Summary of the Morrow's Meditation
After having seen what we must avoid in order that we may acquire or preserve purity, we will meditate tomorrow on what must be done, and we shall see that we must: 1st, be humble; 2nd, frequent the sacraments; 3rd, pray. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to have a great mistrust of ourselves, and not to expose ourselves to peril; 2nd, often to approach the sacrament of penance and of the Eucharist; 3rd, to be faithful in performing our meditation every morning, and to have a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the counsel given us by Our Lord: "Watch ye and pray, that ye enter not into temptation" (Matt. xxvi. 41).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Our Lord declaring to us in the gospel that there is a class of devils which we cannot overcome except by mortification and prayer (Matt. xvii. 20). This class of devils are above all the devils of impurity. Let us thank Jesus Christ for this warning, and let us ask of Him grace to conform ourselves to it.
FIRST POINT
In Order to be Pure we must be Humble.
Pride, says the Holy Ghost, is the precursor of all kinds of evils. "Pride goeth before destruction, and the spirit is lifted up before a fall. Before destruction the heart of a man is exalted" (Prov. xvi. 18; xviii. 12). It is because the proud man does not distrust his weakness, he does not watch over himself and his dangers. God, in order to confound him, abandons him to shameful passions (Rom. i. 26); He withdraws His grace from him, and leaves him to his own weakness, whether from hatred of pride or in order to give him a lesson respecting his weakness without succor from on high: this made St. Augustine say that it was useful for the proud to fall (St. Augustine, Serm. lvi. in Matt.), that they might be brought back by experience to a knowledge of themselves. But if pride be the cause of our ruin, humility saves us (Gregory Great, in Job xxvi. 19). On the one hand, humility makes us watch over ourselves, avoid occasions, and pray; on the other hand, God, who loves humble souls, protects them, defends them, and renders them, as it were, impeccable. Thus humility is a sure guardian of purity; it is like its sister and inseparable companion.
SECOND POINT
In Order to be Pure we must Frequent the Sacraments.
There is nothing better than frequent confession to prevent or correct relapses into impurity. A fault, if it be not promptly confessed, engenders another. The tempted soul has need to be sustained in the strife by the counsels of the confessor and by the grace of the sacrament, otherwise it becomes discouraged, allows itself to be cast down, and is soon conquered. Frequent confession offers it a preservative against relapses, whether on account of the salutary shame attending the self-accusation, whether in the exhortations of the confessor, which raise their courage and point out the means to be taken, whether in the good resolutions which are made, whether in vigilance which is roused, whether, above all, in the grace of the sacrament. These are facts founded upon experience. Holy Communion is not less useful; for the Eucharist, say the saints, is the corn of the elect and the wine which makes virgins to germinate (Zach. ix. 17); it deadens the fire of concupiscence; it gives the soul a delicious pleasure in purity; it develops therein the love of Our Lord, and in consequence a horror of all that offends Him, above all of the vice which is most opposed to His divine holiness, in such a manner that the more we feed ourselves with the bread of angels, the more we are led to embrace an angelical life, raised above the senses and the flesh.
THIRD POINT
In Order to be Pure we must Pray.
"I knew," says Solomon, "that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it" (Wis. viii. 21), and it is prayer which obtains it. It is above all meditation which, at the same time that it brings down to men help from on high, fills the mind so entirely with good thoughts, the heart with holy suggestions, that the tempter finds no longer any place there in which his evil thoughts can enter. With prayer and meditation chastity is assured, without it it is in peril (Gregory of Nyssa, Orat. i.). God willingly listens to souls which come and ask Him for the gift of purity, because it is asking Him for what most delights His heart. The Blessed Virgin does not receive with less benevolence the prayer addressed to her on this subject. She takes particular care of souls who place their purity under her care; she has an affection for them, whether because they have the same tastes as she has, whether because, her Son having a special love for purity, she desires to see all Christians possessed of this virtue. Therefore the saints have pointed out devotion to Mary as being one of the great means of acquiring and preserving purity; hence it is that the Church places upon our lips this beautiful prayer: "Incomparable virgin, sweet above every creature, make us pure, sweet, and chaste. Grant that a perfectly pure life may lead us to heaven, where we shall enjoy the happiness of seeing and loving Thy divine Son."
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.