The Christians Guide to Devotion, Part 4 · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. The firſt particular Direction: To have our hours of Devotion well choſen and ordered.
AFter theſe general Advices, it will be neceſſary to give ſome more particular ones: And firſt, I believe, that to have the hours of Devotion well regulated, is a very great …p to Devotion. Man is a Creature of Habit as well … other living Creatures. An Horſe that has been us'd to go one way, will not fail to return that way again, and when the hours of baiting come, he will g… no farther: ſo the Heart doth, without any guidance or endeavour, return by its ſelf to thoſe things which it has been accuſtomed to do. Chooſe then your hour… of Evening, Morning, Mid-day, at nine of clock, a… three: Make a Law for ſome time never to let thoſe hours paſs, but to conſecrate them to no other thing than to Devotion; and without any trouble, you… Heart will return thither at the ſame hours. Thoſe very Parts, which in us are deſtitute of Knowledge are capable of theſe Habits: When the Stomach ha… been us'd to eat at certain hours, if this be not done it feels ſomewhat wanting. The Conſcience being the Stomach of the Soul, gives it its meals, and if you happen to be wanting, it will advertiſe you on't: bu… have a care of doing violence to it, and being earneſt with it to hold its peace. When it minds you, amidſt your Occupations, that the hour is come, do not de… ferr it till another time, for it is undone if you put i… out of order; 'Twill no more remind you; you you… ſelf muſt be forc'd to ſollicit it, and then the Soul i… in a wretchleſs condition, when the Conſcience i… aſleep, when the Heart ſlumbers, and when there i… need of awakening it by an expreſs Reflection.
If you ask me what hours it is to chooſe, and how many, I ſhall perhaps be very much put to it to anſwer you. Good David orders ſeven for himſelf; Seven times a day do I praiſe thee. Daniel had chiefly three: Our Lord retir'd whole Nights together into a Mountain apart to pray. Alas! it were to be wiſh'd we could give all out hours to God; but the neceſſities of Nature, and the infirmities of the Fleſh vot… it fruitleſs;,; and I know not what mood and tempe… thoſe Devotes might be of, who, we are told, paſs whole dayes and nights in Meditation and Contemplation. I will pronounce nothing herein, and I leave every one to his own Conſcience. If we cannot give all …o God, certain it is we are to reſerve to him the better part, and that amongſt our hours we ought to ſet ſome aſide, which may be proper to him, and never beſtowed upon the World. The number muſt be regulated according to the diverſity of Strengths; and I believe it ſhould increaſe according to the meaſure of the progreſs …e make in Devotion. A Child cannot lift up a Burthen which a vigorous man can carry with eaſe: ſo that very one muſt regulate himſelf according to his …rength. 'Tis good to eat when we are hungry, and … draw nigh to God when the Heart is warm, and as …ften as it pleaſes to do ſo, there is no reaſon for a …efuſal herein. But you are to obſerve, that if your oppetite be buried, and does not manifeſt it ſelf, you …o not fail of having your ſet Repaſts, and rather love … eat without hunger, than ſtarve your ſelf for want … Food. 'Tis the ſame here; If you are ſo unhappy as … be deprived of this holy appetite of Spiritual things, … not wait till it comes, loſe not the hours of your …evotions and your Spiritual repaſts; eat without hun…er, and perhaps your Appetite will be renew'd, No …an in health, ſcarcely, but eats twice a day; and …et ſick People we ſee take nouriſhment much oftener; … obſerve only, that their Repaſts are very ſhort and …fie. I am of opinion, we ought to order the …me Diet to thoſe indiſpoſed Souls which are yet …ovices in the practice of Devotion. We muſt ob…e them to return oft to it, but in ſhort Exerciſes, …ut ſuch weak Souls may not take a diſguſt at it.
If a Clock be not wound up ſometimes a day, it will …t go long; the weights, that are tied to the ropes, …ſcending to the Earth, whither, as ſoon as they are …me, the whole Machine ſtands ſtill. The Soul is …is wonderful Machine, made up of its Faculties as of Theels and Springs, the weights of the Fleſh drawing down. Pull it up often if you would have it go: Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, They who look to theſe Automatous Machines, obſerve daily to wind them up at the ſame hours, otherwiſe they are put out of Order. And this, I ſay, is to be obſerved in the conduct of a faithful Soul.
All hours are good: for Heaven is alwayes open, and God's Throne evermore acceſſible; yet ſome there are more proper than others. Thoſe of the Morning are ſo truly God's, that we cannot rob him of them without Sacriledge. If God will have the firſt-fruits of our Herds, with much ſtronger reaſon he will have the firſt of our hours: And what time more proper to lift up our Eyes and our Hearts to the Sun of Righteouſneſs, than that wherein the ſenſible Sun ariſes upon the Earth? Is it not time then that the Morning-ſtar ariſe in our hearts, and Prayer open the Gate to Grace? At what hour, with better effect, can we lift up our hearts to God, than at the beginning of a Race, the ſucceſs where of depends intirely on him? In the morning we ought to ſeal our hearts with holy thoughts, and fill our minds with chaſte and good Ideas, that the Corruption in the World, which the reſt of the day will by the Senſes give a thouſand aſſaults to our heart, may find it well fortified. This will be a morning-dew, which in falling from Heaven upon our Souls, will make them fruitful in all good works for the reſt of the day. This will be an Amulet againſt the evil air of the World without which we are not to leave our Lodgings, nor expoſe our ſelves to the rencounter of contagious Objects. As God ought to be the firſt thing in our Hearts, ſo he muſt be the laſt too: for he ſaith, I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Let him open the door of our thoughts in the morning, and ſhut it up in the Evening. This will be a Seal which the Devils will reſpect; tho we be diſarmed all, while aſleep, they will tremble at our ſight and will not dare to come near us. The deſtroying Angel in paſſing by will reverence this Impreſſion, and this fruit of the Blood of the Lamb. Theſe Evening-Devotions will be an holy Seed caſt on good Land, which will not fail to ſpring up in the morning; ſince the heart will find it no trouble to begin the preſent Journey, where it had ended the preceding one. And in as much as 'tis true, that the Soul, abandon'd to its ſelf in ſleep, is naturally carried to the laſt Objects of its waking, we need not doubt, but the dreams will be happy, and the Images which ariſe from thoſe laſt impreſſions which Piety had made upon the Heart, will be very ſweet ones.
The night it ſelf is perfectly a friend to Devotion. 'Tis there that recollectings are very eaſie, the Soul being not diſſipated by preſent Objects. Nothing is ſweeter than to fill the heart with God, when void of other things. God is well pleas'd if a faithful Soul makes an Altar of its bed, and makes him its vows in a retreat where are no witneſſes. Let thy body be laid provided thy Soul be elevated and thou fall upon the knees of thy Heart, as Clemens Romanus phraſes it. Theſe nightly Communications with God ſeem more near and ſtrict; ſince laying our ſelves down in our beds we bid fare-well to the World, and baniſh its cares and troubles from us, to give repoſe to the body. The Soul finds it ſelf in a bleſt eſtate, and at its waking being diſengaged from the World, it hath all manner of Liberty to mount up to God. Thus we ſee, that a great …rt of David's Pſalms were compos'd in the night, I will bleſs the Lord, ſays he in the ſixteenth Pſalm, who …ath given me Counſel: my reins alſo instruct me in the night …eaſon. He aſſures us in the ſixth Pſalm, that he waters is bed with his Tears: and the ſpouſe ſaith, by night I …ught him whom my Soul loveth. In a word, we learn …om Hiſtory, that Antony the Patriarch of the Hermits …omplain'd very frequently of the Sun's return, very …ear in theſe Terms; Why comeſt thou, O Sun, to trouble the reſt of my Soul? why riſeſt thou ſo ſoon to tear me away from the ſervice of my God? why comeſt thou to rob me of the ſight of my true Sun?
Meditation.
THE meaſure of God's love is to have neither meaſures nor bounds: it is to contain all the degrees of Love. The true rule for the hours of Devotion is to conſecrate all our hours to him. This is what thou oughteſt to do, O my Soul, but thou canſt not. For thou draggeſt after thee a bodily priſon, which is an hindrance to thee. Thy Affections cannot be tam'd ſo far: thou art ſubject even to worldly neceſſities, which will not ſuffer it. How happy wilt thou be then, when thou art in ſuch a place, where thou mayſt give up all thy hours to thy Creator and Redeemer. There, being deliver'd from the bonds of Fleſh, thou wilt ſerve the father of Spirits in perfect Liberty. But now thou divideſt thy time betwixt thy Employments, thy Divertiſements, thy Repaſts, and thy Devotions. But then theſe four things ſhall not be diſtinct; they ſhall all be blended together. Thy continual occupation ſhall be to ſing the praiſes of thy God, and to contemplate his Glory. Thy meat and drink ſhall be to do the will of thy Father which is in Heaven. Thy Pleaſure and Divertiſement will be in a moſt intimate injoyment to poſſeſs him who is the Source of all Joy. Thou ſhalt have no more hours of Devotion; for this fourth thing will be mixt in the three others. Thou ſhalt be ever all Flame and all Fire for the ſervice of thy God: in this will conſiſithy chief happineſs. wouldſt thou then here below… approach near the Glories of Paradice? multiply and continue, as far as thou canſt, thy Commerces and Communications with God. If thou wert always with God God would be always with thee: Now where God is there is Paradice. When thou entereſt into thy Cloſe with moſt devout Diſpoſitions, God enters there with thee, and after him a whole troop of Angels, Cherubims, and Seraphims: for he incamps his Angels about them that fear him, and eſpecially at ſuch times as they fear and ſerve him. No Object is more charming to the Angels, who ſeek the good and well-ſare of Men, than to ſee a perſon truly devout falling on his Face to the Earth, bathing his Couch and Boſom in Tears, breathing the moſt ardent ſighs towards Heaven, carrying his Eyes thither, where his heart is, and ſtretching forth pure hands to God, that he may embrace him. There is Joy in Heaven for one devout Soul as well …s for one penitent ſinner. Wherefore it is, Heaven ſeems to deſcend and come down (as it were) to this Spectacle. Labour then, O my Soul, to be ever praſtiſing Devotion, as well as Repentance, that Heaven may be glad, and thy God come often to thee. By theſe frequent Communications thou wilt become right like the Face of Moſes. The rays of that divine Sun will peirce and illuminate thee; they will ba…iſh the Darkneſs out of thee, and melt the Ice and Coldneſs that makes thee ſo heavy and neglectful. And …y beholding him often thou wilt become his Glaſs, …nd wilt be changed into the ſame Image, from Glory … Glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Prayer.
O Sun of my Soul, I ſeek thee with all my Strength, hide not thy ſelf from me, and ſuffer no Eclipſe; diſperſe thoſe Clouds which cover and ſeparate thee …rn me, and rob me of the view of thy Light. My ſins …confeſs continually raiſe thick, filthy, and malign vapours, which may grow into Clouds, and theſe Clouds afterwards …duce the Storms and Thunders of thy ſevere Juſtice, … thou wouldſt puniſh me as I deſerve. But from hence …th, O Lord, hinder theſe Vapours from ariſing, and dry … their Source. Let not my Heart be any more as a …arſh full of unmoving and putrified Waters, but let it be a living and pure Fountain. Let it be no more an accurſed Field abounding in Poyſons, but a fertile one in Flowers and Fruits of good-living, and let none fly up to thee but ſweet and kind Exhalations, Prayers and giving of thanks, that may cauſe a ſweet-ſmelling Savour of atonement. Let thoſe ſweet vapours be chang'd into ſweet dews; and let thy Grace, falling upon my Soul like rain upon a thirſty Land, make it to rejoyce and flouriſh and bring forth fruits of Righteouſneſs. Thou art my Light, lighten me in the Darkneſs of the Night, when I call upon thee in my bed Come and honour me with thy preſenceduring the abſence of all other Objects, that I may poſſeſs thee only, and nothing may rob my Soul of thee. Cauſe the ſweetneſs of this rejoycing to diſplay an heavenly fire in my Eyes, and an holy gayety over my Countenance, which may accompany me all ways, and defend me from thoſe many troubles and vexations whereunto I am expoſed. Let me lye down a… night as in thy boſom, and let me caſt my ſelf betwixt th… arms, that I may be afraid of nothing, which is ghaſt… or terrible in Darkneſs.