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
quo curvantur qui portant orbem Job 9. Columnae coeli contremiscunt pavent ad nutum ejus Job 26. A saeculo confregisti jugum meum repulisti vincula mea dixisti non serviam Jer. 2. Peccatum est exhonorare Deum quod non debet facere homo etiamsi necesse erat perire S. Aug. A God whom all Creatures adore in whose Presence the Angels tremble You are going to revolt from him to cast off the Yoke of his Obedience and say Non serviam I will not Serve You wretched Man pitiful Creature you go to resist your Creator in his Face O God what an Indignity is this Do you understand Theotime that the Injury Sin does to God is so great that it were better the whole World were subverted than one sole Sin committed 4. If you could conceal your Sin from God and not offend him in his Presence Quem times major est omnibus ipse timendus est in publico ipse in secreto Procedis videris intras videris sucerna ardet videt te lucerna extincta est videt te in cubili intras videt te in corde versaris videt te ipsum time cui cura est ut te videat vel timendo castus esto aut si peccare vis quaere ubi non te videat fac quod vis S. Aug. Ser. 46. de Verbis Dom. Quo ibo à spiritu tuo quo à facie tua fugiam Psal 138. Ego sum judex testis dicit Dominus Jer. 29.23 Videt te angelus malus videt te angelus bonus videt bonis malis major angelis Deus c. sub cujus oculis velle delinquere tam insanum est quam horrendum incidere in manus Dei viventis S. Bern. de Conversione ad Clericos cap. 16. you were less culpable but you go to offend him before his Face knowing well that he sees you considers you and regards with horror the Sin you are about to commit What greater Affront can you offer him than this You would blush for shame if you should think to be seen by a Man in this Action and have you no confusion to be seen by God himself and to do that in his adorable Presence which you would be asham'd to do in the presence of the most miserable of all Men Can you shew a greater Contempt of God than this O how blind are you If you will offend God seek at least a Place where he is not and if you cannot find it be asham'd to let that holy and adorable Eye see you in your Sin And be afraid to commit a Crime before the Face of him who is at the same time both Witness and Judg and who could strike you dead in the moment you have accomplish'd it Cast your Eyes upon the Goodness of him you are going to offend Haeccine reddis Domino popule stulte insipiens nunquid non ipse est Pater tuus qui possidet te fecit creavit te incrassatus est dilectus recalcitravit dereliquit Deum fautorem suum recessit à Deo salutari suo Deum qui te genuit dereliquisti oblitus es Domini creatoris tui vidit Dominus ad iracundiam concitatus est Deut. 32. Quid est quod dilectus meus in domo mea fecit scelera multa Jer. 11. Popule mi quid feci tibi aut quid molestus fui tibi responde mihi Mich. 6. Who is it that you assault Nothing less than your Celestial Father who hath made you what you are who hath given you all that you possess who conserves you incessantly and without whose assistance you could not move a Hand You breathe only by the Air he gives you and if he should abandon you but one moment you would fall presently into nothing Look upon your self from Head to Toe and you will find nothing but what comes from God Yet you in the midst of all these Favors and all these Benefits go about criminally to offend him despising the Goodness of so liberal a God the Love of so kind a Father making use of his own Blessings against him and to offer an Injury to him Go you ungrateful and degenetate Child more cruel than Beasts Tigers have a love for him that feeds them and you care not to offend the Author of all the Good you have Come now to that incomprehensible Abyss of the Divine Bounty to the Master-piece of his Love the Passion of his Son Jesus Christ It is here Theotime it is here where you will find wherewith entirely to break the greatest Attempts of the most violent Temptations more than any where else Cast your Eyes upon your Saviour nail'd upon the Cross Cum me pul sat aliqua turpis cogitatio recurro ad vulnera Christi cum me premit caro mea recordatione vulnerum Domini me resurgo in omnibus adversitatibus non inveni tam efficax remedium quam vulnera Christi S. Aug. Manual c. 22. Nullum tam potens est tam efficax contra ardorem libidinis medicamentum quam mors Redemptoris mei Ibid. cap. 23. Rursum crucifigentes sibimet ipsis filium Dei ostentui habentes Hebr. 6. all cover'd with Wounds overwhelm'd with Grief dying for your Salvation Fix there your Sight and Thoughts consider meditate attentively all that he Suffer'd Remember that it was for you and for the Sins you have committed that he Suffer'd in such a manner and see whether you have a Heart hard and cruel enough to resolve to offend again a God dying for your Salvation and crucifie him anew by mortal Sin. Altho' dear Child the view of a God Crucifi'd for your Sins shall not be capable to hinder you from offending him will not the Blood he shed for your Salvation soften your Heart Will not all the Griefs he endur'd for you have force to make you love him All the Wounds he receiv'd are so many Mouths and Voices which declare to you a horror for Sin and a love for Jesus and can you behold them without either having a horror for Sin which Crucifi'd Christ Jesus or a love for Jesus Christ Crucifi'd for your Sins O Jesus permit it not but cause by thy Goodness that the sole thought of thy Death so touch our Hearts in Temptations that it raise in us a horror of Sin and make us resolve to chuse rather to die than offend him again who hath suffer'd Death for our Love. ARTICLE IV. How we must behave our selves in Temptations From the moment that you perceive your self to be assaulted with a Temptation which offers to enter into your Mind Nolo sinas cogitationem crescere nihil in te Babylonium nihil confusionis adolescat Dum parvus est hostis interfice Ne nequitia ne zizania crescant elidatur in semine Audi Psalmistam dicentem Filia Babylonis misera beatus qui non tenebit allidet parvulos tuos ad Petram
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
of the most useful and necessary The Last Part of the Book which treats of the Choice of a State of Life will furnish you whereon to Meditate when you shall be upon the point of that Deliberation You will there find the importance of the Choice the Faults you must avoid therein the Means you must employ in it divers Considerations upon each State and other things of consequence All this will afford you both profitable and necessary Matter of Meditation ARTICLE XII The Practice of Meditation To reduce into Practice all that we have said of Meditation see here what you shall do First As the Morning is the most commodious time for the Exercises of the Mind take that to make your Meditation in following the Advice of the Wiseman who says a Cor suum tradet ad vigilandum diluculo ad Dominum qui fecit illum in conspectu altissimi deprecabitur Eccl. 39. The Just will apply his Heart in the Morning to think upon God his Creator and to Pray in the Presence of the most High and many other Passages of Scripture which recommend b In matutinis meditabor in te Psal 62. Praevenerunt oculi mei ad te diluculo ut meditarer eloquia tua Psal 118. Morning Prayer From this very Day read the Subject you will Meditate on In the next Morning after you have ador'd Almighty God and offer'd to him your Ordinary Prayers read again the same Matter Afterwards casting your self upon your Knees in the Presence of God beg of him the Grace to perform well this Meditation and to learn therein and keep in mind some important Truths for your Salvation Present your self to him as a blind Man who desires to have his Sight restor'd Luc. 18. Domine ut videam Grant O Lord that I may see thy holy Verities Deus meus illumina tenebras meas Clear O God the darkness of my Soul. Revela oculos meos considerabo mirabilia tua Open my interior Eyes that I may attentively consider the Wonders that are included in thy holy Law. Or as a poor * Omnes enim quando oramus mendici Dei sumus ante januam magni patrisfamilias stamus imo etiam prosternimur supplices ingemiscimus volentes aliquid accipere ipsum aliquid ipse Deus est S. Aug. Ser. 15. de verbis Domini Man who demands of God a Morsel of Bread for the nourishment of his Soul. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie Give me O God by thy Grace a little of that Celestial Bread which thou distributest to thy Children Respice in me miserere mei quia unicus pauper sum ego Cast thy Eyes upon me and have mercy on my Misery because I am a poor forsaken Man incapable of having by my self any good Thought except it come from thy Grace Or as an infirm Man who seeks the Remedies of his Soul. Miserere mei Domine anima mea malè à Daemonio vexatur Have pity O God on my Soul which is persecuted by the Enemies of her Salvation You shall make use of some of these or such like Prayers Afterwards apply your Mind to consider the Subject you are to Meditate on choose two or three of those Considerations which you shall find in your Book fix your Thought upon each one after another to weigh them to convince your self of them and to keep them in your Mind But settle most of all your Heart and Affection thereon to stir up your self to love to embrace and to practise the Truths you Meditate on for this is the Fruit and End of Meditation We Meditate not to understand the good but to love it and put it in Execution We seek not after Science but Vertue For this reason you must pause longer upon the Affections and Resolutions than upon the Considerations you must enlarge them entertain them and relish them at leisure For Example it doth not suffice to consider in Meditation how amiable God is to represent the Reasons of it as his Goodness his Perfections his Favors but after having made these Considerations you must descend to the Affections thereof to love him actually and say from your Heart It is true O God that thou art infinitely amiable and that there are infinite Reasons to love thee why should I not then perform it Why shall I be so obdurate so ungrateful such an Enemy to my self as not to have a Love for thee O God how misfortunate is he who loves thee not and how miserable was I when I lov'd thee not and instead of bearing thee a Kindness was wedded to my Passions and Pleasures I have lov'd thee too late O infinite Goodness I have lov'd thee too late but now I will love thee most perfectly nothing shall separate me from thy Love from thy Service from thy Obedience It is chiefly in this place of Affections where God speaks to the Heart by good Motions which he bestows upon it It is there where finding the Soul in a holy Solitude and thinking on nothing but him he is pleas'd to speak to her interiorly and replenish her with his Love. a Ducam eam in solitudinem loquar ad cor ejus Oseae 2. I will lead her says he into the Solitude and speak unto her Heart It is there where b Bonum est Pâ—aestolari cum silentio salutare Dei. Thren 3. it is good as the Prophet says to expect with silence the wholsom Grace of God and to say to him with young Samuel c Loquere Domine quia audit servus tuus 1 Reg. 3. Loquere Domine quia audit servus tuus non loquatur mihi Moyses aut unus ex Prophetis sed tu potius loquere Domine inspirator illuminator omnium Prophetarum quia tu solus sine eis potes me perfecte imbuere illi autem sine te nihil proficient Possunt quidem illi verba sonare sed spiritum non conferunt Pulchriter dicunt sed tu sensus aperis Mysteria proferunt sed tu reseras intellectum signorum Mandata edicunt sed tu juvas ad perficiendum Viam ostendunt sed tu confortas ad ambulandum Lib. 3. de Imitat Christ cap. 3. Speak Lord for thy Servant hears thee Let not Men now talk to me let not Books instruct me at this time but thou O Lord do me the Favor to speak interiorly to me and touch my Heart and fill it with thy Love. Continue a while in this State and in these pious Affections which God shall bestow upon you stirring them up and entertaining them the best you can applying them one while to the Hatred of Sin to the Fear of God and his Judgments another while to a desire to serve God to become Vertuous to fly the Occasions of Sin and strongly resist Temptations but most frequently to the Love of God to an Affection for Christian Vertues Humility Chastity Temperance and other pious and wholsom Affections
Kingdom of Heaven did appertain Sinite parvulos venire ad me talium est enim regnum coelorum Et complectens eos imponens manus super eos benedicebat eis Marc. 20. He embrac'd them with an admirable Tenderness and sent them not back till he had impos'd his Hands upon them and given them his holy Benediction The most notable Cures he wrought were of young People Amat Christus Infantiam quam animo suscepit corpore amat Christus Infantiam humilitatis magistram innocentiae regulam mansuetudinis formam Aug. Scrm. 8. de Epiph. Such was the Son of the King who was ready to expire in John Chap. 4. Another who was tormented with the Devil Mat. 17. The Servant of the Centurion and the Daughter of the Cananean Of the three Dead which he rais'd to Life two were very young viz. the Daughter of Jairus and the Son of the Widow of Naim and the third who was Lazarus was not in Years Of the twelve Apostles he lov'd particularly the youngest which was S. John. Lastly What greater Proofs can we bring of the Love Jesus Christ bears young People than the Two which I shall speak of The First is the Assurance he hath given Qui susceperit parvulum talem in nomine meo me suscipit Mat. 18. that all the Favours which shall be bestow'd upon them shall be accounted as done to himself He says he that receives a Little One in my Name receives Me. The Second is that dreadful Menace which he afterwards utter'd against those that Scandalize the Little Ones that is who make them fall into any Sin. Qui autem scandalizaverit unum de pusillis istis qui in me credunt expedit ei ut suspendatur mola asinaria in collo ejus demergatur in profundum maris Mat. 18. If any one says he Scandalize the Little Ones who believe in Me it were better a Milstone were ty'd about his Neck and he cast into the bottom of the Sea. Was not this a great Token of the singular Affection Jesus Christ bore to young Souls since he speaks with so much Zeal and Indignation against those who contribute the withdrawing them from his Service These dear Theotime are convincing Proofs of the Love God has for you in your Youth After these Assurances you have had thereof can you refuse the Love and Service he demands of you in this Age Doubtless you cannot without an extream Ingratitude and without offering him a most enormous Affront as we are about to see CHAP. V. That they who Consecrate not themselves to God in their Youth offer him a most heinous Injury THIS Truth evidently follows out of the Two former Fifth Consideration to Serve God in Youth for if it be true as we have manifested That God desires and demands particularly the Service of young People and hath an extream Love for that Age on which he bestows very singular Favours to assist it and invite it to his Service It follows The Injury that is done to God by not Serving him in that Age That to refuse him the Service he desires and requires with so much Justice and not to answer the Love he testifies to Youth by so many Favours and Benefits is to offer him a most heinous and enormous Affront But because this Verity is of such Consequence that it can never be sufficiently inculcated I shall make you see it more distinctly by the Three following Considerations which I beseech you to Examine well First First Reason of this Injury Not to Consecrate the Time of Youth to the Service of God is to take away a certain and assured Time which you may give him to reserve him an uncertain which you are not sure to have and which is not in your power viz. the Time to come This is the First Degree of the Injury you offer to God. You promise God to Serve him when you are older Who hath told you that you shall live a long time If you are not certain to be alive to Morrow how are you sure to live Ten Years hence There are more who die before Twenty or Twenty five Years of Age than after Now if you have no assurance to live a long time is it not a great Injury you do to God to promise him the Time to come which you have not nor is in your power and refuse him the Time present which you enjoy What think you Theotime do's not he deride God who acts in this manner and doth he not evidently manifest that he hath no true Will to Serve him deferring to Consecrate himself to him in a Time which perhaps may never come Secondly Second Reason You not only reserve an uncertain Time for God but take away the better to give him the worse For refusing to Serve God and apply your self to Vertue in your Youth which is as we said before ordinarily less deprav'd by Vice and most favour'd by Kindnesses from God you reserve to your self a Time wherein all things conspire to hinder you and render you unfit for Good and the Exercise of Vertue The Inconveniences of the Body which daily are caus'd the Inveterate Vicious Habits wherein you will be Engag'd the Perplexity of Worldly Affairs the Solicitude of Temporal Things the Spirit and Maxims of the World which you have Embraced Totus mundus in maligno positus 1 Joh. 5. The World which as S. John says is entirely plung'd in Vice and Corruption which breaths after nothing but Pleasures Covetousness Pride and has no more thought of Salvation and Eternity than if there were no such thing at all All these things will bring an incredible Impediment to your Salvation and will absolutely divert you from the Service of God if you prevent not them in good time by applying your self in your Youth to the Flight of Sin and to the Practice of Vertue Judge then of the Injury you do to God deferring to Serve him in a Time where you shall have so many Hindrances and not resolving to Serve him another where you have so many Means and Advantages Doubtless this is a grievous Injury Yet this is not all take notice of that which follows That which fully concludes the Enormity of the Injury offer'd to God is Third Reason That not intending to Serve him in your Youth you will give him nothing but the remainder of Sin delaying to Serve him till after you have pass'd your Time merrily in your Youth satisfy'd all your Passions and follow'd the wicked Inclinations of your Age So that the Time you reserve is but the remnant of what you have employ'd in Sin and Service of the Devil Do you comprehend Theotime the heinousness of this Injury and the Indignity with which you treat your God and your Creator * Nescitis quia Templum Dei estis Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis 1 Cor. 3. Your Soul is made to be the Temple and Dwelling
of the Testament was taken by the Enemies And all the rest of the Prediction was fulfill'd a little after The Third Example is of Amnon 2 Reg. 13. the eldest Son of David The Scripture recounts but one wicked Action of his yet one so black and detestable that it necessarily supposes many others it being certain that a Man never ascends on a suddain to the height of Impiety and that great Crimes are the Effect of a Soul abandon'd by God for her precedent Sins This young Prince having permitted his Heart to be overcome with unchast Love lets himself be carry'd away in such a manner that this brutish Passion which ordinarily moves to heinous Extremities and enormous Crimes making him lose the most inviolable Laws of Nature excited him to love unchastly his own Sister whereupon when he could not obtain her Consent to such an abominable Proposal he adds Force to Passion committing in one only Action two most enormous Crimes Violence and Incest But the Divine Justice did not wait long before it made appear what a Horror it had for the Crimes and wicked Life of this young Prince For two Years after he was kill'd by his own Brother Absolom who had conceal'd this Revenge in his Heart all that time O God how terrible are thy Judgments The Fourth which is of Absolom 2 Reg. 13 14. the Third Son of David who was no better than his Brother Amnon He had a proud dissembling revengeful and highly ambitious Mind having a mighty Esteem for himself and his own Beauty which by report of Scripture was extraordinary The first wicked Action which the Scripture relates of him but which must needs have been preceded by many others is the Murther of his Brother Amnon which was an abominable Crime For this Action he was cast out of his Father's Favour and banish'd from him for the space of five Years after which he was recall'd and admitted to his Favour again He was scarce return'd to his Father's Court when he begins to devise a famous Rebellion against him And having by his Addresses gain'd the Affection of the People he departs to a little Village where he causes himself to be Proclaim'd King. After this he takes up Arms against his Father constrains him to fly from the City of Jerusalem and pursues him with a strong Army which he had rais'd to deprive him of his Crown What will the Divine Justice do here Will it be insensible of the Wrongs of such a degenerate Child Hearken Theotime to what the Sacred Scripture relates David seeing himself brought to such Straits by his Son was oblig'd to make Head against him and oppose him He sets in order the small Forces he had with him sends them to Fight gives him Battel Absolom's Men tho' far more in number are Defeated In this Discomfiture O the Divine Judgments it happens that Absolom endeavouring to save himself by Flight was carry'd under a great Oak and as he wore his Locks very long his Hair by a strange Accident and particular Permission of God was so strongly entangl'd in the Branches of the Tree that the Mule he rode on could not carry him away but continuing his Course left him hanging by the Head without being able to disengage himself David's Soldiers seeing him in this Condition came and ran him thro' with a Lance and kill'd him immediately altho' David by an incredible Bounty sending them to the Battel had expresly forbidden them to offer any hurt to his Person O Divine Justice Thou shewest most clearly that Thou dost not wink at the Iniquities of wicked Children and altho' Thou deferrest for a time the Chastisement they deserve to give them leisure to Repent Thou afterwards punishest most severely their Obstinacy in Sin and the Affront they offer to Thy Goodness with which Thou expectest their Repentance Behold Four Examples out of the Sacred Scripture which evidently manifest how God hath an Aversion for vicious young People The same Scripture might furnish us with many others Ancient Histories are all full and daily Experience produces but too many Examples in these Times Take notice of one thing worthy of Consideration An important Remark That in the Four precedent Examples are contain'd Three forts of Sins which render young People particularly odious to God and which are the most ordinary Causes of their Ruine In the First and Third the Sin of Impurity In the Second the Contempt of Religion and Holy Things to which may be referr'd the Abuse of Ecclesiastical Benefices by young Incumbents who many times draw upon themselves and their Families the Divine Malediction In the Fourth the Contempt of Parents and Rebellion against Fatherly Authority CHAP. VII That Salvation ordinarily depends on the Time of Youth WHAT we have said in the Four last Chapters Seventh most important Motive which obliges young People to Vertue hath discover'd unto you the Obligation you have to Serve God in your Youth by the Respect you owe to the Desire he hath thereof and for the Love he bears you A Respect which you cannot resist without offering him a most heinous Injury and incurring his Aversion and Displeasure Now I would make you know the same Obligation by the Interest of your Salvation and shew you clearly that your Salvation hath an extreme and almost entire dependance on the Life you lead during your Youth I would to God Theotime you and all those of your Age would comprehend well and never forget this Truth which is unknown to the greatest part of Men the ignorance whereof causes the Ruine and Damnation of many I wish all Men understood that the immense Eternity of Happiness or Misery which expects them after this Life depends upon this first Time which all the World despises and which the most part employs wickedly To convince you of this Verity I shall produce the Sentiment of the Sacred Scripture that is of the Holy Ghost himself who brings such express Testimonies that it is impossible to doubt of it For why doth it in so many places advertise young People to think of their Salvation betimes and to apply themselves to Vertue in their Youth except it were to shew that that Time is a Time of great Importance for their Salvation Why doth it say in Ecclesiastes a Memento Creatoris tui in diebus juventutis tuae antequam veniat tempus afflictionis Eccles 12. Remember your Creator in the days of your Youth before the Time of Afflictions comâ— and the sad and discomfortable Years approach From whence comes it that it assures us in the Proverbs That the b Adolescens juxta viam suam etiam senuerit non recedet ab ea Prov. 12. young Man shall continue even until his old Age in the Way he has once enter'd that is the manner of Life which he has begun Wherefore doth it say by the Prophet Jeremy That it is c Bonum est homini cum portaverit jugum
ordinarily some Prayer to her more by Custom than Vertue and on the otherside do not care horribly to displease her by a Life replenish'd with mortal Sins which they commit without any scruple O God! what Devotion is this to desire to please the Mother and daily crucifie the Son trample his Blood under their Feet and contemn his Grace and Friendship Is not this to be an Enemy both to Son and Mother O dear Theotime your Devotion to the Blessed Virgin must not be like that True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. it must be more generous and more holy and to speak plainly if you will be a true Child and a sincere Servant of the Blessed Virgin you must have a care to perform Four things 1. Have a great apprehension of displeasing her by mortal Sin and of afflicting her Motherly Heart by Dishonoring her Son and destroying your Soul and if you chance to fall into that Misfortune have recourse readily to her * Non aspernatur affectum praedulcem ingens desiderium inundationem lacrymarum assiduitatem precum quorumlibet etiam peccatorum Si tamen laverint à malitia cor S. Ber. Serm. 1. Super Salve Regina that she may be your Mediatrix to reconcile you to her Son extremely provoked by you She is the refuge of Sinners as well as of the Just on Condition they have recourse to her with a true desire of converting themselves as S. Bernard says 2. Love and imitate her Vertues and principally her Humility and Chastity These two Vertues amongst others have render'd her entirely pleasing to God * Agnoscit certe diligit diligentes se prope est in veritate invocantibus se praesertim his quos videt sibi conformes factos in castitate humilitate Ibid. She loves them singularly in her Children and is delighted to assist with her Favors those whom she finds to be particularly inclin'd to those Vertues according to the same Saint 3. Have recourse to her for things needful for your Salvation and for that end offer to her daily some particular Prayers say your Beads or the little Office sometimes in the Week perform something in her Honor on every Saturday whether Prayer Abstinence or Alms Honor particularly her Feasts with Confession and Communion 4. Be mindful to Invoke her in Temptations and in the Dangers you find your self in of offending God. You cannot shew your respect for her better than by applying your self to her in these urgent Necessities and you can find no Succor more prompt and favorable than hers It is the Counsel of St. Bernard * Si insurgant venti tentationum si incurras scopulos tribulationum respice stellam voca Mariam In periculis in angustiis in rebus dubiis Mariam cogita Mariam invoca Non recedat ab ore non recedat à corde Et ut imperves orationis ejus suffragium non deseras conversation is exemplum S. Bern. Eom 2. Super missus est If the Winds of Temptations be rais'd against you if you run upon the Rocks of Adversity lift up your Eyes towards that Star Invoke the Blessed Virgin. In Dangers in Extremities in doubtful Affairs think upon the Blessed Virgin call upon the Blessed Virgin let her not depart from your Mouth nor from your Heart And that you may obtain the assistance of her Intercession be sure to follow the Example of her Conversation If you perform this you will have a true Devotion to the Blessed Virgin you will be of the number of her real Children and she will be your Mother under whose Protection you shall never perish Keep well in memory that excellent Sentence of S. Anselm who presum'd to say That as it is necessary he must needs perish who hath no Affection to the Blessed Virgin Mary and who forsakes her So it is impossible he should perish who hath recourse to her and whom she regards with the Eyes of Mercy I shall make an end with an excellent Example which I shall produce for a Proof of this Verity A Remarkable Example Revelation c. 13. S. Brigit had a Son who follow'd the Profession of a Souldier and was bred up in the Wars and dy'd therein she having heard the News of his Death was much concern'd for the Salvation of her Son dead in so dangerous a Condition and as she was often savour'd by God with Revelations of which alone she hath Compos'd a Book she was assur'd of the Salvation of her Son by ensuing Revelations In the first the Blessed Virgin reveal'd to her that she had assisted her Son with a particular Protection at the Hour of his Death having strengthned him against Temptations and obtain'd all necessary Favors for him to make a holy and happy End. In the following she declar'd the Cause of that singular Assistance she gave her Son and said it was in Recompence of his great and sincere Devotion he had testifi'd to her during his Life wherein he had lov'd her with a very ardent Affection and had endeavour'd to please her in all things This is Theotime what a real Devotion to the Blessed Virgin did merit for this young Man and for many others She will be as prevalent for you if you have a Devotion for her if you love and honor the Blessed Virgin as she ought to be lov'd and honor'd in the manner we have spoken of But in speaking of the Devotion of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Devotion to S. Joseph very profitable to young Persons I cannot pass by that of her dear Spouse the glorious S. Joseph This great Saint having had the singular Happiness to be chosen to have the Care and Guardianship of the Son of God in his Infancy and Youth it must needs follow that he will be favorable to young Persons and cherish them tenderly in that Age which he saw sanctifi'd by the Son of God. He hath Serv'd him in all the Necessities of his Life to which he was pleas'd to submit himself for our Love He freed him from the Persecutions of his Enemies he bred him up in his Infancy govern'd him in his Youth He saw him submit himself to his Commands He was a domestick Witness and Admirer of the Graces and Vertues he made appear from Day to Day in his tender Years as the Sun discovers his Light according to the proportion he rises higher Ought we not to believe that this Saint who hath had so much Familiarity with Jesus Christ when a little Child affects with a singular tenderness the Children of Jesus Christ and particularly those who endeavor to conform themselves to that Divine Youth by the imitation of his Vertues and that he should be their Protector and Intercessor to him Fix your Affection Theotime upon this good Saint and honor him with a particular Respect Take him for your Patron and for the Protector of your Purity Pray to him daily with much confidence and above all in your Necessities and
instituit ut laboret S. Bern. in Declam Consider that all Men are born for Labor God hath oblig'd them thereto by a solemn Sentence which he pronounc'd at the beginning of the World. If then you would be exempt leading an Idle Life you resist the Will of God and break the Order he hath so solemnly Establish'd 2. If Men be oblig'd to Labor all their Life-time they have yet a stricter Obligation to it during their Youth because if that Age be not Exercis'd in vertuous Undertakings it heaps up many Vices and wicked Habits which continue all the rest of their Life 3. Chiefly young Men. Because Youth is the proper time to cultivate the Mind and form it for Good and wherein only they may make themselves capable of an Employment where they may busie all the succeeding time of their Life If this Time be once lost it can never be repair'd Time lost in any Age never returns but there is this difference that Time lost in other Ages may sometimes be recover'd but Time lost in Youth is irreparable 4. The Sorrow for loss of Time in Youth Consider attentively the Grief you will one day have for losing the Time of your Youth when you shall find your self unfit for pious Employments and uncapable of any Good as it happens to many You believe it not at present but one day you will be sensible of it when it is too late 5. The Account that must be given If this Grief at present move you not the exact Account you shall give to God of the ill-spent Time of your Youth will at his Judgment make you tremble In that dreadful Judgment all your Life shall be set before your Eyes in order one Part after another and the first Article of the Account which shall be Examin'd will be that of the Employment you have follow'd in your Youth What will you answer to this Demand There you will distinctly discover all the Disorders which have sprung from that first Fault the Ignorances it hath caus'd in you the Sins it hath made you commit the Vices wherein you have been involv'd all the Goods you have been render'd incapable of What have you to answer to all these things 6. Many damned for the ill spending of their Touth How many others are there now in Hell who acknowledg the origin of their Damnation to arise from the ill spending the Time of their Youth If they could but hope for one sole Moment of Time which you have now in your power O God what would they not do to obtain it and bestow it profitably Is it possible that their Misery doth not move you and that you will not grow wise at other Mens Expence learning by their Example to avoid that irreparable Misfortune into which they are faln by their Idleness O dear Child for the love you ought to have for your Salvation fly absolutely this Vice I beseech you which is one of the greatest Impediments you could put And that you may remember to avoid it remember to perform two things The First is Two Practices against Idleness To apply your self to some modest Exercise which may keep you busi'd for the Time of your Youth and that you may perform it as you ought see what we have spoken of it above in Part 2. Chap. 12. The Second is That you take care as much as you can never to be Idle any more without doing something use constantly some Action whether of Labor wherein you are engag'd or Reading or Divertisement Let your Recreations be accompany'd with Actions either of Body or Mind The Devil seeks no better opportunity than to find you Idle that he may tempt and suprise you For this reason practise diligently that excellent Precept of S. Jerom * Facito aliquid operis ut te semper diabolus inveniat occupatum Hieron Epist ad Rust Be doing always something that the Devil may always find you employ'd CHAP. VIII The Eighth Obstacle Impurity WE are now come to the greatest most powerful and most universal of all the Obstacles of the Salvation of Youth viz. the Sin of Impurity At the Entrance whereof I cannot refrain from uttering that Expression of the Prophet Jeremy * Quis dabit capiti meo aquam oculis meis fontem lachrymarum plorabo die nocte interfectos filiae populi mei Jerem. 5. O that my Head were full of Water and my Eyes had a Fountain of Tears that I might weep Day and Night for the Desolation of my People For who can attentively consider the infinit number of young People which this Sin keeps miserably enslav'd the havock it makes of their Souls the innumerable Offences it causes them to commit the Disorders it brings to them the Misfortunes into which it daily precipitates them and chiefly the height of Misery viz. the ruin of their Soul and Eternal Damnation Who can consider these things I say without having his Heart pierc'd with Sorrow and without being mov'd with Compassion to advertise them of the Danger and afford them Assistance to withdraw them from the Misfortune into which they blindly run For this reason Theotime I beseech you six here your Thoughts and read attentively some Points of which I am to Discourse with you concerning this Sin that I may raise in your Mind the horror and apprehension you ought to have of it as of the greatest Enemy of your Salvation and of the certain cause of your Destruction ARTICLE I. That the Sin of Impurity is the greatest Enemy of Youth and Damns more than all other Vices together I would to God this Proposition were rather a Dream than a Truth and that there were as much reason to question the certainty as to hold it for infallible But it is made too clear and visible by daily Experience which evidently discovers two things 1. That a great part of Youth is addicted to this miserable Sin. 2. That amongst those who are inclin'd to it there are many who are no less subject to other Sins than that First Youth much given to the Sins of Impurity Is it not a most deplorable thing to see the innocentest Age of Life so corrupted by that infamous Sin and the most flourishing Portion of Gods Church dishonor'd in such a manner by that detestable Vice They are no sooner capable of Reason but this Vice attacks and gains upon them it creeps into their Mind it possesses their Desires it seises on their Thoughts it inflames their Hearts with a love of dishonest Pleasures which daily encreasing with Age becomes so strong that it is almost impossible to extinguish it This arises partly from the Corruption of Nature Three Causes of Impurity Sensus cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua Gen. 8.3 which as the Sacred Scripture takes notice is inclin'd to Evil from its Youth partly from the Temper and Constitution of that Age which the
tenderness of the Body and heat of Blood makes more susceptible of the Impression of Sensual Pleasures and partly also from the malice of the Devil which assaults Man in his Youth on the weakest side making use of the frailty of the Flesh to take possession of the Spirit and as * Adversum juvenes puellas aetates ardore hostis noster ahutitur in flammat rotam nativitatis nostrae Haec sunt ignita diaboli jacula quae simul vulnerant inflammant à Rege Babilonio tribus pueris praeparantur S. Hieron Epist. ad Demetriad S. Jerom judiciously observes takes advantage of the Heat of Youth by which he raises in their Heart the Fire of unchast Love enkindling in them a more burning and cruel Furnace than that which the King of Babylon caus'd to be prepar'd for the three innocent Children of Israel because that could but consume their Bodies but this scorches their Souls and prepares them by that impure Flame for another Fire which shall never be consum'd O Theotime they who attentively consider the Corruption of Manners which is found in Youth can never be sufficiently sorry for them But that which deserves most to be lamented is that it frequently falls out that there is nothing but this Sin which is the cause of it it being certain that there are many who are not subject to any other considerable Vices or if they be they are the Effects of this and if they were freed from this they would lead a perfectly pure and innocent Life Whereas on the contrary Haec adversus adolescentiam prima sunt arma daemonum non sic avaritia quatit inflat superbia delectat ambitio S. Jer. Epist ad Eustechium permitting themselves to be overcome by this unclean Passion they live a Life full of Iniquities and heaping up daily new Sins and perverse Habits cast themselves into so deplorable a State that they are often out of hopes of Amendment and Salvation O misfortunate Sin must thou thus destroy Men when they begin to work for their Salvation must thou forcibly take away from God so many beauteous Souls which without thee would live in innocence to sacrifice them to Pleasures and by Pleasures to the Devil and everlasting Flames Cursed Incontinence who is there that can hate thee as thou deservest To apprehend it more clearly Theotime read attentively that which follows and judge of the Cause by its Effects ARTICLE II. Of the sad Effects of the Sin of Impurity The Author of the Book De bono pudicitiae attributed to St. Cyprian describes briefly a great number of the misfortunate Effects of this Sin For he says that * Impudicitia semper est detestanda obscoenum ludibrium reddens ministris suis nec corporibus parcens nec animis debellatis propriis moribus totum hominem suum sub triumphum libidinis mittit blanda prius ut plus noceat dum placet Ea hauriens rem cum pudore cupiditatum infesta tabies incendium conscientiae bonae mater impoenitentiae ruina melioris aetatis Auth. de bon Pud Immodesty is a detestable Passion which spares neither Souls nor Bodies which renders Men absolutely Slaves of dishonest Love flattering them at the beginning that it might more effectually destroy them When it hath gotten possession of their Hearts it drains their Goods together with their Shamefac'dness It excites Passions even to excess it destroys a good Conscience it is the Mother of Impenitence the loss and ruin of the best part of Age that is of Youth Omitting the Damage that Sin causes to the Body Honor and Possessions I shall insist only upon the dreadful Effects it produces in the Soul which I reduce to Five or Six The First is First Effect the destruction of the Fear of God. the destruction of the Fear of God which it works in the Soul and the ruin of all good Inclinations Experience shews this Effect so common that we need not seek any other Proof we see many young People well Educated who have very good Inclinations in their Youth an aversion from Evil a great affection to Piety the Fear of God strongly imprinted in their Souls Now all these good Qualities remain if the Sin of Impurity doth not take possession of their Heart but when that hath once enter'd into their Mind it entirely subverts them It creeps in first by immodest Thoughts the Thoughts produce the desire of wanton Pleasures the Desire moves to unchast Actions these Sins repeated and multiply'd ruin all the good Inclinations things now appear far otherwise than before the Sin now seems no more so great it becomes more familiar to them and such an one who before had a great apprehension of one sole mortal Sin when he is once overcome by this brutish Passion is not dismay'd to commit them by hundreds and thousands O God what a Change what a subversion is this of a Conscience The Second Effect of this Sin Second Effect A Disrelish of Vertue is a Disrelishing and even an Aversion to Vertue and to all pious and wholsom Things It is not to be conceiv'd how those who are infected with this Vice have an aversion to Divine Things and Salvation Prayer is tedious to them and Sacraments contemptible the Word of God moves them not reading of pious Books is insupportable This is too manifest by Experience and no wonder Theotime he who is Distemper'd with a Fever takes no delight in the most delicious Meats on the contrary they seem to him bitter because his Tast is deprav'd with some bitter Quality Thus he who is once seis'd by this burning Fever of Impurity finds a wonderful loathing and dislike of all the most pious and wholsome Things by reason he hath his Heart infected with carnal and impure Affections which permit him not to relish the sweetness of holy Things a Animalis homo non percipit ea quae Dei sunt The natural man says S. Paul that is who follows the Motions of the Animal or Sensible part tasts not the things which are of God. And b Qui secundum carnem sunt quae carnis sunt sapiunt Rom. 5. those who live according to flesh relish only the things of the flesh The Third Effect is a Blindness of Mind which this Sin produces in the Soul Third Effect Blindness of Mind which hinders her from discerning Good from Bad and judging of things as she ought It is impossible that a Mind once possess'd by that Passion should not have its Judgment perverted and should not determin of things of Salvation quite contrary to Truth The Tie and Inclination it hath to that Sin makes it not account it so great an Evil for we ordinarily judg according to our Inclinations and that it can withdraw it self when it pleases it hinders it from seeing the wicked Consequences and Misfortunes this Vice brings after it It takes away the remembrance of the Divine Judgments and
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
vix ossa haerentia collidebam de cibis vero potu taceo cum etiam languentes Monachi frigida aqua utantur coctum aliquid accepisse luxuria sit ille igitur ego qui ob metum Gehennae tali me carcere damnaveram Scor pionum tantum socius ferarum saepe choris intereram puellarum Pallebant ora jejuniis mens desideriis aestaabat In frigido corpore ante hominem suum carne praemortua sola libidinum incendia bulliebant S. Jerom. Epist 22. ad Eustoch where the continual scorching Heat of the Sun makes the Habitation horrible and insupportable did the Delights of the City of Rome come to seek me and present themselves to my Imagination The Sorrow and Bitterness with which my Soul was fill'd made me seek the most retir'd Places to lament for my Sins My Body now all hideous was cover'd with a Hair Shirt I ceased not to weep and daily sigh I had no other Bed than the Ground nor other Nourishment than that of the Monks of the Desert who drank nothing but Water nor eat any thing but raw Herbs even in their Distempers In this State and in this Prison to which I had condemn'd my self to avoid that of Hell altho' I had no other Company but that of Scorpions and savage Beasts I found my self often in Imagination with the Roman Dames Fasting bad made my Visage pale and disfigur'd yet my ' Mind did not cease to be inflam'd with unchast Desires In a languishing Body and a Flesh mortifi'd so that it seem'd almost dead before me I burnt with the Flames of immodest Pleasures See the Temptations which this Saint endur'd and the rude Assaults he hath sustain'd but consider how this generous Champion behav'd himself In this deplorable State Itaque omni auxilio destitutus ad Jesu jacebam pedes rigabam lacrymis crino tergebam repugnantem carnem hebdomadarum inedia subjugabam Memini me clamantem diem crebro junxisse cum nocte nec prius a pectoris cessasse verberibus quam rediret Domino imperante tranquillitas S. Hieron ibid. depriv'd of all human Succor I cast my self at the Feet of Jesus Christ I water'd them with my Tears as the Magdalen I tam'd the Rebellions of my Flesh with whole Weeks of Abstinence And amongst other things I remember that sometimes I pass'd whole Nights and Days crying out for Succor and imploring the Assistance of God in these Combats and desisted not from Praying and knocking my Breast till the Tempest was past and God by his Grace had brought Repose and Tranquillity What an Example Theotime is this to teach you how to encounter with Temptations But hearken yet to what follows And as God himself is my Witness goes on the Saint after many Tears Et ut ipse mihi testis est Dominus post multas lacrymas post coelo inhaerentes oculos nonnunquam videbar mihi agminibus interesse Angelorum laetus gaudensque cantabam post te in odorem unguentorum tuorum curremus Ibid. after having Pray'd a long time with Eyes rais'd to Heaven I felt so great a Consolation that sometimes I seem'd to be plac'd amongst the Quires of Angels and Sing with incredible Joy those excellent Words of the Spouse in the Canticles I will run O God I will run now after thee in the odor of thy Perfumes and in the sweetness of thy Consolations O what an Example Theotime is this to animate you to combat the Temptations of youth O how admirable and instructive is this for you and all those of your Age For amongst others it teaches you Three things of great importance Three things to be learnt from S. Jerom. 1. That you ought not to be astonish'd to see your self tempted since this holy Saint in his Youth notwithstanding all his Mortifications and remov'd from all Occasions of Sin suffer'd so great Temptations 2. It will teach you how to encounter with Temptations viz. by Mortifications and above all by humble fervent and persevering Prayer And in the 3d place you there learn the greatness of the Joy God gives to those who have resisted Temptations with much courage and perseverance O my dear Child Practice set this excellent Example often before your Eyes When you shall be tempted represent unto your self S. Jerom in the Desert combating his Temptations with Tears with Prayers with Mortification casting himself at the Feet of Jesus Christ and imploring his Assistance Imitate him let your Chamber serve you as a Solitude to find there the Divine Succor against Temptations and be assur'd that after your Prayer God will send you Tranquillity and make you feel an incredible Joy and Consolation which will animate you anew to resist Temptations and serve your Saviour more faithfully than ever CHAP. X. Particular Obstacles to rich young Persons THE Obstacles we have spoken of hitherto are common to all young People of whatsoever Quality or Condition But because amongst the Conditions there are some which bring with them particular Impediments it is proper to treat briefly of them These Conditions are chiefly Riches Nobility and Benefices As for Riches there is no question but they cause a particular Obstacle to Salvation since the Son of God himself assures us as much Quod autem in spinas cecidit hi sunt qui audierunt à sollicitudinibus divitiis voluptatibus vitae euntes suffocantur non reserunt fructum Iuc 8. saying they choke the Seed of the Word of God in Souls and hinder it from taking root and bringing forth Fruit which is true not only in Men already advanc'd in Age in whom Covetousness and the love of Riches often bears Dominion but also in young Men to whom the possession of Riches is frequently a Hindrance of Salvation This is known sufficiently by Experience which manifests that rich young People are ordinarily more vicious than others We see them addicted to their Pleasures slothful and Enemies to Labor their Minds always taken up with Vanity aspiring after Greatness Fortune and the Riches of the World Proud Presumptuous despising all the World Untractable and resisting the most wholsom Instruction and Advices subject to a vast number of Sins oftentimes malicious and ingenious to effect it Melior est pauper ambulans in simplicitate sua quam dives in pravis itineribus Prov. 28. Deus superbis resistit humilibus autem dat gratiam Jac. 4. Qui confidunt in virtute sua in multitudine divitiarum suarum gloriantur Psal 48. And on the contrary we see young Persons of a mean Condition or small Fortune live in the Fear of God and in Vertue desirous to procure their Salvation addicted to Labor seeking good Instructions and receiving them with Joy and much Fruit departing as far as they can from Sin or if they chance to fall into it they continue not but withdraw themselves immediately And by this means they heap the Blessings of
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
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
State and from all the Disorders that are committed in the Celebration of the Nuptials as well by the Marry'd as by those who are invited For how can God give his Benediction to a Marriage wherein the Parties bring a Heart full of lewd Thoughts and unchast Desires where they make Expences of Garments and Feasts which offend Christian Modesty and frequently exceed their State and Ability and where all things pass in a licencious freedom of saying and doing any thing So that these Nuptials are rather the Triumph of impure Love and a Feast of the Devil than a Marriage of Christians which ought to be consecrated to Modesty and sanctifi'd by the Presence of Jesus Christ These are the the most ordinary Causes of bad Marriages and of all the Miseries and Misfortunes which arise from thence From whence it follows that the first Means to succeed well in so great and important an Enterprise is carefully to avoid all these so dreadful Causes To perform this with success this is what you shall do You must be convinc'd of three Truths which are certain and undoubted Maxims in this matter The First is That the greatest Happiness that can befall him who embraces a Marry'd Life is to succeed well in the choice of the Person he would Espouse as on the contrary there is no greater Misfortune than to prosper ill in this Occasion The Second is That this good success can only come from God. And the Third That God doth not ordinarily shew this Favor but to those who have liv'd well or have done Penance and have not fall'n into the Faults we have pointed at These three Truths are express'd by the Holy Ghost himself he teaches the First when he says by the Mouth of the Wiseman a Qui invenit mulierem bonam invenit bonum hauriet salutem à domino Prov. 18. Mulieris bonae beatus vir Eccl. 26. That he who hath found a good Wife hath found a great Blessing for a good Wife makes her Husband happy That it is a Blessing which surpasses all Blessings That there is nothing which can be compar'd to a vertuous Wife And on the contrary he saith That b Qui tenet mulierem nequam quasi qui apprehendit scorpionem he who hath met with a wicked Wife is like him who hath taken up a Scorpion in his Hand And that c Commorari leoni draconi placebit quam habitare cum muliere nequam Eccl. 25. the Company of a Lion or Serpent is more supportable than that of a bad Wife The Second Truth is express'd by these excellent Words That d Datum Dei est mulier sensata tacita non est immutatio eruditae animae Eccl. 26. a prudent and discreet Wife is the Gift of God to which there is nothing comparable And in the Proverbs That e Domus divitiae dantur à parentibus à Domino autem proprie uxor prudens Prov. 19. Parents may well give a House and Riches to their Children but it appertains only to God to give a discreet Wife The Third Truth is a consequence of the Second for if God gives this great Blessing it follows also that a Man must merit it from him as he himself hath declar'd by the same Wiseman who says f Pars bona mulier bona in parte timentium Deum dabitur viro pro factio bonis Eccl. 26. A Man is happy when he finds a good Wife and that it is the Portion of those who fear God and that God gives it to Man in recompence of his good Actions And the Angel Raphael says to the Father of young Sara that his Daughter was reserv'd for young Toby because he fear'd God and that the others had been unworthy of her by reason of their Sins Huic timenti Deum debetur conjux filia tua propterea alius non potuit habere eam The Second thing you shall have to do when you shall be fully convinc'd of these Truths is to concern your self to avoid the four Faults we mention'd which are the most ordinary Causes of bad Marriages and by avoiding them to practise the contrary Actions which are the necessary Dispositions for Marriage First then Live well during your Youth Be Chast and let not the love of Pleasures take possession of your Heart Follow not the Torrent of the bad Example of those of your Age who gape after nothing but Pleasures Be afraid lest God punish you by the same way by which you shall have sinn'd and that for the Pleasures you shall have taken during your Youth which are soon past he send you the anguish and trouble of a misfortunate Marriage which will continue all your Life Secondly When you shall be at the time of thinking of Marriage be careful to look upon it with a chast and pure Eye and have nothing but a holy Intention which seeks not Pleasure and Delight in so pious a thing but the vertuous End which a Christian ought to propose to himself The Angel Raphael hath declar'd it in a word to young Toby a Accipies virginem cum timore Domini amore filiorum magis quam libidine ductus Tob. 6. You shall Marry in the Fear of God with an intention of having Children and not thro' a love of Pleasures Call to mind the terrible Example of the seven Husbands of young Sara who were all stifled by the Devil on the Day of their Nuptials and learn from thence the Cause which the same Angel told to Toby b Audi me ostendam tibi qui sunt quibus praevalere potest daemonium Hi namque qui conjugium ita suscipiunt ut Deum à se à sua mente excludant suae libidini ita vacent sicut equus mulus quibus non est intellectus habet potestatem Daemonium super eos Ibid. Give ear to me says he to him and I shall tell you who those are over whom the Devil hath power For those who enter into Marriage not having God with them or thinking on him and who only seek wanton Pleasures as Beasts which have no Reason are they over whom the Devil hath power Imprint these words deeply in your Mind and know that if the Devil only kill'd those immediately who abus'd the Sanctity of Marriage he wants not other Means to exercise over them the power God hath given him whereof he discovers but too many Effects by all the Miseries with which he infests Marriage They who would not fall into them ought to avoid the Cause and have nothing but a chast Love in their Heart so that they may truly say to God those excellent words of young Toby * Et nunc Domine tu scis quia non luxuriae causa accipio sororem meam conjugem sed sola posteritatis dilectione in qua benedicatur nomen tuum in saecula saeculorum Tob. 8. Lord thou knowest that it is not the love of Pleasures which makes me
demanded neither Riches nor Pleasures nor Glory nor any of the things which young People are accustom'd so greedily to seek after but only Vertue and Wisdom This Choice was so pleasing to God Plâ—â—uit sermo coâ—aâ— Domino â—â—oâ— Sâ—loâ—â—on poâ—â—â—lasset hujusmodi rem Et ait Dominus Salomoni quia postulasti verbum hoc c. 3. Reg. 4. Et veniebant de cunctis populis ad audiendam sapientiam Salomonis ab universis regibus terrae qui audiebant sapientiam ejus Cumque esset sapientissimus Ecclesiastes docuit populum enarravit quae fecerat investigans composuit parabolas multas quaesivit verba utilia conscripsit sermones rectissimos ac veritate plenos Eccl. 1 2. Rex autem Salomon adamavit mulieres alienigenas multas c. His copulatus est ardentissimo amore averterunt mulieres cor ejus Cumque jam esset senex depravatum est cor ejus per mulieres ut sequeretur Deos alienos 3 Reg. 11. that he granted him a Wisdom by which he surpassed all Men that ever had been or should be after him With this great Wisdom he spends the better part of his Life in an eminent Vertue acceptable to God honor'd and almost ador'd by Men who came from all Parts of the World to hear his Wisdom Governing his People with an admirable Conduct instructing them in the Service of God by his wise Discourses and by the Sacred Books he had compos'd full of Divine Wisdom dictated by the Holy Ghost himself Now after all this O Theotime who could believe it if the Scripture had not said it after all these Favors and all these Wonders this incomparable Man fell so misfortunately that he cast himself into a dreadful Precipice This great Light was ecclipsed this so admirable Wisdom permitted it self to be surpris'd and this great Wit who had been the wisest of Mortals letting his Heart be conquer'd by the Love of Women lost in a short time all his Wisdom and became infatuated even to such a degree as to commit Idolatry with his Idolatrous Women and to adore as many Idols as he had Women of different Religions O human Misery how great art thou O the Weakness and Inconstancy of Man Who is there that ought not to tremble after this terrible Example If the highest Vertues fall so miserably what ought not common and mean Vertues to fear Wo and wo again to those who have lost Perseverance and who have departed from the Path of Vertue to go astray in the great Road of Vice. O my dear Theotime let us learn by this Example to a Cum metu tremore salutem vestram operamini Phil. 2. work out our Salvation with fear and trembling not to trust to our own past Merits but to be always upon our guard b Qui stat videat ne cadat 1 Cor. 10. He who thinks he stands let him have a care of falling He did not say He who shall have begun but c Qui perseveraverit usque in finem hic salvus erit Mat. 24. He who shall have persever'd until the end shall be sav'd To avoid this Misfortune see here the Means you must practise 1. Be faithful to the Divine Favors for as the holy Council of Trent says admirably * Deus enim nisi illius gratiae defuerimus sicut caepit opus bonum ita perficiet operans velle perficere Conc. Trid. Sess 6. c. 13. Except we be wanting to the Grace of God he will perfect in us the Happiness he hath begun working in us the will and accomplishment 2. Live always in Humility in Fear in a Distrust of your self in the Exercise of good Works for according to the Doctrin of the same Council * In Dei auxilio sirmissimam spem collocare reponere omnes debent c. Veruntamen qui se existimant stare videant ne cadant cum timore tremore salutem suam operentur in laboribus in vigiliis in eleemosynis in orationibus oblationibus jejuniis castitate Formidare enim debent scientes quod in spem gloriae at nondum in gloriam renati sunt de pugna quae superest cum carne cum mundo cum diabolo in qua victores esse non possunt nisi cum gratia Dei Apostolo obtemperent dicenti debitores sumus non carni ut secundum carnem vivamus si autem Spiritu facta carnis mortificaveritis vivetes Sup. Altho' every one should firmly trust to the Divine Assistance yet nevertheless those who think they stand ought to have a care they fall not and work their Salvation with fear and trembling by Labor by Watching by Alms by Prayers by Offerings by Fasts by Charity Because not being as yet regenerated to Glory but only to the Hopes of enjoying it they ought to stand in fear of the Battel with the World the Flesh and the Devil in which they must yet engage and in which they cannot conquer unless by the Grace of God they obey the Apostle who admonishes us not to live according to the Flesh for if we live according to it we shall die but if by the Spirit we shall mortifie in us the works of the Flesh we shall live 3. The Third Means is diligently to have a care of Five things 1. To fly the dangerous Occasions of offending God for he who preserves not himself from Danger shall fall therein 2. Not to lapse into a Remissness but to rise as soon as we are fall'n because that easily leads to Sin. 3. To avoid the Sins of Omission and amongst others those which are against the Obligations of ones State pious Persons often trip grosly in this Point 4. To preserve your self from a secret Presumption which insensibly mingling it self with Vertue is a great Disposition to a Fall and Precipice 5. To avoid a multitude of Venial sins which being neglected lead to Mortal * Qui spernit modica paulatim decidet Eccl. 19. He who despises small Faults says the Wiseman will fall by little and little 4. The Fourth Means is to Examin often the Condition of your Soul her Habits her Inclinations her Affections to know those which are ill and correct them For this reason you must frequently reflect upon your self and from time to time or at least once a Year review and renew your interior State that you may get fresh Forces in the Service of God. To read often the Advices given above in Ch. 14. and Christian Maxims in Ch. 15. will also help very much And in fine the great necessary and most effectual Means is to Pray much and beg of God frequently this holy Perseverance Hence it is that the Son of God says that a Vigilate orate Marc. 13. Oportet semper orare non deficere Luc. 13. we must Watch and Pray that we must Pray always without intermission S. Augustin says that it is only granted to those that Pray
they so soon slip out of their Memory and they lose all the Fruit of them The like befalls them in reading of pious Books to which they apply not themselves but with trouble and get no profit by them This springs from their Lightness of Mind which cannot apply it self to serious and profitable Thoughts unless it be in good time accustom'd and fram'd to it Now this is perform'd by the Exercise of Meditation which accustoms them to raise their Mind to God to fix their Thoughts upon an Object of Piety to form holy Affections therein and take convenient Resolutions ARTICLE VII A Confirmation of the two former Truths out of the Sacred Scripture To convince you yet more of these two Verities I shall bring the Sentiment of the Sacred Scripture that is of God himself If young Persons were not capable of Meditating and if they had not need of it would the Scripture exhort them so frequently as it does in the Book of Proverbs and elsewhere to so holy an Exercise My Child Fili si susceperis sermones meos mandata mea absconderes penes te ut audiat sapientiam auris tua inclina cor tuum ad cognoscendam prudentiam si enim sapientiam invocaveris inclinaveris cor tuum prudentiae si quaesieris quasi pecuniam sicut thesauros effoderis illam tunc intelliges timorem Domini scientiam Dei invenies Prov. 2. saith the Wiseman in Cha. 2. of that Book if you shall receive my words and engrave them in your Mind to become wise remember to apply your self with all your Heart to know Prudence If you demand Wisdom if you bear an inclination or affection to the search of it if you seek it as Men seek Mony and Treasures that is employing the same Diligence and as much Affection you will become wise in the Fear of God and you will learn to know it Observe Theotime that Comparison of the Care young People ought to bring to the search of Wisdom with that which is employ'd in seeking Mony and discovering a hidden Treasure and remember the Earnestness with which you sometimes searched after the Means to get it how often have you meditated upon it and frequently without effect Why will you do less for your Eternal Salvation on which you shall never think without Fruit and Advantage In Chap. 3. he exhorts young Persons to think often on the Means of their Salvation which he comprehends under the Names of a Misericordia Veritas non te deserant circunda eos gutturi tuo describe in tabulis cordis tui Prov. 3. Mercy and Truth He desires that they should always have them before their Eyes and write them in their Heart What is this but to Meditate In Chap. 4. b Fili mi ausculta sermones meos ad eloquia mea inclina aurem tuam Ne recedant ab oculis tuis custodi ea in medio cordis tui vita enim sunt invenientibus ea Prov. 4. Son hearken to my Words and be attentive to my Counsels have them often before your Eyes and conserve them in the middle of your Heart for they will give Life to those who find them In Chap. 6. * Conserva fili praecepta patris tui ne dimittas legem matris tuae liga ea in corde tuo jugiter circunda gutturi tuo cum ambulaveris gradiantur tecum cum dormieris custodiant te Prov. 6. Son conserve the Precepts of your Father and neglect not the Admonitions of your Mother keep them carefully as if ty'd in your Heart and about your Neck let them be always with you that they may guard you when you sleep and awaking you may entertain your self with them In Chap. 6. of Ecclesiasticus the same Counsel is also reiterated * Cogitatum tuum habe in praeceptis Dei in madatis illius maxime assiduus esto ipse dabit tibi cor concupiscentia sapientiae dabitur tibi Eccl. 6. Fix your thoughts upon the Commandments of God and be very solicitous to meditate upon them and he will give you a perfect Heart and a love of true Wisdom In fine The Practice of the Church in receiving young People to the Profession of a Religious Life at the Age of Sixteen compleat shews sufficiently that they are capable of Meditating since they are then capable of Engaging themselves for their whole Life which ought not to be done without considering of it a long time and seriously Now for this we have need of Meditation and Prayer ARTICLE VIII Of the great Benefit of Meditation The great and general Benefit we gather from this holy Exercise is That we learn there to know solidly the Truths of Salvation to love them and put them in practice These are the three Effects of Meditation which cannot be sufficiently esteem'd because they comprehend all that is necessary for Salvation Besides those there are two others which deserve a particular Consideration because they are the Fountain of the rest viz. Meditation teaches us to speak to God and to hear God when he do's us the Favor to speak to us * Christum alloquimur cum oramus Christum audimus cum divina legimus oracula S. Ambr. 1. Offic. 20. We speak to God when we Pray and when we beg of him those things we stand in need of God speaks to us when he interiorly inspires us illuminating our Understandings by good Thoughts exciting our Will by good Motions which he gives it and animating us to put them in Execution Upon these two Actions Speaking to God with our Heart and Hearkning to him when he speaks to our Heart depends absolutely our Salvation that is the beginning progress and perfecting of our Sanctification It is for this reason that the Fathers have recommended them to us with so much care One while speak to God Nunc cum Deo loquere nunc Deus tecum says S. Jerom another while give ear to what God speaks to you In speaking to God we beseech him that he will come to us by his Grace In hearkning unto him we open our Heart for him to enter there In speaking to him we demand of him his Lights and Favors In hearkning to him we receive them and enclose them in our Heart to conserve and practise them What Honor Theotime and Happiness is this to be able to speake to God freely and familiarly and that he should vouchsafe to speak to us and inspire us with his holy Will A Happiness which Men know so little how to value that the greatest part are even ignorant of the use altho' on it their Eternal Salvation depends God is always ready to hearken to us and we speak not to him He speaks to us and we know not what it is to hearken to him What Blindess is greater than this to neglect thus so honorable so advantagious and so necessary a Favor If Kings of the Earth should give so
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
it hath two Vices to combat with Drunkenness and Gluttony both highly prejudicial to Youth For these two Vices fight against four things at the fame time These two Vices are contrary to four things Civility Health Vigor of Mind and Salvation There is nothing so unseemly in young Men 1. To Civility as to be subject to Wine or Gluttony Discreet Persons have an aversion for this Vice and there is none but conceives a bad Judgment of a young Man addicted to the immoderate Pleasures of Eating and Drinking We see by Experience 2. To Health how Wine and delicious Meats hurt the Health principally of young People In multis escis erit infirmitas aviditas appropinquabit usque ad choleram propter crapulam multi obierunt qui autem abstinens est adjiciet vitam Eccl. 27. how the Excess of the one and the other causes Distempers and Infirmities which often remain with them all their Life and how they bring them to their Grave before their time whereas on the contrary Sobriety conserves Health and Life as it is observ'd in many places of Sacred Scripture As for the Mind 3. To the Mind who is there that do's not know how these two Vices are contrary to it We daily see that Minds addicted to Gluttony become stupid gross and carnal Venter pinguis non gignit meatem tenuem Hier. Ep. ad Nepot according to the Proverb cited by S. Jerom A fat Belly never produces a witty Mind and those who love Wine become dull brutish and incapable of any Good. But as for thy Salvation Theotime 4. To Salvation It produces many Sins it is incredible how these two Vices are hurtful For besides the Sins of Intemperance which are committed in the Excess of Eating and Drinking Vinum multum potatu irritationem iram ruinas multas facit Eccl. 31. which are in great number and frequently very enormous these two Vices cause a vast multitude of others as Anger Quarrels Swearing Blasphemies immodest Discourses and amongst others the Sins of Impurity which Intemperance enkindles in the Heart and particularly of young Men furnishing continually new Fuel to that Fire of Immodesty Difficile inter epulas servatur pudicitia vinum adolescentia duplex incendium voluptatis S. Hier. l. 2. Ep. 6. idem ad Eustoch which Concupiscence and the Heat of that Age incessantly enflames It is very difficult says S. Jerom to conserve Chastity in the midst of Banquets and Wine joyn'd with Youth makes a double enflaming of Pleasure See the rest which we have cited above out of this Father in Part 3. Chap. 8. Artic. 5. To fly entirely these two Vices Practice and to acquire and preserve Sobriety you are to observe three things in Eating and Drinking The Quantity the Quality and Modesty As for the Quantity Quantity have a care never to commit any Excess either in the one or the other keeping your self always as much as you can within the Bounds of Sufficiency and Decency It is the property of carnal Minds and Ill-instructed to eat without Measure and Rule and to fill themselves with Meat without any Restraint In the Quality there are three things to be avoided Quality to seek after delicate Meats and such as provoke Impurity as all hot Meats and Wine Quicquid facit seminarium voluptatum venenum puta S. Hier. Ep. ad Furian Nolite inebriari vino in quo est luxuria Ephes 5. which St. Jerom says is a Poison for Youth and the first Means the Devil makes use of to move them to Uncleanness As for Modesty in Meals Modesty to eat with greediness to devour all the Table with ones Eyes to seek to please ones Palat to speak of nothing but sweet Bits to be the first in Eating and the last in Leaving-off are things absolutely opposite to Decency and Temperance The Wiseman gives you Precepts quite contrary When you are set down at a Table Super Mensam magnam sedisti non aperias super illam faucem tuam prior Ne dicas ss multa sunt quae super illam sunt c. Ne extendas manum tuam prior invidia contaminatus erubescas Utere quasi homo frugi his quae tibi apponuntur Ut non cum manducas multum odio habearis Cessa prior causa disciplinae noli nimius esse ne offendas Eccl. 51. says he behave not your self greedily as if you would devour all Ask not if there be much Begin not first to eat Inconvenience not others by Eating Make use of the things that are brought up rationally and like a sober Man. Make an end first out of Modesty and commit no Excess lest you displease those with whom you are You must make great account of these Precepts of Temperance since they come from the Holy Ghost himself In fine Noli esse in conviviis peccatorum nec in comessationibus eorum qui carnes conferunt ad vescendum Quia vacantes potibus dantes symbola consumentur Prov. 23. Qui diligit epulas in egestate erit qui amat vinum pinguia non ditabitur Prov. 21.17 Theotime be careful not to frequent the Company of those who are addicted to Wine and Gluttony according to the Counsel of the same Wiseman Fly the Places design'd for that use as Taverns And chiefly if you know you have an Inclination to the immoderate Pleasures of Eating and Drinking use all your Endeavors to withdraw your self and amend calling to mind that excellent Saying of the Wiseman He who is addicted to curious Meats will become poor and he who loves Wine and good Cheer shall never grow rich He means principally the Riches of the Mind which are Wisdom and Vertue Demand of God Aufer à me ventris concupiscentias Eccl. 23. Esca ventri venter escis Deus autem hanc has destruet 1 Cor. 6. Animalis homo non percipit ea quae Dei sunt 1 Cor. 2. Attendite vobis ne graventur corda vestrâ—a crapula ebrietate Luc. 11. that he take away from you all affection to these sensual and carnal things which never satisfie and serve for nothing but to fatten that Body which God will one day destroy and will become Worms-meat which will make the Mind brutish and render it uncapable of tasting Divine things and of conceiving a serious thought of their Salvation CHAP. XIV Of Meekness and Anger AS young Men are extreamly addicted to Pleasure Two Vices that hear sway in young Persons so they are excessively impatient in suffering things which displease them These are the two Lording Passions which reign in Youth and which precipitate them into all the Disorders wee see Look upon all the Vices and Extravagances of Youth consider all the Misfortunes that befall them and you will find they spring from one of these two Fountains either from the Love of Pleasures or from Anger and
often from both together These are the two Means the Devil employs to destroy young Men being well assur'd that if one succeeded not the other would never fail And it is frequently seen that he ruins by Anger those he cannot gain by Pleasures hurrying them by that impetuous Passion to most deplorable Misfortunes Wherefore Theotime as it is most important for you to moderate this Love of Pleasures so natural to your Age of which we have hitherto spoken so it is a necessary Entertainment for you to labor to repress those Motions of Choler according to that excellent Precept the Wiseman gives you * Aufer iram à corde tuo amove malitiam à carne tua Eccl. 11.10 Take away Anger from your Heart and remove Malice from your Flesh that is to say Pleasure There are so many Reasons to fly Anger Powerful Reasons to fly Anger that it is a thing worthy of Astonishment to see it should be so common amongst Men. I beseech you Theotime weigh attentively these which follow 1. Anger is a brutish Passion which renders Men like Beasts For what is there liker an Animal than a Man who cannot suffer the least thing Beasts provoke themselves against every thing that hurts them because they have no Reason and if you stir up your self against every thing which displeases you in what are you different from a Beast And what do's your Reason serve for 2. Anger proceeds ordinarily from a want of Wisdom or from the weakness of the Mind which can suffer or dissemble nothing and discerns not the things which deserve Anger from those which do not If then you be inclin'd to Anger you shew you have a weak Mind and more fill'd with Folly than Wisdom This is the Judgment of the Wiseman who says That * Fatuus statim indicat iram Prov. 12. Ne sis velox ad irascendum quia ira in sinu stulti requiescit Eccl. 7. it belongs to Fools to fall presently into Anger He therefore gives you this excellent Admonition Be not subject to fall into Choler for Anger rests in the bosom of the unwise that is Anger is proper and natural to ill-bred Minds 3. Anger disturbs the Judgment and Reason and renders a Man uncapable of discerning Good from Bad True from False Useful from Unprofitable It makes one frequently take the one for the other so that a Man in Anger hath nothing but the exterior Shape and Figure of a Man. 4. The Exterior it self is in such a manner chang'd that it makes a Man contemptible his Eyes sparkling his Countenance pale his Speech interrupted his Body trembling his Clamors and other like Alterations are the Effects of Anger which make a Man as it were outragious 5. Spiritum ad irascendum facilem quis poterit sustinere Prov 28. Grave est sax um onerosa arena sed ira stulti utroque gravior Prov. 27. From thence it comes that a Man in Anger is insupportable to all the World every one stands in fear and abandons him even his Friends fly from him Who can endure a Mind subject to Choler says the Wiseman Stones and Sand are not so burthensom as a disorderly Mind 6. How many wicked Effects are there of Anger The had Effects of Anger From thence Quarrels Injuries Detractions Enmities Desires of Revenge Oaths Blasphemies and a thousand other Sins which it causes to be committed This made the Wiseman say That he who is subject unto Anger Qui est ad indignandum facilis erit ad peccata velocior Prov. 28. will be apt to fall into many Sins From thence the ruin of Friendship amongst Friends inward Grudges irreconcileable Discords From thence many Misfortunes Revenges Beatings Duels dreadful and miserable Deaths Lastly Anger is absolutely contrary to the Spirit of Christianity Qui irascitur fratri suo reus erit judicii Mat. 5. Discite à me quia mitis sum humilis corde Mat. 11. Charitas patiens est non irritatur 1 Cor. 3. Omnis amaritudo ira in lignatio clamor blasphemia tollatur à vobis Ephes 4. He who it angry at his Brother is worthy of Judgment Says the Son of God Learn from me who am meek and humble of Heart Charity saith S. Paul is patient and benign is not provoked Let all bitterness choler indignation clamor blasphemy be banisht from amongst you Remedies against Anger If you be possess'd by this Passion Theotime use all your Endeavors to moderate it And for this intent read attentively the following Maxims and attempt to practise them 1. Never be provok'd to Anger upon small Occasions For Example if one says some light Words to you do's something that displeases you if a Servant be wanting to wait on you punctually to be mov'd to Choler for these things is an Indiscretion and the Effect of an irregular Mind 2. If the Ill one hath done you be great before you be troubled for it see whether your Anger will serve to remedy it and you will find most commonly that it will be absolutely unuseful for that purpose and if it be improfitable it is a folly to vex your self For Example One hath given you injurious Words or spoken ill of you when you fall into Passion you will not repair the Injury nor the Detraction you must then seek some other Means amongst which Contempt is the best 3. Suppose it be fitting sometimes to manifest some Discontent for the Evil another hath done you to hinder him from doing the same again because according to the Wiseman Per triftitiam vultus corrrigitur animus delinquentis Eccl. 7. By the sadness of the Countenance the Mind of him who hath fail'd is corrected yet nevertheless it can never be profitable either to conceive Anger in ones Heart or to brawl storm affront or offer Reproaches On the contrary it prejudices your good Repute if you have any and it is against Vertue because in all this you offend God. 4. Be then always upon your guard to prevent Anger when you see it coming Now if it sometimes prevent you before you have been able to divert it endeavor to return quickly to your self and to be easily appeased Well-bred Spirits are soon pacifi'd according to the Judgment of the Poet Quo quisque est major magis est placabilis ira Et faciles motus mens generosa capit And as S. Augustin says excellently well a Irasci hominis est finem imponere iracundiae Christiani S. Hier. Epist ad Dem. It is natural to a Man to be angry but it is the property of a Christian to keep it within bounds b Beneficium se putabat accepisse augustae memoriae Theodosius cum rogaretur ignoscere tunc propior erat veniae cum suisset commotio major iracundiae Praerogativa ignoscendi erat indignatum suisse petebatur in eo quod in aliis timebatur ut irasceretur Ambr. de ob Theod. St. Ambrose recounts