Chapter 12

That God useth to punish such as are proud, by permitting them to lose the treasure of Chastity, thereby to humble them; and how necessary it is to be humble, for the overcoming of the enemy to this virtue.

THERE have been others, who lost the treasure of their chastity, by reason that God did punish them in his just judgement, through a giving them over (as S. Paul saith,) to the dishonest affections of their own hart, as into the hands, of cruel executioners. Chastizing thus, some of their sins, by other sins of theirs, he not inciting them to sin,¹ (for a very strange thing it were for him, who is sovereign goodness, to because of sin in any soul) but by retiring his succour, from a man, for other sins of the same man; which is the work of a just judge; who in that he is just, is also good. Thus saith the scripture; A wicked woman is a deep well; and a lose woman is a straight well; and he shall fall into it, who hath offended God.

Let² no man therefore presume, upon his not sinning against God in the point of chastity, if yet he sin in other things. Since God is wont to let men fall into that which they would not, & into which they were not wont to fall, in punishment of their falling into other sins, from which they ought to have kept themselves. And though this be generally true in the case of all sins, and God is offended with them all, and doth punish all; yet more particularly doth he (as S. Augustin saith) punish secret³ Pride by open lust. So is it related of Nabuchodonosor; That for the punishment of his pride, he lost his Kingdom, & was cast out of the conversation of men; and the hart of a beast was given him; and he passed his time among the beasts. Not that he lost the nature of a man, but that even to himself, it seemed that he was not such. This did he continue, till God gave him understanding and humility, whereby he knew & confessed, That honour & dominion was of God; and that he bestoweth it, where he would. Certainly⁴ so it is, that the man who attributes the building up of chastity, to the strength of his own arm, God doth drive him from amongst his servants; and being departed out of that company, which was, as it were, of Angels, he dwelleth now amongst beasts; having so bestial a hart in his body, as if he had never loved God; nor known what chastity meant; & as if there were no hell, nor glory, nor reason, nor shame. In⁵ so much, as themselves are amazed at what they do; and they seem not to have the judgement, or discourse of men; but to be wholly abandoned to this brutish vice, like very beasts; till the mercy of our Lord, do look with pity upon so great misery; and make him, whose case is such, to know, that for his pride he fell, and by means of humility, he is to recover and rise. And then doth he confess, that the kingdom of chastity, by which he had dominion over his body, is a blessing of God, which, by his grace, he gives, and which, for the sins of man, he taketh away.

This sin of Pride is so hard to be discovered, and consequently so much to be feared; that sometimes a man hath it so conveyed into the most secret corners of his hart, that even himself understands it not. A witness of this, may be S. Peter, and many others; who whilst they were taking pleasure, and confiding in themselves, did think that they were putting their trust in God; who by his infinite wisdom seethe their infirmity; and with his mercy, accompanied by his justice, doth cure and heal them; by giving⁶ them to understand, (though to their cost) that they were unthankful unto him, & unduely confident in themselves, since now they see how miserably they are fallen. Now although this fall, cost them dear, yet doth it not carry so great danger with it, as doth the secret sin of Pride, wherein they were. For, not knowing thereof, they would have sought after no remedy; and so they would have run upon their own ruin; but coming to find out, that sin by their fall, and being humbled before the mercy of God, they obtain remedies from him, against both inconveniences.

For this I say it is, that S. Augustine told us, That⁷ God doth punish secret pride by open lust; because the second sin is manifest to him that committeth it; and by means thereof, he grows to a knowledge of the former, which lay hidden. And thou art to know, that some people are only proud, within themselves; and others are so with contempt of their neighbours, whom they conceive to be defective in virtue; and especially in that of chastily. But⁸ thou, O Lord, how truly wilt thou behold this fault, with angry eyes? And how thankless were those thankes to thee, which were given thee by that Pharisee, who said, I am not ill like other men; I am not an adulterer nor a robber, like that Publican. This, O Lord, thou dost not leave without punishment; Thou dost punish it, and that with great severity; by letting him fall that stood on foot; in punishment of his sin, and thou dost raise the other up, who was fallen; thereby, as it were, to make him a kind of amends, for the wrong which the other had done him.

It is a sentence of thine, and thou observest it very well; Do⁹ not condemn others and thou shalt not be condemned: And, with the¹⁰ same measure wherewith you measure to others, with the same it shallbe measured to you again. And, he that exal teeth himself, shallbe humbled. And thou didst command it to be thus published in thy name, to such as despise their neighbours Woc be to thee who despisest; for thou shalt be despised. O how many have mine eyes seen, punished according to this sentence, who never had understood how much God abhorreth this fin, till they saw themselves fallen, into the very same, for which they condemned those others; yea and into worse.

Of¹¹ three things (said an Ancient of former times) I condemned others; and into all three, myself did fall. Let him that is chaste, give God thankes for the favour he doth him; and let him live with fear, and trembling; lest himself do fall; and let him help to raise such an one as is fallen already; showing¹² compassion towards him, and not contempt. Let him consider, that they are both made of one piece; and that as the other fell, so he (for as much as concerns himself) doth fall. For, as S. Augustine saith, There is¹³ no sin committed by one man, which would not be also committed by another man, if he were not assisted by him that is the maker of man. Let him draw good out of evil; humbling himself by occasion of the others fault. Let him, I say, draw good out of evil; and as for the good of his neighbour, let him rejoice in that. Let him not be as a venomous serpent, which fetcheth evil out of all things; pride out of ethers' miseries, and envy out of their felicities. Such¹⁴ souls as these, will not escape the punishment of God. He will suffer them to fall upon that, into which those others fell; and he will not give them the felicity for which they did envy others.

Footnotes

1. See & detest the doctrine of Caluin, which he uttereth in his Institutions; for the maketh the treason of judas, to be as properly, and as truly, the work of God, as the conversion of S. Paul. ↩

2. Be not highminded, but fear. ↩

3. Above all things, take heed of Pride. ↩

4. Note. ↩

5. How highly true is this? ↩

6. For Pride, and Ingratitude, many have grown to lose their chastity. ↩

7. A golden sentence of the great S. Augustine. ↩

8. Note this. ↩

9. Luc. 6. ↩

10. Matt. 5. ↩

11. Take heed of contemning others; lest thou grow the subject of the contempt of others. ↩

12. We may be severe to ourselves but we must have compasio upon others. ↩

13. He is blind, who believes not this. ↩

14. Note. ↩