Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/458

 observation." Truth  is  not  the  fruit  of  controversy  and  dispute, but  of  tears  and  groanings;  it  is  by  purifying  our  heart in  meditation  and  in  prayer  that  we  alone  must  expect,  like  the magi,  the  light  of  heaven,  and  to  become  worthy  of  distinguishing and  knowing  it.  A  corrupted  heart,  says  St.  Augustine, may  see  the  truth;  but  he  is  incapable  of  relishing  or  of  loving it;  in  vain  do  you  enlighten  and  instruct  yourselves:  your doubts  are  in  your  passions:  religion  will  become  evident  and clear  from  the  moment  that  you  shall  become  chaste,  temperate, and  equitable;  and  you  will  have  faith  from  the  moment  that  you shall  cease  to  have  vice.  Consequently,  from  the  instant  that  you cease  to  have  an  interest  in  finding  religion  false,  you  will  find  it incontestable;  no  longer  hate  its  maxims,  and  you  will  no  longer contest its  mysteries.

Augustine himself,  already  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel, still found,  in  the  love  of  pleasure,  a  source  of  doubts  and  perplexities which  checked  him. It was  no  longer  the  dreams  of  the Manicheans which  kept  him  removed  from  faith;  he  was  fully sensible of  their  absurdity  and  fanaticism:  it  was  no  longer  the pretended contradictions  of  our  holy  books;  Ambrose  had  explained their  purport  and  their  adorable  mysteries. Nevertheless, he still  doubted;  the  sole  thought  of  having  to  renounce  his  shameful passions  in  becoming  a  disciple  of  faith,  rendered  it  still suspicious to  him. He would  have  wished  either  that  the  doctrine of Jesus  Christ  had  been  an  imposition,  or  that  it  had  not  condemned his  voluptuous  excesses,  without  which,  indeed,  he  was then unable  to  comprehend  how  either  a  happy  or  a  comfortable life could  be  led. Thus, always  floating  and  unwilling  to  be  settled; continually consulting,  yet  dreading  to  be  instructed;  by  turns  the disciple and  admirer  of  Ambrose,  and  racked  by  the  perplexities of a  heart  which  shunned  the  truth,  he  dragged  his  chain,  as  he says  himself,  dreading  to  be  delivered  from  it;  he  continued  to start  doubts  merely  to  prolong  his  passions;  he  wished  to  be yet  more  enlightened  because  he  dreaded  to  be  it  too  much;  and, more the  slave  of  his  passions  than  of  his  errors,  he  rejected  truth, which manifested  itself  to  him,  merely  because  he  looked  upon it as  a  victorious  and  irresistible  hand  which  was  at  last  come to break  asunder  those  fetters  which  he  still  loved. The light of Heaven  finds,  therefore,  no  doubts  to  dissipate  in  the  minds  of the  magi,  because  it  finds  no  passion  in  their  hearts  to  overcome; and they  well  deserve  to  be  the  first-fruits  of  the  Gentiles,  and the first  disciples  of  that  faith  which  was  to  subjugate  all  nations to the  Gospel.

Not but  it  is  often  necessary  to  acid,  to  our  own  light,  the  approbation of  those  who  are  established,  to  distinguish  whether  it be  the  right  spirit  which  moves  us;  fallacy  is  so  similar  to  truth, that it  is  not  easy  to  avoid  being  sometimes  deceived. Thus the magi, in  order  to  be  more  surely  confirmed  in  the  truth  of  the prodigy which  guides  their  steps,  come  straight  to  Jerusalem: they consult  the  priests  and  the  scribes,  as  the  only  persons  capable