Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/548

 his afflictions  are  without  resource,  his  evils  without  consolation, even his  pleasures  without  enjoyment;  his  anxieties  upon  the  present, endless:  his  reflections  on  the  past  and  on  the  future,  gloomy and sad;  his  faith  is  the  source  of  all  his  anguish;  his  lights  of  all his despair. What a  situation! What a  miserable  lot! What shocking changes  are  operated  by  one  act  of  guilt,  both  internally and externally,  on  man! How dearly  does  he  purchase  eternal misery! And, is  it  not  true  that  the  way  of  the  world  and  of  the passions is  still  infinitely  more  arduous  and  painful  than  that  of  the Gospel; and  that  there  is  more  toil  and  vexation  of  spirit  in  gaining the  kingdom  of  hell,  if  it  be  proper  to  speak  in  this  manner, than in  gaining  the  kingdom  of  heaven? O innocence  of  heart, what blessings  dost  thou  not  bring  with  thee  to  man! O man, what losest  thou  not,  when  thou  losest  thine  innocence  of  heart! Thou losest  all  the  consolations  of  faith,  the  sweetest  occupation  of the  piety  of  the  righteous;  but  thou  also  deprivest  thyself  of  all  the comforts of  grace  by  which  the  lot  of  the  godly  is  rendered  so  truly enviable here  below.

Part II. — When comforts  and  consolations,  says  St.  Augustine, are promised  to  worldly  souls  in  the  observance  of  the  law  of  God, they consider  our  promises  as  a  pious  mode  of  speaking,  employed to give  credit  and  consequence  to  virtue;  and,  as  a  heart  which has never  tasted  of  these  chaste  delights  is  also  incapable  of  comprehending them,  we  are  obliged,  continues  that  holy  father,  to reply  to  them,  "  How  wouldst  thou  that  we  convince  thee?" We cannot say  unto  thee,  *  O  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good  P? seeing  a  diseased  and  vitiated  heart  can  have  no  relish  for  the  things in heaven. Give us  a  heart  that  loves,  and  it  will  feel  the  truth  of every  thing  we  say.

My design,  therefore,  here,  is  not  so  much  to  enlarge  upon  all the inward  operations  of  grace  in  the  heart  of  the  just,  as  to  contrast the  happy  situation  in  which  it  places  them,  here  below,  with the melancholy  lot  of  sinners,  and,  by  this  comparison,  to  overwhelm vice  and  to  encourage  virtue. Now, I  say,  that  grace  provides two  kinds  of  consolations  here  below  to  the  godly:  the  one internal and  secret,  the  other  external  and  sensible;  both  of  them so essential  to  happiness  in  this  life,  that  no  earthly  gratification can ever  compensate  for  them.

The first  internal  benefit  accruing  to  the  believing  soul  from grace, is  the  establishment  of  a  solid  peace  in  his  heart,  and  a  reconciliation with  himself. For, my  brethren,  we  all  bear  within us natural  principles  of  equity,  of  modesty,  and  of  rectitude. We come into  the  world,  as  the  apostle  says,  with  the  precepts  of  the law written  in  the  heart. If virtue  be  not  our  first  bent,  we  at  least, feel that  it  is  our  first  duty. In vain  does  passion  sometimes  undertake secretly  to  persuade  us  that  we  are  born  for  pleasure;  and that, after  all,  tendencies  implanted  by  nature,  and  which  every  one finds within  himself,  can  never  be  crimes. This foreign  persuasion is  ineffectual  in  quieting  the  criminal  soul. It is  a  desire,  for