Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/260

 Your heart  so  grand,  so  exalted,  and  which  nothing  here  below can satisfy,  has  been  bestowed  on  you  solely  for  pleasures  which weary you,  creatures  which  deceive  you,  honours  which  embarrass you,  a  world  which  tires  or  disgusts  you? God alone,  for whom you  are  made,  and  who  hath  made  you  what  you  are, should find  nothing  for  himself  in  the  principle  of  your  being. Ah! you are  unjust  toward  your  own  heart:  you  know  not  yourself, and  you  take  your  corruption  for  yourself. And, in  effect, if not  born  for  virtue,  what  then  is  the  melancholy  mystery  of  your lot? For what  are  you  born? What chimera  then  are  you  among men? You are  born  then  only  for  remorse  and  gloomy  care? The Author  of  your  being  hath  drawn  you  from  nonentity,  only to render  you  miserable? You are  gifted  then  with  a  heart  only to pursue  a  happiness  which  either  is  visionary  or  which  flies  from you, and  to  be  a  continual  burden  to  yourself?

O man! open here  thine  eyes;  fathom  to  the  bottom  the  destiny of thy  heart,  and  thou  wilt  acknowledge  that  these  turbulent  passions, which  fill  thee  with  such  repugnances  to  virtue,  are  foreign to thy  nature;  that  such  is  not  the  natural  state  of  thy  heart;  that the Author  of  nature  and  of  grace  hath  bestowed  on  thee  a  more sublime lot;  that  thou  wert  born  for  order,  for  righteousness,  and for innocence;  that  thou  hast  corrupted  a  happy  nature,  by  turning it toward  iniquitous  passions;  and  that,  if  not  born  for  virtue,  we know  not  what  thou  art,  and  thou  becomest  incomprehensible  to thyself.

But you  are  mistaken,  when  you  consider,  as  inclinations  incompatible with  piety,  those  warm  propensities  toward  pleasure which are  born  with  you. From the  instant  that  grace  shall  have sanctified them,  they  will  become  dispositions  favourable  for  salvation. The more  you  are  animated  in  the  pursuit  of  the  world  and its false  pleasures,  the  more  eager  shall  you  be  for  the  Lord,  and for true  riches:  the  more  you  have  been  found  tender  and  feeling by creatures,  the  easier  shall  be  the  access  of  grace  to  your  heart: in proportion  as  your  nature  is  haughty,  proud,  and  aspiring,  the more shall  you  serve  the  Lord,  without  fear,  without  disguise, without meanness:  the  more  your  character  now  appears  easy, light, and  inconstant,  the  easier  it  will  be  for  you  to  detach  yourself from your  criminal  attachments,  and  to  return  to  your  God. Lastly, your  passions  themselves,  if  I  may  venture  to  speak  in  this manner, will  become  the  means  of  facilitating  your  penitence. Whatever had  been  the  occasion  of  your  destruction,  you  will  render it  conducive  toward  your  salvation;  you  will  see  and  acknowledge, that  to  have  received  a  tender,  faithful,  and  generous  heart, is to  have  been  born  for  piety,  and  that  a  heart  which  creatures have been  able  to  touch,  holds  out  great  and  favourable  dispositions toward  grace.

Peruse what  remains  to  us  of  the  history  of  the  just,  and  you will see  that  those  who  have,  at  the  first,  been  dragged  away  by  mad passions, who  were  born  with  every  talent  calculated  for  the  world, with  the  warmest  propensities  toward  pleasures,  and   the    most