the noise which the chains of my sins made. But this ignorance, this deafness, were the punishments of my pride."
Reflect on this. Men act freely when they sin, for no man is forced to do wrong. But when they have fallen they cannot rise without the divine assistance. Now, God owes this to no man. It is His gratuitous gift when he restores the sinner to His favor. Hence He but exercises His justice when He permits him to remain in his misery, and even to fall lower.
When, therefore, we behold so much iniquity, have we not reason to feel that God's justice permits men to become so blinded and hardened? I say permits, for man is the cause of his own miseries; God urges him only to what is good. If, then, you perceive in yourself any mark of such divine anger, be not without fear. Remember that you need no help but your own passions and the devil's temptations to carry you along the broad road to destruction. Stop while you have time. Implore the divine mercy to aid you in retracing your steps till you discover that narrow way which leads to everlasting life. Having found it, walk manfully in it, ever mindful of the justice of God, and of the terrible truth that while thousands throng the road to death there are few who find the way of life.
Tremble for your salvation, and, while always maintaining an unshaken hope, have no less fear of hell. You have no reason to expect that God should treat you differently from other men. Bear in mind the law of His justice, as it has
