Roger Baxter

“ Thus will your poor soul be circumstanced. You will stand, bereft of counsellors and friends, despoiled of everything which you had in the world, and accompanied by nothing but your own works. These alone, whether they have been good or evil, will accompany you to judgment. ”

“ He could have given to the original matter, of which you were made, an infinite number of other forms, but he was pleased to endow it with a rational soul, and give you a being among men. But for what object? Not to trifle away your time and existence in folly, not to pursue the honors and pleasures and vanities of this world, and to terminate your lives like irrational creatures. "The Lord has made all things for Himself." ”

“ I. How easy it is to sin so as to deserve the pains of purgatory! God will suffer nothing in the slightest degree criminal to pass unpunished. Considering how prone we all are to evil, and how averse to good actions, we have every reason to be on our guard even in our best actions. The sanctity and purity of our God are so perfect that He is easily offended by the negligence or ingratitude of His creatures; and whoever loves his God or his own soul, whoever pays any attention to his own best interests, will avoid even the smallest imperfection. ”

“ How carefully would you put your habitation in order, lest anything might offend the prince's eyes! How much more pains ought you to take to adorn your soul, and render it a fit habitation for the King of heaven, who condescends to visit you in the holy Eucharist! "A house is preparing, not for man," as the prophet says, "but for God." ”

“ Ponder how fitly God is termed the fountain of living water, from which flow all good things, and how suitably ail the things of this world are called cisterns, which can hold no water, that is, which can afford no means of satisfying the cravings of an immortal soul. ”

“ Millions of years will pass away and still these torments will exist as if they were only just beginning. Alas! they will endure forever, — yes, forever. " The smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever; neither have they rest day nor night." (Apoc. xiv. 11.) 1. They will be eternal, because the human soul is immortal; "They shall desire to die, and death shall fly from them." ”

“ What misfortunes has this sin entailed on mankind, and yet the transgression seems trivial! — How terrible must sin be!
III. How much severer punishments, and how much more terrible judgments, you have deserved, who have so often and so easily offended against God's law! It would have been just had you been expelled, not as Adam was, from Paradise, but from this world. You have often offended Him, and still He waits for your repentance. ”

“ I. We ought to avoid venial sin; not only because it disposes to mortal guilt, but also in consequence of its own intrinsic deformity. St. Augustine says that venial sins are to the soul what ulcers are to the body: they deface its spiritual beauty and disfigure it in the eyes of its heavenly spouse. Those who are dressed in white clothes are cautious when they pass over muddy roads. Souls invested with habitual grace are " whiter than snow, purer than milk, fairer than the sapphire" (Lament, iv. 7.) ”

“ II. What ought a sick man to do by way of immediate preparation for death: 1. He must purify his soul from all sin, by a sincere confession (a general confession in such a case is very advantageous) . 2. He must resign himself entirely to God in regard to life or death. 3. He must foresee the occasions in which he may have to suffer, either in consequence of the violence of his disease or the negligence of his attendants, and arm his mind against temptations to impatience in these cases. 4. He must procure the reading of good books. ”

“ Foolish mortals, ungrateful Christians!
III. What ought to be done to avoid hell? "Avoid sin and do good." If you would not consent for the whole world to undergo, even for an hour, a very severe corporal pain, with how much more reason ought you to labor to avoid the pains of hell. This cannot be done without avoiding sin. "Let us therefore bewail our sins," as Thomas a Kempis says, "before we come to that place where our tears will be of no other avail than to increase our torments;" and let us avoid sin for the future; for sin is the fuel of hell. ”

“ I. As hell is destined for the punishment of mortal sin, so is purgatory ordained to be the punishment of venial transgressions. In purgatory souls suffer for a time the "pain of loss" and the pains of the senses. Ponder then on their pain of loss. They are deprived of the beatific vision and the enjoyment of God, which they most ardently desire. "Hope that is deferred afflicteth the soul." (Prov. xiii. 12.) Much more is the soul afflicted when those hopes regard an enjoyment so great as is the happiness of heaven. ”

“ If God spared not the angels that sinned, but having cast them down into the place of torments, delivered them into the chains of hell to be tormented, the Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be tormented. ”

“ These are the two principal points in a Christian life; they are the two wings on which we must fly to heaven. In regard to the first branch of a Christian's duty, the declining from evil, " the life of man upon earth" is declared in Holy Scripture to be "a continual warfare" (Job ix. 28) ; and Christians are termed soldiers, because it is their duty to stand on their guard, and resist the suggestions of the enemy and his temptations to sin. ”

“ The place of punishment is hideous and in the vicinity of hell, as most of the holy Fathers think. 2. The nature of the fire is the same as that of hell. 3. The torments are excessive; for as St. Augustine observes, "the purgative fire is more grievous than any pain whatever that we can see, feel, or imagine in this world." 4. Although the pains of purgatory will not endure like the pains of hell, forever, yet in regard to many poor souls they will endure for a very long time; and even should the time of suffering be in itself short, it will seem to the sufferers extremely long. ”

“ We often make virtues of our vices, and real virtue we consider folly. To remedy this moral defect in man, the eternal Wisdom of the Father descended from heaven to be our Master, and teach us the ways of truth. ”

“ The Sin of Lucifer and his Apostate Angels.
Our first duty is to remove every impediment which may prevent us from attaining the end of our creation, and from serving God; and then procure a supply of virtue. Now this impediment (and it is the only one) is sin, the guilt and detestable nature of which you may learn by meditating the fall of Lucifer, and then that of our first parents. ”

“ That the just may receive that honor and glory before all mankind, which they deserve, and the wicked meet with that confusion which they have merited; for in this world, for His own wise purposes, God frequently suffers the wicked to be exalted and permits the virtuous to be depressed. 3. That our bodies may receive reward or punishment, as they have been the instruments of virtue or of vice. ”

“ III. Add to all these considerations the reflection that every sinner tramples under foot the precious blood of Jesus Christ, shed for our transgressions; converts the gifts of God into arms against Him; and, in as much as he can, attempts the destruction of God Himself, and saddens the angels and Saints of God. Lastly, he injures the world by his evil example, and the devil triumphs. With good reason then does Ecclesiasticus exclaim to all the children of Adam, " Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent — the teeth thereof are the teeth of a lion, killing the souls of men." ”

“ III. How many obligations you are under to a God so patient, who has so long waited for you to do penance. Beware, lest His patience, which you have abused so often, be changed into fury. Therefore, beg pardon for what is past, and reform your conduct for the future.
Mortal Sin— II. The Person Offended.
I. The greater the dignity of the person offended, the greater is the offence; it is a greater crime to wound a father or a prince than any indifferent person. Reflect deeply, then, who it is that you have so often provoked by your sins. ”

“ II. In this warfare we are to combat sin, even to death; we must never desist, or think ourselves secure, but always stand under arms with watchful care and fear. Job, with all his virtue, examined and feared the smallest of his actions. David, though a man according to God's own heart, did in his own emphatical language continually "sweep his spirit." ”

“ I. Sickness is the usual warning of death. Every one should therefore most carefully foresee what will be most expedient for him, in that state, to make a secure and a happy exit from this world. He must first acknowledge that sickness and pain are sent by a most loving Father, to expiate his sin or to increase and try his virtue. ”

“ Although every Christian is bound to avoid them; yet those who have especially bound themselves to imitate Jesus Christ in perfection ought to shun them in a peculiar manner. God enjoins every one of His Levites " to be perfect and without spot before the Lord his God." (Deut. xviii. 13.) Examine your life and your actions, and for the future attempt to lead a spotless life, for it is a terrible thing to offend the Lord your God.
Venial Sin.— III. Its Punishment.
I. Consider the words of royal David: "Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy judgment is righteous." ”

“ III. The angel will go forth and sound on his trumpet the terrible words, "Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment!" The dead will then resume their bodies; but with what different feelings! The wicked will inveigh against their bodies, because for their gratification they have committed so many crimes. They will exclaim to the mountains, " fall upon us, and to the hills, cover us." ”

“ What ought you not to undergo to avoid the danger of such suffering!
Hell. II.
I. Consider the expression of the Wise Man: "By what things a man sinneth by the same also he is tormented." (Wis. xi. 17.) In each one of the senses by which the sinful soul has offended God it will be punished. 1. The sight will be tortured with the view of the most hideous monsters, of devils and reprobate souls. The representations of past crimes will rise up in horrid succession before it, and perhaps the guilty associates of former transgressions will be there to add to the poor soul's torment. ”

“ III. We can only die once. If we die a bad death, we cannot recover ourselves; if we die well, all will be well forever. "If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be." (Eccles. xi. 3.) There will be no more time or place for repentance. Take care, then, that by leading a good life you may be always ready, and the tree fall on the right side. Consider your present state, and examine whether there be anything on your conscience which you would be sorry for on your death-bed. ”

“ III. You must prepare your soul for the arrival of so great a guest. "Be prepared," says the prophet Amos, to meet thy God, O Israel." (Amos iv. 12.) Wherefore, purify it first, as perfectly as you are able, not only from all mortal guilt, but also from all venial sin. "Blessed are the clean of heart," says Jesus Christ, "for they shall see God." (Matt. v. 8.) Enkindle afterwards in your soul an ardent love, that you may long retain your heavenly guest with you; for He says, "If any one love Me, we will come to him and make our abode with him." ”

“ Therefore you are not to desire riches, honor, nor the conveniences of this life, nor even health, unless they help you to praise and serve God. Wherefore the devout author of the Imitation of Christ says well: "Better is the humble peasant, that serves God, than the proud philosopher, who neglecting himself, meditates on the course of the heavens." ”

“ I. Since the object of your existence is to praise and serve God alone, and since the means relating to any end are good or bad only, inasmuch as they help us to attain that end or withdraw us from it; so it is evident that you ought to make use of creatures only inasmuch as they further the attainment of that object, and to avoid them when they withdraw you from it. ”

“ Man alone is raised to the sublime dignity of blessing and praising his Creator in a rational manner, and after a short life spent virtuously, of being crowned with immortal glory. With good reason holy David, full of wonder, exclaims, "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? — Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and hast set Him over the works of Thy hands." (Ps. viii. 5.)
III. Consider under what obligations you are to your Creator for so great a favor ”

“ III. From slight wounds, when neglected, it frequently happens that severe indispositions ensue, and not unfrequently even death. The same happens to the soul from venial sin. Examine therefore all your actions, and discover in which you are most liable to receive spiritual wounds. Guard against them in time, and endeavor to refrain not only from evil, but, as the apostle advises, "from all appearance of evil." (1 Thes. v. 22.) No caution can be too great when eternity is at stake. ”

“ Augustine again remarks, "may find little or nothing
in you to consume."
Death.— I. Its Certainty and Uncertainty.
Having considered the heinousness of sin, it is now proper to apply the remedies against it, among which none are more efficacious than the meditation of the four last things, and first of death.
I. Death is absolutely inevitable and certain. " It is appointed for men once to die." (Heb. ix. 27.) Nothing is more certain, nothing can be more evident. ”