2. His dying eyes glare gloomily and savagely, expressing all the terror of his soul. From his depths of misery he utters words so interrupted by sobs, that half cannot be understood, and no one knows whether they are the expression of despair or of repentance. He casts on a crucified God frightful looks, which leave a doubt in the minds of those who surround him as to whether it is fear or hope, hatred or love, which they express. 3. He is seized with horrible convulsions, and they know not if it is the dissolution of the body or the soul which feels the approach of its judge. He sighs profoundly, and they know not if it is the remembrance of his crimes which draw these sighs, or despair at leaving life. 4. At length, in the midst of the most painful agony, his eyes become glazed, his features change, his face is distorted, his livid mouth half opens of itself, his whole frame is convulsed; and with this last effort, his unfortunate soul, drawn from its earthly tabernacle, falls into the hands of God, and stands alone at the foot of His awful tribunal. MASSILLON. 105. ON THE SMALL NUMBER OF THE ELECT. MAGINE that it is now your last hour, and the end of the IMAGE world; that the heavens are about to open above your heads, and Jesus Christ in all His glory to appear in the middle of this temple; that you are only assembled as trembling criminals, and, in an instant, the sentence of pardon or of eternal condemnation will be pronounced for you. 2. In vain do you flatter yourselves, for you will die such as you are to-day; all the desires of a change or a future conversion which deceive you to-day, will deceive you on your death-bed. This is the experience of all ages. All that you will then find new in yourselves will be an account, perhaps, still greater than the one you would have to render to-day; and by what you would be, were you to be judged this mo ment, you can almost decide what will be your fate when life will end. 3. Now I ask you, and as I ask you, I am overwhelmed with terror-for I do not separate my own fate from yours-and placing myself in the same condition that I so earnestly wish for you; I ask you, then-If Jesus Christ were to appear in this temple, in the midst of this assembly, the most august in the universe, to pass sentence of judgment-to make the terrible distinction between the sheep and the goats; do you believe that the greatest number of you who are around me would be placed on the right? Do you even believe that there would be an equal number on both sides? Do you believe that He would find the ten just and holy persons that the Lord in former times could not find in five entire cities? I ask this question-you cannot answer it; neither can I. Thou only, O my God, knowest those who belong to Thee! 4. But if we know not who are His, we at least know that sinners do not belong to Him. Now, who are the faithful here assembled? Titles and dignities must be counted as nothing; you will be stripped of all of them before Jesus Christ. 5. Again I ask, Who are here? Many sinners who do not wish to be converted; many more who wish their conversion, but who defer it; many others who only reform in order to fall back into their former state; and, finally, a great number who believe they have no need of conversion. Behold the number of the reprobates! Take, then, these four sorts of sinners from this holy assembly, for they will be assuredly cut off on that great day. 6. Appear, now, O ye just-where are ye? Remnant of Isreal, pass to the right. Wheat of Jesus Christ, separate yourself from this straw destined for the flames! Oh, God, where are Thy elect, and what remains for Thy portion? MASSILLON. 106. EXORDIUM AT ST. SULPICE. [PERE BRIDAINE is one of those apostolic missionaries, endowed with a bold and vigorous imagination, who knows no other success than conversions, no other applause than tears. No one ever possessed in a higher degree the rare talent of arresting the attention of an assembled multitude than the Abbé Bridaine. He had so fine a voice as to render credible all the wonders which history relates of the declamation of the ancients; for he was as easily heard y ten thousand people in the open fields, as if he had spoken under the most esounding arch. He preached in the Church of St. Sulpice, 1751. The élite the Capital went out of curiosity to hear the man who had created such sensation in the province. Père Bridaine perceived among the congregation many nobles and persons of the first rank, as well as a vast number of ecclesiastics. The sight, far from intimidating, suggested to him the following exordium, not unworthy of Bossuet or Demosthenes. In apologizing, so to speak, for having preached upon hell in the villages, he boldly assumed all the authority over his audience which belonged to his office, and prepared their hearts for the awful truths which he intended to announce. This exordium gave him a right to say every thing.] NTIL now I have proclaimed the righteousness of the Most High in churches covered with thatch. I have preached the rigors of penance to the unfortunate who wanted bread. I have declared to the good inhabitants of the country the most awful truths of my religion. Unhappy man! what have I done? I have made sad the poor, the best friends of my God! I have conveyed terror and grief into those simple and honest souls, whom I ought to have pitied and consoled! It is here only where I behold the great, the rich, the oppressors of suffering humanity, or sinners daring and hardened. Ah! it is here only where the sacred Word should be made to resound with all the force of its thunder; and where I should place with me in this pulpit, on the one side, Death which threatens you, and on the other, my great God, who is about to judge you. I hold to-day your sentence in my hand. Tremble, then, in my presence, ye proud and disdainful men who hear me ! 2. The necessity of salvation, the certainty of death, the uncertainty of that hour, so terrifying to you, final impenitence, the last judgment, the number of the elect, hell, and, above all, eternity! Eternity! These are the subjects upon which I am come to discourse, and which I ought, doubtless, to have reserved for you alone. Ah! what need have I of your commendation, which perhaps might damn me without saving you? God is about to rouse you while his unworthy minister speaks to you! for I have had a long experience of his mercies. Penetrated with a detestation of your past iniqui ties, and shedding tears of sorrow and repentance, you will then throw yourselves into my arms, and by this remorse you will prove that I am sufficiently eloquent. 3. Maury, after citing this exordium of Father Bridaine as one of the master-pieces of pulpit eloquence, proceeds with these remarks :-Every thing, then, is in the orator's power, when he has thus won his audience; and he ought to take advantage of this power, which is given to him temporarily, to complete his work, and to develop and organize in the minds of the listeners the idea to which he has given birth: this is the third stage of his undertaking. 4. Strike the iron while it is hot, says the proverb. In the present instance, there is something more than iron, and better than iron, to forge and fashion. Eloquence would miss its aim, if it failed to lead the hearer by some act by which the idea is to be realized. It is in this last stage, then, that the practical part of the discourse should be placed along with the application of the deductions. In these must the speaker reap the fruits of his labor. After having imparted his feelings and thoughts to the listener, he must also make them partakers of his will. He must imprint his personality upon them, fashion them in his resemblance, so that they shall feel, think, and will as he does, in the interest of that truth and excellence of which he has brought home to them the manifestation. 5. He must not take leave of his audience till he has touched, convinced, and carried it away. It is in the peroration, as we are about to see, that the seal must be set to the work, and that it must receive its plenary completeness. 107. SONG OF THE ANGELS OVER THE SKEPTICS CONVERSION. AIL to the Spirit HAIL That all shall inherit By childlike belief! Hail to the mortal, Now safe through the portal 2. Crown him with roses, As glad he reposes In the garden of love; No longer forbidden, He findeth above. 8. Angels caress him, For Jesus doth bless him 4. Tempests have tossed him, Hardly he won Escape from the burning; Hail his returning, The prodigal son! Show him the river He now doth adore; |