FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - ALL ENDS, AND SOON ENDS.

ALL ENDS, AND SOON ENDS.

The grass of the field, which is today and tomorrow, is cast into the oven. MATT. vii. 30.

 ALL ENDS, AND SOON ENDS.

Behold! All the goods of the earth are like the grass of the field, which today is blooming and beautiful, but in the evening it withers and loses its flowers, and the next day is cast into the fire. This is what God commanded the Prophet Isaiah to preach when he said to him: "Cry out. What shall I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof is as the flower of the field. (Isa. xl. 6. Hence, St. James compares the rich of this world to the flower of grass: at the end of their journey through life, they rot, along with all their riches and pomps. The rich. . . Because, like the flower of the grass, he shall pass away. For the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. St. James, they fade away and are cast into the fire, like the rich glutton who made a splendid appearance in this life, but afterwards was buried in hell.  Let us, then, dearly beloved Christians, attend to the salvation of our souls, and to the acquisition of riches for eternity, which never ends; for everything in this world ends, and ends very soon.

First Point. Everything ends.

When one of the great of this world is in the full enjoyment of the riches and honours which he has acquired, death shall come, and he shall be told: Take order with thy house; for thou shalt die, and not live. Oh! ” What doleful tidings! The unhappy man must then say: Farewell, world! Farewell, villa! farewell, grotto! Farewell, relatives! Farewell, friends! Farewell, sports! Farewell, balls! Farewell, comedies! Farewell, banquets! Farewell, honours! All is over for me. There is no remedy: whether he will or not, he must leave all. When he dies, he shall take nothing away, nor shall his glory descend with him. St. Bernard says that death produces a horrible separation of the soul from the body and from all the things of this earth. "morti“ horrendum divortium.” (Serm. xxvi., in Cant.)

To the great of this world, whom worldlings regard as the most fortunate of mortals, the bare name of death is so full of terror that they are unwilling even to hear it mentioned; for their entire concern is to find peace in their earthly goods. death! Ecclesiasticus, How bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions. But how much greater bitterness shall death itself cause when it actually comes to the miserable man who is attached to the goods of this world! Every separation produces pain. Hence, when the soul shall be separated by the stroke of death from the goods on which she had fixed all her affections, the pain must be excruciating. It was this that made King Agag exclaim when the news of approaching death was announced to him: “Doth bitter death separate me in this manner? 

The great misfortune of worldlings is that when they are on the point of being summoned to judgment, instead of endeavouring to adjust the accounts of their souls, they direct all their attention to earthly things. But, says St. John Chrysostom, the punishment which awaits sinners, on account of having forgotten God during life, is that they forget themselves at the hour of death. “Anima dversione percutitur impius, ut moriens obliviscatur sui, qui vivens oblitus est Dei. But how great soever a man’s attachment to the things of this world may be, he must take leave of them at death. Naked he has entered into this world, and naked he shall depart from it. says Job, “I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither.

In a word, they who have spent their whole life having lost their sleep, their health, and their peace in accumulating riches and possessions shall take nothing with them at the hour of death: their eyes shall then be opened; and of all they had so dearly acquired, they shall find nothing in their hands. Hence, on that night of confusion, they shall be overwhelmed in a tempest of pain and sadness. “ rich man, When he sleeps, he shall take away nothing with him! He shall open his eyes and find nothing... a tempest shall oppress him in the night.

St. Antonine relates that Saladin, king of the Saracens, gave orders at the hour of death that the winding sheet in which he was to be buried should be carried before him to the grave, and that a person should cry out: “Of all his possessions, this only shall Saladin bring with him.” The saint also relates that a certain philosopher, speaking of Alexander the Great after his death, said: “Behold the man that made the earth tremble.” The earth,  as the Scripture says, was quiet before him.  He is now under the earth. Behold the man whom the dominion of the whole world could not satisfy: now four palms of ground are sufficient for him. Terram heri conculcabat, hodie ab ea conculcatur; et cui heri non sufficiebat mundus, hodie sufficiunt quatuor ulnæ terræ.Augustine, or some other ancient writer, says that, having gone to see the tomb of Caesar, he exclaimed: “Princes feared thee; cities worshipped thee; all trembled before thee; where has thy magnificence gone?” 

 

Listen to what David says: “I have seen the wicked highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon. And I passed by, and lo! he was not. Oh! How many such spectacles are seen every day in the world! A sinner who has been born in lowliness and afterwards acquires wealth and honors, so as to excite the envy of all. When he dies, everyone says, He made a fortune in the world; but now he is dead, and with death all is over for him.

 

Why are earth and ashes proud? Such is the language which the Lord addresses to the man who is puffed up by earthly honors and earthly riches. "Miserable creature, whence comes such pride? You enjoy honors and riches; remember that you are dust. "For dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. You must die, and after death, what advantage shall you derive from the honours and possessions which now inflate you with pride? Go, says St. Ambrose, to a cemetery, in which are buried the rich and poor, and see if you can discern among them who has been rich and who has been poor; all are naked, and nothing remains of the richest among them but a few withered bones. ” Respi sepulchra, die mihi, quis ibi dives, quis pauper sit vexam. . How profitable would the remembrance of death be to the man who lives in the world! shall be brought to the grave, and shall watch in the heap of the dead. At the sight of these dead bodies, he would remember death, and that he would one day be like them. Thus, he should be awakened from the deadly sleep in which perhaps he lives in a state of perdition. But the misfortune is that worldlings are unwilling to think of death until the hour comes when they must depart from this earth to go into eternity; therefore, they live as attached to the world as if they were never to be separated from it. But our life is short, and shall soon end: thus all things must end, and must soon end.

 

beheading of st. john the Baptist - AUGUST 29

 

 beheading of st. john the Baptist

Besides the chief feast of St. John the Baptist, that of his nativity, the Church commemorates on the twenty-ninth of August, his glorious death and birth into Heaven. Ever since the Fourth Century in Africa, in the East, in Syria, and in many places all over the world, the beheading of St. John the Baptist has been commemorated on August 29th. When in 362, pagans violated the tomb and burned his remains, some parts were saved by monks, and taken to St. Athanasius at Alexandria. The head is said to have been preserved at Jerusalem, and may later have been brought to Rome.
The Gospel of the Mass recounts his martyrdom. He died because his sanctity as precursor of Christ was intolerable to the immoral Herodias. He anticipated in his death the humiliations of Calvary, but he was rewarded by having his praises spoken by the Savior Himself, even if Jesus and His disciples did not actually assist at his funeral, as some legends maintain.
There is a commemoration also of Saint Sabina, a Roman widow of high birth, suffered martyrdom under Emperor Hadrian, early in the Second Century, and was buried in the same grave with St. Seraphia, her maid-servant, who had instructed her in the Faith.

Beheading of St John the Baptist / Commemoration St. Sabina, Martyr  –    Saturday in the Thirteenth Week after Penecost
Major Double / Red Vestments  -  Missa “Loquébar”

INTROIT: Ps. 118: 46, 47
I spoke of Thy testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed: I meditated also on Thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly.

Psalm 91: 2
It is good to give praise to the Lord; and to sing to Thy name, O Most High Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. I spoke of Thy testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed: I meditated also on Thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly.

COLLECTS

O Lord, that this solemn festival of St. John Baptist thy blessed Forerunner and Martyr: may effectually bestow upon us thy succour to the attainment of everlasting salvation.  Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

Second Collect of St. Sabina, Martyr
O God, who among the manifold works of thine almighty power hast bestowed even upon the weakness of women strength to win the victory of martyrdom: grant, we beseech thee; that we, who on this day recall the heavenly birth of Saint Sabina thy Martyr, may so follow in her footsteps, that we may likewise attain unto thee.  Through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

EPISTLE:   Jeremias 1: 17-19
In those days: The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to Juda all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence; for I will make thee not to fear their countenance. For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

GRADUAL:   Psalm 91: 13
The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree, and shall spread in the house of the Lord like a cedar in Lebanon.
To tell of thy loving-kindness early in the morning, and of thy truth in the night season.

ALLELUIA: Osee 14: 6
Alleluia, alleluia.  The righteous shall grow as the lily:  and flourish for ever before the Lord.  Alleluia.

 

At that time: Herod sent and apprehended John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. For John said to Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife. Now Herodias laid snares for him, and was desirous to put him to death, and could not. For Herod feared John, knowing him to be a just and holy man, and kept him, and when he heard him did many things; and he heard him willingly. And when a convenient day was come, Herod made a supper for his birthday, for the princes, and tribunes, and chief men of Galilee. And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come in, and had danced, and pleased Herod, and them that were at table with him, the king said to the damsel, Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he swore to her, whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give thee; though it be the half of my kingdom. Who, when she was gone out, said to her mother, What shall I ask? But she said, the head of John the Baptist. And when she was come in immediately with haste to the king,she asked, saying, I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish the head of John the Baptist. And the king was struck sad; yet because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table, he would not displease her; but sending an executioner he commanded that his head should be brought in a dish. And he beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a dish, and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother. Which his disciples hearing, came, and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

OFFERTORY:    Psalm 20: 2, 3
In thy strength, O Lord, the just man shall exult, and in Thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly: Thou hast given him his heart’s desire.

SECRET
The offerings which we bring, O Lord, in memory of the passion of Thy holy martyr, John the Baptist, we pray that, by his favor, they may profit us unto salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God…

Second Secret Prayer of St. Sabina, 
Graciously receive, O Lord, the gifts which we offer on the solemnity of Thy virgin and martyr, Sabina, by whose patronage we trust to be delivered from all evil. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.

PREFACE   Common Preface
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: through Christ our Lord. Through Whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the Heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dóminus Deus Sábaoth.Pleni sunt cæli et terra glória tua. Hosánna in excélsis. Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini.Hosánna in excélsis.

COMMUNION:  Psalm 20: 3O Lord, Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.

POSTCOMMUNION
May the solemn festival of St. John the Baptist bring us the grace, O Lord, both to venerate that which is signified in the great sacrament we have received, and to be joyful because this thing hath been more abundantly manifested in us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God…

Second Postcommunion of St. Sabina
May the mysteries we have received, help us, O Lord, and, by the intercession of blessed Sabina, Thy virgin and martyr, may they cause us to rejoice in everlasting protection. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God…

          St. John’s head

St. Joseph Calasanctius - August 27

 

                                        August 27

           Matins - Roman Breviary 

Lesson is taken from the Book of Wisdom
    Chapter 3: 22-26
22. Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of his works be not curious.
23. For it is not necessary for thee to see with thy eyes those things that are hid.
24. In unnecessary matters be not over curious, and in many of his works thou shalt not be inquisitive.
25. For many things are shewn to thee above the understanding of men.
26. And the suspicion of them hath deceived many, and hath detained their minds in vanity.

     Lesson Two
Chapter 3: 27-30
27. A hard heart shall fear evil at the last: and he that loveth danger shall perish in it.
28. A heart that goeth two ways shall not have success, and the perverse of heart shall be scandalized therein.
29. A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows, and the sinner will add sin to sin.
30. The congregation of the proud shall not be healed: for the plant of wickedness shall take root in them, and it shall not be perceived.

    Lesson Three     
Chapter 3: 31-34
31. The heart of the wise is understood in wisdom, and a good ear will hear wisdom with all desire.
32. A wise heart, and which hath understanding, will abstain from sins, and in the works of justice shall have success.
33. Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sins:
34. And God provideth for him that sheweth favour: he remembereth him afterwards, and in the time of his fall he shall find a sure stay.

Today is also the Traditional feast of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost and Mary’s Coronation as Queen of Heaven and earth. You’ll note how the first two correlate with the Joyful Mysteries and four comprise the Glorious Mysteries. This originated with the Franciscans and balance the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Lesson 4

Joseph Calasanctius, called Of the Mother of God, was born to a noble family at Petralta in Aragon.  From his tender years, he began to show that fondness for children and that gift of instructing them for which he was afterwards distinguished.  He called them around him when he was still but a child himself, and taught them the mysteries of the faith and godly prayers.  He was deeply learned in profane and sacred letters, and it was while he was studying theology at Valencia that he bravely overcame the wiles of a noble and powerful lady and, by a brilliant victory, kept untarnished that virginity which he had vowed to God.  He became a priest in consequence of a vow and was summoned by many bishops in the kingdoms of New Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia to help them in their work, wherein he surpassed the hopes of all, correcting depraved manners, restoring the discipline of the Church, and marvelously putting an end to hatreds and bloody feuds.  But in obedience to a vision from heaven and many warnings from the voice of God, he left Spain and went to Rome.

Lesson 5

In Rome, he afflicted his body with watching and with fasting, and so passed his days and nights in prayer and in the contemplation of heavenly things. He was used to visiting the Seven Churches almost every night, a custom which he kept for many years. Having joined several godly brotherhoods, it was strange how eagerly he relieved the poor by alms and every sort of kindness, choosing especially the sick and the imprisoned. When the city was ravaged by a pestilence, such was the charitable zeal with which he joined in the labours of St. Camillus de' Lellis, that besides the great help which he brought to the sick poor, he would even carry the bodies of the dead on his own shoulders to burial. Having understood from God that his call was to bring up children in godliness and good learning, he founded the Order of the Poor Regular Clerks of the Pious Schools of the Mother of God, who profess as the special object of their Institute a singular care for the teaching of the poor. This Institute received the warm approval of Clement VIII, Paul V, and other Popes, and in a short time obtained a marvellous extension through many provinces and kingdoms of Europe. In this work, Joseph Casalanz underwent so many toils and patiently bore so many griefs that he was proclaimed by all men a wonder of endurance and a very image of holy Job. 

Lesson 6

Even when he was at the head of his whole order and toiling with all his might for the salvation of souls, he never ceased to teach children, especially the poor, to sweep out the schoolrooms and to accompany the scholars home. Thus, in spite of broken health, he worked on for two and fifty years, with the greatest long-suffering and lowliness. He won that God should glorify him by many miracles worked in the presence of his disciples, and that the most blessed Virgin should appear to him, with the Child Jesus in her arms, blessing them as they prayed. He refused wealthy preferments when they were offered to him. He was eminent for the gift of prophecy, for the power of reading the secrets of the heart, of knowing distant events, and of miracles. The Virgin Mother of God, for whom from his childhood he had had an especial love, and other heavenly ones, honoured him by often allowing him to see them. He foretold the day of his own death, and the restoration and growth of his Order, which seemed at that time to be almost entirely destroyed. He fell asleep in the Lord at Rome, upon the 25th day of August, in the year of salvation 1648, and of his own age the 92nd. A hundred years after his death, his heart and tongue were found whole and incorrupt. God glorified him by many miracles even after his death, and he was first crowned by Benedict XIV. with the honours paid to the Blessed, and then solemnly enrolled by Clement XIII among the Saints.

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST – ON AVOIDING BAD COMPANY

 

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST – ON AVOIDING BAD COMPANY

 “There met him ten men that were lepers… As they went, they were made clean.” Luke xvii. 12, 14.

In this day’s gospel it is related, that ten lepers of a certain town met Jesus Christ, and entreated him to heal the leprosy under which they labored. The Lord bid them go and present themselves to the priests of the temple; but before they reached the temple they were cured. Now it may be asked why our Saviour, who could heal them in an instant, wished them to go to the priests, and healed them on the way. A certain author (Anthony of Lisbon) says that Jesus Christ foresaw that, had he cured them on the spot, they, by remaining in the place and conversing with the other lepers, from whom they took the leprosy, should easily relapse into the same disease. Therefore, he first wished them to depart from the place and then healed them. Whatever may be thought of this reason, let us come to the moral sense which may be deduced from it. The leprosy resembles sin. As the leprosy is a contagious disease, so the bad habits of the wicked infect others who associate with them. Hence, the leper who wishes to be cured shall never be healed unless he separates from bad companions. He that keeps company with robbers soon becomes a thief. In this discourse I shall show, that, to lead a good life, it is necessary to avoid bad companions.

“A friend of fools,” says the Holy Ghost, “shall become like them.” - Prov. xiii. 20.

 Christians who live in enmity with God are, Father M. Avila used to say, all fools, who deserve to be shut up in a mad-house. For, what greater madness can be conceived than to believe in hell and to live in sin? But the man who contracts an intimacy with these fools shall soon be come like them. Although he should hear all the sermons of the sacred orators, lie will continue in vice, according to the celebrated maxim: ”Examples make greater impressions than words.” Hence the Royal Prophet has said: ”With the elect thou wilt be elect, and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.” (Ps. xvii. 27.) St. Augustine says, that familiarity with sinners is as it were a hook which draws us to communicate in their vices. Let us, said the saint, avoid wicked friends, ”lest by their company we may be drawn to a communion of vice.” St. Thomas teaches, that to know whom we should avoid is a great means of saving our souls. Firma tutela salutis est, sciro quem fugiamus.”

“Let their way become dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord pursue them.” - Ps. xxxiv. 6. 

All men in this life walk in the midst of darkness and in a slippery way. If, then, a bad angel that is, a wicked companion, who is worse than any devil pursue them, and endeavour to drive them into an abyss, who shall be able to escape death?”Talis eris,” says Plato, “qualis conversatio quam sequeris ?” And St. John Chrysostom said, that if we wish to know a man‟s moral habits, we have only to observe the character of the friends with whom he associates; because friendship finds or makes him like his friends. ”Vis nosse hominem, attende quorum familiaritate assuescat: amicitia aut pares invenit, aut pares fecit.” First, because, to please his friends, a man will endeavour to imitate them; secondly, because, as Seneca says, nature inclines men to do what they see others do. And the Scripture says: * They were mingled among the heathens, and learned their works.” (Ps. cv. 35.) According to St. Basil, as air which comes from pestilential places causes infection, so, by conversation with bad companions, we almost imperceptibly contract their vices. ”Quemadmodum in pestilentibus locis sensim attractus aër latentem corporibus morbuin iujicit sic itidem in prava couversatione maxima a nobis mala hauriuntur, etiamsi statim incommodum non sentiatur.” (St. Bas., Hom, ix., ex var. quod Deus, etc.) And St. Bernard says that St. Peter, in consequence of associating with the enemies of Jesus Christ, denied his Master. ”Existens cum passionis dominicæ ministris, Doininum, negavit.” 

But how, asks St. Ambrose, can bad companions give you the odor of chastity, when they exhale the stench of impurity? How can they infuse into you sentiments of devotion when they themselves fly from it? 

How can they impart to you a shame of offending God, when they cast it away?”Quid tibi demonstrant castitatem, quem non habent? Devotionem quam non sequuntur? Verecundiam quam projiciunt?” St. Augustine writes of himself, that when he associated with bad companions, who boasted of their wickedness, he felt himself impelled to sin without shame; and to appear like them, he gloried in his evil actions. ”Pudebat,” he says, ”me esse pudentem.” (Lib. 2, de Conf., c. ix.) Hence Isaias admonishes you to”touch no unclean thing.” (Isa. lii. 11.) Touch not what is unclean: if you do, you too shall be polluted. He that handles pitch, says Ecclesiasticus, shall certainly be denied with it; and they who keep company with the proud shall be clothed with pride. The same holds for other vices: ”He that toucheth pitch shall be denied with it; and he that hath fellowship with the proud shall put on pride.” (Eccl. xiii. 1.) 

What then must we do? 

The Wise Man tells us that we ought not only to avoid the vices of the wicked, but also to beware of treading in the ways in which they walk. ”Restrain thy foot from their paths.” (Prov. i. 15.) That is, we should avoid their conversations, their discourses, their feasts, and all the allurements and presents with which they will seek to entice us into their net. ”My son,” says Solomon, “if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.” (Prov. i. 10.) Without the decoy, birds are not enticed into the fowler’s net. ”Will the bird fall into the snare upon the earth if there be no fowler?” (Amos iii. 5.) The devil employs vicious friends as decoys, to draw so many souls into the snare of sin. “My enemies, ” says Jeremias, ”have chased me, and have caught me like a bird without cause.” (Lamen. iii. 52.) He says, without cause. Ask the wicked why they have made a certain innocent young man fall into sin, and they will answer: We have done it without cause; we only wish to see him do what we ourselves do. This, says St. Ephrem, is one of the artifices of the devil: when he has caught a soul in his net, he makes him a snare, or a decoy, to deceive others. ”Cum primum capta fuerit, anima, ad alias decipiendas fit quasi laqueus.”

Hence, it is necessary to avoid, as you would a plague, all familiarity with those scorpions of hell. I have said that you must avoid familiarity with them that is, all fellowship in their banquets or conversation; for never to meet them is, as the Apostle says, impossible. ”Otherwise you must needs go out of this world.”           1Cor. v. 10.

But, it is in our power to abstain from familiar intercourse with them. ”But now I have written to you not to keep company, etc. with such a one, not so much as to eat.” (Ibid. v. 11.) I have called them scorpions: so they have been called by the Prophet Ezechiel. ”Thou art among unbelievers and destroyers, and thou dwellest among scorpions.” (Ezec. ii. 6 ) Would you live in the midst of scorpions? You must, then, fly from scandalous friends, who, by their bad examples and words, poison your soul. ”A man‟s enemies shall be they of his own household.” (Matt. x. 36.) Wicked friends, that are very familiar and intimate with us, become the most pernicious enemies of our souls. ”Who,” says Ecclesiasticus, ”will pity an enchanter struck by a serpent, or any that come near wild beasts? So it is with him that keepeth company with a wicked man.” (Eccl. xii. 13.) If the man that makes free with serpents, or with ferocious wild beasts, be bitten or devoured by them, who will take pity on him? And so it is with him who associates with scandalous companions; if, by their bad example he be contaminated and lost, neither God nor man will have compassion on him; because he was cautioned to fly from their society. 

One scandalous companion is enough to corrupt all who treat him as a friend. ”Know you not,” says St. Paul, ”that a little leaven corrupts the whole lump ?” 1 Cor. v. 7.

One of these scandalous sinners is able, by a perverse maxim, to infect all his companions. They are the false prophets whom Jesus Christ warns us to avoid. “Beware of false prophets.” (Matt. vii. 15 ) False prophets deceive, not only by false predictions, but also by false maxims or doctrines, which are productive of the greatest mischief. For, as Seneca says, they leave in the soul certain seeds of iniquity which lead to evil. ”Semina in animo relinqueunt, quæ inducunt ad malum. ” It is too true that scandalous language, as experience proves, corrupts the morals of those who hear it. “Evil communications,” says the Apostle, corrupt good manners. ” (1 Cor xv 63.) A young man refuses, through the fear of God, to commit a certain sin: an incarnate devil, a bad companion comes and says to him what the serpent said to Eve: “No; you shall not die the death.” (Gen. iii. 4.) What are you afraid of? How many others commit this sin? You are young; God will have pity on your youth. They will as is written in the book of Wisdom, say Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are present-let us everywhere leave tokens of joy (ii 6 9) Come with us; let us spend our time in amusement and in joy. ”O nimis imqua amicitia,” says St. Augustine, cum dicitur, eamus, facimus: pudet non esse impudentum O cruel friendship of those who say let us go and do etc.: it is a shame not to be shameless. He who hears such language is ashamed not to yield to it and not be as shameless as they who utter it 

When any passion is kindled within us, we must be particularly careful in selecting the persons whom we will consult. 

For, then the passion itself will incline us to seek counsel from those who will probably give the advice which is most agreeable to the passion. But from such evil counselors, who do not speak according to God, we should fly with greater horror than from an enemy; for their evil counsel, along with the passion which is excited, may precipitate us into horrible excesses. As soon as the passion shall subside we shall see the error committed, and the delusion into which we have been led by false friends. But the good advice of a friend, who speaks according to Christian truth and meekness preserves us from every disorder, and restores calm to the soul.

”Depart from the unjust,” says the Lord, and evils shall depart from thee.”  Eccl. vii. 2.

Fly, separate from wicked companions, and you shall cease to commit sin. ”Neither let the way of evil men please thee. Flee from it: pass not by it: go aside and forsake it.” Prov. iv. 14, 15.

Avoid the ways in which these vicious friends walk, that you may not even meet them. ”Forsake not an old friend; for the new will not be like to him.” Eccl. ix. 14. 

Do not leave your first friend, who loved you before you came into the world. ”I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Jer. xxxi. 3.

Your new friends do not love you; they hate you more than your greatest enemy: they seek not your welfare, as God, does, but their own pleasures, and the satisfaction of having companions of their wickedness and perdition. You will, perhaps, say: I feel a repugnance to separate from such a friend, who has been solicitous for my welfare; to break off from him would appear to be an act of ingratitude. What welfare? What ingratitude? God alone wishes your welfare, because he desires your eternal salvation. Your friend wishes your eternal ruin; he wishes you to follow him, but cares not if you be damned. It is not ingratitude to abandon a friend who leads you to hell; but it is ingratitude to forsake God, who has created you, who has died for you on the cross, and who desires your salvation.

Fly then from the conversation of these wicked friends. ”Hedge in thy ears with thorns, hear not a wicked tongue.” Eccl. xxviii. 28.

Beware of listening to the language of such friends; their words may bring you to perdition. And when you hear them speak improperly arm yourself with thorns, and reprove them, not only for the purpose of rebuking, but also of converting them. ”Ut non solum,” says St. Augustine, ”repellantur sed etiam compungantur.” 

Listen to a frightful example, and learn the evil which a wicked friend does. Father Sabatino relates in his “Evangelical Light” that two friends of that kind were one day together. One of them, to please the other, committed a sin; but after they had separated he died suddenly. The other, who knew nothing of his death, saw, in his sleep, his friend, and, according to his custom, ran to embrace him. But the deceased appeared to be surrounded with, fire, and began to blaspheme the other, and to upbraid him for being the cause of his damnation. The other awoke and changed his life. But his unhappy friend was damned; and for his damnation there is not, and shall not be, any remedy for all eternity. 

St. Alphonsus Liguori