Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/388

 own ground-work, — I  mean  to  say,  from  the  nature  itself  of  his reason.

Now, I  say  that  faith  is  absolutely  necessary  to  man,  in  the gloomy and  obscure  paths  of  this  life;  for  his  reason  is  weak,  and it requires  to  be  assisted;  because  it  is  corrupted,  and  it  requires  to be  cured;  because  it  is  changeable,  and  it  requires  to  be  fixed. Now, faith  alone  is  the  aid  which  assists  and  enlightens  it,  the remedy which  cures  it,  the  bridle  and  the  rule  which  retain  and fix it. Yet a  moment  of  attention;  I  shall  not  misemploy  it.

I say,  first,  that  reason  is  weak,  and  that  an  aid  is  necessary  to it. Alas! my brethren,  we  know  not,  neither  ourselves,  nor  what is external  to  us. We are  totally  ignorant  how  we  have  been formed, by  what  imperceptible  progressions  our  bodies  have  received arrangement and  life,  and  what  are  the  infinite  springs,  and  the divine skill,  which  give  motion  to  the  whole  machine. " I  cannot tell/'  said  that  illustrious  mother,  mentioned  in  the  Maccabees,  to her  children,  "how  ye  came  into  my  womb;  for  I  neither  gave  you breath nor  life,  neither  was  it  I  that  formed  the  members  of  every one of  you:  but  doubtless  the  creator  of  the  world,  who  formed the generation  of  man,  and  found  out  the  beginning  of  all  things, will also,  of  his  own  mercy,  give  you  breath  and  life  again,  as  ye now  regard  not  your  own  selves  for  his  law's  sake/'  Our  body is itself  a  mystery,  in  which  the  human  mind  is  lost,  and  overwhelmed, and  of  which  the  secrets  shall  never  be  fathomed;  for there is  none  but  him  alone  who  hath  presided  at  its  formation, who is  capable  of  comprehending  them.

That breath  of  the  Divinity  which  animates  us,  that  portion  of ourselves  which  renders  us  capable  of  loving  and  of  knowing,  is  not less unknown  to  us;  we  are  entirely  ignorant  how  its  desires,  its fears, its  hopes,  are  formed,  and  how  it  can  giye  to  itself  its  ideas and images. None have  yet  been  able  to  comprehend  how  that spiritual being,  so  different  in  its  nature  from  matter,  hath  possibly been united  in  us  with  it  by  such  indissoluble  ties,  that  the  two substances no  longer  form  but  one  whole,  and  the  good  and  evil  of the  one  become  the  good  and  evil  of  the  other. We are  a  mystery therefore to  ourselves,  as  St.  Augustine  formerly  said;  and  it would  be  difficult  to  say,  what  is  even  that  vain  curiosity  which pries into  every  thing,  or  how  it  hath  been  formed  in  our  soul.

In all  around  us  we  still  find  nothing  but  enigmas;  we  live  as strangers  upon  the  earth,  and  amid  objects  which  we  know  not. To man,  nature  is  a  closed  book;  and  the  Creator,  to  confound,  it would  appear,  human  pride,  hath  been  pleased  to  overspread  the face of  this  abyss  with  an  impenetrable  obscurity.

Lift up  thine  eyes,  O  man! consider those  grand  luminaries suspended over  thy  head,  and  which  swim,  as  I  may  say,  through those immense  spaces  in  which  thy  reason  is  lost. Who, says  Job, hath formed  the  sun,  and  given  a  name  to  the  infinite  multitude  of stars? Comprehend, if  thou  canst,  their  nature,  their  use,  their properties, their  situation,  their  distance,  their  revolutions,  the equality or  the  inequality  of  their  movements. Our age  hath  pene-