"this" poor wretch "a brand plucked out of the fire," that it might not be burned? Then what wilt thou?
Colloquy. — O most just Judge and most merciful Father, I confess that I am, through my sins, a black and filthy brand, and half burnt with the fire of my passions. Wash me, O Lord, and whiten me with the living water of Thy grace, and with that quench this fire that burneth me, that in the day of account the devil may leave me, Thy angel may protect me, Thy mercy may receive me, and Thy justice may crown me! Amen.
POINT II.
Secondly, I am to consider the time and place in which this judgment is to be made.
1. The time is the instant of death; for although by the special dispensation [1] of Almighty God, it has been seen to begin visibly a little before death in some cases that have happened for our example, yet ordinarily it is done invisibly, in the very instant that the soul ceases to inform the body, without any delay. And in that very moment the whole judgment is concluded, the accusation is made, and the sentence is given and executed. This moment I am to have always before my eyes, as that which is to be the beginning of my eternal good or evil, saying:
Colloquy. — " O momentum a quo eaternitas," " O moment wherein eternity beginneth," who can forget thee without great peril, and who can remember thee without great astonishment? Be mindful, O my soul, of this moment, and endeavour not to lose any moment of time, for in every one thou mayest merit the life that shall for ever endure!
2. The place of this judgment is wherever death arrests any man, without going to the valley of Jehosaphat, or to any other special place; for, as the judge is in all places, so
- ↑ S. John Climacus, cap. 7; S. Greg, dialog, iv. cap. 37.
