to the performance of the Penance it ought to be exact and faithfully complied with there is an obligation to discharge ones self of this Duty First because it is a part and belongs to the perfection of the Sacrament 2ly because it is enjoyn'd by an authority which hath power to oblige since God hath declared that to be bound in Heaven which the Priest binds upon Earth 3ly because it is in vertue of that acceptance one receives absolution There is then an obligation of complying with that penance which one hath accepted and he who on set purpose or by willfull negligence fails to perform it commits a Sin and an offence against God and this more or less greivously according as the omission is more or less considerable for if it be but a slight omission it is but a venial Sin but if it be a notorious omission as of the whole penance or the greatest part of it it may be a mortal Sin which is to be understood if the Penance was enjoyn'd in satisfaction for a Mortal Sin. Acquit your self then faithfully Theotime of your Penance as obeying God in the person of your Confessour discharge your self of the promise you have made him and compleat the Sacrament But remember to perform it willingly devoutly and secretly Willingly to avoid the fault which those commit who never perform it but with pain and trouble whereby they loose the greatest part of the merit they might otherwise have It is a strange thing that men should run after Sin with so much earnestness and pleasure and should have such an Aversion and Horrour against Penance which is a remedy against it And this is the complaint which Tertullian makes of his time Nauseabit ad antidotum qui hiavit ad venenum We nauseate the Remedy and love the Poyson Perform it also devoutly but especially with a true Spirit of repentance and an acknowledgment that it is a certain satisfaction you make to God for the injury you have done him by your Sins Place them always before your eyes deplore them as David did iniquicatem meam ego cognosco peccatum meum contra me est semper Psal 50.4 In fine perform your Penance secretly if it be great and if it be given you for great Sins but which are altogether unknown to those amongst whom you live that you may neither scandalise any one nor defame your self It was for these two reasons we said in the precedent Chapter that the Preist ought to enjoyn such a penance that may be secretly comply'd with when the Sins are wholly secret and the Penitent also must keep his Penance secret that he may avoid the same inconveniences And yet this is a thing wherein Penitents and particularly young people are frequently faulty declaring indiscreetly their penances to others which cannot but be of very ill consequence when their penances are signall and notorious If the penance be enjoyn'd you for Sins that are known to others as you ought not to affect to publish it so neither ought you to avoid the making of it known being it may serve for the edification of others and satisfy for the scandal which your Sins have caused CHAP. VII Of the Works which may be enjoyn'd for Penance THe most ordinary works of Penance are prayer fasting almsdeeds and whatsoever may have a relation to any of these three such as in respect of Prayer are reading pious books Meditation Confession hearing Mass In respect of fasting all the Mortifications of the body Labour retrenching our selves even of lawfull Pleasures Abstinence from things either Hurtfull or Dangerous In regard of Alms all the Helps and Assistances one can give to their Neighbour These three sorts of works are very proper for Penance and agree with it admirably well For first by these three works we submit to God all the goods which we possess the goods of the Mind those of the Body and of Fortune The goods of the mind by Prayer which subjects the Spirit to God those of the Body by Fasting and other Mortifications and those of Fortune by Almsdeeds Secondly because almost all our Sins consist in the abuse of some of these three things Pride proceeds from the abuse of the goods or advantages of the mind Luxury from those of the goods of the Body and from the abuse of our Riches proceeds Covetousness We repair that abuse by the three above-mentioned works Prayer humbles the mind Fasting tames the body and Alms makes good use of Riches These three works are highly praised and commended in the Scripture as having a wonderfull force to appease Gods anger after Sin and obtain of him all manner of favours It is said of prayers Judith 9.16 That the Prayers of the humble and good have always been pleasing to God. Eccle. 35.21 That the Prayer of him that humbles himself penetrates the Clouds Peircing as I may say the Heavens to mount to the Divine Throne and make it self be understood and graciously heard This made St. Augustine say that it is the same for Prayer to ascend unto Heaven as for Mercy to descend from thence Ascendit Oratio descendit miseratio And he adds elsewhere thâ—t to make Prayer mount more easily up to Heaven it is good to give it two wings viz. Fasting and Alms. As for Fasting it is said Tob. 12.8 That Prayer is good with Fasting That the Fasting and Penance of the Ninevites appeased Gods wrath against them When God exhorts his People to penance he assignes fasting as one of the most efficacious means Convert your selves to me in Fasting Tears and Lamentations Joel 2.13 And as for Alms it is said Tob. 4.11 That it delivers from Sin and Death And that it will not permit that the Soul which gives it should be lost That Dan. 4.24 by it we must redeem our Sins That Eccl. 29.15 we must hide our almes in the bosome of the poor and it will Pray and obtain of God an exemption from all evil for him that does it There is a great number of other passages in the Holy Scripture to shew how powerfull these three works are to obtain the mercy of God and remission of Sins These three works have each of them three singular qualities which render them more amiable and commend them to our more frequent practise For they are Satisfactory Meritorious and impetratorious They are Satisfactorious in respect of the temporal punishment by reason of the trouble which they give of Sins past either to the Body or Mind and by these pains or trouble willingly undergone one Satisfies for the punishments which are due to the Sins he hath committed They are meritorious in respect of grace and glory which is common to all good works performed in the state of Sanctifying grace They are impetratorious that is they have a particular vertue whereby to obtain of God the favours which we demand and that according to the intention of those who do them and by how much better that
follow the Scripture except also they follow and be assured of the true Sense of Scripture for as St. Augustin in tract 18. in Jo. saith Heresy springs from no other source but from good Scripture ill understood and boldly maintained And St. Hilary l. 2. ad Constant August saith excellently well That there is no Heretick but maintains his Blasphemies by the Scripture If they fay that the Holy Ghost inspires them with the true Sense of the Scriptures and the right understanding of the Mysteries therein contained The Answer is impertinent for there was never any Heretick who had not this same Plea. Secondly If it be so why are there so many different Sentiments amongst them and that in Points of Faith Can the Holy Ghost be contrary to or contradict himself Is it possible that he should inspire both truth and falshood 3ly who is it that doth not perceive that this answer were it good would authorize as many religions as there are men for every one will easily say that he hath the Holy Ghost Lastly why do they desire that others should believe them whilst they affirm that they have the H. Ghost having nothing besides there own assertion to justify what they say since they themselves refuse to believe the Church which requires their assent by so just a title as is the promise made her by the Son of God of the continuall assistance of his H. Spirit even to the end of the world We must then conclude and hold for a certain truth that it is neither our private judgment nor our interiour perswasion however we may believe it comes from the Holy Ghost which is capable to serve us as a rule in points of Faith or can make us see which is a true and which a false revelation but it is the sole Testimony of the Catholick Church and the judgment which she forms of the divine truths which is and ought to be the rule of our belief For whilst we submit our selves to her judgment we cannot fall As we cannot but mistake and err when tho' never so little we depart from the doctrine of the Church We find in the Church four conditions required for the rule of saith To be a rule it must at one and the same time be One Certain Manifest and Visible The Church is One for as there can be but one Faith so there can be no more then one true Church as it is said in the Nicene Creed Et unam Sanctam Catholicam Apostolicam Ecclesiam The judgment of the Church is Certain in points of faith since she can never fail being as the Apostle saith the Pillar and ground of truth It is Manifest because clearly proposed and by word of mouth explained upon occasion of any Emergent difficulty in matters of faith The Church for this reason was Established by the Son of God his will is that we have recourse unto her in these occasions according as it was also practiced in the Old Testament where it is said Mal. 2.7 that the lips of the Priest do conserve knowledge and one must seek the Law from his mouth And the Apostle assures us that the same method is to be observed in the New Testament when he saith Ephes 4.11 that the Son of God hath established some Apostles some Pastours and other some Doctors for the administration of his word for the building up of the body of Jesus Christ that is his Church That we may not be like Children wavering in uncertainty and carried away with every wind of Doctrine And for this reason also St. Augustin affirms that in all difficulties which occurr concerning any questions or matters of Faith we must make our addresses to the Church If any one saith he cont Crescon fear to be deceived in the obscurity of this question let him consult the Church Si quis falli metuit hujus obscuritate questionis Ecclesiam de illâ consulat Lastly the Church is Visible as consisting of Pastours who have succeeded one another ever since the Apostles even unto this present time and as in all ages one might so at this very time one may easily address himself unto them to be instructed in all what concerns our faith This is the City whereof the Son of God speaks Mat. 5.14 which is built upon a Mountain to which all the World may have access as it was foretold by Isaias Chap. 2.3 Come and ascend to the mountain of our Lord to the House of the God of Jacob. It will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths for the Law will come forth of Sion and the word of our Lord from Jerusalem It was to this City that St. Augustin de Vnitat Eecles c. 14. sent the Donatists when he said to them you have the City whereof he himself who built it said that it was a City built upon a Mountain and could not be hidden I have staid and dilated my self on set purpose upon this Subject of the Rule of Faith because it is of great concern in this affair and upon which all the rest as far as concerns us depends it is a Principle and Fundamental Maxim in matters of Faith That we must hearken to and obey the Church we must receive the Divine Revelations from her alone and the Interpretation she gives of the Holy Scripture and Tradition which are the two ways by which as is abovesaid God hath been pleased to convey his Divine Truths the Mysteries of our Holy Faith unto us Quest VII What Qualities or Conditions ought our Faith to have IT follows from what we have already said that Faith to be perfect must have three qualities or Conditions it must be Humble Vniversal and Firm or fixed and steddy Humble that is in matters of Faith we are to submit our selves to the judgment of the Church and not to be wedded to our proper sense nor to our interiour persuasion nor to the judgment of any particular Person as we have shew'd above Thus God ordained it in the Old Testament Deut. 17.8 where he commanded that in the difficulties which should occurr concerning the performance of the Law every one should have recourse to the Priests follow exactly their decision and that under pain of Death in case one should be refractory or disobedient And in the New Testament he hath decreed that he who will not hear the Church shall be accounted as an Infidel Vniversal that is it ought to comprehend and believe generally all the truths which are proposed by the Church to be believed without excepting any and the reason is evident because the Church which proposeth them by reason of the assistance of the Holy Ghost which is promised her without restriction is equally infallible in all her Judgments and can be no more deceived in the least then in the greatest Mystery of our Faith and as St. Augustin contra Epist fundam speaking of the Books of the Sacred Scripture saith excellently well If
He speaks more effectually in the 7th Chapter of the Prophet Jeremy And now because you have done all these works and I have spoken to you early rising and speaking you have not heard and I have called and you have not answered I will do to this house wherein my name is invocated and wherein you have confidence and to the place which I have given to you and your Fathers as I did to Silo and I will cast you away from my face as I have cast away all your Brethren the whole seed of Ephraim Jer. 7. And to shew how great his Indignation was against that people for contemning his sayings and the exhortations which he had so often made them for their Conversion he forbids his Prophet to pray for them and to oppose himself by his prayers to the Design he had to punish them and revenge himself of them Tu ergo noli Orare pro populo hoc nec assumas pro eis laudem Orationem neque obsistas mihi quia non exaudiam te Thou therefore pray not for this People neither take unto thee Praise and prayer for them and resist me not because I will not hear thee Could God give a greater mark of his indignation against them who refuse to be converted then is express'd in those Words since he refuses that others should appease him by their prayers by which they would endeavour to hinder the execution of his justice But if his anger were so high against the Jews for this reason how can we expect it should be less against Christians against us our selves Theotime who contemn no less his divine grace and who continue in our disordered lives and in our Sins after so many exhortations and admonitions to leave them This is the reflection which St. Hierome made upon this place which we ought to consider and keep well in minde Viz. that all that which God there spoke to the People of the Jews ought to be understood of us if we commit the same faults that the Jews did Quidquid illi populo dicitur intelligamus de nobis si similia fecerimus St. Hier. in c. 7. Jerem. CHAP. VI. Of the Great Punishment which God lays upon those who refuse or defer their Conversion ALL the Passages which I have brought do sufficiently shew the heavy Chastisement which God sends to those that contemn him in that manner The Scripture contains a vast number of others But we need not seek farther then in this Exhortation of God which we have spoken of above Learn from God himself what you ought to fear and the misfortunes that will befall you if you resist any longer the desire he hath of your Salvation The punishments are contained in these words Ego vero in interitu tuo ridebo subsannabo vos I will laugh at your Destruction and mock at you words full of terrour which ought to make all those tremble who are in mortal Sin. Dicat nunc qualiter feriat quos ad se nullatenus revertentes tanta longanimitate sustentat St. Greg. lib 18. moralium c. 7. It is for those according to the advice of St. Gregory to learn hence from the mouth of God himself in what manner he will punish those whose conversion he hath expected a long time without any effect on their part By these words God threatens to revenge himself of those at the hour of their death who continue in their sins to punish their wicked life with an unfortunate end and treat them at that last hour as they have dealt with him during their life Is not this most just and reasonable They abandon'd God during their Life and God abandons them at the hour of their death They refuse to hearken when he speaks and moves them to their Salvation they contemn his admonitions and will give ear to nothing but their own Passions and follow nothing but their pleasures They perform all their actions as if they Mocked God and God by a just but dreadfull punishment will act in respect of them as a provok'd Enemy who Scoff 's at his Conquer'd Foes and Insults over their utmost miseries with which he sees them overwhelmed He will behold them Surprized with some dreadfull accident or a mortal Agony which in a small time will carry them away He will see them Searching all means to Escape Overwhelmed with griefs troubled with fear and trembling tormented with the Remorse of their guilty Consciences calling to him for their Succour and Deliverance but he will not hearken at all He will become Deaf to their Prayers as they would not give ear to his admonitions He will not hearken to their desires for their deliverance as they would not hearken to his advices for their Salvation He will not give them time for repentance being they refused it when it was in their power and when they were exhorted by God himself Thus will they dye Miserably seeing themselves constrained to abandon a mortal Life with all the Pleasures which they lov'd more then either God or their Salvation to go and begin an Eternal Death where for fleeting Pleasures they shall find immortal torments and an infinity of evils which shall never end It is thus Theotime that God shall treat those who contemn his Favours and refuse to hearken to his Voice when he invites them to their Salvation and thus will he punish them always and that you may better comprehend this Chastizement of God take notice of three great evils which compose it The First is an unprovided death which he will send to those that are impenitent when they shall least expect it Cum irruerit repentina calamitas interitus quasi tempestas ingruerit The Second is an oppression of grief and anguishes in that dreadfull surprise pains of Body and Senses anguishes of Soul and Conscience this is that which is signified by those words of God Cum irruerit super vos tribulatio angustia The Third which is the most dreadfull is God's forsaking them in that last and deplorable extremity a forsaking so great that he will never more hearken to their prayers and crys as he himself saith in the following words tunc invocabunt me non exaudiam c. And all these miseries will befall them in punishment of their obstinacy in their Sins and refusal to be converted Eo quod exosam habuerint disciplinam sermonem Domini non receperint c. I would to God Theotime this chastisement were as rare as it is frightfull and terrible But it happens too often by a deplorable misfortune and is but a just effect of the divine justice which frequently puts in Execution his threats against those who so often contemn his holy inspirations All the Christians who are either dead or dayly dye in Mortal Sin of whom the multitude is innumerable are witnesses of this truth All those to wit who are surprized by unexpected accidents either of sickness wherein they dye without
better the grievousness thereof SInce it is most certain that the best way to know a cause is to consider its effects doubtless the best means to discover the grievousness of Mortal Sin is to reflect on the Sad effects which followed from it We have said before that we could not perfectly know Sin in it self because it is the Supreme evil which is infinite no more then we can understand in it self the Supreme and Sovereign good which is God. But as by the effects which we see of his Power of his Wisdom of his Goodness we arrive at some knowledge of God So on the Contrary we may find out in some sort the heinousness of Sin if we do but consider attentively the Dreadful effects it causes and the horrible misfortunes which it carries with it And all these effects are as so many Powerfull motives of Contrition to make us detest and abhor Sin. To discover it the better we shall observe some order and search for it in several places viz. in our selves in Heaven in Hell in God himself and in his Son Jesus Christ ARTICLE I. Of the death of the Soul or the sad effects which Sin produceth in his Soul who commits it I Begin with the Death of the Soul because this is the first effect which Sin produceth as soon as ever is is committed Peccatum cum consummatum fuerit generat mortem Jac. 1. And I would to God it were as sensible as it is real and that those who are so unfortunate as to fall into Mortal Sin might exactly know the greatness of the evil which thereby they draw upon themselves as really in it self it is and resent it as it deserves It is for this reason that I desire to explicate it unto you and make you understand it Sin then saith the Scripture is no sooner finished but immediately it causeth Death It 's certain that it is not the death of the Body for a man doth not dye in the moment he hath committed it It is then the death of the Soul a thousand times more dreadfull then that of the Body for this doth but separate the Soul from the Body but the Death which is caused by Sin is a Separation of the Soul from God who is a Supernatural Life as St. Aug. saith vita corporis anima est vita animae Deus est And as this life which God gives the Soul is infinitely more estimable then that which the Soul confers upon the Body which it animates so the Death which causeth the loss of that Divine Life is infinitely more dreadfull and Lamentable then naturall Death To understand this well you must know what God hath reveal'd and we believe concerning a Soul which hath the Blessing to be in the State of the Grace of God And it is this when God receives a Soul into his Friendship he Cloathes her with the Robe of Sanctifying Grace a supernatural and Divine quality which cleanseth the Soul from all the spots of Sin and renders her agreeable to the eyes of God. And at the same moment he replenisheth her with Divine gifts as Faith Hope Charity and other Christian Virtues Then by the means of that Grace God dwells in that Soul after a particular manner he makes her his Temple and Habitation where he is pleased to be adored and loved by the Souls that possess him Lastly he interchangeably communicates himself unto her filling her with his holy Spirit and Divine Inspirations All these truths are drawn from the express words of the Sacred Scripture As from that where God promises That he will pour upon us a clean water which will cleanse us from all our stains Ezek. 36. This water is Sanctifying Grace From that where he saith That the Charity of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us Rom. 5. That we are the Temples of the Living God and that the Spirit of God doth dwell in us 1. Cor. 3. from those words where our Saviour saith If any one love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our Dwelling with him Joh. 14. From those words of St. John. God is Charity and he who remains in Charity remains with God and God with him 1. Joh. 4. There are a great number of the like passages which clearly represent unto us the state of a Soul Sanctifyed by Grace and the great happiness she enjoys in that condition wherein she possesses God himself and is possessed by him Now all this felicity is constant and permanent as to what relates to God whose gifts are without repentance as the Scripture saith only the Soul can deprive her self of and destroy in her self this happiness This misfortune befalls us when forgetfull of the infinite blessing we possess and permitting our selves to be surprized by the allurements of Sin we break that happy League and Alliance which God had made with us And this we do by a criminal disobedience whereby we incur the displeasure of God and lose in a moment all those inestimable goods which before we happyly enjoyed O God Theotime who can worthily express the dreadfull misfortune which happens to a Soul by one mortal sin and paint to the life the deplorable state to which it is reduced in the moment she offends in which the Soul in that very instant is deprived of the grace of God and of one beautifull and as an Angel in his sight becomes as hideous and hatefull as a Devil Quomodo obscuratum est aurum mutatus est color optimus Thren 4. Is there any subject where we may more sitly apply those dolefull words of Jeremy how comes it to pass that this Soul should be so defaced what is become of that grace which made her more bright then gold how is that divine beauty changed into so hideous a form It is an effect of the divine Anger which hath justly fill'd that Soul with cloudy darkness which before had unjustly banisht the light of Grace But that which is most to be lamented is that that Soul which formerly had the honour to be employ'd as the Temple of God now sees her self rejected by him with horrour and detestation and the Holy Ghost retired from her having abandoned her to be the dwelling-place of the Devil according to that sentence of the same Prophet repulit Dominus Altare suum maledixit sanctificationi suae God hath rejected his Altar and laid a curse upon the place where he was adored and sanctified Thren 2. Is it possible Theotime that you can read these words without trembling if you are in the state of Mortal Sin It is this forsaking of God and this loss of his grace which properly causes the death of the Soul infinitely more to be feared then that of the Body forasmuch as by the death of the body we are only deprived of the presence of the Soul death being only a separation of the Soul from
sententiâ stabit saeculis materia reparabilis nunquam ad metam malorum termino fugiente perveniet Eus Emis hom 1 ad Manachos From hence proceed those horrible Crys and Lamentations from hence that Rage and everlasting Despair of the Damned who shall clearly see that they shall never be freed from their Miseries Their minds shall always be full of this sad thought Thou shalt never be freed from hence What not after a thousand years not after Ten thousand years not after a Hundred thousand years nothing less Not after a Million of years no Never Thou shalt be Eternally Tormented in ignem aeternum in ignem aeternum in ignem aeternum O Eternity how Dreadfull art thou O Theotime is it possible you can read this without trembling as for my part I declare I can never think of it without an Horrour But it is to little purpose to have a dread of Hell if we do not endeavour to avoid it wherefore let us come to the Conclusion which follows The Conclusion of this ARTICLE Of the pains of Hell. IT is of infinite importance not to read slightly and in passant these frightfull pains that shall never have an end but into which we may dayly fall For this reason Theotime I conjure you to read them often with great attention and add three or four reflections which here I shall set before you The first is that all which we have said or can be spoken of these Torments is nothing if compared to what they are in themselves Humane discourses rather diminish then augment them There can be no exaggeration on this Subject for the Punishment doth far surpass all our expressions The Second is that their pains are a just Punishment of Mortal Sin. There is not any other besides that cursed cause which hath brought forth these so dreadfull effects of the Divine Anger And which hath set God and man at such a Frightfull and final distance Iniquitates vestrae diviserunt inter vos Deum vestrum Esai 52.2 These so Vast and Eternal Pains may make us understand three things The greatness and enormity of Mortal Sin the Hatred which God bears it since he punisheth it so dreadfully And the detestation we ought to have of it as well for those Pains as for the hatred God bears to Sin Ponder this well Theotime and reflect seriously upon it The 3d. is That you have merited these pains of Hell by the Sins you have committed and already deserved to be of the number of those unhappy damned of whom we but just now spoke To suffer the Tortures which they endure to be from this instant out of hopes of ever seeing God or ever being freed from Hell. Is not this consideration enough to make you weep and lament and is not this an urgent motive to raise in you a detestation of Sin which hath cast you into such eminent danger the only thought whereof ought to make you tremble But in the fourth place reflect upon the cause which hath hitherto preserved you from that dreadfull danger and you will find no other then the sole goodness of Almighty God which hath not treated you according to your deserts permitting you to dye in that sinfull State as most justly he might have done and as he hath done to others that had committed no greater sins then yours Where had you now been had he treated you in that manner You had been before now eternally lost and damned for ever And why hath he not done it but only out of that infinite goodness he hath shewn you expecting daily your repentance O Theotime how well may you say with the Prophet Misericordia Domini quia non sumus consumpti quià non defecerunt miserationes ejus Thren 3.22 Without question it proceeds only from the sole mercy of God that you have yet time to work your Salvation How perfect then ought your love to be towards him who hath shew'd himself so mercifull towards you and what can you refuse to do both for his sake and your own Salvation who hath yet granted you time wherein you may secure it The fifth and last Reflection is that you cannot now work your Salvation nor avoid for the future that Eternal Damnation except you change your life and do Penance to which I exhort you in this Treatise They are the express words of the Son of God repeated thrice in the fifteenth Chapter of St. Luke Dico vobis nisi poenitentiam habueritis omnes simul peribitis I say unto you unless you do Penance you shall all perish Take notice he saith All without exception either of old or young or what condition soever Conclude from hence and make your resolution And remember that upon this resolution depends your Salvation and your Eternity Wherefore do not make a slight one but a constant and an effectual resolution that is a purpose followed by the effect of a real and serious Conversion ARTICLE V. Of the effects which Sin produces in respect of God himself THis Title is surprizing and I declare that if it be taken according to the rigour of the expression it imports a thing equally incredible as impossible For how can God who is perfectly unchangeable receive any alteration in himself from external causes This cannot be That Sin should have filled Heaven with disorders Earth with miseries Hell with confusion and horrour is but too true But that God himself should be sensible of these effects this is that which cannot be easily understood It is true Theotime that this is hard to be understood but the Sacred Scripture that Oracle of Truth represents unto us in so many places the different effects which Sin seems to cause in respect of God that we cannot doubt it For of all the passions which men conceive against evil or against that which is offensive to them as Grief Sadness Repentance Hatred Anger Indignation Fury There is none which the Scripture doth not take notice of as remarkable in God against Sin. It saith in Genesis c. 6. that God seeing the Sins of men was touched with an hearty sorrow and repented himself that he had Created man who had abus'd his liberty so heinously to offend him Tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus dixit paenitet me foecisse hominem It saith that those who Sin contristate the Holy Ghost Nolite contristare Spiritum Sanctum Eph. 4.30 God hates the wicked and his wickedness Wisd 14.9 that he is angry against those that offend him That Sin enkindles his Fury and Indignation Iratus est furore Dominus in populum tuum abominatus est haeriditatem suam Psal 105.40 The whole Scripture is full of these expressions which give us plainly to understand that Sin which hath caused a disorder in all Gods creatures hath not spared the Creator and that this Infernall Monster as much as possible attaques God himself and were it possible would destroy him It is true Theotime and this we ought to
Temporall pains to be imposed upon the Penitent to the end he the Penitent may satisfy on his part according to his power and for other reasons which we shall speak of In the undertaking of this Temporall punishment consists the satisfaction whereof we speak in this place which is the third part of Penance CHAP. II. That God pardoning the Sin obliges to a temporal Punishment THis is a fundamental truth in the matter of satisfaction and it is very necessary to understand it well that we may know what satisfaction or a Penance is and how much it imports us to comply with it I said above that God ordinarily makes use of the second sort of reconciliation which imposeth an obligation at least to suffer some punishment for sin which is easy to be proved He hath always practiced this in the Old Testament Nay even from the beginning of the World. When he pardoned the first man his sin it was upon condition to do Penance by labour to which he condemned him and in effect it was a very severe Penance which continued all his Life When he pardoned David his sins of Adultery and Murther he told him by his Prophet that he should be chastised by the death of his Child and he remitted him nothing of all the menaces with which he threatned him by the same Prophet That he himself should see the dishonour of his house the dissention amongst his Children and other misfortunes which were foretold him and all which came to pass For this reason the Penitents of the Old Testament when they begged of God pardon of their sins they never as much as ask'd to be exempt from all punishment but only not to be chastised according to the rigour of the divine justice they desired to avoid his fury and the more fignal effects of his wrath but they submitted themselves to the fatherly correction he should be pleased to impose upon them Reprehend me not O Lord said David Psal 27. in thy Fury nor punish me in thy Wrath. And a little after he declares that he is ready to do Penance and to suffer for his Sins ibid. v. 18. Ecce ego in flagella paratus Sum I am prepared saith he for Scourges Another begs of God that he will Chastise him but not in his Fury Corripe me Domine veruntamen in judicio non in furore Hierem 10.24 There are a vast number of the like examples in the old Testament which shew evidently that God doth not pardon Sins but with an obligation to do Penance and that the Penitents of that time never pretended nor required to be exempt from suffering for their Sins Yea even there have been some of the most illuminated amongst them who have sounded into the depth of the punishment which God hath reserved to himself in the other Life and who knew that God punished after death the Sins of the just which had not been sufficiently expiated during Life So Judas Machabeus not only a great Captain but also high Priest of the Law after a signal Victory sent orders to Jerusalem to offer Sacrifice for the sins of the faithfull who had been slain in that fight And the Scripture 2. Mach. 12.46 approves that action as an holy and wholsome thought assuring us that by prayers and Sacrifices the dead are released from their Sins But this cannot be understood of Sin as to the fault or the eternall punishment which cannot be remitted after Death no more then the fault from whence it springs It must then be understood of the Temporall punishment which the dead ought to satisfy for in the other Life and from which they may be released by the Prayers and Sacrifices of the Living As to the new Law here also God hath still continued the same manner of receiving Christians into his Grace in obliging them to satisfaction by temporal punishment and that with so much more reason as the Law they profess is more holy and more perfect This is the Reason why our Saviour hath said Mat. 12.35 that at the day of Judgment we must give account of the least Sins as idle words This sentence shall be given after death There we shall give an account of our sins there to receive the punishment This shall not at all be an eternall punishment for they will not at all deserve it it must then be a temporall punishment which must be undergone and by which we must satisfy in the other Life if we have not satisfyed during this Hence also it is that the same Son of God by giving to his Apostles power to remit and retain sins hath also given that of binding and loosing Sinners This power of binding reacheth to many things but amongst others it contains the Power of obliging Penitents to make satisfaction for their sins and in releasing them from the bonds of the guilt and eternall punishment it imposes upon them a temporall pain for the satisfaction of the Divine Justice Thus the Church hath always urderstood that power of binding as the Council of Trent hath declared Ses 14. c. 8. adding Can. 15. an Anathema to those that hold the contrary This is the cause why the same Church which is infallible in the interpretation of the sentiments of her Spouse hath always made use of this power from the Apostles even unto this present time having always received Sinners unto the Sacrament of Penance by imposing upon them wholsome penances for their sins For which she her self hath made rules and Canons prescribing different penances for different sorts of Sins CHAP. III. Excellent reasons out of the Council of Trent to shew why God remitting the Sin by Penance obligeth the Penitent Sinner to a Temporal Punishment THe holy Council of Trent treating of Penance brings so efficacious and moving reasons to evince this truth that to omit them here Theotime would be to deprive you of a signal satisfaction It draws the first from the great equity of the Divine Justice which treats those in a different manner who are differently or unequally guilty as those are who have sinned before Baptisme and those who have offended after they have received it For as concerning the former as they have sinned with more ignorance and without having received so many graces as Christians have God remits them by Baptisme not only all their Sins but also all the punishment which he might justly exact in satisfaction for them granting them an absolute and entire pardon or an act of oblivion and indemnity of all that is passed in favour of their entrance into Christian Religion But he treats otherwise with them who relapse into sin after Baptisme whose faults are infinitly greater because then they have a clearer knowlege of the sin and offend after they have been delivered from the Slavery of Sin and the Devil After they have received the grace of the Holy Ghost by which there Soul became the dwelling place of God so that by sinning they violate the Temple of