Volume I, Treatise I, Chapter XVII

Of the Perseverance We Ought to Have Tn Virtue

St. Austin, explaining the words of St. Paul, “No one is crowned, but he who lawfully fights (2 Timothy 2:5), says, that to fight lawfully, is to fight with perseverance to the end, and that only those who fight in this manner deserve a crown.. And upon this occasion he alleges, what St. Jerom also says, that « Many begin well, but few end well.” (Contra Jovin.) Of this we have a great example in the Israelites. Holy Scripture observes, that there went out of Egypt about six hundred thousand men, besides women and children; and that nevertheless, of all that great number, there were but two that entered into the Land of Promise. “It is then,” adds the saint, “no great matter to begin, but the chief thing is to perfect what we have begun; for it is in that alone that perfection consists.” (Aug. Serm. ad frat.in Erem.) St. Ephrem makes use of a very just comparison on this subject, saying, “That as when you build a house, the greatest difficulty is not only in laying the foundation, but in raising the building to its perfect height; and that the higher the building is raised, the more the labour and expenses increase: so in the spiritual building, the hardest task is not to lay the foundation, but to carry your work on to perfection.” (Exhort. ad Piet.) It will avail us nothing to have begun well, unless we also end well. ‘In Christians,” says St. Jerom, “we consider not how they begin, but how they end. St. Paul began ill, but ended well; Judas began well and ended ill.” (Ad Furiam vid.) What did it avail him to have been an apostle of Jesus Christ, and to have wrought miracles? Wherefore what will your good beginnings avail, if a miserable end contradicts and gives them the lie? It is to perseverance only, that the crown is promised: ‘He who shall persevere to the end,” says the Son of God, “shall be saved.” (Mat. xxiv. 13.) Jacob saw Almighty God, not at the foot, nor in the middle, but at the top of the ladder; to let us know, says St. Jerom, that “It is not enough to begin well, nor yet to continue to do well only for a time, unless we hold on and persevere to the end.” (Ep. ad Ab. Gaurin.) ‘ What does it avail,” says St. Bernard, “to follow Jesus Christ, unless we overtake him at last?” Wherefore St. Paul bids us “Run so, as that at last we may gain the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24) Let thy race, O Christian! and thy progress in virtue have no other bounds, than what Jesus Christ prescribed to himself: ‘ He rendered himself obedient even to death.” It is in vain for you to run, unless you continue your race to the last moment of your life. Without this you will never get the prize.

The Son of God gives us a special warning of this, when hé assures us, that “Whoever puts his hand to the plough, and looks back, is not fit for the kingdom of heaven.” (Luke 9:62) As also when, at another time, he bids us “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Ibid. 17:32) What was it she did? God having brought her out of Sodom, in order to save her from the fire which consumed that city, she stopped upon the way, and turned to look behind her, and immediately in the very place where she turned her head, she was changed into a statue of salt. Would you know, says St. Austin, what this signifies? Salt seasons and preserves everything, and our Saviour would have us remember Lot’s wife, to the end, that, reflecting upon what happened to her we may preserve ourselves with that salt, which her transformation does furnish us with; that is to say, ‘that taking warning by the example of her punishment, we may go on and persevere in that good course of life, into which we are entered, without stopping or looking behind us, lest we ourselves should be turned also into statues, from which others may take salt, for their own preservation. Alas! how many are there now-a-days, who serve us for statues of salt, like that of Lot’s wife? How many are there whose fall may serve us for a warning, and become of very great advantage to us, in order to our eternal salvation? Let us then be wise at other men’s cost, and let us endeavour to do nothing that may make others become wise at our expense.,

St. Austin and St. Jerom farther add and say, that “To begin well and end ill, is to make a monster, as if a painter, after he had drawn the head of a man, should add to it the neck of a horse. (Ad frat. in Erem. ser. 8.) St. Paul, writing to the Galatians, reprehends them very severely for proceeding after this manner. ‘“What,” says he, “are you grown to such a height of folly, as that having once begun well in the spirit you will needs end in the flesh? Senseless men! who has bewitched you, thus to rebel against truth?” (Galatians 3:3)

But to the end we may obtain God’s holy grace to persevere in doing well, we must strive to lay at first a good foundation of virtue and mortification; for if the foundation be weak, the building will quickly come to lean, and so fall to the ground. That fruit into which the worm has once crept, never ripens, but soon falls from the tree; whilst that which is sound, sticks fast to the branch, till it is perfectly ripe; in the same manner if your virtue be not solid, and your heart not wholly possessed by God,

‘and if you still cherish the same worm of presumption, of pride, of impatience, or any other irregular passion; that worm will by degrees corrupt your heart, and consume all its best juice and substance; and to speak more clearly, you will run the danger of not persevering. “Wherefore it is very necessary to confirm and fortify your heart by grace” (Hebrews 13:9), and in time to lay a solid foundation of true virtue.

Albertus Magnus, explaining by what means we ought to confirm ourselves in virtue, to be the better able to persevere, says, that a true Christian ought to be so well grounded in virtue, and have it so firmly rooted in his heart, that it may be always in his power to practise it, without any dependence upon what other men can say.or do to him. There are persons who outwardly seem to have the spirit of meekness and humility, so long as nothing thwarts them, and all things happen as they wish; but upon the least cross accident that occurs, this vanishes, and they presently take fire, and discover what they are. Such men as those, says Albertus, have not the virtue of peace and humility in their own, but in other men’s minds and humours; so that if your virtue be such as this, it belongs to others and not to you, since it lies in their power to give, or take it from you, whensoever they please. But your virtue, if it be true, must be your own, and not of another’s growth, and the fund ought always to be at your own disposal, without any dependence upon another. We may make a very just comparison of such persons as those, to a stagnant water which yields no bad smell or vapour, so long as you do not trouble it; but disturb it once, and it sends forth so intolerable a stench as is enough to poison the standers by. Just so it is with these men. As long as you leave them to themselves, as long as nobody vexes them they are in profound peace, they seem as quiet as stagnant water that offends nobody; but as soon as they are molested or the least moved, presently such pernicious vapours are raised, as give great scandal, and very bad example to their neighbour. “Touch the mountains” (Psalms 143:5), says the Psalmist, “and they will smoke.”

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