Meditations On The Mysteries Of Our Holy Faith/Volume 1/Part 1: Meditations on sins and on the last ends of man
THE FIRST PART
OF THE
MEDITATIONS ON SINS
AND ON THE
LAST ENDS OF MAN;
WITH FORMS OF PRAYER APPROPRIATED TO THOSE WHO WALK IN THE PURGATIVE WAY, TO PURIFY THEMSELVES OF THEIR VICES.
THE INTRODUCTION ON PURITY OF SOUL, WHICH IS THE END OF THE MEDITATIONS OF THE PURGATIVE WAY.
1. Among those excellences which the frequent use of meditation and mental prayer comprehends, the first that opens the way for many others is to purify (as St Bernard says) [1] the fountain itself from whence it springs. And as it springs from two fountains, the one superior, which is God, with His inspirations, and the other inferior, which is the soul, with her facuities, its excellence consists in cleansing this second fountain in the virtue of the first, purifying the memory of culpable oblivions, the understanding of errors, the will of depraved desires, the appetites of their unbridled passions, the senses of their superfluities, the flesh of her sensual cherishings, and the soul of her vicious customs; upon which the Apostle St Peter said that God purifies hearts by faith, [2] not because faith alone is sufficient for this, but because faith, quickened with the profound consideration of the verities and mysteries which He reveals, awakens the acts and affections of the soul, which, with the divine grace, dispose to the perfect purification of the heart
2. And although this excellence is found in all the meditations of the mysteries of our faith, yet it is most notably resplendent in those which appertain to the purgative way, whose principal end is to move the will to acts and exercises, with which perfect purity is obtained, and the trenches are dug for the edifice and building up of virtues.
3. These are reduced to three classes.
i. The first comprehends the acts of knowledge of ourselves with contempt of ourselves, wherein (as St. Bernard says)[3] true humility consists. And it is of two sorts;— one is proper to the just that never sinned, and proceeds from the knowledge of the nothing that we have of our own growth; and this is principally obtained by the meditations that will be put in the sixth part The other is proper to sinners, and proceeds from the knowledge of the sins and miseries into which we have fallen; and this is obtained by the meditations of this first part, whose acts are to despise ourselves, to hold ourselves worthy to be despised by all men, and as much as lieth in us to desire it, and take means to procure it, exercising some humiliations, and accepting those that happen to us in such a manner as we shall practise in the meditations themselves.
ii. The second class comprehends those acts which dispose to our justification, that is to say, fear of God's justice, hope of His divine mercy, perfect sorrow for our sins, strict examination of conscience, humble and entire confession of offences, and satisfaction with works of penance to revenge upon ourselves the injuries that we have done against Almighty God, and other such like.
iii. The third class comprehends those acts which aid towards taking away the roots and remainders of former sins, in order never more to return to them — such are, chastising the flesh to subject it to the spirit, mortification of unbridled appetites, reducing them to the rule of reason, abnegation of our own will, to make it conformable to the will of God, detestation of ourselves and of all things that nourish self-love, that God our Lord and His holy love may find an entrance into our heart.
4. These are the paths in which we are to walk in the purgative way, to make a very perfect conversion. For supposing that, according to the counsel of the Wise man, [4] in all our works we are to be very diligent and fervent, yet in none more than in the work of our justification, and in the means ordained to that, fulfilling at the least that which St. Paul gave us in charge when he said, " As you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification." [5] And as St Augustine says, " Quales impetus habebas ad mundum, tales habeas ad artificem mundi," [6] " Carry as great vehemency of love to the framer of the world as thou didst carry to the world itself," serving the Creator with that fervent affection wherewith thou wert wont to serve the creature, bearing as entirely the image of the heavenly Adam as thou bearest that of the earthly Adam. [7] And because the holy Apostle (as St. Gregory remarks) [8] spoke this as condescending to our weakness, it is reason that such as are fervent labour to be much more diligent in good than before they were in evil, complying with the counsel of the prophet Baruch, [9] when he says that we should convert ourselves " ten times" more to God than we separated ourselves from him. So did the glorious Magdalen, Zaccheus, Saul, and other notable penitents, of whose marvellous conversions we shall make special meditations in the third part, in which those that have passed by these (which will be put here) may exercise themselves.
5. And although these are most proper to such as desire fervently to convert themselves to God our Lord, and to such as are beginners in virtue, who desire to purify themselves from all the dregs and ill customs of their former life; [10] yet (as the Holy Spirit says) because no man should lose the fear that his sin is not pardoned, and because the "just man" falls "seven times," [11] it is therefore reason that the just also now and then should renew these meditations, to purify themselves of their present sins, and to assure themselves the better of the pardon of those passed; for to this end is the counsel of Ecclesiasticus, that we cease not to pray nor to justify ourselves until death. [12] And Christ our Lord says in the Apocalypse, " He that is just, let him be justified still, and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still;" [13] increasing every day in purity of conscience and in sanctity of life.
THE FUNDAMENTAL MEDITATION I.
ON THE END FOR WHICH MAN AND ALL THINGS THAT SERVE HIM WERE
This first meditation is the beginning and foundation of the spiritual life; for (as Cassian notes in his first Collation of a Religious man's end) before all things we are to fix our eyes upon the end of our life and of our profession, as well upon the last end, which is the kingdom of heaven, as upon the nearer end and mark, which is purity of heart, without which this kingdom is not obtained. For the end is the rule of the means, and according to that all the works of our life are to be squared and directed; so that in this meditation all those ought to exercise themselves very often that walk in any of the three ways above mentioned, seeing all of them come to rely and stay upon one and the same final end. And it will serve also for an example in which we may see put in practice what has been said concerning mental prayer.
2. Afterwards, having done those three things which we spoke of in the fifth chapter, before I begin meditation, to tie my imagination to one place, in such a manner as it may be done here. I will imagine God our Lord seated on a throne of infinite majesty, like an immense sea, [14] from whence issue out the rivers of creatures, all returning to Himself, as to their final end and place of perpetual rest. Then will I humbly beseech Him for what I desire in this meditation; that is to say, celestial light to know my true final end, and to direct according to that my crooked life, saying with David, " Send forth, O Lord, from on high, Thy light and Thy truth," [15] that they may guide me, and bring me to Thy holy mount and to Thy everlasting habitations, for Thou didst create me to live in them. This done, I will begin my meditation in the form following.
POINT I.
The first point shall be to call to memory the end for which man was created: that is, to praise, reverence, and serve his God, and by this means to save his soul, [16] according to the saying of St. Paul to the Romans: " You have your fruit unto sanctification, and your end life everlasting." [17] As if he should say, " The aim and end of your works in this life is to serve Almighty God with purity and sanctity, and the final end to which they are ordained is, to obtain life everlasting.
Upon this truth the understanding is to form its reasonings to bring to light what is comprehended therein, considering thus: — Who created me, and ordained me to this end, and for what cause ? How sovereign an end this is I How ill I have pursued it in my past life, and in what peril I have been of losing it ! What heavy losses I sustain by losing it, and how great benefits ensue if I obtain it ! and how great reason there is that from this day forward I should vigilantly seek to obtain it! With every one of these considerations I will move the will to the affections and acts it requires in this manner : —
1. First I am to consider how the infinite majesty of Almighty God, who hath no need of His creatures, not for my merits but of His mere goodness created me to His image and likeness; not that I should live at random to follow my own lusts, nor that I should seek honours or dignities, riches or delicacies, or any other thing created, but only that I should reverence and praise Him, that I should love and obey Him in this mortal life, and afterwards obtain life everlasting. And although it had been sufficient to give me for my end that which my nature required, yet Almighty God was not contented with this, but of His mere mercy ordained and raised me to another more high and sovereign end, which is to see Him manifestly, to enjoy Him, and to be happy and blessed as are the angels, or as God is Himself, according to that of St. John: "We shall see Him as He is."[18]
Colloquy. — O immense charity of our sovereign God! What is this, O Lord, thou dost? A creature so miserable as this little silly worm — man, dost Thou exalt to so high an end as to see Thee apparently in Thy glory? What! was I not obliged to serve Thee freely and for nothing as Thy slave? then why dost Thou assign me so excellent a reward? Blessed be Thine infinite mercy, and let all the angels praise Thee for this sovereign benefit! What shall I return Thee, O Lord, for so great a reward? [19] I offer myself to serve Thee freely all my life, without desiring any other interest more than to serve Thee, for to serve God is to reign. And seeing Thou art my first beginning and my last end, give forthwith beginning to my new life, and aid me with Thy grace that I may attain to its final end. Amen.
2. This done, I will consider how ill I have pursued this end in my past life, living as if I had been created, not to serve God, but to serve my own lusts, and to seek honours, delicacies, and riches; committing for this cause innumerable sins, as if the end of my vocation had not been " sanctification," [20] but uncleanness; not " liberty" of the spirit, but liberty of "the flesh." [21]
Colloquy. — O wretch that I am, how blindly have I gone astray in that which it most imported me to know! O how ungrateful have I been to Him that created me to so high an end, and how evilly have I paid Him that did me so much good! O my Creator, that I had never offended Thee! Pardon, O Lord, my transgressions for Thine own sake, and help me to get out of them that I may lead the remainder of my life conformably to the end for which Thou hast given it me. Amen.
3. Then will I consider the great losses I sustain by losing this end; for what loss can be greater than to lose my soul, to lose God's divine grace, to lose the peace and alacrity of conscience, and to lose all blessedness to which are joined eternal damnation and the forfeiture of God Himself? For a what doth it profit me to gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of my own soul" [22] and of my God, in comparison of whom all the world is even as nothing?
4. On the other hand, if I attain to this end I obtain the possession of God Himself, I shall save my soul, I shall have peace and cheerfulness of heart, I shall be protected by the Divine Providence, I shall find quietness and perpetual repose, as all things find in their end and centre. This, then, being so as it is, animate thyself, O my soul, to seek the end for which thou wast created by God, and herein employ all thy care, for there is nothing that more imports thee. Convert thyself to God who is thy rest, for beside Him all whatever else is torment. [23] If thou servest God what wilt thou more? If God be thy possession, what wantest thou more? Delight Him in seeking Him, and be confident to obtain Him, for He loves His creatures, and takes contentment that they should obtain the end for which He created them.
Colloquy. — O infinite God, centre of my soul, convert me to Thee that I may take rest, for Thou madest me for Thee, and my heart is unquiet until it comes near to Thee. [24] O eternal Father, seeing Thou didst create me that I might love Thee as a son, give grace for Thine own sake, that I may love Thee as a Father! 0 only-begotten Son of the Father and Redeemer of the world, seeing that Thou didst create me, and didst redeem me, that I might obey and imitate Thee, aid me that I may always obey Thee, and imitate Thee in all things. O Most Holy Ghost, seeing that of Thy goodness Thou didst create me to be sanctified, grant me that it may be so for Thine own glory. O angels of heaven! O most blessed saints! that have attained the end for which you were created, beseech this our Lord whom you enjoy that I may also obtain Him, ascending up to enjoy "Him in your company, world without end. Amen.
POINT II.
In concluding the first point I must pass to the second, which is, to call to memory the end for which all the other things of the earth were created, that is to say, that they might help man to attain to the final end of his creation, taking them for a means to serve Almighty God our Lord and to save himself, according to that which the royal prophet David said of his people, God "gave them the lands of the Gentiles, and they possessed the labours of the people, that they might observe His justifications" or holy commandments, " and seek after His" holy " law."[25]
1. Upon this truth I am to consider first* how liberal Almighty God has showed himself towards me in creating such a multitude of creatures, so fair and so admirable for my sake, and not only created things necessary to preserve my life, but also many others for my delicacy and delight, and for the recreation of my sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, for which I am to give Him infinite thanks; seeing that the good which He did to these creatures He did it more to me than to them, for that He did it to them in respect of me.
Colloquy. — Let all these Thy creatures bless Thee, O Lord, and let my soul praise and glorify Thee for them all. I give Thee thanks for the being which Thou givest to the heavens and to the elements, to beasts and to plants, and to all the other bodies of the earth. I give Thee thanks also for the beauty of the colours, for the harmony of the sounds, for the pleasantness of the odours, for the sweetness of the meats, for the softness of our raiments, and for all those things which recreate my five senses, seeing Thou createdst them for me that I might praise and serve Thee with them.
2. And then I will consider how well these creatures comply with the end for which Almighty God created them, serving me and nourishing me, because God so commanded it; and contrariwise, how evilly I have complied and do comply with my end, using them evilly to offend God with all, placing in them my final end, as if I had been created to enjoy them, making the end of that which was but the means. And if I run through my senses, I shall find that they have gone lusting after creatures, using them only for their delight, and not to glorify God that gave them me; for the which I justly deserved that God should take them from me, and that He should " set at liberty" (as he said by Oseas) His " corn and wine," His flour and His " wool" from the " service" [26] they are in under my possession, using them against their inclination to offend their Creator.
Colloquy. — O most just Creator, how is it that Thou didst not justice upon him that so abused thy creatures, using them against Thee? O my soul, how art thou not confounded with such treachery as this? And how art thou not ashamed of this great baseness thou hast committed, abasing thyself to place thy final end upon a thing so vile as is the creature to the injury of the Creator! O my God, how ungrateful have I been for Thy sovereign benefits! for what Thou gavest me to serve Thee I converted into an occasion to offend Thee. Pardon, O Lord, my unthankfulness, and assist me, that from henceforward 3. I may also consider that these creatures were created, as the Holy Scripture says, that by them I might know the perfections and excellences of the Creator, [27] and that I might love Him with all my heart; and so I may imagine that every one stands crying to me, and saying, " This perfection which I have is better in God than in me. He gave it me. Know Him, love Him, and use it for His service." And with this consideration, I will excite myself to ascend from the visible creatures to the invisible Creator to unite myself to Him as to my last and final end.
POINT III.
1. The third point is, a practical conclusion drawn from what has been said in the two preceding points; that is to say, how from henceforward I am to use creatures and what indifference my will has to hold in the use of them, not coveting more than that which may help me to serve my Creator, and to obtain the end for which I was created, procuring as much as lies in me, not to desire riches rather than poverty, honour than dishonour, health than sickness, long than short life; but only that which shall be most convenient for my salvation. For it is a great part of wisdom not to take of the means more than is meet to obtain the end, as of any purgative drug we take not a greater quantity than is necessary for our health.
2. With this consideration I must also enter into my heart and make a dissection of the disordered inclinations and affections that it has to riches, honours and delicacies; to parents, kindred and friends; and its own health and life; labouring to move my will to desire to mortify the superfluous love of creatures, persuading myself to this by the motive aforesaid, and by others that I may inquire out with my reasoning, especially by that of the Divine Providence which most carefully assists those that wholly resign themselves into the hands of God, " casting (as St. Peter says) all their cares upon Him," [28] to serve Him with the greater perfection. For it is most certain that Christ our Lord will fulfil His word which He gave us when he said: " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you;" [29] as if He should have said, " First seek the kingdom of God, which is your final end, and its justice, which are the means to obtain it, and thus doing, be assured that the providence of your heavenly Father will provide you temporal things necessary to sustain your life."
3. But because with my own powers I am not able to attain to this resignation, I must have recourse to Him that can give them me, framing some colloquy with our Lord, and saying to Him very earnestly: —
Colloquy. — I confess, O my God, that my heart very much cleaves and is tied to creatures with inordinate love: seeing, therefore, I am so wretched and feeble that, having fastened myself to creatures, I cannot unfasten me; favour me with Thy omnipotence in my weakness, destroying this connexion, and weeding out from me this inordinate love, that I may love Thee, and serve Thee with all my heart and with all my powers. For Thou art my love and my repose, to whom be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
(The matter of these three points shall be handled more at large in the sixth part.)
POINT IV.
From these same principles I must draw another practical conclusion, as the foundation of the purgative way; that is to say, that I must detest sin above all the most detestable things of the world; for that mortal sin only is contrary to my final end, and by it only is it lost. So that neither poverty, nor infamy, nor dishonour, nor pain, nor infirmity, nor baseness of parentage, nor rudeness of wit, nor want of natural sciences, nor all the other miseries of the world, are directly contrary to my final end; nor shall I lose it for them, but only for mortal sin, by which, as much as lies in me, I destroy the true final end, which is Almighty God, "denying Him (as St. Paul says) my works." [30] I even devise another final end to myself, which is the creature, which I take for God. And upon this the same Apostle says that gluttons hold "their belly" for "their God [31] proud men their glory, " and covetous men make an idol of their money." [32]
(This truth shall be considered in the meditations ensuing, to move us to the abhorring of so great an evil as sin is, and to purify ourselves of it with great care.)
- ↑ Lib. 7. de considerat. ad Engenium.
- ↑ Acts xv. 9.
- ↑ Tractat. de decern gradibus humilitatia et serm. 86 in Cantic.
- ↑ Ecclus. xxxi. 27; xxxiii. 23.
- ↑ Rom. vi. 19.
- ↑ Praefatione in Fsal. xxxi.
- ↑ 1 Cor. xv. 49.
- ↑ lib. xix. moral, cap. 16.
- ↑ Baruch iv. 28.
- ↑ Eccles. v. 2.
- ↑ Prov. xxiv. 16.
- ↑ Ecclus. xviii. 22.
- ↑ Apoc. xxii. 11.
- ↑ Apoc. iv. 2; xxii. 3.
- ↑ Ps. xlii. 3.
- ↑ S. Ignatio in fimdamento exercitiorum.
- ↑ Rom. vi. 22.
- ↑ 1 John iii. 2.
- ↑ Ps. cxv. 12.
- ↑ I Thess. iv. 3.
- ↑ Gal. v. 13.
- ↑ Matt. xvi. 26.
- ↑ S. Cyp. ser. de asc.
- ↑ S. Aug. lib. i. confes. cap. 1.
- ↑ Ps. ci 44.
- ↑ Oseas ii. 9.
- ↑ Sap. xiii. 4.
- ↑ 1 Pet.v.7.
- ↑ Matt. vi. 38.
- ↑ Tit. i. 16.
- ↑ Phil. iii. 19.
- ↑ Ephes. v. 5.