SERMONS OF ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI pt. 3.3: "On The Means Necessary For Salvation"

This is a series of the sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori. Click the link below for part 3.2.

http://smcdefense.blogspot.com/2022/07/sermons-of-st-alphonsus-liguori-pt-32.html

Second Means. Confidence in God

8. St. Cyprian says, that the divine mercy is an inexhaustible fountain. They who bring vessels of the greatest confidence, draw from it the greatest graces Hence the Royal Prophet has said: “Let thy mercy Lord be upon us, as we have hoped in thee.” (Ps. xxxii. 22.) Whenever the Devil terrifies us by placing before our eyes the great difficulty of persevering in the grace of God in spite of all the dangers and sinful occasions of this life, let us, without answering him, raise our eyes to God, and hope that in his goodness he will certainly send us help to resist every attack. “I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.” (Ps. cxx. 1.) And when the enemy represents to us our weakness, let us say with the Apostle “I can do all in him who strengtheneth me.” (Phil. iv. 13 ) Of myself I can do nothing; but I trust in God, that by his grace I shall be able to do all things.

9. Hence, in the midst of the greatest dangers of perdition to which we are exposed, we should continually turn to Jesus Christ, and throwing ourselves into the hands of him who redeemed us by his death, should say: “Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.” (Ps. xxx. 6.) This prayer should be said with great confidence of obtaining eternal life, and to it we should add: “In thee, O Lord, I have hoped; let me not be confounded forever” (Ps. xxx. 1.)

Third Means. Resistance to temptations.

10. It is true that when we have recourse to God with confidence in dangerous temptations, he assists us; but, in certain very urgent occasions, the Lord sometimes wishes that we cooperate, and do violence to ourselves, to resist temptations. On such occasions, it will not be enough to have recourse to God once or twice; it will be necessary to multiply prayers, and frequently to prostrate ourselves and send up our sighs before the image of the Blessed Virgin and the crucifix, crying out with tears: Mary, my mother, assist me; Jesus, my Saviour, save me, for thy mercy’s sake do not abandon me, do not permit me to lose thee.

11. Let us keep in mind the words of the Gospel: “How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it.” (Matt. vii. 14.) The way to Heaven is strait and narrow: they who wish to arrive at that place of bliss by walking in the paths of pleasure shall be disappointed: and therefore few reach it, because few are willing to use violence to themselves in resisting temptations: “The kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.” (Matt. xi. 12.) In explaining this passage, a certain writer says: “Vi queritur, invaditur, occupatur.” It must be sought and obtained by violence: he who wishes to obtain it without inconvenience, or by leading a soft and irregular life, shall not acquire it he shall be excluded from it.

12. To save their souls, some of the saints have retired into the cloister; some have confined themselves in a cave; others have embraced torments and death. “The violent bear it away” Some complain of their want of confidence in God; but they do not perceive that their diffidence arises from the weakness of their resolution to serve God. St. Teresa used to say: “Of irresolute souls the Devil has no fear” And the Wise Man has declared, that “desires kill the slothful.” (Prov. xxi. 25.) Some would wish to be saved and to become saints, but never resolve to adopt the means of salvation, such as meditation, the frequentation of the sacraments, detachment from creatures; or, if they adopt these means, they soon give them up. In a word, they are satisfied with fruitless desires, and thus continue to live in enmity with God, or at least in tepidity, which in the end leads them to the loss of God. Thus in them are verified the words of the Holy Ghost, “desires kill the slothful.”

13. If, then, we wish to save our souls, and to become saints, we must make a strong resolution not only in general to give ourselves to God, but also in particular to adopt the proper means, and never to abandon them after having once taken them up. Hence we must never cease to pray to Jesus Christ and to His Holy Mother for holy perseverance.

Reference:

https://sensusfidelium.com/meditations/st-alphonsus/st-alphonsus-sermons-for-every-sunday-of-the-year/sermon-iii-third-sunday-op-advent-on-the-means-necessary-for-salvation/