not frighten yon. and prevent your fulfilling the obligations which the Christian religion imposes.]
“ I do not blush at the Gospel.” — Romans i.
“ Why should you fear or be ashamed, when armed with the sign of the cross? ” — St. Austin ,
FIFTEENTH DAY. — DIFFIDENCE IN OURSELVES.
1. We have nothing to fear so much as ourselves. Our own weakness is more alarming than the united powers of hell. A thought, a word, a single look, is enough to overcome us. Angels have rebelled; Adam hath fallen; Solomon hath bowed to idols; Peter hath denied his Master. When cedars have yielded, how shall the reed stand?
2. Our own heart is our most dangerous enemy. Our senses and our passions are always conspiring against us; we are vanquished almost without a struggle. Let us, then, never be so weak or foolish as to trust to ourselves. Many, whom torments could not shake, have wretchedly perished in a slight temptation: they were victorious over tyrants, but vanquished by concupiscence.
3. There is no man, how exemplary soever in conduct, that should not tremble at the justice of God, because he cannot be certain whether he be worthy of love or hatred. Sanctity may be lost in a single moment, and the saint may be transformed into an odious reprobate. We should all, therefore, cry out with St. Philip of Neri: "Watch me, O Lord, this day; for, abandoned to myself, I shall surely betray thee.”
[Beware of the occasions of sin; the most dangerous are often what you are least afraid of.]
“Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.” — 1 Cor.iv.
“ Though you be in a place of safety, do not on that account think yourself secure."— St. Bernard.
