O merciful God! vouchsafe to give us our necessary food, and so to rule us, that we may not change into a matter of pleasure the requirements of necessity, and not use for luxury what thy bountiful hand has bestowed upon us for the support of nature; but that we may restrain our carnal appetites by the law of God and of right reason. Vouchsafe also to give us the bread of heavenly wisdom, that, by tasting how sweet the Lord is, we may loathe the allurements of the palate, and turn with disgust from all bodily pleasures, which, in comparison of the sweetness of his taste, are but as husks of swine. But while the appetite is being bridled, the malice of the devil often contrives for us occasions for anger and impatience, that, by yielding to the sin of hatred, we may be robbed of the fruit of abstinence, and even in our very fasts become odious to God, like the people of whom Isaias speaks, who fasted for debates and strife. Against this malignant head of the Beast he hurls his weapon with a powerful hand who prays from his heart, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. For there is not a day on which we have no need to ask of God forgiveness of our sins; for in many things we all offend, and if God shall mark iniquities, who shall endure it? But this we can only obtain by not being angry with those who sin against us, and forgiving them from our hearts. Then indeed we can say with open confidence, Forgive us, as we forgive. This connexion of the one clause with the other may well strike us with fear and anxiety. For what if thou forgive not thy debtors, or if thou forgive not fully and sincerely, or if outwardly only and deceitfully, and in the mean time cherishest anger in thy heart, and meditatest revenge? Then, undoubtedly, thou invokest God, not for thee, but against thee, and wilt have him not for thy father, but for thy judge; and wilt hear, Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant; for thou desirest to be forgiven only as thou forgivest. Let us, then, become more careful, and follow our Lord's counsel: When you shall stand to pray, forgive, if you have aught against any man. Otherwise, if man reserve wrath for man, how shall he seek remedy of God? 6. But if we learn to be gentle minded and placable towards all who injure us, we have to take care that this gentleness does not degenerate into softness and remissness, and that the devil does not thus gradually seduce us into carnal luxury. When, then, we see that this detestable vice of luxury is dominant far and wide over the human race, so that all flesh has corrupted its way no less at this day than of old, we should have a strong fear of this pestiferous head of the Beast; for, says the Wise Man, It has cast down many wounded, and the strongest have been slain by it. Let us therefore implore God to be our helper, for we cannot be continent except by the gift of God. Therefore, let us pray, And lead us not into temptation. That is, permit not us to be led into it, who are frail to resist it, because, if we are left to our own strength, such is our proneness to evil, that we are certain to be led into it, and overcome by it. 7. But though our wicked enemy should find himself foiled in his previous attacks, still he will not desist, but will endeavour to destroy the soul by the poison of envy, the sin most peculiarly his own (for by the envy of the devil death came into the world), and to make our neighbour's prosperity become our cross and torment. Hence it is that we do not look with a good eye upon our neighbour, but grieve at his prosperity, and rejoice at his adversity. From this diabolical and worst of vices, we pray, finally, to be delivered, in saying, But deliver us from evil. The evil, that is, of envy, which makes us wholly and entirely evil. For the evil one infects and inflames men with the poison of which he is himself full to the uttermost. For what is worse than for one to turn to his own hurt the good of another, who, by rejoicing in another's good, might, as it were, make it his own, and thus himself be made by it better, happier, nearer to, and more worthy of, the Supreme Good? A METHOD OF REPEATING THE LORD'S PRAYER TO That our sins and failings may be atoned for by the virtues and merits of his Son. Our Father. O most holy Father! by that immeasurable love by which thou hast granted to us to be called and to be the sons of God, from the bottom of my heart I beseech thee mercifully to pardon my neglect with that most appropriate praise and honour which, with the greatest humility, he rendered to thee. 1. Hallowed be thy name. O most tender Father! with all the affection of my heart, I entreat thee not to punish me because I have not hallowed thy most holy name with its rightful religious worship, honour, and reverence; nay, have often treated it with contumely, and have many times hitherto to render thee the honour and filial love which I owe to my most loving Father; instead of which I have often and deeply offended thee by my sins, and by my sins have very often driven thee shamefully out of my heart, in which it was thy right to dwell, as thou dwell-shamefully disgraced, by my unworthy conduct, the Chrisest in heaven, thy throne. tian name which, by thy grace, I bear. O most merciful Father! look upon the face of Christ thy Son, and have mercy upon me. I beseech thee, in union with that infinite love with which thou hast from all eternity begotten thy Son to be coequal with thee, and hast willed him at the predestined time to become man for us; I beseech thee, by the power of that most ample satisfaction, which the same thy most beloved Son and our sinless brother Jesus Christ has made to thee for me, graciously to accept in atonement for all my sins and failings, the most ardent love of that divine heart, together SO O Father most high! vouchsafe, I beseech thee, to accept, in atonement for all my life of thy most dear Son; faults, the perfect holiness of in which, for the three and he lived upon earth, he never thirty years and upwards that ceased to glorify thy blessed name, and to praise and sanctify it by so many signs and miracles, words and works. 2. Thy kingdom come. O Father of mercies! I beseech thee most mercifully to forgive me for having never, with becoming ardour and zeal, sought thee, the King of heaven and earth, and thy eternal kingdom, in which alone is true peace, and rest, and joy. Vouchsafe, I implore thee, of thy most tender mercy, to accept the most acceptable labours of thy most holy Son, by which he has made me and all men joint-heirs with himself in thy kingdom, for all the negligences and failings of which I have been miserably guilty, while I sought and minded so negligently the things that are above, but so ardently the things that are upon the earth. 3. Thy will be done. O most merciful Father! forgive me, I beseech thee, of thy infinite goodness, for not having always, as I ought to have done, preferred to my own thy divine and supreme will; for having so often again usurped by sin the power over my own will, which I had surrendered to thee once for all; and for not having readily, reverently, and cheerfully embraced the determination of thy most gracious will respecting me. Vouchsafe, I implore thee, O eternal Father, to accept thy most dear Son's most ready resignation of heart, and that most perfect obedience whereby he became obedient to thee even to the death of the cross, in atone ment for all my disobedience and transgression of thy commandments. 4. Our daily bread. O most bountiful Father! who openest thy beneficent hand, and fillest with blessing every living creature, and thus feedest even me, however unworthy, from my youth, by so largely providing so many blessings for my body as well as my soul; from the very bottom of my heart I pray thee to forgive me for having so ungratefully received thy gifts and benefits for the nourishment of both soul and body, and for having so often abused them, to thy hurt and my own damnation, while I either set my heart too much upon them, or en- . joyed them to excess, or gave thee not due thanks for them. Vouchsafe, O my Father, I implore thee, by the love of thy only-begotten Son, to accept his fasts, hunger, thirst, and wonderful abstinence, with all the thanksgivings which he was accustomed to offer up before taking food, in atonement for all the carelessness and ingratitude that I have ever been guilty of in receiving thy benefits and gifts. 5. And forgive us. O Father of immeasurable goodness! if thou wilt mark our sins and iniquities, who shall endure it, in so many things do we all offend! I beseech thee, therefore, by thy eternal love, mercifully to forgive me whatever things I have failed in, at whatever time or place, and in what manner soever; or, if I may not have clearly fulfilled thy precept of forgiving those who sinned against me, or not have loved my enemies from my heart, I implore thy majesty to accept, O most just God, in satisfaction, the infinite price of the blood, and the most touching prayer of thy most dear Son, by which he asked thee to forgive his enemies when he was hanging on the cross. 6. And lead us not, &c. O most gracious Father! for the sake of thy infinite love, forgive me for not having hitherto, with sufficient diligence and earnestness, en deavoured to resist my corrupt concupiscences and desires, but rather consented to the evil suggestions of the world, the flesh, and the devil, for which I have been deservedly exposed to various misfortunes. I pray, then, O Lord, that if, in the counsel of thy divine providence, thou willest me, on that account, to undergo temptations, thou wilt never permit me to consent to them. Vouchsafe, I beseech thee, O almighty God, to accept the glorious victory of Christ thy Son, by which he vanquished the flesh, the world, and Satan, together with his most holy conversation, and all his labours and sorrows, for the supply of all my negligence and frailty; and so to deliver me from all evil, and to bring me to all good, which is no where, nor aught else, but thyself, singly and only, O my God and my all! Amen. CHAPTER V. INSTRUCTIONS AND EXERCISES FOR SACRAMENTAL A short instruction for the profitable practice of Confession. Of the exercises of an ascetic or holy life, none is of more frequent recurrence than confession; but many derive little or no benefit from it, because they go through it, not so much from a love of true piety, or from a desire to |