please our Lord to receive him in this manner and that you loose innumerable favours by this your so signally cold reception of him Consider how ill this corresponds with that pressing and ardent love with which he invites you to this Feast and with that earnest desire he hath to receive you there saying to you now what formerly he did to his Disciples Luc. 22.15 I have most earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you Thus when he invites a Soul unto him he doth not only require that she appear in his presence but he expects that she should make him to hear and understand her voice Come says he Cant. 2.14 my dear and well beloved Soul shew me thy face let me hear thy voice for thy voice is sweet and charming as thy countenance is beautifull and comely By the face he gives us to understand the beauty of the Soul which consists in Sanctifying grace and the Ornaments of the Virtues and by the Voice he points at the acts of these same Virtues which make a confort and harmony most pleasing and agreeable in the sight of God. ARTICLE III. The practice of the Act of Faith for the Communion LEt us now come to the practice of these excellent Virtues and see how they must be employed in the Holy Communion To perform them right we must be well instructed and fully convinced of the truths of this divine Mystery which we have explain'd above Amongst these verities there are three upon which one may practice with much benefit the acts of Faith viz. 1. The real presence of the Son of the God in the Eucharist 2. The Wonders which God works in this Holy Mystery 3. The effects which he produceth in his Soul who worthily receives Exercise your Faith upon these three points when you communicate but see that they be acts of a stedfast and fervent faith and for the easier performance of them ponder and detain your self upon the two first before Communion and entertain your thoughts upon the third which are the effects after Communion in the following manner An Act of Faith upon the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament MY Saviour Jesus Christ I firmly believe and from the bottom of my heart I hold that thou art truly present in the Sacred Host I believe that it contains thy Body and thy precious Blood accompany'd with thy Soul and thy Divinity I believe that by vertue of the words of Consecration and in the moment they are pronounced the Bread is changed into thy Body and the Wine into thy Blood. I believe this truth upon the assurance of thy holy words and upon the authority of thy holy Church which thus teaches me to believe I believe it firmly and freely without any hesitation renouncing with all my heart all doubts which may ever come into my mind concerning this Subject Mar. 9.23 Credo Domine adjuva incredulitatem meam Yes my God I believe it assist my incredulity by thy grace and augment in my heart thy faith Luc. 17.5 Domine adauge nobis fidem believing thus I adore thee in this blessed Sacrament from the bottom of my Soul I acknowledge thee for my Lord and for my God as St. Thomas did Jo. 20.28 Dominus meus Deus meus Vpon the Wonders which occur in the Blessed Sacrament MY Lord and my God I acknowledge all the mighty things which thou hast wrought in this Holy Mystery grant me I beseech thee grace to understand them for they far exceed the capacity of my Soul. Psal 105.2 Quis loquitur potentias Domini auditas fafiet omnes laudes ejus Who is he O my God who can recount thy wonders and duly proclaim thy praises I know by faith and I acknowledge that thou art really in the Sacred Host without departing from Heaven where thou art seated on the right hand of thy Eternal Father That thou art in innumerable places in the same instant and in as many as there are Consecrated Hosts That the substance of Bread and Wine is changed into that of thy body and thy blood That of Bread and Wine there remains only the accidents which subsist without their substance which supported them before and that now thou dost miraculously conserve them as before That thy Body is in that Host without taking up any place and that it is whole in the whole Host and whole in every part thereof That it is as whole and entire under the least part as under the greatest Host That when the Host is broken thy body is not divided but that it remains entire in each part of the Consecrated Host That when the Host is consummated thy Body is not consumed but only ceases to be where it was before That the good and bad equally receive thee as to the reality but unequally only as to the effect the one finding life therein the other death O my Saviour I acknowledge all these great truths I firmly believe all these wonders I adore thy power which hath wrought them I praise thy infinite goodness that was pleased to prepare them for me and I say from the bottom of my heart with David Psal 9. Confitebor tibi Domini in toto Corde meo Narrabo omnia mirabilia tua Latabor exultabo in te psallam nomini tuo altissime My God I will praise thee with my whole Heart and I will recount all thy admirable works I will rejoyce in thee and I will bless thy holy name I acknowledg that thou hast really fullfilled in this mystery the Prophecy of David Psa 110.4 wherein he said that as an especiall effect of thy mercy thou hast made an abridgment and memoriall of thy wonders in bestowing food upon those who fear thee In this faith and with this acknowledgment I make bold to approach at present to this adorable banquet where thou bestowest upon me this divine food of thy Body and Blood that thou mayst fill me with thy self and thy divine Spirit O Jesus grant that I may approach unto thee with the sense of the respect and humility which is due to thy infinite Majesty who am I O my God that thou shouldst work such great wonders for my sake vouchsafe at least that I be not unworthy of them and that at present I may receive thee with a pure heart with a clear conscience and with a sincere and true faith Pardon me my Sins which have rendered me most unworthy to approach unto thee I detest them from the bottom of my heart because O my God they are displeasing to thee I here renounce them for the future and I promise to be faithfull to thee Proceed then my soul raise thy self up to go and receive thy God and to receive at his hands all the favours which he hath prepared for thee in this divine Sacrament Convertere anima mea Psa 114.7 in requiem tuam quia Dominus bene fecit tibi Vpon the Effects which the Holy Eucharist is capable to
Damasus Epi. 57. that he was resolved never to depart from him but inseparably to unite himself unto him as to one who held the Chair of St. Peter upon which says he I know that the Church is built Adding that the Church thus built is the only house where it is lawfull to Eat the Paschal Lamb the Ark of Noah out of which during the Flood none were saved he that doth not gather with the Pope scattereth that is he who is not united to Jesus Christ doth associate himself with Anti-Christ Fifthly we are also obliged to believe that this true Church is Infallible in her judgments in matters of Faith and Doctrine concerning manners whether she be or be not assembled in the persons of her Pastours and Head viz. the Pope and Bishops she holds universally one and the same Doctrine This is also an Article of Faith grounded upon the word of the Son of God who hath promised that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against her his Church from whence it follows that she never either fell or ever shall fall into the least error in points of faith she being as the Apostle affirms the Pillar and ground of truth But we have already prov'd this truth above in the first Article Now from all what we have said both in the first Article and in the present question it follows that we must conclude and hold this for a certain and infallible truth that all saithfull Christians whosoever desire to be assured in points of faith and sound Doctrine concerning Manners and to avoid error in a matter of so great concern must of necessity adhere and stick close solely inseperably to the Holy Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church and hear and follow her Judgment and Doctrine in all things ARTICLE IV. What are we obliged to believe concerning the Sacraments I Believe the Remission of Sins We are obliged to believe what the Church hath always taught concerning the Sacraments viz. First that they are the means instituted by God thereby either to confer his Grace upon us or to augment what we have already received or to restore what we had lost as it is expressed in the Councill of Trent Sess 7. Proaem Secondly that a Sacrament may be rightly defined in this manner a Visible signe of invisible grace instituted by God for our sanctification 3. That this Visible sign consists and is as it were composed of two parts viz. the sensible thing which is applyed in the Sacrament as water in Baptism and the words which are pronounced as in the same Beptism these words I baptize thee c. according to that received doctrine delivered by St. Augustin Accedit verbum ad Elementum fit Sacramentum By the joyning of the words with the Element or Material thing the Sacrament becomes compleat One of these two parts is called the matter the other the form of the Sacrament 4. That the Sacrament being applyed by a lawfull Minister either gives or augments Sanctifying Grace in the Soul of the worthy receiver 5. That there are Seven Sacraments viz. Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Penance Extreme Unction Order Matrimony Baptism makes us the Children of Jesus Christ Washing us from the Stains of Original sin and enlivening our Soul with the Life of Grace whence St. Paul calls Baptism Tit. 3.5 the laver of regeneration and the renovation of the Holy Ghost Confirmation strengthens us and conserves and confirms us in the faith we received in Baptism The Holy Eucharist is the nourishment of the Soul for as by Meat and Drink our decayed Spirits are revived so by the use of the Blessed Sacrament those damages which Charity dayly suffers from humane frailty are repaired Penance restores us to the Grace of God which we had lost by sin Extreme Unction gives us strength at the hour of death that we may be the better able to fight against our Ghostly Enemy in that last Moment upon which Eternily depends it is a remedy against Spirituall weakness contracted by our former Sins Order consecrates the Ministers of Christ and gives them power to conferr the Sacraments Matrimony sanctifies the contract betwixt man and woman and gives them grace to comply with the obligations which they draw upon themselves by that indissoluble Bond instituted by God for the propagation of Mankind and raised to the dignity of a Sacrament by our Saviour Christ Altho' all or every one of the Sacraments do cause sanctifying grace yet they do not every one produce it in the same manner for there are two viz. Baptism and Penance instituted for the remission of Sins which conferr it upon those whom they find void of grace from whence it is that they are called the Sacraments of the dead that is to say of those who are dead in the sight of God in the state of Mortal Sin whom they raise up from that death to the life of grace whereas all the rest are called the Sacraments of the living in as much as they encrease the grace they find precedently in the Soul and to receive any one of these worthily it is necessary that we be in the state of grace The Soul by each Sacrament is not only sanctified by habitual but also endowed with actual grace that is with a vigour and strength towards the compassing of those particular effects for which it was first instituted and ordained Moreover there are three which imprint a character in the Soul Baptism Confirmation and Order this Character is a Spiritual Mark or Seal which God makes in his Soul who receives any of these three Sacraments which impression because it can never be rased out none of these three Sacraments can be reiterated or received the second time by the same Person without a Sacrilege CHAP. III. Of the Holy Eucharist ALL what we have said hitherto whether of Faith in general or in particular of the Divinity it self of the Incarnation of the Son of God of the Holy Church and of the Sacraments serve only as so many steps or dispositions to the belief of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and to render the understanding of this adorable Mystery more easy to us which therefore we shall here endeavour to explain as brief and short as possibly we may I shall reduce all whatsoever we are obliged to know concerning it into four heads 1. The real prefence of the Son of God in the Sacrament 2. The Wonders inseparably annext unto it 3. The effects which it is capable to produce 4. The dispositions necessary to receive it ARTICLE I. Of the real presence of the Son of God in the Holy Eucharist and of what we are to believe concerning this Sacrament WE are obliged to believe that it is a Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ wherein he gives us really and truly his Body and Blood under the species or exteriour appearance of Bread and Wine for our Spiritual nourishment and refection There is not any one particle of this general
change sin alone it was sin alone that God could not endure in his most perfect Creatures The Heavens as Job saith are not pure in his presence and he hath found disorder even in the Angells Job 15. He found sin in Heaven and in the Angells themselves and he hath not pardoned them as St. Peter saith but hath chained them in Hell to be there Tormented and thereby to manifest unto all creatures the hatred he bears to Sin. 2 Pet. 2. If Sin was so dreadfull to the Angels in Heaven it hath not been less Terrible to men upon earth if it was able to banish them so quickly there it hath not been less effectual or less speedy in Shutting the Gates of Heaven against us here It was when the first man who being created in the grace of God after he had received all possible assurance of his Friendship both as to this world and to the next forgetfull of his duty and of himself treacherously conspired with his Capital Enemy and broke the Commandments of God in eating the forbidden fruit He had no sooner fall'n into this offence but the Anger God appeared against him and banished him with scorn out of the Earthly Paradise that Garden of delight where but a while before he had been placed with so much love Both he and all his posterity were condemned to labour death and all the miseries we even now groan under for that first transgression of the Law of God. But that which is yet more terrible is that the Gates of Heaven which till then were open were immediately shut as well against himself as against all his posterity without the least hopes of his ever being able to re-enter those happy mansions by any means he either of himself or any of his off-spring of themselves could use O sin how dreadfull art thou and what a train of misfortues dost thou bring after thee This misery and desolation continued four thousand years and more during which time no man ever entred into heaven not even the just themselves and those who dyed in the Grace of God untill the coming of the Son of God into the world who by his Death opened the Gates of Heaven so long shut During that time how many millions of souls were excluded for ever and without recovery from that celestiall inheritance This happened to all those who in that compass of time died in their Sins and without doing penance for them But after the way was open to heaven by the Merits of Jesus Christ how many are there still that enter not at all Hell is filled dayly with millions and Paradice continues in comparison like a desert Why so It is an effect of sin alone and impenitence O how well did the Wise man say it is sin which makes men miserable Miseros facit populos peccatum Prov. 14. Is it possible Theotime that you should run so slightly over these fatal and horrible effects of sin that they should not move you in the least I might here recount the innumerable miseries the continual and dayly effects of Sin Death which it hath introduced from the beginning barrenness of the Earth Rebellion of living creatures the deluge which drowned the world near two thousand years after the Creation Plagues and Pestilence war and famine and all the Miseries as well publick as private which we see and dayly feel are so many unfortunate effects of Sin whether of that of our first parent or of those which men continually commit For as the wise man saith Fire hail famine are made to revenge Sin. Eccl. 39. But I shall pass by all these evils altho' most dreadfull and horrible to come to others infinitely greater and more terrible whereof those are but the fore runners according to that infallible Testimony of the Son of God. Haec omnia initia sunt dolorum Mar. 13. all these miseries says he are but the beginnings of others far greater ARTICLE III. Of the effects of Sin in Hell. LEt us sink down into the Pit of Hell that so we may conceive a more lively apprehension of the enormity of Mortal Sin we shall there see the frightfull evills which this Monster hath produced and by the vastness of so many dreadfull effects frame a judgment of the malice of that cause which hath brought them forth and we shall there learn two things the first to detest Sin the author of so many evils The Second to conceive a wholesome fear of falling into that abiss of misery into which man is thrown by Sin. That which St Bernard said being most certain It is necessary we descend into Hell alive that is think seriously and often on it That we may escape falling into it at the hour of death Consider then Theotime attentively what Faith teacheth us concerning Hell that it is an Eternal fire which God hath prepared for the Devil and his Apostate Angels and with which he hath also decreed to punish the Sins of men who follow the rebellious example of those Ambitious Spirits This we learn from that terrible Sentence which the Son of God shall pronounce at the day of judgment against the wicked Go ye accursed into Everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Mat. 25. A dreadfull sentence which contains no more then four words but in those four words it comprehends Hell intirely and all the evils which compose it First it teacheth us that the fame punishment which is prepared for the Devils is also appointed for men and that they shall be Companions of those wicked and damned Spirits as they were their followers in their rebellion against God and by this we may see what Mortall sin is which renders us obnoxious to the same punishment and damnation with the Devils Ponder this well Theotime and behold what it is to be damned together with the Devils and as the Devils are damned and how great that offence must necessarily be which deserves a punishment equal to that with which the Devils are tormented But what will that punishment be I confess we are not able to comprehend but the Son of God by his infinite wisdom hath summ'd it up in four words that we may more easily conceive it Words which contain all the horror of Hell Go says he ye accursed into Everlasting fire Mat. 25. By these words are denoted the Separation from God the curse of God Fire and Eternity Behold in four words what Hell is behold the punishment of Mortal Sin To be separated from God to be accursed of God to be condemned to fire and that for ever Who can think of these things and not tremble with fear and horror Stay some time here Theotime this is not a subject to be read in hast revive these thoughts often and pause a while upon each of these frightfull punishments To be separated from God the Author and Fountain of all good whose only aspect gives a blessing to all Creatures and who no sooner turns away his face
were strictly united in the person of the Son of God. So that continuing what he was that is God he became what he was not viz. Man as St. Leo Sermone de Nativ Dom. expresses himself Manens quod erat assumpserat quod non erat Quest IV. How was this Divine Vnion accomplished WHen the fulness of time was come that God had decreed to send his Son for the redemption of Mankind he dismis'd from Heaven an Angell Messenger to the Blessed Virgin whom above all others he had chosen and in whom he had ordain'd this adorable mystery should be perform'd to declare unto her it was his will that she should be the temporall Mother of the Son of God. She had no sooner yielded and concurr'd with her consent to the accomplishing of the will of God thus manifested unto her but the Almighty power frames in her Virginal womb an humane body out of her purest blood creating in the same instant a rationall Soul to animate and inform it and in that same moment the Word who from all eternity terminates the Divinity began in time to terminate the Humanity of our Lord Uniting in his Person the two divine humane Natures And thus was fulfill'd that divine truth recorded by St. John Verbum caro factum est The word was made Flesh The Blessed Virgin having thus conceived the Son of God by the speciall work of the Holy Ghost at the end of nine months she brings him forth into the world nourishes maintains and breeds him up as other mothers use to do their Children and the Son of God lived with her thus unknown to the world untill the age of thirty years thenceforward only he began to manifest himself and to commence the work of our redemption for which he came Quest V. What is it that the Son of God hath done for our Redemption HE did four principall things first he preached publickly his Gospell during the space of three years and some months confirming the truth of his Doctrine his Mission and his Divinity by an infinite number of miracles Secondly he Suffer'd under Pontius Pilate a most bitter Passion and death upon the Cross upon which he offer'd himself a Sacrifice in satisfaction to the divine Justice for the Sins of all mankind and recompensation for the infinite injury which thereby was done to the divine Majesty Goodness and by this means to open the gates of Everlasting life for man to enter which till that time were shut against both Adam and all his Posterity Having performed this duty the third day he rose again from the dead and after that by frequent apparitions he had proved the truth of his Resurrection for the space of forty days he Ascended glorious and triumphant into Heaven from whence at the end of the World he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead all men according to their merits who for that end shall be raised from death to life and appear before him never more to die but receive either an Eternal Reward for their good or everlasting Punishment for their evil works Thirdly he establish'd and confirm'd his Church consisting of almost innumerable men Pastors and their Flock who should believe in him and continue in an uninterrupted Succession to the end of the world which Church Act. 20.28 he purchased with his blood Fourthly he instituted the Sacraments as the means to convey unto us the merits of his Passion and as so many pretious Vessels wherein is preserved the price of that adorable blood which he hath so abundantly shed for us to the end it might be applied unto us according as the necessity of our Salvation should require And for as much as these two last heads require a larger Explication we shall treat of them here in two distinct Articles ARTICLE III. What are we oblig'd to believe concerning the Church I Believe the Holy Catholique Church the Communion of Saints We must first believe that it is the Mysticall Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head or a Congregation of the Faithfull holding the same Doctrin or Faith which he taught using the same Sacraments which he instituted living under the conduct of the Apostles and succeeding Pastours and acknowledging the same visible Head the Vicar of Jesus Christ the Chief Bishop and true Successor of St. Peter Secondly that there is but one Church as there is but one God one Faith one Baptism as St. Paul Ephes 4.4 saith unum corpus unus Spiritus unus Dominus una Fides unum Baptisma unus Deus Pater omnium He that doth not conserve this Vnion saith St. Cyprian de unitat Eccles how can he believe that he hath Faith he who opposes and resists the Church who abandons the Chair of St. Peter upon which the Church is built how can he hope that he is in the Church since the blessed Apostle teacheth this same thing and shewing the sacred tye of Vnity affirming that there is but one body that is the Church as there is but one Spirit who governs it Thirdly that this is that only Church which acknowledgeth the Pope for her visible head whom Jesus Christ hath appointed to govern her and to be the source and Center of her Unity here on Earth which made St. Cyprian say ibid. that Heresies and Schisms spring from hence that some will not acknowledge in the Church one whom Jesus Christ constituted head over the rest in those words which he spoke to St. Peter Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give to thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and in another place feed my Sheep Vpon one man continues St. Cyprian Ibid. he builds his Church and gives him charge to feed his Flock And although he bestow'd an equal authority upon the Apostles as far as concerns the remission of Sins Yet that the Vnity of the Church might more clearly appear he hath ordain'd one Chair and it was his will that the Vnity take its Original and beginning from one man and a little after he saith that the Primacy was given to St. Peter to shew that the Church of Christ and the Chair was one St. Hierome L. 1. in Jovinian says the same thing viz. That St. Peter was preferred before the other Apostles to be the head of the Church to the end that the head being one all occasion of division in the Church might be removed Fourthly we are obliged to believe that there is no Salvation for any one out of this one true Church It is an Article of Faith which hath been held constantly in the Church this having always been an unquestion'd and current Maxim that he who will not have the Church for his Mother shall not have God for his Father Which was the reason why St. Hierome finding himself in the East where there was some division upon this Subject the names of the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity writ to Pope
our Saviour Jesus Christ But Alas the contrary is too true and this crime tho' a thousand times greater yet is much more common amongst Christians then that of Paricide They have an horror and with good reason to deprive those of breath from whom they receiv'd their life yet they are not apprehensive to Murder and Crucifie again as much as in them lies our Saviour Christ by receiving him into an impure perfidious Breast Nature hath imprinted in them a profound and lasting respect for those from whom they have received only a Mortal and fading life But they easily forget the Reverence they owe to Jesus Christ notwithstanding he nourisheth them with his own substance his pretious Blood and offers them by his presence a Spiritual and immortal and a pledge of everlasting life O God Theotime is it possible then that there should be found Souls capable of so black a deed so horrible a Crime Surely they are only those who either have no Faith or such as have never considered the enormity of the Sin who can commit it for he must surpass the very Devils in malice who falls into such a Sin if he have but the least knowledge how grievous and great it is and what dreadfull consequences do follow from it Two points I therefore design to discourse of in this place I will set forth the enormity of this Sin from three heads 1. From that remarkable saying of our Lord himself Mat. 7.6 Do not give that which is Holy unto Dogs If it be a great Sacrilege to give to Dogs things consecrated to God what Crime must it needs be to give the Holy of Holies unto a Soul an enemy of God more impure and filthy then the very Dogs and what Sin must it be in those to receive the Body of our Lord who being no better then Dogs as it is said in the Apocalypse and under this notion excluded from the Sanctuary Foris canes impudici yet have the impudence to eat the Bread of Children the Bread of the very Angels themselves Ecce panis Angelorum vere panis filioram non mittendus canibus 2. From that so famed Doctrine and signal admonition of St. Paul 1. Cor. 11.27 Whosoever ones the Bread and drinks the Chalice of our Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of our Lord. This Sentence is a Thunder which ought to terrify all those who are so miserably unfortumate as to Communicate in Mortal Sin For he saith they are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Son of God that is they despise and treat in juriously this adorable Body and Blood whilst they receive it in a profane place in the Temple of Satan in a Soul polluted with Mortal Sin. It is particularly verified in this occasion what St. Paul relates elsewhere Heb. 6.6 this is to Crucisy Jesus Christ again to scoff at him to trample him under ones feet and contemn his Blood in that very action by which one ought to sanctify his holy name Can we think of these things without trembling and horror We never call to mind without a certain horror and eversion the inhumane methods the Jews and Soldiets a sed against our Saviour Jesus Christ in the time of his bitter Passion and can we be so insensible in our own case as not to detest those affronts we offer him even worse then the Jews did whilst we unworthily receive him For besides that they Luo. 23.34 knew not what they did we know and confess him to be the Son of God whom we offend St. Chrisostome explaining these words of St. Paul. 1. Cor. 11. Whosoever shall eat the Bread or drink the Cup of our Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of our Lord. Why so suith this Holy Father hom 27. and his answer is because he hath spilt the Blood and by that action he hath not offered a Sacrifice but committed a Murther for he who approaches unworthily to this Divine Table and receives no Fruit from thence resembles them who formerly pierced the Body of our Lord not to drink but to shed his Blood. And hom 60. Consider saith he what just Indignation you conceive against him who betrayed Jesus Christ and against those who Crucified him therefore consider lest you also be equally culpable and guilty of the Body and Blood of the Son of God. It is true they kill'd his most Sacred Body but you after so many and so often repeated benefits bestowed upon you receive him into an unclean and polluted Soul. St. Cyprian before him had said that unworthy Communicants offer Violence to the Body of Jesus Christ and that this sin is a more grievous offence in the sight of God then it is for a Christian to abjure him in the presence of Infidels The Third from hence which you ought never to forget that the sin of an unworthy Communion is the sin of Judas It was he who first committed it and those who fall into it since imitate his Example and become his Disciples They receive him as he did in a Criminall and guilty Soul They betray him not indeed to the Jews but which is worse to the Devil who inhabits in them What punishment ought they not to dread from such an Enormous Crime Ought they not to remember how that perfidious Apostle was immediately possessed by the Devil in the moment that be received Jesus Christ for since they imitate him in his Sin they cannot avoid being partaker of his punishment as we are about to shew you The dammages which follow from an unworthy Communion SUch a mischievous cause cannot but produce most fatal effects The death of the Soul which infallibly it brings with it is the first evil which follows from it Mors est malis vita bonis This death is an encrease or extension of that other wherein the Soul lay buried before by the Sin in which he receiv'd the Sacrament It is a further banishment from the grace of God and a further disheartning and exposing her to the Power of Satan From this Death follow other most dismal lamentable effects as the fall into new Sins the blindness of Spirit the encrease of vices and passions which makes a Soul to groan under the Yoke of her Captivity and hinder her from returning again to God by true Repentance The Prophet hath comprised these effects in few words Psalm 68.23 when speaking against the enemies of Jesus Christ he prays to God that their Table may prove a snare to them and an occasion of scandal That they may become blind so that they may not see their own good That they may always stoop under the Yoke of a miserable Servitude If those who persecuted Jesus Christ without knowing him are punished so severely what ought not Christians to expect when they treat him so ill in his own Person whom they know Histories are full of examples of divers punishments which God hath laid upon this so detestabie a