Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/224

 pursued  these  vain  phantoms. I have  longed  for  a  higher  birth, more fortune,  talents,  fame,  and  health. I have  lulled  myself  in these  ideas  of  an  imaginary  happiness. Fool that  I  am  I  as  if  I were  capable  of  altering  at  my  pleasure  the  immutable  order  of  thy Providence! As if  I  had  been  wiser  or  more  enlightened  than thee, O  my  God,  upon  my  true  interests! I have  never  entered into thine  eternal  designs  upon  me. I have  never  considered  the sorrows of  my  situation  as  entering  into  the  order  of  my  eternal destination; and,  even  to  this  day,  my  joys  and  my  sorrows  have depended upon  the  created  alone;  consequently  my  joys  have never been  tranquil,  and  my  sorrows  have  always  been  without  resource. But henceforth,  O  my  God! thou shalt  be  my  only  comforter, and  I  will  seek,  in  the  meditation  of  thy  holy  law,  and  in my  submission  to  thine  eternal  decrees,  those  solid  consolations which I  have  never  found  in  the  world,  and  which,  in  softening  our afflictions here  below,  secure  to  us,  at  the  same  time,  their  immortal reward  hereafter.

Such is  the  lamentation  of  a  soul  touched  with  its  wretchedness, and which  addresses  itself  to  the  sovereign  Physician,  in  whose compassion alone  it  hopes  to  find  relief. This was  formerly  the prayer of  a  woman  of  Canaan,  who  wished  to  obtain  from  the  Son of David  the  recovery  of  her  daughter. Persuaded of  his  power, and expecting  every  thing  from  his  usual  goodness  to  the  unfortunate, she  knew  no  surer  way  of  rendering  him  propitious,  than  the cry of  her  affliction,  and  the  simple  tale  of  her  misfortune. And this is  the  model  which  the  church  now  proposes  to  us,  in  order  to animate  and  to  instruct  us  how  to  pray;  that  is  to  say,  in  order  to render  more  pleasing,  and  more  familiar  to  us,  this  most  essential duty of  Christian  piety.

For, my  brethren,  to  pray  is  the  condition  of  man;  it  is  the  first duty of  man;  it  is  the  sole  resource  of  man;  it  is  the  whole  consolation of  man;  and,  to  speak  in  the  language  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it is  the  whole  man.

Yes, if  the  entire  world,  in  the  midst  of  which  we  live,  be  but one continued  temptation;  if  all  the  situations  in  which  we  may be, and  all  the  objects  which  environ  us,  seem  united  with  our  corruption, for  the  purpose  of  either  weakening  or  seducing  us;  if riches  corrupt,  and  poverty  exasperate;  if  prosperity  exalt,  and affliction depress;  if  business  prey  upon,  and  ease  render  effeminate;  if  the  sciences  inflate,  and  ignorance  lead  us  into  error;  if  mutual intercourse  trivially  engage  us  too  much,  and  solitude  leave  us