A SERMON Preached before the KING AT CHESTER, ON AUGUST xxviii. 1687.  
Being the FEAST of S. AUGUSTIN, Doctor of the Holy Catholic Church.  
By the Reverend Father, LEWIS SABRAN, of the Society of Jesus.  
Published by His Majesty's Command.  
LONDON: Printed by Henry Hills, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, for his Household and Chapel; and are to be sold at his Printing-House on the Ditch side, in Blackfriars. 1687.   
2 TIM. iv seven. Bonum certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem servavi. I have fought a good Fight, consummated my Race, kept my Faith. 
THis Character, Most Sacred Majesty, of an undaunted and unwearied Courage, meeting Victory at last through all the Oppositions weak Nature can dread, and faint under; of a steady and unalterable fixure in the Resolution once taken of serving God; of an even and punctual Fidelity to his holy Grace; as it is the noblest, so certainly it doth but Justice either to the great Apostle S. Paul, or to the great Doctor S. Augustin, whose Feast the holy Catholic Church solemnizes this day: since 'tis given to the first by the Holy Ghost, moving his Pen, when he writ it, against all the Opposition his Humility could make; And applied to the second by that Church, which is ever guided by the same unerring Holy Spirit. 'Tis no wonder one Character should serve them both, the one having been so exact a Copy of the other. Nature had with an equally liberal Hand richly qualified both; Education had refined their eminent Parts, by an equally deep Knowledge 
Paul● saevitia silvestre erat vitium, sed magnae fertilitatis erat indicium. l. 22, c. 70. cont. Faust.  in all Human Literature; they opposed alike the Church of God, the one with the Sword of Persecution, the other with his sharper and more dreadful Logic; both misled by a blind and stormy Zeal, which yet argued their Abilities, though misapplyed. Their Conversion was the immediate Work of Heaven, both being retrieved by its miraculous Voice; their Learning inspired by the same Spirit (though not in a like Degree of Certainty) guided all Christian Divines in the Schools; by their Tongues the Spirit of God spoke most efficaciously in their respective Ages, from the Pulpit; their Writings 
Numquid hoc est intra in gaudium domini tui. l. 9 c. 10 conf.  have disarmed all Heretics and Schismatics that ever opposed the Church to this Day; by their Apostolical Labours they outwent so far all those of their different Ranks, that each could say with a just Title, I have laboured more than all; a Love of God frequently heightened into Rapts and Ecstasies, equally inflamed both: They both had a Foretaste here below of Heavenly Bliss; in a Word, They were first the most absolute miraculous Conquest, and then the most victorious Champions of the Grace of God. That I may the better set out S. Augustin in both these Capacities, to Gods greater Glory in him, and to your larger Spiritual Comfort and Benefit (Christian Auditors) join, I crave, your Prayers with mine to obtain the Succour of that Divine Grace: If I presume not to present them, without taking along the joint Intercession of the Mother of God, I follow therein the Advice of S. Augustin, which I address to you in his Words; Let us by the most tender Application of our 
Toto mentis affectu b●atissimae virgin▪ s nos intercessionibus committamus. etc. Serm. 35 de Sa●c.  whole Heart, recommend ourselves to the most Blessed Virgin's Intercession; let us all, with the greatest eagerness, strive to obtain her Protection; that whilst with Assiduity we pay her our Devotions on Earth, she may entreat for us in Heaven by her earnest Prayers; for undoubtedly she who brought forth the Price of Redemption, hath the greatest Right to intercede for those who are redeemed.  

Ave Maria.  
LEst the Offers I seem to make at a Panegyric, should dull the Attention of any in my Auditory, led by that common Apprehension, Either that Sermons of Saints are like their vulgar Pictures which bear their Names indeed, and some Symbols of them, but have in Lieu of their proper natural Features, such only as are borrowed from the Painter's Fancy; or that such sublime Virtues only and rare Gifts of God are treated of in them, as lying far out of the Road and Reach of most Christians, are of little Use for their Instruction and Edification: to correct, I say, a Mistake that would so far prejudice, and even defeat my whole Design, give me Leave first to protest, That I will not in this Discourse even hint at any thing concerning this Saint, but what he owns of himself in his Writings: His Humility having prompted him to lay open all his Faults and Weakness in some of them; and in others, that Seraphic Love which ever moved his Heart to a grateful Return of Thanks, having often unwarily betrayed what singular Graces and Gifts he possessed, That the Mercy and Justice 
De bonis me●s, & de malis me●s Deum la●dant, bonum & justum, atque in cum excitant humanum intellectum & affectum l. 2. retract. c. 6. Non ego sed gratia Dei mecum.  of God might receive due Praise, and men's Minds and Hearts be raised to give it, by the Knowledge of God's Favours and of his Sins. Again, the only Mark I levelly at, being God's greater Glory in this his Saint, the Fight and Victory I mean to speak of, is of the Divine Mercy and Grace, setting his  in that happy Liberty of the Children of God, conquering in and with it; of that Divine Virtue which borrows its greatest Lustre from human Weakness and Corruption. All therefore that I shall offer to your Attention will serve for an Encouragement to the very Weakest, and show even to those who are farthest from God, the Way and Method how to return to him, by yielding themselves a Conquest to his holy Grace. If I insist much on those strange Oppositions which this blessed Saint before his Conversion raised within himself against that Grace which called him to the true Church, and to an eminent degree of Piety in it, I hope it will contribute the more to my Auditories Instruction and Comfort; for as the Saint himself teaches me, Health 
Confess. l. 8. c. 3.  Creates a greater Joy when restored after a desperate Disease, and Safety when it succeeds the most pressing Dangers.— God himself is represented rejoicing more at the Conversion of one Sinner, than for the perseverance of Ninety Nine Just:— And if any part of Holy Writ draws Tears of sensible Comfort from our Eyes, and softens our Hearts with a feeling Tenderness, 'tis when we read the solemn Feast in the House of that merciful Father at the Return of his untoward Prodigal Child, who had perished, and was now found, had been dead, and was now revived. S. Augustin till the Age of Thirty Four Years, was out of the true Church, and Favour of God, plunged into Heresy and Vice. The haughty Perverseness of his Understanding swelled up with the proud Conceit of his own Parts, opposed itself to God's Grace, offering the Light of a true Faith: Worldly Interest, and the Corruption of his Heart swayed by vicious Inclinations, withstood the same Grace, offering the true Comforts of Virtue and Piety; Grace conquered at last, joined with his , and so possessed the whole Soul of Augustin, that he continued an even Course of Virtue the rest of his Life, by being Faithful to the conquering Grace he had yielded himself unto. These two Victories of God's Grace, bringing Augustin's Understanding and Heart to a due Submission and constant Fidelity, whereby he hath a just Claim to my Text; are the two Points of this Discourse, and of Your Royal Majesties most gracious Attention. That true Religion, or the Worship which God requires at our Hand, is sufficiently 
Jo●●. 1.  revealed to all Mankind, by him who is the Light that enlightens each Man that comes into this World; that the true Church's Voice, which all are bound to hearken 
Matt. 16 & 18.  unto, and obey, may easily be heard, and distinguished; that the House of God, in which alone those Sacraments are dispensed, which convey to us a plentiful Redemption, and work together with us our Salvation, is like a City seated on a Hill, exposed to the View of all; that the Way which God hath marked us out to walk in towards Heaven, is easily found out, and followed, so that Fools shall not go astray in it, 
Psa● 35.  and consequently is discernible by its Infallible Security; are Truths which Faith teaches us, and even Reason evinces to any who shall acknowledge in God a Providence and a merciful Goodness. How then befalls it, that so many wander in Darkness though surrounded by that Light, fail to hear this Church's Voice, miss to see this City, err in finding this way? But how could this happen to an Augustin, so that for Twenty Years he should persevere in an Heresy the most wicked and senseless, that ever infected Mankind? Some you will say are strangely dull, especially in the Concerns of Piety. True, but as the learned 
Scientiam Augustino coelum dedit super omnes homines, etc. Avicen. Fecisse naturam extremum effectum sine potentiae dum Augustinianum creavit ingenium, Alb. mag. Confess. l. 4. c. 16.  World hath ever owned, he had so soaring and searching an Understanding, that Heaven never gave so sublime a Wit to any Mortal before, seeming to exhaust its Treasury in enriching his Mind, Nature at least emptied hers in perfecting him. So few cultivate their Wit by Studies! I allow it; but whose was ever polished with such Industry, improved with such Diligence as S. Augustins? What did it avail me, saith he of himself, that I read and without the help of a Master understood all the Books that treated of Liberal Sciences, whilst I remained a dull Slave to my vicious Inclinations? My Back was turned to the true Light, I read by it other things, but never cast back my Eyes to fix them on it. I had a quick and sharp Wit; it was your Gift my God, but I sacrificed no Share of it to you; it was a part of my Misery that I like the prodigal Child had in my own Hands and proper Disposal, that rich Portion of my Inheritance, whilst I used not those Abilities in your Service, but withdrew from you my God into a foreign Land. Possibly being born and bred up in Error, he met with none that could lay it open to him: On the contrary, he was born of a most pious Catholic Mother, he had felt in his Youth most pressing Inclinations to Piety, he had since heard the ablest Divines of God's Church in Africa and Italy. Perhaps he was little concerned to find out the Truth, and little regarded the Proofs of it that were offered him: he assures us that for Eleven years at least, he 
Immortalitatem sapientlae concupisc●bam aestu cordis incredibili, ● c. conf. l 3. c. 4▪  burned with an incredible Desire of the Knowledge of Eternal Truth, which during that Time buoyed him up and raised him toward the God he sought. That he eagerly wished for Wings to quit this World, and soar to that true Wisdom which dwells only in God, All this perchance was only a vain Curiosity in one, who felt no Sense of Piety, no Spark of Devotion: My Heart, says he, had sucked in with my Mother's 
Ibidem.  Milk, a tender Devotion for the Name of my Redeemer, it had sunk deeply there, what ever I read of the Name of Jesus was not set in it, how smooth and learned it ever were, seemed insipid and relished not. It may be that he refused to use Means proportioned to the finding of the Truth: No, he neglected but one, he used all the rest. If reading be useful to that End, he left no Book unread; if consulting private Men, he dealt with the most eminent of all persuasions, and was deceived by some who had always in their Mouths the Lord, the Spirit, the Truth: Such were their Words, says he, but their Heart 
Confess. l. 3. c. 5.  was empty; my Soul did inwardly sigh to thee my God, whilst they deceived me with an Empty Sound of thy Name.— Unhappy me, by what large Steps did I sink into the depth of Hell! But sure he read not the Holy. Text of Scripture: He did, but to little Purpose, Behold, says he, I saw there something covered and vailed to the Proud, and not open, not naked to Children: 
Ecce video ●e● non comp●rta● superbis, neque nudatam pueris, sed incessu humilem successu excelsa● & velatam mysteriis, etc. ibidem.  Low in appearance, but that soared high, and was wrapped up in Mysteries: The Light it gave, might have increased and grown with a little one, but I disdained to be a little One: That is, I scorned to be taught my Book, to hear any Interpreter of it. Blessed God such Parts employed! such Means used! so long a Search so studiously continued! and discovered he not 
Inveniri posse viam vitae minim● putabam. Conf. l. 6 c. 1.  the true Religion? So far from it, that he acknowledges he came to be of no Religion, and even to doubt whether God had assigned any Way to eternal Life, which could be found out. Were it possible to discover what blocked up his Way in the search after Truth? I observe in him three Letts that perfectly obstructed it. First, He was prepossessed with a fixed Persuasion, 
L. 4. Conf. c. 10, & 13.  That the Catholic Church had erred. He began to suspect, and even to hate the Heretics, of whose Congregation he was; yet they being many, their Multitude retarded his Diligence in enquiring farther, Because he despaired that Truth could be found in your Church, O Lord of Heaven and Earth. Such was the Aversion from it they had prevented him with. You brought me to Ambrose without any Knowledge in me of your Design, says he, which was, that by true Knowledge he might bring me to you; I loved and valued him, but not as a Teacher of Truth; for I despaired of finding any such in your Church. Secondly, Besides that general Prejudice he nourished, he misrepresented to himself the particular Tenets of the Church, and then hated and reviled the ugly Idol of his own carving. If ever, saith he, my Soul lifted up and moved herself towards the Catholic Faith, I was soon driven back; for alas! Catholic Faith was not that which I took it to be. Thirdly, He was willing to be convinced, but not to believe; to see, but not to submit his Understanding to Faith: He sought a clear Evidence, and such as should not control his usual Apprehension, or oppose his Senses, as if they had been fit Judges of the Objects of Faith, revealed Truths. My sick Soul, says he, could not be cured but by Believing, 
Valetudo animae meae quae utique nisi credendo sanari non poterat, ne falsa crederet sanari recusabat, etc. Conf. l. 6. c. 1.  and for fear of being surprised, and made to believe what might be false, I refused to admit of a Cure; I was resolved either to see things, or if I could not, to conceive them as evidently as that Seven and Three make up Ten. It was on these his Three mistaken Methods that he reflected afterwards, when sighing he said, What am I 
Quid sum ego mihi sine te nisi dux in praeceps, & quis homo est quilibet homo cum sit homo! Conf. l. 1. c. 4.  to myself but a Guide leading into a Precipice? What a sad Man, is each Man, when he is but one Man? That is, when he is left to his own Private Sense, abandoned to his own Judgement. Was it possible that God's Grace, had it been less than Omnipotent, should prevail against these stubborn Ill-dispositions of his Mind? Long was the Combat, violent the Strife, but Grace conquered at last, and by this Method gained the Field. First, God by a particular Light convinced him, That 
L 7. conf. c. 5.  Religion was not Opinion, but Faith; not a calling of things Divine to the Test of our weak Judgement, and carnal Senses; but a captivating of our Understanding, and humbly sacrificing it to the Divine Truth. Next, he observed how numerable those things were, which he believed, though he had never seen them; How he had ever adored God, and owned his Providence, though he knew not what a Kind of Substance he was, nor what Way led unto or from him. I thought on these Things, says he, and you were present to me, I was carried away by restless Waves, and you governed and steered my Course, I sighed, and you heard me. Then he resolves to seek more narrowly. Let Time be assigned, says he, let some Hours be allotted 
Ibidem. c. 11.  to the Study of that great Science, How I shall save my Soul. Let all Vain and Empty Concerns perish, and all my Thoughts and Endeavours be spent in the sole Pursuit of Truth; this Life at best is but Toilsome and Miserable, Death certain and at Hand, if it surprises whither do we go? He presently applied himself seriously to an humble Search after a Guide to Truth; when favoured with a new Light from Heaven, he cries out, Conceive better Hopes my Soul, the Catholic Faith doth not teach what we Believe, and fond accused her of. Thus disposed, and weighing with a due Attention the Articles of the Catholic Belief, he owns his Heart was filled with Joy, and his Face covered with Shame, to see how profanely he had striven so many Years, not against Catholic Faith, as he conceived, but against his own Dreams, how Rash he had been, and equally Impious: That whereas he should with Submission have learned from the 
●o quip temerarius & impius fueram, quod ea quae debebam quaerenda discere, accusando dixeram. l. 6. Conf.  Church, that which she held, he fastened on her what he pleased, and accused her of it. He reads next Holy Scripture, with the due deference he owed to that Church's Interpretation, owning there is no Text of Scripture into which a false Gloss may not Foist an Error; that the Letter ever kills, when severed from the Spirit 
Nulla scriptura est quae non apud illos qui cam non intelligunt, possit reprehendi. l. 1. de gen. contra Manich.  which ought to quicken; that the very misapplying a Text, otherwise truly Interpreted, is the most dangerous Weapon that a tempting Devil could use, to deceive, even if possible, Truth itself, with an It is written; that stubbornly to maintain our own Fancy to be the Word of God, because we uphold it by a forced Text, is to set up the greatest Abomination of Desolation in the House of God, an Idol upon his Altar; and to adore it by the worst of Idolatries, Self-worship; proudly challenging as our own, what Christ only could bequeath, and left to his Church, to each Member as united to the whole, the Spirit of Truth, who alone must Interpret what he Dictated alone: On which score Christ left as a Depositum in the same Hands of the Church, the Letter and the Spirit, the Book and the Sense, the Word and the Truth, to be delivered to all succeeding Ages by the same Authority, because the separating of the one from the other, would 
Neque enim natae sunt haereses nisi dum scripturae bonae intelliguntur non bene, & quoth in ●is non bene Intelligitur etiam temeré & audacter asseritur. Tract. 18. in Jo.  turn the most wholesome Food of our Souls to present Poison; whence Heresies have had their birth, from good Scriptures ill understood, and from the bold and rash asserting of such Errors. So that this only is the holy Method to be followed, that what we find in Scripture conformable with the Faith we have received, we feed on it; but when any part thereof appears not uniform with that Rule, that it create in us no Doubts, but only an humble 
Quod secundum sanam sidei regulam intelligere non poterimus, dubitationem a●feramus, intelligentiam disseramus. Ibid.  persuasion that we understand not yet such a Scripture. He had scarce received this Light, when behold all his Doubts raised before by the same Lecture, disappeared, all those seeming Contradictions vanished; whence he was perfectly convinced, that the Catholic Church was the unerring Guide to be followed by all the Disciples of Christ. He expresses the difference of this present Submission, from that former Search into Scripture without this Guide, under the Comparison of two Travellers, whereof 
Aliud est de silvestri cacumine videre pat●iam pacis, & iter ad cam non invenire & frustra con●ri per invia: aliud viam tenere illuc ducentem cura coelestis imperatoris munitam. Conf. l. 8. c. 1.  of the one climbs up a high Tree indeed, and sees thence the Place he would go to, but then ranges▪ blindly in the thick Wood; whilst the other walks securely in a Way leading right thither, without fear or danger of going astray; a large Royal Way, made and kept by the Providence of the King of Heaven. Then observing how all pious humble Catholics, tho' never so plain and illiterate Men, enjoyed as a Birthright that Happiness, the Search whereof had been so dangerous, the Purchase so painful to him; What 
Lib. 8. cap. 1. Conf.  want, O Lord (said he,) what want did your Little-ones feel of a deep and quick Wit? How much did this Dullness of theirs injure them? Whilst they were carried in your 
Catholica delici●tur Ecclesia & dicat ego do●mio & cor meum vigilat. Quid est, nisi, ita qui●sco ●● audiam. Tract. 25. in Jo.  Arms, and rested in the Nest of the Catholic Church, enlarging the Wings of their Charity, and strengthening them by the Food of a sound Faith; chosen for, and brought to them without their labour? Happy Men, who enjoy a perfect Rest, while their whole Duty is to hearken. Behold the final Victory of Grace over the Pride of Human Wit, captivated to Faith, ourselves sufficiency humbled under the Tutor Discipline and Direction of the Church. No wonder if this Saint afterwards used no other Method in reconciling misled Heretics to Truth, but that by which Gods Grace had retrieved him from his Errors, the infallible Authority of a Guiding Church. He advised Unlearned Men in general, to rely altogether, and lean on the Authority 
Epist▪ 56,  of the Church: He minded the most Learned, who feared to be deceived, where Truth seemed to them 
Fo. 7. li● contra cresco. c. 33.  but obscurely revealed, to consult the Church, which the holy Scriptures point out without ambiguity; assuring them, that (even in Fundamental Articles, of as immediate necessity as Baptism is, where Scripture mentions nothing thereof) the very Truth of Scriptures is followed, whilst that is done which the Catholic Church declares for, and with reason, since we receive, said he, the Books of the Old and New Testament in the same number that the Authority of 
Fo. 10. Serm. 191. de tempore.  the Catholic Church hath Sealed and Delivered up to us; since I would not give any credit to the Gospel, if the Authority 
Fo. 6. l. contra Epist. ●und. c. 5.  of the Catholic Church moved me not to it: whatever Doubts there arise, not to yield to the Church, 'tis the utmost 
Ad honour. de util. Cred. c. 17. Fo. 6.  Impiety, the most lose Arrogancy: For whether in her most general, necessary and first Principles, or in remotest Truths leading to solid Devotion; whether in 
Contra Faust. l 15. c. 3. in Fo. 6.  her Milk or in her Bread; the Church alone possesses Truth. Those then who have their Belief yet to choose, who begin a serious Search into Religion, desiring to 
De util. Cred. c. 7. & 8.  know to which they are to commit their Souls for Instruction, they must, without any Doubt, begin with the Catholic Church: If they have been wavering in their Mind, and desire to put an end to their toil in seeking, let them follow the Way of Catholic Discipline, which as it is derived from Jesus Christ to us 
Christus miraculis conc●liavit auctoritatem auctoritate meruit sidem. De util. cred. c. 14.  by the Apostles, so must it be transmitted to our Posterity in succeeding Ages. We must receive our Faith from that Church, as the first converted to Christianity received it from the Apostles, and they from Christ. Her Authority being once established by the same Proofs which 
Domino cooperante & sermonem confirmante sequent b●s signis. Marc. ult.  the Apostles offered for theirs, our whole Work is to embrace what God teaches by her Voice, tho' it be above the level and reach of Human Reason: For before our Minds be cleared from that Dullness which Sin hath left 
De ago Chron. c. 13.  in it, that especially of infidelity, we must believe what we cannot yet understand, the Prophet having most truly said, Without you believe, you shall not understand; for Faith is delivered in the Church in very few words, in which Eternal Mysteries are comprehended, which carnal man cannot yet conceive. The first Heresy arose 
In Psalm.  amongst Christ's Disciples from the refusal of yielding to his words, which seemed hard, they unhappily made a Schism from him: If Peter stuck steadfast to Christ, was it by understanding the high Mysteries of that Speech of Christ? No; but he piously believed what he understood 
In Psalm 130.  not: Learn, little ones of Christ, learn from hence due Piety; for those who will dispute of Mysteries they do not understand, do but heighten their Pride, whilst that curse falls on them which the Royal Prophet speaks of in the 130 Psalms, If I was not humble of heart, but have swelled up my mind with Pride, as the Child weaned from the breast is towards his Mother, so be my Soul punished. The Church of God is that Mother from which they are severed; they should have been nursed and fed by her, and so might have grown and become capable of digesting the Word and Mysteries of Faith. Ponder then well the sense of those two words of your Creed, Catholic Church; observe what a certain death 
Psalms in part. Donati.  seizes the Vine-branch, how it withers when lopped off from the Body of the Vine; come and seek Life from the Root; number the Priests in St. Peter's Chair; observe how they have succeeded to one another: that's the Rock which the proud Gates of Hell never conquer. This was his method of reducing those better-disposed Souls which erred by mistake rather than by malice; but if he found any obdurate, before he shaked against them the dust of his feet, according to Christ's Command, before he avoided them as already condemned, following the Apostles Counsel; he with a true Charity, weeping 
Ad Tit. 3. 10.  for the certain danger they ran, minded them of it thus: To be fond of ones proper Opinion, or to be averse 
L. 2. con. Don. c. 5.  from better, to that degree as to be guilty, by breaking Communion, of the Sacrilege of Schism or Heresy, is a Presumption beyond all others, but the Devils; since it is to refuse a Submission to the Spirit of Truth, guiding that Church it is promised unto, and which God commands all to hearken unto, and to obey. 'Tis the Crime of Corah, erecting an Altar against an Altar, which involves the weak and ignorant Followers as much as the Leaders, when equally stubborn in standing to their Separation; it seeming even a higher Crime in unlearned men, who pretend not to extraordinary Parts, and yet presume to be Judges of, and to condemn the Universal Church, preferring to her Decisions the opposite Errors of a few 
L. de Bapt. con Donat. c. 16. L. 2. contra c. 23.  of her revolted Children. I do not despair of the Salvation of any one in particular, whether he be a great Sinner in the Church, or a Schismatic out of it. Judgement is reserved to God alone; he only who hath in his hands the Iron Rod, can break the Earthen Vessels: but I equally declare of both, with the Apostle, That neither those who in the true Church die in sin, nor those who through a stiff stubbornness die out of her Communion, shall be saved. 
De symb. ad Catechum. c 10.  For whoever shall be found out of it, will be an Alien, not reckoned amongst the Children of God, whom he shall not have for Father, having refused to have the Church for his Mother. That Catholic Church which only is the Body of Christ, of which He is the 
Tract. 32. sup. Joan. Salvator corpo●is sui, L. de verâ & fals. poen. c. 12.  Head, whereof He alone is the Saviour; out of that Body no one receives Life from God's Holy Spirit, nor consequently can pretend to an Eternal one. Out of this Church's Unity no one can attain to true Penance; no one can obtain remission of sins, (her Children alone being the sole Dispenser's of the Mysteries of God.) In Her House only the Lamb is eaten; that is, on Her Altars only is sacrificed the true Victim of our Redeemer, 
Ser. 18●. de tempore.  (which alone so applies to us the saving Sacrifice of the Cross, that who eats not of that Flesh hath no Life in him.) As than no one escaped the Deluge, who was not 
Q. Q. 75. ad ●●a●. Q 52. Contra Petili, ut supra.  in Noah 's Ark, so no one shall be saved, who is not a Member of the Church, out of which an Heretic may have all things but Salvation: He may have the Sacraments, he may keep the Gospel, he may have the Faith; and preach it, only Salvation he cannot have. Tho' he be a Paul converted by God's Voice, instructed from Heaven, he must first be sent to those who can administer to him the Sacraments, and enter him a Member into the Church's Body. Tho' he be a pious Cornelius, an Alms-giver, a man of Prayer, a sober Liver; tho' he have an Angel to instruct him, Peter must teach him, and admit him into the Kingdom of God upon Earth, of which he hath the Keys, (the Church) before he 
Ad Bonifacium cont. 2. Ep. Pelag.  can be saved: otherwise, let him observe all the Commandments, live a chaste life to the purity of an entire Virginity, be profuse in , most patiented in bearing with all Injuries; let him sell all, and give to the Poor, reserving nothing for himself: after all those 
De fide ad Pet. c. 39  seemingly laudable actions, yet if he be not of the true and Catholic Faith, when he departs this life he will meet a certain Damnation, altho' he should shed his Blood for the Name of Christ. Say not that Cyprian and his Church, because they condemned no man, and separated none from their Communion, were not Heretics, and that it may suffice you that you copy this Example: That was enough when the Church had not yet decided the Dispute, to whose Decision Cyprian had certainly submitted himself, and with her condemned all her Opposers, which you do not. Say not that you err in no Fundamentals; that you conceive it a thing indifferent unto what Party you join yourselves, supposing they be 
Epistola 45. de Donatistis.  Christians, and therefore remain fixed to that Party in which you were born: for whatsoever in particular the Opinions of Heretics and Schismatics be, since they profess otherwise than the Church does, and requires of 
Serm. 14. de verbis Dom.  them to do, they are in a state of Damnation, because they renounce thereby one fundamental Article of Faith, the 
In Psal. 17. In ventre Ecclesiae veritas manet, quisquis ab hoc separa●us fuerit, necesse est ut falsa loquatur.  Authority and Unity of the Catholic Church, in whose bosom Truth dwells. So that whosoever is removed from it, 'tis necessary that he be in Error. Say not, I am satisfied, my conscience doth not reproach me that I am in an Error. I am charitably persuaded others may also serve God well; but many Mysteries in the Catholic Church appearing to me very strange, how can I believe what I understand not? or how shall I, an unlearned person, ever satisfy myself of the Truth? 'Tis then better for me to live of that Religion my Father and Mother were of, and die in that Church which I was Christened in. Such weak reasons, which yet retain in Heresy the greatest part of those who are unhappily engaged in it, betray equally the weakness of their Judgement, and headstrong stubbornness of their Will. The whole Catholic Church of all Ages, of all Nations, in her General Councils, rests satisfied of the Truth of each Article of Catholic Belief, so as to Curse and Excommunicate all those who believed as you do, in opposition to her. Now 
Sunt ibi quaeda●● q●ae suboffendunt animo●●●naros & negligentes sui, qu● maxima turba est; populariter accusarl possunt, defendi autem populariter, propter myste●●a quae his continentur, non à multis a ●modum possunt. c. 2. the util. Cred.  there is an ease and satisfaction which proceeds from Ignorance, (such as is in him who in a dark night walks without fear on the brim of a Precipice he knows nothing of) another from Knowledge; and can you think, without the highest Presumption, that Ignorance lay on the whole Church's side, and Science in your private Gift? Is it charity to think all those General Councils were most uncharitable, which all said Anathema to the Errors which they condemned, and you now approve? True Faith involves Mysteries which usually scandalise ignorant Souls, and careless in seeking Instruction, that is, the greatest part of the World, because they can be plausibly argued against, but not so easily made clear, they would not otherwise be Mysteries of Faith. 'Tis then not only most to be counselled, to believe what you see not 
Credere ante ratione, cum percipiendae rationi non sis idoneus, & ipsa ●i●e excolere animum excipiendi● seminibus ventatis, non solum saluberrimum judico; sed tale sine quo aegris anim●●●alus redire non potest.  yet the reason of, since you acknowledge yourself unlearned, ignorant, not able to judge in such Debates; and by Faith to manure your Soul, and to fit it to receive and improve the Seed of Truth: but 'tis so absolutely necessary, that by no other method health can be restored to a sick mind. Are you ignorant? not able by your own Judgement to determine on what side the Truth lies? Why then 'tis evident that you are bound to leave all those Congregations which leave you to your own final Decision, and to repair to that Church which alone gives you an Infallible Guide. Think well of God's infinite mercy, and true desire that you should be saved, and never despair to find an Authority established by God 
Non est desperandum ab codem ipso Deo auctoritatem aliquam constitutam▪ qua v●lut certo gradu innitentes at●ollamur ad Deum. Epist. 56. Immobili authoritati.  himself, from which, as from a secure step, we may take our rise to God. Heretics offer Reasons and Arguments for proof of their Belief, and pretend by them to be preferred to the unmovable Authority of the Church, which is so firmly established; therein lies the rashness common to all Heretics: But the most meek Lord of our Faith hath been pleased to strengthen his Church with an Authority far weightier than that of all others; into this Castle of the Faith all the weaker ought to withdraw 
Vere illa rectiffima disciplina est in aciem fidei quam maxime recipi infirmos ut pro illis jam fictissime positis, firmissima ratione pugnetur.  themselves, whilst for them, thus secure, others fight with invincible Reasons and Proofs. You are willing to be guided by so weak an Authority as that of your Father and Mother; and will you refuse to be guided by the pious Examples of all their Ancestors, and of the whole Church for fourteen hundred years? As for your Baptism, in it you were christened a Catholic, whoever baptised you; and by declaring yourself a Catholic, you restore yourself to the Religion you were christened in: For the Catholic Church is like unto Paradise, the Waters of whose Fountain could be drunk out of it in the Rivers that streamed out; but that Baptism being given and belonging only to the Catholic Church, as in Paradise only could be enjoyed temporal happiness, 
Salutem beatitudinis extra cam neminem vel percipere vel tenere. De bapt. count. Don. l. 4. c. 2.  so no one purchases or maintains a Right to eternal happiness out of that Church. Thus did this holy Saint endeavour to draw back to the true Church's Communion those more stubborn Heretics, creating in them that holy Fear of God, which is the beginning of Wisdom. Christian Brethren, you who are so happy as to have been born in, or early called to the Bosom of this holy Catholic Church, and thereby to enjoy that Blessing with less toil and labour than it cost S. Augustin; Be ever thankful for so great a Mercy; wonder not when you see knowing Men, sober Enquirers, who, even after a studious search, have so thick a Veil yet over their eyes, as not to see those glorious evident Marks God hath distinguished this Church by, nor their Obligation of rendering themselves Members of it. For twenty years Augustin, a man of far greater Parts, and a more diligent Searcher, was thus blind. Pity those 
〈…〉  who pin their Faith on the Sleeve, bottom it on the Authority of some such particular men, whilst they refuse to give ear to the whole Catholic Church, which assures them that they go astray. Pray for both, obtain a Ray of Grace for them, and they will see as you do, judge as you do, and equally bless God for it. If any here present enjoy not yet that happiness, may the Example and Motives of this Saints Conversion prevail with him. Let him weigh whether he be not unhappily under the same prejudices this Saint was so long prepossessed with. 'Tis in vain to consult many Books or Persons on each point of Belief: Alas! says the Saint, taught by twenty years' 
De Doctrina Ch. c. 16.  experience, the helps of all sorts of Instructions received from Man avail little, if God work not in us that very effect which we expect from them. Seek, then, Knowledge from God by a devout and humble Prayer, but expect not that he should give you a new Revelation, or lead you to Truth, but by those Guides his admirable Providence hath provided for you. Resolve your Faith finally into God's Word; but that you may not be deceived, hear it from the Mouth, receive it by the Authority of that Church you are commanded to hearken unto. Thus did this holy Doctor, offering to those Heretics, who questioned the Grounds of his Faith, these evident Marks by which God hath charactered his Church, that Pillar of Truth on which all the Faithful are to lean. If any stubbornly refuse to observe them, they will allow me however to offer them to the Catholic part of my Auditory for their comfort. This is then the account he gives of his own and our Faith: Many things do most justly detain 
In Epist. Fund. cap. 4, & 5.  me in the Bosom of the Catholic Church; First, the Union in Faith, and consent of many Nations. 'Tis the common misery of all Heretics not to see what of all things 
Fo. 2. l. 7. contra Parmen. c. 3.  in the world is most patent, and seated in the very eyes of all Nations, to wit the Church; out of the Unity whereof, whatever they do, can no more cover their Souls from the anger of God, than a Cobweb could preserve their Bodies from cold. That Church which  
1. de Symbols cap. 5.  opposing different Heresies, can never be conquered by them. They all went out of Her, like unto so many withered Branches cut off from, and cast out of the Vine, whilst She remains in her own Vine, adhering to her own Root, enjoying her Charity, or perfect 
Tract. 3. in Ep. Joann.  Union. In her alone we hold the Inheritance of Christ (all Nations:) They have it not whose Communion unites not the whole Circle of the Earth; who is not in Communion with that Inheritance, is gone out of it: Such may challenge Christ, but to as little purpose as he who in the Gospel made this address to him; Say, O 
Serm. de temp. 169.  Lord, to my Brother, that he divide the Inheritance with me: Christ refused to divide it amongst them. Paul was as great an Enemy to Division, when he said, I beg of you, Brethren, that you say all of you the same thing, and that there be no Schisms amongst you: He wept for those, who, tho' on his account, divided Christ. See then how wicked those men are who will be divided! They 
Brevic. contra Donatistas'. Acutum aliquid sibi dicere videntur cum Catholicae nomen non ex totius Orbis communione interpretantur, sed observatione Praeceptorum omn●um. L. contra Parm. multa Frusta de Uno Frnsto.  think themselves witty, when seeing their Congregation restrained within the bounds of some Province or Kingdom, they pretend that they be a part of the Catholic Church, that hath all things commanded and necessary for Salvation, as if to be a Catholic did not import a Communion or Unity in Faith and Sacraments, in a Church diffused the whole World over. They cut off a part, and that again falls into many pieces, tho' no necessity can warrant a rent from the Unity, tho' Christ's Garment was seamless, and fell to the Lot of one, because all that belong to it are gathered into a perfect Unity: No, the Catholic Church is but one; it cannot be divided, nor 
Ecclesia Catholica est una, non potest esse divisa nec scissa in diversas parts. Epist. 47. Dicendum est quae ve● ubi sit una Ecclesia quia praeter unam altera non est. L. 1. cont. Don.  cut into different parts: And, Where is that Church? aught to be our sole Quaere; for besides that One, there is not another. It is in those good, faithful, and true Servants of God, wherever diffused, joined not only by a Spiritual Union, but in the same Communion of Sacraments; whereas all the Congregations, or rather Divisions, which call themselves Churches of Jesus Christ, and which are divided from, and opposite to one another, and Enemies to the Congregation of Unity, which 
Spiritual Unitate devinctis in cadem Communione Sacramen●orum de Bapt. contra Don. l. 7. c 51. Si nostra Communio est Ecclesia Christi, vestra Communio non est Ecclesia Christi, etc. Serm. 11. de verbis Dom. cap. 23. Qui ad Religionum, s●iss ●●s trad●cunt, cont. C●es●. l 3.  is the true Church, belong not to Her, tho' they bear her Name; they might belong to her if the Holy Ghost were divided against himself. We may then say to each, If those of Our Communion be the Church of Christ, those of Yours be not the Church of Christ: For which-ever be the Church of Christ, 'tis but ONE, of which 'tis said, One is my Dove. I will then never hear those who lead to a Division of Religions or Churches, saying Here is Christ, and There is Christ. Secondly, I am kept in that Church by her Authority, grounded on Miracles, led by Hope, (that Hope which moves the Members of that Church to purchase Eternal Glory, promised as a Reward by our just Judge to meritorious Actions) increased by Charity. Thirdly, because that Authority of Hers is backed by her continuation and Antiquity; all other Congregations having had their decay long since, or their beginning so lately, that their precise Age, the place of their Birth, the very names of their Fathers, are known; whilst She, founded on the Prince of the Apostles, with an infallible promise, That 
Matt. 16.  the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against Her, That Christ will ever dwell in Her, hath continued these seventeen Ages defended from Error by him whose Sanctity and Mercy could not otherwise have absolutely commanded us to submit to her Direction, under the pain of belonging as little to him as the very Heathens. Fourthly, by the Succession of Priests in the Seat of Peter to this present Bishop. Behold the Title Roman, importing a continued Succession of 244 Teachers legally sent from God, an Union with the Pastor of the one only Flock, the Vicar of Christ; whose 
Roma responsa vene●unt causa ●i●ita est atinam error finiatur.  Authority is so Sacred, that in differences about Religion, when he has past Sentence, the case is out of question, tho' the Error continue; so unerring, at least when that Voice of the Church is owned by her representative Body, that if an Angel from 
Fo. 7. in Psal. count. part. Don. & To. 2. Ep. 164.  Heaven should require from us to abandon the Church in which that Succession is found, we ought to return him no other Answer but an Anathema. In fine, the very name of Catholic detains me in her Communion, etc. A Name She only hath ever owned! Such was the Blessed Saints Profession of Faith, a Record of Truth thirteen Ages old, and so plain and convincing, that he doubted not to address himself thus to the dissenting Sectaries of his time: Can we be unwilling 
Fo. 6. de Util. Cred. c. 17.  and slow to repair to the Bosom of that Church, which hath ever been maintained in the height of an absolute Authority, even by the general acknowledgement and consent of all Mankind, by the continual Succession of Bishops in the See Apostolic, against the opposition raised by so great a number of Heresies, which have barked in vain against her, and which have been condemned by the unanimous voice of Nations, by the Grace and Judicious Censure of Councils, by the Glory and Majesty of Miracles; so that not to yield to her Prerogative, is an infallible Mark of an extreme Impiety, or a prodigious Arrogancy.  
Let us return to Augustin. Grace hath gained a half Victory, the Battle is renewed hotter and more stubborn than before; he is convinced, but not converted; his Understanding yields, but his Heart revolts; that poor Heart was driven by contrary Winds: known Truth pressed him to profess it, his affection to some darling Sins, and to a fancied Reputation, held him back. He deferred 
1. 7. Conf. c. 11.  (as he owns) from day to day to live to God, whilst without delay he died to himself. My Saviour, (says he 
1. 8. Conf. c. 11. & cap. 5.  again) that is, the true way, pleased me, but it was narrow, and I had not strength enough to break into it.— I sighed after Liberty, but my Chains fell not off; those Iron Chains which my own will had made, and shackled me in, by which my Enemy held me fast.— My sinful Affections, weak in their beginnings, had been heightened into Passion; Passion yielded unto, was grown a Custom, Custom unresisted, was become an unconquerable Necessity.— Two Wills, a newly-created one, the Offspring of Grace, and my old sensual sinful one, strove the one against the other, and rend cruelly my martyred Soul.— I now suffered with pain what I had wrought in myself with delight, and my sinful Will uncontrolled had led me further than I would, before, I coloured my backwardness in sacrificing my Vanities and Human concerns to those of Religion, with this excuse, that I waited but for a fair unquestionable discovery of the Truth; and now that I had it in my sight, I found myself chained up, and even afraid that my Chains and Excuses should fall off together.— My half-resolutions of rising and following you, my Lord, were like those of one half asleep: No one would be content to sleep always, all judge 'tis better to be awake, and up; yet a drowsy head is loath to shake off a pleasant fit of sleep 
Verba ●enta & somnolenta, modo ecce modo, sine paululum, sed modo & modo non habebat modum, & illud paululum ibat in longum.  when the hour of rising calls: So it was with me; I was convinced it was fit and just that I should yield to your Grace; my Judgement pressed me to it: but soft Pleasures to be renounced, my Reputation to be blasted by my Enemies, my Sincerity to be questioned by my Friends, enslaved my Will. You clearly laid open before me that Truth which you invited me to avouch; it was too plain to be disputed against: yet no answer could I return but those dull and drowsy words, Shortly, yea presently, leave me but a moment; but that presently was never present, that shortly lasted long, that moment was eternal. Behold the sad Picture of a Soul that hath not yet lost all pretence to eternal Bliss, yet so dulled by her sins, so debauched by weak human fears, as to dare to stray from the way to it, against the loud and clamorous convictions of her own conscience. A sad case! and at that time that of Augustin. Great God that Souls, created to possess an Everlasting Bliss, should be baffled out of all claim to it, by such poor, childish, weak fears! He was to change, forsooth! to alter his first Sentiment he had so often declared to the World! He▪ that Learned Man, was to lay down his old Errors, to be catechised, to learn (a little one in Christ) the first Elements of Religion, to take up a new Faith; what would the World say? how sinistrously would they misrepresent his Motives? Weakness of men! who dare act against their conscience, lest the World should think they do. This misery the Saint reflected on afterwards, when he cried out, A curse on thee, swelling 
Confess. l 1. c. 16.  River of human Respects! who shall bear up against thy Stream? who shall ford thee? what powerful Grace of God shall drain or dry thee up, and open me a passage? God directed Augustin to a holy Bishop, Sedulius, who had been a Spiritual Guide and Father to St. Ambrose; by this Man's means God had designed to defeat this one great Difficulty at least, which was so dreadful an Obstacle to Augustin's Conversion. His Exhortations had long been ineffectual, when God inspired him to relate to Augustin the late Conversion of one Victorinus: You knew him at Rome, said the holy Bishop, you have often conversed with 
Confess. l. 8.  him, and heard him both in the School and at the Bar; you know that for his eminent Parts and prodigious Rhetoric, he was highly valued, so far beyond all others, that Rome had raised him a Statue in the most eminent place of the City, as to the God of Eloquence: He was the Darling of the Nobility, the Glory of the Senate, the Love of the People, and wanted towards Happiness only (alas! the all indeed) true Religion. He was now far advanced in Age, when by reading all those Books that were written by those of the Catholic Church, God's Grace instructing him interiorly, he came to the knowledge of the Truth. But he was Head of a contrary Party, or at least the most considered in it. 'Twas hard to quit that sweet Preeminence, and to have a new Interest to make. He would often tell me, not in public, but in private and familiar discourse, That now he was converted, and of my Religion: I ever answered him, That he deceived himself, and that I should never rank him amongst those of it, till I saw him in their Church, at their Prayers, at their Sacraments. He would reply, That God knew his heart; and what, said he, do the Walls of a Church make one a Christian? This was but a fond excuse; alas he feared to offend his Friends; to cast a blur upon that fair Reputation with them which he had gained to himself. God pitied him at last; he applied himself to Reading again, and to fervent Prayer; he inflamed his cold Desires, reinforced his Resolutions; and, fearing not to be acknowledged by Christ before his holy Angels, in case he blushed to confess him before Men; He (that great Master of the Literate World!) abandoned his old Errors, which almost all the Roman Nobility and People were again infected with; and, tho' he knew that those tall Cedars of Libanus would fall heavy on him, that his Friends would forsake him, his Admirers ridicule him, his best Supporters abandon him, he did not blush to become a little one of Christ, ashamed of his past Errors, not of the Truth he was to embrace; he suddenly, unexpectedly, declares to me, that he will go to a Catholic Church. With what joy did I lead him! Thither come, he refused to be privately admitted into our Communion; he made a public Profession of his Faith, calling the whole Multitude for Witnesses of the Mercy which God had showed him. This Example thus related by the holy Bishop, Oh how powerful was it! I burned, says Augustin, interiorly with a violent desire suddenly to copy and follow it; I addressed myself to God in most fervent Prayers; Do, O Lord, said I, do the same in my heart, awake and pull it back to you. His Prayer was heard, human respects are totally laid aside by him, nay he is convinced that nothing but Error, or Weakness in not daring to disavow and to correct it, aught to be blushed at. One great point more God's Grace hath gained; now we are come to the last. No wonder if the Enemy, entrenched in his last Fort, makes the most vigorous, because 'tis the last, resistance.  
From the beginning of his Youth Augustin had found strange Charms (as he acknowledges himself) in Virtue, especially in that of Temperance and Chastity; but corrupted Nature found stronger, and more tempting one's, 
Da mihi cont●nentiam & ●●stitatem▪ sed 〈◊〉 modo. Conf. ●. 8. c. 7.  in Vice. His Prayer was then, Lord, give me Temperance, Continency, Chastity, but not too soon. In this disposition had he continued till his Thirty-third year, convinced of his Duty, but unwilling to comply yet with it. Catholic Religion he liked well of; but with It the Cross of Christ was to be embraced, Abstinences, Penitential Works, Confession, Restitution, and Self-denial, Purity of Heart and Body, a removal of all dangerous occasions of sinning. Oh (saith he) the Beauty of thy Law was to me greatly attractive! but I sunk back with grief under my own weight, the violence of old sensual Customs. Oh of how many is this the case, when called by God to 
Qui intelligit Deum, & non ac●edit ad Fidem ejus, ne vivat Christianus, said in si●e vult Pidem accipere ut mor●atur Christianus, qualem sperat Deum cui cum mil●tare ●rubuerit vult ab co stipendium accipere. Q. Q. ve●. & nov. Q 126.  the true Church; or, if in it already, to Christian Virtues! But a sad one! For, as Augustin himself observed afterwards, Those who being sufficiently convinced when true Faith is taught, yet refuse to submit to it; resolved not to live, yet hoping to die in it, can have but one of these two Motives of their delay; either a greater liberty of sinning, with less restraint, with a weaker remorse, during Life; or the confusion they apprehend to be put to by that change. But, alas! what a God do they conceive you to be, O Lord, who blush to serve you, yet dare expect from you a reward? The force of this Example had conquered in Augustin the difficulty he met with from human respects; God uses the same to cure his last and inmost Wound, Sinful Customs. Potinian, a Noble African, and Friend of his, who followed the Emperor's Court, renders him a Visit, and finding S. Paul's Epistles opened in his Study, expressed the joy he had to see him bestow so well his best hours. Their conversation thus falling on a pious Subject, Potinian takes an occasion to rehearse the eminent Virtues practised, and the wonderful Miracles wrought, by S. Anthony, not long before deceased, and so famous through all the East, even whilst living, that the Great Theodosius had often begged the Protection of his Prayers for his Empire and Army, and granted that he owed to them the Prosperity of the one, and the Victories of the other. Augustin wondered at the Greatness of those 
Tam recenti memoria, & prope nostris temporibus testatissima mirabilia tua in fide recta & Catholica Ecclesia.  Miracles of so fresh a date, of so unquestionable a Truth, wrought in the true Faith in the Catholic Church, and stood amazed he had never observed, or even known them before. A great Motive to unite himself with it, in that Communion for which she had that Hand and Seal of God to show. From this great Guide, and Father of solitary eremites and devout Religious, the Discourse passed to his holy Followers, and the most flourishing Monasteries, and Religious Cloisters, which Augustin could not but acknowledge to be a peculiar Flock of Christ endued with singular Piety; their Number and eminent Piety were a second Motive to embrace the Faith which they, such eminent Conquerors of the World, and exact Followers of Christ, did profess. Potinian finding him much moved, adds Fuel to this well-kindled Fire, by a relation of what he had been a witness of when the Court was at Treves. I went, said he, with three other Courtiers to view some neighbouring eremites Cells and Gardens; the Company was divided, two entering a Cell, where dwelled some of those Servants of God, poor in Spirit, to whom, by that claim, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs, found on the Table S. Anthony's Life; they opened and read it, and God representing by his interior Grace, in a far more lively way than the dead Letter could, the Virtues of his Servant, the one of them, an Agent in Court, inspired with a holy Love for Virtue, and ashamed of his so different a Life; What drive our hopes at, says he? What slatters most our wishes? It is, that we may perhaps gain our Prince's Favour; 'tis but a perhaps; many dangers will waylay us before we reach it, and then that height is slippery, and threatens a sore bruise in the fall; whereas in this very moment I may, if I will, enter into a particular Friendship and Intimacy with my God. Full of these thoughts, he recollects his discomposed mind, opens the Book again, and his heart at the same time to the Divine Seed of God's Grace, which took root presently, and the Fruit soon appeared: God altered interiorly the whole frame of his Soul, broke all his Chains, severed him from the World: He sighs, and reads, and sighs again; he balances, resolves, rises, and now God's Courtier: The strife is at an end, says he, adien Court and World, none of my hopes are now lodged in thee, 'tis God only I will serve; 'tis resolved, and that at this hour, in this place; and adieu Friend also, unless you have taken the same resolution. He had; both rich enough, by that general resolution of sacrificing all to God, begun to build happily that Noble Tower of Christian Perfection. How surprised were we, when having but viewed some neighbouring Gardens, we found them so altered in so short a time! so fixed in their new resolutions! If we were not otherwise altered, having heard their Choice and their Motives, so far we were at least, as to weep for our weakness and insensibility. We did congratulate 
Nihilo mutati à pristinis, fleverunt se tamen.  their happiness, envy their condition, crave their Prayers, and brought home with us a heavy heart, too too unseparably wedded to this World, whilst those dwelled in mind in Heaven, in Body in their narrow Cells. Whilst Potinian related this passage, what a storm was raised in Augustin's breast! who compared his wavering delays, with the firm resolutions; his deafness to God's Voice, with the quick obedience of these his Servants. In vain he cast himself behind his own back, and turned away his eyes, God placed him still in his own sight, and uncovered the old Sores of his lasting Sins. Not bearing with these interior reproaches, as soon as Potinian had left him he betakes himself to a Garden to divert those thoughts: His intimate Friend Alipius followed him; God's Graces pursue thither their Fugitive, and renew a brisk Attaque against that struggling heart. There, is exposed unto him, how certain he is now that 'tis God who calls and presses him to obey: He had nothing to answer, all his put-offs and excuses failed him; a stubborn silence had succeeded, a 
Remanserat muta trepidatio & quasi mortem reformidabat restringi à fluxu con●uetudinis▪ quo tabe●●ebat in mortem. Conf. l. 8. c. 8.  strange fear seized him; he apprehended more than Death to divest himself of those ill habits that poisoned his Soul to Death. In these violent Convulsions of his mind, he starts back towards his Friend, and seizing him, What is this, Alipius? (says he.) What did we hear? Unlearned illiterate people rise and seize on Heaven, and We with all our eminent Parts and Knowledge, for want of Courage, behold we wallow in the sink of our sins. Are we ashamed then to follow such Leaders? or should we not rather blush that we do not, at least follow, now they have opened the way? His troubled and wand'ring eyes, his discomposed and dejected looks, his pale contenance, and faltering voice, spoke the rest of his mind. He was sinking into a kind of wholesome distractedness, (as he calls it;) He sits down, displeased with himself even to passion, to see that he could not persuade himself effectually to make his peace with his God, by a full submission to his preventing Graces; that all the powers of his Soul violently led him to it, whilst his stubborn Will abandoned him, and withdrew; that he would, and could not resolve; 'twas but a half-will that strove against the other wounded half, still pa●ting and withdrawing back. His disordered Soul suffered strangely in this strife! He plucked the hair off his Head, knocked furiously his Forehead and Breast; with joined hands he clipped his Knees; then said, How easily all the parts of my Body obey my Soul! How they move at her Will, and my Soul cannot obey her own Commands! She would resolve, she asks with a more violent passion that resosolution 
Imperat animus ut velit animus nec alter est, n●c facle tamen voluntas non utique plena imperat, ●deo non est qued imperat.  from herself, yet cannot obtain it. 'Tis I myself that would, and I myself that will not. God's merciful Graces pursue him with quick remorses, by a saving severity and tender cruelty, press him with shame & with fears, suggesting to him, That now was the fatal moment of which Eternity depended, now his Chains were to be broken, whilst they were slackened, or never, in case he let his Passions streightten 
Plagella ingeminans timoris & padotis ne ●●●sus▪ cessarem & non abrumperetur ●d ipsum exiguum & te●●e quod remanserat & revalesceret iterum & me robustius alligaret.  them again. He strove, and said to himself, Ay, now, be it now done; yet it was not done. Being now within one step of Peace of Mind, Joy, and Security, by a final Victory, he suffered in his Soul the most violent pangs; he fell not back, nor yet dared to advance. In this critical minute his ill Customs, those old Acquaintances, as he terms them, his past Vanities, sinful Pleasures, and now-expiring Liberty, faintly pulling him, as by the Sleeve, said, And wilt thou quit us? From this moment, for ever? And canst thou (thinkest thou) live without us? Ever hereafter under a constraint, ever checking, ever denying thyself? Grace, for a last supply, offered to his thoughts the Example of so many Servants of God, even of the weaker Sex, of tender Years, who had sacrificed and suffered more to purchase Eternal Bliss. These and these could, said he, and thou canst 
Quid in te stas & non stas? projice te securus in cum, non se subtrahet ut cadas, projice te in cum, excipiet te, & sanabit ●e.  not. Did God prevent them by his Grace co-operating with them; and art thou the only One whom God will abandon, returning to him? Why dost thou rely on thy own Strength, or fear thy own Weakness? Cast, cast thyself into his Arms who calls thee; he will not draw back, and let thee fall. Cast thyself into his Bosom; he will receive thee there, and cure thee. The Storm grew higher; two Showers of Tears followed, a sign that it was nigh clearing up. He could not bear the presence even of Alipius; alas, he could not brook his own! He runs under a Figtree, (with such Leaves Adam covered his Nakedness!) there prostrate on the ground, bathed in his Tears, he sobbed and sighed, then gave vent to his grief in these broken words: How long, my God, shall I be the Object of your Anger, the Butt of your Justice? When will the Ray of Mercy shine? How long shall I say to morrow, to morrow? Why not now? Why not at this instant an end to my sinful life? Augustin, Jesus sees thee under that Figtree, as well as he did Nathaniel, before thou seest him: His Mercy it is sounds there so deep thy Wound, only that the Cure may be perfect; that hereafter, fruitful in Pious Deeds, thou mayst escape the Curse that fell on the barren Figtree. The happy moment is come, written in the Book of God's Mercy from all Eternity. A Voice is heard, Take up and read, Take up and read: He obeys, finding S. Paul's Epistles by him, he lights on the 13 Rom. 13. God guiding his hands and eyes there he reads, Not in Feast and Drunkenness, not in Chamberings and Lechery, not in Strife and Emulation; but put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and pamper no● the Flesh, gratifying its Desires. These words he had read often, but now a Ray of Grace writ the sense of them in his mind, and stamped them in his heart. In a moment a comfortable Light, breathing Security and Joy, spread itself into his Soul: His Tears were wiped off, his Doubts resolved, his Fears and his Anxiety vanished; he risen a SAINT inflamed with the Love of God, gins his Apostolical Labours by inviting his Friend Alipius to a like zealous Conversion, who had been all the while a dumb Spectator, and who to show the Riches and Varieties of God's Graces sitted to all Tempers, without reluctancy, without strife or difficulty, surrendered himself at the reading only of the Sentence following in S. Paul, Receive, 
Infi●●um in Fide assamite.  and take him along with you, who is weak in Faith.  
I should now open unto you, Christian Brethren, the Riches of God's Mercies heaped on this Saint; show you his great steps towards an eminent Virtue, and the fullness of the Reward that attended it, even here, by 
Numquid hoc esse● intra in gaudium Domini tui▪ Con. l. 9  that serenity of mind, those interior Joys, which he often conceived to be of the same Nature with the Bliss of Saints in Heaven, and short of them only in Length. But my Glass is at the lowest ebb, my time expired: I shall trespass no longer on Your Sacred Majesty's Royal Patience. I will end with a transient consideration on the Fruit of this whole Discourse, which hangs on these three Truths. First, That we can do nothing without a continual supply of God's Grace, and therefore ought with assiduous Prayer to press upon God's Bounty for it. Secondly, That Divine Grace once granted enables us to do all things, and that it is never denied when duly asked; whence it follows, that we ought without the least fear to undertake whatever God moves us unto. Thirdly, That Grace requires a speedy and diligent co-operation, or is soon withdrawn; and consequently, that nothing is so dangerous in the great concerns of our Eternal Salvation, as delays, on whatever account.  
No certainly, nothing available to Virtues here, or Happiness hereafter, can be had without the help of Grace. S. Augustin is a plain Instance for it: Twenty years continual endeavours, a studious application of so many Eminent Parts, the Tears of a pious loving Mother, the endeavours of the ablest Divines of Europe and Africa, could not help him to see an almost self-evident Truth, what way of Worship God hath appointed us to honour him by, and where those means lie which his Mercy hath allowed us, to attain that Bliss we are created for. This Truth being laid open, his Will passionately moving him to declare himself of the Catholic Church, he had not yet the strength to raise it to a Resolution. Oh how truly are all the Crowns of 
Qui coronat te in mise●i●ordia & miscrationibus. Psal.  God's Saints the Works of his Mercy, and his Commiseration on our Weakness! How truly are all the Merits we can boast of, God's mere Gifts! His own sad experience did teach S. Augustin how to express this Truth so fully, so admirably, in his Book of Widows. To will, 
Coronat munera s●●.  saith he, is certainly our own Work, if it be true of any thing, it is certainly so of our Will, that 'tis such because we will; and yet what little influence have we over our own Wills, relating to good! It must be awakened and stirred, or it lies as in a Lethargy; when awake, it must be healed and strengthened, or the least difficulty and pain overcomes it; when applied, it must be encouraged, enlarged, supported, or it is so very narrow, 
Nost●●m est velle, s●d vol●nt●● ipsa & admonetur ut s●rgat, & sanatur ut val●at, & d●●atatur ut capiat, & impletur, ut ●abea●. De Vi●ui●.  so feeble, that it sinks after the first offers, under the least weight; and even when we think ourselves most resolved, most forward, after even many endeavours, we find our hearts very empty of all Virtues, if God hath not himself mercifully placed them there. How long do some continue in Error and in Sin? A constant Object of God's Hatred and Justice, on the very brim of Hell, unconcerned, and without any sense of their danger? Ah! Gods Grace hath not awakened yet their dull Conscience, lulled in the sleep of Sin. How many others behold their own Misery, and sigh often for it, acknowledge themselves equally criminal and miserable, see themselves sinking deeper and deeper, yet never offer resolutely to release their Souls from, and avoid, those partly incumbent, partly threatening miseries. Alas! they have consumed the Substance and Vigour of their Souls in Sin; those many deep Wounds have impaired their Strength; God's Grace, which only can, hath not yet wrought the cure. How many, in fine, after their Sins are pardoned, and they set in a right way, stumble at the first difficulty, and advance no further; or with little sense, ever full of good Wishes, and empty of Effects? Their narrow and poorly-stocked Hearts, can receive but little, know less 〈◊〉 to improve it, till God by his Grace enlarge and enrich them. Oh then let us ever pr●●▪ ●ever cease, and may this Grace be all we ask! ●et us ever seek, but this Grace only; having ever in our hearts and mouths that frequent Prayer of the Church, O God, be intent on my help! Lord, hasten to succour me!  
But again, for our comfort, that help being obtained, with what security may we not attempt the greatest things! with what ease may we not perform them! S. Augustin in that happy moment of his Conversion wondered 
De quo imoaltoque secreto evocatum est in momento liberum a●bi●rium m●um? l. 9 c. 1.  from what dark Den, in which it had been so long locked up from him, his  was restored; such unusual strength he found in himself! It proved a satisfaction, a comfort to him, to want those Pleasures without which he had believed he could not live. How unerringly, through the course of his following ●ife, did he practise those Virtues whose Names had been unknown to him!▪ 'tis with Truth you mind us, Great S. Paul, That 'tis God works in us both to will and to do; so little toil and 
Qui operatur in nobis, & vell● & perficere.  pain is found in the performance, when God's Grace works in us a steady fixed Resolution: And can we give place to any anguishs, Fears, Apprehensions, when God offers his Grace by calling us to a true Faith, to a pious Life? His Infinite Mercy is then at hand to create in us a Will, his Omnipotency to join to it a facility in obeying him. Who hath found a Treasure, forms generous Designs, dares undertake great things, conceives he shall easily remove any obstacle, because that he knows the force of Gold, which in a moment can supply all wants. God's Grace is his Treasure; 'tis the Riches of his Bounty, saith S. Paul; in a moment it gives 
Divitias bonitatis ejus.  Strength to the Weak, Knowledge to the Dull and Ignorant, Courage to the most Timorous. 'Tis true we can do nothing without God, but 'tis equally true that 
Jo. 15. Omnia possum in co qui me comfortat. Phil. 4.  we can do all things in him that enables us all. We can despise the soft deluding Pleasures of sense, with the Virgins; blot out whatever stains of past sins, by our Tears, with God's penitent Servants; practise with ease all Christian Virtues, with the Confessors; undergo and conquer all sorts of Sufferings for Justice, with the Martyrs. But then let us ever remember that Sentence of S. Augustin, God cannot work with us, but when we 
Deus non esset co-operator n●si ●● esses operator. Aug.  work ourselves. If Grace be God's hand ever stretched to help us, and work with us; if a Divine Light, able to disperse the greatest Darkness; if a Heavenly Science, exposed to no Error, infused in those who admit of it; if it be an easy conquest of all Vices, and of whatever Opposition to Virtue when used; if it be that with the help whereof all good Saints came to be such. Oh, Christian Brother, what a Treasure hath laid so long hidden in thy heart! and how useless yet! That Grace is the whole Fruit of the Cross of Jesus, thy plentiful effectual Redemption; to neglect it is as deep an Offence as to tread under foot the precious Blood of our Redeemer. Ah! dig up that Treasure then, stir it up, use that Talon, or it will be taken away. How long God will permit it to lie dormant in your hands I know not. He gives 
Secundum mensuram do●ationis Christi. ●●h. 4.  it not lavishly, but according to the measure of Christ's Gifts. How soon yours will be filled I know not. If now you hear yourself called, answer; if moved, follow; if commanded, obey. Some one Grace, I know, is the critical one to each man's Salvation; such were those Samuel offered to Saul, Nathan to David; the former past by his, and was set aside for ever, an abandoned Reprobate; the latter obeyed his, and became according to God's heart. Whether this day by my voice God hath 
Gratiam inven●amus in auxilio opportuno. Heb. 4. 16.  not presented to some one here the critical Grace, the last loud call, I know not; but this I know, that whoever obeys not his, whoever resolves it not from this moment, ventures his Salvation upon a perhaps, than which there cannot be a more certain Folly, scarce a more crying Sin. Use then all that measure which God hath offered you, and your Fidelity will be blest by such an increase of it, as will possess you with a Heavenly Bliss, which God in his Mercy grant us all without end.   
Ad majorem Dei Gloriam.  
FINIS.