different Callings of the World. Examin first these two general States and observe whether you be indifferent or have an Inclination to one of them If you be indifferent take time to Examin seriously both of them in the sight of God and with a Design to choose that of the two which you shall find after a serious Deliberation and with good Counsel to be the better and most proper for you If you be inclin'd and carry'd to one of these two States have a care not to follow presently your Inclination but Examin it diligently and a long time And first if it be to a Lay State consider whether you have had this Inclination a long time Whether it be a good Motive that carries you to that State Whether it be not a greediness after Riches a love of Pleasure or Ambition as it often happens Call to mind the Difficulties and Obligations of that State and to know them more easily descend to the particular Callings of the World which you may most likely embrace For this effect read what shall be said thereof hereafter in Chap. 11. and 12. Beseech God that he would make you know his Will and not permit you to embrace that State unless it be to serve him Protest to him that this is your Design and that notwithstanding any Inclination you have for that Condition you will quit your self of it if he shall make it known to you that it is not his Will. Banish from your Mind all bad Motives of Pleasure Covetousness Ambition and Vanity and propose no other than that of serving God and doing his Will. When you have propos'd all these things during a good space of time if this Inclination continue with you you may in the Name of God embrace that State proposing chiefly to your self to comport your self therein as a vertuous Man to avoid the Dangers of it to discharge your Obligations and always to have the Fear of God for the Rule of your Actions and of all your whole Life But in choosing amongst the Callings of the World have a care not to take those wherein you see many Dangers of offending God and ruining your self Now if you perceive your self to be mov'd to the State of Continence whether Ecclesiastical or Religious as you must have a very particular Vocation to these two States so you must seriously examin it and resolve nothing therein till after you have demanded a long time of God the Grace to know it after you have consider'd a good while the Difficulties and Advantages of the State you would choose and when you have taken good Counsel in it we shall tell you hereafter what you must do in the choice of these two Callings In fine Theotime during all the time of your Deliberation Confer often with your Ghostly Father declare to him all that you observe in your self the Inclinations and Repugnances you find to divers Conditions the Difficulties you apprehend therein the Motives that incline you rather to one State than another Add thereunto also the Counsel of some other Persons supposing they have the Qualities we are about to speak of CHAP. VII Of the Qualities those ought to have of whom Counsel is to be taken for the Choice of a State of Life THERE is no Question but you must principally consult in this Choice him who hath knowledge of your Conscience there being none who can see more clearly in this Affair than he since it is often an obscure doubtful and difficult Business to resolve on even with that Knowledge But he must be a select Man endow'd with much Vertue with a most singular Prudence and one who observes exactly the following Rules 1. Let him not undertake to conduct another in this Choice until he hath offer'd his Prayers to God for that effect and know whether he will make use of him in this Occasion 2. Let him in this Direction regard nothing but God and the Salvation of him whom he Conducts and let him have no other Design but to seek the Will of God. 3. Let him strip himself of all Inclination he may have to move to one State rather than another For Example an Ecclesiastic must lay aside the Inclination to move to an Ecclesiastical Life A Religious that of persuading to a Religious State. He must be absolutely disengag'd in this Conduct that he may not take his own Inclination for the Will of God much less must he have any Interest which is a Crime in this Concern 4. Let him proceed seriously in this Direction not giving Counsel in hast and in a short time but taking leisure to think on it to Examin all the Reasons and all the necessary Circumstances to ask Counsel of others if it be convenient without naming the Person concerning whom he Consults and above all to Pray much 5. Let him have recourse to God to know what he must counsel him according to his holy Will and for the Good and Salvation of him whom he Advises and let him put more trust in his Prayers than his own Judgment expecting to know nothing by himself but by the sole Grace of God For as the Wiseman says * Quis enim hominum scire potest consilium Dei aut quis poterit cogitare quid velit Deus sensum autem tuum quis sciet nisi tu dederis sapientiam Spiritum sanctum tuum de altissimis Sap. 9. Who can know the Design of God or who can know his Will And who can know his own Thought except God himself give him the knowledge of it There happen sometimes so great Difficulties in this Choice that he who gives Counsel knows not on what to resolve Vast Obstacles offer themselves in the Execution of some Design and a Man cannot tell whether they be Temptations of the Devil which endeavor to divert from it or Impediments which God sends to shew that he only
must make use of to deliberate on it and to know whether he be call'd to it This is what we shall Treat of in the three following Articles ARTICLE I. What a Religious State is What its Obligations its Advantages and Dangers are A Religious Life according to S. Thomas is a Means instituted to acquire Sanctity Status religionis est exercitium quoddam ad sanctitatem assequendam S. Thom. 2.2 Quaest 189. Art. 1. Not an exterior Sanctity which appears in the Habit and exterior Actions of Piety but in an interior Holiness which consists in the Sanctification of the Soul which is effected by the mortification of the Passions by the abridgment of disorderly Passions by the stripping her self from all Inclination to Creatures and self-Self-love by a strict Union with God thro' Charity For this End do they leave the World that with less hindrance and more freedom they may apply themselves to these Exercises For this do they renounce all worldly Goods and Contentments not only in Affection as all Christians are oblig'd to renounce them but also in Effect that they may more freely and perfectly give themselves to God. And Lastly To acquire this interior Sanctity they practise Austerities Obediences and all the Rules of Religion which are made only for that End. The Obligations of this kind of Life are great Its Obligations for it obliges to observe an exact Chastity a perfect Poverty remov'd not only from the Possession of any Goods but from all Affection to earthly things with an entire renunciation of their proper Will to follow that of their Superiors and to sanctifie themselves interiorly by the practice of Christian Vertues of which we have already spoken As the Obligations of this State are strict there are also singular Advantages Its Advantages which * Quae est ista tam preciosa margarita nonne haec Religio sancta pura immaculata in qua homo vivit purius cadit rarius surgit velocius incedit cautius irroratur frequentius quiescit securius moritur fiducius purgatur citius praemiatur copiosius S. Bern. Hom. de verbis Domini simile est regnum coelorum homini negotiatori S. Bernard handles in one of his Sermons where he says That in Religion a Man lives more purely is rais'd more readily walks more cautiously is more frequently bedew'd with Divine Grace reposes with more security dies with less fear is sooner purg'd in the other Life and more abundantly recompenc'd in Heaven But this is to be understood as he himself says of a holy pure and immaculate Religion that is a Religion observ'd holily wherein they labor solidly for interior Sanctity as has been said This State hath no small Dangers as well as great Advantages Its Dangers the same * Recta quidem semita vestra securior conjugatorum vita non tamen omnino secura Timendum enim periculum triplex id est ne forte aequare se alteri aut respicere retro aut certe in medio ponte stare seu residere quis velit S. Bern. de tribus ordinibus S. Bernard reduces them to three The First Danger is of falling into Pride and a good Opinion of ones self which creeps so easily and insensibly into pious Actions whose merit it greatly diminisheth and many times absolutely ruins The Second is the Danger of looking back to return unto the World either in Effect or by Affection and Desire The Third is of growing loose in the Exercise of a Religious life It is a Way as the same Saint says wherein one must necessarily either advance or retire and if a Man grows slack he falls into Disorder which makes him in the Habit of Religion and Piety lead a most secular Life and full of Vices and which is by so much more dangerous as being really wicked it bears the appearance of Vertue The first of these Dangers ordinarily springs from this that Men judge of Sanctity by the Exterior and one esteems himself such as he seems in appearance not regarding that Sanctity consists in the Vertues of the Soul and chiefly in the practice of a solid and perfect Humility The Second and Third arise most frequently from conversing with the World which is infinitely dangerous for Religious Persons as * Necesse est ut quisque religiosus si falvari desiderat saeculum contemnat sese intra monasterii claustra concludat S. Bern. lib. debene vivend Serm. 66. S. Bernard says and all three together proceed from the want of a true Vocation to Religion These Theotime are the principal things you ought to consider if you deliberate on a Religious Calling Now to the end you may proceed with more assurance in this Deliberation I shall tell you the Order you must observe therein and what you must do to know whether you be call'd to it ARTICLE II. What is to be done to know whether one be call'd to Religion First If you perceive in your self a strong Motion to that State have a care not to reject it because perhaps it is a Vocation from God nor also to embrace it suddenly being it may be only a human Motion You must examin whether it be God who speaks interiorly to you for if it be you must hear and follow him whither he calls you if it be not you must remain as you are But how should I know that you 'll say See the Means Take a good space of time to apply your self to this important Affair and during that time practise exactly four things 1. Refrain from any Conversation with those who would move or excite you to be Religious The Reason is very manifest for as soon as you shall be solicited to it you will not know how to discern whether the Inclination you have to it comes from the Inspiration of God or the Persuasion of Men. 2. Beg daily of God with great earnestness that he would be pleas'd to make his Will known to you and confirm you in this Motion if it come from him or take it away if it come not from him Say to him as S. Peter did a Domine si tu es jube me venire ad te Mat. 14. Lord if it be thou who speakest command me to come to thee Declare that you are ready to hearken to him as young Samuel b Loquere Domine quia audit servus tuus 1 Reg. 3. Speak Lord for thy Servant hears thee and say with S. Paul c Domine quid me vis facere Act 9. Lord what wilt thou have me do 3. Examin diligently 1. The Obligations Advantages and Dangers of a Religious Life of which we have spoken above 2. The Intention you bring to this State. The Intention that must be had to enter into Religion The Intention which must be had in this Design is to withdraw your self from the World to do Penance and to be sanctifi'd interiorly by the practice of Christian Vertues See
Thieves themselves because being constituted to render to every one what belongs to him you are the first who have violently taken his Goods In fine Theotime have a great care of Judging or Governing others except you have Four Qualities Four Qualities requir'd in Judges which the Sacred Scripture requires in those who Judge or Govern which are Wisdom The Fear of God The Love of Justice And the Hatred of Covetousness These are the Four Conditions which the Scripture points at in the wise Counsel Jethro gave to Moses Provide de omni plebe vitos sapientes timenres Deum in quibas in veritas qui oderint avaritiam constitue ex eis tribunos centuriones qui judicent populum Exod. 18. by which he advis'd him to choose wise Men fearing God loving Truth that is Justice and Enemies of Avarice to Govern the People of Israel These Four Qualities with all that we have said of Judges and Magistrates must proportionably be understood of Advocates and Solicitors of whom we shall speak hereafter of all Officers and of all those who have Publick Charges ARTICLE III. Of a Court-Life This Life is full of Dangers and Precipices The Dangers of a Courtiers Life which are very hardly to be avoided by them who are engag'd therein Common Vertues are easily there corrupted the most solid are there shaken and it is very difficult not to be destroy'd in it It is a Life wherein Pride Ambition Vanity Idleness Excess Intemperance a disordinate love of Pleasures an insatiable Covetousness of the Goods of the World do apparently reign If there be any Religion it is only in shew and hypocrisie every one makes so much appear as is necessary to arrive at his End. Solid Vertue is there contemn'd mock'd and many times persecuted An insatiable desire of growing Great possesses the Minds of all Every one thinks of nothing but his Interest and Fortune From thence spring the Flattering of Great ones a loose Complacence towards all the World unworthy Submission false Friendships Dissimulation which shews a pleasing Countenance to those whom they hate in their Heart From thence Envies Cozening Cheats malicious Intrigues unjust Means to supplant others and to advance themselves at their Expence From thence irreconcilable Enmities Revenge and many dreadful Accidents take their rise If things be so how can one be Sav'd in this Condition you 'll say And what must they do who see themselves destinated for that State I answer that altho' Salvation be not absolutely impossible in that Condition yet it is very difficult and those who see themselves like to be engag'd therein ought to stand in great fear and arm themselves with great Precautions against the Dangers of that Life See here what you must bring with you if any Necessity or Birth or any Office design you for that State. The First Precaution is 1. Precaution to bring thither a Mind fully convinc'd of the Vanity of Earthly things of Greatness of Riches of Pleasures all these things pass and you shall pass with them but Eternity shall never pass The Second is 2. Precaution to bring with you a Mind limited in the desire of preferring your self and advancing your Fortune confine your self to your Condition and as for the rest make account that the great Fortune you are to raise is to procure your Salvation What doth it profit a Man says the Son of God to get the whole World and lose his own Soul to be happy for a short time and miserable for all Eternity O what an admirable Fortune is that Theotime to gain Heaven The Third is 3. Precaution to make a firm Resolution to live like a true Christian and never to offend God upon any Account whatsoever Renew often this Resolution and demand of God daily the Grace to observe it faithfully The Fourth is 4. Precaution to carry your self wisely in all your Actions Offend no one be Circumspect Civil ready to offer your Service to oblige all that you can and that not out of a worldly Compliance nor Policy but out of Charity Dissemble much the things which shall be said or done to you Give not credit easily to Reports which are spread abroad which ordinarily are false or upon some ill Design Have a care of the Friendship you contract lest it should be with a Person whose Example or Conversation might change your Mind and withdraw you from the Path of Vertue which is much to be fear'd in a Life at Court. In fine as this State is full of Dangers you have need of arming your self strongly by frequent and daily Prayers by frequenting the Sacraments by the Counsel of a wise Person by the Reading of pious Books and by the Example of those who liv'd holily in the Court of Princes or those who yet lead there their Life in great Vertue ARTICLE IV. Of the Profession of Arms. This Condition is no less dangerous than the former and abounding with as many Obstacles of Salvation It is good in it self it being necessary for the Conservation of the Realm against the Violences of Strangers and for the Defence of Religion against her Enemies but it is become so corrupted that it is almost impossible to be Sav'd therein Amongst the Vices which reign in this Profession there are Five very common and most enormous ones The First is a great Irreligion which makes them contemn the Service of God and their own Salvation And this Irreligion frequently extends it self to Impiety Atheism The Second an execrable Custom of Swearing and Blaspheming The Third an unbridled Impurity which reigns in that Calling in an incredible manner The Fourth a madness of Duelling which miserably sacrifices to the Devil and Eternal Flames a vast number of that Profession The Fifth consists in Rapines unjust Exactions Violences and ill Treating those who cannot resist It is a most difficult thing to be of that Profession and not to fall into these Vices The wisest and most vertuous learn them sooner or later and are deprav'd at the end by the Example or Persuasion of others O Theotime if any inevitable Necessity destinate you for that State know that you cannot sufficiently apprehend your Danger and if you will avoid your Eternal Ruin you have need of arming your self powerfully against these Enemies and Dangers which environ you 1. Embrace not that Calling but with Reason and for a good Cause as because your Birth obliges you thereto * Non enim militare delictum est sed propter praedam militare peccatum est S. Aug. Serm. 19. de Verb. Domini or for Publick Necessity or other good Reason and not for a Capricho and Licenciousness for Idleness and Sloth for a desire of raising your Fortune nor much less to enrich your self by Spoils Robberies and Extortions These are the most ordinary Motives of those who cast themselves into that Condition Apud omnem Christianum prima honestatis debet
accustom'd to fall into in the choice of these two States which draw after them an infinite number of Miseries and frequently Eternal Damnation To perform this profitably I shall follow the Method I have already observ'd for the Ecclesiastical and Religious State. I shall Treat of two things concerning these two States 1. What we must consider to know them well 2. The Dispositions we must bring to enter well into that State and acquit our Selves worthily in it ARTICLE I. What we must know of a Marry'd Life There are four things to be known of this State its Holiness its Obligations its Advantages and its Dangers I say First that this State is Holy it having been Instituted and Sanctifi'd by God himself from the beginning of the World and since rais'd to the Dignity of a Sacrament by his Son Jesus Christ to sanctifie the Persons that would enter into it and to confer on them Graces necessary to acquit themselves worthily of it Thus this State is Holy every way by its Author who is God by the Dignity of the Sacrament which is annexed to it by the sanctifying Grace which it augments in those who duly receive it by the Favors and Assistances it affords them in their Necessities and in fine by the excellent Signification of the Union of Jesus Christ with the Church his Spouse which made S. Paul give it the Name of a * Sacramentum hoc magnum est ego autem dico in Christo in Ecclesia Ephes 5. great Sacrament Secondly The Holiness of this State brings with it great Obligations whereof the First is to enter into it Holily that is with the requisite Dispositions which we shall speak of hereafter The Second is to lead to holy and truly Christian Life in the Fear of God and in the Observation of his Commandments as it is said of the * Erant autem justi ambo ante Deum incedentes in omnibus mandatis justificationibus Domini sine querela Luc. 1. Father and Mother of S. John to observe an inviolable Fidelity to his Consort to use moderately lawful Pleasures and to refrain from those that are forbidden to Educate their Children in the Fear of God provide for their Necessities to have a care of their Temporal Settlement and much more of their Eternal Salvation Thirdly The Advantages of this State for Salvation are not so great as those of the Ecclesiastical or Religious Life It is also true that it requires not so high a Perfection And if there be any Advantage above those two States it is that not obliging to such strict things it leaves a greater facility for Salvation when there occur not other Obstacles besides As for the Temporal Advantages I place them not here to be consider'd because we look upon this State here only in reference to Salvation Moreover the Pleasures and Contentments that are found therein are not comparable to the Troubles and Adversities with which it is replenish'd according to that Expression of S. Paul who says that Afflictions are inevitable to Marry'd Persons Tribulationes carnis habebunt hujusmodi Fourthly The Dangers of this State are great in number and they are by so much greater as they are not discover'd nor often perceiv'd by those who are environ'd with them The First springs from the excessive and unreasonable Love that is frequently found between Marry'd Persons which is the cause of a vast number of Sins they commit by a criminal Complacence which makes them fear more to displease their Consort than offend God and draw upon them his Displeasure and Indignation The Second Danger arises from a Cause quite contrary to the former which is an Aversion they sometimes have for one another proceeding from the contrariety of Humors Jealousies or other like Causes An Aversion which draws after it a continual train of Sins and an abyss of Miseries The Third Danger comes from the irregular Love they have for their Children which is also an unexhaustible Source of Sins to Parents when thro' that foolish Love they apply all their Care for the Temporal Advantages of their Children as Health Beauty good Behavior to promote them in the World to heap up Riches for them which will only serve to destroy them to procure great Employments for them and in the mean time neglect their Education their Correction their Amendment their good Life and their Eternal Salvation The Fourth Danger is that of Loving the World too much and engaging themselves too deeply in the Affection of the Goods and Pleasures of this Life An Affection which makes them lose the tast and sense of real Goods which are those of Grace and Eternal Salvation This made S. Paul say * Qui cum uxore est solicitus est quae sunt mundi quomodo placeat uxori divisus est 1 Cor. 7. That he who is Marry'd is perplex'd with the Affairs of the World and his Spirit is divided between God and the World. All these Dangers are greater than can be exprest and Marry'd Persons have need of much Grace to avoid them ARTICLE II. The necessary Dispositions for a Marry'd State. We may say with truth that the greatest part of the Miseries which happen in a Marry'd Life springs from the bad Dispositions they bring with them and particularly the following The First is the bad Life of young People in their Youth and chiefly after they have finish'd their Studies until the time of their Marriage For if as the Wiseman says God will give a happy Marriage to those who have liv'd piously during their Youth it follows manifestly that he frequently punisheth the Sins of Youth by an unfortunate Marriage as we daily see The Second Fault is the bad Intention of those who enter into the State of Marriage who propose to themselves no other End in that State than Pleasure and the Contents they expect to find therein and which they conceive to be quite different from what in effect they are The Third is that which is committed in the choice of the Person they have a mind to Espouse A Choice which is ordinarily made without consulting God without any knowledge of the Disposition Manners or Humor of the Person with whom they are to be Engag'd for their whole Life and without any other Consideration than that of Interest or frequently by an indiscreet and ill-grounded Love. This is the Complaint of S. Jerom who says it often happens that there is no * Plerisque nulla est uxoris electio sed qualis obvenerit habenda si fatua si ambitiosa quodcunque vitii est post nu-ptias discimus Choice made in Marriages and that the Faults of the Women are not known till after they are Espoused The Fourth Cause springs from the bad Disposition they bring to the Sacrament of Matrimony Filii sanctorum sumus non postumus ita conjungi sicut Gentes quae ignorant Deum Tob. 8. which they often receive in a wicked
and Third by placing frequently before your Eyes that Expression of Jesus Christ * Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me dignus Mat. 10. He who loves his Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me If you love God as you ought you will love him above all things that is more than any thing that is most dear to you in the World. He who loves him not in this manner shall never be worthy to possess him in his Eternal Happiness The Wise and Children must be lov'd next to God according to God and for God. The Second Danger which springs from the Aversion which sometimes arises between Marry'd Persons is a Mischief which is easilier prevented than cur'd To perform both the one and the other there is no better Means than frequently to represent unto your self that excellent Admonition S. Paul gives to Men * Viri diligite uxores vestras sicur Christus dilexit Ecclesiam seipsum tradidit pro ea ut sanctuicaret eam Ephes 5. To love their Wives as Jesus Christ lov'd the Church his Spouse for whom he gave himself that he might sanctifie her If you will consider well this Example you will find therein a perfect Model of the true Love Marry'd Persons ought to bear to their Wives which ought to be a generous Love which raises them above their Imperfections to support them with Patience and to cure them by the convenient Means which Prudence and Charity shall suggest to them if they have a real desire to save themselves with them And in fine You shall avoid the Fourth Danger which comes frome the Love of the World by this great Advertisement which the same Apostle gives to Marry'd Persons which they ought always to revolve in their Mind * Hoc itaque dico fratres tempus breve est reliqumn est ut qui habent uxores tanquam non habentes sint qui flent tanquam non flentes qui gaudent tanquam non gaudentes qui emunt tanquam non possidentes qui utuntur hoc mundo tanquam non utantur Praeterit enim figura hujus mundi 1 Cor. 7.29 This therefore I say Brethren the time is short it remains that they also who have Wives be as tho' they had not and they that weep as tho' they wept not and they that rejoyce as tho' they rejoyced not and they that buy as tho' they possessed not and they that use the World as tho' they us'd it not for the sigure of this World passeth away The meaning is That this Life being short we must make use of these Goods with much moderation and as by the by not fixing our Affection upon them And that the Goods of this Life having more of appearance than solidity it is a great folly to love them to the prejudice of those of the other Life which are real Goods and for these imaginary and perishable Riches to put ones self in danger of losing Eternal Blessings which shall never end and by losing them draw upon ones self an Eternity of Miseries CHAP. XIII Of a Single Life I Speak not here of the Single Life of Priests and Religious but of the State of Continence which Persons of both Sexes sometimes observe in the World which may happen two ways by Necessity or by Election By Necessity when for some Cause which depends not on us as Poverty Infirmity or some other invincible Impediment a Man cannot attain to a good Marriage By Election when by deliberate Purpose one renounces the State of Matrimony to live in a perpetual Continence They who chance to be oblig'd to Continence by the former Way have need of much Vertue to save themselves in a State wherein they remain against their Will. 1. The first thing to be done is strongly to resist the Vexation their Condition obliges them to They ought to consider that it is God who by his Will hath plac'd them in that State that he hath done it for good Reasons and chiefly for their Salvation From whence it follows that he will not fail to bestow on them all the Graces necessary to observe Continence and live holily in their Condition Now after all they have this Advantage which is found in none of the other States to be fully assur'd that their Vocation comes from God and by consequence nothing will be wanting on his part to effect their Salvation in the State wherein God hath plac'd them 2. Being convinc'd of these Truths they must perform a Second thing which is as it is ordinarily said make a Vertue of Necessity by doing thro' a voluntary acceptance of their State what they would have done by choosing it freely if they had had their Wish That is to say they must embrace their Condition as coming from the Hand of God and consecrate to him their Chastity as a Present he requires of them which may be as pleasing to him as if they had offer'd it by their express and proper Motion 3. After they have thus voluntarily accepted the Condition God hath plac'd them in they must propose to live holily therein and use the necessary Means for that End which are the same we are about to give to them who make choice of it by their own proper Will. I come now to those who voluntarily prefer the State of Continence before that of Marriage and I say they have need of many Advertisements which I beseech you Theotime to weigh well if you be of that number The First is to Examin well the Motive which induces you to embrace this Choice and the Life you would lead in that Condition For if you only make choice of the State of Continence to avoid the Troubles and Perplexity of Marriage and if you would live in that Condition with all the liberty a Man gives himself in Marriage to take therein all your Pleasures to converse with Women and be as much in Divertisements and worldly Company as if you were Marry'd it is certain your Choice is worth nothing it is a Snare the Devil lays for you to make you fall into an infinite number of Sins against Chastity from which it is impossible to preserve your self amidst Pleasures and so many Dangers and Occasions If you will choose well the State of Continence and according to God you must embrace it by a Motive of Piety that is to please God more in that State and to effect your Salvation better This is the sole and only Intention you ought to have in choosing so perfect a State as that and they who have it not cannot but have embrac'd it on an ill Account and with danger of concluding miserably therein Wherefore Theotime Examin seriously that which you have be careful of being deceiv'd in it be solicitous to confer with some wise and pious Person about it Secondly When you shall be assur'd of your Intention you must come to the Means to
which the great Apostle wishes particularly to his dear Disciples and to all Christians * Non cessamus pro vobis orantes postulantes ut impleamini agnitione voluntatis ejus in omni sapientia intellectu spirituali ut ambuletis digne Deo per omnia placentes in omnibus in opere bono fructificantes crescentes in scientia Dei. Colos 2. I cease not says he to pray for you and to beseech God that you may be fill'd with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and understanding and that you may walk worthily pleasing God in all things fructifying in all sorts of good works encreasing in the knowledge of God. MAXIM V. That we cannot be in the Grace of God without having a constant Resolution never to offend him upon any score In this Resolution consists the Practice of the great Commandment of loving God above all things without which it is impossible to please him and be in his Grace for he who loves him not remains in death Now we cannot love God without this Resolution of never offending him * Si quis diligit me sermones meos servabit Qui non diligit me sermones meos non servat Joh. 14. If any one loves me says the Son of God he keeps my Commandments He who loves me not observes not my words MAXIM VI. That Sin is the greatest Evil which can befall a Man. Sin offers an infinite Injury to God which all Men and Angels know not how to repair It deprives Man of the Grace of God and makes him incur his Hatred and Indignation It causes him to lose Heaven for ever and puts him in the State of Eternal Damnation It renders him unworthy of all the Graces necessary to raise him from that deplorable Condition wherein God may justly leave him as he does many O God is there any Mischief in the World to be compar'd to this MAXIM VII That the worst of all Misfortunes is to die in Mortal Sin. It is the Misery of Miseries because it is the beginning of Eternal Calamities the loss of all Happiness the Source of all Evils and that without remedy without recovery and without any hope in a word it is Eternal Damnation To comprehend this Misfortune consider if you can what it is to lose God and that for ever to be banish'd from Heaven and that for ever to be condemn'd to the Flames of Hell with the Devils and that for ever without end without cessation without comfort without hope always in Rage always in Despair for being fall'n into this dreadful Calamity having been able to avoid it having despis'd God's Grace having lost such Means of Salvation O Theotime is it possible to think on this Misfortune and not stand in dread of it MAXIM VIII That this Misfortune happens to many and to those who think not of it It happens to all those who have not time to do Penance before their Death or having time were not Penitent at all or as they ought dying without the Dispositions necessary for Salvation For this reason the Son of God hath so often advertis'd us to * Vigilate orate nescitis enim quando tempus sit Mat. 13. Watch to be upon our guard We know not when the time will come We know neither the day nor the hour To be always prepar'd because he will come at the hour we think not on Vigilate quia nescitis diem neque horam Mat. 25. Et vos estote parati quia qua hora non putatis filius hominis veniet Mat. 24. Luc. 12. Quod autem dico vobis omnibus dico vigilate Marc. 13. What I say to you I say to all watch MAXIM IX That we must think frequently on Death Judgment and Eternity This is the chief Means to avoid that so common a Misfortune He who shall reflect well on the Judgment of God will be afraid to fall into Sin or to continue in it never so little This is the great Advertisement of the Wiseman which all Men ought to have continually in their memory * In omnibus operibus tuis memorare novissima tua in aeternum non peccabis Eccl. 7. In all your Actions remember your last things and you shall never sin MAXIM X. That we must serve God for himself and by Love. Altho' the Considerations of Death Judgment and Eternity be effectual and necessary to move us to Vertue nevertheless we must not stop there Read Part 4. Chap. 2. 3. and the Instruction about Communion Part 2. Ch. 3. Art. 4. it appertains only to servil Souls to be conducted by Fear alone generous Souls serve for Love and because he deserves to be belov'd honor'd and serv'd Fear is good but it must not be alone Love must perfect what Fear hath begun O Theotime how is it possible for a Soul to serve a God so amiable in himself and from whom she hath receiv'd all she possesseth otherwise than by Love MAXIM XI That we must have a Rule of our Actions and that this Rule ought to be the Law of God the Example and Doctrin of Jesus Christ and not the World nor the Example of others nor Custom It is a common Maxim amongst Men To do as others do and to bring for a Reason of their Actions That the World does so That it is the Custom That such and such act so This is a wicked false and pernicious Maxim Men are not our Rule but God. The World is all full of Error Men whatsoever they be are subject to Failings God is Truth himself he hath given us his Law to conduct us he hath sent his Son Jesus Christ to teach us * Hic est filius meus dilectus in quo mihi bene complacui ipsum audite Mat. 17. he hath commanded us to hearken to him ipsum audite that is the Rule we ought to follow Let not those says S. Jerom who make profession to be the Disciples of Truth Nec turbam sequantur errantem qui se veritatis discipulos confitentur Hunc certe imitari tutissimum est atque ejus vestigia sequi qui dixit ego sum via veritas vita nunquam errat qui sequitur veritatem S. Hieron Epist ad Celant Magister vester unus est Christus Mat. 18. Qui Ecclesiam non audierit sit tibi sicut Ethnicus Publicanus Mat. 18. Qui vos audit me audit qui vos spernit me spernit Luc. 10. follow the erring Multitude It is most safe to follow him who saith He is the Way the Truth and the Life Never govern your self by the World by Custom or by Example of others And in all your Actions look not upon the Practice nor Judgment of Men but upon the Law of God and the Doctrin of Jesus Christ and his Church which he hath commanded us to hear and follow and act nothing but what shall be conformable to that infallible Rule MAXIM XII That the World is