Page:AceticLibraryV2PreparationForDeath.djvu/99

 be your Judge. Drive away from your heart every unholy affection, every spiteful feeling; remove now every scruple concerning the property of others, characters taken away, scandals noised abroad; and make up your mind to fly those occasions in which you may be in danger of losing God. Consider that what seems difficult to you now, at the moment of death will seem to be impossible.

It is of the greatest importance that you should make a resolution to practise every means to preserve yourself in the grace of God namely, to attend daily Celebration, to meditate upon the eternal truths, to go to confession and to communicate at least every week, to examine your conscience every night, and, above all, to commend yourself very often to God, calling upon the most holy Name of Jesus, and this particularly at the time of temptation. By so doing we may at least hope to die a happy death, and to obtain our eternal salvation.

And as for the past, you must trust in the Blood of Jesus Christ, Who gives you these lights now, because He wishes you to be saved. By living thus, and trusting in Jesus, God gives us His help,, and our souls gain strength! Therefore make haste, dear reader, and give yourself to God, Who thus calls you, and you will begin to taste that peace, of which your sin until now has deprived you. And what greater peace can any one feel than being able to say when lying down to rest at night, "If I should die this night, I hope to die in the grace of God?" If we are awaiting death with resignation when it is God's will, it is even consoling to hear the thunders roaring, and to feel the earth trembling.

Ah, my Lord, how I thank Thee for the light that Thou givest me. I have so often left Thee, and turned away from Thee; but Thou hast never left me. If Thou hadst, I should have remained blind, as I was willing to be during the years that are past; I should have remained obstinate in my sin; I should neither have felt the wish to leave it, nor the desire to love Thee. Now I feel very grieved for having offended Thee, and a great desire to remain in Thy grace. I feel a great aversion from those