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The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
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A. M. D. G.
THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
OF
ST. IGNATIUS
ADAPTED TO AN EIGHT DAYS RETREAT
AND
SIX TRIDUUMS
In Preparation for The Semi-Annual Renovation of the Vows
All for the use of Jesuits only
By
Rev. CHARLES COPPENS, S.J.
B. HERDER
17 South Broadway
St. Louis, Mo.
1916
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Copyright, 1916
by
Joseph Gummersbach
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.h2
A RECOMMENDATION BY OUR REV. FATHER PROVINCIAL
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Rev. Dear Father:
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It gives me pleasure to say a few words in praise
of the new book of Fr. Charles Coppens on the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius. Any new power that
will help us to use these spiritual arms of St. Ignatius
more effectively deserves the hearty approval of every
Jesuit. The volume is intended for the use of Ours
only, and will be found of great service in conducting
retreats or in giving the Triduums that take place twice
a year before the renovation of vows.
The customary meditations are well arranged, are
solid, and at the same time practical. The points are
proposed very clearly so as to be readily remembered.
I bespeak for this volume the good will of all of
Ours, and trust it may be of great help to a more effective
giving of the exercises and be in the hands of
all.
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Yours sincerely in Christ,
A. J. Burrowes, S.J.
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.h2 id=preface
PREFACE
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The Text of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
as translated into English from the Spanish Autograph,
and edited for private circulation by Rev. John
Morris, S. J., is printed in a small volume of only
125 pages. That little work contains all that the
Saint composed in the Grotto of Manresa, and he
never afterward wrote any additions to the text. But
in explaining his Exercises to his first companions,
and to others who made the retreat under his direction,
he would adapt the details to their characters and the
various circumstances. His followers did the same,
without writing further additions or commentaries on
the original text; they followed in their practice the
traditional method as it had come to them from their
saintly founder.
In the course of time, as was natural, considerable
departures from the first process took place, some of
which induced the danger of gradually losing the very
spirit of the original Exercises. Among the learned
men of our Society who labored most successfully to
check such tendency, one of the most distinguished
was the Father General John Roothaan, who in 1834
addressed a circular letter to all his subjects, earnestly
warning them against this peril. At the same time
he furnished them a masterly work on the original
Spanish and Latin texts, which he accompanied with
a most valuable commentary.
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For those preferring a Latin guide book, whether in
making the Exercises themselves, or in explaining them
to others, no work is more commendable than that masterpiece
of Father Roothaan. Still, both before and
since its publication, many other editions of the Exercises
and commentaries on the same have been printed,
both in Latin and in various modern languages, with
full approbation and warm commendations of the
Superiors of the Society; and excellent reasons appear
to exist why successive generations of Jesuits should
continue their efforts to enrich this valuable literature.
In particular the eight days retreat, which all our members
perform every year, gains additional interest and
impressiveness when a wider range is presented, affording
a choice among a large number of approved
guide books to direct them through this fertile region
of spirituality.
The spirit permeating all of these must ever be the
same, so too the main outline of the truths proposed
and the general plan of the Exercises. Yet experience
shows that there remains a wide room for variety
in comments, suggestions and practical applications.
Therefore, when the time for each one’s annual retreat
comes round, there is shown by many Fathers an earnest
desire for some late publication on the subject, that
will lend new zest to the familiar solid doctrine. To
satisfy such reasonable wishes is the chief reason why
the present pages are modestly presented to his brethren
by
The Author.
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.h2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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THE RETREAT
#Preface:preface# #iii#
#Preparatory Consideration:prepar# #1#
#FIRST DAY:day1#
#First Meditation—End of Man:day1-m1# #8#
#Second Meditation—End of Creatures:day1-m2# #12#
#Consideration—End of the Religious Life:day1-c# #14#
#Third Meditation—Indifference to Creatures:day1-m3# #20#
#SECOND DAY:day2#
#First Meditation—Sin:day2-m1# #26#
#Second Meditation—One’s Own Sins:day2-m2# #30#
#Consideration—Confession of the Retreat:day2-c# #33#
#Third Meditation—Eternal Loss:day2-m3# #37#
#THIRD DAY:day3#
#First Meditation—Preparation for Death:day3-m1# #42#
#Second Meditation—The Particular Judgment:day3-m2# #44#
#Consideration—Purity of Conscience:day3-c# #48#
#Third Meditation—To Excite Perfect Contrition:day3-m3# #53#
#FOURTH DAY:day4#
#First Meditation—The Kingdom of Christ:day4-m1# #57#
#Second Meditation—The Incarnation:day4-m2# #60#
#Consideration—The Imitation of Christ:day4-c# #64#
#Third Meditation—The Birth of Christ:day4-m3# #70#
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#FIFTH DAY:day5#
#First Meditation—The Flight Into Egypt:day5-m1# #74#
#Second Meditation—The Private Life of Christ:day5-m2# #77#
#Consideration—The Imitation of Christ’s Private Life:day5-c# #81#
#Third Meditation—The Public Life of Christ:day5-m3# #87#
#SIXTH DAY:day6#
#First Meditation—The Two Standards:day6-m1# #91#
#Second Meditation—The Three Degrees of Humility:day6-m2# #94#
#Consideration—Temptations:day6-c# #97#
#Third Meditation—Three Classes of Men:day6-m3# #102#
#SEVENTH DAY:day7#
#First Meditation—The Sufferings of Christ in the Garden:day7-m1# #106#
#Second Meditation—Christ’s Sufferings Before His Judges:day7-m2# #109#
#Consideration—Generosity in the Service of God:day7-c# #112#
#Third Meditation—The Death of Christ:day7-m3# #118#
#EIGHTH DAY:day8#
#First Meditation—The Resurrection of Christ:day8-m1# #121#
#Second Meditation—Christ’s Ascension into Heaven:day8-m2# #124#
#Consideration—The Spirit of Love:day8-c# #127#
#Third Meditation—Divine Love:day8-m3# #133#
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.h2
INDEX TO TRIDUUMS
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#TRIDUUM A.:trid-a#
#Meditation I—On the Desire of Perfection:trid-a-1# #138#
#Meditation II—In What Perfection Consists:trid-a-2# #140#
#Meditation III—Christ the Model of Perfection:trid-a-3# #143#
#Meditation IV—The Need of Prayer to Attain Perfection:trid-a-4# #145#
#Meditation V—The Power of Prayer to Obtain Perfection:trid-a-5# #148#
#Meditation VI—The Aid of Mary to Attain Perfection:trid-a-6# #150#
#TRIDUUM B.:trid-b#
#Meditation I—On the Vows:trid-b-1# #153#
#Meditation II—On Renovation of the Vows:trid-b-2# #155#
#Meditation III—What Kind of Men Does Our Vocation Require?:trid-b-3# #157#
#Meditation IV—Christ Is Here to Help Us:trid-b-4# #160#
#Meditation V—The Holy Ghost Sanctifies Us:trid-b-5# #163#
#Medition VI—Effects Produced by the Holy Ghost:trid-b-6# #165#
#TRIDUUM C.:trid-c#
#Meditation I—The Need of Frequent Renovations of Spirit:trid-c-1# #169#
#Meditation II—Sin the Chief Hindrance to Our Progress:trid-c-2# #171#
#Meditation III—Fidelity in Little Things:trid-c-3# #174#
#Meditation IV—The Observance of Our Rules:trid-c-4# #177#
#Meditation V—Zeal for Souls:trid-c-5# #179#
#Meditation VI—Devotion to the Blessed Virgin:trid-c-6# #181#
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#TRIDUUM D.:trid-d#
#Meditation I—The Purpose of this Triduum:trid-d-1# #185#
#Meditation II—The Interior Spirit:trid-d-2# #187#
#Meditation III—The Interior Spirit Fostered by Faith:trid-d-3# #190#
#Meditation IV—The Interior Spirit Fostered by Hope:trid-d-4# #193#
#Meditation V—The Interior Spirit Fostered by Charity:trid-d-5# #195#
#Meditation VI—The Interior Spirit Fostered by the Holy Ghost:trid-d-6# #198#
#TRIDUUM E.:trid-e#
#Meditation I—Preparation for the Triduum:trid-e-1# #201#
#Meditation II—The Field Ripe for the Harvest:trid-e-2# #203#
#Meditation III—Fraternal Charity:trid-e-3# #205#
#Meditation IV—The Spirit of Sacrifice:trid-e-4# #208#
#Meditation V—Become Men of Prayer:trid-e-5# #211#
#Meditation VI—The Vine and the Branches:trid-e-6# #214#
#TRIDUUM F.:trid-f#
#Meditation I—On the Vows:trid-f-1# #217#
#Meditation II—The Vow of Chastity:trid-f-2# #219#
#Meditation III—The Vow of Obedience:trid-f-3# #222#
#Meditation IV—Strength of Character:trid-f-4# #225#
#Meditation V—Co-operation with Grace:trid-f-5# #227#
#Meditation VI—The Perfection of Our Actions:trid-f-6# #230#
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THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS
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.h2 id=prepar
PREPARATORY CONSIDERATION
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.h3
I
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The days of the retreat are the most important in
the year. 1. The most important for the Exercitant;
for his principal duty and highest interest are the salvation
and spiritual progress of his own soul: “Seek
ye first the Kingdom of God, and his justice, and all
these things shall be added unto you.” What would
it profit any of us to convert even thousands, if he
loses his own soul? And if any one imagines that
his own salvation is already secured, and no longer
needs his principal care, he is a very ignorant or a conceited
man.
2. These days are the most important for the salvation
of our neighbor; since, the more one becomes
a man of God, as a good retreat tends to make him,
the better he will do the work of God. And the salvation
of souls is pre-eminently the work of God, not
that of human talent or industry.
3. They are the most important for the glory of
God; since the glory we render to God is in proportion
to our holiness, the purity of our intentions, the
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ardor of our love and our other virtues; the increase
of all of which is the direct purpose of the retreat.
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II
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The yearly retreat is important for all religious,
whatever be the spiritual condition of their souls.
1. Those who are leading fervent lives are likely
to receive during it special lights and graces enabling
them to draw nearer to their Divine Lord; Amice,
ascende superius, “Friend, come up higher.” The
Holy Ghost is ever laboring at the sanctification of
souls, of such especially as show themselves deserving
of peculiar love by their faithful co-operation. Now
this fidelity is most strikingly exhibited when we abandon
all earthly cares to devote our whole hearts to the
loving worship of the Lord, as we do in a retreat.
2. Such souls as are gradually allowing their fervor
to cool amidst the distracting cares of an active life
stand in special need of the Spiritual Exercises, to arrest
their downward course.
When one runs down a hill, his descent is accelerated
by his own weight, and he needs special help to
avoid a serious fall. Such is the case of those who
are losing their fervor, and a good retreat provides
the remedy.
3. If any have unfortunately already lost their
balance, and are hurrying along to destruction by the
commission of serious faults, or by yielding to a no
less dangerous tendency to tepidity, a good retreat is
almost the only way of saving them from ruin. In
connection with these thoughts it is well to reflect that
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some one of our annual retreats will be our last; it may
be the present one. Many of those who made the retreat
last year are now in eternity; and not a few of
them saw no more reason then to expect so early
an end than we do now.
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.h3
III
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It is very consoling for those who enter on these
Spiritual Exercises to remember that their efficacy for
good is far greater than men are apt to imagine; they
are not merely human, but in some respects Divine;
hence their extraordinary power to sanctify us.
1. These exercises are Divine in the truths they
teach us; for they consist chiefly of meditations on the
word of God; and the word of God is the seed of salvation:
Semen est verbum Dei. It is not the learning
of philosophers or scientists that brings us eternal life,
but the teachings of Christ; and these are the power
working in the retreat.
2. These Exercises are Divine in the principal
director who conducts them; for in them the Spirit of
God instructs and enlightens the soul of the exercitant
and sanctifies it. The printed page containing these
teachings, or the Father Master who explains them is
not the chief power at work during the retreat, no
more than the audible voice of Christ converted and
sanctified the souls of His hearers. God speaks to our
heart in the retreat, saying, “Hear, O my people, and
I will speak.... I am God, thy God” (Ps. 49).
3. Not only the several truths considered during
these days are the word of God, but the whole plan of
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these Spiritual Exercises is in a true sense Divine.
For no one who is familiar with the facts of St.
Ignatius’ life can believe that he had acquired, at the
time when he produced this masterpiece of sacred wisdom,
such knowledge of the spiritual life as it exhibits
on every page. When he came to Manresa, he was a
mere novice in spirituality. And in fact he himself
always felt convinced that he owed these Exercises
to Divine illumination. Thus, as Bartoli relates, “on
one occasion the Saint confessed to Father Laynez that
one hour of prayer at Manresa had taught him more
concerning spiritual things than he could have learned
from the instructions of the wisest doctors” (Life,
I. p. 57).
The object which this unique book has accomplished
was to reduce the direction of soul to a science, that
bases on certain principles of faith an exact and positive
method, which, guided by the rules prescribed, insures
almost infallible success. Considering the circumstances
in which it was written we cannot but attribute
this work to superhuman aid. Hence its wonderful
efficiency, testified to by countless witnesses, and
continued in the experience of three centuries till the
present day.
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IV
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Hence the high esteem in which these Spiritual Exercises
are held by the best judges in such matters.
For instance, when the learned Pope Leo XIII wished
to select the best means by which he might prepare himself
and his domestic prelates to gain the plenary indulgence
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of the jubilee year 1900, he had two of our
Fathers conduct in his palace the Exercises of the retreat;
and, at his advanced age of over 90 years, he
attended in person nearly all the meditations. His successor,
Pope Pius X, gave similar marks of his esteem
for these Exercises. There exists in our society a
venerable tradition, which seems to date back to the
earliest years of the Institute, to the effect that St.
Ignatius was specially assisted by the Blessed Mother
of God in composing his unique masterpiece. The inhabitants
of Manresa, some years after his death, embodied
this tradition in a beautiful painting, which they
placed in the cave, representing him as kneeling before
the figure of the Blessed Mother and Child, with his
eyes fixed upon her lips, and his right hand extended
as if ready to write what she dictated to him.
Father Henry Watrigant, S. J., relates that this tradition
has been confirmed at various times by well
authenticated revelations. Thus he says: “The venerable
Father Louis de Ponte narrates that, when in
the year 1600 Ours entered on their annual retreat, his
penitent, the venerable Marina de Escobar, also began
her retreat; and the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her
and said that the Blessed Virgin Mary had been as it
were the foundress of those Exercises, having instructed
St. Ignatius to put them in that form.”
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.h3
V
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Having now understood what efficiency is attached
to a good retreat, we naturally ask ourselves what we
must do to secure these precious results. We must:
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1. Enter seriously into that deep recollection which
is the proper atmosphere for a retreat, avoiding during
it all unnecessary intercourse with the outside
world.
“God and I” should be the only objects of my
thoughts; all else is a hindrance to perfect success.
2. We must diligently apply our mental powers to
master the truths proposed to us; for that purpose St.
Ignatius bids us occupy ourselves during a full hour in
each of the meditations or contemplations assigned.
He adds that, “in time of desolation, the exercitant, in
order to go against the desolation, and to overcome the
temptation, must always remain a short time beyond
the full hour, so as to accustom himself, not only to
resist the enemy, but even to overthrow him” (Ann.
13).
3. In the 5th Annotation the Saint says: “It will
much benefit him who is receiving the Exercises to enter
upon them with a large heart and with liberality
towards the Creator and Lord, offering all his desires
and liberty to Him, in order that His Divine Majesty
may make use of his person and of all he possesses according
to His most holy will.” He says elsewhere:
“The more liberal one shall show himself towards God,
the more liberal he shall find God towards him, and the
more fit he shall daily be to receive in greater abundance
His graces and spiritual gifts” (Rule 19).
4. Both during the meditations and at all other
times of prayer, great fervor should be employed to
obtain from the Lord those copious graces which He
has in store for us, and which He desires to bestow;
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but it is a general law of His providence that they must
be eagerly asked for, and to the best of our power deserved
by our efforts and co-operation.
If these means are diligently employed, we can indulge
a quiet confidence of great results; for the Lord
does not invite us to a rich banquet without providing
for the full satisfaction of His guests.
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.h2 id=day1
THE FIRST DAY
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The first day of the retreat is mainly devoted to what
St. Ignatius calls “The Principle and Foundation.”
Christ bids us act like “a wise man that built his
house upon a rock,—and it fell not because it was
founded on a rock” (St. Matth. vii, 24). The
truth now considered is the rock on which the whole
structure of our spirituality is to be built. Bartoli, in
his life of St. Ignatius, narrates that a learned Doctor
of the University of Paris, Martin Olave, used to say
that one single hour spent in meditating on this foundation
had taught him more than long years of theological
studies. Such too has been the experience of many
others. Father Everard Mercurian spoke of this foundation
as alone sufficient to effect the most astonishing
changes in a soul, by uprooting all its earthly affections
and directing its desires to God alone.
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.h3 id=day1-m1
THE FIRST MEDITATION | On the End of Man
.sp 2
The first part of the Foundation is: “Man was
created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord,
and by this means to save his soul.”
To begin any of our meditations well, St. Ignatius
bids us stand, for the space of a Pater Noster, one or
two paces from the place at which we are to meditate,
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and with our mind raised on high, consider how God
looks down upon us, and then adore Him with an act
of reverence and self-humiliation.
Then follows the Preparatory Prayer, which is also
the same for all the meditations. It is to ask our Lord
for grace that all the acts of our memory, our understanding
and our will may throughout the meditation
tend directly to the service and praise of the Divine
Majesty.
1st Prelude. Imagine your Blessed Saviour appears
before you, looking lovingly on you and saying: “My
son, I am now going to teach you the first truth in the
spiritual life.”
2nd Prelude. Beg that you may understand this
truth as the Saints have understood it.
POINT I. Consider the words, “Man was created.”
1. “Man.” What is man? Compared to God,
man is a mere nothing, like a little gnat flitting in the
sunshine; yet among material things man is a masterpiece,
endowed with the most wonderful powers and
potentialities. Man is like a musical instrument, from
which the Divine Spirit can draw the most exquisite
harmony, as He has done from millions of saintly
souls. But if not responsive to His touch, it gives out
harsh and false sounds, marring the harmony of God’s
world. A man may live like an Angel, or like a demon
or like a brute animal.
2. Man was “created,” that is, made out of nothing,
for so was the world; now even a savage understands
that the thing made belongs to the maker.
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Therefore I belong to God; He can do with me and require
of me what He pleases.
POINT II. Consider what God requires of man.
If God has made man for a purpose, He certainly requires
of him to work for that purpose. But God
can do nothing without a purpose, a purpose worthy
of Himself; His wisdom requires that. Now He alone
is worthy of Himself; therefore He directed all things
to Himself, as the Book of Proverbs says: “The
Lord hath made all things for Himself” (xvi, 4).
It is not that God needs any creature; for being all
perfect He is self-sufficient; but right order requires
that He make all His creatures tend to Him.
How then must all creatures tend to God? By
glorifying Him; that is by praising, reverencing and
serving God.
1. Praising God. To praise God is to show forth
and proclaim His excellence. The Psalms are full of
such praises; for instance Psalm 116: “Praise the
Lord, all ye nations, praise Him all ye people.” We
must not live then to exalt ourselves, or to get others
to praise us, but render all honor to God, to whom it
all belongs.
2. Reverencing God, worshipping Him, as we do
when we pray. Thus the Angels in Heaven ever do,
crying out; “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty”
(Ap. iv, 8). Thus we put statues of Angels on the
altar to express our reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.
Thus we should express our reverence for God
whenever we speak to Him in prayer. How do I
pray habitually? With what reverence of bodily posture
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and of mental attitude? We should thus make
our meditations practical.
3. Serving God. To serve another is to do his bidding;
we are then created to be ever at the disposal of
God, to obey Him whenever He makes known His
will: “If you love me, keep my commandments,” He
says.
POINT III. Consider the further consequences of
our praise, reverence and service of God; “And by
these means to save his soul,” that is to attain eternal
happiness.
The good God has so wisely and bountifully ordained
all things that by glorifying Him we glorify
ourselves and reach the fulfilment of all our desires.
But by refusing to glorify Him we degrade and utterly
ruin ourselves.
Now we are made free to do the one or the other.
This freedom is a wonderful gift, a glorious gift in
one way, making us like to God and capable of securing
our own bliss forever, with God’s grace, of course:
but on the other hand putting on us a terrible responsibility.
No other power on earth can control a man’s
liberty. When St. Agnes, a mere child of 13 years,
refused to do wrong, the whole power of the Roman
Empire could not bend her will; on the other hand,
the influence of the holiest education cannot make a
child virtuous without its free co-operation.
Can a man then, by refusing to serve God, deprive
the Creator of the glory that he was intended to render
Him? Certainly not; but he can freely choose to
glorify the goodness of God by faithful service, thus
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securing at the same time perfect happiness for himself,
or choose to glorify God’s justice by his eternal
punishment.
Colloquy with God Almighty, my Creator, and
with Christ, my Redeemer; that I may do my full duty
and secure eternal bliss.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day1-m2
THE SECOND MEDITATION | On the End of Creatures
.sp 2
The second part of the foundation says: “And the
other things upon the face of the earth were created
for man, and to help him to attain the end for which
he was created. Whence it follows that man must
make use of them in so far as they help him to attain
his end; and in the same way he ought to withdraw
himself from them in so far as they hinder him from it.”
The task of the exercitant is three-fold:
1. Intellectual: he must strive to understand the
truths proposed correctly, clearly and fully;
2. Practical: he must apply the truths to his own
conduct;
3. Prayerful: so as to obtain aid from Heaven to
succeed in both these respects.
The Preparatory Prayer is the same as in the first
meditation. It is so too in all the following meditations.
It will not be necessary to remind the exercitant
of this in the subsequent exercises.
1st Prelude. Imagine you behold our Dear Lord
before you, who says: “My son, I will now teach you
the second truth of the spiritual life.”
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2nd Prelude. Grant, O Dear Lord, that I may understand
it fully and learn from it how to improve my
conduct.
POINT I. Consider these words: “The other
things upon the face of the earth are created for man:”
and man for God. Here is a clear exhibition of God’s
wisdom; the inanimate is for the vegetable world, the
vegetable for the animal, and all for man; inferior
things are for the real good of superior ones. I am
not then created for material enjoyment: Ad majora
natus sum, “I am born for greater things,” I must not
degrade myself by the perverse gratification of my animal
nature.
POINT II. Consider the words: “And in order
to attain the end for which he was created.” How do
the other things aid man to attain his end? In various
ways.
Some things need only be considered to raise man’s
heart to God and prompt him to reverence the Divine
Majesty. “The heavens show forth the glory of God,
and the firmament declares the work of his hands,”
etc. (Ps. 18).
Other creatures are for the use of man, as food,
drink, clothing, etc. Others are to be endured, that
he may practise submission to God’s holy will; such as
excessive heat and cold, sickness, death, etc. Others
are to be abstained from, as was the forbidden fruit in
Paradise.
Everything thus becomes for man a stepping stone
to Heaven.
POINT III. “Whence it follows that man must
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make use of them in so far as they help him to attain
his end; and in the same way he ought to withdraw
himself from them in as far as they hinder him from it.”
Consider how this rule may be observed or violated.
For instance, (a) In our use of food and drink. The
relish attached to the use of them is good as a means
to promote our health; but under its influence excess
is often committed, by which health may be injured,
disease contracted and life shortened. Am I always
blameless in this respect?
(b) Sleep may be excessive and lead to the neglect
of duty.
(c) The study of nature, of the sciences and the
fine arts may greatly promote the glory of God and
indirectly the good of souls, and it may be wrong to
neglect it; but it may also be abused; it is only a means,
and must not be made an end in itself, to the neglect
of our true end.
(d) Such too is the reading of literature or of the
news of the day.
(e) Such is our intercourse with superiors, our
brethren and outsiders. The bee gathers honey, the
spider poison from the same plant.
Colloquy, asking grace to use all things wisely.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day1-c
CONSIDERATION | On the End of the Religious Life
.sp 2
.h4
I
.sp 2
When we consider the conduct of men generally, we
see at a glance that the lives of vast numbers of them
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are not in conformity with the truths we have been
studying; and we are reminded of the words of Christ:
“Wide is the gate and broad the way that leadeth to
destruction, and many there are that go in thereat.
How narrow is the gate and straight the way that leadeth
to life, and few there are that find it” (St. Matth.
vii, 13, 14). Of course the way of salvation, owing
to His preaching and His merits, is now much wider
than when He spoke those words; but yet it appears
to be, through men’s own fault, much narrower than
it should be. What is the condition of religious in this
respect? It is well worth while to examine what is
the effect of our religious vocation on the most important
of all our interests, the attaining of the end
for which we were created. Now it is clear that the
religious life offers many great advantages for that
purpose.
1. We are created to praise, reverence and serve
God. Now the religious life is entirely directed to
these objects. 1. We are constantly employed in the
promotion of the praise and glory of God: all our
labors are directed to it; the place we live in, the occupations
assigned us and all the circumstances of them
are selected with a view of this purpose.
2. The reverence shown to God is continually fostered
by a long succession of common and private
prayers, Holy Masses, recitation of the Divine Office,
visits to the Blessed Sacrament, etc., from morning
till night, day after day, year after year, till death.
3. The service of God, the accomplishment of His
holy will, is not confined to the observance of His
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Commandments and those of His Church; but, by adding
the rules of the Order, the will of God is made
known and accomplished in all the details of life.
Thus the religious is constantly occupied with the
praise, reverence and service of God. His heart is
not divided between different objects of his love: “He
that is without a wife,” says St. Paul, “is solicitous
for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may
please God; but he that is with a wife is solicitous
for the things of the world, how he may please his
wife; and he is divided” (I Cor. vii, 32, 33).
The condition of mind in religious is like that of the
Blessed Angels, who are busy with God and the things
of God. It is like that of the Holy Family while it
abode on earth; so that a religious house is a copy of
the Holy House of Nazareth.
And all this is not to last for a little while only,
but for a whole lifetime; for the religious vows give
stability and permanence for all years to come.
Therefore this sacrifice is compared by theologians to
a holocaust, the most perfect of the ancient sacrifices,
in which, namely, the whole victim was consumed in
the fire. Thus one religious is likely to do more than
a number of seculars for the praise and reverence and
service of God.
.sp 2
.h4
II
.sp 2
And by these means the religious easily saves his
soul, thus attaining the second end for which he was
created. The good Lord has promised this in so
many words. For he said: “Every one that hath left
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house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, shall receive
a hundred fold and shall possess life everlasting” (St.
Matth. xix, 29).
The hundred fold mentioned in this promise is not
to be passed over lightly. For although it constitutes
no portion of the eternal life of which we are speaking,
still it is intimately connected with it. For it embraces
a multitude of heavenly graces: a Divine protection
in dangers, a peace of soul that the world cannot
give; all of which make the attainment of eternal
life far more easy than it usually is outside of the
religious state.
With this prospect of eternal bliss for ourselves is
united the special efficiency which the good Lord deigns
to bestow on religious to procure the salvation of many
souls. True, the exercise of the sacred ministry, with
the sacramental power, is the ordinary channel of
sanctification established by Christ in His Church; but
there is a special efficiency in personal virtue to bring
souls nearer to God; and the direct purpose and effect
of the religious life is to increase personal holiness.
The archenemy of man knows well who are the most
successful in saving souls, and those he opposes with
all his power. The fact that religious are more fiercely
hated and opposed by the enemies of God, clearly
shows that they produce more fruit in souls.
.sp 2
.h4
III
.sp 2
Of course the religious life has its hardships, it is
a life of sacrifice; but that is its honor and its recommendation
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to a noble soul: “The kingdom of Heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (St.
Matth. xi, 12). All the Saints have led lives of sacrifice,
like their Divine Master: “Jesus said to His
disciples: If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me”
(Ib. xvi, 24).
To aid us in carrying the cross of the religious life
cheerfully, let us reflect what magnificent prizes are
held out to us.
1. There is the bright crown of virginity, with the
distinguished privilege of more intimate union with
Jesus in Heaven. “These are they who were not defiled
with women; for they are virgins. These follow
the Lamb whithersoever He goeth” (Apoc. xiv, 4).
2. There is also the glory of being seated, with
Christ, on the judgment seat, when He will come in
His Majesty on the clouds of heaven: they are to
judge the world, rather than to be judged. Thus at
least the Venerable Bede explains the promise made by
Christ to His Apostles, which for a parity of reason,
he extends to religious: “Amen I say to you that you
who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the
Son of Man shall sit on the seat of His Majesty, you
also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes
of Israel” (St. Matth. xix, 28).
3. Another most valuable advantage of the religious
life lies in the protection it affords against dangerous
temptations to sin. True, as long as we live upon
earth we may fall from grace, and forfeit, through our
own grievous fault, the rich store of merit so far
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accumulated and our right to eternal bliss: “He that
thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he
fall,” writes the Apostle (I Cor. x, 12). The best a
man can do is to surround himself with such securities
as lessen the assaults from without and strengthen
the will within him. And such is undoubtedly the religious
life. Its vows of poverty, chastity and obedience
cut off the fiercest assaults of man’s triple enemy,
the world, the Devil and the flesh; and its constant
practices of piety and mortification provide a copious
supply of Heavenly assistance to resist temptations.
Therefore St. Bernard draws this consoling picture
of religion: “It is a state,” he says, “in which man
lives with more purity, falls more rarely, rises more
promptly, walks more securely, is more frequently bedewed
with celestial graces, sleeps more peaceably, dies
with more assurance, passes more quickly through
Purgatory, and is more richly rewarded.”
.sp 2
.h4
IV
.sp 2
However, we must bear in mind that membership
of a religious Order does not necessarily secure all
those advantages, and that in the same Order they are
obtained by different persons in very different degrees.
The chief requisite to obtain them is to be a fervent
religious. The more generous one shall show himself
to God, says St. Ignatius, the more generous he
shall find God towards him, and the more fit shall he
daily be to receive in greater abundance His graces
and spiritual gifts. The rapidity of our spiritual
progress is not like that of travellers in a ship on the
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sea, all of whom advance at the same rate, whether
they are walking or sitting or lying down; but our
progress is like that of men travelling on a highroad,
each of whom has his own rate of advancement according
to his own efforts.
Thus St. Aloysius, St. Stanislaus and St. John
Berchmans advanced further in a few months than
most religious do in many years.
While we have perhaps broken strong bonds in tearing
ourselves away from home and kindred, let us not
be attached to little things; a slender silken thread is
enough to keep a bird from gaining its liberty, and thus
a little trifle may prevent us from soaring aloft to
higher regions of sanctity. God fully deserves the
love of our whole hearts, which are too small to be
divided between Him and the things of earth.
Let us examine ourselves during this retreat, and
see whether we are drawing all the profit we should
from the rich treasury of our religious vocation.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day1-m3
THE THIRD MEDITATION | On Indifference to Creatures
.sp 2
The third part of the Foundation: “It is therefore
necessary that we should make ourselves indifferent to
all created things, in so far as it is left to the liberty
of our free will to do so, and is not forbidden; in such
sort that we do not for our part wish for health rather
than sickness, for wealth instead of poverty, for honor
rather than dishonor, for a long life rather than a
short one, and so in all other things, desiring and
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choosing only that which most leads us to the end for
which we were created.”
1st Prelude. Imagine you see bright Angels standing
before the throne of God, waiting to be assigned as
guardians to new-born infants; they are perfectly indifferent
to take charge of rich or poor children in any
part of the world.
2nd Prelude. Ask for a like spirit of perfect indifference
to all creatures, caring for God alone and His
holy will.
POINT I. Let me ask myself sincerely: am I now
fully convinced that I am in this world for no other
end than to praise, reverence and serve God, and
thereby to save my soul? that I must use creatures
only in as far as they conduce to this end? This is
right and just, it is highly useful for me; it is necessary,
the one thing necessary;—all else is vanity; it
passes away in a short time.
.pm verse-start
“The world’s a stage, and men are only players,
They have their exits and their entrances.”
.pm verse-end
POINT II. What prevents me from always living
up to that conviction? The reason is that I allow myself
to be influenced by various predilections and aversions,
by my likes and dislikes for certain things. If
I were perfectly indifferent, as the Angels are, whose
will has perfect control over all their affections, then
I would choose on all occasions only what God wills,
as far as His will would be known to me. Can I acquire
such an indifference? I cannot help feeling an
inclination to like or dislike certain things; for it is
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an effect of the fall of man that our passions often
rebel against the spirit. But I can control these
promptings to a great extent, and with God’s grace,
acquire considerable power over their movements.
To strengthen this habit of control over my various
inclinations is the purpose of the present meditation:
that is meant by making myself indifferent to all created
things.
And still St. Ignatius wisely adds: “In as far as
they are allowed me and not forbidden”; lest the uninstructed
might imagine that they might lawfully allow
disorderly sentiments to arise within them without at
once driving them away.
How can I make myself indifferent? By considering
the evils connected with the things to which I am
inclined, and the good to be derived from those disliked.
POINT III. Let me consider in detail some principal
objects to which a man is not naturally indifferent,
but he may with God’s grace make himself so.
1. A long life or a short life. For all I know, my
eternal salvation may be much better secured if I should
die soon than if I live yet many years. It was so with
many persons, who were holy in their youth and were
afterwards perverted. Therefore the Book of Wisdom
says: “He pleased God and was beloved, and
living among sinners he was translated. He was taken
away lest wickedness should alter his understanding
and deceit beguile his soul” (iv, 10, 11). What a
blessing it would have been for a Luther or a Henry
VIII to have died young. As I do not know what is
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best for me, I ought in all reason to leave it all to God’s
disposal, and make myself indifferent to a long life or
a short life.
2. Health or sickness. In comparison with the
salvation of my soul the enjoyment of health during
this life is of slight importance; and common sense
would bid me readily to resign the latter to secure the
former. Now God alone knows when this is necessary.
We read of a virtuous man in England, who
made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas a’ Becket
to be cured from blindness. He was heard, and returned
rejoicing to his home. But he found soon after
that the free use of his sight led him into many new
temptations. So he returned to the same shrine and
begged the Saint that, if it were for his greater spiritual
good to be deprived of sight, this might be done
rather than that he should fall into mortal sin. The
Lord worked this second miracle to show what was
really best for him.
3. Riches or poverty. The young man whom the
Saviour invited to sell all and give to the poor and then
follow Him had not the courage to answer the call,
because he was very rich. And Jesus remarked it was
difficult for a rich man to save his soul. It is then
very wise not to care for riches, but to make one’s
self indifferent on this point.
4. Honor rather than dishonor. History is full
of examples of men who were virtuous while in an
humble station, and who, after being raised to honors,
became proud; now a proud man is odious in the sight
of God.
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5. And so of all other things. Let me ask myself
whether there is any point on which I am not indifferent,
and then consider how I may bend my mind in
the opposite direction; then pray earnestly to our Lord
and His Holy Mother to gain indifference to all created
things.
POINT IV. Let me consider what will be the good
effects of attaining such indifference. They will be:
1. Considerable increase in virtue; for thus my will
becomes conformable to the will of God: I thus practise
faith in His providence, and confidence in His
paternal care of me.
2. Security from many dangers of sin, to which I
should have been exposed if I had persisted in controlling
my own fortunes.
3. Quiet of mind in the happy thought that God, to
whom I abandon myself entirely, will dispose all for
the best: “For we know that to them that love God
all things work together unto good” (Rom. viii, 28).
“Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain
thee” (Ps. 54). “My children, behold the generations
of men, and know ye that no one hath hoped in the
Lord, and hath been confounded” (Ecclus. ii, 11).
On the other hand those who are not indifferent to
the things of earth live in constant agitation of mind,
restless in the pursuit of fancied blessings, and disappointed
when they fail to obtain them; and, what is
still worse, frequently exposed to the danger of sin,
sometimes of grievous sin, in their eagerness to obtain
their desires, or in their reluctance to do their duty.
Colloquy. Pray earnestly, both during the meditation,
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when proper desires are aroused in your heart,
and especially at the conclusion of the meditation, that
you may totally detach your affections from all things
created, and obtain the grace of indifference to all
creatures.
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.sp 4
.h2 id=day2
THE SECOND DAY
.sp 2
We have now fully understood the end, or purpose,
of our creation, which is to praise, reverence and serve
God and thereby save our souls. We must next consider
what will be the result if we freely refuse to live
for that end, and prefer to do our own will in opposition
to the will of God. The Lord is not going to
prevent us from doing so; He will not interfere with
the exercise of our free will. Were a child, in the
fervor of its first Communion, most earnestly to beseech
God to let it die young rather than live to commit
a mortal sin, He would no doubt give it additional
graces to avoid sin, but He will not control the child’s
freedom. Every one of us must carve out his own
future by his own free choice. We know what we
have to do to make that future sovereignly happy; and
we are now to consider prayerfully what evils threaten
us if we refuse to do it. For this purpose we will
now study certain historical facts, and see how other
persons have fared.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day2-m1
FIRST MEDITATION | On Sin
.sp 2
This exercise affords a favorable opportunity to
explain the ordinary process of meditation, which
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consists in applying to a chosen subject our three intellectual
faculties, the memory, the understanding and
the will, as shall now be shown in detail.
Preparatory prayer, as usual.
1st Prelude. Let me imagine I behold the scene
which Christ described saying: “I saw Satan like
lightning falling from heaven” (St. Luke x, 18).
2nd Prelude. I ask the grace to understand how
severely God has punished the sins of others, so that
I may conceive an intense dread and horror of sin,
especially of my own sins.
POINT I. Consider the first sin we know of, that
by which the angels fell. Apply to it: 1. The memory,
recalling the facts. They were created by the
same Lord that made me, and for the same end, to
praise, reverence and serve Him, and by this means to
attain eternal bliss. They, like me, were put to a
trial of their obedience; they were free to serve or no,
as they chose.
A multitude of the angels refused to obey: they
sinned. These were cast out of Heaven into Hell, and
punished with the direst woe forever.
2. The understanding takes in the striking points
of analogy between their history and that of man:
If they were so severely punished, what must man
expect when he imitates their rebellion? What a
dreadful evil sin must be, since a good and just God
hates it so. Their great number did not save the angels,
nor will the number of bad men be a protection;
all men are like a little dust before the infinite God.
Man’s excellence is below that of the angels, in power,
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in knowledge and in all natural gifts. They sinned
but once; perhaps I have sinned repeatedly. What
must I think of myself? of my past? of my future?
3. My will is gradually moved by these and similar
considerations to detest sin, to dread sin, to detest myself
if I have sinned, to beg God to spare me. I must
stir up my will to hate sin more and more, to protest
to God my hatred of it, my self-reproach: “Spare
me, Oh Lord, according to the multitude of thy mercies.”
POINT II. Consider the sin of our first parents.
1. My memory recalls the facts. They were created
by the same God and for the same end as I; they were
loved by Him and placed in a garden of delights, in
Paradise, destined to enjoy the vision of God forever.
They were free. God allowed Satan to tempt them, as
He allows him to tempt me: “The serpent said to the
woman: No, you shall not die the death. For God
doth know that in what day soever you shall eat
thereof, your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw
that the tree was good, and delightful to behold: and
she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave to
her husband, who did eat” (Gen. iii, 4-6). They
were in consequence cast out of Paradise, condemned
to more than nine hundred years of toil and suffering,
and to death, and all the evils that have befallen them
and their posterity have been the punishment of sin.
2. My understanding must weigh these facts and
reason on them, so as to realize the boundless evil of
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rebelling against our sovereign Lord and Master. It
is not only the words of God but even more His deeds
that show us what He is and how He acts. His severity
in punishing sin in creatures for which He had
shown such generous love exhibits the utter abomination
He has for moral evil.
3. I must stir up my will to detest that same evil,
to dread my own weakness which exposes me to sin
again, to regret my past offenses, and to form strong
resolutions for the future, praying earnestly for God’s
help.
POINT III. St. Ignatius bids us consider a third
sin, namely that of some person who has gone to Hell
for one mortal offense. St. Liguori, in his little book
“On the Commandments and Sacraments,” narrates a
number of what he calls “Melancholic Examples,” of
persons who appeared after death, and said they were
damned for some one or more mortal sins which they
had not properly confessed. One is the case of a
woman, who had been reputed to be very devout, so
much so that after her death her body had been treated
with the greatest veneration. But the day after her
burial she appeared to the Bishop of the place as if laid
on a blazing fire, and she told him that she was damned
on account of a mortal sin of thought she had concealed
in confession.
1. The memory must recall the facts; it matters not
whether they are well authenticated or not, since the
doctrine is certain that one mortal sin unpardoned is
enough to damn the soul.
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2. The understanding reasons on the case, so as
to realize vividly the sad results of dying in sin.
3. The will is thus stirred up to hate sin as the
greatest of all evils, and to avoid it at any sacrifice,
according to the warning of Christ: “If thy right eye
scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For
it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should
perish, rather than thy whole body be cast into hell”
(St. Matth. v, 29).
Colloquy with Jesus dying for my sins upon the
Cross, begging for grace to repent of all past sins, and
to make strong resolutions against future offenses.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day2-m2
SECOND MEDITATION | On One’s Own Sins
.sp 2
It is well to remark here that, 1. The fact that St.
Peter was forgiven did not prevent him from mourning
for his sin all the rest of his life; 2. Many persons
repine excessively under afflictions because they forget
that they have deserved much worse by their sins; 3.
The Saints mortified themselves severely for small
faults; 4. This meditation is congenial to humble
souls, like the Publican, but painful to the Pharisee; 5.
The least we can do is to detest our sins heartily and to
atone for them.
1st Prelude. Imagine you stand before God like
the humble Publican, saying: “O God, have mercy on
me, a sinner.”
2nd Prelude. Beg for an intense grief and confusion
for your sins.
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POINT I. Briefly recall to memory the series of
your sins, from your early years, through childhood,
boyhood, youth, through subsequent periods of your
life, noticing successive places of abode, various occupations,
companions, etc.
POINT II. Study to understand the evil of your
sins, considering:
1. Every species of sin has its own peculiar vileness;
for instance, lying is so odious that its very name is
offensive, stealing is still worse, so that one caught in
a theft is disgraced for life, gluttony is disgraceful,
pride is odious to God and man, envy is mean, profanity
is provoking to the great and holy God, deceit is
despicable, vanity is ridiculous, impurity lowers a man
beneath the brute, etc.
2. Every sin is an insult to God. When a person
insults his equal, he incurs his displeasure and deserves
punishment; more so when he insults his superior; and
the offense is the greater in proportion as the party insulted
is more distinguished and the offender lower in
comparison. Now consider how great is God, who is
insulted, compared to man, who insults Him:
a. The meanness of man. What is one man compared
to a thousand men, to a thousand thousand, or
million men? Like a little gnat flitting in the sunshine.
And what are a million men compared to the one thousand
five hundred millions of men now inhabiting the
earth? And what are all these together compared to
all the former and the future generations? And what
are all men compared to the Angels of God?
And what are all creatures compared to the Creator
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Himself? Less than a drop of water compared to the
vast ocean. What then am I compared to God? And
yet, if I have ever sinned, I have put myself above God,
my will above His will. If then I have often sinned,
what punishment have I not deserved?
b. See the meanness of the body of man, which
corrupts all it uses, and needs constant care to keep it
from becoming insupportable, even to itself. See how
death degrades it, how even sickness degrades it.
And the soul of man: see how it is ever inclined to
conceive and foster evil thoughts and desires, how it
prompts to evil words and actions; so that St. Ignatius,
who had been a proud soldier, when he came to know
himself better, looked on himself as a running ulcer
flowing with corruption. And yet in sinning, this vile
being, man, rises up to insult God.
c. On the other hand consider the greatness of God,
by comparison with the littleness of man: compare
His power with man’s weakness, His knowledge with
man’s ignorance, His eternity with man’s short span
of life, His bounty with man’s selfishness, etc.
POINT III. I will arouse my will to detest my
sinfulness, indignant against myself, and wondering
that God continues to bear with me, to favor me, to
have His Angels protect me, the earth support me;
and He forbids all men to injure me, commands them
to love me.
Colloquy with my crucified Lord, begging His mercy
and His pardon.
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.sp 2
.h3 id=day2-c
CONSIDERATION | On the Confession of the Retreat
.sp 2
The direct purpose of the first days of the retreat
is to purify the soul of all guilt of sin and all attachment
to sin. For this purpose the Sacrament of Penance
is the most efficient means, and the confession of
sins is an integral part of the Spiritual Exercises of St.
Ignatius.
.sp 2
.h4
I
.sp 2
Confession may be of three kinds: a general confession
of one’s whole life, or a considerable portion of
one’s life; the ordinary, or weekly confession; and
thirdly the annual or semi-annual review, which is of
rule in many religious institutions.
1. A general confession is obligatory if the preceding
confessions have been badly made; it is useful at
the age when a child has been fully instructed in its
religious duties; when a person enters on a permanent
state of life, and perhaps once more, when one approaches
the portals of eternity. The anxiety entertained
by some souls to repeat their general confessions
over and over again is most unreasonable; it fosters
scrupulosity and is injurious to spiritual progress.
2. In the ordinary, or weekly, confessions, which,
in the case of religious, rarely include a mortal sin,
earnest care must be taken that one or more real sins,
recently or formerly committed, be confessed, so that
matter be presented for absolution; and also that there
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be elicited an act of supernatural contrition for those
sins, or at least for some one of them. Else the Sacrament
would be invalid, for real supernatural contrition
is one of its essential parts.
3. An annual or semi-annual review of the weekly
confessions affords marked advantages, especially
when it is made during the retreat: a. Faults are
thus likely to be noticed which attracted little attention
at other times. As when a ray of sunshine enters into
a rather dark room, and reveals more dust on the
furniture than was noticed before, so the Divine light
of grace, entering the soul during the Exercises, discovers
various defects of which there had been no clear
perception. That is a good occasion to obtain pardon
for them.
b. When our faults are thus seen together, they are
apt to arouse more contrition, and thus secure more
entire pardon.
c. Such a review gives us a clearer knowledge of
ourselves and shows us what defects we should chiefly
labor to correct.
.sp 2
.h4
II
.sp 2
To prepare for such a review, we should consider
those sins especially which are more likely to be committed
by religious. In mentioning them we shall follow
the order of the Decalogue.
The First Commandment regards the worship of
God. Under this head come wilful distractions or
negligences in prayer, which may spoil considerable
parts of our spiritual exercises; disrespectful handling
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of holy things, and the unworthy reception of the
Sacraments. This last sin is of course rare among religious,
but very grievous if it should occur; for it
bears the guilt of sacrilege.
The Second Commandment requires the observance
of our vows. The vow of poverty is violated when a
religious disposes of any temporal goods without permission
of his superior, acting as if it were his own
property. That of chastity attaches to the violation of
the sixth and ninth commandments the additional guilt
of sacrilege. The vow of obedience is violated when a
religious refuses or neglects to do what he is commanded
to do under obedience, or does what he is
thus forbidden.
The Third Commandment is not likely to be violated
by religious.
The Fourth Commandment obliges subjects to reverence
and obey their superiors when they mean to impose
an obligation of conscience; and they must be
supposed to mean it when the good of souls or the
glory of God requires them thus to use their authority.
A precept of obedience in virtue of the vow is rarely
imposed; but commands in matters of some importance
derive from the natural law power to oblige any subjects
to obey their lawful superiors, independently of
any vow. If serious consequences are likely to follow
from the violation of the command, the sin may be
grievous.
The Fifth Commandment says: “Thou shalt not
kill,” and forbids all wilful injury to another’s or to
one’s own body. Of course religious are not likely to
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injure others violently; but this commandment may be
violated in many other ways. One may neglect his
own health or injure it by indiscretion in the use of
food and drink, thus bringing on diseases by which
many a life is shortened. A superior or an infirmarian
may neglect the proper care of sick or delicate persons,
a pastor or teacher that of school children, etc. Injury
done to the souls of others by scandal, or bad example,
may also be considered under this commandment; and
there are very many ways of giving scandal.
The Fifth Commandment also forbids quarrelling,
unreasonable anger, hatred and revenge. A religious
teacher, for instance, must be careful that, when obliged
to punish children, he does not allow himself to be
prompted by passion; and revenge is totally opposed
to the spirit of Christ.
The Sixth Commandment forbids any act of impurity
wilfully committed; and it has this peculiarity
that it admits of no slight matter, but the sin is always
grievous when the impure pleasure is sought or admitted
with full knowledge and full consent.
The Seventh Commandment forbids stealing and all
injustice done to others in their material possessions.
The religious state is a strong protection against these
sins; still it does not make them impossible. It may
happen that a religious does not fulfill all the conditions
of a contract; as for instance, when a teacher neglects
his class or some of his pupils, so that these do not
really get the value of the tuition charges.
The Eighth Commandment enjoins both truthfulness
and regard for another’s good name. A lie is
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never allowed, and mental reservations must not be
used but for good reasons, lest human intercourse lose
the charm and security of mutual confidence.
Any lessening of another’s good name without sufficient
reason is sinful, and it is doubly so when the
accusation is false; even a rash judgment or suspicion
is wrong, yet it may be mistaken without being rash.
The great rule is: “See thou never do to another what
thou wouldst hate to have done to thee by another”
(Tob. iv, 16).
The Ninth and Tenth Commandments forbid sinful
thoughts and desires in matters forbidden by the Sixth
and Seventh Commandments. On this point St. Ignatius
remarks that when an evil thought is promptly
dismissed, there is merit, not sin; and if it returns
again and again and is always resisted, there is more
and more merit. But a venial sin is committed when
one listens to the evil suggestion so as to dwell a little
on it, or to admit some carnal delight, or to be somewhat
negligent in rejecting it. A grievous sin supposes
that the thought or desire is fully consented
to.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day2-m3
THE THIRD MEDITATION | On Eternal Loss
.sp 2
Remarks: The purpose of the first days of the
Exercises being to inspire an intense and lasting hatred
of sin, it is highly proper that we should meditate on
the principal punishment of sin, the eternal loss of the
soul, the pains of Hell. Many Saints have been led
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to Heaven by the road of fear, some religious Orders
acknowledge this as their chief spirit. No one can
afford to do without the fear of God; we should all
nourish it; so that, if ever our love of God should be
too weak to keep us from sin, the fear of Hell may
restrain us. We descend into that abyss in thought
at present, that we may not hereafter be cast into it
in reality.
1st Prelude. Imagine you see in the center of the
earth a vast ocean of fire, in which are plunged countless
souls condemned to eternal punishment.
2nd Prelude. Beg earnestly from your Sovereign
Lord for an intense and abiding fear of those awful
sufferings and for a firm purpose of never sinning
again.
POINT I. Recall to memory what we know of
Hell; in particular:
1. That its existence and its dreadful nature are as
clearly revealed in Holy Writ as any truth whatever.
For instance, Christ said: “If thy eye scandalize thee,
pluck it out. It is better for thee with one eye to enter
into the kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be
cast into the hell of fire; where their worm dieth not,
and the fire is not extinguished. For every one shall
be salted with fire” (St. Mark ix, 46, 48). Then
there is the parable of Dives and Lazarus (St. Luke,
xvi, 19-31).
2. That Hell awaits all those who die in mortal sin,
whatever they may have been in life, religious or seculars,
bishops or priests.
3. That vast multitudes go there: “Broad is the
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way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are
who go in thereat” (St. Matth. vii, 13).
Many who were supposed to be holy. See St.
Liguori, “Melancholy Examples.”
Many who had begun well, as Judas had.
4. That I am in danger, as long as I live, of
sinning mortally, of dying in sin and losing my soul.
Perhaps some are in Hell through my fault.
POINT II. What are the sufferings of the body in
Hell?
All the senses will be tormented, as for their gratification
God has been offended. Chiefly the sense of
touch, and that by the horrible torture of fire: “Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (St.
Matth. xxv, 41), “Which of you can dwell with everlasting
burnings?” (Is. xxiii, 14).
God showed St. Teresa in a vision the place the
Devil had prepared for her in Hell. She narrates it
thus: “I was one day in prayer, when I found myself
in a moment, without knowing how, plunged apparently
into Hell. I understood that it was our Lord’s
will that I should see the place which the devils kept
in readiness for me, and which I had deserved by my
sins. It was but a moment, but it seems to me impossible
that I should ever forget it, if I were to live
many years. The entrance seemed to be by a long and
narrow pass, like a furnace, very low, dark and close.
The ground seemed to be saturated with water, mere
mud, exceedingly foul, sending forth pestilential odors
and covered with loathsome vermin. At the end was
a hollow place in the wall, like a closet, and in that I
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saw myself confined. All this was even pleasant to
behold in comparison with what I felt there” (Coleridge,
“Life of St. Teresa,” Vol. I, p. 133). “She
says,” Father Coleridge adds, “she cannot describe
what she felt. There was a fire in her soul. She suffered
unendurably in her body. All that she had suffered
in diseases, or in what Satan had been allowed to
inflict upon her, was as nothing in comparison; and
she saw there was to be no intermission, no end to the
pain. But the pains of the body were as nothing to
the pains of the soul. She describes the anguish as a
sense of oppression and stifling in the soul, all the while
tearing itself to pieces with remorse and despair.”
POINT III. What are the sufferings of the soul?
1. The memory will recall the abundance of graces,
by which salvation could so easily have been secured;
the example of companions who were innocent or sincerely
penitent, who are now in Heaven; the soul’s own
goodness and happiness at the time of its first Communion
and at other periods of its life.
2. The understanding will then fully realize that
one thing alone was necessary while on earth, that life
was given to work out salvation, that all the rest was
vanity, that all illusions are now dispelled, and there
is no happiness to be found by the creature except in
God; there is only total disappointment, absolute loss
of all satisfaction; and this pain of disappointed love
will then be greater than all the other sufferings.
3. The will then will desire only God, for the love
and possession of whom all its nature longs, because
it was made for Him alone. Therefore the soul will
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hate its own perverseness with a sovereign hatred, and
curse itself in its absolute despair.
4. The soul will always have present to its mind
the awful sentence pronounced by the Supreme Judge:
“Depart from me into eternal fire.” “Eternal”:
What, in comparison, are days, or nights, or months,
or years of suffering? Ever in pain, ever in despair;
no end, no hope of an end or of any mitigation.
Colloquy with Jesus crucified, dying for our sins;
with Mary, the refuge of sinners.
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.sp 4
.h2 id=day3
THE THIRD DAY
.sp 2
.h3 id=day3-m1
THE FIRST MEDITATION | A Preparation for Death
.sp 2
1st Prelude. A captain of infantry had been ordered
by his general to lead his company at the first
dawn of light the next morning up a neighboring hill
where the enemy had just planted a masked battery.
To spend the intervening night he had a log cabin
allotted him. He felt it was a dangerous task assigned
him, as he was likely to be shot while ascending the hill
at the head of his men. Yet he faltered not, for he
was brave. But before lying down to rest, he lit a
candle, pulled out his prayer book, and knelt down to
prepare himself for a good death.
Imagine that God gives you the present hour to prepare
for your own approaching death.
2nd Prelude. O Lord: give me the grace of making
to-day a thoroughly good preparation for death.
POINT I. It is absolutely certain that I shall die,
it is only a matter of more or less delay; “It is appointed
unto men once to die” (Hebr. ix, 27). “Dust
thou art and into dust thou shalt return” is the sentence
pronounced on me, as on all men. No sensible
man doubts this, yet many try to forget it, and live
as if the sentence were not for them. O my Lord God!
I will not be so foolish; and I accept with humility the
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sentence of death. I have deserved it, and I will
suffer it in punishment and expiation of my sins.
POINT II. All the circumstances of my death are
very uncertain. 1. The time. No one but God can
assure me of another day of life. Many are at this
moment in vigorous health who will be dead to-morrow.
I may be one of them: “If thou shalt not
watch, I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not
know at what hour I shall come to thee” (Apoc. iii, 3).
A thief comes when least expected. Many are sick
for a time and yet expire suddenly before they realize
their danger. Even many of the Saints were called
away in the middle of their most important careers:
St. Francis Xavier when on the point of entering
China, St. Thomas Aquinas before he could finish his
Summa of Universal Theology, St. Bonaventure during
the General Council of Lyons, etc. Am I ready?
Was I ready at any hour of last year?
2. The place may be anywhere; we cannot find a
spot secure against the shafts of death.
3. The manner; It may be sudden, whether from a
latent disease which we never suspected, or from any of
the multitudinous accidents so common in the modern
rush of life.
Or it may be preceded by weeks of suffering in an
unconscious or semi-conscious condition. Even when
the danger is known to others, it is often hidden from
the patient. My Lord God! I humbly submit beforehand
to all the circumstances Thou hast determined
shall attend my death, to all its physical and mental
sufferings, to its sudden stroke or lingering approach.
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Only grant me the grace of being well disposed when
it shall arrive. Make known to me, I pray, what sacrifices
I must make that I may be well prepared.
POINT III. What shall be my sentiments when
death is nigh? Some rejoice at its approach; like St.
Paul, they wish to be dissolved and to be with Christ.
Many are horrified when it comes, and wish in vain
that they could live their lives all over again. Now
is the time to prepare, then it will be too late. Many
again, even good Christians and religious, would then
wish to make some more or less important changes
before expiring. Now is the time to make them.
I have seen a novice dying most joyously, with these
words on his lips: “I know I am going to Heaven.”
I have seen a religious priest, who had led a pious and
zealous life, bursting into tears on his deathbed, explaining
that he now realized how much more he could
have done for God and the good of souls, and how
bitterly he regretted his former negligences. And yet
he was a model pastor of souls. What shall be my
sentiments?
Colloquy with Jesus and Mary, begging earnestly to
know now what is still wanting to me, that I may
provide in good time; “O Lord! make me know my end—that
I may know what is wanting to me!” (Ps. 38).
.sp 2
.h3 id=day3-m2
THE SECOND MEDITATION | On the Particular Judgment
.sp 2
1st Prelude. Imagine that your soul has left your
body and is now to be judged by Christ.
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2nd Prelude. Ask earnestly that you may understand
all things now as you shall then, and that you
may act accordingly.
POINT I. Consider when that judgment will take
place: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and,
after this, the judgment” (Hebr. ix, 27). Human
tribunals delay trials to take evidence; not so God.
One moment we may be sinning or meriting, the next
moment we are judged for it. No warning is given
beforehand, as for a college examination. The rich
man of whom Christ said that he was going to build
new barns, saying to his soul: “Soul, thou hast much
goods laid up for many years; take thy rest, eat, drink,
make good cheer,” was rebuked by the Lord, saying:
“Thou fool, this night they will require thy soul from
thee” (St. Luke xii, 16-20).
Be ever ready. Make frequent acts of perfect contrition.
Make every confession as if it were to be the
last of your life.
POINT II. Consider the persons present: 1.
The soul; Father Gaudier, S. J., describes it thus: “It
receives a novel manner of knowing, without the body,
by which its entire life is represented to it at a glance.
It thoroughly understands what is the nature of created
things, its own present condition and the new
aspect of things; and it sees itself naked, solitary and
deserted by all, with nothing but its good and bad
works, in the presence of its Judge. Hence arises a
very different view of its own concerns and all created
and external things from what it had before. Besides,
its will is changed; for all love of created goods is
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vanished, and in its stead there is a most powerful
impulse towards God as its last end. This tendency,
now that the hindrance of the body is removed, urges
it most forcibly to this union” (Introd. ad Solid. Perfect.,
p. 196).
2. Christ is now manifested to the soul. He is the
God who condemned to eternal woe the rebel angels,
Judas, and all who are in Hell, and who has rewarded
all the Saints with eternal bliss. As man, He is now
going to examine what fruit the soul now before Him
has produced. No other parties can well be expected
to be present, except, perhaps the Guardian Angel and
an evil spirit, ready to execute the sentence.
POINT III. Consider the account to be rendered,
of every thought, word, action and omission from the
first dawn of reason till the last breath. Even good
works may contain many imperfections, as St. Paul
explains by this comparison. “Other foundation no
man can lay but that which is laid, which is Christ
Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every
man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and
the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is”
(I Cor. iii, 11-16).
The examination will embrace all the Commandments
of God and of the Church, the duties of one’s
state of life, the proper use of one’s talents, one’s opportunities,
etc.
a. There are two consoling thoughts in this matter.
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1. The religious vows probably act as a second
Baptism, cancelling all former debts. St. Thomas attributes
this effect to the perfect dispositions of the
person making them. If this is the reason, then it
would seem that the renewal of vows may have the
same effect, whenever it is made with equally good
dispositions.
2. Whatever has once been forgiven remains forgiven.
Merit when lost may return, but forgiven sins
do not return.
b. Yet there are two classes of sins that may well
cause anxiety.
1. Those of which we have never truly repented,
perhaps because we were too proud to admit we were
to blame, and laid the blame on others instead.
2. Those sins which we have very often confessed,
but which we have made no serious efforts to avoid in
future, perhaps because we had no real contrition for
them.
POINT IV. The sentence will be just what is deserved;
for a judgment is not an act of mercy, but of
the intellect seeing the truth of things and pronouncing
accordingly: “I will judge thee according to thy
ways, and I will lay upon thee all thy crimes. My eye
shall not spare, neither will I show mercy” (Ezech.
vii, 8, 9). “Then will he (the Son of man) render to
every man according to his works” (St. Matth. xvi,
27).
If a mortal sin be there, all is lost: “If a just man
shall turn away from his justice and shall commit
iniquity—he shall die in his sin, and his justices which
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he hath done shall not be remembered” (Ezech. iii, 20).
The sentence will be final, because there is no appeal
to a higher tribunal, and we can no longer merit a
change: “The night cometh when no man can work”
(St. John ix, 4).
The sufferings of Purgatory come to an end, but
merit neglected to be acquired can never more be
gained.
We may well exclaim with St. Magdalene de Pazzi:
“It is a terrible thing to have to stand before the judgment
seat of God.”
Colloquy. Ask to understand all things now as you
shall realize them at the judgment.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day3-c
CONSIDERATION | On Purity of Conscience
.sp 2
The main purpose of the first part of the Spiritual
Exercises, or what St. Ignatius calls the first week,
is to purify the soul from all stains of sin, and to
strengthen it against all temptations to sin in future.
Of course mortal sin is the principal evil to be destroyed,
it is the greatest evil in the world. Since the
religious life is essentially the way of perfection, it
presupposes the destruction of mortal sin; being the
way of the counsels, it supposes the observance of the
Commandments.
Yet it is quite proper that religious in their yearly
retreats should review the Exercises of the first week,
the meditations regarding mortal sins and the fear of
the Lord, not so much to obtain pardon of sins committed,
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as to strengthen their resolutions and to take
precaution against committing sins in the future. In
fact, as a rule, religious do not commit mortal sins;
and, although they must be constantly on their guard
against temptations,—because, while the spirit is willing,
the flesh is weak,—yet it is a consoling truth that
they rarely fall so low. A religious that frequently
commits mortal sins lives far below the normal standard
of his state of life. He is indeed greatly to be
pitied, and is in serious danger of becoming a reprobate.
Of course no one should ever be discouraged,
but such a person should arouse himself to fervent
prayer and vigorous exertions; he is walking on the
brink of the precipice.
Whoever has come to the present part of the Spiritual
Exercises is supposed to have conceived an intense
horror of mortal sin. But we ought not to be satisfied
with attaining this first degree of purity of conscience;
we ought to strive seriously to attain the second degree,
or to confirm ourselves in the same; that is, we ought
also carefully to avoid the commission of all deliberate
venial sins. We must distinguish between two kinds
of venial sins, the deliberate and the indeliberate.
Both kinds suppose that, while committing them, we
are aware that we are doing something which God
forbids, or omitting what He commands; else we do
not really displease Him. But the sin is deliberate
when we fully notice the evil, and do it nevertheless
with full consent of our free will; else it may be called
indeliberate. Indeliberate sins will escape from time to
time even very virtuous persons, owing to our unruly
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passions and the weakness of the human will in consequence
of Adam’s sin and of evil habits.
Each of such faults, singly considered, could be
avoided; for whatever cannot be avoided at all cannot
be laid to our blame; but all cannot be avoided together.
Thus a beginner may be able to pronounce correctly
every word on a page of his reader, but will not proceed
far without making some mistakes.
So we cannot avoid all indeliberate venial sins a
long time together, unless God give us an extraordinary
grace to do so.
But with the ordinary grace of God a virtuous person
may avoid all deliberate venial sins. For this purpose
we must first of all convince ourselves of the great evil
contained in every wilful offense of God; for by such
offense a poor mortal puts his will above the will of his
Creator and Lord. This evil is so great that no creature,
nor even all creatures united, could by their own
power fully atone for it.
This becomes more evident when we consider some
examples of the severe punishments inflicted by the
Lord on those guilty of such offences. Thus when
King David had committed an act of vanity by ordering
an enumeration of all his subjects to see how great
a monarch he had become, which seems to have been
only a venial sin, the Lord sent to him the prophet Gad,
to give him the choice between three punishments,
namely three years of famine, three months of flight
before his enemies or three days of pestilence on his
people. He chose the pestilence, and it carried off
seventy thousand men (I Paral. xxi).
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Moses for a venial fault was refused the honor of
leading the Chosen People into the promised land,
which would have been a fitting crown of all his labors.
His sister Mary, for some murmuring against her
brother, was stricken with a leprosy and humiliated before
all the people. In fact, leprosy is a striking figure
of the effect of venial sin on the soul; for it disfigures
the soul without depriving it of life. If a visible
leprosy were usually the effect of wilful venial sin,
men would be as anxious to avoid such an evil as they
are now to escape that bodily plague.
Then there are the pains of Purgatory to be considered,
which are deserved by venial sins; they are worse
than any pain known to us in this life. For, as
St. Thomas remarks, they are different in kind: the
fire of Purgatory is not created for the service and
comfort of man, but for his punishment and torture.
The examples of its duration which have been made
known by revelations to saintly souls are proofs of
the terrible evil such offences are in the sight of the
just, all-holy God. Father Faber, in his “All for
Jesus” says: “In the revelations of Sister Frances
of Pampeluna, we find that, among some hundreds
of cases, by far the greater majority suffered 30, 40
or 60 years” (pp. 394, 395).
There results besides from venial sins a still worse
consequence than any transitory suffering, namely that
they expose us to the danger of committing mortal sins
and losing our soul for eternity. This happens in two
ways, naturally and supernaturally.
1. It is natural for man, when he does a good or a
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bad act, to become thereby more inclined to do the same
again under similar influences and circumstances; thus
habits are contracted of virtue and vice. The commission
of venial sins therefore inclines the soul to sin
more readily thereafter, and to sin, not only oftener,
but also more grievously; and thus venial often lead
to mortal sins. This is not theory only, but the teaching
of constant experience. For instance, a religious
has acquired great purity of conscience, he is a model
of modesty; but he begins to neglect his rules, he gets
accustomed to glance rather freely at indelicate objects,
he becomes habituated to indulge his curiosity. Still
he would shrink from anything impure. But his imagination
becomes more indelicate, his passions less
restrained, wilful venial sins multiply and grievous
falls may follow sooner than he expected. Mortal
sins themselves may become habitual, and who can tell
where the evil will end? Even if only one mortal sin
were thus brought about, the evil is the greatest of misfortunes.
But this growing habit is likely to get still
worse.
2. Supernaturally a similar process is going on.
By every act of virtue we obtain, along with the merit,
additional actual grace to merit more; but when we
sin, we fail to obtain this new accession of grace; and
thus it becomes less likely that we shall do better next
time. We may thus lose more and more grace by repeated
venial faults; and in face of an unusually strong
temptation, we may be so weak as to yield assent. No
one becomes very bad on a sudden; but many gradually
lose their virtue and become reprobates. History
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is full of such examples, and daily experience ought to
be a constant warning against such danger.
But even if there were no danger of mortal sin
(which is, of course, a false supposition) a religious
has a special reason to avoid all deliberate sin in the
fact that he has been made a favorite disciple of the
Blessed Saviour. When he wantonly offends the
Lord, he deserves to some extent the reproach originally
addressed to the Chosen People, and afterwards
applied to Judas: “If my enemy had reviled me, I
would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated
me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps
have hidden myself from him. But thou a man
of one mind, my guide and my familiar, who didst
take sweetmeats together with me; in the house of the
Lord we walked with consent” (Ps. 54). We would
not willingly grieve or insult a friend; and is not Jesus
our dearest and most devoted friend? Certainly it
ought to be one of the principal resolutions of the retreat
to strive earnestly and unceasingly to avoid all
deliberate sins.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day3-m3
THE THIRD MEDITATION | To Excite Perfect Contrition
.sp 2
It is highly proper that we should not conclude this
first part of the retreat without striving earnestly to
arouse within our hearts a deep sorrow for all our sins,
and that for the most perfect of motives, namely because
by them we have offended God, who is infinitely
good in Himself and infinitely bountiful to us. For
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this purpose we are going to spend this hour of meditation
in considering various manifestations of the
Divine goodness.
1st Prelude. Imagine you behold the return of the
Prodigal Son, whom his aged father clasps most affectionately
to his heart.
2nd Prelude. Ask earnestly for an intense love of
God and a perfect contrition for all your sins.
POINT I. Consider the parable of the Prodigal
Son, in which the Lord Jesus Himself has given us a
most striking picture of the goodness of our Heavenly
Father. We may read to advantage the whole parable
(St. Luke xv, 11, etc.), but chiefly xv, 20-24:
“And rising up he came to his father. And when he
was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was
moved with compassion; and running to him fell
upon his neck and kissed him. And the son said to
him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
thee, I am not now worthy to be called thy son.
And the father said to his servants: Bring forth
quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring
on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring hither
the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make
merry; because this my son was dead and is come to
life again, was lost and is found; and they began to
make merry.”
Not a word of reproach, no limit to the pardon, only
expressions of happiness, and solicitude to restore the
boy’s honor. Thus does God act with sincere penitents.
POINT II. As the feast prepared is to-morrow’s
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Holy Communion, we will consider in the next place
how Christ prepared His Apostles for their Communion.
“Before the festival day of the Pasch, Jesus
knowing that his hour was come, and that he should
pass out of this world to the Father, having loved his
own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
“And when supper was done—he rises from supper,
and layeth aside his garments and having taken a
towel, girdeth himself, etc.” (St. John xiii, 1-5).
The washing of the feet is the image of the Sacrament
of Penance, in which Christ washes away our sins
in His sacred blood. What a wonderful invention of
His infinite love: And how we ought to love Him, in
return, instead of offending Him by sin. Elicit an act
of contrition.
POINT III. Consider that other manifestation of
Divine love, the institution of the Blessed Sacrament:
“Whilst they were at supper Jesus took bread, and
blessed, and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said:
Take ye and eat, this is my body. And taking the
chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them saying:
Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the
new testament, which shall be shed for many unto the
remission of sins” (St. Matth. xxvi, 26-28).
Could we conceive any greater love than that Christ
should feed us with His own sacred body and blood?
And yet, when we sin, we turn against Him, as when
a serpent bites its benefactor who warms it in his
bosom. My God, pardon me! My God, I love Thee
above all things! I am most sorry for having offended
Thee!
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A consoling fact like the following may give us a
more sensible appreciation of the favor granted us in
the reception of Holy Communion. On All Saints
Day, 1612, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez had received the
Blessed Sacrament with his brethren, when the good
Lord showed him in a sensible manner His presence in
the hearts of all those who had just communicated, so
that he beheld the Saviour resplendent with glory,
whole and entire in each of the religious (Life of Bl.
Alph. Rodr. by a Lay-brother, p. 82).
POINT IV. Imagine you visit a church or chapel
at midnight. Jesus Christ is there then, as at every
hour of night and day. He is praying for you to His
Heavenly Father, because he loves you, and He knows
you need abundant graces to lead a worthy life. It
was when Blessed Margaret Mary was adoring Him in
her convent chapel that Jesus appeared to her on the
altar pointing to His Sacred Heart, and saying: “Behold
the Heart that has loved man so much, and I receive
nothing but coldness in return.” He longs for
love; and certainly we did not love Him when we
sinned. O my Jesus! I wish to love Thee. I detest
my sins.
Colloquy with our dear Lord, protesting to Him that
I love Him sincerely with my whole heart and soul,
that I am most heartily sorry for having offended Him,
because He is infinitely amiable, begging that I may
love Him more and more.
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.sp 4
.h2 id=day4
THE FOURTH DAY
.sp 2
Now that we have freed our souls from every sinful
affection, Christ comes to offer Himself to lead us on,
that by following Him we may establish the Kingdom
of God in our own souls and in the souls of others.
The study of the end of man was the foundation of a
good life, the study of the following of Christ is the
foundation of a perfect life.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day4-m1
FIRST MEDITATION | The Kingdom of Christ
.sp 2
1st Prelude. Imagine you see Christ going from
town to town, announcing the Kingdom of His Father.
2nd Prelude. Ask for grace to understand the call
and to follow Him with a generous heart.
POINT I. Consider this parable: God has chosen
a most noble Catholic prince, endowed with all the virtues
that conciliate the esteem and love of every good
and brave man; and He has appointed him to put down
all the enemies of Christ, to establish the Kingdom of
God in all countries, and make the Lord reign supreme
over all mankind. He is the greatest of heroes, accomplished
in person, magnetic in influence, beyond
any mortal that has ever appeared on earth.
This King issues a call to all Catholic warriors (for
in this parable only warriors are spoken of) inviting
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them to rally under his standard. They are going to
fight for the grandest, holiest and dearest of all causes.
He promises them certain victory, no one of his followers
shall perish unless it be through his own fault.
Yet it will be a strenuous campaign, full of hardships
and fatigue for all concerned. But the King himself
will ever be in the midst of his soldiers, in the thickest
of the fight, sharing in their hardships and privations,
so that no one will be expected to toil and endure more
than the leader; and each one shall share in the victory
in proportion to the sacrifices he shall have made in the
holy cause.
What should a brave warrior answer to such an appeal?
The promises may appear to be excessive, impossible;
but they are so in the parable only, not in
the real facts figured by it.
POINT II. Now consider the application to the
reality signified. The Son of God Himself is that
King, nobler and grander than any mere human genius
or hero, who has truly come into this world to establish
the Kingdom of God, and who is accomplishing this
appointed task.
He calls upon all men, women and children to follow
Him in His contest against God’s enemies; not that He
needs their aid, but that they may share in the glory
of the victory.
For this purpose all must, in some measure, share
His labors and His sacrifices; but He will ever be by
their side, and endure more than any of them. Every
one will share in the magnificent rewards in proportion
to his generous exertions.
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What answer should every generous heart make to
such an appeal from his great, good God, his sovereign
Lord and Saviour? “To-day, if you shall hear his
voice, harden not your hearts” exclaims the Psalmist
(Ps. 94).
POINT III. Those who wish to show greater affection,
and to signalize themselves in the King’s service,
not only will offer their whole persons to labor,
but will also act against their own sensuality, and say:
“Eternal Lord of all things, I make my oblation with
Thy favor and help, in the presence of Thine infinite
goodness, and in the sight of Thy glorious Mother,
and of all the Angels of Thine Heavenly court, protesting
that I wish and desire, and that it is my deliberate
determination (provided only it be for Thy greater
service and praise) to imitate Thee in bearing all insults
and reproaches, and all poverty, as well actual
poverty as poverty of spirit, if only Thy Divine Majesty
be pleased to choose and receive me to this life
and state.” As Jesuits, we are certainly called to this
close imitation of Christ. We must, not only faithfully
resist all temptations to sin, but also generously
follow our King in sacrificing lawful pleasures, trampling
upon worldly honors, upon self-esteem and bodily
comforts, leading mortified lives, as worthy companions
of Jesus.
POINT IV. That war against Satan and against
human depravity has been going on for nineteen centuries.
Millions have been following Christ to victory,
and are now reigning with Him in Heaven. Our time
is come; we too must make our choice. Our King has
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said: “He who is not with me is against me,” “No
man can serve two masters” (St. Matth. vi, 24). Let
us offer ourselves to be the generous and faithful followers
of our Blessed Saviour, imitating Him on earth
that we may follow Him into the glory of Heaven.
What sacrifices in particular can I offer Him?
Colloquy. Beg earnestly for light and grace to understand
and follow the example of Christ.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day4-m2
SECOND MEDITATION | On the Incarnation
.sp 2
Here St. Ignatius begins what he calls the Second
Week of his Exercises, in which he bids us study how
the great King leads us in the grand enterprise of establishing
the Kingdom of His Father, by considering
His coming on earth, His nativity, His childhood and
His private life. The main purpose all along is to
make us know Him more intimately, love Him more
ardently and follow Him more faithfully. This following
consists in making ourselves more and more like
to Him: “Whom he (God) foreknew he also predestinated
to be made comformable to the image of his
Son” (Rom. viii, 29). By this conformity to Christ
we make God reign in our hearts and prepare ourselves
to enter into His Heavenly Kingdom.
In this and the following exercises a change is made
in the process so far followed; namely, instead of recalling
the facts to memory in the body of the meditation,
we now recall them in a special prelude, put before
the two usual ones. Then in the points we do less
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reasoning; we rather look on and behold the event as
it were passing before our eyes, noticing in particular
the persons, their words and their actions, and dwelling
on the thoughts and the sentiments which they suggest
to our minds. From the fact that we behold rather
than reason, these exercises are usually called contemplations,
rather than meditations, though the name
is of little importance, provided the process be well understood.
1st Prelude. Recall the facts to mind, as they are
related by St. Luke (i, 26-38).
2nd Prelude. Imagine you see the face of the earth,
as it was at that time, inhabited by diverse races of
men, civilized and barbarian, all steeped in vice and
rushing on, a vast torrent, into the abyss of Hell. In
the little town of Nazareth the Virgin Mary at prayer,
and God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost looking
down from Heaven upon the varied scene.
3rd Prelude. Beg fervently that you may understand
this mystery, and may learn from it to know
your King, Christ, more clearly, love Him more ardently
and follow Him more faithfully.
POINT I. Study the scene as it was before the
descent of the Angel, noticing the persons, with their
words and actions.
1. The human race, in a great variety of conditions:
some rich, others poor; some learned, others
ignorant; some refined, others rude; some suffering,
others rejoicing; talking of wars and of pleasure, adoring
idols; but nearly all rushing on, like a vast torrent,
into Hell.
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2. Then consider the chaste Virgin Mary, praying
for the coming of the Messias, lowering herself in her
own mind, thinking of her littleness before God. Thus
the poet tells of a drop of water saying to itself:
“how little I am in the vast ocean around me;” and
at that moment a shellfish swallowed the drop, and it
lay hardening in the shell, and it became the choicest
pearl that ever shone on a queenly diadem. So was
Mary chosen in her humility.
3. Consider the three Divine Persons looking down
from Heaven upon the scene below, seeing the mass of
moral corruption, yet, instead of sending down avenging
fire or a new deluge of water to punish the guilty
race, pitying its sad condition. The Son of God steps
down from His throne, and casts Himself at the feet
of His Heavenly Father, offering Himself to assume
our mortal nature and to atone for our sins.
Here is the first step of our King, lowering Himself:
Exinanivit semetipsum: “He emptied himself, taking
the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of
men, and in habit found as a man” (Phil. ii, 7). We
are to imitate Him, to be made like to Him. This is
our first lesson; let us learn it well: we must be humble.
POINT II. The Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary to
announce her selection as the Mother of God. He
comes, not to the mighty city of Rome, to its gilt palaces
and learned scholars; the things of earth are very
small in the sight of God. He comes to an unknown
little town in a despised country, to a poor maiden, unknown
to the world.
Listen to the words spoken: “Hail, full of grace,
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the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.”
Mary is too humble to realize that such words could
be suitable to her: “She was troubled at his saying.”
But the Angel explains and dispels her fear. He adds:
“Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He
shall be great and shall be called the Son of the most
High.” Now her Virgin heart is alarmed; so precious
is the jewel of virginity in her sight. “How shall this
be done, because I know not man? And the Angel
answering said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow
thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Thus
reassured, she understands that such is the will of God;
her answer beautifully expresses her humility: “Behold
the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according
to thy word.” She does not say: behold then
the future queen of Heaven and earth, but the handmaid
of the Lord. Jesus has associated her with Himself
making her, here and all through life, the model
of every virtue.
Her example is like that of the Redeemer: humility,
humility.
POINT III. After her consent had thus been expressed,
God, who always respects the free will of
men, formed in her womb, from her virgin blood, the
body of her Divine Son: “And the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us” (St. John i, 14). As when
he formed the body of Adam out of the slime of the
earth, He breathed into his face the breath of life; so
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now He created the soul of Christ, and united it at
once with the embryonic body to build it up to the
perfection of manhood, and at the same moment God
the Son assumed this humanity into substantial union
with His Divine Person.
This is the second step in the career of our King,
again a species of self-annihilation: Exinanivit semetipsum.
It is also an example of His love for men, of
His boundless zeal for their salvation and glorification.
He stooped down to earth in order to raise man to
Heaven.
Colloquy with the Lord incarnate:—gratitude, love;
promise to follow Him, to humble self, to labor for the
good of souls. Ask for the help of Mary. Our
Father—Hail Mary.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day4-c
CONSIDERATION | On the Imitation of Christ
.sp 2
The main truth that St. Ignatius inculcates, both in
the meditation on the Kingdom of Christ and in all the
subsequent portions of his Exercises, is that man must
be perfected by imitating Christ, by making himself
like to the Son of God made man, according to the
words of St. Paul: “Whom God foreknew he also
predestinated to be made conformable to the image of
his Son, that he might be the first-born among many
brethren” (Rom. viii, 29).
The intense love of God, which the Saint conceived
during his retreat at Manresa, prompted him to make
himself as like to Christ as, with God’s grace, was possible;
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and the zeal for the salvation of souls, which he
learned from the example of Christ, urged him to
form a band of men like to himself, or rather like to
the God-man, a select band to be, as it were, a bodyguard
of the Divine King in the holy warfare, undertaken
to establish the Kingdom of God. This is the
spirit of the Society of Jesus, and of all religious
Orders, and to some extent of all who wish to attain
perfection. For this purpose the principal means to
be used is the study of the life of Christ, which is to
be the chief occupation of the exercitant during this
and the following days. It is not a work of human
skill, but one of the direct influence of the Holy Spirit;
He alone can produce in the heart of man the supernatural
likeness to the Son of God. As He sanctified
St. Ignatius, so He sanctifies all those who faithfully
and generously perform these exercises.
We may, in some respects, compare the process of
sanctification to the work of a painter who produces
an exquisite likeness of a distinguished personage on
his canvas. The first outlines of the supernatural
likeness of a child of men to the Son of God are traced
by the Divine Artist in the Sacrament of Baptism.
The infant’s soul receives the precious impress as the
unconscious canvas receives the colors, without its
own co-operation. Yet already then the difference is
immense between a mere child of earth and an adopted
child of God. But very much remains to be accomplished
by the Holy Ghost before the likeness is perfected.
And this increase of sanctification is the most
important work that is being done on earth from generation
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to generation: “For the perfecting of the
Saints—for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph.
iv, 12).
Most of this further sanctification is to be produced
by the Holy Ghost in our hearts with our co-operation:
He teaches us how to make ourselves like to Christ,
while He aids us to do it. For His teaching does not
consist in simply suggesting to us what we must do, as
we teach a child its Catechism; but He acts as does a
music teacher with his pupils, who makes them constantly
practise what they are learning. It is by their
own efforts that they are to acquire the art. So the
Spirit of God makes us like unto Christ by helping us to
act as Christ did, to practise the virtues of which He
has given us the example. In this consists the sanctification
of the soul, in the imitation of Christ.
How Christ acted during His whole career, from
His incarnation to His ascension, this is the study of
the second, third and fourth weeks of the Exercises.
We will here call attention to some of the characteristic
traits of His life on earth.
1. His conduct was diametrically opposed to that
by which Adam and Eve had forfeited their original
happiness. They had aspired to rise above their own
condition and become like unto God. For the Devil
had said: “God doth know that in what day soever
you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and
you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen.
iii, 5). Christ, on the contrary, while being God,
stooped down and made Himself man; and He continued
lowering Himself more and more, becoming the
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poorest child on earth, born in a stable, laid upon straw,
“a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the
outcast of the people” (Ps. 21), condemned to a
shameful death, and, as a criminal, crucified with
thieves. If then we wish to be like Christ, we must
practise humility.
2. Another characteristic trait of Christ’s conduct
is seen in the means He used to establish the Kingdom
of His Father. He could have made the colossal
power of Rome His tool to effect that purpose, or have
employed the wisdom of the philosophers or the elegance
of the writers of that classic age. But instead
He used ignorant and timid men, and first gathered
into His fold the poor and despised of the earth, as
St. Paul expressed it: “For see your vocation,
brethren, that there are not many wise according to
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but the
foolish things of the world hath God chosen that he
may confound the wise, and the weak things of the
world hath God chosen that he may confound the
strong, and the base things of the world, and the
things that are contemptible hath God chosen, and
things that are not, that He might bring to naught
things that are, that no flesh should glory in His sight”
(I Cor. i, 26-29).
Must we then, to imitate Christ, cast all human
learning to the winds? By no means; but we must understand
that merely natural means cannot produce
supernatural effects, that all the learning and all the
power of the world cannot save or sanctify a soul.
And therefore we must trust in supernatural means.
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As to the natural means, Christ did not need them to
accomplish His purpose; but we must use all the means,
natural and supernatural, that God puts at our disposal;
yet remembering all along that we must put our
main confidence in the supernatural, in the help of
grace, which is secured by the imitation of our King.
We must then ever keep our eyes upon Him, study
His example, and reproduce His virtues in ourselves.
It will often happen that to act thus we must do things
which seem foolish in the eyes of a worldly wisdom, as
when St. Francis Borgia resigned his office of viceroy,
in which he was doing so much good, to hide himself
in the religious state; or when the Seven Holy Founders
of the Servites of Mary gave up all their riches to
become poor like Christ.
A beautiful illustration of the way in which we are
to imitate the Saviour is given us in the Book of
Judges, where Gedeon and his three hundred followers
rescued their people from oppression by means apparently
most unwise, yet fully successful because they
obeyed God with heroic fidelity. Gedeon was designed
by Divine Providence to be a type of Christ. Jesus
is our Gedeon, and we can learn how we must follow
Him by studying the story of Gedeon in Holy Writ.
The Israelites in his day had been conquered by the
Madianites and Amalekites, who were overrunning
their land with a countless army, and destroying all
they could not carry off. The Chosen People were reduced
to a state of slavery and starvation. So they
repented of their idolatry, and called upon the Lord for
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pardon and mercy. God sent them a savior in the person
of the faithful Gedeon. This hero, encouraged
by miracles, which he had seen, destroyed the altar
and the grove of Baal, and then gathered together
32,000 men, trusting in God that with this small force
he could defeat the vast number of the foes. But
God told him his followers were too many; if they conquered,
they would attribute the victory to their own
prowess. He bade him choose only 300 of them, and
promised Gedeon that with these alone he would gain a
complete victory.
Now notice how this was accomplished; it was by
means apparently most rash and foolish. The Scripture
narrates it thus: “Gedeon divided the 300 men
into three parts, and gave them trumpets in their hands,
and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
And he said to them: I will go into one part of the
camp, and do you as I shall do. When the trumpet
shall sound, in my hand, blow you also the trumpets
on every side of the camp.—They began to sound their
trumpets, and clap the pitchers one against another—And
they cried out, The sword of the Lord and of
Gedeon—And the Lord sent the sword into all the
camp and they killed one another” (Judges vii, 16-22).
The immense army of the foe was destroyed, and
the country delivered by the 300 unarmed men. These
had simply done what they saw their leader do, and
God had done the rest. Christ is our Gedeon; we
must simply do what He did, and God will do the rest:
He will establish His Kingdom in our hearts, and by
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us, no matter how weak the instruments, effect the salvation
of souls.
.sp 2
.h3 id=day4-m3
THIRD MEDITATION | On the Birth of Christ
.sp 2
1st Prelude. Recall the facts to mind, by reading
St. Luke i, 1-20.
2nd Prelude. See the stable, with the Divine Infant
lying on the straw in the manger, with Mary and
Joseph kneeling in adoration.
3rd Prelude. Ask to understand how Christ has
loved you, that you may love Him ardently and follow
Him faithfully.
POINT I. Consider how Mary and Joseph received
the order to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem to
be enrolled there. Notice the persons, their words
and their actions.
1. The pagan emperor who ordered the census, no
matter what was his motive, was an agent of Divine
Providence to bring the Holy Family to Bethlehem.
His order had been issued three years before; it arrived
at Nazareth just at the right time for God’s purposes.
2. St. Joseph brings it home, knowing what inconvenience
it would cause, but resigned to God’s will.
3. Mary, though she sees it comes at a most inopportune
time, as far as man can judge, has only
words and thoughts of cheerful submission to the
voice of authority. Both prepare at once for the
journey, and start as soon as possible.
POINT II. See the Holy Family arriving in Bethlehem.
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They have traveled five days, over 110 miles,
Mary perhaps riding on an ass or in a rude cart, and
Joseph leading the animal. Both now are dust begrimed
and tired out, glad to get at last to the one inn
of the town; but they are disappointed and find no
room there to receive them. Follow them in imagination
as they wander through the poorer streets, asking
here and there for a night’s lodging, but refused at
every door. Here now are the holiest persons that ever
trod the earth, and see how the Lord allows them to
suffer for our example of patience. And the Divine
Child, how helpless: “He came unto his own, and his
own received him not” (St. John i, 11). Happy they,
if any such there were, who spoke a kind word to them,
even a word of excuse for a refusal; it must have
brought a blessing. Do I always speak kindly to the
poor? Do I render every service I can? God willed
it all, that Jesus might be born in a stable, rather than
in a comfortable cottage; laid on straw, rather than on
a cushion. Our edification is all the greater on Christmas
day. But their lot was hard. So too our sufferings
shall be turned into joy.
POINT III. Behold the stable, in which they have
found a refuge. Cattle were there before them, and
the floor is littered with their leavings. Mary and
Joseph patiently tidy up a spot where they may rest,
and collect the cleanest blades of straw to lay them in
the manger, provident for the expected birth of the
Divine Child.
There, during the night, Mary is miraculously delivered,
and in an ecstasy of love and joy, presses the
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Son of God to her maternal breast. She tenderly
wraps Him in the swaddling clothes she has brought
along for the purpose, and reposes Him upon the straw
of the manger, that she and Joseph may kneel before
Him in humble adoration. Angels are there of course
to honor the King of glory; but they appear not to the
sight nor charm the ear with their Heavenly song, that
all may be as desolate as possible. He came to share
our poverty and our loneliness.
Meanwhile His glory is beginning to be manifested
elsewhere. For a bright angel announces to the
shepherds the birth of a “Saviour, who is Christ the
Lord in the city of David,” and he adds: “This shall
be a sign unto you; you shall find the infant wrapped
in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly army, praising God and saying: Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good
will” (St. Luke ii, 11-14).
He who came to assume our poverty made the poor
His favorites; to them He was first revealed. If we
wish to enjoy His favors, let us be satisfied with little,
study rather with how little we can get along than how
much we can acquire. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (St. Matth. v,
3).
The closest followers of Christ are known by their
resemblance to Him. And how is He known? The
Angel has proclaimed it: by His poverty: “And this
shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the infant
wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.”
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Colloquy with the Divine Infant, loving Him, thanking
Him, begging for the spirit of poverty, humility;
and with Mary and Joseph, begging of them to obtain
for me these precious dispositions.
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.sp 4
.h2 id=day5
THE FIFTH DAY
.sp 2
.h3 id=day5-m1
THE FIRST MEDITATION | On the Flight into Egypt
.sp 2
1st Prelude. Recall the facts, as narrated by St.
Matthew ii, 13-19.
2nd Prelude. See St. Joseph quietly asleep in the
night, and the Angel standing before him to deliver his
message.
3rd Prelude. Ask the grace to understand the lessons
taught in this mystery by Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
so as to know your King more intimately, love Him
more ardently and follow Him more faithfully.
Point I. Consider the message of the Angel,
noticing particularly the persons, their words and their
actions.
1. The persons. The Angel is a faithful messenger,
a model of exactitude when a task is entrusted to
us. He addresses Joseph because he is the head of the
family. So God usually directs us through our superiors,
even if these should be less able, even as Joseph
was less gifted than the others. Jesus and Mary are
not visited: “Take the child and his mother.”
2. Consider the words spoken: “Arise and take
the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and be
there until I shall tell thee; for it will come to pass that
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Herod will seek the child to destroy him.” The action
required implies many great difficulties; first a very
long journey of hundreds of miles, and that through a
wild country, where savage animals and robbers
roamed. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows
that robbers infested those regions, and the watch kept
by the shepherds points to the presence of wolves, bears,
etc. Then they are to leave at once, with no provisions
for so long a journey: “Arise, and take, etc.” They
are not even to say a kind farewell to the neighbors who
had befriended them, but must leave in secret like
criminals. And the motive assigned by the Angel is
unsatisfactory to human reason: “Herod will seek
the child to destroy him.” Were there not a thousand
easier ways to prevent this? Was not God wise and
powerful enough to save His Divine Son in Bethlehem?
Or could they not have gone to Mary’s cousin
Elizabeth, where young John the Baptist was living in
security? Perhaps we might have been self-opiniated
enough to find such objections; but Jesus, Mary and
Joseph did not criticize.
3. The Actions of these exhibit a prompt, cheerful
and perfect obedience. These are our models. Have
we always acted thus? Is it our habit now to do so?
POINT II. Consider the exile itself. How the
Holy Family was supported during the many weeks
their travel must have lasted, we cannot imagine.
They may have suffered many severe hardships; most
probably they did, since Christ had come to give the
example of patience under sufferings. But God’s
Providence watched over every step of theirs, and
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supplied all their wants as far as was conformable to
His designs.
He did not do so only on account of their privileged
personalities, but He ever does the same for all who
trust in Him. “I say to you, be not solicitous for your
life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you
shall put on—for after all these things do the heathens
seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need
of all these things. Seek you therefore first the Kingdom
of God and His justice, and all these things shall
be added unto you” (St. Matth. vi, 25-33).
We can especially trust in God’s assistance when we
are obeying His commands, as was the Holy Family at
that time. Therefore we should love to be directed by
our superiors, who make known God’s will to us. And
again, works done under obedience with a willing mind
have a special blessing on them. “An obedient man
shall speak of victory” (Prov. xxi, 28). The heroic
virtues practised in later ages by the solitaries in those
deserts may well have been the fruit of the obedience
then practised by the Holy Family.
Their stay in Egypt for several years among strangers
is best appreciated by those persons who have themselves
experienced the bitterness of exile. Christ knew
that many of His followers would endure those ills,
and He wished to leave them a most consoling example.
POINT III. Consider the massacre of the Innocents.
All its cruelty was meant for Christ, and cruel
persecution has been continued against His followers
throughout the ages, and is so to the present day. He
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had foretold it: “The disciple is not above the master,
nor the servant above his lord. If they have called
the good-man of the house Beelzebub, how much more
them of his household” (St. Matth. x, 24-25). We
must then be patient under any kind of molestation,
though of course we may use all honest means to prevent
it.
The persecution works the good of them who properly
endure it. See this exemplified in the massacre of
the innocents. It was very wickedly done, a cruel injustice
and bitter suffering to the little ones, and a still
more dreadful affliction to their mothers; but it resulted
in eternal glory for the children. When a priest blesses
an article of devotion, he makes a cross over it; so the
Lord bestows His blessings with a cross. Every sorrow
comes from the hand of our loving Lord, and is
meant for the good of those who love Him: “To them
that love God all things work together unto good”
(Rom. viii, 28).
Colloquy. With Jesus and Mary, begging for constant
fidelity in the imitation of my Divine Model amid
all trials, with a firm confidence in His loving providence:
“Know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord
and hath been confounded” (Ecclus.