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THE CORONATION 601
not be seized by this human perversity, begin to convince
thyself now that thou must die irrevocably; that thou
hast received much and paid
little ;
that the account shall
be so much the more rigorous, as the Judge has been
more liberal in the gifts and talents lavished upon thee
in thy sphere. I do not ask of thee more, and also not
less, than what thou owest to thy Spouse and to thy
Lord, which is
always to operate the best in all places,
times and occasions, without permitting any forgetfulness,
intermission or carelessness.
712. If in thy weakness thou incur rest the guilt of
some omission or negligence, let not the sun go down
or the day pass without having sorrowed for it, or con
fessed it,
if thou canst, as if it were for the last account.
com
Proposing amendment, even of the slightest fault,
mence to work with new fervor and solicitude, like one
from whom the time is slipping away for accomplishing
such an arduous and laborious task as the gaining of the
eternal glory and felicity and the avoiding of everlasting
death and punishment. This is to be the continual oc
cupation of all thy spiritual and sensitive faculties, in
order that thou make thy hope certain and joyful (II
Cor. 1, 7) ;
in order that thou mayest not labor in vain
(Phil. 2, 16), nor run on into the uncertain (I Cor. 9,
26), like those who content themselves with some good
works which they mix up with many reprehensible and
detestable crimes. These cannot walk in security and joy
of interior hope ;
since their own conscience assails them
and saddens them, unless they are lost in forgetfulness
and in the foolish delights of the flesh. In order to fill
all thy works with perfection continue the exercises I
have shown thee, and also those thou art accustomed to
in preparation for death, and all the prayers, prostra
tions and aspirations thou usually practicest. Then re-
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