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 late: because  there  is  none  that  considereth  in  the  heart.  On the  other  hand,  the  Lord  says,  that  he  who  keeps  before his eyes  the  truths  of  faith,  that  is,  death,  judgment,  and the happy  or  unhappy  eternity  that  awaits  us,  shall  never fall into  sin. In all  thy  works  remember  thy  last  end,  and thou  shalt  never  sin.  Draw  near  to  God,  says  David,  and you shall  be  enlightened. Come ye  to  him  and  be  enlightened. In  another  place  our  Saviour  says:  Let  your  loins  be girt,  and  lamps  burning  in  your  hands.  These  lamps  are, according to  St.  Bonaventure,  holy  meditations;  for  in prayer  the  Lord  speaks  to  us,  and  enlightens,  in  order  to show  us  the  way  of  salvation. Thy word  is  a  lamp  to  my feet.

St. Bonaventure  also  says,  that  mental  prayer  is,  as  it were,  a  mirror,  in  which  we  see  all  the  stains  of  the  soul. In a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Osma,  St.  Teresa  says:  "  Although it  appears  to  us  that  we  have  no  imperfections, still  when  God  opens  the  eyes  of  the  soul,  as  he  usually does  in  prayer,  our  imperfections  are  then  clearly  seen." He who  does  not  make  mental  prayer  does  not  even know his  defects,  and  therefore,  as  St.  Bernard  says,  he does  not  abhor  them. He does  not  even  know  the dangers to  which  his  eternal  salvation  is  exposed,  and therefore he  does  not  even  think  of  avoiding  them. But he  that  applies  himself  to  meditation  instantly  sees his faults,  and  the  dangers  of  perdition,  and  seeing  them,