Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/422

 duties, and  all  your  doubts  shall  vanish. Thus we  continually  see, that when  touched  with  grace,  a  soul  begins  to  adopt  solid  measures for  eternity,  his  eyes  are  opened  upon  a  thousand  truths, which, till  then,  he  had  concealed  from  himself:  in  proportion  as his  passions  diminish,  his  lights  increase;  he  is  astonished  by  what means he  could  so  long  have  shut  his  eyes  upon  truths  which  now appear to  him  so  evident  and  so  incontestable;  and  far  from  a sacred  guide  having  then  occasion  to  contest,  and  to  maintain against him  the  interests  of  the  law  of  God,  his  prudence  is  required to conceal,  as  I  may  say,  from  that  contrite  soul,  the  whole  extent and all  the  terrors  of  the  holy  truths;  to  quiet  him  on  the  horror of past  irregularities,  and  to  moderate  the  fears  into  which  he  is thrown  by  the  novelty  and  the  surprise  of  his  lights. It is  not, then, the  rules  which  are  cleared  up,  it  is  the  soul  which  frees  itself from,  and  quits  its  blindness:  it  is  not  the  law  of  God  which becomes more  evident,  it  is  the  eyes  of  the  heart  which  are  opened to its  lustre;  in  a  word,  it  is  not  the  Gospel,  but  the  sinner  who  is changed.

And a  fresh  proof  of  what  I  advance  is,  that,  upon  those  points of the  law  where  no  particular  passion  or  interest  blinds  us,  we  are equitable and  clear-sighted. A miser,  who  hides  from  himself  the rules of  faith  upon  the  insatiable  love  of  riches,  clearly  sees  the maxims which  condemn  ambition  or  luxury. A voluptuary,  who tries to  justify  to  himself  the  weakness  of  his  inclinations,  gives  no quarter  to  the  mean  desires  and  to  the  sordid  attachments  of  avarice. A man,  mad  for  exaltation  and,  fortune,  and  who  considers the eternal  exertions  which  he  is  under  the  necessity  of  making in order  to  succeed,  as  weighty  and  serious  cares,  and  alone  worthy his birth  and  his  name,  sees  all  the  unworthiness  of  a  life  of  amusement and  pleasure,  and  clearly  comprehends  that  a  man,  born  with a name,  degrades  and  dishonours  himself  by  laziness  and  indolence. A woman,  seized  with  the  rage  of  gaming,  yet  otherwise  regular, is inveterate  against  the  slightest  faults  which  attack  the  conduct, and continually  justifies  the  innocence  of,  excessive  gaming,  by  contrasting it  with  irregularities  of  another  description,  from  which she finds  herself  free. Another on  the  contrary,  intoxicated  with her person  and  with  her  beauty,  totally  engrossed  by  her  deplorable passions,  considers  that  obstinate  perseverance  in  an  eternal gaming as  a  kind  of  disease  and  derangement  of  the  mind,  and, in the  shame  of  her  own  engagements  sees  nothing  but  an  innocent weakness and  involuntary  inclinations,  the  destiny  of  which  we find  in  our  hearts.

Review all  the  passions,  and  you  will  see  that,  in  proportion  as we  are  exempted  from  some  one  we  see,  we  condemn  it  in  others: we know  the  rules  which  forbid  it;  we  go  even  to  the  rigour against others,  upon  the  observance  of  duties  which  interest  not our own  weaknesses,  and  we  carry  our  severity  beyond  even  the  rule itself. The Pharisees,  so  instructed  in,  and  so  severe  upon  the guilt of  the  adulteress,  and  upon  the  punishments  attached  by  the law to  the  infamy  of  that  infidelity,  saw  not  their  own  pride,  their