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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
 Posted - 08/21/2008 : 08:41:54
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On Eternal Salvation
OUR most important affair is that of our eternal salvation; upon it depends our happiness or misery for ever. This affair will come to an end in eternity and will decide whether we shall be saved or lost for ever; whether we shall have acquired an eternity of delights or an eternity torments; whether we shall live for ever happy or for ever miserable.
Men esteem it a great affair to win a law suit; to obtain a post of honor or to acquire an estate. Nothing, however, which will end with time deserves to be esteemed great. Since therefore all the goods of this world will one day end in our regard as we shall either leave them or they will leave us, that affair alone should be esteemed great upon which depends eternal happiness or eternal misery.
Let us, therefore, awaken our faith in a heaven and a hell of eternal duration. One or other will be our lot, regardless of whether we believe it or not. Refusing to believe that the sun rises from the east and sets in the west, does not alter the truth anymore than refusing to believe that one and one equals two.
On Sin, as it dishonors God
By transgression of the law thou dishonorest God. (Rom ii: 23)
When a sinner deliberates whether he shall give or refuse his consent to sin he takes the balance into his hands to decide which is of most value the favor of God or some passion some worldly interest or pleasure. When he yields to temptation what does he do? He decides that some wretched gratification is more desirable than the favor of God. Thus it is that he dishonors God declaring by his consent that a miserable pleasure is preferable to the divine friendship.
Of this the Almighty complains by the prophet Ezekiel when he says They violated me among my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread.(Ezekiel xiii 19) If the sinner should exchange God for a treasure of jewels or for a kingdom it would indeed be doing a great evil because God is of infinitely more value than all the treasures and kingdoms of the earth. But for what do so many exchange him for a vapor for a little dirt for a poisoned pleasure which is no sooner tasted than fled.
On the Certainty of death
WE must die: The sentence is passed. It is appointed for all men once to die (Heb ix 27). It would be madness for any one to attempt to delude himself with the idea that he shall not die. A poor man may flatter himself that he may become rich or a peasant that he may be a king but who can ever hope to escape death. Some die old, others young but all at last must come to the grave. Therefore, all must one day die and enter eternity.
Of all those who were upon at the beginning of the last century not one is now alive. The greatest and most renowned princes of this world have exchanged their country: scarcely does there remain any remembrance of them and their bare bones are hardly preserved in stone monuments. A hundred years hence at most and neither you nor I will be any longer in this world; both will have gone into the house of eternity. A day, an hour, a moment is approaching, which will be the last both for you and me; and this hour this moment is already fixed by Almighty God; how then can we think of any thing else but of God who will then be our Judge.
On the loss of all things in Death
The day of destruction is at hand. (Deut xxxii 35)
The day of death is called the day of destruction because then is destroyed all that man has acquired, honors, friends, riches, possessions, kingdoms, all are then no more. What then doth it profit us to gain the whole world, if in death we must leave all? All is at an end at the bed side of the dying man. Is there any king, who has taken with him into the other world even a thread of purple to mark his sovereignty? Has any rich man taken with him a single coin or even one servant to attend him? In death all is left behind. The soul enters eternity alone and unattended except by her works.
Men come into the world of unequal conditions one is born rich another poor one a noble another a plebian but all go out of it equal and alike. Consider the graves of the dead see if you can discover among the bodies which are interred there, who was a master and who a servant who was a king and who a beggar.
Great things were done in their life time by an Alexander or a Caesar, or an Einstein, but for how many ages past have their glories ceased and where are they now. In one word every thing on earth will come to an end. All greatness will end, all misery will end, honors will end, ignominies will end, pleasures will end, sufferings will end. Blessed in death, therefore, is not he who has abounded in riches honors and pleasures but he who has patiently endured poverty contempt and sufferings. The possession of temporal goods affords no consolation at the moment of death, that alone consoles us which has been done or suffered for God.
All the good things of this life must end at our burial and be left while we are mouldering in our graves. The shadow of death will cover and obscure all the grandeur and splendor of this world. He only then can be called happy who serves God in this world and by loving and serving him acquires eternal happiness.
On the great thought of eternity
It was this thought that induced so many solitaries to retire into deserts, so many religious, even kings and queens to shut themselves up in cloisters, and so many martyrs to sacrifice their lives in the midst of torments in order to acquire a happy eternity in heaven and to avoid a miserable eternity in hell.
He who believes in eternity and becomes not a saint should be confined as one deranged (St John Avila). He who builds a house for himself takes great pains to make it commodious, airy, and nice looking, and says: I labor and give myself a great deal of trouble about this house because I shall have to live in it all my life. And yet how little is the house of eternity thought of. When we shall have arrived at eternity there will be no question of our residing in a house more or less commodious or more or less airy, it will be a question of dwelling in a region overflowing with delights or in a gulf of endless torments. And for how long ? Not forty or fifty years, but for as long as God shall be God.
The saints to obtain salvation thought it little to give their whole lives to prayer, penance, and the practice of good works. And what do we do for the same end ?
With fear and trembling work out your salvation (Phil ii 12).
To obtain salvation we must tremble at the thought of being lost, and tremble not so much at the thought of hell, as of sin, which alone can send us there. He who dreads sin avoids dangerous occasions, frequently recommends himself to God, and has recourse to the means of keeping himself in the state of grace. He who acts thus will be saved but for him who lives not in this manner it is morally impossible to be saved. Let us attend to that saying of St Bernard: We cannot be too secure where eternity is at stake.
.......to be continued
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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2008 : 06:06:30
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On Abusing The Mercy Of God
THERE are two ways by which the devil endeavors to deceive men to their eternal ruin after they have committed sin: he tempts them to despair on account of the severity of divine justice; but before they have sinned he encourages them to do so by the hope of obtaining the divine mercy.
And he effects the ruin of numberless souls as well by the second as by the first artifice. God is merciful says the obstinate sinner to him who would convert him from the iniquity of his ways. God is merciful. But as the Mother of God expresses it in her canticle his mercy is to them that fear him (Luke i 50). Yes the Lord deals mercifully with him that fears to offend him but not so with the man who presumes upon his mercy to offend him still more.
God is merciful but he is also just. Sinners are desirous that he should be merciful only without being just but that is impossible because were he only to forgive and never to chastise he would be wanting in justice. Hence Father Avila observes that patience on the part of God towards those who avail themselves of his compassion to offend him the more would not be compassion but a want of justice He is bound to chastise the ungrateful He bears with them for a certain time but after abandons them.
God is not mocked (Gal vi 7). Yet he would be mocked if the sinner could go on continually offending him and yet afterwards enjoy him in heaven. What things a man shall sow those also shall he reap. He who sows good works shall reap rewards but he who sows iniquities shall reap chastisements. The hope of those who commit sin because God is forgiving is an abomination in his sight: their hope says y is an abomination says Job xi 20. Hence the sinner by such hope provokes God to chastise him the sooner as that servant would provoke his master who because master was to behave ill.
On The Emptiness And Shortness Of Human Life
The Royal Psalmist, David, said that the happiness of this life is as the dream of one awaking from sleep: as the dream of them that awake (Ps Lxxii 20). All the greatness and glory of this world will appear no more to poor worldlings, at the hour of death, than as a dream to one awaking from sleep, who finds that the fortune which he had acquired in his dream ends with his sleep. Hence did one who was undeceived wisely write on the skull of a dead man: He who thinks undervalues all things . Yes to him who thinks on death all the goods of this life appear as they really are, vile and transitory. Nor can that man fix his affections on the earth who reflects that in a short time he must leave it for ever.
And is it thus then that worldly grandeur and sovereign power must end. Such was the exclamation of St Francis Borgia when he beheld the corpse of the empress Isabella who had died in the flower of her youth. Reflecting upon what he saw he resolved to bid adieu to the world and to give himself entirely to God saying: I will henceforward serve a master who will never forsake me . We are well advised to detach ourselves from present goods before death tears us away from them. It is sheer foolishness to expose ourselves to the danger of losing our souls for the sake of some attachment to this miserable world from which we shall soon have to depart. For soon will it be said to us by the minister of God; Go forth, Christian soul, out this world .
Reflect that you cannot remain for ever in this world. You must one day leave the country in which you now reside; you must one day go out from the house in which you now dwell, to return to it no more. Think that many before you inhabited the same room in which you are at present and reading these admonitions; that they slept in the same bed in which you are accustomed to sleep: and where are they gone into eternity. The same will happen to all who are still alive. |
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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2008 : 09:57:08
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On the contempt with which the sinner treats God
GOD himself declares that the sinner treats him with contempt and complains of it in these words: I have brought up children and exalted them but they have despised me (Isaiah i 2). I have brought up my children, I have preserved and nourished them; but with base ingratitude they have despised me. But who is God who is thus despised by men? He is the Creator of heaven and earth; He is the sovereign infinite good in whose sight men and angels are as a drop of water, or a grain of sand; as a drop of a bucket, as a little dust (Isa xl 15). In a word, all things created in the presence of his infinite greatness are as though they were not: All nations are before him as if they had no being at all and are counted to him as nothing and vanity (Isa xl 17)
On the pain of loss
THE greatest pain of hell is not the fire, nor the darkness, nor the stench, nor any other of all the material torments of that dreadful prison of despair, it is the pain of loss, that is, the pain of having lost God which of itself may be said to constitute hell. The soul was created to be for ever united to God and to enjoy the sight of his enrapturing countenance. God is its last end, its only good, so that, all the goods of earth and heaven, without God, could not make it happy. Hence it is that if a condemned soul in hell could possess and love God, hell with all its torments would become to such a soul a paradise. But this will be its sovereign punishment which will render it for ever inconceivably miserable to be deprived of God for all eternity without the least hope of ever again beholding him or loving him.
The soul, being created for God, has an instinctive tendency to become united with its sovereign good, its God; but being united to the body, when it wallows in iniquity, it becomes so darkened by the created objects which allure the senses, that it loses its sight, and has so little knowledge of God, as no longer to desire to be united to him. But when separated from the body and from sensible objects, then it will know that God is the only good that can render it happy; hence as soon as it shall have departed, it will feel itself drawn with a most powerful attraction towards a union with God; but having left this life an enemy of God, it will be not only kept back from him by its sins, as by a chain but dragged by them into hell there to be for ever separated and at a distance from God. The wretched soul in that eternal dungeon, will know how beautiful God is, but will not be able to behold him. It will know how amiable God is but will not be able to love him; it will even feel itself forced by its sins to hate him; and this shall be its hell of hells, to know that it hates a God who is infinitely lovely. It will desire that it were possible to destroy God, to whom it is hateful; and to destroy itself hating God; and this will be the eternal preoccupation of this unhappy soul. The Holy Mother of God, Herself, describes Hell as "the most complete misfortune that can ever befall a creature." She exorts every man/woman/child to do everything in his/her power to avoid falling into the abyss, by seeking the one and only true Faith, unceasing and constant prayer, and doing good everywhere and always.
This torment will be immensely increased by the remembrance of the graces which God bestowed upon it, and the love which he evinced towards it during its life time. It will especially call to mind the love of Jesus Christ in shedding his blood and laying down his life for its salvation; but ungrateful soul not to forego its own miserable gratifications it consented to lose God its sovereign good; and it will find that no hope will be left of ever regaining him. |
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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2008 : 10:04:52
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On the particular judgment
IT is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment (Heb ix 27). It is of faith that immediately after death we shall be judged according to our works in this life. And it is also of faith that upon this judgment will depend our eternal salvation or perdition. Imagine yourself to be in your agony and to have only a short time to live Think that in a short time you would then have to appear before Jesus Christ to give an account of your whole life. Alas how alarming !
What will be the anguish of the soul when it shall first behold Jesus Christ as its judge and behold him terrible in his wrath. It will then see how much he has suffered for its sake; it will see what great mercies he has exercised towards it and what powerful means he has bestowed upon it for the attainment of salvation; then will it also see the greatness of eternal goods and the vileness of earthly pleasures which have wrought its ruin; it will then see all these things but to no purpose because then there will be no more time to correct its past errors what shall have then been done will be irrevocable. Before the judgment seat of God neither nobility nor dignity nor riches will be considered our works alone will be weighed there.
What content will that Christian enjoy at the hour of death who has left the world to give himself to God who has denied his senses all unlawful gratifications and who, if he has on some occasions been wanting, has at least been wise enough afterwards to do condign penance for it. On the other hand what anguish shall that Christian experience who has continually relapsed into the same vices and at last finds himself at the point of death. Then will he exclaim: Alas! in a few moments I must appear before Jesus as my judge, and I have not as yet even begun to change my life! I have many times promised to do so but I have not done it and now in a short time what will have become of me?
On preparing for the particular judgment
BE you ready: for at what hour you think not the Son of man will come (St Luke xii 40). The time of death will not be the time to prepare ourselves to die well: to die well and happily we must prepare ourselves before hand. There will not be time then to eradicate bad habits from the soul to expel from the heart its predominant passions and to extinguish all affection to earthly goods. The night cometh when no man can work (St John ix 4). All in death will be night when nothing will be seen and hence nothing done. The heart hardened the mind obscured confusion fear the desire of health will all render it almost impossible at the hour of death to set in order a conscience confused and entangled in sin.
The saints thought they did but little, though they spent their whole lives in preparing for death by acts of penance, prayer, and the practice of good works; and they trembled when they came to die. The venerable John, of Avila, although he had led a very holy life from his youth, when it was announced to him that he was about to die made answer and said, O that I had but a little more time to prepare myself for death! And what shall we say when the summons of death shall be brought to us?
The time is short, says the Apostle. Yes we have but a short time in which to set our accounts in order. Hence the Holy Ghost admonishes us: Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it quickly. Whatever thou art able to do to day put it not off till to morrow for to day is passing away and to morrow may bring death which will deprive thee of all means of doing good or of amending what thou hast done amiss.
On the sufferings of the souls in hell in their mental faculties
THE souls in hell will be tormented in their memories. Never, in the abode of infinite misery, will they lose for a moment the remembrance of the time which was allowed them in this life to practice virtue, and to make amends for the evil which they had done; and never will it be concealed from them that there is no longer the least hope of remedy. They will call to mind the lights which they received from God, his many loving calls, his offers of pardon all despised; and they will see that all is now at an end and that nothing remains for them but to suffer and to despair for all eternity.
The souls in hell will be tormented in their understandings by thinking continually of heaven which they have willfully lost through their own fault. The immense felicity enjoyed by the blessed in the abode of delights will be for ever before their eyes and this will render their life of dreadful suffering which they must drag on for ever in the prison of despair and woe still more tormenting. Think about it, had you then died in sin, you should now have had no hope of ever enjoying The Redeemer in heaven. He gave you life that you might gain heaven and how have lost heaven for something worse than nothing by losing His grace. The souls in hell will be tormented in their wills by being denied every thing which they desire and by having every punishment inflicted upon them which they do not desire. They will never have any thing which they wish for but every thing which they abhor. They will long to rid themselves of their torments and to find peace but there will be no peace for them, they will be forced to dwell in the midst of their torments for ever. Their perverse will by hating God when they know him to be the supreme good, and worthy of infinite love, will become their greatest torment.
On devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
JESUS is the mediator of justice, Mary obtains for us grace; for as St Bernard, St Bonaventure, St Bernardine of Sienna, St Germanus, St Antoninus and others say, it is the will of God to dispense, through the hands of Mary, whatever graces he is pleased to bestow upon us. With God, the prayers of the saints are the prayers of his friends, but the prayers of Mary are the prayers of his mother. Happy they who confidently and at all times have recourse to this divine mother! This, of all others, is the most pleasing devotion to the Blessed Virgin ever to have recourse to her and to say: O Mary intercede for me with your Son Jesus
Jesus is omnipotent by nature Mary is very she obtains whatever she asks for. It is impossible, says St Antoninus, that this mother should ask any favor of her Son for those who are devout to her and the Son not grant her request. Jesus delights to honor his mother by granting whatever she asks of him. Hence St Bernard exhorts us to seek for grace and to seek for it through Mary because she is a mother who cannot be denied. If then we would be saved let us recommend ourselves to Mary that she may intercede for us because her prayers are always heard.
Let us not doubt whether Mary will hear us when we address our prayers to her. It is her delight to exercise her powerful influence with God in obtaining for us whatever graces we stand in need of. It is sufficient to ask favors of Mary to obtain them. If we are unworthy of them she renders us worthy by her powerful intercession and she is very desirous that we should have recourse to her that she may save us. What sinner ever perished who with confidence and perseverance had recourse to Mary the refuge of sinners. He is lost who has not recourse to Mary.
.....to be continued |
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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
Posted - 11/17/2008 : 07:25:00
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Jesus suffering for our Sins
Seeing men lost in their sins, God was pleased to take pity on them; but his divine justice required satisfaction, and there was no one capable of making adequate satisfaction. On this account he sent into the world his own Son, made man, and loaded him with all our offenses:
The Lord laid on him the iniquity, of us all,1 so that he might pay our debts, satisfy divine justice, and save mankind (Isaiah.53. 6).
The eternal Father having loaded his Son with all our crimes, was not content even with such satisfaction from him, as would have amply atoned for us all, but, as Isaiah continues:
The Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity? He would have him mangled to exhaustion, with scourges, thorns, nails, and torments, until he died of tortures on an infamous gibbet (Isaiah 53. 10).
Now, if faith, did not assure us of this excess of God's love towards men, who could possibly believe it? Dear reader, let us ask God, Who is worthy of all love, to permit us not to be any more ungrateful to Him. Lets us beg Him to enlighten and strengthen us to correspond with such immense love during the remainder of our lives; We beseech God, for the love of this Thy Son, whom Thou hast given to us.
Behold that innocent Son, attentive to the will of his Father, who would have him thus sacrificed for our sins, full of humility before his Father, full of love towards us, obediently embraces his life of pain and his bitter death:
He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross (Phil. ii. 8.)
In humbling Himself, Christ sets us an example, clearly showing that humility is an absolute prerequisite, without which one cannot enter into eternal life. Lets us, therefore, repeat with the penitent Ezechias: Thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish; Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back (Isa. xxxviii. 17)
The One Thing Necessary
One thing is necessary, the salvation of our souls (Luke x. 42). It is not necessary to be great, noble, or rich in this world, or to enjoy uninterrupted health; but it is necessary to save our souls, For this has God placed us here: not to acquire honors, riches, or pleasures, but to acquire by our good works that eternal kingdom which is prepared for those who, during this present life, fight against and overcome the enemies of their eternal salvation.
How often have we renounced heaven by renouncing Christ's grace ? Of what consequence is it if a man be poor, mean, infirm, and despised in this life, provided that in the end he dies in the grace of God and secures his salvation ? The more he has been afflicted with tribulations, if he suffered them with patience, the more will he be glorified in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, what does it profit a man to abound in riches and honors, if, when he dies, he is lost forever? If we are lost, all the goods that we have enjoyed in this world will be remembered only to increase our misery for eternity.
Salvation is necessary, because there is no middle way; we must either be eternally saved or eternally lost. It will not do to say: I shall be satisfied with not going to hell; I shall not be concerned at being deprived of heaven. No; either heaven or hell; either forever happy with God in heaven in an ocean of delights, or forever trampled upon by devils in hell in an ocean of fire and torments: either saved, or lost; there is no alternative.
Pharaoh, when Moses announced to him the orders of God for the liberation of the Hebrews, insolently answered, Who is the Lord, that I should hear His word? .....I know not the Lord (Exod. v. 2). It is thus that the sinner replies to his own conscience when it intimates to him the divine precepts, which forbid him to do that which is evil: "I know not God; I know that he is my Lord, but I will not obey him."
Thou hast broken my yoke ; thou saidst, I will not serve (Jer ii. 20). The sinner, when tempted to commit sin, hears indeed the voice of God, saying to him, My son, do not revenge thyself, do not gratify thyself with that infamous pleasure; relinquish the possession of that which is not thine. But by yielding to sin, he replies, Lord, "I will not serve thee. Thou desirest that I should not commit this sin, but I will commit it."
God is the Lord of all things, because he has created all. All things are in Thy power, because Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven (Esther xiii. 9). All creatures obey God; the heavens, the earth, the sea, the elements, the brute creation; while man, although he has been gifted and loved by God above all other creatures, obeys him not, and is heedless of the loss of his grace
The Merciful Chastisements of God
God, being infinite goodness, desires only our good and to communicate to us his own happiness. When he chastises us, it is because we have obliged him to do so by our sins. Hence the prophet Isaias says that on such occasions he doth a work foreign to his desires (Prov. viii. 17.). Hence it is said that it is the property of God to have mercy and to spare, to dispense his favors and to make all happy. Let us therefore understand that when God threatens us it is not because he desires to punish us, but because he wishes to deliver us from punishment; he threatens because he would have compassion on us.
But how is this? he is angry with us, and treats us with mercy? Yes ! He shows himself angry towards us, in order that we may amend our lives, and that thus he may be able to pardon ana save us; hence if in this life he chastises us for our sins, he does so in his mercy, for by so doing he frees us from eternal woe. How unfortunate, then, is the sinner who escapes punishment in this life !
He who makes no account of the divine threats ought much to fear lest the chastisement threatened in the Proverbs should suddenly overtake him. The man that with a stiff neck despiseth him that reproveth him, shall suddenly be destroyed; and health shall not follow him (Prov, xxix. 1). A sudden death shall overtake him that despises God's reprehensions, and he shall have no time to avoid eternal destruction.
Comments:
Dear reader, experience shows you that this, indeed, has happened to many, and we, too, have deserved that the like should happen to us; but, Jesus hast shown that mercy towards us which He hast not shown to many others who have offended Him less frequently than we have done, and who are now suffering in hell without the least hope whatsoever of any reprieve. Think of the Aaliyahs, the Lisa "Left Eye" Lopeses (of TLC), the Heath Ledgers of this world. In the midst of their pleasures, pornographic, homosexual, or otherwise, they are suddenly snatched from our midst and taken away to face the Divine Judge. Let this be a grave reminder of the fate that awaits all of us, especially those who neglect the affairs of salvation of his own soul. Each one of us, has only one soul, which shall be either saved or damned.
Bear in mind, dear Reader, that you are a man and a Christian. As man, you must die; as a Christian, you must, immediately after death, render an account of your life (non-Christians do not have to render account, for they are already judged, and therefore, there is nothing to examine). The first truth is manifest in our daily experience, and the second our faith will not permit us to doubt. No one, whether king or pope, is exempt from this terrible law. A day will come of which you will not see the night, or a night which for you, will have no morning. A time will come, and you know not whether it be this present day or tomorrow, when you who are now reading my words, in perfect health and in full possession of all your faculties, will find yourself stretched upon a bed of death, awaiting the sentence pronounced against mankind - a sentence which admits neither delay nor appeal.
Consider, also, how uncertain is the hour of death. It generally comes when man is most forgetful of eternal things, overturning his plans for an earthly future, and opening before him the appalling vision of eternity. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures tell us that it comes as a thief in the night; that is, when men are plunged in sleep and least apprehensive of danger.
.... coming up... The Patience of God with Sinners; Death, the Passage to Eternity; The Reformation of our Lives before Death
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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2008 : 09:13:43
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The Patience of God with Sinners
The more we have experienced the patient mercies of God, the more we ought to be afraid of continuing to abuse them, lest the time of God s vengeance overtake us. Revenge is Mine, and I will repay in due time. God will put an end to his forbearance towards those who will not cease to abuse it.
I give Thee thanks, O Lord ! for having patiently borne with me, though I have so often betrayed Thee. Make me sensible of the evil that I have done by abusing Thy patience for so long a time; make me sorry for all the offences I have committed against Thee. No, I will never more abuse Thy tender mercy.
" Commit this sin; you can afterwards confess it." Such is the artifice with which the devil has drawn many souls into hell. Many Christians, now in hell, have been lost by this delusion. The Lord waiteth, that He may have mercy on you? God waits for the sinner, that the sinner may be converted, and obtain mercy; but when God sees that the time which he allows the sinner for doing penance is employed only in increasing the number of his offences, then he waits no longer, but punishes him as he deserves.
Pardon me, O God! for I desire never more to offend Thee. And why should I delay ? that Thou mayest condemn me to hell ? I fear indeed that now Thou canst no longer have patience with me. I have indeed offended Thee too grievously. I am sorry for it. I repent of it. I hope for forgiveness through the merits of that blood which Thou hast shed for me.
The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed : because His commiserations have not failed (Lam. iii. 22). Thus should he exclaim who finds, to his confusion, that he has frequently offended God. He should be most grate ful to God for not having suffered him to die in his sins, and be most careful not to offend him again; otherwise the Lord will reproach him, saying: What more could I have done forMy vineyard that I have not done ? (Isa. v. 4) God will say to him: Ungrateful soul! if thou hadst committed the same offences against man, who is viler than the earth, verily he would not have borne with thee. And how great mercies have I exercised towards thee! How many times have I called thee, and enlightened thee, and pardoned thee ? The time of punishment is at hand; the time of forgiveness is past. Thus has God spoken to many who are now suffering in hell; where one of their greatest torments is the remembrance of the mercies which they formerly received from God.
Jesus, my Redeemer and my Judge ! I also have deserved to hear the same from Thy mouth; but I hear Thee now again calling me to pardon: Be converted to the Lord thy God(Osee, xiv. 2) O accursed sin, which has made me lose my God, how much do I abhor and detest thee! I turn my whole self towards Thee, my Lord and my God! My sovereign good, I love Thee; and because I love Thee I repent with my whole soul for having, during the time that is past, so much despised Thee. My God! I desire never more to offend Thee: give me Thy love, grant me perseverance. Mary, my refuge, succor and help me.
Death, the Passage to Eternity
It is of faith that my soul is immortal, and that one day, when I least think of it, I must leave this world. I ought therefore to make a provision for myself, which will not fail with this life, but will be eternal even as I am eternal. Great things were done here, in their life time, by an Alexander or a Caesar; but for how many ages past have their glories ceased! and where are they now ?
O my God, that I had always loved Thee! What now remains for me, after so many years spent in sin, but trouble and remorse of conscience ? But since Thou dost allow me time to repair the evil which I have done, behold me, Lord, ready to perform whatever Thou requirest of me, whatever Thou pleasest. I will spend the remainder of my days in bewailing my ungrateful conduct towards Thee, and in loving Thee with all my power, my God and my all, my only good.
What will it avail me to have been happy in this world (if indeed true happiness can be attained without God) if hereafter I should be miserable for all eternity ? But what folly it is, to know that I must die, and that an eternity either of happiness or misery awaits me after death, and that upon dying ill or well depends my being miserable or happy forever, and yet, not to adopt every means in my power to secure a good death!
Holy Spirit, enlighten and strengthen me to live always in Thy grace, until the hour of my departure. O infinite goodness! I am sensible of the evil which I have done by offending Thee, and I detest it: I know that Thou alone art worthy of being loved, and I love Thee above all things.
In a word, all the good things of this life must end at our burial and be left, while we are mouldering in our graves. The shadow of death will cover and obscure all the grandeur and splendor of this world. He only, then, can be called happy who serves God in this world, and by loving and serving him acquires eternal happiness.
O Jesus ! I am truly sorry for having hitherto made so little account of Thy love. Now I love Thee above all things, and I desire nothing else but to love Thee. Henceforth Thou only shalt be the sole object of my love, Thou only shalt be my all; and this is the only in heritance I a*sk of Thee; to love Thee always, both in this life and in the next. For the merits of Thy bitter Passion, give me perseverance in all virtues. Mary, mother of God, thou art my hope.
The Reformation of our Lives before Death
Every one desires to die the death of the saints, but it is scarcely possible for the Christian to make a holy end who has led a disorderly life until the time of his death; to die united with God, after having always lived at a distance from him. The saints, in order to secure a happy death, renounced all the riches, the delights, and all the hopes which this world held out to them, and embraced poor and mortified lives. They buried themselves alive in this world, to avoid, when dead, being buried forever in hell.
O God ! for how many years past have I deserved to be buried in that place of torments, without hope of pardon, or of being able to love Thee ! But Thou hast waited in order to pardon me. Truly, then, am I sorry from the bottom of my heart for having offended Thee, my sovereign good; and have pity on me, and do not permit me to offend Thee any more.
God forewarns sinners that they will seek him in death and will not find him: You shall seek and shall not find Me (John vii. 34) They shall not find him because they will not then seek him through love, but only through the fear of hell; they will seek God without renouncing their affection for sin, and hence they shall not find him.
No, my God, I will not wait to seek Thee in death, but will seek and desire Thee from this moment. I am sorry for having hitherto given Thee so much displea sure by seeking to gratify my own inclinations. I am sorry for it, I confess that I have done evil. But Thou wiliest not that the heart that seeks Thee should despair, but rejoice: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord (Ps. civ. 3.) Yes, O Lord ! I seek Thee, and I love Thee more than myself.
How miserable is the Christian who before his death has not spent a good part of his life in bewailing his sins ! It is not to be denied that such a man may be converted at his death and obtain salvation; but the mind obscured, the heart hardened, the bad habits formed, the passions predominant, render it morally impossible for him to die happily. An extraordinary grace will be necessary for him; but does God reserve such a grace to bestow it upon one who has continued ungrateful to him even until the moment of death? O God, to what straits are sinners reduced to escape eternal destruction !
No, my God, I will not wait until death to repent of my sins and to love Thee. I am sorry now for having offended Thee; now do I love Thee with my whole heart. Suffer me not any more to turn my back upon Thee; rather let me die. O holy Mother, Mary, obtain for me perseverance in virtue. |
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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
 Posted - 04/29/2009 : 08:31:20
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The Lamb of God Sacrificed for our Sins.
Behold the Lamb of God (John, i. 29). Thus did the Baptist speak of our Blessed Redeemer, who offered his blood and even his life in sacrifice to obtain our pardon and our eternal salvation. Behold him in the hall of Pilate. As an innocent Lamb he permits himself to be shorn, not of wool, but of his sacred flesh, with thorns and scourges, He shall be dumb as a lamb before His shearer, and He shall not open His mouth (Isaiah. 53, 7) He opens not his mouth, nor does he complain, because he desires to suffer himself the punishments due to our sins.
May the angels and all creatures bless Thee O Saviour of the world ! for the great mercy and love which Thou hast shown towards us. We had committed sins, and Thou didst make satisfaction for them.
Behold him, bound like a malefactor and surrounded by executioners, conducted to Calvary, there to become the victim of the great sacrifice, by which the work of our redemption is to be accomplished. I was as a meek lamb that is carried to be a victim (Jer. xi. 19) .
Whither, O Jesus! do the people conduct Thee, loaded with such a cross, after having so cruelly tormented Thee? Thou answerest me. They conduct Me to death, and I go willingly, because I am going to save thee, and to prove how great my love is towards thee. And how, O my Saviour! have I proved my love towards Thee? Thou indeed knowest: by injuries and grievous offenses, and by my frequent contempt of Thy grace and love. But Thy death is my hope. I am sorry, O Thou love of my soul ! for having offended Thee; I am sorry, and will love Thee with my whole heart.
St. Francis of Assisi, seeing a lamb led to the slaughter, could not refrain from tears, saying, "As this lamb is led to the slaughter, so was my innocent Lord conducted for me to the death of the Cross".
The Value of Time
Time is a treasure of inestimable value, because in every moment of time we may gain an increase of grace and eternal glory. In hell the lost souls are tormented with the thought, and bitterly lament that now there is no more time for them in which to rescue themselves by repentance from eternal misery. What would they give but for one hour of time to save themselves by an act of true sorrow from destruction In heaven there is no grief; but if the blessed could grieve, they would do so for having lost so much time during life, in which they might have acquired greater glory, and because time is now no longer theirs.
I give Thee thanks, O God ! for giving me time to be wail my sins, and to make amends by my love for the offenses I have committed against Thee.
Nothing is so precious as time; and yet how comes it that nothing is so little valued? Men will spend hours in jesting, or standing at a window or in the middle of a road, to see what passes. And if you ask them what they are doing, they will tell you they are passing away time. O time, now so much despised ! thou wilt be of all things else the most valued by such persons when death shall have surprised them. What will they not then be willing to give for one hour of so much lost time! But time will remain no longer for them when it is said to each one of them: Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo. - Go forth, Christian soul, out of this world; hasten to be gone, for now there is no time for thee. How will they then exclaim, lamenting, Alas! I have squandered away my whole life; during so many years I might have become a saint, but how far am I from being such. And shall I become such, now that there is no more time for me ! But to what purpose will such lamentations be, when the dying man is on the verge of that moment on which will depend eternity?
Walk whilst you have light (John, xii. 35). The time of death is the time of night, when nothing can any longer be seen, nor anything be accomplished. The night cometh, in which no man can work (John, ix. 4). Hence the Holy Spirit admonishes us to walk in the way of the Lord, whilst we have the light and the day before us. Can we reflect that the time is near approaching in which the cause of our eternal salvation is to be decided, and still squander away time? Let us not delay, but immediately put our accounts in order, because when we least think of it, Jesus Christ will come to judge us. At what hour ye think not, the Son of man will come.
Hasten, then, my Jesus, hasten to pardon me. And shall I delay? shall I delay until I am cast into that eternal prison, where, with the rest of the condemned souls, I must forever lament, saying, The summer is past, and we are not saved?(Jer. viii. 20). No, my Lord, I will no longer resist Thy loving invitations. Who knows but that this meditation which I am now reading may be the last I shall ever cast my eyes upon ! I am sorry for having offended Thee, O sovereign good ! To Thee do I consecrate the remainder of my days, and beseech Thee to grant me holy perseverance. I desire never more to offend Thee, but forever to love Thee. O Mary, refuge of sinners ! in thee do I place my confidence.
The Terrors of the Dying Man at the Thought of Approach ing Judgment.
Consider the fear which the thought of judgment will cause in the mind of a dying man, when he reflects that in a very short time he must present himself before Jesus Christ, his Judge, to render an account of all the actions of his past life. When the awful moment of his passage out of this world into another, out of time into eternity, arrives, then will there be nothing so tormenting to him as the sight of his sins. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, being ill, and thinking of judgment, trembled. Her confessor told her not to fear. "Ah, Father," she replied, "it is an awful thing to appear before Jesus Christ as our Judge." Such were the sensations of this holy virgin, who was a saint from her infancy. What will he say who has frequently deserved hell ?
The abbot Agatho after many years of penance trembled, saying, "What will become of me when I shall be judged ?" And how should he not tremble who has offended God by many mortal sins, and yet has done no penance for them ? At death, the sight of his crimes, the rigor of the divine judgments, the uncertainty of the sentence to be pronounced upon him, what a tempest of horror and confusion will these raise around him ! Let us be careful to throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus Christ, and secure our pardon before the arrival of our accounting day.
Then will be decided the great affair of our eternal salvation. Upon this decision will depend our being either saved or lost forever, our being happy or miserable for all eternity. But, O God ! each one knows this, and says, " So it is." But if it is so, why do we not leave all to attend only to our sanctification, and to the securing of our eternal salvation?
Ah ! my Jesus and my Redeemer, who wilt one day be my judge, have pity on me before the day of justice. Behold at Thy feet a deserter, who has often promised to be faithful to Thee, and has as often again turned his back upon Thee. No, my God, Thou hast not deserved the treatment which Thou hast hitherto received at my hands. Forgive me, O Lord ! for I desire truly to change and amend my life. I am sorry, my sovereign good ! for having despised Thee: take pity on me.
My God, I give Thee thanks for the light which Thou hast given me. Remember, O Jesus ! that Thou didst die for my salvation; grant that when I first behold Thee I may see Thee appeased. If hitherto I have despised Thy grace, I now esteem it above every other good. I love Thee, O infinite goodness ! and because I love Thee, I am sorry for having offended Thee. Hitherto I have forsaken Thee, but now I desire Thee and seek Thee; grant that I may find Thee, O God of my soul! Mary, my mother, recommend me to thy Son Jesus.
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spaxx
Junior Member
205 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2009 : 05:43:43
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MEDITATION XXVI - The Fire of Hell1. It is certain that hell is a pit of fire, in which the miserable souls of the wicked will be tormented forever. Even in this life the pain of burning is of all pains the most intense and dreadful; but the fire of hell has the power of inflicting much more excruciating torment, because it has been created by God to be the instrument of his wrath upon his rebellious creatures. "Go,ye cursed, into everlasting fire," is the sentence of the reprobate. And as in this sentence of condemnation fire is particularly mentioned, we may conclude that, of all the torments with which the senses of the wicked are afflicted, fire is the greatest.
My God, whom I have despised and lost ! forgive me, and suffer me not to lose Thee any more. I am sorry above every evil for having offended Thee. Receive me into Thy favor, for now do I promise Thee that I will love Thee, and love no other but Thee. Most holy Mary, deliver me by thy holy intercession, from ever suffering the torments of hell.
2. In this world fire burns only outwardly, and does not penetrate our interior; but in hell the fire enters into the inmost recesses of its victims. Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire(Ps. xx. 10.)Every one will become as a furnace of fire, so that the heart will burn within the chest, the bowels within the carcass, the brains within the skull, and even the marrow within the bones. Sinners, what are your feelings with regard to this fire? You, who cannot now bear a spark accidentally fallen from a candle, nor a house too hot, nor a ray of the sun upon your head, how will you endure to be permanently immersed in an ocean of fire, where you will be forever dying, and yet never, never die?
Ah, my God, for how many years past have I deserved to burn in this fire ! But Thou hast waited for me, to behold me burning, not with this dreadful fire, but with the blessed flames of Thy holy love. Wherefore do I love Thee, my sovereign good, and desire to love Thee forever. O my Redeemer ! let not that blood which Thou didst shed for the love of me, be shed for me in vain. Grant me sorrow for my sins, grant me Thy holy love.
3. Which of you, saith the prophet, can dwell with devouring fire? (isa.xxxiii. 14.) As a wild beast devoureth his prey, so shall the fire of hell continually devour the unhappy soul, but without ever depriving him of life. Hence St. Peter Damian exclaims, "Go on, sinner, go on, unchaste one; give thy flesh its desires: a day will come when thy impurities will be to thee as pitch within thy bowels, to nourish the fire which will consume thee in hell for all eternity."
O my God, whom I have despised and lost ! forgive me, and suffer me not to lose Thee any more. I am sorry above every evil for having offended Thee. Receive me into Thy favor, for now do I promise Thee that I will love Thee, and love no other but Thee. Most holy Mary, deliver me by thy holy intercession, from ever suffering the torments of hell.
MEDITATION XXVII - The Vanity of all Worldly Things.1. What is life but a vapor, which appears for a short time and then is seen no more ? What is your life, says St. James, it is a vapor which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish away (James, iv. 15). The vapors which arise from the earth, when raised into the air and surrounded by the rays of the sun, appear brilliant and beautiful; but the least wind disperses them, and they are seen no more. Such is the grandeur of this world. Behold that prince; to-day, he is feared, attended upon and honored by thousands; to-morrow, he will be dead, despised and hated by all. In a word, honors, pleasures, and riches must all end in death.
2. Death deprives man of whatever he may possess in this world. What a sad sight, to behold a rich man, after death, carried out of his palace, to return thither no more ! How sad to behold others taking possession of the estates which he has left, of his wealth, and whatever else he so lately enjoyed ! His servants, after having accompanied him to his grave, abandon him, and leave him there, to be devoured by worms; no one esteeming him, no one flattering him. Formerly every one obeyed his nod, but now no one takes the least notice of his orders.
O my God ! make me sensible of the immensity of Thy goodness, that I may love nothing but Thee. How wretched have I been, O Lord ! in having, for so many years, gone after the vanities of the world, and left Thee, my sovereign good ! But from this day forward I desire to possess Thee as my only treasure, as the only love of my soul.
3. Dust and ashes, why are you proud? (Ecclus. x. 9.). Man, says the Almighty, seest thou not that in a short time thou wilt become dust and ashes? and on what dost thou fix thy thoughts and affections ? Reflect that death will soon rob thee of everything, and separate thee from the whole world. And if, when thou givest in thy accounts, thou be found wanting, what will become of thee for eternity?
I give Thee thanks, my Lord and my God. Thou speakest thus to me, because thou desirest to save me. Let Thy mercies now prevail. Thou hast promised to pardon such as repent of their offences against Thee. From the bottom of my heart do I repent: grant me there fore pardon. Thou hast promised to love those who love Thee: above all things do I now love Thee; wherefore do Thou love me also, and hate me not any more, as I have deserved. O Mary, my advocate, in thy protection is my hope.
MEDITATION XXVIII - The Number of our Sins.1. It is the opinion of St. Basil, St. Jerome, St. Amorose, St. Augustine, and others, that as God has determined for each one the number of talents, the goods of fortune, and the number of days to be bestowed upon him, so he has also determined for each one the number of sins to be pardoned him, which being completed, God will pour out his chastisements upon him and pardon him no more. Each one, says St. Augustine, is patiently borne with by Almighty God for a certain time. But when this is over, there is then no longer any more pardon for him (De Vita Christ, c. 3.)
I am aware, O God ! that I have hitherto abused Thy patience too much; but I know that Thou hast not yet abandoned me, because I am sorry for my sins, and this sorrow is a sign that Thou still lovest me. O my God ! I desire never more to displease Thee; for pitys sake do not abandon me.
2. The Lord patiently expecteth, that when the day of judgment shall come, He may punish them in the fulness of their sins . (2 Mach, vi. 14). Although God has patience and waits for the sin ner, yet, when the day arrives for the measure of his sins to be filled up he will wait for him no longer, but chastise him.
O Lord ! wait yet for me a little while, do not yet abandon me; I hope with the assistance of Thy grace never to offend Thee more, nor to excite Thy anger against me. I am sorry, O my sovereign good ! for having offended Thee, and I protest that I will never more betray Thee. I now esteem Thy friendship more than all the goods of the whole world.
3. We commit sins, and we take no notice of the load of guilt which we are accumulating; but let us tremble lest what happened to King Baltassar befall us also: Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting (Dan.v. 27.). The devil may tell you that it matters not whether it be ten or eleven sins. But no, that wicked enemy deceives you. The sin which he is tempting you to commit will increase the load of your guilt. It may decide the balance of divine justice against you, and you may be condemned for it to the torments of hell. If, Christian brother, you live not in fear that God will not show you mercy, should you add one more mortal sin to those which you have already committed. If you tremble not at the thought of this, you are in great danger of being
No, my God: Thou hast borne with me too long. I will never more abuse Thy bountiful goodness. I thank Thee for having waited for me until now. I have forfeited Thy love too often; but I hope never more to lose Thee. Since Thou hast not yet abandoned me, enable me to find Thee again. I love Thee, O my God ! and I am sorry from the bottom of my heart for having ever turned my back upon Thee. No, I desire never more to lose Thee. Assist me with Thy grace. And thou, my queen and my mother, Mary, help me by thy holy intercession. |
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THE WAY OF SALVATION - Daily Meditations
