Page:AceticLibraryV2PreparationForDeath.djvu/213

 Thou wilt have to be my Judge. At that time the sight of Thee, Thou Lamb of God, Who hast had so much patience with me, in bearing with me, would be the hell of hells if I should be lost. Ah, I repent, pardon me quickly; draw me with Thy merciful hand from the precipice where I have fallen, through my sins. I repent, O Sovereign Good, for having offended Thee, and for having offended Thee so much. I love Thee, my Judge, Who hast loved me so much. Ah, through the merits cf Thy death, bestow such a grace upon me as may change me from a sinner into a saint. Thou hast promised to hear those, who pray to Thee: " Call unto me, and I will answer thee." (Jer. xxxiii. 3.) I ask Thee not for earthly goods; I ask for Thy grace, Thy love, and for nothing else. Hear me, my Jesus, through that love which Thou didst bear me, dying for me upon the Cross. My beloved Judge, I am the guilty one, but I am the guilty one who loves Thee more than he loves himself. Do Thou have mercy upon me.

But behold the judgment already begins. The trials are brought on; that is to say, the conscience of each one is disclosed. " The judgment was set, and the books were opened." (Dan. vii. 10.) In the first place, the devils will be the witnesses against the wicked, who will say, according to S. Augustine, " Most just God, adjudge him to be mine who was unwilling to be Thine." In the second place, their own consciences will be witnesses against them: "their conscience also bearing witness." (Rom. ii. 15.) Moreover, the very walls of that house in which the sinner has offended God will be witnesses against them, and shall cry for vengeance, " For the stone shall cry out of the wall." (Hab. ii. 11.) Finally, the Judge Himself shall be a witness against them, Who has been present at the time that all the offences have been committed against Him. " Even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord." (Jer. xxix. 23.) S. Paul says, that then the Lord " will bring to light the hidden things of darkness." (i Cor. iv. 5.) He will make known to all men the most secret and shameful sins of the wicked which have been