precious time that God has granted men for their salvation, it would be bad enough and quite unworthy of a Christian. Reflect on this, O parents! when you take with you or allow your sons and daughters to go into dangerous society; when you send your young daughters into foreign countries that they may learn to know the world, away from under your eyes, and to be able to live like others. Truly, they learn to know the world all too soon in that manner; for, generally speaking, as experience teaches, they come back vain worldlings, who have learned nothing but to live and dress according to the corrupt and perverse fashions of the world, to show themselves off before others, and to lose their time in idleness and walking about the streets. O unhappy father who has such children! O miserable mother who has nursed them! O unhappy marriage whose fruit is even one child that must burn forever in hell, in the society of the reprobate! Last of all, reflect on this, you married people who have lost your mutual love for each other, and have thus embittered your lives! Reflect on this, all of you who have to live or deal with any persons to whom you have an aversion; think, I say, in order to preserve yourselves in Christian meekness and humility, and to turn to the good of your souls the annoyances you experience from such persons: ah, why should I trouble myself about these people? They are not by any means as bad as the society of the damned in hell. May God keep you and me from that terrible fate, that we may never know by experience what a fearful torment, what an intolerable hell is the company of the reprobate!
Prayer to the saints to obtain for us grace that we may avoid that company. And you, O saints! chosen children of God, who are now beyond all danger of sinning, and are enjoying the happy company of each other, and of Jesus and Mary, in the kingdom of heaven, oh, think of us, poor, miserable sinners, who still wander about in this vale of tears in countless dangers and occasions of being lost forever! Pray for us to the God whom you love so much, and whom you behold face to face, that we may all repent sincerely of our sins, carefully avoid all dangerous occasions in future, and serve our God constantly to the end, that not one of us may be banished to that accursed company in hell, but that as we are now assembled in this church, so we may all one day meet in your society, and rejoice forever in heaven. Amen.
