GOOD THOUGHTS FOR EVERY DAY OF THE MONTH. Translated out of French By Mrs. D. S. LONDON, Printed for Thomas Dring, at the George in Fleetstreet, near Clifford's Inn, 1656. DIRECTION for the READER. THis short Collection includes the chief Heads of Christian life, distributed into Weeks. In the first, the Motives that we have to go to God; in the second and third, the Virtues that lead us to him; in the fourth, the Exercise of those Virtues. As for Method in using them, I know, that the two best and most certain Directours in prayer are the Holy Ghost and Practice; That we cannot learn better how to pray then by praying; That prayer is a good Method for itself; Yet not to engage you without some direction, let me advise you, 1. To choose a convenient precise time; the Morning before you enter into the trouble of business; or at Night when your mind is at ease. 2. In some retired place, your spirit being settled and recollected: First, lift up yourself by an act of faith to God who is present and attentive to the voice of your Heart. My God, I believe firmly that thou art here within my soul, and that my soul is in thee, etc. Secondly, adore him submisly; humble yourself to the utmost. Lord I am but dust and ashes, etc. Thirdly, ask pardon of him for any offence, known or unknown, that may render you unworthy to appear in his sight. Lastly, invoke the assistance and light of the Holy Spirit. 3. Read the first thought of the day, but stowly: Though you should do nothing more than rest upon conceiving the truths therein, yet will they work in you, as it were without your help: There is nothing in God that is not holy and sanctifying, and his words are Spirit and Life: Thoughts have the same operation upon our Mind, as a Seal upon Wax: The Soul receives the impression even of simple notions, if she stop there, and concur with them: But you shall do better, if as soon as you have read the first thought, you discourse a little to yourself upon it; and examine, Is this true? Is it reasonable? Is it necessary? Why? How? Did Jesus and the Saints practise it? Doth God inspire me with it? If I do it not, What then? etc. This done, proceed to the next thought; and if your time be spent, only read the rest leisurely; but above all, pause upon the Conclusion; and resolve on the performance of something conformable to your subject; begging of God 〈◊〉 severance and Effic●●●. 4. The little sentence at the end, (taken out of the Scripture, or some Father,) is like a drop of Essence, to be worn all that day; it contains all the virtue of the good thoughts it concludes; it is easy to call to mind, and to retain; if you reflect often upon it, it will quicken and fortify your light, and instil itself into all occasions. Thus we may with application and constancy, raise our good thoughts to such a point of vigour that they may extirpate our ill; or at least make them weak and ineffectual; and exalt and magnify them, till they bring us to a pious immobility, and some extraordinary purity; This S. August. means Hom. 16. de 50. He cannot have ill deeds who hath good thoughts. Good Thoughts FOR EVERY DAY of the MONTH. The First Week. The Frst Day of the Month. Of the End of our Creation. 1. WE are created for God, God himself could create us for no other but himself; and we should betray ourselves if we did not confess this truth; our heart tells it us, and we cannot contradict it. 2. It is fit that every one should have his own: then let us be for God since we are his: if not, we belly ourselves; for if we are not his Children under the love of his Bounty, we shall be his Slaves under the rigour of his Justice. 3. As than Bread which is made to nourish, the Sun to give light, the fire to warm, if they should refuse the office for which they were made, would be as if they were not, or as Monsters in Nature, because every thing must tend to that end for which it was made, and cannot decline it without going to its own destruction. So the Heart of Man which is only and essentially made for God, if it stray from him, or refuse to go to him, belies its essence, and becomes monstrous, a scorn to the World, and to all reason. 4. Well then, do I carry myself like a Creature that is for none but God? Is my Heart and all my affections for him? Ah how few things do I, that I can say are truly and only dove for God Ah, how much time is lost, how much reproach gotten in one day? What do you do upon the Earth, if you do not that for which you are there? You must here renew your design of seeking God only, and your resolution to rob him of nothing that appertaineth to him. S. Aug. lib. 6. Confess. cap. 6. Oh intricate ways of the World! Woe be to that audacious Soul, which presumes to hope that by leaving Thee, it may find any thing else which is better! The II. Day. Of Sin. 1. O God, what is it it to lose Thee! To lose God an infinite good, is it nothing? Men that lose their goods by some accident, as by Fire or by Law, seeing themselves reduced to beggary, are so troubled and afflicted therewith, that they lose their sense and grow desperate. Ah, what then will a soul do, that hath lost her God 2. O Sin, too familiar, but unknown to Men; in play and divertisement to make ourselves the object of the infinite wrath of God God, so good, an Ocean of goodness, becometh to a sinner an infinite ill, and cannot but hate him infinitely; to hate ● little, is to wish a little ill to a Man; to hate to death, is to wish death, and there it ends; but to hate to infinity! O God, what do we fear, if we do not fear the dreadful hate of God 3. See the horror of Sin in the sufferings of JESUS. What a spectacle is there! Yet the state of a Soul in sin is much more horrible than that of a God dying on a Cross; since that JESUS died to destroy sin, that he might no longer behold that which afflicts him more than Death: But alas, can I believe that God will spare me, who delivered his Son over to such horrid pains? After this you must make an act of Contrition, as well as you can, upon all the sins of yhour life past. We ought not to grieve for any thing else, for nothing else can Grief remedy. Jerem. 2.19. Know therefore and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in Thee, saith the Lord of Hosts. The III. Day. Of Death. 1. HOw much must that soul apprehend Death, which all its life time hath been an enemy to God What regret, for having for fifty years of life, which is now past away as nothing lost Eternity! 2. If I stay so long, can I be assured to be delivered from the infinite evils that overwhelm a soul which appears before God without repentance. 3. What then would I wish I had done? O God, the great folly of neglecting so long, and providing so late for a business of the greatest importance in the world! we die as late as we can; but we should rather think how to die well then how to shun Death. 4. How shall I value then those things which now I love, and esteem the mostin the world? Let us at present advice with death; he is faithful, he will not deceive us: What will become of this flesh, this money, this pleasure, this honour? How do we judge, what do we think at our death? the living Man boasts, the dying Man cries. In life one esteems the world, in death one despises it, who saith truest, which shall we believe, life or death? Whom shall we trust, this living man, or that dying? O the Tapers at our death enlighten all, unmask all! but the misfortune is, that it comes too late; we have not time to undeceive our selus. Think what it is that you should fear most, if you were to die presently, and take order about it from that moment without deferring it; but above all things frequent the Sacrament, and in it practise how to die. Tertul. l. de exhort. cast. c. 12. A Christian bath no morrow. The iv Day. Of the last Judgement. 1. OMy sovereign Judge, I must then one day show myself before thy Tribunal, to receive according to the good or evil done in this life; I believe this truth more firmly than if the Trumpet had already sounded for the general raising of the dead. 2. What shall we say at the view of so many ill thoughts, of so many evil words, of so many years lost, of so many graces neglected, there where every thing shall be accounted for; every moment of time, even to the least sight, and nothing abated. 3. If we did not know the judgement that shall be in the other life upon all men, we might be excusable; who doth not know it? Let us therefore govern ourselves after the judgement of God, and not after that of Man: For if our present judgement agree not with that our judge, what a trial must we expect, what a dreadful sentence! Go ye cursed departed from me, etc. Alas, whither Lord shall they go, who depart from thee? to what refuge, to what Port shall they retire? In what part of the world may we dwell far from God? where can be that strange abode? Far from God, cursed of God: Alas! Imagine that you were presented to God at the latter judgemnt: of what would you have most fear touching your conscience? Bethink yourself. S. Aug. Confess. 9.13. Woe be to Men who lead a commendable and exemplary life, if thou look upon it without mercy. The V Day. Of Hell. 1. IF we could hear by some vent, & lend an ear but a quarter of an hour to the groans and pitiful cries of the damned! In that bottomless pit, they confess their most secret sins; they sigh, they beat their breasts, their fast is perpetual, they do penance in flames, but too late. Penance in this World is hard, but much more grievous in Hell. 2. The wicked rich man curseth and complaineth that so many thousand years his fervent thirst cannot obtain one drop of water: so small a matter, so long a while, and in so extreme misery and in vain! 3. They are tormented one with another; and after judgement their bodies shall be tumbled one upon another, and thrown like coals into a furnace. They shall transmit the heat one to another, in such manner, that by the common oppression, every one shall burn in the flames of all. 4. Tell me, have you a breastplate before your heart, able to withstand God's fury? Tell me the secret that gives you this assurance? we are most of us as it were returned from Hell which we have merited, at present where are we! Make often this visit to the Damned;; see them; speak to them, and learn by their misery to fear God, and the danger wherein you are. Luke 12.5. Fear him, who after he had killed, hath power to cast into Hell, yea I say unto you, Fear him. The VI Day. Of the Eternity of Hell. 1. TO have no company but that of Devils, darkness, rage, despair; and in a word, never to see God, never to have one drop of pleasure or release; what is this? Do I believe it rightly? How do they who suffer it, apprehend it; alas I cannot endure the flame of a Candle one minute at my singer, what then will this be? 2. O Eternity! The time will come, that a damned person, after the succession of many ages, shall have shed more tears, though he should shed but one a day, more tears I say, then would make all the Rivers and Seas in the world: and when he hath done so; he shall begin again a Hundred Thousand times, and shed as many more: not once only, but as many times as there are sands in the Sea: and at the end of all this it shall be accounted nothing; the pricking of a thorn though never so little, if it should last to eternity would be intolerable: Alas then, etc. 3. Eternity, always before their eyes, chargeth every one of their evils with all its weight, they count all the coals which shall burn them; all the fiery stripes which shall tear them, all the remorses of conscience which shall gnaw them, etc. Of all our tears (say they) might be made an Ocean, in comparison of which, all the Oceans in the world would be but a drop: Of all our flames a Furnace, etc. Of all our poisons, enough to destroy an infinity of lives: An Eternity to burn; an Eternity to weep; an Eternity to howl; an Eternity to rage, and rage, and rage, and never, never to behold the face of God. See if you are in the condition of those who damn themselves, and leap smiling into the midst of the flames: if you have no fear you are very insensible; & if you have any, & yet provide not effectually against the future, you are a great Fool. To perish once, is to perish ever. The VII. Day. Of Paradise. 1. I Hope by the grace of GOD that a I shall see one day, & for ever, him whom whom my heart loves. My Lord that hath so tenderly loved me. Ah, we have but few days more of Exile and Pilgrimage, and then we shall be eternally with Jesus. 2. Paradise, that great word, the best of words! the assembly of all good things to be wished for, and that to Eternity! O what is that! What is the earth and all its weak allurements, in comparison of such vast and solid delights? 3. What matter is it that we are here below, so that we be eternally with God? Have I reason to complain, that for one moment of pain I am made capable of an eternity of good without measure; O most happy eternity! O life eternal! E cite in yourself a very great desire of seeing God, and suppress all the vain hopes of the World, and all fears of ills in this life, with the thoughts of Paradise. S. Aug. in Psal. 26. Let your heart transcend all things visible, and let your intention transcend your usual carnal cogitations that arise out of corporeal sense and imagination. Cast all this out of your mind; whatsoever you meet with deny; say it is not that it seems, for if it had been that, it had not been presented to me; so shall you desire some good as good, the best of all good, etc. That which is purely good, whereby all things are good, etc. This is that wherein the Lord delighteth; this is that we will contemplate. The second week. The VIII. Day. Of Faith. 1. I Believe (my God) that I am of the true Church; the greatest of my joy is, that I hope by thy grace to die therein: I would die willingly with all Martyrs for any one or the least of those truths she hath taught me, because they all invariably rest upon the authority of a God who cannot lie. 2. I make much more esteem of one truth of our faith, then of all Sciences and Maxims in the world, and that which it condemns I condemn absolutely, in despite of all the contradictions and repugnances that I meet with: I will oppose from hence forward upon all occasions, where Faith instructs me what I shall do; I will oppose this cursed world: God saith thus; God did say it; so I shall quiet all the interior murmurs that trouble me, and I will follow faithfully this direction; O the great secret! 3. As for a particular instance; the world saith this, and that, as that we must suffer nothing, that we must set ourselves out, etc. And what saith God, what doth my faith teach me? etc. My God increase my faith! this is a prayer which thou wert well pleased withal, when thou wert upon Earth, etc. Say the Creed leisurely, as to make a solemn profession of Faith. Tertul. de praescr. ad Haer. 14. Faith is appointed for a rule, etc. Let Curiosity give place to Faith. To know nothing beyond this, is to know all things The IX. Day. Of trust in God. 1. SOoner shall Heaven and Earth pass away and be annihilitated, then God will leave to protect a heart that trusts in him. 2. God nourisheth and defends to the very Snail, and least root of Grass; to Serpents, to Crows, and to his very Enemies; what then will his infinite bounty do to those that hope in him? 3. A Man will trust his health to a Physician, his Process to a Lawyer; his life, if he be blind, to a Child, and sometimes to a Dog that leads him; and a wise man sometimes to his Horse, if he think that he knows the way, etc. And we shall make a difficulty to trust ourselves to the bounty & conduct of God. 4. The Crown of the Motives of our hopes, is the example and love of Jesus. Let us therefore with him repose our trust in the communications of his heart to his Father: And since he is wholly with us and for us in this union, and under this shelter, what can we fear? Examine here your heart, to see if truly it conside in the bounty of God, and in the merits of Jesus Christ, and if we have confidence worthy of two such strong upholds. S. August. Tract. 49. in Joan. 11. Behold, O Lord, he whom thou lovest is become infirm; it is enough that thou know it, for thou dost not love and leave. The X. Day. Of love to God. 1. IF God could have given us any thing more than his life and himself, without doubt he would have given it us; and is not our love dear enough, that is bought at this price? 2. To what end should I distract my heart, in pursuit of so many created goods? let us satisfy ourselves once and for ever with the love and possession of God; If it be just to love a mean finite goodness, why should I not love a beauty & goodness infinitely amiable? For being infinite doth it cease to be amiable? 3. He commands me to love him with all my heart: do I comprehend this obligation rightly? he that saith all, leaves nothing: and whatsoever part I give, if I give not all, I give not that he asks: and he doth not hold himself loved, think we that we should love him, like a Husband, like a wife, like a child, like a friend, like ourselves, like the goods of the world which we love with so much passion? O what comparison! 4. If Eternity could have an end, there could not be too much of Hell in the judgement of the Devils themselves, to obtain this inestimable grace of loving God. Ah, of the damned there is not one, but at the expense of dying eternally if he could, or at the expense of suffering in time all he should suffer in all Eternity, but would think after this that he obtained God at an easy rate; and at present he is mine, and I may love him; what right, and what power! Apprehend rightly here the infinite merit of God, and make it all your whole study to love him above all things, and disavow all other love. S. Aug. Confess. 13.8. Thee it is that I love, and if that love of mine be too little, do thou make it more, etc. This I know, that I am never well but in thee, not only in things without myself, but even within myself; and all that abundance which is not my God himself, is to me but extreme poverty. The XI. Day. Of our acknowledgement to Christ. 1. NEver was any thing bought so dearly as my soul: and though I did not belong to God as my Creator, yet I should to Jesus as my Redeemer; Satan and all his Creatures clemand vengeance for my crimes; he rather hearkened to the voice of his own heart, that said unto him, he should have pity of me, and hath redeemed me; I am truly his; his servant; the use of all that I am belongs to him; he is the King of my goods, of my sense, of my soul, of all; I avow with my whole heart this dependence. 2. Then what a horrible deplorable shame will it be, for him that appears before the tribunal of jesus, having lived threescore years in quality of his servant, not to be able to produce one day, nay perhaps not one good hour of faithful service: not able to say that he hath truly loved him: what will then become of me? 3. I give a Dog a bone that to me is worth nothing, for this nothing he flatters me and keeps to me, and doth me a thousand services: jesus gives me his heart, his blood, his life, and all his treasures, and I am insensible of it: Learn, learn ingrateful, see thy Dog, thy judge, go to school to thy Dog, he may be thy Master, to instruct thy reason and inform thy heart. 4. Finally, there is not one hour, nor one moment in which we are not indebted to jesus Christ for an eternity of good, or for preserving us from falling and losing it, and for giving us grace to obtain it: were not he worse than a bruit beast, that would not esteem these things, & thank and love him? Examine seriously, if in your heart there is a true love to jesus: and what assurances you have of it. If there is none, what are you? How hard! S. Aug. Ep. 52. Of that Wisdom which alone is true, what I have, I have from God, etc. Not incredulous of that which he hath not given, nor unthankful for that which he hath given. The XII. Day. Of Conformity to the will of God. 1. THat which GOD wills or permits, is willed, permitted, & done, out of a most particular design of his glory, and with resentments of infinite goodness towards us. I believe this (O my God) most firmly: And how can it be otherwise: that thou shouldst be (as thou art) our most dear Father, if thou didst use us otherwise? 2. All things should be alike to us in God; why should not we loye even his judgements, which are good and amiable? why should we separate ourselves from them by bitter thoughts, which make us afraid, and to them are injurious? Let us put ourselves on his side, and his judgements will please us; our disquiet comes from this, that we will that God be, and ourselves also: there must be but one, God, and we in him. To will this, and will that, as if it were ours and our business, is to make something of our selus besides God; that will must perish; there must be none but that of God. 3. I will then only what God wils; I have nothing to say or except against any thing in the world: all is to my liking: see, am I more wise, more clear of sight, and better than God who governs all? I am on his side: I will never say, O unhappy time, it is too hot, it is too cold: all things praise God, why should I find fault? What is it to me? My little Bark is not so difficult to steer; and if it were, God could well manage it, she will get to the Haven in spite of the tempest. to conclude what ever happens, though he should take the sword to kill me, I know his hand is guided by his heart, and that heart loves me: ought I not therefore to live content? Put yourself in the posture that is requisite to conform yourself to the will of God. But give it not over till you find your heart turned strait and even towards him, and in quiet. S. Aug. in Psal. 122. He only securely pleaseth, who pleaseth God; and who is it that pleaseth God? He that is pleased with God. The XIII. Day. Of Imitation of Christ. 1. NO Man that is predestinated but aught to wear the Livery of jesus Christ: and above all, his Humility and Cross: Our eternal Father hath set him before us as a Pattern: Though I should have all other perfections that can be imagined, if I have not this, I cannot please him; this is a necessity undispensable: He that is not for him, is against him. 2. But what a misery is it, and how deplorable, that so many souls study the fashions of the world to conform themselves to them, and so few cast their eyes upon the incomparable Model of all virtues jesus Christ! We should be Images of him; Ah, the Image, if it were capable of sense, would it not be ashamed, not to be like its Prototype? 3. What wrong do we do the Son of God: to his Wisdom, as if he could not choose the best life? to his Goodness, as if he should counsel us to that which is the worst? to his Power, as if he had commanded us, without fortifying our weakness? what a reproach is it, to have jesus go before us, and hardly one follow him? 4. O what shall I say at the day of judgement, when I shall come to be conferred with my Law and my Pattern jesus? When my life shall be compared with his; his Humility with my Pride: his Wounds with my Delicacy; his Sweetness with my Anger? etc. Ah what a Monster! a Christian without Christianity, the Slave of the Devil, under the Character of the Cross! Well! I must choose one of these to be my rule, either my own sancie, or jesus: we cannot live with both, and we cannot live without both: what choice shall we make? See if there appear in you any resemblance of the Son of God: if he that looks on you would take you for a Disciple of Jesus Christ: The same way that the Head hath gone, the other parts of the Body must follow: If the Head go in at the Gate, the Arm goes not in at the Window. john 12.26. If any Man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be. The XIV. Day. Of Love to our Neighbour. 1. Who loves not his Neighbour cannot say truly that he loves God: if we do all, and not love our Brethren, we do nothing: all the devotions in the World without that, are but deceit. 2. This is my commandment (said jesus our most amiable Saviour,) that you love one another as I have loved you. Though there were nothing to be loved in all persons in the world, but the cordial desire thou hast that I should love them, O jesus I would love them with all my heart! But besides this, they are all thy Children, all proceeding from thy bosom: I were very nice if I did not love that which thou cherishest shest more than thyself or life. 3. Do I love my Neighbours (truly without exception of any) as jesus loves us? that is to say, to be ready to give my life for them and my own goods, etc. This devotion is very rare: this is that which is proper to jesus and his Gospel. Endeavour to possess your soul with such affections as Jesus Christ hath for all souls: to love them with tenderness, and not to have an indifference for any. S. Aug. Serm. 42. de Temp. If thou love all mankind as thyself, there will remain no gate for Sin to enter into thee. The third Week. The XV. Day. Of Love towards Enemies. 1. GOD did so love the world (though it was his mortal Enemy) that he gave his only Son in testimony of his Love, even to the terrible death of the cross. What a prodigious love was this? do I truly believe it? 2. Upon this JESUS commanded me, that for love of him I should love my Enemies: to this example & command what can I answer? 3. As I forgive, God will forgive me, & not otherwise; I must then either hate myself or pardon others: thus I am obliged by all Motives that can be imagined to wish well to my Enemies; after all these reasons and allurements can our Enemies be so odious in our sight? Shall we renounce God ourselves, and all, or shall we love them? 4. Two Christians, Enemies, seem as if they were not of the same flock, nor of the same Religion; for what means is there to unite under the obedience of one Law two souls that are rend asunder? And to join together in one belief at the same altar two hearts, whose approach to one another is mortal, their sight killing, & their remembrance execrable? we are not allowed to hate any but the Devils and the damned, who hate one another. Examine well if you have no bitterness towards any: & never suffer that cursed passion to take root in you. There is no greater sign of reprobation, than not to forgive; a soul that hath this mark, is marked for Hell. S. Aug. c. 74. Enchirid. If you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses, Mat. 6. He whom this great thunder awakes not, is not asleep, but dead. The XVI. Day. Of Example. 1. IL example hath damned an infinite number of Souls. If we could search hell, we should hardly find any but say, such a Man or such a Woman hath damned me; what an account! we are commanded to love our Enemies, why then should we massacre souls that do us no hurt? 2. They who have destroyed any, had best look to their consciences; we scarce ever see such come to a happy end: what can we hope of Jesus Christ, having ravished from his hands and his heart that which cost him so dear? 3. O. Fathers and Mothers! it were better that your Children had been stifled, or that they had never been, then to have had you for Parents, and for Masters, who instead of life have given them death, eternal death by your example! when they shall accuse you of their loss of Paradise at the day of Judgement, what will you answer? 4. Let us put on Jesus Christ saith S. Paul, that we may be known by his Livery, so as all that see us may remember him; at present Jesus is dishonoured, and as it were despizable in the impurity of his Images; he is disfigured in his Members; Christians show themselves no longer Christians; to see them one would take them to be clean contrary to what they are. O my God pardon me the sins of others which I have been cause of, and grant that henceforth none of my actions may contribute to the damnation of any. Consider whether you do any thing, the sight whereof may make an ill impression upon others? Are not our own sins enough? Let us not make ourselves guilty of the sins of others. Salvian. lib. 4. de Provide. He who by sinning causeth others to blaspheme, is guilty of a crime above humane limits. The XVII. Day. Of distrusting ourselves. 1. THE greatest Saints, that defied Tyrants and persecutions, have trembled only at the thought of the estate of their heart before God; whereof they saw not any thing. They have been heard to sigh and sob at the hour of death in expectation of the dreadful sentence of God's justice upon the estate of their conscience, not knowing what they were, not what should become of them. And I, alas, etc. 2. But our frailty is much more extreme than our ignorance; there is no creature be it never so little, that cannot encamp before our heart, assail it, make a breach in it, and take it. One sigh, one tear, one penny, etc. Man of himself without staying to be summoned or assaulted is very ready to run to his ruin; becomes all eyes to deceive himself, all hands to enslave himself: is betrayed by those very actions which he doth to secure himself: what is Man but a Man? Lock up a Glass in a Trunk, it will be there a thousand years without breaking; but shut up a Man as long as you please, you shall never hinder him from falling & losing himself: see if you have studied as much as is necessary, to know you are your own Enemy? 3. To add to our weakness, ourselves raise engines against ourselves, all our senses and passions are continually employed in secret conspiracies. And they whom persecutions and temptations could not overthrow, have found in themselves an enemy that hath destroyed them. So that we are more prevalent against ourselves then Tyrants and Devils: and we should in some sort fear ourselves more than we fear God: we should be more afraid of our own weakness then of the infinite power of God. The Angels fell: Adam sinned: Judas betrayed, and S. Peter renounced his Master. Hostus fell into Sensuality, Tertullian into Heresy, Origen into Idolatry. O be always in fear of yourself. Here you must make provision against dangerous occasions. Micah 6. 14. Thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee. The XVIII. Day. Of care of our salvation. 1. O What great fools were the Caesars, the Pompey's, the Alexanders, the Princes, the great ones of the world, that destroyed so many lives, spilt so much blood, and those at present who spare none, leave nothing unexecuted to acquire a little vain honour, etc. And have neither the wit nor courage to save themselves. What doth it profit a Man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 2. All Creatures ●re made to further our salvation: So that as many drops as there are in the Sea, etc. as many crumbs of bread as I eat, are so many obligations to my salvation, all this being made for the good of my soul: And from the very moment that a Man ceaseth to work for his salvation, the Sun should be eclipsed, the Heavens should give over their motion, etc. All Creatures cease to be profitable to the World for us, when we make them unprofitable to this end. 3. And for the most part we aim at nothing less; we will do all, and do all very well, and save all but our own souls; this ground must be ploughed, this money put out to interest; we would have all thrive and do well, and we complain of all losses but this; we find by our account great expenses laid out upon our bodies and the world, so much for a garment, so much for a Feast, and nothing for our salvation; and if our soul were not ours, as if it were the soul of one of our mortal enemies; so ill we use it; or rather as if it were the soul of some beast, which hath only sense and appetite, not pretending to any thing further. Nay some there are who are afraid (one would imagine) of being saved; so unwilling they are to think of it, to be touched by God, to endeavour it; what bruitishness! 4. We must make account but of two things in the world; to love God and our own salvation; and who doth not, is as mad as unhappy: If I had two souls, said Benedict the fourth, I would give one for Philip, (a King who asked something of him against his conscience,) but having but one I will not lose it. Search whether your desire of salvation be absolute or imperfect. A traveller that when he should go on the right hand goes on the left etc. Salvian l. 3. ad vales. What madness is it to undervalue your own souls, which even the Devil accounts precious? etc. They who neglect their souls, have less esteem of themselves then the Devil hath. The XIX. Day. Of the presence of God. 1. THE eyes of God consider me at present and always, as attentively as if I were alone in the world; yea he is in me, and every where like an infinity of eyes, an infinity of ears, an infinity of understandings; he seethe with the same sight wherewith he comprehendeth himself, and with as strong an application of spirit, as if he left the contemplation of himself to reach me with all his beams, to study the depth of me, and to comprehend me: I believe this; I adore God who is present with me, searching the bottom of my soul! 2. Ah, it is a thousand times more shame for me that my disloyalties are seen by God, then if they were represented upon all the threatres in the world, and in an assembly of a Million of Kings, his only sight and approbation or condemnation is more to be valued then the judgements of all Creatures together: Ah, that we should nevertheless so much fear the eyes of the world, & not those of God 3. Then, when we would offend him, let ut find Curtains to hid us from his eyes; ●or if he see us, ah what impudence is it to conspire against him, be●ore him, and by himself, and in his bosom, 〈◊〉 the place where he ●●rms and pronoun●eth actually the sentence of my Predestination or Reprobation? Were not I out ●ut of my wits and desperate? O the great ●ye of God; he sees ●s, let us be upon our Guard. Endeavour to accustom yourself to this pious contemplation, of the presence of God. To respect and love the eyes of God is the mark of a predestinated Person. S. Aug. Serm. 46. De verb. Dom. If thou wilt sin, seek out a place where God may not see thee, and do what thou wilt. The XX. Day. Of the account we must give of God's graces 1. WE have not the least sense of God and of our salvation which JHSUS bought not with his blood, and requested especially for us of his Father, when he gave up his soul on the Cross. Consider hereupon what obligation we have to make good use of it, we manage his designs and traffic with his blood. 2. Yea, we are indebted to God for all the Graces which he intended to have given us, if we had not hindered him: we are obliged to him, since the fault was not his; the Sun shines, we shut our windows, we are no● the less beholding t● him for his light. 3. It may be tha● this ten or twent● years' God hath inspired me with things that I have not yet had the heart to execute: So long at the School of the Holy Ghost and to have learned nothing yet? So often solicited, touched, threatened, and to have done nothing? Let us remember that God is a Creditor whom none can make Bankrupt: and though he do not constrain us so soon to the payment of all our debts, he will ask us interest for them: and besides there is a measure which being filled to the top, God will withdraw himself: Alas, when we would we shall not then be able! If our souls be pure never so little, and the ear of our heart attentive, God never ceaseth to speak to us: Harken now what he demands of you, and execute it. S. Greg. lib. 18. Mor. c. 7. God first calleth mildly, then rebuketh terribly, and lastly, damns irrevocably. The XXI. Day. Of Fervour. 1. LEt us have such desires as God hath, of our advancement: God is always soliciting us, without omitting any moment or the least occasion to furnish us (out of his infinite affection) with all things needful for our progress in his love; Is it not a monstrous poorness of spirit to cool in the midst of so many flames. 2. When I work coldly, I profess that God doth not merit much, and that his recompenses are slight matters; what can we think of a Master whom his servants even in his presence neglect to serve. 3. One act done for God, be it never so little, is worth more than all the Victories and Triumphs of Alexander's and Caesars, and of all the Men in the world. In this employment therefore you must stir up yourself with honour and courage. 4. Sin surmounts all in this life, outbraves all, subsists even in the flames of Hell without altering or consuming; what an abominable constancy? The servants of the Devil, of what stamp are they, not to spare themselves not to complain, whatsoever they suffer for offending God, and for the World, and never to change; Ah Hell shall be my School and my Academy, to love God as the Devils hate him, is it too much? To serve God as they do the Devil and the World; is not this pattern reasonable. Question those actions wherein you are most remiss, and stir up yourself to do them better. Isaiah 31.6. Turn ye unto him from whom the Children of Israel have deeply revolted. The fourth week. The XXII. Day. Of the use of the Sacrament. 1. THE Sacraments are the Fountains of Grace, the most necessary and important that concern our salvation, and when we abuse them, we render our salvation impossible. 2. How comes it that there are so many Communions, which make so little change in hearts? To dip so often in the blood of Jesus, to eat that divine food, and nevertheless to live always in the same languishments in the service of God, the same ties to the world? No virtues? Thou hast these ten years confessed the same sin, etc. after a thousand confessions not to have plucked away one hair of vanity. 3. O without doubt the fault cannot come from jesus, next the bosom of his Father: he hath no retreat more agreeable than our Hearts; and he communicates himself to us, with infinite desire to do us good; therefore there cannot but be an invincible resistance on our part, or some malignant Hectick-Feavour which renders us incurable; we approach the Sacrament without purity, without apprehension, without great desires, without generous resolutions, without care to hear God, and to apply his graces to opportunities and occasions. He that hath communicated but once, hath done that for which he is in this life; I have done it so often, what hath jesus Christ operated in my soul? Let us reflect a little seriously upon ourselves: Ah, Lord, why shouldst thou spill the divine unction of thy blood upon a heart so hardened? What horror, when we must make amends to the blood of Jesus Christ, and pay the interest of that infinite debt? And instead of eating the fruit of life, we shall find that we have eaten our own judgement, and incorporated ourselves in eternal damnation. He that hath communicated worthily, is strong enough to sustain Martyrdom; Do you find such courage in yourself: Examine the most notable defects of your Communions. S. Aug. Hom. 49.50. To Penitents I say, What doth it profit you that you are humbled, if you be not changed. The XXIII. Day. Of our condition of life and employment. 1. WE are here by the will of God, let us be well persuaded to that, and at present we can do nothing more agreeable to God, then to acquit ourselves well of our obligations and charges; it is the work of the Lord, cursed be he that doth it negligently. 2. One of the greatest unhappinesses in the world is the loss of time; the time of this life is so short, our last hour is so near, and for all that we live with as little care, and as unprofitably, as if this life would never have an end, or as if we had nothing else to do. 3. Alas, if a damned person had but one moment of the many that I lose, how would he profit by it! as many minutes as I let slip fruitlessly, so many blessed eternities I might gain: we omit no occasion to divert or accommodate ourselves, and we neglect the great employment of time for Heaven. 4. The day that is best spent, is not that wherein you have gained most, as to the Interest of the World, but that wherewith God is best pleased, so order it, that at what hour so ever you meet with any one, if he ask what you do, you may say, I work for God. and for my soul, I gain my living, eternal life. Renew the principal intentions of the state of your life, and remember that every action which is not conformable to the will of God, or done for him, is at least of no value. Not how long, but how well. The XXIV. Day. Of Suffering. 1. What a sweet ease it is to our pains to be assure that no ill comes unto us, but God our good Father opens the door for it; and that it is for our good! Let us then change the names of things, let us speak no more after the fashion of the world, afflictions should not now be called miseries, since they come from so good a friend, and conduct us to felicity, they cease to be afflictions, and put on the nature of that good whereunto they lead. 2. Ah! what do we think we are Christians to be rich, to make a show and take our pleasures? there needed not for this any Christianity, nor that God should come down upon the earth & shed so many tears, so much blood: there needed no more than to let the World go on; the world, without any thing else; to let lose opinion, passion, etc. A Christian is a Christian under another form of life; and unless he renounce his Baptism, and the Gospel, and belly his faith, he must resolve to humble himself to suffer, etc. 3. But in what Christian Country is that profession made: the Gospel speaks, read; nothing more express; the Books of all Saints what say they? Yet this now seems an unknown barbarous language, no more understood than that of Indians, who run to Martyrdom and triumph in Persecutions; but we must blot that Article out of the Gospel of Europe, it is very little now in use: See! our felicity is to weep to suffer; who believes it, etc. Endeavour to put your heart into this disposition, oblige it to love your crucified Lord, to account all days of vain delight, days of Reprobation, to fear nothing so much, as that God should give over afflicting you. Matth. 10.38. He that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. The XXV. Day. Of Alms. 1. What an infinite favour thou hast done us, O Jesus, in substituting the poor of this Word in thy place, to whom we may do good as to thyself: The naked represent thy nakedness, the prisoners the bands wherewith thou wert bound, the sick thy cruel pains; Let us look upon them so; Ah, who would not see them willingly in this precious relation. If we love the Son of God, let us not show ourselves strange to him in his Images. 2. O happiness without comparison: That I can give with my own hand to Jesus a piece of bread, a piece of silver, a garment; that I can give him a good word; I resolve that I will give alms in this sense & no otherwise, and I will consider that in refusing it, I refuse it to Jesus Christ, who will have cause enough one day to blame me for it. 3. As on the contrary at the day of judgement when jesus shall see himself clothed in my clothes, in a poor indigent person, comforted in one that is sick, lodged in a stranger, when he shall wear my clothes, hold my money, my bread in his hand, what can he say to himself opposed to himself? He that is merciful shall have mercy. Here you must examine whether you discharge your obligation towards the poor in this point; whether you give what you can, and as well as you can. james 2.13. He shall have judgement without mercy, who hath showed no mercy. The XXVI. Day. Of humane respects. 1. THE World speaks; speech is but a little noise, which at the worst only hurts the Ear, and kills not; let a hundred thousand in the world speak; can they hinder you from being reasonable, or dispense with your obligation to follow the rule of your Conscience? A holy action is propounded, will you suffer yourself to be reduced to that pass, that you shall not dare to do good, for fear Fools should say that you are wise? What will they say? This is the Drum and the Trumpet of antichrist in the world, which scandals and carries away all souls: Take heed to yourself. 2. To blush at the doing of a good thing for fear of what the world will say! nothing is more contrary to Christianity which wears the Cross in her forehead, and is holily confident: To profess a Religion, of which they that are of it are ashamed? And to take rules of life, maxims from the world, the Enemy of jesus Christ is not this to renounce our faith, and to declare ourselves Apostates to the Gospel? That being wicked, we are not afraid to appear such; that the meanest Artisans make open profession of their Trades, and yet we are ashamed in the very heart of the Church to appear Christians. 3. Have you any thing my adorable Saviour of which we may be ashamed? Is your name infamous? They are not ashamed of being Adulterers, Blasphemers, nay they boast of it, yet is it a reproach to your servants to declare that they are yours; Oh, whatsoever they say this is true, the most honest Man in the world, is he, that is the greatest servant of God. Search all the corners of your soul, to see if this , the World, affright you. Luke 9.26. Whosoever shall he ashamed of of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory. The XXVII. Day. Of not deferring. 1. I Defer too long to give myself to God, as if I endeavoured to escape out of his hands: is it a misfortune to be his? To morrow; to morrow; why not now? Is it a shame to give over a shameful life? and this hour, is it not a good one to make so happy an end? The morrow when it is come, will it not be like to day? And the heart of to morrow will it be stronger than the heart of to day? O, it is either very blind, or very ill disposed! 2. What is it that makes me afraid, that I defer so long to follow the voice which calleth me? If there be any thing to be feared, is it not the delay and remissness wherewith I requite the Holy Ghost, and my abuse of so long a patience: There is a great deal of difficulty in changing our life to the better; I will do it; but can that be reasonable, an excuse for a Christian who adores a crucified God, and hopes for a Paradise? 3. To defer? is the future mine? Is it a bottom whereof I am master? God stays for me, it is true, this is in the holy Scripture; but how long I shall live, and how soon I shall die, that is not; he hath not promised me so much as the morrow; and if he had, should I fear, beginning to day, to have a day more of good life? we must have no Butts. Let us do sin no more the honour to excuse it, and to say that it is reasonable; nor God the wrong to avouw, that he merits our heart to day, yet put him off to the morrow. Examine what there is that you have refused God a long time; to say I will, I will mend, and not to do it, is to be virtuous in imagination, and vicious in effect. S. Aug. lib. 3. de lib. arb. This is the most just punishment of sin, that he who when he hath power will not do well, when he would, should lose that power. The XXVIII. Day. Of the Passion of our Lord. 1. AH my good Master, is not the rigorous justice of God weary of taking vengeance of my sins upon your person, equally innocent and adorable, even to the drawing of the last drop of blood out of your veins; and as for me, I shall be infensible and stupid, yet my continued sins, and neglect of correcting myself, not weary out your mercy. It is time that I belong to none but thee, and that my conversion be constant; there is a term to thy benefits, as well as to the number of my sins. 2. They tie him feet and hands to a pillar, which they force him to embrace: Ah my Saviour, cries S. Augustine, what sweet dying it were in thy arms! why dost thou not embrace me, and I thee, that thou mightest have been my Pillar, and I might have received the stripes? How many wounds! one wound covers another; blood on the Whips, blood on the garments of the Executioners, blood on their hands, in the air, on the ground; my only Saviour, are not my sins laid upon thy shoulders? Is it not hither that thou carriest the burden of my crimes? 3. What said he whilst this storm of blows was discharged upon his back; I will Father; I am here in the place of a sinner; I do not repent it; who ever saw the like Physician; to give his life for his Patient? He considered all Men; what drop (Oh my Saviour) didst thou destiny for me, during the effusion of thy precious blood? Is it possible that I was then in thy thoughts? We must not think that the only Son of God did resign himself to such excess of torment, that we might resign ourselves to pleasure; if I cannot be crucified, I will at least dwell under the shadow of the Cross, steeping my pleasures in his pains. Isaiah 53.4. He hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows. The XXIX. Day. Of the Son of God as Saviour. 1. IF you had been present at his Crucifixion, you had seen the fairest and most innocent of all Men die, condemned not only by the judgement of Earth, but of Heaven for your sake; what thought then would have moved your heart? Infinite Majesty, why didst thou not stay in thy inaccessible light? what need hadst thou of Men, and of me in particular, whom thou hast brought thrust out of nothing by thy breath? Why dost thou not blow them back again into nothing if they are unworthy of thee? Is not this a new Subject for thy anger? Thou madest us so excellent O eternal Father, and we bring thee to this sad condition: Ah, it is without question because he will bear the title of Saviour before that of Judge: He will have me to be the fruit and conquest of so many torments; Oh how dear art thou to me in this estate? Since it is by this that thou hast shown me so much love, how dear I am to thee! But shall I ever be thee and thou me? 2. My Saviour permit me not to have any other judge then thyself; since thou knowest the price of my Soul, thou hast summed it up, thou hast paid for it: my only Redeemer suffer me not to be engaged in that unhappy eternity where thou art not loved, where thy holy Name is blasphemed, where in a word thou art no more acknowledged a Saviour. 3. Shall I be so miserable as to be told one day, since the blood of God was not profitable to thee in thy life, it shall never be profitable to thee? Though the blood of the Son of God profit me nothing, yet will the Creatures at least profit me? No, nothing at all, It is true, can it be possible that I shall one day be told, that through my own fault, for a trifle, for a moment, my Saviour shall be no more my Saviour, but changed eternally into my Punisher; the mildest and most patiented of all men towards all others, shall become justly terrible and irreconcilable to me: The Lamb shall be turned into the Lion; what an eternal change! never more shall I call him my Saviour. Such as I mean to have him to eternity, such I must endeavour to have him during life. Tertul. contra Marcionem. The first goodness of God is according to Nature, the latter Severity, according to the Cause. The XXX. Day. Of fidelity to God. 1. GOD hath not delivered you once only from great danger: from how many perils which might have destroyed your soul or your body, you know: hath he brought you up and consecrated you as one of his eyes, to the end that you might do him most dishonour, dedicating to the World, & to the service thereof, that which he loves most dearly? God cannot endure that his servants should go to another Master; what dislike have you found of God? hath not he enough to satisfy your heart, without seeking wherewithal to fill it amongst his Enemies? 2. In a miserable condition is a soul greatly advanced, from which God withdraws himself, and saith to it for ever, thou pleasest me no more. 3. You know the design of God upon you; would you be rebellious? He doth you a great deal of honour to make use of you; should you give to others that which God hath designed and reserved for himself? By the experience you have of his conduct, do you find it ill? do you retreat? Have you forgotten your fidelity? You remember to keep it well to Men who pass away, but the God of to day is the God of Eternity: How great are the designs of God upon us if you do not hinder them? And you are an enemy to yourself if you do. 4. Enter generously into the designs of God, and go nobly whither you are called; to God, to God, who doth you the favour to tell you that he loves you with the love, wherewith he loves the children of Election: do nothing unworthy the love of God and of Jesus, knowing how good he is to you: One good faithful soul alone is worth a Million whose languishing lives are interwoven with relapses & penitencies, with life & death. It had been better to have never known God, then having known him, to forsake him. As long as he loves that which he gives, he will hate those who despise his gifts. Tertul. de Poenitent. It is dangerous to despise a benefit which is known; he refuseth the giver, who casts away the gift. FINIS. THE TABLE. Week I. Med. 1. OF the End of our Creation. Pag. 1 Med. 2. Of Sin. Pag. 6 Med. 3 Of Death. Pag. 11 Med. 4 Of the last Judgement. Pag. 16 Med. 5 Of Hell. Pag. 20 Med. 6 Of the Eternity of Hell. Pag. 24 Med. 7 Of Paradise. Pag. 29 Week II. Med. 8 Of Faith. Pag. 33 Med. 9 Of trust in God. Pag. 37 Med. 10 Of love to God. Pag. 42 Med. 11 Of our acknowledgement to Christ. Pag. 48 Med. 12 Of conformity to the will of God. Pag. 54 Med. 13 Of Imitation of Jesus Christ. Pag. 60 Med. 14 Of Love to our Neighbour. Pag. 66 Week III. Med. 15 Of Love towards Emies. Pag. 70 Med. 16 Of Example. Pag. 75 Med. 17 Of distrusting ourselves. Pag. 80 Med. 18 Of care of our salvation. Pag. 86 Med. 19 Of the presence of God. Pag. 93 Med. 20 Of the account we must give of God's graces. Pag. 98 Med. 21 Of fervour. Pag. 103 Week IU. Med. 22 Of the use of the Sacrament. Pag. 108 Med. 23 Of our condition of life and employment. Pag. 114 Med. 24 Of Suffering. Pag. 119 Med. 25 Of Alms. Pag. 125 Med. 26 Of humane respects. Pag. 130 Med. 27 Of not deferring. Pag. 136 Med. 28 Of the Passion of our lord Pag. 142 Med. 29 Of the Son of God as Saviour. Pag. 149 Med. 30 Of fidelity to God. Pag. 157 FINIS.