saying: O my Jesus, my sweet Jesus, succour me with speed, that I be not subdued;' and, embracing the Cross with thy Saviour upon it, kiss and cherish, again and again, His holy feet, and speak with heart and affection:-O blessed wounds, O chaste and comfortable wounds, O sacred and sweet wounds. Wound this wretched and unworthy heart of mine with Thy pure and perfect love, and free it from these present and pressing motions of impurity.' TEXT. Beware of which may impure 5. But I would not advise thee to choose such points of meditation which many spiritual books premeditations scribe for remedy of these temptations, such as occasion considering, first, the foulness of carnal vices, thoughts. and their insatiableness; then the great shame and danger which must of necessity accompany them; and lastly, the loss of fame and consumption of goods, temporal discontents, and eternal damnation. For though these are good meditations, yet they are not conducive to the conquering of these temptations; for since flight, in the judgment of all, is the sovereign remedy against this disease, every such thing is therefore to be avoided which gives any occasion to impure thoughts. But in these fore-mentioned meditations, however much the understanding tires itself in detesting these sins of the flesh, yet at the same time it fastens such fancies on the memory that there are just grounds to fear lest the will should fall into delight with these carnal sins. 6. Wherefore, let the matter of thy meditations for Meditate this be rather taken from the Passion purpose on Christ's death and And if evil passion. and Death of our Saviour Jesus.* temptations of that nature do also in these pious meditations intrude themselves against thy will, so as to disturb thee, and, notwithstanding thy vigilance, yet still drive on their plots, and invent new devices against thee, as may happen to thee as well as to others, yet be not out of heart, nor leave off thy well-begun meditations; nor stay to dispute with these flying thoughts; but proceed constantly in what thou art about, leaving and laughing at the other fancies, as if they in no way concerned thee. And this is the only and best way to conquer impure thoughts, though never so importunate and troublesome. MENT. 7. And thou mayest conclude thy meditation with this or some such colloquy :-'O my sovereign ENLARGECreator and sweet Redeemer, disentangle me Acolloquy. from my enemies, for Thy bitter Passion's sake!' And be sure not to permit thy fancy to return or reflect on the vice, since the mere memory thereof is accompanied with very much danger. TEXT. Dispute not with 8. And take heed of holding any argument with them, whether thou hast yielded thy consent or not; for this is a covert deceit of the devil, who, under this mask of good, lies waiting to tions, ensnare and entangle thee. These wiles of the evil one carnal tempta *Cum me pulsat aliqua turpis cogitatio, recurro ad vulnera Christi tuta requies in vulneribus salvatoris,-When some foul thought assails me, I fly to the wounds of Christ: there is safe shelter in the wounds of my Saviour.' St. Augustine. thou wilt be able to perceive at another time, when thou enjoyest peace, and art free from troublesome temptations; and thou wilt be warned of them by thy ghostly father, to whom thou art faithfully to discover every and all such thoughts, and not to be ashamed. For humility is here mainly necessary, if we mean to complete the victory. 9. As concerning holy prayer - another remedy and make against this carnal malady and all other spilar reflec- ritual diseases - know that it must be made no particu tions upon these temp with often lifting up thy mind to God, virtually tations. intending to pray for victory over these thine enemies, without any actual reflection upon the temptations. Beware therefore of descending to particulars in thy prayer, or to show, as it were, their malice and thy misery, by reflecting upon special circumstances; for this will endanger thee to fall into new delectation. And this will suffice thee for thy defence in time of temptation. tation, be 10. And after the carnal temptation is past, think After temp- not that thou art presently safe and secure from ware! the like assault, but stand upon thy guard, and do not so much as ever remember those objects which occasioned thy temptations, though they be ever SO much disguised with the appearance of virtue or piety. For all this is a secret perversion of our corrupted nature, and a craft of the devil to ensnare us and allure us to delight. CHAPTER XII. HOW TO FIGHT AGAINST SLOTH AND NEGLIGENCE. Follow rations 1. THAT thou mayest secure thyself, O dearly beloved, from this pernicious vice, employ thy holy inspi whole diligence and endeavours to correspond speedily. readily with all holy inspirations, and to decline all earthly comforts, curiosities, and superfluous affairs, not directly belonging to thy state and calling. ENLARGE MENT. good work in its due 2. Concerning this prompt and speedy correspondence with God's holy inspiration, take this rule: Be sure not to defer the undertaking and be- Begin a ginning of that thing which thou art satisfied speedily and thou oughtest to do, beyond its due and fit time. time. For I assure thee this delay in the beginning of thy work will prove an unrecoverable loss in the progress thereof, because this first short lingering calls on a second, which invites a third, and that is attended by another; and so thou wilt pass on to admit of more, to which thy sense will consent more easily than to the first, as having now tasted the bait, and swallowed down the seeming pleasure of this procrastination. Whence it follows that thou either enterest upon thy exercise when it is too late, or wholly omittest it because thou art totally disgusted therewith. Thus little by little, and almost insensibly, creeps on this evil habit of negligence, and in the end we content ourselves with this conceit :-that we will do it another time more carefully and diligently! Take heed therefore of this most subtle enemy-negligence—which not only infects the will by making it abhor action, but also blinds the understanding, that it apprehends not the vanity of these ill-grounded maxims, and so persuades us voluntarily to leave off our duty altogether, or negligently delay it. 3. Wherefore, having courageously begun thy good Having be- work, continue it carefully, prosecute it dili gun cour prosecute thy good ageously, gently; and yet not so hastily as to prejudice work, the perfection of it, or to imitate the error and idleness of those who out of slothfulness think of nothing but of making a speedy end of what they have undertaken, little caring to do it well, but only striving to despatch it quickly, that they may the sooner enjoy their overmuch-desired quiet and repose. 4. And since there is no better remedy to recall one TEXT. the good fruit of which must be recog fallen into this sluggish vice than to set him at some good work-though the slothful man nised, loathes all such employments, having more thought upon the labour which he must undergo than the fruit which follows it-therefore the fruit of this good work must be discovered and made apparent to him, and he must be given to understand that one hearty elevation of the mind to God, or only one bending of the knee humbly to the earth for His honour, is worth more than all worldly wealth and trea sures. And that as often as we make diligent haste to speed a good work by using a certain force and violence ENLARGE MENT. |