the loss of some Grace and by the loss of that Grace it is depriv'd of many others without whih it will certainly yeild to temptations in some occasions This made S. Greg. 3. part ad mâ—ral 34. Gregory say that little faults are in some respect more dangerous than great ones and S. Chrysostom speakes thus on the same subject Tho the proposition appear extraordinary and unheard of yet I am not afraid to tell you that sometimes it seems to me that we ought to take more care of avoiding small than great faults The enormity of these fills us with horror but we easily grow familiar with the others because we think them inconsiderable And after all this shall we neglect these little faults of which the Saints were more afraid than of heinous Sins says Saint Augustin whether the ship be sunk by the violence of the waves or by the negligence of the Mariners in not pumping out the water that enters at a small leak and he adds in another place You are upon your guard against great Sins but what have you done to preserve your selfe from little ones Don't you fear them have a care least after having thrown your heavy lading over boord to lighten your Ship least after having renounc'd every thing that seem'd considerable at your entrance into Religion the sand in the Hold sink it have a care least after having escap'd the violence of the storms in the tempestuous Sea of the world when you are just ready to enter into the port of Religion have a care least you perish upon little banks of Sand which seem'd nothing and which you neglected to shun The greatest Graces are commonly the fruit of fidelity in little things which is it selfe the effect of a greater degree of Love to God if we deprive our selves by our coldness and want of care of those extraordinary helps of those singular favours which inspire so much courage against the strongest Temptations which are so necessary in many cases how often shall we be in doubt whether we have not consented to temptation what a great advantage should we find at such a difficult time in having given our selves wholly to God and having thereby merited his special and free help by which we are sure to be enabled to resist all the efforts of the Tempter and without which we shall not only the expos'd to danger but we shall perhaps be overcome Of Fidelity in little things He that is faithful in little things wil be faithfull also in great things and indeed none but great Souls have this Fidelity They are indeed little things in themselves but it is no little thing to be faithful to God in the smallest matter yet this fidelity will be worth nothing if we be negligent in greater things but we must own that this Fidelity in little things is very great noble if we love much we shall neglect nothing that we know is pleasing to those we love God did not choose the stoutest boldest Israelites to overcome the Midianites one of the greatest victorys the children of Israel ever won was gain'd by three hundred men who did not kneel down to drink in the River In trecentis viris qui lambuerunt aquas liberaho vos Judic 7.7 What seems of less consequence than the holding up ones hands Yet the victory over the Amalekites depended so absolutely Cumque levaret Moyses manus vincebat Israel c. Exod. 17.11 on the lifting up Moses hands to heaven that when ever he held them down the Enemy prevailed What do you mean Joâ—sh cry'd the Prophet Elisha to smite the Earth but three times Si percussisses quinquies aut sexies percussisses Synain usque ad consumpptionem 4. Reg. 13.19 Josu 6.18.19 if you had smote it five or six times you should have been master of all Syria and have utterly destroyd your Enemys How slight was the ceremony on which depended the taking of Jericho O what a mock would our half devotes who despise small things have made of it when the walls fell down before the people of God Quia supes pauca fuisti fidelis intra in gaudium Domini tui â—â—uit 25.21.22 Infine 't is sufficient that Jesus-Christ assures us that heaven eternal hapiness and God himselfe is the reward of fidelity in little things Of the Source of our Imperfections Though the greatest part of Christians pretend to aspire to Perfection yet very few attain it because they are not really willing to be perfect they readily believe the Doctrines of the Gospell the important maximes upon which all true Piety is grounded but they are not sincere in the application of them They do not dispute the necessity of doing violence to our inclinations in order to obtain heaven but they find out specious Reasons to excuse themselves from that violence in certain occasions which require much pains they own themselves bound to subdue their passions they fight with them and frequently gain a kind of victory over them but they do not meddle with their reigning passions this is the cause that all their other victory 's signify nothing for they should have begun with this We must set a continual watch upon our selves and upon every motion of our hearts that we may suppress all our carnal desires the many al most imperceptible but continual selfish designs which make us seek only tho secretly to advance our interests a thousand other insinuations of selfe Love which surprise the most virtuous mingling themselves with their best actions take away all their merit or at least diminish their Perfection Of the false complaisance which we have for others True Piety is never iucommode it is full of Charity for all the world a solidly virtuous man is affable and obliging never troublesome or uneasy but allwayes in good humour still ready to do service to others and severe only to himselfe for the spirit of Christ is a spirit of Peace sweetness This Principle self Love which is ingenious in making advantage of every thing employs to deceive many who make profession of Piety by persuading them to draw consequences from it very different from the true spirit of Christ Under this pretence it would persuade us to please all the world to displease no not those who do not relish our Saviour maxims but how can we please him if we pretend not to displease them From hence proceeds that unhappy that unworthy complaisance which makes us so often asham'd to take Christs part to declare our selves boldly his Disciples because we would be complaisant and disoblige no body But where do we find that a punctual observance of our Rule that modesty recollection and purity and the doing our duty is disobliging If the imperfect are disoblig'd by these things we can not avoid displeasing them unless we are willing to betray our Consciences displease God Of Exactness We are not afraid of being thought weak
to ask if his Master means him Tu dixisti Matt. 6.64 Christ conceals it no longer but this answer which should have fill'd him with confusion makes no impression on his hardned heart he hears coldly that terrible threatning from his Saviours Vae homini illi per quem Filius hominis tradetur Matt. 26.24 mouth Woe to that mâ—â— by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed remains insensible Jesus condescends to wash his feet to give himselfe to him in the communion to exhort and threaten him yet nothing moves him nothing can stop him he goes out and puts his impious design in execution and accomplishes his black and malicious ingratitude by a treacherous kiss How should we tremble at the thought of this insensibility It is the most dreadful of judgments and so much the more dreadful in that it is not perceiv'd by those who lye under it The surest mark that we are not in that state is a fear least we should be in it nothing is so difficult as to convert those who are not sensible of their want of Conversion Of the thoughts of Death The thought of death is a most powerful argument to convince us of the vanitys of this Life we shall easily be disgusted with the empty pleasures of the would its imaginary honors and its false Riches for which we weary our selves if we seriously reflect where they all end in a winding sheet in a Coffin in a grave in worms and dust there are the end of all humane Pride and greatness Form as many vast projects as you please rely upon your wisdom friends and Riches you must quit them all whether you will or no and they will all abandon you Only thou o God! dost never forsake those who serve thee I will therefore love and serve thee none but thee Of our condescention to the Imperfect It is surprizing that men have so little consideration for fervent Christians while they have all the condescention in the world for the careless imperfect But we do not see the special hand of providence who herein favours those whom he loves most is a man truly virtuous we make no scruple of excercising his patience his desires are frequently cross'd and he is often forc'd to do what he do's not like yet at the same time we refuse nothing to the imperfect whether it be that we use them like sick men that are past recovery whom we let have what they please or that God by a terrible judgment lets them alone in this Life and leaves them to their own imaginations However hard this distinction seems it is much for the advantage of those who serve God faithfully and renders them much more esteem'd by all who judge wisely and who are animated by the Spirit of Jesus-Christ Of natural inclinations to Virtue Men of soft and peacable tempers who seem born with a natural propensity to virtue are in great danger of being but indifferently virtuous and of making no progress in the way of perfection if they do not heep a strict watch over all the motions of their hearts else their natural tranquility will degenerate in to an indolence which is very a greable to self Love so that they wil take no pains to acquire great virtues and will content themselves with an obscure Life with a seeming moderation not founded upon humility but the pure effect of self Love which is unwilling to take pains and chooses a moderate virtue for fear of meeting with oppositions and sufferings in the pursuit of a more sublime But alas they who satisfy themselves with an ordinary virtue will in all probability live and dye destitute of all true virtue Of true Zeal It is a dangerous fault to be uneasy when others do as many or more good works than we would to God that all Preachers were eminent and successful would to God that every Director of souls had the gift of wisdom and discerning of spirits the zeal and solid piety which are so necessary for all Directors so God be glorifyed what matter it whether I or another be the instrument when the good success of others in the exercise of their Ministry is a real satisfaction to us it is a sure sign that we seek only his Glory Of sincerity in the Service of God Many desire to be perfect and from time to time endeavour after it yet how few attain it That which hinders the greatest part from advancing in the way of virtue is a want of sincerity in Gods service some little affections which they do not and will not renounce 't is selfe Love disguis'd under thes specious names of moderation good sence prudence and civility in fine it is a certain secret pride which corrupts the greatest part of their best actions God will be serv'd with a dove like simplicity with an uprighteness of soul that cannot stoop to those little arts of selfe Love which are so prevalent every where we seek an easy Director we torment our brains to forge something like Reasons to excuse our selves from some duty 's which we know in our Consciences God requires of us but which we sind unpleasant and are unwilling to perform Do we think to deceive God by these artifices The number of those who seck God in spirit is very small who serve him with that true simplicity which is necessary to Perfection how many instead of endeavouring to pleasa God Study to persuade themselves that they may please their own Appetites in every thing without displeasing him If they make him any little Sacrifice They presently find out some way to make themselves amends How come so many Professors of Piety to be so very sensible in the imaginary points of Honour The tone of a voice a disobliging word disturbs them Let them make as much use as they please of the words Modest and humble true humility is inseparable from Patience and sweetness Many think that they are truly humble because they have a mean opinion of themselves but they deceive themselves if they are not willing that others should have the same thoughts of them It is not sufficient to know that we have no true virtue or merit we must be wiliing to have others believe it too Of submission of our wills It is generally said and perhaps not without appearance of Reason that devout men are fond of their own opinions but it is an error to think that men who will always follow their own Wills and are obstinately conceited of their own sentiments can be truly devout This submission of our Wills is that renouncing of our selves which Jesus-Christ requires so positively and commands so often in the Gospell and without which we cannot be his Disciples And indeed we can never be truly virtuous without this submission both of our Understanding and Will Of the Love of Christ. If any thing says agreat servant of God could shake my faith in the Mistery of the Eucharist it
thy Grace that I will both love and serve thee And I hope in thy mercy that since thou hast patiently born with my disobedience so long thou wilt now be so gracious as to pardon and forgive it SECOND MEDITATION OF THE MEAN'S which are given us to attain our ultimate end FIRST POINT Of the means common to all Christians SECOND POINT The particular means proper for each Christian FIRST POINT COnsider that God not content to have created us for himselfe as for our ultimate End has out of his great goodness indispensably engag'd us to seek him by those numerous meanes which he hath given us to attain that End Every creature taken in its selfe is an help to our knowledge Love of him And 't is only our abuse of them that makes any of them hinderances The happiness and mis fortunes of our Lives the chastisemens wherewith God corrects our unfaithfulness our very faults may be so many furtherances of our Salvation Even the devices and temptations of our mortal Enemy the Devil may be a means to save us Without grace it is impossible to attain our ultimate End all our endeavours without it are vain 'T is an article of Faith that we may be wanting to the Grace of God there is not one soul in Hell who is not damn'd by his own fault We are weak the occasions of sin are many and our corrupted hearts are violently enclin'd to it but can we have greater assistance to prevent our falls and to raise us up again when we are fallen Are we sensible of the facility with which we may work out our salvation if we will have recourse to those Excellent means which God hath put into our hands So many Sacraments whereby all the merits of our Saviour are apply'd to us in which we are as it were bath'd in his blood where in our souls feed on the Body and Blood of that Divine Redeemer are without doubt most effectual and easy means to attain our great End It was easy for the Disciples to be saints who had their Divine Saviour always with them And shall it be more difficult for us who have him continually present in the Eucharist their happiness consisted in having their requests granted what should hinder our obtaining of him as they whatever we desire Another very effectual means is frequent Prayer for our Saviour hath solemnly engag'd his word that he will grant whatever we ask in his Name His promises are without exception not limited to any Sort of men Do but ask Every body surely is able to ask and they who will not do most certainly value Heaven at a very low rate since they think it not worth their asking If we had only the Sacrifice of the Altar would nor our Salvation be sure what Grace what assistance can we need which our Redeemeâ— who gives himselfe as an earnest of his grace cannot obtain And how can we doubt his so often reiterated promises that he desires our happiness We are all debtors to the justice of God and stand in need of extraordinary helps One Mass one Communion bestows on us a treasure sufficient to pay all our debts and supply all our needs Let us offer up that Host to his Eternal Father Who we are sure cannot but be pleas'd with it It is sufficient to blot out the sins of all mankind and whose fault will it be if it do's not efface ours Certainly if God had left it to us to choose the most proper means of Salvation we should never have been able to find so many so easy and so effectual we shâ—uld never have thought of proposing what Christ has done for us And yet what use have we hitherto made of those means And what must we think of our selves and of our unprofitableness under them surely we have no great mind to be saved if we lose our souls in the midst of so powerful and such easy means of salvation what excuse shall we inuent what shadow of pretence can we have to justify our selves if we neglect them What shall we answer to the reproaches of the Heathens What shall we answer when our Saviour himselfe reproaches and confounds us with the example of those Pagans who only out of a vain desire of Glory for an imaginary recompense were such lovers of virtue such haters of vice even superstitiously devout what would they have done if they had enjoy'd our helps What regret must a Christian have who is damn'd with all those advantages what shall I be the better for them if I be damn'd And what must I expect if make no better use of them for the future SECOND POINT Consider that besides those general helps common to all Christians every man has some means proper for him whereby he may easily become agreat Saint His temper his education parts his very passions if rightly manag'd will much contribute to it The Grace of God commonly makes use of every one of these and whether our inclinations be good or bad we may with alittle resolution make them all serve to our progress in virtue Every sickness and unfortunate accident of our Lives is sent on purpose to bring us nearer to our last end by separating us or at least by weaning our affections from sensible objects which take up too much of our time and thoughts But the surest and most effectual means are those which every man meets with in the condition wherein God hath plac'd him Each state of Life is a different way by which the divine Providence leads us to our ultimate End It is a great Error to think that wee cannot attal Perfection without doing something extraordinary we may be very eminent saints only by acquitting our selves exactly of the duty 's of our callings The Virtuous Woman that Heroine so highly prais'd in Holy writ acquir'd all those merits only by taking care of her Family And Jesus Christ himselfe for thirty years together thought be could do nothing more becoming him then to discharge the duty 's of that humble and poor condition which he had chosen All o her ways are subject to illulusion we deceive our selves by doing much unless we do what we ought he do's what he ought who fulfills the will of God which we are sure we fulfill when we are exact in the smallest duty 's of our callings They who live in the world need not seek means of Sanctification out of their ordinary course of Life in the dutys of each day they will find matter enough to make them saints and they are inxecusable before God if they neglect those means since they take much more pains for the World then he requires them to take for him that they may be saved Religious men find in their state all and indeed the only means of perfection that are proper for them which consist in a punctual observation of their Rule and vows Those Rules have already made the Saints that are honour'd in their
more surprizing we are all agreed in the importance of Salvation and in the vanity of every thingelse yet we apply our selves onely to seek those vanity's and are negligent in nothing but the business of salvation We are all conceited of our wisdom and capacity in business every man pretends to understand it we think ignorance in business or neglect of it shows want of sence breeding that our reputation depends upon it but if we neglect nothing but our Salvation if we live as unconcernedly as if we had no soul to loose we are so farr from blushing or hiding our carelessness that we glory in it and tho we are never so indevout and irregular we pass for very honest men and if we understand the world and know how to be successful in it we are accounted wise 'T is an affront to tell a man that he do's not understand his business but 't is no disgrace to be accus'd of negligence in the business of Salvation surely we do not look upon it as our business My God! when did this one thing necessary cease to be so We can loose our souls with all the tranquility in the world and we are reasonable Creatures in every thing that do's not concern us we do not deny that the Saints were truly wise yet all their wisdom consisted in preferring their Salvation to every thing else in esteeming it their onely business Are we wiser them they that our actions are so contrary to theirs they spent their whole lives in preparing for Eternity to what end did they take so much pains spend so much time for what we pretend to do with so much ease Miserable unthinking wretches that we are to allow so little Time for what requires it all Have we found a new way to heaven whereof the son of God was ignorant or is the price of Heaven fallen and is that happiness which cost the blood of Christ to purchase become of less value What are now the sentiments of those famous states men whom we esteem the greatest Politicians of those extraordinary men who were alway's busy in pacifying or troubling the world which their heads wer alwayes full of Those men of Riches as the scripture calls them who liv'd without thinking on Eternity and who after an uninterrupted success in all their other business have miscarry'd only in this great business of Salvation They are not damn'd for laziness and sloth on the contrary they ow their ruine to too much useless business they were so busy that their very sleeps were broken by their Cares and they have lost themselves by labouring in what did not concern them by taking too much pains about nothing while they neglected their onely real business And 't is by this that the greatest part of mankind are lost And shall not I increase the number of the lost if I continue to live as I have done what have I done for Heaven what have I not done to deprive my selfe of it I have been careful of every thing but my soul and I act as if its ruine were nothing to me But I trust in thy mercy O my God that the change of my Life shall manifest that my heart is chang'd I will save my soul the care of my Salvation requires all my diligence and it shall have it all I humbly beseech thee to give me thy grace to recover what I have lost as thou hast given me Time for it I am sensible that this is my onely business I am resolv'd to do it let thy Grace make me successful SECOND MEDITATION OF THE MOTIVES which we have to apply our selves continually to the business of our Salvation FIRST POINT The Motives which are common to all Christians SECOND POINT The Motives which every one hath in particular FIRST POINT COnsider what God has done for our Salvation he is earnest and desirous to render us happy as if his own happiness had depended on ours Having made us free and masters of our selves what pains hath he taken what pains doth he still take to gain our hearts He desires our hearts he sollicites us to give them he is importunate with us for them some times he promises some times he threatens he leaves nothing undone to persuade us to love him he takes all this pains because he knows it is in our power to save or damn our selves and he earnestly desires our Salvation Did we ever duly consider are we able to comprehend the mistery of our Redemption where the Almighty exerts all his omnipotence to shew the greatness of his Love to our souls and with what earnestness he desires our salvation Could we ever have imagin'd that God should become man to the end that men might be saved Yet this he hath done and not content with this wondrous miracle he goes yet farther to engage us to love him he passes a Life of three and thirty years in poverty and sufferings and he subjects himselfe to a cruel Death Such a value doth God set upon our souls that nothing less than the sufferings the blood the Life of this God and man could redeem them and shall we think it a small matter to loose them Shall we think that we do too much when God thought nothing too much to purchase our happiness Let us rather conclude that we can never do enough What does he get by our Salvation yet what could he do more then he hath done Is not all the profit ours why then do we do so little for it How many are now raging and despairing for having neglected to do what I may do if I will and which if I neglect now I shall one day feel the same regrett as they Can we have a more powerful motive to excite us to set about it without delay and to pursue it continually Blessed be God we may yet work out our Salvation we have yet time God offers us his Grace these very thoughts proceed from that Grace but this may perhaps be the last moment wherein it will be offer'd us Our Eternal happiness for ought we know our Predestination may depend on this one important moment I am certain that I may make my Salvation sure at present if I turn sincerely and heartily to God I have at least great reason to doubt that if I let slip this occasion I shall never have a nother and can I wilfully deferr one moment Shall the Devil take more pains to destroy our souls then we will take to preserve them shall he value our souls at an higher rate then we do our selves The comparison is shameful but too true tho his nature be much nobler then ours and his pride so great yet he stoops to any thing that can ruine a soul he never gives over the greatest resistance never weary's him or renders him less diligent in assaulting us he cunningly makes use of every little occasion to destroy us Good God! must we learn of him how to prize our souls
of any thing wherein a man would be thought mad or at least imprudent that should talk to us of business Is a sick or dying man in a condition to talk of business And yet it is to this time which we our selves acknowledge to very unfit for the most trivial affaires that we deferr the greatest business in the world the business of Salvation of Eternity How can we think of being converted one day and yet deferr it though but to the next day The design of being converted implies that we believe our Souls in danger that we are sensible of want of Love to God that we do not serve him faithfully That we are out of his favour and that we dare not dye in the state in which welive He who deferrs his Conversion wilfully lives in a continual danger by which so many perish every Day he refuses to love God is content to be out of favour with him he resolves to live in à State wherein he is afraid to dye and this after serious reflection and after several designs to change his Life he resolves to persist in enmity to God at the very time when God tenders him his Grace and presses him to accept his Friendship Can any Christian can any rational man make this reflection afterwards deferr his Conversion one moment Alas my Dear Saviour I am but too capable of doing this these reflections and an hundred more will be to no purpose if thou dost not convert me Oh! do it for thy mercys sake as this is the day wherein I resolve to be converted so let it be the Day of my perfect Conversion SECOND MEDITATION OF THE GOOD VSE of Time FIRST POINT That Time is very precious SECOND POINT That the loss of Time can never be repaired FIRST POINT COnsider that nothing is so precious as Time every moment is worth an Eternity that the glory of the Saints the Eternal joys of heaven which Christ hath purchas'd for us by his blood are the reward of the good use we make of our Time Time is so precious that the smallest part of it is worth more than all the honours and Riches in the world tho we employ but one moment to get all those honours and Riches if that be all we gain by it God who judges righteously will look upon that moment as lost If a damn'd Soul were master all the Kingdoms of the Earth he would give them all and all its Treasures for one of those precious minutes which he for merly spent in folly and which we loose every Day Comprehend if you can what Grace and the possession of God is this Grace this God are the price of our Time which is given us onely to obtain more grace and by its assistance to merit the enjoyment of God and it is certain that by every moment we spend for any thing else we loose more than the whole world can repay The Saints in Heaven by reiterated perfect acts of vertue to Eternity can not merit a greater degree of Glory yet this I can merit every moment if I will by one true act of Love to God Reprobates will not be able to satisfy the divine justice nor to obtain the pardon of one sin by all their regrets and tears nor by an Eternity of dread ful Sufferings but I may do it every moment by one sigh or one tear by one act of contrition I may appease the wrath of God Eternal happiness or misery will be the consequence of my use or abuse of Time I can work out my Salvation onely while Time lasts how then can men be so much at a loss how to employ their time how can they amuse themselves and be taken up with trifles only to passe away the time You do not know how to spend the Time Have you never offended God are you not oblig'd to him have you receiv'd no favours from him Ought not you to adore and serve him The glorious Saints do not think Eternity too long to love to praise to bless and honour him and shall we think an hour of a day too long You dont know what to do have you no sins to grieve for Dont you know that Jesus-Christ is in person on the Altar where he expects to be ador'd is ador'd but by few and can you want employment for your time we are never at a loss how to spend our time but when we have most time to serve and love God For we can spend whole days in business and vain pleasures in offending God and destroying our Souls with hout being uneasy or thinking the Time long Let us consider that we can secure our Salvation only while Time lasts and that all the time of our lives is given us only for this End how careful ought we then to be of improving it every moment is precious we loose all if we loose our time But do we much value this loss Do we think that there is such a thing as the loss of time we improve every moment for things of no consequence we are cast down at disapointments and with all our care and diligence we are continually afraid that we shall want Time But alas a Time wil come when we shall think otherwise because we shall have juster thoughts a time will come wherein we shall regret those favorable days and hours which we mispend now A time will come when we would give all the world to recall some of those precious moments which we now throw away and wilfully loose when we shall be torn with despair to find that they are all lost and that time is past Then you will cry out Oh! that I were now in the condition I was in such a Day of my Life when I was meditating upon the improvement of Time Oh! that I had now the same health and strength my God! what would I not do but wretch that I am I foresaw this despair which torments me now for having lost my Time why did I make no use of that foresight nor of that Time Time is short it ends with our Lives wee have already pass'd the greatest part of them and to what purpose what use have I made of this last year how much time have I lost in doing what I ought not or in omitting what I ought to have done and how little of it have I spent in doing my duty My God! what a terrible account have I to give of my Time of these present Reflctions How can I expect mercy from God if I make no better use of what is left if I deferr my Conversion any longer how many are dead who were in better health than I some months ago how many seem now in their full vigour who will be in the grave before the year is past and how do I know that I shall not be one of them Let us then work while we have time we cannot expect it should be long and therefore let us not
under the shelter of which they frequent the Sacrements and do some good wocks yet still indulge themselves in secret aversions in envious jealousies in criminal and dangerous engagements in uneasiness murmuring against their Superiors in selfe Love and in pride which influence almost all their actions and in an hundred other faults of the same nature in the midst of which they live unconcern'd they persuade themselves that there is no great crime in all this and seek for excuses to palliate those faults which God condemns as heinous sins and which they themselves will condemn as such when they come to dye for then their passions will be no longer able to hinder them from seeing things as they are in themselves surely it is no hard matter to discover that the Salvation of a man in such a state as this is in great danger The State of a Soul in mortal sin is very dangerous but our Saviour judges a lukewarm state to be yet worse for he tells the Angel or Bishop of the Church of Laodicea I would ' thou wert either cold or hot for because thou art lukewarm and neither col nor hot I will cast thee out of my mouth as tainted offensive Do's Jesus-Christ who bears with the greatest Sinners who is alwayes ready to pardon them who did not abhorr even Judas himselfe do's he abhorr a lukewarm Soul hath he who is so tender towards Sinners no tenderness no love for a Soul that is neither cold nor hot What hopes then can such a Soul have of being saved We ought not to despair of the Salvation of the most notorious Sinner though his disorders and crimes have renderd his Conversion difficult we ought still to hope for he knows his Sins is therefore more capable of being made sensible of them and of hating them Tell the grearest Sinner of the severe judgments of God of Death and of the rigourf and duration of Eternal Torments the foree of these terrible verity's may alarm and convert him but all this makes no impression on a luke-warm Soul his condition is without remedy because it abstains from crying and scandalous Sins which startle a Soul that hath any fear left ' it do's not mind Spiritual and interior faults it mingles them with some actions of Piety so that they easily pass unregarded by a Conscience that is not exceeding tender and thus not knowing the greatness of its danger it do's noting to prevent it Nothing do's a Soul Good in this condition Prayers exhortations reading masses meditations Sacrements are all fructless whether it be that the little benefit it hath hithertho receiv'd by them gives it a disgust and takes away its desire to make use of them or that being accustom'd to them they have less effect that having heard these terrible truths discours'd of an hundred times and having as often discours'd of them its selfe to no purpose they make no impression on it It receives but few graces because of its unfaithfulness in those which it do's receive its faults are alwayes great because they are attended with an higher contempt a greater malice a blacker ingratitude than the faults of others this odious mixture of good and bad which composes the caracter of a lukewdarm Soul discovers clearly how injurious such a conduct is to God the seeming good works that it do's are a convincing proof that it hath not forgotten God but its careless and imperfect way of doing them shews how little it stands in awe of that God whom it serves with so much indifference and disgust And indeed this disgust is mutual it has an aversion to Christ and Christ hath an aversion to it no wonder that such men immediately after their communions are ready to return again to and renew their Sins as if they had not receiv'd the Opinion of their pretended good works tenders them proof against all wholesome advice they can hear it with all the coldness in the world and 't is this that makes so many good thoughts and holy inspirattons useless Hence proceeds the strange blindnefs of a lukewarm Souls and that horrible insensibility which is the heaviest of judgments and the utmost degree of misery And there fore S. Bernard and S. Bonavente declare that it is much easier to convert a worldling tho never so wicked than a Lukewarm Religious What hope is left for such a Soul there is no remedy for it it will not be cur'd because it is not sensible of its illness It is a sick Creature whose condition is the more desperate because it laughs at those who think its sick so that there is need of a greater miracle to convert a lukewarm Soul than to make the blind to see or to raise the dead to Life None but thou my God canst do it thou art able to cure the most inveterate diseases but thou hatest Lukewarmness and this makes me fear I cannot pray with that confidence as I would for the most scandalous sinner I acknowledge that I have been hirher to in a lukewarm State But since thou hast made me sensible of it I am persuaded thou desirest to draw me our of it Oh! let not this renewed grace which perhaps will be last thou wilt ever Offer me be ineffectual thou wouldst have me be saved I am resolv'd to be saved what then can hinder my Salvation SECOND POINT Consider that a lukewarm state is not only very dangerous but which is more strange it is almost impossible to recover a Soul out of it because he that would recover must be sensible of his being in danger which a tepid Soul is not An heinous Sinner easily knows his danger there are eertain favourable moments where in by the help of grace he discovers so much deformity in his Soul that he presently laments his misery which knowledge and confession render his conversion much less difficult But a lukewarm soul do's not believe that ke is lukewarm he that believes himselfe tepid ceases to be so for we are rarely sensible of our condition till we begâ—n to be fervent this renders the conversion of the lukewarm almost impossible for which way shall one go about to persuade them that they are in such a State Blindness is the first effect of Tepidity It s unfaithfulness being gradual it is less sensible of them then its faults grow habitual and at last it takes pleasures in them nothing toucheth it when it is in this condition and it suspectes nothing it is not sensible of any new fault it grows lukewarm without omitting one of its devotions 't is the imperfections of these very devotions that give birth to its tepidity and help it to deceive its selfe by covering its reall faults with a false appearance of vertue God himselfe who so loudly a larms the Sinner is now silent and will not awake him but leaves him to dye in this mortal Lethargy I will begin says he to cast thee out he do's not do it all
at once he throws him off by degrees that he may not see it the unhappy Soul is rejected and his reprobation sealed and he do's not perceive it nor is he in the least sensible of his wretched condition And what hope can he have to be cur'd how is it possible for him to recover out of this dismall state The advice of his true Friends the pious counselli of his wise director and of his zealous Superior and the best examples are all ill received by his insensibility and hardness of heart he seems to be enchanted all his actions bear the visible marks of certain reprobation and that God hath left him Saint Bonaventure observes that it is no extraordinary thing to see notorious sinners quit their sins and become truly penitent but that it is very extraordinary to see a lukewarm Soul recover And to this we may apply the words of S. Paul in that terrible passage at which all thosé who grow cold after having been fervent in the service of God should tremble it is impossible that is extremely difficult for them who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost preferably to many others and of the swetneess of a Spititual Life and of saving Truths if they fall away if they grow weary of serving God and return to theyr Sins it is impossible to renew them again unto Repentance But my God what is all this to a lukewarm Soul unless by a miracle of mercy thou art pleas'd to open his eyes and to make him see his dangers he do's not suspect himselfe of being fallen away nor will he suspect it till thou discover it to him by an inward light and what will it avail him to be convinced of it unlesse thou givest an extraordinary supply of grace to recover him from that wreched State Let us now examine if we have no reason to fear The Lukewarm are exceeding curious they will try all Sorts of devotions and therefore may possibly read this meditation but let them not deceive themselves this day of retreat may be profitable if we examine impartially and diligently whether this dangerous tepidity do's not influence all our actions whether the Sacraments are usefull to us and whether we grow daily less imperfect by the Exercises of Virtue THIRD MEDITATION OF THE SENTIMENTS we shall have at the hour of Death SEE THE THIRD MEDITATION For the month of January JUNE DECEMBER FIRST MEDITATION OF HELL FIRST POINT The damn'd in Hell suffer all the torments that can possibly be suffer'd SECOND POINT The Damn'd suffer to Eternity FIRST POINT COnsider ther is an Hell that is a place of torments prepar'd for those Souls who dye in their Sins we are so us'd to hear of Hell that we are very little affected with the thoughts of it but if we were truly sensible what Hell is we should never think of it without more more horrour Imagine that you see in the center of the Earth a vast and bottomless lake of fire and flames the damn'd plung'd and rowling in it all cover'd and transperc'd with fire which they suck in with their breath and which enters at their eyes and ears their mouths and nostrils casting forth dreadful flames their skin scorch'd their flesh blood humours and brains boyling and bubling up with the violence of the burning their bones and marrow all on fire like a piece of iron taken red hott out of the furnace all the parts of their body on fire and the fire in every part of it How glad would these wretches be to suffer only from our fire notwithstanding the horrour of being thrown into a burning gulph but alas there is no comparaison between it and the fire of Hell my God! what tourments Ours is lightsome their 's dark Ours is an effect of the goodness and bounty of God theirs is the product of his incens'd Omnipotence and of the infinite hatred he bears to Sin t is a fire which the Almighly do's all he can to render furious raging and alas it is not their onely torment this fire makes them feel at the same time all sorts of pains Represent ro your selfe a man tormented with the gout or a violent colique what pains do's he feel how do's he cry out how willingly would he dye to put an end ' to his torture and yet he suffers onely in one part of his body he hath the Liberty of complaining the satisfaction of seeing himselfe pityed what would it be if every member suffer'd the same torment if instead of helping him the standers by abus'd him without suffering him to complain In hell the damn'd do not onely suffer the pains to which we are subject in this Life they suffer all these and infinitely more their torments are universal violent complicated and all excessive in one instant they feel them all and in the midst of all they cannot receive or so much as hope for any ease what would one drop of water be against a whole Sea of flames And yet that poor refreshment that nothing is deny'd them The sick find some ease in tumbling and removing from one place to another but the damn'd shall be eternally in the fire unmovable as a rock Yet all these dreadful torments are nothing to their despair when they look back on the time that is lost and the ill use they have made of it The thoughts of the damn'd will be employ'd to all Eternity in calling to mind the vanity of those objects which made them forget God I have plung'd my selfe into this abyss of darkness and everlasting flames for the love of a trifling pleasure of an imaginary honour which I could possess but a moment and of which I have scarce any Idea left where are now all those fantomes of glory greatness and reputation which took up all my Time and made me forget Eternity Where is that fortune to which I sacrific'd my all Where are all those whom I lov'd so well Where are those of whose vain opinion censures and power I stood so much in awe Yet these I preferr'd to the favour love of God and for these I have lost my Soul The opportunitys of Salvation which he hath abus'd and the reward that he hath lost will take up the thoughts of a damn'd soul to all Eternity How easyly might I have confess'd such a Sin God offer'd me his Love he gave me warning he press'd and sollicited me so long gave me so many years of health since my fall I pass'd for a wise man in the world Oh! how came I to deferr my conversion to the hour of Death How often have I trembled at the thought of my danger at the apprehension of damnation And yet am damn'd at last I needed onely have done those good worke which such a friend such a companion such a Relation have done I began well it would have cost me little to persevere and if it