Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	good_a	grace_n	work_n	6,662	5	5.6625	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41099	The maxims of the saints explained, concerning the interiour life by the Lord Arch-bishop of Cambray &c. ; to which are added, Thirty-four articles by the Lord Arch-Bishop of Paris, the Bishops of Meaux and Chartres, (that occasioned this book), also their declaration upon it ; together with the French-King's and the Arch-Bishop of Cambray's letters to the Pope upon the same subject.; Explication des maximes des saints sur la vie interieure. English	Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-, 1651-1715.; Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-, 1651-1715. Correspondence.; Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715. Correspondence.; Noailles, Louis-Antoine de, 1651-1729.; Godet des Marais, Paul, 1647-1709.; Bossuet, Jacques Bénigne, 1627-1704. Instruction sur les estats d'oraison, où sont exposées les erreurs des faux mystiques de nos jours.	1698 (1698)	Wing F675; ESTC R6318	100,920	267

incomparably more over himself than the best Pastor can over his flock We ought never to forget our selves by abolishing the reflections that are even most interested when we are yet in the way of interested Love Lastly we ought not to forget our selves so as to reject all sorts of reflections as imperfect things For reflections have nothing imperfect in themselves and don 't become so often hurtful to so many Souls but because Souls sick of self-love turn very seldom an eye upon themselves but they do grow impatient and are softened at that sight Moreover God inspires often by his grace the most improved Souls with reflections very profitable either in respect to his designs in them or upon his former mercies which he makes them to celebrate or their dispositions whereof they are to give an account to their Director But finally disinterested love watcheth acts and resists Temptation more yet than interested Love doth The only difference is that the watchfulness of pure Love is simple and peaceable whereas that of interested Love which is less perfect keeps still some remains of eagerness and trouble because nothing but perfect Love driveth out fear with its attendance To Speak thus is to Speak in a very correct manner which ought to be suspected by no body and is conformable to the Language of Saints XII False A Soul fully disinterested in her self does not love her self even for God's sake She hateth her self with an absolute hatred as supposing the work of the Creator not to be good and she carries thus far her abnegation and renounciation enlarging the hatred to her self even so far as to will deliberately her loss and eternal reprobation She rejects grace and mercy wills nothing but justice and vengeance She becometh so great a stranger to her self that she ceaseth to take any further concern either for the good that is to be done or the evil to be eschewed All her desire is to forget her self in every thing and loose continually the sight of her self She is not satisfied to forget her self in respect to her own interest She is willing moreover to forget her self in relation to the amendment of her defects and to the fulfilling of the Law of God for the interest of his pure glory She reckons no longer upon her being entrusted with her self nor upon watching even with a simple peaceable and disinterested vigilancy over her own will She rejecteth all reflection as imperfect because nothing but meerly direct and not reflex sights are worthy of God To Speak at this rate is to oppose the experiences of Saints whose most internal Life hath been fill'd with very profitable reflections made by the impression of grace since they have afterward come to know the graces past and the miseries from which God hath delivered them that at length they have given an account of a very great number of things that had happened in them This is to turn the abnegation of ones self into an impious hatred of our Soul which supposes her to be bad by nature according to the principle of the Manicheans or which overturns the order in hating what is good and what God loves as being his image This is to annihilate all watchfulness all fidelity to grace all attention to make God reign in us all good usage of our liberty In a word it is the height of all impiety and irreligion XIII ARTICLE True THere is a great deal of difference between simple and direct acts and reflex acts Whensoever we act with a right Conscience there is in us an inward certainty that we go right or else we should act in a doubt whither we do well or ill and so should not practise a downright dealing But this inward certainty consists often in acts so simple so direct so rapid so momentanous so free from all reflection that the Soul who knows well that she makes them in that moment that she makes them does not find afterwards any distinct and durable sign of them Hence it comes that when she will return by reflection to what she hath done she doth not think she hath done what she ought she disturbs her self by scruples and is even offended at the indulgence of her superiours when they go about to quiet her in respect to what is past So God giveth her at the instant of the action by direct acts all the necessary certainty for the rectitude of her Conscience and he takes away from her in his jealousie the facility of finding again by way of reflection and an after-blow that certainty and rectitude so that she cannot enjoy it to her comfort nor justifie her self in her own eyes As for reflex acts they leave behind them a lasting and steady Foot-step which is found again when we please and this is the reason why Souls yet interested for themselves be willing incessantly to form acts that are strongly imprinted and reflected to make themselves sure of their operation and bear witness of it to themselves Whereas disinterested Souls are of themselves indifferent to perform acts distinct or indistinct direct or reflex They make reflex ones whenever either any Precept may require it or the power of grace carries them to it but they don't look for reflex acts with preference to others by a trouble arising from a concern for their own security Commonly in the extremity of Tryals God leaves nothing to them but direct acts of which afterwards they cannot perceive any Foot-step and this causeth the Martyrdom of Souls while any motive of self-interest remaineth yet in them These direct and intimate acts without reflection imprinting any sensible Foot-step are that which S. Francis of Sales hath called the Top of the Soul or Edge of the Spirit In these acts it was that S. Anthony did repose the most perfect Prayer when he said Prayer is not yet perfect when the solitary knows that be makes a Prayer Cassian conf 9. To Speak thus is to Speak conformable to the Experience of Saints without exceeding the strictness of Catholick Doctrine It is also to Speak of the operations of the Soul in conformity to the ideas of all good Philosophers XIII False THere are no true acts besides the reflex ones which are either felt or perceived as soon as we have ceased to perform any act of that kind we may say truly that we perform not one more that is real Whosoever hath not upon these acts a reflex and durable certitude hath had no certainty in the Action from whence it follows that the Souls who are during their Tryals in an apparent despair are there in a true despair and that the doubt wherein they are after having acted shews that they have lost in the action the inward Testimony of Conscience To Speak at this rate is to overturn all Ideas of good Philosophy 't is to destroy the Testimony of the Spirit of God in us for our Filiation 't is to annihilate all the internal life and all rectitude of Souls