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Imagine that you are already dead and judged, and are standing on the brink of purgatory; tell me, what opinion would you form, on your first entrance into that furnace, of those pleasures of the senses, on account of which you are now about to suffer so terribly? In what esteem would you then hold mortification and self-abnegation? Ah! you are a madman, if you do not now what you would then wish to have done! And if you could then return to life, what a penitent life would yours be. is it perhaps a lesser favour not to be cast into it when you deserve it, than after having experienced it to be again set free? Ah! "truly we deceive ourselves through the inordinate love we bear to our flesh" (a).

EXAMEN.

On the Virtue of Mortification.

And

I. Mortification is a moral virtue which regulates, in accordance with the dictates of reason, the interior desires of the soul, as well as the external senses of the body. Wherefore, it is twofold, internal and external; the former governs the passions; the latter keeps a check upon the senses. Again, the sovereignty of the latter is of two kinds: negative, whereby it denies to the senses the dangerous pleasures of the flesh; and positive, whereby it obliges us to undertake penances of our own choosing. We have, elsewhere, treated of interior mortification; and shall, therefore, take for

(a) "Imitation of Christ," book I., chap. xxiv.

the subject of our examen to-day the external mortification of our senses, and, in a special manner, of the senses of touch and taste.

1. This may be reduced to three degrees: for 1. The sincere lover of this virtue is, necessarily, a bitter enemy to his flesh, to the conveniences of life, to luxuries, and to gluttony. Wherefore, as far as the rules of discretion and obedience permit, he chastises himself with disciplines, hair-shirts, hard beds, watching, and other penitential exercises. He takes food as he would take medicine, he refuses the more savoury, and chooses the less appetizing portions; he never goes to suppers or evening parties; he eats merely in so far as it is necessary to support life and health.

2. As far as prudence permits, he always chooses the plainest food, the coarest clothing, and the most modest dwelling that he can find. Always, everywhere, and under all circumstances, he curbs the spirit of curiosity, and bridles his senses, especially those of sight, hearing, and taste. He denies them whatever might afford them pleasure, and presents them with whatever is sure to displease. Moreover, in standing, and sitting, and kneeling, and going to rest, he ever seeks the most disagreeable positions, and never neglects even the most trifling occasion of conquering and mortifying himself.

3. He is always engaged in some useful work, and is never idle; and when obedience imposes it upon him, he freely sacrifices to God that interior sweetness which is wont to flood his soul, when he is not distracted by cares and labours. Wherefore, as far as his physical strength and a well-ordered love of himself permit, he never refuses any employment

assigned him by his superiors; and, as far as lies within his power, he seeks those which are the meanest and most laborious. Examine yourself, then, with a view to discovering if you have yet attained to any of these degrees, and to which? What means will you employ in the future to reach them? Do you, too, wish to say with the apostle, I die daily?

II. The method to be observed in the practice of this Exercise ought to be: 1, constant; 2, prudent. You will acquire constancy by the following means: 1. Commence with what is easy, and advance little by little to the more difficult exercises. 2. You would be practising a pious fraud upon yourself by resolving not to prolong this or that mortification beyond to-morrow, or the day after. 3. Frequently recall to mind the motives for mortification, which you have read in the preceding lecture.

But to constancy you must also add prudence, if you desire your mortification to be advantageous to you. That your penitential exercises may be guided by prudence, you must attend to the following rules. The first rule is this: according to the opinion of the holy fathers, those penances are to be condemned, which, either of their own nature, or because of the delicate constitution of the person who practises them, tend to bring on an early death, or serious illness, or an undue weakening of our physical powers, or sow the seeds of disease in the constitution. Second rule those penances are to be condemned which notably impede the practice of the other virtues, or render us in a notable degree less efficient for the discharge of the duties of our state. Third rule: the rigour of penitential exercises ought

to be proportioned to the physical strength of the body, to the number and heinousness of one's sins, and to the impulse of Divine grace by which one is prompted to practise them. We ought to make the pain reach the flesh; but, as a general rule, we should never use those penitential exercises which cause blood to flow. And since in this matter it is easy to sin by defect or by excess, we ought always be guided by the advice of our spiritual director. In fact, we ought to treat our body as one would treat a sick person, to whom we refuse useless things, even though he eagerly desires them, and whom we force to take what is beneficial to him, though he should be ever so unwilling" (a).

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Wherefore, examine whether you have observed these rules; and determine with yourself how often, and to what degree, you will use the hair-shirt and the discipline, and content yourself with a hard bed and less sleep; but take care to be constant in carrying out these resolutions, mindful of those words, "that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds" (b); "that you lose not the things which you have wrought but that you may receive a full reward" (c).

III. Finally, it must be observed with regard to all that has been said: 1. That exterior mortification should be practised only with a view of arriv ing, by this means, at interior mortification, which consists in bridling our sinful appetite. 2. That corporal austerities, if they do not tend to this end, and are not united to the mortification of the spirit, neither have great merit, nor do they prove of great (a) S. Bernard, Epist. ad fratres de monte dei. (b) Hebrews xii. 3. (c) 2 John viii.

utility; on the contrary, they serve but to deceive us, and to nurture pride in our souls. 3. That constancy should not degenerate into obstinacy, so that we should be unwilling to relinquish our mortifications for any consideration, even when charity, obedience, or urbanity should require us to do so. Temperance and moderation ought to be the seasoning of every virtue.

How have you acted in the past, or how do you act in the present, or how do you purpose to act for the future with respect to mortification? Examine, form your convictions, . . . take your re

solutions,

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and amend.

THIRD MEDITATION.

On the Sojourn of Jesus in the Temple.

TO THE READER.

The object of this meditation is to sever with a generous effort every inordinate attachment: 1, towards our parents; 2, towards ourselves, and the conveniences of the flesh; 3, and finally, towards every other created thing whatever, which, by enslaving our hearts, would be an impediment to the attainment of a perfect equilibrium of soul. So that, freed from every tie, we may become perfectly indifferent to all things, and prepared to elect any state that may please God, were it even the religious state; or (if we have already chosen a state) to ascend to that higher state of perfection to which God may be pleased to call us, generously sacri

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