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Show lllll3ietgw,llt)OaMliailOta9llltllllMtall Ma r w J S CHAPTER XIX. Of the Exercises of a Good Religious Person. The lift of a good religious person ought to excel in all virtues; that he may inwardly be such as outwardly he seemeth to mant And rightly there ought to be much more within than is perceived without. For God beholdeth us: whom we are bound most highly to reverence wheresoever where-soever we are. and to walk in purity like angels in His eight. Daily ought we to renew our purposes, pur-poses, and to stir up ourselves to greater great-er fervor, as though this were the first day of our conversion, and to say. "Help me, Oh my God, in this my good purpose, anel in Thy holy service; and grant that I may now this day begin perfectly; for that which I have done hitherto is as nothing." ! According to our purpose shall be the success of our spiritual meeting; and much diligence is necessary to him that will profit him. And if he that firmly purposeth often faileth. what shall he do that seldom or weakly purposeth anything? Yet in various ways it happens that we forsake our purposes, and a slight omission of our spiritual exercises ia not without less to our souls, i The purpose of just men depends not upon their own wisdom, but upon God'a grace; on whom they always rely for whatsoever they take in hand. For man proposes, but God disposes; neither is the way of man himself. If an accustomed exercise be sometimes some-times omitted, either for some act of piety, or profit to our brother, it may easily afterwards be recovered again. But if, out of weariness or carelessness, careless-ness, we lightly omit it, it is very blameworthy and will be felt to be hurtful. Do the best we can, we s'hall still too easily fail in many things. Yet we must always have some fixed purpose, and especially against those things which do most of all hinder us. We must diligently search into, and set in order both our outward and in- ward things, because both of them are of importance to our progress in godliness. god-liness. If thou cans-it not continually collect thyself, yc-t do it some-times, at the least twice a day, namely, in the morning morn-ing and at night. ! In the m . rning for thy good purpose; and at night examine thyself what thou hast done, how thou hast behaved thyself thy-self in word. deed, anel thought, for in these perhaps thou hast oftentimes offended of-fended be. tii God and thy neighbor. Gird up thy loins like a man against the vi!e assjults of the devil: bridle thy riotous appetite, and thou shalt be the better able keep under all the unruly notions of the tiesh. Never be entirely idle; but either be reading, or writing or praying or meditating med-itating or endeavoring something for the; Dublic truod. As for bodily exercises- they must be practiced with discretion, neither are they to be practised- of all men alike. Those devotions which belong not to the community ought not to be exposed ex-posed to public view: for private devotions de-votions are practised most safely in secret. All' can mot use one kind of spiritual exercise, but one is more useful for this person than that. Accordingly divers' exercises are fit-ting.some fit-ting.some suit better with us on working work-ing days, others on holy days. About the time of the chief festivals, good exercises are to be renewed, and the prayer:! of godly saints more fervently fer-vently to be implored. From festival to- festival we should purpose, as though we were then to depart out of this world, and to come to the everlasting festival. Therefore ought we carefully to prepare pre-pare ourselves at holy times, and to live more devoutly, anel to keep more exactly all things that we are to observe, ob-serve, a;i though we were shortly at God's hanels to receive the reward of our labors. "Blessed is that servant (saith the Evangelist St. Luke) whom his Lord when he cometh shall find watching: Verily, I say unto you, He shall make Him ruler over all His goods." |