"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. Aug.
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 osiers 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, of how exemplary soever a conduct, that should not tremble at the justice of God, because he cannot be certain whether he be worthy of love or hatred. To the all-seeing eye of Infinite Perfection, the very angels themselves shall not appear without blemish. 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 who thinks he stands,
take heed lest he fall."
1 Corinthians iv.
"Though you be in a place of safety,
do not on that account think yourself secure."
St. Bernard.