Book II, Part 2, Chapter 4. Of Man's Duty to God

1. Having spoken of our obligations to our neighbors and ourselves, it is convenient we should speak now of what we owe to God ;~ it is the principal and most noble part of justice, and that to which the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, tend, which have God for their object, and hither looks that virtue which the divines call religion, wThose object is the worship of God.

2. The way, therefore, to perform all the duties belonging to every one of these virtues, is to have such a heart for Almighty God as a dutiful child has for his father ; so that as he that behaves himself like a judge to himself, discharges the obligations that are due to himself, and as he that looks upon his neighbor with the tender heart of a mother, acquits himself of all that he owes to him ; so he that comes to God, wTith the heart of a son, will perform all his duties to him ; since one of the main duties of the spirit of Christ is to give our heart thus entirely to God.

3. Consider, then, with yourself what kind of a heart it is that a son has for his father, what love he bears him, with what fear and reverence, with what obedience he serves him, with what zeal for his honor, and with how much disinterestedness ; with what confidence he runs to him in all his necessities, with what humility he receives his corrections, how submissively he bears his reprimands, and how willingly he embraces all that comes from him. Do but give God such a heart as this is, and you will perfectly discharge the part of justice.

4. But to the making up of such a heart there are, in my opinion, nine virtues, necessarily required, which are, love, fear and reverence, confidence, zeal for God's honor, purity of indention in the services you do him, prayer and recourse to him in

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all your necessities, gratitude for his favors, an entire submission and conformity to his will, humility and patience in all the afflictions and mortifications he shall send you.

§ I. — 5. To begin, then, in order, the first and principal thing we are to do, is to love God as he himself commands we should ; that is, " with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength ;" Deut. vi. 5. So that there is nothing in man but what must in its way love and serve this Lord of all things. The understanding, by thinking of him ; the will, by loving him ; the passions, by always tending to what concerns the love of him ; the force of all our members and senses, by employing themselves in performing whatsoever this divine love shall prescribe. But because we have treated of this matter expressly, in the Memorial of a Christian Life, I refer the reader thither, to inform himself more fully in this point.

6. What we are to desire next, after this holy love, is fear, which is nothing but an effect of this love ; because the greater love we bear another, the more we are afraid, not only of losing but of offending him, as we see a dutiful son does with his father, and a loving wife with her husband ; for the more she loves him, the more careful she is that nothing be done to give him the least offence. By this fear innocence is secured, and, therefore, it concerns us very much to imprint it deeply in our souls. This is what David begged so earnestly, when he said, " Pierce my flesh, O Lord, with the fear of thee, because I have been afraid of thy judgments;" Ps. cxviii. 120. So that, according to this, the holy king did not think it enough to have the fear of God engraven in his soul ; he desired it should be stuck into his very flesh and bowels, that the lively sense he had of it might be like a nail driven into his heart, to put him continually in mind of not failing in any thing that might be grateful to him whom he had such a dread of. For this reason it is justly said, " The fear of the Lord expels sin" (Eccl. i. 27) ; because it is consonant both to nature and reason, when a man fears another much, to be very much afraid of whatsoever may displease him.

7. From this fear arises another, which is, to be afraid not only of bad actions, but even of good ones, if they happen not to be so pure, nor attended with such good circumstances as in reason they ought ; by which means those actions, which are good if themselves, become naught through our faults. And on this account St. Gregory said, " That a good soul would fear where there is no fault at all." Holy Job shows he was possessed with this fear, when he said, " I was afraid, O Lord, for all my actions, as knowing that thou wilt not spare a sinner ;" Job. ix. 82, Another effect of this fear is to be afraid whensoever we are assisting at the divine office in the church (above all, if the blessed sacrament is there), to talk or walk up and down, or to stare

THE SINNEll's GUIDE. 355 and gaze about us, as many do. We are to behave ourselves there with an awful and reverential regard to the Supreme Majesty, be fore whom we stand ; and which is in a more particular manne\ present in that place. These, and many more, are the ordinary effects of this holy fear.

8. Should you ask me how this holy fear is formed in our souls, I answer, that the love of God is the chief root from which it springs. Next to which, servile fear is necessary in some manner for the acquiring of this other ; for it is the beginning of a filial fear, and brings it into the soul, as the needle does the silk into the stuff we are sewing. Another thing; besides this, that goes a great way towards the procuring and increasing of this fear, is the consideration of these four things: — the greatness of God's majesty, the depth of his judgments, the rigor of his justice, and the multitude of our sins ; to which we may add, the resistance we make against the divine inspirations. It will, therefore, become us, to employ our minds upon the consideration of these four things, because they assist us so much for obtaining and cherishing of this holy effect in our souls, whereof we have spoken more copiously in the former book.

§ II. — 9. The third virtue necessary for this end is confidence ; that is to say, as a child, that has a wealthy and able father, assures himself, that his father will not fail to assist him and provide for him, if he should ever be reduced to necessity, or fall into any misfortune ; so man must in this respect have the heart of a child towards God ; and considering he has him for his Father, who has the power both of heaven and earth in his hands, he must put such trust in him, that whatsoever tribulations shall befall him, this heavenly Father of his will, out of his mercy, deliver him from them, if he does but either address himself to him with an humble confidence, or at least will turn them to his greater advantage and interest. For if a son have such confidence in his father, as to build all his security and quiet on it, with how much better assurance should man rely on him, who is more a father than all the fathers in the world, and richer than all mankind together ! And if you say, that your having done no service, your want of merit, and the multitude of your sins discourage and deject you, your remedy in this case is, to consider not your own failings and unworthiness, but God himself and his eternal Son, our only Saviour and Mediator, that you may be strengthened again by him. So that when any one in crossing a rapid river, grows giddy with the violence of the stream, we call out to him, and bid him not to look down on the water, that is in such perpetual motion, but lift his eyes towards heaven, and so he will pass over with safety ; we are, after the same manner, to advise those that are weak in this respect not to reflect on themselves during that time, nor on their past sins. But then you will ask me, from whom you are to expect this strength and confidence. First, then, my answer is, that you must consider the infinite goodness and mercy of God, who alone gives a remedy to all the miseries in the wTorld, and reflect on the truth of his word, by which he has promised his favor and assistance to all those who shall call on his holy name with humility, and put themselves under his protection. Consider also the innumerable benefits you have received from his charitable hand, and learn from his mercy, which you have already had such proofs of, to rely on the same for the future. But above all things, consider Jesus Christ, with all his labors and merits, which are the chief rights and titles we have for the begging any favor from God ; because we are sure, on the one side, that there are no merits which exceed or even come up to his ; and that, on the other side, they are the treasures of the church, given for the relief and supply of all her necessities. These are the chief encouragements and supports of our confidence ; and it was by these that the saints remained as strong and as immovable in what they hoped for, as the mountain of Sion ; Ps. cxxiv. 1.

10. But it is much to be lamented, that having such motives to confide in, we should be so weak in this particular, as to be out of heart as soon as ever we but see the danger, even to run to Egypt for help, under the shelter of Pharao's chariots. So that you will find many persons that serve God, who fast and pray much, and give considerable alms, and are endowed with several other virtues ; yet there are but very few who .have the confidence of the holy Susanna (Dan. xiii. 42), who, after they had condemned her to death, and as they were leading her to the place of execution, continued still, as the Scripture observes, to put all her confidence in the Lord. All the Scripture may be applied to per-* suade this virtue, but particularly the Psalms and the prophets ; for there is scarce any thing so often repeated in them, as a confidence in God, and the certainty of his assisting those that hope in him. ^

§ III. — 11. Zeal for God's honor is the fourth virtue, that is, our main business should be, to look to the promoting and advancing of God's honor, to the glorifying of his holy name, and to see that his will be performed both in heaven and on earth. And nothing should concern or touch us more to the life, than to behold men not only neglect his will, but act contrary to it. The saints had all of them this zeal ; and it was in all their names that these words were spoken : " The zeal of thy house, O Lord, has eaten me up ;" Ps. lxviii. 9. Because they were so troubled on this account, that the grief of their souls weakened their bodies, corrupted their blood, and showed itself in all the outward man.

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If we had but the same zeal they had, we should immediately have the glorious mark, which Ezechiel speaks of, the stamp on our foreheads ; by the means of which we should be free from all the corrections and scourges of the divine justice ; Ezech. ix. 4.

12. The fifth virtue is purity of intention ; its office is to make us not seek ourselves, nor our own interest only, in whatsoever we do, but God's glory, and the observance of his pleasure, assuring ourselves that the less we endeavor to promote our own interest with God, the greater advantages we shall reap, and so on the contrary. This is one of those things we are carefully to examine into, in the performance of all actions, and it is what becomes us to have a zealous concern for : we must be very cautious lest our eyes should fix upon any thing but God ; because self-love is, of its own nature, very subtile, and seeks itself and its own ease in all its actions. There are several persons very rich in good works, and yet, when they come to be weighed in the scale of God's justice, will find themselves very light, for want of this purity of intention ; which is the eye the gospel speaks of, and which, if it is light itself, makes the whole body so, or darkens it all over if it be dark ; Matt. vi. 22, 23.

13. There are many, not only laymen, but even ecclesiastics, who, when they are promoted to any considerable dignities, and observe how virtue is alwTays taken notice of, and honored in such kind of employs, use their utmost endeavors to make us become virtuous, and to live like pious and good men, clearing themselves from all kind of defilement, and from every thing that may cast the least stain upon their honor. But their end of doing all this is only to keep up the reputation they have got, to continue in favor, that so they may be taken notice of for the exact discharge of their employs, and promoted to greater : so that these actions do not proceed from a lively sentiment of the love or fear of God ; nor is his glory, and the obedience that is clue to him, the end of them ; all they regard is their own honor and interest. He, therefore, that acts after this manner, though he appear something in the eyes of the world, is nothing better in the sight of God than the very smoke and shadow of justice : moral virtues are nothing before God, as considered in themselves, nor all the corporal macerations and austerities man can possibly use, not though he should sacrifice his own children ; all that God values if the spirit of love sent down from heaven, and whatsoever springs from this root. There was nothing in the temple but was eithei gold or gilt. So it is just there should be nothing in the living temples of our souls, that is not either charity or gilt with it Wherefore it concerns him that serves God, to cast his eyes or what he designs to do, and not upon what he does ; because the meanest actions become noble, when the intention is so witr which they are done, as the greatest, on the contrary, degenerate into mean ones, when they have something that is mean for their object. Because God does not regard the action itself so much as the intention of doing it ; and this proceeds from love.

14. This is in some degree to imitate that most noble and most generous love which the Son of God has shown us, who desires us in the gospel, " to love him as he loved us" (John xiii.) ; that is, freely and sincerely, and without mixture of interest. As amongst the several circumstances of this divine charity, this is the most to be admired in the Son of God, happy will that man be, who makes it his business in all his actions to imitate him. And wrhosoever shall do so, may assure himself, that he is very acceptable to God, as one that represents him in the height of virtue and in purity of intention ; for resemblance is generally the cause of love. Man ought, therefore, when he is doing any good, to turn away his eyes from all kind of human considerations, and fix them upon God. Let him never consent, that an action, which has God fur its reward, should serve for a temporal end. For as it would be a great shame to see a noble and beautiful young princess, fit to match wTith a king, given awTay to a man of very mean extraction ; so it is a much greater subject of tears to see virtue, which is worthy of God himself, employed in acquiring of worldly goods.

15. But because it is no easy matter to obtain this purity of intention, it concerns a man very much to beg it of God earnestly in all his prayers, and particularly in that petition of the Lord's Prayer, " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So that as the whole exercise of the heavenly choirs is the performing of God's will with a most pure intention only to please him, so should the inhabitant of the earth, as long as he lives here, imitate this custom of heaven as far as possibly he can : not that it is not good and just to aspire to the enjoyment of his kingdom, next to pleasing God, but because the less self-interest appears in any of our actions, the more perfect it will be.

§ IV. — 16. The sixth virtue is prayer; by means wThereof, like children, we are to have recourse to our father when any thing troubles or afflicts us, that through it we may continually remember our heavenly Father, walk in his presence, and often discourse with him ; because this is the practice and duty of good children towards their fathers. But having handled this virtue at large elsewhere, we will say no more of it here.

17. The seventh virtue is thanksgiving ; whose post is to excite us to gratitude for all God's favors, and to employ our tongues in perpetual acknowledgments of them. It is this virtue that makes us cry out with the royal prophet, " I will praise the Lord at all times ; his praise shall aiwTays be in my mouth ;" Ps. Ixxxiii. 1 . And in another place, " Let my mouth, O Lord, be filled with praise, that I may sing thy glory all the day long ;" Ps. lxx. 8. For if God is always giving us our life, if he is always preserving us in the being he has given us, and continually pouring down his benefits on us, by the motions of the heavens, and by the services we perpetually receive from all creatures, what can we do less than be always praising him, who is always preserving, maintaining and defending us, and bestowing on us a thousand other graces and favors? Let us, then, make this our first and chief exercise ; and in order to it, let us, as St. Basil advises us, begin all prayers with this ; let us, morning, noon and night, nay, every hour of the day, never cease to thank God for all his mercies and benefits, as well general as particular ; for those of grace as well as for those of nature ; but, above all, for that benefit of benefits, for that grace of graces, his becoming man for us, his shedding his blood for our salvation, and for his being pleased to let us always enjoy his company by means of the most adorable sacrament of the altar. Let us, amongst so many benefits, reflect particularly on this last circumstance, that he who has humbled himself so low for us is the Lord of all creatures, and that all he has done for us has been the pure effect of his love and mercy, without the least tincture of advantage or self-interest. Much more might be said on this subject ; but having spoken of it in another place, where we treat of the divine benefits, this shall suffice at present.

§ V. Of the four Degrees of Obedience. — 18. The eighth virtue that recommends us to this heavenly Father, is an entire obedience to every thing in general, that he shall command us ; and in this consists the perfection of all justice. There are in this virtue three degrees ; the first is to obey God's commandments ; the second, to follow his counsel ; and the third, to hearken to his inspirations and calls. The observance of the commandments is necessary to salvation, the following of his counsel helps us much in the keeping of the commandments, without which we frequently fall into danger ; for it is a great remedy to prevent being forsworn, not to swear even to the truth ; to prevent losing peace and charity, not to contend ; to be safe against coveting our neighbors' goods, not to possess any thing of our own ; and to be sure not to endeavor to do harm to those that hate us, to do them all the good wTe can. So that the following of the counsels is instead of an out-work to the precepts ; and, therefore, he that would arrive at the end, is not to think it enough to keep the one, unless he labors to the utmost of his ability, and as much as his state and condition will permit, to observe the others. For as a man, that is to get over a rapid river, will not venture to cross directly over, but will go up higher to take the tide along with him, that so he may do it with more security,

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so he that serves God should not content himself with observing of no more than what is just enough to save him ; he must take the thing a little higher, that in case he should not reach to what he proposes to himself, which would be the better, he may at least arrive at that indispensably requisite to salvation ; I mean, that wThich is sufficient.

19. The third degree, we said, was a submission to the divine inspirations ; for faithful servants not only obey what their masters command them by word of mouth, but observe the least sign they give of their pleasure. But because a man may be deceived in this point, by taking that for an inspiration from God which comes only from man, or perhaps from the devil, we must take St. John's advice along with us here, for our better security : " Do not give credit to every spirit, but examine whether i comes from God or not;" John iv. 1. And, therefore, besides what you meet with in the Holy Scriptures, and the writings of the saints, which are the standards wre must bring these things to, you must followT this general rule : — That since there are two ways of serving God, the one of our own choice, the other of obligation, whensoever they both happen to meet together, be sure let that which is of obligation take place of the other, though it be ever so great and meritorious. And thus it is we are to understand that most excellent saying of Samuel, " Obedience is better than sacrifice" (1 Kings xv. 22) ; because God would have men observe his word first, and afterwards do him all the other services they can, still with respect to the obedience they owe to him.

20. By necessary services we mean, first, the keeping of God's commandments, without which there is no salvation. Next, the observing of such persons' orders as are placed over you : " Because he that resists them, resists God's disposal of things ;" Rom. xii. 2. In the third place, the observance of all those things that are annexed to each man's state and condition, as the obligations of a superior in his situation, of a religious or of a married man in theirs. Then the observance of such things, as, though they are not necessary in themselves, yet contribute very much to the observance of those that are so, because the necessity of the one makes the others in some manner necessary. As, for example, you have found for a long while, that when you take some time every day to retire a little, and enter into yourself to examine your conscience, and to treat with God about proper means for the remedying of what you find amiss there, you lead a more regular and orderly life, that you have a more absolute command over yourself and your passions, and are much more easily inclined to the embracing of all kinds of virtue ; you see, on the other side, that as soon as ever you neglect this holy exercise, you run immediately into a great many failings, and find yourself in danger of contracting your former vicious habits again ; this comes from the want of a sufficient stock of grace, and of being not grounded thoroughly in virtue : and for this reason, as a poor man, that has earned nothing all day, has nothing to eat at night, so you, as often as you want the assistance of this devotion, grows hungry and weak, and much more apt to commit lesser faults, which lead you by degrees into greater. In this case you must suppose, that God calls you to this exercise, since you find, by experience, that it is the means by which he generally assists you, and that without it you always fall back again into your former courses. What I say here is not to make you believe that this precept is of indispensable necessity, but only to show you how necessary and convenient a means this is, for your better complying with the obligations of your state. Besides, if you are nice and tender, if you are too much a friend to yourself, and cannot endure any thing that is hard and laborious, and yet perceive, that this love of your own ease is a hindrance to your spiritual progress, inasmuch as it is the cause of your omitting many good works, because of the labor that is in them, and of your committing many bad ones, because they seem pleasant and easy ; it is plain, in such a case, that God would have you use all your force and strength, and accustom yourself to such exercises as are most difficult and painful to the macerating of your body, and the mortifying of all your senses and appetites ; because your own experience teaches you of what concern and consequence this affair is. You may inquire after the same manner into all those other works, in the practice whereof you find most benefit, and receive the greatest prejudice by omitting them, and you will understand, by this means, which of them God requires you should do ; but with submission yet in this, and all other matters, to the advice and direction of those that are set over you.

21. You may see by what has been said, that a man is not always to take hold of that which is best in itself, but of that which is best and most necessary for him. For there are many things most noble and perfect, which may not be the best for me, though they are the best in themselves, because I am neither able to perform them, nor does God call me to them. It, therefore, concerns every one to do just what he finds himself called to, to measure himself by his own strength and abilities, and make that which is most proper for him the object of his choice, without aiming at those things which are out of his reach ; it is the advice of the wise man, when he says, "Do not set your eyes upon riches, which you cannot enjoy, because they will take wing like an eagle, and fly into the air;" Prov. xxxiii. 5. And as for those who follow not this counsel, the prophet reproves them very

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severely, saying, " You have aspired to that which is greatest, and it has proved the least ; you have sown a great deal, and it has brought you but little ;" Agg. i. 9.

22. This is the rule you are to follow between services of choice and those of obligation, but as to those that are only of choice, you may observe the following method : — Among these services, some are public and others private ; honor, interest and pleasure are the effects of the one, but not of the other. Your best way, therefore, not to err in this point, is to stand more upon your guard in those which are public, than in those which are not, and to be more suspicious the more interest and profit there is in the case. Because self-love is naturally very subtle and always seeking itself, even in exercises of the utmost piety and devotion. This it was gave a holy man frequent occasion to say, " Do you know where God is ? He is where you are not." Giving us hereby to understand, that the less advantage and self-interest there was to be expected, the action was so much the more pure and divine, because a man then proposes nothing to himself but the search of God. What I say here is not to oblige any man to stick so close to this rule as never to act contrary to it ; for, after all, it may and often does happen, that the other extreme may be much more meritorious than this, and a man's obligations may weigh down all that I have said ; my only design is to advise persons against the deceit and malice of self-love, cand not to give any credit to it, let it look ever so much like virtue.

23. Perfect obedience includes it in these three degrees, which are, in all appearance, the same the apostle meant, when he said, " Be not imprudent, my brethren, but wise, that you may know what is the will of God, good, well pleasing and perfect ;" Epbes. v. 17 ; Rom. xii. 2. The apostle seems, in this sentence, to have comprehended these three degrees of obedience ; because the observing of the precept is good, the following of the counsels is well pleasing, and the hearkening to the divine calls and inspirations is perfect. So that a man may be truly said to be come to the very perfection of obedience, when he has performed whatsoever God has commanded him, whatsover he has advised, or whatsover he has inspired him to.

24. Besides these three degrees, there is a fourth, which is a most perfect conformity to the will of God, in all he shall command us ; by being equally disposed to receive honor or dishonor, a good reputation or a bad, health or sickness, life or death ; by submitting ourselves, with humility, to all his decrees and orders ; by preparing ourselves with an equal affection for chastisements and stripes, or for smiles and caresses, for favor or disgrace ; not looking on that which is given us, but on him that

• gives it, and on the love with which he gives it. For a father has no less tenderness and affection for his child when he corrects and punishes him, than when he makes much of and caresses him.

2-3. He that has obtained these four degrees of obedience, has acquired that resignation so much recommended by spiritual guides, and by which a man puts himself so entirely into the hands of God, that be becomes as pliant as a piece of wax in the nands of an artist. This virtue is called resignation ; because, as a clergyman that resigns up a benefice lays down and delivers it entirely into the hands of his bishop, for him to dispose of as he pleases, without any control or contradiction, so a perfect man delivers himself up into the hands of God, that he may be his own master no longer, nor live |br himself ; that he may neither eat, sleep nor work for himself, but for the honor and glory of his Creator, by conforming in all things to his most holy pleasure and disposal, and by receiving from his hands, wTith the same heart of love, all the difficulties and contradictions he shall meet with; by denying and renouncing himself and his own wTill for the doing of God's with all exactness, whose slave he acknowledges himself on a thousand accounts. David has given us an example in himself of this resignation, when he said, " I am become like a beast before thee, and am always with thee ;" Ps. lxii. 23. Because, as a beast neither goes where it pleases, nor rests where it pleases, nor does what it pleases, but obeys its keeper in all things, so he that serves God is to submit himself in all things to him. The prophet Isaias has taught the same lesson, in these words : " The Lord has opened my ear, and I do not contradict him, nor have I turned away from him, by refusing what he has commanded me to do, though it was ever so hard and painful :" Isa. i. 5. Ezekiel has instructed us in the same, by the figure of those mysterious animals of which he writes, " that, which way soever they perceived the impulse of the spirit, that way they went, nor did they turn back as they walked ;" Ezek. i. 12. The prophet by this shows us with what readiness and joy a man should do whatsoever he shall understand to be the will of God. But for the doing of this there is required, besides a ready will, a , discreet understanding and spirit, to prevent our being deceived, and mistaking our own will for God's, and, therefore, for the most part, we ought to suspect every thing that is according to our own inclination, and look on that as most secure that is most opposite to it.

26. This is the greatest sacrifice man can offer up to God, because, in all other sacrifices, he can offer up nothing but his goods ; whereas, in this, he offers up himself, so that this sacrifice is as much above all others as man is above the goods he possesses. Here that saying of St. Augustine is verified, "that, though God

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is the Lord of all things, yet it is not for every one to use these words of David, ' O Lord, I am thy servant' (Ps. cxv. 16) ; but for those only, who, having quitted the possession of themselves, have given themselves wholly up to the service of this Lord, and are by this means become his ;" St. Aug. in Ps. 118. This is the best disposition a man can be in for the obtaining the perfection of a Christian life; because God, out of his infinite goodness, being always ready to enrich and improve man, when he does not on his side resist or put a stop to God's designs, but, on the contrary, readily and entirely obeys him, he may easily work him up to what he thinks fit, and make him, like another David, a man after his own heart ; 1 Kings xiii. 14.

§ IV. Of Patience in Afflictions. — 27. The last virtue we proposed, at the beginning of this chapter, as very necessary for acquiring of this last degree of perfection, is patience in those afflictions which our tender Father often sends us, both as a trial and for matter of merit. This it is that Solomon invites us lo, in his Proverbs, by these words : " My son, refuse not the correction of the Lord, nor be discouraged when thou art chastised by him. For whom the Lord loves he corrects, and takes a pleasure in them, as a father does in his children." Prov. iii. 11, 12. The apostle explains this text, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, where, advising them to patience, he says thus : " Endure correction with perseverance. God deals with you herein as with sons ; for what son is there that is not corrected by his father ? For if you want the chastisement which all God's children have received, you are bastards, and not sons. Our fathers according to the flesh have chastised us, and we have honored them ; shall we not, therefore, with much more reason obey the Father of spirits, to the end that we may live ?" Heb. xii. 7, 8, 9.

28. These words show us that it is the duty of a father to correct and punish his children ; and dutiful children will submit themselves with humility to the same, and look on it as a very great favor, and as a token of fatherly love and care : this, the only Son of the eternal Father has taught us by the same example, when, on St. Peter's endeavoring to rescue him from death, he said, " Shall I not drink the chalice which my Father has given me ?" John xviii. 11. As if he had said, If this chalice had been presented me by any one else, you might have had some reason for being against my drinking it ; but since it comes from my Father's own hands, who knows how to assist those that are his children, and at the same time can and will do it, why shall I not take it as coming from him ?

29. Yet there are some who, in time of prosperity, think they are subject to this Father, and have a perfect conformity to his will, but in time of adversity they presently faint, and make it the sinner's guide. 36£ appear that their resignation and conformity were false, and that they were deceived in their submission, since they lost it when they had occasion to make use of it ; like cowards, who boast in time of peace, but in fight fling down their arms and quit the field. And since this life is so subject to continual troubles and combats, it will be well to arm such persons with spiritual weapons which they may make use of at such times.

30. For this end you may, in the first place, consider that the troubles of this life are nothing, if compared with the greatness of that glory we may purchase by them. For the joy this eternal glory gives us is so charming that, putting the case we were to enjoy it but to? one single hour, we should willingly undergo all the pains and torments we can possibly endure here, and despise all the pleasures this world is able to afford us for the obtaining of it. Because, as the apostle says, " Our tribulation here, which is so light, and endures but for' a moment, procures for us an inestimable weight of eternal glory in heaven;" 1 Cor. iv. 7.

31. Consider, again, how frequently we are puffed with prosperity, whilst, on the contrary, the grief caused by adversity purifies our hearts : the first state makes a man proud and haughty, whereas the other humbles him, though he was ever so high before : that teaches a man to forget himself ; the ordinary effect of this is to put him in mind of God : that frequently makes us lose the merits of our best actions ; by this we often atone for the sins of several years, and secure ourselves against falling into them again for the future.

32. If you languish under sickness, you are to persuade yourself that, very often, God, foreseeing what ill use we should make of health, clips, as it were, our wings, by the distemper he sends, and so puts us out of the power of committing anv sin ; so that it is much more to our advantage to languish under sickness, than to enjoy health and go on in our crimes. It is much better, as our Saviour tells us, " to enter into life maimed or lame, than to have both our feet, and be cast into everlasting fire ;" Matt, xviii. 8. It is a plain case that our God, who is so merciful, takes no pleasure in tormenting us; his delight is to heal our infirmities, by applying contrary remedies, that so we, who have got our sickness by the enjoyment of pleasures, may recover our health by suffering some pain ; and that having been thrown down by committing of such things as are unlawful, we may rise again by depriving ourselves of those that are lawful. Thus you see how God, by an effect of his infinite goodness, exercises his indignation on us in this world, that we may happily avoid the effects of it in the next ; how he uses his severity here with mercy, that he may not "pour out his wrath upon us hereafter without it." For, as St. Jerome says, " God is most angry when he conceals hif

2G2 anger against sinners." So that, according to this, he that is not willing to receive the correction of children now, must be condemned to the pains of devils hereafter. This gave St. Augustine a great deal of reason to cry out, " Burn me, O Lord, cut, and do not spare me in this life, that thou mayst spare me for all eternity in the next." By this you may perceive how careful the Creator of all things watches over you, by holding in the reins, and not letting you follow the track of your own evil inclinations. When once a physician has given his patient over, he allows him to take whatever he has a mind for ; but for those whose condition is not so desperate, he prescribes to them their diet, and will allow them nothing that will do them any prejudice. So a father keeps his son short when he is given to debauchery or gaming, and yet leaves him his estate when he dies. God, who is the sovereign Physician of our souls, and the best of all fathers, takes the same course with us.

33. Besides all this, consider what injuries and affronts our Saviour suffered from his own creatures. Consider how he was despised, scoffed at and buffeted by them ; with what patience he exposed his divine face to be spit upon by those villains, the instruments of the devils ; with what mildness he suffered them to pierce his head with thorns; how willingly he received the bitter potion they gave him to quench his thirst ; how silent he was whilst they hailed him in sport and mockery; with what vigor, in fine, and with what patience he ran to embrace death, that he might deliver us from it. Can you, then, who are nothing but a vile creature, at best but dust and ashes, think any thing hard that he shall be pleased to inflict upon you in punishment of your sins, when he himself has suffered so much for these same sins of yours, and would not go out of this life but with pains and torments, though he came into it, without the least spot of imperfection ? " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so enter into his glory ?" Luke xxiv. 26. And all this to teach us, by his own practice, what the apostle has declared to us, " that no one is crowned without fighting lawfully ;" 2 Tim. ii. 5. So that it is much better to suffer our present afflictions with patience, whilst we may make our advantage of them by using them as the means of obtaining pardon for our sins and of increasing our glory, than, by bearing them with impatience, make our trouble greater, and put ourselves out of all hopes of benefitting by them. For whether you will or will not undergo them, you must, if God thinks fit, for there is no resisting his will.

34. To all these considerations I shall add one more, of great force and efficacy, which is that, for the preserving of this patience, a man must be always fortified and prepared against all kinds of adversities and afflictions, which way soever they come

For how can any one expect to be better treated by a world so full of corruption and vice, by a flesh so weak and frail, by the devils that are so envious, and by his fellow creatures that are so malicious ? All he is to look for from them are continual persecutions, and unexpected assaults and onsets. It is the part of a prudent man to be always in readiness against such encounters and accidents as these, as he would do if he were passing through an enemy's country, and in so doing he will find two extraordinary conveniences. The first is, he will undergo all his troubles the better, being thus forearmed ; because, as Seneca says, " A blow never falls half so heavy as it would do, when we see it coming at a distance." And Ecclesiasticus gives us the same advice, when he says, " Apply a remedy before you are sick ;" Eccl. xviii. 20. The other advantage is, that, as often as a man does so, he is sensible he offers a sacrifice to God much like that of the patriarch Abraham, which he was going to make of his son Isaac ; Gen. xxii. For whensoever a man considers with himself that he may meet with such or such troubles and contradictions, either from God or men, whensoever he prepares himself for receiving of them with humility and patience, resigning himself entirely into the hands of God, accepting of all things from what part soever they come, as if he himself had sent them, as David did when Simei affronted him, he cannot but be persuaded, that whilst he does this, he offers up a most acceptable service to God, and merits as much by his good will and readiness, though he does nothing at all, as if he had done all he was prepared to do ; 2 Kings xvi.

35. For this reason it concerns us to remember that this is one of the most essential obligations of a Christian. St. Peter assures us of it, when he says, " Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled, knowing that you are thereunto called ;" Pet. iii. 9, 14. Every Christian, then, should consider, that as long as he lives in the world he is like a rock in the sea, which is perpetually exposed to the violence of the waves, and yet still keeps its place, though they are always beating against it. I have been copious upon this matter, because a Christian's whole duty, according to what St. Bernard says, consists in these two things, " To do good, and to suffer injuries :" S. Bern. Serm. 1. Apost. Pet. et Pauli. There is no doubt but it is easier to comply with the first than with the second, and, therefore, it is requisite we should give most caution where there is the greatest danger.

36. But it is observable, by the bye, that in this virtue of patience holy writers tell us there are three degrees, each of which is more perfect than the other. The first of them is, the bearing of afflictions patiently ; the second is, the desiring of them for the love of Christ ; and the third, the taking a delight in them upon the same account. So that it is not enough for a man that serves God to take up with the first degree only ; when he has attained that, he must aim at the second ; and not stop there neither till he comes to the last. We have a very good example of the first degree in the patience of holy Job. The desire several of the martyrs had of suffering furnishes us with an example of the second; and the joy which the apostles had in being found worthy to suffer affronts for the name of Christ, is an evident proof of the last. This is the degree the apostle had arrived to, when he said in one place, " That he glories in his tribulations ; and in another, " That he will rejoice in his tribulations, afflictions, stripes, &c. which he had suffered for Christ ;" Acts v. ; Rom. v. 3 ; 2 Cor. xi. 12. Speaking elsewhere of his imprisonment, he desires the Philippians to share with him in the joy he has to see himself in chains for the name of Christ ; Phil. ii. And he tells us the same favor was granted to the faithful of Macedonia ; so that they had a great deal of comfort amidst the heavy afflictions they were oppressed with. This is the highest degree of patience, charity and perfection, a creature can possibly attain to, and which very few arrive at, and, therefore, God does not lay this obligation upon any one, by way of precept, any more than he does the former.

37. From what has been said, we are not to imagine that we must rejoice at the deaths, misfortunes or afflictions of our neighbors ; much less at those of our friends or relations ; and least of all at those of the church ; because the same charity, which commands us to rejoice in one case, obliges us to be sorry and compassionate in the other. For it is charity that knows how to rejoice with those that rejoice, and to weep with those that weep ; as we see the holy prophets did, who spent their whole lives in lamenting and bewailing the miseries of men, and the punishments they groaned under.

38. Whosoever, therefore, to conclude, shall have obtained these nine qualities or virtues, shall have the heart of a child towards God, and cannot but have thoroughly complied with this last and principal obligation of justice, which is, to give God whatsoever is due to him.