occasions of sin

It would also be a miracle if we exposed ourselves to the occasion, and did not fall. According to St. Bernardine of Siena, it is a greater miracle not to fall in the occasion of sin, than to raise a dead man to life. St. Philip Neri used to say that in the warfare of the flesh, cowards that is, they who fly from occasions are always victorious. You say: I hope that God will assist me. But God says : He that loveth the danger shall perish in it. God does not assist those who, without necessity, expose themselves voluntarily to the occasion of sin.

Some also believe that it is only a venial sin to expose themselves to the proximate occasion of sin. The catechist must explain that those who do not abstain from voluntary proximate occasions of grievous sin are guilty of a mortal sin, even though they have the intention of not committing the bad act, to the danger of which they expose themselves. So, also, women must be taught it is a sin to take pleasure in being admired and desired by men, if this pleasure arises from vanity, and not from a wish to be married to them.

God does not assist those who, without necessity, expose themselves voluntarily to the occasion of sin. It is necessary to know that he who puts himself in the proximate occasion of sin is in the state of sin, though he should have no intention of committing the principal sin to which he exposes himself.

By proximate occasions even saints have fallen, and persons on the point of expiringhave been lost.We must carefully abstain from looking at persons, the sight of whom may tempt us to bad thoughts. St. Bernard says: "Through the eyes the arrows of impure love enter, and kill the soul." And the Holy Ghost says: Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up? Is it, then, a sin to look at a woman? Yes, it is at least a venial sin to look at young women; and when the looks are repeated, there is also danger of mortal sin. St. Francis de Sales says that to look at dangerous objects is bad, but to look a second time is still more injurious. One of the ancient philosophers blinded himself voluntarily in order to be freed from unchaste suggestions. It is not lawful for us Christians to destroy our sight physically, but we should destroy it morally by turning the eyes away from objects which may excite temptations.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga never looked at women; even speaking to his mother he kept his eyes cast down upon the ground. It is equally dangerous for women to look at young men.

It is necessary to avoid all bad company, and all assemblies where light bantering and flirting go on between men and women. 'With the holy thou wilt be holy . . . and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.' If you keep company with the virtuous, you shall be virtuous; if you associate with the unchaste, you too will indulge in impurity. St. Thomas says that a man will be like the companions with whom he converses.

from the writings of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

dangers in courtship

Finally, some one may ask whether it is a mortal sin to make love [engage in talk with opposite sex]. What can I say? Ordinarily speaking, I say that persons who give themselves up to love-making are scarcely free from the proximate occasion of sinning mortally. Experience shows that few of them are exempt from grievous sins. If they do not commit mortal sin in the beginning of their courtship, they will in the course of time very easily fall into it: for at first they speak together through a predilection for each other's conversation; this predilection afterwards grows into a passion; when the passion has taken root, it blinds the mind, and precipitates the soul into a thousand sins of bad thoughts, of immodest words, and, in the end of sinful acts. Cardinal Pico de la Mirandola, bishop of Albano, forbade the confessors of his diocese to absolve those lovers who, after being duly admonished, continued to hold long conversations together, particularly if they should be alone, or if the conversations should be of great length, or clandestine, or by night. "But, Father," some of them will say, "I have no bad intention. I have not even bad thoughts." Young men and young girls, avoid these amatory conversations with persons of a different sex. In the beginning the devil does not suggest bad thoughts, but when the affection has taken root it will not allow you to see the evil you do; and almost without knowing how, you will find that you have lost your soul, your God, and your honor. Oh! how many innocent young persons does the devil gain in this way!

from the writings of Saint Alphonsus Liguori

abstain from relations with the opposite sex

Some young men will ask: Father, is it sinful to make love [engage in small talk with the opposite sex]? I say: I cannot assert that of itself it is a mortal sin: but persons who do so are often in the proximate occasion of mortal sin; and experience shows that few of them are found free from grievous faults. It is useless for them to say that they neither had a bad motive nor bad thoughts. This is an illusion of the devil; in the beginning he does not suggest bad thoughts; but when, by frequent conversations together, and by frequently speaking of love, the affection of these lovers has become strong, the devil will make them blind to the danger and sinfulness of their conduct, and they shall find that, without knowing how, they have lost their souls and God by many sins of impurity and scandal. Oh! how many young persons of both sexes does the devil gain in this way! And of all those sins of scandal God will demand an account of fathers and mothers, who are bound, but neglect, to prevent these dangerous conversations. Hence, they are the cause of all these evils, and shall be severely chastised by God for them.

Above all, in order to avoid bad thoughts, men must abstain from looking at women, and females must be careful not to look at men. I repeat the words of Job which I have frequently quoted: I made a covenant with my eyes that I should not so much as think upon a virgin. he says that he made a covenant with his eyes that he would not think. What have the eyes to do with thinking? The eyes do not think; the mind alone thinks. But he had just reason to say that he made a covenant with his eyes that he would not think on women; for St. Bernard says that through the eyes the darts of impure love, which kills the soul, enter into the mind." Hence the Holy Ghost says: Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up. It is always dangerous to look at young persons elegantly dressed; and to look at them purposely, and without a just cause, is, at least, a venial sin.

from the writings of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Những Câu Pháp Ngôn Về Lòng Mến Mẹ Maria

Những Câu Pháp Ngôn Về Lòng Mến Mẹ Maria

Thánh An-phong

Ma-ria là người Mẹ rất mực từ ái, không thể chịu để cho một ai đến cầu xin Mẹ phải ra về buồn tủi.

Ước gì chúng ta yêu mến Mẹ say mê, để cho những đợt són yêu thương nồng nàn lôi cuốn tới cơn điên cuồng thánh thiện, ôm lấy cây đàn mà ca mà nhảy chí tình trước ảnh Mẹ Ma-ria.

Không bao giờ những tâm hồn chí thiết yêu Mẹ, có thể mến yêu Mẹ như Mẹ yêu thương họ.

Những ai vộ vã đi tìm Mẹ ngay từ bình minh, nghĩa là đi tìm ngay khi có thể, nhất định sẽ tìm thấy Mẹ.

Cậy nương nơi Mẹ Ma-ria, và tìm được ân sủng Chúa ban, cả hai cũng chỉ là một.

Như hoa huệ chữa lành vết thương rắn cắn và dập tắt lửa độc, thì cũng không có gì hiệu nhghiệm như lời cầu xin cùng Mẹ Ma-ria.

Như hô hấp tỏ ra thân xac còn sống động, thì ân cần kêu xin thánh danh Ma-ria cũng là biểu hiện linh hồn còn linh họat trong đời sống ân sủng, hoặc sắp Phục sinh.

Không một tội nhân nào, dầu tội lỗi đến đâu, khi đến nài xin Mẹ thương xót, mà lại phải e ngại sẽ bị Mẹ đuổi đi.

Để sự sống ân sủng không tàn lụi trong ta, ta phải có một nội lực thiêng liêng, thêm sức để ta chống trả những địch thù ơn cứu độ. Mà nội lức này, ta chỉ nhờ Mẹ Ma-ria mới có.

Linh hồn nào trong đó ánh sang của Chúa đã tắt lịm, linh hồn nào bóng đêm đã che phủ, thì sẽ trở nên sào huyệt của tội lỗi và quỷ dữ.

Theo Mẹ, bạn sẽ không lạc đường; kêu xin Mẹ, bạn sẽ không nếm mùi thất vọng.

Nếu không muốn bị nhận chìm giữa cơn sóng dữ, bạn hãy nhìn lên cao, kêu Ma-ria.

Như cây tiêu huyền tỏa bóng rợp trên khách bộ hành tránh cơn nắng lửa, thì cũng vậy, khi thấy cơn nghĩa nộ của Thiên Chúa chí công bùng tỏa trên tội nhân, Mẹ cũng đến kéo họ vào ẩn nương dưới bóng phù trì của Mẹ.

Mẹ tình thương Ma-ria cũng tha thiết mong cứu vớt tội nhân.

Mẹ là nam châm thu hút các linh hồn, xin hãy thu hút tâm hồn khốn nạn con.

Lạy Đức Mẹ, xin ban cho con biết chạy đến cùng Mẹ luôn luôn.

Mẹ Ma-ria là trung gian ân sủng, do công đức, do thích nghi và do quyền can thiệp.

Không một vị thánh nào lĩnh thụ ân sủng, tiếp nhận tặng ân trong cuộc trường sinh, mà ơn đó lại không do Mẹ Ma-ria ban phát.

Mẹ Ma-ria ban cho hết những con trung của Mẹ được những ân tứ của tình yêu Thiên Chúa, của tình kính sợ thảo hiền, của ánh sang trời cao và của niềm tin tưởng thánh thiện vào Thiên Chúa.

Chúa Giê-su tác thành ân sủng, còn Mẹ Ma-ria ban phát ân sủng. Chúa Giê-su cứu chuộc chúng ta, Mẹ Ma-ria biện hộ cho chúng ta. Chúa Giê-su là nguyên ủy, Mẹ Ma-ria là đạo tuyến.

Niềm vui của mẹ là can thiệp giúp đỡ những tội nhân khốn khó.

Mẹ sẽ đem rất nhiều yêu đương tưởng thưởng những niềm kính tôn cho những ai tín trung dâng lên Mẹ.

Ai đến cầu xin Mẹ cũng luôn luôn thấy Mẹ sẵn sàng đến cứu trợ họ.

Nếu chúng ta muốn được ân sủng, chúng ta hãy đến gần tòa ân sủng – chúng ta hãy đến cùng Mẹ Ma-ria.

Chúng ta hãy đến cầu xin Mẹ với một niềm xác tín thì chúng ta sẽ được nhận lời.

Lạy Đức Bà Ma-ria, xin lôi kéo trót cả mình con lại cùng Chúa.

Lạy Đức Bà Ma-ria là Mẹ con, xin ban cho con được cầu khẩn Mẹ luôn mãi. Việc Mẹ là làm cho con nên thánh. Vậy con trông cậy Mẹ sẽ làm cho con nên thánh.

On the Delay of Repentance

On the Delay of Repentance

Jean Baptiste Massillon


"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make strait the way of the Lord"

John, i. 23.

THE paternal solicitude of our Jesus, ever attentive to the interests of his beloved creatures, and desirous of insuring to himself the free and sole possession of our hearts, continues to invite us, by the mouth of the Baptist, during this time of Advent, to make strait his ways, and to remove the impediments which have hitherto obstructed the channel of his graces, and prevented our complete and permanent union with him. These impediments are the crimes which we commit, the passions by which our unthinking hearts are led astray, and the occasions of sin, which have so often proved fatal to our innocence. The means by which alone these impediments can be removed, are a change of heart, and a complete reform of life, accompanied with a true and sincere repentance.

To this gracious invitation he adds threats. He commands his ministers to display before you the miseries which await impenitence, and the dangers of delay, and to declare openly that, "unless you do penance, you shall inevitably perish".

This is not all: he speaks to you in the interior of your souls: "Is it not time", he says, "to arise from that abyss of wickedness, in which you have been so long immersed? Why will you not turn your thoughts to your eternal welfare, and consecrate the short remaining period of your lives to my service, after having devoted so many years to vanity and folly?"

To these importunities of your Creator, what reply do you make? Do you pour forth your soul in acts of thanksgiving for this his paternal, his gratuitous solicitude? Are you resolved to prostrate yourselves at his feet, and declare aloud, that you are ready to embrace the means which he has provided for your deliverance? Alas! this, I fear, is far from being the state of your mind. You are solicitous only to elude his importunities, and to refuse your consent: you say either that you have not sufficient grace to undertake so great a work; or that you are too much engaged in your pursuits to think of a reform of life at the present time. These, in general, are your pretexts. To these, there fore, I will call your attention; and I will prove, in the plainest terms, that they are groundless, that they are injurious to God, and that they are prejudicial in the highest degree to your eternal welfare.

1. It is not uncommon for those sinners, who are determined not to forsake their evil ways, to attempt to justify themselves by alleging the incompetency of man to effect the great work of an entire change of life, by his own powers alone. "A particular grace from God", they say, "is necessary, and indispensably necessary for the success of such an arduous undertaking: happy they who have been favoured with his grace! As for them, they have long waited with anxious expectations of receiving it: but, as yet, it has not pleased God to dispense to them so inestimable a blessing".

Plausible as this pretext may appear, a slight examination will prove that it is unjust on the part of the sinner, injurious to God, and unwarrantable in itself.

If in this assembly, there is any individual whose impenitence is owing to this cause, let me beg the favour of his attention for a few moments. Christian brother, I allow in the first instance that a true and sincere reformation of life cannot be effected without the grace of God, and if it be true that you have never been blessed with that grace, your impenitence has some excuse. But this is what you cannot assert with justice. If you take a review of your past life, you will be convinced that God favoured you in every stage of it with the most singular graces. He blessed you with a happy disposition and a good heart. He favoured you with the light of faith, provided you with the necessary instructors, and nourished you with his sacraments. When you turned your back upon him, and walked in the ways of iniquity, he followed after you with the solicitude of a parent, and importuned you, by his graces and inspirations, to return to his embraces: he did not suffer your conscience to be hardened in guilt: he convinced you of the emptiness and vanity of sinful pleasures, and tortured you with anxiety and remorse: he displayed before your eyes the charms of innocence, and by the voice of his ministers, urged you in the most pressing terms to give peace to your soul by throwing yourself into his arms: at the time even that I am speaking, he works within yon, and inspires me with these sentiments in order to reclaim you. Ah! my dear friend, your whole life has been one continued chain of graces; and you will discover hereafter, that it has been your greatest crime to have received so much, and to have profited so little.

If, indeed, by grace, you mean that miraculous grace, which in a moment converted Paul the persecutor into an apostle, you probably have never yet received it, and more probably never will: it would be presumption to expect it. No: you will never receive a grace that will exempt you from difficulties, that will break your chains, and subdue your passions without your concurrence. Your conversion will necessarily cost you dear: you will have many struggles with corrupt nature before your evil inclinations are repressed, before you can tear yourselves from the dear, but criminal objects of your affections, and make the sacrifice of everything that holds you in captivity. The grace which the saints received, and which made them saints, did not exempt them from these conflicts; and if you wait for a greater grace before you enter upon the work of self-reformation, you might as well give up your soul for lost, and consign yourself to the horrors of despair.

There is another subject likewise for your consideration: by alleging that you never have been favoured with the grace on which alone a change of life depends, you are guilty of ingratitude against God, and tacitly accuse him of being in some degree the author of your impenitence. You might as well say in plain terms: "God alone can change my heart, and, therefore, it is to no purpose that I attempt it without his special concurrence: I must wait his good time: I have only to spend my days agreeably in pleasure and sin; and when he thinks proper, he will divest me of the old man, and clothe me with the new, without any labour on my part, without my thinking of it, without any previous disposition, but a life of wickedness, and opposition to his graces: salvation that great, that only business for which I came into the world, is no longer entrusted to me: the Lord has reserved the means, and taken it entirely on himself. But, my friend, let me ask, in what new gospel is this promise contained, for it is not in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Ah! with reason does the prophet exclaim: the sinner can only speak foolish things in justification of himself, and he will endeavour to extenuate his crimes in opposition even to himself (Isa., xxxii. 6).

Lastly, this pretext is irrational in itself. For what consequence can you deduce, supposing it were true that God had never visited you with his grace? That you would not be accountable for the sins you commit, were you to die impenitent? You dare not say it. That you are allowed to extend the catalogue of your crimes, till God shall please to touch your heart, and impart to you the long expected grace? That the delay of your repentance will not be criminal in the sight of God, because it depends not on your will? If this excuse, my dear friend, were admissible, every sinner that defers his repentance, and dies in his sins, would be justified; the gates of Hell would be shut, and the broad road, in which the multitude are said to walk, would be annihilated. Man! exclaims the apostle, in opposition to the folly, and impiety of this pretext, O man! is it thus that you despise the riches of the bounty of your God? Are you not aware that his patience in enduring your crimes ought to be the most cogent motive to hasten your repentance, and not to be alleged as the motive for the continuance of your disorders?

If God had actually refused you the assistance of his grace, the following is the only rational consequence to be deduced; namely, that your eternal welfare is exposed to the most imminent danger, that it is your duty to pray incessantly for the in estimable blessing of which you are deprived, and to endeavour, by every means in your power, to appease the anger of God, and, as it were, to take Heaven by storm: that it is your duty, in the mean time, to avoid the occasions where your innocence has been so often endangered, and to renounce the worldly affections which have hitherto shut your heart against the inspirations of the Holy Ghost. This my dear friend, would be giving glory to God in a truly Christian manner: this would be sincerely confessing his supreme dominion over the heart, and acknowledging that he is the Giver of every good gift. But to be continually repeating, that God will visit you when in his mercy he shall think fit, and in the mean time, making no efforts to relinquish the error of your ways, is the height of impiety: you might as well say, I am not inclined at the present moment to enter upon the service of God: I can do without him yet a little longer: I live happy and content: when he forces me to attend to his calls, and when I can no longer avoid his solicitations, then will I yield, then I will say, Lord, here I am: but in the mean time I will enjoy my good for tune and indulge the liberty he has given me of deferring my conversion to a future period. What a preparation is this, my beloved, for receiving that inestimable grace which works a change of heart! Nevertheless, this it is that gives confidence to the sinner, and hardens him in his guilt.

But beware, beloved Christians: the longer you defer your change of life, the less grace you will receive: the more your crimes are multiplied, the farther will God remove himself from you. The moments of mercy flow rapidly on: the dreadful time of indignation approaches: and, if it be true that you have not sufficient grace to effect your change to-day, in a short time you will probably not have sufficient grace to be sensible that you stand in need of repentance.

2. There is another, and perhaps a more numerous class of sinners, who defer their conversion, not on account of any deficiency of grace, but because they are too much attached to the world; and are deluded by the supposition, that, if they reform their conduct at a later period of life, their salvation will be as secure as if they embraced the austerities of repentance at the present moment.

They say, that they cannot devote their younger years to the severe duties of religion; that their blood is too warm to submit to such multiplied restraints; but that the time will come, when their passions will be cooled, and the pleasures of the world less attractive; and that then they will apply to their eternal concerns in good earnest.

In reply to this pretext, it is natural to ask, whether you have an absolute assurance that you will reach that time of life; that death will not surprise you, during the course of those years, which you so deliberately devote to your passions; and that the Lord, whom you expect only at the third watch, will not come at the first or second watch, at a time when you least expect him? Ah! the thousands whom you see drop into the grave in the very prime of life, proclaim the uncertainty of the term of your existence: perhaps the sentence is even already pronounced against you: "Thou fool! this night, perhaps, thy soul will be required of thee": and, if so, what will thy projects of a future conversion avail thee?

Supposing, however, that you are permitted to reach that advanced stage of life: are you certain that you will be then more disposed to enter upon a new course of life than you are to-day? Did age change the heart of Solomon, of Saul, of Jezabel, of Herodias? It was then that their passions mounted to the highest pitch, and that their crimes were multiplied beyond number. The same, probably, will be your lot: your old age will either be contaminated with the follies of your youth, or, if satiety should create a disgust for the grosser passions, it will be attended with a hardness of heart, and a seared conscience, which will infallibly lead to final impenitence.

However, for the sake of argument, we will suppose that you have received an assurance that you will both attain to an old age, and be then sincerely reformed. Nevertheless, can you, my beloved brethren, can you seriously and deliberately resolve on treating your God in this unworthy, this contemptuous manner? He is the Lord of all ages and times; he requires that both the bud, the bloom, and the decay of life be consecrated to him: he is a jealous God: he will not give his glory to another, nor endure a partner in your affections. And can you resolve before hand to devote the most precious part of your life to the Devil and his works, and reserve only the shattered remains for your God? Can you have the hardened boldness to say: Lord, when I am no longer capable of enjoying the world, I will turn to thee. I shall be always sure of finding thee. But the world, after a certain time, will no longer be an object of amusement. I must enjoy it before it is gone. At a certain age it will reject me; and then for want of other pleasures, I will turn to thee: thou alone shalt possess my soul. Worthless creature! with reason may I address to you the words which the prophet Isaiah addressed to his idolatrous neighbours: "You take", says he, "a cedar of Lebanon, you choose the best parts for your pleasures and luxuries, and not knowing how to employ the remainder, you carve an image of your idol, and bow down before it, and worship it" Isa., xliv. 15. You, in the same manner, select the most precious parts of your life, and devote them to your passions: and not knowing how to employ the wretched remnant, which has become unfit for the world, you make an idol of it, you consecrate it to religion, and vainly flatter yourselves that your offering will be acceptable to God!

Ah! be not deceived, my beloved friends. You certainly will reap in an advanced age the fruits of that only which you sowed in your youth. "If you sow in corruption", says the apostle, "you shall reap in corruption" Gal., vi. 8. As you live so shall you die.

You perhaps may say, that happy is the man who has served the Lord from his youth; and that happy should you have been, if you had enjoyed the same blessing: but, unfortunately, you have followed the beaten track of the world, and are now engaged in pursuits, from which you cannot desist until a more favourable opportunity arrives.

But, my beloved, are you certain that this favourable opportunity will ever arrive? Are you certain that you will not be surprised by death? Would you be the first that was surprised in his sins? Ah! this is the common lot of all who walk in the broad ways of the world. Could you but attend the minister of the Lord when he is summoned to the bed of sickness: could you hear the useless regrets, the vain protestations of the measures they would have taken, had they foreseen their approaching dissolution, you would be convinced that, seldom is there a man that has completely renounced his passions, and prepared himself by repentance for his last end. If you defer your conversion, the same melancholy task shall we have one day to perform for you. You will summon us in your turn: and, instead of congratulating with you on your timely repentance, we shall be necessitated to listen to your useless regrets, and endeavour, perhaps in vain, to inspire you with sentiments of sincere sorrow, and engage you to look forward with hope to the result of that dreadful scrutiny, for which you intended to have been prepared, and are not.

Perhaps, however, you may say, that you are disposed at the present time to reform your lives; that you are fully convinced of the emptiness and folly of worldly pleasures, and would gladly renounce them in order to labour in earnest for your salvation; but that you are diffident; that you are afraid lest the difficulties necessarily attending such an important and arduous undertaking should discourage you; and that, if you make the attempt, and fail, you would be exposed to the ridicule and scorn of all your acquaintance.

But, my dear friends, whence originates this fear? You defer your repentance on the supposition that God will touch your heart at a future period: and, if you reform to-day, you say that you dare not rely on his assistance! You confide in his mercies at the time you offend him; and you cannot confide in them when you attempt to serve him! O man! where is that reason, that soundness of judgment on which you pride yourselves? Are you then only senseless and contradictory, when your salvation is at stake?

Would it not be more reasonable to say: I will begin at least; I will try what I can do with the help and assistance of God; the experiment is certainly worth making. The man who is surprised by the sudden torrent, and in danger of perishing, endeavours to reach the land, and does not give himself up for lost until his strength is exhausted. He does not say: Perhaps I shall not succeed; my strength may possibly fail me; and therefore I will not try to save myself. No: he exerts his whole strength; he stretches every nerve; he yields not, till he is fairly overpowered by the force of the torrent that opposes him. You, my friends, are in danger of perishing: the waters gain upon you; the torrent is carrying you away; and will you hesitate whether it be prudent to endeavour to save yourselves? Will you sacrifice to deliberation the few moments which alone remain for you to effect your escape, and avoid the death which has overtaken so many before your eyes?

Supposing, however, that you were unable to endure the severities of repentance, and that you were obliged to desist, still you would have the satisfaction to reflect, that you had spent some time in innocence; that you had made some efforts to appease an angry God; that you had avoided some sins; and that the treasure of divine wrath, which is laid up against you, is not quite so great as it otherwise would have been. You would have acquired a right to represent your weakness to your Lord: Lord, thou seest my weakness. You would have a right to say: Thou art witness to the desires of my heart: why am I not more resolute in thy service, more hardened against the allurements of the world, and more watchful over myself? Put a final conclusion, O Lord, to my inconstancy; deprive the world of the dominion which it still holds over my heart; take possession of thy ancient rights, and draw me not to thee by halves, lest I forsake thee again. I have so often sworn to thee eternal love I have so often prostrated myself at thy feet, and with my eyes bathed in tears, confessed my iniquities, and have again returned to my former ways, that I can no longer confide in my own strength. With a heart so fickle and inconstant, what can I expect? Be moved, O Lord, at the sight of my danger and distress: my weakness discourages and alarms me: I know that inconstancy in thy ways is a presage of perdition. But, my God! whilst I am yet susceptible of the impressions of thy grace, I will endeavour to return to thee; and, if I must lose my soul, I will rather perish in the attempt to be virtuous, than seek an imaginary, a terrible tranquillity in a fixed and declared revolt against thee, and thus renounce the hope of those eternal goods which thou hast prepared for thy faithful servants.

On the Last Day

On the Last Day

Jean-Baptiste Massillon


"And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud in great power and majesty"

Luke, xxi. 27.


THUS, my beloved friends, shall the revolutions and kingdoms of this world be brought to a conclusion for ever. Thus shall end all the earthly pursuits which either amused us by their novelty, or seduced us by their charms. Thus shall the Son of Man come. Thus shall be ushered in the great day of his manifestation, the beginning of his reign, the complete redemption of his mystical body. On this day the consciences of all mankind shall be exposed to view a day of calamity and despair to the sinner, but of peace, joy, and consolation to the just. On this day the eternal lot of the whole world shall be decided.

The constant recollection of these great truths animated the primitive Christian with patience in persecution, and inspired him with joy in the midst of sufferings and contempt. It was this that supported the courage of the martyrs, invigorated the constancy of virgins, and rendered sweet and agreeable to the recluse the dreary paths of solitude and retirement. You yourselves, perhaps, have sometimes felt sentiments of compunction and fear, on the recollection of what will come to pass on this day. But these sentiments were probably of short continuance: thoughts of a more cheerful nature soon effaced them from your mind, and restored you to your former tranquillity.

In the first ages it would have been deemed a kind of apostacy not to have sighed after the day of the Lord. The thought of this great event was a subject of consolation to these primitive disciples: the apostles were obliged to moderate the eager desires which they expressed for its arrival. But in these times the Church is obliged to call forth all the powers of her ministry to impress the thought of this awful day on the minds of the faithful; not indeed with the expectation of exciting within them the same holy and devout impatience for its speedy accomplishment that, I apprehend, is no longer possible, but with the hopes of awakening them to repentance by the fear and consternation, which all must feel who are sensible of the alternative that awaits them in the winding up of these general accounts, in the last trying scene of this awful and terrible catastrophe.

It is not my intention in this discourse to display the external terrors of this great day; I mean, the confusion of the elements, the irregular motions of the Heavenly bodies, the universal destruction of nature, and men withering away through fear. I shall confine myself to a subject more adapted to make a salutary impression on the minds of my audience. I shall confine myself solely to the consideration of what will naturally present itself to view on the opening of the book of conscience, when the secrets of all men's hearts shall be revealed.

Man, during his abode in this world, knows not his own heart. Self-love spreads a veil over his imperfections, and conceals the knowledge of his true state, both from himself and from others. But on this day he shall be seen in his true dress, both by himself and by all mankind. The just man is disregarded and despised in this world: he is subjected in a great measure to the will of the sinner; his life is esteemed folly, and his end without honour. He, likewise, shall be seen in his true light on this day, and shall be honoured before the whole world with that honour to which his merits are entitled. I purpose, therefore, to make a few reflections on the confusion which shall seize the wicked, when the secrets of their hearts shall be revealed; and on the glory and honour which the just shall receive, when their secret virtues and good works shall be fully manifested.

1. It would be presumption to pretend to describe in appropriate terms the qualities of the Great Judge, who shall preside on that awful day. He is a severe lawgiver, who is jealous of the sanctity of his laws, and who will judge you by them alone. All extenuations, all favourable interpretations, which custom or worldly wisdom have introduced, will then disappear; and the advantages, which the sinner appeared to derive from them, will end in nothing. He is a Judge, highly interested in the glory of his Father against the sinner: and on this day he will display his zeal for the honour of the Divinity, against those who have refused him the just tribute of adoration and glory. He is a Saviour, whose sacred wounds will severely rebuke you for your ingratitude, and whose blood will raise its voice, and loudly demand your condemnation. He is the searcher of hearts, to whose eyes every thing is open, even the most secret thoughts. In a word, he is a God of power and majesty, before whom the Heavens will pass away, the elements be dissolved, all nature be in confusion, and obliged to sustain the terrors of his presence, and the rigour of his examination.

The particulars of this dreadful examination will, in the first place, be the same for all. Difference of times, of ages, of countries, of birth, and disposition, will be totally disregarded; and as the gospel, by which you will be judged, is the same for all ages and states, and proposes the same rules of conduct to the strong and to the weak, to the king and to the subject, to the hermit and to the worldling, to the primitive Christian and to the Christian of the present times, there will be no distinction in the mode of examination. No attention will be paid to excuses of rank, of birth, of the dangers of particular states, of the customs of the world, of weakness of constitution: but the same rigorous account of chastity, of humility, of modesty, of constant vigilance, of forgiveness of injuries, of self-denial, of mortification, and of all other Christian virtues, will be exacted from the poor and from the rich, from the prince and from the people, from the learned and the unlearned, from the primitive and from the modern Christian.

In the second place, this examination will be universal; that is, it will include every circumstance of your lives. It will include the failings of your younger years, which probably have long since escaped your memory; the indiscretions of youth, almost every hour of which was perhaps stained with crimes; the desires and cares of more advanced years; the peevishness and insensibility of old age. With what surprise will the sinner perceive, when the different stages of his life are thus passed in review before his eyes, that through the whole course he was profane, dissolute, sensual, without piety, without repentance, without good works; that he busied himself in the different situations of life, to no other purpose than to heap up to himself a more abundant treasure of wrath; and that he lived as if all were to have ended with his mortal existence.

In this life we never behold the true state of our interior: our attention is engaged by the few serious sentiments with which we are occasionally animated; and the judgment which we form of ourselves is generally influenced by the last impressions which are made upon our minds. A few thoughts of salvation, with which God inspires us from time to time; a day, for instance, spent in the exercises of piety, causes us to forget many years spent in the pursuits of vice; and the declaration of our crimes at the tribunal of penance, blots them out from our remembrance, and restores us to as perfect a state of tranquillity, as if we bad never committed them. But before this terrible Judge all will appear at once: our whole lives will be exposed to view. Every motion of our hearts, from the first developement of reason, to the last moment of existence, will be manifested: the long catalogue of crimes, committed during the different stages of life, will be all collected together: not an action, not a desire, not a thought, not a word will be omitted; for if the hairs of our head are numbered, with greater reason are our works.

Then shall you see the true state of your souls: then shall their secret avenues, their hidden affections, their depraved appetites, be all laid open to your view: then shall their unlawful desires, their hatreds and animosities, their vitiated and impure intentions, their criminal projects, which were overlooked because they proved abortive, and all their other vices, be displayed before you. "Oh!" says St. Bernard, "crimes without number will burst suddenly upon the sight, as from a secret hiding place, of which we never thought that we were guilty". "Quasi ex improvise, et quasi ex insidiis" - St. Ber. We shall see what we never saw before we shall see our true selves: the dark abyss shall be enlightened, and the mystery of iniquity shall be revealed. After the scrutiny into our transgressions is concluded, the Judge will enter into a strict examination of the good works which we ought to have performed, but have neglected. Here again we shall find that our whole lives have been chequered with sins of omission, of which we never thought of repenting: so many opportunities, for instance, which, through complaisance, through fear of offending, through interest, or other motives, we suffered to escape in silence, when our character required that we should have vindicated the honour of God, and the cause of virtue and truth: so many occasions of promoting the spiritual welfare of our neighbour, by example, or by other means, which we have neglected: so many favourable moments suffered to pass by through indolence or indifference, when we might have prevented crimes in others by seasonable advice, and by prudent remonstrances: so many days, so many moments wasted away in idleness and sloth, which might have been devoted, without any inconvenience, to the great affair of salvation. Ah! my beloved, this was the time which we called the most innocent period of our lives: a time, which, if it was not distinguished by any good works, we considered, at least, as totally void of evil. With what regret will the sinner look back on that length of days, which he sacrificed to trifles, and to a world that is no more, when he reflects that, had he consecrated them to the service of God, he might have merited Heaven! With what confusion will he recollect the humiliations, the labours and crosses to which he submitted for the acquisition of wealth, of a fortune which he could possess only for an instant, when he is convinced that one half, or even a quarter of the same trials, endured for the sake of Christ, would have placed him for ever at rest in the secure enjoyment of God's eternal kingdom.

After this, we shall be called to account for all the graces which we have abused; for the many calls and inspirations which we have neglected; for the little profit which we reaped from the powerful exhortations of his ministers; for the improper use which we made of the sufferings and afflictions, with which he was pleased to visit us for our improvement in good; for the many gifts of nature, which ought to have been devoted to the works of piety, but which we made the instruments of vice. Ah! if the unprofitable servant was cast into outer darkness, because he merely buried his talent, what favour can they expect, who have received so many talents, and have employed them all against the Giver?

The account, which we shall here be called upon to give, will be terrible in the extreme. Christ will demand back again at our hands the price of his blood. We are sometimes inclined to complain, that God has not done enough for us; that we are naturally inclined to evil; that we cannot soften down the harshness of our temper and disposition; and that he has not given us sufficient grace to resist the occasions of sin to which we are exposed. But at the last day, we shall clearly perceive that our whole lives were one continued abuse of his favours and graces; we shall see that, preferably to so many nations, whom he has left in the darkness of infidelity, we were favoured with the light of faith, fed with his holy word and with his sacraments, and supported by his inspirations and graces. Yes: you will be astonished to see how much God has done for you, and how little you have done for him. Your complaints will be turned into confusion, which will terminate in despair.

Hitherto, beloved Christians, the examination has extended to those sins only which the sinner has committed in his own person. But when the Sovereign Judge shall proceed to investigate the sins which we have occasioned in others, what an immense multitude will be again presented to our view! We shall behold, assembled before our eyes, all the souls to whom we have been the occasion of sin; all the souls who have, either by our example, by our solicitations or impurities, been seduced from the paths of virtue, and condemned to Hell; all the souls, whose faith we have shaken, whose piety we have weakened, whose libertinism we have encouraged. Yes: our Lord Jesus, to whom they belonged, and who had bought them with his precious blood, will require them at our hands as his inheritance as a conquest which we have wrested from him as his children, whom we have murdered, Ah! if he marked Cain with the seal of reprobation on account of the blood of his brother, with what seal will he mark the sinner, when he shall demand an account of the souls whom he has murdered, and consigned to the second and eternal death?

In this manner will our whole souls be exposed to view. Happy, exclaims St. Augustin, should we be, if we could open our eyes, and behold the state of our interior as clearly now as we shall behold it then. Truly, my beloved, could we divest our selves of those prejudices which cloud our sight, could we resist the influence of those examples, which encourage us in our delusions, could we be convinced of the falsity of those maxims and customs, which tranquillize our consciences, could we measure by the standard of truth, the faculties and talents on which we pride ourselves, could we renounce that self-love, which is the root of all our evils, and could we, by these means, see ourselves in the same light in which we are seen of God, what a holy hatred should we conceive against ourselves! How strenuously should we endeavour to humble ourselves in his sight, during the days of our mortality, in hopes of avoiding the humiliations of that day, when the secrets of all hearts shall be laid open, and made manifest to the whole world.

2. Let us, however, turn to a more cheerful subject, and describe the examination of that happy few, of which we all hope to form a part.

Two things, which, according to appearances, are inconsistent with the idea of infinite justice, may be said to be unavoidable in the indiscriminate society of the good and the bad. First, concealed crimes escape the public censure which they deserve, and hidden virtue is deprived of the applause to which it is entitled. Secondly, the sinner is oftentimes raised to honours and dignities, whilst the just man is obliged to tread the lowly paths of subjection and submission to his orders. On this great day, these evils shall be fully rectified. The sinner shall be separated from the just, as soon as the book of conscience is displayed: and the honours and the dignities of the Heavenly Jerusalem shall be conferred on the deserving the true and faithful servants of the Lord.

What a consolation will it be to the just, to have the secrets of their hearts finally revealed! Their perfections were concealed from men in this world. They were known to God alone. They were unknown even to themselves; for humility had concealed from their view the beauty and innocence of their interior, and had displayed before their eyes only the few blemishes and imperfections to which human nature is unavoidably exposed. But now the veil shall be withdrawn, and their secret storehouse of merits shall be thrown open to the inspection of all. With what astonishment will the great assembly of the sons of men behold the triumphs of these humble servants of God! their hitherto concealed victories over the world, the flesh, and the Devil their heroic sacrifices their fervent desires their tender sighs their transports of love their faith their humility their magnanimity their greatness of soul their perfect contempt for all those false and fleeting vanities on which the hopes and desires of worldlings are so constantly fixed. Then shall it be seen and acknowledged, that nothing created has so just a title to praise and admiration, as the just man. Then shall it be seen and acknowledged, that the interior exploits of the true Christian are more sublime, and more noble, than all the great transactions of the world; that they alone are worthy to be recorded in the book of life; and that in the estimation of God himself, they exhibit a spectacle more worthy of the admiration of angels and men, than all the boasted victories and conquests which swell the pages of history; the memory of which has been immortalized by pompous monuments, but which shall now be considered as the effects of a puerile and barbarous ambition, and as the horrid fruits of pride and vain glory. Thus, the evil complained of in the first instance, will be entirely removed, and things will be restored to their proper order. The guilty will not triumph will not escape the general opprobrium, nor the punishment which is due to their crimes: and an ample recompense will be given to the just man, in the clear and distinct view of an astonished and admiring universe.

The second evil is the prosperity of the wicked, and the adversity of the good. The just man, as if of no more account than the dust from which he sprang, and as if resembling the basest metals passing in the progress to refinement through the fiery ordeal of tribulation, is, not unfrequently, the lowest and most contemptible of his species; whilst the sinner is exalted like the cedar of Lebanon, and surrounded by all that riches and honour can procure. This, in appearance, is contrary to order and justice. But, although by this means the just are purified, and the wicked hardened; although this confused mixture of good and evil enters into the designs of Providence, and the just and unjust are hastened to their destination by ways which are inscrutable to man: nevertheless, it is necessary that the Son of God should rectify all things; that he should publicly manifest the distinction which exists between good and evil, between the man who serves the Lord, and the man who denies him. This will be effected on the great day of the Lord: order will be perfectly established: the good will be separated from the wicked: these will be placed on the right hand, and the others on the left.

Then shall the Son of Man, from his exalted throne in the clouds of Heaven, cast his eyes over the immense multitude of peoples and nations assembled before him. Then shall he collect his chosen people from the four corners of the earth: then shall he unite together the true children of Israel: then shall he introduce to notice, and celebrate the exploits of heroes of religion, hitherto unknown to the world. The different epochs, or stated periods of time, he will distinguish, not by the victories of warriors, not by the rise or fall of empires, but by the particular triumphs of his grace, by the victories of the just man over his passions, by the establishment of his reign in the heart, by the invincible constancy of a persecuted disciple. He will entirely change the order of things: he will create a new Heaven and a new earth: he will reduce this infinite variety of peoples, of nations, of titles, dignities, and states, to two different orders or descriptions of men to the elect of God, and to the reprobate. The one shall be placed on his right hand, the other on the left.

What a terrible separation, my beloved brethren, will then take place! Father will be separated from son, brother from brother, friend from friend: one shall be taken, the other left. Death, which separates us for a time from the dearest objects of our affections, has thus much, at least, of consolation in it, that hereafter, perhaps, we may be united again. But here, the separation which divides us will be eternal: as far as the east is from the west, or Heaven from Hell, so far will the just be removed from the reprobate for ever.

All things being thus finally arranged; all mankind thus divided; each one immovable in the place allotted to him; confusion, dismay, terror, and despair, shall be visible on the countenance of the one, and joy, serenity, and confidence, shall enliven the other: the eyes of the just shall be fixed on the Son of Man, their great and good deliverer; the eyes of the wicked shall be cast on the earth, penetrating into that dreadful abyss, which in a short moment is to open, and swallow them up for eternity. Then will the King of Glory, says the gospel, place himself be tween the two assemblies, and turning to the just on the right, with looks of clemency and love looks, which alone would repay them for all their past afflictions, he will say to them: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" Matt., xxv. 34. Whilst you lived on earth, you were treated by worldly men as fools, as the outcast of society, and as useless members of the state: but they shall this day be convinced that the world subsisted only for you; that the world was made only for you; and that, as soon as your number was complete, the final dissolution took place. Come, then, my beloved, quit this earth, where you were always strangers and pilgrims; follow me in the paths of glory and happiness, as you followed me in those of humiliations and sufferings. Your afflictions were momentary, but the reward which awaits you shall be eternal. "Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world".

Then turning to the wicked on the left, with eyes flashing with indignation, and with a countenance replete with terrors, with a voice, says the prophet, that shall open the bowels of the abyss (Num. xvi.), he will say, not as on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" Luke, xxiii. 34; but, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the Devil and his angels" Matt., xxv. 41. You were once the chosen people of my Father, but you are now the accursed: the enjoyments which you preferred before me were false arid momentary, but your punishment shall be eternal. "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire". Then the just, triumphantly ascending into the clouds with the Son of Man, will sing to their deliverer: "Thou art just, Lord, and rich in mercy: thou hast crowned all thy blessings by the recompense which thou now bestowest on our merits". Then the wicked will curse the Author of their existence, and the day on which they were born; or rather, they will turn their rage against themselves, as the sole authors of their damnation. Then shall the abyss be opened, and the Heavens shall stoop down; the reprobate shall go into eternal torments, and the elect into life everlasting. Afterwards, there will be no further communication between them. The sentence which divides them is irrevocable: and they separate for ever.

After such a description, calculated to make an impression on the most hardened, I cannot better conclude than by addressing to you the words, which Moses addressed to the Israelites, after he had represented to them the dreadful threats and the consoling promises which were written in the book of the law: "Children of Israel", says he, "I this day propose to your choice a blessing or a curse; a blessing, if you fulfil the precept of the Lord your God: a curse, if you forsake his ways, which I have pointed out to you, in order to follow strange gods" Deut., xi. 26. The same do I address to you: it is in your power to choose which of the two you will embrace: you have heard the promises, and the threats: the blessing, and the curse. You must take part either with the Devil and his angels, or with Christ and his elect: there is no alternative here. I have shown you the way which leads to Heaven, and that which leads to Hell. In which of the two will you walk? What would be your eternal lot, if this instant you were summoned to appear before your Judge? Be on your guard: man dies as he lives. Dread, therefore, lest death should surprise you in the state of sin. Forsake the ways of the wicked, and live the life of the just, if you hope to be placed with them on the right, and to accompany them into the regions of a blissful immortality.

The Small Number of the Elect Part II

The Small Number of the Elect II

Jean-Baptiste Massillon

"A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the way side. . . . and other some fell upon a rock and other some fell among thorns and other some fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit a hundred fold"

Luke, viii. 5, 8.



OUR attention, my beloved, is again awakened by a repetition of the dreadful truths which were the subject of my last discourse. In this parable, the elect and the reprobate are plainly designated; and the comparatively small number of the elect is discernible to the slightest observer. In the first place, out of that immense multitude of people who either know not God, or refuse obedience to his authority, and throw off the restraints of religion, none are chosen; the parable does not even notice them: and the reason is, because, according to the scripture, they who believe not are already judged. In the second place, out of the seed which God hath sown in his Church, watered with the dews of Heaven, and nourished with the manure of his holy word, only one of the four parts described forms the number of the elect. The man who hears the word of God, but never follows it in practice, is rejected. The man whose sloth and tepidity, like the dryness of a rock, prevent the word of God from taking root in his soul, and whose only efforts for salvation consist in attending at the service of the Church, and in performing a few exercises of devotion without the spirit and without the fervour of divine love, is rejected. The man whose heart is divided between God and the world, and whose entanglement in the thorns of riches and pleasures draws off his attention from the duties of religion, is rejected. He alone who hears the word of God and keeps it he alone who seeks the kingdom of Heaven in the first place, and makes salvation the great business of his life he alone who, notwithstanding the opposition of his own nature, and the influence of public example, serves his Maker in spirit and in truth, and brings forth fruit in patience he alone is admitted into the number of the elect, and entitled to the rewards prepared for the saints.

But, my brethren, where shall we find men of this description? That you may be enabled to form an idea of the comparative smallness of their number, I will describe in detail the obligations of a Christian, and I will examine how far they are observed by mankind in general. Be attentive, for the subject is applicable to every individual in this assembly.

1. By the title and character of Christian, which we bear, we are obliged to renounce the world and all its pomps, the Devil and all his works, the flesh and all its concupiscences. These are our engagements. These are the essential articles of the treaty concluded between us and God. On the fulfilment of these we shall be entitled to the promises, and not otherwise.

In the first place, we engaged in baptism to renounce the world and all its pomps. This engagement we made at the foot of the altar of God; the Church witnessed and sealed it, and on this condition alone received us into the society of the faithful.

But what is this world which we engaged to renounce? I reply, that it is the world, to which the greater part of mankind are attached; and by this mark we may always distinguish it. The world is that multitude of sinners, whose desires arid fears, whose hopes and solicitudes, whose joys and griefs are excited by the goods or evils of this life alone. The world is that great portion of the human race, who fix their affections on the Earth, as if it were their true country; who dread the world to come, as if it were a land of banishment; who are less anxious about their eternal inheritance, than about their temporal pursuits; who consider death as the greatest of all evils the extinction of every hope and the end of every enjoyment. The world is that temporal kingdom, where Christ is not known, or, if he be known, is not glorified as God; where his maxims are reprobated, his faithful servants despised, his blessings abused, his sacraments neglected or profaned, his worship abandoned. This is the world which we have engaged to renounce, to avoid, to hate, to oppose by our good example, and to resist with all our heart and mind and strength. This is the world which ought to be crucified to us that is, ought to be the object of our aversion, and to which we ought to be crucified that is, ought to be the objects of its censures and ridicule.

Now, my beloved, in what manner do we fulfil this engagement? Do we loathe the enjoyments of the world? Are we grieved at the sight of its abominations and crimes? Do we sigh after our true country, and lament that the time of our pilgrimage is prolonged? Do we wish to be dissolved and to be with Christ? No: we do nothing of the kind; or rather, we do directly the reverse. Our thoughts and affections are centred in the world; its laws are our laws; its maxims are our maxims; we condemn what it condemns; and we commend what it commends. When I say we, I mean the generality of Christians. I know that there are many who complain bitterly of the world; who accuse it of injustice, ingratitude, and caprice; who discharge upon it the coldest venom of invective; and who describe its errors and abuses in the strongest terms. But, notwithstanding all this, they still continue to love it; they court its favours; they cannot live without it. Where is the man who can say from his heart that he hates the world, and that he has renounced its pleasures, its customs, its maxims, and its expectations? All are pledged, all, without exception, have entered into a most solemn covenant to do this, and not one will do it.

We engaged, in the second place,to renounce the flesh and all its irregular inclinations and desires: that is to say, we engaged to shun indolence and sensuality, to resist the cravings of a corrupted heart, to chastise the body, to crucify it, and to bring it into subjection. This was our vow; and we are obliged to fulfil it: it is one of our principal duties: it is inseparable from the character of a Christian. And by whom is it fulfilled?

Lastly, we engaged to renounce the Devil and all his works. If it be asked, what these works are, I reply, that they are the works which form the history of the most considerable part of our lives. They are ambition, pride, hypocrisy, vain-glory, and deceit: they are fraud, injustice, double-dealing, and lies: they are hatred, dissension, envy, and jealousy: they are worldly pomp and show, plays, comedies, and unprofitable parties of pleasure.

"What!" methinks I hear you say, "is the Christian to be debarred the theatres, and other public places of resort?" Certainly, if his innocence be exposed to danger. Every action that we perform must have for its object the greater honour and glory of God, or it is not innocent. Every work that is not placed to our account in the book of life, is recorded against us. The weak ness of human nature, indeed, requires pastimes and relaxations; but those pastimes and relaxations only are innocent, which may be referred to the honour of God, and which will enable us to apply with more vigour to our more holy and more serious duties.

Now, according to this universally received point of Christian morality, 1 leave you to decide whether the public amusements above mentioned are innocent or not. Do they unbend the mind only for a time, and thereby enable it to apply with more earnestness to the great affair of salvation? Can they be referred to the greater honour and glory of God? Is it possible to frequent them through motives of religion and virtue? No: the most profane Christian would blush to make the assertion. Consequently, your innocence is not only endangered, but injured by them; arid consequently, as often as you frequent them, you violate the sacred engagement to renounce the Devil and all his works, which you contracted in baptism, and which you ratify by your public profession of the Christian faith.

2. These, my brethren, are our baptismal vows. They are not matter of counsel only: they are what we call pious practices. They are obligations the most essential the most indispensable. And yet how few observe them! how few give them a place in their thoughts! Ah! did you but seriously reflect on the extent of the duties which the name of Christian imposes on you were you but once thoroughly convinced that you are obliged to hate the world and all that is not God, to live the life of faith, to maintain a constant watchfulness over your senses, to be conformed to Christ crucified did you but seriously consider, that the great command of loving God with your whole heart and strength, is violated by every thought, every action, which is not referred to him; oh! you would be seized with fear and trembling; you would shudder at the sight of the immense chaos which your infidelities have formed between you and God; you would exclaim with astonishment: "Who can be saved? if these are our duties if this constant watchfulness, this pure and fervent love are required of every individual, who can be saved?" This would be your exclamation; and I would immediately an swer: "Very few indeed will be saved: you will not be saved unless you reform your lives; they who live like you will not be saved; the multitude will not be saved".

Who then will be saved? The man who, in these days of irreligion and vice, walks in the footsteps of the primitive Christian " whose hands are innocent, and whose heart is pure; who has not received his soul in vain" Ps., xxiii. 4; who has successfully struggled against the torrent of worldly example, and purified his soul; who is a lover of justice, "and swears not deceitfully against his neighbour " ib.; who is not indebted to double dealing for an increase of fortune; who returns good for evil, and heaps favours on the enemy that had laboured for his destruction; who is candid and sincere, and never sacrifices truth to interest, nor conscience to civility; who is charitable to all in distress, and a friend to all in affliction; who is resigned in adversity, arid penitent even in prosperity.

He, my dear brethren, will be saved, and he only. Oh! how alarming is this truth! And nevertheless, all the chosen few only excepted, who work out their salvation with fear and trembling all, I say, live on in the greatest peace and tranquillity of mind. They know that the greater number is lost; but they flatter themselves with the assurance that, although they live like the world, they shall die like the just: each one supposes that God will favour him with a particular grace: each one looks for ward with confidence to a happy death.

These are your expectations likewise. I will therefore say no more about the rest of mankind, but address myself solely to you as if you were the only inhabitants of the Earth. Now this is the thought which occupies my mind, and strikes terror into the very centre of my soul. I suppose that the last day is arrived; that the trumpet has sounded; that you are risen from the dead; that you are assembled together in this place, to await the coming of the great Judge; that the heavens are about to open; and that you will shortly behold the Son of Man descending with great power and majesty to pronounce upon you the sentence either of election or reprobation.

Rouse your attention, my brethren. Are your accounts in order? Are you prepared for the trial? Are you ready to meet your Judge? Do not say that you will prepare yourselves here after. This is a delusive hope. What you are now, the same will you probably be at the hour of death. The intention of reforming your conduct, which has so long occupied your thoughts without effect, will continue without effect as long as you live. This is testified by the experience of ages.

Now I ask you I ask you with dismay, and without meaning to separate my lot from yours: Were the Son of Man to appear in this assembly, and separate the good from the bad, the innocent from the guilty, the penitent from the impenitent, how many would he place on his right hand? Would he place the greater number of us? Would he place one half? Formerly, he could not find ten just men in five populous cities; and could he find as many, do you think, in this small assembly? How many, then, would he place on his right? You cannot give an answer, neither can I. Thou alone, my God, knowest thy elect, thy chosen few.

But if we cannot say who will be placed on his right hand, we can say at least that sinners will be placed on his left. Who, then, are sinners?

They may be divided into four classes. Let every individual attend, and examine whether he may not be ranked in one of them.

1. They who are immersed in vice, and will not reform: 2. They who intend to reform, but defer their conversion: 3. They who fall into their former habits as often as they pretend to renounce them: 4. They who think that they need not a change of life.

These are the reprobate: separate them from the rest of this assembly, for they will be separated from them at the last day. Now, ye chosen servants of my God ye remnant of Israel, lift up your heads; your salvation is at hand: pass to the right: separate yourselves from this chaff, which is destined for the fire. O God! where are thy elect! How few of us will be comprehended in the number!

Beloved Christians, our perdition is almost certain; and why are we not alarmed? If a voice from Heaven were heard in this temple, proclaiming aloud that one of us here present would be consigned to eternal flames, without disclosing the name, who would not tremble for himself? who would not examine into the state of his soul? who would not, like the apostles at the last supper, turn to Jesus, and say: "Is it I, Lord?" And, if time were still at our disposal, who would not endeavour to secure his own soul by the tears and sighs of repentance?

Where then is our prudence? Perhaps not more than ten of my present auditory will be saved; perhaps not even so many; perhaps But, O God! I dare not, I cannot fix my eyes on the dreadful, unfathomable abyss of thy justice: perhaps not more than one of us will see Heaven. And yet, we all flatter ourselves that we shall be the happy souls that will escape: we all imagine, without considering either our virtues or vices, that God will have mercy on us in preference even to those who are more innocent and deserving.

Good God! how little are the terrors of thy justice known in the world! The elect in every age withered away through fear, when they contemplated the severity and the depth of thy judgments on the sins of men. Holy solitaries, after a life of the severest penance, were terrified at the thought, and when stretched on the bed of death, shook their hard couch of poverty and mortification by the trembling motions of their emaciated frame. They turned towards their weeping brethren, and with a faltering and dying voice asked them: "Do you think that the Lord will have mercy on me?" Their fears bordered on despair, and their minds were in the greatest agitation, until Jesus himself appeased the storm, and produced a calm. But now, the man who has lived like the multitude, who has been worldly, profane, sensual, and unthinking, dies with the assurance of a happy immortality: and the minister of God, when summoned to attend him, is necessitated to cherish this false confidence, to speak only of the infinite treasures of the mercies of God, and in some measure to aid and assist him in deceiving himself. Good God! what wrath is stored up by thy justice against the day of wrath!

What conclusion, ray beloved, are you to draw from these alarming truths? That you are to despair of salvation? God forbid. The impious man alone, in order to indulge his passions with less restraint, endeavours to convince himself that salvation is unattainable, and that all mankind will perish with him. My object is, that you should be undeceived respecting that almost universally received opinion, that it is not unlawful to do what is done by others, and that universal custom is a sufficient rule for your conduct. My object is, that you should be convinced, that in order to be saved, you must live in a different manner from the generality of mankind, that your piety must be singular, and that you must be separated from the multitude.

When the captive Jews were on the point of departing from their beloved country for the land of bondage the great Babylon the prophet Jeremiah, who was commanded by God to remain in Jerusalem, addressed them in words to this purpose: Children of Israel, when you arrive in Babylon, you will behold their gods of silver and gold borne on the shoulders of the inhabitants, and the multitude before and behind adoring them; but do not you imitate their example; on the contrary, say in your hearts: "Thou alone, O Lord, art worthy to be adored" Bar., vi. 6.

My advice to you at parting is nearly in the same words; and I earnestly exhort you never for a moment to lose sight of it. As soon as you have left the house of God, you will find yourselves in the midst of Babylon.

You will behold the idols of gold and silver, before which are prostrated the greater part of mankind: you will see the gods of this world wealth, glory, and pleasure, surrounded by their numerous votaries and adorers: you will witness abuses, errors, and disorders, authorized by universal example. Then, my beloved brethren, if you are Israelites in deed, you must turn to God, and say: "Thou alone art worthy to be adored".

I will not take part with people who are strangers to thee: I will follow no other law but thine. The gods which the senseless multitude adores are not gods; they are the work of men's hands, and they shall perish with them. Thou only art immortal: Thou alone art worthy to be adored. The laws of Babylon have no connection with thy holy laws. I will adore thee in the society of thy elect, arid with them I will ardently sigh after the Heavenly Jerusalem the seat of bliss. The world, perhaps, may attribute my conduct to weakness, my singularity to vain-glory; but do thou, O Lord, give me strength to resist the torrent of vice, and suffer me not to be seduced by evil example. The days of captivity will have an end. Thou wilt remember Abraham and David, thy servants. Thou wilt deliver thy people from slavery, and lead them into Sion. Then shalt thou alone reign over Israel, and over the nations that refuse to know thee. Then shall the former things pass away, and thou alone shalt remain forever. Then shall all nations know that "thou alone, O Lord, art worthy to be adored".

In order therefore to profit by this discourse, you must be resolved to live differently from the rest of men: you must bear constantly in mind that the greater number are lost: you must disregard all customs which are not consistent with the law of God: you must reflect that the saints in every age were men of singular lives. Then, after having been distinguished from sinners on Earth, you will be gloriously separated from them for all eternity.