The Fifth SERMON Preached before the King and Queen, IN Their MAJESTY'S Chapel at St. James', upon the FEAST of S. Francis Sales, Jan. 29. 1685/ 6.  
By the Reverend Father Dom. PH. ELLIS, Monk of the Holy Order of S. Benedict, and of the English Congr. Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY.  
Published by His Majesty's Command.  
LONDON, Printed by Henry Hills, Printer to the King's most Excellent Majesty, for his Household and Chapel. 1686.   

THE FIFTH SERMON Preached before THEIR MAJESTY'S, On the Feast of S. Francis Sales, Jan. 29. 1685/ 6.  

Talis decebat ut esset nobis Pontifex, sanctus, innocens. Hebr. ch. 7. v. 26. It was fitting we should have such a Bishop, holy, and innocent.  
THese words are part of that Divine Character which the Apostle gives of Jesus Christ, the Supreme Pastor and Bishop of our Souls, distinguishing him from the High Priests of the Levitical Race, and establishing his eternal Priesthood according to the Order of Melchisedec, Sanctus, Innocens. For, as it was fitting that a new Lawgiver should publish a new Law; so was it necessary he should create a new Priesthood, more perfect than the former, more excellent, not only in Power and Efficacy, but also in Sanctity and Innocence. And since this Law was to be so confummated in all Points, that it should never be repealed or excluded by a posterior Law more perfect than itself; so was it fitting we should have such a Bishop, so replenished with Holiness and Innocence, as all who were to succeed him in the Pontifical Dignity, and Direction of Souls, might abundantly receive of his fullness, and some in every Age should actually enjoy a larger, and more conspicuous share of his Holiness and Innocence.  
Of this number was the eminent Prelate, to the memory of whose innocent Life, and holy Conversation, the Church has appointed the present Solemnity. A Bishop so holy and innocent, that, as he was the glory, so is he the reproach of this corrupt Age. For if the worst of Times, and the most barren Soil, could produce Innocence, and nourish Holiness, and bring Virtue to the highest Maturity, how fond and frivolous are our Excuses? how does our Justification aggravate our Offence, when we strive to lay our own Burden upon our Neighbour's Shoulders, and charge our voluntary Depravations upon the Iniquity of the Times? But I argue wrong: For since we are so ready to catch at every shadow of an Excuse, to palliate our Vices, and to shelter our Cowardice, not daring to offer at a good Life, or desponding, and falling back as soon as we have made the first step; therefore, Decebat ut talis esset; it was fitting we should have such a Pastor to guide us, such a Conqueror to lead us on, such a Bishop to encourage us, such a Doctor to teach us, and such an Orator to persuade us, that the Land of Promise is not so inaccessible as false Spies represent it, that the Inhabitants are not inhospitable, that Sanctity, and Innocence are not such impracticable Virtues as the World would have us believe. We have it from his Doctrine, we have it from his Practice; we cannot find a more faithful Account of it then in his Writings, nor can we in reason exact a more authentic Testimony than his Life, which mutually support, and witness to one another; his Life was holy and innocent, because conformable to his Doctrine; and his Doctrine is proved to be so, because attested by his Life. They who admire the sublimeness of his Instructions, when they read them, will find them not above their own level, when they see him practise them: and such as despair of rising to that height, when they read his Performances, will be convinced, when they consult his Rules, that every honest State of Life is capable of perfection, that is, of Sanctity and Innocence. Facere & Docere, Acting and Teaching was the twofold Innocence, the twofold Sanctity of this Holy Man, and therefore shall make the two Parts of this Discourse, after we have begged light from above by the Intercession of the Mother of Innocence, Addressing to her more than Angelical Purity, with the Angelical Salutation, AVE MARIA.  

It was fitting we should have such a Bishop, Holy, and Innocent.  
I Will not trouble you with the Scholastic Distinctions betwixt Holiness and Innocence, or involve you in the Niceties of the Moral Philosopher, when he marks out the Boundaries of each Virtue, and declares the difference and property: for tho' indeed Innocence import nothing positive as to the force of the word, but only an exemption from Crime, and is distinguished from Holiness, as the Disposition from the Effect; or at the most, innocence being but an imperfect Holiness, as Holiness is the perfection of Innocence; yet because the common notion which Men have of this virtue, implies a purity of body and mind. I am willing to leave you in possession of that Idea, which the Saint favours in his writings, and proceed to show how eminently he possessed it in his Person.  
And to begin with the inferior part, the Body, following the Apostles method, primum est quod animale: the Spiritual Innocence being never so illustrious, as when it is superstructed upon the Corporal.  
But not to mention the previous Dispositions to it, as the Piety and Sanctity of his holy Parents; for tho' other Virtues are not transmitted, yet Innocence, and Chastity seem to be privileged above the rest: Not to draw any Argument from the Angelical meekness of his Countenance, or Modesty of his behaviour, before Nature began to breath, or Concupiscence to exert itself; we will represent him ex puero virum, in the bloom of Youth, in the pride of Nature, in the lustre of a most perfect Beauty, in the midst of abundance of Health, Nobility, Riches, and by consequence of Temptations: And being thus Nobly attended you may expect to find him in the Courts of Princes, the Sea whence all Greatness flows, and whether naturally it returns; being likewise so dangerously attended, you may expect to meet him at the Comedy, or at the Ball, or at the ordinary haunts of Youth; Youth which seems to receive the Blessings of God only to pervert them into the Occasions of sin, having much Health, much Time, much Money to lavish, and in every action stands responsible to God for a threefold prodigality of his Favours. A Truth that made so deep, and so early an impression upon our young Saint, that he was resolved to be before hand with Nature, and not to quit the possession of Innocence, for the hazard of a future Repentance.  
He then possessed what he afterwards left in Writing for our instruction, that Chastity is that holiness of Life, mentioned by the Apostle, without which none shall see God, as St. Jerom and St. John Chrisost. expound. He had learned from the same Apostle that we are not our own, sed ejus, qui pro nobis mortuus est, & resurrexit, but have passed away our Title, and rendered the possession of ourselves to Jesus Christ, whose glorious Body (if the Apostles Argument hath any force) is not only a proof of our future immortality, but is also an emblem of the present incorruption he requires at our hands, and which we promised in our Baptism, to be holy in Body and Spirit, that is innocent. He had learned that his Body must either be the Temple of the Holy Ghost, or a Den of Serpents: If the Temple of the Holy Ghost, than Chastity, and Innocence must be the Priest, and Concupiscence the Sacrifice, cujus templi sacerdos, & sacrificatrix est pudicitia; and therefore making a vigorous effort in the very flower of his Youth, he gave the Victim a mortal blow, and laid it dead at the foot of the Altar by a vow of perpetual Chastity: And the grace that enabled him to make this holocaust of himself, did so constantly attend him all the rest of his Life, that neither the heat of Youth could ever sully the whiteness of the Lily, nor the most wily Stratagems of the Devil damp the Odour, nor the more rude assaults of the World shake the firmness.  
Methinks I behold him in the posture of the Cherubin that was placed at the entry of Paradise to render it inaccessible to sin. He had Wings to fly, and a Flaming Sword to resist; thus doubly Armed he stands Sentinel to Guard the Tree of Life, his Innocence; watchful to Defend all the Avenues, his Senses; lest death should enter through those Windows. If the Enemy Attaque him by open force, (as he did more than once by Persuasions of corrupt Men, and by the importunities of abandoned Woman) he uses the Sword of his Zeal, either putting the Tempter's to flight, or subduing them to Repentance. But if the Emissaries of Hell press so hard upon him that Nature inclines to take Quarter, he will not hazard the day by fight it out, but conquers by his Wings; he flies and overcomes, as the chaste and innocent Joseph did, of whom St. Basil of Seleucia says, fugâ utitur pro armis, his defence was in his flight, and he was truly brave because he had the courage to run away. And now he returns covered with Glory, that is in secure possession of Innocence, to reproach on the one side our Cowardice, on the other our Rashness, and Presumption: Our Cowardice, that we dare not so much as grasp at a virtue which makes us, says he, almost equal to the Angels, and without which we cannot be Men: Our presumption, that we dare, like the simple Insect hover curiously about the flame to try whether it be as sweet as it is fair, till w● perish in the very trial. For if he that loves danger shall perish in it; he that goes to meet it, loves it; he who does not remove the Occasion from his own doors, lays a snare for his own Feet; he who does not eject the Scandal from under his Roof, and lodge it beyond the reach of a grounded suspicion, lays a Snare for the Feet of his Neighbour; and he who does not fly from the Net when it is spread in his way, is already caught.  
I have insisted longer upon this groundwork of Virtue, then perhaps the rules of Panegyrics will allow; but the necessities of my Auditory, the force of my Text, and the honour of this Saint required no less; an uncorrupted, and inviolate Chastity, being so necessary a foundation to a consummated Innocence, that without it the whole Fabric is ruinous, wants the strength, symmetry, and beauty of a regular building, is always sinking and yielding, tho' never so often repaired by acts of Repentance.  
But let us proceed from the cause to the effect, or rather from one link of the Chain to an other; let us contemplate the purity of the Water that flows from so incorrupted a Spring, preaching issuing from Practice; Innocence, teaching Holiness;  
Your attention, and my Second Part.    

Part. TWO If Innocence be the characteristical Virtue of the Saint and shines in every action which he did; it flashes in every Line which he writes: If it was the Soul which animated his Works, it was the Intelligence which dictated his Words, and as a great Saint speaks of a perfect Religious man, vita ejus erat sermo facti ejus, the purity of his Doctrine is only an account of the purity of his Life, and both together only one continued, uninterrupted series of a Practical, and an Affective Innocence. If we regard his Life, we shall find it so estranged from the World, as if he knew it not: But if we look upon his Writings, we shall find there so dismal, and yet so exact an account of it, as if he had Traveled through all its corruptions. He knew it therefore only to condemn it, and like Moses from the top of Mount Nebo took a view of that Country he was never to enjoy. God having reserved for him a better hope; yet not taking the present possession out of his hands, but keeping it from his Heart. He did not call him into the frightful desert with a St. Paul, a St. Anthony, a St. Bennet; he did not Command him to Sell all, and give to the Poor, with a St. Francis. The Divine wisdom knew very Well that in an age, so enervated, and softened with ease, and Luxury, few would take that word, which in the best of us begets only a sterile admiration; and by the most is looked upon as so impracticable, that it is hardly credible. For tho' we are expelled Paradise, yet we expect God should converse with us as before in our own likeness; we are ashamed to embrace a Virtue that is not in a fashionable dress, and if that great Queen would have us follow her, she must appear in her natural Garb, and easy Way, in fine Linen and soft Garments; as she was habited before sinners forced her to put on Sackcloth.  
Wherefore the Divine goodness condescending to our infirmity, and (as the Prophet speaks) softening the Yoke by abundance of Oil, 
Esai. 10.27.  sets a Pattern of Holiness before our Eyes in the Person of St. Francis Sales, so easy to Imitate, and Copy out, so adapted to all states, and conditions, that it flashes like light in every one's Face, 
Ps. 19.7.  nec est qui se abscondat à calore ejus, and breathes such a gentle warmth upon every Heart; that we are blind, if we do not see it; that we are insensible if we do not feel it; and inexcusable if we do not follow it.  
If I should propose to the Nobility the Example of a Paulinus, or a Cassiodorus, suing to be discharged of their Honours and Employments, as so many Fetters, and Impediments in their way to Heaven; I might disgust, but should never persuade: But when I bring evidence that Greatness in this World is not inconsistent with Humility, and to serve your King and Country in the most eminent stations excludes neither Sanctity nor Innocence, why do you not imitate?  
If I should propose to the Courtier the Example of an Arsenius crying to you as the unknown voice did to him, si vis salvus esse fuge: If you would be saved fly into Solitude, and hid yourself in the covert of a Rock, you would think I deserve that desert whether I invite you. But while my Saint commands me to tell you, that your estate is not desperate, tho' it be dangerous, and that the Lily may flourish among Thorns, that you may be Innocent in the midst of Corruption, why do you abandon yourselves as those that have no hope?  
If I should propose to the Ladies a Paula melting in a continual stream of Tears, a Magdalen in her Grott, a Mary of Egypt feeding upon Roots, a Francisca covered with Sackcloth, and add to it, hoc fac, & vives, this you must do to be Saved; I should turn this Chapel into a valley of Tophet, the Preachers voice would be drowned with execrations upon his head, and acts of despair would echo from every Breast.  
But while my Saint commands me to set before your Eyes a Philothea nobly Born, 
St. Franc. Sales directs all his Instructions in the Book of the Introduction to a Devout life, to every pious Soul under the name of Philothea.  nicely Bred, easy and gentle in her Behaviour, neither scrupling a decency in , nor in Attendance, allowing herself an inoffensive cheerfulness in Discourse, and other Recreations not unbecoming either her Sex, or Condition; and all this without any prejudice to her Innocence, reflection upon her Reputation or impediment to her Sanctity; what colour of excuse is left you to cover that of your Confusion? Why are you not merry without dissolution, affable without effrontery, gentile without profuseness? Such was Philothea. She allows you Visits, and Recreations; but not at the expense of your Innocence: She allows you a good Table, but not that your Neighbour's fame should be the Salt to every Meat, and every thing taste insipid, which does not relish of the satire. Philothea did not so. Why do you corrupt your lawful Diversions into criminal excesses? your Apparel into a subject of Vanity, and occasion of Scandal? and turn those Riches into Ostentation, which ought to be hid in the bosom of the poor, if you would either preserve your Innocence, redeem your offences, or perfect your Sanctity. And this was the Practice of Philothea. In a word, decebat ut talis esset, so sitting and even so necessary was it to all states and conditions, that when Vice began to establish his Throne upon the ruins of Piety, when Relaxation Invaded the Rights, and Usurped the Title of Religion, when Virtue was Pictured like a fury, with Scourges in her Hands, and was as much apprehended as she was before neglected, so fitting and even so necessary, I say, it was the Divine providence should show such a Bishop to the World, whose Authority might convince an incredulous Generation, and whose Example might encourage the weak, whose meekness might soften the most obdurate, whose advices might strengthen the languishing hand, and inspire the dejected heart; and in fine, whose pathetic Exhortations might melt down the Heart of stone, and fetch Waters out of the hardest Rock; when he teaches us both by Word and Example that the way to Heaven, is neither so craggy nor so steep as the descent of Hell: that you may climb the one with less pains than plunge down the other: that there are pleasures attending Innocence to which the most indulged Appetites can never arrive; that Virtue has more Charms than Vice; that Sanctity is but high Reason, and when you live like Gentlemen you commence Saints. For what can be so reasonable as to live soberly, justly, and piously in this World? What more gentile? What more sordid and base than the contrary Vices? Yet in these Three Heads our Saint after St. Paul sums up all your Obligations, renders them familiar by his Practice, and softens them in his instructions.  
Here the Bishop learns how to support with ease, the formidable burden of his charge; the Ecclesiastic to perform the Duties of his Character; the Religious to maintain the Innocence of his Life; and the Secular Man experiences the facility of Virtue: The Great, and the Rich are taught the advantage of their condition, by having the power to do good to others; a Godlike capacity: The Virgin is instructed how to secure that great Treasure, an Angelical purity: The Married Person has methods laid down, how to extract Antidotes out of Poison, and as Fish live in Salt-water without drawing the Brine, so to converse in the great Sea of the World, without taking in either its Vanities or Corruption.  
If you be a Man, 
i e. St. Francis Sales' admirable treatise of the Love of God.  you have a Theotimus for your Pattern; a Philothea if you be a Woman; if you aspire to perfection, what better guide can you choose then his love of God which rises every line till it lose both the Reader and itself in an Ocean of Charity, till it plant the imitator in the Third Heaven? If you cannot follow so great a flight, despond not; you have his Introduction to a Devout life, so accommodated to all Capacities and Conditions, that we may without Impiety apply to it what St. Gregory said of the holy Scripture, ubi agnus ambulat, & Elephas natat, where the Lamb walks and the Elephant swims; the more simple Reader is satisfied, and the more elevated understanding is transported. If you are unsettled in matters of Religion, read his Triumph of the Cross, and you will sit down abundantly contented, and more than sufficiently convinced. If the care of others be committed to you, what so moving as his Sermons? What so persuasive as his Instructions? Smooth as the profound current, perspicuous as the shallow, resembling the Nile flowing with sweetness, and faecundity, but comparable only to themselves.  
If you want spiritual comfort or advice, let his Entertainments and Letters be your Counsel, which solve every emergent difficulty, dispel every scruple, satisfy your doubts, and set the most perplexed cases in the clearest light.  
To conclude, as out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh; so out of the Innocence and Sanctity of his Life, he Copied his Instructions. His Writings are his Obelisk, his own Panegyric: and if you imitate they are yours too, if you desire to imitate they are most excellent directions; but if you will not they are your Sentence and Condemnation.  
For is it not as much your duty to embrace Innocence, and to press forward to Sanctity? Is it not as much your Interest? Have you not the same Capacity, the same Encouragements, and Assistance? Do you want either Liberty or Grace? Neither. Do you want Knowledge, or Instruction? You cannot pretend it: But if you want Will, and Application, who can you blame, but yourselves? Perditio tua ex te O Israel; if you fall, you cast yourselves down the precipice; if you perish, it is by your own hands; Why will you die O House of Israel? for your perdition is from yourselves.  
Our B. Master assures those who tread the paths of his Sanctity and Innocence, that at their Journeys end, they shall repose upon Thrones, and sit judging the Tribes of Israel; not by pronouncing sentences of death upon them, says St. Jerom, but by making it evident to all mankind by the comparison of their Lives, that such as would not follow the tract they had beat and smoothed with their own feet, should have nothing to say for themselves, why judgement might not pass upon their convicted crimes, quia vobis credentibus illi credere noluerunt.  
And it is worth our serious and timely study to consider what Plea we shall be able to make, at the severe Tribunal against such a cloud of Witnesses, the Lives of so many Saints that will appear against us. Perhaps we were Ignorant of our Obligation: And have you not the same Law written in your Hearts, as you are Men, and the same Gospel Preached unto you, as you are Christians, And both the one, and the other revived and inculcated by their instructions, shown to be practicable, and even easy by their Example? If it be true that qui ignorat ignorabitur, he that is wilfully unknowing in the great concern of his Salvation, shall not be acknowledged for a Disciple of Christ; he that neglects to learn either out of sloth or prejudice, or temporal interest, is wilfully Ignorant; he that shuts his Eyes against the Light, is as criminal as he that Rebels against it, and deserves as severe Chastisement.  
But I could not practise what I knew. Erubesce Sidon ait Mare, cover your Face that the World may not see you blush at such a childish and unmanly Excuse. Were not they of as noble a Birth, of as tender a Complexion, of as nice an Education? Had not they the same Passions to bridle, the same Concupiscence to war against, the same Body of Sin to conquer? But they had Grace. And how often has it been given you? How often have you scornfully rejected it? Have you not the same supernatural Light, the same holy Inspirations? The same efficatious Sacraments? As winning Examples, as Pathetic Exhortations, as vigorous both interior and exterior Helps, What could I do to my Vineyard that I have not done?  
But I have pressing Avocations, a tide of business, an Estate to raise, a Child to Marry, a Law suit to follow, a Family to provide for; and in fine such impediments as no body can imagine, and I cannot overcome. And are these the heads of your Excuses? Are these your particular Difficulties? Why? They are every body's Song, a mere Narrative which is in every body's Mouth, and which the slothful Man in the Proverbs delivers more compendiously, Leo est in via, There is a Lion in the way. But they are so far from proving what you intent, an exemption from Holiness, and Innocence, that they are convincing Arguments you stand in greater necessity of practising those Virtues, and walking carefully, 
Caute Ambulate.  (as the Apostle speaks) because you go upon a slippery pavement. They are Arguments indeed why you cannot renounce the World, and bury yourselves in a Cloister; but do not prove at all that you cannot live Innocent in the World. You cannot estrange yourselves from Creatures; but cannot you with hold your affection? You cannot support great corporal Austerities; but cannot you keep the Rein upon your Appetites? You cannot spend whole days in Contemplation; but cannot you set apart an hour for Prayer? You cannot observe perpetual Silence; But cannot you refrain from broaching, or dispersing Scandal? Cannot you moderate the flippancy of your Tongue? You cannot distribute all your Goods to the Poor; but cannot you relieve their necessities out of your superfluities?  
You cannot suppress the eruptions of your Passions; but you may keep a watch over them. You cannot contain from Pleasures that are lawful; but you may abstain from the unlawful. You cannot depose the grandeur of your Condition, nor quit the lustre of your State; but you may keep within the bounds of Christian modesty, and abStain even from the appearance of Evil, as the Apostle commands.  
This is the Summary of the Doctrine of our Saint, the Spirit of his Writings, the Sweetness of his Spirit: And how rigorous soever he was to his own Person, he commands me to tell you, if you practise these easy Instructions, you shall enjoy Innocence in the midst of Corruption; Holiness in the midst of Infirmities; Poverty in the midst of Riches; and Peace in the midst of Distractions; vade & tu fac similiter. But for your encouragement to believe, what your own experience can only persuade, It was fitting we should have such a Bishop, Holy and Innocent, whose Holiness, tho' attested by unquestionable Miracles, yet in so corrupt an Age, his Innocence was the greatest Miracle. And if he that lives well (as St. Augustine assures us) cannot die ill; he that lives Innocent, cannot but die Holy; And therefore on the Feast of the Holy Innocents', he was called to the nuptials of the Lamb, and added to their Number. A Martyr of Love; an indefatigable Pastor; the Apostle of his Country; the Mirror of Chastity, Humility, Patience, and of all the gentile Train of peaceful Virtues; the very Manna which Heaven reigned down upon this Age, savoury and delicious to every palate that has any Taste of Devotion; and to conclude his Elogium, the Holy Innocent of the declining Church, as the others were of the Infant Christianity; the later Crop, as the others were the first Fruits, collected into the Garners of Heaven: Whether I beseech God that you may follow him, by a studious imitation of his Virtues, and an assiduous Lecture of his Writings;  
In the Name, etc.   
FINIS.