Page:HalfHoursWithTheSaints.djvu/61

 ness which  is  criminal  and  voluntary,  that  languor  which is our  own  doing,  and,  through  cowardice,  makes  us  throw off the  yoke  of  Christian  regularity — induces  us  to  neglect the ordinary  exercises  of  piety  and  prayer,  causes  us  to feel  a  distaste  for  penance,  so  much  so  that  we  withdraw from the  Sacraments,  cease  from  performing  good  works — in short,  makes  us  feel  that  religion  is  so  wearisome  that we can  no  longer  serve  the  Lord  our  God  in  spirit  and truth.

This is  what  St.  Bernard  means  when  he  depicts  spiritual tepidity; and  God  wills  that  we  should  reflect  on  our  past tepidity and  attend  to  what  His  saints  teach  us.

The state  of  lukewarmness  is  hurtful  to  every  one,  inasmuch as  it  is  one  of  those  maladies  of  the  soul  to  cure which the  strongest  remedies  are  often  found  to  be  ineffectual.

Such a  state  is  also  in  direct  opposition  to  the  grace  of penance,  because,  in  lieu  of  that  holy  fear  which  it  ought to excite  within  us,  it  substitutes  fruitless  fears  which result in  nothing.

We must  try  to  check  the  growth  of  tepidity  by  thinking of the  holiest  Christian  duties,  and  fortify  our  will  by prayer  and  watchfulness.

In lesser  attacks  of  lukewarmness  which  are  not  actually criminal, far  from  lessening  our  devotions,  we  should,  on the  contrary,  try  to  be  more  fervent,  more  regular  in  our exercises of  piety.

To succeed  in  this  it  is  preferable  to  practise  solid devotion, to  encourage  the  most  generous  piety,  because it often  happens  that  he  who  serves  God  with  less  sensible devotion serves  Him  with  more  merit  and  perfection.

This lukewarmness  does  not  come  upon  us  suddenly. Like unto  the  foolish  virgins  mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  it changes  from  a  drowsiness  to  a  deep  slumber. ''Dormitaverunt omnes  et  dormierunt.