Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/534

 secrecies of  consciences;  you  sustained  the  weak  in  faith;  you spoke of  wisdom  among  the  instructed;  and,  under  all  that  religion hath most  august  or  most  holy,  you  perhaps  concealed  whatever the earth  has  most  execrable. You were  an  impostor,  a  man  of sin,  seated  in  the  temple  of  God;  you  instructed  others,  and  you taught not  yourself;  you  inspired  horror  against  idols,  and  your days were  only  numbered  by  your  sacrileges. Ah! the mystery of iniquity  shall  then  be  revealed;  and  you  shall  at  last  be  known for what  you  have  always  been, — the  curse  of  heaven  and  the  shame of the  earth.

Behold, my  brethren,  all  the  confusion  with  which  the  criminal soul shall  be  overwhelmed. And it  will  not  be  a  transitory  confusion. In the  world  we  have  only  the  first  shame  of  a  fault  to undergo:  the  noise  of  it  gradually  dies  away;  new  adventures  at last  take  place  of  ours;  and  the  remembrance  of  our  disgrace  fades away, and  disappears  with  the  rumour  which  had  published  it. But, at  the  great  day,  shame  shall  eternally  remain  upon  the  criminal soul;  there  shall  no  longer  be  any  fresh  events  to  obliterate his crimes  and  his  confusion;  nothing  shall  more  change:  all  shall be fixed  and  eternal:  that  which  he  shall  have  appeared  before  the tribunal of  Jesus  Christ,  that  will  he  for  ever  appear:  even  the  nature of  his  torments  shall  incessantly  publish  the  nature  of  his crimes; and  his  shame  shall  every  day  be  renewed  in  his  punishment. My brethren,  reflections  here  are  needless;  and,  if  some remains of  faith  still  exist  within  you,  it  is  for  you  to  sound  your  own consciences, and,  from  this  moment  to  adopt  such  measures,  as  may enable you  to  sustain  the  manifestation  of  that  great  day.

But, after  having  shown  to  you  the  public  confusion  with  which the sinner  shall  be  covered,  why  may  I  not  expose  to  you  here what shall  be  the  glory  and  the  consolation  of  the  truly  just  man, when the  secrecies  of  his  conscience  shall  be  laid  open  to  the  universe;  when  the  whole  mystery  of  his  heart  shall  be  unfolded;  of that  heart,  of  which  all  the  loveliness  concealed  from  the  eyes  of men  was  known  only  to  God;  of  that  heart  in  which  he  had  always supposed stains  and  defilements,  and  of  which  his  humility  had concealed from  himself  all  the  holiness  and  innocency:  of  that heart in  which  God  alone  had  always  dwelt,  and  which  he  had taken pleasure  in  adorning  and  enriching  with  his  gifts  and  grace! What new  wonders  shall  that  divine  sanctuary,  hitherto  so  impenetrable, then  offer  to  the  eyes  of  the  beholders,  when  the  veil  shall be removed  from  it! What fervent  desires! What secret  victories! What heroical  sacrifices! What pure  prayers! What tender  lamentations! What faith! What grandeur! What elevation  above all those  vain  objects  which  form  all  the  desires  and  hopes  of  men! Then it  shall  indeed  be  seen,  that  nothing  was  so  great,  or  so  worthy of  admiration  in  the  world,  as  a  truly  just  man;  as  those  souls who were  considered  as  useless,  because  they  were  so  to  our  passions; and  whose  obscure  and  retired  life  was  so  much  despised. It shall  be  seen  that  the  heart  of  the  faithful  soul  possessed  more lustre and  grandeur  than  all  those  great  events  which  take  place