thy Teeth and contriving Scorpions for another but all this within thine own heart What Torture can the Enemy give thee that is greater nay equal to this that thou bringest upon thy self On the contrary he very often laughs when thou lamentest and he is at rest when thou art upon the rack By this it is manifest that 't is more easie more cheerful more pleasant and delightful for thee to love than to hate thine Enemy According to this it is not only pleasing to God but happy and comfortable to our selves to love our enemies According to this patience the medicine of Anger is not bitter but sweet and the heavenly Physician cures thee of a Calenture in the Dog-days by prescribing thee a draught of Cold water for he cures the Infernal fire of Anger and washes it away with the gentle Stream of Love and Charity For this reason we may justly call Patience the Celestial Art of Peace Would'st thou have Peace and Joy and Comfort in thy Soul Get Patience and thou shalt have Peace and by having Peace and Patience thou shalt not only have Joy and Comfort but the Author of Patience and Peace of Joy and Comfort shall dwell continually in thy Soul Of Moderation in speaking and the mischiefs of the Tongue There is yet another kind of Abstinence besides that excellent Vertue of forbearing the Excess of Meat and Drink which we have already spoken of which is that of forbearing superfluous and hurtful Talk for that is also a very admirable and profitable kind of Abstinence I do not know whether I should not say Thou shalt do a better and a greater thing to abstain from speaking much than eating much for speaking causes more mischiefs than eating and men grow tir'd and weary with eating but never with talking Our Saviour doth advertise us well of this when he says Not that which enters into the Mouth defiles the Soul but that which comes out of the Mouth Now they be words which come out of the Mouth and it is meat that goeth into the Mouth What then Is not excessive eating very hurtful Yes to the Body but the Soul receives no hurt from the meat but from the excessive delight in it whereas that whereby the Soul is so frequently defiled comes out of the mouth in filthy loose smutty and sinful words as also in those that slander and detract and destroy the Honours Lives and Fortunes of their Neighbours These are they commonly that do the mischief to our Souls The Tongue is the Source of Vice and the Ruiner of Vertue This little Instrument is a sharp and cruel Razour that cuts and burns and kills and sets the whole World on fire and is set on fire of Hell St. James calls it an unruly Member full of deadly poyson the matter of infinite vexations quarrels and contentions it disturbs disquiets and overturns all In short this little Engine is the universal Conveyance through which all the mischiefs of the World come out of the heart in counselling perswading disposing and quickning its destruction 'T is not without great reason that God hath shut up this dangerous and powerful Instrument the Tongue within a double wall of the Teeth and of the Lips to the end that it might be kept close and restrained and no words suffered to pass out of that Fortress till they be well examined One Bridle is enough for the fiercest Horse but for this little Worm two are not sufficient Think what a suspected House that is which needs two Porters either it is in a very unsafe Condition or else the keeping of it is of great importance Be very wary of thy Speech and keep thy self as much as thou canst towards silence for that is very secure but speaking very hazardous to thy Soul Think ruminate examine and file over thy words oftentimes before thou utter them with thy Tongue and consider that when once they come there and are shot from thence they become Arrows which cannot be recalled and which kill without remedy The Tongue says St. Austin being in a dark moist place is very apt to slip and it is very dangerous to go in slippery places without either light or care Of Silence Silence is the Furnace of Charity and as when the mouth of a Furnace is open the fire comes easily out of it so out of ours sometimes does the fervour of Spiritual Charity for the good of our Neighbour The ancient Philosophers that they might learn to know were taught to be silent for Silence is the Parent of inward peace rest and quietness If this be requisite in the Meditation and Contemplation of Natural Things how much more then in Eternal and Celestial Dost thou love Peace live in silence Would'st thou do much Take heed what thou sayest before thou speakest Let thy words pass twice through thy thoughts before they pass once through thy Tongue Hear see and say nothing if thou wilt be disturb'd at nothing Audi vide tace si vis vivere in pace I have often repented me of having spoken but never of having held my Tongue He that speaks makes himself subject to the Censure of all that hear him but he that keeps silence is the secret Censurer of all that speak See the difference there is between being a Subject and a Superiour between being a Judge and being Judged the same there is between speaking and hearing To speak much shews Confidence Lightness Imprudence and Vanity to speak little shews Modesty Goodness and Discretion The Third WEEK Of Envy ABstinence Patience and Silence are naturally followed by the Love of our Neighbour whereof the contrary is Envy an infamous Vice which took birth growth and gathered strength with our very Nature but I come short Envy is more ancient than our Nature for Lucifer and his Fellows stumbled in Heaven by Envy and fell headlong from thence into the bottomless Pit It being propos'd to that high Cherubim according to the Opinion of grave Authors that he should adore the Eternal Son of God when in future time he should be united to our Nature he disdained to do it through Envy that an Union should be made with the Humane when he might have taken the Angelical It was Pride in Lucifer not to adore the Son of God but it was a Pride according to this Opinion that had its Root in Envy It was Envy also that moved him afterwards in Paradise to lay that Trap into which our innocent Parents fell alluring their holy sincerity and goodness with offers of being like unto Gods It was his Envy to see them in the favour of their Eternal Creator while himself was Condemned into Everlasting Fire It was Envy that in the first steps of the Banishment of our first Parents made angry Cain an Enemy to God and to his Brother Abel and which made him first commit Murder then to Despair and at last to be quite cut off that Envy proceeding from God's favourable accepting of
their Frailty can permit they need neither desire nor trouble themselves for more and if God shall please to give them any thing beyond that let them decline it with Humility or receive it with Reverence and preserve it with Fear working in all things with resignation and the Counsel of their Spiritual Guide for the Revelations whereby we are to be saved are already revealed to the Church and for the rest though they may be profitable yet they are not necessary to my Design To conclude I offer this Work such as it is full I confess of Imperfections to all that are desirous to improve and go forward in the Spiritual Life with a most affectionate desire of their good earnestly exhorting them to the principal end which the whole aims at namely to know how much earthly transitory things ought to be despised and therefore to flie from Vices to avoid Worldly Delights and to embrace those which are Heavenly and Eternal to practise the Vertues to frequent the Sacrament to Pray earnestly and often and finally to labour and take pains in the Kingdom of Grace that they may come to enjoy God eternally in the Kingdom of Glory AN INDEX OF THE Several Subjects treated of in each Month and Week of this Spiritual Year JANUARY Week I. OF the Frailty of Humane Nature Week II. Of the Weakness of Man and the Miseries of his Body Week III. Of the Miseries of the Soul and its Passions Week IV. Of the Miseries and Sins of each Man in particular FEBRUARY Week I. Of the Remembrance of Death Week II. How much it concerns the Soul to remember Death in the time of Life Week III. The dreadful Call of God to the sinner that defers Repentance till his Death Week IV. The Answer of a Repenting sinner and that we ought to prepare our selves for Death MARCH Week I. Of the particular Account that each man is to give immediately after his Death Week II. Of the Rectitude and Severity of the Judgment Week III. Of the means there are in this Life to prevent the Account and Judgment of the other Week IV. Of the Universal Judgment at the end of the World APRIL Week I. Of the Torments of Hell Week II. Of the Place of Hell Week III. Of the Company of the Damned and of their pain of Sense Week IV. Of the duration of the pain above-mentioned of the pain of Loss and of the Worm of Conscience MAY. Week I. Of the Divine Benefits Of the Benefit of Creation Week II. Of the Institution of Matrimony Of Civil Society and Government Week III. Of the Benefit of Preservation first of our Bodies Of Preservation from particucular dangers Of the Preservation of our Souls Of the Guard of Angels Week IV. Of the Benefit of Redemption JUNE Week I. Of Baptism and Confirmation Week II. Of Repentance and Absolution Of the Holy Eucharist A Prayer Week III. Of Frequenting the Sacrament Week IV. Of the Kingdom of Grace Of the Purity of Intentions Of Purity of Conscience JULY Week I. Of Temptations and the Grace of God in them That it is no easie matter to be sav'd but that it is necessary to fight Of the Grace of God Week II. Of the Glory of the Blessed Week III. Of the Imitation of the Life of our Blessed Saviour and of his Mysteries Of the Mystery of the Incarnation Of the Birth of our Lord. Week IV. Of the other Mysteries of our Lord till his Preaching and first of his Circumcision The Adoration of the Kings Of his Presentation in the Temple Of his Flight into Egypt Of the other Mysteries AUGUST Week I. Of the Baptism and Preaching of our Lord with his Doctrine Miracles and Parables Week II. The Eve of the Passion Of the last Supper and of the washing of his Disciples Feet Of the Institution of the Holy Sacrament Of the Consecration of the Apostles Week III. Of his Agony in the Garden his Death Resurrection and Ascension Week IV. Of the Exercise of the three Theological Vertues Faith Hope and Charity upon Contemplation of the Life and Death of our Saviour SEPTEMBER Week I. Of the Vertue of Religion and of the manner of governing the Cardinal and Moral Vertues by that of Religion Of the Application of Christian Works Week II. Of the three first of the Cardinal Vertues Prudence Justice Fortitude and first of Prudence Of Justice and of good and evil Judges Of Fortitude Week III. Of Temperance the Fourth of the Cardinal Vertues Of the manner of governing the Moral Vertues by the Cardinal Of Judging falsly Week IV. Of Humility and its contrary Pride OCTOBER Week I. Of Liberality and its contrary Covetousness Of Chastity and Abstinence The Mischiefs of Sensuality Of Remedies against Sensuality Of Gluttony Week II. Of Patience Of Anger Of Moderation in speaking and the mischiefs of the Tongue Of Silence Week III. Of Envy Remedies against Envy Of Charity to our Neighbours Of Courtesie Week IV. Of Diligence and Fervency and of the mischiefs of Omission and Sloth NOVEMBER Week I. Of the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit in general Of Charity the First Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week II. Of Peace the Second Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week III. Of Longanimity and Benignity the Third and Fourth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Week IV. Of Faith the Fifth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Continence the Sixth Fruit. DECEMBER Week I. Of Joy the Seventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Patience the Eighth Fruit. Week II. Of Goodness the Ninth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Meekness the Tenth Fruit. Week III. Of Modesty the Eleventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Chastity the Twelfth and last Fruit. Week IV. Of Perseverance and Prayer to God THE Spiritual Year JANVARY The First WEEK Of the Weakness of Humane Nature HEAR Son the Instruction of thy Father and learn to fear God who is thy true Father Consider thy beginning if thou desirest to have a good ending Look what thou art and thou wilt see what thou shalt be Know thy self and thou shalt know God Behold thy self that thou mayest behold him thou art blind from thy birth like the man in the Gospel and mayest recover thy sight as he did by putting Clay upon thine eyes That is the matter thou art made of and it had remain'd Clay for ever if the Spirit of God had not breathed life into it Thus thou seest what Humane Nature is and that it speaks nothing but weakness and frailty 2. Would'st thou see how strong it is Look how long it stood Man being created in Innocence scarce continu'd so for a few days some say hardly a few hours His Nature was so perfect and so strong that it was able to destroy it self and without any inward weakness it yielded in Adam and Eve to an outward Enemy What is it like to be now that it is sick and mortally wounded since it ruined it self when it was sound and healthful Man fell in Paradise in the
midst of Light and now unless he get assistance of the light of Grace by Prayer what will become of him And how shall he keep himself standing in the midst of so much darkness and so many confusions as he has been subject to ever since he was banished thence 3. What is our Nature but a Vessel of Passions and Miseries a seed-plot of Sins and of Misfortunes Consider Man in his Generation and thou shalt find him to be nothing but Corruption Behold him in the darkness of his Mother's womb and thou shalt find him a little lump of living filth Behold him taken Captive before ever he was at liberty and a Prisoner before he hath committed any Crime His Body scarcely formed and yet already shut up in a most obscure Dungeon Thus was he acquainted with darkness before he saw any light and came headlong crying into the World as an Omen of his precipitate Passions and future Miseries Yet alas that Captivity which his Body suffers in his Mother's Womb is less to be lamented than the other which his Soul suffers in his Body 4. Behold that is a Captive not only to corruption and filth as the Body for that were tolerable but also to the loathsomness of sin created to an Original Servitude and condemned to Troubles without number or measure To begin to be and to begin to be in Servitude is in Man one and the same thing We are all born Slaves of the common Enemy what have we then to be proud of Only one Man exempted himself from this hard Servitude for he was God All the rest fell all the rest are Tributaries without remedy 5. Man is born to suffer and to weep he forces out his way by the strait passages of Afflictions Pangs and Throws causing them to his Mother and sometimes even her very Death What kind of Creature is this that cannot come to life without hazarding to give or to receive death And who at the same time begins to live and to lament being accustom'd to Tears before he comes acquainted with Laughter But it is no wonder he should weep at his Mother's feet for being born seeing the miseries that expect him in the World The Body hath cause enough to bewail its innumerable pains and the Soul its innumerable sins Finally Man is born the most feeble and helpless of all Creatures being destitute of every thing and needing the succour of every body He is kept alive by the Alms Care and Compassion of his Parents being utterly unable to help himself and utterly useless to all others 6. In this sad condition God's mercy steps in and makes him His by the Water of Baptism He takes from him the â—…gs of the Old Adam and cloaths him with the Robe of Grace making him the Adopted Son of God by the blood of the Eternal Son of God O! happy he if his Fortune ended here and if in this Holiness and Innocency of Childhood he might pass from Grace to Glory But no alas he is not so happy for he grows up either to a greater Reward or to harder Sufferings The light of Reason no sooner begins to glimmer in him but presently his Appetite rushes forth to oppose it and that being commonly strong and powerful drags the other after it because it is weaken'd by the first fall unless it be assisted by God's Grace His Affections take birth with his Understanding and with them his Passions gather strength these grow and daily darken his Reason he lives a painful and vexatious life in a continual conflict sometimes falling sometimes getting up again and very often totally overcome and willingly yielding up the Victory His Life whilst an Infant is meer impotence whilst a Child ignorance whilst a Youth danger whilst a Man care when Old weakness pain and sorrow and his passage through all these Ages is frailty sin and folly In short he lives such a life that Death uses sometimes to be his Wish often his Refuge and always the great Remedy of his Miseries This is the external Man therefore do thou use thy endeavours to become an internal Man Conquer Nature by the help of Grace thy Appetite by that of Reason the Delights of the Flesh by Mortification the Deceits of the World by Prayer and even Death it self by a Religious Life The Second WEEK Of the Frailty of Man and of the Miseries of his Body THis is the Nature of Man in general Look now in particular upon the Body that gross and visible part of our frailty Job saith not that man's Body hath some miseries and troubles but that he is of few days and full of troubles Would'st thou see it They are so many that they commonly break forth because they cannot be contained within him and ever and anon that which afflicts him inwardly discovers it self outwardly in boyls and blisters in swellings and discolourings of the skin The Year hath fewer days than there be ways of dying suddenly and can any body live in so stupid a Lethargy as not so much as to dream of an Eternal Life The Year and even our Life hath fewer hours than there be Mortal Diseases in the Body as Naturalists affirm and can any one live forgetful of his Soul We may wonder how life can continue in the Body having so many Gates and Windows to get out at How is it possible that the four Humours which are Enemies to one another should agree and last together in so strait so narrow and so obscure a place as is man's Body Yet they do not agree but with a most obstinate strife and contest they do disorder and discompose our life What is the Body but a false and seeming Friend to the Soul yet in truth its certain and deadly Enemy What is the Body but a Vessel of Poyson which to day is not perceived yet kills to morrow What is the Body but a heap of loathsomness and corruption What is it but a living deceit which yet continually undeceives us if we would be undeceived and a security in appearance but a constant infelicity Whilst it is in Health it cheats us and never speaks truth but in Sickness so long as it lives it is a lye and never tells truth till it be dead 2. Our life is nothing but death in a disguise and when it has made an end of acting its part the Mask is pull'd off The most beautiful Body carries that within it which were sufficient to make it eternally fly from it self if it were possible so to do It is full of filth and corruption so loathsome and so nauseous that it is a scandal but to name them It is a source of Uncleanness and the wretched dwelling of Impurities which are so numerous that it was necessary to make many Common Sewers for them to run out at because there was not room enough for them within The Body is so frail that every thing hath a powerful Jurisdiction over it a little dust choaks it a little
thou wert never to be called to Account therefore O sinner thou wilt find at thy death that 't is more easie to tremble at thy Account than to give it 4. Thou hast spent all thy life in sin and wickedness without any remembrance of the Glory to come what Idea therefore can thy Memory have of that Glory when thou comest to dye If it be tedious and wearisome to thee to confess a few daily sins how dost thou think thou shalt find Diligence and Patience enough when thou comest to dye to confess that infinite number thou hast committed from the time of thy birth Thou canst not or wilt not now in thy health lift a hundred weight and dost thou think thou shalt be able in thy sickness to lift a hundred thousand Dost thou reserve that weight to be laid upon thee in thy weakness which thou darest not venture to lift at in thy full strength What profit or advantage can thy Death bring thee when all thy care and trouble will be imployed about the losing of thy Life Thy Heart being glued to the Wealth and to the World which thou must leave How wilt thou be able to loosen it from thence and to join it to what thou hast never cared for The Chains of thy Passions tye thee fast to this transitory World How wilt thou be able to break them in an instant and to give thy self to that which is eternal 5. It cost me Tears and Groans Prayers and loud Cries to raise up Lazarus to Life again who had been dead but four days of a natural Death What will it cost to raise up thee from the spiritual Death in which thou hast lain dead perhaps these forty Years I raised up Lazarus without his doing any thing to help towards his own Resurrection but I will not revive thee unless thou dost something on thy part and how wilt thou be able O wretched Man to perform that under a double Death thy Soul in that of Sin and thy Body so near to that of Corruption Thy Spirit being conquered and having yielded it self a Slave to thine Appetite which has domineer'd powerfully all thy Life and forc't thy Soul to the Drudgery of Sin Dost thou believe that in breathing out thy last Gasp thou shalt be able to recover its liberty No thou wilt find that though it be freed from thy Body for a time it is going to suffer a much greater slavery in Hell and to be tormented by the Devil in Chains of Darkness till the Day of Judgment when thy Body indeed shall rise from the Grave as did that of Lazarus to be joined again with thy Soul yet not as his to Life but to die eternally and to be for ever banished from my sight 6. Thou hast used thy self all thy Life to follow thine own will and never to deny thy self in any thing and doest thou think thou shalt have power to do that in the end of it which has always been so contrary to thy Inclinations Or if thou hast endeavour'd to get Victories over thy self and hast fought without success that spiritual Combate is it probable thou shalt overcome thy self better in thy utmost weakness and when thou liest gasping for Breath If thou couldst not conquer that Enemy when thou hadst all thy strength if with the force of Reason quicken'd by frequent Admonitions called upon by many Exhortations and excited by several good Examples thou could'st not subdue thy sensual Appetite in so many Years how wilt thou conquer it when thy Reason and Understanding shall have forsaken thee and when the Ear of thy Body shall be as deaf to all other Motives as that of thy Soul has been till then Thinkest thou when thou liest fainting in thy Death-bed without strength to move a Hand rattling in the Throat and gasping for Breath to overcome that Enemy that potent Enemy insulting over thee in the Pride of so many repeated Victories That Enemy which the Apostles themselves and their Successors with so many other excellent Saints fought against all their Lives wilt thou conquer with the dregs of thine being without Memory without Understanding and even without Sense in that great disorder and confusion which Death uses to bring especially to those who have always suffer'd their Appetite to triumph over them 7. How long O Sinner wilt thou go on in this foolish Presumption I do not bid thee despair when thou diest but I bid thee work out thy Salvation with fear and trembling while thou livest I deny not but that I saved the good Thief He believed on me when my Disciples forsook me and fled and prayed to me even when I was nailed to the Cross to such an extraordinary Faith I shew'd an extraordinary Favour and though I promised he should be with me that day in Paradice thou mayest remember I suffered him that was crucified with me on the other hand to be condemned If he who died so near my side and looking upon that Blood which I shed for him was damned Wilt thou delay still and hope to escape at that last Hour I do not forbid thee to hope when thou comest to die but I bid thee to do good works in the mean while and serve me during thy Life without deferring it till Death for if thou despisest the warning I give thee now the time will come when thou shalt call and I will not hear and when thou shalt cry Lord Lord I will answer I know thee not thou worker of Iniquity Depart from me into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels The Fourth WEEK The Answer of a repenting Sinner and that we ought to prepare our selves for Death 1. AH let us all quake and tremble what shall we answer to these terrible Words of the Lord What shall we answer to these Arguments which are rather evident Conclusions What shall we answer to that eternal Wisdom to that eternal Light and Truth whose Sayings are undeniable and whose Accusings are clear Convictions Here is nothing to be done but to acknowledge our guilt to humble our selves and amend our Lives Here is nothing to be done but with Repentance Humility and Contrition to weep and sigh and earnestly beg for Mercy 2. Here is nothing to be done but with a most intimate Desire and Sorrow of the Soul to say Lord I have sinned against thee all my Life and I will bewail my offences during my Life that I may likewise bewail them at my Death If I be not willing to lament them now perhaps then I shall neither be willing nor able I sinned in the best of my time and so made it the worst and I desire to forsake my Sins in the best that remains before the last comes which is the worst indeed I desire O God to imploy the remainder of my days in thy Service since thou yet affordest me time to bewail that time which I so sinfully have lost I desire to lament my Sins with all
my Senses Powers and Faculties since I have abused them all in offending against thee my God nor will I defer my Tears till my Death since I did not defer my Sins till my Death 3. I desire O Lord that I may not be to seek for Oil in my Lamp when the Bridegroom calls but to have it ready prepar'd and lighted against his coming To get Oil after death is impossible grant that I may buy it and furnish my self before I fall asleep Life without thy Grace is not only Sleep but Death grant therefore O Lord that I may prepare for Death during Life by living well Grant O Lord my God that the Bridegroom at his coming may find me watching grant O Lord that when the Thief shall come to break into this House of my Body and rob me of my Soul I may not be found asleep in any customary Sin but awake upon my Guard and with my Lamp ready lighted and let me never hear from thee the Light eternal that terrible saying I know thee not 4. Grant that at thy second coming thou mayest find me with my Loins girt and my Light burning and able to give such an account of the Talents which thou hast given me that the Benefits of thy former coming may by thy Mercy be made effectual to my Soul What shall become of me O my God if I loose thee If once I loose thee O Light eternal when shall I be able ever to recover thee Deliver my Soul from the roaring Lion free my darling from the Power of the infernal Dragon if once I loose my self and thee Is it possible I should ever find thee again my Saviour Is there any passage from Hell to Glory Is there any Redemption in that place of Torment where all Mercies are utterly cut off Shall I expose my Soul to that hazard to that danger and to that loss at my Death for not repenting while I live Shall I trust that which is most precious and most important to the most unfit and the most uncertain time Shall I put off the loosing or enjoying thee eternally O my Jesus to a Conjuncture so full of anguish and confusion as scarce affords a possibility of knowing thee No Lord suffer me not I beseech thee to fall into so miserable a Condition rather let me die now instantly at this present moment in thy Grace than so foolishly to adventure the loss of both thy Grace and Glory 5. This is the Answer we should make to God these are the Thoughts we ought to feel these are the Requests we ought to make before the Agony of Death for then the Pains of the Body the Anguish of the Soul the Grief for leaving the Pleasures of this World and the Fear of going into the Torments of the next the Distraction of thy Thoughts and the Decay of thy Understanding will neither suffer thee to attend thy Prayers nor allow thee time to consider what to pray for O how ignorant how mad a Folly it is to delay our amendment till the Hour of Death What a mistake it is to believe that our dammage does not increase with that deceit and our deceit with that dammage What an Error to think I shall be better when I see and feel my self daily growing worse And that the end of my Life shall be good when the whole course of it from the beginning has been evil What a Cheat the Devil puts upon a Man to perswade him that when his Soul is torn out of his Body he shall be able to imploy himself in any thing else than to feel that strong Division between the Body and the Soul 6. This puts an end to the Sinner's Life this puts an end to his Delights this puts an end to his Acquaintance His Friends his Riches his Honour his Power all these must be left this is the thing that disquiets and afflicts him thither his Mind runs then where he had placed his contentment thither his sorrow his torture and confusion where he had rivetted his Heart His thought his care and his attention being taken up with what he loses and which is worse with what he fears he is in too great a Distraction to discourse of that which he should and which imports him most 7. And therefore if thou wilt live eternally die before thou diest Think of that now which thou meanest to think of hereafter Let not Death go out of thy Memory and so thou shalt amend thy Life Live and do all things as a Person that must die and thou shalt die to live for ever Thy Death shall be but a Passage not a Death and a passage to eternal Life not a dying to eternal Death MARCH The First WEEK Of the particular Account that each Man is to give immediately after his Death 1. NOW give ear and I will tell another thing more dreadful and terrible more quick and speedy and of more hazard and danger Anger than Death it self And that is the account thou art instantly to give with the Judgment and Sentence that shall be passed upon thee in particular at the Moment of thy Death What so soon Yes so soon scarce dead when already judged and Sentence past either to absolve or to condemn thee The Body is not yet quite cold upon its Bed And is the Soul judged already They are yet holding a Looking-glass to my Mouth to try whether I have any Breath left in me and is my Cause already dispatched concluded and sentenced The Body is not yet put into a Winding-sheet and is the Soul already judged and which is more the Sentence executed upon it Shall there not be a little delay Will they not allow me a little space to think how I may satisfie by some excuse the Charge that is brought against me Will they pluck me away and precipitate me so suddenly without having any thing to lay hold on when I am driven out of the Body without any thing to lay hold on when I am snatched to Judgment without any thing to lay hold on when I am hurried to execution without finding one moment of delay ere I receive the Sentence Is it possible that there is no place of refuge No retreat where I may stop a little though it were but at the foot of that very Judgment-seat where I am to be sentenced or at the Threshold of that Dungeon where I am to he imprisoned May not the Execution be suspended for a little while Is there no Chappel as I pass where a condemned Person may linger a while and pray between the Judgment-seat and the dismal place of Torment Is it possible that there is no other way either on the Right-hand or on the Left from Death to this account to this Judgment and to this Sentence whereby I may escape and hide my self Can I not turn back again Is it absolutely necessary I must be thrown headlong Must I needs swallow that bitter draught and be forc't to make that
Thy fear of his Judgment is so great because that of thy Sins is so little Thou livest in a course of wickedness and committest thy wickedness with boldness and even with greediness and then thou art afraid to be judged and that is because thou art to be justly condemned But thy chief and principal fear ought to be that of offending so severe a Judge and thy chief and principal hope ought to be that of being judged by so indulgent and so loving a Father It is the part of an unfaithful Servant not to dare appear before his Master's face and though he fears him yet he does not love him But a good Servant is glad to come to the Presence of his Master Every Call of his is a joy to him every Command a comfort and he runs chearfully to wait upon him at every knock but an evil Servant is afraid to see him because he was not afraid to offend him 10. Every sin thou committest unless thou repent of it is a rigorous Sentence against thy self every guilty action and every wilful transgression is a Criminal Article whereof thou accusest thy self at that Tribunal How is it possible for thee not to tremble and dread the Judgment and thy Account in the other Life if thou livest without Judgment and without Account in this Repent therefore pray and weep love and serve thy Judge here that thou mayest find him kind gentle and gracious hereafter He is a Judge that suffers himself to be gain'd in this life therefore use means to win his favour before he comes to Judge thee in his anger for thy having slighted and neglected to get his favour when thou mightest have done it Tremble with apprehension to see him in his wrath who may yet be appeased by the means I have shewed thee and who being reconciled first fills the Penitent's Soul with transports of his Love and after with those Joys and Pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore The Fourth WEEK Of the Vniversal Judgment at the end of the World 1. I AM something comforted with your Discourse says the Penitent but I have heard dreadful things of that great Day when all Mankind must rise to Judgment that horrible Trumpet which makes even the Dead to hear how much more the deaf does also make the heart to tremble and confounds the senses with amazement It is no wonder indeed that thou shouldst be dismayed at that which affrighted St. Hierome and very many other holy Men thou mayest very well tremble at that which they were afraid of 2. Who can choose but fear and tremble to see the whole Creation destroyed by the Creator of it and all the World consumed by his powerful hand Who can choose but fear the Signs which fore-run that Judgment those terrible Earth-quakes and horrible roarings of the Sea Who would not fear to see the Elements those preservers of Life to become its furious Enemies and fighting with one another to become the Ministers of Death Who can choose but fear to see the confusion of Mankind some calling on the Rocks to hide them others upon the Darkness to cover them all being full of terror and astonishment to see all sorts of miseries come together to bring our Nature to an end Who can choose but fear to see the Sun covered with a deadly Vail his light obscured that of the Moon extinguished the Stars also falling from their places and overwhelming the Generations of Men. Nothing to be heard but publick Complaints and Lamentations Cries Sighs and Groans nothing to be seen but Fears Dangers Losses Miseries and Confusions 3. Can any one choose but be affrighted to see the dead rise again by God's Command at the sound of that horrible Trumpet to take up the consumed and scattered pieces of their Body to cloath themselves therewith and each one unite it to his Soul that he may appear at the dreadful Judgment-seat of God waiting for the Sentence either of Eternal Life or of Eternal Death Who can choose but be amazed with fear to see the Almighty cloathed in Majesty to come down with the Court of Heaven armed with Justice to be exercised against sin and wickedness Who would not be dismayed to see the Creator hurle flames of fire against all he hath created to see Houses and Cities Palaces and Kingdoms burnt together and finally to see the whole World destroyed in that cruel and dreadful Conflagration Who would not even dye with fear to see so many Angels and so many Devils together divided from one another on the right hand and on the left expecting the word of Sentence to be put in execution The Angels carrying the good to Eternal Joys and the Devils dragging the wicked to Eternal Torments 4. How is it possible not to fear a Tribunal so dreadful a Judgment so terrible and a Sentence so formidable from whence there is no Appeal and the Execution whereof is either Life Eternal or Death Eternal for ever for ever for ever so that they shall know no end of that ever ever ever My Soul is astonished and amazed in the consideration of the Universal Judgment It is dismayed to think and to imagine all this which is but as a Dream thus represented to us in writing in comparison of what it will be and of what we shall see it in effect 5. Grant O Lord that I may tremble bewail lament and sigh deeply for my sins and wickednesses before I hear that killing Sentence pronounced against them by thy Divine lips Grant that my Tears and Repentance my Sorrow and Contrition may make my polluted Soul fit to be washed and purified by thy most precious Blood to the end I may never hear that confounding word Go ye cursed into eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels 6. O give me grace to imitate the Martyrs in Faith the Confessors in Hope and the Blessed Virgin thy most holy Mother and all the rest of the Saints in Charity to the end I may hear that most sweet and most welcome call of Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world 7. Oh that I had never offended thee my dearest Lord that I might not see thee offended Oh that I had ever served thee that I might see thee appeased Mercy sweet Saviour mercy in this Life that I may find it in the Judgment and in the Sentence of the Life to come Prepare me O Lord Jesus for my particular Judgment that I may be able to stand in thy Universal Judgment Have mercy upon me when thou shalt Judge me alone to the end thou mayest have mercy upon me when thou shalt Judge me and all the World together O grant I may live with such care to judge and call my self to an Account in this Life that the remembrance of that other which I must one day give to thee and my earnest endeavour to make my self ready for it may
a scandal to others as this wretched Person is to me Grant that I may detest the Vice but not the Man Convert him I beseech thee from the evil of his ways and so strengthen me in the Paths of thy Commandments that I may never fall away but persevere in them constantly unto my Live's end Of the Benefit of Preservation whereby we our selves have been delivered from particular Dangers Now if the Calamities of others when but look'd upon are a just Motive to us of Thankfulness how much more those we our selves have been freed from by particular Escapes God permitting us sometimes to fall into dangers that his Goodness and fatherly Care may be the more visibly manifested in our deliverance and that we may acknowledge our selves more obliged to remember them with Gratitude and to make him returns of Duty and Obedience Thou mayest be able to relate and express those he has shew'd to thee I will relate those done to my self though it be more easie to have a Sense of them than to express it I shall not need to insist upon his Benefits of doing one good since thou wilt know them by those of delivering me from evil Here the Author reckons up his particular deliverances which I omit to insert Do thou likewise Reader following his Example recount to thy self the chief of those dangers God hath preserved thee in which it concerns thee carefully to remember and gratefully to lay them to heart And when thou hast recollected as many as thou canst say with the Psalmist Praise thou the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits Who forgiveth all thy Sins and healeth all thine Infirmities Who saveth thy Life from destruction and crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness I will always give thanks unto the Lord his praise shall ever be in my mouth O praise the Lord with me and let us magnify his Name together Of the Preservation of our Souls But is not the Preservation of the Body from corporal Death much less considerable than that of the Soul from spiritual Death Yes certainly There is no comparison between them for the former is only in order to the latter and when he saves us from any such dangers as those I have before-mentioned they are to mind us of our Mortality and to make us think in what condition we should have been if he had then snatch'd us suddenly out of this World His sparing us longer was only to give us a longer time to repent and to urge us to make use of it to the end that when he shall come again to take us away in good earnest he may find us prepar'd for Death in being reconciled to him by Repentance and newness of Life Thus in all the occasions wherein he delivered me from a Temporal he delivered me also from eternal Death affording me a longer time to break off and to forsake my Sins by a Repentance not to be repented of quick'ning my Faith to lay faster hold on my Saviour least I should be pluck'd away from him as I had like to have been while I was in so great an Error as to presume he would be held by me whilst I was loath to let go my sins as if it had been possible to embrace Christ and the World both at the same time How often when his Divine Majesty was ready to throw me justly into Hell with one hand hath he detained me with the other And when I was already condemn'd by his Divine Justice how often hath he saved me by his Compassion and Mercy How often when I was going nay running to throw my self into the infernal Flames hath this compassionate Lord stopt me in my Career and freed me from Temptations which were hurrying me to eternal Miseries How often hath he driven back the Devil who had seized me and was dragging me away when his Divine Majesty laid hold upon me rescued sustained and receivcd me pardoning my wickedness and embracing me in the Arms of his boundless Charity How often when being blind and foolish I went astray hath he sought me and brought me home How hath he called advertised reproved and counselled me by which means I was recovered and restored How often sometimes sleeping sometimes waking while I was dead to Grace but quick to Sin hath he rouzed me up called me and led me by the hand to make me forsake Sin and return to Grace Who then bound the Hands of his Justice who entreated for me when I was lull'd asleep in that sinful security What was there in me that I should find more favour than those that are taken away from amongst us in the midst of their days and in the heat of their youthful Lusts My Sins cried out against me but the Lord stopped his Ears My offences daily encreased against him and his Mercies abounded as daily towards me I sinned and he did expect me I fled from him and he followed me and when I was even weary in offending him yet his long sufferance was not weary in expecting me for in the midst of all my Sins I received many good Inspirations and Reproofs from his Holy Spirit which check'd me in my inconsiderate course of Life How often did he call me with the Voice of Love How often did he terrifie me with threats and fears laying before me the Peril of Death and the Rigour of his Divine Justice How often hath he followed me with his Word preached How often invited me with Blessings and chastened me with Crosses compassing me about and hedging my way with Thorns that I might not be able to break from him By all these holy Methods he made me at last to see the Vanity the Folly the Deceitfulness and even the Painfulness of Sin l found that it was dangerous and costly as well as slavish to be hurried up and down by the Tyranny of my unruly and vicious Passions I found I had no fruit of those things whereof I was afterwards ashamed and was at last convinced that the end of them was Death nay and death eternal Then did I fully resolve being assisted by thy Grace with an unchangeable purpose to alter my course of Life and to run the way of thy Commandments since thou hadst set my Heart at liberty My Soul escaped even as a Bird out of the Hand of the Fowler the Snare was broken and I was delivered O let me never again be entangled with the Birdlime of sinful Delights from which it is so hard to get disengag'd but grant I may now soar up to those Pleasures which are at thy Right-hand for evermore taking my flight freely to thee and to the Ark of thy rest for the Deluge of Wickedness that hath covered the Face of the Earth affords no safe place for the sole of my Foot O put forth thine hand to take me in to thee as Noah did the Dove
Heavenly Paradice but Lucifer who from a glorious Angel was become a Devil having been thrown out of Heaven for aspiring to be equal to God envied that Man should enjoy the Happiness which he had lost and knowing by woful Experience that Heaven could not contain a proud Person he thought himself sure to prevent Man's being admitted there if he could but make him guilty of the same Sin Pride Hereupon he subtilly first began to tempt the weaker Vessel Eve by shewing her the beautiful Fruit of the forbidden Tree telling her that by tasting it she might become like unto God himself and when by his perswasion he had deceived the Woman he made use of her as he still does to deceive the Man Thus Sin like a cunning Thief crept in at the Window of his Eye which he unwarily had set open to behold the Beauty of that Fruit and soon opened also the Doors of his Ears to admit the Enticement of his Wife conspiring with his treacherous Appetite to let in Death at the Gate of his Mouth by his disobedience in eating the Apple which was presented to him by her Then that blessed Union was broken and a Separation made not only between his Body and his Soul by a temporal Death the Sentence whereof instantly pass'd upon him though the Execution was deferr'd but also between his Soul and his God by an eternal Death to which he also became thereby liable and as a Fore-runner of both he and his Wife were driven out of Paradice from the Presence of their gracious Creator Now as the Departure of the Soul from the Body is Death so the Departure of God from the Soul can be no less than Hell for as in his presence there is fulness of Joy so in his absence there must be extremity of Sorrow and as at his Right-hand there be Pleasures for evermore so on his Left there must needs be everlasting Pains and what can the feeling of them be but Hell To this miserable Condition Sin brought our first Parents and from them all we their wretched Posterity became tainted with an original Corruption the Seeds whereof growing up into innumerable actual Transgressions afford no other Fruit but Death in this World and eternal Damnation in that which is to come but God being infinitely merciful would not abandon them to perish for ever in this sad Estate but out of the Bowels of his tender Compassion did with incomprehensible Wisdom find out a way for the Satisfaction of his own Justice and for the Salvation of Mankind It had been utterly impossible for all of them together to have done any thing in the least degree towards the Salvation of so much as one Man for it cost more to redeem a Soul so that they must have let that alone for ever But God contriv'd it by an Union much more admirable than that already mentioned and that was between the Divine and Humane Natures And Adam had no sooner broken the first Covenant of unsinning Obedience which God made with him in Paradice but he graciously made a Second with him and his Posterity in the second Adam the promised Messiah This he afterwards perform'd by sending his only begotten Son Jesus Christ equal to his Father as touching his Godhead into the World for the Redemption of Mankind who being conceiv'd by the Holy Ghost in the chast Womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary became also perfect Man of a reasonable Soul and humane Flesh subsisting to the end that as Man he might be capable to suffer and as God to satifie for the sins of the whole World This was a Benefit so high and so transcendent that neither the Understanding of Man no nor that of Angels is able to comprehend it Here all consideration is confounded and humbles itself with astonishment to see that the Son of God to the end that he might cloath thee with his Grace cloathed himself with our Nature which is a poor torn wretched Garment full of beggery and misery and yet that Soveraign Eternal and Divine Majesty put it on for our sake and though this was exceeding much yet he did a great deal more for us since besides this Humanity which Christ the Divine Word took upon him he underwent so many Sufferings for Mankind and wove this seamless Coat of Grace which he gives us in Baptism with such unmeasurable griefs and torments as never have been suffer'd in all the World but by himself nor ever shall be Nay he did yet more for he not only wove this Coat of Grace with these unspeakable pains but even with his holy death and would end his Life in that very employment of weaving and finishing it to the end he might give that seamless Robe its utmost Beauty and Perfection Here all our thoughts ought to be Silence Amazement Terror Reverence and Admiration with Tears of Love and Contrition That the Eternal Son of God to cloath me with his Grace should cloath himself with my humble Nature and presently load himself with the burden of my sins and then take upon him their Punishment upon the Cross and die upon it for them That the cleansing of me should make him be defil'd with the spittings of blasphemous mouths That the giving me the Life of Grace should make him die the Death of Nature and that in such cruel Torments That for the washing of my Soul he should shed all his Precious Blood And that he should devest himself of all Humane Comfort only to give me Comfort Remedy and even Heaven itself This is a business more proper for our Love than our Meditation more to make us active in his Service than contemplative in our Thoughts and to be expressed more by our Wonder than our Words Yet it is good to meditate upon it that we may love him to consider it that we may serve him and to speak of it that by finding we cannot speak enough we may admire and adore him A Man that does me a kindness has my Thanks and if by his pains and danger he draw me out of any Trouble I shew my Gratitude by acknowledging it There be Laws that order Recompences for a Subject that saves the Life of his King in War or in Peace appointing him to be rewarded with Wealth and crowned with Ensigns of Honour Mordecai only for giving Notice to Ahasuerus that some of his Treacherous Servants meant to kill him was by the Command of that Heathen King cloathed with his own Royal Robe and his most beloved Favourite was made to lead the Horse upon which that Loyal Subject rode about the Streets of the City This was an high Honour easily attain'd so notable a demonstration of Favour so Royal and Majestick a Recompence but for a bare Advertisment Consider now if so much were due to a Vassal who by the discovery of a Traytor had sav'd the Life of a King what shall a Vassal owe to his King who not only hath sav'd him from Death but
in the Kingdom of Glory O happy Torments O joyful Death that is rewarded with eternal Bliss This Knowledge and these Lights will God encrease in thee if thou livest humbly mortified and resigned disposing thy self daily to receive more Grace Of the Purity of Intentions O that I could see my self so secure in this Kingdom of Grace as never to enter into that sad and dismal Kingdom of Sin But how can I be secure so long as I live in this miserable Life so full of Snares and Dangers There can be no security where Man's Will is to act which is so weak and frail and so unsteady The World is full of Snares there are more Stumbling-blocks than Steps We carry within us the Nourishment of our own Miseries and the Source of our Passions is the cause of our Sins and Imperfections But for all that Wouldst thou persevere in this Kingdom of Grace and go with full sail into the Kingdom of Glory Watch then and pray hope and fear trust and persist Let thine Intentions be pure and thy Conscience clean and do all things as in the Presence of God and believe that the end of this short Voyage will be the Haven of the Coelestial Country and of eternal Salvation Let thine Intentions be pure I repeat it again to thee let thine Intentions be pure for thereby thy Passage shall be safe from Rocks and Tempests If thy Intention really be to serve God and to please him in all things thy Practice thy Words thy Actions will also be to please him in all things As Matters go with thee internally so will they also externally If the Tree be good it gives good Fruit and if evil evil Fruit. An evil Tree cannot bring forth that which is good nor the good that which is evil The Quality of the Spiritual Tree is taken from that of the Intentions and the Quality of Fruits and Works from that of the Tree O happy he who has a clean and pure Heart that is a clean and pure Intention O happy he who desires and loves nothing but God and his Service for all the Exercises of such a Man will be to serve and adore him Thus then if thou desirest to persevere and to encrease in the Spiritual Life let thy first rule be to purifie thy Intention for that gives Life to thy Works and Cleanness to thy Heart If thine Eye be single saith God all thy Body will be full of Light as if he had said if the Intention be right the Body of all the Actions will be right and shining in good Example The Light that lightens thy Body is thine Intention if it be pure it enlightens thee if otherwise thou wilt walk in darkness See! how a Lanthorn shines that has a little Candle in it it not only is clear it self but gives light to all that are round about it So the Soul that has a pure holy Intention within it has thereby all its Actions made holy clear and perfect God is to be thy Intention in all thou dost in all thou speakest in all thou thinkest and whatsoever thou dost must be for God with God and through God Of Purity of Conscience If this be thy Intention and thou hast attain'd its Purity thou shalt easily by the Grace of God attain Purity of Conscience also or rather it may be said if thou hast the one thou already hast the other also for what is Purity of Conscience but Purity of Heart and Intention If that be pure thy Thoughts Words and Actions will be so likewise and if they be pure thy Heart and Conscience are so too yet Purity of Conscience signifies not to consent to any blemish or defect in thee and when thou findest any to throw it away presently and to wash it with tears It signifies an attentive Care and Vigilance to purifie the Soul from all Sins and Imperfections small as well as great and not to allow them entrance or let them remain there but to confess bewail and forsake them It signifies an implacable Enmity between Innocency Truth and Sincerity of Heart and Sins of all kinds and a dissent and contradiction to them without permitting them to make any stay in it It signifies an exact care to see and observe what passes in thy Soul and not to tolerate any thing in it not only that is contrary but that tends but to the lessening thy desires to please God It signifies a great disquiet and uneasiness at any thing that offends God and an open War against Sins without having any Contentment or Satisfaction till thou hast thrown them out by Penitence and Contrition Those that live and walk with this hatefulness and with this desire are they which the Saviour of Souls meant when he said Blessed are the pure for they shall see God as if he had said 't is impossible to see God without purity of Heart Let a Man do works that are never so perfect and holy let him be liberal in Alms visit Hospitals pray and suffer as much as he will or do any thing else If his Heart and Conscience be not pure 't is impossible for him to see or enjoy God till he have cleansed and purified them Into Heaven no defect can enter nothing but what is clear shall be received into that bright City for a Man must enter there as he is to live there No Man can see God in Glory even though he were in Glory unless his sight be made so clear by purity of Life as to be able by the Divine goodness to be raised to behold God Employ therefore all thy care to cleanse thy Heart and Conscience not to consent that any Sins Passions or Imperfections should lodge there but to throw them out and wash them off with tears I do not say that thou shouldst have none though I wish it but that thou shouldst not entertain them for it is impossible in this sinful Life that a Man should not fall into small and sometimes even into great Sins but whether they be great or small he ought to detest them as soon as they are perceived and not to keep but to cast them out instantly with humble Sorrow Do not go to sleep with Sin in thine Heart before thou hast washed it out with tears Think how unsafe it would be for a Man to sleep with a Viper in his Bosom but 't is far more dangerous to sleep with Sin in the Soul As the Sea casts out dead Bodies so do thou cast Sins out of thy Soul See how long thou canst keep a burning Coal in the Palm of thine Hand and even a less time suffer Sin to continue in thy Soul As in the other Life no Man can see God without a pure Heart so in this Spiritual Life seldom does a Man hearken to God till he hath cleansed his Conscience by casting out his Sins Sins and Passions are troublesome Companions and make so great a noise that they disquiet and deafen the
most that run furthest from God O how much greater are the Sufferings of those that are so deceivd how much more painful and afflicting The Sinner passeth his whole Life in pains by reason of his Vices and so much the greater are his Torments by how much the greater are those Passions which disquiet and molest his troubled Mind Behold the loathsome Diseases of the sensual Man both of his Body and Soul Behold the unclean Surfeits of the Glutton Behold the fiery Rage of the Angry and Revengeful The racking Cares of the Covetous and the uneasie Emulations of the Proud Behold the frettings of the Envious Man All of them live or rather all of them die for how can they be said to live that undergo such Anguish and Vexation Then behold the difference between him that suffers for God outwardly and feels joy and comfort inwardly And how wilt thou grow in the Spiritual life without Temptations and Tribulations Thou canst not only not grow nor thrive but not so much as live in it Wouldst thou drive Sin out of thy Heart It must be by Mortification or else it will still remain there Wouldst thou drive away thy Passions It must be by conquering Temptations Wouldst thou be fitted for the Coelestial Building It must be by the Chisel and Mallet of Temptation and Mortification Wouldst thou throw out Vitious Habits It must be by exercising contrary Vertues Wouldst thou live humbled It is necessary that thou shouldst be afflicted Wouldst thou know what thou art By suffering Temptations thou shalt perceive thine own Frailty and Misery Wouldst thou cast Self-love out of thine unquiet Heart Deliver thy self up to an holy Self-denial Wouldst thou give thy self wholly to God thy Saviour and Redeemer Deny thy self and refuse to satisfie thine own desires Finally wouldst thou have Glory Take up the Cross embrace Sufferings love Tribulations do not defend thy self from the Cross but under the Cross and by the Cross do not defend thy self from Sufferings but under them by the power of Grace do not defend thy self from the Temptations which God sends thee but from the evil of those he sends thee That it is no easie matter to be saved but that it is necessary to fight Believe it he does but deceive thee who tells thee that thou mayest enjoy God in another Life without Suffering for him in this Life He does but cheat thee who says there are two Glories for the Soul one of Temporal Delights the other of Coelestial He deludes thee who says without any Tribulations thou shalt enjoy that Glory which our Lord entred into by suffering them He deceives thee who makes thee believe there is another way for thee than that which all the Saints pass'd through He cheats thee that says It is an easie matter for thee to live ill and to die well to take thy fill of Pleasures here and to partake in Eternal Joys hereafter He abuses thee that says 't is an easie thing to be sav'd and that the Gate of Heaven stands open for him at his death who hath lived wickedly all his life No the Saviour of Souls does not tell thee so but he says That narrow is the way that leads to Salvation He says We must strive to enter because the gate is strait He says The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and that the violent take it by force He tells thee His Flock is a little Flock that many are called but few chosen All this speaks no easiness nor temporal and sensual Sweetness but Rigour Courage Constancy Repentance Sorrow and a Life of Crosses and Tribulations Believe it the strictest Livers are at no small labour to obtain Salvation Strive therefore since it was not without cause that so many Holy Persons before thee have undergone the most terrible Difficulties and Afflictions in their way to Heaven Of the Grace of God This indeed is a sharp unpleasing Doctrine and very unwelcome to our Nature but if it be an Enemy to our Nature it is a Friend to our Spirit and to that Grace which brings Glory to our Nature It is a safe Doctrine because it is taught by our Redeemer It presses Men to take care of their Souls that they may seek God and not forsake him that they may serve him and not offend him But all this which is so difficult and even impossible to our frailty is sweet and easie by the Grace of God It is that Grace which fills and supports assists and conquers convinces and disposes does and perfects all The most powerful Grace of God is that which sweetens all Labours and renders them not only tolerable but delightful This Grace makes the good desire Sufferings as the bad do Pleasures and causes them to find Joys in their Austerities when the wicked find Trouble in the midst of their Delights Grace encourages sustains comforts and gives an inward sweetness to Sufferings which makes them more savoury and pleasant than the most pretended Enjoyments of this World Grace in the Spiritual Life strengthens the weak enlightens the blind eases the afflicted comforts the sorrowful and gives joy to the disconsolate Grace supports the Soul animates guides accompanies raises it when it is sinking leads it in the way and crowns it in the end O most powerful Grace of God! thou admirable effect of his Goodness All is owing to thee How many steps are taken in the Spiritual Life how many affections and desires are stirred up how many good actions are done how much perseverance is exercised how many tears are shed and how much love is enkindled all is owing to God's Holy Grace Fear not therefore Tribulations if Grace be with thee for by it Temptations and Tribulations will be rendred of no force and thou shalt conquer all by its Effectual and Omnipotent Power I can do all things saith the Apostle of the Gentiles through him that strengtheneth me for then he was strengthened by Grace Not I says he but the Grace of God which is in me as if he had said I work but I am carried guided and assisted by Grace for without it I neither know nor can do any thing being of my self unable so much as to think one good thought Behold with what facility David lamented his fall by the help of Grace Behold how quickly St. Peter wash'd away his sin with tears by the help of Grace Behold with what Resolution Mary Magdalene broke off the dissoluteness of her sinful Life by the help of Grace Behold how suddenly St. Paul from a Persecutor became a joyful sufferer of Persecution and the Prodigy of the World by the help of Grace See the World converted and reformed and Heaven peopled in a short time by the Apostles through the help of Grace Now that same Grace which made them Saints may make thee one also though now thou art a sinner 'T is the same Grace that favours and assists thee and is not less powerful now but is as kind as sweet
it condemns him to Death though disswaded by his Wife upon her Dream from having any thing to do with that Just Person and delivers him to them to be crucified since all that was easier for such a mean complying Judge to consent to than to trouble and hazard himself in the further Defence of Innocency Yet that he might remain clear and spotless and honoured in the Opinion of the World in Condemning our Saviour he declares himself not guilty of his Blood and so he washes his hands and satisfies himself with laying the Crime upon others But what greater Infamy can a Judge be guilty of than to suffer the Accusers themselves to write and to sign the Sentence This being done our Blessed Saviour carries his Cross alone for a great part of the way to Mount Calvary and because they thought the time long of his getting thither they make Simon the Cyrenian help him to bear it that he might be there so much the sooner for it was not out of pity that they gave him that Assistance but it was an effect of their Cruelty nor did they intend it for any ease to his Life but for the hastening of his Death In his way to Calvary he is bewailed by the Daughters of Jerusalem leaving this Glory to the Women that they alone wept at the Passion of their Lord their Master and their Redeemer They strip his Body for the cloathing of our Souls and at the same time both Heaven and Earth were cloathed with Grief and Darkness to mourn for the Sufferings of their Creator They with rough hard Nails fasten the Eternal Son of God unto the Cross the Ingratitude of the Jews making him that requital for all his Divine Benefits Those blessed Feet that travelled up and down so many weary steps to seek Sinners that he might save and pardon them Those liberal Hands full of Charity and Beneficence are bored through and nailed by those very Persons whom he came to succour Not to acknowledge a good turn is Ingratitude and Wickedness what shall it then be to pierce both the Hands and Feet of ones Benefactor Then they raise up the Blessed Jesus upon the Cross and allow him the Superiority over two Thieves as fit Subjects for the King of that Royal Throne and by the same action they raise and exalt Man's Nature and advance it in a manner to be Divine When the Son of Man shall be raised up said his Divine Majesty he will draw all along with him It is clear he did so since by his most precious Blood he washed and redeemed them and with his most ardent Love he called and enflamed them O my dearest Lord God who wert wounded and despised crucified and crowned with Thorns and for my sins didst suffer so many torments upon the Cross I beseech thee by the Merits of them all O sweetest Jesus to pardon all my grievous Offences Since thou hast drawn up all draw me up also O most Gracious Saviour Do not suffer that most precious Blood to leave unwashed this Soul which confesses thee and acknowledges thee to be God Thy ardent Charity interceded to thy Father for those very Enemies that crucified thee How much rather then wilt thou be the Mediator and Redeemer of a poor Christian who confesses and adores thy Sovereign Majesty Behold admire and adore thy Suffering Saviour and bewail thy sins the cause of all his Sufferings Behold all Creatures in amazement to see their Creator in so woful a condition Behold the Heavens obscur'd at that Eclipse of his Heavenly Beauties Behold the Earth and all the Elements confounded at the awfulness of his Pains and Torments Behold how the Sun withdraws its Light not to see so horrid a Wickedness and so terrible an Ingratitude Behold even the very Rocks so softened as to cleave asunder in compassion What kind of hearts then are those that remain unsensible Lord suffer not mine to be one of them but let it melt with Love and Contrition to think of thy heavy Torments and of my hainous Offences The Vail of the Temple was rent in twain and shall my Heart be whole Shall not my Breast and all my Bowels open themselves to receive the Blood which thou sheddest for my Redemption Behold the Holy Virgin at the Foot of her Son's Cross who recommends her to the care of his beloved Disciple Behold how one drop of his Blood falling upon the good Thief was to him the Baptism of Life and eternal Condemnation to the Bad who knew not how to make his advantage of it He there made the Divine Nature propitious to the Human that it might be pardoned and by the last of those seven Words which he spake upon the Cross declar'd that by his Blood and Death he had finished the Work of our Redemption Then after having hung three Hours alive upon the Cross He that was the Life of Souls gave them Life by his Death and a Life eternal which Triumphs over Death for ever When he was dead the Souldier with a Spear pierced his most holy Side out of which came Water and Blood representing the two Sacraments and making a wide Door for holy Souls to enter and after other three Hours the Piety of his Friends takes him down from the Cross laying his precious Body in a new Sepulchre which was bestowed on him by the Charity of Joseph of Arimathea So he who during his Life had not a House to rest his Head in was so poor likewise at his Death that he had not so much as a Grave of his own to put his Body in There they sadly lament his loss and burying him in their Hearts as they had done in that Tomb they leave him there embalmed with Spices that as it was Prophesied of him he might be as the Rich in his Death and though there they leave him yet they carry him away with them in their remembrance that we by their example never may forget him After his sad and bloody Passion succeeded his Powerful Resurrection when he had conquered Hell as well as Death and then the Glorious Triumph of his Ascension to the end that Human Nature might not only be Redeemed but also Honoured and Crowned yet before he went up into Heaven he comforted his Mother and the Apostles to whom he several times appeared after his Resurrection to the end that their Joy for it might recompense the Sadness they had felt at his dolorous Passion He examined St. Peter thrice concerning his Love that by three Confessions he might purge away the Shame of his three Denials bidding him as often to feed his Lambs He signified to him by what death he should Glorifie God commanding them all to Preach the Gospel and assuring them that he would be with them to the end of the World Within few days after he made good his promise in sending them another Comforter for at Pentecost the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles in fiery Tongues to the end
by Rome and by the Roman Empire Shall we ascribe the Vertue of Fortitude to those Royal and Imperial Crowned Serpents of the Earth who laid waste and dispeopled the Earth Shall we allow that Atila or Totila with such like Monsters of Cruelty were endowed with the Vertue of Fortitude These and their Fellows who by their weak and powerless Ambition over-turn'd the World destroyed pillaged burned and razed innumerable Cities Kingdoms Nations and Provinces at the same time while they were captivating the World were themselves captivated by their Passions No these were not truly strong and valiant but Men powerfully weak who turned the World upside down They had been valiant if their Valour had overcome their Passion and if they had known how to confine their hearts within the limits of Reason Julius Caesar had been truly Valiant if he had defended his Country and Citizens and had been able to defend himself from himself without passing from the Name of Citizen to that of Tyrant We might have ascrib'd Fortitude to Alexander if he had governed his own Kingdom in Peace defending his Crown in just War within the Bounds of Macedonia but to make an Inundation upon Asia to take away so many Crowns and make them the Trophies of his Ambition was a powerful Weakness but neither Valour nor Fortitude The Vertue of Fortitude preserves the Mind in that which is right just and holy without consenting to let Passion enter to disorder and triumph over Reason He that is first conquer'd by the Vertue of Fortitude will have force to conquer himself subduing his Appetite making it yield to Reason and setting that up to Reign and Govern in his heart Shall he that disquiets a City and makes hurly-burlies in it becoming the scandal of the People be said to have the Vertue of Fortitude though he kill and burn and make himself the Terror of a Country He has only a strong Frailty so mad and frantick that he can neither order nor contain himself within those Honest and Lawful terms which are allowed in our Commerce with others He lives and acts as being dragg'd and trampled on by his Fancy and Humour and would he then have us think him to be truly Valiant The Powerful Prince the King that defends his Crown justly and orderly the General that Governs his Army rightly keeping Military Discipline the Judge who constantly repelling Passions and Partialities gives to every one that which is his own working in subjection to the Laws of God and those of his Country the Honest Man that walks fixing his Eyes only upon God and Reason the Modest Woman that firmly and constantly defends her Chastity these may indeed be said to have the Vertue of Fortitude The good Prelate that with just Discipline governs the Souls under his Charge the Glorious Martyr who in the midst of Persecution encompassed or rather crowned with Torments and Tyrants yet breaths Valour Constancy and Perseverance Finally all those who give their Body their Fame their Fortune or their Life for the saving of their Soul and keep that strong constant and persevering in goodness only for God's sake whether they suffer or suffer not whether they are esteemed or despised in the World These are they that are truly Valiant and are eminently possess'd of that honourable glorious and couragious Vertue of Holy Fortitude The Third WEEK Of Temperance the Fourth of the Cardinal Vertues TEmperance which moderates our Passions and governs our Souls with rectitude hath its Root also in Religion and must direct itself to God if it will be a perfect Vertue It s Duty is to reduce the Appetite both irascible and concupiscible to moderate bounds in order to God and his Holy Laws Anger is the Sword of Reason which sometimes she is necessitated to draw to defend her self but yet acts in such a manner that by Temperance she cuts out only what is sufficient without passing on to what is superfluous There have been Natural Philosophers that condemn'd Anger and would have Reason to be sufficient of itself they thought to devest Humane Nature of Passions was enough to make it to act prudently without any other means pretending to bring mens minds to an insensibility and to banish from them all manner of Natural Affections but they deceived themselves for it is neither possible nor convenient that Reason should quite lay aside the use of Passions and Affections because they move our hearts to act That which is convenient and possible is by the help of Grace to govern our Affections well and to regulate our Passions Let the Prince be angry as much as Justice and Occasion requires and let him moderate his Anger by the right Rule of Reason A General that sees an unjust and cruel Enemy coming to destroy his Army may and ought to defend himself with Anger and stir up his Fury to obtain the Victory Let the Superiour use his Anger to chastise the wicked and yet at the same time have compassion upon the wicked Let Reason Command let Anger Serve and Obey and let them joyn together to go as far as is convenient Be angry says the Lord but sin not as who should say Let Reason temper Anger and let Anger be subservient to Reason The Zeal of Moses when he was angry flew those that rebelled against the Law that of Elias brought Fire from Heaven upon the Souldiers of Ahab Heaven did administer Fire to his Zeal because his Zeal was moved with a just and heavenly Anger Our Saviour also sanctified Anger when seeing the Temple of his Eternal Father profaned by the Jews he twice took up the Whip to drive out the Buyers and Sellers and when he threw down the Tables of the Money-Changers Thou must not therefore think that an easie clemency and slackness which suffers the bad to run to ruin deserves the name of Temperance for to tolerate the bad and leave the good undefended is not Temperance but a base Remisness and detestable Negligence For Superiours to be sluggish whilst Subjects are insolent is so far from Temperance that it is an egregious Intemperance Temperance is that which neither comes short in what is right nor goes so far as what is prohibited Temperance is that which does not punish when it is urged by Grief or Importunity but when Reason appoints and the Nature of the thing requires Temperance is that which does what God commands and neither swerves from it by excess in going too far nor by defect in doing too little It is not Temperance for a Man utterly to forbear eating but to eat temperately It does not forbid a Man to sustain his Body but to give it as much as the inordinate Appetite requires It gives that which is sufficient but allows not that which is excessive When the Appetite asks what is necessary it grants it but if it demand what is hurtful it denies it Thus Temperance is the Bridle of the Appetite whether it be concupiscible or irascible
Comfort and though my love was Lawful yet the end of it was Natural when it should have been Supernatural I loved them after another manner than I ought to have done for my love was Sensual whereas it should have been Spiritual and all this the Spouse felt very much even in those loves which were allowable and complained of it to her Beloved and his Divine Majesty as being much pleased with it took into his own hand the love of his Spouse towards her Neighbours and towards all Creatures and ordered it rightly making her to ove them all in that manner for those ends and in that degree which he approv'd And this which the Spouse asked of her Beloved we ought oftentimes to beg of him for our self love if the Lord doth not rectifie and reform it destroys and burns up the Soul with an inordinate fire and so the love of God is the only love which can be called love without fear of loving too much and all other loves whatsoever are loves of fears and jealousies and disquiets to an holy Soul They are loves intermix'd with fears whether I do not exceed whether I do not take from God that which I give to the Creatures whether I do not tye my Soul too fast unto them and entangle it with snares in the way of my Spiritual Life O Lord thou love of all the Creatures how miserable is this Life how full of Thorns and Stumbling blocks how full of Griefs Hazards and Dangers Since I cannot love that which is good and allowed without the fears of running into that which is evil and prohibited O God do thou regulate our love O thou Eternal Good grant that we may only love thee and that in thee alone we may love those whom thou wouldst have us to love and that we may do it when and how and for those ends that thou approvest Let none other love but thine O Lord enter into my Soul Drive out of it all other loves but that and if any other would force an entrance into my heart let the strength of thy love defend it and not suffer any other love to disturb my Soul nor oppose thy love within my Soul Thy love O dear Lord is a sweet love it is Chearfulness and Comfort Quiet and Contentment it is Joy and Glory All love besides this and contrary to this is Perturbation and Disquiet Heaviness and Pain Sorrow and Affliction Finally all the Saints have tasted of this Fruit and I have only given thee an Example of St. Paul to the end thou mayest know that the Holy Spirit and its Fruits are the same in the Primitive Church in these times and will be so in those that succeed us for God never waxeth old neither do his Gifts and Graces decay and if we miserable sinners neither have nor feel those Fruits it is because we hinder them with our Passions and by giving the Rein freely to our Inclinations for there are many now in the World who have and enjoy this heroical orderly and perfect love to God and to their Neighbour but let thou and I who are weak and frail endeavour to exercise our selves in those first Vertues and to cultivate the Tree of our Souls with Repentance and Contrition with Mortification and Tears but above all with the Blood of the Lamb and with hearty Prayers to him who shed it through the excess of his love that he would give us that sweet and excellent Fruit that most ravishing and glorious Love The Second WEEK Of Peace the Second Fruit of the Holy Spirit NExt to this Savoury Fruit of Divine and Humane Charity or of Love to God and our Neighbour follows the Delightful Fruit of Peace which quiets and recreates the Soul freeing it from those common Perturbations that use to disturb it Fear and Hope are two Humane Affections which do disquiet and discompose Worldly Minds God drives out these two from a holy Soul with two Coelestial Gifts which are Remedies against their Poyson and these be the Fear of God and the Hope of Glory From the instant that our Soul fears God alone it despises all things else from the instant that it hopes only for things Eternal it tramples upon those that are Temporal Such a Man keeps Peace with all Persons because he neither troubles nor importunes he neither vexes nor is jealous of any body since no body can deprive him of Eternity which is all he pretends to This Fruit of Peace also hath two parts one inward Peace of the Soul with God the other outward Peace with the Creatures From the inward Peace with God which is the Root springs up the outward one and spreads into several branches of the Creatures just as an outward heat proceeds from a secret fire and the brightness of light from flame and the love of our Neighbour from that of God The inward Peace of the Soul depends upon the Unity and Conformity of a Spiritual Man's Will with the Will of God for if he loves and desires the same thing and conforms himself to all that God does and resigns himself to all that he suffers and does so not only after things have come to pass but even prevents them with his desire that the Will of God should be done in him it is manifest that by such an Unity and Conformity he must have a constant Peace and that there can be no disagreement between that and him This Union with the Divine Will and the finding no contraction between it and the Humane Will begets Love and Peace with our Neighbours and makes it communicate with all Creatures for since it neither loves them nor desires any thing from them in any other way than according to God's Will and that God's Will is in order to Peace because it is the Original of Peace it necessarily follows that he must also have Peace with all the Creatures And so the true Spiritual Man who loves God with that Holy Fruit of Charity we have spoken of loving his Neighbours also in their proportion and keeping Union with the Will of God and inward Peace with him and for his sake with his Neighbours in all things that are good and holy must needs satisfie and content all Persons if they be good and if they be not so though he does not content them because that is not in his power yet he satisfies them with his Reason though perhaps they will not acknowledge themselves to be satisfied for if they be his Superiours he obeys them with Humility behaves himself towards them with Respect and yields readily to their Orders and Commands obeying his Superiours in the same manner as he obeys the Will of God If they be his Equals he gives them all that belongs to them and applies himself with Charity to assist in their Affairs He eases them in their Troubles comforts them in their Afflictions counsels them in their Doubts and helps them in their Necessities And if they be his
desire to be great Then ye must become little that ye may be great For he that would be exalted must humble himself and he that humbles himself shall be exalted Behold I came down from Heaven and have humbled my self by taking the form of a Servant to be despised upon Earth and ye poor Earthen Vessels are ye lifting up your heads and your pretentions to the highest places in Heaven The second thing that he requir'd of them was that they should have the same Sincerity Goodness and Purity of Soul which that Child had Unless ye become pure and simple as this child ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This was to move them to that first Grace in all its Purity and Perfection since without that no Soul can enter into Heaven For a Christian must be brought back to that first Grace and Purity which he received in Baptism either by keeping his Soul from sin even from the lightest or else after having sinned whether lightly or grievously by washing his Soul with Tears of Repentance and Contrition and cleansing it from all stain and guilt by Faith in the Passion of Christ and by partaking of his Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrament and so the Soul is brought into the Purity of that little Child and made capable of entring into the Kingdom of Heaven Now the Sincerity and Charity and clearness of Conscience wherewith the Lord by the force of the Spirit and by the holy Exercises of the Spiritual Life cleanseth and purifieth a Soul St. Paul calls Goodness which in substance is an inward and superiour degree of pureness of Conscience so simple and so perfect that it resembles the Innocence of a Child This Goodness is an absolute compliance of our Thoughts Words and Actions to the Will of God It is a full resignation to whatsoever God does that goes whithersoever his Divine Majesty directs performs whatsoever he appoints and seeks and follows and loves God in all things By this kind of Goodness a good Man does not seem to be in search of that which is good but to be already in the possession of it and holds it as a thing which he had found before This Purity of Loving Thinking Speaking and Doing the Lord Jesus requir'd also in his Disciples when he said to them Let your words be Yea Yea and Nay Nay as if he should have said let your words speak according to your hearts and your hearts speak according to my holy Will Say neither more nor less than what ye think for the Speech ought in all things to be conformable to the Thoughts and whatsoever is more can neither be Goodness nor Sincerity for Christ himself says that it is sin and therefore to praise a Man very much we properly say he is a Man that thinks what he speaks and speaks what he thinks for the former praises his Truth and the other his Ingenuity and Goodness This intrinsick Goodness is that which is in God by his Essence and that for which he is so often praised in the Scripture saying Thou art good O Lord teach me to be good by thy goodness as who should say O uncreated Goodness impart some of thy Goodness to me and the Soul begs this same Goodness with a gentle Sweetness and Meekness when she prays Let the light of thy countenance O Lord shine upon us and teach us thy statutes which is a Prayer we ought very often to make to God Of Meekness This kind of Goodness is accompanied with Meekness as Light is with Brightness for that being true and sincere and holy and having so much of God in it his Divine Majesty does as it were cloath him outwardly with the latter who inwardly possesses the former making a sweet and gentle Meekness to shine through all his Deportment And so thou mayest know a good heart by a peaceable quiet behaviour for nothing moves or disturbs it Nothing disturbs a good Man because his Confidence and his Affection are only placed in God he loves and seeks him and disregards all things else Nothing affrights him for his Goodness by Love doth cast out Fear he desires nothing that is Temporal for he sees whatsoever is so passeth away and comes suddenly to an end Nothing moves him because he only seeks for God who is unmoveable Nothing afflicts him because he resists and conquers all Crosses with his Patience He wants nothing because he possesses God who possesses all things and desires nothing because God alone is to him All-sufficient Now consider what Meekness that Soul must have who neither loves nor desires nor pretends to any thing who is neither troubled nor affrighted nor discomposed at any thing but in all Occurrences rests quietly in God This is a rare Meekness indeed I say rare because it is admirable and because I believe few have it in this Mortal Life since we see that even the holiest Men have been angry and there are Persons that are very perfect who Reprove and Chide who Reform and Punish with Anger Nay even Moses himself who is called the Meekest Man upon Earth was certainly transported with great Anger when he threw down and brake the Tables of the Law which God had written with his own finger God and his Love can do all things and no body can number or weigh or measure the Miracles of his Grace But thou deceivest thy self as I have told thee if thou thinkest that a Spiritual Meekness excludes Zeal for Reformation since the being gentle in Heart and very couragious in Zeal may well enough consist together and it was a great cause of surprize and indignation for Moses to find that People worshipping an Idol that had so manifestly seen the Power of God so many ways made known to them in their Protection and Deliverance And Christ himself who far excell'd Moses in Meekness as in all other Vertues was angry when he whip'd the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple urging that Verse of the Psalm The Zeal of thine House hath even eaten me up And when he reprehended the Masters of the Law for destroying the Law and suffering the People to be loose and wicked though he was angry with them yet he was not the less meek in heart for the gentleness and serenity of it shin'd even through his Zeal and even then also he might have said Learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart He meekly had a sweetness within his Zeal as the Honey-comb was in the mouth of Samson's Lion He shewed his Anger to draw them to his Meekness and seeing so many Discourses and so many Sermons and so many Miracles had wrought nothing upon them to soften their hardness as we do Iron by Fire he applied that of his Zeal for a Remedy The Vices do oppose and hinder one another but the Vertues do assist and help one another A Man cannot be Prodigal and Covetous at the same time for if he will give
fire consumes it a little water drowns it and even a blast of air destroys it Some have been seen to dye with Laughter others have been killed with Joy one is drown'd with a draught of Milk and another choaked with a Hair nay even a man 's own breath meeting with his own breath hath made an end of him with a Heicough In conclusion man's Body is the death of his very life can any thing be more frail and weak Can any thing be more death Or can any thing less deserve the name of life 3. O the deceit of Mortals that can be cheated with this Dunghill This gross corruptible and miserable part of us drags all the World Captive after it Shall we serve and pamper so vile and so base an Enemy Shall we sweat and take such pains for its Delights and Pleasures 4. No let us not do so Use thy Body as a Subject and let the Soul live as the Prince Ruling in it Let the better part of thee Command and the meaner Obey Let Reason take the Empire and let thy Appetite serve as a subdued Vassal Let Grace rule thy Reason and then let Reason be the Counsellor of thy Soul that it may Govern thy internal Monarchy in Holiness towards God and in Righteousness toward Man The Third WEEK Of the Miseries and Passions of the Soul 1. BUT take heed how thou sufferest thy Soul to Command unless it be obedient to the Command of God for alas neither is the Soul without its hazards The miseries thereof are not less but greater except it be govern'd by the Creator of both Body and Soul The Rational Soul was in its first beginnings sound and strong it became wounded by Adam's sin and though cur'd by Grace in Baptism yet the seed and inciter of sin still remains The Scar of that Wound is not yet worn out and there still remains a hard Exercise and Conflict of our Nature which is always rebellious till Grace bring it to subjection Our fleshly Appetite commonly governs and draws our Reason after it the Passions live triumphing in our Souls and keep the Vertues in Captivity 2. What mischiefs have been acted by Mankind that owe not their Original to the Passions of the Soul What does not the Devil owe to those fomenters of Crimes and to those Parents of so many miseries What Vanity or what Folly is there in the World that is not derived from the same source Behold the Cities and Kingdoms which man's Passions have set on fire and destroy'd Behold the Cruelties Murders Adulteries Robberies and other Abominations Behold Mortals concurring to hasten their mortality and thinking themselves ruined if they cannot ruine one another All these and innumerable other mischiefs are due to the Passions of the Soul 3. The Wars the Sieges the Battails and the Victories by which men so carefully seek the ways to destroy one another proceed from them Man's Nature being so blind as to call that Victory Happiness and Triumph which is the undoing the consuming and the extirpation of it self Consider those necessary Harms those unavoidable Misfortunes those bloody Cruelties the Killings Robbings Burnings and all those things which so many cannot live without and by this thou seest what Humane Nature is 4. He that poyson'd the Waters on purpose that whole Nations and Kingdoms might perish by them He that envenomed the Dust whereby numberless Persons died infected He that fed his Horses with the flesh of his Guests He that wished the whole Empire had but one Neck that he might cut it off at one stroke He that in a rage cut the Throats of thousands of his Neighbours The Enemies of the Faith that by wild Beasts and by their own Cruelty fiercer than that of wild Beasts tore in pieces and destroyed so many just and holy men so many innocent Martyrs and Confessors All these were hurryed to those Villanies by their Passions In conclusion whatever horrid Wickedness whatever hainous Crime man hath or shall commit proceed all from the Passions of the Soul 5. O how much greater are the ruines of Souls than those of Bodies The Body is brutish it obeys and does not discourse but the Soul hath the light of Understanding which should direct govern and preserve the Body and yet it kindles enflames and destroys the Body dragging it along with it self to utter Perdition 6. What do we see in this World but enormities of the Soul which the Body often pays for upon the Gibbet or the Scaffold The Whip the Rope the Hatcher the Galleys Banishment Imprisonment and many more Penalties of the Body are not sufficient for that multitude of wickednesses which are committed by the Soul It is for the Soul's Offences such multitude of Bodies are punished and yet the number of those Persons whose Crimes are pardon'd or not known doth far exceed that of those that suffer 7. Would'st thou know how great the miseries of the Soul and of its Passions are Measure it by the effects They extinguish the Light of Natural Reason in it and make it to become brutish and unnatural nay bruit Beasts have the advantage in very many things over passionate Men. See how temperate they are in comparison of Men When did the sincerity of Men equal that of the Dove When their Prudence reach that of the Serpent It is manifest never since the Eternal Son of God bids us to be wise as Serpents and harmless as Doves When did the Providence of Man equal that of the Ant It is manifest never since the Holy Spirit sends the improvident Person to learn of the Ant. When did his Meekness equal that of the Lamb It is manifest never since the Baptist gives that sweet Title of the Lamb to the Redeemer of the World 8. When was there ever seen so many Battels and Slaughters amongst Beasts as we see daily amongst Men Who ever saw Troops of Lions making War against other Lions Of Wolves against other Wolves Or of any other wild Beasts against those of their own kind Have our Fields ever had Armies formed of irrational Creatures Only Man is a Beast to his own kind Man is a Wolf to Man nay which is worse Man is a Man to Man for by what more reproachful name can he be called since men make such Wars as the fiercest of Beasts never do 9. When do Beasts practice that Sensuality and Uncleanness which Men are guilty of They content themselves at certain times to pay that debt to Nature which conserves their Kind When did irrational Nature seek to satisfie the Appetites of Gluttony How simple is their Diet how frugal how healthful and how natural This is the life of Beasts while we set our wits on work to procure our destruction by our Food and our death by vicious excesses in the nourishment of our life 10. Free our Souls O Lord from Passions which make them veryer Beasts than the Beasts themselves And what are we Lord if thou leavest us
without the support of thy powerful hand O how we abuse those admirable Gifts which thou so graciously bestowest upon us We extinguish the light of Reason within us we banish truth and goodness from us and transform our selves into wild Beasts or worse if we forsake thy Law and give our selves up to the obedience of our own Appetite The Fourth WEEK Of the Miseries and Sins of each Man in particular 1. THese are the Miseries of our Nature lightly and briefly expressed but what kind of ones and how many are they in each one of us individuals seeing they are so great and so considerable in their Root If the Tree be so bitter what bitterness must be in the Fruit How blind are we O God if we do not see that which is so near us How blind are we if we do not see what we are our selves How wretched if such innumerable Miseries do not enlighten us to seek for Mercy How unworthy if we do not bewail the Sins we daily commit 2. Let every one well consider himself and he shall see what is in himself Let each of us turn the Eye of his Mind to behold himself within Let each of us put our hand in our bosom and he will draw it out full of Leprosie If the just Man falls seven times a day or rather seventy times seven what shall I do that am unjust and wicked Do not judge of this or measure it by others but judge of it and measure it by thy self and me 3. Scarce did the Light of natural Discourse begin to shine in my Child-hood when I embraced Evil it being my Duty to have embraced Good My Reason increas'd with my Age but my Passion increased much faster than it What a grief what a pity to see Reason banished from a Man's Soul by Passion That being set between Evil and Good my Soul should fly from Good to Evil Woe is me how soon I lost the Robe of Grace How soon I made my self an infamous Slave of Sin How soon its snares and nets intangled me How soon its darkness obscur'd all my light How early I began to grow worse and to hasten that approaching Night How early I forsook the Banner of the Redeemer of Souls and flying from the City of God to that of my beastly Appetite I quitted the Holy Jerusalem to take up my dwelling in Babylon How late I recover'd thee O sweet Jesus of my Life How late I know the way to serve thee having so early known the way to offend thee Slow have I been to follow thee O my Jesus but very hasty to persecute thee Who can suffer this This slowness and that haste Crucifie my Soul O Lord and I will bewail them both eternally in my Life till I see thee in the Life eternal by my death 4. How long did I go as a lost and prodigal Son flying from my heavenly Father that sought me How long like a wandring Sheep flying from my Shepherd that ran after me How long did I go astray in the venemous Pasture of worldly Vices taking Poyson and Death to be my nourishment I embraced my Deceits and my Undoings being fond of that which killed me Blindly stumbling I followed after Vanity and in a bold folly I hunted after my own destruction Who called me and brought me back when I was lost laying me gently upon his Shoulders Who was that divine Samaritan that took care of me the Man full of Wounds and that lay half dead as I was going from Jerusalem Who but thou O my Jesus who wert more wounded by thy Love for Man then I by the Love of my Sins Who but thou sweet Jesus that wert more ready to lay down thy Life for me then I was to have my Life saved by thee 5. For me to be lost and wicked and wretched O eternal Glory is natural to me and to my Vices that being properly of my own Stock but for thee who art infinitely good to seek after him that was lost and wicked and wretched thy infinite Justice requiring rather that thou should'st destroy then save such a Person is a Work that belongs only to thy unspeakable Mercy and to the Bowels of thy Compassion Thine infinite Goodness O my Jesus doth still exceed my horrible wickedness and look how vast the distance is between thee and me between finite and infinite So vast is that between my ruine and my remedy Blessed be thou my God for though the one be great the other is unmeasurable in greatness 6. But Oh that being once found and cured by thy hand I had never lost and forsaken thee again Oh that I had but once cost thee the Pains the Sweat the Blood the Torments and the Death which thou paid'st for me But Lord I have often nay numberless times crucified thee again 7. Look not Lord upon my wickedness but upon thine own goodness To offend thee though but once was a great Evil but to do it so many thousand times is an Evil of the highest Magnitude To offend by forgetfulness of thee before I was pardon'd was very ill since to forget thee is a very great Evil but to offend thee after being pardon'd is an ill beyond all ills because it is to be ingrateful and an Enemy to my greatest Benefactor To offend thee before I knew thee was very ill but to offend thee knowing thee and acknowledging thee still to offend thee is a much greater aggravation To offend thee as an open Enemy is a great Crime but to offend thee as a false Friend and a treacherous Disciple is the highest of Treasons To contrive and commit Sins in thine absence without remembring that thou standest looking on is very bad since there is no absence from thee who art in all places but to offend thee in sight of thy Divine Countenance and even while born upon thy Shoulders to betray thee in thy very House and at thy very Table is a degree of Wickedness above all comparison I am utterly lost O Lord unless thy kindness pardon and direct me My Sins deserve a thousand Hells unless thy divine Goodness and Mercy free and defend me 8. How often good God after having been cleansed have I return'd to wallow in the Mire How often after having been cur'd have I renew'd my wounds and like a perjur'd Soldier forsaken the Banners of thy Grace and enter'd my self in pay under thine Enemies Colours How often like thy treacherous Disciple have I sold thee for the vile price of some beastly Pleasure Many a time to satisfie my anger or revenge have I offended thy Meekness Many a time have I by despising and trampling upon others offended thy great Humility Many a time have I by known and wilful Sins fearlesly ventur'd to provoke thy Justice O dear Jesus tye me now fast to thy Cross let not my Lips nor my Soul be parted from thy divine Feet fasten me with thy Nails pierce me with the Launce that wounded thee
and by that wound receive me into and hide me in thy Heart free me from my self free me from all my Vices by thy holy Vertues and by thy sacred Wounds O heavenly Physician heal those many whereby though I have made my self the most unworthy and the most wretched of thy Creatures yet am I thereby the fitter Object of thy Mercies FEBRVARY The First WEEK Of the Remembrance of Death 1. WOuld'st thou amend thy loose irregular Life Remember Death and do while thou livest as thou would'st wish to have done when thou shalt come to die This Life which thou thinkest so lasting is but vanity This Life which thou livest as if thou thought'st it would never have an end is ending every moment and is making an end of thee Death comes flying speedily to us and we are running as fast to it they quickly meet that seek one another with so much haste Would'st thou take off thy value and esteem from that which is corruptible Look upon all things as subject to Death and full of Corruption 2. All that is in this World breaths Death in the midst of Life and all that seems Life is a secret Death Kingdoms and Empires die some destroy'd by the Hands of others some even by their own The Assyrian Monarchy was slain by the Medes that of the Medes by the Persians that of the Persians by the Graecians that of the Graecians by the Romans and that of the Romans by many several Nations and then they all made an end of one another If the whole which is strong and potent die can any part live which is weak and divided within it self The stateliest and strongest Buildings die Look and thou shalt no where find the Colosse's the Mausoleum's the Palaces and highest Edifices of the Ancients Those Towers which seem'd to touch the Stars ruined themselves by their own weight and greatness If Houses of the most lasting Marble die shall this petty Inhabitant of them live whose Body is but a little dust that vanisheth at a blast of wind 3. Might and Power also dies conquer'd sometimes by it self sometimes by a greater Power What is become of those Gyants of Vanity who with so much Pride did trample upon all the World What is become of those who made whole Monarchies to tremble at their lightest Motions or Disgusts They are now a heap of Bones lying upon the Earth and they who struck so great a Terror through all the Earth are themselves reduc'd to Earth already Yesterday they trampled all under their feet to day they are trampled under feet by all and thrown out to be the Food of Worms There is no need of Thunder-boks from Heaven to strike down this Power so full of weakness Earthquakes are superfluous on this occasion There needs neither Conflagration nor Deluge nor all no not so much as one of the Elements it is enough if there be but one Humour distemper'd within a Man 's own Body a malignant Feaver will serve the turn nay a fatal Sneeze upon a violent occasion is sufficient This is the hard necessity to which all humane Power is tied and subject and to which it must be forc't to yield Who then would fear any other Power but that of God which is the true Power indeed 4. What is become of the Honour the Riches and the Authority of those Grandees whom once the World adored It ended with their Power Imperial and Royal Crowns and Scepters Pontifical Miters Palls and Crosiers with all such Ensigns of Dignity roul up and down on the Wheel of Uncertainty following the course of Days Hours and Moments Scarce do they appear when they are already vanished scarce have they begirt the Brows of one when they instantly forsake him to seek the Brows of another Yesterday a Throne to day a Coffin Yesterday Rich and cloathed with stately Robes to day reduc'd to Rags and Beggary And are Wealth and Honours subject to these sudden Changes Who then would seek any other Honour but that of God and of an humble vertuous Life Who would seek other Riches than those of his Gifts and Graces 5. What and doth Beauty Gallantry Sprightliness and good Humour die too One may rather doubt whether they live at all So great is the Vanity and Shortness of them Where are now those Narcissus's and Adonis's those Venus's and Cleopatras's those Livias's and other Flowers of Beauty which in each Age shew themselves and vanish almost at the same hour Death cuts them all down and that which is less even Life it self destroys them Riches Power and Temporal Greatness do sometimes last as long as Life and nothing but Death alone does conquer them but Beauty is so frail a thing that 't is subject to be cut off not only by Death but even by Life also That which was yesterday the Envy and Admiration of the World to day is Ugliness and Deformity A slight accidental swelling of a Cheek or a discolouring of the Complexion a small Addition or Abatement in the Plumpness of the Face an outward Alteration or Change of the Countenance whether natural or violent takes away the former Air and presently farewel handsomness Let but a little Rheum fall into the Eyes a few Wrinkles shrivel the Skin a small Convulsion pull the Mouth awry a few Pimples break out in the Nose or any internal Humour discompose that outward Symmetry and instantly there is an end of Beauty There is no need of Death nor Small-pox Wounds nor Burnings A little Wind a little Nothing will serve to wither that delicate Flower Did I say nothing That was too much for it decayeth and withereth of it self and is it self its own destroyer 6. Beauty 't is strange dies with living ends with lasting and is ruin'd by its Conservation Is it not a wonderful thing that living and continuing should make it become horrible and loathsome That the handsomest Person should only by living become abominable and deformed And that meerly the Duration of Life should make the most beautiful Lady to be abhorred According to this it plainly appears that that which we have thought to be Life is Death that which we have thought a Being is not a Being but a ceasing to be that which we take to be Truth is Falshood that which seems to be Riches and Authority is Impotence and Vanity and that which looks like Life is Death or at least a Shadow of Death 7. Let us therefore lift up our Eyes and Hearts to that Life which is Eternal and knows no Death Of what Importance of what value can that be which either leaves me while I live or must be left by me when I die Nothing is lasting or of any worth but Vertue Truth and Piety To serve God and to please him is the only Riches and Power and that the only Beauty which lasteth to Eternity The Second WEEK How much it concerns the Soul to remember Death in the Time of Life 1. COnsider that Life passeth
in excessive apprehension of their own unworthiness which has been the Case of some very devout Souls whose Faith hath failed more out of the Timerousness of their own Nature than through any distrust of God's Mercy or of their Saviour's Merits 10. Would'st thou than escape from both these dangers Consider seriously the Shortness of Life and the Certainty of Death that the time of it when come can by no means be prolonged that the Place Manner and Time is utterly unknown to thee that it will come like a Thief in the Night that we can die but once and if we do it ill there is no second time to do it better that as the Tree falleth so it lieth Examine which way it would fall with thee if it should now be cut down Let these thoughts fill thee with the holy Fear of God's Justice which will keep thee from the Gulph of Presumption Bring forth Fruits of Repentance and entertain an humble Hope of God's Mercy whereby thou shalt avoid the Rock of Despair and looking up to Jesus the Author and Finisher of thy Faith with the Arms of that Faith lay fast hold upon the Merit of his Cross and so shalt thou pass safely into the Haven of everlasting Happiness Let not Life deceive thee but let Death undeceive thee See what St. Austin says The Sinner that would not when he might is not able when he would and being asked the Reason he answers Because by his affection to what was evil he lost the power of doing what was good A Man that has spent a whole Life in sinning will not find it easie to die repenting he whose Life is departing and Death seizing on him is but in an ill condition to grieve for his Sins he is not like to lament and bewail his offences which are hastening on his Death it being more probable his Sorrow will then be for the Loss of his Life In that terrible moment the Sinner will want Time he will want Disposition he will want Understanding and all things fitting for that weighty Business and will abound in nothing but Pain Terrour Anguish and Confusion The Third WEEK The dreadful Call of God to the Sinner that defers Repentance till his Death MEN want time to repent because God justly takes it from those that have so long abused his Mercy and gone on delaying their Repentance to such a time as is rather to be called a Moment than a Time Thou hast provoked my Anger says God to the Sinner thou hast forsaken and cast me off during thy whole Life How can'st thou expect to find me kind and loving to thee at thy Death I gave thee the best time and thou givest me the worst Doest thou think it is so easie to regain that best time which thou didst despise with the worst and in the worst till which thou hast delayed to use it When I gave thee Light and Strength thou imployedst it to persecute me and will it be easie for thee without Strength and without Light to seek me and to find me Is it all one thing O presumptuous Sinner whether thou offendest or pleasest me I have called upon thee and wooed thee with many gracious Invitations and with innumerable Benefits ever since thou camest into the World Is it enough for thee having despised them all and wounded me with thy Ingratitude to come to me when thou art just going out of it And canst thou expect that I will then receive thee If thou art rejected then O sinful Man the Fault will not be mine but thine own If the business of thy whole Life has been nothing but a wilful provocation of my Anger Can there be any thing more unreasonable than at thy Death to expect my Favour Is the Grace of Contrition in thy own Power whensoever it pleases thee Wilt thou be able to do that in the instant of Death which thou could'st not do in so many Years of thy Life Wilt thou be able to do that with a disturbed Judgment and a confused Understanding which thou never didst attempt nor wouldst ever learn while thy Understanding and Judgment were clear and found If the whole Custom of thy long Life has been nothing else but sinning canst thou O Man be so sensless as to look that the end of such a wretched Life should be merit and reward How canst thou hope to die a Saint having ever lived a scandalous Sinner If so many repeated acts of Sin have begot in thee a powerful Habit and an inveterate Custom of despising me Which way wilt thou begin to overcome that Custom when thy Life is at an end If thou hast spoken but one Language all thy Life wouldst thou go about the learning of another quite contrary to it in the Moment of thy Death 2. So long as thou didst live in health thou never wert acquainted with sorrow for sin nor knewest what it was to be contrite and penitent will it be easie for thee to learn and practice these things when thou art going out of the World to which thou wert so averse all the time of thy being in it If thou hast spent it all in the deceits and entanglements of sensual Delights How wilt thou be able to get loose from them and free thy self in that short instant when thy Soul is to be separated from thy Body If then thou wouldst leave them they will not leave thee thou holdest them fast and they stick as fast to thee How will you then get loose from one another Canst thou be willing to leave that at thy death which thou never wouldest forsake nay which thou didst ever run after and hug with so much fondess all thy life I shall be willing to pardon thee O Man but thou wilt not be able to ask me pardon the fault will not be in me O Sinner but in thy self 3. Thou wouldst never think of Death much less think how to dye and then thou wilt not know which way to beg for Pardon because thou wouldst never endeavour to learn and that time must then be spent in dying which ought to be spent in bagging forgiveness Thou wilt not be able because thy Will disturbed with fears will fail thee thy Understanding will be darken'd with Anguish thy Memory afflicted with Sins thy Senses dulled and decayed with a mortal Sickness and finally all thy abilities will be meer disabilities Thou hast wasted all thy life as if there were never to be a death and therefore thou wilt not have power to repent thee at thy death which is the death of Eternal Life Thou never in all thy life didst remember that there is a Hell and therefore at thy death thou wilt either forget it or else be so prest with the fear of going thither that thou wilt not be able to pour down Tears nor send up Prayers to escape it Thou hast lived without Judgment as if there were to be no Judgment without calling thy self to Account as if
Preachers daily call upon thee from their Pulpits 3. What canst thou say for having neglected the Directions of thy Spiritual Guides those internal Physicians of Souls and Consciences What canst thou say for having so often turned away from God who by them called upon thee daily intreating thee and offering thee eternal Life What for following his and thine own Enemy that offer'd thee nothing but eternal Death What canst thou say to quit thy self from so many Accusations What Evasion canst thou find to so full an Evidence Or how wilt thou get off from so weighty a Charge wherein thou wilt not be able to answer so much as one of Ten thousand If the Charge be true how will it be possible for thee to oppose the Truth thy Judge being also the Truth it self What deceit will be able to prevail before so great a Light and such a manifest Conviction Dost thou think O simple Creature to over-reach that infinite Wisdom Doth thy Ignorance think to circumvent him who sees the time present the time past and the time to come all at one instant Or does thy foolish proud Presumption hope to escape his all-seeing Eye Thou deceivest thy self and not him in so silly a conceit his Judgments are Evidences his Sentences Truths and his Execution Justice and doest thou think there can be forgetfulness of thy faults in that eternal Comprehension that beholds all things There is not the lightest Thought the suddenest Motion the inconsiderablest Word nor the smallest Action which is not punctually registred there That eternal Justice has all Sins counted weighed and measured in his presence from the first bitter Fruit of Adam's Apple to the last and slightest Sin of all Mankind till the end of the World That which was only known to thy Chamber to the secretest Corner of thy House or of thy Heart that which is unknown to thy most favoured Servant or most intimate Friend is all publick and manifest before the Face of thy Creator The Leaves of all the Trees in the World the Sand of all the Seas all the Stars of the Sky and the Atoms of the Sun with whatsoever is created are all numbered and present to him and canst thou believe he will forget thy Sins 4. Wouldst thou know what the Judgment is that thou mayest live with Judgment before thou comest to Judgment 5. It is an exact and particular Register of thy loose and wretched Life all that thou hast said seen done and thought in seventy Years of thine age is perfectly seen to God in that instant as if thou wert but then in doing of it 6. O Jesus my Lord and my God is it then all one thing with thee to behold and to judge And is thy Judgment the perfect and particular Sight of all the Sins and Transgressions of our whole Life Alas Alas What then shall become of me at that Day Is it possible O my great God that thou shouldst then see all my Crimes and soul Misdeeds That thou shouldest then see all my Subtilties Deceits and Falshoods Must all my beastly Vices and filthy Sensualities be seen by thee at that Judgment with the Pride and Presumption wherewith I have despised and trampled upon others with my unjust censurings and rash judgings of my Neighbours and my Vanity and Folly in thinking better of my self then of them Shalt thou then see the Sins not only of my Person but likewise of my Office and Dignity My Sins of Omission as well as those of Commission The Evils I have done the good Actions I have left undone and my suffering others to act those Crimes which I might have hindered Must thy pure Eyes which cannot behold Inquity see and behold and judge all mine Iniquities in that one instant How can I but tremble to think that thy holy and heavenly Eye should see such filthy Impurities and such horrible Abominations What can I hope for in that Sentence What can my Wickedness expect from thy eternal Justice but everlasting Torments All my Bones quake for fear O God and I am ready to wish the Rocks might hide me and the Hills might cover me from thy Presence but I know how vain that is and that even in the Center of the Earth thy Right-hand will find me out I am therefore plainly convinced that there is no refuge for me but from the Bar of thy Justice to the Bowels of thy Mercy Yet how shall I dare take Sanctuary there having so much abused it Now I discover the necessity I stand in of a Mediator to plead there for me yet dare not beg his Intercession having so long neglected it Thou of thy infinite Mercy and Goodness hast given thine own dear Son even the Man Christ Jesus to be that Mediator for all Mankind and in him some beams of Hope begin to comfort me remembring his excessive Love that willingly died upon the Cross to make Satisfaction to thy Justice for the Sins of all But with what confidence can I hope in him whom I have so often crucified afresh by my redoubled Offences This is my sad Condition and when I look only upon my Guilt I am almost ready to despair But Lord I know that that is a greater Sin than any I have yet committed therefore I will hope even against hope and carnestly beg of thee O my dearest Saviour that since thou hast hitherto given me time and now so loudly callest me to Repentance by this terrible Meditation of God's vigorous Judgment I may not delay a Moment longer to lament and bewail the Multitude of my Transgressions Grant I may go to that great Day with Tears of Contrition and that I may depart from it with Songs of Praise Grant I may go to it weeping for having offended thee and that I may come from it with joy for thy having pardoned me And since thou seest my sins which provoked thy Wrath grant thou mayest also see my Repentance to obtain thy Mercy Grant O dear Jesus that since thou seest my Ingratitude thou mayest also see my Heart deeply grieved and afflicted for having been so ungrateful And lastly grant I most earnestly beseech thee that I may see thy infinite Pity interposing the Merit of thy Death thy Blood thy Cross and Passion between thy Father's Justice and my sinful Soul now and ever and most especially in that great and terrible Day and that in the mean while I by thy Grace may so spend the rest of my days in Sorrow and Amendment of Life that at my Death I may be received into thy Glory Amen The Third WEEK Of the Means there are in this Life to prevent the Account and Judgment of the other 1. I Am stricken with amazement stand trembling at the thought of the Judgments of the Lord. I know not what to do nor can find any way how to escape them I am ashamed and confounded to appear in his presence full of so many Miseries and Sins Is it not possible to delay
never depart out of my mind Amen APRIL The First WEEK Of the Torments of Hell 1. OH what terrible things are these Death Judgment Account and Sentence without any Remedy Yet there are things more terrible than all these and they are viz. To be damned and to suffer the Torments of Hell to all Eternity Death is Life Judgment is Joy the Account is Pleasure and the Sentence is Delight in comparison of what it is to depart from thence condemned to be thrown eternally into Hell and Damnation and to suffer there those intolerable pains which a sinner hath deserved here This is that which makes Death terrible Judgment formidable the Account insupportable and the Sentence dreadful Actions are measur'd by their Successes and Causes by their Effects 2. If they had condemned me to lye for many years in some strait place and some narrow Dungeon and always in obscure darkness where mine eyes should never see the Light that were a great Evil but in Hell the darkness is far more horrible without the least hope of light 3. If they had condemned me for ever to suffer extremity of Torment though but in one Hand in one Foot or in any one particular Member that were a great Evil But in Hell the whole Body and Soul suffer together without having one part or Member free to comfort another and all of them suffering for ever and ever 4. If they had condemned me to some moderate pain of sense and such as might have been endur'd leaving my Thought and Understanding free yet that pain being for ever would be a very great Evil but that in Hell is far greater for the pains that are suffered there are unmeasurably sharper both in their intension and extension 5. If they had condemned me to lye among Gally-Slaves Traytors and Murderers the vilest and basest of Wretches men of abominable Life and worse Manners this were a great Evil to be tyed to such ill Company But they condemn me to be amongst utter Enemies who not only abhor but would fain destroy one another and themselves too to hear nothing else but Yellings and Blasphemies to see none but Tormentors executing their Rage and their Revenge upon the damned by a death that knows no death and an end that is still beginning and which keeps it duration even in the midst of Torment 6. If they had condemned me to some limited time though it were for a hundred years to suffer such sharp and terrible pains that were a great Evil since we see that one year of acute pain is insufferable how much more then for millions of millions of years But for ever for ever for ever to suffer innumerable and remediless Miseries and Torments which have no end nor limitation but must last eternally who can be able to suffer and undergo them 7. If they had condemned me to all these Sufferings in my Body alone leaving my Soul free that I might feel no more Affliction than what is caused by the Punishment of my Body that were an intolerable Evil but the torment which is felt within is greater than that without and more insufferable is that excess of grief and anguish which the never dying Worm of Conscience gives unto the Soul than all the pains and torments which are laid upon the Body These are as it were the body of Hell but the soul of it is the torment of the Soul far more intolerable and disconsolate Yet this is but a slightdraught a very remote and faint description of Hell in general consider it now in particular The Second WEEK Of the Place of Hell 1. COnsider now the Place of Hell the Habitation of Devils the horrible dwelling of the Damned A dwelling that is no dwelling a habitation that is no habitation a place that is no place but horror darkness fire torment and confusion There is nothing in those unhappy Prisons that speaks order there is nothing that speaks distinction all is disorder all is contrariety all flame and yet all obscurity All that is seen there is fire and flame which do torment but not enlighten The Place where those miserable wretches are condemned is Sorrow their Rest is Affliction their Food is burning and their walk a passing from one terrible pain to another more intolerable 2. The Lodgings of that horrible Palace are Racks and Tortures the Halls and Galleries are fire and its continuance the Chambers and Closets are vexation and anguish the Windows are darkness and the Light is to see nothing but miseries and woes Think what they shall do and suffer there who here imploy all their care and spend all that Money which they owe to the Poor in sumptuous Buildings in stately Appartments in costly Furniture in curious Pieces and in rich Accomodations 3. Nature does require ease comfort joy light and cheerfulness but the Damned shall there find pain affliction grief sadness and obscurity How much does a Man suffer lying in a dark Dungeon Nay how tedious it is to suffer an easie Bed if a Man be kept there but two or three Years nay but two or three Days by any sharp infirmity his weariness makes it a severe and a heavy Punishment How much does a Man suffer being fastened to the Bank of a Gally a Chain at his Foot an Oar in both his Hands and his Shoulders exposed to cruel Lashes But alas how spacious and lightsome are Dungeons How pleasant is a sick Bed and how delightful are Gallies and the sharpest Pains of this mortal Life in comparison of those unutterable Sufferings of the Damned in Hell 4. Man's Nature desires fair Houses large and cheerful Appartments but that is a place strait close and narrow for the pain of it and only great wide and spacious in the lasting of that pain Nature requires room and liberty to walk to dilate the Heart and cheer the Senses but that is a place where the Limbs have no Motion the Heart no Enlargement and where the Senses on all sides meet howlings tortures griefs stenches fire and confusion Nature requires a place to delight and recreate it self But that place is all misery and discomfort torments and more torments Losses Sorrows and Sufferings without end without measure and without remedy 5. Finally the place of Hell is a place of calamities even beyond all imagination and of extremity of tortures for an eternal Duration It s limit is to repeat eternity it ceasing to be is a new beginning and a continual repetition of torment 6. Now all this being so is there any one that believes it who would not suffer here to the end he may not suffer hereafter Woe be to thee and me if we do not consider here and endeavour to prevent what is prepared and what expects us there Woe be to thee and me if we do not examine weigh and bewail the times wherein we have offended that eternal Judge who condemns the most part of Mankind to that infernal abode for not considering these things
here while he gives them time to do it and for neglecting his many calls both of mercy and chastisement and thereby making Hell to become their own choice 7. Is it possible O my Jesus that I have chosen that horrible place by choosing Sin and continuing in it Yes for God set before thee Life and Death Blessing and Cursing and left the Election to thy self Why then Lord if I have hitherto chosen Death and that accursed place by sinning grant I may get out of it before I go into it and that by repenting by forsaking my sins and by relieving thy poor Members I may gain thee to be my Saviour and at the last day be called to thee with those comfortable words Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepar'd for you from the Beginning of the World The Third WEEK Of the Company of the Damned and of their pain of Sense 1. IF that terrible Abode were only a wide empty space though sad obscure and afflictive to the Wicked yet without such ill Company it might be more tolerable But the fierce and cruel Inhabitants and their hateful Company is worse and more intolerable than the place it self None but Devils and damned Persons are the Neighbours of that infernal City The Devils that are busily inflicting Tortures and the damned most impatient in suffering them raging and blaspheming with incredible Fury Nothing is heard there but the noise of the Lash and the cry of those that feel it a sighing without comsort a groaning without ease an eternal Woe and alas an endless weeping wailing and gnashing of Teeth 2. Their Lamentations are Oaths Curses and Blasphemies they rage despair and they belch out Vengeance without Revenge and Wrath without Satisfaction O good Jesus The hearing of one Curse the hearing of one Blasphemy is sufficient to pierce a Heart and afflict a Soul What will it then be to hear so many horrid Curses and Blasphemies This may be reckoned the very Hell of Hell it self But alas Lord the Damned do not only hear and suffer them but also utter them and that is yet much worse and more to be abhorred Rather O Lord let me suffer a Hell without pains but without Sins and Blasphemies than a Hell of Sins and Blasphemies without any other pain 3. In that unhappy and calamitous City and among those wretched Citizens all their Peace is Discord all their Quiet War all their Comfort Anger all their Order is Division Disagreement and Confusion Imagine thou didst behold a City where the Inhabitants went up and down killing and burning one another with Swords and Fire-brands in their Hands here loud Complaints there louder Cries here Rage there Death and Desperation Such a place were peaceable and quiet in comparison of the Hatreds Fightings and Discords that are in Hell For those at last come to an end when the Inhabitants have made an end of one another But these instead of ending are always beginning a new The Sufferings of those have some measure and limitation but these have no degree below infinite nor any limit short of Eternity and finally the Companions Friends and Neighbours of that dismal Abode are only the Devils and the Damned most inveterately hating and abhorring themselves and one another 4. Think how the nice and delicate Person will be able to endure this surly boisterous Company who by being used to suffer nothing that can cross his tender Inclination is become too haughty and insolent to bear the Company of his own Family or so much as bear with patience the attendance of his Servants How will the proud scornful and dissolute Woman endure to see her self encompassed with Devils and with Souls as proud and imperious as her self who cannot endure the Company of that Husband which God has given her How will the tyrannical Governour be able to suffer so many Devils to be his Superiors and to tyrannize over him who cannot suffer his Inferiors though Loyal and Obedient to live quietly under him And how will the rebellious Subject be able to suffer so many infernal Princes to exercise over him the Empire of their cruel Wills who never can suffer one good just and moderate Sovereign ruling him according to the Laws 5. Oh if thou didst turn the Eyes of thy Consideration another way and didst see loose and sensual Persons instead of the delightful Embraces of their lustful Lovers embraced and inflamed by Vipers and fiery Basilikes and suffering unexpressible Torments without any remedy or comfort If thou didst see the Scornful the Proud the Haughty trampled upon by Devils dragg'd and despised by them and burning in unquenchible Fire If thou didst see the ambitious Grasping at the top of Flames and Smoak and for ever suffering the Thirst which that of their ambition kindled here in so short a Life If thou didst see the rich covetous Miser in eternal beggary and nakedness without any other plenty but of Fire Torment Anguish and Affliction If thou didst see the beautiful and lascivious Woman whose Sins and Vanities carry her to Hell there become ugly loathsome and abominable her Body parched with flames and her Soul racked with vexation and despair If thou didst see the debauched Clergy-man who instead of guiding Souls to Heaven by his Doctrine brings many to Hell by his evil Example tormented there in living Flames his holy Orders much increasing his punishment and what was here his Honour and his Ornament becoming there the greatest Aggravation of his Crimes If thou didst see the Glutton and the Drunkard the Epicure and the Libertine there hungry and thirsty lean and pale all their Delights reduced to Fire and Brimstone without one drop of Water to cool or quench their thirst and instead of their delicate meats to be now devoured themselves and gnawed for ever by the Worm of their own Consciences If thou didst see all this and heard'st so many sad Cries and woeful Lamentations so many Curses Blasphemies and Confusions If I say thou didst see hear and well consider all this Ah! how much more careful would'st thou be to see to hear and to live otherwise than thou hast done hitherto Therefore go down into Hell by consideration while thou livest that thou mayest not go down into it by condemnation when thou diest Look well upon it thus and behold it now to the end thou mayest not be thrown into it now by Meditation to the end thou mayest never see it any other way nor be there compelled to feel the weight of God's wrathful Indignation The Fourth WEEK Of the Duration and the Pain of Loss and of the Worm of Conscience 1. IS there any Evil in Hell greater than this Can there be any other greater Yes there is yet another greater and more cruel than all these and that is the Eternity of them 2. If these horrible Misfortunes Torments and Miseries were to last for a Hundred thousand Years or for a hundred Millions of Years and that then
nothing can despoil thee of thy Will or hinder the freedom of its Operations Thou canst choose or refuse act or not act and art exempt from that fatality whereby inanimate Beings are mov'd Thou hast no necessity upon thee to determine thy Actions this or that way nor art thou led by Natural Instinct with the Brutes to pursue those things which make for thy good but by Election and Choice having an absolute liberty either to follow or reject what is outwardly represented to thee Thou canst not be compelled to do such things as are evil and prejudicial to thee but 't is purely thine own act The Devil himself that great Tempter can only sollicit and allure perswade and entice thee he cannot force thee to do any immoral Action nor all the Powers of Darkness much less have men any Authority over thy Will They must obtain thy consent before they can draw thee into sin and thou must will the evil before thou canst act it 'T is in thy power whether thou shalt follow the Counsels and Suggestions of wicked men or whether thou shalt refuse to be led by them nor is it possible that thy Will should be driven by compulsion or violence to the prosecution of Objects which it does not first seek and desire Consider then the greatness of this Gift and study how to express thy gratitude to God for it Since he has made thee Agent and given thee Election take heed that thou direct thy Choice to such things as tend to his Honour and thine own Benefit Be sure to govern thy Will by the Rule of Reason and let no Passions or Temptations prevail to vitiate or corrupt it for otherwise that which is in itself a great Blessing will prove to thee a Curse and an Instrument of Misery Remember thou art under a Moral though not a Natural Restraint that 't is thy Duty to will only such things as are good and honest though thou hast power to embrace the contrary God leaves thee to thy freedom whether thou wilt obey him by practising such Duties as he hath commanded in his Word and be saved or whether thou wilt disobey him by pursuing those Vices which he has forbidden and be damned He leaves it to thy choice whether thou wilt use the means that lead to Eternal Life or to Eternal Death Be not therefore so regardless of thy Happiness as to choose Misery and so utterly unthinking as to make Damnation thine own choice O consider how much depends upon the due regulation of thy Will and labour to restrain its unbounded freedom within the limits of thy Duty Apply it only to Vertue and Goodness and thy Reward shall be a Crown of Glory and everlasting Peace The Second WEEK Of the Institution of Matrimony GOD having Created Man and perfectly furnish'd him with suitable Faculties did next provide him a meet Help and a comfortable Companion blessing them for the propagation of Mankind by the Institution of Matrimony and though it was abus'd by Polygamy yet Christ afterwards reduc'd it to its Primitive state telling the Jews that from the beginning it was not so for Male and Female created he them He himself honoured that State by being born of a Virgin betrothed to an Husband with whom she lived as in Wedlock He honoured it also by being present at the Marriage in Cana of Galilee working there a wonderful Miracle which was his first He communicates particular Graces and Gifts to it First that of Fidelity to Husbands to the end that a Man who ought to give Example to his Wife may not run into that which is forbidden by forsaking that which is allowed him and to the Woman that she may not be false and treacherous to her Husband And as it is a Bond which cannot be untyed so nothing should untye the Affections of their hearts To this Grace of Fidelity and reciprocal Chastity he gives that of Patience to enable them to bear the burdens of Marriage which are great That the Wife should bear the condition of her Husband and that the Husband should provide Maintenance for the Wife and that both carrying that holy Yoke upon their shoulders may go on with equal steps in the ways of Vertue and Religion taking care of their Children and Family with Humility and Prudence This Patience is the seasoning of that Holy State without which the married Pair must be undone Where there are Troubles Patience is necessary as Remedies are where there are Wounds The Soul and Body how close soever united yet are not always at agreement with themselves but ever and anon there are Quarrels between them How then shall the Husband and Wife agree always who though they be two in one flesh as the Soul and the Body yet they are two several Persons and each in itself remains one One of the great wonders of the Grace of this Holy Institution is to preserve two Persons of several Sexes and often of contrary Conditions and Humours united together which is done by Patience A great Miracle To live tied to one another with that strict Bond and yet to act with quietness and tranquillity each seeking the good of the other as much as their own Who but God could bring Peace out of Diversity and Concord out of Contrariety And though married Persons do frequently live in Discord that is not the fault of the Institution but our misery and frailty which throws away the Grace and Benefit which might be receiv'd from it If a rich man should offer me his Riches and I turn away from him Is he ever the less rich because I refuse them If the Sun enlightens me and I shut my Windows and do choose darkness does it cease to give light because I will not see it This Institution is light is holy is pure If the married Couple do not dispose themselves to receive it If they choose Discord rather than Agreement to persecute rather than to bear with one another and to hate rather than to love one another this they may do without being married for there be many that live in Dissention besides Men and Wives but to live to agree to be united in affection and to have a mutual complyance for so long a time as the whole Life nothing but the Grace of God giving a Blessing to them can effect as he does in those who dispose themselves for such Attainments Thus if there be disagreeing Couples it is because they do not conform themselves to serve and to please God who is the Author of those Blessings and if they would but reconcile themselves to God they would soon be reconcil'd in Peace to each other The Holy Ghost tells us that Zachary and Elizabeth were righteous before God walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of God blameless and thence it was that they lived peaceably together If the chief Wheels in a Clock be in disorder the less cannot move regularly A Bone out of Joynt gives great
I come with the Olive-branch of Peace in my mouth the Merits and Intercession of the Prince of Peace I have nothing else to plead but by them and by them only I hope to be received and kept from ever departing from thee any more If thou hast not been so great a Sinner as I art thou less bound to God for preserving thee from it than I for being pardon'd and reclaimed Shall the Benefit by thee be accounted less because it is really much greater Does the Hand that saved me from a Wound do me a smaller kindness than that which cures me when I am wounded Or rather is not the benefit of Preserving much the greater by saving the Blood I should have lost by the Wound and the Pain I should have suffered in the Cure For though it require a greater Power to lift me up when I am down than when I am up to keep me from falling yet to me the Benefit is more worth which prevents me from a Mischief than that which gives me remedy when I am in it Thus have I seen O God for how many Benefits I am indebted to thee notwithstanding my many Sins O let not an horrible Ingratitude be the last and greatest of them all Man's Laws have ordained no Punishment for that infamous Crime either because they did not believe that any thing in the World could be so bad as an ungrateful Person or that they could find no Punishment proportionable to so great a Crime The wildest and the most savage Breasts are grateful to their Benefactors and good turns have tamed the fiercest Lions but we more savage than the furious Beasts are so far from Gratitude that on the contrary we each moment offend our most gracious Benefactor But suffer us not O Lord to do so any longer and let the greatest of all thy Benefits be to make us thankful for them and with the humblest Devotion of our Souls to acknowledge that the Number of them is infinite and their Nature most transcendent Of the Guard of Angels We have seen how watchful the All-seeing Eye of God's Providence is for the Preservation of our Souls and Bodies The Holy Jesus tells us that without it not so much as a Sparrow falls to the Ground how much less a Man who is more worth than many Sparrows And to express his great Care of our smallest concerns he says that even the very Hairs of our Head are numbred Thus dwelling under the Defence of the most High and abiding under the Shadow of the Almighty any other Protection might be thought wholly needless yet God as subordinate to that hath out of his super-abundant Love to Mankind been pleased from the Beginning of the World to protect them particularly by the Guard of Angels for having created those Blessed Spirits in distinct Hierarchies and Choirs the chiefest of them he applied principally to the Worship and Veneration of himself and appointed others to serve him in the Succour and Assistance of Humane Nature We are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews that they are Ministring Spirits sent forth to Minister to those that shall be Heirs of Salvation And their forwardness to obey God in all things that relate to the good of Man is seen in many places of the Scripture HEre the Author having cited many places where Angels have been employ'd for the Service or for the Punishment of Mankind makes a long Discourse whereby he endeavours to establish their Doctrine of adoring and praying to Angels and proceeds with great Devotion therein but here our Church forbids us to go along with him allowing us to search the Scriptures where we find express Texts and Examples flatly to the contrary thus we read in the Revelation that when St. John was going to fall down and to adore the Angel he was strictly forbidden by him saying See thou do it not for I am thy Fellow-servant Worship thou God And we have a plain Text fore-warning us to take heed that no Man deceive us by a voluntary Humility and the Worshipping of Angels St. Paul was wrapp'd up into the Third Heaven and yet he makes no relation of those blessed Inhabitants but says he saw what it was not lawful for Man to utter and the Scripture tells us that things secret belong unto the Lord but the things that are revealed belong to us We ought therefore to content our selves with them and not to be wise beyond Sobriety but while they pretend not only to know particularly the Names and Ranks of the several Choirs in each Hierarchy but also the particular Business and Employment of every one of them Our part should be to acknowledge how infinitely we are indebted to God for his Goodness towards us and to raise our Minds to the highest Admiration and Reverence of God's unspeakable Power in Creating them and to the most ardent Love of his Goodness in employing their Ministry for our Benefit but most especially for that happy Message brought by the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word which was the beginning of our Redemption and for the joyful News of his Nativity delivered to the poor Shepherds by an Angel when suddenly a Multitude of the heavenly Host sung Glory to God on high c. How can we forbear to cry out with the Psalmist Lord what is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou regardest him Thou madest him lower than the Angels to crown him with Glory and Honour Instead of praying to them let us lift up our Minds and Prayers to the Creator of them and in Thankfulness for all Mercies join with that blessed Choir to magnifie him Let us beseech him that hath ordained and constituted the Services of Angles and Men in a wonderful Order mercifully to grant that as his holy Angels always do him service in Heaven so by his appointment they may succour and defend us on Earth through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Fourth WEEK Of the Benefit of Redemption WE are come now to the utmost top of all the Divine Benefits which requires a most attentive Consideration Our great Creator in the making of Man designed a most wonderful Union between his Soul his Body and his God Three things so vastly distant and so strangely different that nothing but Omnipotency could have joyn'd them together for what can be more different than a dead Clod of Earth and a living immaterial Soul What can be more distant than a Soul dwelling here below in the narrow Limits of an Earthly Body and the Divinity of an infinite and an eternal God who dwelleth in the highest Heavens and whom even the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain In this blessed State he was placed in the Garden of Paradice where nothing was forbidden him but the Tree of Knowledge and with this Covenant that if he continued in obedience he should never die but be translated from that Earthly to an
which is more hath given him Eternal Life freeing him from everlasting Damnation and not at so cheap a rate as words but by sweating Blood suffering Torments and giving up himself to Death even the death of the Cross Can this Benefit this Love this excess of Kindness find any in the World that can be compar'd to it And if we should be ungrateful for it or forgetful of it which in some sort is worse than to be ungrateful could there possibly be a greater wickedness O Lord suffer not me I beseech thee to be guilty of so great an Error of so great a Folly and of so great a Wickedness for such a strange want of Love and such an abominable Ingratitude cannot be thought of by any good Person without horror JVNE The First WEEK Of Baptism and Confirmation COnsider now what God hath done for thee in particular towards making thee a partaker of this high Benefit of Redemption for though Christ by his death paid a sufficient Price for the Souls of all Mankind yet thou no more than many others couldst have had no share in it hadst thou not been made a Member of his Body and how high soever the Benefit of Creation be it had been much better for thee never to have been born than not to have been made a Christian But what couldst thou a poor helpless Infant do towards the attaining so great a Benefit when thou didst not so much as know thy want of it Yet the Mercy of thy most Gracious God prevented thy desires and in his eternal purpose he determined thee to be one of that happy number that should be born of Christian Parents in that part of the World where the Gospel is most purely profess'd and where thou wert early consecrated to him in Baptism Thou wert brought to that Laver of Regeneration where the stains of thy Original Corruption were washed away in the Blood of Christ represented by the outward and visible sign of Water wherewith thou wert sprinkled to signifie thy death unto Sin and thy new birth unto Righteousness Thou wert baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost according to thy Saviour's Appointment By the Gate of that Holy Sacrament thou wert admitted into the Church and made a Member of Christ a Child of God and an Heir of the Kingdom of Heaven being by Nature born in sin thou wert thereby made a Child of Grace Thus the second Covenant made with Mankind in Christ Jesus was sealed between God and thee which cannot fail on his part to be faithfully performed if thou be but careful on thine to do the best thou canst and to serve him with sincere if not with perfect Obedience Men use to envy those that are born of Noble Parents whose Care Power and Greatness may support and succour the naked weak and innocent Infants but O! what a Noble Birth is that of Faith What rich Mantles and Swadling-cloaths are the Coelestial Vertues That this little Creature shall no sooner be born but that at the same instant he comes into the care not of a weak frail Mother who lies unable to help her self by reason of the Pangs and Throws she suffer'd for the bringing of a Child into the World but of an Holy Perfect and Spiritual Mother which is the Catholick Church that cloaths him with the Robe of Grace an admirable Pledge of a safe and an eternal Inheritance in Glory That the Child should scarcely be born when already the Son of God as an invisible Minister doth by the visible hand of his Minister baptize and at the same time wash away sin from that Soul and fill it with Graces Gifts and Vertues This is an Honour which is indeed deservedly to be valued and a Benefit which can never be sufficiently admir'd From the time that the Water of Baptism washed off the filthy rags of Adam and cloathed thee with Grace in the Blood of the Lamb sin which had wounded thee before became wounded it self and whereas before it gave death from that time it suffered death In Natural Sicknesses the Remedies seldome reach to the Diseases and the Body when it is recovered hardly gets so great strength as what it lost by Sickness but in the Spiritual Sickness and in the Hurts and Diseases of the Soul it uses to be much otherwise for the wounded party recovers more strength and vigour when he is gotten up again than what he lost by falling into them The Devil ruined us but God is more powerful in good than he is in evil Sin destroy'd us and Grace renew'd us but Grace is more effectual to renew us than Sin to destroy us Our weak and ruined Nature was indebted Ten Thousand Talents but the Eternal Son of God hath satisfied the Debt not with Ten Thousand nor with an Hundred Thousand but with his Blood a Price of inestimable value Dost thou think that any thing can be more powerful than God Hath he not received thee into his Church by Baptism And hath not he on his part promised to protect to free and to assist thee Hast thou not passed through those Waters flying from the Enemy that pursued thee Did not that Red Sea of thy Saviour's blood open to give thee passage And did it not shut again to drown the Egyptian I mean Original Sin Then what hast thou to be afraid of Sing the Victory with Miriam and the Daughters of Israel which the Son of a better and a more glorious Myriam hath obtained for thee Is not God thy succour and thy hope Whom hast thou to fear Is not he thy defence and thy protection What dost thou dread When a man is once cloathed with the Grace of God in Baptism all his Enemies are but few By the Infusions of Grace thou oughtest to count Sin and Nature to be already conquer'd What signifies the Signing thee with the Sign of the Cross in thy Forehead but the marking thee out for a Souldier of Jesus Christ Be not therefore asham'd to confess the Faith of Christ crucified Thou art not only his Souldier but art furnished with Arms of his Magazine The Old Man is put away and thou art cloathed with the New and that New Man is Jesus Christ who enters into thy Soul to cloath it with himself and with his Graces for he enters to arm to defend to favour to protect and to assist thee The Field in which thou fightest is thine own for he strengthens and encourages thee in all encounters Thou fightest in the Militant Church whereof thou art a Member against which that Enemy with whom thou fightest can never prevail Great part of the Victory consists in the Advantage of Ground but all is favourable to thee from the time thou art entred into the Church That Entry by Baptism was the first Victory for the entrance it self was a Victory and that Victory a Triumph From that day Hell trembles at thee only because thou art a
Christian and now no body can destroy thee but thou thy self and thou art told by the Word of Truth that the greatest outward Enemy the Devil will flie from thee if thou dost but resist him Thou canst not but be greatly chear'd with these Encouragements and much comforted by seriously considering what thou hast received in Baptism We Christians certainly ought never to lose the sight of that Benefit but still to reflect upon the greatness of it with thankful hearts Yet we ought not only to look upon what God hath done for us but also to think upon our part of this Covenant and to weigh the Duties we are oblig'd to by it Remember that thy God fathers and God-mothers when thou wert baptized did promise and vow in thy Name that thou shouldst forsake the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh as likewise that thou shouldst believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith contained in the Apostles Creed and finally that thou shouldst keep God's Holy Will and Commandments contain'd in the Decalogue and walk in the same all the days of thy life The Church appointed them to do this for thee as thy Sureties because at that time by reason of thy tender Age thou wert not able to make much less to perform these Promises but being come to Understanding thou art bound to take that Vow upon thy self and they may properly be called God-fathers and God-mothers because in the mean while it is their Duty to take care that their God-Children as they grow up may be taught what a Solemn Vow Promise and Profession they have made for them and to cause them to be instructed both in the Articles of the Creed and in the Ten Commandments Moreover if at any time they shall hear them speak or see them do any thing contrary to that Divine Law they ought to put them in mind that they promised and vowed the contrary in their Baptism But O! how little of this care is there in the World there is nothing more neglected or forgotten than this Duty of God-fathers yet I hope not generally I cannot have such hard thoughts for though I must needs confess it is too much slighted yet certainly there be many that have a due regard of it But since Children when they grow to Age are themselves bound to perform what was promised in their Names by their God-fathers and God-mothers They may in great part discharge themselves when they take care that their God-children be so well Instructed in the Christian Religion as to know the Duties that Vow engages them to and when being of years able to renew that Covenant and to take the charge of their Souls upon themselves they shall have perswaded them upon serious consideration so to do and have brought them to the Bishop to be Confirmed according to that Order which the Wisdom of the Church hath established appointing all the Members thereof to be so or at least to be ready and desirous to be so before they be admitted to the Holy Communion The Bishop by whose Ministry this Office is performed first causeth the Parties who are to be Confirmed to make an open Confession in the Publick Congregation that they do renew the Promise and Vow that was made in their Name at their Baptism ratifying and confirming the same in their own Persons and acknowledging themselves bound to believe and to do all those things which their God-fathers and God-mothers then undertook for them He also prays to God to strengthen them by the Holy Ghost the Comforter and daily to increase in them his manifold Gifts and Graces the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Ghostly Strength the Spirit of Knowledge and true Godliness and to fill them with the Spirit of his holy Fear for ever Lastly he lays his hand upon each Child and blesses him as our Saviour did upon those Children that were brought to him and concludes beseeching God to direct sanctifie and govern both their Hearts and Bodies in the ways of his Laws and in the works of his Commandments that through his mighty Protection both here and ever they may be preserved in Body and Soul through our Lord Jesus Christ Much are those Parents and Sureties to be blamed that omit to bring them to this Order of Confirmation it being a great benefit both to the Sureties in the discharge of their Obligation and to the Children who are duly fitted and prepared for it for they are thereby awakened to an early sense of Religion and to a future endeavour of performing their Duty in it When Young Plants are removed out of their Nurseries and set in the open Field it is necessary to fence them about with Stakes to hinder their being crop'd or trodden down by Beasts and it is no less necessary thus to confirm and strengthen new beginners in Christianity that they may be the better guarded at their coming into the open World against the dangerous approach of brutish Men. Such Branches as are so engrafted into the true Vine God doubtless vouchsafes to water with his Grace and though in weak measure at first yet if they continue to take firm Root he will not fail to make them thrive and bring forth good Fruit. Those gifts of the Spirit prayed for on their behalf will likewise through his Mercy increase till they become so many strong Bulwarks to defend their Souls against the Common Enemy within which they may stand safe to fight according to their Vow against the World the Flesh and the Devil Remember therefore always the Obligation that lies upon thee by that Vow We are engaged in our Childhood to that which we neglect when we are grown up whereas being grown up we should be careful to perform that which our Sureties promised for us when we were Children Keep then still in mind that thou art a listed Souldier forget not in what Army thou art enroll'd what Captain thou art to follow what Fidelity thou hast sworn to him and fight valiantly even to the death rather than suffer thy self to be overcome by the subtil Perswasions and Devices of his and thine own Enemies The Souldiers of this World for a very small hire keep Fidelity to their General they fight and die for him without any other bond or tye than that of some little piece of Money ill paid and yet they give their blood and daily venture their life for that Pay whereas we Christians the Souldiers of Jesus Christ listed under the Ensign of his Cross assisted by so many Benefits of Grace being Heirs and Co-heirs of Glory and having Heaven for our Pay do frequently desert our Colours like vile infamous Cowards and by sin treacherously fly over into the Enemies Camp The Souldiers of the World fight to defend their King or their General but here our General fights and gives his Blood and his Life for the
upon the Cross purchasing our Redemption by his Death the Merits and Benefits whereof shall therein be assur'd and convey'd to thee as a Pledge and Seal of thy Pardon Apply it to thy self with an humble Confidence in his Promises with a firm Faith that his Blood was shed for thee since thou art admitted to be a partaker thereof That Divine Antidote is not only to be thy Medicine but thy Nourishment and receiving it with lowliness and Devotion thou shalt not only find Grace but the Author of Grace thou shalt not only find the Guide but the Way the Comfort and Support of the Spirtual Life If he be God Eternal the Son of the Eternal Father whom thou receivest into thy Breast art not thou certain that all his Vertues and Attributes enter with him If in receiving him I make him not only my Guest but also my Lord and Ruler I become one with him as the fire which heats the Iron is united with it If his Goodness be in me when I receive him how is it that it does not abolish my Wickedness If his Omnipotency why does it not take away my Weakness If his Love be in me why does it not expel my Luke-warmness If his Purity and Chastity why don't they chase away all my Defilements A PRAYER O Eternal and Coelestial Light O my Redeemer and Soveraign Master and Physician O sweet Spouse of my Soul What is it that hinders the Operation of so great a Light in me but that my Soul is in so thick a Mist of Darkness What is it that can hinder the admirable Effects of thy Grace in me but the wickedness of my ungrateful heart What keeps the Divine Strength and Power from waking but my great coldness and hardness of heart What hinders thee O Heavenly Physician from curing the Diseases of my Soul but that it loves them and abhors the Remedy What hinders thy Sheep O Heavenly Shepherd from receiving the Coelestial Food thou offerest them but their being lost and running astray after sensual Delights the Poyson of their Vices What hinders the amorous Embraces and Favours of this loving Bridegroom but the ungrateful forgetfulness of his Spouse My heart gives it self up to worldly Loves and so does not perceive these glorious Pleasures What keeps my Soul from receiving the Graces and Favours which my King entring into it would bestow but the Passions and Rebellions wherewith it is fill'd What hinders me from hearing the wholsome Counsels of my most wise Instructor or if I hear them from following them but that my Passions make me deaf to his Inspirations or weak and unable to follow those which I have heard O Lord my God and my Redeemer All my Sickness is in my self all my Cure is in thee O my God since thou dost vouchsafe to enter into me stay there and deliver me from my self I am mine own Enemy no body can hurt me if I hurt not my self Free me from that inward Enemy O dear and potent Friend Thou art the strength of Heaven Thou art the succour of the Weak and I am weak Thou art the light of the Blind and I am blind Thou art the comfort of the Afflicted and I am afflicted Thou art the Shepherd of lost Sheep and I am one of them Thou art the pardoner of the Ungrateful and I am even Ingratitude itself What can Cure so great an Ignorance but thy Heavenly Wisdom What can take away or destroy so great a wickedness but thine Infinite Charity What can cleanse so many Defilements but thine ineffable Purity What can give strength to my feeble Soul overwhelmed with Vices but the Infinite Power of thy Glorious Vertues Have I thee here within me and wilt thou not Cure me I will not believe it Lord. Art thou one of those that see their Friends in the Sea of their Troubles and suffer them to be drowned Art not thou He who alone art able if thou wilt to appease a Tempest Art not thou He who stretch'd forth his hand to Peter when he was sinking in the waves Art not thou He who sleeping in the Ship didst awake and calm the Sea when it was ready to be swallowed up Art not thou He who walked'st upon the Waters of the Sea only to help those that were in them Art not thou He who both by Sea and Land in Mountains Towns and Cities wert the Universal Remedy both of Souls and Bodies For to whom thou gavest Grace in the one thou also gavest Health in the other Art thou less able in my Soul than thou wert in Judaea and Palestine Is not thy Power as great to Cure Souls now as it was to Cure Bodies then since thou didst therefore Cure their Bodies that thou mightest the better Cure their Souls Is thy skill less now adays O Omnipotent Physician than it was in those times Does not thy Immense Charity rather increase if it be possible for it to receive any augmentation Does not every one of thy Benefits call a great many more after it Canst thou do any thing else than give more and more and more Art not thou All-powerful O my Jesus Art not thou all Love and Goodness And art not thou infinitely Wise If then thou art both able knowing and willing How is it that I feel not the effects of thy Power Goodness and Wisdom It is true I have very often resisted them all but now I penitently yield my self up to them now I humbly prostrate my self I call I seek and adore the Author of my Remedy Enter into me O Lord my Glory Cast out of me all Humane Resistance and though wretch that I am I did resist thy Vertues I will no longer resist thy Remedies I desire O my God to desire Lend thy helping hand and banish all that can separate me from thee Drive out of me all that Will which opposeth thy Blessed Will O Lord God I believe as another incredulous Person said help thou my unbelief and my obdurate Nature which is the Original of all my harm I believe I will I desire I love I seek I weep O merciful Lord O Eternal and Heavenly Light pardon and banish my want of Love my Coldness my Ingratitude and my Forgetfulness I would fain desire but I know not how to desire I would fain work but I know not how to work but since thou entrest into me O my Jesus work thou in me Separate from me and destroy in me all that hinders and detains me from serving from loving from following and adoring thee Let that Love of thine which was enflamed with the love of me conquer and expel this ungrateful want of love Let thy Light drive away my Darkness and thy Goodness my Wickedness Finally O Lord make thy self Master of me of my heart of my will and of all my Faculties and carry my Soul thy Captive in the Triumph of thine Infinite Love These are the breathings thou oughtest to send forth from the bottom of thy
frequently receive and consecrate the Sacrament were they that fear'd him most and within that Humility Reverence and Fear they found the Treasures of Love O what tears of Fear did they shed at the receiving of it What fire of Love did they find in their Breasts by being so united to their Saviour What high knowledge sprang up from the depth of their Humility and Fear What Faith in believing and adoring him What Hope in seeking him and what Charity in finding and possessing him They did as St. Peter did at the first knowledge of his Master's Divinity in the Miracle of the draught of Fishes when throwing himself prostrate at his feet he said Depart from me O Lâ—rd for I am a sinful Man The Apostle runs to his Master's feet and at the same time prays him to depart from him His high fear makes him beg that he would depart and his ardent Love makes him at the same instant to draw near that approach was caused by Love and the bidding him depart proceeded from fear Thus at the Communion be thou all Humility Fear and Acknowledgment that thou art unworthy to receive so great a Lord but yet knowing thy unworthiness thou oughtest so much the rather to approach so high a Majesty with Love as well as with Fear and Humility That Fear which separates us from God is never a good Fear for where but in God can we find the Perfection both of Love and Fear O eternal God is not thy Goodness communicable Art not thou a God who givest thy self and makest all Creatures to participate of thy Goodness Then why shall not we come to this Communion and receive this communicable Good Art not thou Goodness and Liberality it self who bestowest thy Treasures upon all Didst thou institute this Sacrament in Bread and Wine to the end that Men should only see it and not receive and eat it Why didst thou leave thy self in this manner amongst Men but to be their Support and Nourishment When thou didst consecrate this Coelestial Bread didst thou not receive it first of all thy self and then give it unto thy Holy Disciples Thou knewest O Lord their Imperfections and that they would forsake thee and deny thee that very night yet thou gavest them remedy in thy blessed Body for without that their fall and their loss had been much greater O eternal Glory dost thou seek me and shâ—ll not I receive thee Dost thou come from Heaven to seek me and shall I fly out of the Church that I may not receive thee Thou comest O eternal Shepherd to be both my Shepherd and my Food and shall I poor lost and wandring Sheep refuse this Food and refuse to be born upon those blessed Shoulders Didst thou shed thy Blood to give it me for drink and was thy Body broken that I might feed upon it and shall I shut my Lips and my Heart and Soul against this meat and against this drink If I reject thee who art the Remedy of all my Griefs whom shall I ever receive If I drink not of thee thou Fountain of all Goodness when shall my thirst be satisfied If I bath not in this Fountain which thou hast set open for Sin and for Uncleanness who shall wash this Soul full of so many abominable Pollutions And if I be not to receive thee my God my Lord and my Creator but when I am indeed worthily disposed for it when shall I ever dare to approach thy Table Is any the highest Cherubim or Seraphin worthy to receive thee Can the greatest Purity deserve to partake of that unspeakable Greatness Is there any Goodness worthy or capable of that infinite Majesty The Blessed Virgin thy Mother confesses she is not worthy to receive thee and what am I then polluted Wretch and sinful Man unworthy beyond all unworthiness Didst thou not know O eternal God when thou didst institute this Sacrament that it was to be received by weak Men and mâ—…erable Sinners Thou didst consecrate it with this Condition O infinite Mercy that thou wert to suffer the Misery of our Nature and to bear with the Neglects and Imperfections of our Frailty Before thou madest thy self the Nourishment of Men thou knewest the Weakness and Sinfulness of Men and didst leave this Institution not only for our nourishment but also for the remedy of our Diseases Who can cure them O God but thou Who else can guide and strengthen and encourage me to encounter all the Difficulties to avoid all the Deceits and to overcome all the Temptations that I meet with in this Spiritual Warfare Who can be my Antidote against the Poison of Sin but the Author of Grace Who can enable me in this Banishment to travel through the most rugged Passages into my heavenly Country but thou who art the Way the Truth and the Life that dost sustain lead cheer and refresh me Do not suffer me O Lord to have that kind of fear which shall hinder me from serving and adoring thee from seeking and finding thee from possessing and enjoying thee but give me a filial and reverential Fear and such an one as even in the midst of fear may enflame me with thy Love Thus may we comfort and encourage our selves against the thought that Fear cannot well consist with Love by which mistake some are kept from daring to receive the Sacrament And because St. John says That perfect Love casts out Fear they believe that Love and Fear are not compatible and that not having this Love it would be a great Presumption in them to receive the Communion of the Body and Blood of the Holy Jesus But they do not well understand St. John for he does not speak of reverential Fear which is very consistent with Love and grows up with it but of servile Fear for that is it which is thrown out by holy and perfect Love The holy Fear of God keeps no Man from doing any thing that is good and much less from the chiefest good which is the receiving this blessed Sacrament but rather by how much more perfect fear is so much the more does it burn in Love and so much the nearer does it draw us to God And thou must not only take heed that filial fear hinder thee not from receiving it with that frequency which thy Spiritual Guide shall advise but thou oughtest also not to forbear the receiving it though with but a servile Fear If thou hast thy Conscience burdened with no heinous Sin and hast confessed and lamented all those thou knowest thy self guilty of resolving to forsake them for the future Go with Humility and an holy Confidence to receive that Sacrament for God may turn thy Attrition into Contrition and his Love will better thy fear though in the beginning it be Servile yet if thou frequent the Table of the Lord his Grace will amend it and make it to become Filial It often happens and very often that beginning by the fear of Hell and Punishment a Man
comes at last to the fear of offending so great a Goodness the Lord being so gracious and so good that he encreases our Charity only through the excess of his We begin with that which is imperfect before we can attain to that which is perfect We begin with Self-love and end with the hatred of our selves and with the perfect Love of God Believe me the receiving of this Sacrament draws vast Advantages along with it and those the Lord only by his infinite Goodness works wonderfully in us beyond what we see know or understand Let every one draw near with such Examination Confession and Preparation as he is able to make be it more or less if he have us'd his utmost diligence and let him hope that God will give him an hundred-fold encrease of what he brings How many Saints hath servile Fear made and brought to filial Fear who afterwards with Faith and Hope burning in Charity have cast away the former Fear and been enflam'd with love of the second How many Saints have begun their Spiritual course with fear of being tormented in Hell who afterwards only for God and his Love's sake have repented and bewailed their Sins and are now reigning in the Joys of Heaven How many Saints have by the means of Love cast out that imperfect Fear which was the Instrument to bring them to Love and to perfect filial Fear Our good Lord cures and remedies all things if we seek him and receive him by Grace trusting and relying upon his Goodness and Love to us Therefore those acts of Religion which are due as to their last end unto the three divine Persons in one Essence thou oughtest frequently to direct to the Reverence and the Worship of God in this divine and mysterious Sacrament In this Point all the Lines of thy Affection and Devotion ought to meet as in their Center Though it was the Son alone by whom it was instituted yet the Father is with him and with the Father is the Holy Ghost That Divine Lord that he might become our Saviour took our Nature upon him being conceived in the Womb of the blessed Virgin and if thou dost adore him the Saints and Angels are at the same time Adoring and Worshipping him whom thou dost adore and worship and for thy doing so with them He will both help and bless thee Thus the Devotion to our Saviour Jesus Christ in the Sacrament is the greatest of all Devotions This Worship and Reverence is the highest and comprehends all the rest The Fourth WEEK Of the Kingdom of Grace THE Kingdom of God says the Saviour of Souls is within you and it is that Kingdom of Grace which brings to the eternal Kingdom of Glory nor is it a small benefit and comfort that it is within us that we need not go far to seek it and to find it Happy is that necessitous Person who has his relief within himself he cannot be poor unless through perverse idleness he embraces his own Misery neither desiring nor knowing how to make use of that relief O the great Unhappiness that we should have this holy Kingdom within us and yet go out of it O the high Misfortune that this Kingdom of Grace being an infallible Pledge of that eternal one of Glory I by my Sins should banish my self from both the Kingdom of Grace and that of Glory that I my self of my own accord should forsake the eternal Joys and choose the Torments of Hell by embracing Passions and despising Vertue The Kingdom of Grace is to be in the Grace of God and God in us by his Mercy to subdue our Passions and by that means to make the inside suitable to the outside It is that my Reason should govern my Passions and the Spirit my Reason and to keep the Flesh mortified under that Dominion The Kingdom of Grace is that mine own Will and Appetites should be destroyed as much as may be and that the Divine Will should rule Instead of it O true Kingdom O just Empire without the least shew of Tyranny where the Creator governs the Creature and where Reason keeps the Passions and inferior Faculties of the Soul in subjection to it O Kingdom of true and holy Peace which knows nothing but Quietness and inward Joy above all other Contentments The Kingdom of Grace is for God to be in the Soul and the Soul in God for the Son to be in the Favour of his Father for the Creature to find himself beloved by the Creator for the Servant to yield himself humble obedient and resigned to the Will of his loving Lord which is not only Grace but Glory and great Glory In how great liberty is that happy Soul that lives and acts thus in the Grace of God! how much above all the Troubles and Miseries of this Life No torment no pain no disgust cometh into this Kingdom for there can be no torment pain or disgust but in the loss of it nor can any one lose it but he that will by forsaking Grace to commit Sin So long as a Man is in the Grace of God and does not lose his Grace and Mercy all things else do neither add to him nor take from him neither hurt him nor concern him Let the World burn in Wars abound in Misfortunes or shine in Felicity Let this Man rise and the other fall Let humane Affairs go as they will and these temporal transitory Kingdoms be in Peace or in Confusion He from the height of his Spiritual Kingdom looks down upon all with a quiet Resignation Let all the World join against it and with the World the Flesh and the Devil Let Affronts Calumnies and Persecutions arise if he lose not God and his Grace all the rest is but a greater encrease of Grace and a nearer approach to Glory Strive therefore to enter into this Kingdom for only those that live in it here shall see the Face of God hereafter Rather live tormented in it than be drawn out of it by deceitful Pleasures Rather suffer thy self to be torn in pieces than to be brought under the Slavery and Miseries of Sin Rather suffer a thousand Torments in this holy militant Jerusalem than make thy self a wretched Slave in the infamous City Babylon Forsake not those Squadrons that are at the Gates of Heaven to flie over to those that are entring into the Jaws of Hell Each of these must go to their own place either to Glory or eternal Torment That they might not forsake this Kingdom of Grace the Holy Apostles Martyrs and Confessors forsook their Lives not to lose that the Baptist lost his Head St. Peter chose his Cross and the Apostle of the Gentiles gave up his Neck to the Sword St. Bartholomew gave his very Skin and finally all the Saints in Heaven chose Tribulations and Torments here upon Earth rather than to leave that sweet Kingdom of Grace And what great matter was it that they lost here since they recovered it an hundred fold
inward Senses In the loud noise of a Mill. I could not well hear the gentle voice of a Friend who comes to succour me in imminent danger It is necessary the noise should cease that I may apply my attention to hear the voice of my Friend If my Soul be diverted with Passions and other Thoughts how can it hear the amorous Invitations of the eternal Word How can his holy Inspirations enter or work upon me if I be taken up and carried away with worldly Cares If the Light of my Reason and of the Spirit be extinguished by my Passions how shall I see God or hear him when he speaks in my Heart Thy Life is within thee and therefore the Government of it ought to be Internal and Spiritual Thou oughtest to observe thy inward Motions and to hearken to the secret Voice of thy Master and Redeemer who comes to direct thee His Precepts and divine Counsels are not only to guide thee outwardly but by them thou art to square all thy Thoughts Words and Actions It is not only from our Spiritual Fathers and Teachers that we ought to receive direction but we have also another Master an inward and secret Master which is the Spirit of God who is Superior to them and enlightens them That shall speak to thee admonish and reprehend and guide thee and thou art to hearken to and obey it which thou wilt neither be willing nor able to do if thy Conscience be not pure and if thou dost not listen attentively to it That holy Master will govern thee with internal Light and Knowledge to which it is a great hindrance if the Heart be drawn away by Sin whether great or small but especially by Self-love and a Fondness of the Vanities of the World Pray therefore to God that he would cleanse thy Heart awaken enlighten guide and teach thee and not suffer Sins or Passions to enter into thy Soul or if at any time through infirmity thou fallest into any that he would give thee Grace to bewail them and to return to purity of Heart JVLY The First WEEK Of Temptations and the Grace of God in them BUT methinks I hear thee complaining and saying Lord I desire to please thee and would fain keep fast in this Kingdom of Grace that I may not loose that high Kingdom of Glory nor be ungrateful for so great benefits but my weakness is very frail and temptations are many which cross and hinder my works and my desires In me every step is a danger or to speak more properly a loss The Flesh disturbs me the Devil afrights me and the World deceives me I feel a Law within me which drags me away and carries me after it and when I have a mind to that which is good I find my self a Captive to that which is evil and though I know what is best yet I am drawn to follow that which is worst I would flie even from my self and yet I still find self within me O wretched Man Who shall deliver me from that self which hath more power over me than I my self have Do not disturb thy self thou hast one within thee who will defend thee from thy self great is the Labour but greater the Assistance If the Devil persecutes thee God helps thee If the Flesh tempts thee the Spirit encourageth thee and if the World entices thee the divine Light guides thee Suffer with resignation and be not weary of suffering for from thence will come thy remedy and thy reward Fear not Temptations when they come to thee but fear them when thou goest to them If God permits them to come he will strengthen thee to resist them and assist thee to conquer them But take heed of being in Temptation by thine own will and choice for then thou wilt fall in it By how many steps thou goest towards danger by so many thou drawest nearer to Sin Believe me I give thee Caution Thou art not so strong as David nor so wise as his Son Solomon and yet both of them fell by going to Temptation If thou livest with wariness heed and fear be not afraid of those Temptations wherewith the Lord proves thee for he does it to see the Bottom of thy Vertue If with the Left-hand he tempts with the Right he helps thee If with the one he assails thee with the other he supports thee Wouldst thou triumph without getting the Victory No Man is crown'd in Peace but he that with Valour Constancy and Perseverance endures the Hardships of War Wouldst thou live in the Spiritual Life without Temptations and Tribulations That is not to be truly Spiritual Take it therefore for a Temptation to be without temptation The stillest Peace uses to be the highest danger and what seems to be safety is many times but deceit and vanity The Devil lets thee alone to make thee trust in thine own self that he may the sooner and the more certainly destroy thee That troublesome Enemy has his Stratagems he withdraws to deceive thee and retires to come back with a fresh Assault Sometimes he recreates thy Senses disposes thee to Tenderness and outward Devotion only to beget a secret Pride in thee and a foolish Confidence that may carry thee to eternal ruine But do not thou consent to that which is bad but ask Strength of God and so thou wilt make the Bad to become Good The Saints suffered Tribulation and the Saviour of the World suffered Temptation and dost thou refuse to suffer them By going the same way thou shalt come to the same end and by following thou shalt attain Do not believe that without steering the same course thou shalt arrive at the same Port where they are entred Dost thou think to find a particular way for thy self That will be no way but a Precipice Sufferings Pains Difficulties and the Cross are the way to Heaven but in those Pains and Difficulties there is exceeding great Consolation Who art thou that thou wouldst not suffer weak wretched and faint-hearted Sinner Who art thou or what Man is there in the World that can be exempt from Troubles and Temptations Man is born to Labour and is full of Misery within him and without him he is encompass'd round therewith but fear not Tribulations or Hardships be afraid of nothing but Sin Believe me there is no other way to save thee but the royal holy and perfect way of the Cross The Redeemer of Souls saves us by the Cross He died upon the Cross and we must live under the Cross to enjoy the Triumphs of the Cross He from his Passion came to his Resurrection and by his Resurrection to his glorious Ascension Thou shalt never be rais'd to the Life eternal if thou dost not suffer for God in this temporal Life Thou shalt not enter into the Kingdom of Glory without striving here in the Kingdom of Grace Dost thou think that by avoiding to suffer for God thou shalt escape suffering Thou deceivest thy self for they suffer
strive to Purchase them even at the loss of all which is Temporal and in this Life as much as may be to imitate the same Eternity which is to be done by the Practice of those three Vertues which St. Bernard recommends to us in these words With Poverty of Spirit with Meekness and Contrition of Heart is renewed in the Soul a Similitude and Image of that Eternity which embraces all times For with Poverty of Spirit we merit the future with Meekness we possess the present and with the Tears of Repentance we recover what is past Let all thine Actions be accompanied with this Thought For Ever that for ever shall be rewarded what thou doest well and with this consideration thou wilt not only animate thy self to do good works but to do them well If in all thy deeds thou wouldst but propose to thy self Eternity and wholly respect it thou wouldst find little difficulty in any good works thou goest about Fix therefore thine Eyes and Thoughts upon that which is to be given us for that which may be done in a moment Blessed be God who bestows upon us a Reward without end for Troubles so short that they scarcely have a beginning The Benefit which David reaped by this consideration was a firm Resolution to mend his Life and change into a new Man animating himself to a greater Observance and a more high Perfection And so in that Psalm wherein he says That he thought upon the days of Old and the years of Eternity he adds immediately the effect of his Meditation saying That he was to begin anew Considering that Eternity never ends but still begins and that it is wholly a beginning he determined with such new fervour to give a beginning to a more perfect Life that he would never flag or be dismayed in the prosecution of it willing in this to imitate Eternity which as it is ever beginning so he would ever begin to deserve it And what great matter is it if that which we are to enjoy for ever be ever in beginning that we should likewise be ever beginning to deserve it Our Reward is not to fail us and therefore there is no reason why we should fail and grow weary in our Service and Endeavours Our Joy is ever to begin why should not then our Endeavours be ever beginning The Repose we hope for shall never have an end why should then our Deservings ever cease We ought never to look back upon our Labours past but still to animate our selves to labour anew for God and his Service as did the Apostle St. Paul who says of himself That he did forget what was past that he did enlarge his heart and mind extending it for that which is to come which the Apostle spake in a time when he had suffered much and done such Services to God in the good of Souls that he had already laboured more than all the Apostles After that he had entred into the Synagogues of Damascus and publickly preached Jesus Christ with the most evident danger of his Life After that he had converted many People in Arabia Tarsus and Antioch After he had distributed great Alms gathering them with much labour made long Journeys and brought them unto the Poor in Jerusalem After the suffering of innumerable Persecutions and after infinite more Services performed for the Church After all these it seemed unto him that he had suffered nothing done nothing for Christ and he forgot it all as if it had been the first day of his Conversion determining still to do more to suffer more to labour more to begin anew esteeming himself after so many Labours and Services an useless unprofitable Servant and to be far short of deserving that Eternal Blessedness which is reserved for the Faithful in Glory And indeed what proportion does a whole Life of Labours and Sufferings bear to an everlasting Reward and never-ending Joys What Conditions canst thou think too rigid to be performed or what Calamities too hard to be undergone for the attainment of an Immortal and Incorruptible Crown If we would but allow this Point it 's due consideration how slight should we think all the Evils and Troubles of this World How inconsiderable are all Pains and Difficulties to them that have a Prospect of those future Beatitudes Let me see thee O God in thy Glory and let me suffer a thousand Torments in this Life till I come to see thee Let me see you O Blessed Angels in Heaven and let me suffer upon Earth till I come to see you Let me be admitted into your blessed Company O happy Saints hereafter and let me suffer whatever ye suffered here Come Pains and Punishments so I may but see those Eternal Joys and Contentments Let me endure any thing in this Vale of Miseries so I may at last come to the City of God the Heavenly Jerusalem abounding in all manner of Joys and Comforts Finally O my Jesus do whatsoever thou wilt with me here so that I may but at last see adore praise and enjoy thee for ever there The Third WEEK Of the Imitation of the Life of our Blessed Saviour and of his Mysteries IF the Examples of Men nay even of the worst may help very much towards the making us good being incited thereby to take care to avoid their evil Action and if those of good Men are so prevalent to draw us unto Vertue what excellent Vertues may be acquir'd by imitating those which are to be seen through the whole course of the Life of our Blessed Saviour who has commanded us to learn of him And whither should we go but to the Life and Passion of our Blessed Redeemer for the attaining of that Glory which he has purchased for us with his most precious Blood Where shall we find those Vertues which we ought to practice in the Kingdom of Grace which is the way to it but in his holy Imitation Where those Merits which must give Life and Value to all the best Actions we can possibly perform but in the Merits and Sufferings of his Cross And where the Grace that must Animate Quicken and Fortifie our Nature but in that which he obtained for us by those Sufferings and by that Cross And thus wouldst thou have Glory Then go strait to the Passion of our Lord. Wouldst thou improve thy self in good and holy Customs Fix the Eyes of thy Consideration upon the passages of his most Holy Life Wouldst thou know how to Fight and Conquer Behold his Battles and his Victories Wouldst thou walk in the way of Eternal Life Follow him in those holy steps which he has trod before thee Wouldst thou overcome the World the Flesh and the Devil those Enemies of the Cross Take up the Cross and follow him who goes before thee carrying it upon his own shoulders Dost thou desire Light and Knowledge the Fire of Charity the Fervour of Devotion and to banish all Wickedness and Imperfection from thy Soul Then contemplate the
other AVGVST The First WEEK Of the Baptism and Preaching of our Lord with his Doctrine Miracles and Parables NOW I will shew thee the Original of which thou oughtest to be a Copy and the Looking-glass wherein thou oughtest to dress thy self I mean the Actions of our Lord which hitherto have been unspeakable Mysteries but now besides being Mysteries they begin to be Advertisements Instructions Lights Counsels and Informations of the Spiritual Life Behold how after Eighteen Years of Silence and Obedience our Saviour at the Age of Thirty begins to teach and direct Souls A rare and admirable Example teaching us that we ought to restrain our selves and not be too hasty in getting up into Offices and Preferments but to fear them and to learn first that we may be afterwards able to teach since he did so who had no need of learning and who was Wisdom itself that came to teach us Do thou love Obedience Patience and Silence and if thou wouldst learn to Teach and Govern learn first to Obey and to hold thy peace Behold how that Lamb of God goes to the River Jordan to seek his Holy Fore-runner John the Baptist who pointed out the Saviour of Souls with his finger bearing Witness that it was He who came to take away the sins of the World See how presently going into the Water to be baptized he was not so much washed himself as he purified and cleansed the Waters with his Innocency and Holiness and by them our sins leaving us the Universal Remedy of Baptism the Gate of the Church the ineffable Seal and mysterious Character of Humane Redemption and of Christian Vocation Behold how the Father acknowledges his beloved Son in whom he declares himself well pleased Behold the Holy Ghost also appears upon him in the visible form of a Dove the whole Trinity co-operating in the Institution of that Holy Sacrament Pray to him to restore unto thee that Robe of Grace which he gave thee in thy Baptism and which thou hast lost by thy many sins Beg of him to renew it by his Vertues and amongst the rest by the chiefest which is final Perseverance Consider what Thanks thou owest unto this Lord for having caused thee to be born where thou hadst the benefit of this blessed Sacrament and wert made capable of those Heavenly Blessings which by it are brought into thy Soul Behold in the next place how our Lord goes to the Desart to Fast forty days that he might consecrate Fasting to us by his Abstinence and the labours and difficulties of a Spiritual Life by being tempted If the Eternal Son of God who is Goodness and Innocency itself did Fast have not I need to do so being meer Wickedness Excess and Incontinency If the Eternal Son of God being the Creator of all things suffered himself to be tempted by our common Enemy the Devil why should thou and I who are vile Worms of the Earth think it much to suffer Temptations and Tribulations since our Misery and Wickedness for the most part give nourishment to those very Temptations and that we very often run into them by tempting our selves See how he conquers both the Tempter and the Temptation the one by his Abstinence and the other by his Humility and Patience choosing those two Vertues for an Universal Remedy of all the Diseases of the Soul Humble thy self therefore and be confounded in the knowledge of thy Misery and when thou art tempted since Christ himself was so do thou imitate him in a firm and resolute Resistance patiently relying upon his strength who with the Temptation will make a way for thee to escape and will deliver thee when thou callest upon him Behold now how he chooses his Apostles the first Pillars of the Christian Religion and the chief Masters of the Spiritual Life beginning with two poor Fisher-men who having spent all the Night toyling in vain and caught nothing taught us Obedience by their readily letting down the Nets again at his Command which was well rewarded by the Miraculous draught of Fish with which they themselves were caught and were from that time made fishers of Men. These he increased to the number of Twelve most of them being of that mean Profession whose Poverty and Ignorance he chose to confound Humane Wisdom and Greatness that to neither of them but to his Grace alone might be acknowledged the conquering and confounding of the most presumptuous Power Knowledge and Vanity of this World Therefore love Poverty and believe that the Kingdom of God cannot consist with Riches and Greatness unless they be mingled with Humility Mark how he begins his holy Preaching with that Divine Sermon in the Mount the Matter whereof has been the Subject of all Sermons ever since Read it often till thou hast fixed it in thy Memory and have it always before the eyes of thy Mind to follow it in thy Practise Let the Prayer he teaches there be the Pattern of all thy Prayers In the three first Petitions whereof thou mayest learn thy Duty towards God to Sanctifie his Name to resign thy self to his Will in all things and to love him above thy Life in longing for his Kingdom which thou canst not enter into but by Death Learn in the other three thy Duty towards thy Neighbour in loving him as thy self since by using the Plural Number thou beggest all those Blessings for others which thou desirest for thy self and askest to be forgiven thy Offences towards God no otherwise than as thou thy self forgivest those that are done unto thee by Men And since the doing good to all and the forgiving all Injuries is the greatest perfection of Christianity and the thing wherein we most resemble our Blessed Saviour be sure amongst all those excellent Lessons of that Divine Sermon to make that one of doing to others whatsoever thou wouldst have them do to thee the continual Rule of all thy Actions for that will make thee to love and to do good unto all because thou wouldst have all to love and to do good unto thee and it will make thee forgive the greatest Injuries that any Enemy can do unto thee because thou wouldst have no body to take Revenge for those they receive from thee When the Holy Jesus had ended his Sermon on the Mount that Divine Repository of the most excellent Truths containing a Breviary of all those Precepts which make up and perfect the Morality of the Christian Religion he descended into the Valleys to consign his Doctrine by the power of Miracles which were next to Infinite and which it is remarkable he chose to instance in actions of Mercy that all his Powers might especially determine upon Bounty and Charity and at the same time be invincible Arguments of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine Almost all the Miraculous Works he did during his Natural Life were actions of Relief and Mercy that he might at once both do good to Men and also demonstrate his Mission from
God which indeed was the principal design of all his Miracles which being so infinitely and apparently above the power of Nature could not but create great confidence in his Disciples that himself would verifie those great Promises upon which he established his Law nor fail to make a very deep impression upon all Persons whose interest and love of the World did not destroy the Piety of their Wills and put their Understandings into Fetters So marvellous was the force of Conviction by these supernatural Operations that to minds unbiass'd and honestly dispos'd to receive the truth it was hardly resistible Who could chuse but be wrought upon to confess his Divinity from the sight of that first Miracle which he wrought after his descent from the Mount upon the poor leprous Person which came to him worshipping him and begging to be healed He did but barely put forth his hand and touch him and immediately his Leprosie was cleansed What so great Vertue could possibly proceed from Natural Agents or from whence could so sudden and effectual a Remedy come but from that Great and Heavenly Physician who is Lord of Nature and consequently has no need to use Physical means but by a word of his mouth can accomplish whatever he pleases both in Heaven and Earth He bad the Man go to the Priest to offer an Oblation according to the Rites of Moses his Law hereby teaching what Respect and Obedience we owe to the Laws of that Religion which is duly established For in all the wonderful Works which he wrought for the healing Men's Bodies he had this further design to heal their Minds too by insinuating good Instructions He was a Physician of Souls as well as of Bodies and always had an eye to the Spiritual benefit of Men by contributing to their bodily ease This Observation holds in all those Corporal Cures which he wrought for the outward good of Men by that Divine Power which God had anointed him with As his Miracles were intended for Mercy so also for Doctrine The Impotent and Diseased Persons were not more cured than we instructed which will appear if we cast an eye upon some of his Miraculous Cures Behold him then in the next place giving sight to the Blind to one who besides his blindness was also possess'd with a dumb Devil which being cast out he presently spake and saw to another by anointing his Eyes with Clay and Spittle which one would think were more likely to have blinded him if he could have seen and even to one that was born blind without any natural capacity of receiving sight which more increased the Wonder of the Multitude all confessing That since the beginning of the World it was never known that any one had received sight who was born blind And do not these Examples teach us to admire his Goodness and his Power which working both with means and without means nay and against means too may convince us of his being God as well as Man How should we be excited by this excessive Bounty of our Lord to beg of him to enlighten the blindness of our Understandings which is far greater and worse than the blindness of those Men and to give us such a clear sight of Heavenly things as may make us look upon all the Greatness the Riches and the Pleasures of this World only with Contempt and Pity that we may plainly perceive the Path that leads to eternal Happiness and avoid all those stumbling-blocks which are laid in the way O thou that openedst the Eyes of the Blind suffer not the thick Mists of Ignorance to obscure and darken my mind and so hinder it from seeing and knowing in my day the things which belong to my Peace that they may never be hid from me See in another place a Noble Personage coming to Jesus with much Reverence and desiring him with great importunity to come to his House and cure his Son being now ready to dye Jesus who did not do his Miracles by Natural Operations cured the Child at a distance and dismissed the Prince telling him his Son lived which he found to be true and that he recovered at that time when Jesus spake those salutary and healing words Whereupon he and all his House became Disciples and were throughly convinced of his being the true Messiah and that Salvation was only through him which effect the Miracle did naturally tend to produce Behold at another time how soundly he sleeps in the midst of a most violent Tempest which so affrighted his Disciples that they hastily awoke him saying Lord save us we perish Thus quietly do they rest in the midst of dangers which trust in God and so are they dismayed with fears who dare not repose an entire confidence in him Imitate thou his Disciples in having recourse to Prayer in all thy distresses but rely upon God with assurance of his help Observe how their distrust was check'd with a Why are ye fearful O ye of little Faith Yet his Mercy granted their Request for he presently rebuked the Winds and the Seas and their was a great Calm In like manner O Lord compose the storms of my troubled Breast appease the boisterous Winds of my unruly Passions and the rolling Billows of my exorbitant and unsteady Desires Say unto them as thou didst unto the Sea Peace and be still so shall I safely pass through the Tempestuous Waves of this miserable World with a calm and contented mind till I arrive at the Haven of endless Rest and Comfort in thy Kingdom Nor does he only quiet the Sea but walks upon the Waters of it which seem'd so strange to his Disciples that they took him for a Spirit St. Peter having his Master still in his thoughts that he might be certain calls out If it be Thou command me to come to thee Observe the strength of his Love which makes him desirous to be with Jesus in any place how dangerous soever and yet the weakness of his Fear which presently causes his Faith to fail though he had an Omnipotent hand ready to help him His heart first sinks in his Body and then his Body sinks in the Water Learn then to follow Christ by imitating the Vertues which he practised as Man his Patience Meekness Humility and Charity and do not affect to do those things which he performed as God It is enough for us to undergo Dangers when Providence shall bring them upon us and too much to run our selves into them unnecessarily for that is to tempt God by a vain Presumption the Punishment whereof is to be left to our selves and most probably to perish in our own rashness Let us next accompany our Saviour to the Marriage in Cana and indeed there it was that he wrought his first Miracle where to rescue the married Pair who were poor and wanted Wine from Affront and Trouble he commanded the Water-pots to be filled with Water which by his Divine Power he changed into Wine where the
glorious promise which at Pentecost was verified He by his Omnipotency raised his Body from the Dead and enlivened it according to that Prediction of his Destroy this Temple and in three days I will build it up again What more pregnant evidence could possibly be afforded of his being the Son of God than this sublime Miracle This one would think were enough to conquer the most inveterate Infidelity and to banish the least doubt or suspicion of our Saviour's Divinity O my Soul do thou endeavour herein to resemble Christ As he died and rose again for thee so do thou die from Sin and rise again unto Righteousness and Newness of Life seeking those things that are above where Christ is ascended and praying to him to quicken thy sinful and earthly Heart with holy Desires and heavenly Affections That Infinite Power which did so solemnly triumph over Death and the Grave can much more easily roll away the Stone of a customary Sin and subdue and mortifie the most powerful Lust though of never so long continuance and enable thee to live henceforward to God in a careful observance of all Christian Duties which will at length bring thee to the end of thy Hopes to those Glories which being the Portion of Angels and Saints and the nearest Communications with God are infinitely above what we see for hear or understand After the Miracles of our Saviour succeed his Parables which way of Expression was abundantly useful and recommended it self chiefly upon this account That whatsoever was represented in this Figurative manner was apt to insinuate more closely and to work more powerfully upon the Affections Forasmuch as in this case the mind was not only addressed to by the meer dint of Reason but Truth was in a manner made Visible and set off in such lively Colours that the Imagination being Impregnated the Passions were easily carried along too Hereby also the memory was exceedingly fortified for such things as we feel and see or which our Imaginations have an express Image of and our Affections relish those things always stick by us And further this way of Parables which our Saviour made so frequent use of in many cases came more home to Mens Consciences and carried more Conviction than any other more express and direct way of speaking And had it not been that the Jews were filled with Intollerable Prejudices against him they must of necessity have had his Wisdom in great Veneration For though under his Parables were hid mysterious Senses yet they were not so mysterious but that they were easily intelligible to Minds unprejudiced honest and desirous of Instruction The Truth shines through the Veil and the Shadow does itself guide to the Body and Substance How excellently did our Lord represent the great Efficacy of Repentance under the Gospel-state and its acceptableness with God from the vilest Sinners under the Parable of the Prodigal Son The Pharisees who were hardened in Infidelity for the sake of this Doctrine accounted him a Friend of Vicious and Lewd Persons They knew that the Law gave hopes of Pardon only to some smaller Offences excluding all great and notorious Offenders and shutting them up under Wrath and they not being elevated above this literal Dispensation would not believe that God would exercise Mercy upon any other Terms than what he therein proclaimed and therefore our Saviour Preaching Repentance and giving hopes of Pardon to the greatest Sinners upon condition of an hearty and thorough Reformation these demure Hypocrites were offended and insinuated a suspicion of our Saviour That he was a favourer of wicked Persons In answer to this unjust Imputation and to silence the murmuring of these hard-hearted Jews our Saviour makes use of this Parable with two others of the like nature wherein he plainly sets forth this great Doctrine and shews that as it is the common course of Men to express most Joy upon the recovery of any thing lost so God to whom the Souls of Men are infinitely valuable is highly pleas'd with the recovery of lost Sinners and upon their returning to him will mercifully accept them as the Indulgent Father here embraced his returning Son who had been so long engaged in the most wild Extravagancies and in the greatest Disobedience to his Paternal Authority O the merciful Compassion of God to Mankind O Love that surpassest all Understanding That the worst of Sinners should be received into favour and be made capable of Pardon only by repenting of their Wickedness and being sorry for their Sins In another Parable to wit that of the Talents how forcibly does our Lord instruct us in the Duties of Industry Diligence and Spiritual Husbandry How plainly does he teach us the necessity of improving those Gifts and Graces which God communicates to us for that purpose and to encrease those Talents which he entrusts us with and which he will call us to an account for how we have used them and what we have gained by them He sets before us the Reward of a careful employing of them to the Uses designed and the Punishment of a neglectful management of them Those that had gained by their Talents were pronounced good and faithful Servants and commanded to enter into their Masters Joy but he that had hid his Talent in the Earth and made no advantage of it was branded with the infamous name of wicked and slothful Servant and commanded to be cast into outer Darkness In like manner God will require an account of us how we have used all those Gifts and Endowments which he has bestowed upon us whether they be Goods of Fortune or of Grace We are mistaken if we think them given meerly for our sakes Have we the Blessing of a plentiful Fortune God entrusts us therewith to make us capable to do good and to relieve the necessities of our poor Brethren and unless we thus use it it will prove a Curse to us Are we favoured with extraordinary Endowments of Mind It is that we may instruct the Ignorant and employ them to the Glory of God and to the good of others which are destitute of so great a benefit Is God pleased to infuse his Grace into our Hearts it must then be our daily endeavour to grow therein and to add one Vertue to another We must faithfully employ and husband the first beginnings to the end that we may obtain still greater degrees God will Reward or Punish us according to the good or ill Employment of his Goods which he makes us Stewards of If we give diligence to add to those Talents of whatsoever nature they be which he deposits with us then no doubt God will honour us with the Title of faithful Servants and abundantly recompense our Industry but if through Idleness and Sloth we so employ our Talents as to bring in no gain to our Lord we must expect nothing but that dismal Sentence denounced against the slothful Servant Cast ye the unprofitable Servant into outer darkness there
foulest and the most disloyal that ever trod upon the Ground beginning as the Divine Physician with Judas who had the most deadly Disease and hastening the Remedy to him first that was in the greatest danger Others who would have St. Peter to be Head of the Church say He began with him That Reformation being the best grounded and the most powerful which begins from the highest descending from the Head unto the rest of the Body That holy Apostle seeing his Redeemer at his Feet was humbled and confounded before he touched them He that had walked upon the Waters and Trampled upon the Waves sinks deeper in this Bason through Love than he had done in the depth of the Sea through Fear Seeing an Humility so beyond all measure and that his God was down upon his Knees at his Feet he was in such an amazement that he denied them him saying Lord thou shalt not wash my feet O what an high acknowledgment was this of St. Peter when he said Lord wilt thou wash my feet It was in its kind an higher one than when he confessed him near Cesarea He then knew him and confessed him to be God but he did not know himself but now Peter acknowledges him to be God Infinite and Omnipotent and himself to be a wretched weak Man and a most miserable Sinner Many pretend to know God and are ignorant of themselves but they know him indeed who by his Divine Light come to discover their own Darkness Lord wilt thou wash my feet Thou the God of Heaven and I a little Dust of the Earth Thou the Creator and I the vilest of all Creatures Thou the Eternal Greatness of the Creation the Soul of all that lives and I the frailest the meanest of all that Die Thou my Master and I thy Disciple Thou the King and Crown of Angels and I a poor simple Fisherman nay which is worse a sinful Worm and therefore more base than any of those that crawl upon the Ground Thou that art Innocency adn Goodness itself upon thy Knees at the Feet of my Sins and of my Wickedness Finally O my Jesus Thou who art greater than the greatest dost thou kneel at my Feet who am less than the least of thy Mercies Thus the Humility of that loving Disciple opposed that of his Master with a Holy Contention while all stood looking and admiring to behold which would get the Victory whether the Human nature knowing the infinite height of the Divine or the Divine knowing the infinite Misery of the Humane It seems more just that here Peter should have overcome God than God Peter as it is more reasonable that Man should serve God than that God should serve Man It is the part of Man to obey and of God to command to Man it belongs to Serve and to God to suffer himself to be Served Loved and Adored This indeed was a Mystery of Love and Divine Charity and he shewed this excessive kindness to oblige and to enflame theirs to him and to one another by his example saying If I being your Master and your Lord have washed your Feet ye ought also to wash one anothers Feet That Love which made him being God to become Man made him being Man to humble himself before Man And that Sovereign Lord never took a righter course for that high intent than by humbling and prostrating himself to wash to cleanse and to purifie Man He made himself Man that he might redeem him and did it seem much for God being become Man to kneel down to wash him Yes dear Jesus it is much much beyond expression for nothing of all this could be deserved by Man He does not deserve any remedy because he has been the Author of his own Misery but thy unbounded thy unspeakable compassion looks upon his Necessity and not upon his Demerits Whither dear Saviour shall the high expressions of thy Love extend Where shall this Infinite Charity of thine be limited Behold Lord we are Men that is to say meer Misery and Wickedness Behold Lord thou art God that is to say the most Sovereign Power and Supreme Majesty Dost thou so far abase thy Divinity as to drag it upon the Earth within thy Humanity Is it not enough for thee to make thy self Man unless thou humblest and prostratest thy self before Man Who can see God at his feet without falling into an Extasy of Astonishment and without giving up his life through an excessive Humility Who can choose but die with shame and confusion to see so unfitting an in-equality I do not wonder that St. Peter resisted it for besides that he knew that his Master was God and he a vile Creature he loved his God and he loved his Master extreamly much and in the same proportion that he loved him was the trouble he felt to see him kneeling at his feet since he knew that it was the duty of all earthly Creatures to serve and adore him But yet for all that Peter at last yielded to Christ it being most just that man should yield to God since the greatest Humility lies in the greatest Obedience the Disciple therefore must obey his Master and the Servant his Lord. Our Saviour told him that if he would not be washed and purified he could have no share in his Redemption at the hearing of which terrible Sentence Peter offered him not only his feet to be washed but his Hands and his Head also To this Christ replyed He that is washed needeth not save only to wash his Feet but is clean all over That is he that hath been already washed in the Laver of Baptism needeth only to wash the Feet of his Affections which from the Earth and misery of our Inclinations and Passions rise up to the Heart Hereby the Redeemer of Souls signifies that Purity wherewith we ought to prepare our selves for the receiving of the Blessed Sacrament for before he Consecrates that he in the washing his Disciples feet gives them an example of Humility and Resignation and in the Water expresses the vertue of those penitent Tears wherewith they were to wash their Sins and bewail their Miseries And by not suffering the Dust of the Earth to remain upon their Feet teaches them that they should much less suffer inordinate Affections to remain in their Hearts In short our Blessed Lord washed the feet of all the Holy Apostles and amongst the rest those of the Traitor Judas whose cruel Obstinacy was so great that neither the touching them with those Divine Hands nor the bringing them so near to the Compassionate Breast of the Redeemer of Souls could mollifie the hardness of his Heart nor change the cruelty of his Intention O how hard-hearted a thing is Covetousness What an insensible Rock How well does St. Paul call it the Source of all evil O what a difficult thing it is to bring those with sincerity home to God who once have lost their respect to him so far as to dare to offend him
in receiving him and at the same time feel within themselves him that ministers unto them and two fires becoming but one inflame them that without by their Eyes and that within by their Hearts That happy Night the Lord took possession of the breast and heart of Men and they in exchange took a Proof of the excessive Love of God but our Saviour likewise had a Proof of Man's Ingratitude since the Traitor Judas received him his infinite Charity being resolv'd to try if he could possibly be washed clean within who was not purified at all by his having been washed without But he that had kept his foul Intention notwithstanding the washing of his Feet and would not make use of that Water to wash his evil Eye was as little the better for the inward washing for he shut his Eyes against that Beam which would have enlightened him and the fire of his Covetousness was more powerful than the fire of so great a Charity He suffered his Redeemer to come into his breast not that he might receive him but that he might the better sell him and so he carried him along with him that he might not get away when he was to deliver him up in the Garden At the same instant that he received the Saviour of Souls into his covetous Breast he presently went out to sell him to the Jews whereby it appears that he received him to the end that he might betray him more securely that way than by leaving him behind And this was the first and most grievous step of his Passion to be received by that Treacherous Disciple O let us that are Priests tremble in Receiving and Administring the Sacrament of him who in loving us enters as a meek and a gentle Lamb into our breast and who when he comes to Judge us will be a fierce Lion if we receive him here unworthily The Third WEEK Of his Agony in the Garden his Death Resurrection and Ascension THese three unspeakable Mysteries being ended the Saviour of Souls goes forth into the Garden of Gethsemane to give beginning to his dolorous Passion that the place where the second Adam rais'd us up might be like that where the first Adam cast us down It was in a Garden we were ruined by the first of Men and in another Garden we were repair'd by the best of Men. There our Redeemer sweats drops of Blood for the purging of thy sins and mine so laborious was it to bear the weight of our sins that his holy Pores were thereby opened and even Innocency itself was put into an Agony by that intolerable burden There to see the Ingratitude of Mankind and how much they would despise the un-utterable Treasures of Man's Redemption made blood break forth from the Body of the King of Heaven and run trickling down to the very Earth There he thrice made earnest Prayer unto his Father for himself and for us asking strength of Body for himself and strength of Soul for us There he repeated his Prayer so often to teach us that our Prayer ought to be earnest and persevering The Humane Nature begg'd assistance from the Divine and he weighed the heaviness and shrunk from the bitterness of that Cup that his Divinity might help his Humanity in the drinking of it There our dear Master by suffering taught us to suffer that our Patience and Courage in Suffering depends wholly upon God and that there is nothing in us but Miseries as if he should have said If I who am God as well as Man do as Man need the succour and favour of God and ask it with a threefold repetition Why do not ye weak wretched and miserable Men ask it a thousand times and why are ye not instant devout and fervent in your Prayers He there also granted that the Cup of his grievous Passion should pass on to his Disciples and that they and from them the rest of his Church should inherit that Patrimony of Pains and that effectual Medicine of Sins Let this Cup pass from me says he to his Father as if his meaning had been Grant O my God and Father that these my Apostles and all those that by the Preaching of them and their Successors shall heartily receive and embrace my Religion may drink of this Cup with me that they may also Reign with me There he was comforted by an Angel who was himself the Comfort of Angels and being God would shew himself as Man to stand in need of Divine Consolation giving us assurance that we likewise in our needs shall be succoured and protected by Angels There all his Disciples are dismayed or fallen asleep and none waâ—ches but the Traitor Judas O Lord how luke-warm and indifferent is our Love how strong how vigilant is our Ingratitude In serving thee dear Jesus we are dull and sleepy in offending thee we are lively and watchful Who could bear with such Wickedness but only thy infinite Goodness Who but thou O most Gracious Saviour could endure such sleepiness and such watchfulness such watchfulness in Sin and such sleepiness in Love Judas being Treacherous and Covetous for a little Money sells the Eternal Son of God and makes them pay for him to whom he freely offers himself in Gift Those infamous Ministers of Covetousness and Envy come with great force of Arms to lay hold of a gentle Lamb and Humane Weakness attempts with Cords to bind the Divine Omnipotence But what great matter was it that he should suffer himself to be bound by their wickedness when he had already bound himself with his own Charity That Treacherous Disciple with infamous lips kisses his Face and turns the Signal of Peace into a Signal of the greatest Treachery The Lord calls him Friend although he was so cruel an Enemy and still bore with him and loved him because he suffered himself to be sold for Love His design was to try if it were possible to soften the heart that was so hardened in mischief but his heart being in his Purse he neither would nor could let it be wrought upon by the meekness of his Master St. Peter being both fervent and valiant at the taking of our Redeemer cuts off an Ear of one of the Servants and it is probable he would have done the like to Judas if he had been near him but the most sweet and merciful Jesus restores it reproving that loving Disciple and being able with his Divinity to have defended his Humanity he makes use of the one to manifest the other by a clearer demonstration discovering his Divinity in the Miracle and his Humanity in the Advice and Remedy O more than infinite Goodness O thy merciful forwardness to Pardon and to Suffer Thou reprovest him that defends thee and curest him that offends and comes to take thee Yet in that hurry and disorder of wickedness the Miracle was not taken notice of and it being a Night of so much darkness to what could it prompt the minds of Men but to what
that the third Person in the Holy Trinity might Govern the Church which the second had founded in his Blood and which the first still supports with abundance of Coelestial Blessings This is a Week which is sufficient to employ all our Days and Weeks and Years even to Eternity in imitating those Vertues in adoring those Mysteries and in for ever praising that Saviour and Redeemer of Souls who performed them for our sakes The Fourth WEEK Of the Exercise of the three Theological Vertues Faith Hope and Charity upon Contemplation of the Life and Death of our Saviour WE have been furnished with large matter of Consideration which not only is sweet and holy but also most profitable to our Souls For the Life of Jesus Christ must be the Looking-glass of our Lives His Passion must banish the Sins and Passions of our Hearts His Sufferings must moderate and reform our Pleasures His Wounds must be the Cure of our Wounds and Maladies His Cross must be our Banner and his Death our Life From hence as from a most clear and beautiful Original thou art to Copy out those Vertues which are to resist assault and conquer thy Vices Upon these high and Heavenly Mysteries thou art to fix thy Faith thy Hope and thy Love at all times So far as thou shalt think and meditate upon the Life and Passion of our Lord so far will thy Faith quicken and enliven thee and that Faith which being Dead and without Works will be but the cause of thy greater Condemnation by being made a living and a working Faith will obtain for thee a high Reward If you have Faith sayes our Saviour you shall remove Mountains O how great is the power of Faith If you have Faith ask of me and you shall receive seek me and you shall find me and if you knock it shall be opened unto you That lively Faith which is offered and given us in the Life and Death of the Saviour of Souls is not only to believe what Faith teaches us but also to do in the same measure as we believe To believe so many Heavenly Mysteries and not to act in conformity to them is a very imperfect Faith To believe a God will not serve the turn alone The Devils saith St. James believe and tremble too and yet are now burning in Hell The Devil knows very well that God is God and abhors him though he believes Dost thou believe in God art thou a Christian T is well But tell me how many are Condemned for ever who believed but did not do accordingly Dost thou believe in Christ and yet wilt not follow Christ and which is worse dost thou Persecute him and Crucifie him again by thy wicked Life Woe be to thee and woe be to me if we thus believe in Christ This People saith he honour me with their Lips but their Heart is far from me Woe be to thee and me if we honour Christ on that manner Not all those saith the Holy Jesus that cry unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that does the will of my Father That is to say there are two sorts of Persons that cry Lord Lord which are two sorts of Believers The one say and do not do believe but do not work The other both say and do believe and likewise work He that believes and does shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that believes a God and yet works against him and Offends and Crucifies him shall never be admitted into those Heavenly Mansions 'T is not enough to do without believing nor to believe without doing both are necessary and we must work without giving over Let every one look and consider what his works are for thither he shall go whither his Thoughts Words and Actions direct their Course Are they sinful Then to Hell Are they full of Tears Repentance and Contrition Then to Heaven Look what thou sowest for that shalt thou reap If Corruption thou shalt reap Corruption if Perfection thou shalt reap Perfection Dost thou sow Vertues in this Life Thou shalt reap Coelestial Crowns in the other Dost thou sow Vices Thou shalt reap Eternal Torments A lively Faith I say a lively Faith is that which will save us a lively active a pure holy Faith not one defil'd with Sins deformed with Passions and full of Misery and Presumption Dost thou live as if thou wert an Heathen and yet believe thy self a Christian Unless thou amendest thy Life the Heathen shall carry the Christian along with him to Hell but the Christian shall never carry the Heathen along with him to Heaven Dost thou believe an Eternity and yet livest without any memory of that Eternity having all thy thoughts fastened on that which is meerly Temporal These Transitory and Temporal things will pass away and then thou shalt come to suffer Torments in Eternity Do not deceive thy self nor think it is enough to believe without working nor that Christ's having suffered for thee will be enough to save thee whilst thou ungratefully offendest him that suffered for thee Alas that will not serve the turn but rather it will be enough and too much to damn thee Dost thou think Christ came to suffer to the end that thou mightest the more freely sin against him Dost thou think he came into the World that thou mightest heap up thy wickednesses upon his holy shoulders Dost thou think he came to facilitate thy Crimes to the end that obstinate sinners might compound their Vices with his Merits Dost thou think that Heavenly Master of Purity and Holiness came to open a Gate unto all Vice whereby his Sufferings might serve to save those that only believed and wrought nothing but Sins and Transgressions The Eternal Son of God came into the World not only to Redeem us but also to Teach us In his Blood he left Redemption and in his Life Instruction He underwent his Passion to redeem Souls but his Actions were so high and holy to amend inform direct and purifie them The effect of his Pains his Cross his Death is to give Merit to our Works and Grace and Force to a Christian to suffer with him but the effect of his Vertues Perfections and whole Life is to teach us and to set us a Pattern to imitate as far as we are able I have given you an Example says he that ye should do as I have done And in another place he says Whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple He is no perfect Christian nor is it possible he should be that flies from the Cross even though he might escape it Every Christian is to follow and embrace the Cross of his Redeemer Can any Man be a perfect Christian without keeping the Commandments No certainly Why then the keeping of them is to follow Christ in taking up his Cross Consider that when thou camest into the Gate of the Church by being Baptized in the Name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost thou wert signed with the Sign of the Cross in token that thou shouldest not be asham'd to confess the Faith of Christ crucified but manfully fight under his Banner against Sin the World the Flesh and the Devil and continue Christ's faithful Souldier and Servant unto thy life's end Consider that being come to Understanding thou art brought to take thy Baptismal Vow upon thy self in Confirmation whereby the Soul is fortified to fight the inward Battles of this Life and to bear the Cross Consider that at the receiving the Sacrament if thou dost it worthily thou renewest the same Vow and that the Benefits of Christ's Death cannot be convey'd to thee therein but by believing and working according to thy belief What is all this but to teach us that our Faith ought to be lively and that believing and doing must go together in a Christian For if thou wantest a hand to work thou wilt also want a hand to lay hold of Christ's Merits and to apply them to thy Soul Beg therefore of God that he would give thee a true a vital and an active Faith for by that means thou mayest have a sure and a certain Hope and an ardent Charity since they that believe well hope well and they that hope well love well He that works as he believes and believes as Christ commands him hopes in the same proportion that he believes If thou hopest as thou believest and believest as thou oughtest and lovest in the same manner as thou hopest Heaven and Glory are surely thine thou hast already conquer'd Hell The Devils flie already from thee The Angels are already with thee The Saints already bear thee Company Thou art already under the Protection of thy Blessed Saviour and art already sealed by him for an Heir predestinated to his Glory Pray therefore earnestly to God for a lively Faith and then thou shalt have certain Hope and fervent Charity The Root of that most beautiful Tree is Faith the green Leaves and fair Flowers of it are Hope and the sweet savoury Fruit is Charity This Tree of true Wisdom is the Tree of Eternal Life which cures the Wounds of the Tree of Death and of Knowledge Pant and gasp after the Fruit of this Spiritual Tree which is Divine Charity If thou feelest that if thou possessest that thou art already grown up and hast profited considerably in the Spiritual Life If thou feelest the love of God in thee and that thy heart be warmed with one spark thereof rejoyce and be of good courage for thou art already near the top of Calvary which is the Mount of Christian Perfection The day that God gives a Soul the feeling of his Love and an eager hearty desire to serve and to please him he draws it near to him and unites it to himself nay he already gives it a Pledge that living always so he may safely hope never to be parted from him Hast thou Divine Charity and dost thou feel the love of God within thee Thou wilt cast away Humane Passions and Imperfections and having banished that which is imperfect that which is perfect will continue and increase in thee Hast thou Divine Charity and dost thou feel the love of God Darkness will speedily flie away and an holy perfect Light will enlighten thee O Divine Charity how great is thy Power how great is thy Worth What is it that thou canst not do Thou art more Omnipotent in a manner than Omnipotency itself Thou madest the Son of God to leave the Bosom of his Omnipotent Father to seek a Mother to become Man and to die on the Cross for Man In the doing all which acts of excessive Kindness Omnipotency was as it were the Servant of Divine Charity since those things could not have been done if Omnipotency had not obey'd the infinite Love of God in performing what his Charity ordained If thou lovest God then I reckon thee safe on shore Persevere go on with joy and chearfulness and all will be easie sweet and pleasant to thee The Love of God facilitates the Exercises of a Spiritual Life and makes them sweet though in themselves they be bitter The Love of God chears the Soul and resists great Storms of Temptations Afflictions and Tribulations and keeps a Conscience pure holy prompt and lively The Love of God gives more pleasure in Suffering than Pleasure itself does in the enjoying The Love of God gives Light and drives away Darkness from the heart and as Night and Day cannot consist together so neither can Divine Charity and Sin The Love of God gives Strength and Perseverance in what is good and Valour and Constancy to oppose what is evil The Love of God roots out Passions Hatred and Revenge from the heart and introduces Pity Goodness and Mercy with the other excellent Vertues Finally the Love of God quickens defends comforts strengthens enlightens and perfects the Heart and Soul and so long as thou keepest it there it brings all under Subjection and Obedience to Reason It is strong sweet and powerful loving constant couragious and chearful it contains in it all that is good and casts out whatsoever is evil Exercise thy self then in Love if thou desirest the Lord should Crown thee If thou hast a mind to profit employ thy heart in loving Day and Night Love the Lord who in his Eternal purpose loved thee before there was Day or Night Let every return of thy breath breathe out the Love of this Lord so that thy respiration and thy love to him may he equally constant in thee THE THIRD PART OF THE Spiritual Year IN September October November December SEPTEMBER The First WEEK Of the Vertue of Religion and of the manner of Governing the Cardinal and Moral Vertues by that of Religion AN ardent Love a lively Faith and a constant Hope will bring thee to another most sweet and noble Vertue called Religion or the inward and outward Worship of God which is that that creates and promotes all the other Vertues and goes alway intermingled with Prayer In this thou oughtest to Exercise thy self with very great Humility All thy Conversation should be with God of God and for God Enter thy self into his Service by Faith adore him with Reverence and love all that appertains to him There is no need for thee to go up into Heaven to seek this Lord since for that purpose even Earth is Heaven and all Heaven is to be found in this narrow place of our Banishment Thou oughtest also to bear great Reverence to the Houses of God and to Sacred Persons for these are the Ministers of God and do represent God and those are Holy places consecrated and appointed for his outward Worship If thou dost live thus with Reverence and Fear and dost exercise the Vertue of Religion with Love which is the height of all Perfection thou shalt walk on in Spirit in Truth and in Prayer and shalt in the
dislike and enmity Our frail miserable Nature being inclin'd to evil is subtil and discursive in any thing that is bad but is dull blind and careless in all good and if a Divine Ray from above does not help and clarifie our Natural Light it will presently be obscur'd if not extinguished by our Passion It is therefore very useful and convenient in the Spiritual Life to walk in the Divine Presence with the light of Prayer in our hands to the end that by the brightness thereof we may with God's Grace and Spirit choose the fittest means for so high an end despising vain and worldly Wisdom and making use of one that is Divine Spiritual and Celestial O let thy Prudence and Discretion consist in following the ways of thy Salvation All the means thou employest to this end are Christian good holy just powerful and prudent And all those Motives which would put thee out of those ways though they seem to come shining with Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance are really unjust weak intemperate and very imprudent The end of any thing ought to govern the means Thy end ought to be to save thy Soul to serve please and not to offend God to live an internal and spiritual life to make thy life a preparation for death to fit thy self by death for Judgment by Judgment for thy Account and by thy Account for that Sentence which may deliver thee from Eternal Condemnation and give thee the Crown of Glory in Life Eternal Oh! What an heavenly Prudence is this Oh what Justice What Fortitude What Temperance How well are they all temper'd with one another and and how imprudent and unjust how foolish how mad how distemper'd and how ruinous is the contrary Thus these four which were wont to be Natural Politick and Heathen Vertues thou mayest by a right intention and direction transform into Christian and Spiritual ones taking from Prudence not what the Flesh but what the Spirit requires from Justice not what the Inferiour but the Superiour directs from Fortitude not what Passion but what Reason commands and from Temperance what is allowed by God not by the World and the Devil The Fourth WEEK Of Humility and its contrary Pride WIth these Rules which are not worldly and natural but holy and spiritual concerning the four Cardinal Vertues the first thing that thou art to practise continually in the life of the Soul is Humility This is an unspeakable Vertue indeed and the Mother of all the rest for they are all bred and produced in her Bowels Humility is that which the Eternal Word chose among all the rest when being God he became Flesh to dwell amongst us clothed in our Humane Nature for the Immense and Omnipotent Lord of Heaven shew'd himself in this World so naked so poor as to be born in a Stable so little and so limited as to be contained in a Manger He consecrated Humility and dedicated himself to it through the whole Course of his most holy Life from the Virginal inclosure of his Mother's Womb and taught it upon the Cross by his most holy Death This is that which he has left for an Inheritance to his faithful Followers when he said Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and when afterwards having humbled himself at his Disciples feet he bad them do as he had done We have seen already how great a number of Vertues our blessed Saviour the Example of Christian Perfection did practise whilst he liv'd in this World leaving us to imitate that Divine Original and yet for all that he calls upon us sollicits and perswades us in particular to Copy none but his Humility Why did he not call upon us to practise his Patience Why did he not bid us learn his Charity Why not his Zeal and Diligence Why not his Fortitude Justice and Temperance but only his Humility By reason that the greatest fall and wound of both the Natures Angelical and Humane was Pride and so that Nature of the two that remains in a possibility of being cured which is the Humane and which our Lord came to remedy finds its principal Medicine in Humility Wilt thou see how contrary Pride is to Humility that thou mayest the better know how contrary Humility is to Pride Why Pride is the Natural Mother of all the Devils she engendred them in her Bowels and an Infernal Pride made them Devils of so many Angels they would needs be like God and equal themselves to him in Power and that Pride threw them in an instant from Heaven into the bottomless Pit Would'st thou now see what Humility is It is that which made Angels to be more Angels than they were before for when taking warning by the Fall of their Companions they humbled themselves before God he confirmed them in his Grace and fixed them for Angels eternally in his Glory above the danger of ever becoming Devils And would'st thou see what Pride is Look upon our first Parents Adam and Eve in their highest Felicity of Paradise and thou shalt see that because they would be as Gods and pass from Humane Limits to Divine they were instantly cast out banish'd naked and undone sowing Tribulations and Sorrows and reaping Thorns Afflictions and Misfortunes Would'st thou see what is Humility Behold those same first Parents weeping grieving and bewailing their Fault with an humble Penitence and thou wilt also behold them pardoned by the Divine Goodness and both themselves and their Posterity restored to Grace and Glory with a remedy more noble and much superiour to the Felicity they had lost Wilt thou see what Pride is Look upon Cain who despises God by denying the best of his Fruits which were due to him as the Author and Lord of the Inheritance and being proud and covetous forgets the Banishment the Example and the Tears of his Parents and would exempt himself from that just and holy Tribute This Sin carries him to another which is worse I mean that of Envy and Envy thrusts him on to a higher that of Murder even the murder of a Brother and this drives him to the greatest of all which is final Obstinacy and Impenitence He lives in Despair flying from himself and dying wounded with a deadly Arrow becomes the Head of the Reprobates and the Damned And wilt thou see on the other side what Humility is Look upon holy and blessed Abel who humbly acknowledges his Eternal Creator by offering him his Fruits He gives him the best of them and the best of his Soul which is Humility whereupon God blesses favours and crowns him as being the first Martyr of Heaven and the First-fruits of those that were called appointed and predestinated by the Will of Christ to an immortal Glory Finally these first successes and contrary effects of these two Contraries have been followed by innumerable others and there is nothing seen nor has been seen nor ever shall be seen but the ruins of Pride and the triumphs of Humility
beastly Passion common to Bruits that are not able to Discourse The Proud the Ambitious and the Covetous have something of Reason in them In those Vices something of Discourse is requisite and that Natural elation and vanity of the Mind speaks Superiority but the Base Lascivious and Sensual Person is very short and sottish in his Discoursing being totally sensual and bestial and agrees so much the more with Beasts by how much the more he is Brutish and Animal in his unbridled Passions Who is able to number the Ruins this Vice hath caused It is easier to lament than to reckon them See what it brought upon David It made that Heavenly Man become an Adulterer a Murtherer Treacherous Faithless and Cruel to a worthy and valiant Subject From the ill Example of the Father it pass'd on to the Incestuous Son and made Amnon to force his Sister Thamar Next it dispos'd Absalom to take Revenge by killing his Brother Amnon Thence proceeded the contempt of David's Reign when his Subjects saw themselves commanded by an Adulterous Murthering and Treacherous King Thence came a general Scandal and thence the Kingdom rebelled and the poor despised and persecuted King was fain to fly from his own Son bewailing the Sin he had committed the lives of an innumerable company of his Subjects being paid for one Sensual Delight Now if we have often imitated David in sinning let us imitate him also in repenting Let our Tears remedy that Mischief and let our Grief and Contrition help to make amends for our follies of Lasciviousness and let our Eyes bewail the Offence which by lustful looking upon Beauty they have committed Let Sorrow cure the heart that is wounded by that Passion and let the warning of such Examples make him Wise Chast and Wary who has been made Foolish Sensual and inconsiderate by the pleasure of a moment What Ruines and Misfortunes what Miseries and Desolations does not the Kingdom of Spain owe to this Sensual Vice It was above nine hundred Years under the Chain of an hard Captivity purging away the guilt of one sin hastily committed but long and sharply punished Look upon the Sensuality of the last King of the Goths how it made an end of his Empire threw down his Power to the ground drew Barbarians into Spain banished the Faith out of it filled it with Infidelity and quite rooted out the Valour and Goodness of the Gothish Nation Finally one momentany Delight cost the loss of an innumerable company of Lives and Souls This Example is of a Neighbour-Nation but the like Causes will probably produce the like Effects in other places many Instances whereof may be found in the Histories of all Countries to the end that great Persons chiefly may take warning because their evil deeds are of more dangerous consequence in the influence they have upon the Guilt and Punishment of others in this World but as to the other World even the meanest are as nearly concerned to fly this Vice for the consequence of it to them will be the rottenness of their Bodies and the damnation of their Souls which is bad enough unless God give them the Grace to Repent and forsake so ruinous a Vice Consider what the mischiefs of this sin must be in its Roots which produces such innumerable mischiefs in its Fruit What it must needs be in its beginning that has so dismal and lamentable an end what it must be in its original which gives birth to so many miseries and misfortunes O who could have believed that this Vice had been so heinous and so terrible One might have thought it indeed to be weak foul and ugly but not that it had power to produce such unspeakable mischiefs O! yes it works great ones and such as are truly unspeakable not only to each individual Person but also to the Publick Sensuality enervates the strength of Nations embases the Majesty of Princes blinds the Understanding weakens the Courage of their Souldiers besots the knowledge of their Wise men and fills the most Prudent with Ignorance and Folly Sensuality makes young men base and feeble old men blind and doting it dulls the reason of the wise darkens their knowledge in counsel and makes their Government rash heedless and inconsiderate It banishes Providence and casts out care and watchfulness from Kings and Kingdoms Of Remedies against Sensuality But what Remedy is there against such terrible Mischiefs God and the serious thought of him is the principal Remedy Prayer and begging earnestly of God to cleanse us and give us Chastity This is the only remedy since it is certain that no man can be chast without the gift of God Nemo enim continens esse poterit nisi Deus dederit Pray therefore continually that God would defend thy Soul from this Vice and give thee an hatred of it But together with this which is the principal Remedy there are others which God applies to free us from that inbred and Domestick Evil. And the first is the Protection and Intercession of Christ with his holy Example and thy endeavour to imitate the Purity of his Life for if thou prayest and actest contrary to thy Prayers thou provokest him to anger that should grant thy request and if thou wilt have the chast and holy Jesus to be thy Master thou must shew thy self to be his Disciple by striving to follow him in holiness and chastity Next this Remedy and even in this Remedy avoid the occasions of loosing thy Chastity Trust not in thy self nor presume upon thine own strength but believe thou shalt no longer be sav'd from falling than thou keepest thy self from the occasion of falling Think how is it possible to have live Coals upon thy Breast and not be burnt Think how is it possible that fire and tow should touch one another without being enflamed Think how is it possible to dawb thy self with Pitch and not be defiled Consider I say that there is as little possibility to escape safe from a voluntary and very near occasion If thou hast escap'd to day it is in a manner a Miracle and it is ten thousand to one that thou shalt fall miserably to morrow if thou presume to venture upon it again and shalt fall so much more fouly and irrecoverably by how much the more thou art confident that thou shalt not Let not thy Passion nor thy foolish Presumption deceive thee thou art not holier than David nor wiser than Solomon nor stronger than Sampson and yet all these fell by not avoiding the occasions and these were publick warnings which God hath left to the World to the end we may open our Eyes and be more wary Art thou a Spiritual Person and dost not avoid the occasions of sin Why then thou art not a Spiritual Person Thinkest thou because thou livest upon thy guard thou shalt not fall If thou trustest to that thou art fallen already unless thou also livest retired Sometimes nay often a Spiritual Person that exposes himself
to voluntary occasions if he may be called Spiritual that does so is in greater danger of falling than a loose and debauched man for the loose man incurs less danger because he incurs more and the cautious person probably incurs more because he incurs less How is this you 'l say I do not understand it Then I will explain it to thee The Lascivious man by custom in that Vice sometimes looses his Appetite or at least abates it and with that the Temptation but it encreases with the cautious man and becomes more ardent by his forbearance and therefore the Tempter is more sollicitous vigilant and vehement to overcome him The Delights wherewith the Devil entices a Spiritual Man are in the imagination and have nothing of act whereby he may become undeceived but those of the Vicious Man are filthy in his practise of them and that very filthiness and foulness tires him enlightens him and undeceives him for this reason Spiritual Persons ought to be more watchful and wary than those that are Sensual and if not they will do as the Galatians who ended in the Flesh having begun in the Spirit In Conclusion would'st thou be chast careful and wary Would'st thou conquer this Vice Then fly from it Other sins are conquer'd by fighting this by flying This flight is both the Combat the Victory and the Triumph but withal use Abstinence and other acts of Mortification to overcome and subdue so powerful a Passion There is a sort of Devils saith our Saviour that cannot be cast out without Fasting and Prayer To eat much and to drink much and neither to think of God nor call upon him in Prayer is not the way to conquer that strong contagious and dangerous Passion It is frail and needs strong Remedies It is incontinent and needs continent Remedies It is unruly and unbridled and therefore needs Remedies that may restrain and tame it By Abstinence thou mayest also conquer Gluttony the foul ugly Mother of many sins The ancient Philosophers though they had but the Light of their Candle which is Natural Reason yet said very excellently That a Vertuous Life consisted wholly in two words Sustine Abstine Bear and Forbear or be patient and abstemious If a Heathen could say so by the Light of his Candle What shall a Spiritual Man say being enlightened by the Sun of Christian Verities and by the Rays of Eternal and Celestial Light Abstinence is an Universal Vertue which comprehends innumerable Vertues and so this Vertue alone is a general Antidote against the Maladies of a Spiritual Life Would'st thou not sin Why then abstain from offending God by the breach of his holy Commandments Would'st thou grow in the Internal Life Why then abstain from rejecting his holy Counsels Would'st thou have the Vertues come and lodge within thee Why then abstain from running into Vice Would'st thou be perfect in all things Why then fast inwardly as well as outwardly Would'st thou subdue thy Vices Encompass thy self with the Vertues for that is the Girdle which our Saviour tells us is the Scourge of Vice What good doth it to begirt the Body with a Cord and make it lean with fasting if in the mean while the Soul grow big and swell up with Self-will What good does the yellow meager Countenance which speaks abstinence from Meat and Drink if in the mean while wrath and hatred give a worse Complexion to the Soul because they feed it with a worse Nourishment In the midst of your Fast says God your own Will reigns whereas the resigning it up to my Will ought to be the Crown and Honour of your Fast. This is another kind of Abstinence than that which is contrary to Gluttony but I will now say something of that Of Gluttony Gluttony is an infamous Vice that pollutes and destroys both Body and Soul no less than Sensuality dulling and abasing the Senses of the one and the Powers of the other It is a loathsome Vice and filthy both in its Cause and in its Effects for in its cause it fills a man with foul Humours and Diseases with Painfulness and Misery and in its Effects because by wakening and feeding the Appetite it breeds as many Mortal Distempers in the Soul as Diseases in the Body The Scripture tells us The People sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play As if it had said They sate long at Meat whereas they should have eaten but as it were in passing They did eat as if their utmost end had been eating and that they had been born for nothing else and not considering that they were born to live after another manner as soon as they had done eating they played away their Life their Fortune and their Honour God commanded that the Paschal Lamb should be eaten standing with their Loins Girt and their Staves in their hands What is this but to teach us that as our Lives pass quick away our Meals should do so too Let us eat and drink said some deluded men for to morrow we shall die See what a madness Observe what a foolish Consequence these Epicures draw when Gluttony is the Antecedent Because they are to die to morrow they eat excessively to day But Wretches if you must die to morrow and vomit up your Meat giving a strict account of what ye shall eat and drink Why do you cram your selves like Beasts to day Death uses to terrifie and undeceive every Body else but it hardens these and deceives them more and that which affrights others from sin invites these stupid men to sin See how Gluttony dulls and stupifies the Understanding since it fills it with such ignorant and sensless Discourses and Arguments O heavenly Abstinence and Moderation which givest a pure a long and a righteous Life Long because thou correctest those foul gross humours that choak and drown it Pure because thou dost quite banish them and Righteous because thou cuttest off Passions by taking away the nourishment of Vices whereof Gluttony is a fruitful Mother O heavenly Abstinence thou art the Forerunner of great Blessings By having prepared themselves with Abstinence and Fasting Moses received from God the Tables of the Law Elias received Nourishment from an Angel and the Saviour of Souls obtained innumerable Victories O holy Abstinence which dost sweeten adorn and sanctifie Repentance For by thee Vertue is cherished Vice is put to flight and holy Desires and Perfections become active vigorous and permanent The Second WEEK Of Patience THou wilt think perhaps that by being humble liberal abstinent and chast thou hast perfected the Spiritual Life but thou hast not done all yet thou must have Patience also for without that thou can'st scarce be said to have begun Those other Vertues look to what thou oughtest to do within thy self and to what thou oughtest to do to others This teacheth thee how thou oughtest to suffer from others when they oppress and injure thee The Vertue of Patience is an inward fortitude of the
Mind to bear for God's sake what is laid upon us by men and is as necessary for the Spiritual Life as Breath is for the Natural Think how impossible it is for one that is continually shot at with Bows and Guns to escape unless he have some defence against the Bullets and Arrows As impossible it is for thee to live in the Spiritual Life without being defended with the shield of Patience All things assault and shoot at him that loves God The Devil persecutes him the World slanders him the Flesh tempts him he is afflicted from without he is drawn and allured from without his Superiours trample upon him his Equals despise him his Inferiours presume to affront him and even the Lord himself whom he adores does seem also sometimes to be his Enemy because he has a mind to make trial how far his Courage and Constancy will reach Thus it is said in the Book of Wisdom That God proves the Good to the end he may find them worthy of himself And Job complained of this and said Wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thine Enemy Wilt thou break a Leaf driven to and fro and wilt thou pursue the dry Stubble Thou writest bitter things against me c. Consider what Patience he had need to have who is persecuted by God by the World by the Flesh by the Devil and by his own self In short the Spiritual Life is a fruitful Seed-plot of Thorns and the way of Afflictions and therefore it is necessary at every step to have the Staff of Patience in thy hand to support thee Is it not the way of the Cross Why then have Patience Is it not the way of Difficulties Why then have Patience Is it not a way of Tribulations Why then have Patience By this one Vertue alone many Vices are destroyed Without Patience thou would'st throw the Cross from thy shoulders and run over to the Party of thy Enemies which are thy Delights and the Devils for this reason the Lord recommended Patience to his Disciples above all other Vertues saying In patience possess your Souls He sent them out as Lambs into the midst of Wolves he sent them to preach teach and to give light to a foolish perverse and a wicked World what could they look for but Pains Crosses Death and Torments And how should they be able to make any advantage of them without Patience and Suffering In another place he tells us That the good bring forth fruit in patience as inferring That without Patience there is no Fruit at all of Vertue This is most certain That the Vertues how many soever they be can neither consist with one another nor have any Life Subsistence or Perseverance in themselves without Patience And reason shews it for all of them make it their business to subdue the Appetite and to give Reason her Sceptre and Empire The Appetite resists and desires Superiority Reason on the other side sights and makes opposition so that to hold out such a cruel obstinate continual and internal War there is a necessity of having a great deal of Patience Affronts Calumnies and Persecutions assault the Spiritual Man What other Remedy has he but Patience He walks with Temptations round about him What Remedy is there but Patience He falls into Imperfections and Miseries and the Enemy tempts him to Desperation What other Remedy but Patience Patience Humility Constancy and Perseverance which are all Sisters do crown the Soul and make it triumphant in the Spiritual Life What else was the Life of Christ our blessed Example but a long constant repeated and enlarged Patience Behold him suffering cold in the Manger the smart of a Knife in Circumcision heat and weariness in his flying to Egypt slanders revilings and insolencies from some Ministers of the Law in his Manifestation Scourging Thorns Wounds Death and the Cross in his Passion In all this he consecrated Patience and the same Vertue was practis'd by his Mother in the Torments of her Son suffering in her tender heart what our Lord suffered in his Divine Person What Complaints were heard from our sweet Master Jesus O the innumerable Injuries that were done him But what resentments did he shew Why to teach to give light to guide to suffer to entreat and to pray for his Enemies Patience is not only a Merit and a Merit of very great excellency but it is Comfort Peace and Joy and very great Wisdom Who is the Wise man says one of the Fathers of the Church and answers that doubt The Patient man And who is more wise He that is more Patient And who is the wisest of all He that is most Patient of all Of Anger Believe me Anger is an ugly fierce ignorant and unruly Vice for it vexes afflicts disquiets precipitates and works nothing but confusion coming very short in Means and in Remedies Patience will free thee from all this for it enlarges the Heart encreases the Understanding and gives strength and depth to our Discourse What dost thou think that Anger is but a short madness for the angry man and the mad man differ only in time not in action The furious mad man is angry for a long time and the furious angry man is mad for a short time Would'st thou see the Picture of Anger Look in a Glass when thou art angry and thou shalt see a terrible ugliness in thy Face thine Eyes sparkle with rage thy Brows wrinkled with Frowns thy Complexion discompos'd and enflam'd with redness and all thy actions sudden and disorder'd What a kind of thing is Anger in the Soul which thus transforms the Countenance and deformes the whole Person The Lord in that holy Precept of loving Enemies had an Eye not only to the good of the Enemy and the Person hated but also to that of the Friend by whom he would have him to be loved His aim was not only that the one should not die but also that the other might live and which is more he desir'd not only to prevent a Christian from defiling his Soul with hatred but also to preserve him from the vexation and torment of so unquiet a Passion His intent in this most sweet and gentle Precept was to give the Christian a Temporal as well as an Eternal Life Eternal by his obedience and Temporal by his quiet To hate is rage disquiet anguish and death and so he banished Anger from the Soul to free it from death anguish and disquiet Dost thou think that by thy hatred thou takest revenge upon thine Enemy Thou art deceived it is he that is revenged on thee What greater punishment can thy Enemy inflict upon thee than that to which thou condemnest thy self meerly by thy hatred Thou frettest thou stormest thou vexest and tormentest thy self thou abhorrest on the one side and longest eagerly on the other and livest in a continual Affliction between the earnestness of thy Desires and Aversions tossing and turning to and fro biting thy Lips grinding
manner More just 't is true replys that partial Judge but not more easie for they are many and he is but one The correcting of them could not be effected without difficulty but to chastise the Innocent is very easie I forsake Justice to follow that which is safe and easie and so let Innocence pay for the fault of my Sloth and Remisness And how succeeded the Omission of so faint-hearted a Judge with this cruel Expedient of saving our Saviour by scourging and crowning him with Thorns Much worse than if without any pity or remorse he had given him out to be crucified For the People being hard and obstinate were not softned with the Pains of the Holy Jesus but rather they became more obdurate in their sin seeing that their Passion and Wickedness was more couragious than the heart of the Judge and therefore not doubting to get the Victory over him they cried out more fiercely with loud Voices Let him be crucified Let him be crucified Then the Judge being of himself cowardly and fearful was the more afraid hearing such furious Cries and finding that the matter grew harder upon him was conquered by them and being slothful timorous and unactive resolved to condemn him because he had not the courage diligence and industry which were necessary to save him But Pilate if thou meanedst to condemn him after he was scourged buffeted and crowned with Thorns and after thou hadst shewn him to the People as a Mock-King affronted and abused had it not been a less Evil to have condemned him before and to have prevented all those Pains and Reproaches It would have been a less Evil says he I confess but my faint-hearted lukewarmness used them as means to save his Iâ—nocence and the discourses of a slothful person tend always to his own conveniency and the injury of another Observe what a kind of pity that of the slothful man is and thou wilt find it more cruel then Cruelty it self If Pilate had condemned our Saviour at once how unjust how severe how cruel soever yet he had spar'd him five thousand Lashes and an infinite number of other Reproaches whereas by being pardoned and defended with such sloth his Pains and sufferings were infinitely aggravated Besides the lightness wherewith this infamous Judge pass'd over such terrible wickednesses was in a manner worse then all the rest for with but washing his Hands in a little Water the President declar'd himself and all the People Innocent and the Innocent Guilty He declared the Innocent Guilty because though he knew and confessed his Innocence yet he suffered him to be Crucified as a Criminal and he Absolved the guilty People because he forbore to Chastise them though he knew their Malice The reason of this is that amongst all the other great Evils of the Sloth Omission and Negligence of Judges this is one that it is very short-sighted and forgetful of all the Mischiefs that it does for it looks with very little or no light at all upon those Evils which either it committeth or permitteth Pilate condemns our Saviour and delivers him into the hands of his Enemies he delivers up that blessed Lamb to those ravenouâ— Wolves he gives them a greater liberty than they had before and not only whips and imprisons him but condemns him also to be Crucified and with a little Water not only washes himself from all these Wickednesses but commends himself and expects to be thought a just an holy and an innocent Judge A City shall be enflam'd with heinous Crimes a Commonwealth shall burn in all manner of loosness and debauchery and a lazy slothful Governour shall in the mean while sleep carelesly whole nights and days and although all those Enormous Crimes are committed because his remisness forbears to correct them yet because he does not act those things himself he thinks he is holy justified and guiltless No do not so do thou strive in thy Person and in thy Employment to act with attention diligence and vigilance abhorring Sloth and Remisness Do not make the sins of others become thine own Crimes through Omission Take not upon thee the Office of a Judg Magistrate or Superiour unless thou hast Vigilance Diligence Zeal and Courage to correct Offences It is not I that tell thee this but the Word of God in the Proverbs as who should say If thou art a Governour and allowest those that are under thy Charge to commit Wickedness thou makest their Faults to become thine own Measure therefore thy strength before thou undertakest such an Employment and having entred into it a Judge take heed thou come not out of it a Criminal Sloth and Negligence are as we have seen hurtful in all Persons but in Prelates Magistrates and Superiours it is the Pest of the Publick for under the coldness and indifferency of Omission there is no Mischief that will not be ventur'd upon all bold daring Crimes being the Consequences of it and it is better to live where nothing than where every thing is counted lawful But in the Spiritual Life Diligence is that which promotes it securing our inward Advancement and our going forward in the way of Vertue for every step that Diligence takes adds Glory to the Crown of our Reward The time of our Race passeth swift away that of our Life flies very fast and which is most dangerous Death hastens and then we shall neither have time to run to work to make satisfaction nor to recover the opportunities we have lost and therefore it is necessary to make use of this present Moment before it pass for it is impossible to be recalled Work while you have light says the Saviour of Souls Work before my Time come in which I shall call you to account and judge you for your Time On the other side while you have light walk and work before the Day-light of Life pass away least having spent your time viciously or idly which is all one the darkness of the Night of Death seize upon you at unawares Can any Evil be greater or equal to that of loitering all the day in idleness and vice expecting the darkness of Night and of Death the punishment of idle vicious and slothful Persons The Life of our Saviour in this World was all working suffering taking pains walking watching teaching putting Men in mind of the account they were to give of the Universal Judgment of Hell and of Glory His Zeal his Diligence and his Goodness not suffering his Charity to be one moment idle Why stand ye here all the day idle said he in the Parable to those that were found in the Market-Place as who should say Can you spend all the Day in sloth and idleness while Night the Sword of the slothful hangs over your Head and will certainly fall upon you If you will not work in the Day how will it be possible for you to work in the Night If you refuse him the Day which is the time of working rightly and with
Pleasures of this World in comparison of it This Joy overcomes all Difficulties it tramples them down and flies above them it burns and consumes them and makes the greatest Labours to become a Pleasure The Masters of the Synagogue called the Apostles before them reproved them scourged them threatned them and commanded them that they should not Preach sending them away not only punished but reproached and shamefully affronted but they go out and presently Preach again with exceeding Joy as the Text saith that they were thought worthy to suffer for the Lord's sake Take heed say some to the Apostles it is not two Months since the Jews crucified your dear Master and if you do not forbear to Preach they will do the same to you What care we answered they if the Joy we feel outweighs that fear nay that Joy hath already banished it and made us utterly insensible of it arming us against the worst that they can do This Joy and this Courage continued in their Successors many of which so readily embraced Martyrdom A Tyrant commands St. Lawrence to give him up the Treasures of the Church who replies he will do it very willingly He goes and distributes the Treasure amongst all the Poor he could find and brings an Army of Lame and Blind of weak and diseased Persons unto that Covetous Praetor saying very chearfully to him Here I have brought you the Treasures of the Church Take heed good Man the Tyrant will be revenged on thee Let him do what he can I care not for my Joy in serving God is dearer to me than my Life They lay him upon a Grid-Iron with live Coals under it which kindle the fire of his Joy and of his Love at the same time that the flames do scorch his Body yet he smiling and jesting says to the Tyrant Now this side is broyl'd enough it is time to turn the other and you may eat of it Who among such real Torments among that Fire Smoak and Confusion could produce that holy Jest that Joy that chearfulness that pleasantness of Wit and Contentment God and none but God who was pleased to make that Martyr's Joy to Triumph over all his Sufferings Who made St. Andrew the Apostle to sing the Praises of the Lord when he was fastened upon the very Cross but this Joy this wondrous Fruit of the Spirit Certainly there is no Chearfulness no Contentment no Joy but in God Rejoyce and be glad in the Lord ye righteous says David and in another place Great is the joy of those that fear the Lord. Rejoyce and be exceeding glad says our Saviour when ye shall suffer for my Names-sake for great is your reward in Heaven and Christ himself for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the shame Thus that inward Joy drives away and banishes all the toils and troubles and all the Sufferings of the Spiritual Life This Fruit then of the Spirit which is called Joy contains in it both Honour and Profit and is well worth thy praying for since it facilitates and sweetens all thy Pains and will make thee forward and chearful in giving up thy self to undergo any thing for the Lord's sake and will thereby make thee to be favoured and be loved by him For as the Scripture tells us God loveth a chearful giver Of the Fruit of Patience The Fruit of Patience is more properly called a Fruit than the rest because Christ literally calls it so where speaking of those that keep the good Seed of his Divine Word and of his holy Inspirations in their hearts and lay them up and put them in practice He says they shall bring forth their fruit in Patience that is because a chearful and resigned Patience is one of the most excellent Fruits of the Holy Spirit and the most profitable and necessary to serve God with Purity the most profitable because the Lord says In Patience ye shall possess your souls which is the greatest profit that can be attained or thought of in this life as who should say if your Life be Spiritual full of Tribulations and a sharp continual War both within and without if it be a Conquest that consist in dying not in killing not in Persecuting and Oppressing others but suffering Persecutions and in subduing ones self certainly Patience is very necessary for that War And as in those of the World Men get the Victory by Impatience by Anger and Fury by Force and by Revenge so in the Spiritual Warfare we must Conquer by Suffering and by Humility for the Combat here is to undergo Pains and Hardship to live and die with bearing and with Patience This Fruit is also necessary because by it the rest are preserved The Apostle explains it where he says Patience is necessary for you that ye may obtain the Promises and in another place That ye may be made worthy of the promises of Christ that is that ye may obtain the Blessings which are set forth in the Eight Beatitudes and in many other places where the Lord says Your name is written in the Book of Life and that there ye shall receive an hundred-fold whatsoever ye shall have forsaken here for the love of God Patience is necessary because neither Faith Hope nor Charity nor any other of the Moral and Cardinal Vertues without Patience are of any worth for in losing that they lose their Beauty and become vain and ineffectual Finally if this be a life of Labours and Afflictions of Slanders and Reproaches what Vertue can be more profitable more necessary more important and of more frequent use than Patience For all the blows both inward and outward that are struck at the Mind of Man must be receiv'd upon the Shield of Patience and he that wants that can never be able to sustain the Combat therefore St. Paul when he furnishes the Christian with Spiritual Arms puts upon his left Arm the in-expugnable Shield of Patience that he may be able to withstand the fiery Darts of his Enemy Assumens scutum inexpugnabile Equitatem observing that in the word Equitatem he not only meant to express ordinary Patience but an equality of Mind which is the Excellent and Heroick Patience and that is the Fruit here spoken of as who should say It must be a Patience full of Equality receiving Crosses and Afflictions with as great a Chearfulness and Contentment as thou couldst do their contraries Take notice that St. Paul says not that thy Patience should be equal but even Equality itself Consider the Joy thou hast for the Favours of God thou oughtest to have the very same when he sends Tribulations for they also are his Favours Give not thy Affections more to things that are Delightful than to those that are Disgustful to Pleasure than to Pain to Comfort than to Affliction Thy Chearfulness ought to be equal in Sufferings as in Joys in Rebukes as in Applauses in being pull'd down as in being advanc'd and in suffering Affronts as
in receiving Honours And this which seems to be a very hard Law is so sweet an one that though St. Paul contents himself here with an Equality yet some Saints as we see in the Examples that have been given pass on further and express more Joy in Sufferings than in Comforts though these come from God and those from the hands of Men. As we may believe that the Divine Goodness of our Lord took more delight in Redeeming Mankind upon the Cross than in the Glories of his Transfiguration upon Mount Tabor though upon Mount Tabor those Favours came from the hands of his Father and upon Mount Calvary his Sufferings came from the hands of Men. So likewise those who suffer for God the Holy Apostles and all those that now follow or have followed them rejoyce more in Pains and Tribulations which God sends them by the hands of Men than in those Favours and Comforts which they receive immediately from God himself Therefore our Saviour said to his Disciples at his going to his last Supper when he was beginning to enter upon his Holy Passion With a great desire have I desir'd to eat this Passover with you but he said no such thing to them when he went to the Glories of Mount Tabor In imitation of this we read of one that for a favour begged of Christ to be crowned with Thorns another to bear the marks of his Wounds with a lively feeling of his dolorous Passion One Devout Soul begs Lord if I may obtain my desire grant that I may be despised for thy sake Another meditating on Christ crucified Lord I desire nothing but thy self and to be crucified with thee This in my Opinion was an high and wise Petition because he asked to suffer with Christ in this life as Christ in this life had suffered for him and then presently to have Christ himself for a Reward in the Life Eternal for he that begs for Christ crucified to be made his it is clear he does not beg for a Glorious Christ but wounded bloody and in the anguish of his Passion and so he asked not the Crown of Thorns alone nor the five Wounds alone but also what he suffer'd in the scourgings at the Pillar Not only the Mockeries the Buffetings and the pains of his Passion but the Slanders Affronts and Persecutions which he suffered before it And not those alone but whatsoever he suffered from his Blessed Mother's Womb and the Manger till he expir'd upon the Cross This we ought to ask and imitate in this life and to advance thereby in Grace and Patience and thereby thou shalt see how certain it is that such Holy Devout Persons not only do possess that equality of Patience wherewith St. Paul Arms his Spiritual Man in receiving Affronts and Crosses with as chearful a Countenance as the Pleasures of this World but that their Delight is greater and their Patience more chearful in suffering than their Joy is in rejoycing The Second WEEK Of the Ninth and Tenth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Goodness and Meekness THese two Fruits of the Spirit which God gives to those that are exercised in the Spiritual Life are as the Cause and the Effect for in truth Goodness is the Mother of Meekness And as some Fruits by reason of their great fecundity grow one within another and as an Ear of Corn produces many Grains so Goodness produces Gentleness Meekness and Affability repeated again and again in all its words and actions And we must take notice that this Goodness which St. Paul names here for a Fruit of the Spirit is not barely that Vertue which is the first cause of Grace that is to say a disposition to receive and to hold it by the Soul 's being free from the guilt of any great sin for that is a Fruit of the Divine Goodness and Mercy which gave the Soul light and strength to cast out sin rather than a Fruit of the Spirit But the Goodness here meant is in my Opinion an high Gift of Grace and Favour which God grants to holy Souls after they have serv'd him long in the Spiritual Life whereby the Soul is cleansed and purified not only from greater sins but even from lesser nay even the least Passions and by taking away those Barks as it were and inward Rinds of our Nature lays it bare and naked from those folds and doublings of imperfect Habits leaving the Soul in so great a purity truth and sincerity that St. Paul calls it perfect Goodness It is as if God should make an Old Man to become a New Man or as if an old decayed and broken House should by his Power not only be repaired and strengthened and made up again in the same proportion grace and Beauty it had at first but also be brought to a greater perfection and enriched with more costly Ornaments And though it still leaves in him the incitement and provocation to sin for that never ceases nor does Grace take it away yet it is as much weakened and disabled as Reason was in it before This Goodness and Sincerity the Lord found in holy Job and to give him an high Praise indeed he said He was single and upright God by his Grace had taken from him all those folds and doublings which we have in our Souls those corners and hollow places where Malice uses to dwell He had cast out all Imperfections from thence and had filled it with his Lights and Vertues making him a Mirrour of his high Perfections This Goodness and Sincerity is that which Christ desir'd to find in his Disciples when they were contending who should be the greatest and he Discoursing upon it took a Child and laying his Holy Hands upon the Head of that little Angel said unto them Unless ye become as this little Child ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Some Authors say this Child was St. Ignatius afterwards Bishop of Antioch and Martyr who was one of the most Holy Disciples that the Apostles had and from that touch of Christ's hand he became so much in love with him that he took for his Motto Amor meus crucifixus est For his only Love was Christ crucified and at his Martyrdom this holy Man defied the Lions that were to tear him in pieces and said to them I am the Wheat of Christ and I shall be ground by your teeth that I may be worthy to be made the Bread of that Lord. This Digression I have made to quicken the Faith of Clergy-men for if Christ but by touching him made him to become so holy how holy ought we to be who not only touch the Bread of the Lord but the Bread which is the Lord and do so often Consecrate and Receive it Two things God requir'd of the Apostles in imitation of that Child first Humility for since they were proudly striving who should have the highest place he could not set before them a fitter Example than that Age and that Humility Do ye
inward thoughts are loose and ungoverned what is it but a well-composed Falshood and a well studied Hypocrisie And all this is highly abominable to God nor do I wonder he should abhor it for his Divine Majesty is Truth and Sincerity itself and therefore he must of necessity detest a substantial Lye mask'd under the appearance of a Truth Christ reproved the Pharisees for making clean the outside of the Cup and Platter while within they were full of the deadly Poison of Extortion and Excess Make clean said he the inside and thereby the outside will become clean also He also calls them whited Sepulchres which had the appearance of Vertue and Religion but within were full of Bones Worms and Rottenness as if he should have said Ye have lively Passions within while your Passions seem utterly mortified without Thus this outward Modesty while it corresponds with the inward is both Vertue and Example but if it be not proportioned to that it is but a Mantle of Snow that covers an heap of Dung the Sun of Truth comes and melts it and then it is so much the worse by how much before it appeared the better Outward Modesty is always convenient in as much as it covers Imperfections to the end that a fault may not pass on to a scandal which is the worst and the most hurtful thing in the World yet when an ill Man makes use of outward Modesty to give Credit to his Authority and to those Erroneous Practises which he inwardly favours that concealed Wickedness is a great deal worse than a manifest Crime A Wolf in Sheep's cloathing is much more dangerous to the Flock than when he appears in his own shape for so he is known both to the Dog and to the Shepherd The one does but whistle and the other presently flies at him but when he comes in a fair Disguise he is unknown to both and the poor Flock is in danger to become his Prey Every body that has Eyes may escape a Precipice but hardly any body can escape a Snare for that has a seeming shew of Security but the other visibly shews the Hazard and the Danger The Common Enemy is never more dangerous to Souls than when he tempts with pretences of Good for he that takes him for an Angel of Light and of Holiness will more easily suffer himself to be perswaded than if he saw him in the Deformity of the Devil Though the Devil was a Serpent yet some Expositors say he spoke not to our first Parents in the figure of a Serpent but cloathed himself with a beautiful Appearance for fear lest Eve seeing him so ugly should have been afraid of his approach and so not have suffered her self to be perswaded by him He took the Colours of the Forbidden Fruit which was Beautiful in shew and Poison in reality Thus the Substantial Fruit of the Holy Spirit which thou must endeavour to obtain is not only an outward Modesty for under that great Treacheries and much Hypocrisie may lye hid though of itself it be good when it is not abused but an outward and an inward Modelty coupled together as well in the actions as in the manner of doing them and in ordering all we do in such a way that the Circumstances and Substance may receive mutual Advantage from one another and may together be like a fair gilt Case and Dial-plate exactly fitted to the proportion of a well-wrought Clock whereby being preserved from Rust and Foulness and defended from those Accidents that might spoil and disorder it the motions of its Wheels are kept regular and it is not only an Ornament to the place where the Maker sets it but a needful Help and Direction to all that look upon it for the disposing of their Time and of their Affairs and thereby the worth of the Case is also improv'd as a necessary and proper means of attaining the end for which the Clock is designed but if that be taken away the Case remains an empty useless thing and though the sight of it may please Fools and Ignorant Persons who regard not though the Hand point to a wrong Hour yet those of discerning Judgments will soon perceive the want of life and motion and disregard it as a thing of a flight and inconsiderable value Of the Fruit of Chastity The Fruit of Chastity is also a more excellent and higher Vertue than that we formerly spake of for this Fruit grows out of that being the Flower of that Tree and the production of that Holy Root This is a Chastity of an Heroical degree a Chastity of Supream Magnitude 't is that which those Saints were blessed with who gave their Lives to defend it or not to lose it This is that which the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of Virgins and the prime Example of Chastity had This is that which Joseph had not only the Patriarch who was first of that Name when by his Chastity he triumphed over the wanton Lightness of his infamous Mistress choosing rather to suffer a cruel Imprisonment than to blemish it or do a Treachery to his Master but also the other Patriarch Joseph the Husband of the Blessed Virgin more Holy and more Chast than the former This is that which the great John Baptist had in losing his Life for having endeavoured to cleanse the heart of that Tyrant Herod from the Vice contrary to Chastity which cost him his Head that was sacrificed to the Revengeful Adulteress And this is that which many of the Primitive Christians valued to so high a degree that nothing could stain the whiteness of their Chastity but the Blood of their own Veins which was shed for the preservation of it This excellent Vertue may live and reign also even in Wedlock and shine brightly in holy Matrimony for Continence Temperance and Modesty in the use of Marriage is perfect Chastity sanctifying honouring and authorizing that holy Bond as St. Paul says This Fruit of the Spirit is acquir'd or to say better given by God through the Holy Spirit both to the married and unmarried to Virgins and to all those that have exercis'd themselves in keeping a clean and holy Purity both in Body and Mind And although all these Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are owing to his Infinite Bounty yet this of Chastity is so more than all the rest for if as we have said none can have that former degree of Chastity out by the Gift of God Nemo enim continens esse potest nisi Deus dederit how can any one by other means obtain this Flower of Chastity which is the Crown and Fruit of that excellent Vertue which honours and improves even Chastity itself being exercis'd in such occasions and with such Heroical Vertues as do much increase the Glory of it Nor does the dependance of this Admirable Vertue upon the Bounty of God more than others increase the difficulty of it for in my Opinion and according to my way of Understanding it
be safe look upon the danger of a Mischief with the same fear and with the same hatred that thou lookest upon the Mischief itself How wise and cautious were the Recabites who being forbidden by their fore-fathers to drink Wine would never so much as eat Raisins and why Because Raisins are made of Grapes and of those Grapes Wine and they fear'd that by eating dry Grapes they might be tempted to eat ripe Grapes and so by degrees to squeeze out the Juice to make Wine and from making Wine at last to come to the drinking of it Thus it concerns thee to be careful never to turn back from the way of God neither with thy Sight no nor with thy Hearing nor with any other of thy Senses or Faculties Walk still forward without stopping for not to go forward is to go backward If thou givest but one of thy Senses up to danger by that it will gain thy whole Soul with all its Senses Powers and Faculties David did not give up his Heart to the danger nor his Understanding Will and Memory nor his Hearing with the rest of his Senses and Faculties No no he gave only a Glance he did but look upon Bathsheba and having only allowed that nimble Sense to the hazard by it the Devil caught him and so gain'd his Understanding Will and Memory with all the rest of his Senses Powers and Faculties and triumphed a whole Year together over that poor King who afterwards did no small matter to make his escape out of that Slavery and to rescue himself by the force of Penitential Tears after the suffering of many great Afflictions To God all must be given all that thou hast without reserving any thing whatsoever for he is the Lord of all from whom thou hast received all thou hast To the Common Enemy allow not so much as the smallest share imaginable for if any thing be given him how little soever it be that may be the occasion of very great Mischiefs When Moses contended with Pharaoh about letting the Children of Israel go that Barbarous King seeing his Power contented himself with less and less in every Capitulation and came lower and lower from one demand to another only that something might remain in his possession that belonged to the People of God hoping by that means to find out an Excuse to keep them still his Captives but Resolute Moses stood firmly to his first demand and would not make him the least abatement telling him finally That there should not remain so much as a hoof of the smallest Beast that belonged to any Israelite but that all absolutely all should go out of Egypt This Example thou must follow leave nothing nothing at all to the Devil but give all all is little enough to be given to God The Tyrant contents himself with a very little at first knowing how probable it is that from such small beginnings he shall make himself Master of all at last In his first attempt he seems very modest and makes as if he thought all were too much but in the end he thinks all too little How many Cities have been lost and taken by their Enemies at the entrance of a very small Breach or of some little hole or narrow passage that has been neglected or less carefully guarded We have often seen that at some little Wicket or Cleft in a Wall where a Man could hardly put in his hand the Enemies with very little Industry have made Passages for whole Armies to enter Therefore after so many Vertues which I have set before thine Eyes I especially recommend these two Vigilance and Diligence for they are the most serviceable for the obtaining the Gift of Perseverance Consider well what it is that may separate thee from God observe it with Vigilance and fly from it with Diligence Be not negligent do not sleep for then thou wilt be encompass'd with Enemies and with that roaring Lion as St. Peter calls him who goes about seeking whom he may devour Pray still for by Prayer thou shalt obtain Perseverance That important Gift depends wholly upon God it is he that gives it to him thou must owe it and it cannot be merited in this Life though in it it may be obtained By how much the more this Gift of Perseverance depends upon God with so much the greater and the more repeated Instances oughtest thou to beg it of him and to strive to win him by fervent Love by Prayers Tears and Contrition O Father that I could but know whether or no I shall Persevere in the Spiritual Life O that I were sure that I should be so happy as never to turn back from it With what Comfort and with what Joy and Gladness should I serve God But do not desire nor search to know what thy end shall be Be careful to learn thy Duty and to perform it be careful to serve and to please God and if thou dost so hope assuredly for if thy Life be Vertuous and Pious the end of it will be Perseverance Endeavour to spend thy days in Holy and Vertuous Employments and thou mayest confidently trust in the Divine Goodness that thy Death shall be such as thy Life hath been What canst thou get by knowing what will become of thee in the other Life To presume and grow careless if they tell thee thou shalt be saved or to be discouraged and despair if they say thou shalt be damned In which desperate condition it is impossible thou shouldst be saved and in the other by Pride and Negligence thou must necessarily be damned Wilt thou have me tell thee what will become of thee and me in the other Life and whether we shall be damned or saved Then let us both observe how we live and what our Actions are in this Life for according to them it shall befal us in the other This is most certain no good Man was ever condemned nor evil Man saved while they continued to be such If thou livest well hope and trust in God that he will save thee but if ill and dost not amend thou mayest be certainly assured thou shalt be condemned All thou shalt desire to know beyond this will bring thee into great danger either of Distrust or Vanity but can no ways be profitable unto thy Soul Believe and think worthily of God for he is Goodness itself Canst thou possibly think that his Infinite Mercy will let thee perish if thou servest him Canst thou think if thou beggest of him that he will deny to Pardon thee who dost confess and adore him during thy Life He that at his Death begged Pardon for those that were Crucifying of him If thou and I do all we can to please him though we are weak though we are ungrateful what will not God who is Soveraign Goodness and Super-abundant in Mercy do for those that strive all they can to please him But on the contrary if we offend and provoke him to wrath and do neither humble our selves
nor ask Pardon what can we hope for from a Just and an Almighty Lord being offended and provoked Let us cast away and forsake our Evil and then be certain that in God we shall find nothing but Goodness and Pity Let us throw down our Arms and cast away those Weapons wherewith we have fought against him let us fall prostrate at his Feet and not be so foolish as to fight against an Omnipotent God and if we cease to sin against him Repenting and bewailing our former evil ways God who is strict severe and rigorous to the Wicked will be found gracious sweet and merciful to the Penitent It cannot be certainly known in this Life what will become of a Soul in the other but we may well conjecture and I would have thee govern thy Life by that which may probably be conjectured and not weary and distract thy self in seeking after certain Proofs of that which cannot possibly be known If I see a Man that fears God that loves and serves him that frequents the Sacrament that is constant in Prayer that often recollects himself to think of Eternity that is kind to the Poor and forward to relieve them that hears the Word of God with Humility and Delight and who if through frailty he falls sometimes presently seeks to God for Pardon with Penitent Tears humbling himself confessing his sins and flying from the occasions of them I dare be bold to conjecture and to hope nay to be well assured in the Divine Goodness that the Soul of that Man will not fail to be saved But if on the other side I see one forgetful of Eternity regardless of Heavenly things much given to the Pleasures and Honours and Riches of this World full of Vices and Passions without any remembrance of Death or Judgment Heaven or Hell making it his only business to delight and to entertain himself to eat and drink with Curiosity and Excess and that does no right to others nor will suffer any the least wrong done to himself I cannot but fear upon these grounds that he will not escape Damnation and I neither hold that to be Presumption nor this rash Judgment for that is an Holy Hope which we ought to have in the Divine Goodness and Mercy and this a Pious Doubt and Fear which is due to the Divine Justice This manner of Conjecture is taught us by the Holy Scripture and therefore it cannot be an evil thing for I see that Lazarus a poor humble Beggar that bore his Miseries with Patience was sav'd and I see the rich hard-hearted Glutton who fared deliciously and wallowed in his Vices was condemned Now how should I frame my Conjecture but by the Experience of what I have seen I see Judas despairing of God's Mercy after his Fall was condemned and St. Peter after his by weeping and repenting was saved and must I not needs gather from thence that he who distrusts God's Mercy will be condemned and he that begs it and trusts in it will be sav'd I see Saul who made no reckoning of his sins was condemned and I see David who lamented and forsook his was saved Must I not needs collect from hence that he who regards not and is not concerned for an evil Life will most probably have an evil Death and that he will have a good one who turns from his evil ways and amends them during his Life I see Covetous Cain condemned because he was Covetous and repented not himself of his Covetousness and I see Liberal Abel saved because he frankly offered to God of the Fruits of his Flock From hence I must necessarily think that he who denies or grudges to bestow part of those Goods in the Service of God which he received from him is going in the broad Path of Destruction but he that gives chearfully and bountifully to the Poor and by returning that part acknowledges that he has received all from a more Liberal Hand is going in the right and certain way to Heaven where he shall receive an hundred fold and be eternally Crowned In short I see nothing else in the Scripture but Examples of the good that are saved and of the wicked that are damned and that the Gift of final Perseverance is given by God to those at their Death who by their constant Prayers and Good Works have made it their endeavour to obtain it during the course of their Life That Prodigy of the World the good Thief who escap'd from Shipwrack at his Death upon the Plank of the Cross was an instance of the extraordinary Power of Grace and one of those strange Wonders that concurred at the Crucifying of our Saviour It was like the tremblings of the Earth and the cleavings of the Rocks like the tearing of the Vail of the Temple and the Dead breaking out of their Sepulchres to return to life like the darkning of the Sun and the disturbance of the whole Frame of Nature Amongst these and other Prodigies that great Wonder may justly be reckoned that he should die a Saint who had been a Thief during the whole course of his Life till that moment And observe that though there were many Graves that opened and many that arose from the Dead many Rocks that were cleft many Lights that were darkened and many Signs that manifested the Power and Efficacy of the Death of Christ there was but one of a Conversion at the last gasp And though the Lord Jesus had another Thief as near him to whom he might have shewed the same Mercy yet he suffered him to die in his Impenitency and to go to the Devil The very words which Jesus spake when he saved the good Thief do contain a warning that no Man may venture to delay his Repentance till his Death for he said Verily Verily I say unto thee this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise All which words seem to be full of Limitations Verily Verily I say unto thee is as it were a kind of Oath for a thing so admirable as the saving of a Man at his Death who had all his Life-time been a Thief and a wicked Person seemed to stand in need of an Oath for to make it be believed I say unto thee is added as who should say Do not believe others if they should say it is easie for those to be sav'd who delay their Repentance till their Death No that is no easie matter but I will now at this time make that easie for thee which else doth seem impossible as if he had limited that Grace then unto that Soul because it departed from his Body in the sight of his dying Saviour I say unto thee now for as for others I shall see hereafter how I shall deal with them This day that is this day of so great Mercy this day a day of so many Prodigies this day when I desire to shew how far my Grace and Mercy can extend for other days I shall refer them to my Justice and to
away that Death hastens and that thou thy self art the Theatre of thine own Tragedy I will not tell thee that Death is coming 't is already come with it thou livest with it thou eatest with it thou walkest and labourest and with it thou sleepest Now since thou sleepest with it Why doest not thou awake with it also An indisposition of thy Stomach the aking of thy Head a pain in any part of thy Body briefly all such like accidents are so many knocks that Death gives at thy Door to rouze thee to the Remembrance of it Lend but thine Ear to hearken and thou shalt hear it call upon thee in the beginning of thy sickness it begins to finish what it has been about ever since thou were born and Death makes an end of thee even in the time of thy very Life It is a powerful Enemy that allows no means to fly to make resistance or to capitulate A terrible Enemy that will neither pardon nor be perswaded nor suffer it self to be entreated nor conquered nor convinced 2. Ah yield thy self to Death before it force thee to yield and to wait upon its triumph Receive it by Meditation before it come to execution accustom thy self to the Thought of Death and that will take away the Fear of Death It is a great Morsel and will not be got down the Throat at once thou had'st need to divide it into parts by frequent consideration that thou mayest be able to swallow it the more easily The Saints by often thinking of it made their Death more tolerable and their Life more religious Their end was always present to them and by that means they made both the beginning and the middle of all their Actions holy To forget Death is a great Mischief and an evident Destruction The unwary and unprovided Soldier is already foil'd and conquer'd 3. Why are so many ruined in their Life Because they bear not in mind the Remembrance of Death Why are so many condemned after Death Because it was never present to their thoughts in the time of their Life They live as if they never were to die they die as if they were never to be judged and yet in one instant they are dead judged and condemn'd 4. Do all the Actions of thy Life as having still an eye to thy Death this will lessen the Fear of thy Account and of the Sentence which condemns to eternal death Woe be to thee if thou stayest till death to begin to live Woe be to thee if thou stayest till thy end to begin to work Woe be to thee if thou deceivest thy self with to Morrow to Morrow to Morrow and art so foolish as to think thy self sure of to Morrow No let thy delays be applied to sin and the present time to repentance to day to day to day nay instantly this very moment bewail thy offences and resolve upon amendment and say to morrow to morrow or rather never never when thou art tempted to commit a wilful Sin 5. Oh how many are now burning in Hell for being such fools as to believe that they should find a to Morrow to repent in and who neither found Repentance nor to Morrow Oh how many are now burning in Hell because they would not repent when they might and afterwards could not when they would Oh how many are there now burning in Hell who delay'd to work out their Salvation while the Light of their Day lasted and afterwards had neither light nor time being seized upon suddenly by the dark Night of Death Fools ridiculous Fools that left the Matter of greatest Importance to be done in the time of greatest Confusion Fools ridiculous Fools to give the worst of their time to the saving of their Souls which is the only Matter of Concernment and the present which is the best and the most acceptable to the damning of them To imploy their Health their Youth and their Strength in sinful Pleasures and to put off their Contrition and Amendment till they are sick and old and feeble In offending the Just the Holy and Omnipotent God they spend all the Years of their Life and to obtain Pardon can afford nothing but the Moment of their death To offend him they give all their Senses Powers and Faculties while they are quick and lively and think them good enough for repentance when they are dull sleepy and stupified They lay the heavy load of Repentance upon decrepid old Age which is not able to bear it self and waste their most active and vigorous Days in vain delights and trifles Finally they lie dead in Sins all the Years of their Life and presume they shall be able to rise to Repentance that is to lead a godly Life in the Hour of their Death 6. Suppose a tender hearted Father pitying the Ruine of a Son justly disinherited and brought to slavery by his many Rebellions should send Messengers on purpose to fetch him home from Captivity to his Favour and to his Fortune provided he return before a certain Day prefixt Suppose they inform him the Road is very dangerous especially near his Journey 's end and that the Evening will probably be very dark and tempestuous What wouldst thou think of him if instead of hastening to his Father's embraces and the plenty of his House he should be so ungrateful to his Father's kindness so forgetful of his past misery and so regardless of his future happiness as to turn into the first pleasant Meadow he spies by the way and if notwithstanding the many earnest Calls of those that were sent to bring him who tell him how the day wasts and that they cannot stay for him he should lie down and loiter out the time picking up Flowers and catching Butterflies till Night force him in the midst of stormy Winds Rains and Thunder-claps to grope for his way alone in the Dark through Bryars Bogs and Precipices where it is in a manner impossible to escape Destruction It is hard to think that any Man can possibly be so stupid and wretched or so wilfully foolish yet thou thy self art much more stupid wretched and foolish than He if deluded by the Pleasure of Sin thou delayest thy Repentance till the Night of Death for He knew the certain number of Hours in his Day but thou knowest not how few there may be in thine nor how suddenly thy Sun may set and leave thee perhaps before thy Noon exposed to a darker and a more tempestuous Passage Again He lies in the cool Shade of a pleasant Meadow but thou probably liest wallowing like a Swine in the Mire of Sensuality or basking in the Heat of Lust in spite of the Perswasions of thy Spiritual Guides that would bring thee into the Ways that are truly pleasant and into the Paths of Peace In short He by the delay of his Journey ventures but the loss of an earthly Inheritance or at the worst of a temporal Life but thou by that of thy repentance wilt loose an