Chapter VI: Front Matter (6)

The passages from the holy Scriptures and Fathers, at the close
of the Reflections, are, as it were, an abridgment or abstract of
the Thoughts of the Day; they collect, as in a focus, their whole
strength and sense in a few words. Being short and concise, they
are easily remembered; being pithy and affecting, they are
happily calculated to rouse, support, and nourish the soul
throughout the course of the day. They are as grains of
essence, which contain a strong and fragrant odour within a
small compass; or as an ingenious piece of mechanism, which can
execute a great deal of work in a very little time. Be not
content with reading these reflections once over; but read them
over and over again, month after month, till by making a
lasting impression on the mind, you may reap all the spiritual
advantages they are capable of producing; for there is always
something new to be found in the truths of religion; they are
mines which cannot be too deeply dug into; they are fountains
whose sources are inexhaustible; but they are also seeds which
produce little or no fruit, unless they take root by being
deeply planted in the heart.

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_First Day_.--On Faith.

1. All that Faith teaches is grounded on the authority of the word of God. It is from Christ himself that the church has learned whatever she proposes to the faithful as the object of their belief. When truth itself is the guide, one cannot go astray; and there is nothing more reasonable than to submit reason to faith.

2. Of what use is faith to a Christian, if it be not the rule of his conduct? If it be the most consummate folly to doubt of a doctrine which God has revealed, which so many martyrs have sealed with their blood, and which the devils themselves have so often confessed, is it not downright madness to believe this doctrine, and yet to live as if it were supposed to be false? Not to live conformable to our belief, is to believe just as the damned do.

3. Faith, then, shall henceforth be the sole principle of my actions, and the only rule of my life. Whatever it condemns, I also absolutely condemn. In spite of every natural repugnance, I will oppose the maxims of the gospel to those of the world, as often as the occasion presents itself. What does the world say?--_Follow_ the natural bent of your inclinations, suffer nothing, &c. But what doth Jesus Christ say?--quite the contrary. But who is right--Jesus Christ or the world?

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Thank God for being incorporated with his church, and recite
the Creed slowly, as a solemn profession of your faith.

"Lord increase my faith." _Luke_, xvii.

"What doth it avail to believe like a Catholic, and yet to live like a heathen?" _Peter Dam_.

_Second Day_.-— On the End of Man.

1. God alone is our last end; he did not create us but for himself. Our hearts tell us that we were made for him; we cannot disown it without belying ourselves.

2. Every one should have what justly belongs to him; let us then give ourselves to God, since it is he that has a right to us. If we be not his children of our own accord, we must be his slaves in spite of us. We must of necessity live under the dominion of his justice or his bounty. Which choice shall we make?

3. Every thing should tend to its proper object, and act according to its nature. If the sun, which is made to shine, refused its light to the world, it would be a monster in the universe; nor is that heart less monstrous, which, being made for God, doth still refuse to belong to him. Do I behave myself as a creature which belongs to God? Are my thoughts and all my actions directed to him? Ah, how little do I do, that may be called truly done for God? What doth all the business in this world avail me, if I forget the only affair for which I am come into it.

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Make here a resolution of seeking God alone, and of depriving
him of nothing which he has a right to.

"Thou art my Lord and my God." _John_, xx.

"He requires you entirely, who hath made you entirely." _St. Augustine_.

_Third Day_.--Contempt of the World.

1. From the moment we are attached to the world, we cease, in some measure, to be Christians. This profane world, so passionately fond of grandeur, of pleasure, of every thing that can flatter self-love, is the capital enemy of Jesus Christ; their maxims, their commandments, their interests, are quite opposite; they cannot be obeyed at once, we must break off either with one or with the other.

2. We cannot take part with the world, without a breach of the promises we made at our baptism. When we renounced Satan and his pomps, we bound ourselves down, by solemn oath, to trample under foot whatever is greatest in the esteem of worldlings. What perfidy! what sacrilege! to prefer the goods of the earth to those of heaven, and to become idolaters of vanity.

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3. The world has nothing worthy of an immortal soul; it has not even wherewith to requite its most devoted servants. Its treasures, its amusements, its honors, may indeed occupy and disturb the heart of man, but they can never satisfy it. They are, in reality, but false goods, vain shadows, and illusions; or, to speak more properly, they are real evils. They make a man wicked; they can never make him happy. The most brilliant fortune is not only frail and dangerous, but is often a source of the most painful uneasiness. There are sighs and sufferings upon the throne, as well as in chains and dungeons.

Beg of God to destroy in you the spirit of the world, and give
you strength to despise its allurements.

"The figure of the world passeth away."--1 _Corinthians_ vii.

"Wo to those who adhere to what is transitory; because with those things they themselves must pass away." _St. Augustine._

_Fourth Day_.--Upon Death.

1. A Christian who does not lead the life of a Christian, has great reason to be afraid of death. What a dreadful account must he give after a worldly and sensual life! what bitter regret to have lost the opportunities of saving himself! to die an enemy of God! O dismal death! O dreadful moment, which concludes the pleasures of time, to begin the pains of eternity.

2. What would we, at the hour of death, wish that we had done? Let us do at present what we would then be glad we had done. There is no time to lose: every moment may be the last of our life. The longer we have lived, the nearer we approach to the grave. Our death is not less distant, the more it has been put off.

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3. What will our notion of this earth he, when we are forced to quit it? Let us now take advice from death; it is a faithful counsellor; it will not deceive us. What will become of this beauty, this money, this pleasure, this honour? What will be our thoughts of them at the hour of death? In our life-time appearances often deceive us; but at our death we shall see things as they really are. Man, whilst alive, esteems the world; man when dying despises it. But which should we reasonably believe--man living, or man at the point of death? Ah! how trifling will the world appear at the light of that torch which faintly glimmers near the bed of death! But alas! it will then be no longer time to undeceive ourselves.

Think seriously on what you chiefly apprehend were you this
moment to die, and regulate it immediately. Accustom yourself
from this moment, to perform every action, as if you were to
die instantly after it. Above all things, observe this practice
in the use of the sacraments.

"Death and I are divided but a single step."
1 _Kings_, xx.

"There is no to-morrow for a Christian."
_Tertullian._

_Fifth Day_.--On the Last Judgment.

1. _I must one day appear before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, to be there judged upon the good or evil I shall have done_. There is nothing more formal nor express in the gospel than this truth; I believe it as firmly as if the last trumpet had already sounded to call up all the dead to judgment.

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2. What shall we say at the sight of so many bad thoughts, of so many criminal actions, of so many graces despised? O what a terrible day is the day of God's wrath! where the inmost recesses of the heart shall be openly exposed; where every fault shall be strictly examined! If the just themselves shall be hardly found just, what must become of unhappy sinners.

3. What sentence must an impenitent sinner expect from an offended and inexorable God? O tremendous condemnation! _Depart ye accursed, &c_, Alas! where shall these miserable wretches go, to whom you thus give your malediction? To what part of the world shall they retire when they withdraw from you? Where can there be so miserable a dwelling? To be banished from the presence of God! to be accursed of God! O what a shocking destiny!

Imagine yourself now before the tribunal of Christ. What are
you most ashamed of at this very moment? Reflect seriously on
it, and remember that all your secret sins shall be exposed at
the day of Judgment, if you do not here efface them by a
sincere repentance.

"Who shall be able to stand before the face of his wrath?"
_Nahum_, i.

"Wo even to the praiseworthy life, if without mercy, O God, thou shalt examine it." _St. Augustine_.

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_Sixth Day_.--Upon Hell.

1. How great would be our horror, if the shrieks of the damned--if their groans and blasphemies could reach us! They roar like wild beasts; they accuse themselves of their sins; they bewail--they detest them. But it is too late; their tears but add new strength to the fire that torments them. O repentance of the damned! how rigorous art thou! but ah! how fruitless!

2. Never to see God! to be burning in flames for ever! the blood boiling in our veins, the marrow in our bones! to be trampled on by the devils! to have all that is hideous for ever before our eyes! to have rage, anguish, and despair eternally rooted in our heart, without comfort or mitigation! O what a life!

3. These wretches are outrageous at having had so many opportunities of saving themselves, and for having neglected them. The recollection of their past pleasure is one of their most sensible torments. But nothing more keenly gnaws them, than the impossibility of forgetting that God whom by their fault, they have miserably forfeited.

Go down in spirit into hell, and inquire of the damned what is
it that has made them fall into it. Question them upon their
present state, and learn of them to fear God and your own
danger.

"Which of you can dwell with devouring flames."
_Isaiah_, xxxiii.

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"The impious pass from one punishment to another--from the burnings of concupiscence to the flames of hell." _St. Augustine._

_Seventh Day_.--On the Eternal Torments of the Damned.

1. Can the wrath of God go farther than punishing pleasures which are so soon over, by tortures which will never have an end? To be miserable while ever God is God!--can any misery be like it? Is it not enough that the evils of the damned are extreme? Must they still, besides this, be eternal? To be hurt by the point of a pin, is trifling in itself; yet were this pain to last always, it would become insupportable: _What shall it be then, &c_.

2. O eternity! when a damned soul shall have shed tears enough to make up all the rivers and seas in the world, did he shed but one tear in every hundred years, he shall not be more advanced, after so many millions of ages, than if he had only just began to suffer. He must begin again, as if he had yet suffered nothing; and when he shall have begun as often as there are grains of sand on the seashore, or atoms in the air, or leaves on the trees, he shall still be as far off from the end of his sufferings as ever.

3. The damned must not only suffer during eternity, but suffer every moment an eternity entire. Eternity is always present to them; it enters into their punishment; their mind is incessantly struck with the endless duration of their torments. O cruel thought! O deplorable condition!--to rage for an eternity!--to burn for an eternity! Ah, that we could conceive this, as those damned souls conceive it.

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Make an act of faith upon the duration of the punishments which
the justice of God inflicts for mortal sin. We must at least
believe, what we are not able to conceive. It is a great
misfortune for a Christian not to be persuaded of this
eternity, but by his own sad experience.

"Those who do not obey the gospel, shall suffer eternal punishment." 2 _Thessalonians _ i.

"Momentary is that which delights, eternal is that which tortures." _St. Chrysostom._

_Eighth Day_.--On Heaven.

1. Heaven! thou glorious state! no heart can conceive, no tongue can describe what thou art! Exemption from all that is evil; assemblage of all that is good; masterpiece of God's omnipotence; the price of the blood of Jesus; and more than man can desire.

2. To see God clearly, and as he is in his glory; to love God without measure; to possess God without ever fearing to lose him; to be happy in the felicity of God himself; such is the object of my hope. But a day or two of pilgrimage or exile, and then I shall be with him for ever.

3. What matters it how we fare here below, provided we be with Jesus for all eternity? Can I justly complain that a never-ending happiness should cost me so little? The martyrs purchased heaven at the price of their blood, and thought it was given them for nothing. Shall not I then sacrifice my corrupt will for it? O happy eternity! if men only knew what thou art worth.

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Excite within yourself a great desire of heaven, and behold the
earth with a proportionable contempt. Were you filled with a
proper sense of it, nothing here below could allure or disturb
you.

"I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear."
_Psalm_ xvi.

"If the labour terrifies, the reward invites."
_St. Bernard_.

_Ninth Day_.--On the Presence of God.

1. God at this moment beholds me, as if I were alone in the world; or rather, he is within me as an eye infinitely enlightened, which observes me attentively, and which nothing can escape. He sees me as clearly as he comprehends himself, and with as intense an application, as if he ceased to contemplate himself, in order to study me.

2. Ought I not to be infinitely more ashamed that my sins should appear in his sight, than that they should be exposed to the eyes of the whole world? Would I commit in the presence of a servant, what I dare commit before the King of kings? O what blindness to fear so much the eyes of men, and so little the eyes of God!

3. The most obscure darkness can never conceal me from light itself; the most distant and solitary retreats are always filled with the divine Majesty. Let me shun, as much as I please, the sight and the company of men, I will find God every where.

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Put yourself in the presence of God, and see whether there may
be any thing in you that may offend his eyes. The most powerful
remedy against sin, is to say frequently within yourself, "God is
looking at me:" there needs no more to restrain you in the
greatest violence of temptation.

"All things are clear and open to his eyes."
_Hebrews_, iv.

"If you be determined to commit sin, seek first a place where God will not see you, and then do what you please." _St. Augustine._

_Tenth Day_.--Care of our Salvation.

1. The affair of Salvation is, properly speaking, the only business of man; every other concern, when compared with it, should be accounted as nothing. The enterprises of kings, their negotiations, &c, are as the amusements and the triflings of children. The important and the only affair, therefore, is to serve God, and thereby save our souls: the whole good--the whole perfection of man consists in this. It would be irrational, and therefore degrading to man, to neglect an affair whose consequences are so great, whose success is so uncertain, and whose loss is irreparable. What blindness! what folly! to think only of living, and not to think of living well! to apply so much time to making our fortune, and so little to the saving of our soul! "What doth it avail a man to gain the whole world, if he lose his own soul?"

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2. All creatures are made but for our salvation; they become useless when not employed for that great end: so that from the moment a man ceases to labour for his salvation, the sun also should cease to shine, the planets should stop in their course, the earth should no longer support him, the angels should abandon him; he should fall back into his original nothing. He is unworthy of life, when he liveth not for God.

3. However, the greater part of mankind think less of saving themselves than of any thing else. Every other business is carefully attended to, except the affair of salvation. All other concerns are turned to account. This sum of money must be put out to interest; this field must be tilled; these lands must be let at a more considerable rent. All other losses are bewailed, except the one without resource. Great expenses are incurred for the body, and nothing at all is done for the soul: from the manner in which we live, it should seem that our soul does not really belong to us, but that it is the soul of our most mortal enemy, or the soul of some brute; or rather, that we have a soul just merely to destroy it.

Make now a firm resolution to save your soul, let it cost you
what pains it will: be of the same sentiment with a certain
pontiff, who, when a king had asked something of him, which
could not be granted without sin, replied: "If I had two souls,
I would give one of them to thee. O Prince, but as I have only
one, I do not choose to forfeit it."

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"Moreover, one thing is necessary."
_Luke_, x.

"Where there is the loss of salvation, there surely there can be no gain." _St. Euch_.

_Eleventh Day_.--On Horror for Sin.

1. How great a loss is the loss of God! Men think themselves unfortunate when they lose all their possession at law, or by bankruptcy, or by some other accident. What is it, then, to lose an infinite God! Unhappy the soul which loses its God by sin; but far more unhappy the soul who considers this loss as nothing.

2. O sin! how common art thou among men! but how little at the same time art thou known to them! Playing and amusing themselves, they become the execration of God. And what play--what amusement is this? God, who is all love, detests sin with infinite hatred: should any thing, therefore, be so shocking in our eyes as this hellish monster.

3. A soul in the state of grace, is beautiful beyond expression! it is a brilliant image of God himself; the Holy Ghost animates it. But when mortal sin is allowed to infect it, its beauty is lost, its light is extinguished, the Divine Spirit departs, the devil takes possession; all then is darkness, filth, and deformity. If a God-man dying was a dreadful spectacle, mortal sin is yet more dreadful; for Christ died but to atone for sin, and sin can daily frustrate all his merits; he is crucified over and over; his blood is trampled upon by ungrateful sinners.

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O detest at this moment all your sins. Lament from your heart
the loss of God's grace; there is no loss so much to be
lamented; it is the only loss which sorrow can repair.

"What advantage had you in those things at which you are now blushing?" _Romans_ vi.

"Wo to that daring soul, which hoped that having retired from you, she might still find something better." _St. Augustine_.

_Twelfth Day_.--On Repentance.

1. "Repent, and believe the Gospel." Our Lord here joins faith and repentance together, in order to teach us, that the rigours of penance, and the profession of Christianity, are inseparable. During his mortal life he was a penitent God, ever occupied in expiating our sins, to appease the justice of his eternal Father. Surely, we should follow his example. If the Holy of Holies fasted, prayed, and wept, what should not be done by such vile wretches as we are?

2. Sin must necessarily be punished, either by him who commits, or by God, against whom it is committed. If sinners do not punish themselves in time, the Divine Justice will punish them in eternity. The flames of hell must punish what the waters of penance have not effaced. Is it not, therefore, better to weep for a few days, than to burn for eternity.

3. To be reconciled with God, it is not enough to prostrate ourselves before a priest, cover our heads with ashes, and our whole bodies with hair-cloth. If we have not a sincere sorrow for our sins, if we do not entirely renounce our criminal attachments, we are impostors, and not penitents. Prayers, alms, fastings, and macerations of the flesh, are but the outside of repentance; the hatred of sin is its very spirit and essence.

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Implore God's mercy for having hitherto led a life so opposite
to the Gospel: and beg of him the grace to live for the future
as the first Christians did, in the constant practice of
penance.

"Unless you do penance, you shall all perish alike."
_Luke_, xiii.

"To penitents, I say, To what purpose is it that you be humbled, if with this you be not changed?" _St. Augustine._

_Thirteenth Day._--On Delay of Conversion.

1. By deferring so long to give myself up to God, it should seem as if I intended to escape out of his hand. Is it then a misfortune to belong to him? To-morrow! to-morrow!--Why not to-day? why not at this very moment? Will my chains be more easily broken to-morrow? will my heart be less hard?--No, certainly. Time, that weakens every thing else, adds new strength to bad habits. By putting off the remedy, the complaint becomes incurable.

2. What is it that prevents our obeying the voice that calls us to repentance? What is it that terrifies us? That there is great difficulty in changing our lives, must certainly be granted; but what should not a Christian do, who adores a crucified God, and who looks up to heaven? If we have any thing to fear, it should be the abuse of God's graces.

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3. There is time to come; but can I call it mine? Is it a possession I am master of? God waits for me, it is true--the scriptures tell me so--but still they do not tell me how long I am to live. He that promised pardon to those who repent, has not promised another day to those who continue in their vices. Perhaps I shall have time, and perhaps I shall not. Must not I have lost my senses, to trust my salvation to a mere _perhaps?_

Reflect now upon the time you have been deferring your
conversion to God, and tremble at the sight of your danger.

"I said: now I have begun." _Psalm_ lxxix.

"We cannot be too cautious, where eternity is at stake."
_St. Gregory_.

_Fourteenth Day,_--On Human Respect.

1. What will the world say? Let it say what it will: should the talk of fools hinder you from being wise? But what will my acquaintance say? They will say, that you fear God more than you fear man; the greatest libertines will secretly admire you, and acknowledge within themselves that you are doing right. But what matters it, after all, what people may say of you, provided you do your duty, and that God be satisfied?

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2. O what cowardice, to blush at the gospel? To wear the livery of a prince is held honourable: is it then shameful to wear that of Jesus Christ? The lowest mechanics make open profession of the trades they follow; and yet Christians, in the church, blush at being thought Christians! The Son of God will deny before his Father in heaven, the Christian that shall have denied him before men.

3. What then? Is there any thing in Jesus that you should be ashamed of? Is his name infamous? Is it a disgrace to follow his maxims and example? You are not ashamed, perhaps, of being a libertine, a drunkard, a blasphemer; you may probably even glory in it; and yet you blush at being a good man. But let people say what they will, the man that is most esteemed is he who serves God with most fidelity, and who openly professes himself to be a follower of Christ.

Ask yourself seriously whether this phantom of the world doth
not frighten you, and prevent your fulfilling the obligations
which the Christian religion imposes.

"I do not blush at the gospel."
_Romans_ i.

"Why should you fear or be ashamed, when armed with the sign of the cross?" _St. Aug._

_Fifteenth Day._--Diffidence in Ourselves.

1. We have nothing to fear so much as ourselves. Our own weakness is more alarming than the united powers of hell. A thought, a word, a single look is enough to overcome us. Angels have rebelled, Adam hath fallen, Solomon hath bowed to idols, Peter hath denied his Master. When cedars have yielded, how shall osiers stand?

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2. Our own heart is our most dangerous enemy; our senses and our passions are always conspiring against us; we are vanquished almost without a struggle. Let us then never be so weak or foolish as to trust to ourselves. Many whom torments could not shake, have wretchedly perished in a slight temptation: they were victorious over tyrants, but vanquished by concupiscence.

3. There is no man, of how exemplary soever a conduct, that should not tremble at the justice of God, because he cannot be certain whether he be worthy of love or hatred. To the all-seeing eye of Infinite Perfection, the very angels themselves shall not appear without blemish. Sanctity may be lost in a single moment, and the saint may be transformed into an odious reprobate. We should all, therefore, cry out with St. Philip of Neri: "Watch me, O Lord, this day, for abandoned to myself I shall surely betray thee."

Beware of the occasions of sin; the most dangerous are often
what you are least afraid of.

"Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall." 1 _Corinthians_ iv.

"Though you be in a place of safety, do not on that account think yourself secure." _St. Bernard._

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_Sixteenth Day._--Use of Divine Grace.

1. Whatever grace we have, was dearly purchased: our Saviour gave his blood for it. Wherefore to reject a pious thought, to resist an holy inspiration, is, in fact, to trample on the merits of Christ, and to frustrate, as much as we can, the ends he proposed to himself in dying for us.

2. We are accountable to God, not only for the graces we have received, but also for those which he intended to confer on us, provided we ourselves had not put an obstacle to them. His sun shines, but we shut our windows against it. Are we the less indebted to him for its light?--No; for we may, if we please, make use of it.

3. Many years, perhaps, has God been inviting us in vain; soliciting, reprehending, and threatening us, to no manner of purpose. But let us remember, that he is a _creditor_ who will not thus be put off, and that the longer our debt is unpaid, the more strictly will he require the interest. There is possibly a measure of sins which may force him at last to abandon us.

Thank the Almighty now for all his gifts and graces. Beg pardon
for having been unfaithful to him, and resolve to correspond with
docility, to all the suggestions of his grace for the future.

"From him to whom much hath been given, much will be required." _Luke_, xii.

"Grace is followed by judgment."
_St. Basil._

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_Seventeenth Day_.--Good Use of Time.

1. The loss of time is one of the greatest misfortunes in the world. This life is so short! all its moments so precious! yet we live as if it were never to end, or as if we had nothing to fear hereafter.

2. Alas! if a damned soul had but one single moment of the time we now squander away, what good use would he make of it! Every instant of our life we may purchase a happy eternity. The opportunity of enriching or amusing ourselves we never miss; but the means of salvation appear to us indifferent.

3. The day that is best employed, is not always the one that has most forwarded our temporal affairs, but that which has added most to our merits, and which God has been best pleased with. Let us always so regulate our time, that God and our salvation may be our constant objects.

Renew the resolution you have taken to serve God faithfully;
and be firmly persuaded, that the time which is not employed
for God, is no more than so much time lost for ever.

"God hath given to no person time for sinning."
_Ecclesiastes_ xv.

"You have leisure to become a philosopher; you have none to become a Christian." _St. Paul._

_Eighteenth Day_.--Use of the Sacraments.

1. The sacraments are the channels of divine grace; through them the merits of Christ abundantly flow into our souls. We must therefore take care to approach them worthily; for otherwise his merits will not avail us, nor will our salvation of course be possible.

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2. The abuse of the sacraments is an evil of the first magnitude. They were instituted as the means of life; but, when perverted, lead to eternal death. There is no medium; they must be either our food or our poison. How dreadful then must it be to reflect, that after so many confessions we should be so little improved, that after repeated communions we should still follow the same sinful course!

3. The unworthy communicant receives his own condemnation, and becomes, as it were, incorporated with his own ruin. What answer can he give when called to account for his baseness? How shall he hope to escape, when arraigned for such daring profanations?

Examine yourself carefully upon the use you have made of the
sacraments, and receive them for the future, as if death were
immediately approaching.

"Let a man prove himself."
1 _Corinthians_.

"There are bad Christians, who are called by the name of faithful, and who are not such; by whom the sacraments of Christ are dishonoured and profaned." _St. Augustine._

_Nineteenth Day_.--On the Mass.

1. A sacrifice is an exterior or visible offering made by a lawful minister to God alone, in testimony of his supreme dominion. Our absolute dependance on God, and the homage we owe him, render sacrifice essential to religion. Hence, from the beginning of the world it has been always offered: Abel, Noah, Melchisedech, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sacrificed to the Almighty; and a variety of sacrifices were prescribed in the written law of Moses.

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2. All these however, were only weak figures of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross; for sin was too great an evil, its guilt was of too black a die to be ever removed by the blood of sheep and oxen. No other atonement could possibly compensate for its enormity, than the excruciating sufferings of a God; therefore did he come. "In the head of the book it was written of him, that he should do the will of his Father." By the one oblation of himself he paid off all our debts, closed up the abyss of separation, cancelled the hand-writing of sin that lay against us, and the sanctified he perfected for ever.

3. Was not this enough? Most undoubtedly it was; nay, one drop of his blood was fully adequate to all these purposes. Why then is the same sacrifice daily renewed in the Mass? Why is he still immolated upon our altars? Why is his body mystically drained of his blood, by the separate consecrations of the two species? {195} Because his love for us would have it so; he would leave us a standing memorial of his death; he would daily apply to our souls the infinite merits thereof, just as he prays for us still, though his prayer on the cross was already heard for us; he would, as a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech, continue to the end of time the same unbloody sacrifice; he was willing that his faithful on earth, united not only in spirit, but in outward ties of religion, should ever have this sacrifice before them, as the strongest bond of love, and the most perfect act of adoration.

Make a resolution to hear Mass every day, and to hear it with
the devotion which so august a sacrifice requires. For this
purpose go to the church as you would to Mount Calvary; adore
Jesus Christ in his state of humiliation: pay him your homage
with fervour at the foot of the altar. It is shameful in us and
most displeasing to him, that he should be so much deserted in
the midst of our churches, and that his court should be so
empty, whilst earthly kings have their levees crowded.

"In every place there is a sacrifice, and a pure victim is offered to my name." _Malic_. i.

"He will then be our victim indeed, when we sacrifice ourselves to him." _St. Gregory_.

_Twentieth Day_.--On Alms Deeds.

1. We minister to Christ when we relieve the poor. He abides in the Eucharist to receive our adoration, and to become our nourishment; he abides in the poor to excite our compassion, and to be fed by us in our turn. Happy the man who gives alms to Jesus! but wretched is he who refuses to assist him. Shall we feed our dog, and let Christ famish with hunger!

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2. What we give to the great ones of the earth may, in a great measure, be considered as forfeited: but what we present to God is always attended with advantage. He gives it back with interest. He repays with liberality the crumbs that are given for his sake; his rewards are laid up even for _a cup of cold water_. Play, luxury, and debauch, have ruined innumerable families, but alms have impoverished no one.

3. Men at the day of judgment shall be accountable for their alms; but what answer can the unfeeling rich ones make when the poor shall accuse them, when Jesus Christ himself shall reproach them with their insensibility? "Go, ye accursed, into eternal fire: I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was naked, and you did not clothe me," &c. A heart that is hard to the poor, is the heart of a reprobate; but on the contrary, a soul that is truly charitable, is a soul predestined. What can our Judge say against us, when he shall see our clothes upon himself, when he shall see our bread and our money in his own hands? We shall approach his awful tribunal with confidence, provided the poor be our advocates.

Consider seriously how you behave to the poor; whether you
treat them as members of Jesus Christ, by doing them all the
good in your power.

"He gives at interest to the Lord, who has pity on the poor." _Proverbs_ xix.

"Give unto all, lest he whom you refuse should be Jesus Christ."
_St. Augustine_.

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_Twenty-first Day_--On Bad Example.

1. Bad example has damned more souls than the preaching and good example of all the saints together have been the means of saving.

2. Were the gates of hell to be laid open, scarcely would any one be found that would not say, _it is such or such-a-one that has damned me_. O what a reproach! We are commanded to love our enemies: why then should we destroy souls which have never done us an injury? A man who has been unfortunate enough to ruin souls redeemed by the blood of a God, hath much reason to fear for his salvation. What can we reasonably hope from Jesus Christ, after having torn from him what he hath so dearly purchased? O fathers and mothers, who do not live as Christians ought to live, it were far better for your children that they had never been born! You have given them life only to put them to death; that dreadful death which is eternal! When they shall require of you the heaven they have lost, what will you he able to answer them?

3. Let us clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ, according to the words of the apostle; let his conduct, his virtue, and his spirit shine forth in us, so that _he_ may be remembered when we are seen. We contribute not less to our neighbour's salvation by an edifying life, than we do to his damnation by a scandalous one.

Be very careful to do nothing that may scandalize your
neighbour; and humbly beg pardon of God for the sins you have
occasioned.

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"Wo be to the man by whom scandal cometh."
_St. Matt_. xviii.

"The scandalous sinner must answer for the crimes which his bad example hath caused to be committed." _Salvian_.

_Twenty-second Day_.--On Mortification.

1. We are not Christians merely to be rich and to live at our ease. It was not necessary to institute Christianity for that purpose: the world might have been left as it was, under the empire of passion and opinion. The life of a Christian is a crucified life: unless the cross be embraced, faith must be renounced.

2. What doth the gospel say? "Blessed are those who weep: wo be to you, O rich, who have your consolation in this world!" Such is the language of the Holy Ghost. But it is now looked on as nonsense to believe that felicity consists in tears, and that the rich are unhappy.

3. The Son of God was to die on the cross, that he might take possession of his glory; the saints have arrived at heaven by the path of sufferings. Shall we then imagine that what the Son of God and the saints have so dearly purchased, shall be given to us for nothing? No; the cross is the distinctive mark and portion of the elect: a soul which suffers nothing, and is resolved to suffer nothing, bears the strongest character of a reprobate. We must of necessity suffer in this world or in the next.

Adore Christ crucified, and beg of him the grace to participate
now in his suffering life, that you may be one day a partaker in
his life of glory.

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"Whoever doth not carry his cross is not worthy of me."
_Luke_, xiv.

"What a shame to be a delicate member of a head crowned with thorns." _St. Bernard._

_Twenty-third Day_.--On Conformity to the Will of God.

1. The greatest happiness of a rational creature is, to will that which his Creator willeth. It is in this, precisely, that real sanctity consists. The saints are saints only because their will corresponded with the will of God. Whatever virtue we may possess, if we have not that of conformity to the divine will, we are not truly virtuous.

2. A soul that is not satisfied with the will of God, seems to doubt, in some measure, of his authority. To desire that what he ordains and permits in this world should go on otherwise than it does, is to desire that God should not be master. Every thing that happens to us, happens by his order; and is it not just to acquiesce in whatever is ordained by infinite wisdom?

3. All things but sin fall out by God's appointment. Though his arm be raised to strike, we are sure that his hand is conducted by his heart. What have we to fear from a heart that loves us? We will then desire nothing but what he pleases; we will not complain of losses, sickness, trouble, &c. The name and the nature of these things are changed as they pass through the hands of God. What the world calls misfortunes, affliction, dishonour, is an advantage, a grace, and a favour from heaven, when considered in the order of providence.

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Renounce your own will, and beg of God that his maybe
accomplished in you.

"Be it so, Father, because it is thy will."
_Matthew_ xi.

"He is pleasing to God, to whom God is pleasing." _St. Augustine._

_Twenty-fourth Day_.--Confidence in God.

1. God is the greatest parent of mankind; our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us to call him _Father_. Not a hair can even drop from our heads without his knowledge. His providence reaches from end to end, disposing all things sweetly. What madness, therefore, to doubt of his protection, or to be slow in trusting ourself to his guidance!

2. The _insects_ are an object of his care; how much more we who are created to his image, and redeemed by the blood of his only-begotten Son! If God feed the infidels, who know him not; if he heaps favours on the impious, by whom he is blasphemed, what will he not do for Christians who honour and love him?

3. Our affairs are much better off when in his hands, than they can be in our own: let us therefore leave them all at his disposal. He is at the same time our Father and our Creator. The tenderness he has for his children obliges him to take care of them. He has promised us his protection; he will then be as good as his word. Sooner shall the heavens and the earth he destroyed, than that man should perish, who places his confidence in God.

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Examine your heart, and see whether your confidence be worthy
of the goodness of God, and the merits of Jesus Christ.

"Thou art my God: my lot is in thy hands."
_Psalm_ xxx.

"Throw yourself upon him, he will not withdraw to let you fall." _St. Augustine._

_Twenty-fifth Day._--On the Love of God.

1. God has loved us to such a degree, as to give us his only Son: had he any thing better he would have given it us. Is it not buying our love too dearly, to purchase it at so dear a rate? A trifling bounty from a fellow-creature is entitled to our love; why, then, shall we not love a bounty that is infinite? Why doth its being infinite render it less amiable?

2. God has strictly enjoined me to love him. Is a commandment rigorous, which orders us to love what is infinitely worthy of our affections? He commands us to love him with all our hearts. Is a heart so small as mine, too much for a God so great? But in saying _all_, he admits of no exception. Whatever share I give him, if I give him not all, I give him nothing.

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3. If eternity could have an end, the torments of the damned in hell, even to the day of judgment, would not be too much to obtain this heavenly love. There is not one of these miserable souls that would not think itself happy, provided that, after ages of sufferings, it could love that infinite beauty. We can love God if we please: every moment invites us to it. Not to do so while it can be done, is a monstrous insensibility.

Disclaim every love but that of God alone, and endeavour to
love him above all things.

"If I have not charity, I am nothing."
1 _Corinthians_ xiii.

_Twenty-sixth Day_.--Love of Jesus Christ.

1. Nothing was ever purchased at so dear a rate as my soul. A divine life was given to redeem it. I deserved hell: justice cried out for punishment; but Christ would listen only to the emotions of his heart: it pleaded in my behalf, and I obtained forgiveness. If I return him not life for life, the least I can do is to return him love for love.

2. The dog that I feed, watches, caresses, and attends me: Jesus has given his blood for me, and continues to give me himself; yet I am still insensible. Learn, then, ungrateful soul! learn, I say, thy duty from a brute! thy dog is thy teacher and thy judge. If his example reform not thy heart, thou art more brutal than he.

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3. We can feel for our friends; we are not insensible of the good they do us; we pique ourselves upon gratitude. Shall we then be ungrateful only to Christ? Shall he alone find us hard-hearted? Had we ever a friend that sacrificed himself for us?

Beg the love of Jesus from Jesus himself. Without his grace we
shall never be able to love him.

"If any one love not the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed." 1 _Corinthians_ vi.

"If I belong to him entirely for having created me, what shall I add for having been redeemed, and redeemed in so excellent a manner?" _St. Bernard._

_Twenty-seventh Day_.--Love of our Neighbour.

1. If we love not our neighbour, we cannot love God. Whatever good we do, is to no purpose, if we do not love our brethren. Even martyrdom itself will not avail us, without charity.

2. "This is my commandment," said Jesus, "that you love one another, as I have loved you." Had mankind nothing else than Christ's love to endear them, they are objects of esteem for that very reason. Since our Saviour has loved them, shall we refuse to do so?

3. Do we love all men as Christ has loved them? Do we thirst for their salvation as he did? Do we do by them as we would be done by?

Excite yourself to love those whom our Lord Jesus Christ has
loved so tenderly: firmly purpose to promote their salvation,
and never to do what may offend against charity.

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"He that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law."
_Romans_ xiii.

"By charity alone, the children of God are distinguished from the children of Satan." _St. Augustine._

_Twenty-eighth Day._--Love of our Enemies.

1. So essential is charity to the Christian religion, that we are obliged to love even our enemies; Christ hath given the commandment, and set the example. God orders it, and shall we find it hard to obey? A God forgives his very executioners, and shall we refuse to pardon a brother?

2. "He that will not forgive, shall not be forgiven." God will not pardon us, but on the condition that we pardon others. If we seek revenge, we call down God's anger upon us. We must either love our enemies, or hate ourselves.

3. It should seem that two Christians who hate each other, are not really professors of the same religion; for how can they approach the same altar, eat the same food, believe the same heaven, and hope to be together eternally? Mutual hatred is allowed but to devils: it belongs to them alone. There is not a more formal sign of reprobation, than that of refusing to pardon an enemy; and a soul in such a disposition may be looked on as marked for hell.

Examine your heart at the sight of the crucifix; and if you
feel a hatred for any person, take sentiments of charity from
the wounds of Jesus.

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"He that hates his brother is a murderer." 1 _John_, iii. 15.

"You a Christian, and yet desire to be revenged! But Christ hath not yet taken vengeance." _St. Augustine._

_Twenty-ninth Day_.--Imitation of Christ.

1. The Son of God, when he united his divinity to our human nature, became the model of Christians. He is the head of the predestined; we are therefore bound to resemble him.

2. The manners of the world are carefully studied; but the life of Jesus Christ is hardly thought upon. Courtiers form themselves upon their prince; philosophers have been imitated even in their faults. Did we ever seriously strive to imitate Jesus? Have we taken any pains to follow his example, or to copy after the virtues of his holy life?

3. What shall we say for ourselves at the awful tribunal of Divine Justice, when we shall be compared to our model; when the life of Jesus shall be opposed to our life; his humility to our pride; his wounds to our delicacy; his sweetness to our anger and impatience, &c.? Ah! what a monster is a Christian without Christianity! baptized, and a slave of the devil! under the banners of the cross, yet a follower of the flesh and the world! We must then renounce our baptism, or conform to the life of our Saviour.

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See whether you bear any resemblance to the Son of God, and
whether you may be truly considered as a disciple of a
crucified Jesus.

"Master, I will follow thee wheresoever thou goest."
_Matthew_ viii.

"Without cause am I a Christian, if I follow not Christ." _St. Bernard._

_Thirtieth Day_.--On Fervour in the Service of God.

1. Let us have as much zeal for God as he has for us. He acts exteriorly, but for the perfection of our souls. All the desires of his heart, all the cares of his providence, all the tenderness of his mercy, are referred to this. O what a subject of confusion for tepid souls!

2. Were we to judge of God by our own indifference, it might be said that he does not deserve our services, and that his rewards are very trifling. What idea can be had of a master whose servants attend him carelessly, and without the smallest affection? We dishonour God, we cry down his services, as often as we perform negligently what he requires of us. Wo be to the man who does the work of God without attention!

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3. An action done for God, how trifling soever it may be, is of far greater value than the most renowned exploits of heroes. If we pique ourselves upon so much courage in labouring for vanity, what should be done when we are employed for eternity? What! the servants of the devil spare no pains; they do not complain of what they go through; they are ever indefatigable. Is Jesus Christ then less considerable than the devil? Is paradise less valuable than hell? Hell then shall be, as it were, our instructor: we are to love God as much as the damned hate him; we are to serve God as much as the world serves the devil. Is this too much?

Examine your conduct with respect to the service of God;
consider the actions in which you are most remiss, and excite
yourself to perform them henceforth with a fervour worthy of
your master.

"Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
_Romans_.

"Let the ardour you formerly had for the world be now entertained for him that created it." _St Augustine._

_Thirty-first Day._--On Devotion to the Mother of God.

1. A more pure, more excellent, or more amiable being than this glorious Virgin, was never yet created. God having from all eternity destined her to be the mother of his Son, it was proper she should be embellished with every created excellence, and that her dignity and influence in heaven should far surpass the dignity and influence of all the other saints. Most justly then is she entitled to our veneration, respect, and confidence.

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2. Let us put ourselves under her protection: let us recommend ourselves to her prayers. How great soever our wickedness, or how numerous soever our faults may have been, let us always have recourse to her, and hope, through her prayers, for the grace of our conversion. Her charity is so great, her interest is so powerful, that she must always plead successfully for the repenting sinner.

3. But let us never forget, that to honour her properly, is to imitate her virtues; that to persevere in sin, upon the hopes of her future intercession, is equally absurd, impious, and detestable. Her hatred of this error should be always before our eyes. Her purity, her mildness, her patience, should be ever present to us.

"Hail, full of grace."
_Luke_, i.

"O name! under which no one should despair."
_St. Augustine._

Concluding Reflection.