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The lily fades! to what an end does this lead! It leads, in the first place, to hardness of heart. “Ask me not,” says St. Bernard, “what is meant by hardness of heart; for he who does not take alarm at the mere sound of the word is probably already in the awful state which it signifies; for only the hardened heart dreads not hardness of heart.” In order to walk in the way of salvation and attain eternal happiness three things are necessary. We must recognize how great an evil sin is. We must also hate sin and desire to avoid it. Finally, we must have a good, strong will, and strive most earnestly to carry our good intentions into practice. Well, then, what is the condition of the girl who leads an impure and vicious life? Her understanding is darkened in regard to the things of God. The word of God as preached by His ambassadors might be her salvation; but she is unwilling to hear it, and listens to sermons only when she cannot help doing so. An eloquent discourse about death, judgment, heaven and hell impresses other sinners; pious persons believe and tremble, and hasten to confess their faults. But she who is unchaste stands unmoved, like some marble statue. “What is the use,” she says to herself, “of all these thunders and threatenings! These are all exaggerations. Things are not so bad.”
Even when death is mentioned to her no impression is made. A young girl who had been much flattered on account of her beauty lost her innocence, abandoned herself to a life of vice, and misused her attractions to injure the souls of others. She was attacked by a fatal malady, and it soon became apparent that death was approaching. One of her companions in sin, in whose breast every spark of religious feeling was not extinguished, exhorted her to send for a priest. “A priest!” she shrieked, “what would be the use of sending for a priest? An evil spirit from hell was here already!” However, a priest was summoned; but he came too late—the miserable girl had already breathed her last!
Even should the hardened sinner become aware of her lamentable state, she is wanting in the good will which would induce her to abandon her sins; or her will is, at any rate, too weak. “Vice,” as St. Augustine says, “has an iron will”; that is, the force of passion, the inclination to sin, enfeebles the will, binds it in fetters of iron.
I can never sufficiently urge you to lay to heart the fact that no sin so greatly tends to weaken the human will as the sin opposed to chastity. Water may change into solid ice; in the same way a heart that was once sensitive and soft may gradually become as hard as stone. Every fresh fall makes the tendency to sin greater, conversion more difficult, deliverance more improbable, final perdition more certain.
Yes, eternal perdition, the pool of fire in hell, is the final fate of the faded lily! God Himself tells us that “the unchaste shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone.” All the unchaste who die in their sins shall be thrown into an awful prison and tormented with fierce flames to all eternity. What a fearful fate is this! How the wretched captives wil curse the sins which have brought them into such a plight, how they will wish they had heeded the exhortations addressed to them, for then might they have been happy in heaven forever and ever!
My daughter, you can form no idea how large is the number of those who sink into hell on account of sins of impurity. A celebrated Italian missioner said: “Unchastity fills the world with sinners, and hell with lost souls.” Another master of the spiritual life went so far as to say: “Three-fourths of the wretched denizens of hell have been lost on account of impurity.”
I have said enough. The considerations I have laid before you cannot have failed to fill you with dread and alarm. It is well for you that so it should be. But reflections of this nature must not deprive you of courage; and you must be careful not to allow them to have this effect in seasons when you are assailed by temptations against the holy virtue. Once more I repeat what I have so often said before: Take courage, have confidence in God! And always bear these lines in mind:
“Beware, beware, because the sun shines brightly,
Because the flowers are fair;
Thus right, thus gay, were the bowers of Eden,
Whilst hung that fruit in the air,
And waved o’er Eve’s uplifted brow
As life o’er thee is waving now.”
Aubrey de Vere.
Hail, Queen of Heaven, the ocean Star,
Guide of the wand’rer here below;
Thrown on life’s surge, we claim thy care.
Save us from peril and from woe.
Mother of Christ, Star of the sea,
Pray for the wand’rer, pray for me.
O gentle, chaste, and spotless Maid,
We sinners make our prayers through thee.
Remind thy Son that He has paid
The price of our iniquity.
Virgin most pure, Star of the sea,
Pray for the sinner, pray for me.
The Lily Protected and Cared For.