so abus'd his Divine goodness and patience as to make 'em serve me for an encouragement to offend him the more boldly Thirdly of Fear lest his patience being thus abus'd and tyr'd out should turn at last to fury and punish me with so much the greater rigour for having so long in vain defer'd and restrain'd his Iustice from punishing me Fourthly of a Firm Resolution to have more respect for the future for his All-seeing Eye which continually watches over me so as never to offend him wilfully And since I can commit no fault but in his Presence to avoid all sin as much as human frailty will permit and never wilfully and deliberately offend him Certain Rules which may serve to help Scrupulous Persons in their Conduct BY reason that many persons are render'd uncapable of Praying by certain Scruples and that others are often by such Scruples depriv'd in a great measure of that benefit and comfort which they should otherwise reap by their Prayer I think it very necessary for the assisting of these Devout Souls that find themselves so crost and hinder'd in the way of Perfection to set down some Rules that may be of use to them to extricate themselves from those Scruples and to comfort and ease 'em from those troubles Neither will it be impertinent to my subject and to what I have treated of since it may serve to remove those obstacles which the Devil often makes use of to divert and diswade us from our Prayer The First Rule First 't is necessary to make choice of a Director that is both able and experienc't and one that is not himself too severe and Scrupulous The Second Rule Having made such a choice you must observe and follow his Counsel perswading and fully convinceing your self that you cannot offend God in doing what he advises for if there be any fault the blame will fall upon him that gives the advice and not upon you that follow it The Third Rule Thô it be true in General that we cannot act when we doubt whether what we are going to do be a sin yet it cannot be a certain Rule for those that are Scrupulous to conclude they have offended God because many times the trouble and great solicitude they were in by reason of their Scruples left 'em not sufficient freedom to determine themselves and to choose which side to take The Fourth Rule Generally speaking all Scrupulous persons in doubt whether they have sinn'd or no are bound to judge favorably and to hope the best especially when they are Devout persons that fear God and live regularly The Fifth Rule In the opinion of most able Divines such persons as are very Scrupulous are not bound to Confess imaginary sins that put 'em in pain unless they can with a safe Conscience swear these three things First that they have committed the sin Secondly that they have never Confest it Thirdly that 't is Mortal The Sixth Rule Scrupulous persons need not trouble themselves to make general Confessions which most commonly serve only to embroyle 'em the more and furnish new matter of Scruples The Seventh Rule They must understand that 't is not in their power to discover or know for certain whether they have made a perfect good Act of Contrition and that the uncertainty they are in as to that point is no good reason or ground to make 'em repeat and begin their Confession a new but 't is an effect of their Scruple and many times of self love secret pride and little Confidence in Gods mercy to demand and expect a certainty which God is not pleas'd to allow we should have let us but do on our part what depends upon us and we may be certain that God will do on his part all that depends upon him The Eighth Rule Since the relapse into sin makes those Scrupulous Souls very unquiet and restless they must endeavor to pacifie their minds by these reflections First that our Confessions thô never so good do not render us impeccable Secondly that when we say that the relapse ought to render our repentance suspected that must be understood to be meant of frequent relapses and of relapses into Mortal sin and if it can be extended to Venial sins 't is only to such sins as are wilfully committed and with deliberation and not to sins of frailty and surprise Thirdly that althô wittingly we fall sometimes into the same sin yet that does not argue but that we had a sincere resolution to avoid it when we Confest it last provided we do not fall into it so often nor so deliberately and that we resolve to Confess it as soon as we can and never offend God any more in that kind Fourthly that a Man may have a sincere efficacious Will never to fall into such a sin any more thô he perceive at the same time that 't is likely he may fall into it again which happens often to the most perfect so that we must distinguish well the Will to sin from the doubt we have that we may fall again for the first is inconsistent with true repentance and the second may well consist with it The Ninth Rule When Scrupulous persons go to Confession they must employ no longer time in Examining of their Conscience than what their Director advises 'em who ought always to regulate that And they must apply themselves more to make good and firm resolutions for the future than to make too long Examins The Tenth Rule All that is in our mind imagination senses or in our bodies thô never so impure cannot of it self stain our Soul 't is only that which is receiv'd into our heart that can infect the Soul so that there can be no sin unless our Will is pleas'd and consents to the thought or act and that our mind reflects upon it and besides the matter must be of some weight to make it a Mortal sin The Eleventh Rule The first motions thô ill and disorderly in themselves are not criminal unless they are follow'd by reflection and that we take delight in 'em or at least neglect to resist and repel 'em and this bare neglect very seldome amounts to a Mortal sin The Twelfth Rule We must carefully distinguish between the thinking of and the consenting to a sin and we must observe that the first thô very bad may chance not to be attended with the second for the consent renders us guilty but the thought may serve often to exercise and improve our vertue and by giving us an occasion and obligation of combat may afford us matter of Merit and Victory The Thirteenth Rule The person that lives regularly and in the fear of God thô assaulted by never so filthy and impious thoughts yet gives no occasion to 'em and never permits 'em to prevail so far as to cause any ill action ought to judge the best and rest satisfi'd that there was no consent giv'n to such thoughts 'T is the Rule that Saint Gregory gives Ita
us to our journies end Meditation discovers the dangers that encompass us and Prayer guards us very safely thrô ' em And 't was to shew us the great necessity of Meditation that this great Saint so well verst in all Spiritual concerns compos'd that admirable Book of consideration he Dedicated to Pope Engenius But not to insist upon bare Authority I will give the reasons upon which this general opinion and consent of all the Fathers is grounded which will also serve to remove all the prejudice that any well meaning Christian can have against Meditation The First Reason 'T is impossible for us to be sav'd without knowing God neither is a slight superficial knowledge of him sufficient but so lively and penetrating a knowledge as is full of such affections as may imprint in our Souls a great Idea of that blessed and first Being for we cannot be sav'd but by serving God we cannot serve him any other way than by loving him and by loving him with all our heart we cannot love him with all our heart unless we have a great esteem of him and we cannot conceive that high esteem of him unless we have a knowledge in some good measure of his blessed and infinite perfections and how is it possible to acquire and compass that knowledge without attentively considering 'em by a serious Meditation Wherefore 't is for this reason Almighty God tells us by the Mouth of his Prophet Vacate videte quoniam ego sum Deus Retire your self a while from the World and the hurry of Worldly business to consider at leisure and to reflect seriously that I am your God that you owe to my bounty all that you have and all that you are and therefore you are oblig'd to acknowledge at all times that I am your Matter that I have an absolute Dominion over you and that you have a continual dependance upon me and therefore ought to have a perfect submission to my Will Vacate videte quoniam ego sum Deus Alas we cannot well comprehend even the least and most common works of nature nor their dependance upon their causes thô they fall within the reach of our senses which are the best helps we have to understand 'em how then shall we be able to know God and his perfections that are so infinitely rais'd above our senses and understanding How can we ever conceive any true Idea of 'em without endeavoring all we can to penetrate 'em by a frequent and most serious Meditation How comes it to pass that we serve God so little and so very ill as we do But because we do not love him as we should do And why do we not love that infinite goodness But because we do not know him as we ought Pater Sancte says our Savior Mandus te non cognovit Blessed Father the World knows you not and therefore they serve you so coldly as they do and are so ready to offend you Infine what other reason can there be that God is not better known by us but only that we do not apply our minds to Meditate and consider his infinite Majesty Goodness and Perfections The source of all the sins and disorders in the World says the Prophet Osee is because truth and the knowledge of Almighty God are withdrawn from the face of the Earth Non est veritas non est scientia Dei in terra The Second Reason But 't is not enough to know Almighty God we must also endeavor to know our selves intimately wherefore Saint Austin made it his continual Prayer Noverim me noverim te Grant good God that I may know my self that I may the better know you That I may know my self whereby to have humble thoughts of my self and dislike my own imperfections and that I may know you whereby I may esteem and love you above all things And in truth if we intend to apply our selves efficaciously to work our own Salvation we must endeavor to discover the root of that corruption and those bad inclinations that are in our Souls in order to humble and render us mistrustful of our selves and make us continually watch and labor to suppress ' em We must believe that of our selves we can do no good that we may not trust to our own strength but have continual recourse to Almighty God and rely wholly upon the assistance of his Divine Grace We must find out that passion that most tyrannises over us that we may resist it and labor to overcome it Infine we must be sensible of our infidelities and ingratitude towards God and must sigh and be sorry for 'em that by our grief we may make some satisfaction and by our Tears of true repentance wash and cleanse our Souls from these spots This is that knowledge of our selves so necessary for our Salvation for the acquiring of which we must apply our selves without intermission And can you think it possible to attain it without often reflecting and sounding your own heart to find whither in those depths where as I may say we cover and hide our selves from our selves there do's not still lurk an Enemy 'T is for want of Meditation and these reflections that a great part of the World live in a perpetual ignorance of themselves know nothing less than what passes in their own hearts and to speak properly are the greatest strangers at home The Third Reason To work our own Salvation we must know our Duty towards God and those obligations which are contain'd in his Holy Laws and Commandments for we cannot observe 'em without knowing 'em and to observe 'em exactly as we â—ought we must have an exact knowledge of ' em But is there or can there be any means to know them perfectly without often studying and thinking of ' em After God had deliver'd his Commandments to the Children of Israel he immediatly adds in the Sixth Chapter of Deuteronomy These words which I Command thee this Day shall always be in thy heart thou shalt tell 'em to thy Children thou shalt Meditate upon 'em sitting in thy House and walking upon the Way going to Sleep and Rising thou shalt bind 'em as a memorial upon thy hand and shalt have 'em always before thy Eyes thou shalt Write 'em in the Entry and upon the Doors of thy House could Almighty God recommend to us the continual Meditation of his Commandments and make us comprehend the great necessity of it in any more express or moving terms than these are The Prophet David that Man according to Gods own Heart recommends nothing so earnestly as the continual Meditation upon the Law of God and begins his admirable Book of the Psalms with Blessed is the Man that Meditates Day and Night upon thy Law he shall be like a Tree planted by the River side that shall bear fruit in its season and in the 118th Psalm Blessed are the Immaculate that walk in the way of Gods Commandments and seek him with all their hearts Practising
deserves to have so precious a Life consum'd to his honor Which Act may be exprest in the following terms which each one according to their Devotion may shorten or lengthen as their leisure shall permit FAITH 2. O My God I acknowledge and confess that thou art my Soveraign Lord who hast all right and power absolutely to dispose of my Life and Death nay even to destroy and annihilate my very Being and art not at all oblig'd to consider therein my inclinations or any way sweeten my losses I am the work of thy hands I subsist not but by thee and I am not but for thee I have nothing either of Body or Soul which proceeds not from thy greatness and depends not on thy goodness and ought not to be intirely Consecrated to thy Glory and Service OBLATION 2. IN acknowledgment therefore of this Soveraignty and the dependance I have upon thee my Lord and God behold I here present my self before thy Altar as a Victim wholly prepar'd to be Immolated and consum'd as an Holocaust if so thou pleasest O my God I protest before Heaven and Earth that I am not only contented but shall esteem it as a favor to lay down at thy Feet this Life and Being I have receiv'd from thy hands in Testimony that I proceed from and depend on thee The SVPPLEMENT 3. BVT seeing that on the one side thou wilt not that I actually destroy my Life upon thy Altars and on the other side thô my Life should be wholly spent and evaporated as an Holocaust before thy Divine Majesty this would not be sufficient to render any Homage worthy of thy excellencies therefore to supply this defect I present to thee O great God! The Life of thy Son and substitute it in place of mine I offer to thee the very same Homage he here to fore rendr'd thee upon the Cross by his bloody Sacrifice and which by this un-bloody Sacrifice he even to Day Exhibits to thee both upon this and upon all the Altars of the World by his Mystical Immolation For he has wholly giv'n himself to us to be our Victim and will have us to supply by his Homage what is wanting in ours Therefore seeing the Oblation of my Life would be too little to satisfie my obligation in rendring all Homage suitable to the eminency of thy Power and Dominion In supply thereof receive I beseech thee as a Testimony of my submission and acknowledgment of thy Soveraignty the Life of my Savior Jesus which I Immolate to thee together with all the Priests who this Day Celebrate protesting that thy Infinite Majesty truly deserves that so precious a Life has been and should be again in a manner consum'd to its honor The Second End To give thanks to God 1. MAke first an Act of Faith acknowledging that all the benefits graces and favors which you enjoy are pour'd down upon you by the pure liberality and mercy of God 2. That you may exhibite some kind of gratitude and requital Present to him such Acts as are included in a perfect thanksgiving these are First to set a high value upon his benefits Secondly to publish them Thirdly to resolve reciprocally to procure him all the good you can by seeking his honor and glory and obeying him in all things 3. Seeing that in this acknowledgment there is still too great unworthiness to counterpoise his Divine favors bestow'd upon you which are of an infinite value supply what is wanting out of the Treasures of the Son of God offering to his Father the thanksgiving which this great Savior once rendr'd him in his own Name and yours upon the Cross and still presents upon all the Altars throughout the whole World which you may express after the following manner shorter or longer as your leisure will permit or your Devotion shall suggest FAITH 1. O Inexhaustible Source of liberality I believe and confess that whatsoever I have of Being what Power Life Grace or other Goods either of Body or Soul I Possess I have receiv'd 'em all from thy pure Mercy Nor did any Merits of mine but purely thy own Love and Goodness move thee to heap upon me so many benefits that 't is impossible for me to number ' em This truth I here come to acknowledge in the Presence of Heaven and Earth protesting before this Altar that I have receiv'd from thy liberality such an infinity of Graces and Favors as I am not able even to conceive much less express OBLATION 2. BVT desirous not to be ungrateful or backward in offering what requital or return my Poverty is able to make admit and accept I beseech thee O my Soveraign Benefactor ◠My Heart replenish't with all possible sentiments of gratitude and thanksgiving for what I owe thee Certainly if to acknowledge a benefit worthily one must first of all testifie a great esteem of it I assure thee O my God! That all the goods wherewith thou hast been pleas'd to honor me are in my esteem of an infinite value because they come to me from thy All-Powerful Hand as effects of thy Infinite Love and Goodness and because thou hast bestow'd 'em on a person who is infinitely unworthy of ' em And secondly if it be requisite to publish it it being a kind of ingratitude to render only secret thanks behold me here in this publick place expos'd to the view of Men and Angels for no other end than to publish to the whole World those many favors thou hast bestow'd upon me O Infinite Goodness I desire that all should understand that thou hast heapt upon me such benefits and favors as are not only beyond what I am able to express but even exceed what I am able to conceive wherefore I desire that all the World may know that thou hast intirely gain'd my heart by this thy eminent liberality and therefore upon this account I present my self as a Donary to hang at thy Altar as a Sign and Memorial to the whole World of the innumerable obligations I have to thee promising thee moreover to publish thy bounties and favors as far as I am or shall be able In fine if a due acknowledgment requires a reciprocal return receive O great God! In requital of the good Will thou hast ever had towards me the Solemn protestation which I here make of intirely employing my self henceforward to render thee all the services thou shalt desire of me and to procure thee all the good I am able by seeking thy greater honor and glory and obeying thy Commands in all things The SVPPLEMENT 3. BVT knowing that thô my Heart and all my Being should melt away and be totally consum'd in these affections of thanksgiving yet I could not thereby sufficiently acknowledge thy Immense favors therefore to supply what is wanting to my Act of thanksgiving I present thee with that which thy Son has heretofore presented to thee for these very favors which thou hast been pleas'd to impart to me I present to
thee the esteem which he had of 'em the publication which he made of 'em and the Oblation of his Life which he made to thee on the Cross for 'em and which he still at this present offers to thee upon all the Altars of the World in return of all these thy bounties to me He has made us Hâ—â—irs of all his Actions and consequently of his thanksgivings wherefore supplying the defects of my gratitude with his receive I beseech thee O my God! The acknowledgments he rendr'd to thee upon Mount Calvary and which he continually renders thee in all thy Churches for all the benefits and favors wherewith thy Mercies and Goodness has oblig'd me The Third End To Yield Satisfaction to God 1. BY an Act of Faith acknowledging your self a a Sinner and liable to the Divine Iustice for a multitude of Offences which you have committed against his Divine Majesty 2. Shew your self to be sorry for 'em and offer him all the pains molestations afflictions dolors misfortunes incommodities desolations and necessities which you suffer either of Body or Mind in the discharge of all your duties protesting that you do and will embrace 'em and bear 'em patiently 3. Seeing evidently that this payment you offer is not correspondent nor equal to your debts therefore in supply thereof offer out of the Treasures of the Son of God all the pains and dolors which he suffer'd in his Life and upon the Cross which he had depos'd in the Sacrifice of Mass to be apply'd to you if you will accept'em Which you may express in these or the like terms FAITH 1. O My God I acknowledge and confess that I have greatly offended thy Infinite Majesty and that by my innumerable sins I have truly Merited that thy Divine Iustice should inflict upon me all its rigours and chastisements I acknowledge that thou hast all right to punish and take vengeance upon my past excesses And 't is in reguard of this right that I here render and prostrate my self before thy Throne of Iustice to make all possible Satisfaction I am able to perform OBLATION 2. WHerefore I here offer to thee all the grief and sorrow of Heart which I feel at present thrô the remembrance of the many and innumerable sins whereby I have so ungratefully contristated thy Divine Goodness I am extreamly sorry for having displeas'd thee and would rather that I had lost a thousand Lives than once in the least have offended thee and together with this grief I offer thee all the infirmities wearisomnesles afflictions dolors labors pains calamities and miseries which I do or shall suffer in this World by what way or by what hand soever thy Providence shall please to send ' em O my God! Seeing that thy Iustice for its own Satisfaction and in defence of its just rights requires these chastisements of me behold here my Body my Soul my Goods both exterior and interior all which I intirely lay down at thy Sacred Feet and give 'em up into thy just revenging Hands protesting that I will accept and bear patiently all the incommodities losles pains and afflictions whatsoever that shall befal me out of that irrevocable Will I have to satisfie in some sort the many and great debts I owe thee The SVPPLEMENT 3. BVT all this being not yet sufficient intirely to satisfie for my Crimes they having Merited infinite pains to supply what is wanting to my payment I present thee all the sufferings of my Savior Jesus Christ whereof he has made me his Heir In the Old Law thou ordainedst that the Children of Israel after having sinn'd should in place of their own persons substitute a Victim whereon they should lay their Crimes and infine offer it to thee to receive the scourges of thy wrath which they themselves deserv'd and ought to have felt Behold I likewise substitute here a Victim in my place upon which I do not desire thou should'st discharge afresh the scourges of thy anger for he has long since suffer'd them all which I beseech thee to call to thy remembrance and in consideration thereof mitigate and appease that just wrath thou hast conceiv'd against me This Victim is no other than thy only and dearly beloved Son whose sufferings were far more rigorous than thy justice requir'd for all the sins of the whole World Seeing therefore he has done us the favor to depose 'em in the Sacrifice of the Mass to be thereby apply'd to us be pleas'd O my God! That I discharge all my debts out of these liberalities he at this present sends me from all the Altars of the whole World and which joyntly with him I present to thee Accept all the pains and dolors of his Passion and Bloody Sacrifice to supply those I am still oblig'd to pay Wherefore assisting really at this unbloody Sacrifice which is a Memorial of his Passion and of that un-bloody Sacrifie he offer'd upon the Altar of the Cross and rendring my self present in Spirit at all other Masles which are this Day sayd throughout the whole World I offer 'em all to thy Divine Iustice in Satisfaction for all my sins and all the sins of those Souls which suffer and languish in Purgatory The Fourth End Impetration or the Obtaining what we Ask 1. WE must on the one side acknowledge the inexhaustible riches of God and on the other our extream poverty for we have nothing and stand in need of all things 2. Prest with our necessities we must approach the Gates of our most rich and liberal God and present our Petitions to him with a most profound humility 3. Considering that all our Prayers and instances are not able or sufficient to move or oblige him to bestow his Treasures upon us we wanting such Merits as may give us Credit with him let us to supply our own unworthiness offer all the Merits and Credit which our Savior gain'd by the Sacrifice he offer'd upon the Altar of the Cross which he has giv'n us and apply'd to the un-bloody Sacrifie of the Altar to be thereby Communicated to us FAITH 1. O My God! Behold me here a poor wretch a most miserable Slave in extream necessity prostrate at thy Feet of whose riches I can be no more ignorant than I am of my own Poverty I must Confess the truth that I have nothing and that thou hast all things in abundance and therefore 't is from thee alone that I can hope for any relief OBLATION 2. WHerefore behold I here place my self at the Gates of thy Mercy humbly beseeching thee to have pitty on the most miserable Creature under Heaven Alas O God of all bounty Behold and succor my necessities and incline thine Ears to the earnest Prayers I presume to offer and address unto thee Ah! my God full of Riches and Compassion give me the Grace of a perfect Contrition of Heart which may wash away all the spots of my sins Restore me to thy gracious favor if by misfortuen and