that are to come, but also in those that are past, in which thou hast found thy will repugnant, that so thou mayst correct it, and render it inclinable to better things.

Secondly, let every action be preceded by this thought, that when once done they can never be undone and so provide beforehand that they may be such, as thou shalt for ever wish them to have been.

Thirdly, when actions are completed, call again the same to mind, and weigh well the speech and language that was brought forward, considering that what hath now been done or thought for a moment, hath become everlasting: for things once thought, or said, or done, can not be undone.

Ejaculations.

"Man is like a thing of nought, his time passeth away like a shadow.” Psalm cxliv. 4.

"The days of man are but as grass, for he flourisheth as a flower of the field.” Psalm ciii. 15.

"When the breath of man goeth forth, he shall turn again to his earth, and then all his thoughts perish." Psalm cxlv. 3.

"Thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect of Thee, and verily every man living is altogether vanity. For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain.” Psalm xxxix. 6, 7.

"The Lord knoweth the days of the godly, and their inheritance shall endure for ever." Psalm xxxvii. 18.

IMAGE THE TWENTY-SECOND.

ATTEND TO THE EXAMPLES OF THE SAINTS, AND TO THEIR SAYINGS RESPECTING ANY VIRTUE WHICH THOU ART DESIROUS TO ATTAIN.

That thou mayst the more powerfully be stirred up to Virtue, search out (A) and follow the examples of the Saints, such as suffered from the hatred and persecution of the world. Many a one hath desired to do so, but alas, some Sin hath intervened and entangled and drawn him back from so holy a purpose (B). Weigh with thyself what they thought and wrote of virtue, and how they practised it; they on whom the Holy Spirit shed His inspirations (C), those humble and contrite ones with whom He came to dwell. Take the blessed Virgin (D) as an example of humility; St. Paul (E), of zeal; St. Jerome (F) and St. Anthony, of penitence and devotion; the Martyrs (G), of patience. Consider what the philosophers (H) of old, who only lived in the shade of Virtue (I), thought concerning it, and how they practised it. Why dost thou not imitate even these? "The men of Nineve," says our Saviour,“ shall rise up in the judgment with this ration, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here!" And the same did He say of the Queen of the South, who came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. This we ought to receive also concerning the ancient philosophers, and by their labours after the shadow of Virtue, to stimulate ourselves to the attainment of the substance and reality.

gene

On the Emitation of the Saints,

OR THE SIXTH MEANS OF INCREASING MEDITATION AND

THE FRUITS THEREOF.

FOR the place of thy Meditation consider the Image. And use the prayer annexed.

FIRST POINT.

CONSIDER that besides the great light of day, God has given to the Saints, like world many other luminaries, that they may afford us light stars. during the night: in like manner, we have besides CHRIST, the blessed Virgin, and the other Saints in the Church, giving themselves as the companions and guides of our journey to the heavenly Jerusalem, See whether you are following them; and observe how they, by the endurance of many evils, by humility, and perseverance, and courageous determination in overcoming their evil inclinations and affections, have arrived at that excellent virtue. In what manner are you striving to attain to it? Secondly, how greatly have they glorified God, each of them by his own example provoking innumerable others to follow CHRIST, and His laws: shining, as the Apostle says, like lights in the dark place of this world. Recount the names of some of these Saints of God, the glorious but difficult victories which they obtained over themselves by refusing honours, and the pleasures and desires of the flesh. They were stoned, says the Apostle, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented: of whom the world was not Labours of worthy: they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in the Saints in dens and caves of the earth: and all these things they endured, that they be found approved by the evidence of their faith, and might attain to virtue. And surely with good reason, for since virtue is b Heb. xi. 37, 38.

acquiring vir

tue.

a 2 Pet. i. 19.