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THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE.
muob0tat:
THOMAS SLATER, S.J.
5mpnmatui: :
4- EDWARD,
Bishop of Birmingham.
ROEHAMPTON : PRINTED BY JOHN GRIFFIN.
SCIENCE OF
ACCORDING TOk
IFE
THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES.
FATHER CLARE, S.J.
LONDON AND LEAMINGTON:
ART AND BOOK COMPANY.
NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO : BENZIGER BROTHERS.
1898.
FRA^r€lscAN (athers
Nt\S
LOAN STACK
[All rights reserved. \
1213
PREFACE
The Book of the Spiritual Exercises contains the
principles on which St. Ignatius, under God, formed
his Society, and embodies its very essence and spirit.
It is for this reason that all who are called by God
to become members of that Society, and who wish to
correspond to their high vocation, must always regard
it as a sacred duty to apply themselves seriously to
a study of the meaning and bearing of each word
of a work which in such a short and concise form
comprises the whole spirit of the Institute of the
Society of Jesus, and to form themselves both inte-
riorly and exteriorly in accordance with its teaching.
To enable them to do this as effectually as by
God's grace is possible, every member of the Society
on his entrance has to spend one month in per-
forming the Exercises, and during the two years
of retirement in the Novitiate has to make them the
constant subject of his study. In addition to this,
there is a third year of probation devoted to the
same holy occupation, and to a repetition of the
month's retreat after each one has completed his
full course of studies. Moreover, for the better
; 737
vi PREFACE.
understanding of the Exercises, and to prevent as
far as possible all erroneous application and inter-
pretation of them, it is deemed necessary that during
these three years all should be under the guidance of
an experienced director or instructor, whose duty it
is to explain and develop those truths and their
practical conclusions which are so briefly and con-
cisely set down by St. Ignatius.
Just as the Sacred Scriptures, if they are to be
of practical utility, and are to exercise an influence
on our minds and hearts, require that their meaning
be explained to us by legitimate and God-guided
interpreters, so too must this work of our holy
Founder, which with some reason is said to have
been dictated in its essential parts by the Mother
of our Lord, be interpreted by competent authority,
if it is not simply to be read, but to be applied to
our daily life, and to mould and regulate our whole
interior and exterior views and conduct. It is for
this reason, and to supply as far as possible for the
absence and want of such a director and instructor,
that I publish the following pages, which are meant
principally, though not exclusively, for those persons
who, whether in the world, or in the ecclesiastical
state, or consecrated to God in Religion, are
accustomed to make an annual retreat, and are
aiming at the perfection of their state of life.
I do it also the more readily, as we frequently
PREFACE. vii
hear great regret expressed that the Exercises are
published in a language which is not understood by-
many, and also that they are compressed into such
a small space that they are a sealed book except to
those who are initiated.
Emboldened, then, by the example of the Very
Reverend Father Roothaan of holy memory, of
Father Ciccolini in Rome, Fathers Neumayr and
Meschler in Germany, of Father Figuera in Spain,
&c., I have humbly tried to follow in their footsteps,
hoping that it may be for the greater glory of God
and for the salvation and perfection of souls.
I have also added three Appendixes, which
contain subjects for election or for reformation of
life, the consideration of which may be of great
practical benefit for persons living in the world,
for priests, and for Religious.
If there be anything in these pages which is in
any way at variance with the letter or spirit of the
Spiritual Exercises, or which is not in full accord
with the teachings of Holy Church, I hereby express
regret and cordially reject it.
J.C.
St. Beimo's College,
Feast of St. Joseph, March 79, 1896.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
In issuing a second edition of THE SCIENCE OF
Spiritual Life, the author has availed himself
of the kind suggestions which have reached him
from various sources, and which have been made
by persons whose judgment merits all respect.
Therefore, where important instructions have been
expressed with too great conciseness and brevity,
and were • thereby open to misapprehension, they
have been more fully explained ; the contemplations
on the life of our Blessed Lord, the points only of
which have been laid down by our holy Father in
his Book of the Spiritual Exercises, have been
developed for the benefit of those who are less
advanced in the contemplative method of prayer ;
several contemplations on the Sacred Passion have
been added for the convenience of such as may have
the inclination and opportunity to devote themselves
to study more deeply in the record of the sufferings
and death of Jesus, what was the excess of His love
for each of us, what was the price that He paid for
our redemption, what is the fearful malice of sin
which demanded such an awful atonement, and what
PREFACE. ix
is the value of an immortal soul ; they will also be
profitable by impressing upon us the great lesson of
the necessity of self-sacrifice, if we mean to be true
followers of Christ. Moreover, some new Meditations
and Considerations on subjects of practical import-
ance bearing on our daily life have also been
introduced.
Lastly, there is also added a fourth Appendix,
for the benefit of such as desire to make a retreat
of eight or four days, and who cannot avail them-
selves of the wise counsels of an experienced
director. For the convenience of such persons,
several Orders of the Exercises are drawn up, from
which they can select the one which they may
deem best adapted to their state, circumstances, and
requirements.
In conclusion, the author would humbly beg of
those who may derive from the study of these pages
some increase in their knowledge and love of our
Blessed Lord, that they would say a prayer for him,
that " whilst preaching to others, he himself may not
become a castaway."^
J.C.
St. Beuno's College,
Feast of St. Ignatius, 1898.
Cor. ix. 27.
THE PRAYERS OF ST-. IGNATIUS.
ANIMA CHRISTI.
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, be my salvation.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, cleanse me.
Passion of Christ, be my strength.
O good Jesus, graciously hear me.
In Thy sacred Wounds hide me.
Nor let me be ever separated from Thee.
From the wicked enemy defend me.
In my dying hour do Thou call me,
And bid me come to Thee,
That together with Thy Saints I may praise Thee,
For ever and ever. Amen.
SUME ET SUSCIPE.
Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty ; accept my
memory, my understanding, and all my will, whatever I have
and possess. Thou hast given all to me ; to Thee, O Lord,
I give it back again. All is Thine ; dispose of it according
to all Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, and this
is enough for me. Amen.
CONTENTS.
Preface to First Edition
Preface to Second Edition
PAGE
V
viii
Abridgment of the Spiritual Exercises
Method of Meditation .
Method of Contemplation
Outline of the form of Meditation
The Nature and Division of the Spiritual Exercises
The Annotations . . . .
The Examinations of Conscience
The Particular Examen
Notes .....
The General Examen ...
The method of the General Examen
A Form of the General Examen (Father Roothaan)
General Confession and Communion
The Additions
The Rules for the Discernment of Spirits (more applicable
for the First Week) . . . •
I
5
13
15
17
19
25
26
28
29
31
32
35
36
41
THE FIRST WEEK.
Preparatory Meditation
The "Principle," or "Foundation
Part I .
The Importance of Salvation
Part 2 .
Part 3 .
50
54
56
58
60
64
CONTENTS.
PAGE
On Indifference . . . . .66
Motives of Indifference
69
Impediments to Indifference
72
The " Foundation," by way of repetition (i)
74
(2)
79
as applied to Christians
81
The End of the Priest .
85
The End of the ReHgious
87
On Sin. Introduction .
91
On Three Sins
93
Note
97
On one's own Sins
98
On Three Sins, by way of repetition
lOI
On one's own Sins, by way of repetition
104
The Effects of Mortal Sin
105
Sin in a Christian
log
Venial Sin .
112
Repetition
115
On Tepidity .
117
On Hell— Note
iig
121
On Interior Pains of Hell
124
On Death
127
The Wreck of the Body
. 131
Note
133
The Particular Judgment
134
The General Judgment
137
Repetition of preceding
139
The Shortness of Time
. 142
. Note
• 143
The Allegory of the Prodigal
• 144
Note
147
Conversion of St. Peter
. 148
Conversion of Magdalene
. 150
THE SECOND WEEK.
Introduction.— The Illuminative Way
" The Kingdom of Christ "
Repetition ....
Repetition (for those who are in Religion)
154
159
163
167
CONTENTS.
The Incarnation, Part i
Part 2
The Visitation
The Nativity .
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Circumcision
The Adoration of the Magi
The Purification and Presentation
The Flight into Egypt . :
The Return from Egypt
The Life at Nazareth .
Jesus remains in the Temple — Note
Introduction to the Consideration of Various States of Life
"Two Standards"
Notes on the preceding
Repetition of "Two Standards
Contemplation on "Three Classes of Men
Note
"Three Degrees of Humility "
The Baptism of our Lord
On Election .
Prelude to the Election
The objects of an Election
The times or ways of finding out God's will
On Reformation of Life
Note
Rules for the Discernment of Spirits more useful for those
engaged in the Second Part of the Exercises
On the Distribution of Alms
Rules regarding Scruples
Resolution to follow Christ (according to the second form
of Election)
Jesus is tempted in the Desert .
The Miracle of Cana in Gahlee .
Jesus drives the sellers out of the Temple
Vocation of the Apostles
The Sermon on the Mount
Jesus stills the Storm at Sea
Jesus walks upon the waters
Note . .
Jesus sends the Apostles to preach
xiv CONTENTS.
PAGE
Jesus feeds the five thousand
. 321
The Transfiguration
. 325
The raising of Lazarus
. 331
The supper in Bethania
. 336
The triumphal entry into Jerusalem
. 340
Jesus preaches in the Temple
• 345
The Public Life of Jesus . .
• 349
THE THIRD WEEK.
Introduction .
353
The Last Supper
- 357
The Holy Eucharist .
361
Discourse of Jesus after the Supper
. 366
The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane
/
371
The seizure of Jesus
- 375
Jesus before Annas
380
Jesus before Caiphas .
384
Jesus spends the night in prison .
389
Jesus before Pilate
393
Jesus before Herod
398
The Scourging at the Pillar
401
The Crowning with Thorns
405
Jesus is delivered up to be Crucified
409
Jesus is Crucified
415
Jesus dies on the Cross
419
Jesus dead on the Cross
.425
Repetition of the whole Passion .
430
The Burial of Jesus .
437
The Rules of Temperance
441
Note . . . .
444
Three Methods of Prayer
444
Note to the First Method .
446
Second Method of Prayer .
448
Third Method of Prayer
450
CONTENTS,
THE FOURTH WEEK.
Introduction .
,
452
The Resurrection .
457
The apparition to Magdalene
460
,, to the Holy Women
464
to the Disciples going to Emmaus .
466
,, to the Disciples in the Cenacle
468
,, to the Disciples and St. Thomas
470
,, to the Apostles on Lake Tiberias
473
The Ascension ....
476
The Joys of Heaven
479
Love of Jesus Christ
482
Conformity to God's will
486
On Perseverance
490
Contemplation on Divine Love
493
Rules of Orthodoxy
501
APPENDIX I.
Note .....
511
Consideration — On Humility . . .
512
„ On Future Life .
516
On Trials
520
,, On Dissipation .
526
,, On Meditation .
528
,, 'On Mortification
532
,, On Fraternal Charity
534
On use of Time .
537
On means of Sanctification
540
On ordinary Actions
542
On Human Respect
545
,, On Love of Enemies
549
,, On Self-conquest
551
On Tranquillity of Mind .
554
On Watching and Prayer
556
xvi CONTENTS.
iPAGB
APPENDIX II.
(FOR PRIESTS.)
Consideration— On Humility
559
The Priest's life a life of Labour
564
The Dignity of the Priesthood
569
.1 .1 ,1 • ■
572
The Priest and the Altar .
575
The Priest and the Pulpit
578
,, The Priest and the Confessional
581
The Priest at Home (i) .
584
„ (2) .
588
The Priest in his District .
592
The Priest and a life of Faith
595
The Priest and a life of Charity .
599
On Anxiety of Mind
602
On Patience
606
On the Cardinal Virtues .
610
The ordinary Sources of Danger .
617
APPENDIX III.
(CONSIDERATIONS FOR RELIGIOUS.)
On Esteem for our Vocation
On Esteem for our Rules
On the Vow of Poverty
On the Vow of Obedience
On Religious Charity .
On Tepidity in Religion
On " Common Life " in Religion
On external Modesty .
On Remedies against Temptations
On ordinary Sources of Faults and Imperfections
625
629
633
636
639
642
644
649
652
654
APPENDIX IV.
Order of the Exercises for Retreats of Eight Days
>• M ,, Four Days
657
664
Ube Science of Spiritual Xite.
ABRIDGMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL
EXERCISES.
1. The Book of the Exercises may fitly be described
as a practical course of the whole spiritual life. It lays
down its END, and prescribes the means by which that
end is to be attained.
2. As regards the end of spiritual life, it is declared
in the first of the twenty Annotations which are placed
at the very beginning of the Book of Spiritual Exer-
cises. This is to root out all inordinate affections, such
as are not in perfect accordance with the principles of
faith and the dictates of right reason ; and when these
have been eradicated, to seek and discover the Divine
will for the ordering and regulating of life.
It is this end which we are ever to keep before our
eyes.
3. With regard to the means by the employment of
which we may safely trust to secure the end, they are
either general or special.
4. The general means are prayer and self-conquest.
The special means are found in the method and rules
of election and of reformation of life ; in the rules for
the discernment of spirits for the use of those who
are more advanced ; in the rules on scruples ; and
lastly, in the rules for regulating ourselves and our
B
2 ABRIDGMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES.
judgments according to the teaching and spirit of the
Holy CathoHc Church.
5. The first of the general means, as we have said,
is Prayer. The end of prayer, as it is explained in the
first Annotation and in the very title of the Exercises, is
to arouse devotion and piety, by which a man will
overcome himself, and set his life in order.
6. This prayer is divided into vocal prayer, of which
the method is given to us in the third of the "three
methods of prayer ; " and mental prayer, such as medi-
tation, contemplation, and the first and second of the
"three methods of prayer," which are placed at the
end of the Book of Spiritual Exercises.
7. The means which are to be employed, and the
price as it were which we have to pay, if we would
succeed in prayer, are contained in the *' ten Additions "
and in the twelfth and thirteenth Annotations.
8. The next general means for the attainment of
spiritual life is, as we noted above, victory over self,
which we may call the proximate end of spiritual life.
It is this self-conquest which enables us to regulate
and rightly dispose our lives, not by destroying or
changing our nature, but by purifying, strengthening,
and perfecting it, not by extirpating the passions of the
human soul, but by directing and elevating them.
The different methods to be employed in'the practice
of this self-conquest are given to us briefly but admir-
ably in the tenth of the Additions, where we find the
distinction between internal and external penance is
laid down, together with the different ways in which
external penance may be practised. The various
motives also are proposed for the exercise of self-
conquest. Further motives are also put before us in the
meditations during the course of the Exercises ; such,
for example, as the imitation of our Lord in His private
and Public Life, as we contemplate it during the second
ABRIDGMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. 3
part of the retreat ; or, in the Third Week, the motive of
sympathy with, and gratitudefor all which He endured
during the three days in which He suffered and died
for our redemption.
The principle which is to guide us in our practices of
■self- conquest is denoted to us mainl}^ in the contempla-
tion of the " Kingdom of Christ," and in the thirteenth
Annotation, and also in the rules regarding temperance
■in our meals.
St. Francis Xavier came forth from the Spiritual
Exercises so deeply impressed wath the conviction of
the necessity of this self-conquest, that during the
whole of his after-life he was constantly repeating this
motto to himself, Vince teipsum ; and when asked where-
fore he did so, his answer was, " I have not learnt any
other lesson from our holy Father Ignatius."
Such in brief are the Exercises. In them we have
the spirit and end of the Societ}^ founded by St. Ignatius,
together with all the means by which this spirit is to
be maintained, and the end of its institutions is to be
secured. It is according to this little book that every
Jesuit is to be moulded ; and by this, before the Con-
stitutions of the Society were drawn up, were all its
anembers formed. It contains the very bones and
marrow of the Institute, and may be styled with truth
the war-book of every true Jesuit. Consequently, who-
ever means to respond to his vocation, must make it
Jiis duty, and must consider it his conscientious obliga-
tion to study it and to learn it thoroughly. For this
purpose he cannot do better than familiarize himself
with the commentaries upon it of Father Roothaan, to
whom the Societ}^ owes an eternal debt of gratitude for
■the admirable light which he has thrown upon the
whole book in his notes and comments on every page.^
1 Meschler on the Exercises.
4 ABRIDGMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES.
By way of summarizing the Exercises, and showing
briefly the relation between the different parts, we may
observe :
First, that they are divided into four parts, or, as
they are called, weeks.
In the First Week we learn to serve God, and
earnestly to desire to reform and regulate our lives.
To this we are led by the meditation on the End of
Man. By meditations on Sin we are excited to shame,
confusion, sorrow, and fear for our past sins, and to
repentance for them ; and by the considerations on
Death, Judgment, and Hell, we are induced to greater
care to avoid them for the future.
From which the result is that we see that the only
true happiness of man is to be, found in the service of
God in this life, by which we shall secure also eternal
possession of Him hereafter.
In the Second Week we learn that this service of
God our Lord consists in the imitation of Christ, who
assumed our nature, in order to re-establish His
Father's Kingdom. We are induced to follow Him in
the " Kingdom of Christ," and to aspire to sanctity
by the imitation of His solid virtues as presented in
the Incarnation, Nativity, Flight into Egypt, Life at
Nazareth, &c. By these contemplations we are led to
a generous resolve to despise all those things which
tend to withdraw us from our last end, and to an
heroic determination to embrace not what is gratifying
to the natural man, but what is more in conformity
with the doctrine and example of our Lord, and to
choose hardships and injuries rather than pleasure and
honour,! and that without any reserve.^
In the Third Week, after making our election, we
confirm ourselves in it, and in a resolution to imitate
1 Two Standards.
2 Three Classes, and Three Degrees of Humility.
ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION. 5
more perfectly Christ our Lord in the practice of heroic
virtue as manifested in the several mysteries of His
Sacred Passion and Death, compassionating and sym-
pathizing with Him in His feelings, affections, and
generous dispositions.
In the Fourth Week we learn to serve God in a spirit
of love and gladness, according to that of St. Paul : ^
*' If you be risen with Christ, seek the things which
are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of
God." The conclusion will be that the only happiness
of man is to imitate Christ here, in the sweet hope of
rising with Him later, and of possessing Him eternally
hereafter, and of enjoying the happiness of loving our
God, infinitely good in Himself, and infinitely good
to us.
It is thus that we are stimulated to carry out our
holy resolutions, and to persevere in them till death.
ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION.
One of the chief advantages which is reaped from
making the Spiritual Exercises is that we learn thereby
the method of mental prayer, and how to make it. It
is true that St. Ignatius nowhere gives a formal instruc-
tion on the subject, but in the Annotations at the
beginning of the Book of Spiritual Exercises, and in
the Additions at the end of the meditations for the First
Week, which are supposed to be explained and supple-
mented by the person who gives the Exercises, and, is
called the director, the Saint provides ample instruction
to enable the exercitant to make meditation ; supposing
always that he is in earnest and in the good dispositions
to correspond with the grace of God, and with the
inspirations of the Holy Spirit, which will not be
wanting to him. 2
1 Coloss. iii. I. 2 Suarez, De Rel. L ix. c. 6.
6 ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION.
It was by a most singular providence of God that
St. Ignatius was chosen to. furnish us with a method of
prayer so practical and safe, and so consonant with our
nature ; which is free from the danger of illusions, and
which has been sanctioned by the approval of the
Church and her Pontiffs, and adopted by so many of
her Saints ;i and of which Suarez- writes : " Hanc
methodum et modum orandi tanquam praeclarum
donum a Deo datum et medium efficacissimum ad finem.
suum consequendum sestimare debet Societas." And
again : ^ "In quo nihil deest quod desiderari possit." It
was by these means that St. Philip Neri acquired his
spirit of contemplation, and by the same method,^
under the guidance of St. Francis Borgia, that St.
Theresa acquired her extraordinary gift of mental
prayer.
With regard then to the practice of mental prayer,.
or meditation properly so called, we may divide the
subject under four headings : first, we have the prepa-
ration ; secondly, the preludes ; thirdly, the exercise of
the three powers or faculties of the soul ; and fourthly,
the reflection.
I. The preparation for meditation is either remote or
immediate.' The former is pointed out to us in the
first and second Additions. In the evening we must
review well and prepare the points of the subject-
matter on which we propose to meditate on the
foilowing morning, and determine the special fruit
which we desire to draw from it. On retiring to rest
we must briefly recall it to mind, and after making
some short prayer suitable to it, we must endeavour to
fall asleep. How available and profitable this practice-
is to give us a clear idea of what we are going to medi-
1 Direct. Frcem. § 3. ^ De Rel. 1. ix. c. 6, § 3. 3 Ibid. § 7.
* Niolasci, c. 34.
ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION. 7
tate upon is inconceivable, and also how much it is
calculated to enhance the importance of this the first
duty of the day.
On awaking, and whilst washing and dressing, we
must revert to the same subject, and occupy our minds
with the thoughts of it, or in prayers in harmony
with it.
If, for example, we are engaged in meditations of
the First Week, or in the Purgative Way, we may picture
ourselves as rebel soldiers covered with shame and
cpnfusion, about to be brought into the presence of our
King, or as criminals laden with chains and about to
stand before our Judge, or as lepers eaten up with
loathsome ulcers ; any of which may conduce to excite
and promote affections comformable to the subject of
our meditation. Or again, we might employ the time
in reciting the Miserere, or some other of the Penitential
Psalms.
Similarly, if we are employed, in contemplations
which concern the mysteries of our Lord's Life, and are
proper to the Illuminative Way, we should picture to
ourselves the circumstances and place of the special
mystery, or the persons engaged in it, with their
thoughts, feelings, dispositions, and the rest, or may
employ ourselves in suitable vocal prayers, or in
reciting some Psalm. B}^ this means the mind is kept
recollected and occasions of distractions are prevented,
and the soul is well disposed for prayer.
With regard to the proximate or immediate prepa-
ration, we should during the space of a few minutes
make a firm resolution to devote ourselves earnestly to
our duty, and to give no room to any other thought,
solicitude, or affection. This is most important ; for if
we go to prayer with a firm resolution and a determined
will to apply ourselves seriously, we shall generally
find that it will succeed happily. We must also humble
8 OAT THE METHOD OF MEDITATION.
ourselves in the presence of God, protesting our vileness
and unworthiness to enter into converse with His
tremendous Majesty.
But care must be taken that this humility does not
in any way diminish our filial confidence in Him who
is our loving and Heavenly Father, who is always more
willing to converse with us than we are to entertain
ourselves with Him, and whose " delight is to be with
the children of men."
We may briefly reflect also on the lights and graces
we may derive from this meditation if it be well per-
formed ; for it has not unfrequently happened that one
meditation faithfully and carefully made has been the
beginning of eternal salvation and of perfection, as was
the meditation on death in the case of St. Francis
Borgia, and on the value of the soul in that of St.
Francis Xavier.
Lastly, we must unite our prayer with that of Jesus
Christ, entreating Him ^through His infinite merits to
grant that all our faculties, thoughts, and afl"ections
may tend only to the glory and honour of our God.
2. We then in a spirit of faith in God's presence
kneel down, and in humble adoration make our pre-
paratory prayer that all our intentions, actions, and
endeavours may be devoted purely to the greater glory
of God and to our soul's salvation, and say the prayer,
'* Prevent, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions," &c.,
and according to our devotion, the " Hail Mary " and
a prayer to St. Joseph, to beg their assistance.
After this commencement and preparatory prayer
comes the first prelude, or composition of place, as is
clearly set down in the first exercise and in the
Directorium, chap. xiv. This consists in forming some
material image or simiHtude by means of our imagina-
tion, when the subject of meditation is immaterial and
incorporeal. In doing this care must be taken to avoid
ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION. g
too great an effort or overstraining of the brain ; nor
should too much time be spent on it, or on any minute
detail or realism ; but only so much as will be sufficient
to fix and quiet the mind and help to recall it to the
subject or mystery on which we are about to meditate.
St. Ignatius gives us an example of this in the first
Exercise on " Three Sins."
In the, second prelude, which must never be omitted,
we must beg of God the grace which we desire, and
really wish to obtain, as St. Ignatius so often repeats, ^
petere id quod volo — namely, the proper and special fruit
to be obtained from the meditation, thus : '* My dear
Lord, without you I can do nothing. Vouchsafe, then,
to help me to bring home to myself this truth or this
mystery which I am going to meditate, and to draw
from it the proper fruit for the sanctification and salva-
tion of my soul."
Having spent some five or six minutes in the
preludes, we begin the meditation properly so called,
namely, the exercise of the three powers of the soul,
the memory, understanding, and will. We first employ
the memory by calling to mind the subject of meditation.
The intellect is next exercised in calmly discussing and
reasoning upon it, in penetrating into its meaning,
considering its reasonableness, weighing its importance,
and deducing practical consequences. After thus clearly
and distinctly weighing the matter, and its application
to ourselves, and rejecting all pretext or excuses which
self-love might suggest for evading the conclusions for
the correction of our conduct thence arising, we next
proceed to the exercise of the will, the third faculty.
With regard to the employment of the understanding,
1 What we should desire, and consequently should always earnestly ask
for, is that God would grant us light to see His holy truth, and strength of
will to embrace it and its practical consequences ; for of what avail would
be the illustration of the understanding, if the will were not moved by the
grace of God to correspond ?
lo ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION.
two things must be observed : first, care must be taken
not to tire or weary the head by too intense application,,
but to proceed with calmness and quiet, otherwise it
could not continue to function, and thus meditation
would be prevented and consequently would fail to
produce fruit. Secondly, although we are to use our
intellect seriously, and thereby acquire clear and deep
convictions, yet we must rather employ the will in
devout affections and in forming suitable practical
resolutions ; and consequent!}^ we should devote more
time to exercising it than to making use of the under-
standing, in subtle or bright thoughts and ideas.
Finally, the will is to be employed in ehciting acts
of love of what is good and of aversion to what is evil
and less good, as it is presented to it by the under-
standing ; or of hope or fear, of desire or confusion and
shame, and finally in forming resolutions to change or .
regulate more perfectly one's life. These resolutions
should be made from the heart and often insisted upon.
And with respect to these acts of the will, they are
not to be enforced by violence, but by a sincere and
calm movement of the affections of the soul, which
depend specially upon God and are a gift of His grace,
although requiring our co-operation. Wherefore the
soul must by humility and purity of heart dispose itself
to receive this grace rather than rely on its own efforts
and industry.
Again, we must remember that in the exercise of
our will the soul is treating more directly and imme-
diately with God, than in the employment of the
understanding, and therefore there is need of greater
reverence, which should also manifest itself externall}^
by our assuming a humble and more reverential and
devout position. Lastly, our resolutions must above
all things be practical ; and let us -not be tired of
frequently repeating them, as in so doing they become
ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION. ii
more deeply impressed on the mind and add to the
firmness of our purpose.
With regard to this the essential part of meditation,
St. Ignatius gives us certain documents, or cautions, in
the course of the Exercises. Thus in the second Anno-
tation,- he tells us that we must avoid too much specula-
tion, and subtle and studied discussions of the intellect,,
which do not tend to inflame the will with love and
desires of what we propose to acquire in our prayer ;
otherwise our application would degenerate into a study
instead of being a prayer.
For this same reason he warns us in the fourth
Addition, not to be anxious to run hastily over all the
points which we have prepared for consideration, but
rather to dwell on any particular point as long as we
find in it spiritual comfort, or devotion, or thoughts
that are profitable for our advancement in virtue and
for the conquest of self, even though the whole hour of
meditation be spent therein.
"With respect to the colloquy, St. Ignatius, at the
end of the first meditation, says that "it should be
addressed as by a friend to a friend, or by a servant to
his master, or by a criminal to his judge ; now humbly
requesting some favour, now acknowledging our faults ;
at one time begging counsel or returning thanks, at
another asking for some special virtue which we desire ;
or expressing our feelings with regard to the subject-
matter of the meditation and the rest."
The Saint always prescribes these colloquies at the
end of our Exercises ; ^ but it is highly advantageous
to make them during the course of the meditation
whenever we feel so inclined. There are various
reasons why we should always finish with one or more
colloquies. Thus, after communing in God's presence
i Direct, xv. § 5.
12 ON THE METHOD OF MEDITATION.
for so long, it is fitting that we should not leave Him
abruptly, but with all reverence and respect ; more-
over, at the close of our meditation, the soul is more
inflamed and penetrated by grace, and consequently
better disposed to ask for what she wants and to make
her acts with greater fervour and devotion.
Further, it is well also to remark again that there
is more need of reverence in making the colloquies, as
is observed in the third Annotation, than in discoursing
with the intellect ; for though when we speak about a
king, all respect is to be observed, nevertheless in dis-
coursing with him personally, this is much more to be
manifested.^ Another caution of great importance is
that we observe great exactness in giving to prayer the
full time prescribed ; and this more particularly when
it proves irksome, dry, and void of all spiritual consola-
tion. It is at such times that the devil never fails to
urge us by countless, pretexts to shorten and curtail it ;
and therefore St. Ignatius, in the twelfth and thirteenth
Annotations, counsels us on the contrary rather to
prolong our prayer on such occasions, thereby not only
to resist, but also to conquer the enemy of our human
nature. This fidelity and constancy in defiance of
aridity and heaviness and desolation of spirit, is one
of the principal means to become real men of prayer.
Finally, 'the time of prayer being finished, St. Igna-
tius counsels us to spend a quarter of an hour in
reflecting upon and making a diligent and accurate
examination of the meditation. This may be done
either sitting or standing or walking about ; and it is
to be made. in order to see if it has been performed
well or ill. If ill, we must investigate the reasons, and
make an act of sorrow and of purpose of amendment
for the future ; if well, then we must return thanks to
God and resolve to continue in the same course.
1 Direct, xv. §§ 6 and 7 ; and Suarez, ix. v. § 5.
ON THE METHOD OF CONTEMPLATION. 13
Such is the manner which the Saint prescribes for
meditation.
ON THE METHOD OF CONTEMPLATION.
In the succeeding parts of the Exercises, after the
First Week we find that the form of meditation is
changed, and is more aptly styled contemplation ;
inasmuch as we place ourselves in spirit in the presence
of the mystery which is to occupy us, and consider the
persons therein concerned, and try to realize their words
and actions, their desires and views, together with all
the attendant circumstances, drawing from each the
lessons which they are calculated to teach, and which
the Holy Ghost may be pleased to inspire.
With regard to the remote preparation, it consists
in determining the several points of the mystery which
we propose to contemplate, and in each point the
persons and their thoughts, and words or actions, if
any ; on retiring to rest, in recalling briefly to mind the
same, and the fruit which we wish to draw from it ; and
on awaking and rising, in quietly occupying our mind
on some general thoughts concerning it.
The immediate preparation differs in nothing from
that of meditation, consisting in short acts of faith in
the presence of God, of profound humility, of gratitude
for being allowed the favour of communing with His
Divine Majesty, &c. Then, after an act of adoration
and preparatory prayer, St. Ignatius prescribes as a
first prelude a cursory view of the whole mystery which
we are to contemplate, without entering especially upon
any particular point. ^ Just as when a fine landscape
is presented to our view, we see it all confusedly with
one glance, whereas afterwards we carefully study it
part by part, and thus come to fully appreciate all its
1 Direcl. xix. § 4.
14 ON THE METHOD OF CONTEMPLATION.
beauties and excellencies. In the second prelude we
are to picture in our imagination the place, the
persons, and circumstances of the mystery, without
however entering into too minute details, which might
occupy time, and would be unprofitable to our soul's
progress. In the third prelude we are to beg that
we may have a clearer knowledge of our Blessed Lord
as He displays Himself and His perfections in the
mystery, that so we may come to love Him more
ardently and tenderly, and may imitate Him the
more closely in the exercise of the virtues He therein
displays.
In the contemplation^ we consider the outward
bearing, the inward disposition, the thoughts and views
of our Lord or our Lady, or of any others who figure
in the scene ; also their actions and the intention arid
manner in which they perform them. From each of
which we draw fruit ; either comparing our ways, views,
dispositions, and intentions with those before us, or
resolving to conform ourselves more perfectly with our
great original, or determining the occasions on which we
will reduce the resolutions to practice. In all this we
must act as really present and taking our part in the
mystery, and allowing our hearts to communicate freely
with the persons whose example we are studying.
Naturally our colloquies will be much more frequent
in this method of prayer than in meditation proper, as
it is hard to be in the presence of others as silent
observers and without speaking.
1 In considering the persons, we picture to ourselves their exterior com-
portment, their interior virtues theological and moral in the just, and the
opposite vices in the wicked ; the situation and circumstances in which they
are placed, &c. As to the words, we consider the time and manner in
which they are uttered, the matter of them, &c. , and also the internal
feelings and affections which prompted them. As regards the actions, we
may observe their causes, whether final or proximate, partial or total.
Also the intention, manner, time, place, &c., of them.
METHOD OF MEDITATION. 15
It may be useful for those who are as j^et unused to
meditation, to have the adjoined method of meditation
before them whilst performing that exercise.
METHOD OF MEDITATION.
Remote Preparation. — Banish pride, sensuaHty,
-dissipation, and exercise the contrary virtues, humility,
mortification, and tecoUection.
Immediate Preparation. — Read over the meditation
the day before. Upon first awaking think of the medi-
tation to be made. Excite appropriate sentiments.
Enter upon it with a tranquil mind.
Commencement.
Standing, reflect that God is present.
Kneeling, adore. Preparatory prayer.
Preludes —
Brief review of the subject.
Construction of place.
Petition for special grace to understand and resolve.
The Meditation.
The Memory —
Recall to mind the matter of the meditation.
The Understanding —
1. What is to be considered ?
2. What practical conclusion to be drawn ?
3. Vv^hat are the motives ? Is it becoming, useful,
agreeable, easy, necessary ?
4. How has this been observed hitherto ?
5. What is to be done in future ?
6. What obstacle is to be removed ?
7. W^hat means to be taken ?
The Will—
I. Excite affections throughout the meditation more
with the heart than the lips.
i6 METHOD OF MEDITATION.
2. At the end of each practical consideration form
resolutions : — Practical — Particular — Suited
to present circumstances. Based upon solid
motives — Humble — With fervent supplication
for assistance.
Conclusion.
Recapitulation,
In which the resolutions made are confirmed.
Ejaculation,
Taken from the Holy Scriptures or the Fathers,
recalling to mind the matter of the meditation,
and the resolutions formed.
Colloquy,
Addressed to Jesus Christ, B.V.M., or to any Saint.
Reflection.
EXAMEN,
Of the manner in which the meditation has been
made.
Recapitulation,
Of the whole meditation.
Of the practical conclusions — motives — affections-
resolutions — particular inspirations.
NATURE AND DIVISION OF THE EXERCISES. 17
ON THE NATURE AND DIVISION OF
THE EXERCISES.
1. The Spiritual Exercises are not merely a collection
of meditations in which a man reflects upon himself and
upon his duties, and devoutly converses with God.
Many masters of spirit had already compiled such
books, as St. Bonaventure, St. Bernard, and St. Laurence
Justinian ; nor are they only a guide for the time of
retreat, but they are also a complete, concise, and
practical course of spiritual life, whereby every one may
securely attain his ultimate end. They lead man by a
right use of creatures, and by the imitation of Jesus
Christ, to a perfect union with God, and to a holy con-
formity with His Divine will. For us of the Society
they are a book of doctrine, and a directory of the
asceticism of the Society.^ It is also aptly called by a
holy man of the Bernardine Order, '' libellum toti generi
humano institum."^ And Paul III., in a Brief dated
1548, declares *' dicta exercitia pietate ac sanctitate
plena et ad spiritualem profectum fidelium valde utilia
et salubria esse," and moreover he exhorts all the
faithful to make use of them.
2. They are divided into three parts. The first of
which contains the Annotations, the second the medita-
tions, and the third comprises the precepts, rules, and
industries of spiritual life.
3. The first process in the spiritual life is to reclaim
the sinner from his evil life by inspiring him with a
spirit of penance, with real sorrow for his sins, and by
rooting out of his soul every inordinate affection and
every attachment which is not in accordance with the
1 Suarez, De Religione, bk. ix. cc. v. vi.
2 Hist. Soc. xvi. § 127.
i8 NATURE AND DIVISION OF THE EXERCISES.
teaching of faith and the dictates of right reason, and
this is called the Purgative process.
The next is to put the exercitant in the right way,
which is Christ our Lord,, by presenting Him as the
model which every man is bound to study and to
know,-^ and to copy in himself,^ in his mind and heart
and conduct ; whether it be in the ordinary course of
life, or amidst extraordinary difficulties and trials, such
as our Lord underwent during His Sacred Passion and
in His Death. This is the Illuminative process.
Lastly, when the soul has succeeded in this, it is
led to a close union with our Lord in mind, and heart,
and will, and thus attains perfection here, and is
prepared for an everlasting union with Him in Heaven,
which was the desire of His Sacred Heart. ^ This is
the Unitive process. .
It is needless to add that of the precepts, rules, and
industries of spiritual life, not all are adapted to each
process, but some are applicable to one and some to
another.
4. First among the industries laid down by St. Igna-
tius, and which he places in the beginning of his Book
of the Spiritual Exercises, are what he calls "Anno-
tations.'^ These are certain memoranda or directions,
twenty in number, which conduce much to the under-
standing of the Exercises, and to the performing of
them with advantage and great spiritual profit ; and
next to these the Additions.
1 " Now this is eternal life, that they may know Thee the only true
God, and Him whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ." (St. John xvii. 3.)
2 " For whom He foreknew He also predestined to be made conform-
able to the image of His Son." (Romans viii. 29,)
' " That tljey may be one as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee, that
they also may be one in us'." (St. John xvii. 21.)
THE ANNOTATIONS. 19
THE ANNOTATIONS.
St. Ignatius states the object of these Annotations to
be, to give iis some understanding of the Exercises, and
to serve as a help both to the director and to the
exercitant who makes the Exercises.
I. In the first we have set down the imttcre and the
end of the Exercises. Just as natural life has its own
special acts, as walking and running, and other bodily-
exercises, as well as reading, study, and other mental
exercises, so has the soul her various acts, in order to
acquire the knowledge and love of God and the imita-
tion of Jesus Christ, such as the examination of
•conscience, meditation, contemplation, vocal, and other
mental prayer, and all those means of preparing and
disposing the soiil to divest itself of every inordinate
affection ; and when this has been done, of seeking and
finding out the Divine will regarding the regulating of
life in order to secure eternal salvation.
Here, then, we see the three-fold end we must have
in view :
(a) To repress inordinate affections, namely, such as
-do not lead us to our end, or which expose us to the
danger of losing it, or which neither faith nor right
reason approve.
(/?) To learn God's will, that we may regulate our
lives in accordance with it, and become what God
wants as regards His commandments, the duties of our
state of life, &c. This is at once solid, practical, easy,
and sure, and is not liable to delusion.
That the Exercises enable us to do this is proved by
universal experience, by the very nature of the Exercises
which prepare and dispose both the mind and heart,
.and lastly, by the extraordinary graces which are given
20 THE ANNOTATIONS.
to those who rightly perform them. From this then
we see that the Spiritual Exercises are to be practical,
not. speculative, that we are not to seek for bright
thoughts, and brilliant illustrations, and sublime ideas.
No ! our object must be to penetrate deeply into our
interior that we may know ourselves thoroughly, see
our evil inclinations, and make up our minds to subdue
them. It is thus, and not by brilliant thoughts and
ideas that we shall attain the end proposed. Without
this, no matter what lights or sensible devotion and
consolation we rrtay have, all would be labour in vain.
2. In the second Annotation the director is instructed
to give the points of the meditations or contemplations
briefly, and to avoid any personal ideas or exaggerations,
and rather to fix the nail and let the exercitant drive
it home ; for by so doing he will be more interested, and
will make the subject more practical and more personal,
and at the same time will be more impressed ; nor
must the exercitant go in search of many thoughts or
fine and original ideas, but rather insist on few and
good.
3. In the third Annotation St. Ignatius repeats in
what the labour of meditation consists ; namely, in the
earnest application of the intellect, thereby to get a
clear apprehension of the subject, and in the exercise of
the will desirous to draw from it all the practical good
we can. When we directly address ourselves to God
or His saints in the course of our meditation, it must be
done always with greater reverence than whilst we are
communing with ourselves.^
4. The fourth regards the length of time to be
devoted to each of the four divisions of the Exercises.
This must be determined by the character, dispositions,
1 " Non negatur semper in oratione reverentiam esse adhibendam esto
ejus cura non sit tarn necessaria sicut quando in colloquiis et afFectibus
versamar." (Suarez, De Religione, t. xv. 1. ix. c. v. § 7.)
THE ANNOTATIONS.
and circumstances of the exercitant, and on the greater
or lesser fruit which he derives from them.
In the following sixteen Annotations, St. Ignatius
details the helps and the obstacles to success, and the
dispositions in which we are to begin and continue the
Exercises.
5. Thus in the fifth we are to have a courageous
and generous heart towards God,i throwing ourselves
absolutely into His arms ; determined to do without any-
reserve, whatever He may desire ; leaving Him to lead
us whithersoever He pleases, no matter how repugnant
it may be to our corrupt nature, and to mould us as He
shall think fit.^ It would be a great mistake to com-
mence the retreat as a duty to be got through ; or to lay
down certain limits to which we will go but no further
in following the call of God. Moreover, we should
determine what is the sacrifice which God requires
from us, and resolve at at all cost to make it. Observe
how strongly St. Ignatius urges upon us this necessary
disposition.^
6. When in the course of the Exercises we expe-
rience no emotion either good or bad, it is sometimes
a sign that we are not making any real effort or are not
in earnest ; though this calm may at times arise from
physical causes over which we have no control. In
such cases it is well to examine if the Exercises are
made at the proper times, if they are performed
1 This disposition is absolutely necessary ; for a retreat, if it is made
properly, is a time of conflict between the powers of good and evil ; and to
gain the victory we must cast aside all niggardliness and selfish wavering
or fear.
2 " Sicut lutum in manu figuli sic ego in manu Domini." (Ecclus. xxxiii.)
3 "It is of great consequence that he who enters on the Exercises
should do so with a great soul, and with a generous spirit towards his
Creator and Lord, offering up to Him his will and liberty, so that His
Divine Majesty may dispose of him and of all he hasi, according to His
most holy will." (Spiritual Exercises.)
LIBRARY OF
FRANCISCAN FATHERS
THE ANNOTATIONS.
seriously and earnestly, and if the various Additions are-
punctually observed.
In the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth Annotations.
is pointed out the duty of the director according to the
various states in which the exercitant may find himself.
But from them we gather that in those who make the
Spiritual Exercises a stout heart is required to fight
against weariness, heaviness, and disquiet of spirit, and
the temptations of the devil ; in resisting which the
director is instructed how to assist the exercitant. It
may be that solitude and retirement produce irksome-
ness, or that dryness and desolation makes him regard
prayer as loss of time, or that the devil perplexes the
conscience. To overcome these it is necessary to
strengthen our confidence in God, and to guide our-
selves by the rules for the Discernment of Spirits.
With regard to the tenth Annotation,^ vide Suarez,.
De Exevc. bk. ix. v. 8, 9.
II. In the eleventh Annotation St. Ignatius tells us
that we are to fix our minds on the mysteries proper
for that part of the Exercises on which we are engaged
and on the fruit peculiar to. it, and not to pass to any
other. This is also prescribed in the sixth of the ten
Additions. In the same manner we must not amuse
or distract ourselves by reading or writing things,
foreign to the subject in hand. 2
1 St. Ignatius observes that the enemy of human nature is wont to.
attack those who are engaged in the second process of the Spiritual
Exercises or the Illuminative Way, rather than those in the Purgative Way.
And this, if we take in the mind of the Saint, is true : for he adds, Sub
specie boni. The temptations- of beginners are more palpable and un-
disguised, and thus are less dangerous. (Conf. Augustine, on Psalm 29.)
And again, Almighty God in His love and providence helps the beginner
with special, graces, with spiritual consolations, with facility in the per-
formance of the Exercises, &c., whereas in regard of those who are more
advanced He allows the enemy wider scope for the greater and more solid
perfection of those who are tempted. (Conf. Gregory, Moral, xxiv. c. 7. )
2 Direct, iii. §§ 2 — 5.
THE ANNOTATIONS. 23
12 and 13. We must firmly adhere to the full time
allotted for meditation ; notwithstanding our repug-
nance, or any feeling of desolation ; or if we make any*
change it should be rather to prolong ^ it by a few
piinutes, thereby to gain a complete victory over the
devil.
14. In the fourteenth Annotation we are, cautioned
against being carried away in time of consolation and
making any vow or binding promise ; and it is the duty
of the director to guard us against this danger.^
15. So also must he abstain during the Exercises
from influencing the exercitant towards one state or
method of life rather than another, but must leave the
Creator to act directly and immediately with His
creature.^
16. But if the creature be assailed by any inordinate
affection, or be unduly inclined to some certain thing, in
any of the following ways, namely, to an object less
good, or from less worthy motives, or to less worthy
means for the attainment of even a good object, he
must by prayer, by penances, and other means, strive
to incline himself to the contrary, and thus correct his
evil inclination.^
17. In the seventeenth Annotation the director is
1 To spend a whole hour in meditation is often difficult ; more especially
if in a state of aridity ; hence we must not be surprised at experiencing
feelings of weariness or disgust, or an inclination to contract the time, or
to interrupt it. If any change be made, let it be to prolong the time, even
though it be only for a few minutes.
This lesson we may apply to ourselves at other times also, when
pressure of work, indisposition, or any other e.xcuse, may suggest the
retrenchment or omission of our ordinary exercise of prayer,
2 Direct v. §§ 2, 5, 6 ; viii. § 3.
3 It is the Creator and Lord who gives the call ; and who knows the
circumstances in which He can manifest His will and dispose His creature
for that kind of life in which He wishes him to serve Him. No man should
be so rash as to intrude himself between God and His creature.
4 DirecL ii. § 5.
24 THE ANNOTATIONS.
told to keep in view the state of soul of the exercitant
and adapt the subjects of meditation to the various
feelings with which his soul is affected.
1 8. In the same way he must consider the age,
character, health, mind, and will of the exercitant, and
the object he has in view, and then determine what will
be the best exercises in which to occupy him. ^The
nineteenth Addition refers to the same subject.
20. In the twentieth Annotation St. Ignatius strongly
recommends retirement and solitude,^ interior and
exterior recollection, and a strict guard of the senses.
This he urges for three reasons : first, because by it
we gain great merit in God's sight, and engage Him
more eifectually to assist us ; secondly, because the
powers of the soul being thus less distracted will be
applied with greater energy and efficacy to gain the end,
in view ; and thirdly, because the more detached the
soul is from exterior and sensible things, the more
disposed it is to seek and find God, " Fuge, tace,
quiesce." To fly from the ordinary scenes of daily life
and occupations, to observe strict silence and to keep
the soul in peace and free from solicitude is a sure
means of finding God and His holy will.
These Annotations are of great consequence, and
we should ever keep them in view if we would derive
benefit from the Exercises. We should esteem them,
for they have been approved by Holy Church : and the
importance and benefit of them has been confirmed by
long experience. We may finally summarize them
thus :
1 This solitude reason approves, for nothing is more opposed to the
action of God's grace than the crowd of either persons or things. This is
confirmed by experience and by teaching of Scripture and the example
of the Saints, whether Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Virgins, or Doctors.
In it "prava corriguntur, parva nutriuntur, magna oblectantur ingenia,"
as St. Augustine says of the Scriptures.
ON THE EXAMINATIONS OF CONSCIENCE. 25
In the first, we learn the nature of the Exercises ;
in the second, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth,
fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth, the
way in which they are to be given ; and to whom, in the
eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth.
We see the four conditions required in the exercitant,
from the eleventh to the twentieth, namely, separation
from external things, recollection, personal energy and
■effort ; and punctuality to time and to the Additions,
second, fourth, sixth, twelfth ; generosity, fifth, thir-
teenth, and sixteenth ; candour and docility, sixth,
seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and sixteenth.
Sometimes these Annotations may serve as the
opening exercise of a retreat, of which the points
might be :
Point I. — The end of the Exercises.
Point 2. — The means of making them well.
Point 3. — ^The motives which should urge us to make
them well.
ON THE EXAMINATIONS OF CONSCIENCE.
The examination of conscience is an essential
exercise of spiritual life, by which we discover and
correct whatever is defective in our conduct. Its
importance is seen by the place which it occupies in
the Spiritual Exercises, and by the manner in which
St. Ignatius insists upon it,^ and from its being an
effective means of practising penance, of purifying the
soul from sin, and of subduing the passions and keeping
them in subjection. ^
St. Ignatius places this examination of conscience
immediately after the "Principle or Foundation" and
1 Conf. Annotations i8, 19.
" Conf, Insiti. p. iii, c. i, § 11 ; p. 4. c, 4, §§ 3, 4.
26 THE PARTICULAR EX AM EN.
before the meditations on Sin, because in its use we
become acquainted with our own sins and faiHngs, and
are induced to purge and cleanse our souls from them^
and to amend our lives,"^ which is our object in the first
part of the Exercises.
He divides it into two, the Particular and General
Examination, after the example of many saints and
founders of Religious Orders, as St. Basil, 2 St. John
Climachus,'^ and St. Bernard ;* and for the members of
his Society he prescribes the use of them twice at least
each day, as a most efficacious means to obtain true
purity of mind and heart and to hinder our falling into
sin or becoming remiss in the service of God. Further,
how important this rule is considered by his followers
is evidenced by the Seventh General Congregation in
its twenty-fifth decree.
THE PARTICULAR EXAMEN.
As to the Particular Examen, it is true that many
holy and enlightened men regularly practised it ; but
St. Ignatius was the first who reduced it into form,^
and laid down rules by which to render it practical and
really efficient.
Every one, however spiritual and devout, has some
1 This examination, says Suarez, is most useful for the purifying of the
conscience, and also for frequent confession. (Suarez, ix. c. vii. n.. 5.)
If, in the examination which we make twice a day, we refer our act of
contrition and purpose of amendment to our next confession, it secures us
against a danger in frequent confessions of making too light of an essential
point in the Sacrament of Penance, namely, contrition. This is a custom
much recommended, and practised with great spiritual profit by many
pious souls.
2 Serm. i. De Instit. Monach. 3 /?<, Qbed. 4 /)^ yifa solit.
5 St. Basil in his shorter rules, No. 389, observes, " Quando aliquis
in aliquo frequentius peccat considerare debet radicem, et ibi specialiter
medicinam adhibeat, et in singulis peccatis simili modo."
THE PARTICULAR EX AM EN. -zj
weak side or some predominant passion or special
natural inclination, which is either the source of all his
failings, or causes him to fall more frequently, or
exposes him to greater danger. This is the true reason
why after many years we often find ourselves liable to
the same infirmities and neghgences.
It is in order to remedy this deplorable disorder that
St. Ignatius formulated this method of the Particular
Examen,^ and it is by the regular use of it that so many
of the members of his Order have attained the highest
perfection, as we read in its histor}'.
He assigns three times for its exercise :
The first is, that as soon as we are out of bed and
dressed, we resolve seriously not to give way to that
particular fault or defect which is the subject of our
Particular Examen.
The second is, that about the middle of the day we
beg of God that which we liave at heart, namely, the
grace to remember how often we have fallen into the
particular fault, and to amend it for the future ; then
we are to examine how often we have been guilty,
reviewing each hour from rising up to the time of
examen, and to mark down an equal number of points
on the appropriate line. After which we must resolve
with God's grace to amend between this and the next
examen.
The third time,' is after supper before retiring to
rest, when we must examine ourselves in the same
manner, on the time since our last examen, and after
again marking down the number of falls, we must
renew our sorrow and our resolution for the time to
come.
The Saint subjoins two observations to render this
practice more effectual. The first is that as soon as
we feel that we have yielded to the fault or inclination,
1 Suarez, ix. 6, n. 5.
28 THE PARTICULAR EX AM EN.
we must immediately raise our heart to God to recom-
mend ourselves to Him and to express our sorrow,
placing our hand to our breast, yet not so as to attract
observation. The second is to compare line with line,
day with day, week with week, and see what amend-
ment or progress we have made.
There is no sin or fault, though ever so inveterate,
which we shall not overcome by the constant and
punctual use of this means. With regard to this
exercise two difficulties present themselves.
1. The first is as to the choice of the subject of our
examination. This must be some sin, or, in default of
this, some offence, or lastly, some deliberate negligence
{peccata, offensiones, et negligentics), such as imprudence in
speech, looks, actions, omissions, impurity, or want of
intention, silence, uncharitableness, idleness, &c.
Sometimes we may find the subject by considering
our good qualities. If we are of a sweet and mild dis-
position, does it degenerate into weakness or timidity ?
If we are of a strong character, does it make us hard,
proud, obstinate, brusque, and domineering? And so
of the rest.
Another way of finding it is by observing what we
do with predilection, what troubles us, what excites
us, &c.
2. The second difficulty regards the duration of our
efforts and diligence in employing them. To obviate
this, it is well to make it the subject of a resolution
each time we go to confession. Also to change the
subject from time to time, and thus revive our attention.
Or again, we may change the subject by making acts
of the virtue which is opposed to the predominant fault
or passion ; and this more especially when we commit
the fault rarely, or the occasions of committing it occur
but seldom.
Sometimes it may happen that owing to great care
THE GENERAL EX AMEN. 29
in our early training and education, or to other environ-
ments, we ma}^ have no clearly defined predominant
passion or habitual defect. In such case we shall
generally feel drawn towards some special virtue, such
as mortification, recollection, poverty, prayer, or some
special form of devotion, &c., in which it is the will of
God that we should acquire great perfection : and for
this purpose, we must apply the Particular Examen in
the same manner as we do for our faults, determining a
certain number of acts of the virtue for each morning
and afternoon.
THE GENERAL EXAMEN.
This is a salutary means of purifying the soul, and
is useful in disposing it for confession.
St. Ignatius before laying down the method of the
General Examen, makes certain useful preliminary
observations on the subject-matter of the examination,
namely, on thoughts, words, and actions.
As regards thoughts he observes that they may arise
from ourselves and from our own free-will or may be
inspired by the good angel, or suggested by the devil.
Against the latter we must be ever on our guard.
' 2. When an evil thought suggests itself, or is
suggested from without and is at once rejected, it
furnishes an occasion for an act of virtue, which God
will reward. If, when rejected, it again returns, and
is as often repelled, the merit is correspondingly greater,
as each time it is a distinct act of virtue.
3. As long as there is not consent, but only hesita-
'tion and a kind of half-deliberation or negligence, the
thought will be more or less venial in proportion to the
negligence or deliberation.^
1 " B. Ignatius loquitur prascise de negligentia quae non transit in
consensum nee directum nee interpretativum. . . . Expendendum est illud
30 THE GENERAL EX AM EN.
4. But if we give full consent to the evil thought,
we are guilty of a mortal sin. If we put the thought
into action, the guilt of the sin is augmented, and this
for three reasons : because it involves longer time, more
full deliberation and intensity, and at least in matters
of the sixth commandment, often involves another's
sin. In examining ourselves on our thoughts, we must
not expect or even try to get mathematical exactness,
but, as in all moral questions, must be satisfied with a
moral certainty.
In regard to our words, the Saint lays down that to
justify the taking of oaths it is required that they be
tnithfid, and at the same time necessary, that is of matters
of great moment as regards the soul, body, or temporal
goods, and also that it be done with great reverence.
And this is evidently more easy when the oath is based
on the veracity of God Himself.
By an idle word is to be understood any utterance
which is not for the benefit of ourselves or of another,
in reality, or which is not intended as such; so that
if our conversation be rightly ordered, it becomes an
occasion of merit ; if wrongly, it is a sin.
As to detraction, if we reveal any grievous sin of
another we sin mortall}^ ; if it be only some fault or
defect, we incur a corresponding guilt, unless it be
justified by a right intention, or the fact is public and
notorious. If we reveal the matter in order to protect
others, or that the person may be corrected, or that
others may be preserved from falling into the same, of
course this intention justifies us, provided it is done
prudently.
As regards actions, the subject of examination is the
verbum ' aliquantulum ' et 'obiter,' quod idem significat ac subreptitie et
antecedenter ad plenam judicii et rationis animadversionem : quamdiu
autem delectatio in eo statu durat, etiamsi aliqua negligentia interveniat
tantum est peccatum veniale." (Suarez, ix. v. § 13.)
THE METHOD OF THE GENERAL EX A MEN. 31
Ten Commandments and the Precepts of the Church,
and the orders of lawful Superiors, care being taken to
discriminate between orders and recommendations of
Superiors.^
THE METHOD OF THE GENERAL EXAMEN.
The General Examen embraces five points.^
Point I. — St. Ignatius, wisely requires us to begin
with giving thanks to God, thereby acknowledging the
many mercies we are continually receiving from God,
and by confronting our base ingratitude and failings
with His countless favours to us, we shall excite in our
hearts greater sorrow and horror for them. In this
point we should thank Him for His favours to Jesus,
to Mary, to all the Saints, to all mankind, and then to
our family and friends, and lastly to ourselves, even on
the present day, particularizing them.
Point 2. — We are to beg the grace to know ourselves
and see ourselves as God sees us, and that we may
judge ourselves accordingly.
Point 3. — We then examine ourselves as to our
thoughts, words, or actions, from hour to hour since
our last examen, as hinted above. We should also
recall the omissions of duty of which we have been
guilty, as well as the abuses of graces received.
Point 4. — In the fourth point we are to strive to
1 An objection is raised in this place against the doctrine of St. Ignatius,
as if he taught that it was grievously sinful to take no heed of or to ignore
the "pious counsels and ordinations of Ecclesiastical Rulers." As Suarez
says, if we spurn or out of contempt violate the rescripts and regulations of
the Rulers of the Church, it is certainly a mortal sin. But if we take no
notice of them, such as of Indulgences and exhortations to gain them and
the like, though it betrays an unspiritual mind, yet in the absence of formal
contempt, we should not incur the guilt of mortal sin, unless thereby we
were to cause scandal. (Suarez, bk. ix. v. §§ 14, 15.)
2 Suarez, ix. 6, § 5.
32 THE METHOD OF THE GENERAL EX AM EN.
make an act of perfect contrition, also to help ourselves
by other motives to shame and confusion for the sins of
our past lives, and also for the offences and negligences
of which we have been guilty since our last examination,
especially for those of our Particular Examen, and
those against charity or our rules, or our spiritual
duties.
Point 5. — Lastly, we renew our resolution of earnest-
ness and fidelity in the service of God for the future,
and to take special care to avoid those sins, offences,
and negligences by which since our last examen we
have offended God. End with " Our Father."
It would be well on this subject to read the Direct, xiii.
and Suarez, ix. 5, § 13. It is a thing much to be recom-
mended to refer these our examens to our next con-
fession, especially the fourth and fifth points, as then
we are always in readiness, in case of unforeseen
accidents, to receive the sacramental absolution, and
are less liable to grow negligent and indifferent in our
preparation for confession.
Father Roothaan has drawn out the following method of
examination of conscience according to the above points laid down
by St. Ignatius, which is much to be recommended.
ist Prelude. — Reflect a moment on the presence of God. 2nd Prelude.
— Kneel and say a short Prayer, e.g., " In Thee and for Thee," &c.,
or, " Prevent, we beseech Thee," &c.
I. — Act of Thanksgiving.
O my God, I adore Thee, I praise and bless Thee, and I give
Thee earnest thanks for all Thy benefits ; first and chiefly for those
conferred on the Most Holy Humanity of Christ our Lord, and on
His most loving Mother ; as also for those bestowed upon the
Saints in Heaven, especially upon those of our Order and my
Patrons, and for all Thy favours so liberally conferred upon the
whole human race.
In the next place, I return Thee my thanks for all the benefits
especially granted to myself, both as to body and soul ; for my
Creation, Preservation, and Justification, for the Sacraments I have
THE METHOD OF THE GENERAL EX AM EN. 33
received, my Vocation to the true Faith, as also for N. N. (recall
chief ones).
Blessed for evermore be Thy Almighty Power, Thy tender
Providence, and infinite Charity, which has proved itself so gentle,
and loving, and liberal, towards me each day of my ejfistence, and
especially to-day. In return for all these favours I offer to Thee,
O my God, the praises of the Church Militant and Triumphant,
also the merits of Jesus my Saviour, and all that Blood of infinite
value, which He poured out of the Wound of His Right Hand, when
hanging on the Cross.
II. — Beg for Light.
O God of my heart, I beseech Thee, by the Most Holy Blood of
Thy Son, which streamed from the Wound of His Left Hand, that
Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant me abundant grace to discover, to
detest, to beivail, and to correct my sins, especially N. ; so that at the
Day of Judgrnent, I may deserve to be placed by Thy holy angels,
not on the left hand of my Judge, but on His right. O true Light,
which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world, enlighten
my mind.
III. — Examination.
O Lord, how far have I gone astray from the path of perfection,
although my Jesus hath marked it out for me by footprints stained
with blood ! How often have I again fallen since my last
examination !
Particular Examen. — Make a review of each hour. On rising, or
after the mid-day examen, did I recall the subject of it, and resolve
to guard against it ? Did I, when I fell, put my hand to my heart,
i&c, in token of sorrow, &c. ? Did I mark, compare day with day,
week with week, month with month ?
General Examen. — Rising, Morning Prayer, Meditation, Mass,
Preakfast, — Special Duties of your State, — Purity of Intention, —
Charity in Thought, Word, and Deed, — Special Spiritual Duties for
each day, viz.. Examination of Conscience, — Spiritual Reading, —
the Rosary, — Prayers of the Confraternity, &c.
' Ordinary Actions. — Exactness, Fervour, Perseverance.
Rules of Modesty. — In Dress, in Custody of the Senses, &c.
Worldliness, — Idleness, — Harshness towards equals and inferiors, —
Gossip, useless Reading.
How unworthy am I of all the favours which my God is ever
heaping upon me, of the graces of this very day, and the society
and friendship of so many favourites of God. How many sins,
negligences, and imperfections, have I again committed ? How slowly
D
34 THE METHOD OF THE GENERAL EX AM EN.
have I run in the way of perfection ! May the Most Sacred Blood
•which flowed from the Wound of the Left Foot of my Redeemer,
wash out the prints of my feet as I strayed away from Him, and
from the path of virtue.
IV. — x\cT OF Sorrow.
Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my
eyes, so that with Magdalene at the feet of my Saviour I may
bewail my ingratitude, my negligence, and all my sins, more
particularly N, and N. To Thee only have I sinned, and have done
evil before Thee ! I am heartily sorry that I have offended Thee,
O my God, who art the Sovereign Good !
I am sorely afflicted that I have provoked Thee to anger, who
art my Creator, my Redeemer, my First Beginning, my Last End ! I
am grieved that I have preferred to Thee a thing of no value, for
the sake of which I have displeased Thee, and thus have postponed
Thee, my chiefest and eternal Good, to the most vile creatures. I desire
to love Thee above all things created, and would rather lose all
things created than even once to displease Thee.
I detest all my sins above all the evils of this world, because they
offend Thee, and Thou dost abominate them infinitely. Gh ! that I
could grieve a thousand times more that I have offended Thee,
O Infinite Goodness. I fling myself as a suppliant at the feet of
Thy Son, and by the Wound of His Right Foot I implore of Thee to
say to me as He once said to Magdalene, "Thy sins are forgiven
thee."
Confiding in this hope, I fling myself entirely into the gaping
Wounds of my Jesus, and into the ocean of Thy Mercy. By the
merits of His Passion, I claim forgiveness from Thy bounty. Look
upon me, and have mercy upon me !
V. — Purpose of Amendment.
O most loving Jesus ! from this hour I will satisfy that fond
desire of Thy Heart, which for me and my salvation was pierced on
the Cross, and will correct my past sins and negligences, 7nore
especially N. Never will, I again offend Thee, even in the smallest
things, knowingly and willingly, my Sovereign Love. Confirm this
ray resolution by the merits of that Blood which came forth from
the innermost depths of Thy Most Blessed Heart, and which, in
union with Thy Life, Passion, and Death, I now offer in satisfaction
for ray sins.
My dear Jesus ! I unite my poor heart with Thine, all wounded
and torn. May Thy Heart be a hiding-place in which I may dwell
GENERAL CONFESSION AND COMMUNION. 35
•securely. My heart is ready, O my God ! my heart is ready to
make atonement for my sins — to adopt the means of correcting
them, and of acquiring all the perfection of my holy state.
O God ! be merciful to me a sinner. Pater, Ave, &c.
N.B.— Dwell on those words which are in italics, especially in
the 4th Point, on the several motives of contrition.
GENERAL CONFESSION AND COMMUNION.
Amongst the documents for the first part of the
Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius adds one on General
'Confession and Communion, in which he observes that
there are three advantages in making a general con-
fession of devotion, during this part of the Exercises,
The first is : that although he who goes to confession
every year is not bound to make a general confession ;
yet b}^ so doing he may be advanced in perfection and
obtain greater merit, because of the greater actual
sorrow for all the sins and depravity of his past life,
which he usually feels in the time of retreat.
The second is that, the exercitant whilst making
these Exercises apprehends ^more clearly his sins
and their malice, and consequently has a more clear
knowledge and sorrow for them, and therefore will
•derive greater benefit from it.
The third is that, thereby he is better disposed and
prepared to receive Holy Communion, by vv'hich he
will be assisted and protected from falling back into
sin, and be kept in the grace of God.
Consequently let the confession ^ be made at the end
of this first part.
1 With regard to the general confession, it is always well to consult
one's confessor or the director, as the exercitant cannot safely judge for
himself. If one is about to enter upon a different state of life, or has been
leading a tepid or negligent life, and feels that God by His grace prompts
him to enter upon a new life of fervour, a general confession of one's whole
36 THE ADDITIONS.
THE ADDITIONS.i
i\nother document which St. Ignatius places before
us in the first part of his Spiritual Exercises, is on
what are called the "ten Additions," for the better
performing of the Exercises, and the " more surely
discovering of that which we must have at heart,
namely, the rooting out of all inordinate affections and
the finding out of the will of God in our regard."
Much of the success or failure of a retreat depends
on the observance or neglect of these rules. They
teach us what we have to do, both before and after
meditation; and in this respect they do not apply only
to the time of retreat, but to our whole life. Although
they individually appear very easy and simple, yet to
persevere in their practice, we stand in need of the
grace of God, must have real good-will and must make
personal effort. To be exact in their observance for
a long time is an heroic act.
Addition i. — When about to sleep, we^must think at
what time we are to rise and for what ; briefly reviewing
the' next morning's meditation. The utility of this
cannot be overestimated.
This thought at the end of the day, is like the coal
put on the fire overnight ; in the morning we have only
to stir it up and it begins to burn brightly at once.
Addition 2. — On rising we must turn our minds to
the subject of our meditation, in order to put ourselves
at once in relation with the truth upon which we are
life is generally to be recommended. In other cases or circumstances, it is
to be rather recommended to make a general review from the last annual or
general confession, at lea§t of those offences which have been more serious,
or more frequent, or have given disedilication to others.
1 Direct, xv. § X9.
THE ADDITIONS. 37
going to meditate and that we may be more intimately
penetrated with it.
Thus for example in the first part of the Exercises,
we are to feel a deep sense of shame and confusion,
such as a cavalier would feel who, being convicted of a
grievous crime against his Sovereign from whom he had
received signal and extraordinary favours, was about
to appear before him and all his Court, &c.
This feeling becomes us and should be ours every-
where and always. How precious its fruits would be !
It would save us from innumerable faults and would
impel us to serve God faithfully. Truly it becomes us ;
for how many benefits have we not abused? Benefits
which we' rarely recall, and more rarely ponder;
although in our examination of conscience twice a day,
we are reminded of them; such as Creation, Redemption,
Vocation, Justification. This feeling is the prevailing
one in the Holy Mass. Again in the second Exercise,
we have to confess with deep sorrow that we are great
sinners, and to imagine ourselves as criminals being led
to execution. This two-fold thought is very truthful ;
for we are all great sinners,^ even those who have never
lost their baptismal innocence. In fact their preserva-
tion is not their work, but the work of God ; and the
fact of having committed one venial sin is quite enough
to make one a great sinner; and if our good God had
not prevented its consequences where might one be now ?
Addition 3. — At a distance of one or two steps from
where we are to begin our meditation, during the space
of the " Our Father" we should reflect that we are in
the presence of God, and should make an act of humble
reverence ; thus before prayer preparing our souls and
not tempting God. 2 It argues indifference and irrever-
1 " In multis offendimus omnes." (St. James iii. 2.)
^ " Before prayer prepare thy soul ; and be not as a man that tempteth
God," (Ecclus. xviii. 23.)
38 THE ADDITIONS.
ence towards His Divine Majesty to enter upon medi-
tation without considering what we are going to do, and
before whom we are going to do it.
Addition 4. — We are to take that position during our
pra3'er, which will best help us to attain the end which
we have at heart, and which shall cause us least
distraction, provided it be one of reverence and respect ;
whether kneeling, standing, sitting, &c.
Addition 5. — If time allows, we should examine how
we have passed the time of meditation. If it has
been spent badly, we should investigate the cause and
resolve to remedy it and repent ; if well, we must
"thank God, and determine to persevere in the same
course.
Addition 6. — We should divert the mind from all
thoughts which are impertinent and not conformed to-
the spirit of our meditation, such as thoughts of Heaven,,
of the Passion, or Resurrection, when we are engaged
in seeking to acquire shame, sorrow, and tears for our
past sins ; even though these thoughts may be attended
by great spiritual consolation..
Addition 7. — We should for the same end, except
when reciting the Divine Office or taking our meals, &c.,.
shut out the light in our rooms when engaged in the
first part of the Exercises. St. Ignatius makes much
of darkness as an aid to compunction. If, however, it
were to produce gloom and depression and contraction
of heart, as might be the case with timid and nervous
dispositions, of course, on the principle of all things to
the end, this Addition must be waived.
Addition 8. — We should avoid levity or laughter, or
saying anything with the intention of provoking it.^
Addition 9. — We should also keep great custody of
all our senses, more especially of the eyes, thus cutting
1 " A fool lifteth up his voice in laughter : but a wise man will scarce
laugh low to himself," {Ecclus. xxi. 23.)
THE ADDITIONS.
39
off as far as possible all distractions and obstacles to
interior recollection.
1. Addition lo. — Regards penance, and in a few
words gives us, we may say, the essence of a whole
treatise on the subject. The Saint places it amongst
the Additions, as it inculcates a virtue which purifies
the soul, exercises a great influence on prayer and medi-
tation, and is the price we pay for close union with God.
It would appear that the first Fathers of our Society
drew more fruit from the Spiritual Exercises in propor-
tion as they imitated the practice of St. Ignatius in this
respect the more closely. So says Blessed Peter Faber.
2. The Saint first lays down the notion of penance,
as the virtue b}^ which we destroy sin in our souls, and
satisfy God for our offences. The internal effect of sin
is to turn us away from God, the external is to turn us
towards creatures. Therefore our penance must be
internal by making acts of repentance and sorrow, and
frequent resolutions to avoid sin and the occasions of
it for the future ; it must be also external, by the inflic-
tion of pain, to punish the senses for the abuses of
which they have been guilty. The latter is the fruit
of the former, but they mutually promote each other,
and should be practised by all.
3. St. Ignatius gives us three ivays in which we may
practise external penance, and lays down a certain
principle regarding it, by the application of which we
shall avoid all extremes.
4. The first subject on which to exercise mortifica-
tion is in our food ; in which we practise it whenever we
retrench from it what is suitable ; and the greater this
retrenchment, the greater and better is the penance ;
yet it must not be to the serious detriment of our
health. This may be exercised both in regard to the
quantity and quality of our food.
The next exercise of penance is in respect of sleepy
40 THE ADDITIONS.
both as regards the length of time we give to it, and
the nature of the bed and its covering. As to the time,
it is well to take what is enough unless we have the
vicious habit of taking too much. In respect of this,
the same principle holds as in the matter of food.
The third manner of practising penance is by
chastisement and infliction of pain on our bodies,
by wearing of hair-shirts, or chains, or by using the
discipline, and the like.
The more suitable and safest method to employ in
this is to inflict -pain on the flesh, but not so as to affect
the bones, and thus to induce infirmity. This will be
safely done by the use of disciplines made of whip-cord,
which will cause pain and yet will not expose us to
the danger of incurring any notable infirmity. And
here again the same principle obtains. All these
several ways of practising penance must be used
prudently and with- persevering regularity.
5. Lastly, we have the motives and reasons which
should prompt us to this spirit of penance ; which are,
first, to satisfy for our past sins ; next, to enable and
accustom us to overcome ourselves and our inclinations ;
and, lastly, to obtain any special grace of which we may
stand in need. Which of us has not a heavy debt to
pay for our past sins, and for our present multiplied
offences and negligences? How much there is yet to
be done to reduce our rebellious nature to subjection !
And in each hour we stand in need now of one grace,
now of another, and /this not only for ourselves, but
also for others who are under our charge or direction.
It is to be observed that if after doing all that in him
lies, the exercitant does not appear to attain what he
desires, it is often of advantage to ■ make some change
in his food, or sleep, or in his other woirks of penance,
by relaxing them for two or three days, or by increasing
them ; but always with great prudence.
RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 41
Often in this manner we obtain grace to know what
in this respect is good for us and what we may practise
in the future.
Again, during the time of retreat we should take as
the subject of the Particular Examen, the manner in
which we fulfil each duty, and observe these Additions.
THE RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF
SPIRITS.
(More applicable for the First Week.)
1. St. Ignatius 1 here lays down fourteen rules,
whereby we may to a certain extent become acquainted
with the various movements of our souls, and thus may
be able to accept those which are good and to reject
those which are bad. The following are the rules
which he assigns for the first part of the Exercises, and
which are more applicable to beginners.
2. As they are of great use in spiritual life, and
moreover as some rules whereby to know the different
1 St. Ignatius, in the course of the Exercises, makes use of certain '
expressions, such as, divine illustrations and illuminations, the. feeling of
(liferent spirits, of rays of internal knowledge, 7novements of heavenly
consolation, and the hke : and with reason, as they are based on scholastic
theology, and are wisely applied to mystical theology. For it is certain that
the sou,l experiences certain motions both of the intellect and of the will, by
the preventive grace of God, and these are called by the Fathers, " illumina-
tions, inspirations, and divine motions." (Cone. THd. Sess. vi. and Psalm
cxviii. and Romans viii.) It is moreover certain, says Suarez (Z>(? it'^:/, ix.
^' 5> § 31). that these sometimes are immediately produced by God Him-
self (De Inc. disp. xvii. § 2), and often by our Angels Guardian. And on
the other hand, the devil tries to injitate them, in order to pervert the will
and darken or mislead the mind. (2 Cor. xi. 14.) The angels, however,
can only influence the will through the intellect and the sensitive appetite,
through either sensible objects or through the imagination.
These rules then are given us to help us to discriminate these several
motions, and to determine from whom they proceed, whether directly from
God, or from the good angel or from the evil spirit. '
42 RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS.
impulses and motions by which God or the devil are
wont to affect the soul are necessary ; and as the object
of the Exercises is to lead us through a spiritual and
interior life by means of prayer, in which we are liable
to feel different interior motions or experience illusions^
it becomes of great importance to be well acquainted
and familiar with these rules as well for our own guid-
ance as for that of others. They are founded on Holy
Writ and on the experience of men distinguished for
piety and learning.^
3. The knowledge of these rules is of supreme
moment for all who have to direct souls of every kind,,
if they would avoid notable mistakes in approving as
good what is really evil or in hindering greater good.
In this direction of souls two dangers must be avoided :-
Qn the one side we must not believe every spirit, or
take notice of every fancy that crosses the brain
of excitable and weak-minded persons, following the
counsel of St.John,^ "Do not trust every spirit," and
on the other, we must not be too incredulous and bold
in despising and rejecting what ma}^ be inspirations
or impulses from God, but as St. PauH teaches, "Ex-
tinguish not the spirit, despise not prophecies, but
prove all things, hold fast that which is good, from all
appearance of evil refrain yourselves." ■
4. But no matter how good these rules may be in
themselves, yet we must have recourse to frequent and
earnest prayer, and by great purity of heart and union
with God merit from Him light and grace rightly to
apply them, and thus avoid the rashness and boldness
of those who presume to direct souls, on what they
consider the dictates of what they stjde common
sense.
5. The many wiles of the devil, and the impenetrable
1 Suarez, ix. c. v. § 30, &c. " Suarez, ix, c. v. § 41.
3 I St. John iv. ■^ I Thess. v.
RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 43
malice of the human heart, are such that we cannot
often do more than form a prudent and probable con-
jecture regarding the state of the soul, though at times
we can form a morally certain judgment. Suarez^ says
that these rules are safe and approved by the teaching
of theology, and experience, andv by the doctors of
spiritual life.-
6. To descend now to a detail of these rules for the
first or Purgative part of the Exercises, we may observe
that they refer to the beginnings of spiritual life — when
the temptations of the devil are more patent and open
and are generally not under the appearance of good.^
They may be reduced to three heads :
(a) To the different methods made use of b}^ the
good and bad spirit, to affect and move us ; * {/3) to the
explanation of spiritual consolation and desolation, and
the manner of dealing with them;^ (y) to the different
wiles whereby the devil is accustomed to frighten,
terrify, dishearten, and bewilder us.
Rule I. — In dissolute and tepid souls it is the devil's
wont to inspire them with a certain false quiet and
vain joy founded on temporal prosperity and on the
pleasures accruing from a loose life and from the grati-
fication of the senses, thereby attaching them to worldly
things, and confirming them in habits of sin. On the
other hand, the Spirit of God is. wont to sting such
souls, causing them disquiet of mind and remorse of
conscience thereby to rouse them from their evil ways.
Rule 2. — As regards those souls which earnestly
desire to give themselves to God and to begin fervently
to practise virtue, the devil is used to fill them with
fear, to harass them with scruples, to perplex them
1 Suarez, ix. c. ix. and c. v. § 41.
^ Conf. Gerson, De Prob. Spir. tr. xvii. and Card. Bona, De Discret.
Spir. c. viii.
3 Annot. 9 and 10. ■* Rules i and 2. ^ Rules 3 to 12.
44 RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS.
with false and sophistical reasonings, to overwhelm
them with melancholy, chagrin, and discouragement ;
whereas God is wont upon such souls to diffuse light,
comfort, and devotion, and by this means to encourage
and strengthen them to go forward in His service.^
Ride 3. — Spiritual consolation is the state and dis-
position of the soul in which it begins to be inflamed
with a love of its Creator and Lord, and consequently
feels that it can no longer attach itself to any created
things for their own sake, but only in Him and for His
sake ; or when, on account of its sins, or of the sufferings
of Christ, or of other things connected with His service
and praise, it pours forth tears out of love for its Lord.
Or, in fine, when it feels itself vehemently pressed to
advance in any virtue, siich as in faith, hope, and
charity, or experiences a certain quiet and peace of
mind inclining it to prayer and to whatever will
conduce to its spiritual progress.
Ride 4. — Spiritual desolation is marked by opposite
signs, such as darkness of mind, disquiet, weariness,
and loathing in the exercise of piety and devotion. This
is often accompanied by a mistrust and pusillanimity,
which renders us diffident, and. alienates us from God,
and is calculated to make us seek relief in transitory
and sensible things ; also by an absence of feeling of
faith, hope, or charity in the soul.
Here I would remark that we are sometimes inclined
to give the devil more than his due by ascribing to him
certain dispositions of the soul which are the result of
our own morbid imagination, or which arise from some
purely physical cause or infirmity, as from fatigue, or
from the weather, head-ache, &c.
Rules 5 and 6. — In time of desolation we must
not dream of making any substantial change in our
state or course of life, or omit our good resolutions
1 Conf. Bona, c. viii. § 3.
RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 45
and works of piety. Some accidental changes we may-
make, as in a more careful examination of ourselves, in
more frequent prayer, or in augmenting our penances,
thereby to repress the violence and impetuosity of
our desolation and baffle the efforts of the devil.
Experience proves that these are excellent means of
regaining our former fervour and consolation ; but, to
avoid any error on this point, it is safer to consult
the director.
Rule 7. — In times of aridity and desolation, we must
reflect that in leaving the natural powers of the soul
without feelings of fervour and His special graces, but
still always with a sufficient measure of grace, God
intends to afford us an occasion of trial, and of greater
merit ; and that by turning to account the graces which
He actually provides, w^e dispose ourselves to receive
greater plenty of graces and helps. ^
Rule 8. — In the time of aridity and spiritual deso-
lation, we must arm ourselves with patience and
resignation to the will of our good God, and expanding
our hearts with lively confidence in Him, we must wait
in humility until He sends us suitable help and comfort,
which we may be sure that He will in love and mercy
soon do.
Rtde 9. — The three principal reasons why God
permits this desolation or withdraws His consolation
from us are the following: first, because we are tepid
and negligent in our spiritual observances, or secondly,
to prove to us what we are worth, and what is our
progress in His holy service and praise when His
consolation and special graces and helps are suspended ;
or, lastly, to give us an intimate consciousness that
of ourselves we can neither acquire nor retain real
1 ' ' Per naturales vires significari videntur naturales facultates, non
tamen ut operantes per solam naturalem virtutem sed ut adjutas divina
gratia et illi cooperantes. " (Suarez, ix, c. v. § 44.)
46 RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS.
devotion, deep love, nor any other kind of spiritual
consolation, but that it is entirely the gift and grace of
God our Lord, and that consequentl}' there is no room
for any pride or vainglory by ascribing to ourselves
either devotion or any kind of consolation.
Thus God makes known to us our miseries, and
thereby teaches us to know and compassionate those
of others according to that of St. Paul.i
When we feel no strength to walk, or are blind and
cannot see, let us raise up our hearts in holy confidence
and say, *' Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and
strengthen me with a perfect spirit." ^
Experience shows that one of the greatest obstacles
to progress in spiritual life is desolation of spirit,
irksomeness, aridity, and darkness, by which many are
deterred from giving themselves to God. If we practise
these admonitions, we shall draw good out of evil, and
God will also make with temptation issue that we may
be able to bear it.^
Rtdes ID and ii. — In consolation we must hold fast
to humility, and keep our own miseries before us, and
forecast the future time of desolation, bracing ourselves
up with courage to resist it.
On the other hand, in desolation let us remember
that with the grace of God, which is enough to enable
us to overcome all our enemies, we can do much, and
let us nerve ourselves by the thought of the future
consolation which is in store for us.
Rtiles 12, 13, and 14 explain three wiles wherewith
the devil is wont to add force to his most violent
temptations :
The first is, when the devil, strong in his malice and
fury, like some virago, tries to inspire us with fear and
1 " Who can have compassion on them that are ignorant and that err,
because he himself also is compassed with infirmity." (Hebrews v. 2.)
' Psalm 1. 10, and conf, h Kempis, iii. c, 53. 3 j Cor. x. 13.
RULES FOR THE DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 47
pusillanimity. Unless we treat him with scorn and
contempt, his rage only increases, but if he sees that
relying upon God we show a bold front, puffed up as he
is with pride, he will withdraw in rage and spite.
The second of his wiles is when like a seducer he
attacks us, covertly plotting our ruin. It is thus that
a lover tries to allure the victim of his passion from
the home of a good father, or a wife from her husband,
binding her to secrecy and not to betray his plans, for
fear lest his design be defeated. So too the devil tries
to dissuade and prevent us from betraying his wicked
and malicious frauds to our confessor or director, know-
ing that otherwise he is destined to be frustrated in his
■designs.
In the third place, as an able General who wishes
to capture a citadel, first takes a careful survey to find
where it is weakest and best open to attack, and then
assails it, so the arch-enemy of our human nature care-
fully considers our state and condition with regard to
the theological and cardinal virtues, also our moral
disposition, and then exerts all his force against us on
that point in which we are weakest. Let us be before-
hand with him. Let us examine what is the virtue
most wanting in us, and what is the fault into which
we most frequently fall. This we shall very easily
know if we make our examinations of conscience and
our confessions with proper care. Then let us by
prayer and the Particular Examination spare no pains
to strengthen ourselves against his attacks, using
those means of acquiring self-knowledge which are so
abundantly supplied to us in the whole course of the
Spiritual Exercises.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
WHEREBY A MAN MAY LEARN TO CONQUER HIMSELF, AND
MAY SO ORDER AND REGULATE HIS LIFE, AS NOT TO
BE INFLUENCED BY ANY INORDINATE AFFECTION.
In these words St. Ignatius begins his Book of
Spiritual Exercises, and lays down the double end
proposed, namely, complete conquest of self, and the
perfect regulation of life, according to the principles of
faith and right reason, for the attainment of his end
and the accomplishment of his destiny.
He next makes an important observation for the
mutual help and benefit of the director and of him who
is about to make the Exercises, which is to the follow-
ing ejffect :
'' We must suppose that every good Christian will
always be more ready to interpret'm a favourable sense
than to condemn an}^ obscure or doubtful proposition of
another.
** If, however, he finds that it cannot be held or
admitted, he will in a spirit of love and charity correct
him who has asserted it : but if this proves ineffectual,
he will then make use of all suitable means whereby he
may bring him to a right sense and save him from all
error and falsehood."
How prudent it was in St. Ignatius to place this
observation in the very commencement of his book is
manifest, for not unfrequently those who enter upon
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. 49
the Exercises may be imbued with false or dangerous
principles or views either on social, philosophical, or
theological matters. And on the other hand, the Saint
having suffered so much at Alcala, Toledo, Paris,
Venice, and Rome, from the false interpretations put
upon various passages of his writings, may have wished
to prepare the director and exercitant against any
prejudices or misapprehensions under which they might
be labouring, and thus suggest the surest and most
charitable means of removing them.
THE FIRST WEEK.
PREPARATORY MEDITATION.
This exercise may be made to prepare and dispose
the soul to perform the Exercises well, and to derive all
possible fruit from them : to enable it to appreciate the
special, grace of God presented in them — to realize the
need of them, and to inspire the fit dispositions which
are required to succeed in them. These dispositions
are, according to Suarez,^ in the first place, a determina-
tion to seek the most holy will of God and His greater
glory, and in the second, an entire indifference as to the
means by which to secure it.
Hence whoever makes the Spiritual Exercises in
earnest must not select those means according to his
own genius and inclination, but solely according as
God shall manifest His will.^
The meditation will consist of three points.
I. The excellence of the Exercises. 2. The need
we have to make them. 3. The dispositions in order
to make them well.
After placing ourselves in the presence of God, and
making an act of faith and humility, as we prostrate
ourselves before His Divine Majesty, we will offer up
to Him all our thoughts, words, actions, intentions, and
endeavours, desiring that they may be directed purely
i Bk. 9, c. vii. n. 6. ^ Direct ii. nn. 4, 5.
PREPARATORY MEDITATION. 51
to His Divine service and praise, and to the promotion
of His greater glory and to the sanctification of our
own soul.^.
Prelude i. — Let us in spirit place ourselves alone
T^efore the throne of God, the Supreme Lord and
Master, who beholds us.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg with all our hearts that He
would be pleased to help us in entering upon the
retreat and in deriving from it the fruit of which we
stand so much in need.
Point I. — Excellence of the Exercises. — If we consider
them in themselves, they are a doctrine inspired by
the Holy Ghost, drawn from the Holy Scriptures,
adapted to the practice of spiritual life, approved by
the Holy See^ as "replete with piety and holiness,
arranged admirably to inspire the soul with holy dis-
positions, and most profitable to the interior man."
They are, says St. Ignatius, " Spiritual Exercises
to teach and enable a man to overcome himself and to
regulate his life in defiance of any inordinate affection."
The}'' are exercises which will lead us to overcome
self, and to determine our manner of life, without
allowing ourselves to be influenced by any affection
which is not approved by the teachings of faith or
right reason.
We can then, if we really wish, learn once for all to
overcome ourselves, and thus secure true peace of
heart, and so arrange our lives as to acquire salvation
— and all this without tormenting ourselves and without
any interior anguish, no matter how strong our passions
1 This method of commencing the meditation should be employed in
the beginning of each spiritual exercise : and thus we shall comply with the
counsel of Ecclus. xviii. : " Before prayer prepare thy soul, and be not as
one that tempteth God."
2 Bull of Approbation by Paul III. A.D. 1548, of Julius III. A.D. 1554,
.and Gregory XIII. A.D. 1580,
52
THE FIRST WEEK.
or inveterate our habit : for under the guidance of God
St. Ignatius has arranged all with the sweetest discretion,
and supplied us with the most efficacious means of
securing the end. In the first place we are prepared
to banish from our hearts all evil affections, which
when we have done, we shall be in the disposition to
seek the will of God about ourselves and all our
surroundings, and shall surely discover it. We shall
then be able to form such resolutions as God will make
known to be pleasing to Him. The Saint supplies us
with suitable counsels by which we may be enabled to
persevere, and with powerful incitements to avoid the
snares and repel the assaults of the enemy. How
many have entered upon these Exercises with souls
totally enslaved to the world, to the flesh, and to the
devil, and have come from them as completely devoted
to God.
Let us realize the favour God is doing us in giving
us this opportunity, and seriously resolve to turn it to
advantage.
Point 2. — The need we have of this retreat. — There
are some who think that retreats are only suited to
Religious, or to holy persons aiming at high perfection.
Yet they are far more necessary for those living in the
world, where false maxims and bad examples and
constant occasions render sin more easy, whereas the
means of avoiding it are fewer and harder to find.
Have we no past to repair, no present to correct and
reform, no provision to make for the future ? In the
past, many and great sins, and perhaps no real repent-
ance. Confessions defective, Communions doubtful
or without profit, omissions, injustice, scandals, un-
charitableness, and the rest. In the present, so little
that is good, and that little so imperfectly done— prayer
without fervour, devotions without merit, and sacra-
ments without fruit. Preoccupied by the world as if
PREPARATORY MEDITATION. 53
always to remain in it — what are our affections, and
our actions ?
Do not continuous dissipation, false principles, vain
pursuits, uncontrolled passions and inveterate habits,
and sins or faults without number, form the staple of
our life ? To know that we may die any moment, and
to live for five minutes in mortal sin, is an unpardonable
rashness. What, then, shall we call it to live in that
state for months and years ? And as to venial sins
and abuses of grace, what a fearful account to render ?
In the future. Reason and experience proclaim our
future, if we continue to live thus in the present. We
can easily turn the bed of a river near its source, but if
you allow it to continue its course until it becomes
broad and deep, it becomes impossible. So is it with
the sinner — the longer his life of sin, the harder it is to
change its current. How many once better than us,
are now lost ! Let us dread to become hardened in
our sins. " The hard heart will fare badly in the end."^
Let us follow the counsel of God, " Do, my son, what I
say, and free thyself." ^
Point 3. — Dispositions for making the retreat well.
1. We must form a right idea of it — how it is con-
cerned about the soul, and about our own. individual soul.
How it is to enable us so to dispose our lives that we
may go on securely, advance daily, and finally reach
our eternal home. Surely of all things this is the most
important, and most vitally affects us.
2. We must go through it with great generosity of
heart, and without reserve, leaving ourselves in the
hands of God to do with us as He pleases, ever ready
to grant whatever He may ask, and to make any sacri-
fice which He may call for. No matter how holy we
may be, there is no one who enters on a retreat who is
not called upon by God to make some sacrifice^ either
1 Ecclus. Hi. 27. 2 Prov. vi. 3.
54- THE FIRST WEEK.
for the correction of some fault, or for the acquisition of
some virtue. This should be determined by each from
the commencement of the Exercises, and with a view
to the Election in the second part.
3. We must have full confidence and hope in God —
knowing that no one ever hoped in Him in vain, nor
confided too much in Him. Our undertaking is a hard
one, and impossible if left to ourselves, but our strength
is our hope in God.^ The greater our hope, the more
blessed shall we be ; and the measure of His mercy will
be according to our hope. *' Let Thy mercy, O Lord,
be upon us, as we have hoped in Thee."^
4. We must have courage to face the difficulties,
which the devil will put in our way, and which our own^
sloth and cowardice will create. We need it, for we
shall have to fight. *'Be valiant and bold, for the
Lord thy God is with thee."^ God is with us, and.' with
Him we shall conquer..
End with colloquy and Pater Noster.
THE PRINCIPLE, OR" FOUNDATION.
In the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises,.
St. Ignatius lays down one great truth for considera-
tion, which he calls by the names of the Principle and
Foundation. Just as in every science certain first
principles, too evident to stand in need of proof, are
laid down, from which all its conclusions are developed
and deduced, so in the science of salvation, all its
conclusions are evolved from this primary truth. He
also calls it the Foundation:, for as in raising a structure,
it is necessary to secure a solid foundation proportionate
to the building which it is intended to support and hold
1 Isaias xxx. 15. 2. Psalni' xxxii. 22. ^ Josue i. 9.
THE PRINCIPLE, OR FOUNDATION. 55
firmly together, so this truth is the only solid basis on
which the whole moral and spiritual life can be securely
supported. Hence it is evident how important it is for
us to consider this truth deeply, and how necessary for
us thoroughly to master it and bring it home. For as
there is no science without its first principles, no solid
and stable building without a foundation, so there
can be no real development of spiritual life and
no permanent fruit from the Exercises unless we are
first imbued with this great truth.
Moreover, the more deeply the mind is impressed
with and convinced of it, the greater and more solid
will be the fruits which it will produce : and conse-
quently no pains or time should be spared in imbuing
ourselves with it before proceeding to the consideration '
of the other truths proposed to us later.
St. Ignatius does not propose it under the form of
a meditation, or assign any special exercise or time for
weighing it, but supposes us to dwell upon it as long
as we find it necessary : but many advantages will
manifestly accrue from presenting it under the usual
form of a meditation. ^
We shall then divide it into three parts : and on
each suggest certain practical considerations.
1 This consideration our Saint proposed to himself and to his first
companions when as yet they were in the world, and of course, as the
economy of the Book of Spiritual Exercises shows, was preparatory to and
the basis of the election of a state of life. For us, however, it is of equal
importance, as the preparation to elect the degree of perfection suited to
our state, office, or form of life in which God has placed us. It is with this
view that St. Ignatius places this consideration as the opening of the First
Week, "the Kingdom of Christ" of the Second Week, and "Two
Standards" of the Public Life of our Lord. There is no preparatory
meditation for the Fourth Week, as the election is supposed to be already
made.
56 THE FIRST WEEK.
Part I.
" Man is created, to praise, to reverence, and to serve God
our Lord, and in this way to secure the salvation of his souiy
After beginning as in the preceding meditation, by
offering ourselves and all our thoughts, words, &c., to
God and humbling ourselves before him.
Prelude i. — Let us imagine ourselves standing alone
before Him as the one great source of existence, the
Lord of Creation.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg the grace to understand
thoroughly this truth, and that our minds may be
practically convinced of it ; that we may know fully
our end, and all that is wanting in us for its attainment.^
Point I. — " Man is created." For long years this
universe has existed, with all its forms of life — but I
was not in it — I was nothing. How did I appear ?
Who ushered me into being and life ? It was not of
myself, for from nothing can come nothing. It could
not be mere chance, for that excludes order, and design,
and permanence. It could not be, except as a necessary
condition, those whom I call my parents, for they could
not mould my body,- nor could they transmit to me a
soul. Nor could it be by evolution, for it is against
experience, and a first principle of reason, making the
effect superior to that which is its cause. Nor can it
be from any contingent being, seeing that they are only
endowed with life sufficient for themselves. Then it
follows that I must come from God. And this is what
faith teaches. 2
1 " Make known to me, O Lord, my last end, that I may see what is
wanting to me." (Psalm xxxviii. 5.)
2 " I know not how you were formed in my womb ; for I neither gave
you breath, nor soul, nor life, neither did I frame hmb of every one of you. "
(2 Mach. vii. 22.)
3 "God created man to His own image." (Genesis i. 27.) " There is
one most high Creator Almighty who sitteth upon His throne and who
is the Lord of dominion." (Ecclus. i. 8.)
THE PRINCIPLE, OR FOUNDATION. 57
Have I ever realized and brought home to myself
this truth ?
Point 2. — But for what has God placed me in the
world ?
Could He have created me for no other purpose "or
end, than stones scattered on the roadside P^ No ! An
intelligent being could not so create me. Nor could
He create me and leave me to be the sport of my own
whims, as the peasant leaves his cattle to roam at will
in search of food. All things else He has created for
their respective ends, the sun to shine, the earth to
germinate, fire to warm, &c. So, too, must He have
created man for a special end ; and the more so because
he is the most exalted and the most excellent of the
works of His hands. The infinite wisdom, power, and
goodness employed in giving me the noblest of natures
prove that He could not have created me for a life of
mere chance, and without a rule and law proportioned
to that nature. Since He has given me a mind capable
of knowing Him, and a heart able to love Him, He
cannot have placed me in the world as though He were
nothing to me. Reason itself proclaims this. The fool
alone can call this in question.-
It would be at once unworthy of both God and
myself, and would argue the absence of wisdom,
prudence, and goodness in the Creator.
Point 3. — Why, then, has God created me ? For an
end worthy of myself and of His own infinite nature.
First, for His own glory.-^ He has created every man
for His own praise, name, and glory ,^ and in accomplish-
ing this here, I shall be rewarded with eternal life.
1 " Remember what my substance is, for hast Thou made the children
of men in vain?" (Psalm Ixx^viii. 48.)
2 "A vain man is lifted up into pride and thinketh himself born free as
a wild ass's colt." (Job xi. 13.)
2 Isaias xliii. 7. •* Deut. xxvi. 19.
58 THE FIRST WEEK.
He needed not create me, but wishing so to do, He
was bound to create me for Himself. His infinite
nature demands it, and mine requires it.
Again, why did He create me ? That in holy fear I
might keep His commandments ; for that is the whole
man's and every man's duty,i with soul and body, in
every thought, word, and deed, whether I be old or
young, learned or unlearned, rich or poor. Then I am
here solely for this object. If I fail to do this, I am worse
than useless in creation, I am positively a nuisance and
incumbrance in it, a cause of discord in the harmony of
creation.
In the colloquy I will express my grateful thanks for
my creation, my sorrow for the manner in which I have
ignored the objects of my life, and my confusion at
having been such a worthless servant.
End with " Our Father."
Exercise II.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SALVATION.
''And in this way to secure the salvation of his soul.'''
The commencement of this meditation and the
preparatory prayer will be as usual.
Prelude i. — I place myself on the verge of time,
looking on God on His eternal throne, surrounded by
countless ministering spirits.
Prelude 2. — I beg of His Divine Majesty a deep and
practical knowledge of the importance of my salvation,
and the grace to strain every nerve to acquire it.
Point I. — '^ Man shall go into the home of eternity. ''
After a life of a few short years on this earth, he must
at last die and enter upon a new life which shall never
end. This is only a place of passage, the other is called
1 Eccles. xii. 13.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SALVATION. 59.
the home — and must be either in Heaven with God, or
with the infernal spirit in Hell. There is no possibility
of escape. Have I tried to bring this truth home to
myself? That for me it is Heaven for ever or Hell for
ever: honour, glory, and delight ever to be enjoyed,
never to be lost or diminished, or disgrace, infamy, and
pain ever to be endured and never alleviated. The
choice rests entirely with myself, and the price which
is to purchase the bliss of Heaven for ever is only to
praise, reverence, and serve God for the brief space of
life. Once having entered on life, I must go on for
ever, and there is no halting on' the way.
Point 2. — What is the value of eternal salvation ?
This may be estimated by two principles, namely, by
the teaching and example of those whose judgment is
unimpeachable, and by its intrinsic nature and import-
ance. First, how have the wise and good and prudent
valued it? Ask St. Paul ^ and the martyrs of Holy
Church how they valued it. They will all reply that
the tribulations of this life could not compare with their
weight of glory. Ask of the Confessors and Virgins,
and with one voice they will reply that their lives of
labour, of penance, ^f poverty, sacrifice, and detach-
ment, are as nothing when compared with eternal
salvation. Again, how does God Himself esteem it ?
The Eternal Father would send His only Son from
Heaven, and would sacrifice Him to provide me w^ith
the means of securing it, &c.
His Son would become Man and embrace all which
that mystery involved for the same end ; for this He
established His Church and the holy sacraments, and
the one great Sacrifice of the New Law. Then my
soul's salvation is of mighty value.-
Again, we estimate the value of anything by its
intrinsic worth and by the security of its possession.
1 2 Cor. iv. 17. 2 I Cor. vi. 20 ; i St. Peter i. 18.
6o THE FIRST WEEK.
Now ear hath not heard, nor can man conceive the
bliss, honour, and glory of eternal salvation : and it is
secured for all eternity, and once possessed can never
be forfeited.
Point 3.— We may judge its value also from the
efforts of the devil to induce us to forfeit it. With
what energy^ and constancy he seeks to ruin us. With
false promises of transient goods he tries to lure us
from the way to salvation ! Goods in themselves unreal,
incapable of satisfying an immortal soul, and which it
is beyond his power to secure to us even for a day.
Oh, then, my soul, see the value of thy salvation :
and resolve to spend thyself in God's reverence, praise,
and service ; thus thou shalt gain it and shalt escape
the fearful alternative.
Finish with a colloquy of gratitude, of regret for
past neglect, and resolve with God's grace to have ever
on your lips those words of St. Aloysius, " What is this
for Eternity ? " End with the '* Our Father."
Part II.
^^ All other things on earth are created for 7nan, and in
order to aid him to gain the end for which he was created.
From ivhence it follows that man must make use of them as
far as they help him in this, and must abstain from them as
far as they may prove an obstacle to it.''
Having seen the end of man's life and being, we
are naturally led to ask what is the origin and end of
all other things on the face of the earth, on which man
is so dependent, and with which he is so intimately
connected.
And here I would observe that by " other things "
we are to understand not merely creatures, but also
circumstances of time and place and person by which
1 "Because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about
seeking whom he may devour." (i St. Peter v. 8.)
ON THE OBJECT AND USE OF CREATURES. 6i
we may be individually affected : thus to be born in
such a time, in this or that country, of such parents, in
such a social position. Or, again, that we occupy this
or that office, are placed in these or those relations and
surroundings.
ON THE OBJECT AND USE OF CREATURES.
The preparator}^ prayer and commencement as
usual.
Prelude i. — I imagine myself alone, and from some
high mountain taking a general survey of the world.
Prelude 2. — I beg of God to implant deeply and
indelibly in my soul the practical knowledge of this
second part of the Foundation.
Point I. — With what an infinite number and variety
of creatures the universe is filled ! The heavens with
its countless millions of mighty worlds, that look so
small, and vary in size, distance, colour, &c. * The air
which like a great sea is filled with microscopic life, and
supports life in the different forms of the vegetative and
animal creation. What an infinite variety of vegetable
life, of fruits and of flowers, and each provided with its
special properties, shape, and colour. Then I behold
the endless varieties in shape and plumage of the
feathered creation, and all characterized by their
individual habits. Next I pass in review the vast array
of the animal creation. Lastly, I look into the small
world of myself, which embraces not only intellectual
life, but also sensitive and vegetative life. Further, it
contains a mysterious connection with the exterior
world by means of the five senses, of sight, hearing,
smell, taste, and feehng, and is endowed with the
faculty of apprehending truth, of willing the good and
of recalling the past.
Point 2. — Whence all these ? Are they or is any one
€2 THE FIRST WEEK.
of them the result of chance ? Reason answers, No :
for none of them which does not manifest and proclaim
design. Are they the result of spontaneous evolution ?
No. For they declare themselves effects of preceding
causes. They do indeed come from those which precede
them as conditions " of their being," but they do not
borrow from them their life. Whence then do they come ?
Only from Him who is the fulness and the source of all
life and being — from God. They each and all have
derived their life from the Great Creator. AH are
united with Him by the link of creature with Creator.
All then are His sole and absolute property ; nor can
He divest Himself of His supreme dominion over even
the most minute among them, although He may hand
over to others the dominium utile ^ or the use of them,
but only that, and no more.
Point 3. — Why then has He created them ? Not
indeed for any use or requirement of His own, being
all sufficient in His own regard and from all eternity
infinitely happy. Not again for the benefit of His
angels ; for visible and material things have no pro-
portion with their invisible and spiritual natures. Nor
could it be for the sake of the irrational animals, which
are incapable of either knowing or duly appreciating
them. It only remains then that they are created
for man.
God created and arranged all this universe, great,
varied, and beautiful as it is, and lastly created man,
and placed all at his disposal. ^ Some as means for his
support, others for the preservation of his health, some
to relieve his weariness, and others for hfs pleasure and
delight. In short, God designed them to administer to
the profit, honour, comfort, and pleasure of man.
1 " Thoii hast made him little less than the angels, Thou hast crowned
him with glory and honour, and hast set him over the works of Thy hands :
Thou hast subjected all things under his feet." (Psalm viii. 6.)
ON THE OBJECT AND USE OF CREATURES. 65
Not for man to devote himself to them as his end
and his all. To suppose this would be the part of a
fool.i For material things cannot satisfy man's soul,
nor temporal things content an immortal being : but
they are provided for man to use them in the execution
and attainment of that for which he is made, as the
steps of a ladder by which he may ascend to his home,
as the instruments to be employed in the service of his
master.
Point 4. — But how is this to be done ? In different
ways. (i) All proclaim the existence of God and
disclose some one or other of His attributes and per-
fections, as His power, wisdom, goodness, beauty,
providence, &c., so that to deny God is inexcusable.^
(2) All invite our admiration, love, and service of our
Creator for His generosity, for the variety and number
of His benefits, for His goodness, &c. (3) Some
administer to life and thus assist us to persevere in His
service. But to give ourselves up to creat-ures is to
frustrate the designs of God, to become the slaves, not
the masters of them.^ It is to cause confusion in the
Creator's plans by making the creatures our end, and
thus degrading self and insulting God, and incurring
the reproach of ingratitude and injustice.
Point 5. — Conclnsion. — If I am made to praise,
reverence, and serve God, and if for this purpose He
supplies me with the creatures which belong to Him,
for me to make use of them for that purpose only, it
1 " For they liave said, reasoning with themselves but not right : Come
therefore and let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us
speedily use the creatures as in youth, &c. These things they thought and
were deceived : for their own malice blinded them." (Wisdom ii.)
2 For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. His eternal
power also and divinity, so that they are inexcusable." (Romans i, 20.)
2 ' ' Who changed the truth into a lie, and worshipped and served the
creature rather than the Creator who is blessed for ever. Amen."
^Romans i. 22. )
64 THE FIRST WEEK.
follows that my use of them must be solely regulated by
the law how far they may enable me to fulfil this end,
and that just as the artist makes use of his colours, or
the artisan of his tools only as far as they help him in
the execution of his. design, so must I also be guided
in regard to the use of all things.
Every thing and circumstance in this life is a means
or instrument to help me to attain my end, either by the
use or rejection of them. Some are always good, others
are sometimes good, and sometimes bad, in which latter
case they must be rejected ; others are always bad, and
by the rejection of them they further me towards the
fulfilment of my destiny. We are not to be guided
by feeling or sentiment, but solely by reason ; not
because it may afford pleasure, but because it is our
duty,^ must be our principle in every circumstance.
In the use of the faculties of our souls, senses of
our body, or of external things, this principle must be
our sole guide. Conclude with thanksgiving to the
generosit)'- of God in the abundant means with which
He has provided us ; with confusion, at the manner in
which we have perverted them to our own disgrace, and
at our ingratitude towards Him ; and with resolutions
for the future.
End with the *' Our Father."
THIRD PART OF THE FOUNDATION.
After seeing my own origin and consequent depend-
ence on God, and also the end of my existence, and
further the origin and end assigned by Him to all other
creatures, it remains to consider what right reason
dictates as to my disposition of mind and heart towards
. 1 "Advise not with fools, for they cannot love but such things as please
them." (Ecclus. viii. 20.)
THIRD PART OF THE FOUNDATION. 65
them, and the view I should take of them in order to
employ them always rightly. This is the third part
of the Foundation.
" Wherefore it is necessary to render ourselves practically
indifferent to all things created, as far as is permitted to guy
free-will and is not forbidden; so as not to wish for health
more than for sickness, for honour more than disgrace, for
riches more than poverty, for a long more than a short life ;
only desiring and choosing that which is suited for the end for
which I am created, God's praise, reverence, and service.'' If
we are to make use of creatures as reason inculcates,
and only so far as they promote the fulfilment of our
earthly destiny, we must constantly strive to promote
in ourselves a practical state of indifference, so as to
avoid being guided by mere feeling.
Why does St. Ignatius enumerate these four classes
of creatures ?
Perhaps it is because the generality of men find
these the most difficult on which to be indifferent. Or
it may be that all other things may be classed under
these headings. Or perhaps it is that they are the
chief objects in regard of which men harbour inordinate
attachments most commonly.
St. Ignatius supposes not that we can make our-
selves actually so indifferent that we shall not have
feelings of preference or repugnance, but that we try
in practice to act as if we were indifferent, without
being influenced by either the one or the other.
66 THE FIRST WEEK.
ON INDIFFERENCE.
The immediate preparation and the preparatory-
prayer as usuaL
Prelude i. — Imagine self alone before God, the Lord
and Master of all, conserving and directing all things.
Prelude 2. — Beg of Him a deep conviction of the
necessity of this indifference, in order to regulate life
properly and to proceed safely in the way of eternal
salvation, in all circumstances in which I may find
myself.
Point I. — Its necessity. As reasonable beings we are
bound to use creatures as means for the attainment of
the end of which they are the means. This obligation is
always incumbent upon us, no matter what may be our
feelings in their regard. Now all creatures are purely
means, and consequently must be used as such, totally
independent of feeling, or of the pain or pleasure arising
from them, which involves indifference. Again, it is
unworthy of man to act simply from feeling. The brute
creation have instinct or feeling to guide them, and in
this man excels them, that God has given him reason
as his guide in the natural order, in which respect
alone we consider him at present. God in creating all
things except man, had no preference for one more than
another, as far as they ' are concerned, but only in
proportion as they are more or less adapted to the help
of man ; hence our perfection consists in aiming at
the same estimation. It is moreover a necessary
condition of true peace, and of freedom from anxiety,
care, and unhappiness. If I look back on the past
and inquire into the cause of the many sorrows and
pains with which life has been clouded, I shall find
the explanation is want of this holy indifference. If
ON INDIFFERENCE. 67
I ask why the saints, amid all their trials, sufferings,
and persecutions, were always in peace and happy,
it was because they were practically in a state of
indifference in regard of all created things considered
in themselves.
Point 2. — How far must this indifference extend ?
To all things, but especiall}'- —
1. To Riches or Poverty, to the conveniences of the
one, or inconveniences of the other. And here we must
observe that by riches we understand not onl}^ material
possessions,^ but also internal gifts, as talents of mind,
■disposition of heart, qualities of character, and the like,
and by poverty the absence of many or all of these,
as also the want of accomplishments derived from
education, and of personal attractions. Then, again,
under the word riches are included natural dispositions to
goodness and piety, facility to virtue, and absence of
violent passions, as also special gifts of grace, and
•under poverty the absence of all these in a greater or
lesser degree.
2. To Honour or Dishonour. Whether it be as regards
birth, or station in life ; whether from strangers, friends,
relations, or enemies ; whether it be public or private,
from persons of high or low position — we must be able
to say with St. Paul,^ " I know how to be brought low,
and I know how to abound, . . . both to be full and
to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."
Knowing well how to adapt ourselves to all things, to
be ready for all things.
3. To Sickness or Health, as both are means or con-
1 If we consider material possessions, qualities of character, intellectual
.gifts, and the like, objectively, and as they are in themselves, they are good
and are creatures of God ; but subjectively, and relative to man, they
become good or bad according to the right or wrong use he makes of them.
To secure ourselves from the misuse of all these things, the great means is
ithe state of practical indifference,
2 Philipp. iv. 12.
68 THE FIRST WEEK.
ditions by and in which we can fulfil our destiny or
end, and consequently it must not be a cause of anxiety
or of undue care to avoid the one or secure the other.
So, too, must it be with regard to a long or short
life.
In short, this indifference must extend to everything
which is left to our free choice, and which God has
not prohibited or not commanded. It is clear that
whatever is forbidden by the Creator cannot be a matter
of indifference.
Point 3. — In the practice of this indifference, then,
we must not consider the material side of things, but
only how far they are adapted to our end for which we
are created, and must emplo}^ them accordingly. Just
as if I want to cross the sea I choose the safest and
swiftest vessel, if I want to take a journey I take the
best and safest route, so having a soul to save I adopt
the means which are the most secure to ensure it.
This is true prudence, this is the necessary dis-
position.^ Let us then be convinced of the necessity
of this indifference and rgot out every inordinate
affection in our souls ; for it is only those which are
the real obstacle to its attainment.
In conclusion, full of confusion for having ignored
this indifference, in having thus constantly gone astray,^
let us resolve for the future to secure true peace, and
to repent for the past.^
What a folly it is to continue to harbour within
ourselves a disposition which, not only closes the door
of the heart against all real peace, but exposes us at
1 "O that they would be wise, and would understand and would
provide for their last end." (Deut. xxxii. 29.)
2 "T have gone astray as a sheep that was lost: seek thy servant,
because I have not forgotten thy commandment." (Psalm cxviii. 176.)
3 " For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely dwelt
in peace for ever." (Baruch iii. 13.)
ON INDIFFERENCE. MOTIVES. 69
all times to become the victims of anxiety and misery !
How unworthy of a being who prides himself upon his
reason ! End with " Our Father."
ON INDIFFERENCE. MOTIVES.
Whoever fails to attain his end, does so either from
over-attachment to creatures, or from undue aversion
for them ; attachment to comfort, to pleasures of the
senses, to riches, to honour, and to the esteem of men ;
aversion for inconveniences, pains, sufferings, labours,
contempt, and trials.
It, therefore, is of vital importance to establish
deeply and firmly in my soul such a perfect equilibrium
and indifference, as to be ever ready to reject things
that are the dearest, or embrace those that are the most
repugnant, if it be for the benefit of my last end, and
for God's praise and service.
The preparatory prayer and commencement as usual.
Prelude i. — I imagine myself alone in the presence
of God, as He is the Supreme Ruler and Director of
myself and all things.
Pfehtde 2. — I will beg earnestly that I may appreciate
duly, and bring home the motives for making myself
indifferent to all created things.
Point I. — God's supreme Dominion calls for this
indifference. My obligation in life being to praise,
reverence, and serve God, I must strive to perform in
all circumstances His ever-blessed will. Now this can
never be as long as my own will is not conformed to
His, which necessarily supposes this holy indifference.
For He it is who has to determine the manner and
circumstances of that service. He is the Master who
commands, I am the servant whose duty is to obey.
70
THE FIRST WEEK.
So is it with the angels in Heaven. All are praising:
and serving God, some remaining in adoration before
Him, others designed for the guardianship of men — one
assigned to the monarch, another to his subject, one to
the rich and learned, another to the poor and ignorant ;
and each faithfully carrying out the duty assigned him,
and that cheerfully, promptly, and unremittmgly . His
dominion has no limit, and He has full authority to
prescribe the manner of my service. As the potter
can use the vessel which he has moulded for what
purpose he pleases, so can God employ me ; it rests
entirely with Him.^
' He may place me in darkness, in sorrow, temptation,
trial, and pain. It is for me to accept it as His holy
will, and to thus fulfil my end. Or He may wish
fortune to smile upon me, and honour and success to
attend me ; it is for me to resign myself and thus to
serve Him. Well, then, I must acknowledge and bow
down before His dominion. I must trample on aU
inclinations to rebel or murmur at whatsoever He may
ordain. My only desire must be to find out His holy
will and execute it, and must stamp out my own will.
Point 2. — The Providence of God requires this indif-
ference.
When we are under one who is endowed with great
knowledge and prudence, and who is inspired with
great love for and great interest in us, we feel that we
can abandon ourselves with perfect confidence, and
without care and anxiety to him and to his guidance.
Now that is my case ; for is not God the perfection of
infinite wisdom and knowledge ? He knows all things
and all their bearings ; He knows, also, myself, and all
the influences which everything in its relations to me
would exercise upon me ; how far they may benefit me.
or may prove unfavourable in regard of my last end.
1 Job X. lo.
ON INDIFFERENCE. MOTIVES. 71
Moreover, He loves me with an infinite and undying
love, with a love greater than that of a mother. He is
more interested in my salvation than I am myself. He
is always arranging and disposing things and circum-
stances for my special benefit here, and for my eternal
salvation hereafter.
Lastly, He is infinite power, the Almighty, without
whose especial permission not the slightest event can
happen, not even a hair can fall from my head, and
He will not allow the powers of Heaven, earth, or Hell,
to prevent man from fulfilling his destiny against his
own will.
Knowing then God's providence in my regard, His
love for me, the interest He feels in my eternal happi-
ness, and His power to help and protect me, it would
be folly and madness not to conform and abandon
myself entirely and in all things to His ever adorable
will, with perfect indifference to all things else. Alas !
what a sad succession of anxieties, miseries, and cares,
has my past life been. How truly may I say the way
of peace I have not known. And all through my own
fault, through want of this indifference. What a
stranger has peace been to me, through want of faith
and confidence in the loving and tender providence of
God towards me.
Point 3. — The justice of God should urge me to
indifference.
If I do not submit myself to the providence of God
and embrace those means which He supplies for the
attainment of my end, I expose myself to the danger
of falling into the hands of His justice. And what will
be the consequence ? I expose myself to a heap of
sufferings. I shall and must suffer those sorrows and
pains, that contempt and persecution which from
eternity God has assigned me. If I am indifferent, and
bear them in patience, I shall please God, who will
72 THE FIRST WEEK.
strengthen me with His grace, and will grant me peace
and tranquilhty and will sweeten the cross ; but without
indifference, I shall be impatient, shall disgust God,
who will withhold all grace, peace, and comfort. I
shall also lose merit and a degree of glory for eternity,
and shall grow tired and expose my perseverance and
eternal happiness to danger. Further, I render myself
liable to many and grave temptations of anger, of
despondency, of cowardice, human respect, pride, and
neglect of prayer. I lay myself open to impulsiveness,
self-willedness, dissipation, and to the lawlessness of
unbridled passions. To overcome all these dangers,
a special help from God is needed ; but how can
this be expected if, by want of indifference, I fail to
submit myself to Him and to His dispositions in my
regard ?
Humbled at the sight of past and present want of
indifference, in a spirit of shame and confusion, I will
implore of God to grant me this grace for the time to
come ; and end with " Our Father."
With regard to the impediments to the attainment
of indifference, they arise from one of three sources, of
which the most common is the imagination and the senses.
External objects act upon our senses, and these in
their turn arouse the imagination. These phantoms,
without number and often very vivid, assail the soul
with such violence as to render it cloudy, confused, and
almost paralyzed, and in a sort of way, fascinated, so
that it seems almost to hear, see, feel, and know things
that have no objective existence at all ; and the thoughts
of eternal good are lost in those of earth and of time,^
and imagination reacting on the senses, excites them to
1 "Wo to you that call evil good and good evil: that put darkness
for light and light for darkness : that put bitter for sweet and sweet for
bitter." (Isaias v. 20,)
ON INDIFFERENCE. MOTIVES. 73
go in .search of gratification, dissipation, and pleasure,
from one indulgence to another, until life becomes a
mere circle of delusion and fraud. ^
Another obstacle to indifference, is the harbouring
of false principles in the mind,^ by which it persuades
itself that things are either not bad, or at all events less
bad than we suppose, and verifies that of the Royal
Psalmist. 2 It judges things, not according to their
nature and truth, nor according to the teachings of
faith, nor according to their reality and substance, but
falsely and from appearances, according to the estima-
tion of worldlings, forgetting what St, John has said,*
*'that the whole world is seated in wickedness," that
it is the enemy of man, and that its teaching is " earthly,
animal, and devilish."^
The last impediment to indifference is the heart
and its carnal appetites. This body of ours is like a
heavy weight upon the soul, wearying and pressing it
down, and darkening it. It deludes and beguiles the
heart, tries to drown it in material things,*^ preoccupies
it with cares of bodily wants, furnishes grounds for
avoiding prayer and all those exercises by which the
body is reduced to subjection, and so all order in man
is turned upside down ; thoughts, affections, actions,
ah are ill regulated, and the animal part of man
1 " For the bewitching of vanity obscureth good things, and the
wandering of concupiscence overturneth the innocent mind." (Wisdom
iv.' 12.)
2 "And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood and practise
deceits against their own souls." (Prov. i. 18.)
3 "The sons of men are liars in the balances, that by vanity they may
together deceive. " (Psalm Ixi. 10.)
^ I St. John V, 19.
^ St. James iii. 15.
^ " For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly
habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things."
(Wisdom ix. 15.)
74 THE FIRST WEEK.
occupies the place In his heart which was intended for
God.
If then we intend seriously to labour to make our-
selves indifferent, we must remove these three obstacles.
We must avoid acting from impulse, being guided by
reason as intelligent animals. We must in matters of
the soul, spurn the arguments of the v/orld and of the
flesh, and take a right estimate of things according to
the teachings of faith and right reason, and not accord-
ing to the judgments of the world. ^ We must put a
rein on the body and a bridle on our senses, if we mean
to be men of reason and servants of God.
We must fight against imagination, root out false
principles, and destroy all attachments which are con-
demned by faith and right reason, and then, and then
only, may we hope to secure that holy indifference which
alone will ensure unbroken peace and happiness, and
will enable us to proceed securely on our way to eternal
happiness and our everlasting home.
THE FOUNDATION. REPETITION.
After having reflected on the Foundation, part by
part, it is well to consider it now as a whole and
altogether, thereby to impress it the deeper on our
mind and heart ; so that the mind may be fully con-
vinced of the great truths it contains, and the heart
may be more earnestly attached to them. One part
gives force and strength to the other, and all together
produce the effect of totally undeceiving us, and of
influencing us to form a generous and firm resolution
to serve God and save our souls.
1 " But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the
Spirit of God, for it is foohshness to him and he cannot iniderstand, because
it is spiritually examined." (i Cor. ii. 14.)
THE FOUNDATION. REPETITION . 75
The beginning and the preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — As in the preceding meditation.
Prelude 2. — I will pray with my whole heart that God
would vouchsafe to make me see and know my last end
and what is wanting to me.
Point I. — " Man is created," &c. This is certain —
revelation proclaims it, reason declares it, nature and
conscience announce it. That God has given me a law
of life is equally certain, and on the same authority.
But what is this law of life ? He has endowed me with
the faculty of apprehending truth, and with the power
of wishing and loving good, with the means of knowing
Him and of loving Him. Consequently this must be
the law of my life — a law and an end worthy of Himself
and ennobling to me, to give glory to Him,^ to know
Him, to pay Him reverence and service here, and
to possess Him eternally.^
What motives urge me to fulfil this law ?
1. It is just to serve Him. I am from Him, from
Him alone, entirely from Him, always from Him. I
depend then on Him entirely. Consequently He alone
has a claim to everything in and about me ; and to give
myself to anything else but Him is to be guilty of
injustice to Him.^
2. It is salutary also to serve Him. It is useful in this
life, for it secures true peace here. God has so ordered
it, that our temporal happiness is attached to the pro-
motion of His glory. And as to hereafter, we thus
secure eternal felicity.^
1 "And every one that calleth upon My Name, I have created him for
My glory, I have formed him and made him." (Isaias xhii. 7.)
2 "Fecit Deus hominem ut summum bonum intelligeret, intelligendo
amaret amando possideret, possidendo frueretur." (Augustine, De cognitione
vercB vitce. )
3 " It is just to be subject to God, and that a mortal man should not
equal himself to God." (2 Mach. ix. 12.)
< "That all the children of Israel might see that it is good to obey the
holy God." (Ecclus. xlvi, 12.)
76, THE FIRST WEEK.
3. It is necessary to serve Him. By not doing it we
incur eternal perdition, and that through our dehberate
fault, for, on His side, God has provided us with
abundant facilities. ^ If we fail, it is our own negligence
which we must blame.
4. It is a glorious thing to serve Him.^ It is a
glorious thing to be of the household of a monarch.
What then to be engaged in the service of God ? The
angels and the saints, nay, even our Blessed Lady, had
no higher calling.
Point 2. — " All other things," &c. Everything outside
me, also everything in me — senses, faculties, the
relations and circumstances of my life itself as distinct
from my soul — all are means provided by God, but
only for one object, as means, but never as an end.
Then it is criminal to employ them in any other way.
It is an insult to the Master, an injustice and a folly in
ourselves.
As to the rule of selection, it must be tantum- quantum,
that is, so much by how much — no more, no less. Those
which help me to the end, embrace and use them ;
those which hinder me, detest them ; those which are
indifferent, abstain from them or turn them to good.
Often it is not enough to abstain from indifferent things,
we must do more, we must repel them ; such as comfort,
the " comfortable," ease, and convenience.
As to the rule of like or dislike, it is wrong and
disastrous, for our corrupt nature likes often what it
should dislike, and dislikes what it should like. Keeping
our e3'es fixed upon our end, let us draw the straight
line tantitm- quantum.
1 " If thou wilt keep the commandments of God and perform acceptable
fideUty for ever, they shall preserve thee. . . . Before man is life and
death, good and evil; stretch forth thy hand to which thou wilt."
(Ecclus. XV, 16, 18.)
2 " It is great glory to follow the Lord; for length of days shall be
received from Him." (Ecclus. xxiii, 38.)
THE FOUNDATION. REPETITION.
77
1. This use of creatures is just. As all belong to
God, who only allows us to use them for and in His
service, it is injustice and dishonesty to make use of
them for ourselves.^ It is to imitate a servant who
misuses the things provided for his employment by his
master, or who presumes to throw them away without
the owner's leave.
2. It is useful and salutary.. To turn to creatures in
search of contentment and happiness is to be miserably
disillusioned, and in the end we shall die of disappoint-
ment and inanition ,2 the experience of four thousand
years has proved it ; whereas to use things rightly
gives true peace, which the world cannot give or take
away.
3. It is necessary. Otherwise we shall first be
seduced and then betrayed. Our inclinations cannot
be trusted, they tend to evil.^ The experience of the
past should make us cautious and prudent. '
Point 3. — " Wherefore," &c.
Here we have the means provided by which we may
put the second point in practice, and which contains
the iiighest and most sublime perfection. To be in the
midst of things, all of which are trying to allure or to
repel us, and yet to resist the attractions and ignore
the repulsions, by making ourselves practically indif-
ferent. To what extent ? Not only to the four classes
of things which rule the world, but to all those special
things which in our individual case we have found to
1 Augustine, Ixxvi.
2 "The fear of the Lord is honour, and glory and gladness, and a
crown of joy. The fear of the Lord shall delight the heart, and shall give
joy and gladness, and length of days. With him that feareth the Lord, it
shall go well in the latter end, and in the day of his death he shall be
blessed. The love of God is honourable wisdom." (Eccles. i. 11 — 14.)
3 " Take heed to thyself and attend diligently to what thou hearest, for
thou walkest in danger of ruin." (Ecclus. xiii. 16.) "Follow not in thy
strength the desires of thy heart, ... for God will surely take revenge."
{Ecclus. v. 2, 3.)
78 THE FIRST WEEK.
be obstacles, such as success in studies or occupations,
talents, accomplishments ; even to desolation, aridity,
&c., in the supernatural order.
1. It is jttst and reasonable. God and the soul are the
only two objects to which we should refer all things,
which we must prefer to all things, and to which all
else must be subservient. Again, we are such poor and
bUnd creatures that we do not know what is good for
us.
2. It is useful. It ensures us peace, calmness, and
tranquillity. It cuts off as far as possible all occasions
of sin, raises us above all human accidents into a calm
region, so to speak, where agitation is a stranger.
3. It is necessary. Ignorant as we are of what will
be of benefit or of detriment to us, we must throw our-
selves on the providence of God, to be disposed of as He
pleases ; but this is impossible, unless we try to make
ourselves practically indifferent.
Often ask these questions : What is the use of
being healthy and then to be damned ? What the
harm of being delicate and then to be saved ? What
is the good of being rich and honoured and then to be
damned ? What the harm of a life of poverty and
obscurity and then to be saved ?
The means of gaining this indifference is the vince
teipsum of St. Ignatius, which St. Francis Xavier con-
stantly repeated.
End with ''Our Father."
REPETITION OF THE FOUNDATION. 79
REPETITION OF THE FOUNDATION.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as
usual.
Prelude i. — As before, I place myself humbly in the
presence of God, the Creator and Preserver of me and
of all things.
Prelude 2. — I beg from my heart that Pie will, in His
loving mercy, enlighten me to see more clearly my last
end, and will inflame my will to embrace it more
earnestly.
Point I. — How reasonable it is that my entire life
should be devoted to praise, reverence, and serve God,
even though no rewards were attached to it, because
I am all and always dependent upon Him !
We praise whatever is praiseworthy, as knowledge,
goodness, beauty, power, &c. Now who is like to our
Lord in all these respects? Nay, if any of these
qualities are to be found in creatures, they are merely
gifts from the great Ocean of all perfections. Again, we
reverence authority and power, even in a policeman, &c.
But who is like unto our Lord in this respect ?
Men pay service to others readil}^, and that for small
•compensation, and though their masters are hard and
exacting, and look upon it as a duty. But where is
there a master who exacts so light a service, and one
so honourable, as does our Lord and Master ? and who
rewards so generously the easy service as does He ?
Oh ! with shame and confusion and sorrow I ought
to resolve henceforward to devote myself entirely to
Him.
Point 2. — What is it to serve God ? It is to do His
holy will in all things ; and not my own, which is at
best nothing worth, and signifies nothing, and which
8o THE FIRST WEEK.
but too often is in opposition to the Divine will. Now
this will manifests itself hy positive commandments, which
oblige under pain of mortal or venial sin ; by special
inspirations, by fortunate or untoward events, which
also happen by God's special will, or at all events by
His permission. To His special will or ordinations I
am bound to submit, by every motive of duty, reason,
gratitude, and self-interest. To resist Him and to
rebel is to do violence to reason and to outrage my
conscience.
Point 3. — How ought I to serve God? With
patience, repressing my passions, above all, my self-love,
self-ease, and sensuality. With cheerfitlness, knowing
that the labour is short and light, and that He whom I
serve is a loving, and generous, and kind Master. By
this constant and cheerful combating against self, I
shall come to serve God in all, even the most trying,
events with ease, and also by practice and correspond-
ence with grace, I shall find it a loving and joyful
duty, reckoning as of no account attractions and repug-
nances ; and imitating the artisan, who in the use of
his instruments is guided by their fitness to his work,
and not by their intrinsic beauty and value.
But habitually to act thus, I must pay the price of
absolute indifference and self-conquest, and must deny
myself, and thus become a disciple of our Blessed
Lord.
This must be the object of my prayers and of my
ambition.
End with the " Our Father."
N.B. — Our meditations on the Foundation thus far
refer to every man as such ; that is, as he is an intel-
ligent being, depending for his existence and the
prolongation of his life on the pure and sole goodness
of God, as He is the great Creator and Conservator and
THE FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIANS. 8i
the sole Master of all things. They regard man in the
natural order, and the relations, duties, and obligations
which obtain between man and his God in that order.
Since the coming of our Blessed Lord, man is no
longer in the natural order, but through the merits of
Jesus Christ he has been elevated to the supernatural
state, in which his relations are changed, and in which,
consequently, higher duties and far greater obligations
press upon him. Hence we must apply the Foundation
to man's present state.
THE FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIANS.
Preparatory pra3^er and commencement as usual.
Prelude i. — I place myself before the. ever adorable
Trinity.
Prelude 2. — I beg earnestly to know my real position
and the end imposed upon me, and why I am placed in
this world in the supernatural order.
Point I. — I contemplate the majesty and glory of the
Great God, as He has revealed Himself to me — the
ancient of days ^ seated on His everlasting throne on
the eternal hills, all blazing with glory — thousands of
spirits around Him in adoration, and their songs of
praise louder than the roaring of the great ocean — the
simple realization of all infinite perfections, wisdom,
truth, power, beauty, goodness, and love. And who
am I who thus stand before Him ? Alas ! if I look
truly at myself, I find my body full of many miseries,
and as to my soul, my mind is dim and obscured,
my heart wayward and depraved, my will weak, and
1 " I beheld till thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days sat : his
garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head hke clean wool : his
throne like flames of fire : the wheels of it like a burning fire : thousands of
thousands ministered to him, and ten thpusand times a hundred thousand
stood before him." (Daniel vii. 9, 10.)
G
82 THE FIRST WEEK.
paralyzed, my memory frail and faulty. The angels
are pure spirits and have the vision of God, and are
enjoying the bliss of possession of Him, whom they
praise, reverence, and serve ^ as their Lord for ever
and ever. Yet I ask of holy faith again. Who am I ?
And she answers that I am the son of that Mighty
Father. By Baptism I have been lifted up from the
ground and raised up from the dunghill,^ and must
recognize in Him my Father really, and myself as His
son by adoption, as Jesus is His Son by nature. Let
angels rejoice in being His ministers, it is mine to revel
in being His son by grace and adoption. But my soul !
has He proved Himself my Father ? A father must
tell his love to his child — must prove it by sacrifice, and
must provide for his later years — all this is required of a
true parent. Has He done all this for me ? Listen to
the strange utterances of His love, " With an everlasting
love have I loved thee, therefore have I drawn thee,
taking pity on thee,"^ and " My delight is to be with
the childrei; of men,"* and again, "Thou art My son,
this day have I begotten thee."^ Strange language.
But what sacrifices has He made for me ? He did not
rest content to sacrifice one of His spirits, but sent His
well-beloved Son and subjected Him to all that is
involved in His Incarnation, Passion, and Death, that
thereby He might make me partaker of His Divine
Nature, heir to His own glory, and provide a crown,
throne, and sceptre for me in Heaven, my true Home.
My God ! what a title of nobility is mine ! What a
Father is mine in Heaven ! Meanwhile, what am I to
do on earth ? Praise Him ! Yes ; but with all the
eloquence of word and action. Reverence Him ! Yes !
1 "Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and
power : because Thou hast created all things, and for Thy will they were
and have been created." (Apoc. v. ii.)
2 Psalm cxii, 7. 3 Jerem. xxxi. 3. •* Prov. viii. 31.
^ Psalm ii. 7.
THE FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIANS. 83
-with all the filial reverence of a child towards such a
Mighty Father. Serve Him and waste myself in His
service. But all this must be animated by a spirit of
love, a filial spirit.
Point 2. — Looking again with the eye of faith, I see
the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Equal to
the Father in wisdom, power, beauty, knowledge, good-
ness, and love. God of God, Light of light. Him, too,
the hosts of Heaven are adoring as their Lord and
King. Faith bids me recognize in this beautiful and
Eternal Being my own Brother. My God ! Can it be?
Yes, it is written: "For whom He foreknew. He also
predestinated, to be made conformable to the image of
His Son : that He might be the first-born amongst
many brethren."^
He said a creative word, and by it all things were
made ; a second time He uttered a creative w^ord when
He transubstantiated bread into His Blessed Body.
The third creative utterance was on the Cross, when
He said, Woman, behold thy son, and to the disciple,
Behold thy Mother. By the first He unites the creature
with the Creator, by the second He superadds the
•closer bond of grace, by the third He completes the
family tie between us and Himself, for besides the same
Father, He creates Mary, our real Mother, thus making
us His brethren. And what love of brother is like His ?
He shares His inheritance with us, for we are " co-heirs
with Him," He feeds us with His own Flesh and
Blood, and is ever and everywhere renewing His Life
for our sakes, and to be near us in His Mystical Life.
Oh ! surely there is no need to tell us that as He
"wastes Himself for us,"^ we ought to consume
ourselves in praising, reverencing, and serving Him :
1 Romans viii. 29.
■- "Totus Christus impensus est in nostros usus," (Augustine,, Serm.
xxxiv.)
84 THE FIRST WEEK.
but again in a spirit of devoted love — thus fulfilling the
great commandment of the law, *' Thou shalt IxDve," &c.^
He is my Brother, and my model of brotherly love.
Wo to me if I have not the spirit of Jesus, His sweet-
ness and His zeal for His Father's glory, and to carry
out His holy will. Wo to me if whilst professing
myself to be His brother, I belie it by my conduct.
Point 3. — Again, faith points to a Third Person in
the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, co-ete,rnal and co-equal
with the Father and the Son ; proceeding from them,
the outcome of their mutual love. Now, how am I
connected with Him ? The Apostle Paul tells me,
*' You are the temple of the Holy Ghost," ^ and in the
Council of Florence we find that the Fathers explained
these words as expressing the personal indwelling of
the Holy Spirit ^ by a kind of mystico-hypostatic union.
As long as we do not banish Him by sin, He is always
within us, helping us and adorning our souls with fresh
gifts and graces, supporting us by frequent inspirations
of mind and aspirations of heart, imparting fresh fruits
of His holy presence, and strengthening us in our
combats against the world, the flesh, and the devil.
What, then, is my duty in His regard ? How ought I
to despise all things of earth, how perfectly indifferent
should I be, remembering that my heart is a sanctuary
consecrated to the Blessed Trinity, and is not to be
sullied by earthly and carnal things.
My duty is to observe the commandments of God
and of His Church, and the maxims of the Gospel, to
walk worthily in the footsteps of Christ, and not to
degenerate from the high thoughts of a son of God.
'»Our Father."
1 St. Matt. xxii. 37. " i Cor. iii. 16, 17 ; vi. 19.
8 Bessarion, in the Council of Florence.
THE END OF THE PRIEST. 85
THE END OF THE PRIEST.
By way of repetition of the Foundation and its
application to the priesthood, the following points
might be usefully proposed.
After the usual commencement and preparatory
prayer,
Prelude i. — Imagine myself in the presence of Jesus,
the great High Priest.
Prelude 2. — Beg earnestly to know my obligations as
a priest, and the means I must employ to fulfil them
worthily, and grace to put them in practice.
Point I. — What is a priest? He is truly a man of
God by the character with which he is invested ; by
the powers given him, which are greater than those of
the angels, or of our Blessed Lady herself; he is the
representative of Jesus Himself, having power over His
Body, real and mystical ; he is ambassador of the
Church in the recitation of the Divine Office ; he is
co-operator with Jesus : he is judge, doctor, and Father
of the people in the supernatural order : he is holder of
the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. What dignity
can be compared with this ! What are all earthly
powers, which after all can only reach and affect the
body when put in comparison with those of the priest-
hood, which immediately regard the soul ? And this
dignity and power are conferred on weak and frail man ! •
Truly the words of the Psalmist are verified: "He
hath raised up the needy from the earth, and lifted up
the poor out of the dunghill that He may place him
with princes, with the princes of His people."^
Point 2. — What ought to be his sanctity? His soul
and his body, his actions, in fact everything should be
1 Psalm cxii. 7, 8.
86 THE FIRST WEEK.
holy. Surely he should always have in view the glor}^
of God and the salvation of souls, and being a sort of
continuation of the Incarnation, should embrace labours,
humiliations, and the Cross like Jesus. He should be
dead to the world, to pleasure and honour, and accept
patiently, if he cannot love, contempt, sufferings, and
sacrifice, and cherish solitude and recollection, and
should with the Apostle^ regard all else but as stevcova.
How holy should be those hands which daily take hold
of the infinitely holy flesh of Jesus' — how holy that
tongue on which He deigns to repose, and which is-
washed with His Sacred Blood ! How pure should be
that body, how spotless that mind and heart that are
each day made one with the thrice-holy Son of God.
Point 3. — What are the means by which he may
fulfil his end ?
In the first place, the priest must be a man united
to God by prayer. His work being supernatural, and
affecting the souls of men, must derive all its efficacy
from God, and from His holy grace, for the obtaining
of which he must pray. By mental prayer he must
form and mould his mind and heart after the model set
him by Jesus Christ. He must pray with his lips in
reciting the Divine Office w^ith attention, devotion, and
reverence ; in offering up the Holy Mass with great
recollection, humility, and love. In the administration
of the sacraments he must unite himself in spirit with
Him whom he represents ; with Jesus, patient, merciful,
and gentle in the sacred tribunal ; with Jesus, loving
and self-sacrificing in administering Holy Communion ;,
with Jesus, labouring and going about doing good in
visiting the sick, the poor, and the afflicted, &c.
In general, the more he avoids all commerce with
the world, except in his official capacity, the closer will
be his union with Christ, the greater will be his influence
1 Phjlipp. iii. 8.
THE END OF THE RELIGIOUS. 87
for good over the minds and hearts of others, the more
perfectly will he fulfil his end.
By his example as well as by his words, he must
preach detachment from all earthly things, and incul-
cate attachment to God alone and to His holy service.
If he neglects to employ these means, how will the
world condemn him at the Last Day, and what a
terrible account will he have to render to the justice
of God.
THE END OF THE RELIGIOUS.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us imagine ourselves in presence of
our Lord, who addresses us in those words : " But now
being made free from sin, and become servants to God,
you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end,
life everlasting." 1
Prelude 2. — Let us beg what we must earnestly
desire, that our Creator and Lord will enlighten our
minds to see the real nature of our vocation, that we
may duly appreciate its excellence, and its end, and
that He will guide and strengthen our wills to regulate
our lives accordingly.
Point I. — The nature of the religious state.
The religious state is that in which its members are
bound to tend to perfection by the observance of
religious vows and of the rules and constitutions proper
to its Institute. The essence of religious life consists
in the three vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience.
For the very name " Religious " denotes one who is in a
special manner consecrated to God, given over to His
special worship, and consequently one who renounces
all those things which are calculated to withdraw
1 Romans vi. 22.
THE FIRST WEEK.
human nature from Divine things and attach it to this
world, "to the concupiscence of the flesh, the concu-
piscence of the eyes, and the pride of Hfe."i Now this
is effected by the vows of Poverty, Chastity, and
Obedience, in some Order whose constitutions and
rules are approved and confirmed by the authority of
Holy Church." 2
From this, then, we see that a Religious, by virtue
of his state, is bound to tend to perfection, not merely
in the observance of the ten commandments, but also
in the fulfilment of the obligations incurred by the three
religions vows, and by the rules or constitutions of the
Order of which he is a member. By the vow of poverty
he voluntarily renounces all personal proprietorship, or
*' dominion " over all earthly things or possessions.
By his vow of chastity he voluntarily renounces all
external acts of luxury, and all deliberate consent to or
desires of the same, and that under pain of sacrilege.
By his vow of obedience he voluntarily despoils
himself of his own judgment and will, in favour of the
judgment and will of Christ our Lord, as notified to
him by his Rule or by the Superior canonically
appointed to rule over him.
Let us thank God for His infinite love and mercy in
calling us to this exalted state ; for having chosen us
out of thousands more fitted and more worthy of such
a special grace, and let us pray that we may " see our
vocation," and in all things walk worthy of it.
Point 2. — For what end does the " Religious," in
addition to the observance of the commandments
common to all Christians, further bind himself to the
observance of the Evangelical Counsels, and of the
rule of the Institute of his Order ?
It is, that thereby he may more securely fulfil the end
for which he is created, namely, to praise God, to
1 I St. John ii. i6. 2 Suarez, De Rel. c. ii.
THE END OF THE RELIGIOUS. 89
reverence Him, and to serve Him ; also that he may do
this more perfectly, being protected by greater safeguards,
and helped by greater graces.; and at the same time
may pursue his end with greater constancy and ever-
increasing fervour. He must praise God in mind and
heart by mental and vocal prayer, by the good example
which he gives, and by these and other means prescribed
in his Institute, must draw others to join him in this
service of praise, according to that of the Psalmist :
*• Let every spirit praise the Lord."^ He must in his
own person, by the observance of exterior modesty,
show extraordinary reverence towards God, as the
Apostle counsels: " Let your modesty be known to all
men, for the Lord is nigh." 2 And according to His
Rule, by word and example he must draw others to
manifest a kindred reverence to God. His service of
God must be marked by more than ordinary Christian
devotedness, nor will the mere observance of the ten
commandments suffice. For a Religious to rest content
with this, would argue rapine in a holocaust, insincerity
in his profession, would seriously imperil his vocation,
and probably would end in the forfeiture of the grace
of final perseverance.
He who professes complete detachment from riches,
and the comforts or conveniences attendant on wealth ;
from pleasures, even those that in themselves are not
forbidden by the law of God ; and from the honour and
praise of men, does not satisfy his obligations by living
the life of good Christians in the world. He is bound
to aim higher, must strive to excel and distinguish
himself in the praise, reverence, and service of his
Master and Lord, as one animated by the spirit of the
love of God, to whom he is consecrated in body and
soul. Alas ! how often are we inclined to forget this
our engagement ! How many of us will find to our
1 Psalm cl. 5. 2 philipp. iv. 5.
90 THE FIRST WEEK.
confusion, on the great day of the Lord, that notwith-
standing all the graces which we have received in the
course of our religious life, we have fallen far short of
the perfection attained by persons in the world who
have not received such graces ! How rarely have we
earnestly striven to realize in ourselves the ideal of
religious perfection ! And yet it is for this that Holy
Church has consecrated us to God, and has accepted
our sacrifice. It is as such that we are regarded by
the world ; it is on this ground that even our bodies are
held sacred. To neglect to aim at this perfection is to
sail under false colours, and in our daily lives to play
the hypocrite.
Point 3. — What are the means for the attainment of
our end?
(a) We must not only live as though practically
indifferent to all things created, in the full sense of the
words, but must also strip ourselves of them as far as
is consistent with the letter and spirit of our rules, only
making use of them, as far as is necessary for God's
glory or service, in the true spirit of poverty.
(/?) We must renounce all comforts, conveniences,
and indulgences that flatter human nature or the
animal man, and that in a Religious are hardly con-
sistent with the perfection of the second vow.
(y) We must lay aside our own judgment and will,
and assume the will and judgment of Christ our Lord,
which is manifested to us, in all the circumstances of
our life, by our rules, or by the orders of the Superior
whom God has appointed over us. To this we are
pledged by our vow of obedience.
(8) In order that we may duly and constantly make
use of these means, we absolutely require the help of
God, which can only be secured by prayer. Hence the
necessity of exactness and fidelity in all spiritual duties,
prescribed by rule, both as regards the time and the
ON SIN. 91
manner of performing them. The Religious who fails
in the employment of this means, or is negligent in
using it, will fail in his vocation, or will lead a negligent
and tepid life, whereas he who is faithful to prayer will
serve God with fervour. The former will be a stranger
to peace of soul, real happiness, and will endanger his
vocation; the latter "will run in the way of God's
service with a dilated heart." ^
Let us, with St. Bernard, often put the question to
ourselves, Ad quid venisti ? Why have we entered
religious life? To die to all that is not God, to live
only to Jesus Christ, to praise Him, reverence Him,
and serve Him, not in any ordinary manner, but
according to the very letter and spirit of our Rule. Or
again, with St. Aloysius, let us say, Quid hoc ad aterni-
tatem ? How does this profit for eternity ? How will it
advance our everlasting interests ? How does it fit in
with our vocation here, and our glory hereafter ?
In our colloquy we will humble ourselves at the
sight of our many infidelities to grace and to our high
vocation ; we will thank His Divine Majesty for having
called us to His special service, and will resolve, with
His grace, to labour henceforth more earnestly to imbibe
the true spirit of our Institute, and fulfil the end pro-
posed to us in our hoty calling.
End with '< Our Father."
ON SIN.
If we have made the meditations on the Foundation
with any fruit, we must be convinced of the necessity
of overcoming self, and of rooting out all inordinate
affections, that we may make a right use of creatures in
the service of God and to the salvation of our souls*
1 Psalm cxviii. 32.
92 THE FIRST WEEK.
In order to stimulate the will to make this necessary
resolution, St. Ignatius proposes for our consideration
the disorder there is in the wrong use of creatures, and
the dreadful effects induced by it, as we see them in
three instances, namely, in the sin of the angels, in the
prevarication of our first parents, and lastly, as holy
faith teaches, in the case of a man who dies after his
first mortal sin not repented of.
1. By this consideration the Saint supposes that
we shall be struck with a holy fear of God, and shall be
,led to a sincere sorrow for our many sins, and to a true
repentance and change of life.
2. This exercise will enable us to discover what
passion or vice principally has diverted us from the
service of God and may expose us to forfeit our salva-
tion. In the angels it was pride, in Adam it was, at
least partially, sensuality ; in man it may be either
of these; or avarice, hatred, envy, &c. What disordered
affection might it be in my case ? Experience of the
past should make me careful for the future, and deter-
mine me boldly and without compromise to eradicate it.
In our acts of sorrow for our sins it is well to enter into
particulars, and to express our detestation and horror
of those which have been the root and cause of all the
rest.
3. We should also in our acts of contrition include
all our venial sins, for from these often may be traced
great injury to the soul.
4. In the first part of the Exercises St. Ignatius
proposes to excite in us regret for our past sins, in
order to prepare us to enter upon an altogether new life.
The three fundamental exercises, namely, the meditation
on " Three Sins," on " Our own Sins," and the contem-
plation on Hell concur admirably to this result. By
the first we are excited to shame and confusion ; by
the second, to hatred and abhorrence of sin ; by the
ON THREE SINS. 93
third, to a resolution and firm purpose to avoid sin at
all cost. To these three must be added sorrow for
having offended God, who is infinitely good in Himself
and infinitely good to us, that the sinner may elicit an
act of contrition. Inferior motives of sorrow, such as
the vileness of sin, fear of Hell, or of other punishments
inflicted by God upon sin, suffice for attrition or imper-
fect contrition, which, however, is not sufficient to justify
the soul without the Sacrament of Penance.^
ON THREE SINS.
The first case is that of a single sin, without either
time or grace for repentance being granted. In the
second case, full time and grace were given, and severe
satisfaction was exacted in this life for nine hundred
years, and above three thousand years in Limbo. In
the third, advantage was not taken either of time or
grace, and eternal torments are the result. All three
show the malice of sin. Its malignity is shown by the
goods of which it deprives the sinner, and by the evils
which it induces.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — I may imagine my soul as it were
imprisoned in the dungeon of my body of corruption ;
and both body and soul consigned to drag on a miser-
able existence in the midst of the brute creation, in the
desert and far removed from the haunts of men.
Prelude 2. — I will beg the grace of profound shame
and confusion at the sight of so many who are lost
for a single mortal sin, and of more, for far fewer sins
than I have committed, and of how often I have
deserved the same punishment for my many sins.
1 Cone. Trid. s. xiv. c. 4.
c)4 THE FIRST WEEK.
Point I. — The Sin of the Angels. — God created a
mighty host of spirits, and endowed them with wonder-
ful gifts of nature and of grace, designing them after
proving their loyalty and faithful service, to enjoy with
Him eternal glory as a reward. For this He endowed
them with keen and powerful intelligence, and with a
corresponding faculty of love. Unlike us they had no
material bodies to impede or encumber their souls, and
were adapted to see clearly and to love intensely the
great Ruler of the spirit world. But to merit their
heavenly glory they must prove their loyalty and fidelity
to God their Creator by acknowledging their depend-
ence. One-third of that mighty host refused, and in
the instant, without any time for repentance, they were
hurled in wild confusion into the abyss of fire lighted
up by the breath of an angry God.
Who chastises ? The God of infinite justice, who
cannot punish unduly ; of infinite mercy, whose punish-
ment never equals the deserts ; of infinite ivisdom, who
Cannot be mistaken; of mh.nite sanctity , and who could
not therefore punish unreasonably or prompted by
passion.
The criminals were angels, noble spirits, most
exalted and vast in number ! And all this for one
single sin, of thought and, of a moment. The punish-
ment is total ruin ; their mind twisted away from truth
to falsehood ; their wills perverted and capable only of
hate, drowned in a sea of woes, and for eternity deprived
of rest, peace, or comfort.
And what must I think, then, of myself, my sins of
thought, of word, and of deed, so awful in number, so
degrading to my very nature. And yet I am left un-
scathed as yet, and overpowered with grace. Each of
their sins has made a devil, and yet all mine have been
unpunished till now.
Colloquy. — In my shame I should be overwhelmed,
ON THREE SINS. 95
but yet more overpowered with gratitude for God's
excessive goodness and mercy. I will say with .St.
Anselm: " Heu peccatum nomen horrendum ! res de-
testabilis, nulli malo comparabilis ! " Who can hate it
duly? Grant, O God, that in future I may fly from
it with horror, and fill my soul with shame for all my
black ingratitude.
Point 2. — To fill up the void of the' rebel angels,
God in His love and mercy creates man. He forms
out of dust a body, and breathes into it a soul, and thus
creates Adam, endowing his soul with original justice
and sanctifying grace, and with great wisdom, and
j^laces him in the Garden of Eden ; and from one of
his ribs he also forms Eve, to be a companion, a sharer
in his bliss, and also to be the mother of all the living.
He confers on them the preternatural gifts of immunity
from sickness, suffering, concupiscence, and death ;
designing them, after praising, reverencing, and serving
Him for a time, to pass into the eternal enjoyment of
Himself in Heaven.
But this they must merit by giving Him the glory
of free service ; and for this end, God allows them the
full use of all things in Paradise except one : they must
prove their loyalty and fidelity by abstaining from the
fruit of one tree. The devil, the spirit of envy, hatred,
and lying, allures Eve, who in turn induces Adam to
eat ; they sin. And God banishes them from the
Garden, condemns them to nine hundred years of
sorrow and misery, and last of all to death and to a
long confinement in Limbo. What is the result and
the fearful consequence of this sin ?
The all-just, all-merciful, all-holy God at once with-
draws from them supernatural life and His preternatural
gifts, leaving them only their human nature, maimed
and wounded, so to speak, in the blindness of their
intellect and hardness of heart, not understanding their
96 THE FIRST WEEK.
condition or detesting their crime, unless God may
please in His mercy and love to give them fresh grace.
Thus Adam and all his posterity are condemned to
pains, infirmities, sickness, and death of the body, to
corruption, ignorance, rebellion of the passions and
appetites of the soul, repugnance to good, inclination
to evil. From this, sin we trace all the calamities,
public and private, which for sixty centuries have since
afflicted humanity — the curse of God like a miasma
spread over all nature, and impregnated the very earth
and the waters of the sea ; this endures even still as
fresh as ever.
Consider, too, the terrible history of humanity ever
since ; and in spite of the Death of Jesus Christ, the
eternal perdition of so many unfortunate men and
women carried down into the abyss by the miserable
inclination we have to evil since the Fall.
What, then, should I think of myself? Adam com-
mitted but one sin — how many have mine been ! He
had no experience of God's justice ; I am surrounded
by examples of it, and feel them within myself. He
was punished at once, but I am as yet unscathed, with
innumerable graces ever being heaped upon me. Were
it not for these, I should be carried along like so many
thousands from sin to sin, until absorbed in the abyss
of everlasting perdition.
Alas ! into what disgrace have I fallen ! In sin I
was born, but Thou, my God, didst cleanse me ; again
I soiled myself still more, and that with full delibera-
tion ! Alas ! what fearful punishments await me unless
I repent at once. Pane, Domine, Parce servo tuo.
Point 3. — I may imagine a soul cut off" after its one
mortal sin. Perhaps it had acquired previous merits
by corresponding with grace — it was beloved by God,
was His adopted child, &c. And now ? For one sin
it is consigned to hopeless and eternal punishment !
ON THREE SINS. 97
What must be the terrible nature of a sin, which breaks
asunder the bond uniting such a God and Father with
His child whom He so much loved ! It is the violation
of all the rights of God, and of all His claims as a
Father; it is a foul contempt of Him, a rejection of
His infinite goodness. How vile a thing must not I
then appear before God and His angels, with my poor
soul weighed down with sin ! How I should tremble
in His sacred presence !
Colloquy. — I fling myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus
hanging for me on the Cross, and tell Him humbly that
I owe it all to Him that I am not lost. It is through
the many wounds He has received for me. For me
He became Man, a very slave, a Man of Sorrows. He
bore my iniquities ; for me He was condemned to such
a cruel death. And yet what return have I made?
Alas ! to my shame and confusion ; what have I not
done against Him ? Despised His love, frustrated His
designs, treated Him as my enemy, squandered His
Blood.
Ah ! what shall I do in future ? Oh ! may Jesus
grant me the grace of repentance and a resolution to
make amends for my ingratitude.
End with the '* Our Father."
The motives proposed in this meditation are calcu-
lated to inspire shame, confusion, fear, and horror for
sin, and thus a state of attrition ; although in the
colloquy St. Ignatius puts before us the reflection
which is calculated to excite true contrition, namely,
the infinite goodness of God crucified by our sins.
In the following meditation he proposes the con-
sideration of the number, deformity, and malice of our
own sins, and how we must appear in God's sight.
This ought to fill us with intense sorrow and shame,
98 THE FIRST WEEK.
which should force from us internal tears at least, if
it does not betray itself externally, and also with great
self-contempt, when we get a deeper knowledge of our-
selves. By going deep down into ourselves we learn
to know and despise ourselves, and this drives us nearer
to God and stimulates us to become more closely united
with Him, which is the true work of perfection. With
St. Augustine, after this meditation, let us often pray :
Domine noverim me ! tit oderim me, noverim te tit diligam te I
■ — " O Lord, let me know myself, that I may hate
myself; but let me know Thee, that so I may love
Thee."
ON OUR OWN SINS.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — I will picture to myself my soul confined
as in a prison-house of my body of corruption, and
myself amidst the brute creation in this valley of tears ;
or filled with inordinate affections as so many foul
reptiles.
Prelude 2. — I will beg a profound and intense sorrow
for my many and great sins.
Point I. — Pass in review, though not with the details
of an examination of conscience as for confession, my
many sins of omission and commission, in thought,
word, or deed, of my past life : during my youth, up to
manhood, and to the present time ; the places in which
I have lived, the employments or offices I have held,
my relations with others, whether inferiors, equals, or
superiors ; when and where and what was my first sin ;
what passion predominated and dragged me into frequent
sin ; what a multitude of my own sins ! but alas ! also
perchance I drew others into sin, and thus became
responsible for their offences and crimes — of impurity,
injustice, anger, disobedience to lawful authority, neglect
ON OUR OWN SINS. 99
of religion, uncharity, &c. ; violations of the command-
ments of God and of His Holy Church, abuse or neglect
of the sacraments, sins of scandal, and of co-operation
in the sins of others.
Moreover, we ought not only to recall our mortal
sins, but also some venial sins as well; for although
they do not make us enemies of God, they are no less
a disobedience towards Him whom we are bound to
serve as our last end.
Alas ! how truly may I say, " My iniquities are
multiplied above the hairs on my head."^ ** Who will
^ive a fountain of tears to my eyes ? "^
Point 2. — Consider the deformity and malice there is
in every mortal sin, even if we abstract from its being
forbidden. In the first place, it is unreasonable, as in
it man follows his appetites against his own judgment,
thus lowering himself to the brute,^ as we see in anger,
intemperance, lust, &c. ; nay, below the animal creation,
which is content to satisfy its natural instinct. Again,
the sinner, instead of ruling his evil inclinations, sells
himself as a slave to them.^ What an infamy ! Our
•conscience convicted us of this when in our first sins
we shivered with fear, we hid our guilt, tried to stifle
the reproaches of our guilty soul.
Point 3. — And who am I, who have thus offended
God ? If I compare myself with merely those of my
own household or community, as to natural gifts and
accomplishments ; as to intellect, knowledge, disposition,
or character ; or as to supernatural gifts ; how small I
am in the comparison ; and if I further consider them
and compare them in all these respects with the rest of
1 Psalm xxxix. 13. ^ Jerem, ix. i.
3 ' ' And man when he was in honour did not understand : he is com-
pared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them," (Psalm xlviii. 13.)
^ "Amen, amen, I say to you, that whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin." (St. John viii. 34.)
THE FIRST WEEK.
mankind, as to knowledge, virtue, power, &c., I am as
an atom.^ What then must I be in comparison with
the angeHc world, and finally, with God ? My worse
than nothingness overwhelms me! body a hot-bed of
corruption, senses overflowing with putrefaction of sin,
and my soul a reservoir of putrid abscesses—my whole
self an abyss of waywardness and malice. ^
O Lord, my substance is as nothing before Thee.^
I am but rottenness and worms,"^ and a son of perdi-
tion.
Point 4. — But who is God whom I have offended ?
Compare His infinite perfections^ with my defects ; His
virtues with the opposite vices in me ; His wisdom with
my ignorance ; His power with my weakness ; His
sanctity and justice with my guiltiness ; His goodness
and love with my mean selfishness. Woe is me !
Against whom have I sinned ? I have dishonoured
God — sinner as I am. (What have 1 done ? Against
whom ?) and have wickedly and ungratefully spent my
days in insulting Him — I, a speck of a speck, outraging
His Infinite Majesty.
1 " All nations are before Him as if they had no being at all, and are
counted to Him as nothing and vanity." (Isaias xl. 17.)
2 In the natural order, I may consider what I am as to the body and its
senses, and intellectually, and morally ; and then what I am in all these
respects socially, and relatively to others. In the supernatural order, I may
recall the graces I have received, both absolutely and comparatively ; and
from this reflection I shall be overwhelmed with even greater shame, con-
fusion, and horror.
3 Psalm xxxviii. 6.
4 Job XXXV. 6.
^ St. Ignatius proposes only four of the Divine perfections, which God
shares with us, and which we forfeit by sin. Thus His wisdom, by which
He determines Himself as the end of all things, and all else as tneans by
which according to their nature they might conduce to that end ; His power
in the creation and conservation of all creatures ; His goodness in the
generosity of His provision for the benefit of all in the natural order, and
as regards man in the supernatural order also ; His sanctity and justice ;
with infinite aversion towards evil and infinite attachment to good.
REPETITION ON THREE SINS.
Point 5. — By my sins I have given all nature the
right to revolt against me. The very brute creation
is entitled to reproach me. Angels of Heaven, unless
withheld, should have rushed forward to avenge their
outraged Lord ; sun should not shine on me ; the very
earth shouM open its mouth to swallow me, and avenge
its Creator. When the unhapp}' Semei insulted David,
the faithful Abigai cried out: " Quis est iste canis
mortuus . . . ibo et amputabo caput ejus." Certainly
the indignation of Abigai was quite legitimate. How
is it that no angel in Heaven has dealt so with me ?
Such was the feeling of Borgia, who, when he met
some oxen, wondered how it was that they did not gore
him to death, and how the workmen did not break his
head with their mallets.
In colloquy I must thank God for His mercy for
having spared me, and " confess to Him ... for that
He has rescued me from the lower Hell." I must
address the angels, that, seeing me, they still were
withheld from cutting me off in my sins. I will thank
God, who has so spared me, and actually has nev^r
ceased to heap coals of fire upon my head by constantly
pouring down upon me fresh graces. I will repeat my
act of pure and heartfelt contrition, and end with the
"Our Father."
REPETITION ON THREE SINS.
1. After making the two preceding meditations, it is
well to select one or two of our chief sins, which we
may recall often during the course of the exercises of
the First Week, in order to root them, and the causes
of them, out of our hearts, and that we may excite
ourselves to supplant them by the opposite virtues.
2. Many advantages are to be found in these repeti-
tions of meditation both as regards the intellect and
THE FIRST WEEK.
the will. For often in first considering a subject, the
intellect may be taken up by its novelty and other
circumstances regarding it, so as to overlook its import-
ance and its practical bearing upon self, and thus it
fails to affect the will. Again, we often experience
either great aridity or spiritual consolation. It is well
to revert to these thoughts, as in both cases, especially
in the former, may be contained some great fruit which
our own wayward nature, and the malice of the enemy
of our human nature, wish to rob us of.
In these repetitions it is well not to spend much
time on the exercise of the intellect, but rather to excite
the affections and the will in forming practical resolu-
tions, and in earnest prayers to God to obtain His
grace whereby to keep them.
3. For this object St. Ignatius prescribes three
colloquies : one to our Blessed Lady, praying her to
intercede for us with her Ever-Blessed Son ; a second
to Jesus Christ in His capacity of Mediator and Advo-
cate for us with the Eternal Father ; and a third to our
Eternal Father Himself, that He would vouchsafe tO'
hear our poor prayers in union v/ith those of Mary and
Jesus, and to grant us the grace which we ask.
After the beginning and preparatory prayer as usual :
Prelude i. — As in the preceding meditation.
Prelude 2. — We will beg intense shame and con-
fusion, seeing how often we have abused God's mercy,
and deserved eternal punishment ; and secondly, intense
sorrow and repentant tears, a contrite and humble
heart, which God will not despise.
Point I. — God created the angels to serve Him fdr a
short time, and then to possess Him eternally. Many
refused through pride, and were hurled into Hell ; for a
single sin of thought, and all of them without a single
exception. And I, a man, after so many sins, and sa
REPETITION ON THREE SINS. 103
often pardoned — sins of thought, word, and deed, and
frequently of so degrading a nature, have been spared !
What room here for shame and confusion and acts of
sorrow.
Point 2. — Next, God creates Adam and Eve, and
places them in honour, with so many gifts above the
requirements of their nature, both supernatural and
preternatural, designing after their short time of trial to
assume them into Heaven. They violate the easy
command He laid upon them, and they and their
posterity are punished, alas ! how fearfully, and this
punishment is as universal and as terrible now as ever,
and will continue so until the last man shall be born.
Let us reflect on ourselves. Born in sin, our life is an
exile in a valley of tears, in which sin is added to sin,
and this in the sight of our Saviour crucified for us,
and we refuse to do penance, and hold up our sinful
heads. What should be our fear, shame, and confusion
as we gaze at ourselves, and contemplate our infamy.
Point 3. — We see the havoc of one single mortal sin
unrepented of in the torments of Hell. How terrible to
fall under the justice of the living God. And perhaps
we have exposed ourselves to this for months, may be
for years, as it were trying to weary His mercy and
His love.
End with this triple colloquy,^ in which we beg
of our Blessed Lady that she would obtain for us a
real internal knowledge and detestation of our sins ;
also a deep feeling of the irregularity and depravity of
our life, that we may amend and order it rightly ; and
lastly, a knowledge of the world, so that we may, out
1 In this triple colloquy we beg for three things : (a) knowledge and
detestation of sin, {i) a clear insight into the irregularity of the past Hfe,
(<r) and lastly, a knowledge of the world. Why is this ? Because it is the
influence of the example and maxims of the world which is our greatest
danger, and the chief cause of our sins ; and secondly, our want of reflec-
tion on the malice of sin makes us rush into it.
104 T^HE FIRST WEEK.
of abhorrence for it, reject all vain and worldly things
and pursuits. We then make the same request of our
Blessed Lord, and say the Anima Chvisti. Lastly, we
humbly implore the same of the Eternal Father,
through the merits of our Lady, and through the merits
of the Passion an^ Death of our Lord, and end with
the "Our Father."
REPETITION OF ONE'S OWN SINS.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — As in the last meditation.
Prelude 2. — We beg earnestly intense sorrow for our
many sins, and tears of perfect compunction for having
so fearfully offended our good God.
Point I. — We pass in review the long line of our
sins, in the places in which we have lived, with the
companions with whom we have associated, in the
offices and occupations we have held in our youth,
manhood, &c. Sins of thought, word, action, and
omission, sins of scandal, &c.i
With profound sincerity we will say the Confiteov.
Point 2. — Even if my sins did not involve a violation
of any commandment of God, yet they are hideous and
malicious, inasmuch as they are against reason, and
degrade us to the animal creation, whose law is their
appetites ; they render us slaves to our passions, and
would discredit us before our fellow-men, if they knew
our guilt.
Point 3. — By comparing ourselves with all mankind,
and these with one single angel, and this with all the
1 Sins in regard of spiritual duties, either performing them badly or
omitting them, sins against the vows, or negligence in their observance,
violation of rules of modesty, sins in the discharge of our office, in our
conversation, in over-great care of the body, and too little of the soul. And
if \ft are priests or Religious, these sins are the more grievous, as we are
supposed to be " orationi intenti, mundo et vitiis mortui"
THE HORRIBLE EFFECTS OF MORTAL Sip7. 105
Spirits in Heaven, we see ourselves as the mere shadow
of a speck when compared with God. If we consider
further the defects and miseries and the negative side,
so to speak, in ourselves, truly we shall be overwhelmed
with our worse than nothingness and unfitness to
mingle in respectable society.
Poijtt 4. — On the other hand, who is God ? His
wisdom, power, holiness, goodness, and beauty ! If
the moral estimate of crime is to be measured by the
dignity of the person offended, and by the vileness of
the offender, and also by the obligations of the latter to
the former, my good God, what a monster of vice and
ingratitude I must be in Thy sight ! Thou the infinite
and absolute Lord, and I poor, and finite, and
dependent upon Thee in all things.
Point 5. — Well may we cry out with wonder. Why
sky and air, earth and sea, men and angels, have not
been stricken with a fever to do vengeance upon us,
and have not conspired to torture and destroy us.
Again we will end by a triple colloquy to our Lady,
our Lord, and to our Heavenly Father, for grace to
recognize and abhor each and all our past sins, to feel
intimately the sad disorder of our past life, and to
know this wretched world, that we may shake it off
and despise it, together with its false principles, per-
nicious seductions, and bad examples. End with •* Our
Father."
THE HORRIBLE EFFECTS OF MORTAL SIN.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prehide i . — Picture the soul as a most beautiful child
covered over and eaten up by most loathsome and
gangrenous ulcers.
Prelude 2. — Beg a great shame and confusion at
io6 THE FIRST WEEK.
seeing your deformity and misery, and the pitiful state
to which sin has reduced your souh
Poi7it I. — Let us see how sin deforms the soul, worse
far than would be a body covered with foul and
sickening cancers, and hideously deformed, so that
could we behold it even in a mirror, we should be
overpowered with horror, not only by the vileness which
is proper and essential to the act of sin, by taking from
it all its symmetry, but also because when it enters the
soul it expels sanctifying grace and supernatural beauty,
and makes it loathsome in the sight of God and His
angels. 1 If the effect of a sin were to be to change
our complexion from white to black, who would commit
it, and if guilty, would not at once hasten to repent and
seek forgiveness? And yet the defacement of the soul
is far worse ; yet men are not ashamed to live with this
disfigurement, though the saints, and angels, and God
Himself see it, and are filled with loathing and disgust
at the sight.
Point 2. — The grace of God invests the soul with
exalted and supernatural dignity, and renders it in His
eyes more sublime, more noble and precious than all
earthly monarchs or angels, if considered only according
to their natural excellence. He is full of love and admi-
ration of it. But no sooner is this grace forfeited than
His love gives place to hatred, and if by repentance it
is not won back again. He will show no more compas-
sion for it than I should have for a viper which had
tried to sting me to death. For by how much it was
ennobled and beautiful, by so much has sin rendered it
vile and loathsome. To outward observance it may
appear honourable, noble, and blessed ; but in reality
it is only a glistening sepulchre, full of worms and
corruption.2
Point 3. — By the friendship of God we, in a manner,
1 Jerem. iv. i, 8. 2 st. Matt, xxiii. 27.
THE HORRIBLE EFFECTS OF MORTAL SIN. 107
become sharers of His attributes and riches, in re et in
spe. If the friendship of man is a source of real happi*
ness, who can tell the intense bliss of the friendship of
God ? And if the keenest of heart-wounds is the loss
of a friend, what human intellect can conceive the
fearful wound inflicted by sin on the soul, by its robbing
it of the friendship of God, and what is worse, changing
it into hatred ? Again, the deepest and bitterest enmity
is that which exists between those whose love ought to
be the greatest, as between parent and child, brothers
and sisters, husband and wife ; what then must be the
enmity between God and man which is produced by
sin. And what the torture to feel that we have made
God our enemy, and have disgraced ourselves before
Him ! Surely it should work madness in the brain.
What darker, more horrid, or more fearful thought can
occupy the mind of a man ? To live in the conscious-
ness that one is the object of loathing to His own
Father who is in Heaven !
Point 4. — As long as I am in the state of grace, I
have a right to the Kingdom of Heaven. I have it on
the title of justice, and God is bound to give it me, nor
can the whole world, or the devil, rob me of it ; for I
am co-heir with Jesus Christ ; but the moment I sin, my
title-deeds are forfeited. ^ I lose not merchandize, not
an estate, not a principality, but a Heavenly Kingdom,
eternal glory. If a man loses great earthly goods, what
a sadness and oppression takes hold of him, what grief
and despair ! No act nor skill can give him relief. And
yet what is the loss of all earthly things, the possession
of which must be very uncertain and short-lived, com-
pared with the eternal loss of Heaven ? But the most
terrible effect of all is, that the sinner too often is too
blind to realize it, or tries to drown the sense of it by
plunging into fresh excesses in his desperation, or by
1 I Cor. vi.
io8 THE FIRST WEEK.
giving himself up to a life of dissipation, and ensures to
hiniself consequent misery and despair.
Point 5. — Finally, the sinner exposes himself at
every moment to the risk of falling into Hell, over
whose abysses he hangs suspended by the brittle thread
of life. Well we may say with Deuternomy,i ''They
are a nation without counsel and without prudence.
Oh, that they would be wise and understand, and would
provide for their last end." What a folly it is, for a
momentary satisfaction, which too often causes a feeling
of shame and a sense of self-degradation, to run so
fearful a risk. May God forgive us !
Colloquy of fear, of shame and sorrow, and of
gratitude to so good a God for His long-suffering and
patience until now.
End with " Our Father."
As we have made an appHcation of the Foundation
to the Christian : to man, raised through the merciful
love of God to the supernatural order by the merits of
the Life, Passion, and Death of Jesus Christ ; and as
we have seen that he has thus been established in a
higher and closer relationship with the Deity, whereby
he is made the son of the Father by adoption, the
brother of His only Son by grace, and the living temple
of the Holy Spirit, it followed that in this his elevated
state he incurred a heavier obligation, which was to
love the Lord his God with the whole of his mind and
heart, soul and strength, and that his praise, reverence,
and service must be rooted in and animated by this
spirit. For this reason was it that when Jesus was
asked by a doctor of the law tempting Him,^ " Master,
which is the great commandment of the Law ? " He
said to him, '* Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy
1 Deut. xxxii. 28. 2 St. Matt. xxii.
THE CHRISTIAN'S SIN. 109
whole mind : this is the greatest and the first com-
mandment. And the second is like to this, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two command-
ments dependeth the whole Law and the Prophets." It
is not enough for us to praise, reverence, and serve God
in any imy, but it is required that this praise, reverence,
and service be founded in love, and be such as a child
pays to a father, or to a well-beloved brother, or to a
guest. Hence in such a one sin has a peculiar and
special criminality.
THE CHRISTIAN'S SIN.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — I place myself humbly in the presence
of the Three Divine Persons of the ever-adorable
Trinity, before whom the angels are in adoration.
Prelnde 2. — I beg that I may know the height, depth,
and breadth of the maHce, baseness, and ingratitude of
my sins.
Point I. — After reflecting on the infinite majesty,
power, riches, and beauty of the Eternal Father, I
consider and dwell on the awful truth of His having
adopted me by a real adoption to be His child, to be
His heir and co-heir with Jesus Christ. " Raising me
up from the earth, and lifting me from the dunghill to
place m.e with the very princes of His people. "^
Oh, what love ! what sacrifices this love entailed !
and all this for one so mean, so unlovable, and who
He knew would prove so heedless and ungrateful.
Such love He never showed or felt even for His angels.
Nay, as a fond Father He has assigned one of them
to be my constant guardian and attendant. And all
He wants from me is to treat Him as my Father ! 2
He could not ask less. What child can help praising,
1 Psalm cxii. 7. • Malach. i. 6.
THE FIRST WEEK.
reverencing, and serving his parent ? Love forces him
to it, and not to do it would be pain. Yet what is an
earthly parent compared with our real Father who is
in Heaven ? An unnatural child inspires us with
horror. What the horror then that I inspire, when by
a sin I prove so fearfully unnatural to my Heavenly
Father. I hear Him addressing His angels, " I have
brought up My child and have exalted him, and see
how he hath despised Me."^ And again, " Be astonished
ye gates of Heaven, and be ye very desolate." ^ Alas !
what pain and shame I have caused, not only by
mortal sin, but by a deliberate venial sin, to the loving
Father's heart. Bad enough for an enemy or a stranger
to offend and outrage Him, but for His favoured child
to treat Him so ! Is it not in a certain sense true, that
a venial sin in His child strikes a more painful blow at
Him than a mortal sin in one less favoured ? And to
be thus guilty for such a trifling and fleeting pleasure
or satisfaction ! Surely for a child of God to sin is
terrible. It furnishes the devils in Hell with an infernal
gratification, it causes the angels in Heaven to put on
mourning.
Point 2. — If I consider the Son of God, He too is
infinite as His Father — is equally the object of the love
and adoration of the blessed spirits who pay Him
homage and reverence as their King and Lord. But I
am of His own family, having the same Father and
Mother. I am not an acquaintance, not a friend, but He
calls me and I am His brother. He has taken Flesh for
me, starved and worked for me — He suff"ered and bled
and died for me — and nothing can satisfy His love but I
must feed upon His Flesh and Blood, which angels
must not touch but must adore. He has prepared a
place for me, that we may be happy for all eternity.
Oh ! could I realize this fully, I should die of joy ! I
1 Isaias i. 2. 2 Jerem. ii. 12.
THE CHRISTIAN'S SIN.
could not live. And all this love, and all this wasting
of Himself for my benefit,^ is for me, a poor, mean
unworthy beggar. What then am I to think of myself
if ever I commit one mortal sin ? I crucify Him again,
and make a mockery of Him. I recklessly spill His
Most Precious Blood, I turn from a Brother's love and
make common cause with the devils against Him,
and furnish them with the occasion of blaspheming and
taunting Him. If an enemy had done this, He could
have borne it,- but to be treated thus by a favoured
brother ! Alas ! who, if he had a spark of faith or of
right feeling, would or could ever be guilty of such
black ingratitude as to commit, I do not say a mortal
sin, but even a deliberate venial sin ? Who can bear
the thought of such treatment of one who deserves our
love and the love of all mankind ? Our blood would be
stirred to see an enemy thus treated. A dog will die
for the hand which feeds it, but I care nothing for Him,
who has done all that a God can do for me, if He steps
in between me and my indulgences, and that indulgence
degrading and unworthy. Truly sin in the Christian
is a fearful crime against the Elder Brother, the first-
born of many brethren. ^
Point 3. — But the malice of the Christian's sin does
not end here. There is the Third Person of the Holy
Trinity, the Holy Spirit of Love, the Comforter;, the
Teacher of all truth — He who in His Divine Person
consents to dwell in these very bodies of ours, and is
always helping to beautify our souls to make them a
more worthy dwelling-place for the Deity, and imparting
to us an increase of His seven-fold gifts. In His love
for us. He is happy to reside within the poor and
unworthy dwelling of our narrow and wayward hearts.
But how do I treat this Divine Guest when I consent to
mortal sin ? I banish Him from my soul, and with Him
1 Augustine. 2 Psalm liv. 13. ' Romans viii. 29.
THE FIRST WEEK.
His holy gifts and graces. I deface His temple,^ and on
its ruins I place the enemy of God and of my soul, the
devil ; ^ all my beauty disappears, and what was once
as a fair city full of spirits adoring their Lord, is
become a deserted solitude ; and with desolation is my
soul made desolate through my thoughtlessness. How
can I look up towards Heaven which I have so insulted
and despised ! How can I address my God whom I
have so outraged. Wlto will give fountains of tears
to my eyes, that I may by them wash away my
iniquities !
Make a fervent triple colloquy, as in the preceding
meditations, and end with the ** Our Father."
ON VENIAL SIN.
There are two kinds of venial sin. One kind
comprises such as are committed out of negligence, or
weakness, or with only partial advertence and without
full deliberation. From these even the most perfect
are not exempted for any length of time. The other
consists of faults committed with full deliberation and
consent, and of set purpose. These, by the help of
Divine grace, all can avoid, and many saints have in
fact avoided them for many years of their lives. It is
to these latter that we now refer.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Imagine the soul weak, unnerved, and
sinking from disease.
Prelude 2. — I will beg an intimate knowledge of the
meanness of venial sin, a sincere sorrow for my many
sins, and grace to make a firm resolution to avoid them
for the time to come.
i Psalm Ixxviii. i. ^ 1 St. John iii. lo.
ON VENIAL SIN. 113
Point I. — The punishment of venial sin proves its
malice. For God visits it with Purgatory ; in which,
according to some of the Fathers^ and theologians,^
the hres are of the sanie nature with those of Hell
except for their duration, and the soul suffers the
anguish of separation from God. It is torn violently
by two conflicting loves which torture it far more
than would be a man whose body was being rent
in twain by opposite forces ; inasmuch as the soul's
pain is greater than mere pain of body. The soul
knows its God, His beauty, goodness, and love, and
consequently has an intense desire to be with Him
and to possess Him ; and on the other hand it sees
its own meanness, ingratitude, and unjust conduct in
regard of Him ; and this fills it with an intense desire
to punish itself and thus vindicate His honour and
glory by due expiation. This is that which constitutes
the worst pain of Purgatory, and really makes it far
more terrible than all the pain whjch could be endured
or conceived in this life. And we must remember tjiat
it is inflicted by a loving God upon those who are His
beloved children and are destined to live with Him for
all eternity.
What then must be the malice of a venial sin, and
how great must be the heinousness of it, when infinite
love and justice is bound so to punish it in His own
most beloved spouses. What is our folly to consent to
venial faults, knowing that if unrepented of we may
be consigned for hours, or months, or years, alive, to
unconsuming fire, and to an agonizing worm of con-
science, which will give us no rest.
Again, God often punishes venial sins in this life by
bodily pains and infirmities, and sometimes by spiritual
afflictions such as temptations, disquiets and troubles
1 Augustine, Gregory the Great, &c.
2 Suarez, Bellarmine, &c.
114 T^HE FIRST WEEK.
of conscience, desolation, darkness, aridity, withdrawal
of His sensible presence ; and worst of all by with-
drawal of His superabundant gifts and graces, thus
exposing us to greater difficulty in His service, and to
danger of failure in it, verif^ang that of the Wise Man : .
** He who despiseth small things, will fall by little and
little."!
Point 2. — How great is the intrinsic malice of venial
sin !
1. It is a stain, disorder, and monstrous defilement
of the soul, as it is against right reason, and the
teachings of holy Faith.
2. It is an offence, an injury, and a slight, offered
to God, as it is against His holy will and a violation
of His commands. What would the world say of a
son who confined his love and service of his father so
as never to do what might expose him to be disinherited,
but cared little how else he might sadden or displease
him ? Such is the venial sinner towards his loving and
Heavenly Father.
3. Venial sin is an offence of a man against a God.
And consequently, mortal sin excepted, it is the greatest
evil which can befall us in this world ; and therefore is
a greater calamity than to suffer the pains of Hell or
the loss of Heaven itself. Oh] with what horror should
we not fly then from venial sin, and how bitterly should
we repent our many sins !
Point 3. — Venial sin disposes the soul to mortal sin.
Just as bodily infirmities cause faintness and debility, so
venial sin causes want of strength in the practice of virtue
and resistance to temptation, weariness and languor in
spiritual duties, and sloth in our spiritual progress, and
an inclination to seek bodily comforts. It exposes us
to spiritual death. It hardens the conscience, habituates
us to faults, and by degrees to venial sins of habit,
1 Ecclus. xix. I.
■ REPETITION OF VENIAL SIN. 115
diminishes our fear of them, causes us to neglect the
occasions of them — to lay aside our virtuous habits
which are opposed to th^m — gradually causes God to
diminish His graces, and thus renders us ripe for a
fall when a more than ordinary temptation assails us.
"Wherefore, as Chrysostom says, we ought to dread
"venial sin more than mortal ; as it is more dangerous
and more treacherous.
Let us in our colloquy implore forgiveness of our
many sins, offences, and negligences, beg a salutary
and holy horror of them, and the grace to avoid all the
occasions which may expose us to the danger of com-
mitting them, and end with the *' Our Father."
REPETITION OF VENIAL SIN.
This may be done with great fruit, especially by
those who by the mercy of God are preserved from
mortal sin, and are living in His habitual service, but
yet from time to time fall into deliberate venial sin, by
taking the same points as St. Ignatius lays down in the
meditation on " Our own Sins."
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — We may picture to ourselves our soul
likfe one in a decline, weak and incapable of making a
step forward for our own salvation.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg light, courage, and confidence
to overcome ourselves, and intense sorrow for our many
venial sins.
Point I. — Pass in review your life since your con-
version, the places and the occupations in which it
has been spent. What a mass of faults in thoughts of
vainglory, uncharitableness, self-conceit ; in words of
falsehood, exaggeration, detraction, worldliness, &c.;
ii6 THE FIRST WEEK.
of deeds as regards yourself, or others, or God ; of omission
of your spiritual duties, of the duties of your state of
life, of the scandal and bad example you have given to
others, &c. And with shame make your confession of
them to God and His angels.
Point 2. — Let us next see the malice of them, even
if they were not forbidden at all ; for example, the
meanness of falsehood, which if detected would make
us blush ; also the cowardice and meanness of back-
biting and detraction, the contemptibleness of vanity
and vainglory, the hypocrisy of striving to appear
wiser and better than we are, the sacrificing of others
to our own selfishness, the coolness and indifference to
all spiritual things and the duties of religion. Oh, how
gross and mean do all these appear, especially when
we see them in a child of God. In a worldling one can
see them without a shudder, but how black and re-
pugnant they are in one who is in the state of grace,
and consequently from whom we expect with reason
so much more perfection.
Point 3. — And in God our Father it is so different.
He is the very counterpart of all these. He is the
truth. He is charity and love. He is forgetfulness of
self and all sacrifice through love for us : Misericors
et misevatoY et Justus,^ the thrice Holy One.
Point 4. — Admitting that the ethical malice of sin
is chiefly to be estimated by the distance between the
offender and the person offended, and secondly by the
claims of him who suffers the offence on him by whom
it is given, we ask, Who can conceive the malice of a
venial sin ? For we are separated- from God by an
infinite gulf, and His claims upon us are likewise
infinite — creation, conservation, justification, adoption
into His own family, and sharing with us His own
inheritance. What then must be our horror of venial
1 Psalm cxiv. 5.
ON TEPIDITY. 117
sin ? And this ought to be the greater, because it is
so treacherous, and presents itself to us under such a
disguised appearance.
Point 5. — We may well wonder how God has borne
with us, how His angels have had patience with us,
how the whole of creation has tolerated us, seeing
that we have thus basely and ignominiously treated
their Creator. What a humiliating thought it is that
the animals which we feed and which are so submissive
to us have never failed to do God's will, whereas we
are so guilty.
In our colloquy let us pour out our souls in shame
and sorrow for our many venial sins, faults, and negli-
gences, and let us beg of God to confirm us in our
resolution to lose all, even our life itself, rather than
commit another deliberate venial sin.
End with the " Our Father."
ON TEPIDITY.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — Let us place ourselves before God and
His angels, overwhelmed with confusion at our many
sins, whilst He addresses us in the words of Apocalypse,^
'* Because thou art tepid I will begin to vomit thee out
of My mouth.''
Prehide 2. — Let us beg light and grace to apprehend
fully the miseries of a tepid life, and strength to
conceive new fervour and to resolve effectually to
reform our lives.
Point I. — The characteristics of a tepid soul. — (i) It
drags languidly the yoke of the Lord, and does all its
actions in a dull routine. (2) It seeks to avoid all that
involves sacrifice, effort, or labour, and studies its own
1 Apoc. iii. 16.
ii8 THE FIRST WEEK.
self-ease and comfort, and looks only for human and
earthly consolations, and indiscreetly indulges effusion
of heart. (3) It induces us to shorten spiritual duties,
or omit them altogether, and to waste time in light or
useless reading. (4) It leads us to think only of self
and to ignore others ; at one time to indulge in excess of
joy, at another in total discouragement. (5) Finally, the
tepid man acts from natural motives, speaks without
discretion, reads and meditates without fruit, confesses
without resolution, communicates without faith and
fervour, contents himself with moderate virtue, and
fosters endless habits of venial sin.
The result of all this is that he appreciates little
heavenly things, and has but little comfort in thenv
and dare not give himself to the full enjoyment of
earthly ones ; and is constantly disturbed by his rebel-
lious passions. He cuts himself off from the consolation,
peace, and joy which are the reward of a fervent soul.
He is like the wine in Proverbs xxiv., or the barren
iig-tree.i
Point 2. — Dangers of Tepidity. — (i) The tepid man
dwells on the little good, but turns away from the many
evils which he does. (2) He is like a man in a slow
fever which is very hard to cure. In fact, many big
sinners are converted for one who is tepid. For he
gradually loses his horror of mortal sin, and thus begins
to tamper with temptation, and ceases to be alarmed at
the free indulgence of his senses and affections, and is
thereby disposed to mortal sin. Thus he places himself
in the downward course of reprobation, and causes
disgust to God, as well as sadness to the Sacred Heart.
Point 3. — The causes of Tepidity are chiefly (i) omis-
sion of or negligence in spiritual duties, (2) contempt of
little things, also (3) the neglect of watching over the
beginnings of faults, and over natural affections.
1 St. Matt. xxi.
ON HELL. 119
In the colloquy let us beg pardon for our past abuse
of grace and remissness in God's service, and end with
"Our Father."
ON HELL.
1. After the meditations on Sin, St. Ignatius in his
Book of the Exercises places the exercise on Hell. It
may be asked why he does not treat the ** last things"
in their natural order ?
First he assigns the four meditations on Sin and
this on Hell for the First Week, as being sufficient, if
well made, to secure the end proposed, namely, shame
and sorrow for the sins committed, and a firm resolution
to sin no more ; as also the rejection of all inordinate
affections. It is true that he does not forbid the
meditations on Death, on the Particular and General
Judgment : but these must be given after those on Sin
and on Hell.^
Again, the Directorium also adds that other medita-
tions on Hell besides the one in the Exercises may be
given.
2. Secondly, St. Ignatius desires us to conceive a
great horror and sorrow for sin, as we have said, and
for this end, no meditation is so well fitted as this of
fear of punishment, where motives of love of and
gratitude towards God have failed to change the heart.
3. Moreover, when we consider that the sinner by
his sin actually ipso facto incurs the punishment of Hell,
and like a malefactor is already sentenced to the same,
it is more natural in reality that this exercise should
follow those on sin, immediately.
The soul already being filled with horror, shame,
and confusion at the sight of its sins, finds itself on the
verge of eternal misery, and is filled with terror lest it
1 Direct, xv. 4.
THE FIRST WEEK.
fall into the hands of the living God, and consequently
is driven to abandon its sins altogether, and at once.
The other meditations adapted to the First Week may
be made with advantage afterwards, to confirm and
strengthen this disposition of the exercitant ; but might
if put before this exercise distract him and interfere
with the end in view.
In order that this exercise may more deeply impress
the mind, St. Ignatius proposes that we should weigh
and ponder the nature of the pains of Hell by the
means of an application of the senses, in which we in
spirit and imagination behold the persons, hear their
cries, &c., applying each sense in turn. In doing this
two things must be observed : the first is, that we must
not fatigue the brain by trying to form too vivid a
picture, and by too detailed imaginings ; and secondly,
with the application of each sense, we must reflect upon
ourselves, and apply the matter to ourselves that we
may draw profit from it.
It is a useful form of meditation or contemplation,
for teaching us how to employ rightly our senses, and
to correct all undue use of them. St. Ignatius places
the application of the senses as the last exercise of the
day, as being more easy for the exercitant, who will be
fatigued after the different duties which have filled up
the day.
I would also observe that we cannot live enough
in the fear of Hell. No doubt, by God's mercy, we run
less danger than most people ; still, as God ordains
by an express command that we must hope for
Heaven, He equally ordains that we must fear Hell ;
for He says, " I say to you, My friends, fear Him who
can cast both body and soul into Hell." Besides, there
is no one, no matter how holy, who does not find
himself sometimes in a critical position, in which the
fear of Hell becomes wholesome : and in the Litanies of
ON HELL.
the Saints we pray to be delivered from the misery
of this " everlasting death," as also in the Sacrifice
of the Mass, Ab ceterna damnatione nos eripi, just before
the Consecration.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Imagine the length, breadth, and depth
of Hell, a vast dark cavern in the very centre of the
earth. 1
Prelude 2. — Let us beg an intense feeling of the
punishment of the damned, so that if ever through our
own fault we forget the love of our Eternal Lord, at
least fear may save us from falling into sin.
Point I. — Let us see that long, narrow, dark dungeon
filled with fire, in which the damned are immersed, but
have no light — dense smoke increases the pitchy dark-
ness, and the darkness increases the horror of the fire.
The miserable victims bound hands, feet, and neck —
of deformed, woeful, and desperate aspect. Oh ! how
they burn ! The devils, triumphing in having made
them their prey, now revel in torturing them. And
they now are become devils themselves, incapable of
anything but hating, and only deserving hatred. Let
us see their sadness, gloom, terror, gnawing remorse,
and black despair. They are vast in number, and of
all sorts and conditions — priests, Religious, laymen, of
all ages, of both sexes — all confounded together under
one common name — damned. And this is the end of
the freedom of the sinner ; this is the result of refusing
when on earth to praise, love, and serve God ! Who
1 Owing to many passages of Scripture, as Psalms Ixii. liv, cxiii. , also
Ecclus. xvii. 19, &c., many of the Fathers, as Justin {Bp. to Trallenses),
Theophylactus [Ad Autolycum, ii.), Clement {Stromata), TertuUian [De
Anirna, 54), Athanasius (in Psalm Ixii.), Hilary (in Isaias), Ephrem, Cyril
of Jerusalem and of Alexandria, Basil, Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, &c.,
and also Rubeir and Soto, hold that it is underneath the earth. So, too,
the Essenes, Pharisees, and the Talmud.
THE FIRST WEEK.
can bear the sight of Hell, of these damned souls and
of devils, for all eternity ? Let us learn to keep a strict
guard over our eyes now, for it is by the undue license
of our eyes that death first enters into our souls.
Point 2. — Let us imagine that v^e hear the groans,,
screams, howls, and blasphemies, against Christ our
Lord and His saints, as the harsh and horrid noise
re-echoes through the deep caverns. Let us listen to
the reproaches and mutual curses of accomplices in
crime, of bad husbands and wives, of parents and
children — to the mockery and jeers of the devils. How
terrible this never-ceasing clamour and fearful uproar.
How awful the hoarse blasphemies against God, our
Blessed Lord, and our Blessed Lady. It was this
point which made the deepest impression on St. Ignatius.
How much sweeter is the sorrowful plaint of a true
penitent, which will drown the horrid cries of Hell.
Blessed be God who has given us time to praise
His loving mercy and to escape His terrible justice.
Let us fly from the conversation of worldlings and
hedge our ears with thorns,^ that we may not join in
their wearied concert in Hell. Let us by all means
guard our tongues and thus escape a world of iniquity
here and everlasting bowlings hereafter.
Point 3. — But how terrible the stench which must
arise from the smoke, the sulphur, and corruption of
that infected dungeon, which no breath of wind may
disperse, and which is ever getting thicker and thicker,
and accumulating from the foul corruption of the bodies
of the condemned. This sickens and suffocates without
destroying. How terrible to those who in this life
covered themselves with unguents and decked them-
selves with roses,^ and who could not breathe the same
atmosphere as the poor. Now the more delicate they
were in life, the greater are their torments.^ Let us
1 Ecclus, xxviii. 28. ~ Wisdom xl. 7, 8. 3 Apoc. xviii. 7.
ON HELL. 123
beware of indulging this sense, which causes a waste
of money, gratifies sensualit}^ and scandalizes or dis-
edifies our neighbour.
Point 4. — We may imagine we taste the bitter tears
and cup of woe of the damned ; their rage and envy, &c.,
and the venom of the worm of conscience, and of their
unprofitable regrets and disappointments. We may
picture their fearful thirst and their gnawing hunger.
And all this for ever. What do they think now of the
indulgences of time in eating and drinking? How
bitter their reflection : " I have tasted a little honey,
and lo ! I am condemned to this eternal death." ^ Let
us follow the counsel of a Kempis,^ " Restrain the taste
and thou wilt more easily overcome every inclination
of the flesh." How well the saints understood and
practised this. How sadly are we wanting in this,
seeking exemptions from fasting and abstinence, delud-
ing ourselves with the idea of preserving our health, &c.
Over-eating has killed more men than have ever fallen
in battle, and tends to dull all the faculties of the soul.
If we are not suffering these torments, it is through
the mercy of God.
Point 5. — Let us ponder on the sensible pains, on
their intensity, constancy, eternity — in a fire kept alive
by the breath of an angry God — containing in itself
opposite qualities of light and darkness, heat and cold,
affecting and permeating the soul itself, though how we
do not know. Let us ask ourselves if we can bear
everlasting burning, or dwell in everlasting flames.
What a madness it is, for all the pleasures of the world,
though they lasted for a thousand years, to expose
ourselves to these terrible flames, and to shed tears of
fruitless repentance for all eternity.
In the colloquy let us address our Lord Jesus Christ,
renewing our sorrow for our sins, our love for His
1 I Kings xiv. 43. ^ I. cxix.
124 ^^^ FIRST WEEK.
mercy and goodness, in having so long and so often
spared us, and beg the grace that nothing may ever
separate us again from His love. " Here burn, here
cut, here spare me not, but spare me in eternity."
End with " Our Father."
ON THE SOUL IN HELL.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us imagine we see a soul in that
dungeon.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg to realize the internal miseries
of the reprobate.
Point I. — The worm of conscience rouses its victim
by the perpetual memory that he is lost. He has lost
God his Creator, his Saviour, his beginning, his last
end. How few the words, but, O God, what a vast
depth of meaning they contain. Eternit}^ will not be
long enough to understand it. He has lost all good,
all honour, all pleasure, all liberty, all consolation, all hope —
lost all ; but in their place he has gained all that is evil
to body and to soul. He has lost Father and Mother,
company of the blessed, a sceptre, a throne, and a
kingdom — and none ever to pity or feel for him ! Friend-
ship, sympathy, love, and hope have left him stranded.
Point 2. — Another thought that will never cease to
torture the soul is — he is lost 'for io little, and when he
might so easily have been saved. For so little gratification
of sensuality, avarice, pride, envy, &c., and for so short
a time, take it at its longest. Viewed from Hell, time
itself seems but a flash of lightning, and earth itself is
but a grain of sand, with all that it contains. How
small and short, then, must appear all those things
for which he has sacrificed the possession of God
and incurred Hell. And how terrible that constant
ON THE SOUL IN HELL.
125
reproach — lost through his own fault, for he might have
been saved so easily. He will see all that God has
done for his salvation, all that Jesus Christ suffered for
his redemption, all that the Hoty Ghost has wrought
for his sanctification, all the graces, the sacraments,
sermons, Masses, &c., all the counsels and admonitions
of God's ministers, all the good examples of others —
all these like horrid ghosts haunt him, and he cannot
dispel them. It would appear more easy to be saved
than lost. Each of them serves only to torment him
more. He could be now in Heaven, whereas he is in
Hell!
Point 3. — But if at last his punishment were to end
even after a million of ages ! But no ; he is lost for
ever — it is all over. There is a God, but I shall never
see Him ; angels and saints in their glory, but I shall
never join them. Never a word of comfort or pity for
me, but always these tears, this anguish, this torture,
this despair. After millions of ages the justice of God
will not be satisfied, &c., and I shall be no nearer the
end of my torments than when they began.
In our colloquy let us make an act of sorrow for
having so often deserved Hell ; of gratitude for God's
mercy that we are not condemned ; and lastly, of con-
fidence in His infinite goodness which has not spared
us to condemn us in the end ; and let us beg His holy
grace to persevere in His holy service henceforth and
until the end. " Our Father."
Here we might make a meditation on Purgatory,
and consider the nature of the pains in Purgator}' ; on
the helplessness in their own regard of the souls detained
there, and on the causes by which they are detained.
St. Ignatius, as we have said, only lays down for
the first part of the Exercises, the two meditations on
Sin, together with a repetition of each, and an applica-
126 THE FIRST WEEK.
tion of the senses on Hell, each of which is calculated
to produce the effect he had in view, which is to purge
the soul of those vicious affections which withdraw it
from the fulfilment of its last end. And in truth, any
one of profound thought and of a generous heart, aided
by God's grace and special and efficacious light, could
in one single day find himself changed into another
man ; but this special grace God is not wont to give,
nor is man ordinarily endowed with such perspicacitv
or prompt generosity of soul, but that his mind is
somewhat blunted by passion and his will by perverse
inclinations. Hence we find that, according to the
dispositions and measure of grace, and according as
they are tried by various spirits, and are earnest in
their efforts, some sooner, others later, attain what
the}'^ desire, which is true contrition and firm resolution
for the future. Accordingly, the meditations for this
purpose must be continued according to the needs of
the exercitant.i
For him, however, who is entangled with inordinate
affections, both reason and experience prove the neces-
sity of extending the exercises of the first part ; and it
is the duty of the director to determine the subjects
and number of the meditations which are adapted to
induce the exercitant to correct the disorder and
corruption of his past life, such as death, the punish-
ment of sin, judgment, &c.
The Direcforiiim^ observes that some of these at
least should be given as an efficacious means of
detaching the heart from inordinate love of earthly
things, and of inspiring it with a holy fear of God. It
is well also that repetitions of these meditations should
be made, and that different points should be given in
them, to remove all weariness and to impress the truth
the deeper.^
1 Direct, xvii. i. 2 /^/(/. xv. 4. ^ /^/^, xiv. i.
ON DEATH. 127
But whatever be the subjects, they must all have,
for their object to lead to the three-fold end for which
we pray in the triple colloquy, namely, an intimate
knowledge of our sins and deep abhorrence of them ;
a clear appreciation of the disorder of our life, that,
detesting it, we may amend it and regulate it according
to God ; and lastly, a true knowledge of the World, that
we may fly from its vanity and hollowness.
In accordance with' these instructions of the note
in the Spiritual Exercises after the fifth exercise, and
of the Directorium in the chapters xiv. and xv., we will
next meditate on Death.
ON DEATH.
1. This subject is intimately connected with the
preceding meditations on Sin and Hell. For although
we may be sincerely repentant for our past sins and
irregularities, yet, as long as we are in this world, we
are surrounded by objects which tend to flatter and
seduce us.^ The danger is very imminent and very
grave, if we judge things by their appearance and not
by what they really are. Now, to form a correct
judgment and obviate this danger, our best counsellor
is death. Boniim est consilium tuutn, O mors ! ^
2. In this meditation we must adapt it and apply
it to ourselves, and not simply consider death in the
abstract.^ We are not merely to entertain a speculative
memory of the latter things, but apply them to our own
selves and our own souls. Mcmorare novissima tua et in
aternum nan peccahis^
The commencement and preparatory prayer as
usual.
1 Wisdom iv. 12. 2 Ecclus. xli. 3 ; Baruch vi. 50.
' Eccles. viL 3. * Ecclus. vii. 40.
128 THE FIRST WEEK.
Prelude i. — Let us imagine ourselves condemned to
death, and the decree before us, " Thou shalt die and
no longer live.''^
Prelude 2. — Let us beg grace to form and feel truly
that judgment of the world and all that is in it, which
we shall feel when the sentence will actually be carried
out in our own case.
Point I. — Death is certain. Men have called every
other truth in question, but. not this. There is no need
of faith to convince us, for reason and daily experience
prove it. It is a decree irrevocable and universal.
Such was not God's intention.- It was sin which
introduced it into the world. ^ Each child of man is
doomed, and neither wealth nor skill nor wisdom can
avail to prevent it. Nature quivers and trembles at
the thought, but to try to drown it is madness, and to
ignore it is to resemble the ox.'^
Let us make an act of submission to the sentence
passed upon us ; ^ let us humble ourselves.^ We have
sinned, we are great sinners, and consequently we must
partake of the fruits of sin, which is death.
Point 2. — Death is the end of all material things.
We must leave riches, honours, pleasures, our very
bodies, dress, ornaments, and all our surroundings.
We are like men asleep and dreaming life away ; but
death is a great awakener, and when he arouses us we
1 Isaias xxxviii. i.
2 "For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of His own
likeness He made him." (Wisdom ii. 23.)
3 "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin
death : and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned."
(Romans v. 12.)
4 " Immediately he foUoweth her as an ox led to be a victim, not know-
ing that he is drawn like a fool to bonds." (Prov. vii. 22.)
5 " Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy judgment is right." (Psalm cxviii.
137- )
* "I shall live now no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing."
(Job vii. 16.)
ON DEATH.
129
shall see and judge all things aright. ^ We cannot take
anything with us, but others will dislodge us and put
us in a few feet of earth. Granted that our life was
one of glory and triumph, still we shall die just like the
poorest and the most obscure.^
Men will speak about us as long as the funeral-bell
tolls, and our glory will disperse with the smoke of the
extinguished torches,^ and then there will be the silence
of the grave about us. As to our body, it will decay ; *
it will become a squalid corpse, hollow-eyed, black-
lipped, frothy-mouthed ; then it will fall to pieces and
generate and feed worms ; ^ and finally it will be a mere
handful of dust.^
What folly, then, to attach any importance to
anything on earth, which is nothing but an ignis
fattms, a vision of the night."^ To attach undue
importance to things of earth, and not to use them
solely as means to our end, is against reason and faith,
it is a consummate folly. This thought is enough to
drive all vanity out of our head, all vice from the
heart : it ought to make us indifferent to everything,^
1 " As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return.
What then doth it profit him that he hath laboured for the wind ? " (Eccles.
V. 14.)
2 "For all men have one entrance into life, and the like going out."
(Wisdom vii. 6.)
2 " For when he shall die he shall take nothing away: nor shall his
glory descend with him." (Psalm xlviii. 18,)
4 "All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field.
The grass is withered and the flower is fallen." (Isaias xl. 6.)
s ' ' For when a man shall die, he shall inherit serpents and beasts and
worms," (Ecclus. x. 13.)
<» " Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou hast made me as the clay,
and Thou wilt bring me into dust again." (Job x. 9.)
7 " As a dream that fleeth away, he shall not be found ; he shall pass as
a vision of the night." (Job xx. 8.)
8 ' • Naked 1 came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return
thither : the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away : as it hath pleased
the Lord, so is it done : blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job i. 21,)
J
I30 THE FIRST WEEK.
and as Paul urges,^ to use this world as if we used
it not.
Alas ! how foolish have we been to think more of
temporal things than of our souls, and as if they and
ourselves were to last for ever. Let us pray God to
give us sense at last, and to show us the folly of our
past disordered life, which has been a bad nightmare.
Let us make an act of faith in our future death, ^ repent
and amend.
Point 3. — Death is near. Though the devil cannot
delude us so far as to persuade us that we are not to
die, yet he flatters us with the idea that we have many
years of life. But even so, the longest life is quickly
over. Yet God says, "Death does not tarry, "^ that *'we
know not the day nor the hour:"* it may come any
time, and a breath may extinguish the spark at any
moment,^ on a sudden, as has happened to many whom
we have known, at an hour when we expect it least.^
Then in every hour we should be prepared. Let us
renew our faith in this truth, repent our past madness,
and resolve to die to every thing and person before they
jilt us and die to us.
End with " Our Father."
It will be useful, if one is still attached to person or
thing inordinately, and finds it hard to detach himself,
for him to make a repetition on *' Death " by an appli-
cation of the senses to his own death, as he can easil}^
do it. When dying it may be said of us, Incipimits tcedere
1 " Tims is short : it remaineth that they that use this world as if they
used it not : for the fashion of this world passeth away." (i Cor. vii. 31.)
2 • ' Behold now I shall sleep in the dust : and if thou seek me in the
morning, I shall not be.'" (Job vii, 21.) "Who am to be consumed as
rottenness, and as a garment that is moth eaten." (Job xiii. 28.)
3 " Remember that death is not slow, and that the covenant of Hell hath
been shown to thee." (Ecclus. xiv. 12.)
^ St. Mark xiii. 33. ^ St. James iv. 14. « St. Luke xii. 40.
THE WRECK OF THE BODY BY DEATH. 131
(de pvcBteritis) paveve [defutiivis) and inastiesse [de pvcesentibus.)
These would form three excellent points of meditation.
THE WRECK OF THE BODY BY DEATH.
St. John tells us ^ everything in the world is con-
cupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, and
pride of life. Let us see what a wreck they make of
man's body in its three stages of decay, in the corpse,
the skeleton, and the dust.
Prehide i. — Let us place ourselves over a tomb, and
imagine we hear the warning, Mihi herij tihi hodier
Prelude 2. — Let us beg of God to show us clearly the
vanity of earthly things and the disorder of following
our passions, also intense sorrow for having so grievously
offended Him by indulgence of the senses.
Point I. — It is the general opinion that all adults
who are lost are lost m consequence of sins of the flesh,
or at least have been guilty of them ; and that to satisfy
the concupiscence of the flesh, they have offended God,
sacrificed eternal life, and are damned. But what is
this flesh ? It is an illusion to suppose that after death
it will remain cold, rigid, and loathsome, with open,
sightless eyes, ears closed, &c., like a statue. No.^
Let us open the grave a few weeks after death, and
1 " For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the
concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father,
but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the concupiscence
thereof. But he that doth the will of God, abideth for ever." (i St. John
ii. 16.)
2 " Yesterday for me, for thee to-day." (Ecclus. xxxviii. 23.)
3 "Behold the stars are not pure in His sight. How much less man
that is rottenness, and the son of man who is a worm ? " (Job xxv, 6.)
4 " For when he shall die he shall inherit serpents and beasts and
worms," (Ecclus. x. 13,)
132 THE FIRST WEEK.
eyes, mouth, &c.i And is this what was so tended,
worshipped, and indulged ? This the beautiful thing
so much admired? This is what was a few months
ago so richly clad, so exquisitely perfumed, &c. As
rottenness we shall be consumed. Shall we lose our
souls for a flesh which is so filthy and shall end
thus?
How confounded should we be that we have so
sacrificed our souls to our bodies. Oh, henceforth let
us crucify our flesh with its vices and concupiscences.
Why, my most devoted friends would fly with horror
from the sight and stench of my corrupting carcase !
Point 2. — The skeleton. Inordinate affection for wealth
is a vice too common,^ and the root of many evils.^
There is no vice more vile.^ And yet man cannot take
his riches with him.^
Let us open the grave again after a few years have
passed, and see the few dry bones which remain, the
skull, the ribs, the arms and legs ; but tongue, brain,
heart, are all gone. Who can distinguish the bones of
the King and the beggar, the learned and the clown ?
And this is the end of riches, a few dry bones !
Let us be confounded at our folly, and shed bitter
tears for having given our affections to this tyrant of
man, the concupiscence of the eyes.
Point ^^. — The dust. God formed the body out of
the dust to keep us humble, by the constant sight of
our bodily origin : but He has determined to humble
1 "My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust, my skin iy
withered and drawn together." (Job vii. 5.) " Under thee shall the moth
be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering." (Isaias xiv. 11, )
2 " For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to
covetousness." (Jerem.vi. 13.)
3 I Timothy vi. 9.
4 Ecclus. X. 9.
5 "As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return,,
and shall take nothing away with him of his labour," (Eccles. v. 14.)
THE WRECK OF THE BODY BY DEATH. 133
our pride by letting us know that this same body shall
return to dust.^
If we open the grave after many years we shall find
only a very thin layer of fine dust. This is the end of
worldly greatness. Where are the great soldiers ? They
are dust. Generals ? They are dust. The bodies of
statesmen, lawyers, scientists, all end in a handful of
dust. We may write on that dust, Universa vanitas omnis
homo vivensr The generations trample on the dust of
those who have gone before. Every man is dust and
ashes. 2
Finish with the triple colloquy as before.
In this first part of the Exercises, as we have said
more than once, our object is to purge the soul from all
vicious affections and to bring it back to God. Now to
effect this, St. Ignatius tells us that in our triple
colloquy we are to beg of God light for our intellect and
firmness of will, as regards our sins, our disordered
lives, and the world.
1. With regard to our sins, in order that we may
really repent, it is necessary that we know their wicked-
ness.4 If we have this grace then we shall have a vivid
knowledge and a deep abhorrence of sin, which are
necessary for its forgiveness. In the two first exercises
we try to acquire this disposition of mind and heart by
studying the nature of sin and its punishment, and we
try to intensify this disposition by the repetitions.
2. With regard to the inordinate character of our
lives, we must know and feel intimately the irregularity
of our lives if we are to abhor, amend, and regulate
^ " la the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the
earth, out of which thou wast taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust thou
shalt return." (Genesis iii. 19.)
2 "And indeed all things are vanity: every man living." (Psalm
xxxviii. 6.)
' Ecclus. xvii. 31. ■* Eccles. i. 18.
134 THE FIRST WEEK.
them according to right reason. And this not only
where there is grievous sin, but in all our actions
whether internal or external, in fact in every thought,
word, or deed, which is not in order to our last end.
This is put before us in the Principle, or Foundation.
But we stand in need of special grace to realize
thoroughly and to detest cordially the criminahty of
this irregularity and disorder. To help us to this the
following meditations will be very useful.
3. Our conversion to God is never secure and
permanent unless we have a full knowledge of the world
and its dangers, that we may alienate ourselves from it
and mistrust and abhor it as an impostor ever trying to
deceive and ruin us.
We pray, then, that we may see through its false
maxims, its seductions, and the wretched examples of
its votaries; that it is made up of the three concu-
piscences, sensuality, avarice, and pride ; for then there
is no doubt we shall abhor it and have nothing in
common with it. The meditations on Judgment will
help to strengthen us in our resolution to overcome all
human respect, to despise the world and its judgments,
to mistrust our own judgment and to adapt it to the
unerring judgment of God.
THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us picture ourselves as malefactors
in chains before our Judge awaiting sentence.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg grace to apprehend the rigour
of this Judgment, that we may see the disorder of our
past life and may amend and order our future in
accordance with it, not relying on our own or on any
other human judgment, but on that of God alone.
THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT. 135
Point I. — Our soul has to appear before the judg-
ment-seat ; it may be on the sudden or after full time
of preparation. In the instant of death, the soul is
confronted with its Judge, and the judgment is passed.
From his bed, and from the midst of his friends, &c., the
soul has fled to a far-off world, alone, naked, stupefied,
gazing on its God of justice. Picture its surprise and
terror. In this life sinners presume on account of their
number and are protected by their position, or wealth,
or cunning, but all these fail the sinner before the just
and all-wise Judge. The foresight of this Judgment
has turned countless sinners into great saints.
" To escape it is impossible, to appear is intolerable."^
And it may be passed upon us at any time and in any
place !
Point 2. ---Let us consider the shame and confusion
at the trial. How different will be the appreciation of
good and evil. There will be no excuses which will
avail, no forgetting or denying of the charges brought,
whether of thoughts, words, or deeds, or omission.^
If we should be overwhelmed with shame to feel our
faults known by an intimate friend, what will it be to
stand revealed before God and His all-pure angels?
Bad enough even if we had but one venial sin. Alas,
and we so full of sin ! Surely we ought to fly from sin
with horror and from all occasions of it, if it were only
to escape this terrible and overwhelming shame and
terror. And then to know that my fate is to be
determined for eternity in a few moments.
Point 3. — Our sentence will be just and definitive.
Without any counsel or pleading, our case is clear, God
and His angels and our own conscience are witnesses,
and God Himself is Judge. ^
1 Anselm, Med.
2 ' ' And all things that are done God will bring into judgment, for every
error, whether it be good or evil." (Eccles. xii. 14.)
3 " I am the Judge and the Witness, saith the Lord." (Jerem, xxix. 23.)
136 THE FIRST WEEK.
There is no place for supplication, it is no\V the
hour of justice. And the whole process is over before
the body is cold, and while men are praising the dead,
he is being, perhaps, insulted by devils in Hell.^ Let
us follow the advice of Ecclesiasticus,^ " Before thy
Judgment do justice." " May my heart be troubled
within me."
Let us in our colloquy pray our Blessed Lord, the
Judge of the living and the dead, to be our Advocate
now, and to gain mercy for us at the hour of Judgment ;
let us beg through the precious Wounds in His hands,
feet, and side, that He will have riiercy on us whilst
it is the time of mercy, so that He may not damn us
when it is the time of justice. Juste judex tdtionis, donum
fac remissioitis, ante diem vationis. End with an act of
contrition and " Our Father."
REPETITION OF THE PRECEDING.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us hear St. Paul : '' It is decreed for
all men once to die and after this the Judgment."^
Prelude 2. — Let us beg grace to realize the im-
portance of the Judgment, and with filial fear daily to
prepare for it.
Point I. — Who is my Judge? It is Jesus Christ.
He is good and merciful, my Brother and Saviour.
Yes ! But He is also Infinite Justice, and consequently,
such as He shall find us, so will He judge us. The
hour and attribute of mercy is over as soon as the soul
1 " I saw the wicked buried : who also when they were yet living, were
in the holy place, and were praised in the city as men of just works : but
this also is vanity." (Eccles. viii. 10.)
2 Ecclus, xviii. 19.
3 Hebrews ix. 27.
GENERAL JUDGMENT. . 137
is loosed from the body, and it flies at once into the
arms of Infinite Justice.
Point 2. — The examination. — Everything will be fully
exposed ; the benefits and graces which we have
received, our sins of ignorance, forgetfulness, dissipa-
tion, action, omission, internal and external. Perhaps
I flattered myself that they were long since remitted —
may be I reckoned on my good works, as if not spoiled
by vanity and self-love. Let us examine and judge
ourselves now, that then we may not fear the Judgment.
Quid Slim miser tunc dicturus, cum vix Justus sit securus ?
Point 3. — The sentence. — Hell for one mortal sin.
Purgatory for one venial sin. What woe to be separated
even for one hour from God and our Lady. Make
your colloquy to both.
GENERAL JUDGMENT.
The General Judgment differs from the Particular
in three things. In the former, the body and soul
appear ; in the latter, it is only the soul. In the former,
each one will be exposed and judged before the whole
human race in the Valley of Jehosophat, and all shall
be forced to give praise and honour to the good, and
to join in condemnation of the wicked.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us imagine the angels separating
the good from the bad, and the Judge with His standard,
the holy Cross.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg intense horror of our sins,
and contempt for all human respect, which is the source
and origin of so many sins.
Point I. — The exposure. — In this Judgment, the life
of each of us will be laid bare, from the cradle to the
grave. Our every thought, word, and action, sins of
138 THE FIRST WEEK.
commission and of omission, all will be exposed in
all their meanness and deformity. The graces and
benefits which we have received, and those special
supernatural favours which have been lavished upon
us and won for us by the Passion, Wounds, and Death
of our Blessed Lord, all will be proclaimed to the whole
human race.
What a weight of obligations we have incurred as
children of God and of our Blessed Mother ! Men will
be filled with wonder at the infinite generosity of God
in our regard, but still more at our heartlessness and
ingratitude, if we have abused His merciful love and
goodness to us. Who can conceive the horrible shame
of this exposure of the wicked, and the humble gratitude
of the elect ?
Point 2. — The manifestation of our return ! — The whole
world will know our ever}^ iniquity and abuse of
grace, for God will manifest even the hidden secrets
of hearts,^ and we shall have to confess, " I have sinned,
and have returned evil for good." And we must
remember that on that day every one will appreciate
sin rightly, with all its malice, ingratitude, and degrada-
tion, and all this more intensely when committed by
those so especially favoured. Well may we call on the
hills to fall on us to crush our shame.
On the other hand, if we have been during life
reconciled with God or lived in His holy friendship, how
we shall rejoice that in us will be glorified His infinite
love and mercy- before the whole world. Oh, let us
judge ourselves now with such just severity, that then
we may have a Judgment of mercy and clemency.
Poiitt 3. — The sentence will be in accordance with
our merit, secnndum opera. These we must take with us,
or rather they will be there awaiting our coming. If
we have violated our duties as creatures, rebelled
1 I Cor. iv. 5. 2 St. John xi. 4 ; 2 Thess. i. 10.
REPETITION OF THE JUDGMENT. 139
against our Preserver, ignored our Redeemer, been an
enemy to our Sanctifier, been unfilial to our Father,
despised our King, been a perfidious disciple, &c., or
any one of these in grave matters, why then we shall
hear, Discedite a me, &c.^ On the other hand, if found
not wanting, then we shall be welcomed with, Venite, &c.
Let us meditate each word of these two sentences
and make our choice. In a spirit of holy compunction,
beg of our dear Lord with holy David to pierce your
very flesh with holy fear of His judgments.
End with «' Our Father."
REPETITION OF THE JUDGMENT.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1 . — The history, — The world will be consumed
by fire, the dead will arise and meet for Judgment,
and will be separated the good from the wicked, Jesus-
Christ will pass sentence on each ; and then the world
and time will be over.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine ourselves in Jehosophat»
Prelude 3. — Let us beg an intimate realization of the
circumstances of the Last Day, that may confirm us
in our hatred of sin, in contempt for the world and its
vanities, and in a filial fear of the power and justice of
God our Lord.
Point I. — The destruction of the world. — The sun and
moon will go out, and the stars shall fall, the earth
shall shake and gape, sea shall roar and will be lashed
into fury, men will be shrivelled up with fear,^ animals
and nature will be in a fever to do vengeance for man's
treatment of God. Even men will do violence to each
other, and multitudes will die of famine, plague, and
fright.3
1 St. Matt. XXV. 41. 2 St. Luke xxi. ' St. Matt. xxiv.
I40 THE FIRST WEEK.
Then all things will be set ablaze and consumed. ^
What folly then to attach ourselves to anything, seeing
that it is only fuel for the great fire. And so passeth
away the glory of the world. The universal silence
will next be broken by the blast of the trumpet and
the universal resurrection : Surgite mortui et venite ad
judicium. Woe to those who ignored or disbelieved
the resurrection. Happy those who have believed and
said, Expedo resurrectionem mortuovum. Imagine the two
great rivers of life as the souls come pouring from
Heaven and from Hell to resume their bodies ; how
fearful the meeting of the latter, how beautiful that of
the former ; what horror, shame, confusion, and despair,
at the union of souls with bodies on the part of the
wicked.
Point 2. — The appearance of Jesus Christ. — Angels
will then herald the coming of our Lord, bearing His
emblem, the holy Cross, to the delight of the good and
despair of the wicked. Next He will take His seat,
surrounded by all the hosts of the spirit world and
resplendent with mighty power and majesty. What
a tremendous contrast between this and His first
coming ! Now Heaven, earth, and Hell itself are
bound to join in one great act of adoration of the Man-
God and King of creation.
Then shall the great parting take place. The good
on the right hand shall lift up their heads, for the hour
of their redemption is at hand ; but the wicked on the
left, full of hatred and despair, will cry out, " These
are they whom once we held in derision. We fools
esteemed their lives madness, and their end without
honour. See how now they are counted amongst the
sons of God," &c. The rich are reduced to miserable
beggary, superiors to slavery, learned to folly, &c.
O God, make us now poor, humble, unknown, and
1 2 St. Peter iii. 7.
REPETITION OF THE JUDGMENT. 141
despised, with Thee, that on that day, with Thee, we
may rejoice and glorify Thy me^C3^
Then shall the Book be opened, in which all
things are contained on which judgment is to be passed,
for the glorification of the good, who in life have b}^
tears of repentance and good works repaired their
offences and laid up treasures in Heaven, and for the
eternal and universal shame of the wicked, whose evil
deeds will cling to them — tua opera sunms non te derelin-
qiiemuy — and cannot be shaken off.
Point 3. — The sentence. — Venite — come, the winter is
over with its storms, its sufferings, its trials, and its
tears, come, ye blessed of My Father, blessed in body
and in mind — come to your thrones. Your crowns and
sceptres are awaiting you. Oh ! the glory and the
raptures of that great day for the good. Surely this of
itself would be reward enough for ages of hard labour
and sufferings.
On the other hand, with terrible voice and counten-
ance He will say to the wicked : Depart, begone from
Me whom ye would not have, whom ye scorned,
despised, and rejected ; but take the curse of 3'our God
along with you, and begone to everlasting fire. *' And
these shall go into everlasting torment, but the just
into everlasting life." Heaven's gates will be flung
wide open for the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ and
His saints, and the gates of Hell will be closed for ever
upon the wretched victims of His wrath. Who can
ever dream of exposing himself to the danger of sin,
or will harbour any attachment to the riches, pleasures,
and honours of this miserable world, when he sees what
is to be the end of such folly and madness. Let us
pray, Ne me perdas ilia die. Here burn, here cut, here
spare me not, only spare me for eternity.^
End with ** Our Father."
1 Augustine.
142 THE FIRST WEEK.
THE SHORTNESS OF TIME.
To strengthen us in our detachment from the world
and from its seductions, and to increase our contempt
for it, is the object of this meditation.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us imagine ourselves as criminals
brought out to suffer death.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg a deep and practical convic-
tion of the shortness of time and the hoUowness of all
the things of earth.
Point I. — Time is short. Some count thirty, forty,
may be sixty years. Recalling the years we have lived,
how quickly they have gone ; and how chequered and
painful is the remembrance which they have left behind :
" Man living for a short time is filled with many
miseries." What remains will likewise go, and with
greater apparent rapidity. Take away the time of
infancy, time spent in sleep, in meals, and unnecessary
amusements, how little serious remains, even in a long
life ! How many years spent in disgrace before God,
how many in a life of tepidity and routine. Alas ! how
fearfully short have been our lives, and how few the
years spent for Heaven and eternity ! Almost as few
as those spent ordinarily in learning a trade or
profession.
Point 2. — Time is short. Job lived until nearly three
hundred years old, and yet he counts them as nothing —
they are gone quicker than the rider borne along on his
courser, than a vessel before the wind, like leaves before
the autumn blasts, or a flower just budding when it is
trodden underfoot. What then is time to eternity ?
Count all the seconds of your life, and let us suppose
them to be years, still they would be nothing but a
THE SHORTNESS OF TIME. 143
dream to eternity, and yet on the right use of these
short days depends our eternity.
Point 3. — Then what a folly to allow ourselves to be
affected by the things of this world, by its false and
fleeting pleasures, its honours, and all that it boasts of,
loves, and esteems. Prudence insists upon it that we
should detach ourselves from them ; reason declares
that an immortal spirit cannot find satisfaction in things
which are stamped with mortality; experience proves
that they are the vanity of vanities, and that they beget
only affliction and nausea. Faith and reason both incul-
cate the necessity at all times and in all circumstances
of regulating our lives v/ith a view to our eternity.
In our colloquy let us earnestly beg this grace of
God, and end with '* Our Father."
The meditations which have occupied us up till now
are calculated to fill us with a holy, salutary fear of
God, the Almighty, all wise, all just, and all holy; and
at the same time they must have impressed us with a
conviction of our own unworthiness, sinfulness, and
ingratitude. Were we to end the first part of the
Exercises here, there would be danger of our hearts
becoming contracted and depressed, and of our aban-
doning our resolutions to avoid all sin for the time to
come, and to order our lives in future, through an
absence of holy confidence in God. It is through want
of this humble confidence that so many fail to perse-
vere, and find the yoke of God's service bitter, and the
burden too heavy. If we would run in the way of
God's commandments, and make rapid progress in
God's service, it is necessary that we put our confidence
in Him, and then we shall be able to say with holy
David,^ *' I have run in the way of Thy commandments,
when Thou didst enlarge my heart," whilst we must
1 Psalm cxviii. 32.
144 THE FIRST WEEK.
feel at the same time that of ourselves we are useless
servants, and incapable of doing anything good. To
inspire this humble and confiding spirit, and at the
same time a feeling of gratitude to God, we may make
any of the three following meditations. Each of them
is calculated also to fill us with those dispositions which
are required to make a good confession, which is one of
the objects of this first part of the Spiritual Exercises,
as we have already said.
THE ALLEGORY OF THE PRODIGAL.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us place ourselves in the crowd
around our Blessed Lord, all attention to His words
regarding the Prodigal.
1 "And He said : A certain man had two sons. And the younger of
them said to his father : Father, give me the portion of substance that
falleth to me. And he divided unto them his substance. And not many-
days after, the younger son gathering all together, went abroad into a far.
country : and there wasted his substance, Hving riotously. And after he
had spent all there came a mighty famine in that country, and he began to
be in want. And he went and cleaved to one of the citizens of that
country. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine. And he would
^ain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat ; and no man
gave unto him. And returning to himself, he said : How many hired
servants in my father's house abound with bread, and I here perish with
hunger ? I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him : Father, I
have sinned against Heaven and^before thee ; I am not now worthy to be
called thy child ; make me as one of thy hired servants. And rising
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 be merry." (St. Luke xv. ii — 24.)
THE ALLEGORY OF THE PRODIGAL. 145
Prelude 2. — Let us beg a deep sorrow and confusion
for having too truly imitated the Prodigal in leaving
his father, and the grace to imitate him in his repent-
ance and in his return home.
Point I. — His departure. — Let us consider the happi-
ness of the father and children, as long as they were
innocent ; happ}^ in their mutual love, happy in having
all which they could desire, and honoured and respected
by all the household. But as time goes on the younger
child begins to feel the weariness and restraint of
his home, falls into bad company, joins in idle and
mischievous conversations, becomes affected by bad
example, indulges in and is carried away by a love
of pleasure, gratifies his passions, and ends in a
resolution to break loose from restraint and to assert
his independence. In vain do his friends and his
afflicted father admonish him and try to counsel
him. He resents their advice, and disregards their
admonitions; and at last, heedless of the pain
which his thoughtless and selfish folly inflicts on
his parent, he boldly asks for the portion of inherit-
ance destined for him, and resolves to leave his
father's roof. Though he has no claim to anything,
and has wanted for nothing, the sorrowing father
grants his request ; and he departs for a far distant
country. Surely our Blessed Lord here is giving
in prophecy our own history. Oh, how happy
were we as from infancy we gradually advanced in
years. We were children of our Heavenly Father,
who loved us, and whom we loved in return. We
wanted for nothing, for in God and in the Holy Ghost
within us, and in our elder Brother Jesus, we had all
things, and we possessed the title-deeds to eternal
glory ; and one of God's ministers attended on us as
our guardian and protector. But alas ! the day when
we claimed our free-will from God, and abused it, and
K
146 THE FIRST WEEK.
went to a far distant country ! How far ! Longe est
Domimis ah impiis.'^
Point 2. — Disorders and miserable state of the Prodigal. —
Like the wild ass of the desert, ^ he Hfts his head,
and fresh in his freedom, rushes whithersoever he wills,
having none for his master ; he spends his time in
feastings and debauch, in company with false friends
and flatterers who sponge upon him. His means at
length are exhausted, he contracts debt upon debt, until
he loses all credit, is abandoned by his friends, becomes
insolvent, and his goods are sold. He is reduced to
misery, starvation, and must needs beg for bread, and
at last seeks some occupation ; but at first in vain, until
out of mere compassion, he is accepted as a swine-
herd ! Poor young man, once so happy, now so worn,
so wan, so miserable ! He is so poorly fed that he
must needs satisfy his hunger b}^ eating of " the husks
of which the swine did eat."
Alas ! when the passions break loose, all merit is
lost, and we fall from one abyss into another ; w^ are
ashamed of our excesses, yet are drawn on by habits,
until we reduce ourselves to the level of the brute
creation. Still we can never be happy, never contented,
there is always a famine in the heart of him who has
banished God, for there is nothing on earth that can
possibly fill it, or content it. Oh, what a life for one
who was the child of God.
Point 3. — The return. — Weak, starved, weary, and
despised, he thinks of his father and his home. His
father, whom he wounded, insulted, and dishonoured ;
his home, where he was once so respected, and where
he was so happy, whilst now here he is perishing with
hunger. And in his father's Iiouse the lowest menial
has plenty of food, and abounds with Bread. He
resolves within himself to arise at once and go, he will
1 Prov. XV. 29. 2 Job xxiv. 5.
THE ALLEGORY OF THE PRODIGAL. 147
tell his father that he is sorry, that he has sinned, that
he has forfeited his sonship, and will be happy to be as
a servant. The way is long, he may die on the way;
his injured father may spurn him from his door ; his
equals, and the very servants, may mock and scoff at
him. Be it so, he will go, and go at once. Let us
follow him. He falls, but rises again, and persists on
his way ; often he rests through weakness and fatigue.
A thousand thoughts agitate his soul. Does his father
live ? What will he say ? How shall he answer ?
Meanwhile the good old man is thinking of and
mourning for his child, and while yet afar off, love gives
keenness to that father's eye, and he goes forth to meet
his penitent child, kisses him, and orders fresh robes to
be brought, and rings and sandals for his hands and
feet, and a great banquet to be prepared to celebrate
the return of the long-lost child. Here is our title-deed
to a welcome from our Heavenly Father, if, like the
Prodigal, we return to Him. Let us imitate him in
humiHty, in sorrow, in breaking loose from our evil
habits and occasions of sin, and then we may rely upon
a like reception from our Father who is in Heaven.
Make your colloquy to our Blessed Mother, to Jesus
Christ, and to the Eternal Father, giving thanks, con-
fessing the ingratitude of the past, making resolutions
for the future, and praying for the grace of unswerving
confidence for the time to come.
End with *' Our Father."
Note. — For those who are striving to lead a good
life, but yet are at times inclined to relax their efforts,
and to grow sluggish and indifferent, and to indulge in
independence, self-ease, &c., this allegory may be use-
fully applied for the acquiring and confirming of our
resolutions to amend, and for the strengthening of our
confidence in the loving mercy of God our Father.
148 THE FIRST WEEK.
CONVERSION OF ST. PETER.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Pvelude i. — Brief history of the contemplation. We
read that Peter, full of love for Jesus Christ, after
protesting thrice that he would never betray Him, put
himself into the occasion of doing so, and fell : but by
the loving glance of our Blessed Lord, and the crowing
of the cock, he is recalled to repentance, and by his
tears he regained forgiveness.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine Peter going apart,
weeping and beating his breast.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we want, namely, that
Jesus would look mercifully upon us, and move us also
to repentance, and to true confidence.
Point I. — Let us see the call of Peter. No sooner
was he called than he boldly and generously responded,
giving himself to Jesus, and abandoning all else.^ His
fervour and love never flagged. He was the first to
confess his faith in the Divinity of the Son of Man, and
was especially blest and favoured by our Lord.
Here let us reflect how He has also called us at least
to His Holy Church, whereby we become members of
His family and of His mystical Bod}^ And when we
made our First Communion, how fervent we were, how
1 "But Peter sat without in the court; and there came to him a
servant-maid saying : Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean. But he
denied before them all, saying : I know not what thou sayest. And as he
went out of the gate, another maid saw him, and she saith to them that
were there : This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth, And again he
denied with an oath : that I know not the man. And after a little while
they came that stood by, and said to Peter : Surely thou also art one of
them. Then he began to curse and to swear, that he knew not the man."
{St. Matt. xxvi. 69—75.)
- "Then Peter answering said to Him : Behold we have left all things
and have followed Thee." (St. Matt. \\x. 27.)
CONVERSION OF ST. PETER. 149
we pledged to Him our love, and our resolution to cling
to Him, and never again to abandon Him.
So during the three years we see Peter casting out
devils, present on Thabor at the Transfiguration, at
the Last Supper, refusing to allow Jesus to wash his
feet, &c. We too for a time perhaps were fervent and
faithful. Or if called to Religion, we at first were
so fervent, and diligent in prayer and all other
duties, &c.
Point 2. — His fall. — In the Garden he sleeps thrice,
even though twice awaked by his Master, and told to
pray. Then he follows Him from afar ; next goes and
warms himself, and joins the bad company gathered
round the fire, and so he falls. Alas ! what a fearful
fall. Have we too, favoured like St. Peter with special
graces, grown remiss in prayer, sought self-ease,
indulged in evil or worldly company, acted through
vanity or other perverse intention, and so come to fall ?
How often do we find that by neglect of prayer, by
self-indulgence, and by a worldly spirit, we gradually
expose ourselves to fall.
Point 3. — His repentance. — He at once abandons the
occasions of his sin, is overwhelmed with shame and
horror, and for the rest of his life his cheeks became
furrowed by the big, hot tears he shed daily ; and he
hurries off to the house where Mary was staying with
some disciples to tell them of his crime and to seek for
comfort.
But how did Jesus treat him ? His first apparition
is to him. He prays that his faith may never fail. He
appoints him His Vicar, and the visible foundation and
Head of His Church. Oh ! what a lesson for us. If
He thus spared His favoured Apostle, so also will He
spare us if, like Peter, we repent, and fly from the
occasions which expose us to sin, and try to imitate
his love and confidence.
13©
THE FIRST WEEK.
End with a colloquy to our Blessed Lady and to
our Blessed Lord. *' Our Father."
CONVERSION OF MAGDALENE.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — The brief history is recorded by St. Luke,
c. Vll.
Prelude 2. — Let us place ourselves in the dining-hall
of Simon the Pharisee, where Mary is kneeling, weeping
at the feet of Jesus.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we most should desire,
that we may hear the call of our Blessed Lord, and
may return to His love and never again be separated
from Him.
Poiitt I. — Earnestly had our Lord longed for the
conversion of Mary. She was gifted with beauty, in
the full bloom of life, favoured with talent, and affable
1 "And standing behind at His feet, she began to wash His feet with
tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and
anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee who had invited Him,
seeing it, spoke witliin himself, saying : This Man, if He were a propliet,
%vould know surely who and what manner of woman this is that touches
Him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him : Simon, I
have somewhat to say to thee. But he said : Master, say it. A certain
creditor had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence, and the other
fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both.
Which therefore of the two loveth him most ? Simon answering said : I
suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And He said to him : Thou
hast judged rightly. And turning to the woman he said unto Simon :
Dost thou see this woman? I entered thy house; thou gavest Me no
water for My feet ; but she with tears hath washed My feet, and with her
hairs hath v^iped them. Thou gavest Me no kiss ; but she, since she came
in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint ; but she with ointment hath anointed My feet ; wherefore I say to
thee : Many sins arc forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to
whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. And He said to her : Thy sins are,
forgiven thee. . . . And He said to the woman : Thy faith hath made thee
safe, go in peace." (St. Luke vii. 38 — 50.)
CONVERSION OF MAGDALENE. 151
of speech ; and consequently men easily fell a prey to
her charms. Her dress and general bearing, as well as
her position in society, all made her more dangerous ;
and her dissipated life, her unbridled passion, and her
vanity entangled her more every day in the chains and
bonds of the world and of sin. All her gifts were
employed by her against her God who had bestowed
them on her.
But on a day she saw a crowd round the house of
Simon, and approached and entered the hall. She
looked upon the open face of Jesus, on which modesty
was enshrined, she heard the gentle words that fell from
His lips, and became rapt in attention — her heart was
inflamed with love and confidence, for His words were
especially adapted to her. Grace masters her ; and full
of indignation at the haughty and inhospitable manner
in which He had been received by His host, she
dishevels her hair, flings herself on her knees at His
feet, washes His feet with her tears, and wipes them
with her hair, and anoints them with precious ointment.
Her heart meanwhile is broken with grief at the loath-
some sight of the corruption of her soul and her rnan}^
iniquities, and pleads for mercy, feeling confidence that
her prayer will be heard. Let us consider how guilty
we too have been, how many inspirations we have
received ; of how many sins of commission and omission,
of scandal and bad example, we have been guilty.
And when the same Jesus calls us and urges us to
return, how sadly difl'erent is our answer to His call.
Where is our sorrow ? What our thoroughness in
giving up the occasions of sin, and rooting out our
inordinate attachments.
Point 2. — The predominant feeling in Magdalene
was that of love of our Lord : she feels that He alone
can still the tempest in her soul. His every sense
attracts her, and convinces her that He will forgive all,
152 THE FIRST WEEK.
and will heal her wounded spirit. And her confidence
was well founded. For Jesus addresses His pharisaical
host and declares to him that her many sins are forgiven
her, and turning to her He says, " All thy sins are
forgiven thee. Go now in peace."
He utters no word of reproach, but welcomes her
and encourages her, filling her soul with perfect peace.
Let us imitate the thoroughness of Magdalene, and we
shall meet with the same reception on the part of our
Blessed Lord, Bonus est Doniinus sperantihus in illum^ —
'' The Lord is good to them that trust in Him."
Point 3. — Magdalene by a single blow broke asunder
all the chains of wantonness and profane love which
bound her. She abandoned all worldly show and vanity,
and all human respect. She bids an eternal farewell to
all her former friends and partners in guilt, holding
them in abomination. In her trials and temptations
she remains staunch and faithful, supported by her love
of and confidence in our Blessed Lord : who on His
side makes her sacrifices sweet and pleasant to her,
and fills her soul- with holy joy. He comforts her,
commends her, boldly and openly defends her, and
declares that what she has done shall be announced
throughout the whole world wheresoever His Gospel
shall be preached. He honours her by choosing her to
be present at His Death at the foot of the Cross, and
by appearing to her the first of all women after His
Death, if we except, of course. His own Blessed Mother.
But what is the goodness of our Lord to Magdalene
compared with what He has shown to us ? He has not
once, but times without number pronounced His forgive-
ness of our manifold sins. He has heaped endless
graces upon us. He has given us the greatest of all
gifts. His own adorable Body and Blood, that we may
not only possess Him, but that He may be our very
1 Lament, iii, 29.
- CONVERSION OF MAGDALENE. 153
food, and that not once or on rare occasions, but as
often as we choose to receive Him. Oh, who will not
love Him then, who will not have unbounded confidence
in Him ? Who will hesitate to give himself to Jesus,
who has given Himself thus to us ?
In our colloquy let us say with our whole hearts :
Jesus, Thou has conquered. I throw myself a
contrite sinner at Thy sacred feet. Vouchsafe to receive
Thy poor and unworthy supphant, and henceforth may
1 be Thine alone.
End with " Our Father."
THE SECOND WEEK.
THE ILLUMINATIVE WAY.
1. Like the Israelites, who after long years of
slavery in Egypt, at length were rescued by God under
the guidance of His servant Moses, from their cruel
captivity and from the miseries which they endured
under the galling tyranny of the Pharoahs, so have we
been, by the loving mercy of the same God, freed from
the far heavier slavery and more terrible oppression of
the devil, that enemy of our human nature, and from
the more fearful miseries in which our sins and
inordinate affections have plunged us. The chains with
which our unbridled passions and the wiles of the devil
had bound us have been broken, and we have once
again been set free.
2. But before the people of Israel could reach the
land which God promised them, the land flowing with
milk and honey, they had to spend forty years in much
suffering ; they had to endure hunger and thirst, they
had to wander in long journeyings and weary watchings
amidst the barren sands of the desert ; and in constant
and hard-fought battles they had to overcome powerful
enemies who often seemed to threaten them with certain
destruction. "By the mercy of the Lord they were
not consumed," but at length under His special
guidance and protection they attained the end of their
journey. We, too, after attaining our freedom are to
THE ILLUMINATIVE WAY. 15
make our way to the promised land, to our everlasting-
country ; but our road lies through a desert land, and is
beset with many hardships and dangers, and at any
time and in all times we are exposed to the fierce
assaults of the enemy of our human nature, and to the
no less dangerous attacks of our own rebellious passions
and vicious inclinations, and must be constantly on our
guard against surprises and ready to combat and repel
our foes.
3. This is the reason why in this second part of the
Exercises St. Ignatius so often speaks of war and
conquest, and represents our Blessed Lord as our King
and Captain, " Our Lord is a Man of war," 1 the Captain
of the elect ; whilst he represents the devil as the arch-
rebel and the head of the hosts of darkness.
4. In all the contemplations we see the spiritual
warfare we are called upon to wage, against the devil,
the world, and our corrupt nature, and against our
undue attachment to the persons and things of this
world.
5. In order that we in our fallen nature might
succeed in attaining our journey's end, it was necessary
that our Lord should come to point out to us our way,
and that He should pay our ransom, and should provide
us with the weapons and means of securing the victory,-
and should be ''our way, our truth, and our life."^
Therefore He came with our ransom in one hand, with
a sword in the other,"^ and He put Himself at our head,
and combats with us. He sets us in His Life an
example which, in whatever state of life we may be, is
eminently practical, and is also glorious, for as He has
^ Exodus XV. 3,
' " But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ." (i Cor. xv. 57.)
2 St. John xiv. 6.
•* " Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth. I came not to
send peace, but the sword." (St. Matt, x, 34.)
156 ' THE SECOND WEEK.
conquered and been crowned with victory, so also shall
we share in the fruits of that victory, if only we imitate
Him in the strife.
6. Now to do this and to mould ourselves upon
Him, we must apply ourselves to study Him, and
acquire a practical knowledge of Him ; of His exterior
and interior. His conduct, His virtues, .His ideas, His
intentions and maxims. The fruit of this knowledge
will be great admiration, and the result of this will
be a corresponding energy and ambition to imitate
Him.
7. To render ourselves like Jesus Christ, and con-
formable to His image, is the one great object of the
Christian's life, and is the condition without which it is
impossible to please God and secure eternal happiness,
as St. Paul teaches, " For whom He foreknew, He also
predestinated to be made conformable to the image of
His Son : that He might be the first-born amongst many
brethren." ^ Some of course are called to a more, some
to a less perfect resemblance and imitation, according to
the measure of God's grace imparted to them and the
nature of the vocation to which God in His providence
may call them. This depends entirely upon His own
free choice ; but all Christians are bound in their several
states to a certain degree of imitation.
8. Those who are called to the closest imitation and
to the mixed life of contemplation, with the addition of
the active life, as in the Society of Jesus, are bound to
be pre-eminently skilled and exercised in this part of
the Exercises,^ as without this we can hardly hope to
procure effectually the greater glory of God, to strip
ourselves of all self-love and worldly affections and
attachments, and to be men dead to the world, crucified
to the world, and to whom the world is crucified, and
to be ready, should it be the good pleasure of God, to
1 Pomans viii. 29. * Direct, x. § 6.
THE ILLUMINATIVE WAY. 157,
lay down life itself in promoting the greater glory o^
Him who has selected us to this exalted vocation.
g. In this imitation of our Blessed Lord, the second
degree of perfection in following His example will be to
excel in the practice of poverty in spirit, by rooting out
every inclination to anything on earth, and to all those
comforts or conveniences which are the results or con-
comitants of riches, whether material or intellectual,
natural or even spiritual, in the sense in which we
considered them in the Principle or Foundation.
The third degree will be to imitate our Blessed
Lord also in His actual poverty, such as we witness
in His Life from the manger of Bethlehem to the
sepulchre on Calvary, and in His humility and humilia-
tions during the same time.
10. Many cannot understand why St. Ignatius would
have us meditate on the mysteries of the Life of our
Blessed Lord according to the points which he has
given at the end of the book after *' Three Methods of
Prayer," whereas at the beginning of the exercises of
the Illuminative Way, in the meditations on the Incar-
nation and Nativity, he draws out quite different points,
considering the Persons, Words, and Actions involved
in these mysteries, and then desires us to make use of
the same form in all the other mysteries. The explana-
tion is that in these two mysteries he lays down the
form and manner of meditating each mystery, that we
may the better understand the matter of each of the
points, and derive greater fruit and entertainment from
them, by this consideration of the persons, their words,
or interior thoughts or sentiments and actions, as they
occur in the respective points of the mystery. These
latter do not constitute the points, but rather are pro-
posed as considerations suitable and adapted to each
point.
11. With regard to the other persons who intervene
158 THE SECOND WEEK.
in any of the mysteries, we may consider their words
or sentiments, observe their actions, and gather from
everything which occurs reflections and sentiments for
our spiritual profit ; but we must in an especial manner
regard and study the Person of our Blessed Lord,
drawing from Him the chief and main lessons of the
behaviour and conduct we are to observe in order to
glorif}^, praise, and serve God as He did ; that thus we
may imprint on our understanding and will, and implant
in our soul, the form and model of the Life of Jesus
Christ.
If, with a sincere and humble desire, we persevere
and are constant in the practice of this method of
prayer, we shall at length attain the state of St. Ignatius,
who could neither speak nor act without reflecting first
how Jesus would have spoken or acted in similar
circumstances. What wonder that it was once said of
him, that if the Imitation of Christ should be quite lost,
it would suffice to look at St. Ignatius, and read it in
all his actions'.
12. We must also take notice that in the contem-
plations there is prescribed an additional prelude before
the two which we have used in the preceding medita-
tions. In it we take a cursory view of the history of
the myster}^ which we are going to contemplate, not
part by part as we do in the contemplation itself, but
only in general. Thus we take a general view of some
fine painting before entering on a minute investigation
of the beauties of its several parts.^
13. During this part of our retreat certain changes
are to be made in the Additions and Annotations, as
St. Ignatius tells us at the end of his fifth contempla-
tion. Thus :
In the second Addition : We are, upon awaking, to
turn our mind to the contemplation which we are going
1 Direct, xix. § 4.
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 159
to make, with an earnest desire to know the Eternal
and Incarnate Word, that thereby we may serve Him
better and may follow Him more closely.
In the sixth Addition : We are frequently to recall
the memory of the Life and mysteries of Christ our
Lord, from His Incarnation up to that on which we
are next going to meditate.
In the seventh Addition : We must make use of
obscurity or light, of the fine weather or not, just as far
as they may conduce to kindle those affections and
sentiments which are suitable to and in accord with
the mystery which we have in hand.
In the tenth Addition : We must, above all, earnestly
practise internal mortification, withdrawing every affec-
tion of our hearts from all worldly things to fix them on
God alone ; and we must frequently excite in ourselves
ardent desires to love and glorify Him at all cost, for
this is the main scope of this part of the retreat.
14. St. Ignatius also observes that sometimes, even
though the exercitant be of vigorous and robust con-
stitution, it is of advantage to introduce some change
by way of variety for some days, either as to the hours,
or the number, or both, of the exercises and contem-
plations, but always with a view to the end.
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST.
I. Having by God's grace laid aside the old man of
sin, and resolved to regulate and order our lives for the
time to come, we ask with St. Paul, " O Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do?" or with St. Peter, "O Lord,
to whom shall we go?" And the answer which we
receive is, '' Come and follow Me." With this call of
our Blessed Lord we now wish to comply, and hence it
i6o THE SECOND WEEK.
is the first object of our meditation in commencing the
part of the exercises of the Ilhiminative Way.
As the Foundation of all spiritual life is the end of
man, so the Principle and Foundation of the second
and third part of the Exercises, which treat of the Life,
and of the Passion and Death of our Lord, is what
St. Ignatius calls "The Kingdom of Christ." For
imitation of Him involves three things, namely, know-
ledge and love of His Person, a clear understanding of
the cause which He represents, and which we are called
upon to embrace, and a thorough appreciation of the
degree of generosity with which we should devote our-
selves to His cause. We can then enter in detail into
His Life and derive the profit from its several mysteries
which a careful study of them is calculated to produce
-i in our souls.
Prehide i. — Let us imagine the cities, towns, aud
villages through which amidst fatigues, poverty, and
ignominy our Lord passed evangelizing His Kingdom.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg what we earnestly desire,
namely, not to be deaf to His call, but promptly and
diligentl}^ to fulfil His most holy will.
Point I. — Let us first by way of allegorj^ picture to
ourselves a King uniting in himself all those qualities
which are calculated to challenge esteem, respect, love,
and enthusiasm, holding his authority directly from
God, who has placed him on the throne, and ruling over
wide dominions, with many princes as his tributaries.
Under the guidance of Heaven he undertakes to pro-
' claim a crusade against the infidels, and to reduce the
countries possessed by them ; and he invites all to join
him in this grand enterprise. He requires from who-
soever shall respond to his call the following conditions :
that he must be ready to put up with the same usage
and treatment as his King, to bear cheerfully the same
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. i6i
hardships of hunger, and thirst, and watching, the same
fatigues and dangers. On the other hand, when the
war is over, and the victory which is assured by God
is won, he shall share in the fruits of the conquest, in
its happiness and glory, according as he has been a
partner in the toils and dangers of the strife. Doubtless
every loyal subject, and especially those of noble and
princely stock, would pledge themselves with one voice
to this courteous and generous monarch, to follow him
with the greatest promptitude and devotedness whither-
soever he might be pleased to lead them. Whosoever
should demur or hesitate would be an object of pity,
ridicule, and contempt, and would be branded as a
coward, especially in such a noble cause, on such royal
conditions, and under such a generous and magnanimous
sovereign.
Point 2. — Let us now come to the reality, and see
in the first place, (a) Who is this King ? He is the
only-begotten Son of God, the Lord and Master of the
universe, whose subjects we are by nature, and to
whom we essentially owe all homage, all respect and
love.
{/3) This mighty Prince has freely descended from
Heaven to earth on purpose to subject to the will
and love of His Father all mankind, and, having
subdued the world, the flesh, and the devil, to
secure the triumph of God's glory in time and for
eternity.
This design is infinitely noble and excellent ; it is an
enterprise as generous as it is unselfish^ worthy of the
Infinite Being who comes to put it into execution. And
how glorious it is to know, love, and glorify God, we
may judge from the fact that the Son of God Himself,
who wanted for nothing, and is the Infinite Wisdom,
deemed it meet to come upon this earth and devote
His mortal Life to cares, sorrows, labours, His Passion
L
i62 THE SECOND WEEK.
and Death, to execute it, and to be our companion and
model in effecting the same.^
How happy should we be not only to be invited,
but also enrolled as Christians (how much more if
Religious), to promote this glorious work in ourselves
and others ! Let us return Him most heartfelt thanks
for the sublime dignity of our state, and rouse ourselves
to noble and generous resolutions to achieve great feats
for God's greater glory.
(y) What must all men of sound sense and reason
resolve, but to do at least this much, namely, to offer
up themselves without reserve to the undertaking ?
Those, however, who ambition to distinguish and
signalize themselves in the service of their Eternal
King and universal Lord, will not be contented merely
by making a complete offering of themselves to praise,
serve, and glorify God, but will make an offering of still
greater value, namely, to take the offensive and make
an onslaught on their own sensual inclinations and on
carnal and worldly love, so as not simply to force and
keep them within bounds, but to give them no quarter,
till they are annihilated. The watchword of such is
death to the senses, death to persons and things, except
in and for my King's service, and death to the spirit
and love of the world.
This and nothing short of this is the real spirit of a
true Jesuit, embodied in the eleventh and twelfth rules
of the Summary of the Constitutions. In this spirit we
should conclude this meditation, saying: " Eternal Lord
of all things, with Thy favour and help I now declare
in presence of Thy infinite goodness, and in the sight
of Thy glorious Mother and of all the Saints of Thy
heavenly court, that it is my wish and desire and my
deliberate determination, provided it is for Thy greater
1 " It is great glory to follow the Lord, for length of days shall l:e
received from Him." (Ecclus. xxiii. 38.)
REPETITION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 163
service and praise, to imitate Thee in bearing all kinds
of injuries, reproaches, and complete poverty both in
spirit and actual, if Thy most holy Majesty will vouch-
safe to choose me for and receive me in such a state of
life."
End with the *' Our Father." 1
Note 1. — If we compare this meditation with the
Foundation, we see that the latter requires from us
indifference as to riches, honour, pleasure, and all
other things, and places us amongst those who have
sound sense and are guided by right reason, whereas from
the former we are prompted by a holy ambition to go
still further and to distinguish ourselves by a practical
hostility to all these things and to embrace their con-
traries, as poverty, contempt, suffering, &c.
2. In the final oblation of ourselves we must observe
that if we are in Religion, God in His goodness has
already chosen us, and that we only renew the offering
which we have already made, and freely ask, if He
thinks it well, to have our sincerity tested by fresh trials,
provided He will give us the grace to bear them.
REPETITION OF THE KINGDOM OF
CHRIST.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
The first and second preludes as in the preceding
meditation.
Part I. — The allegory of an earthly King.
Point I. — Let us picture this King specially chosen
by God as was David, and consequently possessed of
legitimate authority, and endowed with all power required
1 Conf. Direct, xviii. xix.
i64 THE SECOND WEEK.
to uphold his authority — that his jurisdiction extends
over all Christian peoples as well as over their rulers,
and that he possesses all the qualities that beseem such
a sovereign: the piety of a David, the wisdom of a
Solomon, the wide swa}'- of a Charlemagne, the patriotism
of a Sobieski, and the sanctity of a Louis. Add to all
this that he knows and loves all and each of the very
lowest of his people. Judge, if you can, what would
be the devotedness of such a people, and their happiness
under such a monarch !
Point 2. — Let us consider his proposal. It is, under
the guidance of God, to bring under the yoke of Christ
all infidel nations, and he invites the co-operation of
both princes and peoples on the following terms : they
shall all have the same clothing, food, and lodging :
they shall all suffer alike hunger, thirst, watching, and
the other hardships of war, cold and heat, long and
weary marches, and perhaps severe wounds : but he
will be ever by their side. There is nothing to fear, for
the victory is secure by the promise of God ; and
when the strife is over and the battle won, each will
share in the fruits and spoils of victory in proportion
to his toils, fatigues, and dangers. Whereas those who
have refused to accept his call will be consigned to a
lingering and miserable slavery under the cruel rule of
the infidel.
Imagine such a proposal made to a knightly soldier,
and conceive, if you can, with what enthusiasm it would
be accepted.
Point 3. — Let us reflect what every good subject
would reply to so liberal and humane a sovereign, and
how he would be spurned as a coward and mean-spirited
cavalier, who should turn a deaf ear to such a proposal.
See with what zeal men volunteer in case their country
is going to war. And yet they fight for a sovereign
who does not know them ; they are exposed to terrible
REPETITION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 165
dangers and hardships, have very Httle chance of pro-
motion, and many chances of sickness and death, and
victory, to say the least, is very doubtful. What, then,
would be the wild enthusiasm of men at the terms such
as we have been meditating ? They would give their
whole souls to the enterprise, and be ever on the strain
to rush forward on their enemies, nor would they rest
until they had crushed them.
Part 2. — The application.
Point I. — Who is our King? Jesus Christ, who is
actually and truly King, the Eternal King, the universal
King, King by nature, for all sovereignty is in God and
comes from God. King by birth, the only-begotten,
consubstantial Son, and heir of all things, ^ King by
merit, having all kingly attributes.- King by election,^
universal,^ King omnipotent,^ King by conqtiest,^ and by
purchase,^ King eternal, and to be adored by all.^
Point 2. — The enemies against whom He would
enlist us are the world, the flesh, and the devil.
St. Ignatius only mentions sensuality, carnal and
worldly love, because these are the three principal
enemies of God's Kingdom inside us, which, if conquered,
the other two will be powerless against us. Now by
sensuality we understand the pleasures and allurements
of the senses ; by carnal love, the love of bodily comfort,
of health, and of life, and also the love not purely
spiritual for parents, relations, and friends ; by ivorldly
love, the love of those things which the world loves,
such as riches, honour, vainglory, display, &c. Our
enterprise, then, is against spiritual enemies,^ and our
warfare, therefore, is spiritual. And further, this being
so, unless we overcome them in things which are lawful,
they will easily drag us into unlawful excesses. It is to
1 St. John i. 18. 2 Coloss. ii. 9. 3 Psalm ii, 6.
•^ Psalm ii. 8. ^ St. Matt, xxviii, ^ Apoc. v. 9.
' I Cor. vi. 20 ; i St. Peter ii. 9. 8 Psalm Ixxi. 11. » Ephes. vi. 12.
i66 THE SECOND WEEK.
this combat and to this victory that Jesus Christ calls
all Christians, and especially men like ourselves, whom
He has chosen to bear His name, to wear His own
uniform, whom He has raised up from the earth and
from neediness, and from the dunghill, that He might
place us in the rank of His princes. He calls us
especially to share in His poverty, to keep Him
company in His labours, humiliations, opprobrium,
insults, and contempt, and then we are later to share
His eternal glory.i
Could there be conditions more just, more noble»
more glorious ?
Point 3. — Let us further ask ourselves what should
be our response to this call, considering the station we
occupy, the claims upon us from the frequent forfeitures
of His grace, which He has overlooked, and what the
Church, and even the world itself expect from us?
Surely that we should at all times be renewing our
attacks upon these enemies of ourselves and of our King,
and be ever taking the aggressive against them. With
reason would the angels and saints cry shame at us,
and if the world knew it, it too would despise us if we
were content with anything less.
Renew the offering as at the end of the last medita-
tion.
Note i. — The imitation of Jesus is truly an expedi-
tion in which we are perpetually exposed to attack and
must ever be prepared to fight. In following Him we
are, however, sure of victory. The plan of campaign
is drawn out for each of us, and its faithful execution
leads to glory. And our King and Captain provides us
with abundant means of doing so, namely, renunciation,
self-sacrifice, prayer, and good works.
2. In this meditation we see for the first time
1 St. Matt. xix. 29 ; 2 Cor. iv, 17.
REPETITION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 167
insinuated the different grades in the army of Christ,
namely, one which observes the Ten Commandments,
another which embraces the Evangelical Counsels, and
the third is marked by the vocation to the Apostolate.
3. In each there are some who hold the privileged
posts. These are they whose motto is, Agere contra,
and whose badge is the death's head and cross bones,
the badge of the Society.
4. Henceforth the exercitant can read the mysteries
as recounted in the Gospels, or a chapter of the Imitation
of Christ, or some of the Lives of the Saints.
ANOTHER REPETITION OF THE KINGDOM
OF CHRIST.
{For those who are Religious.)
Our object is now to know Jesus Christ, for then we
shall be full of admiration for Him, and shall make
practical efforts to imitate Him. It is this real know-
ledge of Him which is eternal life. But alas ! how rare
is this knowledge become ! No ! Jesus is not known
even b}^ many ecclesiastics or even Religious. _ They
are content to dwell with Him on the mountain and to
contemplate Him in His Transfiguration ; they will
abide with Him during the breaking of bread, but how
few are brave enough to go and gaze at Him on Mount
Calvary, and to drink of the chalice which He drank !
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us picture our Lord before us,
amiable in all His features, modest and lowly. His
clothing is poor but decent, and there is a halo of
majesty round His Head.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg what we wish from our heart,
1 68 THE SECOND WEEK.
namely, the grace to understand thoroughly His invita-
tion, that He would by His grace move us to accept it,
and lead us to a better imitation of Him.
Point I. — Who is Jesus Christ ? He is the King. As
God, He it is by whom all things are made,i and who
beareth all things by the word of His power. ^ In Him
we all live, move, and have our being.^ He is a King
of ''tremendous majesty,"* and of His Kingdom there
is no end, and to Him the heavens and the earth are
subject. As man He is a King to whom all power is
given, and absolute dominion, and on His assumption
of our nature the angelic hosts were bidden to adore
Him. As man He paid the price of our redemption
and acquired possession of us. In His mortal life He
proved Himself a King by the royal manifestation of all
Kingly attributes, and before His tribunal as Supreme
Judge every soul must appear at its separation from its
body, and to such as have been faithful to Him He will
give the crown of life.^
Point 2. — What is the imitation of Christ ? In order
to establish the Kingdom of God amongst men, we
must mortify oiir passions, must renounce self; we
must give no quarter to any inordinate attachment. It
is not enough to contemplate the amiability of our Lord,
and to dwell on His promises, we must practise the
abnegation which He preaches. We must never forget
that "he who hates not father and mother, &c., cannot
be My disciple," and again, " He that wishes to come
after Me must take up his cross daily," &c.
Of course there are various degrees in the practice
of these lessons, but for the perfection of it, such as is
required in a Religious, the renunciation must be abso-
lute. Alas ! how many give more liberty to the love of
their relations than those who have never left the world.
1 I St. John i. 3- 2 Hebrews i. 3. ^ Acts xvii. 28.
* St. Matt. XXV. 5 Apoc. ii. 10.
REPETITION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 169
Point 3. — The reward ? The reward is the Kingdom
of Heaven — a happiness unspeakable and eternal. And
even in this life, Jesus sweetens our toils, by the
hundred-fold which He has promised. If we seek first
the Kingdom of God, even our temporal wants will be
abundantly provided for. Nor will God allow even a
hair of our heads to be hurt, or if He does He will
provide that it shall end in our greater glory, and will
encourage us by His own example to love those very
persecutions and sufferings which in the estimation of
the world are most dreadful. " We fools esteemed their
lives madness," &c. And if to us the yoke of Christ
seems hard, it is because we have only touched it with
our finger. Let us seize it, put it on our shoulder, and
embrace it, and it will become sw^eet and easy, and will
support us.i
Point 4. — The motives ? The first motive to give
ourselves up entirely and without reserve to this imita-
tion is that He has planed the way for us by His
example, subjecting Himself in Life and Death to
poverty, ignominy, and most bitter sufferings to gain
this Kingdom and glory, though due to Him on so
many titles, " It behoved Christ to suffer and so to
enter into His glory." 2 How cheerfully, then, should
I, His vassal, and a most miserable wretch, who for my
disloyalty and frequent treasons richly deserved to be
cast into Hell, follow Him along the same road and
willingly undergo any hardships and pains for the
same end.
The second motive is that if I bear Him company
in His sorrows and sufferings I shall certainly share
with Him in His glory and in His Kingdom. "If we
^ " Bear the cross willingly, and it will carry you, and lead you to the
longed-for good, where there shall be an end of suffering, though it will not
be here." {Imitation of Christ , bk. ii. c. xii.)
2 St. Luke xxiv. 26.
I70 THE SECOND WEEK.
suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with
Him."i In fact, all the advantages arising from the
victory over our passions, over the world and the devil,
will be for ourselves, and we shall enjoy them through
an endless eternity. Therefore, if we have any common-
sense at all, or any regard for our solid welfare, we
cannot but consecrate ourselves entirely and with all
earnestness to this imitation.
End again with the same offering as in the preceding
meditation, and " Our Father."
We might add in the repetitions, several powerful
considerations calculated to inspire us with still greater
earnestness in offering ourselves up to the service of
our Eternal King : as
(a) It is right and proper. For He has every claim
upon us, by creation, conservation, lordship, sovereignty,
and redemption. Further, for whatever we have, we
are absolutely dependent upon Him, and for each of
us He became Man and was crucified. He paid our
ransom, and merited glory for us.^ He supports and
helps us by His grace.
(13) It will pay as well. It is the only means of
securing the liberty of the children of God. If we do
not follow Christ, we must become the slaves of His
enemies, and cut ourselves off from all real peace ; and
exchange our true glory for foul disgrace. It is true
that at first it is hard, it is a yoke. It is hard to begin
the way of the Lord, but as the Holy Spirit tells us,^
*' When thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be
straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet
a stumbling-block." And the secure hope of an infinite
1 Romans viii. 17.
2 ' ' Forget not the kindness of thy surety, for He hath given His Life
for thee." (Ecclus. xxix. 19.)
3 Prov. iv. 12.
REPETITION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 171
and eternal reward will make all smootli and easy to us.
The example of the saints and the unction of Divine
grace, will animate and strengthen us. Quid times ?
quid dtibitas ? Vqcat te magni concilii angelus quo nemo est
sapientior, nemo fovtior, nemo fidelioy.'^
(y) It is necessary. If we do not freely follow Jesus
Christ, then we must be victims of the vilest slavery ;
for we become the slaves of our sordid passions, of the
world, and of the devil, the three greatest and meanest
tyrants of mankind ; and in the end we must incur
eternal torments in the prison prepared for the devil
and his angels.
(8) It is glorious and just. ^ Great is the glory to
follow the Lord, it is the real pathway of glory on earth;
trodden by Christ first and by the glorious choirs of
confessors, virgins, martyrs, and doctors, by all that
has ever been the best, the wisest, and the greatest in
humanity, by those who have ennobled our race. It is
glorious in Heaven hereafter. '* Truly the tribulations
of this world are not worthy to be compared with the
weight of glory that shall be revealed in us."^ '* If we
suffer, we shall also reign with Him."^
1 ' ' Why dost thou fear ? or why dost thou waver ? Behold it is the
Angel of the great Council who calls thee, than whom none is wiser, none
stronger, none more loyal and true." (St. Bernard.)
" Ecclus. xxiii. 38.
3 Romans viii. 18.
* 2 Timothy ii. 12.
172 THE SECOND WEEK.
THE INCARNATION.
PART I. — THE ANNUNCIATION.!
Thrice daily Holy Church puts this mystery before
her faithful children in inviting them to recite the
Angelus.
At these times Religious may fitly and profitably
renew their vows of Chastity, Obedience, and Poverty,
at least mentally; the first at the words, "The Angel
of the Lord declared unto Mary," &c. ; the second at
the words, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," &c. ;
the third at the words, " And the Word was made
Flesh," &c. Such a devotion, being essentially solid
and not interfering with any other duty, nor involving
any strain of mind, is at least commendable.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us recall how the Three Divine
Persons, seeing the human race falling into Hell in
consequence of sin, decree that the Second Person
shall become Man for their salvation, and how in the
fulness of time God sends the Archangel Gabriel to our
Lady, who assents to become the Mother of the Eternal
Word, and He puts on human nature in her most pure
womb.
Prelude 2. — Let us take a bird's-eye view of the
earth, and in particular the cottage of our Lady at
Nazareth.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg an intimate knowledge of our
1 ' ' And in the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a
city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a Virgin espoused to a man whose
name was Joseph, of the house of David ; and the Virgin's name was
Mary. And the Angel being come in, said unto her : Hail, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee : Blessed art thou amongst women." (St. Luke i.
26—28,)
THE INCARNATION. 173
Lord, who is going to become Man for us, that we may
love Him more dearly, and may follow Him more
nearly.
Point I. — The Salutation of the Angel. — Let us look
upon mankind scattered over the face of the earth.
Their first parent had been created to the image and
likeness of God, but that likeness had been lost. If we
except the Jews, all other nations were alike ignorant
of the true God and of their origin from Him. Egypt,
Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome all alike plunged in
idolatry and degrading vices : while the Eastern peoples,
less skilled in art and letters, had also lost the primary
traditions on the works of God and His worship. And
all these nations divided by interests, customs, place,
and mutual hatred and suspicion, differing in language,
colour, and features, striving against each other in
fierce battle or in private deeds of violence, whilst
multitudes groaned and dragged on their lives in slavery.
Those in power carnal and selfish, the wise steeped in
pride and split up into sects. Heads of famiHes having
power of life and death over their children. Priests a
class of idolaters and monstrous impostors. The poor
trampled underfoot, and ready at all times to rise up
against the rich. All were born, lived, and died with
God's anger on their heads — all alike slaves of con-
cupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, and
the pride of life. Nor did their speech belie either
their -actions or their thoughts and desires. Their
throats were gaping sepulchres, their mouths full of
cursing and bitterness,^ and of vain boasting,'^ of false-
hood.^ As to their occupations, some votaries of pleasure,
others working for gain, some fighting, others embracing,
some dying, others being born, some laughing, others
weeping, &c. What a frightful sight for the eyes of
God, what a hoarse and discordant roar from the
1 Psalm xii'. 3. 2 Psalm xi. 3. 3 Psalm cxviii. 85.
174 THE SECOND WEEK.
mouths of men struck and grated upon His ears.
Worse than the desert, where not a blade of grass
shows life amid the universal death, there was no sign
of supernatural life. "The Lord," says holy David,i
"looked down from Heaven upon the sons of men — all
had gone astray, and were useless together ; there was
not one who was doing good, not even one." In His
infinite compassion He resolves upon a remedy for this
awful evil ; no fires from heaven to destroy His
enemies, no floods to drown them and their crimes and
blasphemies : but it is resolved that the Second Person
of the Blessed Trinity shall assume man's nature, shall
redeem it and reinstate it. Misericovdia tua Domine plena
est terra.^ Who can love this wretched world : this
land of misery, of sorrow, of hypocrisy, of selfishness
and crime. How can we be thankful enough that God
has called us out of it, out of its vanity and affliction
of spirit ! And let us learn from our God compassion
for poor sinners, love of our enemies, and how to return
good for evil, even at the very time when they insult
and outrage us, for such is the spirit of our Father who
is in Heaven.
And, again, what should we be, what would the
world and humanity be without 'Jesus Christ ? Well
may we be inflamed with love for Him by whom we
have all things.
But it is true that amidst earth's vast desert there
was one oasis where dwelt a poor and humble Virgin,
in a small cottage in the mountain village of Nazareth
in Galilee. She was consecrated to God and spent
her life in sweet communion with Him, praying Him
to speed the time of His coming. Sanctity breathes
around her, her soul even in her conception was
immaculate, she corresponds most faithfully to every
grace. She is the greatest, the only great being on
1 Psalm lii. 2 Psalm cxviii. 64.
THE INCARNATION. 175
the face of the earth, the only bright spot on which
the eye of God can rest with pleasure. How true is it
that the great things of this world are little to God, and
the little things of earth are great in His eyes.
Then the Almighty summons the Archangel Gabriel,
and bids him go to Mary bearing the solemn com-
mission, and to receive her assent. Let us learn
how to obey, promptly, thoroughly, and cheerfully,
not considering whether the order be to minister to
the poor or rich, or be demeaning to our position
and the like. When God's will is manifested by
rightful authority we must, like the Angel, obey,
prompts, integre, et fortitev. Sometimes we are carried
away by jealousy if others receive greater gifts and
honours than we: and this perhaps happens with
respect to other Religious Orders : or we bring ourselves
to believe that the successes of others are a humiliation
for ourselves, and are grieved at them. No ! No ! A
thousand times no ! May God be glorified, that is all,
no matter when or by whom, whether by friend or foe ;
by those who patronize us or by our rivals.
Point 2. — The Salutation. — Let us contemplate Mary
as she is in her solitary chamber absorbed in prayer,
when the Angel enters and greets her by her name ;
then declares her "full of grace." What an honour!
what the praise of all mankind together compared with
what she receives from the mouth of this Archangel.
When he goes on to praise her as the most blessed of
all women, she became troubled and thought what this
praise might mean. We, on the contrary, are troubled
if men do not praise us ; and flatter ourselves that their
praises are only our due. What a contrast with the
humility of Mary. The Angel calms her fears and
announces his commission. "Behold thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, . . . thou shalt call His name Jesus, . . . and
of His Kingdom there shall be no end." His reign shall
176 THE SECOND WEEK.
never end: unlike earthly kings, whom either revolution
or death draw down from the throne, et regni eonmi est finis,
Undazzled by the proposal, she is full of thought
before she speaks, and then exposes her difficulty.
She has cut off her chance of being a mother by her
solemn vow by which she never will and never can
know man. Oh ! the all but infinite love of holy purity
which would make her reject the honour of being
Mother even of God if it were to cost her her virginity.
What a lesson for us, and how it should fill us with
confusion at so often and without necessity exposing
this sweet virtue to the danger of being sullied. Then
the Angel replies to her difficulty: and then and not
before does she assent. How often do we, when God
inspires us to a sacrifice, ask " How can that be ?
How can we overcome this repugnance of the flesh,
this or that temptation ? " Let us remember the words
of the Archangel, " Nothing is impossible with God,"
and let us trust that by our faith, like the saints, we
shall conquer, and let us say with the Apostle, " I can
do all things in Him who strengtheneth me,"i not
indeed of myself, but by the grace of God with me, and
this grace will never be wanting to me.
Let us make our colloquy to our Blessed Lady, to
our Lord, and to the Eternal Father, and end with the
*' Our Father."
PART II. — THE ACCOMPLISHMENT.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — As in the first part.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the cottage at Nazareth.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we want, namely, to
know our Lord incarnate more clearly, that we may
1 Philipp. iv. 13.
2 "She having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with
herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said to
her : Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou
THE INCARNATION. 177
love Him more dearly, and may follow Him more
nearly, especially in His love and self-sacrifice.
Point I. — Our Lady replies, " Behold the handmaid
of the Lord," &c. What a moment of suspense before
she answers. As by the abuse of free-will Eve fell, so
by the right use of free-will the second Eve must
co-operate in our reinstatement.
What a moment for Mary, for, as Augustine argues,
she must have been allowed in prophetic vision to see
what was to be involved in her becoming the Mother
of God, and the panorama of her life of sorrows must
have passed before her.
What a moment of suspense for the devils in Hell,
for it is a question of their power being broken for ever,
and that by a woman. It is a question whether she is
with her heel to crush the head of Lucifer ! What an
awful moment for Jmmanity, on it depending the salva-
tion of myriads.
A fiat created the world, a fiat created the sacra-
mental life, difiat decreed the redemption of the world.
She said, '^' Behold the maid-servant of the Lord,
he it done unto me as thou hast said." Oh ! the bold,
brave, and humble maiden and heroine of sixteen! Oh!
noble expression of sublime resignation: her mind thinks
of the responsibility of her stupendous office, but not of
the honour and dignity to which she was raised. In
her profound humility she is aflame with Divine love.
How full of confusion should we be that with all our
misery we still are full of pride and vanity, and are
more taken up with the thoughts of honour than of
duty. Here, too, Mary teaches us to humble ourselves
shalt conceive in thy womb and shall bring forth a Son ; and thou shall
call His name Jesus. . . . And Mary said to the Angel : 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 Mary said : Behold the handmaid
of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word," (St. Luke i. 29 — 38.)
M
lyS THE SECOND WEEK.
under the Divine favours, and to show our gratitude
to God.
Point 2. — Then the Eternal Father gave with an act
of infinite love His only-begotten Son for the salvation
of the world.i The Holy Spirit adapted the most pure
breast of Mary for the dwelling-place of God, and the
Word descended and assumed in it our human flesh.
Et vevhum caro factum est, et hahitavit in nobis. Oh ! the
infinite goodness and condescension of the most august
Trinity. Let us learn to return good for the evil done
to us !
The angels in adoration crowded round their King,
overwhelmed with amazement to see Him thus uniting
under His Divine personality of the Word the two
natures, the nature of God and the nature of Man, the
finite with the infinite !
Here we find our King giving us an example of how
we are to establish the Kingdom of His Father, by an
astounding act of humility and of self-annihilation :
** Emptying Himself out, taking the form of a slave, and
found in the habit of a child of Adam," ^ by renunciation
of His own will, " Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldst
not. ... I have willed it and Thy law in the midst of
My heart," 2 " and having joy before Him He chose the
Cross, despising the shame,"* thus taking the offensive
{agendo contra) against pleasure, honour, and sensual love.
Oh ! we have pledged ourselves to follow Him ; with
Peter we have engaged to go whithersoever He goes.
We have made the oblation of ourselves. Alas ! how
often have we been guilty of rapine in the holocaust,
and thus violated our engagements, failing to realize
and learn the first lesson which He gives us in the
Incarnation, which is self-abasement and sacrifice. Nor
did He do this only once in the days of His mortalit}^,
1 St. John iii. i6.
2 Philipp. ii. 7. 2 Hebrews x. 5. * Hebrews xii. 2.
THE VISITATION OF OUR LADY. 179
for from the rising of the sun to its down-going the same
lessons are taught us in the ever-adorable Sacrifice of
the Mass, and in the Holy Eucharist, in which this
Mystery is continued and expanded and applied to us :
Memoviam fecit mirahiliimi, &c.^
Let us conclude with a colloquy, begging of our
Lady to obtain for us a practical knowledge of these
virtues of our Lord, and the grace to reduce them to
practice, and say the " Hail Mary." Let us ask the
same of our Lord, and say the Aninta Christi, and finally
let us humbly and earnestly beg the same from the
Eternal Father, and end with the " Our Father."
THE VISITATION OF OUR LADY.2
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
PreUde i. — Our Lady goes from Nazareth to Hebron
1 " He hath made a memorial of His wonderful works, the merciful and
gracious God, He hath given food to them that fear Him." (Psalm ex. 4.)
2 "And Mary rising up in those days went into the hill country with
haste into a city of Juda. And entered into the house of Zachary, and
saluted Ehzabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the
salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Ghost : and she cried out with a loud voice, and said :
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?
For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the
infant in my womb leaped for joy. And Mary said : My soul doth
magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my SaviouV.
Because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid ; for behold from
henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is
mighty hath done great things to me ; and holy is His Name. And His
mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He
hath showed might in His arm. He hath scattered the proud in the conceit
of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath
•exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the
rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being
mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to
his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her for three months ; and she
returned to her own house," (St. Luke i. 39—56.)
i8o THE SECOND WEEK.
on a visit of charity to her cousin Elizabeth. On her
arrival the child whom Elizabeth was bearing leaped
for joy, and the mother was filled with the Holy Ghost
and exclaimed, "Blessed art thou amongst women ; " to
which our Lady replied in the words of the Magnificat,
She remained with her cousin for three months until
the birth of John, the Precursor of our Lord.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the way from Nazareth
to Hebron, or it may be to Ain Karim ; rough and
uneven, over hills and through dales ; also the humble,
peaceful cottage of Zachary.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we desire, which here
will be to know our Blessed Lord, as mirrored to us in
His Mother, that with her we may ever more and more
increase in love of Him.
Point I. — When Elizabeth hears the salutation of
our Lady, &c. No sooner did Mary learn by revelation
that her cousin was with child, than she at once
determined to go and visit her ; not from an}' curiosity,
restlessness, or desire of change, but through the spirit
of charity infused into her by Him whom she had just
conceived by the Holy Ghost. After spending a few
days in loving communion with God and in silent
contemplation of the stupendous mystery of the Incar-
nation, she starts on her long and dreary journey. Let
us accompany her, and observe her beautiful modest}^
recollection, union with her Jesus, cheerfulness, peace,
and absolute trust in the providence of God. Who
would think that this poor, wearied, humble girl, is no
other but the Mother of God, the greatest and most
exalted creature that has ever left a footprint on the
earth since its first creation ! The first living tabernacle
of the living God, attended on her journey by hosts of
blessed spirits, the object of their love and reverence \
The Renowned Virgin, the Admirable Mother, the Seat
of Wisdom, the future Cause of our true Joy ! How
THE VISITATION OF OUR LADY.
little she thinks of her fatigue, of the cold comfort and
inconveniences of the stations in which she rests at
night ! Her love and charity make all sacrifices light
and pleasant to her ! " Love is strong as death. Many
waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods
drown it : if a man should give all his substance for
love, he shall despise it as nothing." ^ Oh, how many
lessons have we to learn here from Mary when we have
to go on journe5's, lessons of modesty, humility, recollec-
tion, union with Jesus, and poverty : and above all,
readiness to undergo fatigue and every inconvenience
at the call of charity, especially in visiting the sick,
helping others in their necessities or comforting those
that are in sorrow or affliction. Let us consider how
'' all good things went with her." 2
(a) John would at her arrival be sanctified in his
mother's womb.
(^) Elizabeth would receive congratulations on her
miraculous conception, and would have a humble and
cheerful handmaid.
(y) Her child would advance wonderfully in grace
through the presence of Jesus during the three months
of Mary's visit.
(S) The whole family would derive great profit from
the grand example of humility and charity of the
Mother of God, devoting herself to the humble duties
of a domestic servant, and from the presence of the Son
of God.
As soon as our Lady salutes Elizabeth, saying,
*' Peace be unto you," Jesus likewise salutes John,
purifies him from original sin, endows him with the
use of reason, fills him with the Holy Spirit. John
recognizes the interior voice of '' the Lamb of God,"
and jumps for joy ; Elizabeth likewise becomes inspired
by the Holy Ghost, and declares the presence of the
1 Cant. viii. 7, 2 Wisdom vii. 11.
i82 THE SECOND WEEK.
Incarnate God, and the Divine Motherhood of Mary,
saying, " Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb ; " blessed, because chosen from
amongst all women to be the Mother of the world's
Redeemer; blessed, because the woman forseen, fore-
told, and promised to us by the prophets ; blessed,
because in the fruit of thy womb, all mankind shall be
blessed ; blessed, because of thy faith that what the
Lord hath said unto thee will all come to pass. Then,
conscious of her own unworthiness to receive such a
grace and favour from Heaven, she makes public
profession of her humility by asking " why it should so
be, that the Mother of her Lord should thus honour
her by coming to visit her."
Point 2. — Our Lady gives utterance to the sublime
canticle. Let us listen in spirit to the outpouring of
her soul by our Blessed Lady. She first ascribes all
to its true source and origin, to the Author of all, to
her God, who is worthy alone of all reverence and
adoration ; she renders to Him as the Giver of such
great favours, her praises, admiration, and love,
declaring herself His humble handmaid, whilst acknow-
ledging the infinite wisdom, powder, and goodness of
God. Her spirit exults in God her Saviour, and at the
same time her only Son ; and this because He has, with
love, and without any merit of hers, looked graciously
down upon His lowly handmaid, on which account
throughout all time, and in eternity, all generations
will proclaim her blessed. This they will do, on
account of the great things which the Almighty hath
wrought in her, by the mystery of the Incarnation and
her consequent Divine Motherhood : by granting her
an immaculate conception, making her full of grace,
preserving her virginity.
In the second part she proclaims the undying mercy
of God which will never be wanting to them that love
THE VISITATION OF OUR LADY. 183
and fear to offend Him ; but to such as think highly of
themselves, whose hearts are puffed up with pride, such
as the haughty Pharisees and Scribes, the persecutors
of the Church, and those who reject her authority, He
will manifest His terrible and avenging arm, and will
drag them from their seat of power, whilst those that
are lowly He will exalt. Them that hunger and thirst
after justice, He will fill with good things, as we see
verified in the Holy Eucharist, but the rebellious and
proud shall be sent away empty.
In the third place she proclaims how God has
fulfilled the promises made to the fathers of old, being
mindful of His mercy, by sending down to Israel a
Saviour, by whom they should be blessed, as He had
promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Point 3. — Mary remained about three months, and
then returned to her own house. She stayed for that
length of time, that she might be a help to her cousin
in the household duties, and also might be a super-
natural assistance to her cousin, Zachary, and the
child,, through the presence of Jesus. Let us con-
template the daily life during those three months in
the cottage of Zachary. Zachary deaf and dumb
in consequence of the wavering of his faith at the
announcement of Gabriel ; Elizabeth, humble, modest,
and fall of admiration, reverence, and awe, as she
looked upon Mary and thought of the Child whom
she was to bring forth ; Mary always studying with
humility and love how to be of service to both, carrying
pails of water from the well, or with active and loving
devotion giving herself to the menial duties of the
house, deeming the lowest offices quite consistent with
her high dignity. In the school of Christ, true glory
consists in love of humiliations, in the spirit of self-
denial, and in devotedness to works of charity. But
besides these three, there were two other dwellers in
1 84 THE SECOND WEEK.
that cottage, who, though, invisible to our outward
senses, were still actively engaged. Jesus the humble,
loving, generous Child of Mary, far more active than
His Blessed Mother, bestowing graces and blessings on
John, who on his side co-operated with the graces which
he received, and with profound humility and love was
ever manifesting his gratitude and devotion to our
Lord, and paying Him the adoration due to Him as
his God. Oh, with what confusion should we not be
filled, who perhaps are favoured by dwelling under the
same roof with Jesus, or at least have Him dwelling in
our churches, within easy distances, and yet rarely go
to visit Him, although He is waiting there out of love
for us, and is ever desiring us to come to Him, not for
His own sake, but in order that He may confer His
graces and blessings upon us. Let us bewail our want
of faith, our ingratitude, and our blindness to our own
interest, and resolve to amend.
In the colloquy let us address our Blessed Lady,
and beg of her to bring our dear Lord also to us by
interceding with Him to come and fill our minds and
hearts with greater knowledge and love of Him, and
say the " Plail Mary." Let us ask of our Lord as Man,
to come and take His abode in our hearts, and say the
Anima Christi. End with "Our Father."
THE NATIVITY. 185
THE NATIVITY.i
Note. — Between the mystery of the Incarnation and
the Nativity there is a most touching mystery, that of
Jesus dweUing for nine months in the womb of Mary.
It is of this that the Church reminds us in her pubHc
suppHcations in the litanies where we ask of God to
hear us. Per adventum tuum — by His coming. It is a
mystery full of useful lessons for us, lessons of humilit}^
mortification, of observa'nce of common life, of solitude
and retirement.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — Let us recall the history, how the
Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, in obedience to the
edict of the Emperor Augustus, left Nazareth and
repaired to Bethlehem, where, through want of a better
lodging, they retired to a cave : and there the Son of
God was born, and angels sang His praises.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the long, hilly road of
about seventy miles, the caravansary and cave, as if we
were in the company of Mary and Joseph.^
1 " It came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. . . . And all
went to be enrolled every one into his own city. And Joseph also went
from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judaea, to the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of
David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife who was with child.
And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped Him up in swaddling-
clothes, and laid Him 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. I — 16.)
* In this contemplation St. Ignatius adds three things not mentioned by
the Evangelists : namely, that our Lady rode to Jerusalem on an ass, that
she was accompanied by a servant-girl, and that St. Joseph took also an ox
with them. Such was the opinion of Toletus and Salmeron and others,
but Fulgentius (Z?^ laudibus Virginis), St. Bernard, and Nicephorus
1 86 THE SECOND WEEK.
Pvelude 3. — Let us beg what we must desire, which is
to know Jesus more clearly, His poverty, obedience,
humility, and opposition to the world, that we may love
Him more dearly and imitate Him more nearly in these
virtues.
Point I. — Let us consider how the spirit of Jesus
acted in reality upon the determination of Mary and
Joseph, and how He inspired them to obey the selfish
and haughty order of the pagan prince. They lived in
perfect harmon}^, forgetful of self, thoughtful only one
for the other^ doing their actions, trifling in themselves,
with perfect exactness as to the time and manner of
performing them, and with a pure intention, and thus
glorified God.
But their peace was rudely destroyed, for the
Emperor, in order to flatter his pride and increase his
coffers, orders a universal census, and Joseph must go
up to Bethlehem. Mary goes with him. Let us admire
their perfect and cheerful resignation to the holy will of
God, their confidence in His Divine protection, and
their ready abandonment of their little home and the
scanty conveniences of their humble cottage, taking
onl}' a few swathing-bands to wrap up the Divine
Infant, when born. These, and an ass for Mary to
ride, were all the preparations made to receive into
the world the greatest and most glorious Person that
the world has ever seen, the grandest character in the
world's history. Let us reflect on the fatigues and
troubles of that long and rough journey, during the
most bitter season of the year, especially on the hills
(i. c. 12) are of a different opinion : Suarez inclines to the former opinion.
As regards the ox, Bonaventure, Lyra, and a considerable number of the
Fathers are of the opinion of St. Ignatius, and incline to the idea that
Joseph sold it and with the price was enabled to pay the tribute-money and
the expenses of the journey to, and of the stay in, Bethlehem. Our Saint
asserts nothing positively, but adds only : Ut pie incditari licet.
THE NATIVITY. 187
of Samaria. The only shelter at nights was that afforded
by the halting-places on the way, and their food
probably was most scanty. Yet they are happy, for
they have Jesus with them, happy in thinking of Him
and breathing holy acts of love for Him. Let us
compare our mode of travelling with theirs, our recol-
lection, humility, poverty, and union with Jesus, and
how much shall we find that needs correction. Let us
learn, above all, obedience, prompt and cheerful, to the
orders of Superiors, to leave country, friends, and con-
veniences, to undertake long and painful journeys, to
embrace labours and hardships, and go whithersoever
we may be sent, thereby to serve the designs of God
and to promote His greater glory. 1 '
At length the}^ reach Bethlehem. Let us accompany
Mary and Joseph through the crowded streets. In
vain he passes from door to door, for there is no room
for such a couple as a poor artisan and his spouse. As
door after door is shut upon him, his poor heart receives
a fresh wound, for he feels the cruel blow it is to Mary.
There is room for his wealthier friends and relations,
but none for the Son of God, none for the Queen of
Heaven and earth. Learn how to value the esteem of
men — blush to receive any consideration from those
who treated and still treat Mary, Joseph, and Jesus so
cruelly. At length, as there was no roof to shelter
them, Joseph goes out of the town to a khan or enclosed
court for shelter, in one corner of which was a cave dug
out of the face of a rock, which was used for the housing
of cattle, and into this he conducts Mary and the ass.
Let us contemplate the calm and cheerful courage
with which they embrace suffering, humiliation, and
contempt, and how imbued they are with the spirit of
Him who is about to make His appearance as the great
King and Captain of the elect. If we are to be instru-
1 Reg. 3, Sum.
THE SECOND WEEK.
ments for the promotion of God's glory, we must also
expect contempt and contradictions from the world ;
we must be content at least, if we do not rejoice, in
being unknown or humbled, whilst others shall be held
in regard ; for us the worst, for others the best will be
provided — others will be promoted to important offices,
while we shall be overlooked, &c.
Point 2. — Let us contemplate how, in the solemn
stillness of the night, the desired of the nations —
foretold for four thousand years — the longed-for of the
Patriarchs, the Redeemer of the world, the glory of
the Father, is brought into the world by His Immacu-
late Mother, who, after adoring Him and giving Him
a mother's kiss with awful reverence, wraps Him up in
poor swathing-bands and lays Him on straw in a manger,
through want of a better bed. Let us adore the Eternal
born in time, the Immense and Almighty in the small,
helpless, trembling Child, the Impassible subject to
the cold and tears and miseries of our nature, the Son
of God become the son of man, that He may make
mankind the sons of God. His first lesson on appear-
ing in the world is death to sensuality, death to carnal
love, death to the love of the world. He embraces
poverty in effect, self-denial, and humiliation, and out
of free choice He prefers them to their opposite. Oh !
let us renew the offering which we have made of
ourselves with all the fervour of our souls, and beg the
grace to be preserved from ever showing the white
feather or of being guilty of rapine in the holocaust.
Let us see here too the spirit which should animate
every true Religious. Of what use is it to vow poverty^
to profess that we are poor men, and yet not to be content
to feel the effects of poverty ; to look for the comforts
^nd conveniences in clothes, food, and lodging which are
hardly supplied to well-to-do people in the world, and
which, if we were not in Religion, we should have
THE NATIVITY.
looked for in vain ? Or how can we hope to keep our
second vow if, instead of embracing the hardships and
mortifications of the Infant Jesus, we lead lives of ease
and self-indulgence, and avoid all that is calculated to
give pain, all labours and hardships. How ill does it
beseem to be a tender and self-indulgent member of
Him whose only bed and bedding is a hard board and
a few handfuls of straw ! Lastly, of what avail is it to
profess obedience, and yet to murmur or complain when
anything is enjoined us of which we do not approve or
which we consider is repugnant to our feelings or
demeaning to our dignity or position ? Oh ! as we
look upon this Babe of Bethlehem what a flood of
thoughts burst upon the mind ! what a rush of feelings,
as of man}^ waters, force themselves into the heart !
I fall down and adore. Let us see too the heartless
ingratitude of the world. He has come to be a Saviour,
to be poor, despised, and to die, that men may become
rich, reinstated in the position from which they had
fallen, and may have life more abundantly and life in
glory everlasting. He comes to His own, and His own
will not receive Him.i He is the true light to enlighten
every man that cometh into the world, but men prefer
to remain in darkness. Oh! let us at least pray that
He will shed the full blaze of His light on us, that we
may see the selfishness, heartlessness, and ingratitude
of the world, so as to fly from it and break with it for
ever, and that we may see His beauty, nobility, love,
and devotedness towards us and may ever live in that
blessed light on earth, and only change it for the never-
ending light in Heaven.
Point 3. — Let us consider the third and last part
of this mystery, how Jesus is scarce born when angels
carried the tidings, not to the King of Judaea, to princes,
or magistrates, but to poor, simple shepherds, telling
1 St. John i. II.
igo THE SECOND WEEK.
them that the Saviour of the world is born, and that
the sign by which they will be able to know Him is
that they shall find Him wrapt in swathing-clothes and
laid in a manger. And at the same time the angelic
hosts, full of exultation, sang, Glory to God in tbc
highest, and on earth peace to men of good-will,
announcing the infinite glory given to God by the
infinite sacrifice and humiliation of our Blessed Lord,
who is beginning the struggle in which the powers of
Hell shall be overthrown, man shall be redeemed, and
peace with his God shall be established.
The sign of the God-born Infant is extreme poverty,
an entire absence of all human accommodation and
comfort, and the presence of humiliations and sufferings.
And so must it be with us if we are to give great
glory to God and to be ministers of peace to men, we
must bear the sign — hoc vobis signmn — we must bear
about us the obedience of Jesus, we must espouse
poverty in spirit and in effect, we must inure ourselves
to pain and hardships ; we must eschew an easy life,
the esteem of men, all vain show of our talents and
abilities. Let us at once convince ourselves practically
of this truth, which in theor}^ v\^e have admitted and
professed to believe. End with your colloquy and the
*♦ Our Father."
If time allows, the two preceding contemplations
might be repeated twice over, insisting most particu-
larly on those points which have struck us most, or
in which we have experienced most consolation or
desolation. And, finall}^, it would serve to teach us to
correct any bad use of the senses and to perfect us in
the right use of them, to make an application of the
senses to the two mysteries before going on to. the
next.
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. igi
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us recall to mind the history: how
an angel from Heaven appeared to some poor shepherds
whilst they were keeping night-watch over their flocks,
and announced to them the Birth of our Blessed Lord :
how they hurried, off at once to the outskirts of Beth-
lehem, where He had just been born : and how, after
adoring the Divine Infant, they went back to their
flocks, praising God for what they had seen.
Prehide 2. — Let us in spirit join the shepherds in
their night-watch ; then accompany them to the cave.
Prehide 3. — Let us beg earnestly what we desire,
namely, that we may know our dear Lord more
intimately, may love Him more ardently, may listen to
His call and may respond to it with greater devotedness
and generosity.
Point I. — The Angel announces the mystery.
Whilst the Three Divine Persons were contemplat-
ing with infinite complacency the stupendous mystery
1 "And there were in the same country shepherds, watching and
keeping the night-watches over their flock. And behold an Angel of the
Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them,
and they feared with a great fear. And the Angel said to them : Fear not,
for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the
people. For this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in
the city of David. And this shall be a sign to 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. . . . And the shepherds said one to another : Let us go over to
Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord
hath showed to us. And they came with haste : and they found Mary and
Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger. . . . And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard
and seen, as it was told unto them." (St. Luke ii. 8 — 20.)
192 THE SECOND WEEK.
wrought in the cave of Bethlehem ; whilst the heavenly
choirs were gathered around their King and Lord in
profound adoration, filled with awe and wonder at the
sight of His self-annihilation, this excess of His love
for mankind, they for whorn He thus "empties Him-
self" are too busy in the pursuit of earthly things, too
much absorbed in the gratification of their senses, in
the indulgence of their lawless passions, to interest
themselves about the greatest, the most portentous
event which has occurred since the creation of the
world, an event for which mankind had been looking
forward, for which it had been sighing for four thousand
years. The thoughts, words, and conduct of the men
assembled at Bethlehem are regulated by one law, the
love of self, their views extend no further than this
material world and the things of time. But the poor
shepherds have no hopes, no prospects of wealth, or
of worldly preferment ; they are strangers to earthly
pleasures or sensual enjoyments ; they are content to
labour for their scanty pittance in their lowly and
obscure calling. It is to them that the Almighty sends
His Archangel to announce the good tidings that the
Saviour is born. " He hath sent Me to preach good
tidings to the poor."i Thus also is verified in their
regard, what afterwards Jesus will declare, '* Blessed
are the poor." Let us learn here with what zeal we
ought to labour for the pOor, so especially dear to our
Blessed Lord, and how ready we should be at all times
to comfort them, to encourage them in all their sorrows,
trials, and sufferings : to bring all them that labour and
are heavily burdened to their Saviour, who will give
peace and comfort to their souls.
But by what sign are the shepherds to recognize
their Saviour? *' You will find Him wrapped in
swaddling-clothes and laid in a manger." The signs
1 Isaias Ixi. i ; St. Luke iv, 18.
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. 193
by which our Lord is to be known and the means also
by which we are to find Him, are humihty, poverty, at
least in spirit, and mortification. He is come to estab-
lish a Kingdom whose principles are diametrically
opposed to the principles of this world, which is ruled
by the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of
the eyes, and the pride of life. Therefore He will be
placed as a sign of contradiction, and His badge will
be mortification, poverty, and humiliation. So, too,
must all who would find our Lord, and be associated
with Him, be animated with His spirit. This the
Apostle inculcates: "Let this mind be in 3^ou which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal to God ; but emptied
Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in
the likeness, and in habit found as a man. He humbled
Himself, becoming obedient unto death. "^ Let us
contemplate the poor peasants : with what readiness
and joy, with what humility and simple faith, they
respond to the call of Heaven ; leave their flocks, and
hasten to pay their homage and adoration to the new-
-born Saviour. Let us see their great reverence, as
they fall down and adore their God ; their admiration
as they look upon our Lady ; the awe with which their
souls are filled as they relate to her the appearance of
the Angel, and what he had said to them. With what
interest and delight our Lady takes in every word of
their simple story, and with what gentleness and respect
she treats them ! Let us also learn to treat with
becoming respect the poor of Christ : let us be zealous
in comforting and consoling them, especially by teaching
them where true joy and consolation are to be found,
and by trying to bring them to our Saviour by our
example as well as by our words. Let us convince
ourselves that it is not by the way of comforts, of
1 Philipp. ii. 5—8.
N
194
THE SECOND WEEK.
pleasure, of honour, or of display, which leads to
destruction, but by poverty, if not in effect, at least in
spirit, by a hardy and self-denying life, by a life of
practical humility and simple faith, that we can hope
to find our dear Lord.
Point 2. — The shepherds at the cave of Bethlehem.
No sooner did the Angel disappear than the
shepherds, trusting to Heaven for the protection of
their flock, hastened to Bethlehem to " see this thing
that had come to pass." Their souls were filled with
holy joy, with unhesitating faith and confidence, and
they pressed forward anxious to behold the Anointed,
the Word of the Eternal Father, their Lord and
Saviour. With what solemn reverence they enter the
cave ! With what awe and love they prostrate them-
selves in adoration ! On the other hand, let us consider
with what love the Infant Saviour welcomes them, and
with infinite generosit}^ rewards their faith and obedi-
ence, by abundant graces, enlightening their minds
with knowledge and inflaming their hearts with love.
When they had satisfied their devotion to the best of
their power, they lost no time in returning to their
charge, and on the way they spoke together of what
they had seen, praising God, and all that heard
wondered at those things that were told them by the
shepherds.! Oh ! how sadly does our conduct contrast
with that of these poor shepherds. We have this self-
same Saviour lying in our tabernacles, unrecognized by
the world, and " emptying Himself" under the sacra-
mental veil, out of love for us, anxious that we should
visit Him, that He may give us ever fresh proofs
of His love by multiplying His graces on our minds
and hearts. Alas ! how seldom do we go to see Him !
with what indifference and irreverence do we present
ourselves before Him ! with what frivolity of mind and
1 St. Luke ii. i8.
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. 195
indifference of heart ! and thereby tie His hands So
that He may not bless us ; and instead of coming away
from Him praising and thanking God, may we not fear
lest we have abused grace and added to our past
ingratitude !
Point 3. — The shepherds return.
Let us in spirit join the shepherds as they hurried
back to resume the care of their flocks. No doubt they
would willingly have remained with Jesus and Mary, in
whose company they experienced intense peace, happi-
ness, and joy : but duty compelled them to leave God
for God : yet they went away glorifying Him, and
loudly and eloquently did they praise Him. They had
learnt by their own experience that all good things had
come to them together with Him : that though most
poor in earthly things, they were enriched with heavenly
gifts. Well might they glorify Him who has so glorified
them, and has inflamed their souls with holy love for
Him, and for His holy, modest, and humble Mother.
Oh ! let us resolve to visit our Blessed Lord in the
Holy Sacrament of Love as often as we can, but let it be
with the same dispositions as those of the shepherds;
with a lively faith, with profound reverence, with
fervent charity. Let us be earnest and recollected in
His holy presence, and remain with Him till duty calls
us elsewhere ; then only will we leave God for God.
Then we shall be sure to imitate the shepherds, by
glorifying and praising God for the graces which He
will bestow upon us each time that we visit Him. It
is by this means also that we shall inspire others with
wonder and admiration, and so bring them to visit
Jesus.
Let us end with a colloquy with our Lady and our
Blessed Lord.
End with " Our Father."
196 THE^ SECOND WEEK.
THE CIRCUMCISION.i
Commencement and preparatory prayers as usual.
Prehide i. — Let us briefly recall the history, how
when Jesus was eight days old, He was subjected
to the painful rite of circumcision, probably performed
by St. Joseph, and how His name was then assigned to
Him, after which He was handed over, all bleeding, to
His Holy Mother.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine ourselves present in the
lodgings of Joseph and Mary, together with the invited
guests.
Prelude 3. — We will beg earnestly to know our dear
Lord, as He shows Himself to us in this mystery, that
we may love Him more fondly, and thus may follow
Him more closety, even unto blood, if such may be His
good pleasure in our regard.
Point I.— They circumcised the Child Jesus.
This painful ceremony was ordained by God for a
two-fold purpose: first, that Abraham and his posterity
might be distinguished from the pagans and all that
were not of the people of God ; secondly, as a sacred
rite for the remission of original sin. Now as Jesus did
not incur the stain of original sin, nay, being the Son
of God, and conceived by the Holy Ghost, was invested
with infinite sanctity. He was not subject to this legal
ceremonial ; yet for our sake and to set us an example,
He would submit Himself unto it in a spirit of
supererogation.
This He did, adds St. Thomas, in order to convince
the world that He was truly Man of the race of
1 ' ' And after eight days were accomplished, that the Child should be
circumcised, His name was called Jesus, which was called by the Angel
before He was conceived in the womb." (St. Luke ii. 21.)
THE CIRCUMCISION. 197
Abraham, and also to teach us obedience, and give
a sanction to the law. Further, He had come and
had accepted the burden of the law, according to that
of St. Paul : ** But when the fulness of time was come,
God sent His Son made of woman, made under the
law, that He might redeem them who were under the
law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."^
Another reason may be added, namely, that the devil,
the enemy of our Lord, might not discover before the
appointed time the Divine origin of Jesus.
Lastly, He voluntarily subjected Himself to it in
order to teach us a lesson of humility ; for whereas
there was no sin in Him, who was the source of all
sinlessness and sanctity. He took upon Him our
iniquities, and even when only eight days old He
became the great sin-offering : *' Him, that knew no
sin, for us hath He made sin, that we might be made
the justice of God, in Him."^ O my soul, let us learn
from our blood-stained Infant Saviour what His love
for us has cost Him ; and what has been our return ?
How much have we done, or what sacrifices have we
made, to show our gratitude ? We have professed our
love, but what proofs have we hitherto given of the
sincerity of these professions ? Let us be filled with
confusion at our past ingratitude, and beg the grace to
follow the example of our Lord in sacrifice of self.
Point 2. — He was called Jesus.
This name was given to Him by God Himself, as
we read in St. Luke : "Behold thou shalt conceive in
thy womb and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt
call His name Jesus," ^ for in these terms the Archangel
Gabriel addressed our Blessed Lady in the mystery
of the Incarnation. In similar words the heavenly
messenger addressed St. Joseph : " Joseph, son of
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for
1 Galat. iv. 4, 5. 2 2 Cor. v. 21. 3 St. Luke i. 31.
igS THE SECOND WEEK.
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call
His name Jesus. For He shall save His people from
their sins."^ The reason why He is called Jesus is
because He is to save His people from their sins. By
sin man had forfeited all spiritual gifts and graces,
which God, in first creating him, had superadded to
the requirements of human nature, such as original
justice and sanctifying grace, as also the preternatural
gifts of immunity from sickness and death, together
with freedom from concupiscence. But by sin man fell
from his high estate, had forfeited his honour, had
incurred the enmity of his God and Creator, and by his
disobedience had lost all claim to supernatural life.
Out of His infinite love and mercy the only Son of God
came down from Heaven to redeem mankind and
reinstate them in the position from which they had
fallen through the prevarication of our first parents.
He came to restore to them the rich inheritance which,
as far as they were concerned, they had hopelessly lost,
to re-establish them in the grace and friendship of God,
their Creator and Lord, and finally to restore to them
that supernatural life of which by sin they had been
robbed. Thus on a three-fold title He would be our
Saviour, He would be thrice a Jesus to us. To efiect
this He adopted our human nature, and in that nature
He assumed our poverty, that thereby He might
repurchase for us the incomparable treasures which we
had forfeited; He "emptied Himself, taking the form
of a servant," in order that He might reinstate us in
the high and glorious dignity from which we had fallen,
by making us the true sons of God, and co-heirs with
Him to everlasting glory: and to restore to us our
spiritual life He would voluntarily shed His Blood and
die upon a cross. In all these respects He is a Jesus
1 St. Matt. i. 20, 21.
THE CIRCUMCISION.
199
to each of us, as far as He Himself is concerned, but
He requires our co-operation, and that " we fill up
what is wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in our
flesh," ^ by detachment from earthly goods, by contempt
for the empty honour and glory of the world, in imita-
tion of Jesus, and by a spirit of self-denial and mortifica-
tion. When we see our Jesus as an Infant of eight
days old, unhonoured, humble, suffering, and bleeding
for us, let us again humble ourselves profoundly, and
renew our promises, with His grace, to imitate Him
more closely for the time to come.
Point 3. — They gave back the Child to His Mother.
This is not stated by any of the Evangelists : but
our common sense dictates its truth. What must have
been the feelings of that noblest, most loving of mothers
when she received back in her arms her bleeding Infant !
With what intense tenderness did she press Him to her
breasts ! Truly might she say, " My beloved is white
and ruddy, chosen out of thousands," ^ for He was
stainless as the lily, yet He is ruddy by the Blood
which He has shed ; His form as of Libanus, excellent
as the cedars : He is all lovely : such is her beloved.
On the other hand, who can conceive the immeasurable
graces which Jesus poured into the soul of His loving
and sorrowing Mother? Who could press a glowing
fire to his breast and not feel the burning? And Mary
held the Heart of Jesus to her own, that heart which
glowed with an infinite love.
At the same time, her soul is wounded and filled
with keen compassion at the sight of her suffering
Child, anticipating what in a few weeks she will hear
from the prophetic Simeon, that her soul shall be
pierced through later, when not a portion, but His
whole Blood shall be poured out for us. Let us also
learn betimes that in embracing the call of our King
1 Coloss. i. 24. 2 Cant. v. 10.
THE SECOND WEEK.
and Captain we must make up our minds for trials and
sufferings: "Christ therefore having suffered in the
flesh, be you also armed with the same thought : for
he that hath suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from
sin."^ In the colloquy let us address our Lady, begging
of her to pray to our Lord that He would vouchsafe to
grant us the spirit of courage and loyalty to Him under
sufferings, and say the " Hail Mary." Then let us beg
the same of our dear Lord, and renew the offering as in
*'The Kingdom of Christ." Lastly, let us ask the
grace to persevere in our resolution, of our Heavenly
Father, and say the Pater noster.
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.^
Note. — ^With regard to this mystery, although its
existence is a matter of faith, yet all the circumstances
attending it are very uncertain. In the first place,
1 I St. Peter iv. i.
2 " When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda in the days of
King Herod, behold, there came Wise Men from the East to Jerusalem,
saying : Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? For we have seen
His star in the East, and have come to adore Him. And King Herod
hearing this was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling
together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
where Christ should be born. But they said to him : In Bethlehem of Juda,
for so it is written by the prophet. . . . Then Herod privately calling the
Wise Men learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to
them ; and sending them into Bethlehem, said : Go and diligently inquire
after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that
I also may come and adore Him. Who having heard the King, went
their way ; and behold the star, which they had seen in the East went
before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And
seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into
. the house, they found the Child with Mary His Mother, and falling down
they adored Him ; and opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts ;
gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in their
sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way
into their country." (St. Matt. ii. i— 12.)
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.
who the Magi were, whether philosophers, astrologers,
or kings, is uncertain. Whether they came from Arabia
Felix, or from Persia, or from different lands, is again
uncertain. What was their number is likewise unknown,
although the more general opinion is that there were
only three. Lastly, the nature of the star is matter of
dispute, as also the time of its appearance. According
to some it continued visible to the Wise Men whilst they
journeyed to Jerusalem, then was hidden from their
view until they left that city for Bethlehem, whilst
others suppose that it appeared to them only to
announce the birth of our Lord, and again to point out
the place in which He wasborn.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us recall to mind how the three Wise
Men dwelling in Eastern lands saw as it were a brilliant
star in the western heavens, and inspired by God they
recognized it as the fulfilment of Balaam's prophecy
regarding the birth of the Messiah ; how they without
delay set out on their long journey to go and pay Him
homage, present gifts to Him, and adore Him ; how in
Jerusalem they inquired after the place of His birth,
and under the guidance of the star they found Him in
Bethlehem. There they presented to Him the gifts
which they had brought with them : gold, frankincense,
and myrrh ; they adored Him, and then hastened back by
another route to the country from which they had come.
Prelude i. — Let us in spirit imagine the long and
difficult way to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and the
cottage in which the Infant Saviour was being nursed
by His Blessed Mother with St. Joseph.
Prelude 3. — Let us pray that we too may imitate the
zeal, courage, and self-sacrifice of the Wise Men, that
with them we too may know our dear Lord and His
1 See Suarez, Dc vita Christi, q. xxxvi, a, i — 8.
THE SECOND WEEK.
spirit more clearly, that we may thereby love Him
more dearly, and may embrace His Divine call more
perfectly.
Point I. — Amongst all those millions who beheld the
strange sight in the heavens, who were filled with
wonder at it, and who for a time made inquiries about
it, then quickly ceased to speak or think of it, there
were only three who, responding to the proffered grace
of God, determined to follow whither it pointed, recog-
nizing it as the announcement of the birth of the God
Saviour. They at once proceed to carry out their
resolve — they leave their homes, their friends, they
face the difficulties and hardships of a long and weary
journey, they expose themselves to the many dangers
that beset them on their way, and to the ridicule or
pity of their countrymen. How often must they have
been tempted to abandon their design, to regard it as
a hopeless search, how often would they have been
wearied and discouraged and inclined to condemn their
inconsiderate undertaking ? yet the}^ persevere and,
aided b}^ the grace of Him who has called them, they
faithfully and bravely resist the temptations by which
they are assailed. Oh ! let us admire their constancy,
the cheerful resignation to their trials, and their
unshaken confidence in God. In Jerusalem, they
boldly inquire where the new King is to be found, they
do not hesitate to proclaim the object of their coming,
they wish to find Him that they may adore Him. They
trample on all promptings of human respect ; they care
not what Herod may say or do against them, nor what
his courtiers or subjects ma}' think of them. They ask,
*' Where is He that is born King of the Jews : we have
seen His star in the East and have come to adore
Him." Why did not God cause the star again to
appear to them ? He would thus save them from this
new trial, would prevent the alarm and indignation of
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 203
Herod, and would save the children of Bethlehem from
slaughter. It was that thereby He might expose the
guilty blindness and ignorance of the Jews^^ might force
them to give testimony regarding the birthplace of the
Infant Saviour, might furnish the Wise Men with an
occasion of showing their faith, constancy, and courage,
might expose the futility of the cunning or craftiness of
the cruel tyrant, against the Lord and against His
Anointed ; and also make manifest the depraved' and
perverse disposition of the Jewish people. Let us here
compare our conduct with that of these Wise Men. We
admire them for the sacrifices which they made, the
labours which they underwent in order to have the
blessing of being with Jesus and seeing Him for a few
days : what shall we say of ourselves who so often
refuse to go a few steps to see Him : and when we
visit Him, where is the faith, love, reverence, and
humility in adoring Him, which we see in these pagan
sages ! How much more closely do we imitate the
shameful conduct of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who
in their stupid ingratitude showed no concern at the
birth of their King and Saviour, and through cowardice
or human respect feared to acknowledge Him.
Let us also learn to combat our predominant passion,
when we see in the instance of Plerod to what length
and to what fearful excesses it is calculated to lead us,
if it be not subdued. Dominated by an unbridled spirit
of ambition to which he was a slave, he does not
hesitate to imbrue his hands in the blood of innocent
children, and foolishly to attempt to frustrate the
designs of an all-wise and Almighty Providence. Let
us learn too to repose in peace and confidence in the
arms of Him who is ever watching over us, and will
not permit harm to befall us unless it be for our good.
Point 2. — The}' adore Him and present their
gifts.
204 THE SECOND WEEK.
' Let US contemplate the Wise Men as they enter the
humble dwelling. With what awe, reverence, and
devotion they prostrated themselves before the Divine
Infant, whom they behold so poor, lowly, and ignored
by all ! But with what a clear light were their souls
enlightened by Him '' who is the true light which
enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world."
What a fire of love did He enkindle in their souls, and
with what infinite generosity did He repay them for
all the labours they had undergone, for all the sacrifices
they had made in order to come and see and adore
Him ! Let us admire their faith, humility, love, and
joy, as they silently adored Him. Then they present
to Him gold in recognition of His royal sovereignty,
the Lord and King of all things, they offer up frank-
incense in acknowledgment of His Divinity, and they
give to Him myrrh in testimony of His human nature,^
by these bearing testimony to the Divine inspiration
which they had received. What offerings do we present
when we go to visit Jesus ? Alas ! too often we go
empty handed, or empty headed, being so distracted
or pre-occupied as hardly to think of Him, or speak to
Him at all. Henceforth, when we go into His Sacred
Presence, let us humbly present to Him the gold of a
heart inflamed with holy charit}^ the frankincense of
a mind recollected in prayer and inspired with solid
devotion, the myrrh of self-denial and interior mortifi-
cation. Or, if we are privileged by being called to
religious life, let us when we visit our deaV Lord in
His tabernacle renew our vow of poverty which to
Jesus is more precious than gold, our vow of obedience
which is more pleasant to Him than the most sweet-
smelling incense, and our vow of chastity which is dearer
far to Him than myrrh.
1 These offerings were selected by Divine inspiration, to testify that in ,
Christ was royal power, Divine majesty, and human mortality. (Glossa.)
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 205
Point 3. — They return to their country.
When they were about to return to their own
country, Almighty God sends His Angel to admonish
them not to pass through Jerusalem or to revisit Herod,
but to go back by another way to their own countr3\
In a spirit of simple, unquestioning faith, relying entirely
on the loving providence of God, they obey. Though
the way is longer, beset with difficulties and fresh
dangers, they are happy to carry out the Divine will.
Let us admire the great transformation effected in
them ; the modesty and recollection of their conduct,
their peace and holy joy, their burning love of Jesus,
their humility, detachment, and contempt for the world.
Let us listen to their words of praise and glory to God,
and let us blush to think how far we, who see Jesus so
often, are from imitating their example. Oh ! would to
God, that each time we visit Jesus, each time we receive
Him in Holy Communion, we came from it by another
way, more humble, more recollected, more mortified,
more detached from earth, more attached to our Jesus.
End with a triple colloquy. '* Our Father."
If time and circumstances permit, it would be well
to make two repetitions of the two preceding contem-
plations, and an application of the senses in the evening
as usual.
2o6 THE SECOND WEEK.
ON THE PURIFICATION OF MARY AND
PRESENTATION OF JESUS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us remember how Holy Mary, forty
days after bringing forth her Son, went to the Temple,
as prescribed by the Law, to be purified and to present
her little Child to God. There she met with the old
man Simeon, who takes the Infant in his arms and
prophesies His future Passion ; and with Anna, a holy
old widow, who points Him out to all who were looking
for the redemption of Israel, as the long -desired
Messiah.
Prelude 2. — Let us visit in spirit the Temple and see
what is passing.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg more intimate knowledge of
our Lord and of the lessons He gives us in this mystery,
that we may love Him more dearly and follow Him
more closely.
Point I. — Let us admire the wonderful spirit of
supererogation of our Lady in going up to the Temple
to be purified. "After the days of her purification,
according to the Law of Moses, the}^ carried Him to
1 "And after the days of her purification, they carried Him to Jerusalem
to present Him to the Lord . . . and to offer a sacrifice according as it is
written in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
And behold there was a man named Simeon, and this man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel : and the Holy Ghost was in
him. . . . And he came by the Spirit into the Temple. And when His
parents brought in the Child Jesus to do for Him according to the custom
of the Law, he also took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said :
Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant in peace, according to Thy word ;
because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, . . . And Simeon blessed them
and said to Mary His Mother : Behold this Child is set for the fall, and
for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be
contradicted, and thy own soul a sword shall pierce." (St. Luke ii. 22 — 36.)
THE PURIFICATION AND PRESENTATION. 207
Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord." But the Son
of God was not, could not, be subject to this Law,
being superior to the Law ; but though superior by His
nature, yet He chose to subject Himself to the Law for
our example. So too was it with Mary. She had no
need of purification, for her spotless virginity had
incurred no blemish in bringing forth her God, and there
was no stain upon her soul of original sin, from which,
as faith teaches us, she was exempt. But she, like her
Son, was imbued with the spirit of supererogation.
Their example should confound our pride and teach us
humility — it is a reproach to our sloth and to our
excuses for evading the law, for neglecting our spiritual
duties on the slightest and most frivolous pretexts.
We are sinners, and yet we are ashamed to appear
what we are, and postpone the application of the means
of obtaining forgiveness. Jesus subjected Himself to
circumcision, and Mary to purification. At the sight
of this two-fold example, all our frivolous excuses for
avoiding humiliations fall to the ground. Let us admire
their modesty and recollection, and their happiness as
Mary and Joseph are on their way of six miles to
Jerusalem, because they have their Jesus with them — •
He is the one object of their thoughts and of their hearts.
And as they enter the precincts of the Temple, what
intense recollection and composure is manifested in
their every movement and feature. How different from
our conduct when we enter into God's holy Presence.
Let us see the Mother on her knees and holding up her
Child, offering it to God. What a lesson for us, with
what devotion we should offer up Jesus Christ to His
Eternal Father when we receive Him in Communion
or hold Him up in Holy Mass. See with what humble
reverence she receives the prescribed blessing, and
let us learn to imitate her spirit of faith, interior
recollection, fidelity to our smallest spiritual duties.
2o8 THE SECOND WEEK.
Point 2. — Simeon receives Jesus in his arms. — Long
has he been waiting with iinabating confidence for this
blessed occasion ; spending his days in the Temple in
watching and prayer, just and fearing God, and looking
for the consolation of Israel ; and the Holy Ghost was
in him. With what care do we strive to acquire and
preserve the grace of God ? Do we love watching and
prayer, do we regularly visit the temple where Jesus is
ever present, that we may go and commune with Him ?
How do we fl}^ from faults and negligences which
expose us to the danger of forfeiting or diminishing
actual graces ? Do we not rather look for the consola-
tion of pleasure, and seek our own and not the things
of Jesus Christ, and thus become imbued, not with the
Holy Spirit, but with the spirit of the world ? Let us
see with what profound faith, reverence,' love, and
confidence the holy man presses Jesus to his breast.
Oh! what a reproach is he to our coldness, distractions,
and hardness when we receive Jesus in our breast in
Holy Communion or take hold of Him in the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass ! Simeon holds Him once, and
we, oh ! how often ! He after that can die contented,
and alas ! we are far from content to die. Then he
prophesies : " He is placed as a sign of contradiction."
So are all those who belong to Christ ; they shall all bear
His livery and share His fate. So too shall His Mystical
Body verify till the end, as it has done for nineteen
hundred years, this prophecy of her Divine Spouse.
And Anna, though eighty-four years old, left not
the Temple, but spent her nights and days in fasting
and prayer, and she was pure, and mortified, and
faithful in the service of God. Therefore God was
pleased to reward her by the sight of our Blessed Lord.
It is to such that God manifests Himself, and it is
because the number of such is small that so few are
allowed to see Him intimately.
THE PURIFICATION AND PRESENTATION. 209
Oh ! how incomparably greater are the graces which
we have received, and yet how tongue-tied aire we in
regard to God and to His interests, whereas she went
about pointing Him out to all.
Point 3. — Jesus is presented to His Father. — With
what thoroughness does our Blessed Lord offer up His
Sacred Humanity to carry out the will of His Father.
He offers up every thought of His mind, every move-
ment of His Heart, every sense, and nerve, and action
of His Body to promote that Father's glory, and to
establish and extend His Kingdom. He will do it in
the midst of labour, humiliation, persecution, and death
itself. He w^ill do it without respite or cessation ; nay,
as His years increase, so will the thoroughness and
perfection of His offering become intensified. Let us
reflect upon ourselves, contrast the wretched manner in
which hitherto we have imitated Him in the offering
we have made of ourselves. Let us be filled with
confusion at the thought, and whilst giving thanks that
still He has not cast us off, let us resolve to be more
faithful in future.
In our colloquy let us beg of Mary to present us
also to God, and to pray for us that we may keep this
resolution, and say the " Hail Mary." Let us renew
our offering with Jesus, and beg of Him to pray for
the same graces for us, and say the Anima Christie and
lastly let us address the Father and say " Our Father."
THE SECOND WEEK.
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.i
Note. — Though in this contemplation the obedience of
our Blessed Lord is put strongly before us for our con-
sideration, still, as we see from the points, the chief virtue
we have to study is resignation to the will of God in the
trials of this life. In this mystery we see too the first
clash between our Lord and the public authority of the
time and of the country in which He is born.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us reflect how Mary and Joseph at
the bidding of the A'ngel bear the Child Jesus into
Egypt and escape from the hands of Herod, ^ who seeks
to take away His life.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the long, weary road to
Egypt, and the cottage on the Nile near Heliopolis, or
On, where there was a settlement of Jews.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we have at heart,
namely, to know our Blessed Lord more clearly in this
mystery, that we may love Him more dearly and follow
Him more nearly in His obedience and cheerful resigna-
tion under the trials and persecutions of this life.
Point I. — Let us first contemplate the Holy Family
at Bethlehem. They are poor, retired, industrious,
preventing each other in kind thoughts and charitable
actions, and are glowing with love of the Blessed
Infant : but He is a sign of contradiction, as also are
1 ' ' And after they were departed, behold an Angel of the Lord appeared
in sleep to Joseph, saying : 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 Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him. Who arose and took the
Child and His Mother by night, and retired into Egypt : and He was
there until the death of Herod." (St. Matt. ii. 13, 14.)
2 St. Matt. ii. 13, 18.
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.
they, and " all who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus
must suffer persecution." ^ The world, an enemy of
peace, will not suffer the good long to enjoy it. Let us
from Mary and Joseph learn that the highest sanctity
consists in doing the ordinary duties of our state, but
in doing them extraordinarily well. If we turn next to
Jerusalem, to the palace of Herod, we find all is luxury
and effeminacy, adulation and cunning, deceit, cruelty,
and falsehood. Herod, himself glowing with rage, the
victim of the predominant passion of worldly ambition,
is planning the massacre of innocent children, en-
couraged by his fawning courtiers. In vain does he
try to frustrate the designs of God, *'for the Lord
shall laugh at him,"^ and, again, ''the souls of the
just are in the hands of God and the malice of men
shall not touch them."^ We see here the folly of man
to strive against the designs of God's providence ; and
in all our trials and persecutions let us throw ourselves
entirely under the protection of Him who will not let a
hair fall from our head except by His special per-
mission.
If we return to the cottage at Bethlehem, where
Mary and the Divine Infant and holy Joseph are
reposing in peaceful sleep, we see how God com-
missions the Archangel to notify His will. *' For behold
the Angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in his sleep
and bids him take the Child and His Mother and fly
to Egypt," &c. He who is come to be the Liberator
and Redeemer of the world is to fly, as if incapable to
save Himself! And thus to forego an opportunity of
manifesting His and His Father's power and promoting
thereby His Father's glory. Again, He is to fly during
the darkness of the night to Egypt — to a far-distant
country — to take a journey on foot of one hundred and
eighty miles, into a land most hostile to the Jews.
-1 2 Timothy iii. 12, 2 Psalm ii. 4, 3 Wisdom iii. 1 ; Pro v. xxi. 30.
212 THE SECOND WEEK.
Everything combined to show the unreasonableness of
such a step ; and at the same time they might so easily
have gone for shelter amongst their countrymen in the
hilly parts of Galilee. Joseph yields to no such thoughts,
but awakes Mary, who, obedient to him, at once rises,
and with their Child, they start under cover of the
darkness on their way. There is no murmur, no dis-
tress, but perfect and cheerful resignation to God's holy
will, no shadow of anxiety or fear ruffles the peace and
tranquillity of their souls. Let us learn from their
example to leave ourselves in the hands of our Superiors,,
who are in the place of God, to dispose of us as they
shall deem fit, carrying out their orders even though to
human ideas they may seem to involve humiliation,
heartlessness, and cruelty, and may even appear
unreasonable and foolish. They do not even ask for
how long they are to stay in exile, but will remain till
they shall be told when they are to return. What a
lesson for us if we are tempted to weary of office or
place and to ask for change.
Point 2. — They proceed on their way to Egypt. Let
us admire their prompt and blind obedience, notwith-
standing the age of the Child, the delicacy of the
Mother, the inclemency of the season, with only the
few things they can scrape together, and quite ignorant
of the road and of the nature of the countr}^ or how
they are to find means of support. Their only pro-
vision is the providence of God, who has given them
the order. Let us go with them in spirit as they pass
through Hebron and the hilly parts of Judaea to
Beersheba, and onwards to Gaza, and then through
the land of Goschen to the banks of the Nile. Often
they hunger and thirst during the day, and at night
have no roof but the vault of heaven to shelter them ;
/always wearied and worn with their long journeys, yet
the same cheerfulness, and resignation, the same
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 213
unwavering confidence in God, the same recollection
and union with God in holy prayer, and adoration and
love of the Divine Child. He offers Himself to all this
suffering and joyfully accepts it for our sakfes, whilst
He gives graces to Mary and Joseph to enable them to
bear all joyfully and thus give glory to His Father. Let
us always take Jesus with us in our journeys from place
to place, and He will do the same for us, no matter
how hard or repugnant the trial may be to which
obedience subjects us. Often what appears cruel,
imprudent, and even foolish' to us, is the will of God
manifested by Superiors.
Point 3. — They remain in Egypt until Herod's
death. The Egyptians were plunged in loathsome
idolatry, and the country was a cradle of all kinds of
superstitions, and a sink of corruption : but as a return
for its hospitality in harbouring Him, what a spectacle
it presented in the early days of the Church ! Its
deserts became as a beautiful garden in the sight of
Heaven. Its schools became fruitful in learned and
glorious saints. Let us by our prayers and good
example spread seeds in the midst of our depraved
and perverse generation, which when we are gone will
germinate and produce similar fruits in generations not
yet born.
Let us in our colloquy regret the want of resigna-
tion to the will of God in the comparative ligblt trials
which we have had to suffer and our imperfect obedi-
ence to those appointed over us. And let us beg,
through the intercession of Mary and Jesus Christ,
that we ma}'- perfectly conform ourselves to His
example for the time to come. End with " Our
Father."
Where time and circumstances allow, as when a
whole month is devoted to making the Exercises,
214 THE SECOND WEEK.
St. Ignatius enjoins two repetitions of the two pre-
ceding exercises, and in the evening an appHcation of
the senses to the same subject.
THE RETURN FROM EGYPT.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — The history is briefly this, that on the
death of Herod an Angel was sent by God to St. Joseph
to announce to him the fact, and also to inform him
that it was the time for him to return to the land of
Israel. St. 'Joseph at once obeyed, and set out for
Judaea ; but whilst on the way he receives a second
intimation from Heaven, and goes to Nazareth of
Galilee, where he takes up his abode. ^
Prelude 2. — Let us join the Holy Family in Egypt,
and in spirit accompany them on their journey to
Nazareth.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we want, which is to
know our Lord as He manifests Himself in this mystery,
that thus we may through love and admiration be led
to follow Him more perfectly.
Point I. — The Angel gives his commission for the
return. Herod was dead ; he died as he had lived,.
1 " But when Herod was dead.; behold an Angel of the Lord appeared
in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying : Arise, and take the Child and His
Mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the
life of the Child. Who arose and took the Child, and His Mother, and
came into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judcea
in the room of Herod, his father, he was afraid to go thither ; and being
warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming he dwelt
in a city called Nazareth." (St. Matt. ii. 19 — 2.4.)
2 How long the Holy Family remained in Egypt we do not know, as
the opinions of the Fathers differ on the point. Some with Epiphanius
fix the period at two years, while others, amongst whom are Ammonius,
Anselm, &c. , suppose it to have been seven years. Others extend the term
of their exile to nine years.
THE RETURN FROM EGYPT. 215
steeped in iniquity. He had spilt the blood of a wife
and three children, h^d put many others also to death,
among them the Holy Innocents ; by his gross immo-
rality and profligacy, his body was reduced to a very
hot-bed of most loathsome diseases, an object of disgust
to himself and to all around him, and he breathed out
his sinful soul in the darkness of despair, amid tortures
which caused him to attempt to die by his own hand.
What had pride profited him ? What is the end of his
ambition, his power, and thirst for glory ? Of what
advantage have been his excesses except to make him
an object of horror to his subjects and to sink him
deeper in the abyss of eternal misery ? Truly, mors
peccatovis pessima — "the death of the sinner is the very
worst." 1 From this revolting' sight let us turn to the
humble dwelling of Joseph and Mary in Egypt. There
all is peace, mutual self-sacrifice, humility, and love ;
all is happiness and joy, for Jesus is there, with whom
is all good. The Angel awakes Joseph, the least perfect
of the family, but yet the Superior of the house, and
bids him to arise promptly. He obeys. He is to take
"the Boy" ! — such are the terms in which our humble
Jesus is referred to by His own minister — and " His
Mother," in other words, the Queen of Heaven, the
Mistress of the World, the Mother of God, " and go
back to the land of Israel." At the bidding of the
Angel, without further question, they carry it into
execution, Mary and Jesus obeying Joseph, who in all
humility and confidence accepts the message of God
through the heavenly envoy. Let us learn and take to
heart the lesson which is here given us of true super-
natural obedience. Whether we are in Religion, and
as such are bound by vow, or are in the world, we are
all called upon to obey ; but how few really appreciate
the nature and excellence of this duty ! how few who
^ Psalm xxxiii. 22.
2i6 THE SECOND WEEK.
obey the commands of rightfull}^ constituted authority,
not for the sake of him who commands, nor because of
his superior quahties, nor for the benefits accruing
therefrom, nor to avoid the evils of disobedience, but
solel}'- and simply because they recognize in that
authority God, whom it represents. It is this obe-
dience which is meritorious in the sight of God,
and is alone consistent with real liberty and Christian
independence. What is the motive of our obedience ?
Do we see in the orders which we receive the expres-
sion of the will of God, or are we actuated by the
less worthy motives of hope or fear of temporal advant-
ages or evils, or obey because obey we must ? Such
reasons are unworthy of a true follower of Jesus
Christ.
Point 2. — And rising up, they came into the land of
Israel. As it was by obedience that they went to
Egypt, so by obedience they departed from it. They
were perfectly indifferent to all but the will of God.
With them there was no question of like or dislike, of
comfort or discomfort, of health or sickness, of credit or
discredit, but simply of what was the will of God, of
what was most for His glory and praise. So should
it be with every Christian, but especially with those
who are in the religious state, and most of all with
those who bear the name of Jesus, and profess to glory
in it. To such all countries are the same, all residences,
appointments, and offices are equally agreeable, pro-
vided the constituted authority has spoken, thereby
manifesting God's holy will. It is only by this complete
abandonment of ourselves to Superiors that the soul
secures true peace, feels assured of the protection of
Divine Providence, ' promotes its own sanctification,
and advances the greater glory of God. Let us in
spirit accompany the Holy Family on their homeward
journey, learning from each lessons of modesty, recol-
THE RETURN FROM EGYPT. 217
lection, humility, poverty, patience, charity, and cheer-
ful resignation to the holy will of God.
Point 3. — Joseph goes to Nazareth. There is a deep
meaning in the message given to St. Joseph by the
Angel, when he bade him to return to the land of Israel.
Naturally the Saint would conclude that he ought to go
and dwell in Jerusalem, in the neighbourhood of the
Temple, where the Divine Child could go and commune
with His Heavenly Father. Moreover, he would wish
to go thither in order to offer the sacrifice of thanks-
giving for the protection of Heaven during their exile
in Egypt. Yet, from the fact that Archelaus, the crue
son of the dead tyrant, reigned in Judaea, and uncertain
to what part of Israel to direct his steps, he has recourse
to prayer that he may discover the will of God. How
often do we form our judgments simply as our feelings
prompt us, or on grounds suggested by our narrow and
warped views, or on considerations of our creature
comforts, of our advancement or other temporal and
unworthy motives, without turning to God, and begging
light and guidance from Him. It is precisely to guard
us against this too common fault and danger that
St. Ignatius proposes to us, and lays such stress upon
the frequent application of the " Methods of Election."
When we combine earnest prayer with the right use of
the faculty of reason, God, in His merciful and loving
providence, will enlighten us to see His holy will, as
He did His servant, holy Joseph, of whom it is written
"that he was admonished in his sleep," and retired
into Galilee, where he took up his abode in the village
of Nazareth. It was there that the Blessed Mother of
Jesus had dwelt ; it was there that He was conceived
by the Holy Ghost ; it was a retired and humble
village, far removed from the turmoil and dissipation
of the world, where for so many years our Lord was to
lead a life of obscurity, of labour, and of obedience.
2i8 THE SECOND WEEK.
*' Love to be unknown and to be accounted nothing
worth," says the author of the Imitation. It is the lesson
he learnt from Jesus of Nazareth. Let us also try to
take this lesson to heart ; let us practise what we
profess, and love to live a life of labour, obscurity,
obedience, and prayer.
Let us end this contemplation with three colloquies,
to our Blessed Lady, to our dear Lord, and to our
Heavenly Father. End with the " Our Father."
THE HIDDEN LIFE.i
Note. — In the preceding mysteries we have studied
the more remote dispositions to promote in ourselves
and others the greater glory of God. We now come
to the more immediate dispositions, which consist in
applying ourselves first to sanctify ourselves in our own
private life. For this we must study the life which
Jesus led up to the thirtieth year of His age, when He
went forth to preach and to accomplish the redemption
of the world. It is a myster}^ hidden indeed from
the eyes of worldlings, but shines out with wonderful
lustre to the eyes of those who know and love Him ;
and furnishes us with weighty and necessary practical
lessons which are calculated to make us saints.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us review the history, how our
Saviour, in the twelfth year of His age, returned to
Nazareth and lived there in perfect obedience and
subjection to Mary and Joseph ; and as He advanced
in age, so He ever showed greater wisdom and sanctity
1 ' ' And He descended with them and came to Nazareth ; and He was
subject to them, . . . And Jesus advanced in wisdom, age, and grace
before God and men." (St. Luke ii. 51, 52.)
THE HIDDEN LIFE. 219
in works of edification of His neighbour and of glory-
to His Father, and His employment was that of a
joiner. 1
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the house and shop, and
our Lady and our Lord employed in menial and ordinary
services.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we desire, namely, to
know our Lord in His private life more clearly, that we
may love Him more dearly, and may imitate Him in
His private virtues more nearly.
Point I. — He was obedient. There, da}' after day, at
whatever hour, we see our Lord in that poor house full
of respect and subjection to our Lady and St. Joseph —
always at their beck and call, content with everything,
serving them in everything with the most perfect
obedience. Who is it who obeys ? The Almighty
Creator, Lord and Master, to whom all things are
subject : and, as Man, full of grace and wisdom and
power. To whom ? To Mary, whom of His own free
choice He had fixed upon to be His Mother, and to
Joseph, a poor artisan, creatures drawn from nothing
by Himself, and consequently infinitely inferior, to Him
in wisdom, power, and every other quality.
In what ? And His obedience extends to the poorest
and lowliest duties with alacrity and fulness of affection,
and that until His thirtieth year. So the first step in
the way of sanctity is perfect obedience and the total
detachment from our own will and judgment, forgetting
all our endowments— that we are old, or learned, or
prudent — the high offices we have held ; and stamping
out our own opinions and judgments ; and, like our
Jesus, cheerfully subjecting our own opinions and ideas
to those of others. How shameful it is sometimes to
hear a Religious asking: "What? am I forsooth a
child ? or a fool ? Have I not gone through such and
1 Conf. Summa, p. 3. q. 7. a. 12 ; Toletus, in Lucam, ii. §§ 86, 88.
THE SECOND WEEK.
such studies ? Have I not been in such and such
offices ? " And yet we profess to imitate Jesus, and
especially in the matter of obedience, whose life for
eighteen years is summed up in Erat sicbditus illis. Let
us listen to St. Bernard : "Blush, thou proud sinner;
God humbles Himself, and thou exaltest thyself." Let
us resolve firmly to obey with an obedience like that
which the Son of God not only showed so eminently
in all His actions, but made the chief occupation of
the greater part of His life ; and when He left His
Mother, it was only to transfer His obedience to His
Heavenly Father.
Let us also contemplate St. Joseph in his workshop,
clad in his poor dress, and labouring hard to earn the
few necessaries required by Mary and Jesus ; as also
the Mother and Child, poor, but peaceful and happy :
each ever ready to help and sacrifice self in favour of
the others. Joseph holy because humble, Mary more
holy because more humble, but Jesus the holiest of all
because the most humble, and so successful in con-
cealing His Divinity, that the most intimate of their
neighbours failed to discover it. Truty He is a hidden
God — and all this for so many long years. Oh, let us
love to be hidden with Christ in God. Let us follow
the counsel of the author of the Imitation, let us love to
be unknown and to be counted nothing worth.
Point 2. — He advanced in wisdom, age, and grace.
It was not that the habit of wisdom and grace increased,
for these were perfect in Him from the instant of His
conception, but His actions gave signs of greater
wisdom, and each gave greater delight to God. His
Divine Person was covered with human flesh and
hidden behind the shades of His private life, as a sun
behind the clouds, and only now and then and by
degrees shone forth with greater splendour as His
years advanced. Let us behold Him in the discharge
THE HIDDEN LIFE.
of His ordinary actions ; in His long prayers adoring
and glorifying His Eternal Father ; in His talking and
conversation with men ; in His serving His Blessed
Mother; in His taking His food and rest — let us see
His modesty and exterior deportment, and His humble,
thoughtful, and charitable bearing. Let us, too, desire
to increase more and more in the service of God in the
ordinary actions of our lives, and to aim always at what
is more perfect both as to the substance and manner of
performing them. Alas ! how often have we falsified
and reversed this saying in our lives ! What efforts
have we made to increase in wisdom, in our studies,
perhaps, to win the applause and esteem of others ;
but in the meantime what wrong notions and crooked
maxims have we adopted, and what little attempts
have we made to please God b}'' our virtuous deeds.
Let us be confounded, repent heartily, and resolve
courageousl}^ for the future.
Point 3. — Is He not a joiner ? Jesus having taught
us the manner of commencing spiritual life by the virtue
of obedience and to pursue it with profit, teaches us
the surest means of maintaining it by humility and
the constant exercise of humiliations. Jesus came to
perform the greatest of works, the redemption of the
world ; He determined for this to remain on earth for
three-and-thirty years, nevertheless, thirty of these He
spent in retirement, and of these eighteen in a small
joiner's shop, as if He were a mere peasant, amidst the
hard labours of an ordinary mechanic, as though He
were a person of no learning. Therefore He had it
thrown into His face: "Is He not a joiner?" How
different are the judgments of God from those of men ;
and yet how often do we, who profess to imitate Him,
prove ourselves cowards and slaves to the opinions of
men. Such was the beginning of the noble achieve-
ment, such the preparation of Jesus to glorify His
THE SECOND WEEK.
Father, namely, to humble Himself and make Himself
little. Wherefore we prove our folly and error in
wishing to appear in public, to make a show, to occupy
conspicuous offices, &c.
Let us consider also how Jesus, who had come to
do such mighty work by His teaching and redemption
of mankind, would spend thirty years in poverty,
obscurity, and laborious employments suited only to
a poor carpenter's son. This He did to convince the
world of the necessity and excellence of holy humility ;
to encourage and console those who are forced to work ;
to ennoble manual labour ; and, lastly, to show us that
real merit does not so much depend on the nature of
our occupations, as on the purity of intention and on
the spirit with which we perform them.
Let us then love the interior and hidden life, and
love the lowest offices and the occupations least esteemed
by worldlings.
In our colloquy, let us implore of God to give us
the grace to walk in the footsteps of our Blessed Lord,
especially by an imitation of His obedience and humility,
and by our fervour in performing the ordinary duties of
our state of life. End with " Our Father."
JESUS REMAINS IN THE TEMPLE.i
Note. — i. In the preamble to the consideration of
the different states of life, St. Ignatius tells us that this
contemplation is to prepare us for the main and decisive
1 "And His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the solemn day of
the Pasch. And when He was twelve years old, they going up into
Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the
days, when they returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem ; and
His parents knew it not. And thinking that He was in the company, they
came a day's journey, and sought Him among their kinsfolks and acquaint-
ance. And not finding Him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him.
JESUS REMAINS IN THE TEMPLE. 223
work of the second part of the Exercises. And Toletus^
says that, according to the opinion of commentators,
this mystery is the commencement of that Hfe which
Jesus was later pubhcly to lead as the Saviour of the
world and promoter of His Father's glory. It ought,
then, to dispose us to make greater and more perfect
resolutions against all carnal attachments.
2. After Jesus has been presented to us at Nazareth
as a model of obedience, humility, labour, and perfection
in the discharge of ordinary duties, we here regard Him
as the model of Christian perfection. Further, evangelical
perfection, or the practice of the Evangelical Counsels
and the consecrating of self with our liberty and will to the
apostolic life, is one end proposed to us for our serious
consideration ; but yet it is not the predominant one,
which is rather, as St. Ignatius says, Ut perveniamus ad
perfectionem in qiiocimiqne statu, that is, to put ourselves
in the disposition to acquire perfection in any state,
and to excite our will to follow the call of God at all
cost, and to adopt the means necessary to acquire that
perfection.
3. Therefore the mystery is presented to us under
the following three points : (i) Jesus is called by the
Eternal Father to quit His Mother, to manifest Himself
personally in the Temple, at the expense of great pain
both to His Mother and Himself, in recognition of His
Father's superior claims ; (2) Jesus obeys perfectly, and
in most painful circumstances caused by His poverty,
detachment, &c. ; (3) in the third point we are to
And it came to pass that, after three days they found Him in the Temple,
sitting in the midst of the doctors. . . . And all that heard Him were
astonished at His wisdom and His answers. . . . And His Mother said to
Him, Son, why hast Thou done so to us? Behold Thy father and I have
sought Thee sorrowing. And He said to them, How is it that you sought
Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"
(St, Luke ii. 41 — 50. )
i In Lucam, ii. § 69.
224 'THE SECOND WEEK.
ask ourselves, What is God's call in our individual
regard ?
Prelude i. — Let us consider that Jesus goes with His
parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover ; that
when they returned, He remained without their know-
ledge ; that having with anxiety and sorrow sought
Him, they at length found Him on the third day in the
midst of the doctors in the Temple ; and that when His
Mother asked Him why He had done so. He answered :
♦' Why did ye seek Me ? Did ye not know that I must
be about My Father's business ? "
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine the road to Jerusalem,
the Temple, and our Lord and others in front of the
doctors.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we want, namely, to
know our Blessed Lord's thoroughness and generous
response to the call of His Father, that we may love
Him the more, and be stimulated to follow Him.
Pomt I. — Jesus having attained the age at which
He assumes the rights of manhood and becomes subject
to the Mosaic injunctions, He starts with His parents
for Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Easter by assist-
ing at the sacrifices and other ceremonies prescribed
in honour and for the worship of God. The way was
long from Nazareth through Esdraelon, the valleys of
Ephraim, over the hills of Samaria, and through Sichem
on to Jerusalem. His age is very tender, and the way
is rough and hilly, and He runs some risk of His life as
Archelaus was still reigning in Jerusalem, ^ yet He
reckons nothing of the trouble and fatigue and danger,
preferring the reverence and fear of God to every human
consideration.^ Let us admire the Blessed Virgin and
St. Joseph with Jesus in their midst as they proceed on
1 Toletus, § 68.
^ Augustine, De consejis Evang. ii. c. 10.
JESUS REMAINS IN THE TEMPLE. 225
their way : their humiHty, modesty, gentleness — how
' content to be ignored and perhaps looked down upon
by their fellow -pilgrims on account of their poverty and
retiring manners. With what deep feelings is the Heart
of Jesus swelling for His most Holy Mother, and for
St. Joseph, their pure, loving, and devoted protector;
and on the other side, with what ardent love, profound
reverence, and awe were their hearts filled for the
Divine Jesus ! Again, what was their food, their
accommodation, on that three-days' journey ? — and yet
they bear it all so cheerfully, so silently, so generously,
for it is on the part of Jesus and of Mary a labour
undertaken in a spirit of supererogation, as only Joseph
came under the Law. How much have we to learn in
all these respects, and how little of supererogation do
we find in all that we do for God ! During the seven
days let us behold Him generally in the Temple adoring
and praising God and praying for the salvation of man-
kind. Let us learn here to cling perseveringly to our
spiritual duties, if we mean to do good to others and
glorify God. All our talents, industry, and labours,
will be of no use to others, if by negligence in prayer
and spiritual observances we fail to sanctify ourselves.
Let us learn never through irksomeness, small ailments,
preparation of sermons or succouring our neighbours,
to neglect our religious duties, especially meditation and
examens of conscience and our other daily devotions.
We may also contemplate the spirit of recollection,
composure, and modesty, which the Holy Family
displayed during all the ceremonies of the Temple,
the exactness with which they observed the minutest
details of the Law, and learn a lesson of the manner
in which we should conduct ourselves in the house
of God, and more especially in the preparation for,
celebration of, and thanksgiving after the participa-
tion of the sacraments, or Sacrifice of the Mass.
226 THE SECOND WEEK.
When the feast was over and the parents of Jesus
in company with the other pilgrims from Galilee
started for their homes, Jesus remained behind. This
was an intense pain to His Sacred Heart, for He
knew the dreadful pain and sorrow which it must cause
to the most tender and loving heart of His Blessed
Mother, yet He could not tell her, for it was by this
her trial that her most pure soul was to be rendered
more pure and more beautiful still, and that her natural
love was to give more place to the supernatural with
which she was inflamed. This His pain was intensified
by the love which He had for her ; but such was the
will of His Eternal Father, that thereby He might
teach the world that there is a higher and a nobler law
than that which, as the Author of Nature, He has
implanted in the soul of every man, and in compliance
with which the natural law must be sacrificed. This
is a lesson for parents as well as for children, that when
God calls to His special service, the natural ties which
bind them to each other must be broken, and the
sacrifice must be made even though it may cause the
heart to bleed.
Point 2. — Jesus obeys most cheerfully, and remains
in the Temple, and mixing with the strangers who were
receiving instructions from the doctors, listens to their
teachings as if He were an ignorant scholar. We may
well suppose 1 that He would ask them regarding the
Messiah, thereby to draw the doctors and scribes to a
knowledge of Him when He should later enter on His
Public Ministry. So full of celestial wisdom were His
questions and replies, that all were rapt in admira-
tion. Let us learn with like humility, modesty, and
assiduity, and with the same purity of intention, those
sacred truths and sciences, which may fit us to be
instruments for the promotion of God's glory and the
1 Toletus, § 75.
JESUS REMAINS IN THE TEMPLE. 227
salvation of souls, and may serve also to sanctify our-
selves. Instead of spending our time in visits, com-
pliments, and in worldly and unprofitable discourses,
let us be covetous of it and devote it to professional
study, after allowing a full measure to prayer. The
doctors wondered at the heavenly prudence and wisdom
manifested by Jesus. God grant that the people with
whom we may be thrown, may never have cause to
wonder at the imprudence, rashness, or folly of our
conversation, or at our want of zeal and piety. But
how was Jesus supported during those three days?
Probably on charity. Where did He pass the night ?
Either in the porch or portico of the Temple, or He
craved the hospitality of others. All the daytime He
spent in the house of God, knowing ''that all other
things would be added unto Him."
Point 3. — When Joseph and Mary had finished the
first day on their return journey to Nazareth, they
found that Jesus was absent, and was not in the
company of any of their relatives or friends. For this
no blame could be attached to them, whether of
indifference, neglect, or want of love : yet who can
conceive the anguish and sorrow of Mary and Joseph,
and at the same time their humble submission to the
Divine will. We may apply to her in her distress those
words of the spouse in the Canticles : •' By night I
sought Him whom my soul loveth : I sought Him and
found Him not. I will arise and go about the city ; in
the streets and the broad ways, I will seek Him whom
my soul loveth. I sought Him and I found Him not.
The watchmen who keep the city found me : have you
seen Him whom my soul loveth ? " ^ Let us accompany
them on their way back to Jerusalem in search of Him :
let us feel intense compassion for them, for the poor
Mother in her calm but deep sorrow at the loss of her
* Cant. iii. 2, 3.
228 THE SECOND WEEK.
Child, in her terrible affliction and unmerited self-
reproaches at her want of care of her Blessed Child ;
and for holy Joseph in his double grief at the sight of
the distress of Mary and his anxiety about Jesus.
Truly ** great is their sorrow as is the sea. Who can
heal it ? " And so the slow hours of that miserable day
passed. What a lesson this should be for us when
through our own fault we have had the terrible mis-
fortune to lose Jesus by a grievous sin, or have gone to
a distance from Him by a deliberate venial sin. If they
so sorrowed and hastened to seek for Him who without
shadow of fault had been separated from Him, what
ought to be our affliction, what our haste to seek Him
till He is found again ? When they reach the city, they
make their way straight to the Temple, where they find
Him seated in the midst of the doctors. Let us con-
template Him as with sublime modesty, humility, and
reverence He proposes His questions regarding the
Messiah, the time and the signs of His coming, and
listening to their replies. Let us observe how all those
about Him as well as the priests and doctors are struck
with wonder and admiration at His questions and at
His answers. Let us admire the self-control of the
Mother, and her patience, whilst she waits for the
breaking up of the meeting, and let us rejoice with her
at *' having found Him whom her soul loveth, whom
she will now hold, and will not let Him go till she
brings Him into her mother's house." ^ When Mary
asks Him why He has treated them so, and tells Him
how sorrowingly they have been looking for Him, He
gives them to understand that in regard of His works
for the glory of His Father, and in His office as the
Saviour of the world. He had to obey that Father.
Let us never forget this reply of our dear Lord, let us
remember that we must trample underfoot all human
1 Cant. iii. 4.
JESUS REMAINS IN THE TEMPLE. 229
respects and all regard for flesh and blood when there
is a question of God's glory and the salvation of
souls ; and at the call of duty we must be ready to
forsake parents and family and our best and most
intimate friends, even though they may be disgusted
with us and made hostile to us. Our answer must
be unhesitatingly : Do you not know that I must
be about my Father's business ? Jesus had two kinds
of work. We may call them opera sua and opera
Patris.'^ The fovmev were such as were common
and in His capacity as Man, in which He avoided all
singularity, and as to these, as long as He lived, with
Mary, He subjected Himself to her and depended on
her beck ; the latter were peculiar to Him in His quality
as Saviour, and belonged rather to His Divinity, and
as to these He depended solely on the will and pleasure
of His Father, and could not in them subject Himself
to the will and pleasure of any human being no matter
how holy or exalted, or how closely allied to Him. 2
By this He teaches us that we too must make a like
distinction in our own lives. Civility, good-nature, and
charity, are very good and proper dispositions to win
the hearts of our neighbours, and it is well in ordinary
life and common matters to endeavour to please them,
when neither God nor our neighbour's salvation demand
otherwise ; but when our own perfection, the will of
God, or His glory are in question, as these are works
more than human and require the special actual
grace of God, we must not make them depend on
human respects, but must ignore the judgments, wishes,
pleasure, or displeasure of men.
1 In the distinction of opera sua and opera Patris, we refer to those
actions of our Lord which He performed as Man and in which it was the
will of His Father that He should be obedient to His fellow-man, as dis-
tinguished from those which were solely and directly ordered by His'
Heavenly Father.
2 Toletus, in Lucam ii, § 69.
230 THE SECOND WEEK.
Let us examine ourselves and see how far we have
regulated our lives by these principles laid down by our
dear Lord.
In the colloquy let us beg of Him to teach us these
true principles of the apostolic life, and give us the
grace to reduce them to practice in our daily lives.
End with '' Our Father."
INTRODUCTION OR PREFACE TO THE
CONSIDERATION OF VARIOUS STATES.
I. After having meditated on the example which
Christ our Lord has left us of the first state, which
consists in the observance of the commandments of
God and of the Church, whilst He was living under
the authority of Mary and Joseph ; and likewise on that
which He has given us of the second state, which
consists in the additional observance of the Evangelical
Counsels, when He remained in the Temple, leaving
His Mother and His adopted father in order to devote
Himself solely to the service of His Eternal Father,
let us now begin to contemplate the other mysteries of
His Life, in order to study and seek out in what state
or kind of life His Divine Majesty may be pleased to
employ us iox His service, or what sacrifice He requires
from us for our greater perfection in the state in which
He has placed us.
Therefore, as an introduction to this subject, we
shall see in our next exercise the intention, that is to
say, the ways and means of Christ our Lord, and on
the other hand those of the enemy of our human nature :
and we shall likewise learn how we ought to dispose
ourselves to acquire perfection in that state to which it
may please God our Lord to elect us, or in which we are
already fixed-
ON TWO STANDARDS. 231
2. Suarez^ observes : "St. Ignatius here begins to
treat of the means by which a man ought gradually
to dispose himself to make a right election of that
state of life in which he may best secure his salvation
and serve his God."
3. The meditations themselves are calculated to
lead the exercitant to perfection, whatever may be his
state of life, whether he be a. member of the Society, Or
a cleric, or even a lay person living in the world, and
therefore we see that St. Ignatius does not mention in
them the Evangelical Counsels.
4. Where it is not a question of choosing a state of
life, if the person is already fixed in one, the same
exercises can and ought to be applied to the correction
of some sin or inordinate state of , the soul, or to find
out what sacrifice God demands from him for the
sanctification of his own soul or the promotion of God's
greater glory ; or what particular virtue he is more
especially called upon to cultivate. All these are
subjects upon which those who make the Spiritual
Exercises at regular stated intervals are called upon to
make an election : now upon one, now upon another,
according to the disposition of the soul at the time of
their retreat.^
ON TWO STANDARDS.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us put before our minds how Jesus
Christ calls all men, wishing them to gather round
1 De Exercit. v. c. xv. § 18. ^ See Appendices I. II. III.
3 This meditation together with the "Foundation," "The Kingdom
of Christ," the "Three Classes," and "Three Degrees of Humility," are
the very soul of the Spiritual Exercises. Towards them the others tend,
or on them depend, and consequently they must never be omitted. Two
others, namely, the exercise on Sin and the contemplation on Divine Love,
must also be added.
232 THE SECOND WEEK.
His standard, and Lucifer on the contrary strives
cunningly to allure them and bring them under his
galling yoke.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture to ourselves a great plain
about Jerusalem, where the Great Marshal [Summus
Dux generalis), or Captain General, Christ our Lord, is
stationed in the midst of His elect ; and another plain
near Babylon, where is Lucifer at the head of our
enemies, the devils and evil-minded and depraved
men.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we earnestly desire,
namely, a clear knowledge of the wiles and deceits of
the impious rebel, that we may beware of them, and a
knowledge of the true life which our true and great
Leader shows us, and grace to follow in His footsteps
and embrace His principles.
Point I. — Let us first take a view of the hosts
marshalled near Babylon, a city in appearance grand
and noble, but in reality a place of disorder, riot, and
confusion ; for its inhabitants are slaves of vice, and
ignore God's true worship. There, seated on a chair
as if in sign of majesty, is Lucifer, lording it over the
sons of pride. 1 His spirit stirs up the depths of pride
which absorbs all his followers, and from which spreads
a pestilence of vice over all the earth. He is surrounded
b}^ flaming fires from which rise dense volumes of smoke,
fit symbols of concupiscence and falsehood, of the dis-
quiet and inconstancy of unbridled passions. All is
agitation and excitement, nothing real and substantial,
all is vanity and empty show and bravado, all is false-
hood and mean fraud. If we could see the monster in
his true colours, we should die of fright and horror — he
strikes his adherents with terror and holds them in
chains of slavery. And as for the good, he wants to
1 " He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of
pride." (Job xli. 25.)
ON TWO STANDARDS. 233
drag them from the path of virtue and plunge them into
vice, to drive them to despair by persecution, to terrify
them by anxieties, fears, and scruples, or to bewilder
and distress them by wild imaginings. His pride and
envy make him mad against mankind. Let us next
observe how his minions from Hell, joined by multitudes
of his adherents on the earth, hustle round him, all
ready to carry out the commands of their infamous
head, all imbued with his impious and cruel malice,
and all yearning to have a share in the ruin of poor
souls. Amongst the most desperate let us see those
who under the guise of men of science, of statesmen, of
rulers, or of leaders of society, exercise their baneful
influence. And these the archfiend despatches over
the whole face of the earth ; they are scattered through
cities and towns and hamlets ; they are mingled with
the crowds which congregate in public places or in
manufactories ; they enter private houses, they are to
be met with where men fly for solitude ; in the work-
shop, the oflice, and in the school. No single child of
man shall succeed in evading the assaults of these
enemies, either visible or invisible, or both.
Let us listen to the instruction which Lucifer gives
them. They are to attack by stealth and covertly, and
to try to allure their victims by things in themselves
indiff'erent, such as riches,'^ inspiring an undue apprecia-
tion and desire of them ; then gradually to draw them
on to glory in them and to vain conceit, and from this
they will fall into the abyss of pride and so they will
end in ruin.
Money is a necessity ; it is required for hard times
which may come, or they must provide for the family,
or they ought to ambition an amehoration of their social
position. Again, by it they will* be able to do good,
1 By riches we understand riches as taken in the meditations on the
Principle or Foundation.
234 T^HE SECOND WEEK.
to gain respect and influence, and thereby promote the
interests of society and even of rehgion.
.' Thus from love of money they will be lured on to
love of honour and esteem, and from this it is but
a step to pride, and this is the beginning of all
sins.i
If this first plan fails because the end seems hopeless
or at least too remote, the second plan is to inspire
their victims with an inordinate appreciation of their
imaginary intellectual powers, and thus induce them
to strain every nerve to develop these at the sacrifice
of other duties of greater moment. Thereby self-
confidence and obstinacy in their own opinions, no
matter how shallow the foundations on which they are
based ; and rejection of authority and contempt for the
opinions of others. By this means they will become
slaves of pride and victims of destruction.
But the great majority of mankind will not be lured
to ruin by either of these two wiles of the enemy of
human nature, and thus he will have recourse to a
more gross stratagem still ; one which is more in
accord with our human nature, I mean the quality of
physical or corporal beauty. By instilling into man and
woman a great esteem and appreciation of this, and
inducing them to spare no pains in enhancing it, they
will most easily be lured on to take complacency in
themselves and to court notice and admiration ; to
indulge thoughts of vanity and thus will become proud,
and from pride in personal attractions the way is laid
open to every degradation here, and to Hell here-
after.
Alas ! with what ardour, perverseness, and craft, do
they discharge their dreadful commission ; like fierce
lions and ravenous wolves they roam through the world
1 "For pride is the beginning of all sin: he that holdeth it shall be
filled with maledictions, and it shall ruin him in the end." (Ecclus. x. 15.)
ON TWO STANDARDS. 235
and through places the most holy to prey upon souls,
hiding their infernal designs until they have entrapped
their victims.
Let us detest such diabolical treachery, and be
filled with horror at the sight of so fearful a multitude
of poor deluded souls ruined for eternit}^ through the
wretched attachments to such vile creatures, and
through their self-esteem and pride. And has the
devil succeeded with us in his first lie ? Or do we
spurn the love of money and especially of those things
which money can purchase, such as things which pro-
mote self-ease, curiosities, superfluities, and the like ?
Have we an undue esteem of our talents and natural
gifts, and to cultivate them do we forego or contract
our prayers and other religious duties ? Do we sit in
judgment on others who differ from us and perhaps
condemn them because they do not, as we judge, duly
appreciate us ? Finally,- are we of that vast and animal
class of men who try to make the most of and attach
importance to personal attractions and bodily gifts,
thereby to attract the notice and admiration of others ?
If so, why then let us take heed, for we are near our
fall and we have been tampering with our enemy and
the enemy of our King and Captain. From a sight so
disgusting —
Point 2. — Let us turn to Jerusalem, the city of peace,
and in some imaginary plain there let us look upon
another Leader and another host. And as for the.Leader,
the Captain General of the elect, we see Him seated in
lowly majesty, beautiful above all the children of men.
Ingenuousness marks every feature ; there is gentleness,,
loveliness, tenderness in every word, in every look, and
action. Authority and power are His by right and in
an infinite degree. He breathes an atmosphere of
peace. So too all is peace and happiness and order
amongst those who rally round Him, all have learned
236 THE SECOND WEEK.
from Him to be meek and humble of heart. ^ He is a
model to them all of mortification and self-conquest
and of universal detachment from earthly things, and
He has inspired them all with that life which He came
from Heaven to impart. He is the very Way, the very
Truth, and the Life.^ In Him are united all virtues.
Let us see how this Lord of the universe chooses His
Apostles and disciples and gives them commission to
spread themselves through the whole world to teach
His blessed doctrines and principles amongst all classes
and conditions of men ; for in His infinite goodness and
mercy, and without any gain to Himself, He wishes
all to be saved and to come to knowledge of the
truth. 3 He wishes to illuminate all with the light of
the truth.* For this too He commissions also the
angels in Heaven. And all are bound together by the
bonds of love to carry out His merciful and loving
design, " that the world may be* saved by Him." And
to them He gives this commission. They are to help
Him in inducing men to embrace spiritual poverty,
and, if He should be pleased to choose them, also
actual poverty : next to desire opprobrium and con-
tempt, for from these two things it will follow that they
will be humble. So that thus they will fly from riches,
secondly, they 'will avoid the snares of wqrldly honour,
and thirdly, will renounce all pride, and through their
humility will acquire all other virtues.
With these weapons He will have us fight against
the devil and conquer His and our enemies, lead a life
like His and afterwards enter His everlasting Kingdom,
and thus He will gain His end. After pondering on
His invitation and remembering from whom it comes,
we must of necessity conclude that these are the most
^ " Take up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, because I am meek and
humble of Heart ; and you shall find rest to your souls." (St. Matt. xi. 29.)
2 St. John viii. 12. 3 i Timothy ii. 4. ^ St. John i. 9.
ON TWO STANDARDS.
237
proper and sure means of securing our only good. Then
let us cheerfully throw ourselves at His sacred feet and
earnestly entreat Him to excite our hearts to seek the
greatest perfection, suitable to our vocation, an entire
detachment from all earthly things, and a more ardent
desire of humiliations and contempt.
Let us close with a colloquy with our Lady, beseech-
ing her to help us to fight with constancy under the
standard of her Son, and say the " Hail Mary ; " secondly,
with our Blessed Lord, offering Him our resolutions and
begging strength to put them in execution, saying
the Anima Christi; thirdly, with the Eternal Father,
imploring Him to give us grace to know and imitate
His well-beloved Son with the greatest perfection of
our state. End with " Our Father."
1. As we have seen, this contemplation, as presented
in the Exercises, is addressed to people in the world,
particularly to such as are desirous to choose a state of
life, in order that, knowing the spirit and principle
which animate Jesus Christ, on the one hand, and the
crooked malice and bad maxims of Lucifer, on the
other, they may be the more safely directed in their
election ; but, as we have said, it is of equal importance
to all, even those whose state of life is already fixed,
whether they' be in Religion or in the world, to stimulate
them to acquire a greater perfection in their state by
determining what fault stands most in need of correc-
tion, or what virtue they are called upon to practise.
It also serves to confirm us in the state of life which
we have chosen, and to stimulate us to fulfil its duties
with more care, zeal, and exactness.
2. If we would compare this contemplation with that
of the " Kingdom of Christ," we see how in this latter we
offer ourselves to God to bear poverty and humiliation
if it be His holy will, whereas in *' Two Standards " we
238 THE SECOND WEEK.
beg to be received under the standard of Christ our
King and Captain, provided we can bear the sufferings
and humiliations of it without any sin or offence to God ;
and this marks great progress in our attachment to the
cause of our Lord and a higher degree of perfection.
3. Again, we remark the contrast of the titles which
St. Ignatius gives to our Blessed Lord and the epithets
by which he stigmatizes Lucifer. Our Lord is the
General-in-chief and true Leader, our God, beautiful,
amiable, and lowly, the true Life ; He chooses His
friends, sends them forth, commending His mission
to them, and the like. Whereas Lucifer is the head
of our enemies, the impious head, horrible of aspect,
rebukes his followers, drives them, &c. Our King and
Lord chooses us and by His holy grace enables us to
make right use of our free-will, to respond to His
merciful design in combating the devil, in frustrating
his impious efforts to ruin us and the rest of mankind,
and thereby in promoting the cause of Jesus Christ.
" Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and
have appointed you that you should go and should
bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain." ^ The
devil is the enemy of all who have human nature ; first
and chiefly of our head, Jesus, and secondly, of all our
race, whom he wishes to involve with himself in eternal
misery : to this he is induced by his hatred of our
King and Lord, and by his envy and jealousy that we
are destined to possess that glory which through his
impious revolt he has forfeited.
4. The Rules for the Discernment of Spirits for the
second part of the Exercises are drawn from this*
exercise, and help to the better understanding of it.
St. Ignatius pictures Lucifer as seated on an elevated
seat figurative of his indomitable pride, amid fire
and smoke, symbolical of instability, agitation, and
1 St. John XV. 16.
ON TWO STANDARDS. 239
obscurity; in Babylon, expressive of disorder and con-
fusion. In this description he represents the devil in
his true colours, as we see by the marvellous manner
in which he produces and fosters confusion of mind and
agitation of heart not only in those who are the victims
of his crafty wiles, but also in those who are the loyal
followers of Jesus Christ, in their hours of desolation.^
Were he to show himself as he really is, so "horrible
and terrible " would he be that none would enlist in his
service ; therefore is it that he is compelled to act a
perpetual lie, often transforming himself into an angel
of light, though he is a liar from the beginning, and
"the father of lies." 2
5. We remark in this contemplation, that St.
Ignatius in the first part represents the devil as con-
voking countless devils under his standard, and makes
no mention of men, who nevertheless are often his most
active and efficient minions, whereas in the second part
he tells us "to contemplate how the Lord of the
universe chooses such a multitude of persons, apostles,
disciples, &c., and sends them through the whole world
to spread His holy doctrine amongst mankind of every
state and condition," but says nothing of the angels.
Various reasons may be assigned for this. First, our
Lord is here considered not as God, but as He is our
King and Captain, " the Leader of the elect, the Eldest
of many brethren." As Man He leads His followers,
poor, weak, humble men, despised by the world, against
the combined powers of Hell: " For our wrestling is not
against flesh and blood ; but against principalities and
powers, against the .rulers of the world of this darkness,
against the spirits of wickedness in the high places,"^
who encouraged by His example and supported by His
help, are capable not only to resist, but to put to rout
1 Rule 4, Discernment of Spirits, 2 st. John viii. 44.
* Ephes. vi. 12,
240 THE SECOND WEEK.
the whole of the infernal powers and unmask their
deceits. This is a true as it is a sublime and glorious
picture, and calculated to animate with great zeal and
courage, those whom He may be pleased to call to a
higher state of life, or to a greater perfection in the
state of life in which they are actually placed.
6. Jesus Christ is appropriately called " the siipvemc
and tnte Leader;" for He is God our Lord, constituted
King by His Eternal Father, our Saviour and Shepherd^
who came into this world that He might give us true
life, and that very abundantly. He is represented as
near Jerusalem, the city of peace, for He is the Prince
of Peace, nay. He is our very peace, giving to us
"peace which surpasseth all understanding." ^ He is
seated in a lowly place, by which is expressed His
profound humility: for though He is God, yet He
humbled Himself, ''emptied Himself,"- and bids us
learn of Him that He is humble of Heart. He is
beautiful beyond the children of men ; " beauty is
poured abroad in His lips ; " gentle, lovely, and amiable ;
ingenuous and '' full of sincerity and truth." He is
disinterested and loving and devoted, "who for us men
and for our salvation came down from Heaven, was
conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,
and was made Man,"
7. If we compare the orders given by Lucifer with
the instructions of our Lord, we observe how the
former are stamped with arrogance, frenzy, hatred, and
falsehood, the latter with humility, tenderness, love,
and truthfulness ; the former have for their object to
lure souls to perdition, the latter to attract to eternal
salvation, by the way of holy poverty, at least in spirit
and if possible, and for God's glory in effect. This
voluntary poverty for Christ's sake will produce
patience under humiliations and at length love of the
1 Philipp. iv. 7.
REPETITION OF TWO STANDARDS. 241
same. Of course to acquire love of poverty is hard,
and it is harder still to attain a love of contempt and
humiHation, but when acquired, we gain also humilit}^
which preserves us in happiness and peace, for with
humility will come meekness, charity, modesty, obedi-
ence, and love of Jesus Christ.
8. It is by no means to be supposed that it is pro-
posed to us in this exercise to make our choice between
the standard of Christ and that of Lucifer. There can
be no question of this, as in the very beginning of the
Exercises, whilst considering the " Principle or Foun-
dation," we have resolved to break altogether with the
devil and to fly from sin and all the occasions which
might lead us into sin.
REPETITION OF TWO STANDARDS.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
The three preludes will be as in the last exercise,
but let us, if possible, make them with greater care and
diligence.
As regards the points in the two parts, they also
will be the same, namely, we consider the persons, the
design of each, the means employed in its attainment,
and the words and instructions addressed to the
followers of each ; and let us note with dismay the
energy of the spirit of evil and of those men and women
whom he has seduced, and at the same time their
success in dragging men to destruction. We must also
apply this exercise to our especial state. Wherefore,
if by God's grace and His sweet mercy we habitually
avoid mortal sin, and strive also to avoid venial sin,
our enemy will not try to ensnare us in his nets or
bind us with his chains, but if he can only throw his
Q
242 THE SECOND WEEK.
threads around us, he ma}^ succeed in dragging us very
far and cooHng our ardour in the cause of Christ.
1. He will not perhaps set before us openly the
allurements of riches, but he will put before us a love
of ease, of convenience, and comforts, and the like, in
food, apparel, furniture, and lodgings. Now, on this
point, all good and pious people must be on their
guard ; for we live in an age of great material civiliza-
tion, when the zeal for comfort is carried to such
lengths that, to use the language of the Sacred Text, it
is harder to live in abundance than in want.
2. Again, with such persons he will not suggest the
degradations of carnal pleasures, but he will propose
to them to be chaste by halves, and to give more
freedom to their senses — to the eyes and tongue espe-
cially. He will urge the necessity of giving some scope
to curiosity which wants to see everything and read
everything. Alas ! how many have lost the practice of
their religion, and even the faith itself, by promiscuous
and miprudent reading ! He will suggest affections
which, beginning in the spirit, will by degrees end in
the flesh ; or particular friendships ; or inspire a vanity
in dress, in personal adornment of the hair, &c.
3. Or he may instil into us a love of independence
and liberty, as it is called. This danger is the greater,
as in our days the thirst for independence is felt even
by little children. Nay, how often is it not declared
that Jesus Christ Himself was a great preacher of inde-
pendence and of democratic principles. He preached
and promoted liberty it is true, but it was the liberty of
the children of God, which is quite consistent with a
state of dependence.
4. Lastly, he does not induce such persons to ignore
in theory or altogether in practice self-denial or morti-
fication, but leads them on trivial grounds and for
slight reasons gradually to neglect their exercises of
ON THREE CLASSES. 243
mortification, and to seek their ease, and indulge their
desires of relaxation and amusements, and, in fact,
from self-love to make their lives as pleasant and
agreeable as possible, and to shirk any thing or any
labour which may call for any sacrifice or may involve
an}^ unpleasantness or pain.
Let us in this repetition examine ourselves, and see
how far in any of these ways he has succeeded in
alluring us, and let us resolve to break loose from
his toils. End again by the colloquy of the preceding
exercise.
We may judge of the im|!)ortance which St. Ignatius
attaches to this meditation, seeing that he prescribes, if
time allows, that we make three repetitions of it, and
that we revert to it in our minds frequently during the
course of the day.
ON THREE CLASSES.
1. The object of this exercise is to probe ourselves
thoroughl}^, to see if our will is seriously determined to
embrace and reduce to practice those means which we
feel must be employed if we intend to follow Jesus
Christ in earnest, and to ke^p clear of all illusions.^
With regard to the action of the will in the matter of
election and use of the means of attaining perfection in
one's state of life, it may be vitiated in three ways :
namely, by being sluggish and ineffective ; or niggardly
and reluctant to embrace all the means necessary for an
end ; or weak, which causes it to give way easily and to
yield in the face of difficulties.
2. St. Ignatius illustrates the three classes by taking
the virtue of poverty. In further illustration we might
1 Conf. Roothaan, nn. 64 — 67,
244 THE SECOND WEEK.
take the virtue of chastity, or charity. These would be
^qually effective in showing up the picture to nature,,
and in testing our earnestness and sincerity.
3. The Saint insinuates the essentially practical end
we ought to aim at in this exercise by the words " that
we may in fact adopt," and not merely " that we may
ivish to adopt " that which is best.
4. With a view to the election, for which also it is
intended as an immediate preparation, it will open
our eyes to see what inclination or affection we have
towards any earthly things, and will cause us to detach
ourselves from them, whatever they may be, and may
bring our hearts to that state of perfect indifference
which is a necessary disposition to make a good election,
either of a state of life, if that is our object, or of a
greater perfection in the state of life which we have
embraced.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us, instead of the history, suppose
three classes of men, each of which has acquired, not
purely and solely for love of God, a thousand ducats.
They all wish to save their souls and to be in peace
with God our Lord by shaking off the weight and
impediment to it which they experience from their
affection to the money.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine that we are in the pre-
sence of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, with a sincere
desire to know in what we can best please Him, and in
what way He wishes us to serve Him.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg that He will give us the
grace to choose effectually that which will prove
most agreeable to God and most profitable to our
souls, and for this purpose we may recite the Veni
Creator.
1 Direct, xxiii. § 3 ; xxix. § 3.
ON THREE CLASSES. 245
Point I. — The first class would like to get rid of the
affection for the money, thereby to find peace in God
our Lord and to save their souls, but they do not
dream of giving up the money. It was honestly gained,
with great labour and persevering industry : moreover,
money is not a bad thing, it is a gift of God, and
furnishes the means of doing good. Besides, prudence
requires that we provide against hard times ; and again,
what would people say ? &c. They resemble a sick man
who would like to throw off an illness and to regain his
health, but employs no means to do so. It is an
imperfect disposition and an absurd pretence, and only
merits our pity.
Of this class would be those who have embraced a
regular exterior course of life through a wish to serve
God and to avoid the dangers and troubles of a worldly
kind of life, and from a sort of desire to imitate Jesus
Christ. But they never put their hand to work, decline
all real fatigue, take everything quietly and easily,
shirk all difficulties and any duties for which they feel
a repugnance. They say prayers only when it suits
them, and as it suits them, and employ their time
according to the same principle. The author of
Proverbs 1 describes them well: "Desires kill the
slothful, for his hands have refused to work at all,"
and again,2 " The sluggard willeth and willeth not."
Let us look into ourselves seriously, and see whether
we are attached either to any person or earthly thing,
to any self-esteem, self-will, reputation, or opinion which
may be the cause why after so many impulses from
God, and stings of conscience, we are still not in right
earnest, and are inactive and irresolute, and defer to
adopi any measures to correct it. If it be so, let us
blush for shame at our cowardice and insincerity, and
resolve at once upon a change.
1 Prov. xxi. 25. 2 Prov. xiii. 4.
246 THE SECOND WEEK.
Point 2. — The second class wish to shake off all
undue liking for the, money, but still to retain its
possession. Although they feel that the best course
would be to abandon their treasure, which keeps them
apart from God, they cannot bring themselves to do it,
but by a sort of compromise tr}^ to bend God's will to
their own. They have a real wish to rid themselves of
this attachment and to practise poverty of spirit^ but
they cannot bring themselves actually to resign the
possession of the money. They will go half way with
God ; they will give a certain amount in alms, they will
contribute to works of religion or of charity, &c., but
they cannot abandon their treasure altogether. But
perhaps God wants it ! as He did in the case of the
young man in the Gospel,^ and like him they go awa}'-
sorrowful and disappointed because Jesus asks too
much. Just so the patient really ma}^ wish to get
cured, but yet cannot be induced to take this or that
nauseous medicine, or submit to the necessary painful
operation. He will submit to many disagreeables, but
not to the one which is requisite for the cure. To
say the least, the cure of such a one would be very
doubtful, and his line of conduct is calculated only to
aggravate the disease. So is it too often with those
who have a strong wish to live lives of virtue, and to
serve God by imitating our Blessed Lord. For this
they will employ some means which suit their fancy,
but not others which they dislike. They wish to
reconcile the will and pleasure of God with their own,
but they cannot give themselves entirely up to Him.
They will labour as much as you please, but in things
which they like ; they will obey others, {Provided it be
in matters conformable with their tastes and their own
judgment ; the}^ will be humble, but they draw the
line at humiliations and the like. They will do many
1 St. Matt. xix. 20.
■ ON THREE CLASSES. 247
things, but because they do not do all that God requires
of them, they live a Hfe of wretched mediocrity and end
ignobly. They do what is most, but neglect the less,
and thus fail in perfection and in gaining merit. And
for want of taking a little more pains and making a
little more sacrifice, they render vain and useless the
efforts which they make, and resign the fruits of the
victories already gained over themselves and the devil,
and expose themselves to grievous temptations. Let
us examine and see whether we are not of this class,
and reflecting on the insult we thus off"er to God by
endeavouring to draw His will to ours rather than
submit ours to His, and on the unhappiness and
reproaches of conscience which are the result of such
conduct, let us pray earnestly for grace to cease to be
of this class, which is pitiable for want of honesty of
purpose, thoroughness, and common sense.
Point 3. — The third class desire to root out the
aff'ection for the money, so as not to have a wish either
for its retention or non-retention, and will only retain
it or not just as God our Lord shall let them see which
is most conducive to the service and praise of His
Divine Majesty. Meanwhile, they will so regard it,
that they neither wish for it nor anything else except
as the service of God our Lord shall dictate, and their
only motive for retaining or renouncing it shall be what
will be best for that service. Of this class is the patient
who wishes to get well at any cost, is ready to accept
any medicine, however noisome, or undergo the most
painful operation ; and whose cure is assured in con-
sequence. So, too, those who have given themselves
thoroughly to a life of the service of God, seek only
what is His holy will, and at once proceed to carry it
into execution. They do not consider what will gratify
their inclinations, what self-love or self-ease, or the
world would dictate ; nor do they allow their natural
248 THE SECOND WEEK.
repugnance or natural feelings to influence them, but
honestly seek to know what God desires, and cost them
what it will, they at once proceed to do it. This suffices
to make them cheerfully undertake any exploit. They
are ready to do anything, to undertake anything which
God may ask of them. Such a disposition draws down
upon the soul abundance of graces, fills it with f6rce
and energy, and inspires it with solid and sometimes
with sensible consolation.
Pray earnestly that God will animate you with this
spirit.
A soul so disposed will beyond doubt reach the
perfection of its state, for it removes all the obstacles
in the way, and God works for His glory in souls of
good-will, and will sustain it in its labours, and will
enable it to do all things and to bear all things, not
only easily, but also with jo}^
Let us end with the same triple colloquy as in the
preceding meditation on " Two Standards."
Note. — i. St. Ignatius here interposes a note that
when we feel a strong aversion or repugnance as
regards actual poverty, or are not indifferent as to
poverty or riches, it is of great benefit for the uprooting
of such an inordinate afi"ection, to beg in our colloquies,
even though it goes against the grain, that God would
vouchsafe to choose us for that state of actual poverty,
and to protest that we really wish and ask and implore
it, provided it be to the service and praise of His
Divine goodness.
This is of great importance, as we see from the
manner in which the Saint frequently refers to it. And
what he says with regard to riches and poverty we
must also apply to any other inordinate affection. It
is in this manner that we are to overcome the repug-
nance we may experience in adopting what we feel is
ON THREE CLASSES. 249
best for the soul's spiritual good, even though we
interiorl}' feel afraid lest God will hear and grant our
prayer.
Such prayer is well pleasing to Him, and is both
highly meritorious and exceedingly efficacious. " Not
what I wish, but what Thou wishest."^
This is the more important as ordinarily that
towards which we feel the greatest repugnance is what
God seeks from us. Let us never forget that we make
the Exercises for the purpose of overcoming ourselves
and of destroying our inordinate affections, and to
secure this result it is of great service to strive with
all our strength to bend the soul to the very contrary of
that to which it is perversely inclined.^
Let us also remember that Jesus Christ sums up all
His moral teaching in these words: " Whosoever will
follow Me, let him take up his cross and deny himself,
and so let him follow Me,"^ and that proverbial
sentence, " By how much thou dost violence to thyself,
by so much shalt thou advance in virtue."*
Such are the maxims which we should have before
us when we finish the exercise of the " Three Classes."
2. In the " Foundation," St. Ignatius proposes to
render us indifferent, as a necessary condition for the
right use of creatures, and here he insists upon this
indifference as the condition for making a safe and
proper election. For want of this practical indifference
we see how the first and second class fail in their
choice, " deflect from their principle of seeking in all
things the praise, reverence, and service of God, and of
solely desiring and choosing that which in practice is
most conducive to the end for which they are created."
3. In the contemplation of " Two Standards " we
see the wiles of Lucifer, and how he lures his victims
1 St. Mark xiv. 36.
2 Annot. xvi. 3 st. Luke ix. 23. •* Imitation, bk. i. c. xxv.
250 THE SECOND WEEK.
to their destruction by inspiring undue affection for
things in themselves good, or at least indifferent, whilst
Jesus Christ, who is- true life, would lead us to eternal
life by inducing us to root out all such inordinate
attachments, even though this may involve the going
against all our natural inclinations. This is what
St. Ignatius terms agendo contra. This is the grace for
which we are to beg with great earnestness in our
colloquy, notwithstanding the repugnance which we
may feel.
4. After the two preceding contemplations, the
exercitant may proceed to the important work of the
Election, either of his state of life, or of the means by
which he is to make himself more perfect in that state
which he has already embraced. If he is under the
guidance of a director, St. Ignatius, according to the
14th, 15th, and i6th Annotations, warns the latter
against interfering with or perhaps destroying the
action of God in the soul of him who is making the
Exercises. If he be asked any questions on the matter,
he is prudently to answer them ; but his chief duty is
to pray for the exercitant, to dispose him for the
reception of God's grace, to explain to him clearly the
rules and methods of election, to guard him against any
errors or illusions, and keep before his mind Jesus
Christ, his King and Lord ; for the rest, let him leave
the exercitant as far as possible to the guidance of our
good God.
5. Although he who makes the Exercises is engaged
in the matter of election, the regular meditations and
contemplations are not to be interrupted, but during
them, as well as at other times, he will revolve the
subject in his mind whilst looking upon our Lord as his
leader and model.
THREE DEGREES OF HUMILITY. 251
THREE DEGREES OF HUMILITY.
St. Ignatius here interposes a document on three
degrees of humility, to be weighed and reflected upon,
as conducive to fit the soul and inspire it with a dispo-
sition to accomplish generously and joyfully whatever
it may please God to demand from us.^ This generosity
of will is the more necessary, the more painful the
means required to comply with the Divine vocation.
And this is produced in the soul by humility, which
here is taken in the sense of an acknowledgment of
dependence and submission of ourselves to the will of
God in all things, from a consideration of His greatness
on one side and of our own littleness on the other, and
a readiness to be subjected to others for God's sake.-
The Angelic Doctor adds in the same place, that
humility may be described as the reverence for God
which impels us to contempt of self.
2. St. Ignatius lays down three degrees of this
virtue. Others, e.g., St. Benedict ^ enumerates twelve;
St. Gregory^ enumerates seven; but our Saint considers
humility only inasmuch as it is an interior disposition
of the soul, whereas the others regard it also inasmuch
as it affects us in relation to external objects, circum-
stances, and persons.
3. The great use of this consideration is that it
helps us to fathom ourselves, and to discover how we
stand in regard of generosity ; and in this respect it is in
harmony with the two last meditations, which contain
all that is necessary to prepare us for a good election,
^ Cf. Roothaan, n. 73.
- " Humilitas autem secundum quod est specialis virtus, prascipue
respicit subjectionem hominis ad Deum, propter quem etiam aliis humi-
liando se subjicit." (St. Thomas, 2a. 2se. q. 161. a. i. ad. 5.)
3 3e^. c. 7. ^ 23 Moral, c. 4.
252 THE SECOND WEEK.
whether it be of a state of Hfe or of the subject of our
Particular Examination, or of the great resolution which
God may be demanding from us in our present circum-
stances.
4. Now the first degree of humility does not consist
in a man's never committing a mortal sin, but in the
habitual disposition never to commit it, and never to
enter into a deliberate consideration to do so even to
gain the whole world or to avoid the greatest of all
evils. This is necessary for salvation. As St. Ignatius
expresses it : '' For this degree, it is required that I so
submit myself, that in all things I obey the law of God
our Lord, so that even if they were to make me master
of all things in the world, or for the sake of saving my
mortal life, I would not enter into deliberation about
violating any law, whether Divine or human, which
binds under pain of mortal sin."
The two points on which we might be most liable
to fail are, as Father Aquaviva^ observes, chastity and
charity.
May God preserve us in this degree. Without His
grace we should, like St. Peter, fall ; and this grace we
shall secure if we studiously avoid the occasions which
might expose us to danger, and are faithful in the duty
of prayer. Let us often pray, Dignare Domine die isto
sine peccato nos custodire-^^ ' Youchssife, O Lord, this day
to keep us without sin."
5. The second degree of humility, in the words of
St. Ignatius, is: "When I neither wish nor am more
inclined for riches rather than poverty, for honour rather
than dishonour, a long life rather than a short life, as
long as it is the same in respect of God's service and
my soul's salvation; and further that for all things
created, or even to save my life, I would never enter
into serious deliberation to commit a venial sin."
A Industries, c. i.
THREE DEGREES OF HUMILITY. 253
This is more perfect, yet it does not exceed the
limits of justice, and faith and right reason inculcate
its necessity. This is a state without which we never
can be truly happy ; it moreover secures an ever-
increasing purity in the soul, and draws down fresh
graces upon us.
6. The third degree of humilty is most perfect, a'nd
includes the first and second degrees. This supposes
an habitual disposition of the soul in which, in order
that I may become more like Christ our Lord and may
more closely imitate Him, even though His glory should
be the same and not enhanced thereby, I wish and
prefer poverty with Christ poor, ignominies with Christ
filled with reproaches, and to be looked upon as a fool
and nothing worth for Christ's sake, who was so
accounted before me, to riches, honours, or worldly
estimation. 1
This contains perfect love of Christ our King, and
is founded upon it, and is an outcome of the contem-
plations on the '* Kingdom of Christ " and of " Two
Standards." This is the spirit of all those who
ambition to distinguish themselves in the service of
our Blessed Lord.
He who has attained this degree has reached a
degree of exalted sanctity far more sublime than that
of ecstasies or revelations. It is reasonable, useful, and
glorious to make ourselves in this way like Jesus Christ.
The soul in this state has the cross in the heart, and
embraces with love everything that is a cross. It
rejoices in sufferings which it accepts as sent from the
i " Dicendum illud genus humilitatis est valde conforme modo loquendi
et exemplis Sanctorum, nam conformitatem ad Christum putant esse
sufficientem rationem amandi omnem abjectionem et humilitatis modum.
(i St. Peter ii. 21.) Fateor tamen ab hoc motivo nunquam esse separa-
bilem majorem Dei gloriam et majorem fructum gratins ac perfectionis
spirituahs, caeteris paribus ; et ratio est quia in eo motivo includitur major
amor et major reverentia ad Christum Dominum." (Suarez, ix. c. v. § 26.)
254 THE SECOND WEEK.
hands of God. If it has to use creatures which are
agreeable to nature, it only uses them because God
wishes it, and not to satisfy its natural inclinations.
It is a great grace to comprehend its value, the
greatest grace to attain it. If as yet we cannot reach
it, we should at all events be ever striving towards it,
and thus we shall keep ourselves in the second degree.
It is this which St. Ignatius lays down in the eleventh
and twelth Rules of the Summary of his Constitutions,
as the perfection which each of his subjects is to be
ever striving to attain.
7. Therefore (adds St. Ignatius) it is very useful for
whosoever desires this third degree of humility to make
the colloquies which are placed at the end of the " Three
Classes," and to ask our Lord that He would vouchsafe
to choose him for this greater and more perfect humility,
the more closely to imitate Him and the better to serve
Him, if it be for the same or for His greater service,
and for an equal or greater praise of His Divine
Majesty.
8. When once this degree is attained, we have
reached the summit of the Exercises : all the rest
serve to confirm and strengthen us in it. It is pre-
eminently the folly of the Cross. Herein is the true
service of God, our salvation, the true use of creatures,
the sure way to avoid sin and to secure victory over
our passions. We may say it is true wisdom, ^ and
with this all good things come to us.^
1 " Now all good things came to me together with her, and innumerable
riches through her hands." (Wisdom vii. 11.)
2 The first and second degrees are clearly the fruit of the First Week of
the Exercises. For whatever proves an obstacle to my last end must be
avoided at all cost ; nor is there anything in preatures to which I must not
be at least so far indifferent. The third absorbs all, and is the fruit of
the " Kingdom of Christ " and of " Two Standards." It supposes that we
strive to be through love like Jesus Christ, who through love would make
Himself like us. St. Ignatius here teaches nothing but Jesus Christ and
ON THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD. ^ 255
It is well to revert to these degrees of humility
frequently in this part of the Exercises.
g. St. Ignatius observes that for those who wish to
extend. the time for the second part of the Exercises,
on the Mysteries of the Life of our Lord up to His
Passion, other meditations may be added ; and enume-
rates some, as the Visitation of our Lady, the Adoration
of the Shepherds, the Circumcision, and the like.
10. But he adds that the matter of the Election is
to be begun at the contemplation of Jesus quitting His
Mother at Nazareth and His going to the Jordan. This
evidently is on the supposition of the Election being on
the subject of a state of life; but, as we haye said
before, it applies equally to other subjects which may
and ought to have a serious influence in the better
ordering of our life and conduct in that state in which
we are now fixed, and may promote our perfection in it.
ON THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD.i
Note. — After Jesus had spent thirty years in private
life and under obedience to His Mother, the time came
for Him to commence His grand enterprise, namely,
the public promotion of His Father's glory and the
Him crucified, in whom are all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge
of God. Those who are in this state — Stulti sunt hominibus et non
sapientes secu?idu7n carnem, hos elegit Deus ut confundat fortes, &c. — they
have found the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price.
1 "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be
baptized by him. But John stayed Him, saying, I ought to be baptized
by Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus answering said to him,
Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfil all justice. Then
he suffered Him. And Jesus being baptized forthwith came out of the
water ; and lo, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of
God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him. And behold a voice
from heaven, saying. This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
<St. Matt. iii. 13—17.)
256 THE SECOND WEEK.
sanctification and salvation of mankind. This He began
with an action fraught with wonderful lessons for us.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us call to mind how our Lord left
His Blessed Mother and His home and repaired to the
Jordan, and was pleased to be baptized by John ; and
how the Holy Ghost descended upon Him in the form
of a dove, and a voice from heaven proclaimed Him to
be the beloved Son of God in whom He was well
pleased.
Prelude 2. — We may in imagination station ourselves
amidst the crowd on the banks of the Jordan.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg earnestly of the Holy Spirit-
to enlighten us that we may know our Blessed Lord, as
revealed to us in this mystery, more clearly, that we
may love Him more dearly, and may imitate Him more
perfectly, especially in His detachment, humility, and
courage.
Point I. — Let us try to fathom the intense depth of
conflicting feelings which surged in the hearts of Mary
and Jesus when they had to part. He had lived so
long and so happily, although in poverty and labour,
with such a Mother, and now He must leave her a
widow and alone, to do His Father's will. He is to go
forth from His little sheltered haven and launch out
upon the open and troubled sea of life, a solitary among
strangers, and no man to sympathize with Him. And
as to the Mother, she must approve of His going. The
light of her eyes, the breath of her mouth is departing :
and on such an awful enterprise; and she cannot go with
Him to help and comfort Him. Surely the prophecy
of holy Simeon is beginning its fulfilment. They are
acceptable unto God and therefore they must suffer,
and bravely, generously, and cheerfully they welcome
the sacrifice. Let us learn once for all that to lit our-
ON THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD. 257
selves to do God's will and promote His glory we must
be ready to quit all things, and to do violence to those
natural affections which even may be good and holy,
and which the Author of our nature has implanted in
us. Further, to carry out God's will and to merit His
grace, which is necessary to enable us to do so, we
must make a perfect sacrifice of our own inclinations,
of our likes and dislikes, with generosity and courage.
Let us learn also another lesson from our Blessed Lord,
namely, to be content to be ignored, to be a solitary
in the midst of a community, to see others receiving
sympathy and consideration while we are left friendless
and alone. Life in the service of God is not a play-
time ; it is indeed a time of real and solid happiness,
but it is a serious time and full of suffering and of
sacrifice ; and amongst its greatest trials is that of
feeling oneSelf left alone and unheeded and uncared for.
Point 2. — Let us contemplate our Lord in the midst
of the crowd of publicans, soldiers, and sinners of every
kind. " The Lord comes to be baptized with servants,
the universal Judge with criminals." ^ He comes to be
baptized, thereby leading men to suppose Him guilty of
actual and personal sins, and therefore He submits to
a ceremony which implied a protestation of sorrow and
repentance. But why ? To set us an example of
heroic humility, ^ and as He began His mortal life, so
will He begin His Public Ministry with an astounding
act of humility, not only by hiding the perfections which
were in Him, but by assuming the semblance of faults
that in Him were not. Oh !. let us look into ourselves
and see with sorrow what a contrast we present. We
hide and conceal the defects which are in us, we wear
the appearance of virtue and of qualities which we do
not really possess. We are disappointed if we find that
1 Chrysostom, Horn. 12.
2 Augustine, 1. v. De Bapt. c. ix. ; Toletus, § 45.
R
258 THE SECOND WEEK.
men do not appreciate us, and are miserable if they
seem to blame or disregard us. And all this though
we have professed to follow our Lord and have offered
ourselves for suffering and humiliation.
Let us see how John, because of his cleanness of
heart, is blessed with a clear recognition of our Lord
and demurs to baptize Him until He orders it, thereby
" to fulfil all justice." But what law of justice obliges
it ? He is innocence itself. He is the Immaculate Lamb
that is to take away the sins of the whole world. This
law is the will of His Father, who would have Him
first appear as a sinner, as the refuse of men, whom in
the very act of its fulfilment He resolves to declare the
Redeemer of the world and Son of God.
Sine modo. Now we must begin with humiliations ;
exaltation and glory will come later.^ Let us at last
be convinced that the exaltation of the Divine Majesty
through our means must begin from our abasement.
We profess our desire to give glory to God and to
sanctify our own souls, let us begin by washing away
all pride, ambition, and desire of worldly esteem. When
we have done this, we may judge that we are in earnest
in following in the . footsteps of Christ. Let us say to
our Lord, we have a baptism wherewith to be baptized,
a baptism of humiliations and self- conquest, and we are
in sore straits until it be accomplished, for corrupt
nature rebels against it, fear and repugnance would try
to make us fly from it ; but do Thou, O Lord, strengthen
us and give us courage by granting us true humility,
by weaning our hearts from honour and esteem, that so
we may be Thy true followers.
Point 3. — When our Lord was baptized and was in
prayer, offering Himself up to His Eternal Father,
. behold how in the presence of all the people, the heavens
opened and the Holy Ghost in the visible form of a
'dove alighted upon Him, and in a loud voice from above
ON THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD. 259
was heard to say: *• This is My beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased." He is the Infinite Wisdom, given
to the world as Master, to teach us a new and heavenly
doctrine. He is the Son of the Eternal God, the
dearly Beloved, through whom alone all others are to
be loved, by whom and through whom alone all men
can hope to please God, by an imitation of His virtues
and conforming themselves to His likeness. Let us
then, from henceforth, set our Lord before ourselves
as our Master, Teacher, and Model, and resolve to
lead a Hfe quite conformable to His, and regulate and
order our conduct according to His maxims. It is the
only and the sure way to please God, promote His
glory, and sanctify our own souls.
Let us kindle such desires in ourselves, and repeat
the three colloquies of the foregoing meditation.
St. Ignatius bids us, if time allows, to make three
repetitions of this meditation, and also to end with an
application of the senses.
26o THE SECOND WEEK.
ON ELECTION.i
Note. — This part of the Exercises recommends itself
not only because it has been approved by the Holy
See. but because the rules here laid down are replete
with sound sense, are full of the highest wisdom which
comes from above, and of irresistible logic ; they are
short, simple, clear, and at the same time so large in
their power of application as to embrace every state of
life. In fact there is no state of life, no condition in
any state, to which the principles which they involve
cannot be applied, and in which they do not suffice.
Prelude to the making of Election. — The principle by
which we must be guided in any election which we
may be. called upon to make, is that on our part we
must have the simple intention of fulfilling the end of
our creation, namely, the service and praise of God
and the salvation of our soul. This, and this alone, is
the end to be kept in view. Consequently my choice
must be directed to this that it may help me to attain
that end : so that I must never subordinate the end to
my choice, but my choice to the end : and not imitate
i If we have seriously meditated on "Two Standards," "Three
Classes," and have pondered on the " Three Degrees of Humility," we
must have come to one conclusion, and that is, that we must all turn our
election to the matter of poverty and humiliations, whether we be already
in Religion or in the world. For these are the characteristics of the
spirit of Christ, which all men are called upon to copy, though of course
not all in the same way, nor all in the same degree of perfection.
If the matter of election, as will generally happen, is not the determin-
ing of a state o^ life, but the correction of a fault, as moroseness, self-
will, self-conceit, tmcharitableness, &c., or the acquisition of some virtue,
as charity, self-deniiT-l, humility, &c., our end will and must be attained in
this spirit of the third degree of humility, out of respect and love for Jesus
Christ and an ardent a^esire of being more and more hke Him, independent
of all other consideratio.ns.
ON ELECTION. 261
those who enter first upon a state of life, and then con-
sider how in that state they may manage to secure
God's glory and save their souls ; nor should anything
induce me to adopt or reject any means except inas-
much as they bear upon the service and praise of God
our Lord and my etisrnal salvation. Against this there
are three impediments.
One is from without and springs from the devil,
though not unf^requently it is put down to Jesus Christ.
In order to protect us against this, St. Ignatius places
before us in " Two Standards " the characters, designs,
and principles of Jesus Christ and of the evil spirit.
Another impediment in the way of a good election
arises from within and consists in repugnance, delusion,
or irresolution of our will : and to overcome this and to
enlighten and move it, the consideration of the " Three
Classes" is of great effect. The third impediment lies
in the thing itself which is the subject of election, when
we deem it to be in conformity with the teaching of our
Lord, and in reality it is not so. This mistake may
arise either from our passions being interested, or from
an easy misapprehension, or from fancying an impulse
of nature to be the effect of grace. To prevent this we
consider the " Three Degrees of Humility."
As regards the objects on which an election can be
made : (a) In the first place they must either be good
in themselves, or indifferent, and conformed to the spirit
of the Catholic Church : if opposed to that spirit, or in
themselves or relatively bad, there can be no choice.
(^) Now of these things subject to election some are
mutable, as benefices, others are immutable, as marriage,
or priesthood, (y) If one has entered into a state
which is immutable, if it was done from improper
motives and under the influence of inordinate affec-
tions, he must repent and try to lead a good life in that
state into which he has entered, not by a Divine voca-
262 THE SECOND WEEK.
tion, but by a bad election. Let him follow the counsels
of the Apostle.^ (S) If one has made a right election,
and has not allowed himself to be swayed by carnal
and worldly considerations, there is no occasion why
he should proceed to another election of a state of
life, unless it be by way of confirming himself in his
present state, but let him make an election how he
may render himself more perfect in that in which he
is placed.
Observe, however, that if there was any fault in
such election, he should remedy the fault or defect,
whereby he will please God our Lord and will draw
down great graces.
As to times or ways of finding out God's will :
The first is most rare, as when God so moves and
draws the will that the person neither doubts nor can
doubt about following what is pointed out to him, as
in the case of St. Paul.
The second is by consolations and desolations : In
this the person considering his choice should observe
what motions and sentiments he feels, without making
use of reasons and discourse with himself, but waiting
the voice and inspiration of God, humbly asking it with
full resignation to the Divine will and a real desire to
know it.2 This done, let him observe on what side he
finds spiritual comfort with a certain peace of mind,
enlargement of heart, and confidence in God ; and on
what side he experiences desolation, aridity, and
trouble. If in the time of consolation and fervour
he feels inclined to one side and in time of desolation
to the other, he must judge accordingly ; knowing that
God speaks to the soul with spiritual delight and
comfort, whereas the devil perplexes and disturbs it.^
1 I Cor. xvi. 13 ; xiv. 40.
« Direa. xxx. §§ 5, 6. 3 /^/^. xxvii. §§ 2—6.
ON ELECTION. 263
This process should be repeated from time to time and
not merely made once.^
The third time, which is more common and sure, is
one in which the understanding is primarily employed.
In it we sift the matter well before God, and thus
endeavour to move and draw the will to choose what
is most for His glory and our salvation. 2 To under-
take this method we must be in a state of practical
indifference, and must choose a time when the mind is
quiet and easy and free from all disturbance, trouble,
and agitation.^ Then placing ourselves in the presence
of God, and with our end in full view, we propose to
ourselves the subject-matter of our deliberation, examine
the one and the other side, consider the advantages or
disadvantages as regards our last end accruing there-
from, and after mature reflection, choose what seems
the most available for the same. But as to the
advantages and disadvantages, they must be considered
not from a worldly point of view or according to the
dictates of the passions, but from a spiritual point of
view and the teachings of faith.*
This is certainly, as I have said, the surest and
safest method, and may be used with advantage even
after the first and second. For if the impulses and feel-
ings are really from God, they will certainly stand the
test and examination of the third. If in this third
manner something not good should be discovered, it
would be a sign that the impulses and feelings experi-
enced in the other times were not from God, but from
the spirit of darkness who hates the light. ^
With regard to the practical method of applying
this third time or manner, St. Ignatius furnishes two
forms. The first is by way of a meditation.
. 1 Direct, xxvii. §§ 6, 7. 2 md, xxvi. 3. » 73/^. xxviii. 2.
4 Ibid. xxxi. § 3. 5 Ibid, xxviii. §§ 6, 9.
264 THE SECOND WEEK.
Prelude i. — We call to mind the subject to be chosen
or not, together with its attendant circumstances and
obligations.
Prelude 2. — We place ourselves in face of God, in a
state of practical indifference, having our mind fixed on
our last end.
Prelude 3. — We beg of God to enlighten our mind
and inflame our will to see and embrace that which is
most for His glory and our salvation in this affair.
Point I. — Let us weigh the advantages, conveniences,
and other points in favour of the thing in question ;
and on the other hand the disadvantages, inconveni-
ences and other difficulties that make against it.
Point 2. — We must then ponder on the reasons for
and against, weighing thern in the balances of reason
and of holy faith ; and seeing which prevail, conclude
accordingly.
Point 3. — This done we will offer up our conclusion
to God in holy prayer, and if He pleases to give us
comfort, fervour, and peace of mind, or other signs of
His approbation, we will finish, asking the grace which
is necessary to put our resolution into execution.^
This form we should employ on several occasions to
confirm and strengthen ourselves in our .election.
The second form or method consists of four questions.
I. To ask seriously of ourselves if the inclination
and affection which we experience towards our choice
really proceeds solely from the love of God and the
desire of salvation ? Or whether we are moved by
considerations of worldly distinction, or of the desires
of friends and relatives, or of our own ease or comfort.
If it is a question of entering into the ecclesiastical
, state, are we moved to embrace it because we like
preaching or teaching, or because we shall occupy a
1 Direct, xxxii.
ON ELECTION. 265
better position, or because our parents wish it ? If it
be about entering Religion, do we allow ourselves to
reject it on account of natural repugnance to poverty
and obedience, or some other of its duties, as fastings,
corporal austerities ? &c.
- 4. What advice I should give to one in whose
eternal welfare I was most interested in regard to the
matter in question ?
3. If I were on the point of death, what choice
should I have wished to make, and on which choice
should I feel the most comfort and security ?
4. When I shall be summoned before the dread
tribunal of God to be judged, what shall I have wished
to have done ? this or that ? And of which shall I be
able to give a better account to God ?
By the light of these reflections I must choose, and,
then, recommending it to God, conclude as in the fore-
going method.
If from time to time we were to apply one or other
of these latter methods of election to subjects which
require consideration, or in which our manner of treat-
ing with others is of consequence, we should be spared
many real causes of regret, and should avoid the evils
which arise from acting through impulse or from mere
natural motives.
Again, we should then remove any causes of self-
reproach, of culpable imprudence, and of blame, for
having acted less well. Moreover, by acting thus
supernaturally and to the best of our abihty, whether
our choice ended in success or in failure, our merit in
the sight of God would be equally great. How many
imprudent speeches, unkind words and actions, and
consequent heart-burnings and uncharitable and bitter
resentments would by this simple means be prevented.
It is from neglect of this practice that too often those
266 THE SECOND WEEK.
in authority, instead of promoting the happiness and
winning the confidence of their subjects, prove signal
failures in government, alienate their dependents, and
fail to win their respect, without which neither peace
nor real happiness nor order can be expected to exist.
ON REFORMATION OF LIFE.
In case that one is already in a state of life which
is fixed and unchangeable, or does not feel any special
call to change his state of life, although by its nature
it is capable of it, it is very useful to consider if any
change is advisable by way of amending or reforming
his ordinary manner of life, whether as regards the use
of creatures, or the manner of exercising authority, or
as to the example he gives both in his words and
actions, or as to how far he directs all things to the
greater praise and glory of God our Lord. Let such a
one remember that he will make progress and advance
in spiritual life just in proportion as he quits himself of
self-love, of self-will, and of his own comfort. On the
strength of this observation of St. Ignatius, we may
make a meditation on reformation of life.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us with lively faith and great con-
fidence place ourselves in the presence of Jesus Christ
and His saints.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg what we want, which is to
know and fulfil the will of God in regard of our life and
conduct.
Point I. — Let us recall the various lights which we
have received during our retreat, let us ponder the
good desires already conceived. Let us exercise
ON REFORMATION OF LIFE. 267
ourselves above all on some particular virtue, or on
rooting out some particular vice or fault. Let us be
persuaded that God asks nothing from us which is not
for our own welfare, and which will not even conduce
to our happiness. And the more our sacrifice may-
cost us, let us persist the longer and more earnestly
in our prayer that He will grant us the grace to
make it.
Point 2. — We may examine also what grace, either
for the present or the future, we most desire to obtain,
that is, some grace directly tending to our perfection
and sanctification in our present state of life.
Point 3. — We must also consider what thing may
hinder us from giving God what He asks, or from
receiving what we desire, and generously make a
renunciation of it.
Let us offer ourselves to God for the accomplish-
ment of His holy will generously and with a great heart :
by which we shall most assuredly procure His greater
glory, our own sanctification here, and eternal salvation
hereafter.
Note. — It may be well to observe that in this part
of the Exercises those who annually make a retreat
should employ themselves seriously during two days in
this method of election for the reformation of their lives,,
either by the correction of some fault, or the acquisition
of some virtue, and thereby making a fresh step forward
towards the perfection of their state of life.
268 THE SECOND WEEK.
RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
WHICH ARE MORE ADAPTED FOR THOSE ENGAGED IN THE
SECOND PART OF THE EXERCISES. THEY ARE OF
THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE FOR PERSONS WHO ARE
AIMING AT PERFECTION IN THEIR STATE, TO ENABLE
THEM MORE EASILY TO RECOGNIZE THE WILES OF
SATAN, AND SO THE BETTER TO PROTECT THEM-
SELVES AGAINST THEM. MOREOVER, THEY HELP US
ALSO TO DISTINGUISH THE CALL OF GOD FROM OUR
OWN NATURAL INCLINATIONS, AND FURNISH US
WITH SAFEGUARDS IN THE IMPORTANT MATTER OF
ELECTION.
THEY ARE ALSO OF GREAT USE TO US IN, GUIDING AND
DIRECTING OTHERS WHO ARE DESIROUS TO MAKE
PROGRESS IN PERFECTION AND COME TO ASK OUR
ADVICE IN MATTERS AT ONCE SUBLIME AND OFTEN
DELICATE AND DANGEROUS.^
Rule I. — " It is peculiar to God and His angels to
impart true joy and spiritual gladness in their inward
motions or inspirations, removing sadness and disturb-
ance of mind caused by the enemy of human nature,
who aims at destroying such joy and spiritual consola-
tion by means of specious reasonings, sophistry, and
fallacies." These consolations are of three kinds : some
affecting only the senses ; others influencing the mind
alone ; whilst others again partake of the nature of
both, when the affection of the mind extends its
influence on the senses. Of these the one least liable
to deception or perversion is internal consolation. The
first, which affects the senses and which is often granted
to those who are only entering into the service of God,
is useful indeed to him who receives it, but of itself it
1 Annotation ix.
RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 269
neither is a sign of holiness nor does it promote it : nay,
they who experience it must be on their guard lest the
devil perverts it to their spiritual ruin by luring them
into extravagances. The surest sign of the Divine
action in the souls of those who are in earnest in the
service of God is peace, which our Lord brought into the
world and which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit : con-
sequently in such souls whatever destroys or disturbs
that peace is not from God, but from our enemy, *'the
father of lies, and the murderer from the beginning." ^
To effect this he makes use of specious or apparent
reasons, as with St. Ignatius, by proposing doubts regard-
ing his confessions, with St. Alphonsus regarding God's
goodness and the loss of souls, with St. Catharine about
her temptations, &c. ; of sophistries, as with those who
are aiming at great purity of conscience, by inducing
them to scrutinize every thought, word, or action,
thereby to plunge them into an abyss of anxiety; of
perpetual fallacies, by instilling false consolation, or
suggesting illusions tending to draw his victims into
extravagant and extraordinary ways, as we read in the
case of St. Theresa and St. Catharine and others. Such
illusions not unfrequently, as ecstasies, apparitions,
voices, and the like, are the production of a heated brain,
of a weak mind, of a lively imagination, or of a strained
nervous system, or finally, of the devil, who has the
power of acting on the senses so as to affect the imagi-
nation and thereby solicit the mind and will to evil.
Ride 2. — " It belongs to God our Lord alone to
grant consolation to the soul without any preceding
cause, to excite motions in it, attracting it entirely to
the love of His Divine Majesty. I say without cause,
that is, without any previous perception or knowledge
of any object from which such consolation might arise
by any act of its own of the understanding or will."
1 St. John viii. 44.
270 THE SECOND WEEK.
Rule 3. — ** With precedent cause it is possible for
the good or bad spirit to give consolation, but with
opposite intentions : the good spirit in order to induce
the soul to make progress and advance from good to
better ; the bad spirit, with the intention of causing the
soul to yield to his wicked and malicious designs."
It is certain that God has conferred on the angels
power to move and influence mankind ; but to none has
He granted the faculty of entering freely the soul and
illuminating or moving it directly and immediately;
this He reserves to Himself. To them He only concedes
the power of influencing the will by presenting an
object to it, by stimulating the passions, or by sugges-
tion. ^
Again, the good spirit prompts us to those things
which are contrary to our depraved nature, sweetly
draws us from that which is less good or imperfect to
that which is better, excites us to strive after our own
sanctification before devoting ourselves to the sanctifica-
tion of others, to practise the virtues of our state of
life, to show ourselves obedient to those in authority.
On the other hand, the enejny of our human nature
would incite us to indulge in all that flatters our senses,
self-love, vanity, and love of notoriety, to attach too
much importance to consolation, thereby causing us
disappointment and dejection, to give ourselves to
external things that may be seen by men to the detri-
ment of our own sanctification and progress in virtue,
to make us discontented with our lot or office or even
state of life, to make us self-willed or self-opiniated, &c.
Whilst the good spirit draws us sweetly to the
practice of every virtue and to the carrying out of the
Divine will, and moves us to follow in the footsteps of
the humble and patient Son of Mary, the devil strives
to seduce us from the path of solid virtue, to call in
1 St. Augustine, Serm. xviii. on Psalm cxviii.
RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 271
question practically at least the doctrine and example
of our Blessed Lord and to substitute for simplicity
and ingenuousness a hypocritical or political mode of
action.
Rule 4. — " It is peculiar to the evil spirit to enter
with a devout soul and to come out his own way,
assuming the form of an angel of light ; that is to say,
to begin by suggesting good thoughts in conformity
with the disposition of the just soul, and gradually to
endeavour to draw it into his secret snares and to instil
perverse intentions, thereby to gain his wicked end."
Thus when one is taking special pains to acquire
any virtue, or to root out any defect, the devil tries to
drive him into extremes, or by some other artifice to
vex, harass, and ruin the soul, as, for example, by
driving zeal to indiscretion, devotion to excess, morti-
fication to the ruin of health, &c. In this way also he
has succeeded in establishing many heresies, in pro-
ducing insanity from scruples, in causing loss of voca-
tions. The great and surest safeguard against all such
attempts are humility and simple obedience.
Rule 5. — ** We must carefully examine such thoughts.
If we find their beginning, progress, and end are good,
and leading solely to what is good, we may conclude
that they come from our good Angel: but if the
thoughts terminate in, or tend to evil or to a lesser
good, or if they weaken, disturb, or disquiet the soul, it
is a clear sign that they proceed from the bad angel,
the enemy of our eternal salvation."
We must observe that the wiles of the evil spirit are
to be detected either in the process of the thought or
suggestion or in its end. St. Ignatius supplies us with
certain signs to aid us in detecting the evil source, such
as the following :
(a) If the process ends in something evil or less
good.
272 THE SECOND WEEK.
(yS) If it ends in diverting from good, as from prayer,
self-denial, &c.
(y) If it leads to some lesser good, or to the weaken-
ing of the soul.
(8) If it tends to disturb the soul and destroys its
peace.
Rule 6. — " When the enemy has been discovered, it
is profitable for him who has been so tempted, to
examine the process of the good thought suggested to
him, and its beginning, and to observe how the devil
gradually contrived to rob him of his state of sweetness
and peace until he led him to his own depraved purpose,
in order that he may be on his guard against such
deceits for the future."
Rule 7. — " In those who are going forward in virtue,
the good spirit touches the soul gently and' sweetly, like
drops of water entering a sponge ; the evil spirit with
noise and rudely, as water falling on a stone. In those
who are going from good to bad, or from bad to worse,
it happens contrariwise," &c. The reason for this is
clear.
Rule 8. — " When there is consolation without pre-
ceding cause, inasmuch as it proceeds solely from God
our Lord, nevertheless the person to whom it is given
ought to examine carefully and to distinguish the exact
period of the consolation from that which follows it,
in which the soul continues in its fervour ; for in this
second period it often happens that it makes plans and
resolutions which are not inspired by God our Lord \
and hence they should be well examined before they
are carried into effect." ^
I. It is certain that some inspirations and inward
motions are caused in the soul immediately by God, the
Author and Master of His graces, without the help or
1 Comp. Gagliardi, De Reg. Disc^-et. Spirit.
RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 273
ministry of any other cause.^ Whereas any other spirit,
whether good or bad, cannot by itself immediately move
our understanding or will ; but only by means of
phantasms and sensible or imaginary objects.
St. Ignatius in his second Rule observes that it is
God alone who is the Master of the human soul, who
can produce consolation without any preceding cause,
that is, without any thing, calculated to cause them,
having affected either the senses, or the understanding,
or will.2 Such kind of inspirations, which almost
instantaneously inflame the will and light up the
understanding, though sometimes peculiar to persons
advanced in virtue, are nevertheless extraordinary and
very rare, and should not be looked for or easily
supposed. For this reason, in the eighth Rule, the
Saint with great prudence advises us that, although
we think that the instinct or consolation which we
feel proceeds immediately from God, we must premise
a diligent examination before we give our approbation,
because it is hard to discern whether it has come from
God or from ourselves, and because, though the instinct
or consolation from God preceded, yet there might
immediately supervene something arising from our own
will and judgment or from the instigation of the devil.^
Hence we may infer that it is very dangerous for a
soul to regulate herself in her deliberations only by
these motions of the will and interior instincts without
1 S.Thomas docet (3. q. viii. ad, i.) : "Solum Deum posse influere
interius rational! menti." (q. Ixiv, a. i.) " Solum Deum posse illabi animae."
Suarez (tr. x. bk. ix. c. 5. § 31.) '• " Certum est dari in anima nostra internes
quosdam motus tarn intellectus quam voluntatis." (Conf. Trid. sess. vi. ;
Psalm cxviii.) "Item certum est has inspirationes vel illuminationes interdum
fieri immediate ab ipso Deo . . . interdum vero et saepe fiunt per bonos
Angelos custodes. E contrario certum est daemones conari ad imitandum
banc internam motionem convertendo illam in malum," &c.
2 Suarez, bk. ix. §§ 39, 40.
3 Summa, 2a. aae. q. 171. a. 5.
S
274 THE SECOND WEEK.
employing due examination and considerations based
upon reason.^
As to the more common inspirations and feelings,
which are preceded by some connatural and propor-
tionate cause, they may arise from either the good or
the bad spirit, as St. Ignatius says in the third Rule;^
but we may form a prudent conjecture of their cause
from three things :
(a) From the matter, as in Rule 4. For if the
impulse is towards something sinful or conducive to
sin, it must come from the evil spirit ; but if it be
towards something good we must consider it with
caution ; for the evil spirit sometimes foments good
desires thereby to ensnare us, and so to lead us to the
less good or to sin. Therefore we must consider the
matter with its circumstances, its consequences, &c.,
and if we find some evil in any of these, it is a sign that
it is from the devil.
(y8) From the end. Having examined the matter, we
must inspect the end towards which the impulse or
feeling tends. '^ For as the good spirit suggests feelings
to excite in our will laudable and honest intentions,
and also holy ends tending to perfect us in our state, so
the devil, though he may at first dissemble, nevertheless
by degrees insinuates secretly some end either sinful,
which corrupts and spoils all the good which he repre-
sents to us, or which prevents a greater good and the
perfection of our state.
(y) From the manner of moving. This St. Ignatius
lays down in Rules i and 7. It is the custom of God
and the good spirit to inspire a certain joy and peace,
and of the evil spirit melancholy, despondency, and
turmoil, according to the disposition and state of the
soul.
1 Direct xxviii. § 5. '^ Suarez, ix. c. 5, §§ 31, 37.
3 Rule 3.
RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS. 275
If it be well disposed and is striving to advance in
virtue, the good spirit moves it gently and sweetly with
increase of joy, elasticity, and peace, whilst, on the
contrary, the malignant spirit depresses and perturbs
it. But if the soul be in sin and swayed by its passions,
the devil tries to lull it into false securit}^ to distract
and dissipate it, whereas the good spirit endeavours to
draw it from its terrible state by stings of conscience,
by fear of God's judgments, &c., as we see in the
seventh Rule.
In the fifth and sixth Rules, St. Ignatius tells us
that, when we experience these impulses or feelings,
we must carefully examine them in their beginning,
progress, and end, and if we discover any evil or less
good effect, having found out the enemy, we are to take
note how he began and stealthily tried to creep into
our hearts ; so that, being made more wise by our
experience, we may the better guard ourselves against
his stratagems and baffle his wily efforts for the future.
We see in these eight rules the wonderful know-
ledge of St. Ignatius, and his extraordinary prudence
and discretion. This discretion is necessary for all of
us, not only in regard of the action of the good and
evil spirits upon our souls, whether by consolation
or desolation, but also in all our undertakings ; and,
therefore, we ought always to study carefully the
progress of our ideas and views, and to avoid rushing
too precipitately and being in a hurry. It is for want of
this discretion that men are often drawn into indiscreet
zeal, or to the practice of excess in corporal austerities,
surpassing their physical or moral force, until they give
way under the burden, and either become useless and
unfit for the duties of their state, or plunge into deplor-
able relaxations. Let us imitate St. Ignatius, and
propose to ourselves, in all we do, to act ever according
to the measure of Divine grace, as far as it shall be for
276 THE SECOND WEEK.
God's glory and for our soul's salvation ; and above all
things let us studiously avoid allowing ourselves to
speak or act solely according to the promptings and
dictates of our natural feelings.
ON DISTRIBUTION OF ALMS.
Note. — St. Ignatius gives us certain rules to be
observed in our ministry of almsgiving ; by this expres-
sion denoting to us that it is a duty imposed upon us
in regard of all superfluities, and more especially if they
are derived from ecclesiastical sources.
In general we may say that the Saint wishes us to
apply in such cases the rules which he lays down in the
second form of the third manner or time of election as
given above.
Rule I. — If I distribute alms to persons to whom
I am allied by ties of family or of close friendship,
I ought to be careful that my feelings of attachment
prompting me thereto arise frpm the love of God our
Lord, and that my affection is for and in Him.
Rtile 2. — I should consider what advice I would
proffer to another in whose spiritual interest I was
much concerned were he to consult me in similar
circumstances, having only God's glory, the cause of
charity, and his soul's good in view.
Rule 3. — Putting myself in the position of one about
to die, I should ask myself how much and in what way
I should wish to apportion the alms which are at my
disposal.
Rtile 4. — I should further ask myself what I shall
wish to have done in this respect when I shall appear
ON DISTRIBUTION OF ALMS. 277
before the judgment-seat of God, to give an account of
my actions.
Rule 5. — If I feel that I am influenced unduly by
natural affection or inclination, I should withhold my
action until I have reduced that feeling to right order
and within the bounds prescribed by faith and right
reason ; and not allow myself to be influenced by flesh
and blood, or any worldly consideration.
Rule 6. — In regard of the quantity of money to be
reserved for my own use, I ought, likewise, to apply the
same rules.
Rule 7. — In determining the last rule, I must consider
my condition, my state, and my circumstances and
relations with others ; and may put before myself by
way of example, Joachim and Anna, who reserved
one-third of their income for themselves, whilst they
divided the rest between the poor and the Temple.
Of our Lord it is said, the birds had nests, but the
Son of Man had not whereon to lay His Head, making
a sacrifice of all things for others.
N.B. — These rules should be applied, also, to all
works of charity and zeal ; and in fact, whenever we feel
impelled to any thing by natural aff'ections and inclina-
tions, even though it be something good in itself, their
application will be of great service.
275 THE SECOND WEEK.
RULES FOR SCRUPLES.
Another document in the Spiritual Exercises con-
cerns scruples, on which subject St. Ignatius lays down
six rules.i
Rules I and 2. — In these two rules we are taught the
difference between an erroneous conscience and one that
is scrupulous. The first is when our reason, darkened
by ignorance, does not see rightly, and consequently
condemns us as guilty of sin when there was none :
whereas a scrupulous conscience apprehends without
real ground an obligation or sin when there is none at
all, and this apprehension is accompanied by a certain
or probable judgment showing us there is no sin,
although it is attended b}^ perplexity or a misgiving,
arising either from the devil or from imagination, often
so frightening us as to prevent our being able to form
a practical judgment. For example, a person has such
a dread of a viper that he would not touch it though
it was dead. He has a sure and certain judgment
that it cannot do him harm as it is dead, and yet the
strong apprehension of his imagination so fills him
with fear and dread, that he cannot make up his mind
to do so. Here the soul is apprehensive and disturbed,
though its better judgment declares the fear groundless.
Such is scrupulousness. If, on the other hand, he
refused to touch it because he really thought or at least
doubted that it was alive, he would form an erroneous
conscience or judgment. This fundamental doctrine
is insinuated by St. Ignatius in those words : Ex propria
lihevi arhitrii moUi,^ and Et quamvis altera ex parte veniat
in mentem nos minime peccasse.^
1 Conf. Suarez, bk. ix. c. 7, § 3.
2 Rule I. 3 Rule 2.
RULES FOR SCRUPLES. 279
From this it follows that we can act boldly and
directly against the scruple, and can reject and despise
it : and in so doing we remedy it the sooner, and avoid
many extravagant blunders and prevent the scruples
from degenerating into erroneous judgments, which
are to be eschewed as being false.
Rule 3. — Erroneous judgments must be avoided, as
they are false and cannot possibly be of any advantage ;
but scruples may be turned to good account, inasmuch
as they tend to cleanse and purify the soul, for, as says
St. Gregory, " It is the nature of well-disposed souls to
see faults where in reality there are none."
Rule 4. — In this rule are exposed the methods of the
devil and his wiles, and the way of frustrating them.
For if he finds a conscience which is too delicate and
timid, he strives to make it more so by apprehen-
sions, sophisms, captious reasonings, and a tempest of
scruples ; but if he finds it large and careless, he
endeavours to stretch it still wider that by degrees it
may make little or no account of grievous sins.
Rule 5. — Wherefore, whoever desires to advance in
virtue and the way of perfection, must proceed in a
contrary manner, and must in the first case dilate and
enlarge his heart with a holy liberty of spirit and
confidence, and in the second must incline to greater
strictness and exactness ; and so avoiding both extremes
establish himself in the happy medium, where he will
enjoy perfect peace of mind.
Rule 6. — Finally, in our daily actions, when we
are going to say or do anything which from certain
principles, or from the example of virtuous persons, or
from the advice of our spiritual guides we know to be
good and right, if perchance some scrupulous thought
arises to deter or withdraw us from it, we ought to
raise up our minds to God and must despise such
thought and go forward.
28o THE SECOND WEEK.
If we square our conduct according to these rules,
we shall receive no harm from our scruples which
regard the present. As for scruples which regard the
past, about our confessions and the like, St. Ignatius
has not prescribed any rules, ^ as those already laid
down suffice ; or perhaps he thought there was no other
remedy but obedience to our director. The remedy
which Gerson and Suarez propose is to have recourse
to God with true humility and contrition, and to
remember the good-will we had to do our duty, and to
trust to the merc}^ of God.
NoTE.^ — When a scrupulous person judges a thing
to be unlawful, on light grounds and through false or
unfounded fears, or suspects it to be unlawful without
any real motive, he should implicitly obey his director,
and without examination or hesitation despise and
reject his fears and apprehensions.
In dealing with such souls, a director must not
show any- fear or hesitation that there may have been
sin ; nor should he appear to hesitate in his replies, but
should act with calmness and firmness. Repressing all
impatience, he should be kind and patient. Let him
avoid all scolding. Let him not rudely dismiss them
as obstinate or disobedient, thus proving hardness of
heart or ignorance of the terrible sufferings of such a
state. It is also imprudent to try to reason with them,
as in their present state such persons are incapable of
reasoning; by attempting it their obscurities increase
and. their subtleties are multiplied.
1 Suarez, bk. ix. c, 7, § 3.
RESOLUTION TO IMITATE ;]^ESUS CHRIST. 281
RESOLUTION TO IMITATE JESUS CHRIST
ACCORDING TO THE SECOND FORM OF
ELECTION.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — Let us place ourselves alone in the
presence of God, who puts before us the end for which
He made us, that is, " to be likened to the image of
His Son."
Prelude 2. — Let us beg of Him to enlighten our
minds that we may know what is wanting in us in this
likeness to our Blessed Lord, and to inflame our will
that we ma}^ resolve at once to correct it.
Point I. — The end then of all our thoughts, words,
and actions, the object of our desires and efforts is to
make ourselves as far as possible by God's grace like
unto Jesus Christ. Nothing can be more worthy or
more ennobling than this end : and the strongest of
motives are not wanting to urge us to attain it. Such
is the will of His Divine Majesty,^ and in executing
that will we promote His glory, we please His Divine
Majesty, and give honour to His well-beloved Son.
This motive is enough to urge us to make firm reso-
lutions to, strive to imitate Him perfectly in the exercise
of poverty, humility, and self-denial.
Another motive will be that thus I prove my grati-
tude to God. Oh ! how it cuts one's heart to think
that after all the love of Jesus Christ for us, we, who
are so infinitely below Him, can do so little in return,
even by the sacrifice of life itself. Well ! let us do the
1 ' ' For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be made conform-
able to the image of His Son ; that He might be the first-born amongst
many brethren. " (Romans viii. 29.)
282 THE SECOND WEEK.
best we can; let us often say, "You, O Lord, have
done so for love of me, I will do so for love of you."
Another motive is that we by this means secure
salvation ; for imitation of Jesus Christ is a sign of
predestination : and it is also a means of promoting the
sanctification of our neighbour.
Point 2. — What counsel should I give to another ?
Suppose that he had been put under my direction by
God, who would call me to an account for the advice
which I should give him. Should I recommend a
poverty well furnished with comforts and conveniences?
Should I advise an easy life, lawful liberty, and gratifi-
cation of the senses ? Should I advise him to ambition
notice, admiration of men, and posts of honour? Or
should I not urge him, as far as circumstances per-
mitted, to an imitation of Jesus Christ our Lord in all
these respects, and more especially in those points in
which he is more wanting ? Well, then, if we should
advise others to adopt this line of conduct,' we must
resolve upon the same for ourselves.
Point 3. — Further, when I am lying upon my death-
bed, shall I be satisfied to have lived an ordinary
trivial life, exempt from mortal sin and from certain
venial sins ? What sentiments shall I have as to the
conveniences and broad views I now have of poverty ;
of the anxieties and toils epdured in order to shine and
cut a figure by my learning and talents ? In that hour
we are left alone with only a crucifix in our hands, a
clear sign that this alone can give us consolation, to
have lived with Christ on the Cross, to have with Him
been dead to the world, and to the world crucified.
Point 4. — What will be my feelings when before the
judgment-seat? What shall we think of the facility
with which we violate our Rules or neglect the duties
of our state ? of the indifference to the frequent graces
and inspirations of God ? of the avidity for applause
RESOLUTION TO IMITATE J-ESUS CHRIST. 283
and esteem, of the envy and bitter speeches we make
of others, of the disHke we feel for others ? Alas 1
the dissimilarity of my life with that of Jesus Christ
should fill me with horror and dismay ! If I am a
companion of Christ, I must surely and without delay
begin to do the works of Christ, and clothe myself
interiorly and exteriorly with Christ, "putting on the
feelings which were in Him." Let us think seriously
what are the chief faults in us which mar the imitation,
and what are the virtues most wanting in us of which
our Lord has set us the example, and come what will,
cost what it may, let us resolve at once to correct the
one and to strain every nerve to acquire the other. This
may be my last opportunity of making this resolution.
Let us make three colloquies, to our Lady, Jesus
Christ, and to the Eternal Father, begging the grace
to make a good resolution, and the further grace to
keep it.i
We may also further apply the first form of Election
to the' same subject, to determine what especial virtue
in our Blessed Lord we should choose in our desire to
imitate Him, and what is the particular fault opposed
to it which we are determined to correct between this
and our next retreat or Election. The advantages of
making this exercise of Election from time to time
during the course of the year are inestimable. It has a
great influence in forming and moulding our character,
and especially in supernaturalizing it.
1 ' ' And I live, now not I ; but Christ liveth in me. And that I hve now
in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and
delivered Himself for me." (Galat, ii. 20.)
284 THE SECOND WEEK.
JESUS TEMPTED IN THE DESERT.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — Let us recall how Jesus after His Baptism
withdrew into the desert, how He fasted for forty days
and overcame the temptations of the devil.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the desert on the west of
the Jordan, the haunt of panthers and wild birds.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we want, namely, to
know Jesus and the lessons He teaches us in this
mystery, and to imitate Him more closely, especially
His spirit of prayer, mortification, courage, and humility.
Point I. — Jesus is led into the desert, far from the
crowd which had witnessed the wonderful testimony
of Heaven in His regard, and thus teaches us how to
fly from occasions of vainglory. He retires into the
desert. Solitude favours the study of truth, encourages
^ood thoughts, allays the tumult of our affections and
passions, facilitates converse with God ; moreover. He
wishes by penance and prayer to prepare Himself for
1 "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by
the devil. . . . And the tempter coming, said to Him : If Thou be the Son
of God, command that these stones be made bread. Who answered, and
said : It is written. Not in bread alone doth man Hve, but in every word
that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Then the devil took Him up
into the Holy City, and set Him upon a pinnacle of the Temple, and said
to Him : If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down, for it is written.
That He hath given His angels charge over Thee, and in their hands they
shall bear Thee up, lest perhaps Thou dash Thy foot against a stone,
Jesus said to him : It is written again. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God. Again the devil took Him up into a very high mountain, and showed
Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glofy of them, and said to Him :
All these will I give Thee, if falling down Thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus
said to him : Begone, Satan, for it is written. The Lord thy God shalt thou
adore, and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left Him; and
behold angels came and ministered to Him." (St. Matt, iv. i — 11. Comp.
St. Mark i. ; St. Luke iv. )
JESUS TEMPTED IN THE DESERT. 285
His great Mission. Let us learn to love solitude, and
as far as possible and is consistent with our duties, to fly
from the conversation of men, Quoties inter homines fui
minus homo redii. How sad it is to think that retirement
for a few da3's' retreat is to us a terrible and weary-
trial ! He spends the days and nights in prayer, and
we who have si,ich cause for prayer, can hardly do so
for one short hour. He who had no rebellious flesh to
subdue, would teach us mortification of our sensual
appetites and temperance in eating and drinking. Let
us learn to imitate Him in this spirit of prayer and
mortification, and thereby also do penance for our
neglect of them in the past, and obtain grace and
strength to overcome the temptations which await us
in the future.
Point 2. — He was tempted. The Son of God tempted ! ,
Let us adore His profound humility in demeaning
Himself so low as to submit to be insulted by the devil!
And this He does for our sakes and example, and to
gain grace that we also may overcome ; to teach us to
stand always in justice and fear, and to prepare our souls
for temptation, 1 for the devil like a lion goeth about
seeking whom he may devour.- We must imitate Jesus
Christ, if we would have the grace to overcome. And
let us not be surprised at our temptations. He would
be tempted to gluttony, then to vanity and vainglory, and
lastly to avarice I If we are acceptable to God, it is
necessar}^ that temptation should try us,^ and we shall
be tried, it may be by gross and revolting temptations ;
yet let us fear nothing, but treat the devil with cool con-
tempt and he will fly."* Let us not, like Eve, enter into
parley with our enemy, but promptly repel him ; let us
1 Ecclus. ii. I. 2 I St. Peter v.
** Tobias xii. 13.
■* " Be subject therefore to God, but resist the devil, and he will fly from
you." (St. James iv. 7.)
286 THE SECOND WEEK.
strengthen ourselves by recalling the precepts of God,
and by supernatural considerations add strength to our
natural reason. If you argue with the devil, he will by
sophistry mislead you. Let us observe how he flatters,
decoys, and promises ! how he tries to lure us on to
love and hope for things earthly and carnal and to
indulge our passions, and this by promises often false
and vain, which it is not in his power to fulfil. But
let us not fear him, for he cannot harm us unless we
voluntarily allow it ; for the grace of God, which will
never be wanting to us, is more powerful than the
combined forces of the infernal spirits.
Point 3. — Angels came and ministered to Him. Thus
the Eternal Father celebrated the victory of His Son
by sending His angels to congratulate Him. So, too,
with us, trials and temptations soon are over, and are
succeeded by heavenly peace and consolations. Woe
to us if we lose heart and mistrust our God. Want of
confidence begets weakness. We must not fear ; with
Jesus we shall overcome ; and every act of resistance,
every call upon Divine help will merit for us a crown
of glory in Heaven. Wherefore, no matter how long
the struggle, nor how often it may be repeated, though
one kind of temptation be succeeded by another, let
us never be disheartened. The only thing to fear is the
danger of presumption, and of attributing to ourselves
the victory which belongs alone to the grace of God.
Let us remark that St. Luke said that the devil left Him
for a time, that is, to return again later. So, too, must
we be ever on the alert. We may conquer, but we
must be prepared for a return of the devil. The life of
a Christian is a perpetual warfare, and as long as we
have life we are liable to fresh attacks ; but, let us
encourage ourselves with the thought, the strife is but
for a few fleeting years, and then it will be succeeded
by an eternity of peace and glory.
THE MIRACLE OF CAN A IN GALILEE. 287
Let US, in conclusion, thank our Blessed Lord that
for our sake and for our example He would condescend
to be tempted ; let us be confounded and ashamed
at our cowardice before an enemy whose sole resources
are drawn from the faint-heartedness of man, and who
is only a lion when he sees that we are rabbits, and
let us resolve to watch, and by prayer and fasting secure
victory. End with " Our Father."
If time allows we should make two repetitions of
the Baptism and Temptations of our Lord, as also an
application of the senses to the same.
THE MIRACLE OF CANA IN GALILEE.^
Note. — Various reasons are assigned by different
writers, why our Lord would be present at the marriage-
feast in Cana. Thus it is said that He wished to show
honour to His relatives, and to sanctify the wedding by
His presence. This is on the supposition that the bride-
groom on the occasion was no other than Simon the
1 "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee : and the
Mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples,
to the marriage. And the wine failing, the Mother of Jesus saith to Him :
They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her : Woman, what is it to Me
and thee? My hour is not yet come. His Mother saith to the waiters:
Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye. Now there were set there six
water-pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews,
containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them : Fill the
water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus
saith to them : Draw out now, and carry it to the chief steward of the
feast. And they carried it. And when he had tasted the water made wine
and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the
water; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him : Every
man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then
that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. This
beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee : and manifested His
^lory, and His disciples believed in Him." (St. John ii. i — 11.)
288 THE SECOND WEEK.
son of Cleophas, and nephew of St. Joseph, who on
witnessing the miracle followed Christ and became one
of the twelve.^ A second reason was, that He might
give His Apostles an example of humility, by being
present at the humble wedding, and at the same time
by the miracle might show His esteem for poverty,
and might save His host from confusion. A third
reason which is suggested is, that He might show His
disciples that He was the true Messias by converting
the water into wine.
The commencement and preparatory prayer as
usual.
Prelude i. — The history, in brief, is that our Lord
and His Blessed Mother were invited to a wedding, in
the poor village of Cana : and were there with some of
the first disciples of Jesus. He turned water into wine,
and His disciples believed in Him.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the humble dwelling, the
company present, Mary, Jesus, the first disciples.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we really desire, that is,
to know our dear Lord more clearly and to love Him
more sincerely, and let us ask Him to show His power
and generosity in our regard, by changing our hearts
and making them more like His.
Point I. — Christ is invited with His disciple to the
wedding. Never was wedding-feast so distinguished as
this, which was honoured by the presence of the King
of kings and His Mother, the Lady of the world {domina
nmndi) ; and yet everything bespoke poverty, simplicity,
humility, chastity. Let us admire our Jesus who makes
Himself all to all, and fills all with peace and spiritual
joy ; 3^et His every word and action is stamped with a
modest, amiable, and simple dignity, and His mind
and Heart are in close communing with His Father.
1 Baron. Hist. bk. viii.
THE MIRACLE OF CAN A IN GALILEE. 289
Let US observe His great abstemiousness, especially
in regard of wine and such delicacies as were provided.
His Blessed Mother and the other women are busy
administering to the guests, striving to anticipate their
wants, and promoting the happiness of all. With what
quiet and unaffected modesty our Lady moves about,
with what sweetness and recollection she arranges for
the comfort of each, and with what delight she dis-
charges the humble duties of a handmaid. Let us take
these lessons to heart that are given to us by Jesus and
Mary, and at our meals let us practise the abstemious-
ness and mortification of Jesus, His modesty, recollec-
tion, and charity, leaving the best for others and taking
the worst for ourselves ; repressing over-eagerness and
an}^ rudeness, whilst at the same time with simplicity
and true humility we shun all affectation.
Point 2. — The Mother points out to her Son the
failure of wine. Consider how the loving heart of our
Lady is moved with compassion when she perceives
that the wine is failing ; she sees how the poor hostess
is nervous and ashamed, not knowing what is to be
done. At once, with all the tenderness of a mother, and
full confidence in her Child, she gently whispers to
Him that there is no more wine; then she tells the
waiting-women to carry out whatever Jesus may order
them to do. She makes no request of her Son, knowing
well that His tender and loving Heart will come to the
rescue to save His hosts any feeling of confusion or
shame. Oh 1 would to God we knew the Sacred Heart
as Mary knew it ! With how great confidence should
we then approach Him in all our wants, and with what
success, even though His hour for help was not yet
come. We may also consider how our dear Lord
would have this incident recorded to convince us of the
power of our Lady over Him, even in His Divine
Nature, and also to teach us that through her we may
T
290 • THE SECOND WEEK.
obtain all we ask, as He can refuse nothing to her :
for, as St. Bernard says, ''God hath so willed it, that
we should have all things through Mary." Let us
consider the reverence, benevolence, and charity of our
Lord's remark to His Mother, when she drew His
attention to the wine having run short. " Woman
(Lady), what matters it to thee and Me?" I had
determined that My first miracle should not refer to
temporal things, but I will, out of reverence, anticipate
the hour, and manifest My Divine power. In regard
to the work of My Father which I do, I must obey
Him, but as to My works as thy Son, in all these I am
subject to thee ; yet knowing thy good pleasure, I will
do this work of My Father, who is in Heaven. It was
thus she understood Him whom she knew perfectly,
and therefore did she give her directions to those who
served at table. Let us beg through Mary that we too
may know His Sacred Heart more and more intimately,
that with her we may love it more ardently, and may
confide in it more perfectty.
Point 3. — He changed the water into wine. At our
Lord's bidding, the six large vessels were filled with
water, and on a sudden our Lord, by His almighty
power, changed all into wine. Then were all present
struck with wonder, and filled with great joy and
gratitude. Let us contemplate the profound awe with
which they regarded the modest and humble Jesus ;
how by this miracle their minds were enlightened and
they recognized His Divine power, and with love their
hearts were inflamed at His delicate consideration for
His hosts, at His generous charity towards their guests.
For Himself He will jefuse to exert His power, nor will
He do anything to assuage His thirst ; it is only when
the comfort, pleasure, or benefit of others is concerned,
that He will manifest His absolute control over the laws
of nature. But what is the conversion of water into
THE MIRACLE OF CAN A IN GALILEE. 291
wine compared with what we daily witness, namely,
the conversion of wine into His own sacred and living
Blood ! in the sacred nuptial-feast in which by receiving
Him we become one flesh, one blood with Him ! Yet
how little awe do we feel, how scanty the reverence or
love, how little the gratitude which we show to Him.
At the same time it cost Him but the smallest expres-
sion of will to work His first miracle, whereas no
created intellect can conceive the price He has paid,
the sufferings He has undergone, the humiliations
which He has to bear in giving us His Flesh to eat
and His Blood to be our drink.
O my soul, how often does the wine of holy charity
and devotion run short in us ! how cold and indifferent,
how ill prepared do we present ourselves at the sacred
banquet when we ascend to the altar to offer the Holy
Sacrifice or to receive Holy Communion ! Let us fly
to Mary, let us beg of her to ward off our confusion
and shame, by suggesting our necessities to her Jesus
and telling Him we have no wine. She will not be
wanting to us ; she, at least, if with humility and con-
fidence we fly to her, will prove a Mother to us, for
she is merciful and the Mother of Mercy.
In our colloquy let us humbly beg of our Lady to
represent our wants to Jesus, to ask of Him to change
our hearts, make them more like His own, that we may
love what He loved, poverty, sufferings, and humilia-
tions, and say the " Hail Mary."
Let us also ask of Jesus to present the same
petition to His Eternal Father; and say the Anima
Chvisti. Finally, let us earnestly request the same of
the Eternal Father. End with the "■ Our Father."
292 THE SECOND WEEK.
CHRIST DRIVES THE SELLERS OUT OF
THE TEMPLE.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Brief recapitulation of the history.
Prehide 2. — Let us in imagination take up a position
in the court of the Gentiles within the enclosure of the
Temple.
Prehide 3. — Let us beg from our hearts to apprehend
the spirit manifested by our Lord in this mystery, and
grace to imitate it when God's glory or our neighbour's
salvation calls for its exercise.
Point I. — Jesus drives the sellers out of the Temple.
Through the negligence, indifference, and avarice of
the priests, those that sold oxen, sheep, goats, and
doves had presumed to plant their stalls and pens in
the sacred precincts of the Temple : there, too, the
money-changers had their tables strewn with coins of
different countries for the convenience of the purchasers
from different lands. We may easily imagine the crush
and confusion, the babel of sounds, the lowing of oxen,
the bleating of goats and sheep, the shout of those
tending them, of buyers and sellers : often, as we are
told, so loud was the din that the voices of the priests
could not be heard ; yet all this desecration was
permitted for the gain of a little money by the priests.
Jesus suddenly appears in the midst : filled with holy
1 "And the Pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem ; and He found in the Temple them that sold oxen and sheep
and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when He had made as
it were a scourge of little cords. He drove them all out of the Temple, the
sheep also and the oxen ; and the money also of the changers He poured
out, and the tables He overthrew. And to them that sold doves He said :
Take these things hence, and make not the house of My Father a house
of traffic," {St. John ii. 13—16.)
CHRIST DRIVES SELLERS OUT OF THE TEMPLE. 293
indignation at the sight of all this desecration, at the
venality of the ministers of worship of His Heavenly
Father, and at this insult offered to His Divine
Majesty : armed with some fragments of rope He
proceeds to drive them helter-skelter before Him, and
turns over the tables of the money-changers, scattering
their coins on the ground ; but to the poor m<5n who
were selling doves He said in gentle terms, adds
St. Ignatius, Take these away, by this denoting His pity
and compassion for the poor who knew no better or
had been misled by others or misinterpreted the silence
of the priests, at whose door lay all the blame.
Such was the jealous}' of God for the honour of His
Temple. He had already proved it many times, as we
see in the case of Heliodorus^ and of Rabsaces.^
Yet what was the dignity of that Temple in com-
parison with our churches, or its holiness compared
with that of ours, in which the Thrice Holy deigns to
take up His abode, night and day, and in which His
Life is perpetuated and renewed ; in which the Divine
Word, begotten before all ages, by whom all things
were made, the King of glory, conceals all His majesty
together with His lovely and beautiful Humanity,
beneath the sacramental veils. Should not this mani-
festation of infinite condescension and love intensify
our admiration, reverence, adoration, and love ? and if
we have this, oh ! with what reverence and respect
should we enter the house of our Lord ; how gladly
should we respond to His invitation to go and find
consolation and peace from Him when weary and
heavily laden, ^ to draw water of joy when we have
thirst.*
Should we not enter into the feelings of the Psalmist
when he says, " How dear to my heart are Thy taber-
1 2 Mach. iii. 2 ^ Kings xviii.
3 St. Matt. xi. 28. ■* Isaias Iv. i.
294 T^E SECOND WEEK.
nacles, O Lord God of the virtues ; better one daj^ in
Thy house, O Lord, than an age spent in the palaces
of kings." 1
Point 2. — He overturned the tables of the rich money-
changers. Here St. Ignatius contrasts the conduct of
our Lord towards the rich with that towards the poor.
These lich money-changers were usurers and robbers,
slaves to an inordinate love of money, who to satisfy
their craving for gain, did not hesitate to violate the
laws of justice and charity. From the manner in which
our Lord treats them we see in what horror He held
them, and may learn with what severity He will judge
them on the great Day of Judgment. He also practi-
cally declared Himself the Lord and Master of all
things : nor did any one dare to resist Him, but only
asked for an explanation why He so acted. His only
reply was an appeal to His future Resurrection, saj'ing,
*' Destroy this Temple and in three days will I build it
up again," thus justifying Himself by His Divine power
and authority.
Let us admire the fortitude and courage of Jesus in
upholding the honour of His Father and defending the
holiness of the Temple in the face of the Pharisees and
priests, who He knows will put Him to the cruel death.
Here let us learn a lesson from our King and Captain,
not to fear the rich and powerful when it is question
of defending the honour of God or His Church, but to
inculcate the Divine principles and commands,, even
though death may be the result.
Point 3. — He also addressed the poor dove sellers.
With great meekness He addresses these, poor people,
and tells them to take their doves away, charging them
not to turn His Father's house into a house of traffic :
He thus shows His predilection for them, having Him-
self, for our sakes, chosen to be poor when He might
^ Psalm Ixxxiii. 2, 11.
CHRIST DRIVES SELLERS OUT OF THE TEMPLE. 295
have been rich, came into the world in a stable, and
went naked out of the world on the Cross. They were
alarmed when they saw Him treat the rich with such
implacable severity, but quickly resumed their peace as
they beheld Him approach them in calm and loving
majesty : they listen to His admonition and to the
reasons of His conduct. His sweet and loving Heart
opened itself to them, and they at once complied
without a murmur, obeying His instruction. By this
His conduct our Lord would give us a lesson how to
treat the poor. He surely has not the -spirit of Jesus
Christ who courts the society of the great and wealthy,
who sacrifices his principles or his duty rather than
give them offence, or who glories in their acquaintance :
but he who loves and esteems the poor, treats them
with gentleness, labours to instruct and elevate them,
and regards Jesus Christ in them. *' Amen, amen, I
say unto you, as long as you have done it to one of the
least of My brethren, you have done it unto Me."^ It
is true that both rich and poor are made to the likeness
of God, are the adopted children of God, are redeemed
by the life-blood of Jesus, and are called to the posses-
sion of eternal glory, and consequently are to be treated
with real honour, respect, and love, but it is a sad error
to cultivate the rich, the great, and powerful at the
expense or neglect of the poor, who stand more in need
of our charity, of our encouragement, our counsel and
our sympathy.
Let us then learn from our Blessed Lord an ardent
zeal for the promotion of God's glory, fearlessness in
defending His honour, great reverence in His holy
temple, great care in the divinely established services
of religion. Let us learn, too, love of the poor, who
are Christ's substitutes, and let us treat them with
patience and reverence, for His sake.
1 St. Matt. XXV. 40.
296 THE SECOND WEEK.
End with a fervent colloquy with our Blessed Lord
and say the *' Our Father."
VOCATION OF APOSTLES.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prehide i. — Let us recall how Jesus comes forth from
the desert, selects His companions, and destines them
to become His Apostles.
Prehide 2. — Let us picture Galilee and the shore of
Genezareth.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we want, which is an
1 "The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples. And
beholding Jesus walking, he saith : Behold the Lamb of God. And the
two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. ... He saith to
them : Come and see. They came and saw where He abode,- and they
stayed with Him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour. And Andrew,
the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard of John,
and followed Him. He findeth first his brother Simon and saith to him.
We have found the Messias ; and he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus,
looking upon him, said : Thou art Simon, the son of Jona ; thou shalt be
called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter. On the following day He would
go forth into Gahlee, and He findeth Philip. And Jesus saith to him :
Follow Me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him : We have found Him of whom
Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus the son of Joseph of
Nazareth. And Nathanael, said to him : Can anything of good come from
Nazareth ? Philip said to him : Come and see. . . . Nathanael answered
Him, and said : Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of
Israel." (St. John i. 35 — 49.) "And passing by the Sea of Galilee, He saw
Simon and Andrew his brother, casting nets into the sea, and Jesus said
to them : Come after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
And immediately leaving their nets they followed Him. And going on
from thence a little farther. He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John
his brother, who also were mending their nets in the ship ; and forthwith
He called them. And leaving their father Zebedee in the ship with his
hired men, they followed Him." (St. Mark i. 16—20.) "And when Jesus
passed on from thence, He saw a man sitting in the custom-house named
Matthew, and He said to him : Follow Me.- And he arose up and followed
Him." (St. Matt, ix, 9.)
VOCATION OF APOSTLES. 297
intimate knowledge of the Heart of Jesus Christ, that
loving Him we may imitate Him.
Point I. — Peter and Andrew first were called to a
certain acquaintance with Jesus ;i secondly, to follow
Him and then return to their own employment ;^ thirdly,
to follow Him absolutely.^ God can call us without
any previous disposition on our part, but generally He
looks to the gifts which He has bestowed on us, be they
natural or virtues infused or acquired, and gradually
prepares us to follow His call. So it was with Andrew,
who in his first meeting with Jesus was inflamed with
love and zeal for Him, and who introduced his brother
Peter, upon whom Jesus gazes and to whom He assigns
a future. Later, from Peter's boat He addresses the
crowd, and asks the brothers, after He had spoken, to
follow Him. Finally, He commands them to follow Him.
And at once they break away from every earthly tie to
home, family, and friends, and join Him, never even
by death again to be separated from Him.
Here is a lesson for us ! Is there no sacrifice which
our Lord calls upon me to make, no tie to be broken,
no affection to be rooted out^in order that I may follow
Him perfectly in my,state of life? Does He not call
upon me to make greater efforts than I have hitherto
made, to acquire more perfect detachment from carnal
and sensual things, and more perfect hatred of the
spirit and maxims of the children of the world ? We
have resolved to respond to His call, and have made
it the subject of election. Oh, may His grace enable
us to imitate the example of Andrew and Peter, and
may it be said of us at last, *' And leaving all things,
they followed Him," and said with truth.
Point 2. — He called Philip* and Matthew^ and James
and John.^ Our Lord calls them in the same spirit of
1 St. John i. 2 St. Luke v. 3 St. Matt. iv.
4 St, John i. ' St. Matt. ix. 6 st. Matt. iv.
298 THE SECOND WEEK.
love, and gratuitously, and meets with equal docility^
promptitude, and generosity. Long and inveterate
habits, strong affections, opposition of character, all
yield easily and with pleasure to the sweet and gentle
call of Jesus Christ.
So also if we only generously correspond to the call
which our Lord makes upon us during this retreat, we
shall find that neither rooted habits, repugnances of
nature, nor natural disposition will prevent the efficac}^
of God's grace, and we shall be able to say with St. Paul^
" I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me."i
As to the other Apostles, whose vocation is not
mentioned in the Gospels, we see how they differed in
character, gifts, position, customs, and habits ; yet by
God's grace they were all, except Judas, moulded and
formed to the same high vocation, proving to us the
omnipotent power of God's grace. Let this give us
unbounded confidence in God, who *' is faithful, by
whom we are called to the Society of His Son," and
let us resolve to respond to this His vocation by the
fidelity we show to the resolution we have taken in our
matter of election. This grace will not be wanting to
us if only we are persevering in prayer and in com-
panionship with our Lord.
Point 3. — (a) These Apostles were of a low estate.
The worldly-wise are distinguished by the choice of
the fittest means for the end they have in view ; but
God, by choosing means out of all fitness and propor-
tion. Thus in His Apostles there was no culture, no
birth, no wealth, but they were poor, rude, illiterate
fishermen. This He did to convince us that it was all
His own work, and to take away all grounds for self-
conceit.2 Let us then take no credit to ourselves if
1 Philipp. iv. 13.
2 " But the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that He may
confound the wise ; and the weak things of the world hath He chosen, that
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 299
He has chosen us to do any work for His praise and
glor}^ (/?) Yet they were called to an exalted dignity —
to the dignity of intimate friendship and companion-
ship with Christ, and of being His colleagues in the
work of His Father, founders and pillars of His
Church, dispensers of His mysteries. There is no
earthly dignity to compare with it, no matter how
glorious or exalted it may be. (y) Thej'' received gift&
and graces, by which they were raised above all the
Fathers both of the Old and New Law. They were
endowed with the spirit of wisdom and fortitude, the
gift of miracles and tongues, and the power to conquer
the great idolatrous world and all its powerful princes,
and the devil himself. So too we may rest assured
that God will generously grant to us those graces which
are required to carry out those duties of our state of
life to which He has called us.
Let us pray for this in a triple colloquy, such as we
made after the meditation on ** Three Classes of Men."
End with "Our Father."
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prehde i. — Let us recall how Jesus Christ ascends
the mountain in Galilee, followed by a large crowd, and
gathering His chosen disciples round Him, He makes
a discourse to them.^
Pf elude 2. — Let us picture the scene in our imagina-
tion.
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 may bring to nought things that are ; that no flesh should glory in His
sight." (i Cor. i. 27.)
.. 1 St. Matt. V. 1—48.
300 THE SECOND WEEK.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we want, that is, light
to grasp the doctrine of Jesus and grace to reduce it
fully to practice.
Point I. — He promulgates the Eight Beatitudes.^ The
crowd had followed Him to witness His miracles and
to hear His preaching. When He had healed their
sick, exorcized those who were possessed, and had
taught them. He ascended higher up the mountain, and
gave His Apostles special instructions. Let us join
them and be illuminated.^ As a king in the midst of
his subjects, or a father in his family, "solemnly raising
His eyes. He opens His mouth to teach them." All
this denotes the gravity of the occasion and the import-
ance of His discourse.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, they
that mourn, that hunger and thirst after justice,
the merciful, the peacemakers, and they that suffer
persecution. Of these, three relate to perfect abne-
gation, to which we were pledged in the *' Kingdom of
Christ," namely, poverty, mourning, and persecution
for justice' sake ; three refer to our conduct to our neigh-
bour, meekness, mercy, and peacemaking; the other
two regard more immediately our relations with God,
cleanness of heart and hunger after justice. Let us
consider each of these, their depth of meaning, the
examples of each left us by Jesus Christ, and the
reward attached to each.
1 "And opening His mouth He taught them, saying : Blessed are the
poor in spirit : for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are the
meek : for they shall possess the land. Blessed are they that mourn : for
they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
justice : for they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful : for they
shall find mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart : for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice" sake : for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven." (St. Matt. v. 2 — 10.)
' "Come ye to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be
confounded." (Psalm xxxiii. 6.) »
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 301
" Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see
God." They are blessed, for they are the objects of the
special love and interest of Jesus Christ, they are in a
station more like His own, they are less exposed to
danger and temptations, are on the right road to eternal
beatitude. Yet this blessing is not for those who suffer
privation from necessity and against their will, but only
for such as cheerfully accept of their hard lot, or who
through love of God have voluntarily made themselves
poor in effect, or have detached themselves from their
possessions, and whom we considered in the third of
the " Three Classes."
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the
land." Closely connected with poverty is the virtue of
meekness. The meek keep under control their feelings
of impatience, anger, or vindictiveness ; accept with
calmness and resignation adversity or injuries from
their fellow-men, confiding in the fatherly providence of
God, and directing all things that happen to His glory
and their own salvation. Of this virtue our Lord pro-
poses Himself as our model — " Learn of Me, that I am
meek and humble of heart "^ — and example, when He
accepted the kiss of Judas, forgave the denial of Peter
and the thief on the Cross, and prayed for forgiveness
of His executioners. They shall hereafter possess the
Kingdom of Heaven, and in this life they possess their
souls in peace.
*' Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted." This blessing is not given to all who
mourn, or who on earth would not then be in comfort
and consolation. It is only attached to those who in
sorrow and with resignation accept their trials, who
bewail their own and other's sins, who maintain the
strife against their flesh and its 'concupiscences, who
are faithful in the times of desolation or persecution, &c.
1 St. Matt. xi. 29.
302 THE SECOND WEEK.
They shall be comforted in the next world by " the
future glory which shall be revealed in them,"i
and also in this present life, for their love for God will
make those things sweet to them which human nature
regards as bitter and sad.
** Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after
justice, for they shall have their fill." They that hunger
and thirst after habitual justice by which they are
sanctified, and after actual justice in the actions which
they perform, are strenuous in the exercise of virtue,
aspire to that which is perfect, and strive to unite
themselves ever more closely with our Lord by a lively
faith and ardent charity, and by frequent reception- of
Holy Communion. It is to such that abundance of
supernatural gifts and graces are promised : it is such
that '' He filleth with good things." 2
" Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy."
He is merciful or pitiful of heart who loves and assists
those that are wretched, whether they suffer exteriorly
or interior^ ; but this mercy, to secure the blessing,
must rest on a supernatural basis, and be exercised for
God's sake. " It is more blessed to give than to
receive," is the teaching of Jesus Christ,^ which saying
the world reverses, "Happier to get than give." It is
by our mercy that our eternal lot is to be decided : for
it is by charity, the mother of mercy, that " a multitude
of sins is covered." ^ The merciful even in this life are
led by God's grace to seek remission of their sins, and
in the next are made partakers of eternal mercy.
" Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see
God." The clean of heart are, first, all those who are
not conscious to themselves of mortal sin unrepented of;
secondly, those who are free from venial sin, which
stains the soul, disposes to mortal sin, and removes us
1 Romans viii. 18.
2 St. Matt. i. 53. 3 Acts xx. 35. ^ i St. Peter iv. 8.
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 303
SO to speak to a distance from God ; thirdly, all those
who seek in all things only the will of God and His
service and praise. They shall see God face to face
with special clearness in the next life, and also in this
shall be blessed with a pure and keen knowledge of
Him. So was it with John the Baptist and that other
John whom Jesus loved.
" Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
the sons of God." Such are they who aire meek and
show themselves amiable and gentle to all, and avoid
giving offence to others, unless it be in a good and just
cause. Such too are they who smooth down quarrels,
reconcile those that are at variance, and who strive to
induce men to seek reconciliation with God, and with
Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who brought peace into the
world to all men of good-will. They are called and
are in reality sons of God by adoption and brothers of
Jesus Christ by grace,^ most dear to Him who came
down from Heaven to establish this peace.
" Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice'
sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." To do
bravely is to be a hero, but to suffer greatly and well
is to be a Christian; and to suffer is in general far
harder than to do ; whence we may say that of all
Beatitudes this bears away the palm. To have to
endure injuries, contempt, pain, and death, because we
do our duty, or for our religion, or because we observe
the laws of God, &c. Such persecutions separate us
from the world and drive us to God, they make us like
to our great original, and force us to seek consolation
from above. Hence it was that] St. Ignatius prayed
that there never might be a time in which his Society
might be without suffering.
Let us examine ourselves and see how much we
have been wanting in our efforts to secure the blessings
1 Galat. iv. 7.
304
THE SECOND WEEK.
here promised ; let us nqake acts of sorrow for our past
negligence, and firm resolutions to strive more earnestly
for the future.
Point 2. — He exhorts them to a right use of their
talents.'^ Let us see the astonishment of the Apostles
on hearing these truths, which have been concealed
from the wise ones of the world, and the modesty,
earnestness, and avidity with which they listen, as in
this second part of His discourse He treats of the
three-fold duties of an Apostle, *' You are the salt of the
earth." Salt gives flavour to food and preserves it
from corruption ; so you by the sanctity of your
teaching and conduct, and by your efficacy in prayer,
must save others from corruption. If these two
qualities be wanting, we are fit for nothing. "You
are the light of the world," so that by your teaching
you are to dispel error, sin, and ignorance. Hence let
us see the necessity of acquiring not only a theoretical,
but also a practical knowledge of the science of the
saints ; for to have the former without the latter is to
be hke a tinkling cymbal. '* You are as a city upon the
mountain." It is the duty and office of the real apostle
to gather round him a society of men bound together
by the bonds of charity and united in their views and
prosecution of good, living a holy life, raised above sub-
lunary things, and persevering with firmness and con-
stancy figured by the mountain. So must we become
all to all men, that by our charity and self-devotion we
may gain all to Christ.
Point 3. — In the third part of His discourse, Jesus
convicts the wisdom of the world of folly. Better to
1 " You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, where-
with shall it be salted ? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast
out and to be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world. . . .
So let your light shin^ before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father who is in Heaven." (St. Matt. v. 13—16.)
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 305
be a fool with Christ than to be worldly-wise.^ He
came to perfect, not to destroy the Law, and this He
does by requiring not only external observance, but
also the service and worship and internal adherence
of the heart ; and further, by superadding the Evan-
gelical Counsels, we are not only to abstain from
wounding, but also from anger in regard of our neigh-
bour; not only from acts of impurity, but also from
deliberate thought, word, or desire against the virtue
of chastity; not only from perjury, but also from all
swearing ; and lastly, henceforth it will not suffice to
love only our neighbour, but we must go still further :
we are to love our enemies, to do good to those who
hate us, and to pray for those who persecute us or
calumniate us, and do all kinds of evil things against
us. To the wise ones of this world, all we have said
above is mere folly, whereas the infinite wisdom of
God commands it. Let us take these lessons to
heart, and examine how far we have reduced them
to practice.
In whatever state we may be, whether ecclesiastical
or rehgious, whether in the family or in a position of
authority, we are, according to our position in life,
boun(i to observe the Beatitudes ; we are to be as salt,
or as light, and in the observance of the law we must
not rest satisfied with simple external compliance, but
must observe it in spirit and in truth. How far are we
convinced of these obligations ? How much have we
failed, and by doing so have to confess with shame that
we have been rather a source of scandal or bad example,
than a cause of edification.
Let us in our colloquy pray for the grace to correct
what has been faulty, and to see more practically the
1 ' ' For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is
written : I will catch the wise in their own craftiness. And again : The
Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain." (i Cor. iii. 19.)
U
3o6 THE SECOND WEEK.
means by which we may correct ourselves. End with
"Our Father."
OUR LORD STILLS THE STORM AT SEA.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Whilst the Apostles were on the Sea of
Galilee and Jesus was asleep, there came on a fearful
tempest. His disciples in their terror awoke Him ;
upon which He rebuked them for their want of faith.
He then commanded the winds and the waves, and
forthwith there came a perfect calm, to the amazement
of them all.
Prelude 2. — We will picture to ourselves the sea, the
Apostles, and the attendant circumstances.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg earnestly to know our dear
Lord as He displays Himself in this mystery, that we
may love and admire Him more ardently and may put
all our trust in Him.
Point I. — During our Lord's sleep a great tempest
arose. . When our Lord had with His usual zeal,
simplicity, and fervour been instructing the crowd on
the shore of the Sea of Galilee, seeing that evening
1 "And when He entered into the boat the disciples followed Him.
And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered
with waves, but He was asleep. And they came to Him, and awaked Him,
saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them, O ye of Httle
faith. Then rising up He commanded the winds and the waves, and there
came a great calm." (St. Matt. viii. 23—26.)
"They take Him even as He was in the ship, and there were other
ships with Him. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves
beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled. And He was in the hinder
part of the ship, sleeping upon a pillow : and they awake Him, and say to
Him : Master, doth it not concern Thee that we perish ? And rising up.
He rebuked the wind, and said to the sea : Peace, be still. And the wind
ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said to them. Why are you
fearful ? Have you not faith yet ? " (St. Mark iv. 36—40.)
OUR LORD STILLS THE STORM AT SEA. 307
was coming on, He said to His Apostles, " Let us cross
over to the other shore." They therefore went with
Jesus into the boat of Peter and put out to sea, whilst
others of the disciples followed after them. And lo !
when they least expected it, the winds arose and there
burst a violent tempest over them. The waves dashed
over them and threatened to swamp their boat. Yet,
though the storm roared and the boat threatened at
every moment to sink, Jesus slept, though His Heart
was watching.
This world is well represented by a vast sea, over
which we all have to voyage on our way to our eternal
home, but alas ! not all in one vessel, that of Peter, or
of Holy Church. How many are stranded, how many
are tempest-tossed and are swallowed up by the waves.
Even of those in the bark of Peter, not all reach the
shores of a happy eternity, being lost in the storm of
their unruly passions, or allured by the siren of unlawful
pleasures, or fall overboard into the abyss of pride and
independence. Often too Almighty God permits His
Church or its members to be overtaken by perils and
severe trials, either that His power may be manifested
in man's infirmity, or to compel us to have recourse to
Him by prayer, or again, to convince us of our helpless-
ness without His aid, thereby compelling us to humility.
Meanwhile Jesus seems to sleep : seems, indeed, when
He leaves us in desolation, when faith seems dead and
charity grows cold, yet His Heart is ever watchful and
ready in due season to come to our help; "He is
faithful, and will not suffer us to be tempted above
what we are able ; but will make also with temptation
issue, that you may be able to bear it."^ In cases of
desolation and trial let us also have recourse to Jesus
Christ in earnest prayer, imploring Him and insisting
with Him, though He appears neither to hear us nor to
1 I Cor. X. 13.
308 THE SECOND WEEK,
care for us, that He would save us lest we perish. Let
us, even though fierce storms of temptation assail us»
repose with confidence under the protection of our good
and loving Father, and say with the Psalmist, " In
peace, in the self-same, I will sleep and I will rest."^
Point 2. — The terrified Apostles awoke Him : whom
He reprehends for their little faith, saying, " Why are
ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" The faith of the
Apostles was as yet weak. Jesus as Man was asleep ;
but in His Divine Nature, from which alone they could
expect help and safety, He never slept, and conse-
quently, whether asleep or awake, they were equally
secure under His Divine protection : just as in the
Blessed Sacrament, although we do not see His
Humanity, which might be asleep or absent. He still is
present and in the full possession and exercise of His
infinite power, ^uch is the teaching of holy faith. It
was for the want of this faith that our Blessed Lord,
in terms at once gentle and paternal, reproves the
Apostles. It was to strengthen them in this virtue, so
necessary for them in the high vocation to which He
called them, that He had ordained this very tempest ;
it is from this firm faith, by which we are led to
recognize in all circumstances of life the power,
goodness, and providence of God, that springs that
invincible confidence of the saints which obtains all
that they may desire. " Amen, I saj^ to you, if ye have
faith like unto a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say
to this mountain : Remove from hence hither, and it
shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you.'"^
But as says St. James; " We must ask with an unhesi-
tating faith : for he that wavereth, is like a wave of the
sea which is moved and carried about by the sea."
Our Lord said, " Why are ye fearful ? " This arises
from the apprehension lest God will not furnish us with
1 Psalm iv. 9. 2 st. Matt. xvii. 19.
OUR LORD STILLS THE STORM AT SEA. 309
the desired help, which betrays a mistrust either in the
promises of God, or of His power or goodness : and it
is the effort of the enemy of our human nature to inspire
us with such feeUngs, thereby to fill us with disgust,
despondency, and despair. Let us beware of these
artifices of the devil, and with holy Job let us say, *' If
Thou shouldst slay me, in Thee will I hope,"i for we
know that Jesus is with us in our tribulation, He will
snatch us from it, and will turn it to our and His own
glory.
Point 3. — " He commanded the winds and the sea,
and men marvelled, saying : What manner of man is
this, for the winds and the sea obey Him ? '' Let us
contemplate our Lord as He rises from sleep, and
standing up with all the majesty, power, and authority
of His Divinity, He bids the winds be still and the
fierce waters be calm: at His words the tempest ceases,
and there is a perfect calm. How often in the history
of the Church do we see her threatened with utter
destruction, either by the fires or swords of her perse-
cutors, or the disloyalty or revolution of her own
children, who reject or rise up against her authority;
and men begin to doubt if she will survive ! How often
again are we sorely tried by the machinations of our
enemies, the infideHty of friends, the rebellion of our
passions, or by the temptations of the devil ! Or again,
how often are we plunged into a state of desolation, in
which prayer is almost impossible, the light of faith
seems extinguished, hope appears to leave us, charity
is hardly felt, and we are inclined to abandon all effort !
This is allowed by God that the power and majesty
and love of Jesus Christ may be glorified. Let us,
O my soul, have courage and confidence. Jesus is by
our side; in due season He will dispel the storm, and we
shall in His own good time find peace suddenly restored
1 Job xiii. 15.
3IO THE SECOND WEEK.
to our souls. Let us remain faithful to our spiritual
duties, and adhere to the resolutions which we have
made in happier times ; let us hope against hope, and
our Jesus, who is faithful, loyal, and true, coming will
come and will not tarry, and will say to us, Peace be
with you.
Let us make our colloquy, and end with "Our
Father."
CHRIST WALKS UPON THE SEA.i
Note. — We remark that St. Ignatius does not follow
the chronological order in the several contemplations
which he suggests to the exercitant, if time, or his
special circumstance, or his dispositions enable him
to prolong the Second Week of the Exercises.
In the present case, it may be that he desires to
impress still more upon the exercitant the great
necessity of unlimited confidence in God and diffidence
in ourselves, if we are to do much for His glory and
praise, as we saw in the preceding contemplation.
1 "And forthwith Jesus obliged His disciples to go up into the boat
and to go before Him over the water till He dismissed the people. And
having disniissed the multitude, He went up into a mountain alone to pray.
But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves ; for the
wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, He came to
them walking upon the sea. And they seeing Him were troubled saying :
It is an apparition. And they cried out for fear. And immediately Jesus-
spoke to them, saying : It is I, fear ye not. And Peter making answer,
said : Lord if it be Thou, bid me come to Thee upon the waters. And He
said, Come. And Peter going down out of the boat walked upon the water
to come to Jesus. But seeing the wind was strong he was afraid ; and
when he began to sink he cried out. Lord, save me. And Jesus stretching
forth His hand, took hold of him and said to him : O thou of little faith,
why didst thou doubt. And when they were come up into the boat, the
wind ceased. And they that were in the boat adored Him, saying : Indeed^
Thou art the Son of God." (St. Matt. xiv. 22—32.)
CHRIST WALKS UPON THE SEA. 311
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — The Evangelist tells us how Jesus, after
disbanding the multitude, bade His Apostles to recross
the sea, whilst He retired to the hills, for the night.
A storm arose, and He came down from the hill,
walked over the sea, to the great terror of His Apostles
until they recognized who it was. With the Master's
permission, Peter goes on the water towards Him ; but
getting frightened, and beginning to sink, cried out to
Jesus, who rebuked him, then took him by the hand,
and they both entered the boat. Suddenly the wind
lulled, and they found themselves on the shore with
their boat.
Preltide 2. — Let us form in our mind a general
picture of the scene.
Prelude 3. — Let us again with great earnestness ask
for what we want, namely, to know intimately our
Blessed Lord, so that we may love Him more ardently
and humbly strive to confide in Him more perfectly,
in all the circumstances of our lives.
Point I. — Jesus sends His Apostles away, and
retires for the night to pray. Jesus had wrought the
wonderful miracle of the multiplication of loaves, and
was dismissing the people to their homes, for they had
a long way to go, and evening was coming on. We
may picture to ourselves their feelings of admiration, of
awe, and of gratitude at this manifestation of Divine
goodness, power, and love on the part of our Lord ;
perhaps, also, they showed it to a certain extent towards
His Apostles who had helped the Master by distributing
the food amongst them. Was it lest His Apostles
might be tempted to self-complacency, or was it
perhaps to try their obedience, or to exercise them in
humility ? We do not know ; but perhaps it was for
all these reasons combined, that St. Matthew observes,
" And forthwith He obliged His disciples to go up into
312 THE SECOND WEEK.
the boat, and to go before Him over the water, till He
dismissed the people." He does not give them time to
dismiss the people, or to receive any expression from
them of gratitude or admiration, but summarily sends
them to their boat, bidding them to cross to the opposite
shore. With what mingled feelings of disappointment
at the orders of our Lord, and of regret at His
separating Himself from their company, they proceed
at once to obey. They do not know how long this
separation is to last, for He has given them no
instructions to return to Him. So, too, our obedience
will often be tried, and after consolation we may be
visited with desolation ; nay, often it may seem that
the commands of Superiors are hard and prejudicial
both to body and soul ; but let us, like the Apostles,
proceed to comply in a spirit of faith and confidence,
leaving ourselves in the hands of God. No sooner had
they departed, and the multitude started on their
homeward journey, than the humble, modest Jesus
ascends the neighbouring mountain to pray. How
little He thinks of the praise or enthusiasm of the poor
people whose hunger He had appeased, or of the
glorious miracle which His charity has prompted Him
to perform ! He seeks only His Father's glory, and
although His Human Nature is wearied with excessive
labour, He seeks rest and repose in retiring into solitude
to give Himself to prayer. O my soul, what a lesson
this is for us, who when we do a little for God are
inclined to take credit to ourselves, and instead of
seeking repose in solitude and prayer, go about in
search of compliments and flattery from others, seeking
our own glorification, but not the glory of our Heavenly
Father.
Point 2. — Christ appears walking on the waters, and
the Apostles thought it was an apparition. Let us
picture the Apostles as they laboured with their oars
CHRIST WALKS UPON THE SEA. 313
against a strong head wind, which tossed their boat
upon the troubled sea. Though for nine hours they
had been rowing with all their might, they had hardly
made half the passage ; they were worn out with
fatigue, full of sadness and terror, and struggling for
their lives.' What a change since the afternoon, when
they were in company with our Lord, all happy and
active, and distributing the miraculous food to the
multitude ; but now He is away, their happiness is
exchanged for depression, and their whole anxiety is
to save themselves from shipwreck. Although they are
fresh from witnessing a proof of His Divinity, they are
so weak in faith, that they do not think of turning to
Him and invoking His help. Whilst we are with Jesus,
and all goes on well and prosperously, we are contented ;
no labour or pains are too great for us to undertake :
we are full of fervour ; the service of God is so sweet
and easy ; but let Jesus appear to withdraw Himself
from us, let the darkness of spiritual desolation come
over us, let the storms of temptation arise, or obedience
put our courage or virtue to the test, and how soon we
flag in our efforts, how sad and depressed we become,
how hard and rough the way of perfection becomes,
how difficult it is to turn to God or pray to Him for
help ! ** He rides with ease who is drawn in the
chariot of God's grace ; "^ but consolation soon gives
place to desolation, and it is then that our virtue is
proved, and our faith and confidence are tested. Let
us then have recourse to prayer in the solitude of our
hearts, and God will hear and pity us, will turn our
wailing into joy, surrounding us with gladness.^
Whilst the Apostles were in this state of distress
they little thought that our Lord was not only conscious
of their sad condition, but had actually so disposed it
all, yet so as not to allow them to perish, " For He is
1 Imitation, bk. ii. c. ix. 2 md.
314 THE SECOND WEEK.
faithful and will not that they should be tried beyond
their strength ; " and again, " The souls of the just are
in the hands of God, and the torment of death shall not
touch them." Let us contemplate Him as He arises
from His prayer, peacefully descends from the mountain,
and hastens across the water to the relief of His poor
Apostles. No sooner do they see Him than they began
to cry out with fear, thinking that they beheld some
phantom. But Jesus said to them: ''Be of good
heart; it is I, fear ye not." So it often happens to
those who wish to make progress in God's service.
Jesus will visit them with some trial, temptation,
humiliation, desolation, calculated to fill them with
terror or dismay ; but He quickly converts it into their
greater peace, consolation, and joy, whilst, on the
contrary, the devil will sometimes inspire confidence,
false pleasure, false joy, thereby to lure his dupes into
true misery and sin.
Let us then learn to mistrust, and carefully examine
the beginning, the progress, and end of consolation,
as St. Ignatius counsels us before giving ourselves up
to it ; and in desolation, let us be of good heart, firm
in faith.
Point 3. — " It is I, fear ye not." St. Peter walking
on the water begins to sink. Jesus saves him and
reproves him for his little faith. Let us seriously
consider the words of our Blessed Lord. After allaying
their terror, and bidding them to be of good heart. He
says : " It is I." Oh ! if in all our troubles we regarded
them as coming from the hand of God, or at all events,
as permitted in His sweet providence, but always for
our greater sanctification, as holy faith teaches, our
hearts would never fail us ; but alas ! we are wanting
like the Apostles in this spirit of practical faith. If
when insulted or provoked to anger, if ordered to
perform something which is unpleasant or less prudent,
CHRIST WALKS UPON THE SEA.
315
, if overtaken by sickness or misfortune, if attacked by
temptation or desolation, we in the spirit of faith heard
our Lord addressing us and saying, "It is I," how
different would be our conduct ! how patient, humble,
obedient, resigned, and cheerful !
" It is I, fear ye not." It is I, your Lord and
Master ; then why should we fear, seeing that all
things are placed under His power, and that He is
so interested in us and in our welfare, that He will
not let a hair of our head perish,^ and so disposes all
things, "that if we love Him, humiHations, mortifica-
tions, desolations, in short, all things will work
together for our good."^
Let us admire the ardour of love in St. Peter,
together with his childlike simplicity. He at once
recognized the voice and manner of his Master, and
yielding to his impulsive nature, in defiance of the
angry winds and the wild waves, he asks leave to go
to Jesus. He bids him at once to come, as a reward
of his confidence, charity, and simplicity, pledging
Himself to sustain him as long as his faith and
confidence remained firm. But seeing the huge waves
and the fierce winds, he became affrighted, his courage
failed him, and yielding to fear, he began to sink, and
cried to his Master to save him from drowning. What
a lesson for us on human weakness and inconstancy,
and of the necessity of holy confidence. Let us also
learn the duty of earnest prayer when we are tempted,
for he that neglects to do so will most surely fall. All
temptations arise from self-confidence or from mistrust
of God, in some form or other, and are only to be
overcome by humility, prayer, and faith in our loving
Lord.
Let us contemplate Jesus tenderly reproving Peter
for giving way to the temptation of doubt and fear ;
1 St. Luke xxi. 18. 2 Romans viii. 28.
3i6 THE SECOND WEEK.
and the humility of Peter, who received the reproof
of his Master with silent submission and grateful
affection. O my soul, let us learn in what spirit we
should receive the admonitions of those who are
appointed over us. That we should often err is
human, but to be told of our faults, and to accept
it in a spirit of humility and silence, is Christian. No
sooner did Jesus enter the boat, than there came a
calm, and the boat was suddenly transported to the
shore. It is thus that our trials, temptations, and deso-
lations will vanish when it pleases our good God to
remove them, and this He will do when we have done
all that is required on our part, and have drawn our
Lord back to us by fervent and earnest prayer.
In our colloquy let us beg for patience under our
sufferings and trials, and also courage to suffer with our
King and Captain. End with " Our Father."
If time or opportunity permits, let there be two
contemplations by way of repetition of the two last
contemplations, and an application of the senses to
the same.
OUR LORD SENDS HIS APOSTLES TO PREACH. 317
OUR LORD SENDS HIS APOSTLES TO
PREACH.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Our Lord sends His disciples to preach,
communicating to them power to cast out devils and to
heal the sick. In doing so He commends to them the
exercise of prudence, simplicity, patience, disinterested-
ness, and poverty, and lays down the method and
matter of their discourses.
Prehide 2. — Let us put ourselves amongst the
Apostles whilst Jesus is addressing them.
Prehide 3. — Let us beg that we may know our dear
Lord more intimately, and thus be induced to love Him
more ardently, thereby by our word and example to
draw others to Him according to our state of life.
Point I. — Jesus calls His Apostles and gives them
power of exorcism and healing. Besides these two
powers, the one spiritual the other corporal, St. Matthew
adds that Jesus commissioned them to preach, as also
to raise the dead, to cleanse the lepers. He had taught
them all these things by His example, as was written
of Him later, " And He went through the cities and
towns, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the
Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing all sickness and
1 " These twelve Jesus sent, commanding them saying : Go ye not into
the way of the Gentiles, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter ye not.
But go ye rather to the lost sheep of Israel. And going preach that the
Kingdom of God is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the
lepers, cast out devils : freely have you received, freely give. Do not
possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses. And into whatsoever
city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide
until you go thence. . . . Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of
wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves. But beware
of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you
in their synagogues." (St. Matt, x, 5 — 17.)
3i8 THE SECOND WEEK.
infirmities.^ His compassionate and tender Heart is
moved to pity at seeing the harvest ready for the sickle,
and Himself the sole workman. He beheld His country-
men lying scattered about like sheep abandoned by their
shepherd. The priests and Pharisees were the slaves
of luxury and avarice and pride or self-justification ; of
the lost sheep of Israel they had no care, but despised
them. To these poor creatures Jesus sends His
Apostles, moved by the sight of their bodily infirmities,
but infinitely more by the grievous state of their souls.
The words of Jeremias were too truly fulfilled: ''The
people were wandering about the streets of the city,
clamouring for bread, and there was no one to break
it to them." To them He gives grace to respond tb
His call, and inspires them with zeal and charity to do
their duty well. They are not to preach themselves,
nor to seek themselves in anyway, but to give freely
what they had gratuitously received, and to draw men
to desire to enter into the Kingdom of God, which was
about to be established.
Point 2. — They are to be prudent as serpents, yet
simple as doves. " Behold I send you," says Jesus
Christ. He who is God, the Son of the Most High,
the Creator of souls, their Sovereign Lord and Master ;
He to whom as Man all power is given in Heaven and
on earth ; He who is about to purchase with His life-
blood the redemption of all men ; behold it is He who
thus formally gives them commission. At the same
time His omnipotence will protect them, will assist
them, will enable them to do all that He enjoines, if
only they respond to His bidding. He sends them like
so many sheep into the midst of wolves. The sheep is
the symbol of innocence, of gentleness, of meekness,
of silence and patience under suffering and death : so
must be His Apostles. To innocence of life, they must
1 St, Matt. XV. 35.
OUR LORD SENDS HIS APOSTLES TO PREACH. 319
add meekness, and patience, for they are to be thrown
into the midst of men who will treat them worse than
the ravenous wolf would treat a gentle lamb : " For
they^ill deliver you up in councils, they will scourge
you in their synagogues : you shall be brought before
governors and before kings for My sake. But when
they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or
what to speak, for it shall be given you in that hour
what to speak. . . . And you shall be hated by all
men for My Name's sake. . . . Fear not then those
who kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear Him that can destroy both body and
soul into Hell."
Under all this cruel and unjust treatment they are
to be silent as the sheep that openeth not its mouth
when about to be slaughtered. To this lesson of
patience. He adds another, of prudence. They are
to mix with men steeped in worldly prudence, and
inspired by the devil, the spirit of falsehood, craft, and
cunning. With no less prudence they must take
advantage of the occasions for preaching, observing
what will be best adapted to the persons, to the times
and circumstances, and whilst they denounce sin or
offence of God, they must treat the sinner with tender-
ness, charity, and compassion. They are to be " simple
as doves." This simplicity recommended by our Lord,
is the moral supernatural virtue by which a man refers
all he does purely to God's honour and glory, or by
which he performs all things with a pure intention ;
according to that of St. Luke : *' The light of thy body
is thy eye. If thy eye be simple, thy whole body will
be lightsome ; but if it be evil, thy whole body will be
darksome."^ Therefore our Lord would have His
Apostles to seek in all things simply His Father's
glory, and this by their sincerity in speech, by the
1 St. Luke xi. 33.
320 THE SECOND WEEK.
avoidance of all craft or scheming, of all self-seeking,
and by thoroughness and honesty of purpose, as
opposed to the unreal principles of the children of
this world.
Let us examine how far we have carried out this
counsel of Jesus ; how often does it happen that we
flatter ourselves that we shall advance the interests
of God by unreal ostentation, by using language to
conceal or misrepresent our views, by confounding the
true and the false, by doing good for worldly gain
under pretext of religion ? If we are truly simple, we
shall sooner suffer than do harm, we shall bear no
resentment for injuries, we shall count as gain any
contumely in the cause of truth. Let us beg earnestly
for this holy simphcity, which is so dear to the Heart
of our Blessed Lord, for *' with the simple is His
conversation,"! which is so directly opposed to the
insincerity of the children of this world, and yet is so
highly appreciated by them that it wins their respect
and confidence.
Point 3. — Further counsels of Jesus. In the first
place He bids them not to wish for gold or silver, but
to cultivate poverty in spirit, and as far as may be,
also in effect ; for this voluntary renunciation paves
the way to true humility ; He would have them
renounce all that is not absolutely necessary, thereby
practically throwing themselves on the providence of
God, cutting off all earthly attachments or soHcitude,
and furnishing an example to mankind of sobriety,
contempt for wealth, simplicity, and holiness. How
often alas ! do we find even those called to the
apostolic life, or consecrated to God in religious life,
wedded to their own comforts or conveniences, less
manly, more effeminate, and less mortified than those
who have been born in plenty and nurtured in luxury !
1 Prov. iii, 32.
OUR LORD FEEDS THE FIVE THOUSAND. 321
May we not too often and with too much truth account
for the comparatively little fruit produced in souls
now-a-days by this want of the true spirit of poverty
and love of hardship ?
In the next place, they are to preach that the
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, that God is about to
pour out His graces through the teaching, example,
Passion and Death of our Lord, upon mankind, whereby
the Kingdom of God will be established in their souls
in this life, to be followed in the next by the eternal
possession of Him.
End with colloquy and " Our Father."
OUR LORD FEEDS THE FIVE THOUSAND.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us recall to mind how the Apostles
asked our Lord to dismiss the people to their homes,
as evening was coming on, and they had been fasting
all the day in the desert ; how He ordered the few
loaves to be brought to Him, blessed them, and handed
them to the Apostles, who distributed them to the
people ; how when all had taken their fill, there
remained twelve baskets full of what remained over.
1 " And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him saying : It is
evening ; this is a desert place, and the hour is now past ; send away the
multitudes, that going into the town, they may buy themselves victuals.
But Jesus said to them : They have no need to go, give you them to eat.
They answered Him : We have not here but five loaves and two fishes.
And when He had commanded the multitudes to sit down upon the grass,
He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven. He
blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples
to the multitudes. And they did all eat and were filled. And they took
what remained, twelve full baskets of fragments. And the number of
them that did eat was five thousand men, besides women and children."
(St. Matt. xiv. 15—20.)
V
3?2 THE SECOND WEEK.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine ourselves present and
observing the scene.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we desire, which is to
know our Lord more and more perfectly as He presents
Himself to us in this mystery, that we may love Him
more fervently and follow Him more faithfully.
Point I. — Let us consider how our Lord had
aroused great enthusiasm in all the neighbourhood
west of the Sea of Galilee, by His miracles, preaching,
and Divine holiness, and the inhabitants of the towns
and villages came out to hear and see Him ; but He
crossed over the sea, to fly from their applause, praise,
and admiration, and to refresh His Soul in solitude and
communion with His Heavenly Father. From this
we learn what should be the conduct of those who
desire to work for God : they must fly from the praise
and admiration of men ; they must love solitude, and
devote themselves to prayer. It is only in this way
that they can hope for the help of God, without which
all their labour will be in vain. " Unless the Lord
build the house, they labour in vain that build it."^
But early on the following morning the people
arrived on foot at the place where our Lord was
engaged in prayer. Let us see the tender Heart of
Jesus, as He looks upon these thousands of poor simple
people, wearied with their long journey, and all anxious
to hear Him ; the priests and scribes are too much
taken up with themselves or with the great and wealthy
to attend to these poor sheep, who are thus left without
a shepherd. It was to preach to such as these that He
was sent, to heal the contrite of heart, to collect
together the lost sheep of Israel.
Throughout the day He prolonged His discourse
to them, and only rested to heal any that were sick,
until at length the Apostles intervened. The crowd
1 Psalm cxxvi. i.
OUR LORD FEEDS THE FIVE THOUSAND. 323
was hungry, they had a long way to go, and evening
was coming on apace ; they should be at once dismissed.
Jesus knew what He was about to do, and when
Andrew had found a boy who had five barley loaves
and two fishes, Jesus ordered them to be brought to
Him. Let us admire the poverty of our Lord and
His Apostles, who for all emergencies were possessed
only of about six pounds ; He who was the Lord and
Master of the world, had this sum of money for Himself
and His followers, and those that came after Him to
hear Him, were all equally destitute. Let us compare
our love of poverty with His, and our practice of
poverty with that of our King.
Point 2. — Jesus blessed the loaves and gave them to
the multitude. Let us contemplate the Apostles, who
according to the instructions of our Lord, arranged the
multitude in groups of one hundred or of fifty; then-
bade them be seated upon the grass : with what simple
faith all do as they are told. They had come to hear
Jesus, they were seeking the Kingdom of God, the
Lord will look to the rest. " Do not seek what ye
shall eat or drink, or wherewith ye shall be clothed :
for your Father knoweth that ye stand in need of these :
but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His justice,
and all these things shall be added unto you.''^
As this same Son of God causes the few grains of
corn sown by the husbandman to produce a thousand-
fold in the harvest-time, so in the hands of the Apostles
does He multiply the loaves to feed His poor people
in the desert. Oh ! let us blush for shame to think of
our little faith and confidence in our Blessed Lord,
whose love and power are at least as great in our
regard as they were in regard of these poor Jews. But
this stupendous miracle is only a figure of an infinitely
higher and more sublime multiplication, a symbol and
1 St. Luke xii. 29.
324 THE SECOND WEEK.
prelude of that mystery of mysteries in which Christ
our Lord, the true Bread that came down from Heaven,
multipHes Himself throughout the world, and for all
time. *' From the rising of the sun to the going down
thereof, there shall be offered up a clean oblation, and
My Name shall be great among the Gentile nations : "
and this His Flesh and Blood is distributed to us
through the hands of those who are the successors of
the Apostles. Oh ! the astounding mystery of love, the
great mystery of faith !
Point 3. — They eat and had their fill, and there
remained twelve baskets full. Let us try to picture to
ourselves the wonder mixed with awe, together with
the intense joy of the men, women, and children, as
they each received their food. With what feelings of
gratitude and thanksgiving they would have partaken
of it, especially as we may suppose that it was not
merely multiplied in quantity, but was also miraculously
transformed in its taste also, and in its pleasant effects.
So too is it with that other Bread of which this was
only the symbol. Sumunt honi, sumunt mali, sorte tamen
incBqnali : mors est malis vita bonis, vide pari sumptione qnam
sit dispav exittis. The end which Jesus had in view was
attained. He sought not His own glory, nor the empty
applause and esteem of man ; His desire was that they
should believe in Him, and in His Divinity. So it
happened, for the multitude cried aloud that " He is the
Prophet who has come into the world. '^' Naj-, their
excitement and enthusiasm were wrought up to such
a pitch that they would have carried Him off by force
and proclaimed Him their King, had He not in His
profound humility absconded and disappeared alone on
the mountain. When they would humble Him, insult
Him, He comes boldly to confront His countrymen,
but when they would pay Him honour, He flies from
them. Here again I see the consistence of my King,
THE TRANSFIGURATION. 325
and Captain. Oh ! how different is my conduct, how
opposite to His ! and yet how often have I pledged
myself to answer to His call, to embrace His standard.
Make a fervent colloquy to Jesus, and say the
Anima Christi. End with " Our Father."
THE TRANSFIGURATION.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — The history of this mystery is that
Christ our Lord took the three specially chosen
Apostles, Peter, James, and John, on to the top of
a mountain, probably Mount Thabor, where He was
transfigured. Whilst He was thus revealing His glory,
He conversed with Moses and Elias on His coming
Passion ; and the voice of His Father proclaimed from
the heavens, " This is My beloved Son."
Pvekide 2. — Let us in spirit ascend this mountain
and humbly observe all that is recounted in this
mystery.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg a more lively appreciation of
our dear Lord as He is both God and Man, that we
may come to love Him more perfectly, and may be
1 "And after six days Jesus taketh unto Him Peter and James and
John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart : and
He was transfigured before them. And His face did shine as the sun,
and His garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias speaking with Him. And Peter answering, said to
Jesus : Lord, it is good for us to be here : if Thou wilt, let us make here
three tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as
he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshaded them. And lo ! a
voice out of the cloud saying : This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased ; hear ye Him. And the disciples hearing fell upon their face, and
were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them ; and said to
them. Arise and fear not. And they hfting up their eyes, saw no one but
only Jesus. And Jesus charged them, saying : Tell the vision to no man,
till the Son of Man be risen from the dead." (St. Matt. xvii. 1—9.)
326 THE SECOND WEEK.
encouraged to follow Him more closely in the spirit of
humility and self-sacrifice.
Point I. — Christ our Lord is transfigured. About
eight days after Peter's confession of our Lord's
Divinity, says St. Luke, He took Peter and James and
John, and went up into a mountain to pray. How
mysterious is the distribution of God's graces and
favours ! to one He gives five talents, to another two,
to another one : in like manner is it with the providence
of God in the assignment or permission of trials and
sufi'erings. These three Apostles were to be the
witnesses of the terrible Agony in the Garden of
Gethsemane, of the apparent abandonment of Jesus
by His Father ; therefore are they favoured with this
signal grace of witnessing His Transfiguration. It is
thus that God proportions His graces to our trials, that
we may be able to bear them: and ac9ording to the
measure of His favours we must expect to be the
number of our trials and sufferings. He goes with them
to the mountain to pray : thereby impressing upon us
that if we go to pray, .we must retire as far as possible
from the haunts and converse of men, to some solitary
place, where w^e may be alone with God, leaving the
distractions of life behind us. It is in solitude that
God loves to speak to our hearts, to impart His light
to our souls, by which we may see Him more clearly ;
it is in silent prayer that our souls are raised above all
created things and are led to look down on them, to
despise them ; it is in prayer that we acquire strength
to bear our trials, and become more closely united with
God. And when we go to prayer, let us take with us
the simplicity and earnestness of Peter, the rigid sense
of duty of James, and the tender ardent love of John.
Let us next contemplate how, whilst they are absorbed
in prayer, the face of our Lord gradually begins to
shine, like the sun when it is breaking through the
THE TRANSFIGURATION. 327
clouds, until at last it blazes in all its brightness, and
His garments become like snow sparkling in the bright
sunshine. At first the Apostles, who were wearied and
overpowered with sleep, did not see the strange trans-
formation until they were awakened b}^ the dazzling
light. So too does it often happen to us. At times
when the feeling of faith seems dead, or when we are
drowsy or lethargic in prayer or meditation, we do not
recognize the wonderful transformation of our Lord in
the Holy Mass or in the Blessed Sacrament of the
Altar. But why does our Lord thus transfigure
Himself? It may be, that He may show to His
Apostles how He conceals His Divine Nature under
the outward form of Humanity; or, perhaps that when
they shall witness His Agony in the Garden, or shall
look upon Him dying on a Cross amidst the insults of
the crowd, their faith in Him may not be shaken ; or
perhaps it was to inspire them and us with hope and
courage in bearing the sufferings, persecutions, and
trials of this life for His sake, by the foresight of the
glory with which they shall be rewarded ; for it is
written, ** Yet so if we suffer with Him, that we may
be also glorified with Him.''^ Let us picture the
amazement and awe of the Apostles at the sight 1 with
what ecstasies of joy and love were they inflamed to
see their humble Master so honoured and glorified.
But, O my soul, how far more should we rejoice, how
far greater should be our love of^ that same Master so
transfigured for us, as to become not only an object of
our veneration and admiration, but to be our very food !
yet alas ! how coldly and with what strange indifference
do we look upon Him in the Holy Sacrament ! notwith-
standing that true principle of St. Bernard : Quanto pro
me vilior, tanto mihi carior.
Point 2. — He was conversing with Moses and Elias.
1 Romans viii. 17.
328 THE SECOND WEEK.
Here let us in spirit listen to the subject of their con-
versation. The soul of the Jewish lawgiver had been
summoned by Jesus from Limbo, had resumed its
body, and now reflected the bright glory of our Lord ;
in Hke manner did Elias appear from the place where,
until the appointed time, he is destined to be immuned
from the attacks of death : both, the one as representa-
tive of the Law, the other representing the Prophets,
are there bearing witness to His Messiahship. Let us
contemplate them as they prostrate themselves with
great reverence and adore the Son of God ; with what
admiration they regard their loving Saviour, and with
what intense love they are inflamed ; the Apostles too
rapt in ecstasy, at beholding the majesty and glory of
these types and witnesses of their Master, in earnest
converse with Him. Let us listen to their words:
** And they spoke of His decease that He should
accomplish in Jerusalem,"^ by which is shown how
dear to our Lord was that Passion and Death which
through His love for us He was to undergo, even in the
midst of His temporary glorification. Let us learn
from this that even in the hours of consolation we
should not forget that we must be ready for trials and
sufferings, and must in those times pluck up courage to
bear the Cross with our dear Lord. Life, which is
short, is the time of suffering and strife ; eternity is long,
for rejoicing and celebration of victory.
Point 3. — " This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him."
Let us contemplate Peter, who, with His usual simple,
ingenuous, affectionate, and impulsive disposition,
suggests to our Lord that, if it be His good pleasure,
he and James and John will build dwellings for the
Master, Moses, and Elias ! As if they stood in need of
tabernacles, or as though our Lord would leave the rest
of His Apostles and interrupt the work which He had
1 St, Luke ix. 31.
THE TRANSFIGURATION. 329
come to do, or would forego the trials and tribulations
of this life to indulge in pleasure and happiness. Truly
the Evangelist observes of him, " He knew not what
he was saying." He had yet to learn that glory is only
to be earned by the Cross: "It behoveth Christ to
suffer, and so to enter into glory." At present he was
not dead to self, he knew not in what his real interest
consisted, but he will know later, when he will write :
" But if you partake of the suffering of Christ, rejoice
that when His glory shall be revealed, you may also be
glad with exceeding joy."^ Oh! if one single sight of
the glorified Body of Jesus made him forget all earthly
things, what will it be to see God Himself face to face
and to enjoy the eternal possession of the Divinity : if
one drop of Heaven's happiness so transformed him,
what will it be when we plunge into the ocean of
heavenly bliss and glory ? Our Blessed Lord does not
answer, but instead, " a bright cloud overshadowed
them ; and they were afraid when they entered into the
cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
This is My beloved Son, hear Him."^ They were
appalled at this fresh manifestation of Divine power
and majesty, and awe-struck, though full of heavenly
joy and consolation on account of this fresh glory of
their Master. John, indeed, had already witnessed
something similar, when present at the Baptism of our
Lord. For there, too, the voice of the Eternal Father
made itself heard, and in the same terms gave testimony
of the Divinity of His Son, whilst the Holy Spirit
appeared under the figure of a dove, instead of, as here,
in the bright cloud. He is the beloved inasmuch as He
is the most perfect image of the Father, and in Him
and by Him alone does the Father love us. Him must
we hear. His teaching we are bound to accept without
doubting and to reduce to practice, His example we
1 I St. Peter iv. 13. 2 st. Luke ix. 34.
330 THE SECOND WEEK.
are bound to imitate, as it is written : " For whom He
foreknew, He also predestinated to be made conform-
able to the image of His Son ; that He might be the
first-born amongst .many brethren." ^ Let us see our
Lord as He comes and touches His Apostles, who had
fallen down in terror at the voice of God, and- bids them
to rise and not to be afraid; thereby inspiring them
with confidence and peace.
And rising up, they saw nobody but Jesus, whose
glory was again hidden, and He appeared as usual, as
if nothing had happened. And so the glor}^ of the
Transfiguration was ended. Let us learn from this, not
to look for or expect in this life many or long enduring
spiritual consolations. If it please God to grant them,
let us, as St. Ignatius tells us, and as we learn from this
contemplation, think during them of the times of desola-
tion and sufferings which will succeed them, and thus
arm ourselves with courage to meet them.
On their way down from the mountain, let us reflect
on the counsels given by our Lord, that they were not
to mention what they had seen or iieard until after His
Resurrection, and let us take from them a lesson of
humility, of prudence, by cutting off occasions of envy
or jealousy on the part of others, and of concealing
from others the gifts or graces which we have received
from God, unless God's glory, the salvation of souls, or
obedience ma}^ require otherwise.
In the colloquy let us beg of Jesus to give us
strength to follow Him in self-abjection and suffering
now, that so at death, we may merit to be transfigured
with Him in glory. End with " Our Father."
As usual, if time and opportunity allow, it will be
well to make repetition of the two last meditations, and
an application of the senses.
1 Romans viii. 29,
ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 331
ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — Christ by messengers heard that His
friend Lazarus was at the point of death at Bethania.
After a lapse of two days, He informed His Apostles
that Lazarus was dead, and He went with them to the
home of Martha and Mary to raise him to life again.
He went to the grave, wept, and summoned the dead
man to life.
1 " Now there was a certain man sick, named Lazarus, of Bethania, of
the town of Mary, and of Martha her sister. . . . His sisters therefore
sent to Him saying: Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick. . . .
When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He still remained in the
same place two days. . . . And a/ter that He said to them : Lfizarus our
friend sleepeth ; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. . . . Then
Jesus said to them plainly : Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your
sakes that I was not there, that you may believe : but let us go to him. , . ,
Jesus therefore came and found that he had been already four days in the
grave. And many of the Jews were come to Martha and Mary to comfort
them concerning their brother. Martha therefore as soon as she heard
that Jesus was come, went to meet Him ; but Mary sat at home. Martha
therefore said to Jesus : Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not
died. Jesus saith to her : Thy brother shall rise again. ... I am the
Resurrection and the Life : he that believeth in Me, although he be dead
shall Hve. Believeth thou this? She said to Him: Yea, Lord, I have
believed that Thou art Christ, the Son of the hving God, who art come
into this world. . . . When Mary therefore was come where Jesus was,
seeing Him ^he fell down at His feet, and saith to Him : Lord, if Thou
hadst been here, my brother had not died. Jesus groaned in spirit and
troubled Himself. . . . And Jesus wept. The Jews therefore said :
Behold how He loved him. Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself,
cometh to the sepulchre. Now it was a cave, and a stone was laid over it.
. . . They took therefore the stone away, and Jesus lifting up His eyes
said : Father, I give Thee thanks, &c. . . . that they may believe that
Thou hast sent Me. And He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth.
And presently he that had been dead came forth bound feet and hands
with winding bands. . . . Jesus saith to them r. Loose him and let him
go." (St. John xi. i — 44.)
332 THE SECOND WEEK.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the way to Bethania from
the Jordan, the house of Lazarus, and the sepulchre in
which he was laid.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg earnestly that we may know
more intimately the goodness, mercy, and tender love
of the Heart of our Blessed Lord, may thereby be
inflamed with more ardent love for Him, and may
imitate His example in the exercise of these virtues.
Point I. — Martha and Mary send word to Jesus, and
two days later He starts to visit them. In the first
place, let us admire the gratitude of our Lord, and His
generosity for the smallest favours done to Him. Mary
had anointed Him and had wiped His feet with her
hair, says St. John, and Martha had ministered to His
few wants, which His generous Heart yearns to repay,
even at the risk of falling into the hands of His cruel
persecutors, and with the full consciousness that it
would speed the hour of His death. Again we see by
the terms of their message how well the sisters knew
the tender and merciful disposition of the Sacred Heart.
They do not ask Him to come to them ; it is enough
for them merely to notify to Him the cause of their
sorrow, and to leave the rest to Him. He already
knew of course the state of His friend, but would give
us a lesson not to act on the impulse of our natural
feelings, and also would put the faith and confidence
which His friends reposed in Him to the test, and
therefore He delayed to go to their assistance for two
whole days. By this He also would provide an
occasion for proving to the Jews His Divinity by
restoring Lazarus to life in their very presence, and
also for intensifying the joy of the sorrowing sisters.
In vain His Apostles urge Him not to go ; they remind
Him that Lazarus is dead, that the Jews were on the
look-out to arrest Him, in order to stone Him to death.
He persists in His resolution, and declares that He is
ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 333
glad to go for their sakes. So we often are inclined to
wonder and perhaps to repine at the apparent indiffer-
ence of God or His representatives to prevent or to
sympathize with us in our trials or sorrows, little
thinking, through our lack of faith, that it is perhaps
for God's greater glor}^ and for our future joy and
glory.
Point 2. — Jesus requires profession of faith before
exercising His power. The mourners were assembled
in the house of Lazarus, when our Lord drew near to
Bethania. As soon as Martha heard of it, she at once
went forth to meet Him, and forgot, in her dehght to
see Jesus, to notif}^ it to her sister. When she met
Him she only said: *' If Thou hadst been with us my
brother would not have died ; " by this she acknowledged
His power and His love, but thought not of His
Divinity, nor of His omniscience, nor His omnipotence,
although she declared her confidence that if He should
vouchsafe to ask God for her brother's life. He will be
heard. Let us admire this simplicity, confidence, and
love on the part of Martha ! She knew, she said, that
Lazarus would rise again on the last day. Then Jesus
instructs her in regard to His Divinity ; He is not a
prophet to pray to God, but God Himself, "the
Resurrection and the Life, the author of both ; who-
ever believeth in Him after this mortal life is over
shall enjoy life eternal ; and whoever in this life
believeth in Him shall live for ever." After she made
profession of her belief in all this, and by His grace
declared that she firmly believed that He was the
Christ, the Son of the living God, who had come into
this world, she hastened to her sister and quietly
informed her of the presence of Jesus, who was waiting
for her. Let us picture the intense joy of the penitent
and loving soul of Mary ; how promptly and calmly
she withdraws from the company of the mourners in
334 T^HE SECOND WEEK.
order to go to Him whom her soul loveth. Let us
follow with the mourners, who thought that she was
going to the grave to shed tears over the remains of her
brother. With what profound reverence she casts
herself at the feet of her Lord, and with a heart broken
with grief and inflamed with charity she pitifully said,
" O Lord, if you had been here my brother would never
have died." She could say no more. When Jesus
saw her fast falling tears. His Heart became sad and
distressed, and He groaned in spirit ; for He saw what
anguish sin had brought upon mankind, even upon
those that. were most dear to Him: He saw too those
wretched Scribes and Pharisees, for whose sake He
had left Lazarus to die, that by raising him to life
again He might force them to acknowledge His '
Divinity ; and moreover He knew how they would turn
this grace against themselves by making it a cause of
hurrying on His death. Well might Jesus groan, and
His Soul be troubled as in spirit He reviewed the horrid
crimes which the Chief Priests, Scribes, Pharisees, and
His own misguided countrymen would shortly per-
petrate : yet all this would not prevent Him from
heroically signing His death-warrant by restoring the
dead Lazarus to life. He asked therefore to be taken
to his grave. As they approached it, His tears began
to fall, and the crowd seeing it said, ''Look how He
loved him." Oh! my poor soul, with how much more
reason may we say. Behold how He loves us. Not
with warm tears, but with tears of blood, with the last
drops of His Blood mingled with water, He has shown
that love ; and beyond the grave it has continued, and
still is as strong as ever ; nay, with more than mother's
love He gives us Himself for our food, and the whole
of His most precious Blood to drink, not once, but as
often as we wish ! What can we, what shall we do in
return ? Alas ! how mean and contemptible is the
ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 335
sacrifice which we have resolved to make in order to
prove our gratitude and love in return : and yet Jesus
is willing to accept of it.
Point 3. — Jesus weeps, and prays, and commands
Lazarus to come forth. In order to take away all
chance of calling in question the fact of the miracle,
Jesus bids them to remove the stone from the grave ; He
allows Martha to object out of delicacy lest by the sight
or smell of the decomposing body the senses of her
Lord might be offended. Then His tears falling fast,
He prays to His Father, and declares His reason
publicly for working this miracle, that they who witness
it may believe that He is the true Messiah, and " in a
loud voice," in the capacity of Lord and Master of life
and death, He utters His command, " Lazarus come
forth." On the word he came forth, and they unbound
the cloths from his legs and arms.
Let us contemplate the scene : the awe and dismay
of the crowd, the gratitude, love, and rapture of the
sisters, the reverence, adoration, and thanksgiving of
Lazarus ; but, above all, the feelings which swelled
the Heart of our dear Jesus ! Some indeed of the
standers-by believed ; but oh ! strange perversity of
the human heart when the slave of unbridled passions !
others made their way to Jerusalem to tell what they
had seen to the council of the Chief Priests and
Pharisees, who from that day devised means how to
put Him to death.
Make a fervent colloquy to our dear Lord. End
with **Our Father."
336 THE SECOND WEEK.
ON THE SUPPER IN BETHANIA.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — When Christ was at supper together
with His Apostles in the house of Simon, whom He had
healed of leprosy, Mary Magdalene poured precious
ointment on His Head. Judas broke forth into murmurs
and complaints at such waste, but Jesus, on the other
hand, applauded her for what she had done.
Prelude 2. — Let us in spirit be present in the supper-
room and observe the guests.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg again greater knowledge and
love of our Blessed Lord, that we may ever try to
imitate Him more perfectly, especially in holy patience,
forbearance, and true charity.
Point I. — Our Lord sups together with Lazarus
in the house of Simon. The evening before Palm
Sunday, Jesus was invited to sup with Simon of
Bethania, who was surnamed the leper, probably
because Jesus had cured him of that disease. Perhaps
he is the same person who two years before had enter-
1 ' ' But when Jesus was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper^
there came to Him a woman having an alabaster box of precious ointment,
and poured it on His Head, as He was at table. And the disciples seeing
it had indignation, saying : To what purpose is this waste? For this might
have been sold for much and given to the poor. And Jesus knowing, said
to them : Why do you trouble this woman ? for she hath wrought a good
work upon Me, For she in pouring in this ointment hath done it for My
burial. Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in
the whole world, that also which she hath done shall be told for a memory
of her." (St. Matt. xxvi. 6 — 13.)
" Mary therefore took a pound of ointment, of right spikenard of great
price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair ;
and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. . , . Judas
Iscariot said : Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence,
and given to the poor ? Now he said this, not because he cared for the
poor : but because he was a thief." (St. John xii. i — 5.)
ON THE SUPPER IN BETHANIA. 337
tained our Lord, when a Pharisee, and whom with all
charity He had reproved on account of his interior
condemnation of the same Magdalene. He was now
one of the principle inhabitants of Bethania, and was
much attached to our Lord. In order to celebrate the
great event of the resurrection of Lazarus, and out of
gratitude for his own restoration to health, he wished
to give a banquet to Jesus, the Apostles, Lazarus,
Mary, Martha, and some other of his friends. Martha,
her sister, and the other women served at the feast as
usual. Let us contemplate the reverence and joy with
which the fervent convert Simon entertains his Lord;
the disciples all delighted at the homage paid to Him ;
Martha full of reverence, humility, gladness, and love,
attending to the wants of all ; Lazarus amiable, gentle,
grave, and grateful, fresh recalled from the home of
his eternity ; but most of all Christ our Lord, with Hjs
mind fixed on Heaven, as betrayed by His celestial
countenance, obsequious, gracious, with humble and
natural gravity, and exceedingly amiable. Let us
admire His modesty in word and manner, His peaceful
majesty. Oh ! what a magnificent model is here pre-
sented to us for our imitation ! How far are we, not-
withstanding all the graces that we have received, from
our grand original.
Point 2. — On this occasion Simon could not have
neglected his duty as he had done on the previous
occasion, and consequently there was no need for
Magdalene to wash His feet either with water or with
her tears ; nor would he have failed to anoint his guests
with unguents, yet we may contemplate her, now a
welcome and invited guest, coming forward "with an
alabaster box containing a pound of ointment of right
spikenard of great price. She anointed the feet of
Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair, and poured
ointment on His Head, and the house was filled with
w
338 THE SECOND WEEK.
the odour of the ointment." She thus wished to testify
her behef in His Divinity, as well as in His Human
Nature. Let us admire her modesty, reverence, and
devotion, in paying to Him this tribute of her love.
She has given up all things in the world ; all earthly
affections have been long since banished from her
heart ; .her one desire is to love her God and Lord, to
do and suffer and die with Him and for Him. What
a lesson for us, who have been forgiven not once, but
times without number, who have been permitted so
often to receive Him in Holy Communion, who have
been specially favoured with graces innumerable ; and
yet alas ! what sacrifices have we made to prove the
reality of our conversion, what proofs have we given,
or are we giving, of our forgetfulness of self, of our
detachment from all things earthly? In the election
which we have made, what sign have we given of the
firmness of purpose with -which we are resolved to
adhere to it ? Let us blush with shame as we compare
our half-earnestness with the uncompromising thorough-
ness of the penitent Magdalene. Let us consider too
the Heart of our dear Lord, who will not be outdone
in generosity, and how abundant must have been the
graces with which He must have rewarded her sacrifice,
and let' us remember that we poor sinners shall meet
with equal generosity if, like Magdalene, we approach
Him in the same humble, sorrowing, loving, and
generous dispositions.
Point 3. — Judas murmurs, Jesus approves. Judas,
who was a traitor and a thief, says St. John, began to
complain at the reckless prodigality of Magdalene, who
might have sold the ointment and given the proceeds
to the poor, and at first led some of the others with
him. It was not any special love for the poor that
prompted him, but because he held the common purse,
and carried the things that were put therein. How the
ON THE SUPPER IN BET HANI A. 339
heart of poor Magdalene must have bled to hear one
of our Lord's own disciples speaking thus. If it had
come from one of His foes she might have disregarded
it, but not from an Apostle. Let us see, too, what evil
can be done by one who by his superior craft and
hypocritical reasoning is capabk of perverting the
simplicity of others. They little knew that Judas was
already the slave of avarice, and b3^-and-bye would sell
his Lord for gold. This should teach us to weigh well
the words of those who, under the semblance of virtue,
would denounce that which in itself is good, and to
beware of being carried away by the words of false
doctrine. Alas ! how many now-a-days in their
simplicity allow themselves to be influenced by the
false principles laid down by men of the world, or by
those who pose as men of science and of sound sense,
though in their lives they do violence to both.
Then Jesus said: ** Why do you molest this woman?
leave her alone. She hath wrought a good work on
Me." By this He let them see that He knew their
thoughts, and wished to justify His servant. She had
only anointed Him a little before the time, in antici-
pation of His Death that day week; she had given
them, Apostles though they were, a lesson of detach-
ment, sacrifice, and love. Our Lord would bear most
patiently the insult to Himself in these murmurs and
dissatisfaction, even though it came from those so near
and dear to Him, but He will not tolerate it in regard
to His faithful servant. Nay more, He proclaimed to
them, and His proclamation is verified to the letter,
that wherever His Gospel shall be preached in the
whole world, what she did for Him in anointing Him
should be also told in memory of her. Here again let
us admire the generosity of our dear Lord. He is
loyal and true to those who are His friends — Fidelis
Detis.
340 THE SECOND WEEK.
Let us make a fervent colloquy to our Blessed Lord,
and end with *' Our Father."
The last two contemplations may be repeated with
great profit, and be followed with an application of the
senses, as usual.
TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Christ sends two Apostles to bring to
Him an ass and her foal. The Apostles accompany
Him as He goes towards the city mounted upon the
ass; and as He drew nigh crowds came out to meet
Him, and spread out clothes and palm branches on the
road, and cried out, Hosanna to the Son of David.
Prelude 2. — We may imagine the road by Bethphage,
and the slopes of Olivet over the Cedron into the city.
1 "Then Jesus sent two of His disciples, saying to them : Go into the
village that is over against you, and you shall find an ass tied, and a colt
with her ; loose them and bring them to Me. And if any man shall say
anything to you, say ye, that the Lord hath need of them : and forthwith
he will let them go. . . . And the disciples did as Jesus commanded them.
And they brought the ass and the colt, and laid their garments upon them,
and made Him sit thereon. And a very great multitude spread their
garments in the way ; and others cut boughs from the trees, and strewed
them in the way. And the multitudes that went before and followed, cried,
saying : Hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed is He that cometh in the
name of the Lord : Hosanna in the highest." (St. Matt. xxi. i — 9.)
"And it came to pass when He was come nigh to Bethphage and
Bethania unto the mount called Olivet, He sent two of His disciples. . . .
And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said to them. Why
loose you the colt? But they said because the Lord hath need of him.
And they brought him to Jesus. And casting their garments on the colt,
they set Jesus thereon. And as they went they spread their clothes in the
way . . . and the whole multitude of His disciples began with joy to praise
God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works they had seen, saying,
Blessed be the King who cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in Heaven
and glory on high. And when He drew near, seeing the city He wept over
it." (St. Luke xix. 29 — 41.)
TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 341
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we wish, namely, to
know our Lord in this mystery, that we may thereby
love Him the more and may be stimulated to a closer
imitation of Him.
Point I. — Our Lord sends for the ass and colt. The
reason which prompted our Lord to make this strange
triumphal entry into Jerusalem, was not a desire of
worldly honour, or of the praise or esteem of men, for
He knew how fickle and inconstant it is, and would be
in His regard, seeing that in a few days their triumphant
greeting would be changed into the cry, '• Away with
Him, crucify Him." No, He would fulfil the prophecy
of Zachary : " Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold thy King cometh to thee, the Just and Saviour :
He is poor and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the
foal of an ass," ^ and by this would prove that He was
the Messiah, the Son of David, so that if they refused
to beHeve in Him, they would be inexcusable. More-
over, He would also show them that His was no
temporal sovereignty or earthly greatness, but a spiritual
kingship over the souls of men. Earthly monarchs
enter upon their royalty amid displays of pomp and
stately pageantry; not so our Lord and King, who
enters the royal city poor and lowly, meek and gentle,
seated on an ignoble beast, with a handful of uncouth
fishermen for His retinue, and a crowd of poor men and
boys to welcome Him, waving the branches of palm or
olive to do Him reverence. All this homage, too,
was paid voluntarily, spontaneously, and without any
bribery or previous concert or agreement.
Our Lord gave also various proofs of His Divinity,
for besides fulfilling the inspired prophecy of Zachary,
He knew that the Apostles were to find the ass and her
foal as He directed, He asserted His absolute dominion
over all creatures by ordering the animals to be brought
1 Zach. ix. 9.
342 THE SECOND WEEK.
to Him. Let us admire the simplicity and blind obedi-
ence of the Apostles, who unhesitatingly carried out
their instructions. With what spirit do we carry out
the orders of those whom God has placed over us ? Is
it one of unquestioning simplicit}^ or do we examine
and criticise those orders, make objections or difficulties,
on the ground of health or incompetence, &c., and then
when we have bent the Superior's will to our own,
flatter ourselves that we are obedient, and murmur or
complain if success does not attend upon us. It is not
such obedience that will speak victories.
Pomt 2. — He rides the ass, which the Apostles had
covered with their garments. Let us contemplate our
King, the King of the universe and of the ages, seated
upon an ass, whose trappings were the worn-out
garments of some of His Apostles. How perfectly
harmonious and consislent is the picture. The humility,
simplicity, and poverty of Jesus would ill accord with
any vain show, even though it were under the pretext
of God's glory, or to uphold His own dignity : it would
be a contradiction of all that He had always taught by
word and example concerning the excellence, beauty,
and necessity of the virtue of humility. Moreover, true
genuine worth and nobility are attached to the practice
of this virtue by all men of sound judgment : true merit
does not stand in need of outward show or grand
display, which are the outward trappings employed
by conscious undesert to hide hollow pretension. How
well all the greatest saints have learnt and practically
understood this lesson given us b}^ our Lord. Hence
those who have signalized themselves in saving souls
have been men who sincerely loved abjection, self-
abasement, and humiliation. Let us admire the meek-
ness, sweetness, and amiability of our humble Saviour,
by which the multitude is attracted to Him. The great
ones of this world flatter themselves that ,they promote
TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 343
their authority and influence by a cold, stiff, and haughty
manner, whereas it is by an unassuming and humble
demeanour that real confidence, reverence, and love are
to be won. Let us then earnestly beg of Jesus to grant
us this grace, that we may learn of Him to be truly
meek and humble of heart. Let us also contemplate
the affectionate devotedness of the Apostles, and with
what joy they take off their outside garments and
arrange them on the back of the ass to form a seat for
their beloved Lord. Though they were poor and well
worn, stiir our Lord was well pleased, for they were the
best which His poor disciples had to give, and He
estimates the disposition of the giver, not the thing<
given, as we know from the widow's mite, when she
offered it, it was all she possessed, in the Temple.
Point 3. — The people spread their garments on the
road, &c., and hail Him as the Son of David. Let us
contemplate the persons who make up the crowd ; they
are poor, simple men and boys, who have heard of
the wonderful works of Jesus, and especially of His
raising Lazarus from the dead ; and they are carried
away by enthusiasm at seeing His kind, gentle, and
modest bearing : there are some Pharisees, too, proud,
incredulous, inveterate foes, full of contempt for the
low people and of hatred for Jesus : there are the
Apostles, with hearts filled with mixed feelings of joy
and fear, wondering how all this is to end.
Let us listen to the triumphant shouts of greeting
and of blessing that fill the air: " Hosanna to the Son
of David," " God save the Son of David, God save the
Messiah." How little they thought what would happen
within the next five days. Their cry would be changed
into, "Away with Him, crucify Him;" and His triumph
would be succeeded by a cruel and ignominious death
upon the Cross. From this let us at last learn what
value to attach to the praise or esteem of men, to
344 THE SECOND WEEK.
worldly honour or glory. It is short-lived as the flower,
fickle as the ever-changing wind. All this our Jesus
knew, and His outward calm but ill-concealed the
pangs of His Blessed Heart at the blindness, sinful-
ness, and infidehty of the inhabitants of Jerusalem for
whom He was going to lay down His life, at the
thought of the terrible destruction that would shortly
befall that doomed city, and the fearful massacre or
captivity of those for whom He laboured and suffered
in vain.
'• Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the
Lord." Yes, truly blessed by the Father who sent
Him to give peace and blessing to mankind ; blessed in
Himself as the Eternal Son of God; blessed in His
Human Nature, which was full of all perfections ;
blessed in His Incarnation, coming amongst us to bring
us tidings of peace and of all good things ; blessed,
indeed, for through Him, by Him alone, have all
blessings been conferred upon mankind in time and in
eternity.
Let us make a colloquy to our Blessed Lord, asking
Him to give us grace to follow Him now on His
progress to Calvary, to bless us with courage and
fortitude amidst the trials which await us. Say the
Anima Christi, End with ** Our Father."
ON THE PREACHING IN THE TEMPLE. 345
ON THE PREACHING IN THE TEMPLE.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — St. Luke tells us that Jesus proceeded
straight to the Temple on entering the city, and going
in, He began to cast out them that sold therein and
them that bought, saying to them : It is written, My
house is a house of prayer. But you have made it a
den of thieves. And He was teaching daily in the
Temple : and all the people were very attentive to hear
Him.
Prelude 2. — Let us in imagination take up our
position in the Temple court.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg what we desire, which is a
more perfect knowledge and love of our Blessed Lord,
our King and Leader, that we may be ever faithful to
His teaching and example.
Point I. — ^Jesus enters the Temple, &c. Let us
accompany our Lord as He passes with the crowd
through the streets until He approaches the Temple.
Whither else was He to go ? He was acclaimed as
King, and as ''such was He appointed by His Father
over Sion His holy mountain." 2 Rightly then He goes
to His own palace ; He is the one great High Priest
according to the order of Melchisedech,^ hence the
Temple is the befitting place for Him ; He is God, and
justly then did He go to the Temple consecrated to
His worship, to drive from thence those who sacri-
1 "And entering into the Temple, He began to cast out them that
sold therein, and them that bought, saying to them: It is written, My
house is a house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves. And
He was teaching daily in the Temple. And the Chief Priests, and the
scribes, and the rulers of the people, sought to destroy Him. For all the
people were very attentive to hear Him." (St. Luke xix. 45 — 48.)
2 Psalm ii. 6. 3 Psalm cix. 4.
346 THE SECOND WEEK.
legiously were profaning it. We may behold Him
inflamed with holy zeal for this house of God ;i full of
Divine wrath ; with more than human majesty and
power depicted on His countenance, as He gazes on
the noisy, jostling crowd of traders who were profaning
the sacred place ; on fire with holy indignation at the
perfidious Scribes and Pharisees, slaves of avarice,
robbery, and hypocrisy, who, caring nothing for the
welfare of the poor, imposed heavy burdens on them
by their extortions. Let us contemplate Him boldly
rebuking them for their crime in turning His house,
which was destined for a house of prayer, into a den of
thieves and rogues. He takes up the cause of the poor,
and denounces the wretched guardians of the Temple,
who through love of gold and to increase the means of
self-indulgence are willing to sacrifice the due honour
and worship of God. From this let us learn to beware
of a desire for riches, which is the fruitful source of
many miseries. Let us learn to love poverty, and as
far as is consistent with our state to make this love
practical, by the exercise of it in our daily lives. "The
desire of money is the root of all evils ; which some
coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled
themselves in many sorrows." ^ This we see in the
history of the Church, not only by the prevarications
of some of its teachers, but also by the loss of fervour
in those consecrated to God in Religion and by the
consequent necessity of reformation or at times of
dismembership. " For they that will become rich, fall
into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and
into many unprofitable desires, which drown men into
destruction and perdition." ^ Hence also arise desires
of comforts, conveniences, and imaginary necessities as
to food, clothing, accommodation, recreation, and such
1 Psalm Ixviii lo.
2 I Timothy vi. lo. 3 j Timothy vi. 9.
ON THE PREACHING IN THE TEMPLE. 347
things, which are quite inconsistent not only with
rehgious hfe, but with the sacred ministry. They that
seek after the commodities of Hfe, fly from labour,
spend their days in trifles, shirk all that is disagreeable ;
and men seeing this, lose all respect for or confidence
in them, to the great ruin of souls. Whereas those
who in their dress, food, and manner of life are lovers
of poverty, excite admiration, confidence, and love, and
win great influence over the souls of their fellow-
men.
Poiiit 2. — He was teaching daily in the Temple.
The Heart of Jesus yearned for the promotion of His
Father's glory, for the establishment of His Kingdom
in the souls of men, and for their eternal salvation ;
the spirit of zeal and charity penetrated Him through
and through : it gave Him no rest during the day, it
caused Him to spend the hours of night in prayer.
With the early morning He presented Himself in the
courts of the Temple, where the people collected round
Him and He gave them instruction. His teaching was
as simple as it was divine. He made no use of the
flowers of rhetoric nor of the devices of oratory, but
inculcated moral duties and dogmatic truth with that
simplicity, gravity, and clearness which was calculated
to influence the soul rather than gratify the curiosity
or flatter the senses of His audience, by indulging in
oratorical vanity.
By this our Lord would give a lesson to those who,
under the pretext of preaching His Word, preach their
own, seeking themselves and not the interests of Jesus
Christ, to the detriment of their own and their neigh-
bour's souls. How diflerent from the Apostle who says
of himself, '* And I, brethren, when I came to you,
came not in loftiness of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto jou the testimony of Christ. For I judged not
myself to know anything ^mong you, but Jesus Christ,
348 THE SECOND WEEK.
and Him crucified; "^ and again, **For Christ we are
ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us." 2 In
these passages he lays down the subject-matter of
our teaching, and at the same time the manner in
which it is to be imparted, that is to say, after the
manner of Christ. Let us beware, as St. John
Chrysostom counsels, of turning our preaching into an
occasion of sacrilege, ''adulterating the Word of God."-^
Let us convince ourselves that the more intimately
we know Jesus, the more intensely we love Him, the
greater will be our influence in teaching and in drawing
souls to love and imitate Him. Jesus " taught every
day," throughout the day : His love for the souls of
men and for the glory of His Father ever impelling
Him to it. This spirit animated His Apostle : *' For if
I preach the Gospel it is no glory to me : for a necessity
lieth upon me ; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the
Gospel;"* but this is quite impossible to one who
spends his time in balancing or rounding off sounding
periods, and amassing together flowers of rhetoric to
evoke admiration and please the eyes and ears of his
listeners. Let us then avoid in our teaching all vanity,
levity, arrogance, affectation, far-fetched nicety of
expression, angry denunciation or scurrility, all of
which ill beseem one who is an ambassador of Christ,
and *' by whom Christ Himself exhorteth."
Point 3. — When He finished preaching He returned
to Bethania. The Evangelist, St. Luke, tells us that
He preached during the day, but at night He went out
of the city, and St. Matthew tells us that He went to
Bethania. Though the people gathered round Him
from the early morning to listen to Him, though they
had triumphantly welcomed Him into the city, yet
there was no one who proffered Him hospitality, but
\ 1 Cor. ii. I, 2, 2 2 Cor. v. so. ^ 2 Cor. ii. 171
^ I Ccrij ix. x6»
THE PUBLIC LIFE OF OUR LORD. 349
He must go and pass the night on Mount Olivet or
must go for shelter all the way to the house of Lazarus
in Bethania : nor was there any one to break bread
with Him. Let us learn a lesson how to value the
applause of men and the acclamation of the crowd ;
let us learn, too, the selfishness, ingratitude, and
thoughtlessness of the world, which will allow us to
labour and wear ourselves out for its benefit, but often
will not so much as give us shelter or food to appease
our hunger. Let us then rejoice to be found worthy
to share in this treatment which Jesus received, and
for His sake to undergo neglect, contumely, and the
pinchings of poverty.
Let us make a fervent colloquy, and end with "Our
Father."
THE PUBLIC LIFE OF OUR LORD
IN GENERAL.
As it is impossible to enter into contemplation on
all the mysteries of the Public Life of our Blessed
Lord, we will resume under one exercise the more
general examples and principles which may be drawn
from a consideration of them in detail.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us recall how Jesus our Lord, after
His prayer, fasting, and temptations in the desert,
entered upon the great work which He had come to do,
and for three and a half years, amidst labours and
fatigues, worked for the conversion of the world.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine the cities of Palestine,
its towns and villages, through which He journeyed
preaching His Gospel, and wrought innumerable prodi-
350 THE SECOND WEEK.
gies and benefits in favour- of all, prompted in all things
by the glory of His Father and by His love of souls.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg light to understand the
lessons and examples of apostolic virtue which our
Lord has given us, and the grace to reduce them to
practice according to our state.
Point I. — Let us consider how our Lord prepared
for His Public Life, (a) To this end He directed the
exercise of all the private virtues of His home-life of
thirty years, {p) He would enter upon it by an astound-
ing act of humility and would be reputed among sinners. ^
(y) And when Heaven interposed, He withdrew at once
into the desert, there to fast and pray. Who, then,
will consider it too much to devote years to study and'
exercises of piety, to scrupulous preservation of purity
and cultivation of all virtues, to make himself fit for
such an exalted vocation as the priesthood ? No one
is formed on a sudden as a statue of bronze, but it is
by repeated blows of hammer and chisel, as a statue of
stone or marble. And this should continue even after
we have entered upon the priesthood, if we mean to be
efficient ministers for God's glory; which can never be
unless wq promote it first in our own souls. Let us
see what is our disposition in regard of poverty ; how
we are aff"ected to Immiliations, the only way to acquire
humility ; how we accept of occasions of mortifying
ourselves, and of resisting our inclinations to dissipation
and to display. Alas! how much there is in us to be
corrected under all these respects ! How light we
make of time and of the means for acquiring the know-
ledge and solid virtues which are necessary for all those
who would promote the cause of God and the Kingdom
of Christ in others.
Point 2. — How Christ conducted Himself in His Public
Life. — (a) In ever37thing He did or said He was animated
1 St. Matt. iii. 13.
THE PUBLIC LIFE OF OUR LORD. 351
with one intention, namely, His Father's glory and the
good of souls, ignoring Himself, His own convenience,
interest, or glory. {(3) He chose as companions simple,
docile, and poor men, who according to the estimation
of the world were miserable, and unfit to help Him.
(y) He laboured chiefly among the rude, illiterate, and
poor. With Him there was no preference for the rich,
the noble, the learned — if He had a preference it was
for children, and for those despised by the world.
(8) His manner had no affectation of learning, nor
effort at pleasing the ear, but He propounded simply
the eternal truths, truths eminently useful to the soul,
but by no means flattering to the senses ; in language
familiar and adapted to the capacity of the lowliest,
making use of parables, similes, and examples. He
won all hearts by His affability and benevolence, and
inspired the greatest sinners with hoi}' confidence. He
was never harsh but to the obstinate, the proud, or the
hypocrite ; but to all others He was sweetness 'and
charity itself, and tenderly considerate and compas-
sionate, (e) His every step was marked by words and
deeds of kindness. (^) For Himself He cared nothing
— He was houseless and homeless ; for food He
depended on charity ; and His dress, though decent,
was that of a poor man. Nor did He ever preach what
He did not first practise Himself, a necessary condition
of real success.
Point 3. — What are the fruits with ivhich His labours
were requited? — Certainly they are vast, and co-extensive
in time and place with the world itself, since the coming
and preaching of our Lord : but these have been the
result of the labours of His instruments. During His
Life He had only a few followers, and they were
commonly poor — crowds gathered to listen to Him, but
the result was inconsiderable. Again, His labours were
requited generally with contradictions, persecutions, and
352 THE SECOND WEEK.
insults, &c., these from jealous priests, from envious
Scribes and Pharisees, from princes and worldly slaves
of passions — towards all of whom He combined the
prudence of the serpent with the simplicity of the dove.
Let us remember that if they thus persecuted the
Master, they will likewise do the same for us. This is
the surest sign of real zeal, and of our producing fruit
in souls. Let us dread applause and approbation. It
is the worst sign which can attend our labours, and let
us rather rejoice and exult when men shall persecute us.
End with colloquy and the " Our Father."
THE THIRD WEEK.
INTRODUCTION.
Note. — i. In the preceding contemplations, and
especially in those of the "Kingdom of Christ" and
" Two Standards," we have been labouring to acquire
the spirit embodied in the third degree of humility as
taught us by the lessons and actions of our Blessed Lord ;
a spirit which is the securest disposition for making a
good election ; and thus we have reached the summit,
so to speak, of the Spiritual Exercises. The rest of the
Exercises of the third and fourth parts, are intended
mainly to confirm and strengthen us in it. This is
the folly of the Cross, which is briefly laid down by
St. Ignatius in the eleventh and twelfth Rules of the
Summary of the Constitutions of his Society.^
2. We may further observe, that in the second
part we learn to detach ourselves from all inordinate
affection for riches, honour, and all exterior things,
whereas in this third part, v/e cut off all affection for
ourselves and all forms of self-love, so as to embrace
willingly any form of suffering, which whoever is
determined to be a true friend of Jesus Christ must
expect, for all who live piously in Christ Jesus must
suffer persecution.2
3. The subject of the Passion may be meditated
from various points of view. Thus it may be considered
1 Direct, xxxv. 3 2 Timothy iii. 12.
X
354 T^HE THIRD WEEK.
as throwing a lurid light on the horrible nature and
malice of sin, and on the passions which by indulgence
lead to sin.
It gives also a most sublime idea of the dignity of
the human soul, and what is the price of its salvation.
We see in it the grandeur and the infinite nobility of
character of Jesus Christ, who out of love for us, by
His own free choice and solely for our advantage, elected
to suffer the torments, disgrace, and death of the Cross.
It is from this last point of view that we should here
contemplate the mysteries of His Passion, thereby to
arouse in ourselves a spirit of love and generosity which
will nerve us to make cheerfully the sacrifice which we
have resolved upon in the election which we have
made.
4. The better to appreciate the sublimity of love
and of sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us in these mysteries,
and the obligation of our making a due return, St.
Ignatius adds three fresh points in the fiieditations.
Besides considering the person, words, and actions
involved in each mystery, we are to add in each point
the consideration of what He suffers and wishes to
suffer ; how His Divinity conceals itself, except to
enable Him to suffer more ; and how He suffers all this
for me.
The Divinity of our Lord during His Passion
suspended its influence, except in so far as to
intensify His sufferings by' the dignity of His
Personality and by the extreme delicacy, sensitiveness,
and tenderness of the Body which He had assumed;
as also to enable His Humanity to endure what would
otherwise have caused His Human Nature to succumb,
and to intensify the faculties of His Soul to appreciate
His torments the more keenly.
All His sufferings, too, were freely accepted and
welcomed, not only for mankind in the mass, but for
INTRODUCTION. 355
•each of us individually, as St. Paul tells us, and
consequently each man must hold himself responsible
for the whole of what our Lord endured.^
5. From these considerations there will be produced
in the soul a feeling of sympathy, of sorrow, and of
compassion, a desire to drink also of His chalice, and
to imitate His resignation, charity, and humility, and
those other virtues which He displayed in His sufferings.
6. We must also bear in mind that, as regards each
of His bodily torments. He endured them interiorly
from the moment of His Conception until His Passion
and Death.
7. In considering who it is that suffers, we have to
recall not only His infinite perfections in His Divine
Nature, but also as He is Man : His royal descent, His
reputation for power, holiness, and wisdom. His being
universally known by all classes, His fame as a Wonder-
worker and Prophet, His tender sensitiveness to pain,
to cruelty, ingratitude, and injustice, &c.
8. As to the disposition with which He suffered, we
must reflect that it was freely and out of love for His
Father and for us individually, and that His desire of
sufferings was greater than what He either did or could
suffer.
9. In this third part the second Addition must be
changed. As soon as we awake we must consider what
we are about to do, recalling the subject of our medita-
tion, and whilst dressing and washing we must excite
ourselves to sorrow and compassion for the great
sorrow and sufferings of Christ our Lord. As to the
sixth Addition, we must turn away from all thoughts
calculated to exhilarate us, even though good and holy,
and occupy our minds v/ith the memory of the sad
-events and labours and pains of our Blessed Lord,
thereby to promote in ourselves kindred sentiments out
1 Galat ii. 20.
356 THE THtRD WEEK.
of love and gratitude and sympathy for Him. With
regard to the tenth Addition, we must join our penances
and sufferings with those of our God and Lord, offering
them up to Him in a spirit of love and gratitude for
what He is suffering for us, and out of a desire to keep
Him company in His torments and Death so freely
undergone for our sakes.
10. In the contemplations of the Passion, St. Ignatius
puts Jesus before us as a model of the third degree of
humility, inasmuch as He chooses by preference labours,
watchings, the crushing out of the rebellion of the flesh,
of the senses, and of worldly love, and substitutes in
place of the latter, poverty, ignominy, sorrow, and pain.
It will be a help to us in these contemplations also
to ponder the sentiments of our Lord in regard of the
four classes of creatures mentioned in the " Foun-
dation," about which we were to make ourselves
practically indifferent. ^
11. It is to be noticed, as has been before declared,
that in our colloquies we ought to reason and make our
petitions according to the subject-matter of the con-
templation, and according as we find ourselves affected
by desolation or consolation ; also as we desire some
special virtue or to dispose ourselves for some particular
sacrifice : finally, we should ask for what we most
earnestly desire regarding any particular matter.
Moreover, we may make either one colloquy, or
according to the subject-matter and our devotion,
three colloquies : one to the Mother, a second to her
Son, and a third to the Heavenly Father, in the form
laid down in the Contemplation of " Two Standards."
1 Conf. ConstH. S.J. part vi. c. 4, and Rules of Sum. xi. 'xii. xxiii.
xxiv. XXV.
THE LAST SUPPER. 357
THE LAST SUPPER.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — Let us recall the history how our Lord
took supper with His Apostles on the paschal lamb ;
after which He washed their feet, and then instituted
the Most Adorable Sacrament of His Body and Blood.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine ourselves present in the
Supper-room, and observing all that is said and done.
Prelude 3. — Let us entreat of our Lord to excite in
our hearts suitable sentiments of admiration, sorrow,
confusion, and gratitude towards Him who for our sins
is about to undergo His Passion.
P-oint I. — As His Passion drew near, our Lord
frequently referred in His discourses with His Apostles
to the sufferings which awaited Him in Jerusalem ;
and once when Peter would dissuade Him from them,
He gained the reproach of the tempter : Vade post me
. . . scandalum es mihi. Now, He goes with speedy
steps before His Apostles, who were full of dread,
knowing the great risks He was to run in Jerusalem. ^
They go to the Supper-room, which was ample, stately,
and beautifully set out, as though Jesus was going to
1 "And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve Apostles
with Him. And He said to them : With desire I have desired to eat this
Pasch with you, before I suffer. For I say to you, that from this time I
will not eat it till it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. And having taken
the chalice, He gave thanks, and said : Take and divide it among you.
For I say to you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine till the
Kingdom of God come. And taking the bread. He gave thanks, and
brake, and gave to them, saying : This is My Body which is given for you.
Do this for a commemoration of Me. In like manner the chalice also after
He had supped, saying : This is the chalice, the new testament in My
Blood, which shall be shed for you," (St. Luke xxii. 14 — 23. Comp.
St. Matt. xxvi. and St. Mark xiv.)
2 St. Mark x. 32.
358 THE THIRD WEEK.
celebrate a solemn banquet of joy ; when the lamb to
be eaten was the figure of His Death; and He would
go forth from that chamber to begin His journey to His
grave. As soon as all were seated, He discloses to
them the ardent desire of His Heart,^ He tells them of
the horrid treachery of which He is the victim, and
that, without any sign of fear, nay, He says to the
traitor, *• What thou art going to do, do quickly. "^ After
which He offers Himself to His Father, begging that
His impending Passion and Death may serve to
manifest His Divinity and glorify His Name. Thus
He showed His vehement longing to suffer in order
to accomplish our redemption and glorify God His
Father.
Let us learn this lesson, that pains, torments, and
persecutions ought not to prove a source of dread and
terror to a companion of Jesus Christ, but rather a
subject of joy, because it is the time of imitating Him
and of glorifying His Father. Self-love, sensuality, and
wordly principles may say to us, as Peter to Jesus,
Ahsit a te, &c., to dissuade us from suffering; but Jesus
tells us, Oportet ire ad Jerusalem, &c., it behoveth to go
to Jerusalem to suffer much and be slain ; for whoever
will lead a perfect life must encounter crosses, hardships,
and insults, and therefore should prepare earnestly and
cheerfully for them. Let us then pray for such generous
desires, and offer ourselves in union with our Blessed
Lord for whatever sufferings God may be pleased to
send us in regard of poverty, humiliations, and contempt,
or which our election may entail, and which, if rightly
made, must involve some sacrifice.
Point 2. — Washing of Feet. — Whilst they were yet at
supper, our Lord arose, took off His upper garment,
put on an apron, and of Himself prepares a vessel of
water, as if He were a servant. Then, kneeling down,
1 St. Luke xxii. 15. 2 St. John xiii.
THE LAST SUPPER. 359
He washes the feet of each Apostle, and dries them
with His Divine hands, nor does He omit Judas,
though at the time He knew that he had sold Him for
five pounds and would betray Him with a kiss. Let
us hear St. Peter, Tu mihi, &c. Tu : the Son of God,
the Lord of the Universe, the Master of Creation, the
most holy, the most noble, the most worthy of all
honour, who sittest at the right hand of the Father,
whose footstool are the Seraphim. Mihi: at the feet
of poor fishermen, ignorant, rude peasants, to wash
them with His own almighty hands ! Oh ! what a
grand lesson is given us here !
Jesus is about to enter upon the fourth great step in
His mortal life, and as He began with humiliation in
His Incarnation, came into the world with humiliation,
commenced His Public Life with humiliation, so will
He begin His Passion with the same. When shall we
learn this first condition of being His ? Into what an
abyss of self-abasement should not our pride sink
when we see the Lord of angels and of men, even in
their presence humble Himself so low through love for
us and to give us an example !
Well might St. Francis Borgia become quite dazed
after, in contemplation, going to humble himself at the
feet of Judas and finding himself forestalled by our
Blessed Lord ; and when asked why he was so dis-
tracted, should give for answer that the Son of God
was already at the feet of Judas before him. Let us
bring home to ourselves the words, ♦' If I have washed
your feet, you also must wash one another's feet ; for
truly the servant is not greater than his master, nor the
Apostle greater than Him who sent him." And truly
knowing this theoretically, we shall be blessed by
reducing this knowledge to practice. If we are to do
anything great for God, or if we are to gain any per-
fection in our state, we must lay the solid foundation of
36o THE THIRD WEEK.
humility, and this we can never hope to attain except
by acts of humiUation.
Point 3. — Jesus instihites the Holy Eucharist. — Let us
see our Lord full of love for His own even to the last,
taking bread into His blessed hands and hfting up His
eyes to His Heavenly Father, and with Heart inflamed
with love for us, He blessed it and transubstantiated it
into His own Body, leaving it to His Church in memory
of His undying charity towards men. Oh, the charity,
power, and wisdom of our Lord. He gives us Himself,
He could do no more^ — He gives It under the form of
bread and wine, that He might be our food, and that
we might be intimately united and one with Him, He
changing us into Himself, not we changing Him into
ourselves. 2 And He does it at the very time when
man's ingratitude was plotting how to vent the utmost
efforts of its malice against Him. Let us admire the
infinite goodness, liberality, and meekness of our dear
Lord. What return can we make to Him who loved
us so, and who thus hands Himself over for us. Is it
too much to love Him truly in return, to love only what
1 St. Ignatius in the third point of this meditation says : " He instituted
the most Sacred Sacrifice of the Eucharist as the greatest proof of His
love," &c. With reason does he call it the greatest ; for although our Lord
has said, "Greater love than this no man hath than that he lay down his
life for his friends," and this because as a mere man he has nothing more
to give, yet our Lord, who was God and Man, could devise and furnish
greater proof still. In His Passion and Death He sacrificed Himself for us
for some hours, but in the Eucharistic Sacrifice He offers Himself with
equal intensity of love, of merit, and of devotedness from the rising of the
sun to the going down thereof, and He will continue to do so until the end
of time. Again, in the Eucharistic Sacrifice we have the real memorial of
His Death upon the Cross, with the additional privilege of being able to
feed upon His Sacred Flesh and Blood, thereby becoming members of His
Body and partakers of His eternal glory. Moreover, He gives us this Holy
Sacrament notwithstanding His clear foreknowledge of all the irreverences,
outrages, and sacrileges to which He will expose Himself, not only from
heretics, but also from bad Cathohcs.
2 St. Augustine.
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 361
He loved ; to choose for our portion poverty, contempt,
and humiliation ? to take the offensive against carnal,
sensual, and worldly love ? Is it not enough to cause
us to blush for shame, to think that we consider that
in the election we have made and in its consequent
sacrifice, we are making any competent return for what
He has done for us ? And what is our return to Him
as regards His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament ?
With what coldness and indifference do we treat Him ;
how rarely do we go to visit Him in His solitude and
abandonment ! How stinting are we in the time we
spend with Him there. Alas ! though He is pleased
with any little attention which we show Him, and is
ever open-handed to bless us, do we not show Him but
scant reverence and respect ?
In our colloquy let us pour out our soul to Him and
with shame and confusion, and hearts breaking with
compassion and full of gratitude, let us say the Anima
Chfisti. Then let us offer Him up to the Eternal
Father, and by His Sacred Body and Blood let us pray
for what we desire, and end with •' Our Father."
THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us make an act of faith in the
presence of Jesus Christ in the tabernacle, and prostrate
ourselves before Him.
Prelude 2. — Let us implore an intimate knowledge of
this Mystery, and intense love of Jesus in this Holy
Sacrament.
Point I. — Let us reflect that He is here fulfilling
His promise : " Behold I am with you," &c.i But why,
1 St. Matt, xxviii, 20.
362 THE THIRD WEEK.
O Jesus, are you here ? why thus shut up and a prisoner
for nearly nineteen hundred years ? It is not to redeem
us ! Nor is it necessary in order to give us grace. No !
it is because His deHght is to be personally and bodily
amongst us.^ His love seeks for and desires the
presence of the beloved one; and lest we might be
scared by His majesty, He veils it ; and He will abide
in nooks and corners of cities, in town and country, on
hill-sides and in remote valleys ; He will not have any
one deprived of His presence. And at all times He
would have us come into His royal presence without
ceremony to converse with Him. Any hour of the
day or night we are welcomed by Him with open
arms, always sure of a heart}^ reception. He is ever
ready to console us, to dry our tears, to dispel our
darkness, to soften our hearts, to wash away our sins^
to strengthen our weakness, to bestow fresh graces^
Oh, the thousand blessings we enjoy in His adorable
and loving presence !
There is no need to envy the Apostles and disciples
or the dwellers in Palestine who saw and heard Jesus.
We have Him more present to each of us. They had
Him in the da3^s of His infirmity and weakness, we
have Him in His state of glory ; they had His presence
at intervals, we have Him always, and can find Him
at any time without having to wander far to find Him.
Why are we so miserable and sad, so languid and
disconsolate when we have the source of all happi-
ness ? so blind and cold when we can always have
recourse to the source of light and heat ? How
can we have behaved so to Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament ?
g O my God, grant that we may henceforth make
Thy tabernacle our home, and, as Thy priests^
1 "And My delights to be with the children of men." (Prov.
viii. 31.)
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 363
live by the food and the life that dwell in Thy
tabernacles.!
Point 2. — Let us consider the Life of Jesus in the
Eucharist. It is the compendium of all His wonderful
works. He is mysteriously born at the bidding of His
minister, the altar becoming another Bethlehem ; and
the solitude of the tabernacle is but the Hidden Life
in Egypt. Those that gather round it recall the poor
shepherds who paid homage at His Birth. In how
many places is His dwelling as poor and cheerless and
unvisited as was that of His home for nearly thirt}^
years at Nazareth ; and here He is not obedient ta
Mary or Joseph, but to His poor and often unworthy
ministers. Here, too, He is the perpetual Victim and
Holocaust to His Eternal Father. In His Public Life
He went about doing good,^ and ever since in the
Eucharist He has continued instructing, admonishing,
consoling, enlightening the blind, raising the dead,
healing all spiritual diseases, and working all the good
that is done in the Church. Here, too, we have the
representation, renewal, and continuation of all the
sufferings of His mortal Life, for though in His glorified
state Jesus cannot sorrow nor suffer, yet the affronts
and vile treatment of His creatures in His regard cease
not to be equally real. He is ever in the state of a
victim, and enters into the breasts of men, as inta
a sepulchre, often neither new nor clean, and too often
He sees Himself treated by those who come into His
presence as disrespectfully and irreverently as He was
by the rabble during His Passion. Alas ! how many,
like Judas, give Him the traitor's kiss ! ' To say nothing
1 "Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are
they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord : they shall praise Thee for ever ani^
ever." (Psalm Ixxxiii. 4, 5.)
* "Jesus of Nazareth ; how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost,
and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. " (Acts x. 38. )
364 THE THIRD WEEK.
of the foul blasphemies and outrages done to Him by
heretics and infidels, by the sacrilegious spoliation and
desecration of His altars and churches. Yet He is
silent and patient, and meekly bears all these affronts
out of His ineffable charity. Let us learn to bear in
our turn, after His example and in union with Him,
the scorn and contempt of others, and in charity to
forgive them and to pray for those who injure us. This,
by His grace, at least, we can do, if we are too faint-
hearted to accept them with joy.
Point 3. — What is the ultimate end of His presence?
Love tends to union, to make the lover and beloved
one. It is, that Jesus may make us one with Himself,
to deify us, so to speak, by the life of grace now and of
glory hereafter. In the Eucharist we have an extension
of the Incarnation, Jesus uniting Himself with each
of us and making us sharers of His Divine Nature.
*' We are made one body and one flesh with Him." ^
No mother could ever think or wish to be transformed
into food to nourish her child ! And to think that
the Babe of Bethlehem, the Artisan of Nazareth, the
Crucified, becomes one flesh with me ! that He who
is being adored by angels in all His infinite glory,
enters our wretched bodies, our cold and ungrateful
and corrupted hearts, and makes Himself one with us.
How the head swims in realizing it ! Still His love is
pleased to do it, for He desires to eat this Pasch with
us ; nay more. He threatens us with death unless we
receive Him, and promises us life eternal in case we
satisfy His desire.
And for this end He employs His omnipotence,
destroying space and time, and His infinite ingenuity
and wisdom, and will expose HirAself to infinite out-
rage and blasphemy. Oh ! the love of His mighty
Heart ! And if we consider the nature of that Food !
1 St. Augustine.
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 365
It is His living, Divine, and glorified Flesh — His
blessed Soul, in which are all the treasures, gifts,
virtues, graces, and infinite merits of the only-begotten
of the Father, together with the Divinity. All this
He is ready to give us daily, and if by sickness we
cannot go to Him, He is ever prepared to come to us
upon our bed of sickness, and to be our Viaticum on our
journey from this world to our home of eternity.
What can we do in return ? Is it too much to give
ourselves body and soul in return ? Alas ! what a
miserable thing each of us has to offer, and yet all that
is good in it is His already on a thousand titles, and all
the bad in it comes only from our wretched selves.
Let us try by our love to make the offering less un-
acceptable ; but that love must prove itself practically
by a close imitation of His life of solitude, of self-denial,
of long-suffering and of humility, and especially by
constancy in the sacrifice to which we have pledged
ourselves in our late election.
In our colloquy let us beg these graces through the
intercession of our Lady and of our Blessed Lord, and
lastly let us implore the same from God Himself, by
the humiliations and love of His well-beloved Son in
the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, and end with the
♦' Our Father."
If time allows, the usual repetitions of the two
preceding meditations may be made, and, at night, the
application of the senses to the same meditations.
366 THE THIRD WEEK.
DISCOURSE OF JESUS AFTER THE SUPPER.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — After the departure of Judas, Jesus
addresses His Apostles in words of consolation and
■encouragement ; He also impresses upon them the duty
of union with Himself and with one another. He
announces to them the severe persecutions and trials
which the future has in store for them, at the same
time inspiring them with strength to bear them ; and
finally prays for them in a colloquy with His Eternal
Father.
Prelude 2. — Let us in spirit take up our place in the
Cenacle.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg with earnest desire profound
sorrow at the sight of our God and Lord who is about
to suffer reproach and disgrace, torments, and death for
our sins ; and let us pray that we may in a spirit of
love and gratitude bear Him company.
Point I. — Well might the Apostles look to Jesus for
some words of comfort. They knew that one of them
was a traitor, that another was to deny the Master,
and that He Himself was shortly going to leave them ;
besides, they were aware that the Priests, Scribes, and
Pharisees were all concerting together how to seize
Him, to put Him to death. He bids them " not to
let their hearts be troubled;" for though He is goings
He will prepare a place also for them, provided only that
they believe in God His Father, and in Himself who is
the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Then Philip with
ingenuous candour asks Jesus to show them His Father
to whom He is going. Upon which He tells them that
He is consubstantial with the Father, that he that sees
1 St. John xiv. xv. xvj.
DISCOURSE OF JESUS AFTER THE SUPPER. 367
one sees also the other, as He is in the Father, and the
Father is in Him, that He speaks in His Name, and
works in Him. Again, He encourages them by the
promise that if they beHeve in Him and in His teaching,
even though He withdraws His visible presence, they
shall have power to work greater wonders than they
had seen Him perform, and He would do whatsoever
they asked His Father in His Name, or whatsoever
they asked of Him. Thus they are to possess their
souls in peace b}'' a lively faith and a firm hope in Him
and in His promises ; but they must also derive courage
from a practical love of Him by keeping His com-
mandments. Then " I will ask the Father, and He
will send you another Spirit, to act as your comforter,
guide, and advocate, who will abide with you and will
dwell within you."
But He further goes on to say, that He will not
leave them like orphans ; that He will return to them,
after He has risen from the dead, and then '' they shall
Jcnow that He is in the Father, and they in Him, and
also He in them ; " and that the " Paraclete, the Holy
Spirit, will enlighten them to understand and feel all
those things which He has taught them."
Finall}^, He concludes this part of His discourse by
bestowing His peace, not a worldly unreal peace, upon
them, bidding them out of love for Him not to be afraid,
but to rejoice that He is going to His Father. He tells
them this beforehand, so that when it comes to pass
in a few hours, they may remain firm in their faith.
Oh, who can conceive such tender care and love on
the part of Jesus for these poor fishermen ! He forgets
Himself, His anguish of mind and Heart, to comfort
and encourage them ! He is all anxiety to prepare
and strengthen them that they may resist the terrible
temptation with which they will shortly be assailed ;
but for Himself He has no care. And yet, 'O dear
368" THE THIRD WEEK.
Lord, there is no one to think of your poor Heart, or
to soothe it by a word of sympathy ! O my soul, let
us try to comfort Him by offering ourselves to share
His sorrows of which we are the cause, and to join Him
in His self-sacrifice by fidelity to the resolution which
we have taken in the matter of our election.
Pomt 2. — He commends to them union with Him,
and among themselves.^ Jesus then shows them how
" He is in the Father, and they in Him and He in
them," by the comparison of the Vine. He is "the
true Vine," the perfect Vine which the Father has
planted on earth, in the Incarnation and assumption
of human nature, that He may by the wine of His
Precious Blood save and redeem the world : His
disciples are the branches. If they remain united with
Him they shall bear fruit, but if not so united with
Him, they shall be cast off by His Father. Whilst
they remain in Him, through the merits of His Passion
and Death, they will bear much fruit in the super-
natural order, being united with Him by Divine faith
and charity ; but where these are wanting, union is
dissolved, and all supernatural virtue disappears, and
with it all supernatural life, no matter how great their
natural gifts may be, and their end will be to be cast
*into the fire, where " the worm dieth not, and the fire is
never extinguished." ^ He tells them, moreover, that
as long as they abide in Him, they may petition for
what they wish and it shall be granted them ; that they
shall give great glory to God by promoting the salvation
of souls, and by proving faithful disciples to Him.
He next makes an astounding declaration, which
must have filled the spirits of Heaven with wonder ;
for He Hkens His love for them to that of His Father
for Himself! to this He appeals in order to induce
them to remain in His love ! and this they will do if
1 St. John XV. 2 St. Mark i.x. 43.
DISCOURSE OF JESUS AFTER THE SUPPER. 369
they wjll observe the precepts He has given them as
He also observes those given to Him by His Father ;
and in this manner they will be a source of joy to Him
whilst they themselves will also be filled with joy.
He then passes on to the duty of loving one another
and of fraternal union. In His Apostles He requires
a love far more perfect, far greater than that which
they have for themselves; "they are to love one
another as He has loved them ! " even to the shedding
of their blood for those that they love, even though
their love is unrequited or is repaid only by hatred and
persecution : and this is to be done out of the love they
bear to Him who is their Lord and Saviour, and who
has shown them special marks of His love by selecting
them from the rest of men for the great work of the
Apostolate. He insists a second time upon the obliga-
tion of taking to heart His commandment of loving
even their enemies, of which He has set them the
example, for He has loved the world which hates Him,
and He is about to lay down His life for it ; and so, too,
it will hate them, yet they must be prepared to sacrifice
themselves in like manner for the salvation of souls.
The reason of this hostility and hatred. He tells them,
is on His account, and because of His and their
teaching and example, which are opposed to and con-
demnatory of the judgment and conduct of the children
of this world. Let us weigh well the necessity of this
union with our dear Lord : as long as this exists we
cannot go astray, we shall dwell in the light of truth,
and shall enjoy supernatural life. We shall suffer with
Him it is true, but He will enable us to endure, and
will make our sufferings sweet and will help us to turn
them to our future glory. Let us in our dealings with
our neighbours be ever practically mindful that we are
bound to love all, even those who injure and persecute
us. To our human nature it may be hard, but with the
Y
370
THE THIRD WEEK.
grace of God, which will not be wanting to us, nothing
is impossible. Besides Jesus commands, and with His
blessing we will obey.
Point 3. — Jesus foretells the persecution of His
Apostles, and encourages them to be firm. The Jews
will excommunicate them, and will flatter themselves,
in their guilty ignorance, that they are doing a good
service by putting them to death. On hearing these
things, naturally, sorrow filled their hearts, and the
more so as He is about to depart. Yet it is for their
benefit that He is going, and He will send to them
the Paraclete, who will impart to them all truth, will
enlighten and strengthen them, whilst He will at the
same time convict the world of sin in refusing to believe
in Him, notwithstanding His teaching and miracles ;
of justice in refusing to recognize His own justice and
that of His disciples ; oi judgment, by exposing the false-
hood and criminality of Satan and his followers in this
world.
They would like to know more precisely whither
He is going, but He delays to add to their sorrow by
detailing to them His approaching sufferings ; with
deep emotion, however, He announces the grief that
His Passion will cause them, adding that it will later
be turned into joy at His Resurrection. He forgets
Himself, thinks only of their sorrow and distress, and
promises them that He will shortl}^ return, and will fill
their hearts with gladness, such as the world knows not
of, and which it cannot rob them of. Moreover, when
He does come back. His Spirit will teach them all
things, so that they will not need to ask Him any more
questions such as they had been asking. He winds up
by urging them to more earnestness and constancy and
confidence in prayer to His Eternal Father, who loves
them because of their love for Himself and of their
faith in Him, notwithstanding that this faith was still
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. 371
weak. Let us admire the charity and compassion of
our dear Lord. He knows their weakness, and that in
their terror they will abandon Him and leave Him in
the hands of His enemies, yet He does not betray the
slightest impatience or resentment, but employs all His
powers to encourage and comfort them. Who can help
loving Him for His disinterested devotedness and
tender compassion. O my dear Lord and Saviour,
grant that we may never abandon Thee.
Let us make our colloquy with our Blessed Lord,
and say the Anima Christi. End with the '* Our Father."
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prehide i. — Let us recall how, after the discourse
and the chanting of the hymn were finished, Jesus went
with the Eleven to Gethsemani ; how He left eight at
the entrance, and took Peter, James, and John into the
interior, and going a little apart from them. He knelt
in prayer.
Prehide 2. — Let us picture our Lord in His prayer
and agony, and the Apostles asleep.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg for that which we earnestly
desire, namely, the special grace of sorrow with Jesus
filled with sorrow, of anguish with Him broken down
with anguish, of tears and interior pain with Him who
is suffering so intensely for us and for our sins.
Point I.' — Let us see our Lord, though outwardly so
1 "When Jesus had said these things, He went forth with His disciples
over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden into which He entered
with His disciples. And Judas also, who betrayed Him, knew the place :
because Jesus had often resorted thither together with His disciples. . . .
Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went
forth," &c. (St. John xviii. 1—4.) ,
372 THE THIRD WEEK,
calm, yet inwardly full of loathing and disgust, over-
whelmed with terror, and drowned in a sea of sadness,'^ a
state that would have killed Him but that He supported
life by His Divine power. At length His countenance^
which is the joy of Paradise and of the earth, becomes
disfigured with agony. But why ? First by the terrific
sight of all the iniquities of men, the burden of which
is cast upon His innocent Soul, that He may make
condign satisfaction for them to the Divine justice.
Next His imagination presents to Him a sight of all
the torments He was to undergo. This is often far
more terrible than the reality. In addition He knows
the real malice and heinousness of each sin. To be in
doubt whether we are guilty of a mortal sin works
sometimes like madness on our brain, and almost
turns us wild. What, then, must have been the
horror of Jesus to see Himself the great sin-offering,
and accounted guilty by His Father ; and by such
and so loved a Father !
Lastly, He sees that men will not onl}^ prove
ungrateful for all His sufferings, but that they will turn
them to their greater condemnation : worst of all, that
those whom He, has specially chosen, and nurtured in
the sanctuary, that even some of them would turn His
torments to their terrible ruin and destruction. Oh I
let us bewail our own sins, which have caused all this
agony; let us detest them, and let us offer up to God
this sorrow of our dear Lord in atonement for them,
and entreat pardon through the merits of His fearful
torments.
Point 2. — Let us contemplate our Lord persevering
in His prayer amidst this agony,^ resigning Himself
entirely to the will of His Heavenly Father, repeating
always the one prayer, " Not as I will, but as Thou,"
1 " My Soul is sorrowful even unto death." (St. Mark xiv. 34.)
2 "And being in an agony He prayed the longer." (St. Luke xxii. 43.)
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. 373
*' Yet not My will, but Thine be done." He does not
in His anguish seek comfort in moaning, in pouring out
His griefs to His disciples, but seeks it in solitary-
prayer to His Father, and the greater His anguish the
longer is His prayer, even though He can only keep
repeating the self-same words.
Let us take home to ourselves this grand lesson,
and in our hours of disgust, vexation, disquiet, desola-
tion of spirit, repugnance, and melancholy, let us fly to
our God, and in our distress with Jesus let us pray the
longer ; but let it be in solitude, avoiding the company
of men, and not seeking unduly their sympathy: and
with our Blessed Lord let us say always, " Yet not my
will, but Thine be done." This Divine will is the
sovereign good, all good, to obtain and fulfil which,
pains, agonies, and even death itself are well endured.
Let us rest assured that in the pursuit of perfection,
and especially in the Apostolic life, we shall meet with
things which will cause us ''loathing," "fear," and
*' anxiety," and " sadness," such as change of place
or occupation, repugnances, persecutions, calumnies,
labours, and fatigues, and the like. In these circum-
stances, let our prayer be, Non mea vohmtas, sed tua fiat.
It will bring us strength and consolation, and will
render us cheerful and ready to bear every hardship.
Point 3. — Let us behold Jesus flat on the ground
while the blood oozes through the pores of His skin,
and soaks through His clothes and moistens the earth. ^
This was produced by the generous resistance He offers
to the repugnance of nature. Oh, what is the malice
of sin, which requires tears of blood to atone for it !
which so weighs upon the mighty Heart of our Lord as
to force the blood through its natural barriers. Who
has done this terrible deed, and caused this bloody
1 "And His sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the
ground." (St. Luke xxii. 44.)
374 ^^^ THIRD WEEK.
sweat ? Alas ! it is we who have done it. Let us then
at least mingle a few tears of water with the red tears
of Jesus, and make an act of profound contrition. Let
us not decline to accept any trial which God may send
us, no matter how repugnant to our nature ; even
though it may cause our hearts to break. Jesus has
drunk the chalice for us, and let us drink ours for Him.
*' What shall I give back to the Lord for all He has
done for me ? I will drink the chalice of my salvation,
and my strength shall be in prayer to the Lord." Let
us present this first Blood spilt in His Passion to His
Father, and by it let us ask for the graces we desire.
Point 4. — Let us consider the conduct of His
Apostles. Jesus had told them on the way to the
Garden that they would all be scandalized in Him
that night ; this had intensified their fears and sadness,
which were but little allayed by His words of encourage-
ment, " But after I shall be risen again, I will go before
you into Galilee." On reaching the Garden, He entered
it with Peter, James, and John, who had witnessed His
Transfiguration, and bidding them to pray not to enter
into temptation, He retired Himself to pray. But
sorrow made their eyes heav)^ and they fell asleep.
Little did they know the awful transfiguration taking
place so near them. For now the Divinity of Jesus
withdrew its influence from His Humanity, except so
far as was necessary to enable it to support its most
terrible sufferings, which otherwise would have sepa-
rated Soul and Body. He came to see them, awoke
them, and begged of them to watch and pray, and
again withdrew : but again they fell fast asleep. Alas I
poor human nature. Not an hour ago they had pro-
tested their loyalty and fidelity, their readiness to die
with Him : now they cannot watch for an hour with
Him ! He has told them that He was deadly sad ;
broken down and prostrated by His anguish, exhausted
THE SEIZURE OF JESUS. 375
in mind, heart, and body, quivering in an agony, and
yet they sleep all the while! Oh, what must have
been the feelings of the Sacred Heart of our dear Lord,
to find even His three privileged Apostles, whom He
loved so tenderly, so dead to all He was enduring !
'* He looked for one to sympathize with Him and found
none." His Father's face was turned away from Him,
His Mother was not allowed to be with Him, His
Apostles are too drowsy to heed Him ; there is no one
to think of Him but His enemies, who are mustering in
the city to come out and seize Him. O dear Lord,
grant that we may not, like the Apostles, forget Thy
counsel, " Watch and pray." Grant us Thy grace that
we ma}^ never neglect our daily duties of meditation
and of examination of conscience, on which our per-
severance in Thy service mainly depends ; and by
neglect of which, we shall expose ourselves to fly and
abandon Thee in the hour of trial.
End with " Our Father."
THE SEIZURE OF JESUS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prehcde i. — Let us recall how Jesus is betrayed by
His own Apostle, is seized by His enemies and dragged
as a criminal into the city and through the streets of
Jerusalem.
Prehide 2. — Let us stand by and observe what passes.
^ "Behold Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, and with him a great
multitude with swords and staves. . , . And he that betrayed Him had
given them a sign, saying : Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He, lay hold
on Him, and lead Him away carefully. And when He was come, imme-
diately going up to Him he saith. Hail, Rabbi, and he kissed Him. But
they laid hands on Him and held Him. . . . And they brought Jesus to
the High Priest." (St. Mark xiv. 43—53.)
376 THE THIRD WEEK.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg light to see how Jesus, the
very soul of honour, welcomes oppression and ignominy
for our sakes, and grace to ambition His spirit of forti-
tude under trials and persecution.
Point I. — Let us see Judas — he is not asleep — an
Apostle, instructed in the school of Christ, favoured
with the gift of miracles, and a witness of the powers,
wisdom, and sanctity of his Master. Can no one
else be found, even among His enemies, to betray
Him ?
They who have been the most favoured of God,
when blinded by passions, fall the deepest. Judas was
the slave of a predominant passion of avarice, and
courted the favour of the priesthood, and so is led into
his enormous treachery. For this object he has recourse
to mean craft and cunning, and chooses as the scene of
his crime the very place where he had so often prayed
with Jesus. He arrives there with a company of soldiers
bearing torches and lanterns, and approaches his Master
and dares to kiss Him ! thereby, notifying to His
enemies which was Jesus. Let us humble ourselves
and be filled with holy fear at seeing how the apostle-
ship of Judas ended, in the blackest sacrilege that the
world has ever known. There is no depth of sin into
which even a Religious may not fall, if he begins to
gratif}^ any unruly passion or neglect any duty, especially
that of prayer. Let us beware of too feeling and tender
affections, too great a desire to humour and please
others, or to be liked and applauded by others. Let us
watch with all diligence over the first beginnings of
evil, and thus we shall avoid the great calamity of
betraying our Blessed Lord and incurring eternal
perdition.
But if we reflect on the effect of this crime on our
Lord, what pain and affliction it must have caused His
loving Heart to see Himself thus treated by a disciple
THE SEIZURE OF JESUS. 377
whom He Himself had chosen and had so signally
favoured ! What a fearful insult it was ! What igno-
miny and dishonour it caused Him in the sight of His
enemies ! How it must have tended to lead them to
presume His guilt, when they saw one of His own
disciples and intimate friends offer Him up to the
authorities, go in person to take Him, and forewarn the
instruments of justice to apprehend Him with caution.
Nevertheless, our meek Lord admits him to His
embrace, and calls him by the endearing title of friend.
Oh ! let us from this le^rn, when we meet with ill-usage
and offensive treatment from those who should be the
last in the world so to behave towards us, to imitate
Jesus betrayed and insulted by His own disciples ; let
us learn to be, like Him, meek and humble of heart,
and let us lay at the feet of our dear Lord every feeling
of vindictiveness and loathing which our nature or the
devil may arouse in us.
Point 2. — It is the common opinion .of the learned ^
that when our Lord was made known to the soldiers
by being approached and embraced by Judas, their
eyes were dazzled by the splendour of His majesty, or
that He deprived them of their sight, and that they
became stunned and motionless, until He advanced to
meet them, and though wild with excitement and rage,
they waited till He asked them, "Whom seek ye?"
and on their saying, "Jesus of Nazareth," He answered,
"I am He." 2 On the instant they fell flat on the
ground, quaking with fear : and there they would have
remained had He not given them strength to rise, and
then yielding Himself up into their hands, showed how
1 Toletus, in Joan, xviii.
2 "As soon, therefore, as He had said to thefti, I am He, they went
backward and fell to the ground. Again, therefore, He asked them :
Whom seek ye ? And they said : Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered :
I have told you that I am He. If, therefore, you seek Me, let these go
their way." (St. John xviii. 6 — 8.)
378 THE THIRD WEEK.
truly He had said, " No man taketh My life away, but
I give it up of Myself."
There are many indeed who, like the soldiers, when
asked the object they have in view, will openly declare
that it is Jesus of Nazareth. What do they seek in
this or that office, in this or that employment ? They
will answer, The glory and service of God, the sanctifica-
tion of their own or their neighbour's soul ! — Jcsum
Nazarenum ! — whilst in reality it is to gratify their inordi-
nate inclinations or self-love ; and thus they behave in
a manner injurious and dishonourable towards God.
To such our Lord renders Himself invisible, and resists
their unworthy designs, or condemns them to failure.
Again we see that in the very beginning of His
Passion He was pleased to make known His Divine
power by working a miracle, to show that He suffered
not through force or necessity, but of His own free-will ;
and by this would teach us to accept in a cheerful and
willing spirit all kinds of labours and sufferings, and
not through necessity or in a spirit of compulsion, not
as a malefactor, but like Him of whom it was written,
" He was offered because He Himself willed it."
Point 3. — Let us, in a spirit of tender sympathy,
contemplate the ill-usage which our Lord experienced
at His capture.
The hour had come, the hour of darkness and of the
infernal powers. The Temple guard and servants seized
Him and bound Him tight, fearing lest He might
escape. Let us listen to their shouts and clamour on
having succeeded in taking Him prisoner ; let us see
their insults and the blows they deal at Him, as they
hustle Him and drag Him along to the house of Annas,
who was one of the chief leaders in plotting His death,
and a miserable prevaricator in his holy calling.
And who is this apparent robber and malefactor ?
It is the almighty and all-holy Son of God, whom the
THE SEIZURE OF JESUS. 379
angels were adoring. It is the Son of Man ; the most
beautiful, the most wise, the most holy, and the gentlest
and most loving Man that ever lived. He that alone
is most worthy of all honour, adoration, and praise,
cheerfully accepts ignominy, contempt, and shame :
na}^ He actually restrains, so to speak, His Divinity so
as to augment His sufferings : and all this for each of
us, out of love and a desire to atone for our sins. And
what have we done for love of Him in return ? How
often have we promised to follow in His footsteps and
to imitate His example, thereby to give glory to His
Father, comfort to Him, and to sanctify our own souls I
And yet, alas ! how often, like the Apostles, have we
left Him and fled, or perhaps worse, joined with the
rabble in seizing Him and binding Him fast. But what
shall we do in future ? We will keep Him company in
His ignominious journe}^, with profound sentiments of
grief; and reflecting on the thoughts and affections
which He entertained in His Soul, we will thence draw
new motives to advance in virtue and perfection, and
pray for more ardent desires to share His ignominies
with Him, if it be the will of God and for His greater
glory.
Lastly, let us make the usual colloquies, and end
with " Our Father."
If time allows, we may make two repetitions of the
two preceding meditations, and an application of the
senses, as the last exercise before supper.
38o THE THIRD WEEK.
JESUS BEFORE ANNAS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — They bind our Lord, hustle Him, and
drag Him along into Jerusalem to the house of Annas ;
there they make their accusations against Him, give
Him a blow on the face, &c.
Prelude 2. — Let us in spirit accompany our Lord and
Master.
Prelude 3. — Let us pray for what we really want,
namely, intense sorrow and confusion to see Jesus so
sad and so suffering for our sins, and through love for
us accepting insults and outrages, and let us beg of
Him grace to share His sufferings with Him.
Point I. — Let us contemplate our dear Jesus, some-
what revived by the visit "of the Angel from Heaven
strengthening Him," as He meekly allows His enemies
to bind Him as if He were a dangerous malefactor.
They rudely pull Him about, hit Him, heap blasphemies
and insults upon Him, and carried away by rage and
envy they indulge in all sorts of outrage against Him,
whilst He remains silent, and as a sheep He is led to
the slaughter not opening His mouth. Not one is
there to take His part or to stand up for Him. Let us
see the people as the mob drag Him through the streets,
inquiring what may be the cause of all the tumult. On
being told that they are leading Jesus of Nazareth
before the High Priest, how many conclude that He
must then be a deceiver, a false pretender, that His
miracles must have been mere knavery, and perhaps
they condemned themselves for their credulity in
1 " Then the band and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews, took
Jesus and bound Him : and they led Him away to Annas fiVst, for he was
father-in-law to Caiphas, who was the High Priest of that year." (St. John
xviii. 12.)
JESUS BEFORE AN^AS. 381
believing in Him. Others condemn Him seeing that
one of His followers has betrayed Him, while all the
rest have fled and left Him. They reach the house of
Annas, and whilst waiting for admission let us see them
carried away by rage and hatred, pulling faces at Him,
clenching their fists at Him, spitting upon Him, and
turning Him to ridicule. Truly the words of holy
David are verified: "Many calves have surrounded
Me, fat bulls have besieged Me. They have opened
their mouths against Me, as a lion ravening and
roaring."^ Jesus all the while silently and joyfully
welcomes all these outrages for our sakes and for our
salvation. He prays for His cruel tormentors, and
offers up His insults to His Father in satisfaction for
our wretched vanity and pride. O my soul, what
return can we, or shall we make to our Jesus for all
that He has undergone for our sins, and for all this love
that He has shown for us ? Shall we hesitate to brave
the odium and hostility of the world in the promotion
of His glory, and in the discharge of our duty ? Shall
we court the applause or praise of others, and like
cowards cringe before those who oppose Him and His
Mystical Spouse, His Holy Church ? Is it thus that
we shall keep our pledge to follow Him in humiliations
and opprobrium ? O dear Lord Jesus, give us grace
to be honest and true to Thee, and to follow Thee
along the way of the Cross.
Point 2. — He appears before Annas. As the father-
in-law of Caiphas, who was the High Priest of the year,
he had no right or authority to sit in judgment over
Jesus ; but to sate his hatred and gratify his ambition,
our Lord is brought before him. Let us contemplate
the meek and patient Jesus as they drag Him into the
presence of this unfortunate judge, bound with ropes
like a dangerous criminal. He is confronted with the,
1 Psalm xxi. 13, 14.
382 THE THIRD WEEK.
unworthy priests, the scribes, and elders, all filled with ,
anger and venom against Him, because He had
denounced their corruption and hypocrisy, had tried
to protect the populace against their avarice and
extortion, and had won the respect and esteem of those
who listened to His teaching. He stands there gentle
as a lamb, surrounded by ravenous wolves. Then
Annas put questions to Him regarding His disciples
and His doctrine. To the first He makes no answer,
though He knew how they had bribed one of them to
betray Him. To the second He replies by appealing
to those who have been present whilst He was preach-
ing daily in the Temple : for Jesus knew that His
judges were well acquainted with all He taught and
had often heard Him, and further that the}^ merely
desired to gain a pretext for His destruction. Upon
this a servant stepped forward and dealt Jesus a blow
on the face ! Oh, the long-suffering and patience of
Jesus, the rash boldness and malice of men ! The
Lord struck by a slave ! The great Creator by a low
creature ! Infinite Majesty, before whom the pillars of
Heaven tremble and the eternal hills melt away, is
struck in the face by a vile worm of the earth ! yet
though heavenly spirits were horrified to see their King
insulted. He accepts it readily to pay the penalty of
•our sins of pride. How do we bear with the insults
of others ? How often alas ! instead of following the
example of Jesus, do we harbour a spirit of vindictive-
ness, and are not content till we see ourselves avenged,
and our enemies humbled! Yet, dear Lord, we flatter
ourselves that all this is done in the cause of justice,
and that we are following in Thy footsteps !
Foini 3. — Jesus is taken to the court of Caiphas.
Whilst Jesus was detained before Annas, the High
Priest had time to assemble a number of members of
the great Council to try Jesus. Meanwhile, the pride
JESUS BEFORE ANNAS. 383
of Annas had been flattered, his curiosity had been
gratified, and he consequently bids the soldiers to take
Jesus away and lead Him off to Caiphas. Emboldened
by the impunity of the wretch who struck Jesus on the
face, and by the applause with which the blasphemy
was rewarded, the cruel rabble vie with each other who
shall insult and outrage Him the most. Let us con- ^
template our poor Jesus in the midst of this mob, as
they lead Him along the dark streets to the house of
Caiphas. His Body is faint and wearied from His three
hours of agony and from the loss of blood. His limbs
are galled by the tight ropes with which they are still
bound, yet His Soul is free to make its offering of all
that He endures to His Eternal Father for His
tormentors, and to pray for their forgiveness. Though
He is surrounded and pressed on every side by His
enemies, He is a solitary. No friend to say a wotd for
Him, none to comfort Him, or sympathize with Him:
the only two that love Him at all were following Him,
but they kept at a distance. This is the end of the
solemn promises made a few hours before by the eleven
Apostles ! Truly the spirit was willing when they were
with Jesus, but the spirit and flesh are weak indeed
when we are away or at a distance from Him. Let us
in spirit keep our poor Lord company, and try to
comfort Him. This is best done by close union with
Him in prayer, in daily meditation, by frequently
visiting Him in the Sacrament of His love, by often
receiving Him in Holy Communion. Let us learn to
mistrust ourselves, and at the same time put all our
confidence in Him, who is faithful and will not suffer
us to be tried above what we are able, if only we cling
to Him.
End with colloquy, and •* Our Father."
384 THE THIRD WEEK.
JESUS BEFORE CAIPHAS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i.— Let us recall how, after oiir Lord had
been led before Annas to satisfy his curiosity, He is
dragged away to the house of Caiphas the High Priest,
where the doctors and Chief Priests were assembled,
though the night was far advanced, waiting for Him.
On answering to the judge a question concerning His
doctrine, He had received a blow on the face in the
court of Annas ; and on confessing Himself to be the
Son of God before Caiphas, He is declared guilty of
death and given in custody to a band of soldiers, who
spent the night in insulting Him. Meantime, St. Peter
thrice denies his Lord, but on meeting the gentle glance
of Jesus, he went forth and wept bitterly.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine ourselves present in the
court of Caiphas, and later in the soldiers' quarters.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg to know our Blessed Lord
more clearly in His humiliations and in His excessive
love and compassion for Peter, and grace to share this
two- fold spirit.
Point I. — When our Lord was asked about His
doctrine, He replied in words full of heavenly wisdom,
that there was nothing to fear from it ; that He had
always taught it pubHcly, and that all who heard Him,
1 "And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to
Caiphas, who was the High Priest of that year. Now Caiphas was he who
had given the counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man
should die for the people, . . . The High Priest asked Jesus of His disciples
and of His doctrine. Jesus answered, Why asketh thou Me ? ask them
who have heard what I have spoken unto them ; behold they know what
things I have said. And when He had said these things, one of the servants
standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying, Answereth Thou the High Priest
so? And Annas sent Him bound to Caiphas the High Priest." (St. Joha
xviii. 13 — 24.)
JESUS BEFORE CAIPHAS. 385
of whom some were present, could bear witness to His
sincerity. Then a servant, before the whole assembly,
gave Him an ignominious blow ! — a vile creature struck
the face of the Son of the living God, causing horror in
the sight of Heaven and earth. The God of infinite
majesty willingly submits to this gross outrage and
humiliation for our sake and for our example. Let us
humble ourselves to think how we lament, murmur,
and complain, if by a single word, an unmannerly
action, or even by an inadvertence, we conceive our-
selves aggrieved. When we see our Lord thus insulted,
and no one to say a word in His defence, let us try to
give Him some comfort by offering ourselves to keep
Him company, and by labouring earnestly to acquire
something of His unshaken mildness and heroic patience.
Let us accept in silence any outrage or insult which
God in His wise providence may permit us to receive.
Point 2. — In order to compass their iniquitous intent
of sentencing Him to death with some outward sem-
blance of justice, they suborn false witnesses ; ^ but not
even from these can His crafty and malicious judges
extract grounds to condemn the evident and notorious
innocence of our Blessed Lord. The groundless and
incoherent calumnies of these perjurers, to which our
Lord listens meekly and silently, served only to con-
' "And the Chief Priests and the whole Council sought false witness
against Jesus that they might put Him to death, and they found not,
whereas many false witnesses had come in. And last of all there came two
false witnesses, and they said : This Man said, I am able to destroy the
Temple of God and after three days to rebuild it. And the High Priest
rising up, said to Him : Answerest Thou nothing to the things which these
witness against Thee? But Jesus held His peace. And the High Priest
said to Him : I adjure Thee by the hving God that Thou tell us if Thou be
Christ the Son of God, And Jesus saith to him, Thou hast said it. . . .
Then the High Priest rent his garment, saying, He hath blasphenr.ed ; what
further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the
blasphemy; what think you? But they answering said. He is guilty of
death." (St. Matt. xxvi. 56—66.)
Z ' ,
386 THE THIRD WEEK.
found and enrage the High Priest, who started up and
asked our Lord if He had nothing to say in His
defence, but Jesus gives no reply. But on being adjured
in the name of His Father to say whether He was the
Messiah and the Son of God, then He broke silence at
once, and answered fearlessly and clearly, though He
knew it would cost Him His life, "I am." Upon
which the hypocritical and envious High Priest rent his
garment as if in horror, and declared Him a blasphemer
and worthy of death, with the unanimous approval of
all the assessors. Our Lord is then given up to the
rude soldiers and guards, who beguiled the hours of
the night in insulting and tormenting Him, striking
Him and jeering at Him. With what reason have the
saints, placing this scene before themselves, offered
themselves to suffer injuries, calumnies, and torments,
and rejoiced to suffer even death itself to promote the
cause of virtue and to war against vice. When we
look upon that Divine face, blackened with blows and
besmeared with spittle, and yet listen in vain for a
single word of reproof or complaint, let us resolve at
least to bear our trials and sufferings with patience and
in silence, if we cannot do so with joy, as did the
Apostles who went forth from the Council rejoicing at
being found worthy to suffer for Christ every contumely.
But let us learn also, when God's glory requires it, to
speak out boldl}^ to correct evil tongues, to combat
false maxims, to admonish and to reprehend others,
and also to defend the truth. After all it is a real
honour to us that theworld should treat us as it treated
Jesus Christ.
Point 3. — It was through a want of this spirit that
St. Peter fell.^ It was in the court of Caiphas that,
1 " Now when Peter was in the court below, there cometh one of tlie
maid-servants of the High Priest ; ahd when she had seen Peter warming
himself, looking on him she saith : Thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth.
JESUS BEFORE CAIPHAS. 387
when accosted first by a servant-maid and afterwards
by two others, he with oaths and curses denied that
he even knew our Blessed Lord. He who a short time
before had made such loud protestations and spoken
with such courage, and had drawn his sword to oppose
a whole company of soldiers, falls disgracefully at the
sound of a question. Oh, the fearful frailty of man !
The stoutest pillar is all in a tremble at a breath of air.^
At the very time when our Lord is suffering insults
and ill-usage, and hears the sentence of death passed
on Him, for the glory of His Divine Father, the prince
of His Apostles, chosen to promote that same enter-
prise, abandons and denies Him through fear of
suffering. Why was all this permitted ? To teach us
that whoever will be a companion of our Lord must
nerve himself to bear hardships and crosses, or else he
will basel}^ recoil at the first encounter. But let us
also consider the remote causes of his fall. And in the
first place, he had been admonished by our Lord to
pray and to watch, and thus prepare himself for
temptation ; nevertheless, he had allowed himself to
give way to sleep, though twice admonished. Again,
he follows our Lord at a distance, and from a motive of
curiosity, to see how the affair would end ; and lastly,
he mixed with the soldiers and others, and stood with
them to warm himself at the fire. All these details
are not mentioned b}^ the Evangelists without special
reason, and are calculated to impress three important
lessons upon us, namely — that we stand in extreme
But he denied, saying, I neither know nor understand what thou sayest.
And he went forth before the court, and the cock crew. And again a
maid-servant seeing him began to say to the standers-by : This is one of
them. But he denied again. And after a while they that stood by said
again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art also a Galilean.
But he began to curse and to swear, I know not this Man of whom you
speak. And immediately the cock crew again." (St. Mark xiv. 66—72.)
1 St, Augustine, tr. 113.
388 THE THIRD WEEK.
need of constant prayer, without which all our fervour
and good purposes will never enable us to resist the
temptations of flesh and blood which we shall have to
encounter ; moreover, that if we begin to withdraw to
a distance from our Lord by allowing less perfect or
bad motives to influence us, such as temporal interest,
worldly esteem, vanity, or self-indulgence in the dis-
charge of the duties of our state of life, then we are on
the high-road to ruin, and sooner or later shall fall into
sin ; and lastly, that we stand in great need of prudence
and care in conversing with others. If we spend our
time in idle conversation with others, in resorting
to the houses of others to indulge in frivolous dis-
courses, we shall soon imbibe worldly maxims and
views, and, daunted by human respect, we shall be
exposed to dispraise what we should approve and
approve what we should denounce. Let us seriously
examine ourselves on these three points, and if we find
that we have not kept our word with God, let us turn
ourselves to our Lord as Peter did. Let us break off
all ties, withdraw from all dangerous occasions, and
shed bitter tears over the life we have led heretofore ;
and in our colloquies let us implore the grace of keeping
our resolution to imitate our Lord in bearing silently
and meekly the ignominy and contempt which in His
providence He may call upon us to undergo.
End with " Our Father."
jfESUS SPENDS THE NIGHT IN PRISON. 389
JESUS SPENDS THE MIGHT IN PRISON.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude 1. — Jesus was led from the tribunal of Caiphas
to the dungeon, to pass the rest of the night. On His
way thither He met the gaze of Peter, who thereupon
went away and wept bitterly. Jesus was detained all
night in the prison, and was subjected to most infamous
outrages.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture to ourselves the cold,
cheerless prison, and observe what passes.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg earnestly the grace of intense
sorrow and compassion for our dear Lord's sufferings,
and grace to offer ourselves to share them with Him,
if it shall be for His glory 'and for our sanctification.
Point I. — Repentance of Peter. — If Peter had not met
the eye of Jesus, if he had not thereby been favoured
with preventing grace, or had failed to co-operate with
it, he would never have repented, and, like Judas, would
have been lost, as it is certain that of himself the sinner
cannot rise from his sin, or become reconciled to God,
unless he be overtaken by the grace of God, and assisted
by it.
Both Peter and Judas had sinned grievously. The
former had more than once denied his Lord, and had
confirmed his denial by false oaths and curses, and this
1 "And the men that held Him, mocked Him and struck Him. And
they blindfolded Him and smote His face ; and they asked Him, saying,
Prophesy who it is that struck Thee. And blaspheming, many other
things they said against Him." (St. Luke xxv. 63—65.)
"And some began to spit upon Him, and to cover His face, and to
buffet him, and to say unto Him, Prophesy ; and the servants struck Him
with the palms of their hands." (St. Mark xiv. 65.)
"Then did they spit in His face, and buffeted Him ; and others struck
His face with the palm of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, O Christ,
who is he that struck Thee?" (St. Matt. xxvi. 67, 68.)
390 THE THIRD WEEK.
he did to save his life. He did it out of a craven fear,
when challenged by a common servant-maid. But after
all he had an ardent love of Jesus ; he had been true
and loyal to Jesus in all His adversities ; but unfortu-
nately, on a critical occasion, and in circumstances of
imminent danger, out of sheer weakness and not through
any malice, he sinned and denied the Master whom he
loved. It was far otherwise with Judas. Out of malice,
and love of money, and to court favour with those
invested with authority, wealth, and influence in Jeru-
salem, he took deliberate steps to hand over Jesus to
His enemies, hiding his plans under a thick veil of
hypocrisy, abusing the great graces all the while which
God was showering down upon him, yielding himself
up as a victim to the predominant passion of avarice,
embezzling moneys from the common purse under the
false pretext of zeal for the relief of the poor. The
consequence of all these prevarications was loss of
faith in our Blessed Lord or in His teaching, and of
all love or admiration for His Person. He perished
miserably by his own hand, goaded on by despair of
forgiveness.
Let us admire the generosity, the love, and magni-
ficent mercy of our dear Lord in looking upon Peter.
How well and quickly did the conscience-stricken
Apostle read in that look the tender and forgiving and
compassionate feelings of his Master's Heart ! And at
once he went out, smitten with anguish, which could
only relieve itself by floods of hot and bitter tears.
He remembers all the marks of love and kindness
which he had received from his Master ; all the promises
He had made to him ; all the confidence which that
Master had reposed in him ; all of which pierced his
repentant heart with fresh wounds, causing him renewed
sorrow, shame, and confusion ; added to which the
consciousness that he was forgiven filled up the cup
yESUS SPENDS THE NIGHT IN PRISON. 391
of his affliction, and perfected his contrition. Truly
"the Lord is good to them that trust in Him, to the
soul that seeketh Him." ** Oh, how sweet is Thy Spirit,
O Lord ! " Who would ever sin if he once realized
the goodness and loving mercy of the Heart of Jesus ?
Who would mistrust Him, if he knew the generosity
of that noble Heart, even though he may have sinned
a thousand times ?
Point 2. — ^esus remained in His bonds the wJiole night. —
Let us contemplate our Jesus with His hands bound
tightly behind Him, a rope round His neck, exhausted
b}^ fatigue, hungry, and parched with thirst, harassed
by His persecutors, who allow Him not a moment of
repose; yet amidst all the outrages heaped upon Him,
He is meek, gentle, patient, and humble; he utters not
a word of remonstrance or complaint. Who is it that
undergoes all this cruelty ? The Lord and Master of
the universe ! before whom countless hosts in Heaven
are prostrate in adoration, and whose praises are ringing
through the vaults of Heaven ; He whose hands, though
fastened with ropes, support the firmament, and were
ever opened to confer blessings ; which healed the leper,
restored sight to the blind, opened the ears of the deaf,
loosed the limbs of the paralytic, bestowed life on the
dead, multiplied bread to feed the hungry ! Learn here
how to despise the world, which teaches its slaves to
treat our Jesus with such wicked ingratitude ; learn too
what you have to expect for all your labours and sacri-
fices, if you look here below for your reward. The
disciple is not above his master, nor the slave above
his lord ; if they have treated Jesus thus, they will treat
those that are His true followers no better.
But why, dear Lord, would you be so bound and
crippled ? Was it not in order that He might free us
from the chains of sin and from the slavery of the devil ?
Or that He might purchase for us the noble and exalted
392 THE THIRD WEEK.
freedom which consists in the service of God, and the
liberty of the children of God ? Or perhaps by His
example to give courage, energy, and gladness to the
martyrs, and to those who for His sake will incur
chains and dungeon horrors ! Or to make expiation
for the sins of licence and independence, the vices of
our age ? It was for each and all these reasons that
He cheerfully, with a big Heart and ready will,
welcomed His bonds. O my soul ! and what have
we done to show our gratitude to our Blessed Lord ?
What are we ready to do for the time to come ? What
have we elected to do during this retreat, and what
means have we provided to secure fidelity to that
election ?
Make colloquy with Jesus.
Point 3. — He spends the night in prison. — Let us keep
our dear Lord company during that terrible night.
When one is sick and in pain, how slowly the hours
drag along ; it would seem as if the finger of time had
ceased to move, as if the day will never dawn again !
But if to pain of body is added the racking of the mind
and the torments of a breaking heart, then time appears
to come to a standstill. So was it with Jesus. Wearied
and worn, faint and exhausted, trembling with cold in
the damp chill of a spring night in a chamber into
which no ray of sunshine could ever penetrate, He is
subjected to infamies which men will never know until
the Day of Judgment. Contemplate these minions of
the priests and Pharisees, with what wanton cruelty
and shamelessness they flout His blessed Face, strike
His Sacred Body, spit upon Him, pluck His beard.
Hear how they call Him foul and injurious names,
blaspheme Him, turn Him to ridicule, and make the
chamber ring with their loud and vulgar laughter. See
how they wrap a rag over His eyes, and when they
deal blows at Him they mock Him, and bid Him say
jfESUS BEFORE PILATE. 393
who it was that struck Him. Yet He, from whose
sight nothing is hidden, appears as though He knew
not, answers not a word. O my soul, let us bow down
and adore Him, let us try to comfort Him and to make
some amends. It is for us, for our sins, for love of us,
that He has endured all this. Oh, let us love Him in
return. But not with lip-love — it is not that which
will satisfy Jesus. That indeed may pass muster with
your fellow-men, who cannot read the heart and give
you credit for sincerity ; but let us remember that Jesus
sees and reads the heart, and it is heart's love and
heart's service which alone will satisfy Him. Why
should not this sight inspire us with the same sentiments
with which it filled the saints, who loved for Christ's
sake to be unknown, despised, persecuted ?^ May God
grant it.
Let us make a fervent colloquy to our dear Lord,
and say the Anima Christi. End with " Our Father."
JESUS BEFORE PILATE.2
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Our Lord having been declared by the
Council worthy of death, was taken before the tribunal
of Pilate that the sentence might be put in execution
by his authority. There He observed a profound
1 Isaias liii. ; Psalm xxi. 7.
2 "And straightway in the morning the Chief Priests holding a con-
sultation with the ancients and the scribes and the whole Council, binding
Jesus, led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. And Pilate asked Him :
Art Thou the King of the Jews ? But He answering him saith : Thou
sayest it. And the Chief Priests accused Him in many things. And Pilate
again asked Him, saying : Answerest Thou nothing ? behold in how many
things they accuse Thee. But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate
wondered." (St. Mark xv, i — 5. Comp. St, Luke xxiii. ; St. Matt, xxvii. ;
St. John xviii. )
394
THE THIRD WEEK.
silence, under the most horrid calumnies, and onl}^
breaks this silence when asked if He was " King of
the Jews," when He declared that He was the true
Messiah. Afterwards He was compared with Barabbas,
the robber and assassin, and was postponed to him,
and is condemned, though known to be innocent, to be
crucified.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine ourselves in the court of
Pilate, &c.
Prelude 3. — Conscious of having postponed our Lord
to our sins, and full of compassion for Him and of
shame and confusion for ourselves, let us beg great
contempt for ourselves, whose guilt is the true cause of
all His ignominy and dishonour.
Point I. — Early in the morning the priests with the
elders and scribes and the whole Council led our Lord
in chains to the court of Pilate, through the very streets
along which the crowd had conducted Him in triumph
only four days before ; but now fettered and bound as
a malefactor and blasphemer ; and this too by the
priests and learned and reputedly holy men of the city.
But listen to the charges urged against Him ! He has
disturbed the peace, causing tumult and sedition among
the people. He has forbidden the people to pay tribute
to Caesar. He has aspired to be King, repeatedly giving
Himself out for the Messiah. Jesus all meekness, stands
manacled in the presence of Pilate, with eyes modestly
cast down, listening in profound silence, not uttering a
word in His defence, insomuch that Pilate was struck
with intense wonder. And yet the charges referred to
very grave points, namely, to sedition, to actual rebellion
against the Roman authority and to ambitious usurpa-
tion. How eloquently does this silence appeal to us ! Our
Lord had taught His disciples to despise all worldly
honour, to bear willingly injuries and hurriiliations, and
now He resolves by this public example to leave no
JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 395
room for human pride to pretend an excuse for the
contrary. He a God, innocence and sanctity itself,
appears as a criminal, a seducer, and as one only worthy
of death, nevertheless He will be silent and will not
utter one word in self-defence, even though with a
simple sentence of His infinite wisdom He could have
dissipated and confuted these black calumnies, as easily
as by a simple word He created the light of heaven.
And yet we, if admonished in a gentle and kindly spirit
by Superiors or friends for our own good, defend our-
selves, look for apologies, or ingeniously palliate our
faults, consider ourselves falsely misrepresented, or our
faults grossly exaggerated. And we excuse our remon-
strances on the ground that otherwise our honour will
suffer and some prejudice or detriment may accrue to
us from silence. But was not the honour, nay, the
very life of our Lord, of infinitely greater importance
than the honour and life of all men put together, and
yet He suffered in patience and silence as though He
were a criminal.
Let us not delude ourselves on this point, for it
shows but little progress in virtue ; nay, it would be a
great delusion to be too touchy and sensitive on this
point, to which after all we are bound by our engage-
ments and of which our Lord has given us such an
example.
Point 2. — Pilate took Jesus aside, ^ and considering
the charge of His aspiring to be King as the most
important, he put the question to Him, ** Art Thou a
King ? " Our Lord in reply gave an account of Himself
and told him that His Kingdom was not a temporal
1 " Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus and said
to Him : Art thou the King of the Jews ? Jesus answered : Sayest thou
this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of Me ? Pilate answered :
Am I a Jew ? Thy own nation and the Chief Priests have delivered Thee
up to me ; what hast Thou done ? Jesus answered : My Kingdom is not
of this world." (St. John .xviii. 33—36.)
396 THE THIRD WEEK.
one and that He wanted nothing of this world ; and
that He was born and came into this world to give
testimony to the truth. This so convinced Pilate of
His innocence that he ^returned to the people and
declared he could find no fault in Him. Here is a
lesson for those who as priests are often accused of
interfering in secular and political matters ; let us
convince men by our conduct, that our kingdom is not
of this world, that our thoughts and interests are far
other, that our one ambition in life is to promote the
glory of God, the salvation of souls, and to make known
to men the great and sovereign truth, God. In this
way we shall confound our enemies, and it will be said
of us, '* I find no case against this man." The world
expects from us that we shall endeavour with might
and main to denounce abuses, to rebuke the ungodty,
and to promote the cause of virtue ; and as long as we
regulate our efforts to these ends it will, it is true,
oppose us, though at heart it will admire our honesty
and single-mindedness ; but once let it see that we
entertain secular views, seek temporal interests, and
meddle in worldly affairs, rest assured that it will begin
to persecute and calumniate us ; therefore let the dead
bury their dead.
Point 3. — Pilate, seeing the innocence of Jesus, ^ tries
like a time-server and a slave of human respect to save
Him. He proposed then to release Him at the Pasch,
as he was accustomed at that time each year to set
1 " Now upon the solemn day the Governor was accustomed to release
to the people one prisoner whom they would. And he had then a notorious
prisoner that was called Barabbas. They, therefore being gathered
together, Pilate said : Whom will you that I release to you, Barabbas, or
Jesus that is called Christ ? for he knew that for envy they had delivered
Him. . . . But the Chief Priests and ancients persuaded the people that
they should ask Barabbas, and make Jesus away. And the Governor
answering, said to them : Whether will you of the two to be released unto
you? But they said, Barabbas." (St. Matt, xxvii. 15 — 21.)
JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 397
free one criminal, at the choice of the people. Now
if the choice lies between the notorious Barabbas and
Jesus, he presumes that they will choose the Matter.
What a fearful outrage ! to put the innocent, gentle,
meek Son of God in comparison with the robber,
murderer, and seditious villain ! Nevertheless passion,
envy, and hatred so blinded the priests, scribes, and
people, that with one voice they called for Barabbas,
and as to Jesus they insisted that He should be cruci-
fied, and that His Blood should be upon them and on
their descendants. Oh, how deep a wound does this
cause to the heart of every right-minded man ! what
hot tears does it not draw from those who remember ^
that as often as they have committed grievous sin,
they too have joined in the cry, " Not this Man, but
Barabbas" — that sensuality, carnal love, or worldly
pride, excited us to abandon our dear Lord, and hand
Him over to His and our enemies, crucifying Him
again and making a mockery of Him.
And our crime is all the greater [than that of the
Jews, for they did not know fully what the}^ were doing ;
had they known they would never have crucified the
Lord,i whereas we know what we do when we render
the sufferings of Jesus not only useless, but actually
turn them to our greater criminality, and all for the
degrading gratification of our own inordinate inclina-
tions, thus squandering His Most Precious Blood. And
all this our dear Lord saw when He suffered, and yet
He cheerfully accepted it all for us ; and would if
necessary undergo it all again through His undying
love for us. What then shall we do in return ? Alas !
hitherto we have done but little. Will it be too much '
to drink the chahce with Him ? It may be bitter to
our natural taste, but love and gratitude will make it
1 ' ' For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord
of glory." (i Cor. ii. 8.)
THE THIRD WEEK,
sweet, and by persevering and fervent prayer we shall
be able to do it.
In our colloquy we will pray that His Sacred Blood
may fall into our hearts and may produce a contrite
and humble spirit there. End with " Our Father."
JESUS BEFORE HEROD.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Pilate's efforts to free our Lord proving
ineffectual, he sends Him to Herod, the cruel and
incestuous Tetrarch of Galilee. The mob all along
the way shouted and cried out against Him and forced
their way into the judgment-hall of Herod. Our Lord
made no reply either to the accusations of the priests
or to the manifold questions of the Tetrarch ; conse-
quently in his disappointment and rage he brands our
Lord as a fool, and orders a fool's white garment to be
put on Him, and contemptuously sends Him back to
Pilate.
Prelude 2. — Let us accompany our Lord on the way
to and from Herod.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg this spirit of self-abasement
and humility.
Point I. — Let us compare Herod and our Lord.
Herod, swelled with pride, stern, haughty, and cruel,
surrounded by his guards : Jesus, standing meek and
1 ' ' But Pilate hearing Galilee, asked if the Man were of Galilee ? ■ And
when he understood that He was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him away
to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem in those days. And Herod,
seeing Jesus, was very glad, for he was desirous of a long time to see Him,
because he had heard many things of Him : and he hoped to see some
sign wrought by Him. And he questioned Him in many words. But He
answered nothing. . . . And Herod and his army set Him at nought : and
mocked Him, putting on Him a white garment, and sent Him back to
Pilate." (St. Luke xxiii. 6, 11.)
JESUS BEFORE HEROD. 399
gentle, His hands bound with fetters. Herod, anxious
to see his prisoner, as if He were a magician and
desirous to witness some specimens of His wonderful
power. Jesus had hitherto refused to indulge his
curiosity by proclaiming His heavenly doctrines or
working any miracles before him, until He appears in
his presence in the ignominious attitude of a criminal
arraigned on the capital charge of sacrile^ 5. Here our
Lord gives us a lesson to contemn vainglory and
worldly honour, by being vilified and despised, when
He could, had He chosen, have made such a glorious
figure. When shall we learn this lesson ? When shall
we practically convince ourselves of this great truth
inculcated by the doctrine and example of our Lord,
that worldly glory and esteem is a great obstacle to the
glory of God and to our real welfare ? It is a delusion
to make a parade of our birth, talents, and erudition ;
to make a show of poverty which yet must be fine and
genteel. Self-contempt, poverty, modesty, humility in
words and deeds are the true dispositions for great
exploits in the cause of God and of souls, and remove
from us countless dangers and temptations of sin.
Point 2. — Let us consider how, probably, Herod
began in a friendly manner, as may be inferred from
the narration, to propose to our Lord many questions,
and very likely suggested to Him to perform some one
of His usual prodigies, in order to rescue Himself from
the hands of His enemies : but as though He did not
hear, our Lord made no answer. Meanwhile the priests
and scribes loudly accused Him, but without evoking
the slighest word or action on His part. On many
other occasions He had spoken so eloquently, as to
draw crowds after Him and charm them with His
words, and had wrought countless miracles in favour
of others, but now, when it would save Him from
death, He will not say a word or work a miracle. He
400 THE THIRD WEEK.
will speak and act when His Father's glory is at stake,
but not for Himself, or to satisfy idle curiosity, or to
frustrate His design to suffer for our sakes and through
love for us. Oh ! again a great lesson for us, to lie low»
be silent, try to be unnoticed except when called on to
come forward in the cause of God and our neighbour.
Yet do we not seek the more conspicuous functions and
posts and places ? And fly from those wherein there is
little display and much labour and suffering ? A sure
sign that we seek ourselves and our own glory, but
certainly not the glory of God and the salvation of
souls.
Point 3. — Herod was disappointed and indignant,
and vented his rage in contemptuous words ; despised
our Lord as a fool, and together with his guards made
game of Him ; ordered them to throw a white sheet on
Him as if He was an idiot, and sent Him back to Pilate,
the mob all the way scoffing, laughing, and jeering at
Him. The infinite and eternal wisdom, the wisest
being that ever trod the earth, is deemed and treated
as a fool ! Oh ! poor world. O world, mad indeed and
depraved in its judgments ! O world ! it is thus thou
treatest the Sovereign Master of the world. Oh ! who
can be such a fool and traitor to our Lord as to court
the esteem and favour of that which so treated Him.
Who so cowardly as to care for its condemnation and
not despise and shun its approbation ?
Let us make three fervent colloquies, imploring the
grace to love and reduce to practice the third degree of
humiUty. End with •* Our Father."
THE FLAGELLATION. 401
THE FLAGELLATION.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — When our Lord was brought back to
Pilate, this weak and cowardly knave, knowing His
innocence and at the same time seeing all the avenues
closed against His acquittal, devised an infamous plan
whereby to escape the execution of his innocent
Victim. He will have Him whipped to such an extent
that the sight of Him will force the hearts of His
enemies to pity, and their hatred will be appeased and
they will let Him go. Jesus therefore is stripped in
the court of Pilate and scourged.
Prelude 2. — Let us imagine ourselves present at the
execution.
Prelude 3. — Let us pray for great feelings of com-
passion and great horror of our sins, which have
inflicted this agony on our Lord.
Point I. — The quality of this torment. — It was the
first bodily torment inflicted on our Lord, but in the
intent of the judge and in the desires of the Jews, it
was also to be the last. For Pilate had resolved to
release Him after it was over, and therefore the Jews
hoped that He would not be able to survive it.
We will try to imagine the rage and fury of the
executioners, instigated as they were partly by the
devil, and partly by the desire to win the applause of
the priests and people, and probably by the bribes of
the Scribes and Pharisees,^ whose rage and jealousy
and thirst for His Blood were all the more fierce from
having been so long resisted and controlled by authority.
1 "Then therefore Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him." (St. John
xix. I.)
' Suarez, t. 2. pt. 3. disp. 35 ; a Lapide, in Matt, xxvii.
AA
402 THE THIRD WEEK.
Our Lord sees Himself encircled by this dense mass of
infuriated people all thirsting for His Blood, and anxious
to see Him writhing under the lash, and like hounds
ravenous to tear their prey to pieces, while He, all
meek and gentle, offers Himself for the scourging. i
Let us reflect here on the terrible violence of
unbridled passions, which blind the judgment and
harden the heart and drag us into the most loathsome
excesses, and lead us to discharge on the tender Body
of our dear Lord a storm of blows and scourges, as
many in number as are the sins we have committed by
the indulgence of our unlawful appetites. That we
might satisfy these we have not hesitated to ill-use our
God. Let us with lively sorrow detest our past blind-
ness and cruelty, and through gratitude towards Him
who has suffered so much from and for us, we will offer
up to Him the inclination which is most violent and
predominant in us, with a firm purpose to sacrifice it
for His sake.
Point 2. — The manner of the Scourging. — Our gracious
Lord was stripped of His clothes and tied to the pillar,
and was thus ignominiously made the butt of the scoffs
and jeers of the impudent and shameless rabble ; and
moreover, this form of punishment was dishonourable
and infamous, being reserved by Roman law for slaves
and the vilest persons. We could not bear to see a
dumb beast cruelly whipped ; how then could we bear
to see not a slave, not a criminal, but the Son of God,
our delicate and virgin Jesus, innocence and holiness
itself, the worthiest and most beautiful Being that
Heaven and earth have ever seen, condemned to be
treated worse than a malefactor, worse than even a
dog ! to be whipped without any measure or law, and
where the sole aim is to give full vent to rage and fury
on His delicate Body ; moreover, where the executioners
1 " Behold I am ready for the scourges," (Psalm xxxvii. i8.)
THE FLAGELLATION. 403
vie with each other who shall be the most inhuman and
shall win the loudest applause, and who have been
bribed to do their worst. As to the quality of the
scourges, the Evangelists do not specify, but it is
believed the first were whip-cord lashes, and the others
thorn-switches — the first causing the Body to become
black and blue, the other puncturing and tearing the
flesh in countless places, and causing the Blood to gush
out in streams.
But of what was our dear Lord thinking all the
while, with bended Head and eyes fixed on the ground ?
How loudly does His Sacred Heart speak to His
Heavenly Father, and how eloquently does It appeal
to Him in our behalf! offering up to Him His stripes,
His Wounds, and His Precious Blood, for us His cruel
but fondly-loved children, that we may gain forgiveness
and may make a return of love, when we shall know to
what an excess He has loved us by the excess of pain
and shame which He here endured for us.
Sometimes we are inclined to think, when- we are
exhorted to lead a more retired life, to be more earnest
in mortifying our passions and subduing our inclina-
tions, to be more observant of our rules, more assiduous
in our studies, and the rest, that too much is required
of us. Oh, let us look at the poor Body of our dear
Lord, so mangled, torn, and butchered for us ! He
might at the first stroke have cried out, "Hold, that
is enough." But this He would not do ; but with His
bended Head and motionless tongue, His Heart pro-
claims His readiness, bids them strike on, plough His
Body, drain off His Blood. Yes, He will suffer all most
readily for the love of our souls, which are so dear to
Him, and for their salvation. What a shame and what
ingratitude it is on our side to do so little or nothing
for Him who has suffered so much pain and ignominy
for us ! How mean and unworthy for us to stand
404 THE THIRD WEEK.
weighing what is of obligation and what is not, and to
account that we do too much by the too httle that we
do. Let us offer up our good-will and a firm resolution
to do for His sake whatever we can, in a generous
spirit, and let us beg Him to give us grace to make
that sacrifice at least, which in our election He let us
know that He required of us.
Point 3. — The end of our Lord in undergoing this
torment was to make satisfaction for the sins of the
flesh so common in the world, and for those gross
pleasures and gratifications of the vice of impurity.
Many were the scourges which these sins deserved —
multa flagella peccatoris — and these our dear Lord would
receive on His Body — multa flagella redemptovis — that we
might thus escape. When we behold our dear Lord
lying half dead at the pillar, all mangled and bleeding,
it should recall to our minds those words : " As the
eagle hovering over her young, He hath spread out
His wings and hath taken them and carried them on
His shoulders."! Jesus stretched over us the wings
of His love, a love immense and incomprehensible, and
received on His Body the strokes of Divine justice
prepared to fall on us vile wretches ; He is battered
and bruised and mangled by a very storm of scourges,
that we might be left free and sound. Surely, if we
do not feel broken-hearted at the thought, we can have
no heart at all.
Another end of our dear Lord was to give us an
example how we ought to treat this body of ours. He
was most innocent and most holy, and His Body was
perfectly subject to His Spirit and to reason ; never-
theless He would suffer in His Body in atonement for
our sins. Now if He would thus reduce His flesh,
what usage should not we, who have been guilty of so
many sins, deal out to our bodies — to our flesh, which
1 Deut. xxxii. 11.
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS. 405
exposes us to so many risks of committing new sins ?
In what manner should we chastise it and subject it to
the spirit, to reason, and to faith ? The saints at the
thought of this mystery conceived a holy hatred of
their bodies : it caused them to bear about them the
mortification of Jesus ; and seeing Christ in suffering,
they armed themselves with the same thought.^ Where-
fore, at the feet of Jesus scourged, let us make an act of
contrition, and consider what penances to adopt in
future, unwilling to be without a wound when we see
Him so wounded. "A devoted soldier does not heed his
own wounds when he looks at the wounds of his beloved
general." ^
End with " Our Father."
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS.^
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — The soldiers, after scourging our Lord,
invented a cruel sport, which was to crown Him King.
They therefore seated Him on a stone, threw over His
shoulders a cast-off red military cloak, put a reed in
place of a sceptre, and a wreath of thorns on His Head
for a crown, and then brutally amused themselves by
paying Him mock homage and striking Him on the
Head.
Prelude 2. — Let us humbly place ourselves beside
Him.
1 I St. Peter iv. i. 2 St. Bernard, Serm. on Cantic.
3 ' ' And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon His Head,
and they put on Him a purple garment. And they came to Him and said:
Hail, King of the Jews. And they gave Him blows. Pilate therefore went
forth again and saith to them : Behold, I bring Him forth unto you, that
you may know that I find no cause in Him. Jesus therefore came forth
bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And he saith to
them, Behold the Man." (St. John xix. 2 — 5.)
4o6 . THE THIRD WEEK.
Prelude 3. — Let us pray that we may imitate His
patience and humility.
Point I. — The pain of this torment we may infer,
Jirst, from the quaHty of the thorns, which were sea-
rushes, which are long, hard, and sharp ;^ secondly, from
the number of these thorns, which must have been
great, as the crown was not a fillet, but covered the
whole Head; 2 thirdly, from the manner in which they
put it on, pressing it close down, and driving the thorns
in with blows from short, thick sticks ; fourthly, from
the duration of this torment, as He carried it to His
Death.^ Imagine, then, what pain and agony it must
have caused ! A bad headache almost drives us wild,
and any wound of the brain is very grave and painful
on account of the countless veins, nerves, and delicate
membranes collected there. Oh, who then can conceive
the terrible agony of that dreadful crown ! Oh, let us
thank Him for having suffered so much for us ; let us
offer up the Precious Blood thus spilt for our sins to
the Eternal Father, as a satisfaction for our count-
less vain, proud, and impure thoughts. Which of us
is not obliged to confess that he has driven in not one,
but many thorns, and has often pressed and driven
them deeper in ? But as we look at this Head crowned
thus, what resolutions should we make ? To embrace
cheerfully troubles, hardships, absence of comforts and
conveniences, and contempt, and to try to esteem them
as a crown of glory, in order to resemble our Heavenly
King. Let the children of this world seek diversions,
delicacies, and pleasures, and crown themselves with
roses : it is not strange, for such is its spirit ; but for
those who belong to the Body of Christ and bear His
Name, theirs is the crown of pains and sorrows, for non
decet sub capite spinoso membrum esse delicattim ; and when
1 Suarez, Toletus, and Baronius.
' Suarez. ' Origen, Tertullian, and Cyprian.
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS. 407
these thorns smart and sting our hearts, the thought of
Jesus will soothe and blunt them.
Point 2. — Let us consider the ignominy of this
torment. It seems from the. relation of the Evangelists
that the sole aim of the soldiers was to throw ridicule
on the Kingship of our Lord. Wherefore, by way also
of diverting themselves and pleasing the Jews, who
accused Him of calling Himself a King, they resolved
to crown Him as such. They therefore place Him in
the courtyard, where the rest of the soldiers were
mustered, strip Him again, and reopen His fearful
Wounds — a sight sufficient to horrify and melt the
hardest heart — they seat Him on a stone, and put the
reed in His hand, and a purple rag on His shoulders,
and a cap of thorns on His Blessed Head, which they
pressed down so heavily that the Blood spurted forth
copiously. Then the monsters began to scoff and sneer
at Him and blaspheme Him ; they knelt down before
Him, took the reed and hit Him on the Head with it,
and spat their phlegm on His face, and in this way
they ridiculed Him and blasphemously insulted Him
till they were satiated.
Now, let us reflect that this seemingly wretched
creature is no other than the Son of God, the King of
kings and Lord of lords, who sitteth upon an eternal
throne in Heaven, and at that very time was being
adored by countless hosts of mighty and blessed spirits,
at whose beck stands ready to obey even inanimate
creation, and at whose presence the heavens and the
earth tremble* This is the Person who, out of love for
us, vile and ungrateful though we are, will be hailed as
a mock-King, will be cuffed, kicked, spat upon, and
outraged. But if we have any faith and gratitude, we
shall not gaze with idle wonder, but in His Divine face
we shall see as in a mirror the deformity of our pride
and vanity, and the excellence of humiliations and
4o8 THE THIRD WEEK.
contempt ; we shall fly from the first suggestions of
pride as being the source and origin of sin, the cause
of the transformation of angels into devils, and the
introducer of death and every misery into the world.
Truly it is a terrible evil, seeing that to atone for it our
Lord would undergo such torment and ignominy.
Let us examine and see how many faults and failings
we commit owing to this vice, and, remembering how
infinitely worthy we are of all contempt, let us beg of
the Father to look upon the face of His Christ, and by
its merits to grant us the virtue of true humility, so
that having joy set before us, we may choose the shame,
and ambition to be thus likened to His ever-Blessed
Son.
Point 3. — " The soldiers came before Him and said,
Hail, King of the Jews." Though in derision, yet the
cruel soldiers confess Jesus to be a King : but His
Kingdom is not of the earth, it is of souls which He
has won by His Precious Blood, by which also He has
subverted the kingdom of Lucifer and of sin. He came
into the world to bring it under subjection, and so to
enter into His Father's glory. He has called us to
follow Him, to labour with Him, to suffer with Him,
that so with Him we may be glorified. We have hailed
Him as our King, and have pledged ourselves to take
the offensive {agendo contra) against self-indulgence,
against inordinate love of our friends and relatives, or
of the things of this world. See here how our King
carries out His intention, what He endures to secure
the victory, to establish His Father's Kingdom in our
souls. We have offered to share His lot : how have we
hitherto kept our promise ? Do we not resent the
slightest injury ? Are we not disappointed if our words
or actions do not meet with approval or praise ? Do
we not betray our miserable vanity by talking of self,
or by undue attachment to our person and dress ? Is it
JESUS IS DELIVERED UP TO BE CRUCIFIED. 409
thus we flatter ourselves we are followers of our King
and Captain ? O my soul, let us seriously enter into
ourselves, and resolve to be honest in our professions of
allegiance, and uncompromising in putting them into
execution. With St. Augustine, let us be filled with
shame at our past insincerity, and with him let us say,
" Too late, O my Jesus, have we learnt to know Thee,
too late have we loved Thee."
End with " Our Father."
JESUS IS DELIVERED UP TO BE
CRUCIFIED.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Pilate makes various efforts to set Jesus
free. He strives to soften their hearts by showing Him
to the multitude : he then declares His innocence ; but
1 ' ' Pilate therefore went forth again and said to them : Behold I bring
Him forth to yoii, that you may know that I find no cause in Him. Jesus
therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.
And he saith to them : Behold the Man. When the Chief Priests therefore
and the servants had seen Him, they cried out, saying : Crucify Him,
crucify Him. Pilate saith to them : Take Him you and crucify Him :
for I find no cause in Him. The Jews answered him : We have a law :
and according to the law He ought to die, because He made Himself the
Son of God. When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the
more. And he entered into the hall again, and he said to Jesus : Whence
art Thou ? But Jesus gave no answer. . . . From thenceforth Pilate sought
to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying : If thou release this Man
thou art no friend of Caesar : for whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh
against Caesar. Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus
forth, and sat down in the judgment-seat, in the place that is called
Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. And it was the Parasceve of the
Pasch, about the sixth hour, and he saith to the Jews : Behold your King.
But they cried out : Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Pilate
saith to them : Shall I crucify your King? The Chief Priests answered:
We have no king but Caesar. Then, therefore, he delivered Him to them
for to be crucified." (St. John xix. 4—16,)
4IO THE THIRD WEEK.
finally, through motives of fear and of selfishness, he
solemnly condemns Him to death, with the same breath
by which he acknowledges Him innocent.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture ourselves present amongst
the crowd.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg of God that we may know
our dear Lord more intimately in this mystery of His
Passion, that so our hearts may be melted with love
and compassion for His sufferings, and may be more
imbued with His Spirit.
Point I. — Pilate shows Jesus to the people. — Let us con-
template Pilate, the slave of human respect, and full of
remorse at the consciousness of his criminal conduct,
leading Jesus, the innocent, gentle Lamb of God, and
showing Him to the multitude : Ecce homo — " Behold
the Man : " His Body all bruised and bloody ; His hair
matted. His beard torn, His Head crowned with thorns.
His eyes swelled and all but closed. His hands still
bound, and His Body partially covered with a red
garment. The dreadful sight caused the multitude to
be dumb with horror, and they would have spared Him,
had not the Chief Priests raised -the cry, "Crucify
Him."
Let us behold the Man, and see what our sins have
made of Him : " From the sole of His feet to the crown
of His Head, there is not a sound place in Him." " He
is a worm and not a man, the reproach of men, the
outcast of the people." And yet let us penetrate this
terrible outside covering, and look at His Soul. Oh !
what a magnificent intellect is there concealed, full
pf the sublimest, noblest thoughts and designs, and all
for our benefit, for our salvation, for our future glory !
But nobler far, more sublime, more beautiful His
devoted, grand and loving Heart ! Not all this deluge
of affliction, nor all man's ingratitude, can succeed
in extinguishing the love in that breaking Heart.
JESUS IS DELIVERED UP TO BE CRUCIFIED. 411
Let us behold the Man. Though apparently so
helpless, He has the power, if He chooses, to scatter
that multitude as the wind whirls the autumn leaves
through the air : if He chooses, He can at once restore
the wreck of His Body to all its beauty, as it appeared
when He was transfigured upon the mount. If He only
wished it, He could summon the Angel of death to
come and spread the stillness of death over the brawling
multitude : but Jesus loves us too much for that. " He
hath loved us, and will deliver Himself to the death for
us." " His love is strong as, j^ea, stronger than death."
We shall all of us upon a day have to behold the Man,
when He will appear in great power and majest}^ ; and
then His enemies will cry out, not for His crucifixion,
but for the hills to come and crush them, to hide them
from the face of His justice and power. Let us with
the eyes of faith behold the Man, and fall down and
adore Him, and beg of Him to give us grace to put on
His livery and follow after* Him. Such is our law, in
opposition to the law of this wicked world, which would
put Him to death because He maketh Himself what
He is, the Son of God.
Point 2. — Pilate again questions Jesns. — Then Pilate
questions Him again about His origin, and asks Him
who He really is : but Jesus does not answer. Were
He to declare His Divinity, Pilate might not under-
stand, or might refuse to act, and so would be more
guilty, or perhaps our Blessed Lord refused him this
grace, because he had already refused to hear the
truth. 1 Embarrassed by His silence, Pilate tries to
extort an answer by menace and promise. •' Knowest
Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and I
have power to set Thee free ? " Our Lord then replied,
acknowledging his power, but warns him against abus-
ing it, as he will have to answer for it to Him from
^ St. John xviii. 38.
412 THE THIRD WEEK.
whom all power is derived. The truth of these words,
uttered with perfect calmness, intrepidity, sweetness,
and majesty by our dear Lord, struck deep into the
soul of Pilate and filled him with terror and dismay.
His conscience stings him, and he resolves at all cost
to release Him. Our Blessed Lord has given him the
grace to do his duty ; but he will again abuse it. So is
it with the slaves of a predominant passion. God is
perpetually offering them grace to amend, to overcome ;
they resolve to overcome, to set themselves free ; but
alas ! they will not take the means required, and so
continue to abuse God's mercy, until at length that
mercy is turned into justice.
But let us also look to ourselves. If through God's
protecting love and mercy we are not the enemies of
our dear Lord, may we not in a certain sense be
inclined to imitate too closely the conduct of Pilate.
We know what God demands from us, what sacrifice
He requires from us, that we may correspond more
perfectly with His grace, and thereby attain a higher
perfection in our state of life. We have the power
given to us from above to make the sacrifice, and we
feel that we shall have to answer for the abuse of that
power hereafter, yet how often like Pilate do we seek
to do our duty, and through our want of honesty and
thoroughness, through fear of what it may cost us, do
we fail, and f>ut off the resolution to another time,
which perhaps ijiay never come ? In this we imitate
the conduct of ishose whom St. Ignatius puts in the
second category \in the " Three Classes," and cut
ourselves off from the true peace and happiness which
belongs alone to those of the third class.
Point 3. — The final sentence. — The Chief Priests at
length had recourse to the last means of forcing Pilate
to pass sentence on Jesus. This was a threat to
impeach him of encouraging high treason against
yESUS IS DELIVERED UP TO BE CRUCIFIED. 413
Caesar. Of all charges this was the most formidable
in the reign of Tiberius. Pilate had already been
accused of causing great discontent and frequent revolt.
If now he was* charged with fostering treason, his doom
would be sealed. By this artful, obstinate, disloyal
means, did their implacable hatred succeed in stifling
all sentiments of justice and humanity in the heart of
Pilate. He yields to personal interest, to human respect
and cowardice, and consents with the High Priests to
murder the Son of God. Let us contemplate the
feelings of our dear Jesus as He silently witnesses all
that is passing. What must have been His sorrow and
anguish as He reflected on the black ingratitude and
fierce hatred of all ranks of His countrymen, clamouring
for His death by torture ; on the woes which their
crime of deicide would bring upon their city and nation ;
on the manner in which Pilate betrays his duty and
acts against his conscience. And this to Him who
never wronged any one, who did good to all, showering
down His blessings wheresoever He went ; to Him who
was their Lord, their Messiah, their God. And in the
whole of that vast crowd there was not one to raise his
voice in the cause of justice or to cry shame ! What
had He done to this people, or in what had He made
them sad ? What ought He to have done, and had not
done it ? Oh ! who can care for the opinion or esteem
of this blind and perverted world ? This world which
is seated in wickedness ? To care for it or its judgments
is dishonourable, is disloyalty to our King and Captain,
Jesus Christ.
"Then Pilate gave sentence that it should be as
they desired, and Jesus he delivered up to their will."
Let us picture to ourselves the cries of triumph of the
High Priests, the wild howls of the rude mob now that
they had got the Victim in their power : let us see how
they vie with each other in ridiculing Him, striking
414 THE THIRD WEEK.
Him, spitting upon Him, and mocking at Him. Like
lightning the rumour spread through the city, and the
crowds all hurried towards Golgotha, anxious to feast
their eyes and sate their thirst for blood on the sight
of His terrible death. Oh, what a sickening sight !
The wrath of God hath come upon our Jesus, the
terrors of God's justice have troubled Him. The
sorrows of death have surrounded Him, the torrents
of iniquity have burst upon Him. The sorrows of Hell
have encompassed Him, the snares of death have
prevented Him : yet He is firm and unshaken, like a
rock in the midst of roaring waters, calm, resigned, and
glad at the approach of the moment when by His
Death He will put the seal on the constancy of His
love, and will make adequate reparation for the offence
of His Father's justice. Oh, what must have been the
feelings of His Blessed Mother, who, with the penitent
Mary and the other pious women under the guidance of
the Beloved Disciple, made her way to the place of
execution. Mind cannot conceive, much less can tongue
express, the pangs that racked that Mother's soul.
To see her only Child, her only Son, and such a Son,
intellectually, morally, and physically the paragon of
humanity, so patient, uncomplaining, obedient, humble,
under the most cruel, unjust, and heartless torments
inflicted upon Him by His own ungrateful creatures,
whom He still loves and will love until the bitter end.
Yet she proves herself worthy to be the Mother of her
heroic Child, and in her agony of grief she is resigned,
and the prayer of her soul is, '' Father, if it be possible,
let this chalice pass from me : yet if it must be that I
drink, not my will but Thine be done." Like a grand
high priestess she willingly offers her Jesus to be the
sin-offering and the peace-offering for mankind. Next
to the sublime figure of her Son, rising above the
boisterous sea of sorrow, unshaken stands the sublime
JESUS IS CRUCIFIED. 4^5
figure of His Mother. Eja mater fons amoris, me sentire
vim dolovis,fac ut tecum liigeam. Oh, let us join our Blessed
Mother in this awful hour, let us try to comfort and
console her, let us be filled with intense sorrow and
confusion at the thought that we are the cause of all
this woeful scene, " for He loved me, He delivered
Himself for me," and let us beg that we may take up
the Spirit of Jesus, and thus in some way make amends
to her for the Son of whom we robbed her. Fiat, fiat.
Let us make a triple colloquy, to our Blessed Mother,
to our Lord, and to the Eternal Father. End with
*' Our Father."
JESUS IS CRUCIFIED.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Pilate hands our Lord over to the Jews,
who refuse to have Him for their King : they load Him
with the Cross, which is afterwards borne by Simon of
Cyrene — they then nail Him to the Cross between two
thieves.
Prelude 2. — Let us accompany our Lord on His way
to execution.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg that we may know our Lord
in His Crucifixion, that we may love Him intensely,
and be made one with Him on the Cross.
Point I. — As the Jews persisted in demanding the
Crucifixion, Pilate at length gives our Lord up to them
to work their will on Him, though he knew that He
was innocent, and at the same time suspected that He
was more than man, for his wife had been much
1 "And it was the Parasceve of the Pasch, about the sixth hour, and
he saith to the Jews : Behold your King. But they cried out : Away with
Him, away with Him, crucify Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith to them :
Shall I crucify your King ? The Chief Priests answered : We have no
king but Csesar. Then, therefore, he delivered Him to them to be
crucified." (St. John xix. 14 — 16.)
4i6 THE THIRD WEEK.
troubled in her sleep, and had admonished him to have
no hand in the death of this just Man. He was also
afeard because our Lord had warned him of his sin,
though He had added it was less than that of the
Jews, who were the chief authors and promoters of His
Death : nevertheless, despite his knowledge, his fears,
and the stings of his conscience and the warnings he
had received, he still sacrilegiously condemns the Lord
God to be crucified, afraid lest if he refused he might
forfeit his office and the friendship of Caesar. Oh, to
what crimes will miserable human respect lead a man 1
The mind becomes blinded, the will paralyzed, and
/laws, human and divine, are trodden underfoot, rather
than displease or disappoint a friend. So, too, it is
often through human respect and fear of losing or
hurting a friend that we encourage undue affections
and disregard rules : that through fear of scoffs or
raillery, or of being boycotted, we continue in a tepid
and indifferent course of life. Let us dread this mean
and cowardly vice of human respect, for after all it
begot a deicide and caused the Death of God made
Man. And, on the other hand, let us look at what
passes in the Soul of our sweet Lord as He hears
Himself given up to His inhuman foes. How meek
and gentle, how perfectly resigned to the will of His
Heavenly Father, and calmly and courageously He
accepts the sentence and faces His terrible Death.
Point 2. — The way from the City to Calvary.'^ — At once
the Jews bring forth the instrument of death, and it is
placed on His shoulders, for Him to carry to the place
of execution, as a badge of infamy and to add to His
torment.
1 "And they took Jesus and led Him forth. And bearing His own
Cross He went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew
Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on
each side, and Jesus in the midst." (St. John xix. 17, i8.)
JESlJS IS CRUCIFIED. 417
The Cross, till then so infamous that whosoever
touched it became legally unclean, has since become a
badge of honour worn on the breasts of knights and
on the crowns of kings, and is worshipped on every
Christian altar. Let us behold our Lord with a rope
round His neck, bending under His burden and stagger-
ing along up the ragged ascent, amidst peals of laughter,
sneers, and rude shouts, and blasphemous imprecations
of the rabble and the mob, headed and encouraged by
Priests, Pharisees, and Scribes. How long, with such
a spectacle staring us in the face, shall we continue to
harbour our false notions ? When, oh, when shall we
learn practically this great truth of our religion, that to
suffer derision, ill-usage, affronts, and injuries for the
love of Jesus Christ is the most noble and most glorious
of feats. We adore the Holy Cross because it was
hallowed and consecrated by His touch. Why, then,
shall we not receive willingly the ignominies of the
same, as made glorious and honourable by His own
example ?
But besides the dishonour of carrying His Cross,
He had to endure the fearful pain. It was made of
two large, thick, and heavy beams, strong enough to
carry His weight, and consequently was very heavy ;
and His poor Body was mangled and butchered, and
His strength was exhausted through His loss of blood,
want of sleep and food, and from His agonies of pain,
especially from the crown of thorns. Yet He has to
carry it, and to quicken His faltering steps they push
Him and lash Him with stripes. Every step was hke
death to Him from the pains He felt all over His Body,
and especially when the Cross struck against His Head,
or jolted over the stones along the way. Thrice He
fell, and then they kicked Him and pulled Him by the
rope, or prodded Him with sticks, as if He were some
senseless beast of burden : then, fearing lest He should
BB
4i8 THE THIRD WEEK.
expire on the road, they eased Him of His burden, and
forced another, a stranger from Cyrene, to carry it for
Him. Oh, to what a fearful state has His love for us
reduced Him !
In beholding our Lord thus groaning and oppressed
under the weight of the Cross, I feel my unfortunate
heart oppressed by another weight, I mean the weight
of my ingratitude. How can we consent to let Him
suffer alone, and not at once offer to share the Cross
with Him ? How can we for shame draw a line at
our obligations, and meanly say thus far and no further ?
Shall we find it too much to bear a small penance
which we deem hard or unjust, to be more punctual
and exact in our daily observances and duties, to bear
some slight or contempt or want of consideration, to
suffer some pinch of poverty, to dwell in some particular
place, to fulfil some lowly office ? All these may be
crosses, I admit, but what are they compared with the
Cross of my Jesus ? And if for our sakes He would
carry His, what ingratitude and mean cowardice it is
for us to shake off or try to shirk ours.
Point 3. — The Crucifixion. — At the bidding of His
executioners, our humble Lord laid Himself down on
His altar of sacrifice. From the first moment of His
Life He had been looking forward to this, and His
Heart had been yearning to perfect our redemption, and
now, with the greatest affection, in all the fulness of
His Heart, with perfect promptitude of will, He offers
Himself as a ready Victim to His Father's infinite
justice, and, quietly as a lamb, He submits to His
brutal executioners, who nail Him by His hands and
feet. Oh, what a mortal agony, what a deadly torture!
Yet how many and much more poignant nails have we
not driven through that Blessed Body ? When they
raised Him up and He is raised in the air, let us in
silent horror look upon Him. To see the greatest work
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS, 419
of God's hands, His only Son, nailed to wood and
hanging between two thieves on the top of that
mountain ! Nevertheless, even so the cruel Jews are
not yet satisfied, but continue to curse Him, to scoff
and jeer at Him, revelling at the sight of all His
torments. Oh, this terrible world ; oh, the fearful
hardness of the heart of man when under the influence
of unrestrained passions ! And yet we can love this
world, which is the same now as it was then ! We can
cringe before it, and sometimes we can actually seek
after its notice and its esteem, and all the time delude
ourselves as being followers of Jesus Christ ! Such
sentiments and conduct are as inexplicable as was the
hardness of those who crucified our Blessed Lord.
Oh, let us pray with all our hearts that henceforth
we may be crucified to the world and the world may be
crucified to us, that we may love nothing now but
Jesus, and Him crucified, that henceforth we may glory
in nothing but in our Jesus, and Him crucified. O God
— Jiat, fiat.
End with three colloquies, and with such acts and
affections as the Holy Ghost may suggest. " Our
Father."
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS.i
Commencement and preparator}^ prayer as usual.
Pvehide i. — Our Lord suffers for three hours on the
Cross, His enemies all the while triumphing and insult-
ing Him. He utters His seven last words, and then
expires.
Prelude 2. — Let us place ourselves humbly beside
the Cross.
1 ' ' And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they
•crucified Him there ; and the robbers, one on the right hand, the other on
the left." (St, Luke xxiii. 33.)
420 THE THIRD WEEK.
Prelude 3. — Let us pray that living with our Lord a
crucified life, with Him we may persevere to the end^
and die on the Cross.
Point I. — Let us survey our Lord as He hangs-
suffering. Truly He is by excellence the Man of
Sorrows, for He suffers not one pain only, but a
compound of most racking pains, and of most bitter,,
heart-breaking sorrows. His Head pierced with fixed
sharp thorns, without anything on which to rest it, and
without being able to move it unless with increased
stings ; His hands bored through and fastened, j^et from
the weight of His Body the holes are constantly widen-
ing ; His feet, too, pinned to the wood — all the Body
mangled by His cruel scourging, and emaciated by
hunger and loss of blood. You might number His
bones, as He hangs shivering in the cold air. Truly
pain there is none like unto His, nor is there a sound
place on which you could lay a finger. At this sight
the saints have nerved themselves to such acts of
penance as to become their own executioners. Let us
at least have magnanimity enough to bear our crosses
with patience, our repugnances to place or office, to
Superiors or brethren, our uneasy and fretful temper,
or bodily weakness, or want of talent, &c. Above all,
let' us not try to shake the Cross off or to shirk it. Let
us not fly from our standard, but keep God our Lord
company, and thereby this slight token of our love
and gratitude may be a source of comfort to Him in
His extremity.
Point 2. — The ignominies endured on the Cross. ^ — It is a
1 "And they that passed by, blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and
saying : Vah, Thou that destroyeth the Temple of God, and in three days
buildest it up again, save Thyself, coming down from the Cross. In like
manner also the Chief Priests mocking said with the Scribes : He saved
others, Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel come
down now from the Cross, that we may see and believe." (St. Mark
XV. 29—32.)
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS. 421
great comfort when we are in distress to have one to
say a kind word to us and to show us sympathy. But
there was none to do this to our Lord : the only sounds
He heard were scoffs and ribaldry, and this from a vast
multitude of all classes, and gathered from all parts of
the world, all Winded with passion, and looking upon
Him as a seducer, a thief, a revolutionary agitator and
sacrilegious blasphemer, for He said He was the Son
of God, and also King of the Jews ; and often loud
shouts of joy were raised as they saw the progress of
death in Him. Let us learn a lesson of meekness and
patience from our humble Lord and Master. Let us
reflect what kind of contempt and humiliations we
dread most, and then casting an eye on our Love thus
vilified and despised, we will compare the injuries and
affronts we suffer with those which He endured through
love for us, and thus will nerve ourselves to bear them
with joy. We believe that this Son of God, most
deserving of all honour, for our sakes, and without the
slighest obligation on His side, and^ without expecting
or deriving any advantage from us, became the reproach
of men and the outcast of the people. Is it not, then,
blindness and madness for us vile creatures, whose
origin is from nothing, whose end is corruption and a
handful of dust, whose merit is hell-fire for our manifold
sins, and consequently who deserve universal contempt
and abuse, is it not folly that we [should resent any
injury, rebuke, humiUation ? Let us take this truth to
heart, and bring it home to ourselves, and it must
produce in us the same effects as it has produced on all
the saints who have gone before us, and will cause us
too to rejoice in the midst of most cutting humihations.
Point 3. — The heroic acts of virtue practised on the Cross. '^ —
1 "And Jesus said : Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided
Him, saying : He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the
422 THE THIRD WEEK.
The first was an heroic act of charity towards those who
crucified Him. With a special prayer He begged His
Heavenly Father to forgive them, alleging their ignorance
as an excuse. Amid such tortures He forgets Himself
in His interest for those who were ridiculing and
blaspheming Him and actually draining His life from
Him. What followed plainly showed with what a
tender and loving Heart He made this prayer ; for no
sooner did He hear one of those crucified with Him,
who at first had blasphemed Him, now invoke Him,
saying, " Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come
into Thy Kingdom," than with infinite mercy He
granted him full remission of all his sins, and solemnly
declared to him, "This day shalt thou be with Me in
Paradise."
After this let no one, no matter how grievous and
many are his sins, lose confidence in our dear Lord.
Yes ! it is most certain, though our poor souls are as
burdened with guilt as were those of His executioners^
that if with humble and contrite hearts we have
Elect of God. . . . And one of those robbers who were hanged, blas-
phemed Him, saying : If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us. But the
other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God,
seeing thou art under the same condemnation. . . . And he said to Jesus :
Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy Kingdom. And
Jesus said to him : Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in
Paradise." (St. Luke xxiii. 34 — 43.) "Now there stood by the Cross of
Jesus, His Mother and His Mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary
Magdalene. When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple
standing whom He loved. He saith to His Mother : Woman, behold thy
.son. After that He saith to the disciple : Behold thy Mother. And from
that hour the disciple took her to his own. Afterwards, Jesus knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
said : I thirst. . . . And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop,
put it to His mouth. Jesus, therefore, when He had taken the vinegar,
said : It is consummated." (St. John xi.x. 25 — 30.) "And about the ninth
hour,, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying : My God, My God, why hast
Thou abandoned Me?" (St. Matt, xxvii. 46.) "And Jesus crying with a
loud voice, said : Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit, and saying
this. He gave up the ghost." (St. Luke xxiii. 46.)
JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS. 423
recourse to Him and implore His mercy, through the
merits of His Passion and Death, we also shall obtain
forgiveness. Why then shall we despond, having to
deal with so benign and merciful a Lord ?
The second was an act of gratitude towards His
Blessed Mother and St. John. These two had accom-
panied Him in His lifetime and in the course of His
Passion, and were then standing at the foot of His
Cross. In testimony of His love, He gave to His Blessed
Mother St. John for a son, and to him our Blessed Lady
to be a Mother ; but, if we are to believe the teaching
of many of the saints, in St. John He regarded and
addressed each and all of us, and constituted His
Blessed Mother the real Mother of all the faithful,
whom He consigned to her love and to her special care.
Hence, in regard of her sorrows at the foot of the
Cross, the Church styles her the Mother of Mercy and
the most loving Mother of all the adopted brothers of
Jesus Christ ; and consequent!}^ we are all" her true
children. Oh ! let our hearts burst with feelings of
intense love and gratitude, and let us offer ourselves
with all our hearts up to her, and make her the sole
mistress and absolute disposer of ourselves and every-
thing belonging to us ; and being thus made members
of the same family with Jesus, having the same
Father and Mother as He, do let us have the family
features and character, love of and courage under the
Cross.
Next our Lord addressed His Eternal Father.
Having suspended the effects which otherwise would
have redounded to His inferior nature from the Beatific
Vision, that He might suffer the agonies of interior
desolation, He exclaimed, " My God, My God, why
hast Thou abandoned Me ? " Not that He laments or
complains, but in wonder and submission to the will of
God He makes an heroic act of resignation to His
424 THE THIRD WEEK.
Father, who permitted His Most Holy Son to feel this
bitter anguish and desolation, that thereb}^ He might
merit for us due comfort and relief at the hour of our
death.
Finally, from the loss of blood, which was well-nigh
drained away from His Body, and from the burning
fever of His Wounds, He suffered a fresh agony of
thirst ; and this He would make known, not only to
fulfil the prophecy, but also to have an occasion of
enduring fresh scoffs and torments. The wretches
thereupon steeped a sponge in gall and vinegar and put
it to His parched lips. After which our dear Lord,
protesting His perfect accomplishment of the will of
His Father, breathed out His heroic Soul, and bowed
His Head, and all was over. He died for our sakes.
Oh, that we too could die of grief and sorrow !
Let us place on one side all that He has done and
suffered for love of us, and on the other all our ingrati-
tude and iniquities, "and let us say from the depths of
our hearts : O good God, if after having meditated on
your bitter Passion and Death we are to continue cold
and ungrateful, we earnestly beg of you to let us die
on the spot ; for to live any longer such a tepid,
indevout, and unworthy life would serve, only to sustain
alive a monster of ingratitude.
''Our Father."
JESUS DEAD UPON THE CROSS. 425
JESUS DEAD UPON THE CROSS.i
Note. — This has been a favourite subject of con-
templation to the saints in every age. It has supported
the martyrs amid their cruel tortures; it has encouraged
confessors in the sacrifices, labours, trials, and perse-
cutions to which their zeal prompted or exposed them ;
it has enabled virgins to bear the hardships of a life
devoted to solitude, penance, and prayer ; it has
beguiled the long lonely hours of the solitaries of the
desert; it was the "Master" of St. Thomas Aquinas;
it was the " one book " of St. Francis ; it was the glory
of St. Paul ; it was the ** magnificent spectacle " of the
sympathetic soul of St. Augustine.
Prelude 1. — Let us in spirit take our stand by our
dead Lord on the Cross.
Prelude 2. — Let us earnestly beg of Him whose dead
Body is united with the Divinity to enlighten us on the
many lessons which the Cross should teach us, that we
may have a practical love of it in life and in death.
Point I. — Let us contemplate J estis as our Victim. — It is
here that we see the terrible malice of sin. For by it
we, who are under infinite obligations to God for all
His benefits bestowed upon us in the natural order,
both as to body and soul, and for the countless graces
in the supernatural order, which are far more numerous
and more excellent than all the gifts of nature, are
guilty of a crime against His infinite majesty, justice,
and sanctity. It therefore is a crime of infinite malice
if we consider it ethically. Hence it follows that to
propitiate the anger of God, or to satisfy the demands
1 "And Jesus again crying with a loud voice, gave up the ghost."
(St. Matt, xxvii, 50.)
426 THE THIRD WEEK.
of His justice, an Infinite Victim was necessary, one
whose dignity would be proportionate to the maHce of
the crime. Not all mankind together could suffice to
pay the debt incurred by one single sin : for, after all,
no combination of finite victims could produce an
infinite atonement, such as the offended majesty and
justice of God demanded. It was for this reason that
the Eternal Son of God assumed our human nature, and
in that nature would bear our iniquities, and by His
Passion and Death would repair the outrages of which
we were guilty. He became the sin-offering for all
mankind and for each individual of the human race.
It was for each that this ruin of His most perfect and
beautiful Body was effected, and that His Soul was
drowned in an ocean of sorrow.
O my Jesus ! for my sins Thy hands and feet were
pierced with nails ; Thy sacred Head was crowned
with thorns; Thy eyes were blinded by the blood which
oozed from the wounds in Thy Head and face ; and
Thy whole Body was one vast wound, through which
Thy wearied and agonized Soul took its last flight back
to the God who gave it ! Who can conceive the
dreadful nature* of sin, which demanded such a fearful
atonement ? Who will not tremble when he beholds
this proof of the justice of God ? '' If in the green
wood they do these things, what shall be done in the
dry?" If the blows of God's vengeance have been so
many and so heavy on His well-beloved Son, who was
full of all grace, all life, all beauty, what will He do to
those who by sin have forfeited all three? If justice
tempered by mercy is so terrible, what will be that
same justice when the hour of His mercy is past ?
." Holy and terrible is His Name : the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom." i Let us pray with the
Psalmist, " Pierce my flesh with Thy fear, for I am
1 Psalm ex. 9.
JESUS DEAD UPON THE CROSS. 427
afraid of Thy judgments." ^ Let us in holy fear and
confidence fly for protection and refuge to His opened
side: " Within Thy sacred wounds hide me, O Lord."
Point 2. — The Cross teaches us the price of our souls. —
•' Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of
the tradition of your fathers : but with the Precious
Blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled."^
So writes St. Peter ; and St. Paul, •' Ye are bought with
a great price." ^ Not all the treasures of the universe
could purchase a single soul ; nor could the combined
efforts and sacrifices of men and angels succeed in saving
one human soul. For this an infinite price had to be
paid, which could only be done by one who was Himself
infinite. Therefore did the Son of God come down
from Heaven, full of grace and truth, and assume our
human nature, imparting to it an infinite price and
dignity. "The Word was made Flesh and dwelt
amongst us," and was made in all things like to us,,
except that He had no sin. " He was beautiful beyond
the rest of the children of men," '♦ beauty was poured
over His lips," ** His feet were beautiful as He pro-
ceeded on His way preaching the Gospel of peace,
bringing glad tidings of good things : " His mind was
sublime and beautiful in the possession of all truth,
and His Heart was beautiful, in which the noblest of
passions, like the strings of a lyre, were divinely attuned
in perfect harmony; "His ways were beautiful, and
all His paths were peace, mercy, and truth." And now
let us contemplate Him as His lifeless Body hangs
upon the Cross. What has become of all this beauty?
" We have seen Him, and there was no sightliness,,
that we shbuld be desirous of Him. Despised and the
most abject of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with infirmity: His look as it were hidden and despised:
1 Psalm cxviii. 120. 2 i gt. Peter i. 18. ^ i Cor, vi. 20.
428 THE THIRD WEEK.
and we have thought Him as it were a leper, and as
one struck by God and afflicted." He has become
a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the
outcast of the people. This is the price, this the
sacrifice of Jesus in order to pay the ransom for our
souls, for each individual soul. Well may the Spirit
of God counsel us, " My son, have a care of thy soul
and give it honour according to itS' desert." ^ Alas,
how little care have we had of our poor souls ! How
recklessly we have exposed them to ruin ! How often
have we bartered them for gold, for a fleeting, shameful
pleasure, or for some empty gratification. O my Jesus !
is it thus I show my gratitude for all Thou hast done
for me ? Is it thus that I recognize the value of my
soul, or appreciate the price which Thou hast paid for
my redemption ? Grant, dear Lord, that I may learn
at last the real value of my poor soul — grant that I
may by union with Thee on the Cross fill up those
things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ in
my flesh for the salvation of my soul.
Point 3. — The Cross teaches me to love. — The heavens
and the earth, and in fact the whole universe, proclaim
the goodness and generosity of God, and thereby chal-
lenge my love of Him for all these proofs of His love
for me. But how feebly do they tell me of His love
when compared with the voice which comes to me from
the dead Body of Jesus on the Cross. If the criterion
of love is suffering, and if the measure of love is
estimated by the amount of that suffering, then what
must have been the reality and intensity of the love of
Jesus for me. " He loved me, and delivered Himself
for me." 2 He assumed human nature and concealed
His Divine attributes under the form and habit of a
servant for me — He lived an obscure, laborious, and
poverty-stricken life for me ; He would be persecuted
1 Ecclus. X. 3r. 2 Galat. ii. 20.
JESUS DEAD UPON THE CROSS. 429
and tormented through love for me ; finally, He expired
in an agony of love for me ! O Blessed Jesus ! even
that did not satisfy His loving Heart, but He must
needs continue this His sacrifice, *' having loved His
own He will love them unto the end," and extend it
through the whole world, " for from the rising of the
sun unto its going down, My Name is great among the
_ Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and
there is offered up a clean oblation."^ Truly our Jesus
is all love for us on the Cross; *' He is white and ruddy,
chosen out of thousands," ^ white as the spotless lily in
His most pure Soul, white with the pallor of death
in His Body, from which the last drops of blood have
been taken ; but yet He is all ruddy like one that has
trodden the wine-press alone, besmeared all over " with
His most Precious Blood, which speaketh better than
that of Abel," proclaiming to us how much He has
loved us. Love demands a return of love ; then we
are bound to love our crucified Jesus. Alas, we can
love any one else but Him ! we can make sacrifice,
can labour and suffer pain for others ; but what labour,
what sacrifice have we made through our love for our
Love who is crucified ? Shame upon us that we can
look upon our crucified Lover, "the firstborn from the
dead," and yet hesitate to embrace His badge of love.
Oh, for the spirit of. him who would glory in nothing
but in his Jesus crucified ; who could think of nothing,
love nothing, but in Christ and Him crucified ! Oh,
for the feelings of him who long yearned for, and
ardently loved, the cross upon which at length he
breathed his last in testimony of his love of his Jesus
crucified. Let us pour out our souls in ardent prayers
to our Blessed Lord on His Cross, that with Him we
too may be fastened on the Cross : by the annihilation
of all self-love, by sacrificing all worldly pleasures or
1 Malach. i. 11, 2 Cant. v. 10.
430 THE THIRD WEEK.
enjoyments, by death to "our own wills and judgments,
by detachment from all the passing things of earth, and
attachment to Jesus crucified.
End with triple colloquy: to our Blessed Lady, the
Mother of Jesus crucified; to our Lord Himself; and
to the Eternal Father. End with *' Our Father."
REPETITION OF THE WHOLE PASSION.
Note. — St. Ignatius observes, that if we wish to
prolong the time in this third part of the Exercises, it
can be done by taking in each contemplation fewer
mysteries : for example, in the first contemplation only
to consider the Last Supper ; in the next, the Washing
of Feet ; in the third, the Institution of the Blessed
Sacrament, and so on. If, on the other hand, we wish
to shorten the time, it may be done by the omission of
all repetitions, and -including in each contemplation a
separate station of the Passion.
However, in either case, he recommends that on the
last day of the Exercises in this part, we should make
a general review of the whole of the Passion of our
Lord, by way of repetition.
This may be done under the following heads or
points, in which we consider the interior sufferings of
our Lord, the sufferings He endured in His reputation,
and lastly, what He endured in His Sacred Body.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — We will recall to mind how our Lord
retired to the Garden, prayed there, and in His Agony
sweated Blood. Then He confronted His enemies, who
dragged Him to the house of Annas, thence to Caiphas ;
from there they led Him to Pilate, and from thence to
REPETITION OF THE WHOLE PASSION. 431
Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate, where
He was scourged and crowned with thorns, and with
Barabbas was put to the vote. He is given up to the
Jews, laden with His Cross, and finally, was nailed
to it. Whilst He was dying. He utters His seven last
words ; He dies, and His side was pierced through with
a lance.
Prelude 2. — Imagine the City of Jerusalem — the court
of the High Priest, the fort and courtyard of Antonia, the
palace of Herod, and the streets from one to the other ;
also the way to the Mount of Olives to the east, and
the road from Antonia to Golgotha on the west of the
city.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg the grace to grieve intensely
with our sorrowing Lord, and interior anguish at the
sufferings which He undergoes for our sins.
Point I. — His interior sufferings. — First, He begins
His Passion in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He
fulfils to the letter the promise which He made to us
in the contemplation of His Kingdom, not to ask of
us any sacrifice which He had not Himself first offered.
He has willed that His followers should work more
numerous and more brilliant miracles than Himself, but
He never willed that in the career of torments and
sacrifices they should ever come up to Him. Let us
see Him, the valiant and all-powerful, stricken with
fear and terror, not only at the sight of all the pains
and torments which were drawn out clearly before His
mind's eye, but also at the consciousness of guilt, of
all the horrors perpetrated, or to be perpetrated, by the
sinful slaves of human passions. If the doubt whether
we have been guilty of a mortal sin racks us with
terror, we who have such a faint knowledge of sin, and
whose consciences are so blunted, what must have been
the terror of the Heart of Jesus ?
To this is added loathing and disgust at the know-
432 THE THIRD WEEK.
ledge which He has, that the return which even those
whom He has favoured most will frequently make ,for
all the benefits of His Passion will be but cold ingrati-
tude ; and to a noble and generous soul there is no
wound that cuts deeper than ingratitude.
In addition to this fear and disgust is added an
overwhelming sadness, such as we can never conceive,
nay, such as would have stopped His Heart's action
had not His Divinity intervened. Whatever way He
looked. He found Himself friendless and a solitary, no
sympathy either in Heaven or on earth, and at the
same time the uselessness of His blood-letting for some ;
and for many, through their own fault, its being a cause
of deeper damnation. And this sadness was not to
leave Him for an instant, until it should culminate and
find expression just before His Death in the words^
*' My God, My God, why hast Thou abandoned Me ? "
On the one hand, the intensity of His natural feelings^
and, on the other. His resignation to the Divine will^
produced such a struggle within Him as to produce a
bloody sweat. Oh ! let us beg the grace to fathom the
abyss of grief which floods His Soul, and that other far
deeper abyss of love. Love and grief — grief and love ;
such is the Heart of Jesus. Passing over the other
scenes in which these feelings more particularly were
aroused, let us pause more especiall}' at the scene when
Jesus addressed His Mother from the Cross. Ordinarily,
out of a feeling of common humanity, and out of con-
sideration for the feelings of both, when a son is
executed, his mother is not permitted to be present, as
their love would only add to the anguish of the one
and the other ; but Jesus sees His Mother, whose heart
is pierced with agony, standing at the foot of His
Cross, with His beloved disciple, St. John. He alone
could fathom the all but infinite depth of the sea of
sorrow which overwhelmed her soul, and this increased
REPETITION OF THE WHOLE PASSION. 433
immeasurably His own desolation. He is about to
leave her whom He loved more than the whole world,
and when He was gone she would be alone ! He had
given up all else, even His own Body and Blood to be
henceforth our nourishment, but He clung to the last
to this one treasure ; and now it is time to rob Himself
of this. Turning then to her. He said : " Woman,
thou woman of all women the most excellent, model
and example to all women till the end of time, behold
thy son, my dearest and most beloved Apostle, adopt
him in My stead ; " and to the disciple He said :
" Behold thy Mother, love her, cherish her, honour and
praise her in My place." In that moment the last
design of Jesus is fulfilled, and the family tie is perfected
and sealed with His own Precious Blood, and thence-
forth we have all got a Mother; and that Mother
accepts all the faithful as her own children, and transfers
to them, and to each of them, a mother's love and care.
And at length, when it was close on three o'clock,
Jesus cried, " My God, My God, why hast Thou
abandoned Me?" It is not complainingly, nor from
discontent, nor because of the excess of His pains.
No! it is because of His anguish at seeing Himself
abandoned and rejected by such a mass of mankind,
who would tiirn all His sufferings to their greater and
more terrible condemnation. It was the cry of a
suppliant from the last depths of His Soul to His
Father not to abandon Him in the persons of His
members, who by their obstinate malice would pre-
cipitate themselves into Hell. Let us think and
ponder deeply what it is to be abandoned by God. It
is this thought that weighs heavily on the Heart of our
Lord, and yet, alas ! we think so little of it, fulfilling
that of Proverbs :i *' The wicked when he is come into
the depth of sins, contemneth." Let us consider how our
1 Prov. xviii. 3.
CC
434 THE THIRD WEEK.
dear Lord behaves in His interior trials. During His
dreadful aridity, desolation, and anguish, He perseveres
in His prayer, and the greater His anguish the longer
He prays, and it is always that His Father's will may
be done. As regards others He preserves the same
thoughtfulness, the same charity and sweetness, as
though He were suffering nothing Himself. He does
not allow His own sorrows and pains, no matter how
violent, to influence Him in His relations with others,
unless to make Him more gentle, considerate, and, if
possible, more ready to prove His love to them.
Point '2. — He suffered in His reputation. This is a
kind of suffering for which every follower of our dear
Lord must be prepared ; and here, as in everything else.
He goes ahead of us, and, as the Prophet foretold,
"was filled with reproaches."^ Bearing in mind His
high sense of honour, and at the same time the
importance for Him of a good reputation, let us con-
sider the manner in which His honour was impugned.
They seize and bind Him as if He were a violent
robber and an assassin. They flout Him on the face
amid the applause of His judges. They scoff at His
utterances of wisdom. They accept the testimony of
perjurers and calumniators, and pronounce Him a
blasphemer and guilty of sacrilege. He is held up to
mockery and pity as a fool, is put on a par with
Barabbas. And all this not by one class, but by all,
and not only before the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but
before Jews gathered together from every part of the
Roman world, from Persia and Egypt, Syria, Greece
and Rome. Then let us consider how He endures all
this. By a word He could have prevented all this, yet
He willingly endures all with humility; looking upon
Himself as the sin-offering of the world and of our
individual world ; for our individual sins deserved all
1 Lament, iii. 30.
REPETITION OF THE WHOLE PASSION. 435
this. " He loved me and delivered Himself for me."i
He endures all in silence. What an example for us ! for
it is of all things the most difficult to abandon our
cause to the hands of God under the most galling
affronts and calumnies. Lastly, He bears all with
love. He loves His Father and submits to His holy
will. He loves us and wishes to atone for our sins.
Then I must prepare to suffer like Him, and be ready
to be a victim of contempt : by our sins we have been
guilty of contempt of God, wherefore it is but just that
His creatures should despise us. And, moreover, if we
do not deserve the contempt accruing from a calumny,
do we not deserve it for a thousand other faults, which
remain concealed ? Let us insist with ourselves on this
point. Often a mere word or look which does not
betray contempt, but only some inattention or slight
disrespect, wounds our sensitiveness and makes us
unhappy, and yet we are pledged in every way to
follow our Blessed Lord. We often talk of love of
contempt and injuries, but alas ! how many amongst
us bow down and worship at the altar of men's esteem !
This is well known to others about us, and hence they
have to take such pains not to wound our delicacy and
susceptibility. Alas ! let us cease to deceive ourselves
and to regard the third degree of humility, or what
St. Ignatius requires in the Eleventh Rule of the
Summary of his Constitutions, as something to admire,
but by no means to be reduced to practice, and let us
earnestly desire and pray that we may attain at length
this stamp of sanctity.
Point 3. — What Jesus Christ suffered in His Body. —
Here we may recall what He endured in the fearful
scourging at the pillar : also the agonies of His being
crowned with thorns and of their remaining in the
festering wounds until He expired, and lastly, on His
1 Galat. ii. 20.
436 THE THIRD WEEK.
being nailed to the Cross and His agony thereon for
three long hours.
Let us consider with what heroic patience He
suffered, never giving the least sign of the pains which
tormented His most delicate and sensitive Flesh.
Again, inwardly He accepts all in a spirit of profound
humility, as the Victim for our sins, and above all in a
spirit of loving mercy.
Let us ask ourselves now. Is it not jiist that
every Christian, much more we, should also practise
mortification ? And this, firstly, by crucifying our dis-
ordered love of comfort and of pleasure, remembering
that " under a head crowned with thorns it is shameful
to live delicately; " and, secondly, by inflicting on our-
selves some voluntary sufferings for love of Jesus and
in company with Him. Though they may be slight
and in themselves contemptible, yet if performed
regularly and in the proper dispositions, they have
great efficacy in obtaining graces from God, in satisfy-
ing the Divine justice for our sins, and in preserving
us from fresh falls. Let us resign ourselves into the
hands of God for everything which may make our
bodies suffer, whether b}^ accident or otherwise, and
especially when the last hour shall come.
End with ''Our Father."
THE BURIAL OF OUR LORD. 437
THE BURIAL OF OUR LORD.i
Prelude i. — Let us recall to mind how, after our
Lord was dead, Joseph and Nicodemus took down His
Sacred Body from the Cross in the presence of His
sorrowful Mother, and, after anointing it, deposited it
in the sepulchre.
Prelude 2. — Let us humbly place ourselves in spirit
beside them.
Prelude 3. — Leg us beg earnestly the grace to know
our dear Lord who is dead through love for us, that in
life and in death we may love Him in return, and be
ever faithful in following Him.
Point I. — Let us contemplate the Sacred Body of
our Blessed Lord. His hands and feet are marked
with the holes made by the cruel nails. His sacred
forehead is punctured by the crown of thorns. His
whole Body is disfigured by the countless strokes of the
scourging, and His blessed side is ripped open, laying
bare His Sacred Heart. We look in vain for a sound
place in Him. How literally are all the prophecies
fulfilled in His regard. Trul}^ they have dug His hands
and feet, they have numbered all His bones. There is
no beauty nor comeliness in Him.^ And yet if we look
1 "And when evening was come, Joseph of Arimathea, a noble
■counsellor wh6 was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God, came
and went in boldly to Pilate, and begged the Body of Jesus. But Pilate
wondered that He should be already dead. And sending for the Centurion,
he asked him if He were already dead. And when he had understood it
by the Centurion, he gave the Body to Joseph. And Joseph, buying fine
linen, and taking Him down, wrapped Him up in the fine linen, and laid
Him in a sepulchre which was hewed out of a rock." (St. Mark xv, 42 — 46.)
' " There is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness ; and we have seen Him,
and there was so sightliness, that we should be desirous of Him. Despised
and the most abject of men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with
infirmity ; His look as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed
Him not." (Isaias liii. 2, 3.)
438 THE THIRD WEEK.
at Him with the eyes of faith, we see His beauty more
radiant than ever. He was beautiful as He lay in the
manger as a babe, beautiful as He sat in the midst of
the doctors hearing them and asking them questions ;
His hands were beautiful, ever open and scattering
blessings, His feet were beautiful as He went about
doing good, evangelizing peace, evangelizing good
things ; His mouth and tongue were beautiful, and
'* grace was poured abroad in His lips," ^ and His
speech was so eloquent that in listening to Him men
forgot the very necessai^ies of life ; but though the
hands were stiff in death, and His eyes were blind to
the light, and He is incapable of utterance or of motion,
yet He was never so beautiful as He is now. His
wounds are so many gems setting off His beautiful
courage and glorious devotedness and love. They
every one are like open mouths, telling me, Ecce guomodo
amavi te, how much He has loved me. He lies like a
warrior after a hard won victory taking His rest, but
only for a short while. His labours are over, but His
glory is about to begin and shall never know an ending.
And through the opening in His blessed side, let us
gaze on the blood and water which trickles from the
wound made by the soldier's spear. Oh, the poor
Heart of our dear Jesus ! That Heart that was weighed
down by sorrow, that palpitated with fright, was
sickened with loathing, but was always brave and
undaunted^ because inflamed with love for each of us.
Oh, the big and generous Heart of Jesus ! vast as the
sands which are on, the sea-shore. At last it has ceased
to beat, and is grown cold ; but again it is only for a
short time. Its life and action will soon return, and we
shall each be able to make its love our own.
O dear Lord, fill us with admiration of Th}^ beauty
1 " Tliou art beautiful above the sons of men ; grace is poured abroad
in Thy lips ; therefore hath God blessed Thee for ever," (Psalm xliv. 3.)
THE BURIAL OF OUR LORD. 439
in death, let us know nothing but Thee, and Thee
crucified ! ^ let us henceforth glory but in Thee, and
Thee crucified. Again, let us learn how to estimate
the world and its judgments. How cruel and heartless
it was to Thee ! with what disdain it treated Thee, and
with what black ingratitude. How false and perverted
its judgments of Thee ! And, alas ! though ages have
passed, its estimations and judgments still remain.
Grant us then the grace to die with Thee to the world,
that we may live to Thee, to be crucified to the world,
and to become men to whom the world is crucified.
Point 2. — Let us contemplate the wound in His
Sacred Heart. The spear opened the blessed Heart of
Jesus without inflicting pain, for it was beyond its
reach ; but it was not so with that of our Blessed
Lady, in whom the words of holy Simeon were verified,
"And thy own soul a sword (of sorrow) shall pierce."
" And there came forth blood and water." Here
is the consummation of love on the part of our
dear Lord. The virtue and efficacy of that blood
and water are applied to His mystical spouse the
Church, and to each of ' us her children, being the
symbols of the Blessed Sacrament and of holy
Baptism.2 Well does St. John say the side is
" opened," to teach us that this door of true life,
from which come forth the Hfe-giving sacraments
of the Church, is always wide open. This Sacred
Heart is the never-faifing fountain of grace, in which
I shall find all the treasures of Divine wisdom and
knowledge, of piety and innocence, of humility and
meekness, of goodness and mercy ; this blessed Heart
1 "For I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified." (i Cor. ii. 2.)
* " Ex costa Adae Heva aedificata est ; ex corde autem Jesu, in Spiritu
Sancto concepta et nata Ecclesia . . . et de suo latere Christus aquam
nobis dedit et sangfuinem unde repararetur Ecclesia." (Chrysostom, in
Ephes. V.)
440 THE THIRD WEEK.
is a very ocean of mercy. Jesus Himself has said it :
'* If sinners will come to My Heart, they shall find it
an ocean of mercy." Peter and Thomas and Magdalene
found it so. Then courage, my soul ! I too shall find
it so. The Heart of Jesus is a sure refuge in every
danger, wherein I can dwell securely, protected from
the fiercest storms of temptation. The Heart of Jesus
is the school of true sanctity, in which the bitterness of
trials and the practice of virtue is sweetened ; it is the
paradise of our souls. Oh, how good and pleasant it
is to dwell in the Sacred Heart ! in this temple of peace
and love — this holy of holies — this ark of the New
Testament. Let us resolve to take up our abode in it,
for surety we shall there find all good things, and shall
be protected from all those evils which the enemy of
our human nature, the false and treacherous world, and
our inconstant and depraved nature, are always plotting
against us.
Point 3. — TA^ ^wna/.i— With what reverence and love
Joseph and Nicodemus carry the Body of our Lord to
the sepulchre, followed by His sorrowing Mother, and
by His Beloved Disciple and Mary Magdalene, shedding
bitter tears, the one of love, the other of penance.
What a contrast with the last obsequies of the great
ones of the world. The remains of the King of kings,
the great Liberator of mankind, the Head of the elect,
are accompanied to the grave by three men and a
handful of pious women, while the children of this
world are borne to their last resting-place by crowds of
friends and admirers, with all the signs of pomp and
pageantry.
^ ' ' They took therefore the Body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths
with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now there was in
the place where He was crucified a garden, and in the garden a new
sepulchre, where no man had yet been laid. There therefore, because of
the Parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh
at hand." (St. John xix. 40—42.)
THE RULES OF TEMPERANCE. 441
Eja mater fons anions, me sentire vim doloris, fac ut tecum
lugeam. They place Him in a new sepulchre, in which
no one had been buried. Alas ! how rarely can it be
said of us when we receive His Sacred Body, that we
place Him in our hearts, in which nothing else has
been laid. If through the loving providence and
infinite mercy of God they are free from all mortal
and venial sins, yet are there not some faults, offences,
abuses of grace, or some inordinate affections still
lingering in our hearts, which render them a less worthy
place for Him to dwell in ? Let us resolve henceforth
to clear out of them everything which may be less
pleasing to Him, and to love nothing but in Him, for
Him, and with Him. Let us determine to die to the
world that we may live more perfectly to Him who is
our true life.
End with *' Our Father."
THE RULES OF TEMPERANCE.
1. St. Ignatius in the third part of the Exercises
gives us a document of eight rules for the regulation
of our conduct in regard of our food, which are called
the Rules of Temperance.
2. Although the Saint places them at the end of the
third part of the Exercises, it does not therefore follow
that they may not be given to an exercitant even at
the commencement ; nay, there are reasons at times
for doing so ; first, because the observance of these
rules may be necessary for the fulfilment of the duty
of prayer; or, secondly, because during the time of
retreat a person is better able to determine the amount
of nourishment which he requires, and to regulate and
accustom himself to it for the future ; and, thirdly,
because if for any reason the exercitant cannot perform
442 THE THIRD WEEK.
any other corporal penance, he may by the observance
of these rules, obtain corresponding merit by the
practice of self-denial and self-conquest which they
involve.
3. For the better understanding of these rules we
must observe that there are two sources of temptation,
one in ourselves which is our natural appetite and inclina-
tion, the other exterior to us and arising from the devil.
He, as the enemy of human nature, studies this natural
inclination, and turns it to account for the increase of
his temptations. We must then with great care dis-
tinguish in ourselves our reason and will which is the
superior part, and the inferior part in which are found
our appetites and imagination, which evoke in us
endless phantoms. The only way of repressing these
capricious and wayward inclinations is to resist follow-
ing at once their impressions, and thus always to be
master of ourselves.
4. Again, to avert the hurtful effects of our appetites
and imagination, we must acquire a habit of foreseeing
the occasions in which they may be called into activity,
and of determining our line of conduct accordingly ;
and afterwards examine ourselves how far we have
been faithful to our previous determinations. This is
best secured by exact observance of the Particular
Examen.
These principles are embodied and illustrated in the
rules regarding our food, but, as we see, are applicable
to any other natural inclination.
Ride I. — We need less care of temperance in regard
of bread, as it furnishes less temptation to excess than
other kinds of food.
Rule 2. — As regards drink we ought to be more
abstemious than with regard to bread, and should
consider well what may be good, and cut off whatever
may be detrimental to us.
THE RULES OF TEMPERANCE.
443
Ride 3.^ — As to delicate and made dishes, we should
observe greater and more complete abstinence, as in
these our inclination is more liable to be inordinate
and we are more tempted to indulgence.
Rule 4. — Having due regard to our health, the more
we abstain from what is amply sufficient nourishment,
the sooner shall we acquire the right medium in food
and drink, and this for two reasons : firstly, because in
thus rightly guiding and disposing ourselves, we shall
often experience interior sentiments and Divine inspira-
tions whereby the proper medium will be made clear
to us ; and secondly, because if in abstaining and
retrenching we see that either our strength or dis-
position for the Exercises begin to fail us, we shall
come to judge more easily and safely what support we
require.
Rtile 5. — During meals let us consider how our Lord
would eat and drink, speak and comport Himself,
and strive to imitate Him*, thereby keeping our mind
occupied more in this and less on the nourishment of
our body ; and thereby we shall acquire proper manners
and due self-restraint and control.
Rule 6. — We shall take less pleasure and concern
in our food, if during meals we occupy our minds with
the lives of the saints or some other pious reflections,
or spiritual work which we are to undertake, thereby
keeping the mind employed and the heart pre-occupied.
Ride 7. — Above all things let us avoid concentrating
our attention on what we are eating, and also greedi-
ness, and retain mastery of ourselves both' as to manner
of eating and quantity of food.
Rule 8. — To cut off all excess, it is of great advantage
to determine beforehand, when we are not hungry or
after a meal, what and how much we will take at our
next refection, and not on any account to exceed it when
the time comes, no matter what may be our appetite
444
THE THIRD WEEK.
or the strength of the temptation to do so ; on the
contrary, if we make any change, let it be to diminish
the quantity, and thus conquer the appetite and defeat
the temptation of the devil.
It is easy to see how these rules may be applied
also to other natural inclinations, such as irritability,
pride, vanity, uncharitableness, sensuality, and the like.
From these rules, we see how admirably and simply
St. Ignatius leads us on to the habit of self-conquest
in even the most ordinary actions of life, and teaches
us to supernaturalize the most natural duties.
THREE METHODS OF PRAYER.
One of the most profitable instructions given us
by St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises is that of
" Three Methods of Prayer," as it is explained in the
Divectorium.'^
That he attached much importance to them is clear
from his requiring those who give retreats always to
teach and explain them to exercitants.^ Again, we
read how St. Francis Xavier not only made use of
them himself, but recommended them to his penitents,
and sometimes enjoined them as a penance, to the great
advantage of their souls.
There is no doubt that if we practise them we shall
find them exceedingly useful, and a great aid to con-
templation and to recollection.
FIRST METHOD.
The first method of prayer has for its subject-matter
the Ten Commandments, the seven capital sins, the
1 C. xxxvii. ' Instit. p. vii. c. 4.
THREE METHODS OF PRAYER. 445
three powers of the soul, the five senses of the body,
or any rules or any virtues peculiar to our state ; and
is wonderfully beneficial in aiding us to acquire a
knowledge of ourselves, and to discover our faults,
failings, and negligences.
The manner of performing it is as follows :
1. In the first place, before commencing, we must
recollect ourselves and place ourselves in the presence
of God, and reflect on the serious duty we are going
to perform and on the object we have in view.
This is common to every form of prayer, and is
impressed upon us by the Spirit of God : " Before
prayer prepare thy soul, and be not as one that
tempteth God." ^
2. We must make our preparatory prayer, in which
we beg humbly of God our Lord that He will grant us
grace to know what faults or failings we have been
guilty of in that which is the special subject-matter on
which we intend to examine ourselves, and also that
He will further give us His grace and assistance to
amend them in the future, for the greater glory and
praise of His Divine Majesty and for the greater purifi-
cation of our souls.
3. We then examine ourselves on the particular
commandment, and see how we have observed it or in
what we have failed in regard of it, for the space of
two or three minutes: we. then make an act of sorrow
for the faults we discover, humbly ask pardon of God,
and say the " Our Father," and we follow the same
method in each of the commandments.
If, however, by God's grace we find that we have
nothing to accuse ourselves of in any commandment,
we give thanks to God for having preserved us from
falling, and pass on to another. For those who by
God's mercy are aiming at perfection and consequently
1 Ecclus. xviii. 23.
446 THE THIRD WEEK.
avoid grievous violation of the law of God, they. may
examine themselves on the faults and negligences in
the observance of those virtues which are enjoined
in the Decalogue ; as, for example, on faith, hope, and
charity, on prayer and the qualities which are required
to render it acceptable, such as humility, confidence,
fidelity, and perseverance, and the like. We have to
observe a similar method in the use of the faculties of
our soul, or the use and abuse of our senses, or in the
fulfilment of the particular duties of our state of life.
It is well, also, to introduce other considerations in
this method of prayer and self-examination, such as,
for example, how profitable, reasonable, and necessary
it is to observe, how prejudicial and unreasonable to
transgress, this command of God.
If the exercise be on the ' ' Three Powers of the Soul," ^
1 St. Ignatius observes : ' ' With regard to the Three Powers of the Soul,
let the same method or rule be observed as in the Commandments, making
the Addition, preparatory prayer, and colloquy."
The first of these powers of the soul is the Memory, which owing to our
corrupt nature is prone to recall and dwell upon those things which flatter
the senses or our own self-love, and which too often are Hable to be
dangerous or sinful. Sometimes these memories spring from our own will
or from habit, at other times they may be suggested by the good spirit or
from the devil, as we have already seen.
We may sin by the Memory by provoking or encouraging thoughts of
sensuality or impurity, of uncharitableness, of disobedience, &c. : by
occupying ourselves in recalling vain, worldly, or dangerous memories :
by entertaining profane and distracting thoughts, which come into the
mind when we are at prayer, in church, &c. On the other hand, we gain
merit in the right use of the memory by rejecting all memories which may
incline us to sin ; by repeUing imaginations or recollections of profane
things, especially in time of prayer ; by cutting off all idle fancies and
unprofitable remembrances ; lastly, by habitually remembering or recalling
the presence of God, or of holy things.
As regards the second power, namely, the Intellect, We sin if through
our own fault we remain in ignorance of those things which are necessary
for salvation, or of the obligations of our state or position : or if we form
rash judgments of others ; or if we are fickle and inconstant in our judg-
ment, or lightly abandon good resolutions which we have made : or if we
are obstinate in our opinions. We also fail in the right use of this faculty,
THREE METHODS OF PRAYER. 447
or on the "Senses,"^ we may reflect on the great favour
God has done for us in giving us such a power or sense,
for what end He has conferred it on us, how our
by dissimulation, political mode of action, scheming, craft, curiously search-
ing into matters which we neither ought nor can thoroughly understand,
such as mysteries which are the object of faith ; or by defending our views
with vehemence, often with self-sufficiency and contempt for the opinion
of others, whereas a man of good judgment rarely has much confidence in
himself. The one and only remedy against all these sins or faults is the
true knowledge and due appreciation of our worthlessness.
With regard to the faculty of the Will, it may be said to consist of two
parts : one superior, which in all things is conformable to, and in harmony
with the Divine will ; the other or inferior incline? us to those things which
are unworthy of us, and which we must resist ; which would prompt us to
gratify " the law in our members which fights against the law of our minds,
and would enslave us to the law of sin," and from which all sin proceeds.
1 With regard to the five senses of the body, St. Ignatius says : ' ' The
same order is to be observed, the subject-matter only being changed." In
the exposition of the "Foundation" of the Spiritual Exercises, we saw
that all sin springs from the wrong use of creatures, through the medium
of the senses. From this we see the vital importance of keeping these
under due control ; and hence the value of Rules of Modesty, such as are
laid down by St. Ignatius, as well as by all the other founders of Rehgious
Orders.
1. The Eyes, the sense through which death commonly enters (Jerem.
ix. 21), as we see in Eve, David, &c. Let us beware of fixing our eyes on
any dangerous object. From neglect in this respect we expose ourselves
to countless phantasms, imaginations, and perturbations. Let us also
avoid letting our eyes wander thoughtlessly at random ; and particularly
let us beware of indiscriminate reading.
2. Ears. — How much ruin has sprung from listening to loose, unchari-
table, or idle conversation. "Be not led astray," says St. Paul, "evil
conversation corrupteth good manners." (i Cor. xviii. 33.) It is an axiom,
■" Tell me with whom you entertain yourself, and I will tell you who you
are." Follow the counsel of the Holy Spirit, and "hedge in your ears
with thorns."
3. Smell. — All faults of this sense arise from voluptuousness and
effeminacy, which are an abomination. That indulgence of this sense
may amount to grievous sin is clear from the punishment which God
inflicts upon it. (Isaias xxxiv. 3.)
4. Tongue. — St. James (Epist. iii.) tells us that he that offends not in
word is a peaceful man. It is indeed a tiny member, but yet it is a fire, a
world of iniquity ; the tongue no man can tame — it is an unquiet evil —
full of deadly poison — from it proceed blessings and cursings. The faults
that proceed from it are without number : falsehood, detraction, calumny,
448 THE THIRD WEEK.
Blessed Lord and the saints used it ; then examine
what use we have made of it, make our act of sorrow,
and say the " Our Father " as above, and resolve to
employ it better in future. It is incredible how much
this method of prayer conduces to reform our life and
restore fervour ; for it is too true that very many daily
faults are committed in the use of our faculties and
senses of which we are ignorant through want of
reflection.
At the end of the exercise we make our colloquy
according to the subject-matter, and end with '• Our
Father."
Of course this method of prayer should not be made
without the approbation of the confessor, by any who
are of a nervous and scrupulous disposition, or who
are troubled by temptations of mistrust and want of
confidence in the mercy of God.
SECOND METHOD.
After recollecting ourselves and putting ourselves in
the presence of God, and considering the exercise upon
which we are about to enter, we make our prepara-
tory prayer as usual, begging that all our intentions,
thoughts, actions, and endeavours may be directed
uncharitableness, blasphemy, cursing, perjury, evil counsels, scurrility,
boasting, vainglory, scoffing, murmuring, and profanity.
To avoid these or other sins of the tongue let us follow the counsels of
Ecclus, (xxxviii, 28) : " Hedge in thine ears w^ith thorns, hear not a wicked
tongue, and make doors and bars to thy mouth ; make a balance for thy
words, and a just bridle for thy mouth ; and take heed lest thou slip with
thy tongue ; " and that of St. James (i. 19) : " Let every man be swift to
hear, but slow to speak," for "in the multitude of words there shall not
want sin ; but he that refraineth his lips is most wise." (Prov. x. 19.)
Touch. — Any undue care of the body, such as the appliance of the
countless means provided by the luxury of modem civilization to promote
its comfort and ward off pain— overcare to guard against the cold or
protect it from the heat — the use of things calculated to enervate us or to
render us effeminate ; all these induce occasions of sin, and are unworthy
of one who undertakes to follow Christ our Lord.
THREE METHODS OF PRAYER. 449
purely to the praise, honour, and glory of God our
Lord and to the sanctification of our souls. We then
take some vocal prayer, as the ** Our Father," " Hail
Mary," some psalm, or prayer of the Church, and
repeat it, dwelling upon any word or phrase, making
reflections thereon, on its meaning, its application, the
dogmatic or moral truths it contains, the obligations it
involves, &c. After which follow affections and collo-
quies which are suitable to the matter on which we
are reflecting. When the time is past, if we have
not finished the whole prayer, St. Ignatius will have
us complete it without pausing, and conclude with
a colloquy to the person to whom the prayer is
addressed.
This method of prayer is very easy, and can be
practised by all sorts of persons, in any circum-
stances of time and place, whether we be sick
or well, at home or on a journey ; moreover, it is
extremely profitable, as it accustoms us to recollection
and union with God by means of ejaculations during
the course of the da}^ and in our daily duties in which
we are liable to dissipation. When on a journey,
or indisposed, or suffering from aridity, or desolation
of spirit, or when harassed by distracting cares, let
us have recourse to this method of prayer and not
allow ourselves to contract the time which is assigned
to it.
It is also of great advantage to those who have to
recite the Divine Office, or to offer the Holy Sacrifice,
that they apply this method of prayer to the psalms, or
the various prayers of the Canon of the Mass from time
to time, as it will promote piety, recollection, and
devotion in the performance of these holy Offices of the
Church. In like manner, for those who have a habit of
reciting certain fixed daily prayers, it will prove of great
benefit to apply to them this second method of prayer
DD
450 THE THIRD WEEK.
occasionally, as a means of increasing attention and
devotion.
I would observe also that as sick persons, who have
no appetite and feel a nausea for food and yet require
nourishment, have to be induced to take small quantities
at very short intervals, so there are certain people of
flighty, nervous, and unstable dispositions, who cannot
without great difficulty collect their thoughts and fix
their minds and imaginations, who must by this method
gradually be led on until they can make full use of the
different powers of their souls in regular mental prayer.
THIRD METHOD.
In this method of prayer, after the immediate pre-
paration and the usual preparatory petition, we select
some prayer, as the *' Our Father," *' Hail Mary," some
psalm, or other prayer of the Church, and repeat it so
slowly, and with such pauses, that we take a respiration
between one word and another, or between one phrase
and another ; in the meantime, fixing our minds succes-
sively on the signification and meaning of the words
which we pronounce, or on the person to whom the
prayer is addressed, considering his excellency, holiness,
and glory, and our own baseness, vileness, and shame,
revering him with pious affection of heart, or begging
him to grant or obtain for us the grace or favour which
we desire.
It is not to be understood that we are to employ
this method while we are reciting the Office, or th^e
Rosary, or other such long prayers, because it would
take up such a long time ; but it is very profitable to
use it now and then, especially at certain short intervals,
as for instance whilst going up and down stairs, or from
one duty to another, when visiting the Blessed Sacra-
ment, or when we have more leisure time. On account
THREE METHODS OF PRAYER. 451
of our manifold occupations and duties we cannot spend
so much time in reciting the Office and othei: spiritual
exercises as those do who Hve a contemplative life, or
whose duties are fewer and less varied, but still on
occasions we can pause on the sense of what we say,
and thus increase our fervour and devotion.
THE FOURTH WEEK,
INTRODUCTION.
1. The end of this part of the Exercises is to excite
us to rejoice at the great joy of our Lord,^ to confirm
our hope,2 and thereby expand our hearts, strengthen us
in our weakness, and fill us with comfort and courage."^
In this fourth part we ought also to confirm ourselves
in the third degree of humility by this new motive,
namely, the consideration of the victory which is pro-
posed to us and the grand reward which is promised
to us. We may also with fruit consider how the four
properties of a glorified body contrast with the four
classes of things enumerated in the *' Foundation."
2. As the effects of the contemplations of the Resur-
rection and the Apparitions is to unite the soul more
intimately with God, some have complained that
St. Ignatius, instead of treating them more fully, as
calculated to unite us closely with Jesus Christ by the
bonds of holy love which is the crown and fulness of
sanctity and perfection, only sets down the contempla-
tions on the Resurrection and on Divine Love. To
this Father Suarez^ gives a reply, that in the Unitive
1 Direct, xxxvi.
' "Blessed be the God and Father of cur Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to His great mercy hath regenerated us into a lively hope, by the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (i St. Peter i. 3.)
' " But having the same recompense (I speak as to my children) be you
also enlarged." (2 Cor. vi. 13.)
* De Relig. ix. c. vi. §§ 9, 10.
INTRODUCTION. 453
Way, which is so much commended by the saints, we
have to distinguish two things : the first, its beginning ;
the second, its end and perfection. Now, as to the
beginning and entrance into this way which leads to a
perfect union with God, and which is capable of being
reduced to a certain order and method, St. Ignatius
notifies this sufficiently. In order to put us on the
way, and he intends nothing more, he points out to us
the matter and form which we are to adopt in our
contemplation ; whereas, as to the end or perfection,
which consists in the possession by the soul of God
in contemplation,! it is a point so sublime and super-
1 In tliis higher kind of contemplation, in which, antecedent to any
operations of the mind, God acts directly and immediately upon the soul,
which in its turn voluntarily assents in a spirit of love, Father Alvarez
de Paz distinguishes fifteen different degrees of union between the soul and
God. ThQ first degree he calls, "Intuition of truth," in which the mind
apprehends vividly and without any mental process the perfections of God,
or the mysteries of our Lord's Life, or the hollowness of earthly things, or
some truth of the sacred writings, &c. This vivid intuition is attended by
great self-abasement and ardent love of God.
The second degree is that in which God seems to take sudden and sole
possession of the powers of the soul, which at once responds by acts of
praise and love. If, however, the mind is so filled with admiration as to
be unable to do more than admire, and the heart is so full that it cannot
express its desires, the contemplative soul is in the third degree, which is
that of "Spiritual silence."
'ThQ fourth degree is that of "Quiet" or repose, when the soul simply
reposes in the intimate presence of God, who regards it with intense love,
although it feels itself most unworthy of His love.
ThQjlfth degree is ' ' Union," in which the soul apprehends so clearly the
infinite perfections of God, that it feels that nothing can separate it from
Him, and the will is so inflamed with love of Him, that it cannot live
without Him.
In the sixth degree God speaks audibly to the soul, as He did sometimes
to the prophets, or as Christ to St. Ignatius, or as our Lady to St. Stanislaus.
The seventh degree is "Spiritual sleep or somnolence," in which the
soul is as it were totally unconscious of external things and is in no way
affected by them, being so to speak inebriated with the wine of God's love
; and charity.
This is closely connected with the eighth degree, which is a more
^intense state of abstraction from all external things and more intimate
union with God.
454 • THE FOURTH WEEK.
natural that it cannot be learned by rule or method,
but depends entirely on the grace and illumination of
the " Holy Ghost, who breatheth where He will."i
3. Besides kindling in us an ardent desire to love
God, St. Ignatius wishes to instil into our souls a total
The ninth degree is that of "Rapture," when the soul is as it were
forcibly alienated from the body itself as well as from external things, and
is absorbed in the contemplation of God and in the love of Him, so that it
desires nothing but Him, wishes for nothing but to do and to suffer for
Him, whilst at the same time it is overwhelmed with the consciousness of
its own misery and unworthiness. In those times the body and the senses
often seem to be dead, or sometimes the body is raised in the air, &c.
The tenth degree is when God or Christ our Lord or the saints appear
in human form to the contemplator. Such sensible communications are of
a lower character than those we have alluded to already, appealing as they
do to the soul through the medium of the senses ; they are also liable to be
misleading, as they may be merely the productions of imagination, or the
work of the devil transforming himself into an angel of light. They are,
therefore, neither to be sought for nor to be in any way encouraged.
Not much unlike the preceding, are the purely imaginary apparitions
mentioned in the eleventh degree, which suddenly present themselves to the
soul engaged in contemplation, and powerfully affect it by drawing to God
and to that which is good.
The twelfth degree is styled "Intellectual vision." This occurs when
Divine or heavenly truths are clearly and directly manifested to the intellect,
when occupied in contemplation. Of course this is of a far higher and
nobler character than apparitions which appeal to the senses, or to the
imagination. It is sometimes preceded or followed by sensible or imaginary
representations, which, as we have said, may come from the good angel
or from the devil as an angel of light.
The thirteenth degree is the "Vision of God in an undefined and
obscure manner;" as an object that is indistinctly seen in the morning mist
or in the early break of day.
When, however, God manifests His presence, not as it were face to face
as the blessed see Him in Heaven, but clearly as an object is seen in the
clear dayhght, and not in sensible form but as spirit to spirit, it is the
fourteenth degree or "The admirable manifestation of God." St. Ignatius
was favoured by God with frequent experience of all these degrees, and in
an especial manner by the grace of the last named.
The fifteenth degree is the Beatific Vision, such as the blessed enjoy in
Heaven, who see God not through a glass, in a dark manner, but face to
face, not as now in part, but known even as they are known. (Alvarez de Paz,
De perfectione vitce.)
1 St. John iii. 8.
INTRODUCTION. 455
I
detachment from, and a profound contempt for, all
earthly things ; and whereas this must be manifested
more in our actions than in our words and feelings, we
must during this part of the Exercises conceive and
form strong resolutions to practise heroic virtues,
especially entire resignation and conformity of our
will to the will of God, towards which end St. Ignatius
directs the whole Exercises. ^
4. As to the manner of meditating in this part, it
is quite the same as is laid down in the meditations on
the Life of Christ in the preceding parts, considering
in each mystery the persons, the words, and the actions.
However, we must add two special considerations in
each point : namely, how the Divinity which during
the Passion of our Lord suspended its action and con-
cealed itself so that He might suffer the more, now
displays itself by real and most holy miraculous effects ;
and secondly, how He fulfils the offices of a true friend,
consoling, teaching, and encouraging His disciples.
These will help to enkindle His love in us and to unite
us more closely and firmly with Himself.
5. In the Additions the following changes are also
to be observed : First, as soon as we awake, we must
represent to ourselves our Lord all joyful and in glory,
thereby to excite in ourselves sentiments of joy and love
and a vehement desire to do all we can to please and
glorify Him. Secondly, forgetting our own miseries
and trials, we are to entertain those thoughts which
are calculated to promote spiritual joy, hopefulness,
and cheerful peace ; as also to take advantage of the
light and of the sunshine and of the views of natural
beauty, and the like, as far as we may judge them to be
conducive to help us to rejoice in our Creator and
Redeemer.
Lastly, unless it be a time of fasting and abstinence,
1 Suarez, ix. c. vi. §§ 6, 7.
456 THE FOURTH WEEK.
we remit our penances, but at the same time must
be careful to observe the rules of temperance and
moderation.
6. In fine, we shall best secure the fruit of this
closing part of the Exercises by cultivating a loving
and affective presence of God ; now admiring His
infinite perfections, now dwelling on His goodness ; at
one time desiring to possess Him, at another protesting
that we covet nothing but to praise and please Him.
It is thus that our soul becomes transformed, and we
may reap more benefit from this than from all the rest
of the Exercises, for the heart of man is like wax which
much more easily yields to an impression when softened
by fire than when it is impressed by a cold stamp of
iron.
But all this will be mere grimace, if meanwhile we
foster attachment to the things of this world, for unless
our hearts are purified and free from all affection for
this world we cannot hope that they can ever be
inflamed with Divine love.
^ 7. Often exercitants experience in this part of their
retreat great aridity and desolation ; either because
they are getting fatigued, or because they find the
resolutions which they are only beginning to' observe
are very trying, or because they are tempted by the
devil, who by these means wishes to frustrate the end
of these meditations, which is to cheer us and confirm
us in our election, ^ and to give us faciHty, courage, and
strength to reduce it to practice.
1 Direct, xxxvi.
THE RESURRECTION. 457
THE RESURRECTION.!
The glorious Resurrection of our Lord and His
apparition to His Blessed Mother will afford the subject
of our first contemplation.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Our Lord expired on the Cross, and His
Body was laid in the tomb, but His Soul descended
into Limbo, where He freed the souls of the just therein
detained. On the third day He resumed His now
glorified Body, rose from the dead, and appeared to His
Mother.
Prelude 2. — We will visit in turn Limbo, the
sepulchre, and the house in which our Blessed Lady
was staying.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg that we may have real devo-
tion, and rejoice with our Blessed Lord and our Lady,
and may daily increase in solid and practical love of
God.
Point I. — Why did our Lord's Soul at once hasten
to Limbo ? (a) To follow the same path that all holy
souls of the patriarchs, prophets, and righteous had
taken before Him ; but mainly, (/?) to comfort them and
give them in person the glad news that the redemption
of man was now perfected, and that their imprisonment
was at an end. Oh, the generous and loving Heart of
1 "And behold there was a great earthquake. For an Angel of the
Lord descended from Heaven : and coming, rolled back the stone and sat
upon it. And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow.
And for fear of him the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead
men. And the Angel answering, said to the women : Fear not you : for I
know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He is
risen, as He said. Come and see the place where the Lord was laid."
(St. Matt, xxviii. 2—6. )
458 THE FOURTH WEEK.
our Lord ! His first thought and concern is to console
His friends and make them the sharers of His joy and
happiness. What a stupendous change does His
presence produce ! The comparative gloom of centuries
flies away before His dazzling beauty, and He presents
to their enraptured gaze the Divine Essence, investing
them with the Beatific Vision, and " enlightened them
who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death." Let
us ponder how these souls adored, praised, and poured
out their thanksgiving to their Divine Deliverer. Some
had been detained for three thousand years and more,
in separation from God : there were also the prophets
and patriarchs who had foretold the coming of the
Redeemer, and had for so long ardently desired it.
And now the happy day has come, the gates of Heaven
are opened, the chains of sin are broken, and these
holy souls are free to grace the triumph of the great
Liberator. Oh, what feeling of gratitude and love
must swell their souls. Let us catch the infection, and
with them rejoice and thank our Lord for this our
glorious redemption.
Point 2. — Let us now accompany our Lord as
He l^ads forth these souls to the holy sepulchre,
to show them His dead Body, that they might see
how much it cost Him to redeem us and in His
deep wounds the depth of love with which He
loved us.
Then, after we have paused once more to see the
havoc which our sins have wrought in His adorable
Body, behold He reunites His Soul to it and rescues
it from the jaws of death, and fills it with Divine and
glorified life, whilst the hosts of Heaven gather round
it in adoration as it rises up immortal and imperishable,
and adorned with heavenly beauty and glory. A few
moments ago it was black and blue and stained with
blood, battered, torn, and butchered, stiff, and lifeless :
THE RESURRECTION. 459
now the wounds are blazing suns, life immortal is burst
forth, it is agile and impassible, it is clothed with
majesty and absolute sovereignty. How enraptured
are they all as they gaze upon this awful transfigura-
tion. Truly, Jesus is a true friend to make His friends
so truly happy. Well then let us love Him, let us
confide in Him. Let us love Him and banish all other
love which is not loved in Him, by Him, with Him, and
for Him ; for He is alone worthy of our love apparelled
as He is with glory and Divine beauty, and adorned
with those Five Wounds which He still retains in testi-
mony of His love for us. How can we, if we have
hearts at all, withhold a particle of them ? Or how can
we admire or love any object but Him ?
Let us have unbounded confidence in Him, for He
has merited for us that we too shall put on immortality
and incorruption, and so too shall be with our Lord
for ever. Therefore, let us take courage and be
determined to suffer much and labour hard for Him,
inasmuch as we are sure "if we sustain with Him,
also shall we reign," ^ and in proportion as we shall
share in His labours, shall we also partake of His
reward.
Point 3. — Let us then accompany our Lord with
His glorious retinue on His visit to His ever-Blessed
Mother. 2 We may picture her all afflicted and dis-
consolate, retired and absorbed in prayer, and expect-
ing with a lively faith and unshaken confidence the
1 "A faithfvil saying. For if we be dead with Him, we shall live also
with Him ; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." (2 Timothy ii. 12.)
3 Although the Scriptures are silent as to the apparition to our Blessed
Lady, whilst they recount the various manifestations of Jesus to the
disciples, Apostles, and to the holy women, St. Ignatius equivalently asserts
it, and observes that ' ' the Scripture supposes that we have intelligence and
sense, as it is written : Are you also yet without understanding." Father
Alvarez observes that it rests also upon an unbroken and universal tradition.
Our Lord too revealed to St. Theresa that His first appearance was to His
Blessed Mother.
460 THE FOURTH WEEK.
Resurrection of her beloved Child. God, who dispenses
His graces and favours according to our confidence
and desires, did not delay to comfort her. Oh, what
a meeting must that have been ! Oh, what over-
powering consolation, what mutual overwhelming love !
Surely it required the power of God to prevent it from
proving fatal and destroying her natural life, propor-
tioned as it was to her inexpressible dolours, and also
to the love which she bore to Him. Let us rejoice
with her, and congratulate her, and take heart to suffer
now and to be faithful to our resolutions, that later we
may also be comforted.
Let us make the three colloquies, one to our Lady,
one to our Lord, and one to the Eternal Father, and
end with '' Our Father."
THE APPARITION TO MAGDALENE.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prehtde i. — Mary Magdalene and two other pious
women, taking with them j^recious ointments and spices,
went to embalm the Body of our Lord : but not finding
it in the sepulchre, they beheld instead an Angel who
gave them news of the Resurrection. Magdalene,
1 "And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene cometh early,
when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre ; and she saw the stone taken
away from the sepulchre. . . . But Mary stood at the sepulchre without,
weeping. Now as she was weeping she stooped down and looked into the
sepulchre ; and she saw two angels in white, sitting one at the head, and
another at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been laid. They say to
her : Woman, why weepest thou ? She saith to them : Because they have
taken away my Lord : and I know not where they have laid Him. When
she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing ; and
she knew not that it was Jesus. . . . Jesus saith to her, Mary. She
turning to Him, saith to Him, Rabboni (which is to say, Master). Jesus
saith to her : Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended to My P'ather."
(St. John XX. I — 17.)
THE APPARITION TO MAGDALENE. 461
however, continued to weep and search here and there
for her beloved Master, who appeared to her in the
dress of a gardener.
Prehcde 1. — Let us in spirit place ourselves at the
tomb and observe what passes.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg the grace of spiritual joy and
intense love of our Lord, and unbounded confidence in
Him.
Point I. — These three pious women brought aromatic
spices and ointments, and iwent with great anxiety to
embalm the Body of Jesus, not thinking that He had
arisen. Let us admire their love and affection, and
constancy towards Him even after death. How
delighted is God with those who are faithful in His
service, not only when comforted and strengthened by
special graces, but also in desolation, trials, and spiritual
dryness.
It was not surprising that they followed our Lord
when they could behold Him, saw His miracles, heard
His sermons, and beheld Him greeted as the Messiah :
but they loved Him more after seeing Him die in
ignominy and amidst the mockery and blasphemies of
the priests and people. And on their way their fidelity
was tried. "Who would roll back the stone from the
mouth of the grave ? " And again, they feared the
soldiers, who might debar them from carrying out their
design. But love and devotion and a firm will to do this
office to their Divine Master overcame every difficulty,'
and God rewarded their constancy: for they found
that the soldiers had fled, the stone was rolled back,
and instead of the Body they beheld an Angel, who
gave them the joj^ful news of the glorious Resurrection.
Let us learn to expect many difficulties in our way, but
also many graces whereby to overcome them. Thus
during these Exercises we have planned out a line of
life in imitation of the example of our Blessed Lord, a
462 ♦ THE FOURTH WEEK.
life of detachment, of constant mortification, and of zeal
to promote in ourselves and in others the praise, service,
and glory of God. These are our fragrant ointments
and spices. But the devil and self-love and our own
faint-heartedness will cry out within us, " Who will roll
back the stone ? " To these will be added worldly
respects, jeers of companions, the example of the luke-
warm — all these, too, are the big stone which must be
rolled back! But let us imitate the pious women, let
us persist, and the Almighty will roll back the stone !
Let us seriously and resolutely stand to our election,
and to the resolutions which by His grace we have
made, and He will do the rest : for He is faithful, and
will not suffer us to be tempted above our strength.^
Point 2. — The women, affrighted, ran to inform the
Apostles. Then Magdalene hastened back to the tomb,
and tarried about shedding bitter tears for the absence
of the Sacred Body, which she thought was stolen;
again and again she went and looked into the sepulchre.
In vain the two angels by their questions strove to
comfort her, and she turned aside to go and seek the
object of her love. Our Lord, in the garb of a gardener,
confronts her, and at once she begs Him to inform her
where they have put the corpse ; He reveals Himself
by His voice, and addresses her by her name and
displays to her His glorified Humanity, whilst at the
same time He fills her heart with joy and consolation
in reward of her love and constancy. Oh ! the generous
love and bounty of our Lord. Let us fall with her at
His feet and make our acts of adoration and of love of
Him, who is so fond of us, that if we seek Him with
love and perseverance, He will come to visit us with
1 "Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. And
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you
are able ; but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able
to bear it." (i Cor. x. 13.)
THE APPARITION TO MAGDALENE. 463
His consolations. And when in desolation we fancy we
have lost Him, let us persevere in seeking after Him,
and we shall soon find Him.
Point 3. — But most of all, we must throw ourselves
with unbounded confidence upon our dear Lord. For to
whom does He make His first appearance (after that
to His Blessed Mother), before even showing Himself
to the other pious women or to the Apostles ? And
what merit had she to be thus distinguished above the
rest ? Had she not been a sinner in the city ? Was
it not out of her that He had driven seven devils ?
Yet she is singularly beloved and specially honoured !
Our Lord had forgiven the past ; He looks only at what
we are, not at what we have been, and loves most
those who most love and seek Him. Oh ! how this
should enlarge our hearts to confide in Him and to love
and serve Him ! He will receive us with the greater
tenderness if, having sinned with Magdalene, we imitate
her repentance. We will then offer up to Him a firm
resolution to love and serve Him, and this the more
faithfully, the greater have been our sins, and let us
beg Him to increase our love and confidence.
End with "■ Our Father."
464 THE FOURTH WEEK.
THE APPARITION TO THE HOLY WOMEN.^
Commencement and preparatory pra5^er as usual.
Preludff I. — The holy women, finding the tomb open
and being told by the Angel that our Lord had arisen,
went at his bidding to announce the glad tidings to the
Apostles. On the way our Lord appeared to them.
Prelude 2. — Accompany them in spirit on the way,
and adore our Lord with them.
Prelude/^. — Let us beg a share in the love and in the
joy of these pious women.
Point I. — Our Lord did not appear to the women
when they looked into the sepulchre, but the Angel
bade them go and tell the Apostles that He had arisen.
They believed and promptly obeyed, and as they
hurried on the way Jesus met them. This was to show
us the reward which God attaches to lively faith and
obedience. Let us learn to regard all Superiors in a
spirit of faith as holding the place of God, and to carry
out promptly and cheerfully the orders which they give
us, and thus we shall secure the signal favour of God
and a special blessing on all we do. To hear willingly,
to take counsel, and humbly submit our judgment, is
sure to be rewarded with a clear illustration how to
manage and to act in even most difficult matters.
Point 2. — The endearing manner in which our Lord appears,
— Jesus met them, courteously saluted them, and bade
them take courage and not be afraid. How consoled
and inflamed with love were they to see a God, and to
be greeted by Him. When will that happy time come
1 " And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great
joy, running to tell His disciples. And behold Jesus met them, saying :
All hail. But they came up and took hold of His feet, and adored Him.
Then Jesus said to them : Fear not. Go tell My brethren that they go into
Galilee, there they shall see Me." (St. Matt, xxviii. 8—10.)
THE APPARITION TO THE HOLY WOMEN. 465
when we shall be practically convinced that true peace
and solid happiness are only to be found in God ? We
see it in the saints, whose joy and tranquillity were
never disturbed amidst worldly adversity, cruel suffer-
ings and hardships, because Jesus was ever present to
them, and they felt assured of His love and protection.
If we do not experience these effects, is it not because
we do not serve Him thoroughly and are negligent and
lukewarm ? Let us make the colloquy which our hearts
will suggest.
Point 3. — The Message. — " Tell My brethren to go into
Galilee, there they shall see Me." They had abandoned
Him in His Passion, ran away or denied Him, they
lend an incredulous ear to Magdalene, and regarded her
news as the dreams and imaginings of a woman ; and
one would naturally suppose that our Lord would cease
to care for them, or that His message would be one of
reproach for their ingratitude, cowardice, and incre-
dulity, but no ! it was a message of kindness, of news
that He had arisen, and of a promise to meet them.
He calls them His brothers, to give them courage and
to show that He still loves them. Let us admire Him
for His benignity, and thank Him for the honour done
to us in making us His brothers, and let us determine
to prove ourselves worthy of it.
End with*' Our Father."
EE
466 THE FOURTH WEEK.
THE APPARITION TO THE DISCIPLES
GOING TO EMMAUS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Two disciples, on their way to Emmaus,
were discoursing on the late sad events when they were
overtaken by a person who joined in their conversation.
On arriving at the inn He sat with them at table, and
at length they recognized Him to be Jesus by the
breaking of bread.
Prelude 2. — Let us picture the road of seven miles,
the inn, and the supper.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg our Lord to be our comfort
in our sadness and trials.
Point I. — Let us reflect on the gloom and distress of
the disciples at witnessing the rage of the priests and
people against the followers of the Divine Master whom
they had crucified. How, oppressed with anguish and
disappointment at the loss of Him whom they had
looked upon as the Redeemer of Israel, they had
given up all hopes, as He had been buried nearly three
days, and they heard no more of Him. How often
does our Lord act thus with those who love Him ?
They seem deprived of all lights, of all spiritual
comforts, and of all signs of His presence ; and conse-
1 " And behold, two of them went the same day to a town which was
sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And they talked together
of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while
they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus drawing near, went with
them. But their eyes were held that they should not know Him, And
He said to them. What are these discourses that you hold one with another
as you walk and are sad ? . . . Then He said to them, O foolish and slow
of heart to beUeve in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought
not Christ to have suffered, and so to enter into His glory ? . . . And their
eyes were opened and they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight."
(St. Luke xxiv. 13—31.)
THE DISCIPLES GOING TO EMMAUS. 467
quently are depressed, fearing that they have lost God
and His grace, and suffer faintness, desolation, and
aridity. Yet it is just then that He is nearest them.
It is the trial which He allows to His servants when
He intends to confer some great grace upon them.
Let us learn in such cases to be patient, to humble
ourselves, and to pour out our hearts more fervently in
converse with Him as did these disciples, and foster a
more lively confidence in Him.
Point 2. — The dispositions which our Lord required
in His disciples before making Himself known to them
were : first, that they should disclose to Him their
melancholy and their languishing faith ; secondly, by
His discourse He stirs up their faith and rouses up
their fervour and' devotion ; thirdly. He excites their
earnestness and charity by pretending that He would
leave them. So if we have grown cold in the service
of God, we should seek succour and advice from our
spiritual director, we should meditate on things eternal,
and use sweet violence with God to come and remain
with us by constant and persevering prayer.
Poi7it 3. — The disciples knew Him in the blessing of
bread. As it is commonly supposed, He rewarded them
with a view of His glory and gave them Holy Com-
munion. If we approach with faith, confidence, love,
and desire to this Holy Sacrament, we too shall quickly
find that we shall know our Lord ever more clearly and
shall also love Him more dearly.
End with " Our Father."
468 THE FOURTH WEEK.
THE APPARITION TO THE DISCIPLES IN
THE SUPPER-ROOM.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — When all the Apostles, except Thomas,
were gathered together and were scared with fear, Jesus
appeared in their midst, and imparted to them the Holy
Ghost, together with the power to forgive sins.
Prelude 2. — 'Let us put ourselves in spirit in that
famous Cenacle, &c.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg grace to appreciate the good-
ness and mercy of our Lord.
Point I. — The disciples were all together, united by
holy charity with our dear Lord and with each other ;
it is to such that He loves to come, and wherever He
is there He gives also peace and comfort. But whoever
is not animated by fraternal charity, is a stranger to
peace even with himself, for Jesus is not in him.
Hence let us study to preserve and promote union and
charity, to fly from special attractions and aversions,
and from backbiting and detraction ; and to be gentle,
meek, forgiving, and self-sacrificing. A house wherein
charity prevails is a heaven, but where it is absent it is
a hell. At all cost to self and to our own feelings we
must cultivate charity.
1 " Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the
doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be to
you. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His
side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He
said therefore to them again. Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent
Me, I also send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them, and
said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."
(St. John X.X. 19—23. Comp. St. Luke xxiv.)
THE DISCIPLES IN THE SUPPER-ROOM. 469
Point 2. — As yet they are incredulous and slow to
believe that our Lord has risen. He does not reprimand
them, but actually condescends to show them His hands
and feet and side, not only to give them a palpable
sign of His Resurrection, but also to gently reprove
them for so soon forgetting His love for them. Let
us picture the tenderness, love, and joy with which
the sight inspired them, and with what ecstasy they
gazed upon His blazing Wounds ; devoutly kissed them
and wet them with their hot tears. Picture Him as
He shows each, and the words of love which He
breathes at the same time. Oh ! let us show Him our
hands and hearts in return — not the hands only, in the
pulpit or confessional, or visiting the sick, or in other
external duties, which may be prompted by ambition,
interest, rivalry, or vanity, but also our hearts by our
good and pure intentions, by fidelity in prayer, by
practical love of Him, and by scrupulous observance
of all our holy rules, and especially by conquering
ourselves in whatever is repugnant to our human
nature ; our love of Him will progress by how much we
do violence to our own selves. ^
Point 3. — Jesus breathed upon them and imparted
the Holy Ghost to them, and with the same commission
which He had from His Father does He also com-
mission them. Let us reflect in what manner He was
sent. He was sent in poverty and in contempt, was
persecuted, and died in ignominy and sorrow, and in
this manner He wrought the redemption of the world.
The disciple must not be above the Master, wherefore
let us be well persuaded that to convert and save souls,
we too must suffer much, must suffer persecutions and
affronts, must sacrifice reputation and ease, and, if need
be, even life itself.
And what a comfort and honour it should be to us
1 " Tantum proficies quantum tibi ipsi vim intuleris." (a Kempis.)
470 THE FOURTH WEEK.
to undergo all this when we see that we are treated
like our dear Lord ! If we had a real and lively faith,
with what courage and joy this thought would inspire
us.
Let us beg most earnestly of our Lord that H"i will
give us this spirit and courage, and let us offer our-
selves to suffer any hardship for His sake, Da quodjubes
et jiihe quod vis.
Making a fervent colloquy, let us end with " Our
Father."
THE APPARITION TO THE DISCIPLES
AND ST. THOMAS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — On the eighth day after His Resurrection,,
when Thomas was with the other Apostles, Jesus-
appears and bids Thomas to test His Wounds : upon
which he confesses his fault, and thus repairs the
scandal which he had given.
Prelude 2. — Let us in spirit place ourselves in the
Cenacle.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg a spirit of docility to God's
holy inspirations.
Point I. — We know not the reason of the Apostle's
absence ; but whatever it was it cost him dear, as he
lost the visit of our Lord, and fell into the sin of
incredulity. This should teach us to adhere to disci-
i "After eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with
them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in tlie midst, and
said : Peace be to you. Then He sailh to Thomas : Put in thy finger
hither, and see My hands, and bring hither thy hand and put it into My
side ; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said,
My Lord and my God. Jesus saith to him : Because thou hast seen Me^
Thomas, thou hast believed : blessed are they who have not seen, and have
believed." (St. John xx. 26 — 29.)
THE DISCIPLES AND ST. THOMAS. 471
pline and great fidelity in all public duties. Further,
it should show us the necessity of great circumspection,
for from small matters and imperfections, dismal con-
sequences may ensue. Thus, from his absence from
the rest Thomas fell so shamefully, and was on the
point of losing his faith and all the merit of his apostle-
ship. We may begin with a certain negligence and
infidelity in our service of God ; thence we proceed
with our eyes open to commit deliberate venial sins,
and afterwards may end by mortal sin. Another lesson
we ought to take to heart is to perform our spiritual
duties in due time, and as far as possible with the rest
of the community. Woe to us if we spend that time in
study, chatting, or sleeping ! By so doing we not only
shall lose those visits with which our Lord is wont to
reward the faithful and fervent, but we shall expose
ourselves to some considerable faults owing to the
withdrawal of grace. We sometimes are surprised that
we have no feeling of fervour or devotion, and our
spiritual duties are performed in coldness and aridity,
and it seems as if our Lord had turned His face from
us ; perhaps it comes from not performing them in
proper time, from interrupting or contracting them,
and if so, let us apply a remedy at once, and thus
endeavour to merit the visits of our Lord.
Point 2. — After persisting in his incredulity for eight
days, Thomas was with the rest, and our Blessed Lord
appears again, and with Him He brings peace : and in
His infinite gentleness and condescension bids Thomas
to test His W^ounds and not be so incredulous. He
comes on purpose to comfort and strengthen His
undeserving Apostle. He will not let him perish.
St. Thomas, amazed and reclaimed, threw himself at
His feet, and made his profound act of faith. Oh !
how often, very often has our Lord shown this con-
descension and mercy to us — how many illustrations of
472 THE FOURTH WEEK.
mind, how many aspirations of heart, has He sent to
us. How many miracles of grace has He wrought in
our souls, to put us and keep us in the sure way of
salvation ! Let us contemplate this our good Lord ;
let us kiss His Wounds, let us press His Blessed Heart,
and let us protest our fidelity for the future, for He
alone shall be our Lord and our God.
Point 3. — Jesus says, ** Blessed they who have not
seen, but have believed." This is a great maxim of
spiritual life ; not to be guided by outward considera-
tions, and by the judgment of the senses, for such are
spiritually blind, but rather by the spirit of faith, which
is the argumentiim non apparenfium. Do we direct ourselves
by the principles of holy faith in our functions, resolu-
tions, and conduct, or only according to our fancy and
genius, or according to human and worldly motives ?
If ordered anything by our Superiors, do we consider it
a wrong done to us, or complain that it will discredit
us, or that it goes against our humour, convenience,
and ease ? We are always on a precipice, and liable
to fall, if we do not cultivate the spirit of holy faith,
and act from supernatural motives. For in super-
natural life we have seen that we must suffer, and
suffer much : and mere natural motives are quite
insufficient to enable us to persevere in it. It is only
by acting for the love of God that we shall lay up
stores of merit, and shall enjoy even on earth an
unspeakable beatitude.
End with colloquy and ** Our Father."
THE APOSTLES ON LAKE TIBERIAS. 473
THE APPARITION TO THE APOSTLES ON
LAKE TIBERIAS.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Peter and John and the other disciples
were engaged in fishing in the Sea of Tiberias, when
Jesus, on the shore, makes Himself known to them by
the miraculous capture ; they hasten to throw them-
selves at His feet ; He invites them to eat, and enter-
tains them.
Prehide 2. — Let us picture the scene, and hear and
note all that transpires.
Prelude 3. — Let us beg the grace to rejoice at the
goodness of our Lord, who shows Himself our com-
panion, and helps us in all circumstances of life.
Point I. — The Apostles had laboured all night to no
purpose, when our Lord appeared and bade them cast
their net on the right of their boat, and it was found
at once full of fish. John, the clean of heart, saw it
was Jesus, and told Peter. Jesus by this miracle would
show them that, as He was going to make them fishers
of men, the two dispositions which would be required
of them to secure success, were diffidence in themselves
and absolute confidence in Him. These two virtues
are necessary to secure the blessing of God, and without
1 "And they went forth and entered into the ship : and that night they
caught nothing. But when the morning was come Jesus stood on the
shore : yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus, therefore, said
to them : Children, have you any meat? They said to Him : No. He
said to them : Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you
shall find. They cast, therefore : and now they were not able to draw
it for the multitude of fishes. . . . Jesus saith to them : Bring hither of the
fishes which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the
net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. . . . Jesus
saith to them : Come and dine : and none of them who were at meat
durst ask Him, Who art Thou ? knowing that it was the Lord." (St. John
xxi. 3-13.)
474 1'HE FOURTH WEEK.
that blessing all our labour and talents are quite useless :
" God alone can give the increase."^ From Him alone
can we expect success, and from Him must we strive
to obtain it by living a holy life, by prayer, by acting
with a pure intention. It is not by talents, nor by
brilliant discourses, nor by making a great show that
souls are to be gained to God. Let us convince
ourselves of this.
Point 2. — Our Lord invites them to come and eat :
and He took into His blessed hands bread, and gave to
them, and fish in like manner. Oh, the goodness, the
humility, the thoughtfulness of our sweet Lord, in His
friendly and familiar treatment of these poor fishermen !
As long as we are labouring for souls we are like
fishermen on the sea, filled with anxiety, overwhelmed
with labours, and pressed by cares and works of charity,
and when this is over we must go to shore, to some
convenient place with Jesus, to look to ourselves and
resume new strength, lest whilst preaching to others
we become ourselves castaways. We must so devote
ourselves to our neighbours as not to forget ourselves
or neglect the care of our own souls ; and by prayer
and interior exercises must obtain from Jesus that food
of solid virtues without which all labour for our neigh-
bours would be inefifectual.
Point 3. — Then our Lord addressed Peter ,2 putting
1 " I have planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase. There-
fore neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that watereth ; but God
that giveth the increase." (i Cor. iii. 6, 7.)
2 "When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter : Simon,
son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith to Him : Yea,
Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him : Feed My
lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?
He saith to Him : Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith
to him : Be a shepherd to My lambs. He saith to him a third time :
Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me. ... He said to Him : Lord,
Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that Llove Thee. He said to
him : Feed My sheep." (St. John xxi. 15 — 17.)
THE APOSTLES ON LAKE TIBERIAS. 475
to him three times the same question, and asking him
if he loved Him. This made Peter sad, and mistrustful
of himself, for it brought back to him his former
presumption, self-confidence, and fall, but yet he an-
swered, " Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee." Then
our Lord gave him His Divine commission of feeder
and ruler of His flock, and bade him to follow Him.
At once Peter definitely left all else and followed
Him. So those called to the sacred ministry have their
share in this two-fold commission. They have to feed
the flock of Christ with sermons, with the sacraments,
with spiritual instructions. But before doing so we
must put this question to ourselves, Do we love God
more than the rest ? Have we true and solid virtue,
are we devout and fervent more than ordinary and
common, so as to be able to share it with others ?
What good can we expect to produce in our neighbours
if they do not see us more holy than themselves, less
attached to our own ease or interest, less irascible,
impatient, ambitious, and uncharitable than themselves ?
Wherefore we should often put this question to our-
selves, " Dost thou love Me more than these?" And
then only shall we be worthy apostles, when with Peter
we can say, "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love
Thee." Again, that we may produce fruit in souls we
must obey the call to follow Christ. We have made
the resolution now, and we have made it often before ;
let us never lose sight of it again. Let us ever have
before us the example of our Lord, and how He
thought, spoke, and acted ; and in every circumstance
of life let us copy His example.
In our colloquy, let us commence with our Lord and
ask Him to let us see any attachment which may mar
the truth that we love Him more than these, and to
give us the grace to root it out of our souls, and also to
give us the grace to resolve and to persevere in the
476 THE FOURTH WEEK.
resolution to follow Him, whithersoever He may be
pleased to lead us. End with " Our Father."
.^ THE ASCENSION.i
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Pvcliide I. — After our Lord had spent forty days
comforting and teachin^gJiis Apostles, He met them
for the last time in the memttable Cenacle in Jerusalem,
to eat with them and address them before parting. He
then led them to Mount Olivet, and in their presence
He was taken up into Heaven. Two angels are sent
to awaken them out of their ecstasy, and to inform
them that He will come again to judge all men, as they
have seen Him going up to Heaven.
Pvehide 2. — Let us place ourselves as humble specta-
tors of this mystery.
Prelude 3. — Let us pray that the remembrance of
this glor}^ may give us courage to face and conquer
every difficulty.
Point I. — The circumstances preceding the Ascension. —
JeMs had appointed as the place of His Ascension the
Mount of Olives, not Thabor, to teach us that the way
to Heaven is by suffering and the Cross ; and whether
we will it or not, we must of necessity pass through
these trials which Providence has arranged for our
sanctification. Again, He begins His discourse with
His disciples by reproaching some of them with their
slowness of belief in the truth of His Resurrection, on
1 "And when He had said these things, while they looked on, He was
raised up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they
were beholding Him going up to Heaven, behold two men stood by them
in white garments, who also said, Ye men of Gahlee, why stand you
looking up to Heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven,
shall so come as you have seen Him going into Heaven." (Acts i. 9 — 12.)
THE ASCENSION. ^yy
the evidence of those who had seen Him. Let us take
this reproach to ourselves. During our retreat has He
not often spoken to us reproachfully, either by Himself
or through others ? This may be bitter, but, if we
accept it, it brings peace, for it is done through love —
Ego quosamo, ■avguo'^ — and we must accept it in the same
loving spirit.
He tells them that they shall be witnesses to Him
in Jerusalem and to the bounds of the earth, to make
known to men what He had done and suffered out of
love for them, and to inflame their hearts with love for
Him in return. This He deserves at our hands, and
if we have a spark of feeling, of love, or gratitude, we
should labour to carry out this cornj^^sion, by sacri-
ficing our lives to promote the glgry^of God, and to
make known to the world the nc^^y, the merit, the
goodness, and mercy of Jesus Chrrst. On this and to
this we should devote all our words, actions, thoughts,
nay, our lives themselves. This we ought to do the
more earnestly in order to repair for our past coldness
and indifference. Let us admire the gentleness and
love which He displays to all as He sits with them at
table, and the humility and condescension which by
His example He inculcates. He who is in the pcmes-
sion of infinite glory and is shortly to manifest it,
appears* amongst them without any outward sign of
it. Oh, what a lesson for us to hide the graces and
gifts of God, to be humble, affable, and unassuming in
our intercourse with others.
Point 2. — The manner of His Ascension. — When they
had all reached the top of Olivet, He cast His eyes
upon them to give them the last farewell, and lifted
His hands to bless them, and began to ascend into
the air, whilst His Mother and the Apostles and
disciples gazed in silent wonder on His Sacred
• 1 Apoc, iii. 19.
478 THE FOURTH WEEK.
Humanity, which, as it rose towards Heaven, blazed
far brighter than the sun, until at length a cloud
gaj:hered under His feet and cut Him off from their
sight. Let us ponder the mixed feelings which took
possession of their souls. Admiration of His beauty
and glory, intense love of His goodness, joy at the sight
of His triumph, and sorrow for His departure. Oh,
what a dreary thing does all this world appear to them
without Jesus in it ! So it should be with us. If we
have not Jesus with us, God help us ! but if we have
Him, what should we care for all else in the world?
Henceforth let our conversation be in Heaven, and let
us care but for one thing on earth, and that is to make
Him known,. 'graised, and loved, despite hardships,
persecutions, and death itself.
Having asce^dld to Heaven, He flings open the
gates for the first time, and, amidst the acclamations of
the angelic hosts, He takes possession of the Kingdom
which He has purchased for us at the price of His
Most Precious Blood and infinite merits.^ Oh, let us
congratulate our sweet Lord and offer Him our whole
hearts, protesting that henceforth He shall be the onty
object of our love in life and death.
, Point 3. — Whilst the disciples stood with eyes and
hearts raised in ecstasy towards the object which they
had lost, two angels were despatched by our Lord to
remind them that in due time He would return as they
had seen Him go, and in the Day of Judgment He
would come for them, would glorify them in body and
soul, and would take them to share with Him His
everlasting glory. Wherefore, sustained by this cheering
1 " Life up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates ;
and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory ? The
Lord who is strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up
your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates ; and the
King of glory shall enter in, V^ho is this King of glory ? The Lord of
hosts, He is the King of glory." (Psalm xxiii. 7 — 9.)
THE JOYS OF HEAVEN. 479
hope for the loss they had experienced, they returned
in great joy to Jerusalem.
Such, too, must be our comfort amidst all the
fatigues, hardships, and sufferings in the service of
God. The joyful day will dawn when our Lord will
come for us, and will say to us, " Well done, good and
faithful servant ; enter into the joy of thy Lord."
Let us » make our colloquies and end with "Our
Father."
THE JOYS OF HEAVEN.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us place ourselves in spirit in those
realms of bliss.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg an earnest desire to attain
a share in the glory of the saints, and the grace so to
live that we may secure it.
Pomt I. — In Paradise there is absence of all evil.
Over its gates is written, '* Here there is no death,
wailing, or sorrow," &c. When we enter there, there
is an end of trouble, hardships, anxieties, fears, adver-
sities, pains, and persecutions. There God will dry up
our tears and will welcome us. Let us as we contem-
plate this, resolve to be patient and desire to suffer
much in this life for the love of God, knowing that the
sufferings will soon be over, but the reward will never
end. Oh, blessed sufferings which will have such a
reward ! Let us determine at all costs to secure it.
If on this earth there was any spot where all evil and
misery were unknown, everybody would go through fire
and water to secure- it ; and shall we be less in earnest
when it is a question of Heaven, and when at. the same
time at such a small cost we can succeed in gaining it ?
How the sacrifices made by the children of this world
48o THE FOURTH WEEK.
to gain a little short-lived happiness should be a
stimulus to us !
Point 2. — In Paradise there is the possession of all
good. There is the aggregate of every kind of good^
and all enjoyed in the highest degree of perfection. In
this world the goods we can enjoy are few and scanty,
and often^ cannot be enjoyed together, as they are incom-
patible one' with another, and through the defectiveness
of our senses and faculties the pleasure derived from
them is very slight, nay, sometimes it ends in nausea
and disquiet, whereas in Heaven the faculties and
powers of soul and body will be so strengthened that
they will be able to enjoy every good, and with such
intense rapture and transport, that we shall be most
perfectly satisfied. And here we may ponder five
classes of goods.
(a) The place itself, magnificent, delightful, and
sumptuous beyond all imagination, in comparison with
which the beauty, magnificence, and splendour of this
world will seem no more than a wretched and loathsome
hovel, and stamped with squalor.
(^) The delightful company and society of the elect,
all united by the closest bonds of glowing love and
charity, where each one's happiness adds to that of
all the rest, and the glory and beauty of one adds to
that of all the others.
(y) We shall enjoy a most distinct knowledge of all
things created.
(8) Our glorified bodies will be gifted with bright-
ness, agility, impassibility, and immortality. .
(e) Above all, we shall feast on the sight of God and
on His love, by virtue of which each of the elect can
say, " I possess a God, and in Him all good and all
sovereign good." Reflect on each and all the goods
we might possibly enjoy in this world, and compare
them with what we expect to possess in Heaven, and
THE JOYS OF HEAVEN. 481
how truly shall we be able to say with St. Ignatius :
Quam sordet mihi terra cum ccelmn aspicio. In truth, the
world is a liar. It makes a false and empty show and
golden promises; it pours in our ears words, words;
but they are vox et praterea nihil. The world by its
wiles and flattery leads us to expect great things, but
gives us nothing, or at most but little, and that not for
long. How different is the conduct of our Lord, who,
like a sincere and true friend, promises and will give us
all, and ''this all is comprised in two syllables," ^ Deus
— ** God," in whom we have the fulfilment of all our
desires. Let us then look upon all things in this world
as so much dirt, deserving of our disdain and contempt,
and cheerfully deprive ourselves of them.^
Point 3. — Its possession is eternal. What transports
of bliss will be ours, on reaching that harbour of peace,
to feel it is for ever, and never can be lost ; to be out of
all danger ; to be safe ; never more to fear, never more
evil, never more anxiety or care : Semper cum Domino
crintus. Let this thought cause us to fly from imper-
fections and evil habits, and to transform the whole
tenour of our lives. If we are to put on the new man
in Heaven, we must throw off the old man in this life ;
to secure this eternal peace, we must use violence to
ourselves in time.
If we could now consult the saints in Heaven, what
counsel would they give us but that which by His
words and example Jesus Christ has given us — now to
be poor, detached from all things, to be mortified and
humble. The more we excel in these, the greater will
be our glory in Heaven.
End with " Our Father."
1 St. Augustine. » Hebrews x. 34.
FF
482 THE FOURTH WEEK.
ON LOVE FOR JESUS CHRIST.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Pf elude I. — Let us imagine our Lord striving to win
the hearts of men. Some by the motive that they have
offended Him, others by the motive of His love for
them, and others by His own loveliness.
Prelude 2. — Let us beg Him to set us on fire with
love for Him.
Point I. — ^Because we have offended Him, we are
bound to love Him. To think how glorious and noble
and lovable a person is God and how infinitely good
He is ; and, on the other hand, how blind, mean, and
mad one has been to have offended and betrayed Him,
is enough to torture a soul and to overwhelm it with
sorrow. Now let us reflect how we have treated our
Lord till now. Let us see Him tied to the pillar, black
and blue and mangled. How many cruel stripes have
we inflicted on that beautiful Body — how my sins
have wounded Him ! What barbarous creatures we
have been to treat Him worse than a dog ! What can
we do to atone for this cruelty ? The child who in a
sally of passion has laid hands on a loving mother, on
coming to himself and seeing the sad effects of his
anger, is inconsolable in his grief, and strives to prove
the intensity of his love by the intensity of his sorrow
and the sacrifices which love prompts him to make in
reparation. So should it be with us. We have greatly
offended Jesus Christ, and that for a long time. We
were blind and mad to be so ungrateful : we surely
cannot rest satisfied with a partial love in return. We
must love more than others and more intensely, and
must love the more ardently the greater the sins by
which we have offended. And then to think how He
ON LOVE FOR JESUS CHRIST. 483
behaved to us all the time that we were sinning against
Him ! So gentle, so patient, nay, actually heaping upon
our souls fresh and signal graces at the very time we
were insulting Him, mercifully seeking after us whilst
we were trying to escape from Him, and showing His
Wounds by and for us inflicted upon Him to His
Eternal Father, thereby to screen us from the punish-
ments which else would have fallen upon us, and which
we most richly deserved. Oh ! when we only think of
this, what a powerful motive does it not become to
strive to blot out our cruelty and black ingratitude, by
trying hard to love Him thoroughly in future. While
He held out His hand to embrace us, we have plunged
the dagger into His blessed Heart and nailed His
hands to the Cross, and yet He offered the Blood that
came forth from the Wounds we made, to wash away
our guilt. O heavens ! how could we treat such
goodness with such black ingratitude ? We could not
have done it even to a dumb animal. This thought is
enough to break our hearts and inflame them with
love. At the feet of our dear Lord,' let us think how
He has treated us and how we have treated Him ;
surely our cheeks will burn with shame and our hearts
with love at the harrowing thought.
Point 2. — Let us next see how He has loved us.
This we can never know or understand adequately ;
but when we first enter Heaven and give the first kiss
on His Sacred Side, we shall see within that opening
the furnace of the charity which glows in His noble
Heart for us. At present we may muse on what He
has done for us and the much He has undergone for us,
which are the best tokens of His ardent love. Our
poor souls found a place in His Sacred Heart from all
eternity, for then He resolved and decreed His many
favours which He was to confer on us in time. Even
then He preferred us to so many who would have
484 THE FOURTH WEEK.
proved more deserving objects of His love. He has
given us being and life for so many years, health,
senses, conveniences, so many goods of nature, and
all these almost without our adverting to them. And
then if we come to supernatural goods, how many of
them and of what immense value ! and at the infinite
cost of His Passion and Death. Such are our call to
the true faith, our reception of the sacraments, His over-
flowing of our hearts with great and countless graces,
illustrations, and affections — sins so often pardoned,
temptations overcome, dangerous occasions removed.
And as if all this was not enough, He would be con-
sumed Himself for love of us. His precious Life all
employed in our behalf and for our advantage, to be
born in a vile stable, to labour long and hard in an
ignoble shop, to journey poor and weary and come to
teach us the way to Heaven, and finally to breathe out
His Soul amid incredible torments and the utmost
ignominies. Oh, how could He, God though He is,
give me greater proofs of His love ? Now we can
understand why He would have His Sacred Side
opened, that in His blessed Heart each of us might
find a place. Surely if we have any hearts at all we
must at the sight of so many favours, labours, and
wounds, at the sight of so much Blood we must cry
out with the Apostle, Charitas Chvisti urget nos. " I live
now, not I, but Christ liveth in me." Oh, that we
could say with truth : *' Tell Him, my Beloved, that I
am languishing with love."^
Point 3. — He is lovely and lovable in Himself. The
saints who knew Jesus Christ, have never been able to
find words in which to express their thoughts or ideas
of the excellencies in Him which inflame them with
love. The Blessed Trinity in the Incarnation framed
an object most worthy of the love of God and of men,
1 Cant. V. 8.
ON LOVE FOR JESUS CHRIST. 485
and therefore endowed it with all goodness and perfec-
tion, with all grace and beauty. If we consider Him
as God, He is the great ocean from which all that is
lovely on earth or in the universe is but a thin
streamlet ; if as Man, He is the worthy Son of the
loveliest of women — gifted with such charms and
majesty that even as an Infant the bare sight of Him
set the hearts of shepherds and kings alike on fire with
love for Him. At twelve, when He spoke in the
Temple, doctors and priests hung on His lips ; through-
out His Life, His conduct was so mild and sweet, His
Heart so compassionate and tender, that all His
thoughts, words, and actions were directed solely to
the advantage of mankind, and even on the Cross
His bowed Head, expanded arms, and gaping side all
challenged our love.
But if His Humanity was so lovely on earth, what
it is now that it is glorified, who can conceive ? That
Humanity, which of all the created objects in Paradise,
is the loveliest ! The view and possession of it by the
saints in Heaven will for all eternity constitute the
object of their adoration, admiration, and praise, and,
next to the Beatific Vision, will form their greatest
source of happiness. Yes ! there we shall love Him
with all our heart and soul, but it will be a love without
merit, because His infinite goodness and beauty irre-
sistibly demands all love. Let us then begin now to
love Him with all our might, while our love is meri-
torious, and turns in some measure to His greater glory
as coming from free agents.
Let us conclude by making fervent acts of love of
our dear Lord, and let us off'er ourselves without
reserve to Him, protesting that henceforth He shall
be the only object of our love in life and death, and we
will make three colloquies : to our Blessed Lady, to
the Sacred Humanity of our Divine Lord, and to the
486 THE FOURTH WEEK.
Eternal Father ; humbly imploring grace to keep this
holy resolution. End with " Our Father."
CONFORMITY TO GOD'S WILL.
Note. — The love for our Lord does not consist
merely in that tender affection which we feel in medi-
tating on His sublime loveliness and affection, which,
unless manifested and proved by actions, is by no
means sufficient. If we really love Him, we must seek
and find some more sure proof of it ; and this we shall
find in that axiom, Idem velle, idem nolle^ ea demum finna est
amicitia, or, in other words, a practical conformity to
His holy will is an unmistakable proof that we love
God and are loved by Him in return. This is a solid
and true love, it is like the love which the blessed in
Heaven bear to Him.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us humbly place ourselves in the
presence of God our Lord as He is guiding and ruling
all things by His Divine providence.
Prelude 2. — Let us entreat the grace that our wills
may in all circumstances and events of life be perfectly
in harmony with His.
Point I. — The great advantages of this conformity. —
(a) In it consists our real sanctity and perfection ; for
the most holy will of God is the first and supreme
rule of all morality and perfection, and consequently
in conforming our will to His in a spirit of respect
and love for Him, we are sure to act well and to
please Him. It was for this reason that the Blessed
Virgin was the hohest of all creatures, because of all
mankind she was the most conformed to and ful-
CONFORMITY TO GOD'S WILL. 487
filled the will of God. And our Lord, who was the
visible rule of all sanctity and perfection, teaches us
this, ** To do always what is pleasing unto Him."^
With this principle He began His life ; ^ it was His
food.^
(P) In it we find a firm and unshaken peace of mind
and contentment of heart. To seek it in anything else
is a folly and a hopeless labour. To seek it in change
of place, or of office, or of companions; in pleasure, or
honour, or any other worldly thing, is to cut ourselves
off from all real peace, as they often cannot be
obtained, and if possessed, may be lost at any moment;
a stable and firm peace and contentment must be inde-
pendent of place, time, and employment, and this can
be no other than the sweet and holy will of God, and
this joy no one can take away from us.^
Let us convince ourselves of this great truth, that
as self-will is the source in us of all evil, so in the
accomplishment of the will of God consists all our true
happiness and satisfaction.
Point 2. — The motives of this conformity. — (a) We believe
that God is the Sovereign Good, and so worthy of our
love, that if we had the love of all mankind, and of
all the angels in Heaven, we could not love Him
adequately. If we esteem and love a person, a word or
a hint from them is enough to get anything from us —
we feel we cannot say no to them ; nay, we feel it an
honour and a sincere pleasure to cause them any
1 St, John viii. 29.
2 " In the head of the book it is written of Me, that I should do Thy
will : O My God, I have willed it, and Thy law in the midst of My heart."
(Psalm xxxix. 8.)
3 " Jesus saith to them : My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me,
that I may perfect His work." (St. John iv. 34.)
* " So also you now indeed have sorrow, but I will see you again, and
your heart shall rejoice ; and your joy no man shall take from you."
(St. John xvi. 22.)
488 THE FOURTH WEEK.
pleasure or happiness, at no matter how great a
sacrifice ; what should not our feeHng and our dehght
be to make any sacrifice to please our dear Lord?
Now this we do whenever we conform our will to His.
(/?) Moreover, He is our Sovereign Lord and Master^
and has therefore the right to dispose of us as He
pleases ; it is His province to command, and His com-
mands are always the best, the wisest, and the most
perfect ; our duty is simply and blindly to obey, and
as servants our will must be absolutely subordinate to
His. This is true, and recognized in the relations of
man with his fellow-man, how infinitel}^ more true
between us and God our Lord. Let us then say,
*' He is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth good in His
eyes."^
(y) Again, He is our most loving Father, and ever
exercises a most providential watch and care over us ;
wherefore we ought to accept His will like dutiful
children, not only out of the respect we owe Him, but
also out of consideration of our own advantage, knowing
well that our Father will in all things procure our solid
welfare. The love of earthly parents is often very
limited, their providence is blind and very fallible, and
consequently they do not always seek the real good of
their children, or sometimes even know it, or if they
do, have no power to secure it for them. How different
is our Heavenly Father in our regard. We are sure
that He loves us most tenderly, disposes of us always
for our own good and for His greater glory, by His
infinite wisdom knows what is best for us, and by His
infinite power provides us with the means to attain it,
and that, in spite of all the obstacles and difficulties
that may present themselves to our short sight. Oh,
then, let us throw ourselves without reserve into the
arms of God, and cheerfully accept whatever He is
1 I Kings iii. i8.
CONFORMITY TO GOD'S WILL, 489
pleased to send us, knowing that all will turn to our
advantage which passes through the hands of such a
loving Father. Let us, on the other hand, consider the
folly of those who by a political mode of acting, specious
pretexts, and scheming, endeavour to compass their
private ends, to gain such a post or employment, to
get to such and such a place, and imagine thereby to
procure their own good, instead of resigning themselves
entirely to the Divine will in a spirit of perfect indiffer-
ence and confidence. Nay, if it were left to us to
choose any place or employment, we ought not to
accept of the favour, but leave all absolutely in the
hands of God and of those whom He has appointed
over us. Oh ! if we are once for all determined to
resign ourselves entirely into the hands of God, we
shall find by experience that He will fill us with
happiness and peace, and all things will turn to our
spiritual welfare, for we are then in the hands of a
loving Father who is all wise, all good, and all power-
ful, who knows our true good, is willing and desirous to
promote it, and there is none who can prevent us from
attaining it.
Point 3. — The practical exercise of this conformity to God's
will. — Let us every morning present ourselves as little
children to God, protesting to leave ourselves entirely
at His disposal and to accept freely whatever He may
please to arrange for the day, submitting in all things
to His ever adorable will. Also from time to time let
us renew this offering in union with our dear Lord.
** Be it so, because you are pleased it should be so.'*
<*Thy blessed will be done," especially when any
calamity, trouble, or misfortune befalls us. Of what
avail is it to get angry, to fret or murmur against those
who annoy us? Let us not forget that everything
which our Lord permits is intended for our real good,
either directly or indirectly, and consequently let us
490 THE FOURTH WEEK.
drink the chalice, for it is mixed and presented to us to
drink by our Father.
Lastly, let us resolve to practise an exact obedience,
and that in a spirit of faith. True sanctity consists in
accomplishing the will of God. Now we are never left
in doubt as to what is this will, as it is clearly pointed
out by our Rules and the orders of Superiors ; and in
this respect we have an immense advantage over
persons in the world, though it will make us less
excusable before the Divine tribunal. Let our constant
prayer then be Fiat voluntas ttm, not in a spirit of repug-
nance or compulsion, but cheerfully, confidingly, and in
a spirit of love.
End with " Our Father."
ON PERSEVERANCE.
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prelude i. — Let us imagine our Lord addressing us
in those words, " No man putting his hand to the
plough," &c.^
Prelude 2. — Let us implore the grace of holy perse-
verance.
Point I. — Whatever is not available for eternity is
sheer vanity. Let us reflect that one of the greatest
obstacles to perfection is the attachment to the sensible
goods of earth, and to our own ease and convenience ;
and yet we know that they are nothing else but vanity,
falsehood, and hollowness. We shall live only a few
short years, and we may, by following our own humour
and caprice, and indulging our passions, snatch some
sorry satisfaction, enjoy a false liberty, and gain a
paltry honour and notoriety. But what will all this be
1 St. Luke ix. 22.
ON PERSEVERANCE. 491
worth at the end ? They cannot and do not quiet
or satiate the mind and heart at the time, and death
will rob us of them at the end : and at that hour what
will they appear to us, and how shall we esteem them ?
One single good action will then give us comfort, and
we shall value it — the others will give us pain and
cause us loathing, or at least may cause us anxiety.
Let us, then, detach ourselves entirely from all
things in this world, and by this we shall secure a
powerful means of perseverance.
Point 2. — God is to be our Judge ; and if we satisfy
Him, we satisfy all. We must tread underfoot all
merely human considerations. Sometimes others who
are living easy and less fervent lives will turn to ridicule
the habits and ways of those who are trying to serve
God with great fervour and constancy ; but if we take
any heed of such railleries, or in consequence relax our
efforts to acquire virtue and perfection, we are guilty of
cowardice, are afraid of what can neither do us good
nor harm, and are guilty of gross folly in exposing
ourselves to the judgments of God, who forgets nothing,
will judge us justly and without passion, and will pay
us well for everything which we have done and suffered
for His sake. Therefore, if we content and satisfy
Him, we need be under no concern about satisfying
anybody else. It is true that, desiring to live piously in
Jesus Christ, we shall have to suffer hardships and
crosses,; some will be loath to converse with us; by
others we shall be boycotted ; man}?- will take us for
unmannerly and narrow-minded, and others will consider
us gloomy and morose. But let us have a little
patience, till we appear before our Judge, and then
it will appear who was in the right, and who in the
wrong. Let people say what they please ; our cause
is in good hands, in those of God, who sooner or later
will give every one his due, according to his works.
492 THE FOURTH WEEK.
Whenever, then, we may be tempted to forego our
virtuous purposes by human respect, let us remember
that we must first study to please and satisfy God, for
if He be satisfied, no matter who is dissatisfied.
Point 3. — Thrice happy is he who through life treads
the narrow path. Our self-love, and often our friends
will suggest the necessity of a certain freedom and
liberty, of consulting our ease, inclinations, and genius ;
but to such suggestions we must turn a deaf ear, for it
is certain that the narrow path of strict observance and
of no compromise ends always in peace and happiness,
although in appearance it seems rugged : and we have
the greatest comfort we can enjoy, which is the testi-
mony of a good conscience. To be able to say with
truth, We serve God, we serve a good Master who
loves us, and whom we love, is real happiness, and
makes the approach of death a pleasure.
What a folly it is, then, not to conduct ourselves
now in such a way as to secure this happy departure
from this wretched world, and the entrance into our
everlasting home.
Let us, then, renew all our resolutions, and in a
triple colloquy implore the grace to be faithful to them
even until death, that so we may secure the reward
which is an everlasting crown of glory. End with
*' Our Father."
CONTEMPLATION FOR OBTAINING DIVINE LOVE. 495
CONTEMPLATION FOR OBTAINING DIVINE
LOVE.
Note. — The object of this exercise is to excite in us
a Uvely love of God ; a love, not of words or feelings
merely, but real and effective. For this we cannot
be better disposed than after the preceding exercises,
which have had for their object to prepare the soul
gradually for this union with God, in which our per-
fection consists. Thus, we were engaged during the
first part of the retreat in purging the soul from all the
stains of sin, in rooting out all attachment for sin, and
all affections which were not approved by the teachings
of faith and the dictates of right reason : all of which
are quite inconsistent with the love of God our Lord.
When, by God's grace, this had been effected, we
were led on to the contemplation of the mysteries of
the Life of our Blessed Lord, as the Way, the Truth,
and the Life, and from His teachings and example we
learned to follow in His footsteps, to detach ourselves
from the world and the things of the world, and to
embrace His poverty in spirit and in practice, to
mortify ourselves and do violence to all forms of self-
love and self-ease, to humble ourselves, and to court
humiliations, in a word, to die to ourselves and to the
world, that Jesus might live in us. For this, sacrifice
is necessary ; and guided by Divine grace, we found in
our election what was the special sacrifice which was
required from us, that our imitation of our Lord might
be perfected, in the state of life to which He has
called us.
In the third part, when we contemplated in the
mysteries of the terrible Passion of our Lord the
sacrifices which His love for us prompted Him to
494 THE FOURTH WEEK.
make, we nerved ourselves to strong and fervent resolu-
tions to be faithful in the fulfilment of that sacrifice
which was the subject of our election, and to which the
grace of God prompted us.
Finally, in the fourth and last part we drew fresh
courage to persevere in holy cheerfulness in the sacrifice
of ourselves from the consideration of the reward which
our Lord has in store for us : and frorn seeing how
amid all His joys and glory He does not forget us, but
loves us still, and will ever prove our friend, encouraging,
consoling, strengthening, and aiding us by His words
and His example. This necessarily fits us and compels
us to love Him in return, and to unite ourselves to Him
by the strong ties of love.
St. Ignatius, before entering upon the meditation,
lays down two principles : the first of which is that
"love is to be estimated by deeds more than by
words."
What he says of words applies equally to barren
and idle affections and mere sentiment : which is
expressed by our Lord when He says: ''If you love
Me, keep My commandments, "^ and again by His
Apostle, '' Let us not love in word or in speech, but in
deed and in truth. "2
The second principle is that "love consists in the
mutual communication of goods between the lover and
the person beloved : " so that one gives what he has
and is capable of bestowing to the other, as learning,
holiness, honour, position, wealth, and the like. It is
in this manner that God loves man, it is thus that man
should love God. This principle is approved by reason ;
for love necessarily involves union, and union cannot
be conceived without mutual intercommunication.
We will now apply these principles to the subject
of our meditation.
1 St. John xiv. 15. ' St. John iii. 18.
CONTEMPLATION FOR OBTAINING DIVINE LOVE. 495
Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.
Prehide i. — Let us place ourselves humbly in the
presence of God our Lord, before whom the angels and
saints are adoring and interceding for us.^
Prelude 2. — Let us beg what we have at heart,
namely, a deep knowledge of the many great gifts
bestowed on us by God, and a profound sense of
gratitude, which may make us in everything and in
every circumstance of Hfe, love and serve His Divine
Majesty.
Point I . — That God has satisfied the first principle
by professing His love for man is clear from innumerable
passages in the Sacred Scriptures, both of the Old and
New Testament, in which He declares that He loves
souls, that His delight is to be with the children of
men, that with an everlasting love He hath loved them,
that He hath loved us even so as to give Himself up
for us, and the rest. But strong as are His protestations
of love and devotedness, they are as nothing when
compared with the deeds by which He has manifested
the infinite intensity of that love for each of us. Let
us ponder with deep feelings the general benefits of His
love in the orders of nature, of grace, and of glory, and
how much He has imparted to us of those things which
He possesses, and how much He also desires to give
Himself to us, both here and hereafter.
In creation He has made the universe, and has filled
it with life vegetative, sensitive, and intellective ; He
has given to each of us the soul and its powers of
memory, understanding, and will ; the body with its
several senses ; and has provided us with environments
1 Only twice in the Exercises does St. Ignatius propose for a composi-
tion of place this solemn and sublime picture of Heaven, which is so
well calculated to inspire us with sentiments of awe, courage, confidence,
and love. In it we see God, His angels, and the whole array of saints,
with her who is the Queen of Saints, all showing their loving goodness and
interest in our regard.
496 THE FOURTH WEEK.
in every way favourable for the preservation and develop-
ment of both the one and the other, and has saved us
from the countless bodily and spiritual infirmities which
we daily see and witness in others. He has placed us
in most favourable relations with inanimate and animate
beings, by which we are surrounded, and which minister
to our use, or pleasure, or necessities.
To this creation we must add also the gift of con-
servation, by which, in each moment of existence, all
those favours of creation are renewed and made more
perfect. Through how many stages have those creatures
passed which we use, as in our food and clothing, and
how many hands have been preserved and employed in
adapting them to our use, for our special benefit, and for
our preservation ? Oh, what a wonderful providence^
what an incomprehensible love on the part of God ! for all
these things were foreseen and specially provided by the
wisdom and goodness of God, and were specially willed
by His love for us. In the " Foundation " we meditated
on all these creatures under the light of means to our
end, to learn the use which we ought to make of them^
but now we consider them as so many presents from
God, as the pledges of His singular love for us.
If we turn from the natural to the supernatural order^
there opens such a new world, a boundless ocean of gifts
and graces. For us God gave His only and well-beloved
Son,i Jesus Christ gave His Blood, His Life, His
whole self.2 The Holy Spirit poured His love into our
hearts. God became Man, that we might become God.
He imparted to us His doctrine, His merits, and His
example. He gave us His Mother to be our own ; the
life-giving sacraments ; and to these we may add those
special graces by which every hour of our individual
life has been marked.
Lastly, He has prepared for us an eternal weight
1 St. John iii. 13. a i Timothy ii, 6.
CONTEMPLATION FOR OBTAINING DIVINE LOVE. 497
of glory, in which we shall possess never-ending happi-
ness and honour and the possession of Himself. The
greatness of these gifts is enhanced when we consider
who it is that gives them to us, who it is to whom they
are given, and for what end they have been bestowed
on us. Truly the mind becomes mazy and swims at
the countless ways in which God has given Himself to
us and continues to spend Himself upon us : Tottis
Christus impensus est in nostras ustis.'^
What conclusion should we draw from all this ?
What ought we to give in return ? St. Ignatius tells
us : ^^ Sume, take, since all is from Thee, all belongs to
Thee, all is for Thee, whatever I have Thou hast given
it, and yet it is Thine still. Take, for what is there
which I can refuse Thee, and who am I that I should
refuse Thee ? Take, Thou that knowest well how
mean and remiss I am, and how I can offer nothing as
I ought. Sttme et suscipe, yet deign to accept, O Lord,
for in Thy goodness and royal generosity Thou art
pleased to accept as a gift from me that which is Thine
already — universam meam lihertatem — all my liberty, which
includes my whole self; accept me as Thy poor and
unworthy bondslave, who has no claims, no rights of
his own, but is absolutely and in all things dependent
on his Master's good pleasure : sume et suscipe, my
memory, my understanding, and my will. I consent
to be deprived of these my faculties if Thou judgest it
in any way useful to Thy glory, and thus for me to be
reduced to the state of the animal creation — quibtis nan
est intellectiis.
" Whatever I have is Thy free gift, Thou alone art
the sovereign Lord and absolute Master of my soul
and body, and of all my environments, whether in
reality or in prospect ; and to Thee, by the power
which Thou hast granted me, I freely give them back
1 St. Augustine.
GG
498 THE FOURTH WEEK.
again. Dispone, do Thou vouchsafe to dispose of
them according to Thy good pleasure, without any
regard to me or to my will."
•' My only wish and desire, the one thing I humbly
crave, is amor em tui solum et gmtiam, the grace to love
Thee and to love only Thee, and then I shall be rich
enough. This is my only wish, and beyond that I ask
for nothing more ; and this I humbly crave inasmuch
and as far as Thou dost will it."
This is the most perfect offering and the sublimest
act of love which we can make, whether we consider
what we give, the manner in which we give it, that is,
without any reserve at all for self, or the motive for
which it is given, namely, out of the purest love. If
made from the heart and in real earnest, in what a
happy condition does this place us ! Who can tell the
graces which will follow from it, though in the act we
do not consider these graces or our self-interest in any
way ? From how many miseries, fears, anxieties,
desires, which spring from self-love, will it deliver
us
Point 2. — When an earthly monarch wishes to make
a present to his subject, he has it taken to him ; and
when once it has been delivered, he takes no further
trouble about it ; but it is not thus that God treats us.
He gives His gifts to us in Person — He actually abides
in them, and is constantly renewing these benefits, both
in the order of nature and of grace.
The presence of God in all His favours to us
increases the value of them immeasurably. He is
present in them by His essence, by His power, and
in the just by His grace. In the vegetable order He
is giving life ; in the animal creation, life and feeling ;
in man, life, feeling, and understanding. He is present
to keep them from falling back into the nothing from
which He has extracted them, for otherwise they would
CONTEMPLATION FOR OBTAINING DIVINE LOVE. 499
instantly be annihilated ; He is present to enable them
to act, and concurs in the effects of their every action ;
in Him we live, and move, and have our being.
In the order of grace He is present in the Eucharist,
in which He continues the works of His mortal life,
and His Incarnation is expanded and brought home
to each of us. He is present in our souls, adorning
them ever with fresh beauty. With what feelings of
love and gratitude should our souls be inflamed, and
with what generosity should we offer ourselves to God ;
and with what respect should we make use of all things
in order not to employ them against the will of Him
who dwells in them.
Here let us, with all the earnestness of our souls,
renew the offering which we made at the end of the
first point.
Point 3. — Let us further ponder how in all creatures
God is working and labouring, so to speak, for our
individual sakes, whether in the heavens, elements,
plants, fruits, animals, &c., concurring with them imme-
diately or ■ mediately : in the sun and the heavenly
bodies, in the clouds, in the air, the waters, in the
growth of plants, ripening of fruits, propagation and
development of animals, &c., in the feeding, circulation,
digestion of our bodies, in providing us with clothing
and dwellings. So, too, in the order of grace. So, too.
He concurs with each of us in our works. This thought
should incite us to avail ourselves of His concurrence
solely for His glory, and not for self-love or for the
gratification of our passions.
Point 4. — Let us consider how all good gifts descend
from above, and how God is the principle of everything
which exists, and how in Him are contained in an
eminent degree all those perfections which we find
existing in creatures. Thus the varied forms of beauty
1 Acts xvii. 28.
500 THE FOURTH WEEK.
in nature are but faint refections of the infinite beauty
of the Divinity ; the vast expanse of the heavens and
of the ocean are merely the dim shadows of the
immensity of God ; the science, skill, and other intel-
lectual qualities, together with the moral attributes of
mankind, are but tiny representations of Him who is
the Infinite and thrice Holy. ** Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, descending from the
Father of lights,"^ just as rays from the sun, or the
stream from its source.
The world is like a book written by the finger of
God, and the creatures that are in the world are, as it
were, the letters by which the perfections of its Author
are faintly and imperfectly described. We should then
regard all things as reminders to us of God. They
each have a tongue telling us of His glory, they each
have a finger pointing up towards their Author, and
thus they furnish a means by which we may ascend up
to Him. What fools we are then to attach ourselves
to creatures for themselves and for their own sake,
and thus pervert them from the end for which they
were created, and, instead of employing them to lead
us to God, make use of them actually to withdraw us
and alienate us from Him.
Let us repent for our past folly in thi6 respect, and
let us again make the offering, Sume Domine et siiscipe.
Let us also beg of our ever-Blessed Mother and of the
saints, especially of our Society, and of the angels, to
intercede for us that we may never again be guilty of
rapine in the holocaust which we have made of our-
selves to God our Lord.
1 St. James i. 17.
RULES OF ORTHODOXY. 501
RULES OF ORTHODOXY.
These rules were drawn up by St. Ignatius with the
object of guarding the true children of the Church from
the errors of the self-styled Reformers of the sixteenth
century, and of protecting them from the pernicious
influence of those innovators who ^denounced not only
the dogmas of the Church, but also her ritual, her
ceremonies, and her holy practices. But they are as
applicable to and as useful for those who are living now
at the close of the nineteenth century, as they were at
the time at which they were written. For though the
phases of Protestantism have been constantly under-
going transformation, still the spirit remains the same :
the same rejection of divinely constituted authority,
the same upholding of the principle of private judgment,
and the same substitution of reason in place of super-
natural and Divine faith. The influence of Protest-
antism, whether we consider it politically, socially, or
on the individual, has been far reaching and disastrous,
in consequence of its flattering the passions, promoting
the spirit of pride and independence, and sanctioning
self-ease and material comforts ; wherefore we cannot
be surprised that under all its forms and at all times it
displays an inveterate hatred and antagonism to the
Church of Christ, whose office it is to teach and main-
tain the principles of its Founder, the doctrine of the
Cross and of mortification, the necessity of humility
and submission to the authority which He has con-
stituted, and which is incarnated in His Vicar. Now,
as in the early days of Protestantism, the children of
the Catholic Church are exposed to no small danger of
being tainted by the false maxims of a religion which
permits and fosters the cravings of poor human nature,
502 THE FOURTH WEEK.
and it is to counteract this danger that these rules are
recommended to us, not as comprising a summary of
dogmatic truth, but as summarizing the true CathoHc
spirit, which, alas ! owing to the Protestant atmosphere
which we are condemned to breathe, seems to be on the
wane ; and it is this spirit which it is our duty to
manifest and to promote by boldly upholding these
main features of a truly Christian life, so violently
denounced by Luther and his followers.
Ride I. — Laying aside our own private judgment,
we must have a mind prompt and ready to obey in all
things our holy Mother the hierarchical Church, which
is the true spouse of Christ our Lord, and which is the
Roman Church.
Our Lord chose it for His immaculate and eternal
spouse, gave to it His Spirit, and promised to be with
it all days, to support and preserve it. Whoever, then,
opposes the Church is an enemy of Christ, and must
be regarded as a "heathen and a publican," seeing that
he opposes that which is " the pillar and the firmament
of truth," " against which the gates of Hell shall never
prevail."
Rtile 2. — We must approve and commend auricular
confession and the reception of the Most Blessed Sacra-
ment at least once a year: much more every month,
and better still every eighth day, provided it be done
under due and required conditions. As regards this
rule, we may learn what is the spirit of the Church
from the Council of Trent, which declares that
"Jesus Christ wished this Sacrament to be taken as
the Food of our souls, thereby to be nourished and
strengthened by the Life of Him who said, * He that
eateth Me shall live by Me,' and to have an antidote
by which we may be set free from our daily faults and
may be preserved from mortal sin."
RULES OF ORTHODOXY. 503
Or, as St. Ambrose puts it : "I should always receive
that my sins may be forgiven, and as I am always
sinning, I should always have my medicine."
Further, the Tridentine Fathers add : " This holy
Synod would wish that at every Mass the faithful who
assist should communicate not only spiritually, but also
sacramentally."^
Innocent XI. decreed that *' frequent Communion
was to be left to the judgment of confessors, who,
guided by the purity of conscience, the fruits, and
progress of their penitents in piety, were to decide
what would best promote their salvation, in their
several states of life."
The same Pope admonishes pastors having care of
souls " not to debar the faithful from frequent or even
daily Communion."
St. Charles Borromeo prescribes that his clergy
shall exhort the faithful qiiam frequeniissime — '* to frequent
Communion," and threatens any priest or preacher who
shall either directly or indirectly advise the contrary,
with suspension."
Alexander VII. condemns the proposition, " Those
are to be excluded from Holy Communion, in whom
there is not most pure love of God, free from all imper-
fection."
St. Basil says : " It is good and most useful to
communicate dail}^ and to partake of the Holy Body
and Blood of Christ."
St. Ambrose: "If It is daily Bread, why do you
onl}^ take It once a year ? Take daily what is of daily
advantage, and live so that you may be daily worthy to
receive."
1 From this it would appear that it would be well if the piety and
devotion of the faithful were such that, whenever the Holy Sacrifice is
offered, some one of those present at Mass were to approach the altar and
receive Holy Communion.
504 THE FOURTH WEEK.
_ . »i
Rule 3. — We must approve and commend the frequent
hearing of Mass ; also the keeping of choir, and pro-
tracted prayer as well in church as at home ; and also
the recitation of the Divine Office and the Canonical
Hours at the appointed times.
Rule 4. — We must approve and hold in high esteem
the several Religious Orders, the states of virginity and
continency, and commend, but not so highly, the matri-
monial state. This is clearly to counteract the effect
of the doctrine and example of the Reformers.
Ride 5. — We must approve the taking of religious
vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity, and of other
pious practices of supererogation. And here it is to
be observed that as a vow appertains only to such
things as regard Evangelical perfection, it cannot be
taken about those things which do not appertain
thereto, such as matrimony, trading, and the like.
Rule 6. — We must approve of the relics of the saints,
and show reverence to them, and also must pray to
those whose relics they are ; we must, moreover, uphold
stations, pilgrimages. Indulgences, Jubilees, and the use
of lighted candles in the church, all of which were
denounced and ridiculed by the self-styled Reformers.
Rule 7.— We must approve the commandments of
the Church regarding fasting and abstinence, such as
the laws of Lent, of the Ember-days, certain vigils,
and of the Fridays throughout the year ; likewise the
teaching and practices of internal and exterior penance.
Rule 8. — We must approve of the building and
decoration of churches, also of the making of images,
and must venerate them for what they represent.
The preceding rules are calculated to promote in us
a high idea and a great fervour in the practice of works
of piety and exercises of devotion, approved by and
practised in the Church ; and we must be convinced
that they will produce great fruit in all who adopt
RULES OF ORTHODOXY. 505
them, and will serve to preserve and propagate the
faith, besides securing the rewards attached to them
respectively. If we conscientiously observe them, our
lives become a constant and living protest against the
heretics of our day, and also serve as a reproach to
those liberal Catholics who have imbibed the spirit of
the times and are inclined to make light of such things,
even though closely allied to the spirit of the Church
and consecrated by venerable antiquity, and also
approved by the practice and teaching of the saints.
Rule g. — We must accept and approve all the pre-
cepts of the Church, and be ever ready to vindicate
and defend them, and carefully avoid impugning or
condemning them.
Rule 10. — We must be always more ready to approve
and praise than to find fault with the statutes and
recommendations as well as the customs of Superiors
and of those who have gone before us ; for even though
sometimes they may have been hardly praiseworthy,
still to denounce them from the pulpit, or before the
common people, would give scandal and would do no
good, but might excite discontent and anger against
former rulers, whether in the temporal or spiritual
order. It may, however, be useful to speak of such to
those who may have it in their power to remedy any
such things as are blameworthy in Superiors, or are
calculated to give scandal to others.
St. Cyprian, speaking of his own times, says that
heresies and schisms are the outcome of disobedience,
murmurings, and contempt on the part of subjects in
regard of their ecclesiastical Superiors, and that he
who maintains inviolable the authority of prelates,
extirpates by the roots all errors. It is the spirit of
ignoring the ordinations of Superiors, of canvassing
their conduct, and disregarding their opinions, that
leads men to set up their own judgments in opposition,
5o6 THE FOURTH WEEK.
and at length to fall. This was the case with Luther
and with all the first self-styled Reformers.
R^lle II. — We must approve of the Positive and
Scholastic methods of teaching theology: in the first
we are taught, and our affections are excited in all
things to love God our Lord, and to give ourselves
up to His service, as in the writings of St. Jerome,
St. Augustine, St. Gregory, and the rest of the Fathers ;
in the second, as in the works of St. Thomas, St. Bona-
venture, and the Master of Sentences, we learn to
define accurately and to establish those truths which
are necessary for eternal salvation, and are better pre-
pared to show up and refute all the errors and false
reasonings of the day ; and this because the Scholastics
are of more recent date and are excellently versed in
the true interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures and in
the writings of the holy Fathers, and at the same time
are specially enlightened and guided by God, and are
helped by the decrees of the Councils and by the
canons and constitutions of our holy mother the
Church. From this rule we see clearly the cause of
the inveterate hostility of the new teachers and their
successors to Scholastic Theology.
Rule 12. — We must be careful in making com-
parisons between persons at present alive and the
saints, such for example as, " Such a one is more
learned than was St. Augustine, so-and-so is a greater
saint that St. Francis, and the like."
Rule 13. — That we may avoid all error we must
be always ready to maintain that what to us seems
white is black if the Church so declares, believing that
between Christ our Lord and His spouse the Holy
Catholic Church there is one and the same spirit which
guides and governs us for the salvation of our souls :
for our holy mother the Church is ruled and governed
by the same spirit as our Lord who gave to us the Ten
RULES OF ORTHODOXY. 507
Commandments, and consequently is infallible in all
those things which pertain to matters of faith or
morals.
Rtile 14. — Though it is most true that no one can
be saved unless he be predestined and have faith and
grace, yet on such subjects great care must be taken
in speaking on or discussing them.
This is most necessary, lest in over-estimating the
efficacy of predestination and grace we unduly detract
from the power and efforts of free-will, or lest by
allowing too much to free-will we derogate from the
grace of God, without which all supernatural acts
would be impossible.
Rule 15. — We must not habitually preach on pre-
destination ; and when we happen to treat on it, let it
be done so that the common people may not be led
into any mistake and should be inclined to say : " It
is already decreed whether I am to be lost or saved,
and whether I perform works good or bad, it cannot
be otherwise ; " and thus tepid and indifferent people
neglect those works which conduce to salvation and to
their spiritual advancement.
Ride 16. — Great care must be taken lest by unduly
speaking of and extolling the virtue of faith, without
the addition of those distinctions and explanations
which the subject requires, we furnish a pretext to
those who hear us for neglecting certain good works
which either precede or are the consequences of a faith
informed by Divine love.
The Council of Trent, ^ interpreting the words of
St. Paul- that men are justified gratis by faith, says
that the perpetual teaching of the Catholic Church is
that "therefore, we are said to be justified by faith,
inasmuch as faith is the beginning of salvation, the
1 Sess. vi. c, 8.
2 Romans iii. 28 ; Galat. ii. 16 ; Ephes. ii. 8.
5o8 THE FOURTH WEEK.
foundation and root of all justification, without which
it is impossible to please God and be numbered among
His children. We are said to be justified gratis, because
none of these things which precede justification, such
as faith or good works, can merit it." Later, in the
eleventh chapter of the same session, after establishing
the necessity of good works, it adds, " Let no one then
delude himself by supposing that by faith alon5 he
becomes heir of God and secures his inheritance."
Rule 17. — Likewise, we must not so speak of grace
as to seem to detract from man's liberty ; nor in these
dangerous times must we speak of faith and of grace
to the detriment of good works and free-will, or so as
to render them of no account.
The Council of Trent declares : '* The beginning of
justification in adults is derived from God through
Jesus Christ by preventing grace, that is, by his
vocation by which they are called, without any existing
merit of their own, so that though turned away from
God by sin, they are disposed, by His grace awakening
and helping them, to turn to their justification, by their
free assent and co-operation with that grace. So that
when God by His illuminations touches man's soul, man
also acts by accepting it when he could have rejected
it, not however that he could of his own free-will and
without the grace of God move himself to justification.
And therefore we read in Scripture, Be converted unto
Me and I will be converted to you, whereby, we are
reminded of our libert}^ ; and again we are taught the
preventing grace of God in those other words : Convert
us, O Lord, unto Thee and we shall be converted."
Ride 18. — Although the service of God solely out of
pure love, is to be esteemed above all things, still we
must approve and esteem also fear of His Divine
Majesty : for not only is fihal fear pious and most holy,
but servile fear also, when man cannot rise to any-
RULES OF ORTHODOXY. 509
thing better or more profitable. For even this helps
much to free oneself from mortal sin, and when once
this has been done, a man easily attains to filial fear,
which is entirely acceptable and pleasing to God our
Lord, because it is inseparably united with love.
In the Scriptures we have innumerable passages in
praise of the fear of God. Thus,^ " The fear of the
Lord driveth out sin. For he that is without fear
cannot be justified." Again, it is said to " confer
peace and the fruits of salvation, dilates the heart and
brings joy and gladness."^ It is the "beginning of
wisdom," and "the crown and fulness of wisdom." It
is for this which holy David prays, *' Pierce my flesh
with Thy fear." Our Lord Himself counsels it, TimeU
eum qui potest et animam et corpus perdere in gehennam.
According then to these rules we may form a judg-
ment, how far we are influenced in our judgments and
in our conduct by the true Christian and Catholic
spirit, which is one grand result of the Spiritual
Exercises when properly made.
We may test our spirit of faith and obedience to the
Church by the first, ninth, and thirteenth rules. We
may further judge what eff'ects they produce upon our
conduct by the manner in which we are present at the
rites and ceremonies of Holy Church and make use of the
sacraments^ according to the second, third, and eighth
rules ; we may test our conformity to her discipline, and
to her sentiments with regard to Religious Orders by the
seventh, fourth, and fifth rules, our submission to civil
authorities by the tenth rule, our appreciation of her
methods of teaching by the eleventh rule, also our
orthodoxy in regard of predestination, grace, faith, and
good works, and also as concerns the utility of filial
fear of God by the rules from fourteen to eighteen.
1 Eccles. i. 27, 28. 2 Eccles. i. 12.
510 THE FOURTH WEEK.
In compiling these rules, St. Ignatius evidently had
in view the detractors of Holy Church, such as Luther,
Calvin, and Jansenius, and their public errors; and
wished to make them known so that the children of
the Church might shun them and escape being misled
by them.
APPENDIX I.
SUBJECTS FOR CONSIDERATION WHICH MAY FURNISH
MATTER FOR ELECTION AND REFORMATION OF OUR
STATE OF LIFE, USEFUL FOR ALL.
In the following Appendices, various considerations
are proposed, which suggest subjects which will be
found useful and suited for our election and the refor-
mation of our lives. They are not to be taken succes-
sively, but now we may select one, now another,
according to the necessity or requirements of the time.
For, as when a man is sick it would be inexpedient to
drug him with all kinds of medicine, and we must only
administer such as are calculated to restore him to
health, so according to the different states of the soul
must be the nature of our resolutions and the subject-
matter of our election.
I . Not unfrequently during the course of the after-
noon, in place of a regular meditation, which might be
inconvenient and a source of great fatigue, there is
substituted what is called a consideration on some
practical subject bearing on our daily life and duties.
This custom has two great advantages, for in the first
place it helps us to a more intimate knowledge of
ourselves, and in the second it provides us with a
number of subjects on which we may exercise the
methods of election, to our great spiritual profit.
512 APPENDIX.
2. The subjects ought to be of a pratical nature, and
should be adapted consequently to the state of life of
him who is making the Exercises.
3. They should be chosen and determined by him
who gives the Exercises, who will be able to judge
which will be the most useful and the best suited to
the state and dispositions of the exercitant under his
charge.
I.— ON HUMILITY.
Humility is a virtue which prompts a man to take
a true estimate of himself, and laudably to depreciate
himself,^ or as St. Bernard describes it : ** It is a virtue
which causes a man to think lightly of himself, and
to acknowledge it in his words and conduct. "^
I. This virtue is based upon the clear knowledge
which man has of himself, of his dependence, and of
his defects. This knowledge influences the will,
thereby inclining it to regulate its action in conformity
with the real appreciation of self. It is, moreover, a
virtue strongly inculcated by God, and approved by
right reason. Thus our Lord bids us to "learn of Him
to be meek and humble of heart. "^ St. James counsels
us to '' be humbled in the sight of God, and He will
exalt us."* Further, a glorious sanction is attached to
the practice of this virtue ; for it is written, " He that
humbleth himself shall be exalted."^
The whole life of our Blessed Lord, from His
Incarnation to His Death upon the Cross, must
convince us of the beauty, excellence, and necessity
of this virtue, and shows how dear it was to His Sacred
Heart. " He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto
death, even to the death of the Cross." ^^
1 Sum. I. q. 161. a. i. 2 £)g grad. hum. * St. Matt. xi. 29.
^ St. James iv. 10. ^ St. Luke xiv. 11. ^ Philipp. ii. 8.
ON HUMILITY. 513
How consistent with reason this virtue is, even if
revelation were silent on the subject, is clear. For
reason teaches us that of ourselves we have nothing;
that whatever qualities we enjoy, whether in the
intellectual, moral, or physical orders, whatever we
possess in the order of nature or of grace, all are
derived either immediately or mediately from God,^
on whom and on whom alone, we are absolutely
dependent. In Him we live, move, and have our
very being : without Him we are so helpless, that we
cannot even think a good thought. The practical
recognition of this our absolute dependence is most
pleasing to God our Lord, who is the Spirit of Truth ;
and therefore is it that we find all good things and
blessings promised to those who are truly humble,
whilst the proud are pronounced to be an abomination
to the Lord, and are threatened with the anger and
vengeance of God.
n. There are various ways or degrees in which this
virtue may be reduced to practice, laid down by
Lessius.-
1. To hold oneself in small esteem as to all those
qualities or accomplishments, which by one's own efforts
he may have acquired.
2. To recognize oneself unworthy of all the gifts
that God has bestowed upon him ; this is most strictly
true as far as man himself is concerned.
3. From this it must follow that in all truth and
honesty, man must suppress all desires of esteem,
praise or honour, knowing well, that all credit is due
not to him, but to God, who of His own free-will has
given to him all that he is, or that he in any way may
* "What hast thou, that thou hast not received? And if thou hast
received, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" (i Cor.
iv. 7.)
^ De Just, et Jure. iv. c. 3.
HH
514 APPENDIX I.
be said to possess. Just as in a statue or painting, no
credit is due to the work of art itself, but all its beauty,
excellence, and celebrity are to be attributed to the
artist who has designed and executed it.
4. From an honest desire to be judged and
estimated according to his true worth, and as he is
in the sight of God, the humble man wishes to be
held of little account, as far as he himself is concerned :
hence as St. Bernard says : '* The man who is really
humble does not wish himself to be proclaimed humble,
but to be reputed as nothing worth." ^
5. The humble man will feel pained instead of
being flattered when he finds himself treated with
consideration, or hears himself or his actions praised
or extolled, unless it redounds to the honour and glory
of God.
6. If he institutes any comparison between himself
and others, he will always give the preference to them ;
for, reflecting on what he is of himself, and what
others are by the gifts which God has conferred upon
them, he can with all truthfulness regard himself as
more despicable and worse than all others.^
The humble man sees and acknowledges his own
weakness and miseries, whilst he shuts his eyes to the
good qualities and gifts which God has bestowed on
him ; whereas he sees and recognizes the benefits
conferred on others, refusing to let his mind dwell on
their shortcomings or defects.
7. Finally, he submits himself in all things to the
holy will and disposal of God in all things, as clay in
the hands of the potter, and cheerfully submits to be
governed by others, for God's sake, and as His rightly
constituted ministers, as far as his station, position,
and the laws of prudence and propriety permit,
1 Serm. in Cant. xxv. § xo.
* Sum. 2X2ae, q. clxi. a. 3.
ON HUMILITY. 515
III. The vices opposed to this virtue of Humility.
1. Undue and unreasonable self-depreciation is
opposed to true humility, and is a violation of
sincerity or truth. By it we expose office, position,
or station to detriment or injury; nor does it in any
way tend to the benefit of others, or to the edification
of our neighbour. It is often a great delusion, or the
-effect of a secret and subtle pride or self-consciousness,
to speak disparagingly of self: hence it is far better to
adopt the golden rule, namely, to avoid the use of the
first personal pronoun as much as possible, as well in
public as in private.
2. The second vice opposed to humility is pride,
or the inordinate appreciation of our own imagined
excellence or superiority. This arises from the undue
consideration of our own gifts and advantages, without
assigning them to God, from whom we have derived
them ; as also from our blinding ourselves to our many
weaknesses, imperfections, or defects. From these
causes we are led to attribute to ourselves greater
excellence or merit than we really possess, to judge
ourselves better than we are, and therefore to take
complacency in ourselves, to the disparagement of
others. Hence, too, arise inordinate desires of ^ praise,
of notice, of deference and subservience ; hence, too,
feelings of disappointment, grief, irritation, and resent-
ment, when these desires are not gratified ; hence, also,
contempt for others, preference of self to others, even to
those in authorit}^, and condemnation of others for
want of prudence, judgment, charity, &c., if in anything
they think or act differently from ourselves. Hence,
too, that extreme sensitiveness when any fault is found
with us, or charitable suggestion is made to us for our
greater temporal or spiritual good.
3. Although it is less criminal and less contemptible
than pride, another vice is equally opposed to the
5i6 APPENDIX I.
virtue of humility. This vice is the fooHsh appreciation
of our attainments, whether physical, intellectual, or
moral, and a morbid craving of ostentation and display,
which betray a want of judgment. It is at once a grave
cause of disedification, and exposes us to the pity or
contempt of others, and sooner or later is punished by
God with bitter humihation. Let us examine ourselves
seriously on these points, and see how far we have
failed in regard of this virtue, and what practical steps
we are to take to correct our faults.
End with " Our Father."
2.— THE FUTURE LIFE.
What a strange thing it is that knowing, as every
man does, that he is here on earth merely for a few
short years, that he enjoys at most only the beginning
of an existence, amidst scenes of ever-recurring death ;
knowing, too, by infallible revelation and by the dictates
of reason that his soul once having been created can
never cease to be, but must go on in the fulness of life
as long as God is God, yet he allows himself to be so
engrossed by the passing things of time, as though
there were no future life awaiting him.. That there is
another life is certain, a life that shall never end, the
nature of which, whether for weal or woe, he must
determine : for he has the awful power to decide whether
he will be eternally happy in the possession of God and
in the company of the angels and saints in Heaven, or
eternally miserable with the damned in Hell. To
impress this truth more deeply upon us let us consider
the following points.
Point I. — There is ''another life "towards which I
am hurrying forward. Every evening I am twenty-four
THE FUTURE LIFE. 517
hours nearer to it than on the previous day. Even
whilst I am asleep, I am still moving rapidly onward
towards it, never halting on the way ! Oh ! what a
comfort, what a source of courage and consolation to
one that is earnest in the service of God. Listen to
the holy man Job, covered with loathsome ulcers and
seated on a dunghill : "I know that my Redeemer
liveth ; and in the last da}' I shall rise out of the earth ;
and I shall be clothed again in my skin, and in my flesh
I shall see my God, whom I myself shall see, and my
eyes shall behold and not another : this my hope is
laid up in my bosom." ^ And St. Paul : " As to the rest
there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the
Lord, the just Judge, will render to me in that day." 2
And again : *< The sufferings of this life are not worthy
to be compared with the weight of future glory." ^ It
was the faith in another life that prompted the Apostles
to abandon houses, lands, and kindred, and with joy to
welcome sufferings and death itself, in order to purchase
eternal delights. It was the anticipation of another life
that caused the martyrs to brave the rage of tyrants
and the tortures of their executioners ; that peopled the
deserts with solitaries, who in penance, fasting, and
prayer, passed their days, happy in the expectation of
the eternal years. It has filled monasteries with holy
virgins of both sexes,, and has incited confessors to
wander through the whole world, to brave every danger,
and to endure cheerfully every kind of hardship.
Point 2. — There is ♦* another life," an eternal one.
How short and transitory and uncertain are the years
of man ! '* Man born of woman, living for a short time,
is filled with many miseries. Who cometh forth like a
flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and
never continueth in the same state : the days of man
are short, and the number of his months is with
1 Job xix. 25, 26. 2 2 Timothy iv. 8. ' Romans viii. i8.
5i8 APPENDIX I.
Thee."^ Here there is no stability but incessant
change, no peace but constant unrest, no repose but
a never-ending alternation of cares, anxieties, hopes,
and fears. Then, again, how very uncertain! The
Author of life tells us that He will call us away when
we least expect it, and daily experience convinces us
that there is nothing more uncertain than the hour of
death. But it is far otherwise with that other life,
which will never end. Here sorrows and pain, cares
and disappointments quickly pass, and joys and
pleasures are no less fleeting. Not so in the other
life, where nothing passes away, where all is stable
and unchangeable, where what is possessed is " fulness
of life 2 without possibility of change, of increase or
diminution ; " where the soul will enjoy perfect happi-
ness which can never be lost, or will be plunged into
the abyss of despair and anguish from which it can
never be released. What a terrible alternative ! what
a fearful contrast ! This thought of eternity is pregnant
with delightful consequences for those who have lived
lives of the just on earth. They have done wisely in
repressing their passions, in flying from sin or the
occasions which exposed them to danger, in doing
works of penance, in observing the commandments of
God. They detached themselves from the things of
time, they spent their lives in sacrifices for God and
their neighbour, they followed in the footsteps of Christ,.
in view of this eternal life : and how wisely !
Let us, like the just who have gone before us, let us
fear nothing but to offend God our Lord, let us detach
ourselves from all that is not God, let us keep our mind
fixed on this other life, *' having in our minds the eternal
j^ears," desiring nothing but to dwell for ever with
Christ in never-ending bliss and glory.
^ Job xiv. I — 5.
2 "Tota simul et plena vita." (BcBthius.)
THE FUTURE LIFE. 519
Point 3.— There is ''another life." What an over-
whelming thought to the sinner ! When for him the
brief space of life is drawing to its close, what bitter
memories must force themselves upon him ! "I did
but taste a little honey, with the end of the rod, and
behold I must die."^ Life has been wasted in the
search after fleeting and hollow pleasures, in the study
of ease and comfort, in sacrifice of conscience for
earthly gain, in the indulgence of unlawful cravings,
in the gratification of unbridled passions. The sinner
has lived for self and not for God, for the esteem or
praise of men, for the bubble of worldly glory, for the
acquisition of worldly wealth : and now he sees all
these gradually receding from him ; and as his mortal
life is drawing to a close, '' another life " is opening out
before him. Tarry he cannot, he must go forward;
eternity is preparing to swallow him up. He has been
gliding thoughtlessly over the surface of life, without
ever attempting to fathom its depth ; he has spent his
days in a dream, and he wakes from his sleep to find
his hands empty. He has been pursuing shadows
instead of contemplating the great unseen realities of
life, until too late he finds himself undeceived. Oh !
what must be the bitterness of his regrets. How clearly
now does he see his folly when it is too late to exchange
it for real wisdom.
If we have, then, any sense at all, we shall direct
our thoughts, desires, and efforts to this future life ; we
shall spare no pains, deem no sacrifices too great to
secure its being happy. Let us, with Asaph the
Psalmist, be able to say: " I thought upon the days of
my youth ; and I had in my mind the eternal years.
And I meditated in the night with my own heart, and I
was exercised, and I swept my spirit." 2
1 "Gustavi paululum mellis et ecce morior." (i Kings xiv. 43.)
' Psalm Ixxvi. 6, 7.
520 APPENDIX I.
In each moment of life here below, it is a question
for each one of us of a loss or a gain for eternity.
This living faith in ** another life " is the great motor
of sanctity. What is our faith in this point ? What
influence has it exercised upon us in our appreciation
of the things of this world ? What effect has it had
on the guiding or regulating of our desires, on the
manner and intention with which we perform' the every-
day duties of our state of life. Do we think and will
and act as becomes one who is hurrying onwards to his
eternity, or rather as one who is a mere creature of
time? Whilst yet we have the opportunity, let us
resolve to correct what is wanting, that when the Lord
may please to call us, He may find us ready to respond
to His call.
3.— ON TRIALS.
There is no truth more clearly declared in the
Sacred Scriptures, or more confirmed by experience,
than that our life, as long as we are here below, is
marked by trials. No matter what may be our age, or
calling, or social position, it is always true, our days
are few in number, but are filled up with many miseries :
miseries from without or from within, miseries from
ourselves or from others, from our fellow-men or from
the enemy of our human nature. *' Truly it is a
misery to live on earth ;"i and again, ''The Cross is
always ready and at every turn awaits you. Run
where you please, you cannot shun it."^
Yes ! trials are necessary ; but they are often useful,
and at all times can be turned to great profit and to our
spiritual advantage, if we only employ the means with
which God provides us.
1 k Kempis, i. c. 22. ' k Kempis, ii. c. 13.
ON TRIALS. 521
Point I. — ** Because thou wast acceptable unto God,
it was necessary that temptation should try thee."^
So spoke the Archangel to Tobias, when he announced
to him that he had been sent by God to heal him, and
to deliver Sara from the devil.
Again God declares by the mouth of Job, " Blessed
is the man whom God correcteth ; refuse not, therefore,
the chastising of the Lord. For He woundeth and He
cureth, He striketh and His hand shall heal."^ The
same truth is insisted upon by St. James : '* Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation : for when he hath
been proved, he shall receive the crown of life." ^
We read that trials and temptations await all those
who enter in earnest into the service of God : * that far
from being a mark of God's displeasure, they should be
regarded rather as a sign of His approbation and good-
will in our regard,^ and that they are a special sign of
His blessing and love.^
From the above and from many other passages, we
see that trials and temptations are the portion of the
just, that they are a source of blessings, a pledge of
God's watchful care and spiritual love.
How true this is will appear more manifest if we
look at the lives of all the servants of God, from the
Apostles down to our own time : it is verified in those
who have proved their fidelity by laying down their
lives for Christ, or who have made life a lingering
martyrdom by lifelong sacrifices of penance, prayer,
and patience, or who in the spirit of confessors, have
welcomed trials and temptations, and have overcome
all difficulties in the promotion of the knowledge and
love of God in their own souls or in the souls of others.
If we consult reason itself, enlightened by Divine
faith, the necessity of temptations and trials is con-
1 Job xii. 13. 3 Job V. 17. 3 st. James i. 12.
* Ecclus. ii. I. 5 Job xii. 13. « Hebrews xii. 5.
522 APPENDIX I.
firmed. For the devil, the enemy of human nature,
and the world which is opposed to Christ our Lord,
necessarily hate all those who strive to follow in His
footsteps, and who are consequently opposed to them,
who reject their false allurements, and condemn and
denounce their pernicious principles.
Point 2. — But why does God permit His servants to
be tried by temptation? i. Because in this way He
makes a trial of their virtue. "As silver is tried by
fire, and gold in the furnace, so doth the Lord try the
heart ;"^ and again, " The furnace trieth the potter's
vessel, and the trials of affliction just men."^
Therefore holy David prayed to the Lord, *' Prove
me, O God, and know my heart, examine me and know
my paths. "2
2. God allows them to be tempted that He may
give them true humility, which renders them mistrustful
and diffident of their own selves, whilst at the same
time it leads them closer to our Lord, and causes them
to repose their confidence in His protection. For in
the hour of trial and temptation, we see clearly our
own weakness and helplessness if left to ourselves, and
thus are compelled to have recourse to God in prayer.
Happy would it have been for St. Peter if he had
followed the counsel of Jesus, instead of presuming on
his own strength. *' Watch and pray, lest ye, enter into
temptation."
3. Another reason why God permits His servants
to be tempted, is in order that by His grace they may
increase their merits here and their glory hereafter.
We must not suppose that we are making great
progress in virtue when all goes on smoothly. This
state is often most dangerous, as it is calculated to
make us negligent in God's service, and to foster vanity
1 Prov, xvii. 3.
2 Ecclus. xxvii. 6. ' Psalm cxxxviii. 3.
ON TRIALS.
523
or self-complacency, to become remiss in prayer, and in
all spiritual exercises ; to grow indifferent in avoiding
the occasions of sin, and in this way to expose ourselves
to the attacks of our enemy who never sleeps, but " like
a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may
devour."^
Point 3. — What are the means to be employed to
overcome. The first class of trials and temptations, is
when we find ourselves in a state of universal apathy,
darkness, insensibility, and heaviness of soul. At such
times, meditation, prayer, penance, detachment, all
become irksome and difficult. We feel a loathing for
all things supernatural. Faith seems darkened, hope
seems undermined, charity grown cold. Like one
groping to find his way in the dark, we know not how,
or rather feel unable to take a step forward. This is
often a great trial to earnest and anxious souls, to
whom it seems as if God had turned away His face
from them, as if all their past labours, sacrifices, and
endeavours had been in vain, as if further perseverance
were impossible. With our Lord they are filled with
feelings of loathing and weariness, coepit t^dere.
In such occasions, we must persist in striving to
detach ourselves still more perfectly from creatures,
towards which at such times the devil and our own
wayward nature would incline us to turn ourselves in
search of comfort and consolation. We must, in the
next place, humble ourselves, recognizing that of
ourselves we are nothing, can do nothing, and that all
our sufficiency must come from Him who "is faithful
and will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are
able, but will make also with temptation issue that we
may be able to bear it." 2
It is at such times, also, that we must be brave and
give ourselves to extra exercises of self-abnegation and
1 I St. Peter v. 8. ^ i Cor. x. 13.
524 APPENDIX I.
prayer, thereby to move the Heart of our Lord to
compassion; we must make, also, fervent acts of
confidence in His loving protection : " Even though
He should kill me, yet will I hope in Him."^ "If
armies in camp should stand together against me, my
heart shall not fear : if a battle should rise up against
me, in this will I be confident." 2
Another excellent practice, is to go in spirit to the
Garden of Gethsemane, there to keep company with
our dear Lord, who when full of loathing [ccepit tadere)^
and sadness [mcBstiis esse), and fear (pavere), being in a
very agony, prayed the longer. Persevere from day to
day : perhaps to-morrow the clouds will be dispersed,
and then will come the bright sunshine.
The second class of trials is composed of those
against faith and purity. These may be either of
short duration or may be persistent. If the former,
they should be treated with cool contempt, whilst the
mind is diverted to something else and the heart raised
up to our Lord or our Blessed Mother. If the latter,
we should with perfect calmness, humble ourselves
profoundly, place ourselves at the feet of Jesus, or with
Mary at the foot of the Cross.
With patience, confidence, and humility, we must
have recourse to prayer, knowing that our prayer will
be heard. Let us also be careful not to perturb
ourselves by any undue self-examination which en-
courages such temptations, increasing them in number
and intensity. Let us beware of "perhaps" and
" ifs ; " when with God's grace we feel that we have
good-will, and take ordinary pains to fulfil our duties,
especially those of prayer, and avoid exposing ourselves
knowingly to the occasions of such temptations, and
are moreover troubled lest perhaps we may have
yielded, let us go in peace and confidence, trusting by
1 Job xiii. 15. 2 Psalm xxvi. 3.
ON TRIALS. 535
God's mercy that there has been no sin. A third class
of trials comprises those against charity.
Sometimes we feel a strong tendency to sit in
judgment on others, to misinterpret their actions, to
take an unfavourable view of all they say or do, even
in things most innocent, and if we cannot condemn
their deeds, to impute to them less perfect motives or
intentions. Sometimes we are tempted to postpone
them to ourselves, or to forego the duties of charity,
rather than sacrifice our love of self in some form or
other; we feel a repugnance to help them, or to
sympathize with them in their sorrows or afflictions,
or to rejoice with them in their success or good fortune ;
it may be that we are tempted to entertain aversion
for them, to despise them, or to treat them with disdain
or contempt, or what is sometimes worse, to ignore
them.
All this may arise from pride, or self-complacency,
or at times from a morbid state of mind or imagination :
or, again, it may be that their manners, disposition,
or conduct but ill accord with our own ideas ; or,
perhaps, they may be really disagreeable and faulty.
In any case, we have no excuse for yielding, but should
remember, (i) who we are who would sit in judgment
upon others. Let us take the beam out of our own eye,
before we look at the mote in the eye of our brother.
(2) Who is our neighbour. ? A brother of Jesus, for
whom Jesus died, and whom Jesus loves with all his
faults, and whom Jesus commands us to love. He is
our brother too : a member of the same mystical body :
destined later to live, and reign, and be happy with us
in our Eternal Home. Jesus, also, has substituted him
in place of Himself as the object of our love. (3) Let
us also remember that we should do to others as we
wish them to do to us, and let us shut one eye to the
faults of others, whilst keeping the other wide open to
526 APPENDIX I.
see their good qualities, which are always far more
numerous.
Let us examine ourselves on all these points. How
far are we practically convinced of the necessity of
suffering ? Have we tried to turn our trials, sufferings,
and temptations to advantage ? How have we em-
ployed the means of overcoming temptations ? Let us
examine ourselves seriously on these points, and make
acts of sorrow for all faults or shortcomings, together
with firm and practical resolutions for the time to come.
End with " Our Father."
4.— ON DISSIPATION.
Let us place ourselves in the presence of God, and
after making an act of faith and humble adoration, let
us beg light and grace to see the dangers and misery of
dissipation, and to apply those means which will protect
us from yielding to it.
Point I. — What is a dissipated soul? — It is a soul
which is seldom present to itself, or considers itself.
In it the imagination is like some public market-place,
in which all sorts of people are perpetually coming and
going, hustling each other ; and where each is trying to
further his own individual interests ; where all is noise
and hurry, and where it is hard to hear or to be heard
in the midst of the bustle and confusion.
Dissipation throws open all the gates of the soul,
and the passions rush in and out, and a thousand
thoughts cause it to forget self and to busy itself about
others and things which do not concern it, and thus
the soul becomes deaf to the inspirations of God, bHnd
ON DISSIPATION.
527
to the things of God, loses its taste for prayer, and all
feeling for self-denial.
Point 2. — What is a dissipated soul? — It is one which
never interests itself in the present, or endeavours
to discharge its actual duties perfectly and with right
intention, but goes back to the past or looks forward
to the future, wasting itself on fruitless and dangerous
memories or on idle hopes, fears, and imaginations
which may be never realized. The result is habitual
waste of time, constant beginning, buf never finishing
new undertakings, and a habit of day-dreaming and
unreality.
Point 3. — In the dissipated soul, the imagination is
ceaselessly at work, and the will is never fixed per-
manently on anything, but is constantly changing. It
is carried away hither and thither by sensible objects,
now depressed and sad, now exuberant and gay. It is
indiscreet in speech, irritable, and inconstant, and is
agitated by countless faults and bitter regrets.
Point 4. — What are the remedies to be applied? — If
this dissipation arises from a natural restlessness and
fickleness of disposition, it is almost impossible to over-
come it ; and such a person should be employed in
useful and pious occupations, and should be kept at them.
These should be only interrupted by frequent renewal
of intention, self-examination, and spiritual reading in
private, together with silence at all times, except during
recreation. If it arises from interior aridity and dis-
relish of prayer, then it is well to cut oflf all unnecessary
going about, all visiting or gossiping with others, and to
give more time to spiritual reading, acts of recollection,
frequent acts of the presence of God, and also to repress
all impulsiveness in word or action.
Let us see how far we have given way to this dis-
sipation, and whether it has not influenced us in regard
528 APPENDIX I.
of our spiritual progress. Let us resolve to renew our
application to discharge faithfully the duties of our state
of life, especially those which regard God our Lord ;
to speak only when and as much as is quite necessary ;
to take as our motto, Agg quod agis^ and to do earnestly
and perfectly each of our duties, no matter how small
and insignificant they may seem to be ; and finally to
acquire a habit of making frequent acts of recollection
and of the presence of God.
End with " Our Father."
5,— ON MEDITATION.
If there is one duty more important than any or all
others for those who would strive to attain perfection,
it is the duty of prayer. From a neglect of this have
arisen the spiritual calamities of whole bodies of men
as well as of individuals, as the Spirit of God declares,
** With desolation is all the land made desolate, because
there is none that considereth in his heart." ^ It is by
inducing us to grow remiss, negligent, and indifferent in
regard of this duty, that the enemy of our human nature
most commonly succeeds in drawing us into a state of
tepidity in God's service, and into the temptations of
sin. Hence we should often examine ourselves to see
how we are affected with regard to it.
We will then consider the excellence of mental
prayer, and its necessity for us in our state of life, and
finally how we are to reduce it to practice.
Preparatory prayer will be as usual.
Point I. — Nothing is more recommended in holy
books, more insisted upon by the teaching and example
1 Jerem. xii. ii.
ON MEDITATION. 529
of the saints and of the great masters of spiritual life
and the founders of Religious Orders, such as St. Bona-
venture, St. Bernard, and St. Augustine, than the
practice of meditation. They speak of it as the light,
the food, and the medicine of the soul. Just as light is
necessary for the life and the exercise of the duties of
men, and as without it society could not exist, and
nature would be thrown into confusion, &c., so without
prayer the soul would be darkened, and would lose
all supernatural life, and would end in moral confusion
and death.
Without a due supply of nourishment the body
would become enfeebled and gradually lose its power
of action, would decay and die ; so also without prayer
the soul's strength and energy would be undermined,
and its intellectual power and moral energy would soon
become paralyzed and lose all capability of rising
above the mere use of its natural powers, and thereby
would fail in attaining the end for which it has been
created.
Again, just as the body is liable to decay and is ex-
posed to countless disorders, weaknesses, and diseases,
and hence requires frequent medicines to preserve its
health and stave off the approaches of death, so also the
soul is exposed to innumerable diseases, such as vanity,
pride, sensuality, self-love, self-indulgence, envy, sloth,
&c. ; all or any one of which, unless cured or held in
check by meditation and prayer, would soon become
mortal in their effects.
Others, again, call meditation the strength of the
soul, the source and fountain from which all virtues
flow, the basis and column which support and maintain
them in the soul. They speak of it as the weapon by
which our enemies are disarmed and dispersed, the
means of appeasing the anger of God, the key to
unlock the treasure-house of Heaven, and the instru-
530 APPENDIX I.
merit to draw down all graces from God. From
all this we learn how strongly the saints recommend
prayer.
Point 2. — The necessity of prayer. — There is an obliga-
tion incumbent on all to become saints. The law
is universal.* Estote sancti — ''Be ye saints." ^ Now,
for this three conditions are required : we must hate
sin, we must be detached from all creatures, and
we must love God. But without meditation and the
spirit of prayer we cannot hope to attain any one of
these, and consequently could not possibly fulfil the law.
Further, without the grace of God it is impossible
for us to perform the smallest supernatural action, and
in every instant and circumstance of life we stand in
need of this grace; but a condition of securing it is
prayer, and hence we see its necessity, which is
inculcated by our Lord, saying, *' It behoveth always
to pray, and that without failing," 2 and again, '* Praj''
lest ye enter into temptation." ^ The example of our
Blessed Lord further impresses this same necessity
upon us.
Point 3. — The practice of meditation is especially
incumbent upon us, for many reasons. First, because
God has through St. Ignatius provided us with a special
and easy method of meditation ; secondly, for the fulfil-
ment of the arduous duties of our state of life, we
require at all times extraordinary helps and graces ; and
we may presume with reason that those helps will be
only measured out to us in proportion to our fidelity
in the use of the method of prayer which has been given
to us. .
Point 4. — Let us examine then how we appreciate
this gift of God ? Do we practise it and observe the
various Additions faithfully ? Do we give the full time
1 Comp. Ephes. i. 4 ; Coloss. iii. 12 ; i St. Peter i. 15, 16.
2 St. Luke xviii. i. 3 st. Matt. xxvi. 41 ; St. Mark xiv. 38.
ON MORTIFICATION. 531
to it ? Do we seriously apply the three powers of the
soul ?
If we find that we have been guilty of any negligence
and have grown remiss or apathetic, let us seriously
resolve to correct ourselves and to resume our former
fervour and exactness. Any neglect on this matter
must induce sad consequences.
6.—0N MORTIFICATION.
The Sacred Scriptures of the New Dispensation in
most of its pages either directly or indirectly urges the
necessity of this virtue. The saints, following in the
footsteps of our Lord, have invariably practised it, and
in fact we may say that Christianity itself rests upon
it and flourishes and is promoted by it. As the vine
stands in need of the pruning-knife that it may flourish
and bear fruit, so also must every member of the true
vine bring forth true fruit by the exercise of mortifica-
tion and penance.
Let us consider its necessity and the several motives
which must influence us in adopting and practising it.
Point I . — The necessity of it is proved to us by the
teaching of God in the Sacred Scriptures. Thus it is
made a condition of supernatural life. *' For if in the
spirit ye mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live."^
It is laid down as the alternative of condemnation:
^' For unless ye do penance, ye shall all perish."^ And
again our Blessed Lord inculcates it as a necessity if
we would follow Him, saying, *' Whosoever will come
after Me, let him take up his cross daily and so follow
1 Romans viii. 13 ; i St. Peter iii, 18.
a St. Luke xiii. 5 ; St. Matt. iii. 2.
532 APPENDIX I.
Me;"i nay, He tells us that it is the sign by which
we are to decide who is worthy of Him.^ All these
passages tend to show that mortification is necessary
for all who deserve the name of Christian ; what then
are we to conclude with regard to those who are chosen
to a higher degree of perfection and of closer imitation
of and union with Jesus Christ, if not that they should
in an especial manner excel in this virtue, bearing
about them the mortification of Jesus, that the life of
Jesus may be manifested in them.
Point 1. — Various are the motives which urge us to
this mortification.
(a) I am a companion of Christ, whose life in
infancy and in His youth, in His private and public
career, was one continuous privation, amid poverty and
labour, one long act of mortification. If I then love
Christ, my ambition should be to follow in His steps,
and with St. Paul "to fill up those things that are
wanting of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh. "^
(^) Again, if we are called to the apostolate, and all
of us are to a greater or lesser extent,* we are also
called upon to fast and pray. By sufferings and blood
our Lord saved the world, and this salvation must by
blood be continued and applied to the souls of men
through the ministrations of the apostolate.
(y) St. Ignatius made more account of the vinct
teipsum, i.e., of mortification, than even of prayer. This
was the lesson which St. Francis Xavier declared he
had learned above all others from his spiritual father,
Ignatius. St. Francis Borgia made it the measure and
test of sanctity, as without it no man can excel, either
in the spirit of prayer, or charity, or humility.
(8) Finally, when we consider the heavy debt which
we have incurred to the Divine justice, by our sins,
1 St. Matt. xxi. 24 ; St, Luke ix. 23. 2 St. Matt. x. 38.
3 Coloss. i. 24.
ON MORTIFICATION. 533
faults, and negligences of the past ; the rebellion of our
passions, and the risings of concupiscence in the present ;
the dangers which loom before us in the future, we
must see the necessity of mortification here or of
suffering hereafter. Add to this that the religious life
supposes us to devote ourselves as victims for the sins
of others, and also to draw down graces and means of
salvation for the souls of others which involves the
necessity of prayer and mortification.
Point 3. — How is this to be reduced to practice ?
The chief method of practising mortification, is by
overcoming our natural inclinations to pride, self-
indulgence, and sensuality, and as a means and help
to this, by external penances such as are enumerated
by St. Ignatius in the tenth Addition of the Spiritual
Exercises.
Let us examine ourselves and see how far we
appreciate the necessity and motives of this virtue ; also
how far we reduce it to practice. What changes are to
be made in it in our present life, &c. Do we bear bravely
all those sufferings which befall us against our own
will, or which we voluntary assume whether they
affect the body or our own will and judgment ? Do we
rejoice to see ourselves suffer, without trying to escape ?
Do we abstain from all superfluity in regard of food,
sleep, clothing, &c. ? Do we repress desires of praise,
amusements, and indulgences ? When offended by any
words or acts of others, do we keep silence ? Do we
in return try to requite it by some favour or gracious
act, or at all events try to approve of it, or at least find
an excuse for it ?
534 APPENDIX I.
7.— ON CHARITY.
On this important subject we may consider the
importance and necessity of striving to obtain its per-
fection ; the urgent motives which prompt us to do so ;.
and the quahties by which it is to be distinguished.
' Point I. — Its importance. — This is clear from the fact
that it is the first commandment which God has
engraved on the human heart, and has been earnestly
recommended by Him in all time.
(a) In the New Dispensation, the love of our neigh-
bour and of God Himself are placed in the same rank.^
Nay, God has insisted most on the love of our neighbour,
and has made it the test of our love of Himself. He
even requires of us that we love our enemies ; ^ and we
are to be ever striving to attain the perfection of that
love for others which Christ has had for us.^
(/3) Not content with all this, in His last discourse
with His Apostles our dear Lord specifies it as the
mark by which the world was to know that we are His
disciples ; ^ at the General Judgment it is to be rewarded
by eternal possession of God, whilst its non-observance
is to be visited by everlasting punishment.
Point 2. — The qualities. — Our Blessed Lord manifests
the qualities which this charity must possess, by His
own example.
(a) His charity was ever active, in healing the blind,,
the deaf, the dumb, the lame, the sick, and the dead.
All this we may imitate spiritually as occasions may and
1 Comp. St. Matt. xix. — xxii. ; Romans xiii. ; Galat. v. ; St. James ii. 8 ;
St. Mark xii. ; i St. Peter ii.
» St. Matt. V. 44 ; St. Luke vi. 27. 3 St. John xiii. xv.
* St. John xiii. 35.
ON CHARITY. 535
will often present themselves ; and sometimes also we
may exercise corporal works of mercy.
(/?) His charity was patient. So too we must suffer
in the care of souls, we shall have to employ plans,
industries, and means to overcome obstacles ; and to
sacrifice conveniences, health, and self. So did our
Blessed Lord. We must be ashamed to show less
earnestness in the cause of the salvation of our neigh-
bour than the devil does for his destruction.
(y) His charity was compassionate and sympathetic, He
took upon Him all our infirmities for that purpose.^ He
bore with rudeness, coarseness, infirmities, heedlessness,
frivolity, and selfishness ; all of which are more deserv-
ing of pity than of contempt and aversion. With
heroic meekness He suffered obstinacy, ingratitude,
cowardice, treachery, and deceit.
Point 3. — What are the grounds of true charity? — (a) We
must love others, because they are the objects of the
intense love of God the Father, and because they are
members of the mystical body of God the Son, and
because they are the consecrated temples of God the
Holy Ghost.
{p) Again, they are made to the image and likeness
of God, and consequently if we love the reality, we
must of necessity love that which bears its stamp and
resemblance.
(y) Our neighbours are created to live and reign
with us in eternal glory, are co-heirs with us of God
and of His well-beloved Son, have been redeemed from
slavery, and have been purchased by the same life-
blood.
(S) Lastly, our Blessed Lord has placed them as
substitutes for Himself as the objects for our charity,
and declares that our conduct towards them will be
regarded as if it were done for Himself.^
1 Hebrews v. 2. 2 st. Matt, x. 42:
536 APPENDIX I.
(c) If we study the lives and conduct of the saints,
we find that all, without exception, have been marked
for their spirit of charity. It was in this that the
Christians from the earliest times have gloried ; this
spirit has always animated Holy Church, and has
raised up Religious Orders of both sexes for the
promotion of every kind of charity whether corporal or
spiritual ; and at times the saints have melted down
the sacred vessels to provide means of charity.
Point 4. — What are the marks of charity ? — The marks
of this charity will be to suffer with those who are in
pain, and rejoice w4th those who are happy and
successful ; in act and in speech to treat our neighbour
as we ourselves would wish to be treated by others ; to
prefer the ease and comfort and success of others to our
own, to show unfeigned reverence and respect towards
others, to repay evil with good in word and deed, to
think well of others.
Let us examine and see how we stand in all these
respects. Do we treat others with reverence and
respect, as the children of God and representatives of
Christ ? Do we shut our eyes to their faults and
defects ? Do we think and speak well of them, and
act kindly and considerately towards them ? Do we
put ourselves to inconveniences and sacrifice ourselves
for them ? Do we sympathize with them and try to
promote their interests and their success ? Do we give
way to any special attachment and thus expose holy
charity to danger, or yield to feelings of special aversion ?
If we find that there is anything to correct in these
respects, let us regret and amend it at once. Let us
pray in conclusion, that the God of all charity will
inflame us with the fire of His love that we may be
consumed with Christian charity.
End with ** Our Father."
ON USE OF TIME.
537
8.— ON USE OF TIME.
How important it is that we should examine our-
selves on this subject is clear, when we see how reck-
lessly it is wasted and too often abused, and how, by
many, it is a study how '' to kill time." If we shall be
accountable before God for every idle word, and this
thought has made even saints tremble, how much more
serious will be the account which we shall have to
render for the waste and abuse of time ? This may be
done, not only by doing nothing, but also by employing
it in things which in no way concern us, or by dis-
charging our actions in a bad or imperfect manner.
How grievous this fault is may be the better understood
by considering the great value of time, the singular
providence of God with regard to it, and the shortness
and uncertainty of the tenure of it.
Point I. — The value of time. — It is one of God's
greatest gifts to man, inasmuch as without it all natural
action would be impossible, and in the supernatural
order there could be no merit. Again, on its right use
depends our eternal happiness.
In every minute of time a man may obtain pardon
for his sins, no matter how many and grievous they
may have been ; he may, by God's grace, be freed from
the slavery of the devil and restored to the friendship
of God, and instead of Hell may regain his lost
inheritance of glory.
As every minute of our lives is a grace purchased
for us by the Incarnate Son of God in the crib and on
the Cross, and consequently by His Sacred Blood, let
us beware of losing any part of it, lest by so doing we
waste and squander that Sacred Blood.
538 APPENDIX I.
Point 2. — Let us consider God's providence in regard
of time. In His dealing with man our God is most
generous in everything. The whole of Nature bears
testimony to it. The senses of our bodies, the faculties
of our souls, the variety and multitude of the temporal
goods with which He surrounds us, the countless
inspirations of mind and aspirations of the heart with
which He is constantly favouring us, are evidences of
His thoughtfulness and prodigality of generosity: but
with regard to time He gives it only from instant to
instant : nor does He ever promise to any man a
repetition or continuance of it, so that no man can
promise himself five minutes more of life than he
actually possesses. Each minute as it becomes present
is ours, and our eternity in a certain sense and our
glory to a certain degree depends upon the use we
make of it, and every quarter of an hour may add
prodigiously to our happiness or misery for all eternity.
How solemn a thought is this ! It is this which made
the saints so scrupulous in the husbanding of time ;
which caused them to contract even the hours of
necessary relaxation and sleep, and to have their
minds and hearts ever concentrated on God. It is
this thought which as the worm of conscience torments
the lost souls, who will for ever bewail the abuse which
they made of time when it was placed at their command.
Point 3. — The shortness and uncertainty of time. — The
Sacred Scriptures are full of declarations regarding this
point. The days of man are short,^ and they are filled
with many miseries.^ Nay, time itself is short. ^ It
passeth as a cloud over the face of heaven, as an arrow
from the bow, as a ship over the bosom of the waters,
or as a flower of the field. In all these ways does the
Spirit of God impress this truth upon us.
As regards the uncertainty of its tenure, our dear
1 Job xiv. 5, 2 Job xiv. I. ' I Cor. vii. 29.
ON USE OF TIME. 539
Lord in His parables urges this truth upon us, thereby
to guard us against all waste of it and to impel us to
employ it well. Nay, He declares that He will come
like a thief in the night, and when we least expect it :
that we may suddenly lose all those things which for
so long we have been amassing: that as a bridegroom
He may surprise us whilst we are asleep. Does not
daily experience, especially of late years, impress
this uncertainty of life upon us by the vast number
of sudden deaths ? And this in persons of every age,
state, and condition ?
And as to its shortness, if we recall the years which
we have lived, they have passed, and have left nothing
behind but a dim and vague remembrance : so, too, the
rest will fly by. If we abstract the time spent in sleep,
or in taking our meals, amusements, unnecessary recrea-
tions, and other merely natural actions, the days of
infancy and early youth, and the years spent in sin,
alas ! how little of life is left which we have spent in
preparing for, or is worthy of. Heaven ! How necessary
then to use the rest of our time differently.
How then should we employ our time ? (i) We must
keep steadily to our spiritual duties; (2) fulfil' the
duties of our state of life ; (3) do what we owe to
our station ; (4) fill up our spare time well ; (5) what-
ever we do, must be done in a spirit of faith and love.
540 APPENDIX I.
g.— ON MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.
As the world has its maxims and principles by the
adoption and by the application of which the spirit of
the world is preserved, fostered, and promoted, so too
they that are not of the world, but are anxious to
cultivate an opposite spirit, must have their maxims
and principles, by observance of which they may
securely attain what is the will of God, which is their
sanctification.i
1. To be men, it is our duty to act in all things by
reason.
To be Christians, we must crucif}'- our vices and
concupiscences.
To be saints, we must die to ourselves and live con-
formable to Jesus Christ.
2. It is a delusion to expect to become saints in a
day. To attain sanctity we must mount step by step
like the man who ascends a ladder. On the way we
must not be surprised or discouraged if we frequently,
make a slip or actually fall. To grieve undul}^ or to
lose heart is often the effect of pride and annoyance
to find ourselves weaker and more frail than we like to
acknowledge ; and is a great danger and obstacle in the
way of perfection. We must imitate the person who
on his way has fallen down. He picks himself up as
soon as possible and hurries on, instead of remaining
and rolling on the ground to spite himself for falling,
which impedes and prevents him from advancing and
making progress on his journey.
3. We must lay it down as a principle that "great
things depend on small, and small things lead to great."
Consequently we must never delude and flatter our-
1 I Thess. iv. 7.
ON MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION. 541
selves with the thought, or excuse ourselves with the
expression, that " it is only a small inspiration which I
have rejected, only a trifling act of mortification which
I have neglected." Let us always bear in mind that
nothing which can contribute to eternal salvation is
small : and that the most insignificant action of a
person who is in the grace and friendship of God is
capable of meriting an eternal increase of glory. Of
this we have the instances of Jesus and Mary, the
greater part of whose lives were spent in the per-
formance of actions which according to the estimation
of men were small and ordinary and of no great
account.
4. We must avoid dissipation, and unnecessary and
useless recreation. Rather let us do for our souls, what
we are used to do for our bodies in cold and wintry
weather. We shut our doors and windows, and make
*a good fire. So let us close the doors and windows of
our souls by restraining our eyes from idle curiosity
and promiscuous reading, and our tongues from useless
or idle conversation, and ourselves from unprofitable
visitings or meddling in things which do not concern
us ; and by prayer and union with God keep alive
within us the love of and union with God and the fire
of Divine charity.
5. We must always bear in mind that saying of
St. Bernard : *' In our affections, there must be nothing
above God, nothing equal to God, and nothing to share
the heart with God. He will never be content to share
our hearts with anything created, but is a jealous lover
who will not be content unless with our whole heart
and mind and soul we love Him."^
6. Just as we must always wind up a clock, or it will
cease to go and tell the hour, and we must be ever
weeding the ground, or it will cease to produce fruits or
1 Prov. xxiii. 26.
542 APPENDIX I.
flowers, so must we by vigilance in watching and root-
ing out our vicious or wayward inclinations, keep our
souls pure and advance in the way of perfection.
7. Lastly, we should have frequent intercourse with
'a prudent director. It keeps us always on our guard,
it draws down great blessings from God, inasmuch as
it is at once a great exercise of humility and of self-
denial.
Let us examine how far we have imbided these
maxims and how far we have regulated our lives
according to these principles ; which of them have
we most ignored or neglected ; and let us determine
to observe them more faithfully for the future.
10.— ON ORDINARY ACTIONS.
There is a law imposed upon every Christian which
obliges him at all times and in all circumstances and
conditions of life, which is, Estote sancti — " Be ye holy."^
By this we are all bound to aim at sanctity. Then it
cannot be so difficult of attainment.
I. But in what does it consist ? Not in great and
high contemplation, nor in long vocal or mental prayers,
nor in severe fasts and corporal penances ; for to many
these are practical impossibilities ; but true sanctity
consists in the imitation of our Blessed Lord, in the
right and proper discharge of the duties of our state of
life. Sanctity then is not in the doing of extraordinary
things, but in the performance of our ordinary actions
extraordinarily well. Now, for this three things are
required, namely, a right intention in all we do, and
that our actions be performed thoroughly, and all in
1 Levit. XX. 7 ; i St. Peter i. 16 ; Ephes. i. 4.
ON ORDINARY ACTIONS. 543
their proper time, with right mind, alacrity of will, and
diligent execution.
2. Perfect intention is either positive or negative.
The latter supposes that we exclude all sinful, merely
human and natural motives in what we do, all acting
without reflection and from mere impulse. This
becomes more difficult whenever the actions are of
short duration, or are pleasant and harmonize with our
tastes and inclinations. The former supposes us to aim
in all we do, no matter how small and short the things
may be in themselves, at some supernatural motive :
either for the greater glory of God our Lord and of
His saints, or for the spiritual or temporal good of our
neighbour, or for our own spiritual profit. Thus at
one time we may animate ourselves to perform our
actions in a spirit of penance for our own sins or for
those of others, at another to prove our love for Jesus
Christ or for His Father's glory, at another to obtain
some special grace or favour of which we ourselves
may stand in need, or which we desire for others, &c.,
or for all these several objects combined.
3. As to the alacrity of will, we should not perform
our duties in a spirit of moroseness, or sadness, or out
of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver,i and it is
an insult to Him, and a source of scandal to others, to
look wretched and unhappy in paying Him service ;
but, on the contrary, we ought to show our cheerfulness
and readiness in all we do, not only in things pleasant
and agreeable to us, but also and especially in those
which are laborious, unpleasant, and repugnant.
We must also be diligent in the execution of our
ordinary actions.
This is more necessary in those duties which are of
daily recurrence, as from their frequency we are more
inclined to perform them out of mere routine and in a
1 2 Cor. ix. 7.
544 APPENDIX I.
cursory kind of way. Such are the daily duties of
meditation and of the general and particular exami-
nation of conscience, and those special duties attached
to the state or office in which we find ourselves.
This diligence must be extended to the manner as
well as to the time in which we perform them.
As regards the manner, we should remember that as
we should do all from a supernatural motive, it is a
kind of insult to God whom we serve, that they should
be performed in a slovenly, half and half, and imperfect
manner, no matter how lowly the things may be ; and
we should bear in mind the maxim : " What is worth
doing at all is worth doing well ; " and again, the peace
and satisfaction of doing anything thoroughly and
perfectly more than compensates for the extra labour.
And as to doing everything in its proper time, it
not only is an exercise of constant self-conquest and is
a great secret of avoiding waste and abuse of time, but
of itself is required if we mean to do our actions well
and to make progress in the way of perfection. *' By
Thy ordinance the day goeth on."^
Hence, that we riiay perform our ordinary actions
well, let us commence even the least actions by the
sign of the Cross, or by bending of the knee, or by
applying the hand to the heart, &c.
If the act be of some duration, let us reflect on what
we are going to do, for whom and for how long.
If it be pleasant, let us protest that we will do it for
God ; if unpleasant, that we will perform it cheerfully
for God's sake.
In our chief actions let us recall the faults to which
we are more liable in their performance, such as sloth,
want of earnestness or of perseverance; and resolve
against it.
1 Psalm cxviii. 91.
ON HUMAN RESPECT. 545
Finally, we should acquire a habit of some short
form which may express a perfect offering, such as,
In te, pro te, cum te, ex te, mi Deus, m sandissimis Jesu et
MaviiB cor dibits.
From time to time, it is well to ponder the example
of our Lord, of whom it is written, *' He did all things
well."i "What things are pleasing to Him, I do
always." 2 "My food is to do the will of Him who
sent Me. "2
II.— ON HUMAN RESPECT.
Our Blessed Lord, during His mortal life, verified
the prophecy of the holy old man Simeon,* and ever
since between Him and the world there has been war,
in the way of thinking and of judging, as to laws and
the rules of conduct ; and as yet ndman has succeeded
in pleasing both, nor will it ever be possible, for God
has said it.^
If we would then please God, we must make up our
minds to trample upon human respect and to disregard
the opinions of men, and to reject all fear of what the
world will say, whenever there is question of performing
our duty.
For this let us consider how human respect dis-
honours and degrades a man and is injurious to him,
and ho\V it outrages the majesty of God, and how in
practice it is to be overcome.
I. Human respect is an inordinate desire of pleasing
men, or a fear of displeasing them, whereby we are led
either to omit the good we ought to do, or perform the
evil which we should avoid. By it our moral liberty
and independence are sacrificed, and we subject our-
1 St. Mark vii. 37. 3 st. John viii. 29. 3 gt. John iv. 34.
* St. Luke ii. 34. 5 St. Luke xvi. 13,
JJ
546 APPENDIX I.
selves to those persons or principles which we are
bound to despise, or to a certain vague and undefined
public which would most surely ultimately respect us
if we acted with firmness and consistency, and only
pities and despises us if it sees us bending before or
submitting to its tyranny.
It further betrays great iveakness of judgment.
Experience shouvs that it is quite impossible to please
everybody, as the judgments and appreciations of men
are so different, and the proverb is always being proved,
Tot sententicB qtiot sunt capita, or, Many men of many
minds. What ar pitiful weakness then is it to wish to
please the less virtuous and less sensible and more
frivolous portion of the community.
2. It is, moreover, positively injurious and detri-
mental to those who as slaves submit to be influenced
by it.
For it renders an true peace of mind impossible, as
on the one side there is constant fear of the world and
how it may regard us, and on the other remorse of
conscience invariably torments us for our cowardice
and hypocrisy.
Further, it exposes our salvation to imminent peril.
Alas ! how many are lost through it ! And what an
amount of good is neglected or prevented through it !
How many poor sinners are thereby held in a
captivity from which they would gladly escape ? how
many who are the victims of a false or unholy friend-
ship, or of false doctrines which they dare not reject
for fear of what the world will say, or of the pain which
they would cause, or of the contempt or condemnation
they would unjustly incur ? How many has human
respect brought to a violent end by duels or suicide,
or held enchained in mortal sin by bad company, by
loose conversations, by frequenting the theatre, the
opera, or dangerous dances ?
ON HUMAN RESPECT. 547
3. It is also an outrage against the majesty of God.
God is the Lord of the universe and the Lawgiver
of mankind. He is the All-just, the All-wise, and the
All-holy. Hence His law is most just, most wise, and
most holy, and consequently our glory depends upon
our observance of it. And man is the work of His
hands, and on Him depends for the use of his senses,
and for the preservation of every bre&th of his body
and of every movement of his soul.
Now this Supreme Lord issues His command, and
man, this worm of the earth, demurs and refuses to
obey ! and his pretext is, thereby to saiJt his honotiv ! Are
then the commands of God dishonourable ? He whose
judgments are just, whose counsels are righteous, can
He enjoin anything which is not most noble, honourable,
and praiseworthy ?
God commands. He threatens with Hell, He promises
the eternal bliss of Heaven, and yet the victim of
human respect foregoes all because N. will say this,
and N. will do that, or N.N. will be pained, or will be
offended and will reproach him.
Thus there is a deliberate preference of the favour
of men to that of God, and the gross crime of the
Jewish rabble is repeated and intensified, who cried out
once, '* Not this Man, but Barabbas. Give us Barabbas
and let this one be crucified." ^
The obligation of confessing God outwardly ^ is
ignored, and the ignominy of being rejected by Him
is deliberately incurred. Moreover, the slave of human
respect is in the language of Holy Writ declared to be
an idolater, seeing that he substitutes the creature in
place of the Creator, and to him in preference pays
homage and reverence which is due to God alone.
4. We must choose now between the scoffs of a few
men for a short time and the sarcasm of the host of
1 St. Luke xxiii. 18. ' St. Luke xi. 26.
548 APPENDIX I.
devils and of men in the dungeons of Hell for eternity,
and must leave the broad way of fashion and of worldli-
ness, or must resign all hope of entering the narrow gate
which opens into the realms of never-ending bliss.
If we now resist this shameful weakness, we shall escape
the wretched company of those who will be forced to
exclaim : " These are they whom we held in derision,
and whose lives we esteemed as a disgrace. We fools
esteemed their lives as a madness and their end without
honour, and lo ! they are numbered among the saints." ^
Let us remember that every time we yield to this
weakness we rivet a new link to our chains and increase
our degradation under a miserable and ignoble tyranny,
we submit to a slavery most unworthy of the noble soul
which God has given to us. Why should we consent
to waste our lives at the beck of another, without any
gain and at such an irreparable loss? And who are
they who lord it over the slaves of human respect ?
They are the vilest and least noble of men, whose jeers
should be rather our praise and glory, and whose praise
and esteem should be our reproach and shame : men
whose threats are mere empty talk, and who can do
you no harm unless you prove weak and yield to them.
" Fear not them who can only kill the body, but cannot
hurt the soul."
5. What is the remedy for this weakness ? From
the first we must modestly assert our independence,
but always with uncompromising firmness, especially
when we make new acquaintances.
We must mould and regulate our lives and views
by the principles of holy faith, and live in the practical
consciousness of our own dignity and of the duties and
obligations which it involves.
. This spirit of faith must be kept alive by great
fidelity to our spiritual duties, and by a frequent
1 Wisdom V. 3 — 5.
ON LOVE OF ENEMIES. 549
reception of the holy sacraments of the Church. We
must also repress with energy the first whisperings of
human respect and the first insinuations of *' what the
world will say."
12.— ON LOVE OF ENEMIES.
In the New Law our Lord has insisted on our
loving not only our friends, but also our enemies, and
this by word and by His own example : and requires
of His followers to pray for those who persecute and
calumniate them, and to do good to those who hate
them.^ Now, by enemies we are to understand all
those towards whom we feel dislike or anger, whether
by reason of certain defects of character, such as impulsive-,
ness, or pride, or melancholy, or inconstancy, or vanity,
and the like, or because they ignore what we consider
is due to us in the way of respect, service, or charity,
or because they bear ill-feeling and show unkindness
to us, &c.
1. Now, if we have this our obligation at heart, w^
shall with all earnestness and promptitude stamp out
all ill-will, and sincerely wish and try to promote their'
well-being and success : we shall be careful to conceal
the annoyance they may cause us, and to avoid speak-
ing disparagingly of them.
We must beware of betraying any sign or trace of
disHke, impatience, weariness, or anger — nay, rather,
we must strive to anticipate them with kindness, seek
their company rather than shun them, and often in
prayer recommend them to God.
2. It is right and just that we should practise this
love for our enemies. It is too true that we have been
enemies of God, and that perhaps for a long time, and
1 St. Luke vi. 38.
550 APPENDIX I.
have by many and great sins proved ourselves mean
and ungrateful to Him. And yet how often and how
generously has He forgiven us ! And that, too, most
fully. Moreover, He has been unremitting in heaping
fresh favours upon us. All this, independent of His
other claims, gives Him a right to require from us a
similar treatment of others, which He does,^ transferring
His own claims upon us to those who are our enemies.
3. It is also a useful and advantageous law, inas-
much as it thus enables us to secure forgiveness for our
many hidden and venial sins, and for our repeated
negligences and omissions of duty.^ It, moreover,
furnishes us with occasions of gaining great merit and
glory, as it is the highest and most difficult mode of
exercising charity, and at the same time is the dis-
tinctive mark by which our charity differs from that of
heathens. 3
In practice, then, it is well in meditation, in collo-
quies, and in Mass often to pray for this spirit, and for
such as are a source of trial. If we. are associated with
those who have faults of character, let us remember
that they have also many good qualities, and let us
think of these, which we are inclined to overlook or to
forget, rather than look on their bad quahties, which
too often we are apt to exaggerate. How differently
should we view the same defects in others if they were
our friends, and how ready and ingenious should we be
to find excuses for them. A holy man has observed
that as a rule every one has nine parts good and praise-
worthy, and but one part bad or worthy of blame. Let
us shut our eyes to this latter, and fix them wide open
on the former.
It is well for us also to bear in mind that we too
have our weaknesses and defects, and perhaps of the
same kind or even worse, and that we expect others to
1 St. Matt. V. 44. 2 St. Matt. vi. 3 st. Matt. v. 46.
ON SELF-CONQUEST. 551
bear with us, and to overlook them. If others maltreat
us, speak disparagingly of us, or judge us harshly,
after all it is only what we deserve, or perhaps it is
much less than our deserts ; and consequently we have
no reason to murmur or complain : nay, it is a comfort
to think that these things supply us with an occasion
of gaining merit, and are a means of increasing our
sanctification, and of imitating the example of our
Blessed Lord.
Do not let us be outdone by persons in the world
who consider it a part of good breeding and politeness
to repress all signs of vindictiveness and aversion or
intolerance in regard of others, and who regard self-
sacrifice and repression of feelings as the first conditions
of a gentleman ; and taking example from the saints, let
us be in earnest henceforth in the love of our enemies,
and in doing good to those who hate us, and in praying
for those who persecute and calumniate us.
i3._ON SELF-CONQUEST.
We may define it as a virtue which punishes and
reduces to order the irregular motions of soul or body.
Accordingly, it may be distinguished into internal and
external, positive and negative.
I. The necessit}^ of this virtue is evident not only
from the manner in which our Blessed Lord insists
upon it in His teaching, but also from the example
which He has left to all His followers. It is further
shown to us in the lives of all those who have followed
in His footsteps and have been distinguished by their
holiness. Our own experience must also convince us
that without the constant practice of this virtue it is
impossible for us to hope to please God and to avoid
552 APPENDIX I.
sin, and to keep the senses of our body and the passions
of our souls in due subjection or under right control.
2. The advantages of cultivating and practising this
virtue are many and great, amongst which we may
mention the following :
(a) It enables us to make satisfaction for our past
sins, and for those hidden ones which are unknown or
forgotten, and also for our daily faults and sins of
frailty. The satisfaction thus made during this life
is far less severe than that which else we should have
to make in the next world, and which would there be
merely expiatory and non-meritorious.
(/?) It facilitates the avoidance of sin in the future,
as thereby our passions are weakened and more easily
reduced to order, and the soul is habituated to resist
the attractions of pleasure, of pride, and independ-
ence ; and the undue fear of hardship and pain is
overcome.
(y) By it we furnish the best proof of the fervour
and solidity of our love of God, and our desires to
become men of prayer ; and union with God is kept
alive in the soul.
(8) It is the condition without which we shall have
but little or no hope of increasing, preserving, or
acquiring perfection.
(c) Finally, it is a most effectual means of acquiring
peace of mind.
3. The practice of interior mortification. — The most
important exercise of this virtue is the interior, to which
exterior penance is only or chiefly a means, and is the
more difficult. Of this we stand constantly in need,
and from it no one is exempted, and the occasions
which call for it are ever present to each of us, no
matter how old we may be or in whatsoever position.
It may be exercised in a multitude of ways, as for
example :
ON SELF-CONQUEST. 553
(a) By repressing all curiosity about other persons,
about their doings, their failings, and their appoint-
ments ; also all canvassing of their aptitude for this
or that office, their qualities whether good or bad. To
this we may add the avoidance of forming conjectures
and of a morbid desire after news whether political,
social, or domestic.
{/3) By avoiding all impetuosity or mere impulse in
things which we may undertake ; and rather to foresee
and calculate the possibility of failure, and prepare
ourselves to counteract or avert it.
(y) If we are inclined to seek some indulgence or
gratification with excessive ardour and undue desire
of obtaining it, by either checking it or by firmly fore-
going it altogether.
(8) By never consenting to do even a good thing at
a wrong time through natural feeling or through eager-
ness, as for example, to sit up at night to devour a new
book, or to prepare for an examination, and the like.
(e) By keeping down eagerness or anxiety about
letters, or about some favourite study, occupation, or
amusement, or by anticipating those which we dislike,
and by repressing all desires about a change of place,
superiors, and the rest.
In doing this we see how in our daily life we may
practise real mortification, and may say with the
Apostle, Quoiidis morior.
4. As regards exterior mortification, various practices
suggest themselves, and to be perfect it involves the
cutting off of all unnecessary satisfaction, either of the
senses of the body or of the faculties of the soul; as
also the infliction of positive pain, as we see in the
contemplation of *♦ Two Standards," the '* Three Degrees
of Humility," and " The Three Classes of Men." But to
enter into some details.
(a) We may deny our eyes the sight of natural
554
APPENDIX I.
beauty either of persons or things, of worldly pomp
or splendour, and even of scenery.
(p) We may deny our ears the indulgence of con-
versation, or of the pleasures derived from music, and
the like.
(y) We may subdue the palate both as to the kind,
the quality, and the quantity of our repasts, and more
particularly as regards our drink.
(8) We may occasionally fast, moderate our sleep as
to the time and manner of taking it ; and also practise
great exactness in rising.
(e) Bravery in supporting the inconveniences atten-
dant on the varieties of the weather, in always assuming
a modest position in sitting, &c., often costs more than
taking the discipline or wearing a chain or hair-shirt.
14.— ON TRANQUILLITY OF MIND.
1. Peace of mind is a great treasure, and for many
reasons merits great esteem, and its attainment deserves
all our efforts. The possession of it renders the rule of
reason practicable, and provides us with strength and
courage under temptations and difficulties, and enables
us to make progress in virtue. But without this tran-
quillity reason too often gives place to impulse or
feeling, we become inconstant and fickle, and despondent
and rebellious under our trials.
2. Among the means whereby we may reasonably
hope to attain it are :
(a) To be convinced that sufferings are the law of
man's and much more of the Christian's existence ; as
a holy man has said, Homo natus est ad laborem sicut avis
ad volandum : consequently, to escape it is hopeless, and
the effort to do so only adds to our suffering. There-
ON TRANQUILLITY OF MIND. 555
fore, the only wise course to adopt is to submit at least
patiently, if not cheerfully : and to remember that our
lot is far easier than that of others.
(^) To entertain a sovereign contempt for the things
of this world, and consequently to regard their loss as
not worth a thought : and to hold the praise or censure
of this world as equally beneath our notice.
(y) Not to be carried away by natural activity, but
to keep it under due control : and avoid too many
different occupations. The greater their number, the
less perfectly will each be performed, as the less care
and attention can be bestowed upon each.
(8) To regard your oifice not as a task, but as a work
of love. It is by so doing that you will take an interest
in it and give yourself up to it : and not to mix yourself
up in the affairs of others, as you neither help them
nor yourself, but may injure both.
(e) Always remember that in our lives violent trials
and crises come as surely as storms in the air, and like
them, often from unexpected quarters, and when we
least dream of them.
(Q Banish all anxiety about future troubles, which
probably will never come ; and prepare yourself for
future failures with perfect resignation to the ever-
blessed will of God. And see in all events, whether
bright or dark, the loving hand of God.
(rj) Avoid all deliberate venial faults, or violation of
rules.
(0) Let your spiritual Hfe be marked by prudence,
moderation, spirit, and courage : and consequently when
you fall do not yield to immoderate grief, but make an
act of sorrow, and renew j^our fervour. Acknowledge
your shortcomings, and conceive high purposes of virtue ;
but banish any desire of perfection which disturbs your
peace of soul.
556 APPENDIX I.
i5._0N WATCHING AND PRAYER.
Our Blessed Lord insisted much on this two-fold
duty as the means of not only being victorious over
temptations, but also as a means by which we maj'
stave them off, or at all events may be prepared for
them. So, too, St. Peter^ and St. Paul^ urge this same
lesson. So, too, the saints by word and example insist,
upon it as a condition of holiness. It is with the same
object that St. Ignatius prescribes retreats ; and in the
Rules of his Society special triduums are ordained,
whereby the spirit of watching and of prayer may be
kept alive and promoted. And it is with good reason,
for we are all too prone to fall asleep in the service of
God, and to suffer from the influences of the things
of this earth and of the present, and to shut our eyes
to those of Heaven. Now, as it is impossible for us to
gain Heaven without vigilance and prayer, so by the
regular use of them it will be impossible to fail in
securing it, as by them we shall correct our faults, and
shall turn to good account the graces which God will
bestow on us.
I. Without watchfulness, what time will be lost!
what faults and sins will be committed ! what a host
of cares arising from inordinate affections, and from
absorbing self-interest, which drag down the soul to
earth and prevent its progress. Through these it
becomes restless and discontented, and seeks for relief
in fresh dissipation. By vigilance we are preserved
from many temptations, and from the influence of
external objects and perverse inclinations. It removes
all those things which ts^ke us away from God ; but to
be more effective, it must be exercised in a peaceful and
1 I St. Peter v. 8. ^ i Thess. v. 8.
ON WATCHING AND PRAYER. 557
quiet manner, it must be practised with great firmness
and constancy, and with a view of seeking God in all
things. Let us, then, be faithful and earnest in our
daily examens of conscience.
2. The motives which should induce us to this
watchfulness are : firstly, that thereby we shall be freed
from the agitation and effusion on external things which
are inconsistent with the peace which is attached to the
service of God ; also from the troubles which disturb
, the imagination and the memory, which so frequently
assail the mind and heart. Secondly, it promotes and
secures the spirit of recollection, by separating us from
creatures, and uniting us more closely with God, and
by this means preserving us in the supernatural life,
and causing us to see God in all things, even in the
most common occurrences of life. Surely these are
motives enough to induce us to be scrupulously exact
to all the industries for making well the general and
particular examinations of conscience.
As regards prayer, for us it is the most useful, most
important, as most necessary of all our duties. It
comprises all others, and on it all others hang and
depend. This being so, it ought to be the great occupa-
tion, desire, and strength of our hearts.
The occupation of our hearts. — In the Scriptures it is
written, "With desolation is the earth made desolate,
because there is none who thinketh in his heart :'''^ j^et
the people prayed and offered sacrifices, sang psalms,
and performed the prescribed rites and ceremonies.
But all these went no further than the outside ; they
were exterior: whereas real prayer is essentially interior,
and derives all its force from the heart from which it
springs, and is the conversing and communing of man
with God. When it is so, then all goes well with the
soul ; but if it is not so, it is mere outward show and
1 Jerem. xii. xi.
558 APPENDIX I.
hypocrisy, and all must go ill. We sHall, it is too true,
often find it difficult ; we shall be attacked by distrac-
tions, weighed down by aridity and desolation, and the
enemy of our human nature will endeavour by all means
to divert us from it by temptations against faith and
hope and charity. But after all we can turn these, by
the grace of God, into means of enhancing the value
and merit of our prayer if we pray from the heart.
How do we stand in this respect ?
It must be the desire and wish of our hearts. When
we go to pray it is no less an insult to God than a
discredit to ourselves to present ourselves before His
Divine Majesty without having any desire or wish of
our heart to put before Him. It is to obviate this that
St. Ignatius bids us at the beginning of each of the
exercises to beg id quod volo what we have really at
heart, what we stand in most need of, and what God
wants to give to us. Let us ask ourselves where is our
heart when we go to pray ? Are we really viri desidevioviim ^
men with a wish and a strong desire to obtain His
grace to reform our lives and to become daily better ?
In our difficulties do we earnestly seek for light and
help from God ? And do we persevere until He hears
our prayer ?
Lastly, prayer, if properly made, is the strength of
our hearts. It enables us to ask, and to ask with
importunity ; to wait with patience and hope, knowing
that at length our petitions will be granted. This con-
fidence is firmly based upon the promises of One who
cannot be unfaithful to His promises, and whose power
and love are infinite. Let us, then, be faithful and
earnest and constant in all spiritual duties.
APPENDIX II.
CONSIDERATIONS WHICH MAY FURNISH MATTER FOR
ELECTION AND REFORMATION OF LIFE USEFUL FOR
PRIESTS.
1.— ON HUMILITY.
The priest, if we .consider the duties, which he is by
his office called upon to discharge, may be truly said to
be the continuation of 'our Blessed Lord's Incarnation,
inasmuch as he is consecrated and invested with power
by Holy Church, to extend, continue, and apply that
sacred mystery to the souls that are entrusted to his
charge. Now, in order that he may do this efficiently,
it is quite necessary that he be imbued with the spirit
of our Incarnate Lord. "Put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ,"^ and again, ** Let this mind be in you which
was in Christ Jesus," ^ says St. Paul. This spirit and
mind of our dear Lord is essentially and diametrically
opposed to the spirit of the world : and therefore as
the world and those animated by its principles seek
after honour, display, distinction, notoriety, and what
is termed glory, those who are imbued with the spirit
of Christ must fly from all these things, despising what
the world esteems, abhorring what the world loves.
The spirit of the world is pride, the spirit of Christ is
1 Romans xiii. 14. ' Philipp. ii. 5.
56o APPENDIX II.
humility. '' He descended from Heaven, clad in the
hair-cloth of mortality by which He concealed the
royal purple of His Divinity," says one of the Fathers
of the Church, or as St. Paul puts it : *' He emptied
Himself, taking the form of a servant. He humbled
Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the
death of the Cross. "i
He not only manifested this humility in His own
Person, but required that His disciples should imitate
Him in the practice of this virtue, when He said :
'* Learn of Me to be meek and humble of heart." 2
Moreover, He impressed upon His Apostles the necessity
of this virtue, when He said to them that they were
to be humble as children, if they wished to enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven.
I. As it was necessary for the Apostles, so also is
it for those who are priests. Owing to the great
dignity to which they are raised, to the sacred functions
which they are called upon to discharge, to the
reverence and precedence which is rightly shown to
them, they are exposed to the great danger of taking
complacency in the honour and attention paid to them,
to look for it, and to resent any failure to show it on
the part of others, as if it were due to them personally.
Nay, they may be tempted to attach their happiness
to the flattery and praise of others, which is often as
unmerited and insincere, as it is inconstant and
transitory. If we glory at all, let it be in the Lord,
and because He is thereby glorified, according to that
of St. Paul, •' He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord," 2 and let us seek that glory which cometh from
the Lord, a glory which is real, constant, and eternal,
not heeding that which cometh from men;* but doing
all things rightly, disregarding the judgments of men.
1 Philipp. ii. 7, 8.
3 St. Matt. xi. 29. ' I Cor. i. 31. ^ i Cor. iii. 21.
ON HUMILITY, 561
II. The priest must show humility in his conversation.
From the abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaketh, says our Blessed Lord. Hence we find the
children of this world are never tired of speaking of
self, of their own sayings and doings ; they are per-
petually employing the first personal pronoun, except
where good breeding has taught them the propriety of
repressing it. Self-praise, self-glorification is as pitiful
as it is contemptible, whether done openly or con-
cealed under the outward form and expression of self-
depreciation. The truly humble man ignores or forgets
self, and consequently regards self as beneath notice in
his conversation, and therefore avoids all professions of
self-abasement as well as any expression of self- lauda-
tion or vainglory.
But there is a far more sublime humility in reference
to the tongue than that just mentioned.
By the public position occupied by the priest, from
the very nature of his duties, and the variety in station,
character, and circumstances of the persons with whom
he has to deal, it is impossible for him to please or
satisfy all, he must offend some. His preaching will
displease some, his method of administering sacraments
will offend others, his management of the church, of
the schools, of the mission, will be unsatisfactory unto
many, and his manners or conduct will be disagreeable
to not a few. All, or some at least of these will condemn
him, will perhaps ridicule him, misrepresent him or keep
aloof from him.
In such circumstances the humble priest will take
his stand beside his Great Original of whom it is
written, J^esus autem tacehat in the courts of Caiphas,
Pilate, and Herod. ** He will triumph by his silence,"
says St. Ambrose, or as St. Augustine puts it, "by
keeping silence he will fight and conquer all his
enemies." Oh, the wonderful power of humble silence !
KK
562 APPENDIX II.
" A wise man will hold his peace till he see oppor-
tunity," says Ecclesiasticus ; "but he that useth many
words shall hurt his own soul."^
It is by patient and prudent silence that the priest
will best disarm his enemies, and triumph over opposi-
tion : but this is impossible to the proud, it can only be
done by the humble.
III. The priest must also regulate his actions and
conduct in a humble spirit.
Not unfrequently the priest is raised above his
social position by his exalted office, and enjoys an
authority and pre-eminence to which naturally he can
lay no claim ; he has a power and publicity which he
sometimes owes neither to nature nor to any inherent
qualities, but simply and solely to his Divine and sacred
calHng. The results of this will be that unless he cultivate
humility, unless he follows in the footsteps of Jesus,
he will be tempted to presume too much upon his
dignity, to over-estimate his importance, to become
imperious, to become over-exacting, and to look down
upon others. How many in this way become slaves of
ambition, grow discontented, and embittered at their
slow promotion, or at seeing others advanced to
preferments, whilst, as they fancy, their own merits
and superior attainments are overlooked. Hence
arise suspicions, complaints, and murmurings against
superiors, to the grave scandal of their colleagues,
sometimes even of laymen, and the serious loss of
their own peace and spiritual progress.
Oh ! how happy is the good humble priest who
accepts his appointment from his ecclesiastical superior,
as from the hands of God, no matter how lowly, poor,
disagreeable it may be, and who strives with diligence
and zeal to discharge its duties, without aspiring to
anything higher.
1 Ecclus. XX. 7,
ON HUMILITY. 563
But unless we cultivate true humility, it is idle to
expect that we shall show it in our lives or conduct.
Now to acquire this solid virtue we must convince
ourselves that of ourselves we are nothing, are worth
nothing, have nothing but our wretched miseries and
sins, but that whatever of good there is in us physical,
social, moral, or intellectual, we owe to God : also,
that in ourselves there is precious little room for vain-
glory, and that there is plenty to fill us with shame
and confusion, seeing that notwithstanding the multi-
tude and greatness of the graces which we have
received, our offences, faults, and negHgences are daily
accumulating. We may truly say that there is no sin,
however grievous, that others have committed which
we too should not have perpetrated, unless preserved
from it by God's grace. Surely, here is more than
enough to keep us in the constant disposition of holy
humility.
Let us with these truths before us review our daily
lives and conduct.
1. Do we allow our minds to dwell upon self, upon
our natural gifts or talents, upon our imaginary deserts,
our success in the pulpit, in the confessional, or in
society? Do we brood over our wrongs or harsh
treatment we receive ? Do we repine at being over-
looked, or at others being preferred before us, as
preachers, confessors, managers of schools, &c.
2. Do we foster desires or thoughts of advancement,
of excelling others, or putting them into the shade?
Do we go in for show or display, and court the praise
and esteem of others ? Do we take pleasure in
attracting notice, or being made the subject of
conversation, under the shallow pretext of God's glory
and the advancement of religion ?
3. Do we ever betray our childish vanity by speaking
of self, either in praise or blame ? Do we boast of our
564 APPENDIX II.
work, labours, or success in the discharge of our priestly-
duties ? When blamed or found fault with, are we
ready with excuses, do we resent it, and proceed at
once to vindicate ourselves ? Are we too sensitive and
complain at not being treated with due condescension,
respect, or consideration ?
4. Do we seek our own glory rather than the glory
of God ? Or are we depressed or mortified when things
do not go as we wish ?
5. In which of the *' three degrees of humihty " of
St. Ignatius have we reason to place ourselves ? Happy
is he who finds himself in the third, for such a one
enjoys a paradise on earth.
2.— THE PRIEST'S LIFE IS A LIFE
OF LABOUR.
It is not an uncommon idea that a priest's life is one
of dignified leisure ; that his profession is respectable,
combining a pleasant variety of duties with a moderate
competence, and free from the worries, sacrifices, and
constant labours which are inseparable from other pro-
fessions. That it may be so to one who is not really
called to that sacred office, or if called, does not respond
to his vocation, we must admit, for the holiest of things
may be abused : but if the priest does his duty con-
scientiously, his life is one of intense toil and unremit-
ting labour.
I. By his vocation, he is called upon to co-operate
with God in the salvation of souls : he is an ambassador
of God, '* For Christ therefore are we ambassadors,
God, as it were, exhorting by us,"^ sent with His
authority,^ and in a certain measure representing His
1 2 Cor. V. 20. 5 St. John xx. 21.
THE PRIEST'S LIFE IS A LIFE OF LABOUR. 565
attributes. Now, amongst these Divine attributes, our
Blessed Lord mentions that of unremitting activity.
** My Father worketh until now; and I work."i Qod
is ever manifesting His goodness. His providence, His
love, and is ever co-operating in all that exists. So,
too, Jesus Christ works in His Mystical Body, aiding,
enlightening, teaching, guiding, protecting, consoling,
interceding for us with His Father. If, then, we are
priests worthy of our vocation we, too, must be constant
in labour, and with Christ must say: *' My Father
worketh until now; and I work." Again, as one of
the Fathers has said. Homo natus ad laborem, ut avis ad
volandum. He has to labour to support his body, to
develop his intellectual and moral being : so, too, or
rather much more must he labour in the supernatural
order, Co-operating with grace in his justification,
sanctification, in acquiring virtue, in increasing his
merits. How much more arduous and constant must
these labours be in one called to exercise the office of
not only sanctifying himself but others also. For he is
the shepherd of his flock, and as such must provide his
sheep with food, must watch over them, must heal those
that are sick, bring back those that have gone astray,
give back life to those that are dead.
He is the teacher of his people, to instruct them on
the way to Heaven, to conduct them all, whether
ignorant or learned, poor or rich, weak or strong, on to
their eternal home.
He is the "dispenser of the mysteries of God," 2
to make them children of God, to heal them, to feed
them with Heavenly Food, to provide them with
Viaticum for their last journey from time to eternity.
He is the workman, of whom there are few, whereas
the harvest is very great, I may add, to a good priest
overwhelmingly large. Yet unceasing though the labour
1 St. John V. 17, 2 X Cor. iv. i.
566 APPENDIX 11.
is, and full of anxiety, disappointment, and responsi-
bility, it is rewarded by an hourly increase of merit
here and of eternal glory hereafter. As one of the
Fathers of the Church puts it : Lahov sacerdotis JttctmduSf
sanctus, fructu plenus, omnibus gratus, et Deo amahilis.
2. But that it may merit all these titles attached to
the labour, it must be really lahov sacerdotis, priestly
work.
(a) It must be orderly and methodical. " By Thy
ordinance the day goeth on : for all things serve Thee,"
says the Psalmist ;i and St. Paul writes: ** But let all
things be done decently and according to order," ^ and
the Wise Man, '* But Thou hast ordered all things in
measure, number, and weight." ^ If our work is to be
good, effective, and solid, it must be done with system
and order, and not from mere impulse, or as the whim
or fancy strike us. It should be regulated by measure,
number, and weight : by which we apportion our time
and energy according to the importance of the duties
which we are called upon to perform, and undertake
only so much as we can perform well. How often does
it happen that we waste time and care on trifles, or on
things which are of minor importance, or which are to
our liking, whilst we grudge the time we spend in
prayer or in the recitation of Divine Office, or omit
other essential duties? How often, again, through
imaginaty indisposition, or a slight feeling of fatigue,
or from inconstancy and impulsiveness of character, do
we dispense ourselves from a regular distribution of the
hours of the day ?
((3) Agaih, our work should be supernaturalized by
great purity of intention. Of course, the intention which
we make in our morning oblation extends to every
thought, word, or action of the day, as long as it is not
explicitly withdrawn or at least virtually destroyed by
1 Psalm cxviiu 91. ' i Cor. xiv. 40, » Wisdom xi. 21.
THE PRIEST'S LIFE IS A LIFE OF LABOUR. 567
mortal sin, -which may God avert ! but still the more
frequently this offering is renewed the greater will
ordinarily be the merit. Yet lest the mind should grow
wearied, or lest it might interfere with our work, it may
be well to confine the renewal to the chief duties of the
day.
Let us remember that we are not labouring for time,
but for eternity ; not for man, but for God ; for our own
and our neighbour's salvation ; not for an earthly, but
a heavenly reward; for God's greater glory, through
love for Jesus, and in a spirit of loyalty to Him.
(y) Again, we should perform all our duties in a
spirit of diligence and humility.
The Spirit of God counsels us, saying : *' Let the
fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with
diligence,"^ and again, it is written, "For he that
feareth God neglecteth nothing." 2 When we reflect
upon the nature of our employments, which does not
concern things material and temporal, but those which
are spiritual and eternal ; a work in which we are
directly co-operating with God, in the greatest and
holiest of works, we must see how criminal would be
any negligence on our part. Let us, then, employ all
the energies of our body and soul to acquit ourselves of
our priestly functions as if the whole success of them
depended purely upon our own efforts, whilst at the
same time we must place all our confidence and trust
in God and in His help, knowing that without it, all
our labours would be in vain. •* So you also when you
have done all these things that are commanded you,
say : We are unprofitable servants ; we have done
only that which we ought to do."^ We must labour
in the planting and watering, but we must never forget
that it is God who giveth the increase.* This absolute
1 2 Paral. xix. 7. * Eccles. vii. 19.
3 St. Luke xvii. 10. ^ i Cor. iii. 6.
568 APPENDIX IT.
confidence in God's help is based upon His fidelity, for
as the Apostle tells us that He is faithful by whom we
are called to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord : ^ for otherwise our efforts would be vain. Of
what avail would be our preaching, our guidance of
souls, our talents for organization, if it were not for
God, who moves and influences the heart, if, notwith-
standing our many sins, faults, and negligences, He did
not choose to make use of us as the instruments and
channels of His graces to those over whom He has
placed us ? Let us, then, resolve to apply ourselves
with all diligence to perform each of our duties as
perfectly as we can, whether it be preaching, cate-
chizing, instructing, saying Mass, or reciting the Divine
Office, administering the sacraments, visiting the sick
or poor sinners : but in all these let us never forget that
servi inutiles sitmus.
This diligence must be especially exercised in
keeping up the knowledge of sacred learning : for the
priest is the custodian of the Divine teaching, and in
this capacity he has to instruct not only children, but
also those more advanced in years, amongst whom
there are not unfrequently persons of sound judgment
and of liberal education. He has also, in his character
of interpreter of the Divine law, to explain the genuine
meaning and practical application of this law, and to
adapt it to the circumstances and conditions of his
people ; moreover, as dispenser of the sacraments, he
must be familiar with all that concerns the right
administration of them : namely, the effects of each,
as designed by Christ in their institution, the disposi-
tions of those on whom they are to be conferred, the
conditions on which their validity and legality depend.
For all this, it is necessary that the priest should con-
stantly apply himself diligently to serious study, nor
1 1 Cor. i. 9.
THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 569
should he rest content with having passed his examina-
tions previous to his ordination. What should we say
of a doctor or lawyer who after qualifying for their
profession ceased to apply themselves to acquire any
further knowledge ?
We are told that ** the lips of the priest shall keep
knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth ; "^
and the people were instructed "to ask the priests the
law ; "2 and again, it is written, " My people have been
silent, because they had no knowledge : because thou
hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou
shalt not do the office of priesthood to Me."^ From
all these passages we see what is the will of God as
regards the knowledge of His priests, and consequently
what is the diligence which He requires of us.
3.— THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
Point I. — Let us reflect on the excellence of the
priesthood. It is a most holy and sublime state, in
which a creature, by his nature weak and frail and full
of many miseries, is called by God to a participation
in the priesthood of Christ our Lord. Now, this priest-
hood of Christ was so sublime that it required in Him
the Hypostatic Union, so that He should be not only
Man but also God ; whilst the Victim which He offered
was no other than Himself, namely, His own Body
and Blood, sanctified by its union with His Divine
Person, for the reconciliation of the whole world with
His Eternal Father. But our priesthood is no other
than a participation in that of Christ, by which we are
made His vicars to offer the same Sacrifice, as His
substitutes and in His Name. Moreover, in a wide
1 Malach. ii. 7. 2 Aggeus ii. 12. 3 Qsee iv. 6.
570 APPENDIX II.
sense we may be said to share His office of Redeemer,
inasmuch as we confer and apply the price which He
paid for the redemption of mankind to the soul rightly
disposed to receive it. And therefore we see that as it
is far more excellent, more wonderful, and more divine,
to absolve from sin, reconcile souls to God, and to
consecrate the Eucharist, than to rule over all earthly
monarchs and to have absolute disposal over all their
possessions, we may form some faint idea of the sublime
dignity of the Catholic priesthood.^
Point 2. — The two chief functions of the priesthood
in the New Law are: (i) the remission of sin and
thereby imparting sanctification to the soul ; (2) the
offering in Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ.
As regards the former, it is true that God alone by
His own authority can remit sin, but He has delegated
this power to the priests of His Church,^ a power not
communicated to His angels, nor patriarchs, nor even
to His ever-Blessed Mother ; a power so sublime that,
in one point of view, it may be said with truth that the
justification of a sinner is a work of greater excellence
than the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.^
As regards the latter, what can be conceived more
sublime or wonderful than that a creature should by a
word be able to change the substance of bread and of
wine into the Body and Blood of the great High Priest,
Jesus Christ Himself.
Point 3. — What should be the purity of him who is
consecrated to perform such stupendous duties ? It
is a maxim admitted by all, that things holy demand
holiness in him who has to perform them, and that the
sanctity of the minister should be proportionate to the
holiness of his office. How pure then, how just and
1 Lessius, De Aniichristo, d. vii. § 24.
» Sfc. Matt, xviii. 18 ; St. John xx. 23.
' St, Augustine, tr. 72, in Joan. ; St. Thomas, za aae, q. cxiii. a. 9.
THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 571
holy should be he who is called to cleanse the souls of
others, how spotless should be the hands which touch
the Sacred Body of our Blessed Lord, how innocent
the tongue upon which He daily reclines !
How conformed to Christ should he be, who in His
place has to offer daily the Holy Sacrifice for the
salvation of mankind. Conscious of his high vocation,
the priest should rise above the consideration and the
love of earthly things, and his conversation should be
in Heaven,^ seeing that he is admitted daily into the
awe-inspiring presence of and intimate union with the
King of Heaven.
Let us examine ourselves and see how far we have
realized the nature of our vocation, and its sacred and
solemn duties and obligations.^ What is our appre-
ciation of the various functions of the holy ministry ?
What care do we take to discharge them perfectly for
the edification of our neighbour and for the glory of
our God ?
Let us ponder those words of St. Augustine i^ " As
in this world there is nothing holier, nothing more
exalted than a priest who administers in the way which
Christ enjoins, so there is nothing in God's sight more
sad, more pitiful, more fearful and terrible, than one
who performs his office in a perfunctory and merely
human manner."
End with an act of sorrow for past faults and a firm
resolution to correct what is defective. '* Our Father."
1 Philipp. iii. 20. 2 Hebrews vii. 26. ^ Epist. 1x8.
572 APPENDIX II.
4.— REPETITION OF THE SAME.
The sublimity of the priesthood, says St. John
Chrysostom,! jg so great, that its members are exalted
above the Thrones and Virtues in Heaven. Of the
truth of this we may form some idea by considering it
in itself, in its author, and in its object.
Point I. — Even amongst pagan nations we find that
priests were always regarded with awe, and were held
in great reverence, not only by the people, but also
by their chiefs and rulers. Amongst other things
calculated to inspire the Jews in the Old Law with
these feelings, the very robes worn by the priests in
the service of the Temple, ornamented with bells and
a profusion of precious stones and plates of gold,
denoted the sublimity of their high vocation. Yet
what was it when compared with that of the priests of
the New Law ? To estimate this we must consider
the nature of the victims which each was called upon
to offer. Now, in the Old Law the sacrifices consisted
of offerings of the first-fruits, of doves, lambs, goats,
and oxen ; and of some of these the priests were
allowed to partake, whilst others were consumed in
holocaust. But what were all these when we compare
them with the adorable Sacrifice of the New Law, of
which they were but an imperfect figure ? ^ and in
which Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is mystically
sacrificed upon our altars, and in which His priests
and people receive His adorable Flesh and Blood, His
Soul and Divinity, and are thereby made one with God
Himself.
Point 2. — If we consider the priest as he is the
ordinary minister of the Sacrament of Baptism, we see
1 De Sacerdotis. ' i Cor. x. ii.
THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 573
again the sublimity of his sacred vocation. Great
indeed is the dignity of our earthly parents to whom
we are indebted for our natural life, as under God they
are the condition without which we should never have
been, and although this life is short and full of miseries,^
anxieties, and sorrows, still the law of nature compels
us to love and reverence them ; but in holy Baptism
the priest confers upon us another life, a supernatural
and immortal life, and as our parent in the Lord, has
also to answer for our souls. He is like one entrusted
with the command of a noble vessel bearing a freight
of infinite value on a fearful sea, and terrible is his
responsibility, as regards the souls which God has
confided to his care. He is the co-operator with Jesus
Christ in the dispensation of the graces which accrue
to us from the Incarnation, and is thereby engaged in
a divine work. For as St. Dionysius says, " Of all
divine works the most divine is to labour with Christ in
the salvation of souls," and in this sense we may say
that he is the continuation of the Incarnation of our
Lord. He is the teacher, the father, and doctor of
God's people in the supernatural order.
Point 3. — The saints have sometimes realized the
sublime dignity of the priesthood, and have not
hesitated to kiss the prints left by their feet on the
ground, and like the seraphic St. Francis of Assisi,
have declared that they held it as a duty to show
greater reverence to a poor lowly priest than to an angel
from Heaven. And with reason, for the privileges,
powers, and commission bestowed upon the priest
have never been communicated to the angelic spirits.
Our Lord has chosen him from amongst men by a
special election, elegit; has raised him to high pre-
eminence, posiiit ; and has commissioned him to go
forth as His envoy, nt eat — not only with full powers of
1 Job xiv» I.
574 APPENDIX II.
gaol delivery, but also to make friends of God and saints,
ut fructum afferat. In order that he may do all this more
effectually, He imparts to him His secrets,^ He makes
Himself one with him, so that whosoever hears him
hears Christ Himself, and whosoever despises him is
guilty of contempt of Christ Himself ;2 nor can any
one raise a hand against him with impunity, but incurs
the guilt of sacrilege.
Oh, how great is the responsibility of the priest !
Raised to such an exalted dignity, favoured with
abundant graces which enable him to live in accord-
ance with the exigencies of his vocation and to dis-
charge rightly its several and solemn duties, what a
terrible account he will have to render of all those
graces and special helps which he has received. Let
us pray most earnestly to our Blessed Lady, to our
great High Priest, Jesus Christ, and to His Eternal
Father, that our faith may be ever increased to under-
stand better the sublimity of this vocation to the
priesthood, and also that our wills may be strengthened
and inflamed to regulate our lives ever more and more
in conformity with our calling.
1 St. John XV. 2 St. Luke x. i6.
THE PRIEST AND THE ALTAR.
575
5.— THE PRIEST AND THE ALTAR.i
The highest and most solemn duty of the priest is
to offer up the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, which
he should strive to do each day. His mind should be
ever turned to the altar, to it his heart should cling,
from it he ought to draw his life ; in the language of
holy David, his soul should long and faint for the courts
of the Lord. 2
We read with what reverence the High Priest in
the Old Law approached to the Holy of Holies, with
what scrupulous care he performed the prescribed
ablutions, clothed himself with the sacred vestments,
and fulfilled the minutest ceremonials enjoined by the
Law before offering sacrifice. With how much greater
reverence and care should the priest in the New Law
prepare himself and approach the altar to offer the
adorable Sacrifice of the Mass !
To help us to do this, let us seriously ponder the
following points. .
Point I. — The Temple of Zorobabel was specially
hallowed and sanctified by the Lord ; ^ it was holy by
reason of the holy prayers and sacrifices offered in it,
and also because of the many graces and works of
1 ' ' Quaecumque igitur ad divinissimum hoc sacramentura et ad sacri-
ficium incruentum referuntur, altaria, vasa sacra, sacraque suppellex, si
non splendida et pretiosa, saltern nitida, munda et decentia sunto. Nihil
lacerura, nihil squalidum, nihil vilioris quam decet pretii, in re sacra
facienda sacerdos admittat. Optandum quidem esset missam quotidie ab
omnibus sacerdotibus celebrari ; sed saltern frequenter ab altari sumant
Christum, qui eorum in gratia renovet juventutem, et indicent fidelibus dies
et horas quibus missa in ecclesia per hebdomadam celebrabitur, " &c.
(Synod. Westm. I. deer, xviii.)
3 Psalm Ixxxiii. 3,
3 2 Paral. vii. 16.
576 APPENDIX II.
mercy which the Almighty bestowed on those who paid
Him homage and adoration therein. It was further
sanctified and blessed by the occasional presence of our
dear Lord in person. But what shall we say of our
churches ? They are far more holy, for upon our altars
is made a memorial of all the wonderful works of Christ ;
they are more holy than the grotto of Bethlehem in
which He was born, than the home of Nazareth in
which He was conceived and dwelt for so many years,
than Calvary on which He was crucified, died, and was
buried. In our temples He performs more wonderful
works than even He wrought during the days of His
mortal life. At the font we are all made children of
God, in the tribunal of Penance we have more than the
pool of Bethesda, where souls are healed of all diseases
and those which are dead are brought to life again,
and at the altar we feast on Christ Himself, who
becomes our very food. Quam dilecta tabernacula tua^
D online, concupiscit et deficit anima mea in atria tua.
Point 2. — The greatness of the Sacrifice. — It is the
greatest and the most pleasing which can be offered to
God. In the Mass, God is supremely honoured, the
angels are filled with joy, the Church is helped and
strengthened, the living are assisted, and the dead find
relief.^ For it is substantially the same as the Sacrifice
which was offered upon the Cross. The priest is the
same, namely, "our Blessed Lord, the Sanctifier and
Cleanser of souls, whose place we as His ministers
occupy." 2 The action is such as to exceed all human
power. He who offers the Sacrifice by the ministry of
His priest is the same who offered Himself in sacrifice
on the Cross, ^ and is the life-giving Victim by whom
the world has beeh reconciled with God the Father;
and upon the holy altar the Christ slain reposes.
1 St. Laurence Justin. ' St. Chrysostom, Horn. Lx, Ad Antioch.
' Trent, Sess. x.xii. c. 2.
THE PRIEST AND THE ALTAR. 577
Again, in the Mass infirm and weak elements ^ are
supplanted by their antitype, wherein Jesus Christ is a
real holocaust, a perfect eucharistic offering and pro-
pitiation, 2 and " with loud cries and tears appeals to
His Father, showing Him the Wounds in His hands,
feet, and side."^
Point 3. — If it be accepted as a principle that the
higher our position in the house of God, and the more
sacred the office assigned to us, the greater should be
our sanctity and perfection, and the more intimate our
communion with Him who is a consuming fire,^ the
more active and intense should be our love, then what
should be the sanctity and love of the priest ? For He
represents Christ Himself at the altar, and is the
instrument of the principal Agent, and supplies hands
and tongue while the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
perform the action. The priest stands between God
and humanity, says St. Chrysostom,^ presenting our
petitions to God and bringing down to us the gifts
which the Divine Majesty bestows on us. Oh !
with what zeal for God's honour and glory should
our hearts be inflamed when we hold in our hands
Him who sits enthroned on the right hand of His
Heavenly Father l*^ "Oh," cries out St. Augustine,
'* O sacred and heavenly mystery, which Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost perform though you (priests)." The
same God who rules in Heaven and is upholding and
guiding the universe, is held by us in our hands at the
altar. " Heaven is amazed at the sight, earth wonders,
humanity is awe-stricken, the devil trembles, and angels
adore." 7
With what humility ^ and profound reverence then
should we approach to the holy altar. Conscious as
1 Galat. iv. 9. 2 Trent, Sess. xxii. c. 3. ^ st. Laurence Justin, De Euch. c. 27.
■* Deut. iv. 24. 5 Horn. v. in Joan.
6 St. Chrysostom, Dt Sacerd. iii. c. 4. "^ St. Augustine, in Psalm, tr. r.
LL
578 APPENDIX II.
we must be of our many sins, offences, and negligences,
we might well dread to offer up the Holy Sacrifice, if
it were not that our faith teaches us that " He who has
called us is faithful," and will give us those graces
which are necessary for us to discharge duly the
functions of that vocation if we earnestly and practically
will it.
Let us seriously examine ourselves on our method
of preparation and thanksgiving for Mass, and see what
is to be changed and improved in regard of both. Do
we adhere strictly to the rubrics for Mass, and offer it
with due attention and devotion ? Do we avoid all
mannerisms, and ever3^thing which is calculated to
attract attention on the part of those who attend ? If
we find that we have been faulty, let us be sorry and
resolve at once to correct ourselves.
End with '' Our Father.'*
6.— THE PRIEST AND THE PULPIT.i
Another important duty of the priesthood is to
preach.
Point I. — This is a commission given by Christ
Himself, as we read in St. Matt. x. and also St. Mark xvi.
^ "Quum verbi Dei praedicatio sit unum ex praecipuis Sacerdotis
muneribus, indeque magna ex parte salus animarum et sanctificatio
dependeant, necesse est ut juvenes sanctum prsedicationis exercitium jam
in Seminario edoceantur. Attente legant S. Augustini libros, ' de Catechi-
zahdis Rudibus,' et ' De Doctrina Christiana," et instructiones, S, Caroli, ut
animus ipsis addatur ad acquirendam majorem pietatem, necnon spiritum
orationis et doctrinae profectum, considerantes qualis Evangelii praeco esse
debeat, ut felicem sui laboris exitum sperare possit. Evangelii praeco
semper memor sit praeceptorum S, Caroli : ' Elocutionis genus exquisitum
ne affectet, fucum omnem fugiat . . . inflata oratione ne utatur, sed gravi.
. . . Consideret se piscatorem hominum esse ; nervos omnes intendere debet
ut animas pereuntium Christo Domino lucrifaciat.' " (Synod. Westm. IV.
deer. ix. n. 14.)
THE PRIEST AND THE PULPIT. 579
And St. PauP teaches that it is by teaching faith is
propagated and the service of God is to be secured
and promoted. It is for this that our Lord chooses out
His ministers, as He tells us, " I have chosen you and
placed you that you go forth and bear fruit, and that
your fruit may remain." 2 It is the duty of the priest
to promote the health and beauty of the Body of Christ
in its members, to repel its enemies, and to enable
them to give an answer to every man that asketh a
reason for the hope that is in them. All of which is
done by preaching. The pastor who is incompetent to
this duty, exposes his people, to the danger of being
seduced by the countless false systems of science and
religion by which they are perpetually assailed. Hence
it is necessary, in order to fulfil this obligation, that he
should have sufficient learning ; in fact, this was made
a condition of our ordination. The world expects it of
us, as is proved by men of all classes, ages, and con-
ditions coming to us to refresh their souls.
Pomt 2. — In announcing the Word of God, we must
follow the advice of the Synod of Westminster,^
eschewing empty and inflated declamation, which
disedifies the faithful and is fatal to the preacher. The
Holy Spirit does not stand in need of rhetorical or
literary parade.'^ The style should be adapted to the
audience, and we should strive after the sublime
simplicity of our Lord Himself. We have not to
preach ourselves, which, says St. Chrysostom, is a
sacrilege, but Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified ;
nor act the part of a stage-plaj^er in the pulpit. Hence,
we must avoid all clap-trap, all devices to gain applause,
all subjects which are calculated to excite idle curiosity,
or which are chosen for the sole purpose of securing a
crowd. To do any of these things is not to preach
1 Romans x. - St. John xv.
* P, 237, deer. 12. ■* I Cor. ii. 5.
58o APPENDIX II.
Christ, but to turn the Christian pulpit into a platform
or stage, and is to barter souls for earthly gain or the
gratification of vanity. Will not such preachers find
on the Judgment Day that b}- their discourses they
have failed to gain souls, and for themselves have lost
Heaven ?
Point 3. — For this duty, and to acquit ourselves well
in it, we must of necessity make due preparation. ^ This
is done remotely by great care and fidelity in performing
our daily meditation and cultivating union with God ;
by a diligent study of the Sacred Scriptures, more
especially of the New Testament, and of some of the
more important Fathers of the Church, e.g., Augustine,
Jerome, and Chrysostom ; by renewing our knowledge
of dogmatic and pastoral theology. If ever this learn-
ing was needed, surely it is in these times, when men's
minds are so preoccupied with religious questions, and
the laity apply themselves to theological and philoso-
phical matters which are among the burning questions
of the day.
As regards the immediate preparation, we should
have solely and primarily in view God's glory and the
salvation of souls ; and then select accordingly the
subject of our discourse. If it is for the morning
sermon, we find it in the Epistle or Gospel of the day,
which is to be explained, illustrated, and applied to the
wants or circumstances of the congregation. ^ For the
evening discourse a larger choice is given, but it should
treat of useful instruction and strictly religious matter^
which will render our hearers wiser and holier.
Have we excused ourselves from preparing our
sermons, either on the ground of want of capacity, or
of time, or again on account of the smallness or illiterate
condition of our audience, or of the absence of all taste
1 Leo XIII. Instruction to Preachers.
2 Comp, Catechism of Council of Trent.
THE PRIEST IN THE CONFESSIONAL. 581
for study ? These are vain and idle pretexts, and do
not justify us before God ; they betray a want of a holy
professional ambition and of zeal for souls and for
God's glory, and too often are a cloak to hide a love of
idleness and dissipation. If there is good-will and a
real apostolic spirit to make our dear Lord better
known and loved, we shall find that neither capacity
fails us, nor the time required both for remote and
proximate preparation. We shall give less time to
useless excursions, unprofitable feastings, idle visiting,
and a thousand other frivolities, and prudently divert the
moneys spent on them into the purchase of books which
promote our professional knowledge.
7.— THE PRIEST IN THE CONFESSIONAL.^
The work of works in the sacred ministry is in
hearing confessions, to which important point all should
tend : and all the efforts and preaching of the priest
should be directed to draw sinners to the holy tribunal.
Our Blessed Lord tells us that He came to call sinners
to repentance;'^ and this is one of the functions con-
fided to every priest when he is ordained. ^ Then it is
our duty to fit ourselves to discharge it well, and to
devote ourselves to it in practice. For this end we may
1 " Quoniam Spiritus Sancti clivisiones multiplices sunt et inscrutabiles,
et ad varios perfectionis gradus, alii prse aliis, vocantur fideles, non satis
est sacerdotem inter lepram et leprem scite distinguere posse, quin etiam
discernere sciat inter spiritum et spiritum, ne pro spiritu Dei spiritui
humano, vel etiam diabolico aurem proebens, in errorem ductus alios secum
in errorem ducat. . . . Debet ergo animarum moderator ascensiones cordis
ad Deum, necnon orationis profectus, scientia saltern, etiam si non propria
experientia ita agnoscere et callere ut incipientes in via purgativa corroborare
valeat, proficientes in via illuminativa dirigere, perfectiores in via unitiva ad
altiora manuducere." (Synod. Westm. IV. deer. xii. n. 5.)
2 St. Luke V. 32. 3 Rit. Rom.
582 APPENDIX II.
make it the subject of our consideration and of self-
examination.
Point I. — The excellence of this Institution. — This is.
clear, first from the fact that its Author is no other than
Jesus Christ. Again, in it He manifests His infinite-
love and mercy, in thus providing us with the easiest
means of gaining forgiveness of our sins, no matter how
many and grievous, and of recovering His love and
friendship, which by them we had forfeited. By it we
are healed of all the sicknesses and diseases of our
souls in the pool of His Most Precious Blood, and if
dead and buried in the corruption of sin, we are raised
up and restored to the life of grace, and from being the
slaves of the devil and liable to eternal perdition, we
are reinstated as the children of God and heirs to the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Thirdly, in it we see displayed the power of our
Blessed Lord. . For He empowers man to exercise an
attribute which belongs to God alone, not indeed of
healing the body or of restoring its natural life, but
what is infinitely more, of curing the countless diseases
of the soul, which is a work demanding greater power
than the creation of the universe, a power of binding
and loosing.^
Point 2. — In the holy tribunal the priest is at once
the doctor, the judge, and the father of the penitent.
As doctor he has to diagnose the complicated diseases-
of the soul ; and for this he must be well acquainted
with and ready in his moral theology, which involves a
continual study, as it is a science vast and complicated,
and full of positive legislation.^ He should be careful
to select those authors whose opinions savour neither
of rigorism on the one hand nor of undue laxity on the-
1 St. John XX. 23.
2 Comp. Liguori, vi. tr. iv. n. 628 ; Synod. Westm. deer, xxiv.
THE PRIEST IN THE CONFESSIONAL. 583
Other, such as St. Alphonsus Liguori, whereby he will
avoid alienating some from the sacrament, or rendering
others negligent in its use, and making it either odious
or comparatively useless. ^ Like a prudent and skilled
physician, he must point out the dangers and remedies
of the spiritual diseases of those who apply to him, and
adapt himself carefully to their dispositions.
He is also 3. judge, and as such must ''judge accord-
ing to justice," ^ but must. temper his judgments with
love, compassion, and mercy : remembering that he is
t?ie delegate of Him who loves sinners, who came to
call them to repentance, and whose dying words were
a prayer for their forgiveness, and who is more anxious
to grant pardon than is the penitent to receive it.
Alas ! how little do they know of whose spirit they are
who rebuke bitterly and reproach their penitents, and
by their harshness and irritability drive them away
from the tribunal and render confession odious to them,
forgetting that saying of our Lord, " For with what
judgment you judge you shall be judged." ^
Lastly, the confessor is also a father. As such he is
to be ever ready to receive his penitents. He must
welcome them with tenderness, compassion, and love,
imitating in this respect the father of the prodigal
mentioned by St. Luke,* whose example he should ever
have before him ; or the good shepherd who after long
and weary search found his lost sheep, and gently
placing it on his shoulders, took it back to the fold
rejoicing. How much indifference and neglect of the
sacraments may be traced to confessors who forget
their duties in the tribunal of Penance, and are negli-
gent in the administration of it !
Point 3. — Let us examine ourselves and see how we
have fulfilled this office. Do we show great readiness
1 Gousset, ii. 547. 2 Levit. xix. 15.
3 St. Matt. vii. 2. * St. Luke xv.
584 APPENDIX II.
when called upon to hear confessions, no matter how
distasteful it may be ? Are we punctual as regards the
appointed hours for confessions ? Do we show harsh-
ness or impatience in the confessional, either in word or
in manner ? Do we hurry through the confession, or
detain our penitents in conversation which is foreign to
the subject ? Are we anxious to attract a large number
of penitents, and especiall}'' of any particular class ?
Do we feel hurt or aggrieved if penitents leave us and
go to others ? If we find upon examination that we
have failed in any of these points, let us make an act of
sincere sorroW and resolve to amend for the future.
End with '' Our Father."
8.— THE PRIEST AT HOME. (i.)i
An important subject for frequent consideration is
the proper employment of our time when not engaged
in external duties of the sacred ministry, and in what
manner we spend it. To aid us in this matter we may
make use of the following points.
Point I . — The great value we ought to attach to our time. —
Our time is the duration of existence assigned to each
of us by God to carry out His will and to accomplish
our individual destiny. How limited it is, God has
declared by His inspired writers as well as by Himself,
1 " Presbyteria sint ubique vera pacis et caritatis, sobrietatis et modestiae
domicilia ; in omnibus fideli populo insigne exemplar 'ut is qui ex ad verso
est vereatur, nihil habens malum dicere de nobis.' Simplex ibi splendeat
mundities ; neque in supellectili, neve in ornatu, aliquid luxui vel mundanis
affectibus inserviens deprehendatur. Regularitas in omnibus fideliter
observetur. Ad horam fixam missam celebret sacerdos. . . , Custodite
ordinem, et ordo vos custodiet." (Synod. Westm. IV. deer, xi.)
THE PRIEST AT HOME. 585
in the sacred writings : and our own daily experience
convinces us of the same truth. In fact, our path lies
through a valley of death, and we see it on every side
of us. Nay, this truth so constantly confronts us, that
it has almost ceased to affect us. The result of this is
that we fail to attach a due value to our time, and
regard the right use or the abuse of it as of compara-
tively little moment, although both reason and revelation
inculcate its supreme importance.
By His Birth, Life, Passion, and Death our Lord
purchased all graces for us, and each grace has been
paid for by His Precious Blood. Now, amongst these
graces by no means the least is our time, by the right
use of which we may secure an ever-increasing weight
of glory for eternity, may recover God's friendship and
love, and by His grace, which is never wanting, may
ever conform ourselves more perfectly to the likeness
of His well-beloved Son. On the other hand, by the
waste or abuse of our time, we throw away or pervert
this grace, and thus in a certain sense we render void
or squander the Precious Blood of Christ. If it is a
terrible fact that we shall have to answer for every idle
word, how great reason have we to dread the account
we shall have to render of the loss or abuse of so much
of our time !
Point 2. — How, then, is it to be employed? We
have seen that we are called upon to preach, to hear
confessions, to visit oiir flock that we may know them,
and that we may by them be known, to supervise our
schools, to direct various confraternities which others,
or we ourselves, may have established ; to visit the sick,
and administer the sacraments to the sick and dying.
Now, to fulfil these duties efficiently and in an orderly
manner we must prepare ourselves at home by prayer,
application, and study. A good, zealous, and earnest
priest can, if he will, find abundant time for these neces-
586 APPENDIX II.
sary duties, with great advantage to the performance of
his external employments. And —
First, as regards prayer : he will be scrupulousl}?- exact
in his daily morning meditation,^ regarding it as a most
important duty, and quite necessary to keep alive the
evangelical spirit : he will recite his Breviary atten-
tively, devoutly, and in due time, in which duty he acts
as the envoy of the Church to its invisible Head : and
to these prayers he should add the Rosary of our Lady
and other daily devotions which his own judgment and
piety will suggest for a blessing and help for himself
and for the people entrusted to his care.
Secondly, as regards study. This is in our days a
simple necessity, when men in every station of life are
devoting themselves to study and to the pursuit of
learning ; when all are acquiring the power of reading,
and in our cities, towns, and villages libraries are being
formed and thrown open for the free admission of the
public : when labourers, artisans, shopmen, and clerks
all take advantage of these and other means of acquiring
knowledge after their long hours of labour. Truly
now-a-days knowledge is power, and consequently if we
mean to maintain our position and to exercise a due
influence and advance the interests of religion, we must
possess it ; and this is hopeless without study. Not
that the priest must devote himself to science ; for he
is not expected to be a specialist in chemistry, astro-
nomy, geology, or other physical sciences, nor to excel
in a knowledge of literature or art ; but at least he
ought and can apply himself to those studies which are
peculiar to his profession, and in these at least he is
rightly expected to be a specialist. It is a mistake to
suppose that after his ordination he need only trust to
** common sense," as it is called, and shut up his books
on moral theology, and rely upon his fluency of speech
1 Synod. Westm. deer. xxiv. p. 31.
THE PRIEST AT HOME. . 587
to dole out moral platitudes on Sundays by way of
preaching. Through life he must renew his knowledge,
just as the lawyer thumbs his law books, or the physician
his books of medicine, or he will fail signally in his duty
both in the pulpit and the confessional. If we are not*
familiar with our moral theology, our direction of souls
will be at least doubtful or hazardous, and without a
fair acquaintance with dogma we shall not give proper
instruction to the people, but our sermons will cause
only weariness and disgust by our constant repetitions
of the same moral platitudes, or by incessant appeals
for money, which disedify our audience, and too often
only produce the effect of making them close their
purses.
Again, the priest who has care of souls should care-
fully and with reverence read the Holy Scriptures, and
have at ^and some one good commentator on them,
thereby to enable himself to answer the difficulties which
in our days common labourers urge against them. All
this is become now a necessity if we mean to uphold
the credit of the sacred ministry, nor is time or expense
for books more than a really zealous priest can afford,
as one's own experience will abundantly prove.
Point 3. — Let us examine ourselves and see what
importance we attach to our time. Do we husband it
with great care ? Have we a fixed distribution of it,^
by which so much time is saved, and self-conquest is
constantly exercised ? Have we not much to correct in
the discharge of our spiritual duties, in meditation,
recitation of the Divine Office, and in our other daily
devotions ? How much of our time is wasted in nihil
agendo, male agendo, aliiid agendo ? Have we squandered
our small means in superfluities, in journeys, in unprofit-
able amusements, instead of employing it usefully in the
purchase of such books as may furnish us with the
1 Psalm cxviii. 91.
588 APPENDIX II.
necessary learning of our state, and which now can be
bought at such moderate cost ? If we find that there is
much to be corrected on any of these points, let us
resolve to put our hands to the work without delay, and
let us say with the Psalmist, *' Now I have said it, now
I have begun, this is the change of the right hand of the
most High." 1
9.— THE PRIEST AT HOME. (2.)
We read in the book of the Imitation of Christ:
'* Your cell, if you are often there, grows sweet to you ;
if 3^ou but rarely stay in it, it makes you loathe it.""^
But that a priest may love his home, and consequently
may abide in it as far as is consistent with the due
discharge of his ministerial duties, may diminish the
danger of wasting time, and may regulate his life holily,
profitably, and pleasantly, he should be specially careful
on three points : namely, that his house be kept clean,
that it be orderly, and arranged with due simplicity.
In this respect, as in all others, the priest ought to
serve as a model to his congregation.
I. And first as to cleanliness. This is not only
of great importance for the health of the body according
to the judgment of medical men, but it is conducive to
the edification of the people, who regard the cleanliness
of the dwelling as a reflection of the cleanness of the
soul of him who inhabits it. The presbytery may be
small, inconvenient, and lowly, but that is no excuse
for its being dirty.' Experience shows that neglect of
cleanliness in the priest's house is always accompanied
by dirt and neglect in the church and in all that relates
to the sanctuary and the administration of the sacra-
ments, which is unpardonable in a minister of Christ.
1 Psalm Ixxvi. ii. , ^ Imitation, i. cxx. § 5.
THE PRIEST AT HOME. 589
2. In the second place: in the dwelling all should
be in order. On this St. Augustine lays great stress,
for he declares, " Order leads us to God." Whilst
St. Bernard counsels his Religious, Custodite ordinem et
ordo vos custodiet — and the Wise Man speaks of God
as " the sweet disposer of all things."^ To some order
and regularity are so natural, that the absence of it
causes them unrest and a kind of physical pain, whilst
to others it presents such difficulty that to secure it
calls for the constant exercise of mortification and self-
conquest.
One great advantage accruing from this order is the
saving of time. It is incredible with what promptitude,
and how pleasantly and happily a priest can expedite
his work, great and varied as it is, if all is conducted
with order and regularity.
This order supposes that everything is kept in its
proper place from the cooking utensils in the kitchen
to the papers in the study, and the books which perhaps
constitute but a small librar3\ It should extend to the
hours of rising and of retiring to rest, to the time of
meals, and to the various other duties that have to be
performed at home.
3. The whole house should be marked with modera-
tion and 'simplicity. The author of the Book of
Proverbs puts into the mouth of the Wise Man the
prayer : " Two things I have asked of Thee, deny them
not to me before I die : remove from me vanity and
lying words : give me neither beggary nor riches, give
me only the necessaries of life."- By the Diocesan
Statutes, it is decreed that all that savours of luxury or
worldliness, whether in the furniture of the house, or
arrangements for board or lodging, is to be avoided,
as also all extremes of niggardliness or extravagance, as
contrary to the true ecclesiastical spirit. It is further
1 Wisdom viii, i. 2 Proverbs xxx. 7, 8.
590 APPENDIX II.
recommended that great moderation and simplicity be
observed in furniture, ornaments, and decorations, also
in dress and in the providing of the table ; that all
expenditure be accommodated to the revenue, so that
after paying bills regularly, something should be
reserved for the relief of those in distress ; finally, I
would add that the house should be so provided with
conveniences, as to be made pleasant and attractive to
return to from one's external duties and labours. This,
however, by no means supposes that rooms whether for
public or private use be supplied with superfluities or
presents from friends or others, which are more suited
to a lady's boudoir or a gentleman's studio, than to a
poor priest's chamber or study. If there be any pro-
digality, it should show itself in one thing only, namely,
in the library, in which should be prominent not many
but at least select authors suited to the ecclesiastical
state, such as the best commentators on the Sacred
Scriptures, the best works on ecclesiastical histor}^, the
writings of some of the Fathers and Doctors of the
Church and of the Theologians, some approved works
on Ascetic Theology, and Catechism, Lives of the
Saints, &c.
Such books may often now-a-days be purchased
at a comparatively trifling cost, and are quite within
the reach of the majority of the clergy, though of course
only by degrees, not all at once.
4. In regard of visitors, the priest is often called
upon to exercise great patience, prudence, charity, and
self-denial. If his parishioners wish to take counsel of
him, he should be ready to put himself at their service
at once, though at some inconvenience to himself,
receiving them with kindness and aff"ability ; nor
should he remit them to another time, or cause them
to wait unnecessarily.
If they come to lay before him their sorrows or
THE PRIEST AT HOME. 591
trials, it is his duty to comfort, guide, and encourage
them, inasmuch as he is constituted the father of his
flock, and expects them to call him by that title.
With respect to those who come to beg alms, there
is need of great prudence and discretion in these times
and in this country, seeing that imposture has almost
become a science, and moreover that promiscuous
charity often does more harm than good, and also that
the priest has many calls upon his charity, whereas his
means are very limited.
It is true, as St. Peter Chrj^sologus says, " The poor
man's hand deposits in the treasury of Heaven that
which it receives on earth, that it may not perish.
The hand of the beggar is the treasury of Christ : for
whatever it receives, Christ accepts as given to Himself.
Give therefore that which is earthly, that thou mayest
receive that which is heavenly; give thy money, that
thou mayest receive a crown." And our Lord Himself
bids us "make to yourselves friends of the mammon
of iniquity, that when you shall fail they may receive
you into everlasting dwellings."^ Yet, now-a-days,
there is so much deceit, falsehood, and abuse, that
the cause of true charity is better promoted by careful
inquiry into the case, either personally or by others,
before administering relief.
Sometimes the visitors will be brother priests, or
benefactors, or friends. Such should be welcomed
with special kindness and amiability, with generous
and well-regulated charity, yet not to the detriment of
becoming moderation or to the loss of time.
As regards the other sex, the visits should be short
and far between; and, as far as possible, it is to be
recommended that they should not be private or
without witnesses — ut cvitetur lucrum cessans, vel damnum
^mergmsy vel peviculum sortis. Such was the maxim of
1 St. Luke xvi. 9.
592 APPENDIX II.
the great St. Francis of Sales. Finally, the priest
should be master in his own house, ruling with gentle-
ness and firmness, neither over-indulgent nor despotic.
10.— THE PRIEST IN HIS PARISH.
Our Blessed Lord says in the Parable of the Good
Shepherd: "I know My sheep and My sheep know
Me;" and again, ''Them also must I bring, and they
shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and
one Shepherd." 1 From which we may conclude that
whoever has care of souls must know his people, and
they also must know him, and moreover, that he must
go in search of those who have gone astray and are out
of the fold, and must endeavour by all means to bring
them back to the Church. To stir up our zeal and
charity in this respect, it may be well to make use of
the following consideration.
Point I. — In order that the priest may satisfy his
duty towards those whose souls are confided to his
keeping, one condition is necessary, namely, that he
should know them. -For this purpose it is requisite
that he should make himself well acquainted with his
people, nor does he satisfy his conscience by staying
at home on the principle that if they want him they
will come to him ; he ought to go and visit them,
though when not so employed, he should be found in
his house or in church. Such visits are less necessary
when it is a question of the rich, or of females who by
their education and other circumstances know their
duty, and generally do not stand in need of much
urging to practise their rehgion. With such persons
1 St.John X.
THE PRIEST IN HIS PARISH. 593
little good is to be done, much time may be wasted,
and their friendship is rather flattering to human
nature. But a devoted priest will give himself to
visiting the poor, to encourage them in their hard and
laborious lives, to console them in their sorrows and
misfortunes, to sympathize with them in their poverty,
and to help them in their distress ; to show them the
happiness of serving God, and the misery of offending
Him and neglecting their religion. If he does this, his
presence will be a source of joy, and will act like the
bright sunshine, and will dispel the gloom and darkness
which broods like a black cloud over their wretched
dwellings. He will soothe their anger, appease their
quarrels, settle their complaints, and share in their
joys. In this way "he will become all things to all
men that he may gain all,"^ and all this he will do for
Christ's sake. The rich have friends enough to pay
them visits, and consequently hardly appreciate his
calls ; but it is not so with God's poor, who are grateful
for and are flattered and cheered by the visit of God's
minister.
The noblest title which a good priest should ambition
is that of " Father of the poor." The good priest must
be especially diligent in visiting the sick. Any neglect
in this respect is calculated to draw down upon a pastor
of souls the displeasure of God, and betrays a want
of zeal and charity which even in the Old Law was
punished by the curse of the Almighty. 2 He should
be able to say with St. Paul : '* Who is weak and I am
not weak? "^
Point 2. — Our Lord adds in the parable, *' And Mine
know Me." This the good priest should also verify in
himself. Now, it is by his conduct that he will make
himself known, and more particularly by his conversa-
tion, according to that of St. Matthew : ** From the
1 I Cor. ix. 22. 2 Ezech. xxxiv. 2. ^2 Cor. xi. 29.
MM
594 APPENDIX 11.
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."i In this
respect he should take our Blessed Lord for his model.
With whom did Jesus converse ? Principally with the
poor, but yet He made no exception of persons. What
were the subjects 'of His discourses? Mainly on the
Kingdom of His Father, of His sweet mercy and for-
giveness, of His love and gentle providence. He
insisted on the necessity of holy faith and confidence,
and on brotherly love. He inculcated the practices of
humility and self-denial, of detachment from creatures,
and of love of God ; but never did He speak of idle,
vain, or frivolous matters, never of the faults or defects
of others, unless duty required it. If He corrected,
it was firmly and with tenderness — His words were
stamped with sincerity, ingenuousness, patience, and
modesty — and in short, all He said was prompted
by a pure intention of His Father's glory, was marked
by the gravity which beseemed His sacred character,
and measured by consummate prudence.
Point 3. — Let us examine ourselves on these several
points'. How do we regulate our visits as to persons,
times, and places ? Are we actuated by the motive
of God's glory and the good of souls, or by human
motives, natural inclinations, and self-interests ? Do
we waste our time and weary others by prolonging
our stay ? With the rich are we too obsequious, and
sacrifice our principles through human respect ? With
the poor, especially when they are sick or in trouble,
are we assiduous in visiting them to help and cheer
them ? Do we treat them with gentleness and patience,
&c. ? In conversation are we cynical, or sarcastic, or
do we indulge in ridicule or uncharitableness ? Do we
disparage others and praise ourselves, or give way to
vulgar, frivolous, and worldly conversation ?
1 St. Matt. xii. 34.
THE PRIEST AND THE LIFE OF FAITH. 595
31.— THE PRIEST AND THE LIFE OF FAITH.
When we consider the various occupations in the
life of one who has the charge of souls, the dangers and
difficulties with which it is beset, and the constant self-
sacrifice which it demands, we see how necessary it is
for him at all times to be actuated by a spirit of faith
and of real practical charity. Hence it is well for us
to make a consideration upon each of these virtues.
And first let us consider the necessity of keeping alive
the spirit of faith. Justus ex fide vivit — *' The just man
liveth by faith."!
Point I. — By his office the priest is entitled to the
highest respect, as he occupies a position incomparably
above that of any or of all of his parishioners together.
He is their guide and adviser ; to him they have
recourse in their trials, doubts, and sorrows, and to him
they refer, for it is written : *' From them shalt thou
learn wisdom." 2 Now in this there is a real danger,
and more particularly in those who from previous
•environment, or by their natural acquirements, are
less prepared for such a position of responsibility and
lionour.
Again, in discharging his office of preaching, he will
often be inclined to forego the labour of preparing his
sermons, or through dilatoriness or dissipation will
neglect to do so ; or, on the other hand, will spend too
much time in elaborating his discourses, from motives
of vanity and love of display, not considering what will
be of benefit to the souls of his hearers, but what will
make their ears tingle and evoke praise and admiration,
or oftener false flattery ; in short, preaching self, but
not Jesus Christ. Here again is a great danger. Or
1 Romans i. 7. 2 Ecclus. viii. 10.
596 APPENDIX II.
as a confessor he will often be tempted to impatience
and irritability, by which he will frighten or alienate
the poor and uneducated, or to compromise for fear of
offending the rich. He may be tempted to gather
around him a large clientele, and to resent it if any of
his penitents leave him to seek spiritual help from
another; and he is constantly exposed to respect of
persons, 1 which is not according to God's holy will.
If it is a question of visiting his parishioners, human
nature will prompt him to visit those who least require
it and will profit least by it ; and, on the other hand,
his natural inclination will often try to deter him from
visiting those who stand most in need of it, and to
whom it will prove most beneficial, and for whom it
may be the means of conversion and of return to the
practice of their religion.
Such are some of the difficulties and dangers which
beset the life of a priest. His own wayward nature,
the special malice of the devil, the enemy' of our human
nature, and the spirit of the world, all combine against
him and spread their nets to entangle him and to
frustrate his labours. How can he secure himself
against their attacks ?
Point 2. — St. Paul describes faith, as " the substance
of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that
appear not."^ The soul, under the guidance of faith,
rises above all things material and of time, sees through
their hollowness, and employs itself in things beyond
the region of the senses, which nevertheless are more
real and of infinitely greater moment. It contemplates
its Creator and realizes its relations with Him, as He
is a Father who with infinite power and love arranges
all for His own greater glory and for the glory and
happiness of His children. It loves to dwell always
in His holy presence, and directs all its thoughts and
1 2 Paral. xix. 7. 2 Hebrews xi. i.
THE PRIEST AND THE LIFE OF FAITH. 597
efforts to please Him. It despises all mere earthly
things, except in so far as they help it towards that
which, though unseen, is the object of its hopes,
namely, its heavenly home. It sees in its neighbours
not their riches, their talents, or their beauty, but only
the objects of God's love — brothers of Jesus Christ
purchased by His Precious Blood, and future sharers
with itself of a Heavenly Kingdom. It appreciates duly
the necessity of serving God and the terrible misery of
losing His favour, and therefore it directs every thought,
word, and action to promote the former and to avoid
the latter not only in itself, but also in the souls of
others, at any cost or sacrifice.
Faith surrounds it with a supernatural atmosphere,
makes it a participator in the life of God Himself,
communicates new light to the understanding and a
new strength and energy to the will, causes it to live
in close union with Christ Himself, and to say with
St. Paul : '' I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me."^
It lives in the faith of the Son of God.
** Faith is the evidence of things that appear not."
The priest who lives the life of faith regards the souls
of his people, considers the awful conditions of their
existence, and the greatness of his responsibility in
their regard ; the terrible consequences to himself and
to them of failing to discharge his duties in their regard,
as their model, their teacher, their physician, and
father. Far will it be from him to recite the Divine
Office, or offer up the Holy Sacrifice, or administer the
sacraments, in a perfunctory manner and out of mere
routine. In all his different duties he will conduct
himself as befits the instrument of God, the personal
representative of Christ, and the ordained minister and
dispenser of the mysteries of God. And in this manner
not only does he steer clear through all dangers, but
1 Galat. ii. 20.
598 APPENDIX II.
he converts each of his acts into a means for increasing
his own sanctification and a fresh step towards the
perfection of his state.
Point 3. — What are the means of securing the Hfe
of faith? The Prophet Jeremias says: *'With desola-
tion is all the earth made desolate, because there is no
one that thinketh in his heart." ^ To secure a life of
faith we must "think in our hearts" — that is to say,
that our minds must be employed mainly on spiritual
things, and our hearts must be guided by the teachings
of holy faith, and not by natural inclinations and earthly
principles. For this it is necessary that we cultivate
interior recollection and union with God ; that we foster
a spirit of devotion, and that we prove faithful to our
daily meditation and our other spiritual duties. Further,
it is necessary that we cut off all occasions of dissipation
and distraction as far as is possible in our state of life ;,
that we regard life not as a time for pleasure or amuse-
ment, but as a most serious and momentous time in
which we have to labour and toil and sow the seeds of
those virtues which are to grow and ripen into the fruit
of eternal life.
Let us examine how we stand with regard to this
life of faith. Do we rather live a life of the senses,,
neglecting those things which are of the spirit ? Do
we make light of spiritual duties, and of the Divine
Office ? Do we give way to dissipation of mind and
pour ourselves out on external things, and gratify mere
natural activity ?
In our relations with our neighbours, do we ignore
or neglect the interests of their souls, and thus in our
dealings with them and in our conversations fail ta
induce them to study the Life of our Blessed Lord^
thereby to know Him better, to love Him more, and
strive after a more perfect imitation of Him? If we
1 Jerem. xii. 11.
THE CHARITY OF THE PRIEST. 599
find ourselves wanting in regard of these things, let us
resolve to correct ourselves, and take those words of
St. Paul for our motto : Justus aiitem mens ex fide vivit.
12.— THE CHARITY OF THE PRIEST.
The self-sacrifice in the discharge of his duties
required in a priest can only be secured by constant
efforts on his part to attain the perfection of holy
charity. This is the atmosphere which he must
breathe, by this motive must he be actuated in all that
he does. The nature of his work requires it, and it. is
called for by the class of those amongst whom he has
to labour.
Let us weigh seriously the following considerations.
Point I. — The excellence and importance of this virtue. —
This is shown by innumerable passages of the Sacred
Scriptures. Thus St. Matthew, ^ St. Mark, 2 St. John,*
announce it as the commandment of God, a new com-
mandment which our Lord claims in a special manner
as His own. The Beloved Disciple in his first Epistle,
in six different places, exhorts us to practise this virtue,
because Christ our Lord commands it, and because He
has loved us, and also because it is a condition of
supernatural life. Again, according to the Sacred Text,
it is by this virtue that Christ's disciples are to be
known, by it also that we discharge the debt that we
owe to the brethren ; ^ by this virtue we fulfil the law
and are in the enjoyment of the light.
On the other hand, if we have not charity we are in
death, we are of no avail and nothing worth. In all
1 St. Matt. V. and ix. 2 st. Mark- xii, 3 st. John xiii.— xv.
4 Romans xiii.
6oo APPENDIX II.
these ways does the Spirit of God impress upon us the
excellence and importance that we are to assign to the
practice of this virtue. Nay, He seems to insist upon
it even more than upon the love of Himself, and lays it
down as the test by which the reality and perfection of
our love for Him is to be proved. To encourage us to
reduce it to practice, He tells us that " whatever ye do
to the least of these My brethren, ye do for Me,"i even
if it be only a cup of cold water, and moreover that it
shall not go unrewarded. Surely God Himself could
not prove to us more forcibly how excellent is this
virtue and how pleasing it is in His sight.
And with reason, for as He Himself declares, He
loves each of us with an everlasting love. He has
bought us with an infinite price ^ with His own Precious
Blood, and has called us that hereafter we may share
His glory for all eternity.
Point 2. — The end of the priesthood, that for which
it has been instituted, the powers with which it has
been invested, are all directed to procure the salvation
of souls. In this respect the priest may be said to be
the continuation, expansion, and application of the
Incarnation of our Blessed Lord Himself. By Baptism,
he confers upon the child the life of grace, makes it a
brother of Christ, and introduces it into the family of
God ; by Penance, he restores to the soul the life
which it had lost by grievous -sin ; by the Holy
Eucharist, he supplies it with that Food which the
angels ever adore, but of which they may never partake,
namely, the Body, the Blood, the Soul and Divinity
of Christ Himself; by the last anointing, he speeds the
poor soul on its way from time into eternity, and
supplies it with strength for its final step ; by his
preaching, he teaches the science of salvation, with-
draws souls from danger, evil, and death, and stimulates
1 St. Matt. X. 42. 2 I (jor. vi. 20.
THE CHARITY OF THE PRIEST. 6oi
them to do good. He is to go in search of those who
have strayed away from the fold and bring them back
again. Like his grand original, he will often have to
sit down by the roadside weary after his long search,
and as the Apostle must be able to say, *' I will spend
and be spent myself for souls," ^ and often, too, in
discharge of his duty will have to brave death in
administering the rites of the Church to the fever-
stricken victim.
But unless he be animated by the spirit of true
charity, this is impossible. He may indeed perform
one or other of these duties for a time through natural
motives, as natural kindness, a spirit of novelty, natural
activity, or vanity, but it will only be by fits and starts
and will not be lasting, nor will it extend to all alike
without exception of persons, whether rich or poor, old
or 3^oung; nor will it be patient and kind, bearing all
things, hoping all things, enduring all things.^
Point 2,. — The necessity of this charity becomes more
evident when we reflect upon the persons towards
whom it is to be exercised. The number of gentle and
refined persons in our congregations is exceedingly
limited, and these stand least in need of the charity
of the priest. His main work lies amongst the poor,
who dwell in the midst of squalor, whose manners are
often rude, forbidding, and repulsive, who are vulgar
and uneducated, and often are prejudiced and mistrust-
ful. Some are unwilling to receive the priest, others
are full of imaginary grievances, murmurings, and
complainings ; others again are obstinate and refuse
his ministrations, and will not listen to his exhortations
or consent to abandon their evil ways, and to frequent
the church and the sacraments. And without great
charity, who can still persevere in such labours and
amid such difficulties ?
* I Cor. xii. 15. > I Cor. xiii. 7.
6o2 APPENDIX II.
13.— ON ANXIETY OF MIND.
Anxiety of mind with solicitude about good to be
acquired, or evil to be averted, often fills the soul with
trouble and tumultuous cares, and is opposed to
Christian prudence. It often, if assented to, produces
sleeplessness, emaciation, diffidence in the loving provi-
dence of God, and a want of energy in His service.
Sometimes it is caused by the memory of things that
are passed ; sometimes by unfounded alarms about the
present, or about the unknown future; against which
our Lord warns us when He says : ** Sufficient for the
day is the evil thereof," as if He would say, Have heed
of your cares as they come with each day, but heed
not those of the morrow; nor be troubled by asking,
"What shall we eat?" or, ''Who will roll back the
stone for us ? " and the like. Such cares are the great
enemies of the soul, by disturbing its peace, preventing
progress in virtue, and embittering our service of God.
Point I. — As regards the past, how often the memory
and imagination succeed in exciting alarms, on the very
slightest grounds. If disappointed at not receiving a
letter from a friend, there arise fears lest he may be
ill, or perhaps offended, or may never have received
your news ; if he is not punctual in his appointment,
we are alarmed lest some accident may have befallen
him ; if you do not receive to the day the fruits of an
investment, you are at once alarmed lest it is the result
of fraud or bankruptcy, and so it happens in endless
other cases.
What counsel should I give to others in such cases ?
Your apprehension is either true or false. If false,
how foolish and unreasonable it is to be disturbed at
ON ANXIETY OF MIND. 603
nothing; if true, all your anxiety is unprofitable and
cannot change the event — what is done, cannot be
undone. Leave it all in God's hands, who has ordered
it for the best. It is a useless care which only inflicts
pain, but gives no profit. Such is the advice we
should give to others ; then let us apply it to ourselves.
Let us with holy Job say: *<The Lord has given ; the
Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the
Lord." What has happened, was decreed by an all-
powerful, all-wise, and all-holy Father, or at least
permitted by Him, and consequently may His blessed
will be done in me and by me. This is the only means
of securing peace as regards those things which concern
the past. Again, when at times the sins and faults
of the past rise up before the mind and overwhelm us
with terrors and doubts lest perhaps they are not
forgiven, and that our repentance has not been sincere,
we must throw ourselves into the arms of God, and
confiding in His infinite love and mercy, reject and
despise all idle alarms, and with the Psalmist we must
say: '' In Thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not
be ashamed."
Point 2. — As regards cares about the present, we
must, as St. Ignatius teaches, " accommodate ourselves
to things, and not things to ourselves." If a sailor sees
a rock in his course, he does not wait till it is removed,
but changes his course and sails by it. There are
some who want to do all themselves, and will leave
nothing to others, and stubbornly persist until they
learn by sad experience that their sphere of activity is
limited, and render themselves useless and incapable of
all serious labour. To be over-occupied is as pernicious
as to have too little to do ; and both end by shrinking
into idleness. The body can bear labour, but the mind
is exhausted by cares, and solid devotion is exposed
to great risk in a crowd of duties as in a crowd of
6o4 APPENDIX II.
persons, and by degrees will die out, unless we so
accommodate ourselves to things as not to interrupt
the union of our -hearts with God, our memory ever
recalling His sacred presence, our will now invoking
Him, now praising Him, now making declarations of
love of Him. We thus avoid the faults of Martha,
who was ''troubled about many things," by giving
ourselves to the occupation of Mary.
Let us then consider what our shoulders can bear,
and what they refuse to carry ; and let us seriously
determine how much of our time to devote to necessary
business, and how much to matters of choice'; how
much to employ in helping others, and above all how
much is to be consecrated to prayer, and must not
be interfered with unless for some occupation more
pleasing to God or more profitable to the souls of
others. Then the multitude of our cares will not
disturb our souls, our duties of necessity will be per-
formed with tranquillity and without bustle, and other
things of supererogation will not be neglected if time
permits.
Point 3. — The anxieties and cares about the future,
however, are far more injurious to the soul than either
those of the past or of the present ; and betray a want
of confidence and trust in the goodness and providence
of God. How many embitter their lives, and drag on
a hopeless existence, because they neglect living in the
present, and are absorbed in the anticipation of evils
which their imagination conjures up from the dark
womb of the future ! Instead of praising and thanking
God for the graces and blessings which He is bestowing
upon them, they are a prey to fears which will never
be realized, such as loss of friends, or of fortune, failure
of undertakings or of health, or are preoccupied with
apprehensions of public or private misfortunes, &c.
Even good and holy people are too often tempted in
ON ANXIETY OF MIND. 605
this way, but when attacked they know how to resist,
and feeling that they are in the hands of Him who
"hath care of them," and who will not suffer them to
be tried above their strength, they abandon themselves
to the protection of their Heavenly Father, who has
both the power and the will to help them^ With
St. Paul they say, *' I know whom I have believed, and
I am certain that He is able to keep that which I have
committed unto Him." They have no anxiety lest
the means of support may fail them. The Lord will
provide — they care not if malicious tongues calumniate
them, and " enemies stand together against them," they
still are confident, for they know the Lord will provide.
To them it matters not if sickness or death may be
looming in the future, they are at peace, and with holy
David they sing: "For though I should walk in the
midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for
Thou art with me." Anxiety finds no place in the soul
that has given itself to God, and is imbued with the'
spirit impressed upon us in the contemplation of " Two
Standards" and the third degree of humility.
Therefore, my soul, " cast thy care upon the Lord,"
be not solicitous about yesterday, to-day, nor to-morrow.
The first is useless, the second imprudent, the third is
an injury to the providence of God. All anxiety ill
beseems a Christian, much more a Religious or a priest.
Let my care be to fulfil each day and hour the will of
my Father in Heaven, to observe His counsels and
precepts, and He will not fail to take care of me and
of mine.
Let us end with the words of St. Bernard : "Why
dost thou trouble thyself, and why art thou afraid ?
Behold the Angel of the Great Counsel invites thee, than
whom there is no one stronger, no one more loyal and
true, no one wiser."
6o6 APPENDIX II.
i4._0N PATIENCE.
Patience is a virtue which enables us to bear con-
tentedly and with resignation the ills of life. In
considering this virtue we must distinguish between
our interior feelings and the consent to or encourage-
ment of them. The former are not completely under
our control and are often involuntary, and as such are
not sinful ; but only become so when we deliberately
foster feelings of discontent and give way to them by
murmuring and repining, and by acts of impatience.
It is a virtue necessary for all, and its exercise is called
for perpetually. '' The days of man are short, and his
life is full of many miseries," says holy Job, and our
experience convinces us of this truth. Persecution,
quarrels, affronts, sickness, loss of goods or of friends,
breaches of trust or of confidence, all supply abundant
occasions for its exercise. To these we may add the
many annoyances and inconveniences attached to our
duties and state of life, or which arise from those
amongst whom circumstances compel us to live and
with whom we have to associate. That we may draw
some practical fruit from this consideration, let us
examine in what manner we exercise the virtue of
patience in regard of those inconveniences and trials
which are attached, (i) to the place in which we live,
(2) to the time, and (3) to our state.
Point I. — If we are by our office or state fixed in a
special locality ^ we are tied to a certain climate, to a
certain class of companions, and ordinarily are subject
to a fixed Superior. Thus it may be that the air does
not suit us— it is too damp or too keen, too relaxing
or too bracing, too dense or too rare. All this we could
ON PATIENCE. 607
bear when young, but age makes us very sensitive to
weather. Again, the persons amongst whom we are
thrown are hard, quarrelsome, haughty, rude, unkind,
and unsympathetic. As regards Superiors, they are
prejudiced, choleric, disobliging, too ready to find fault
and reprehend. They select the least deserving as
their friends and confidants and advisers, and leave us
studiously alone.
If we are in Religion, other trials of patience present
themselves. Our cubicle is either too large or too
small, or is too hot or too cold, or too noisy. The
food and accommodation are not up to the mark,
domestics are disobliging, and in short there is an
absence of many conveniences which we find in other
houses of the same Order. Such are some of the many
sources of impatience to which we may be subjected ;
and we often are inclined to think that we should escape
them by change of domicile.
Let us remember those words of a Kempis : Imagi-
natio et locorum miitatio multos fefellit ; and again: *' It is
necessary for thee, wherever thou art, to practise
patience, if thou wilt enjoy interior peace, and merit
an everlasting crown."
None of these things, nor all of them together, can
harm us, says Chrysostom, unless we harm ourselves.
Give thanks to God for them, and this will convert
them to our profit and advantage. Moreover, have we
not promised our dear Lord to aim at the third degree
of humility, and begged of Him to accept us to fight
under His standard? and is it by murmuring and
impatience under these trials that we fulfil our engage-
ments ? Let us contrast our crosses with those of our
Jesus at Nazareth and our patience with His, and blush
for shame.
Point 2. — The second source of trials of patience
springs from time. We are content to perform the
6o8 • APPENDIX II.
duties of our state of life or office, but this must be at
our convenience and at our own time ; but if obedience
or charity should require it otherwise, what then ? To
be called upon in wet and stormy weather to make a
journey on foot to some ' sick person, to be roused
from sleep to go and assist the dying, to be interrupted
in our prayers or studies in order to perform some
parish duty ; to be required to leave table or recreation
or some pleasant company in the interest of charity ;
to endure hunger, sweat, fatigue, heat, or cold, when
they may be all avoided by inexcusable delay until another
time, is not to practise patience and self-denial, but is
rather to prove ourselves cowards in God's service and
slaves of self-indulgence. It is not to be masters of
time, but rather to make time our master. Let us
learn a lesson from the children of this world, who are
"wiser in their generation than the children of light."
What does the soldier do in the pursuit of glory ?
How readily he braves the heat and cold and tempest !
how cheerfully he foregoes food and sleep, and sacrifices
health. So, too, the merchant in the attainment of
wealth ; and the sportsman in hunting his prey ! How
readily do they expose themselves to every kind of
trial and inconvenience, and what indomitable patience
do they not display in the e'ffort to attain their desired
end. Let us not delude ourselves that we have attained
the virtue of patience, until we sacrifice our own
comforts and bear those inconveniences which daily
fall to our lot, and let us follow the example of our
Blessed Lord, who considered every time convenient in
which an occasion presented itself of doing a greater
good, and would have us forego any convenience or
expose ourselves to any hardship when the greater
glory of His Father or the salvation of our neighbour
requires it.
Point 3. — Many trials of patience are inherent in our
ON PATIENCE. 609
office or state of life. No matter how honourable the
office or how privileged the state of life, it must have
its disadvantages as well as its emoluments, its trials
as well as its pleasures ; and whoever would choose
one or the other, must be content to accept the bitter
with the sweet, the gains and profits with the draw-
backs. The ofSce is not created to subserve the man,
but man the office ; so, too, the state of life is not to
adapt itself to the man, but he is to adapt himself to
its requirements.
From this it follows that whoever conscientiously
fulfils his duty must meet with many occasions in which
his patience must be severely tried. The office of the
priest is beset with them, not only in regard of his
parish duties towards his congregation in administering
the sacraments, especially of Confession, in preparing
and delivering his sermons, in visiting his flock,
especially the sick, in urging the negligent and slothful,
correcting the wayward ; but also in the management
and in the control of his schools, and in the instruc-
tion of the children and in preparing them for the
sacraments.
So, too, is the life of a Religions ^ especially in regard
to the duties of obedience and charity. How often is
patience tried by the orders of Superiors, when they
assign to us the offices of preaching, teaching, giving
missions, or positions of authority, for which we feel
ourselves unqualified, or when they appoint us to
colleges or houses for which we have a repugnance,
or in which we feel that our health is imperilled. How
often are we? inclined to murmur and complain, and
what is worse, try to bring the Superior's will to our
own, and thereby contrive to transfer the unpleasant
burden from our awn shoulders to others. Again, in
our relations with our religious brethren, how often are
we tried by the differences of disposition, character,
NN
6io APPENDIX II.
and nationality, and by the variety of habits, manners,
and customs ?
And lastly, too often we are a burden to ourselves
amid the various trials which are involved in the
observance of regular discipline and approved customs,
which are calculated to render us irritable and impatient.
Let us keep our eyes fixed upon our Blessed Lord,
the model of patience, and remembering the words of
St. Paul that patience is necessary and hath a perfect
work, let us pursue justice, godliness, charity, and
patience, supporting each other with patience in charity.
15.— ON THE CARDINAL VIRTUES.
Amongst the many dangers of those engaged in the
sacred ministr}^, by no means the least is that which
arises from the false maxims and perverse axioms, which
are not unfrequently put forward by those whose age and
experience should have made them wiser, and who ought
to be our models. To counteract this danger, there is no
more effective means than an earnest cultivation of the
cardinal virtues, on the exercise of which hangs the
integrity and virtue of life ; for no act can be really
just and praiseworthy before God and man which is
not characterized by prudence, justice, fortitude, and
temperance. Moreover, the exercise of them is con-
stantly required if we mean to make progress in spiritual
life, and to acquire perfection and the habit of any
special virtue. Wherefore it is well to consider each of
these virtues and to see how we stand in regard to it.
After placing ourselves in the presence of God and
begging light and grace to see what is wanting in us
in regard of these virtues, and strength to correct it,
we consider :
ON THE CARDINAL VIRTUES. 6ii
I. Prudence. — This is the virtue by which we judge,
in each circumstance of Hfe, what is good that we may
adopt' it, and what is bad that we may reject it, and
by which we direct all to our last end. It involves
three things, namely, (a) deliberation, {/3) correct judgment,
and (y) practical application.^
(a) Deliberation supposes that we subordinate and
direct all to our last end, and select the best and surest
means to secure it. " My son, do nothing without
counsel, and thou shalt not repent when thou hast
done," says Ecclesiasticus. The prudent man weighs
the claims and rights of God in his regard, and also his
duties towards his fellow-man ; he considers how these
are to be best satisfied in the circumstance, what
difficulties are to be surmounted, what means to be
adopted, what prejudices to be removed, what inclina-
tions to be repressed. In case of doubt, he will seek
the advice of others, following the counsel of the Spirit
of God : *' Lean not upon th}^ own prudence.""^
(y8) Correct judgment. — The prudent man does not
select at hazard any means for the attainment of the
end he has in view, but under the guidance of holy
faith, he chooses that which recommends itself as the
most sure, the safest, and the most efficacious. He
will by this means secure success, will remove all
grounds for self-reproach or fretting, and by his fore-
sight will guard against all unforeseen difficulties.
(y) Practical application. — True prudence requires,
besides counsel and judgment, execution. Often there
is great danger in delay, lest by putting off, fresh
•circumstances may arise which may prove insur-
mountable. Again, from procrastination springs in-
constancy, not unfrequently attended b}^ the loss of
influence and authority. We should strike the iron
1 Comp. St., Thomas, 2a sa;, q. 50. &c.
2 Prov. iii. q.
6i2 APPENDIX 11.
while it is hot. When once the mind has shown us
our duty, a well-regulated soul will not hesitate to
perform it.
Let us examine ourselves and see how we observe
this virtue. Do we act from impulse, or on the spur
of the moment, influenced by passion or mere feeling,
as the animal creation which has no understanding ?
Do we expose ourselves and forfeit the respect and
esteem of others by neglecting to make use of our
judgment, and doing things which right reason cannot
approve, and which others must reasonably condemn ?
Do we give way to procrastination and dilatoriness,
whereby much good is left undone, time is wasted, and
the soul is harassed by self-reproach ? If we find that
we have erred in regard of this virtue, let us resolve to
correct ourselves, and let us bear the axiom in mind:
Dimidium facti, qui bene ccepit, habet.
2. FortiUtde. — It is sometimes used to express a
necessary quality of all real virtue, namely, firmness
of purpose in all that is virtuous and good ; but in
a more restricted sense, it expresses a state of the
soul which disposes it to exercise a firm. control over
reason and will, in face of all difficulties, and death
itself, and to restrain all excess of fear or rashness ;
and has for its foundation hope in the protection of
God.
It prompts a man to do great things for God's sake,
and even to ambition occasions of heroism. It inclines
him to aim rather at excess in the practice of all
virtues, than to be content with mediocrity, and
requires the rein rather than the spur. It is deaf to
the whisperings of fear, to the countless excuses of poor
human nature, by which one would avoid all labour
and fatigue, all trouble, anxiety, and mortification ; and
is unaffected by the promptings of self-love and self-
ease. Its maxim is that of St. Paul : " For whether
ON THE CARDINAL VIRTUES. 613
we live, we live unto the Lord ; or whether we die, we
die unto the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or
whether we die, we are the Lord's; "^ and again: "Let
us work whilst it is day, for the night cometh when
no man can work." 2
Fortitude enables us also to suffer greatly for God.
Fewer distinguish themselves by suffering than by their
actions, because the latter are often attended by glory,
whereas suffering is unseen and unknown, is opposed
to our natural inclinations, and is contrary to self-will ;
and consequently we find fewer heroes on Calvary than
on Thabor. But both are a spectacle well pleasing to
God and man. The man of fortitude bravely welcomes
sufferings and hardships, and trusting in God, will,
like St. Ignatius, welcome death by wild beasts, or like
St. Laurence will smile on the gridiron.
Let us examine how we stand in regard of this
virtue. Are we ready to do great things for God and
our neighbour ? Do we cheerfully spend our time
and strength in promoting their interest ? Do we give
way to idleness and self-ease and self-indulgence on
the ground that age or health require it ? Do we
fly from pain and suffering, or yield to difficulties or
opposition, the sure appanage of the friends of God ?
Do we give way to cowardice and ^ fear when it is
groundless ? Or, on the other hand, are we bold to
rashness and regardless of the dictates of common
sense ? Is our fortitude attended by confidence,
patience, and perseverance ? If anything in this
respect is wanting to us, let us with God's grace
resolve to correct it.
3. Justice. — This virtue is the habitual disposition
of will to render to each one what is his due ; and it is
divided into four species :
(a) By commutative justice, we are bound in inter-
1 Romans xiv. 8. ^ st. John ix. 4.
6 14 APPENDIX II.
change of goods to strict equality, unless wholly or in
part the compensation is remitted. Between us and
God this is impossible, as we cannot give condign
satisfaction for the offences of which we have been
guilty, nor make due reparation for the injury we have
done Him. The Son of God undertook to do it in His
own person; and to become sharers in this grace, we
must fulfil the conditions which He has laid down,
by doing " worthy fruits of penance." Therefore,
according to the measure of our sins, should be also
the amount of our stripes, and accordipg to our indul-
gence in unlawful pleasures, should be our abstinence
from those that are lawful.
(/?) Distributive justice requires of us to observe
due proportion in the distribution of duties, emoluments,
and burdens as far as depends upon us, and to rest
contented with such as are assigned to us by lawfully
constituted authorit}'.
We practise this virtue when we keep our soul and
body in their right place ; giving the former in all things
precedence, and treating the latter and its several senses
with due severity, and making it in all things sub-
servient to the soul. Again, it requires of us that we
regulate our faculties of memory, understanding, and
will, as the law of our Creator and Heavenly Father
prescribes, and consequently allow them only such
relaxation as is necessary to enable them to perform
their functions most effectively.
How often, alas ! do we sacrifice the soul to the
body, and provide for its comfort and gratification at
the soul's expense. If we took half the pains and care
for the well-being of the soul that we do for that of our
bod}^ how soon should we become just !
(y) Legal justice requires that one part should
accommodate itself to the benefit of the whole, and
should employ its energies to promote the common
ON THE CARDINAL VIRTUES. 615
good. Now the common good is secured by the
observance of rule and regular discipline. Each of us
as a member of a community or of the secular clergy,
is then bound by this virtue to promote according to
his position, by word and example, the observance of
the Rules of our Order or state of life, and as far as
possible to remov-e any dangers to their violation.
There is no enemy to this virtue so great as a negligent
Religious or an indifferent ecclesiastic. There is no
greater source of scandal, no greater enemy of the glory
of God or of souls.
(S) Vindicative justice exacts that punishment shall
be proportionate to the fault. How often do we fail in
this respect ! How often under the influence of anger
or impatience do we deal harshly and unjustly with
penitents in the sacred tribunal, with children in our
schools, with inferiors or servants ! How hard and
unsparing are we in our words and conduct with regard
to the failings and shortcomings of others ! But, alas,
how loath to punish ourselves ! How often does our
conscience accuse us of guilt, and yet we are deaf to
its voice. We are zealous for justice in regard of
others, but not in regard of ourselves. It is surely
time to get rid of this delusion.
4. Temperance, in its wide sense, may be defined
as the virtue by which the affections of the soul are
restrained within the limits prescribed by faith and
right reason ; or in a stricter sense, by which the
sensual appetites are kept' under control, especially as
regards food, drink, and modesty.
Whatever indulgence we grant to the senses and to
our bodies, is a proportional detriment to the soul ; it
diminishes the familiarity and confidence which should
mark our intercourse with God, who turns away from
the carnal man, in whom the Divine Spirit is either
languishing or from whom He is banished.
6i6 APPENDIX II.
Again, thp sensual man finds no comfort in con-
versation with God, according to that of St. Paul to
the Corinthians : " But the sensual man perceiveth not
these things, that are of the Spirit of God ; for it is
foolishness to him and he cannot understand."
In the practice of this virtue, we ought to be careful
of moderation in the use of things, not only which are
lawful, but also those which are necessary, such, as
sleep, food, recreation, all of which should be regulated
by the requirements of nature and of our state of life.
It is as necessary for us to live lives of temperance, as it
is to regulate them by the exercise of prudence, justice,
and fortitude. Let us examine ourselves how far we
practise this virtue. Do we observe great moderation
as regards the indulgence of our senses, especially of
the eyes and palate ? Do we give too much time to
recreation, to useless and frivolous conversation ? Do
we control our natural inclinations and affections ? Do
we energetically repress feelings of anger and irritability,
and avoid all undue use of the tongue in exaggerated
expressions of praise or blame ? If we find ourselves
faulty, let us determine at once to correct ourselves,
and let us beg of God that He will give us the grace
to keep our resolutions for the time to come.
THE ORDINARY SOURCES OF DANGER. 617
16.— THE ORDINARY SOURCES OF DANGER.
How exalted and sublime is the office of the priest !
How holy is his calling, in which he is brought into
immediate communion with our Incarnate Lord ! Daily
he offers Him up in the Sacrifice of the Mass, daily he
dispenses His Flesh and Blood to the faithful ; for long
hours He applies His cleansing Blood to wash away the
deep stains from the souls of sinners, and constantly
is adding new members to the Mystical Body of Christ.
How holy then should be the priest, to whom this same
Lord apportions abundant graces to enable him to
fulfil worthily these his holy duties.
On the other hand, great also are the dangers which
beset the priest. For if the devil is especially hostile
to all those who are Christians, his hatred is far more
deep and inveterate against those so closely allied to
our Lord Himself, and whose profession it is to
frustrate all his plans for the ruin of souls. The world
also, from several points of view, presents greater
dangers for the priest than for others, with its false
principles, pernicious maxims, and depraved examples ;
and lastly the priest is human, and bears about with
him the weakness and waywardness of our fallen
nature which, if it were not for the signal graces
attached to his divine vocation, would render him
absolutely incapable of satisfying his tremendous
obligations. His life and actions are engaged in the
supernatural and in the care of souls, he must breathe
a supernatural atmosphere, his work is spiritual, and
yet at every step and at every turn he is confronted
with the natural, and is liable to be affected by material
influences. That we may remove these dangers as far
as possible, and may protect ourselves against failure
6i8 APPENDIX II.
in our holy vocation, let us make the following con-
sideration.
Amongst all the sources of danger, the greatest
and most common is (i) Neglect of spiritual duties.
When we were preparing for the priesthood, with
what scrupulous care we performed all our religious
duties, with what fidelity we applied ourselves to
daily meditation and vocal prayer, with what fervour
and devotion we visited the Blessed Sacrament and
received Holy Communion : and with what care and
reverence, with what recollection and lively faith
did we offer up the Holy Sacrifice when we were
admitted to the priesthood. We could say with all
the fervour of Holy David, " How lovely are Thy
tabernacles : O Lord of hosts, my heart longeth and
fainteth for the courts of the Lord."^ "I will go to"
the altar of God, to God who giveth joy to my youth." ^
As long as this disposition lasts all will go well ; for to
constancy and earnestness in our prayer are attached
the graces of God, to enable us to discharge our
obligations and perform our duties ; but there is danger
lest from pressure from work, from fatigue, from real
or often imaginary sickness, from the withdrawal of
sensible consolation, or from worry or harasfe, or
pre-occupation of mind, we begin to be less faithful and
fervent, occasionally omitting or contracting the time
of prayer, less diligent in the necessary preparation for
the celebration of Mass, or in giving full time to
thanksgiving after it. Nor does the danger end here.
Like a fast spreading ulcer, there is danger lest this
negligence will extend to the recitation of the Breviary
which will be performed in a hurried and distracted
manner, and to the administration of all the sacraments
of the Church, until all spiritual duties and offices are
performed in a perfunctory, languid, indifferent manner,
1 Psalm Ixxxiii. 2. 2 Psalm xlii. 4.
THE ORDINARY SOURCES OF DANGER. 619
and often are omitted altogether. The result will
naturally be, withdrawal of grace, and then God help
the poor priest ! To avoid this the greatest danger, let
us apply the maxim, principiis ohsta, sero medicina paratur.
In our examination for ordinary confession let us call
ourselves to account as to the fixed hours of our
prayers ; whether we pray with attention, reverence,
and devotion ; whether we ever omit them, or shorten
or change the time of them.
(2) The second danger to which we are exposed is
Indulgence of the senses. Closely connected with the
preceding, and not unfrequently its cause, is the liberty
conceded to the senses. Under the mistaken idea that
the priest should know all that is going on in his
congregation, and also that he should be up to the times,
there is a danger of his persuading himself that he must
see everything, must read everything, must hear every-
thing. The consequence of this will be not only an
enormous loss of time, but a great dissipation of mind,
a morbid curiosity, a dangerous development of the
imagination, and endless occasions of sins. How many
have lost their innocence or even their faith by
indulging their eyes or by imprudent reading. For
a priest to indulge his senses in this manner is not
only to expose himself to the proximate occasion of
sin, but also to give great disedification, and to bring
his sacred calling into disrepute.
(3) A third source of danger is Love of self-ease.
Amongst the various benefits conferred upon the world
by modern civilization, and the signs of progress
during the second half of the nineteenth century, if
we are to believe modern historians and j^olitical
economists, is the increase of the comforts of life, and
the general amelioration of the condition of all classes
of society. Whilst the higher classes have means of
gratification and are provided with luxuries, which the
620 APPENDIX II.
preceding generations never dreamt of, the lower
classes regard as necessities what fifty years ago were
superfluities to the rich and select few. The con-
sequence of this is a general tendenc}'- to self-indulgence
and to creature comforts, the avoidance of labour, or
of anything which demands sacrifice or interferes with
self-ease ; in a word, it is to put the body above the
soul and materialize life. Hence the importance
attached to eating and drinking, to clothing, to
sleeping, to the varieties of furniture, &c., all of which
administer to bodily comfort.
This general tendency is invading the sanctuary,
not without grave danger to the priesthood unless
vigorously resisted. It shows itself in the lavish
furniture of the sitting-room, and provision of the
toilet, in the generous expenditure on table and cellar,
in the quantity and quality of clothes and shoes, in
the care expended on the body of death which we carry
about with us. Neatness and cleanliness are admirable
and edifying in those more advanced in years, but in
the young priest neatness may be more easily dispensed
with, and that without danger of disedification. Let us
examine ourselves on this point, and see how far we carry
out the imitation of Jesus Christ in regard to poverty in
the details of our daily lives. As a rule, the more
simple and hardy our manner of life, and the less
account we make of bodily comforts and conveniences,
the greater will be our influence for good, and the more
we shall be respected. Elegance is hardly expected in
a priest.
(4) A fourth danger is Effusion on outward things.
When we consider the position of the Catholic priest
in the present state of religion, the small number of
priests, and the multitude of the duties which he is
called upon to fulfil, this presents a great danger. He
has to preach very frequently, he has to undertake the
THE ORDINARY SOURCES OF DANGER. 621
management of confraternities or guilds both spiritually
and financially, to visit the sick in hospitals and prisons,
as well as those scattered through a large parish, to
manage his schools, to visit and take the census of his
parishioners, to go about to collect means of providing
for the expenses or support of his mission, or often for
paying off debts, &c., to organize concerts, or bazaars
for the same objects of charity or religion, to patronize
clubs or public games of his parishioners, &c., what
wonder then is it that he is often tempted to throw
himself into all these active works, and thereby expose
himself to neglect what is of infinitely greater import-
ance, the interior life and the progress of his own soul ?
What wonder that his spiritual duties are contracted
or omitted, that his office is hurried over with little
attention or devotion, his Mass is said with little
recollection, but many distractions ? What wonder that
he finds but little consolation in things spiritual,
and consequently seeks satisfaction in these external
occupations which withdraw him from recollection
or union with God, and draw him down to a merely
natural life ? Then comes abuse of grace, gradual
alienation from God, and finally a worldly and dissi-
pated spirit which ordinarily ends in a sad manner.
Oh ! let us remember our first duty is to God by the
sanctification of our own souls, and next to this the
sanctification of the souls of as many others as possible ;
that all other things no matter how important they may
be, occupy only a secondary and infinitely inferior
place. We shall not be asked by our Supreme Judge
who may at any time call upon us to give an account
of our stewardship, whether our missionary life was
a financial success, but whether we ourselves loved and
served Him, and promoted His knowledge, love, and
service in the souls entrusted to our care. Another
source of danger is a habit of carping criticism. There
022 APPENDIX II.
are some so blind to the defects of others, or of such a
compassionating or easy disposition, that they fail in
their dut}'' by ignoring or excusing the faults of others,
neglecting the counsel of St. Paul, '* reprove, entreat,
rebuke, in all patience and doctrine," ^ and thereby
incur serious responsibility before God ; but there are
others of a very different temperament, who are so
keen-sighted as to see faults or defects in others, which
■exist simply in their own imagination, or which they
grossly exaggerate ; and this not only as regards
their parishioners. Unfortunately they manifest the
same spirit towards their brethren or even Superiors.
They allow nothing that is said or done to pass, but
they must give their judgment upon it, and too
commonly the sentence is unfavourable. So distorted
is their mental vision, so perverted is their judgment,
that they invariably attach an unfavourable interpreta-
tion to whatever comes under their notice. They find
it hard to approve of anything which they themselves
have not initiated, or on v/hich they have not been
consulted. The preaching or direction of others is
condemned, their manner of dealing with their con-
gregations, their management of their parish or of their
schools is censured, their conduct is canvassed ; and
not unfrequently the orders and regulations of Superiors
and even of Bishops are passed in review and are
strongly reprobated. Such persons lose the confidence
of their colleagues, and are kept at arm's length ; they are
regarded as disaffected, and dangerous, and at length
are left severely alone. The result too often is that
they become friendless, and are left to consume their
•own spleen without any one to sympathize with them,
and are thus forced to seek sympathy from the laity,
who will think no better of them for their disloyalty
towards their ecclesiastical brethren, and not unfre-
^ 2 Timothy iv. 2.
THE ORDINARY SOURCES OF DANGER. 623
quently it ends in demissorial letters, which is the
beginning of a rapid downward course.
Let us of all things be loyal to each other.
Surrounded as we are by enemies, let us stand by one
another, let us encourage one another, let us defend
and uphold one another ; and if we cannot praise
others, at least let us never forget ourselves so
far as to say a word against them to the lait3%
or tolerate from the laity any disrespectful language
against them. Let us rest assured that our
loyalty will be appreciated by them, and their respect
and confidence in us will be secured and augmented,
whereas any disloyalty on our part would turn to our
humiliation and discredit, recalling to the minds of our
hearers the example of Judas, who was a traitor to his
Divine Master as well as to his colleagues in the
Apostolate.
Finally, another source of danger arises from Visiting.
To visit those whose souls are entrusted to us by God,
that we may teach them to know, love, and serve Him
here, and thus secure eternal happiness hereafter, is a
strict duty on us. We must know our sheep, and our
sheep must know us ; v/e must with Jesus go about
doing good, comforting the sorrowful, encouraging the
faint-hearted, counselling those who are in trouble,
stimulating the negligent, confirming the good. Such
visits draw down graces upon ourselves, and are a
source of blessings to others ; but let us beware of
mere idle visits, which are uncalled for, where time is
wasted, where unprofitable conversation is indulged in,
where over-familiarity is allowed, which generally
breeds contempt or worse. Let us visit the poor and
sick and miserable, it is well ; but let us leave it to
others to visit the well-to-do or pious people, who do
not need our help ; let us remember that we are " not
sent except for the lost sheep of Israel." Let us be
624 APPENDIX II.
uncompromising on this point of visiting : for in some
respects it is the most dangerous and proHfic source of
ruin.
If we find that we have been affected by any one of
these sources of danger, we will thank God for letting
us see it, we will humbly beg pardon for the faults
therein committed, and will firmly resolve to guard
against it for the future.
End with the " Our Father."
APPENDIX II L
CONSIDERATIONS WHICH MAY FURNISH MATTER FOR
ELECTION AND REFORMATION OF LIFE, USEFUL FOR
RELIGIOUS.
I.— ON ESTEEM FOR OUR VOCATION.
A religious vocation is a grace, or rather a series
of graces, by which we are called to the special service
of our King and Lord. From this it follows that it is
a state of life highly honourable and happy, in which
we enjoy a real and true liberty, and are protected from
the cares, anxieties, and miseries of the world. It is a
state most pleasing to God, most profitable to the
Religious, and beneficial to society. These will furnish
the points for our reflection.
Point I. — It is pleasing to God, both as regards its
end, and the means employed for its attainment. The
end of man is to serve God in this life and so to secure
eternal salvation. Now, this can be attained more
quickly, more surely, and more perfectly in Religion,
where besides the observance of the Commandments,
we profess to follow the Evangelical Counsels, and to
observe a code of rules by which regular discipline is
secured. If he who observes the Commandments of
God proves that he loves God^ and Christ abides
1 St. John xiv. ai — 24.
00
626 APPENDIX III.
in him and he in Christ,^ and must be well pleasing
to his Heavenly Father, how much more so must
the Religious be, who in addition, and to be more
conformed to our Blessed Lord and more intimately
united with Him, cuts himself off from all things else,
crucifies himself to the world and resigns his own will
and judgment to the will and judgment of God, as
manifested to him by his Superior. And this is done
by all Religious, who thereby remove as far as possible
all those great impediments to the attaining of our end,
namely, the concupiscence of the flesh, the concu-
piscence of the eyes, and the pride of life.^
Besides these means by which the attainment of our
end is made more secure, and which are common to
all Religious, there are the special rules peculiar to
each Religious Order, which are so many applications
of the Gospel prescribed by the holy men who under
God have founded each, and which they have framed
under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and have been
approved and confirmed by the Church.
Point 2. — It is a state advantageous to the Religious
himself. This is. clear, whether we regard it from a
supernatural or natural point of view. For as to the
former, he is helped in the service of God by the
vigilance and care of Superiors, and by the example of
his equals ; by the regulations of the time and manner
in which each of his duties of piety, charity, and self-
conquest has to be performed, and which are to him
the clear expression of God's will in his regard. How
different is the state of persons living in the world, who
have often the greatest difficulty to discover, and are
often left in doubt, as to what may be most pleasing to
God.
Again, these latter are frequently crippled and
harassed by the demands made upon them by the
1 St. John iii. 24. 2 i st. John ii. 10.
ON ESTEEM FOR OUR VOCATION. 627
requirements of their state, by the cares and anxieties
of their family or friends, and by the laws and regu-
lations of society, or the exactions' of public opinion,
and in this way their liberty is curtailed, and their
freedom of action is destroyed. Not so with Religious.
They acknowledge but one Master, and Him only they
obey, knowing no natural ties, for from, these by their
engagements they have broken themselves loose, and
thus they enjoy the most perfect freedom, namely, that
of the children of God, to serve whom is to reign, and
whose yoke is sweet, whose burden is light. ^
How profitable religious life is to those who are
called, even in a material point of view, is also clear.
They are freed from the cares and responsibilities of
the world, from all anxieties as to food, clothing, and
lodging, from the t3Tanny of fashion and of public
opinion, from the malice and machinations of enemies,
from the flattery and insincerity of false friends, and
from the countless miseries which arise from jealousy.
They dwell in a peaceful harbour, into which the
agitating storms of the world do not enter, and where
the bright light of God's countenance is always shining.
Point 3. — It is beneficial to society. Those who are
called to the active life benefit society, some by teaching
children and by bringing them up and instructing them
in the knowledge and love of God, and conducting them
in the way of true peace and liberty to eternal life ;
others by nursing the aged and sick poor; others by
visiting those in affliction and administering relief and
consolation ; others by sheltering orphans or reclaiming
those who have gone astray. In a word, there is no
one of the many miseries to which society is exposed
for which our Heavenly Father has not provided by
their means.
And to those Religious who are called to follow the
1 St. Matt, xi, 30.
6a8 APPENDIX III.
example of Mary by embracing a life of contemplation,
they too are a benefit to society. By their prayers they
draw down the blessing and protection of God on their
friends and country and ward off calamities which would
otherwise overwhelm them, or diminish the disasters
which have befallen them ; or again, they spend their
lives in rude penance and prayers to make satisfaction for
the crimes and sins of their countrymen. They sacrifice
their freedom and voluntarily embrace a life-long con-
finement and the bonds of charity to win for others the
blessed liberty of the children of God. From all this,
of what precious value is the religious state ? Considered
in itself it is an exalted, glorious, heroic, and super-
natural form of life. In its results on others it is most
useful, both in the natural and supernatural orders,
not only to individuals, but also to society. As regards
those who are called to it, it represses all that is bad
or less good in them, and develops in them all the
finest qualities of their nature and purifies it, and thus
makes them models and objects of admiration and
encouragement to their fellow-men. Hence we must
conclude that we ought to love and cherish our voca-
tion, to hold it in the highest esteem, to embrace it
with all our fervour, and observe and treasure our holy
Rules, and spare no pains in acquiring its spirit and
perfecting ourselves in it.
Let us examine ourselves carefully and see whether
in practice we hold our vocation in due esteem, with
what care we observe our Rules, whether we employ
the means of acquiring the true spirit of our Order and
of constantly keeping it alive in ourselves, and whether
by word and example we try to promote it in our
brethren. Finally, let us determine what is to be
corrected in this respect, and let us beg of God and
our Lady to help us to do it. ,
End with " Our Father."
ON ESTEEM FOR OUR RULES. 629
2.— ON ESTEEM FOR OUR RULES.
Next to esteem of our vocation to Religion, and
necessarily connected with it, is the appreciation of
Rule ; and in fact the test and measure of the one is the
practical observance of the other. Hence a Religious
who cares little for his Rules, and thinks nothing of
breaking such as are not binding under sin, shows little
regard for his vocation, too often is a source of dis-
edification or scandal to his brethren, and sometimes
ends in abandoning religious life altogether. To protect
ourselves against this danger, let us consider the neces-
sity and importance of our Rule, its sacred character,
and the spirit with which we should observe it.
Point I. — The necessity of the Ride. — In every collection
of men who combine together for the attainment of
one common end, and whose mutual co-operation is
necessary to secure it, it is indispensable that they
bind themselves by certain rules to a common action.
So too is it with those who join together for the promo-
tion of God's glory in the religious state. This is clear
from the action of God in the formation of various
Religious Orders, as also from the approbation and
confirmation of such rules by the Vicar of Christ, from
the conduct of those whom the Spirit of God has
selected to found them, as well as from the dictates of
right reason.
Moreover, as in an army, all are not called upon to
perform the same duties, but are differently equipped
and are differently trained for their several respective
duties, and in a human action the various powers of the
soul and the senses and members of the body have each
their respective functions to perform by which they
630 APPENDIX III.
execute it ; so in the promotion of God's glory and the
sanctification of souls, the various Religious Orders
each have a determined part to perform, and this is
specified in the Rule.^ From this consideration we see
also, how important it is clearly to comprehend the
nature and spirit of the Order to which we belong, and
not to confound it with that of other Religious Con-
gregations from which it is distinguished, and whose
rules are consequently different. Unless this is done,.
the door is opened to abuses and innovations, which
would tend to destroy unity and charity, and would
imperil the very existence of an Order, or at least
expose it to the sad necessity of its reformation. Let
us beg of God to enlighten us to see how necessary and
important it is that we should appreciate our holy Rule,,
love it and reduce it to practice.
Point 2. — Thi sacvedness of our Rule. — This is clear
from the approbation which it has received, from the
holiness which it inculcates, and the holiness of those
who practise it.
That the Vicar of Christ should approve it is testi-
mony enough of its holiness, and suffices to stamp it
as holy with all those who are membfers of the Church
and are animated with the spirit of faith. As to its
being holy in itself and in what it inculcates, is equally
clear. For as regards those parts which concern the
three vows, and which constitute the substance and
essence of religious life, our Blessed Lord, the source of
all true holiness, has consecrated them by word and by
example. He was poor in spirit and in effect j^ from
the manger to the sepulchre His poverty never aban-
doned Him; moreover, He loved and blessed the poor.
As to chastity. He loved it so that He would be born of
a Virgin, and Himself is the King of virgins, and is the
source and model of all purity in body and in mind^
^ Comp. Psalm xliv. 15. ^2 Cor. vlii. 9.
ON ESTEEM FOR OUR RULES. 631
And the history of His Life is contained in one word,
'• He was obedient to Mary and Joseph, and to His
Heavenly Father, and even to His cruel executioners."
That it is a holy thing to imitate our Blessed
Lord is clear, and the greater and more perfect this
imitation, the greater will be our perfection. How
great then must be holiness involved in the three vows
of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which is inculcated
in the Rule !
Again, in our Rule other solid virtues are insisted
upon, such as humility, which is to be acquired by
the humiliations which are prescribed by it, and are
practised by all fervent Religious ; mortification, at least
of the interior, and in the restraints of the eyes and
tongue, for the repression of curiosity, of dissipation,
and of a host of other faults ; recollection and union with
God in prayer ; and charity in its highest perfection.
Besides these there are other rules that pertain more
immediately to the special end proposed by its Founder
to the members of his Societ}^ all of which are holy.
Lastly, the Rule is holy in the various members who
observe it. Not that all those who are in Religion have
attained the height of sanctity. There are plenty of
good Religious, would that there were more saints !
But this is not the fault of the Rule, but of those who
from negligence, indifference, or self-indulgence, fail to
observe it. But in all the Religious Orders whose
birth dates back three hundred years, there are many
whom Holy Church proposes to us as objects of
admiration and imitation, and whose names she has
inserted in the calendar of her saints.
With what reverence then should we not regard our
Rule, what scrupulous care should we bring to its
observance, not only in great things, but also in the
smallest, seeing that in God's service nothing in reality
is small.
632 APPENDIX III.
Point 3. — In what spirit are we to observe our Rule. —
There are some Religious who are great sticklers for
the letter of the law, but fail to grasp its spirit, and
vice versa. Such persons are a source of danger and
trouble in Religion, and fail to give edification or to
promote charity. There is in all Orders an authorized
and traditional interpretation which ought to be our
guide as to observance ; it should be complete, prompt,
uncompromising, and cheerful. Complete, that is, entire,
and not by halves, or done in a slovenly and perfunctory
manner ; prompt, not unreasonably deferred and put off
to another time through a dilatory spirit so common
in our day; uncompromising, throwing our whole soul
into what we have to do, and doing it as perfectly as
by God's grace we can; XdiStly, cheerful, for God loves
a cheerful giver ; ^ and by this means we shall give
edification and encouragement to others, and be a
living proof to those who behold us that His yoke is
sweet and His burden is light, ^ and that His spirit
is sweet. 3
Point 4. — Let us examine ourselves and see how we
respect and esteem our Rule. The best test is its
observance. Do we, for example, leave ourselves entirely
in the hands of Superiors, to use us where, when, as
much, and as long as they like, without murmuring
or complaining ? Do we plead excuses of health, in-
capacity, or unfitness against their orders and appoint-
ments, and thereby force them to put our burdens on
the shoulders of others, a thing which is as mean and
unworthy of a Religious as it is cowardly ? Do we
shun all singularity in food, clothing, and outward
comportment, or do we seek for extras on the plea of
health, or for exemptions ; a thing which conduces
much to laxity in regular religious observance, and
consequently is not to be lightly permitted ? &c.
* 2 Cor, ix. 7. 2 St. Matt. xi. 3c, ^ Wisdom xii. 1.
ON THE VOW OF POVERTY. 633
Let us remember that we rarely violate our Rules
without displeasing God, injuring ourselves, and dis-
edifying our religious brethren. Let us bewail our
frequent faults, and make practical resolutions for the
time to come.
3.— ON THE VOW OF POVERTY.
Point I. — A Religious, by his vow of poverty,
resigns all proprietorship, and consequently cannot
possess anything as his own or dispose of anything
independently without leave of his Superior. He may
have the use of those things which are sanctioned by
his Rule, but even then he must be prepared to
relinquish them at the reasonable command of the
Superior ; nor can he, even with the Superior's per-
mission, make use of superfluities without detriment to
his vow.
How necessary it is that this virtue be maintained
in its integrity is clear from the importance attached to
it by our Blessed Lord, from the estimation in which
it was held by all the founders of Religious Orders,
from the strict views taken of it by moral theologians,
and from the sad effects which have resulted in those
Religious Orders in which its observance has been
relaxed.
The obligation contracted by this vow is two-fold.
First, it obliges a Religious not to possess, or take, or
receive any temporal thing in order to keep, use, or
dispose of it without leave of his Superior; and secondly,
not to accept of anything, even from externs or friends,
and keep or dispose of it without the permission of
Superiors. This is recognized by all theologians and
canonists, and is adopted by all the masters of spiritual
life.i
1 Comp. St, Augustine, De com. vita; St. Bernard, Ad Monacfu
634 APPENDIX III.
Nor is it enough to renounce exteriorly all pro-
prietorship whilst interiorly we cherish a love of those
things which we have abandoned, for such poverty
would be hypocritical ; nor, again, can it be said that
we are really poor, even though in deed and interiorly
we have quitted all things, if in Religion we are careful
to have all we want, as good food, good clothes, good
lodging, &c., and are troubled and murmur when we
have not what we desire ; for this is to be rich rather
than poor, and shows a desire for a life of ease and
plenty. If we are truly poor Religious, we must be
content to want even what is deemed necessary, for the
truly poor man despises even necessary things.
Point 2. — The excellence of this vow. — i. It is the
foundation of evangelical perfection.^ Our Lord, more-
over, began His Sermon on the Mount by blessing holy
poverty ; His whole life was a declaration of the same
truth. St. Jerome and St. Gregory assert the same.-
So too St. Ignatius^ says '* that poverty is to be looked
upon as the wall and fortress of Religion, and is to be
preserved in all its purity as far as God's grace will
enable us."
2. We see its excellence too from the rewards which
God attaches to it. For our Lord declares that it
shall be rewarded by an infinite treasure in Heaven
and the possession of an eternal Kingdom. They too
who have abandoned all for His sake shall on the Day
of Judgment exercise the office of judges and not of
criminals.'*
3. But even in this life it is rewarded a hundred-
fold.^ This refers not only to spiritual goods, but
extends also to external things. For we have every-
thing, nay often more than we need, and have not to
1 Comp. St. Matt. xix. 21. ' Horn, xxxii. ' Reg. Sum. 3.
4 St. Matt. xix. 27. Comp. St. Augustine and St.Thomas Aquin.
.5 St. Matt, xix. 29.
ON THE VOW OF POVERTY. 635
ask whether it be dear or cheap ; we have peace of
mind, freedom from anxiety and care, consideration and
respect, such as we should never have met with other-
wise, absence from toil, and abundance of leisure to
increase in virtue and perfection. It causes the soul to
despise all earthly things and enables it to direct all
its thoughts to Heaven — to soar more easily to God
and unite itself more closely to Him.
4. Lastly, it fosters and protects the other two vows
and removes many dangers which are opposed to them,
and is the surest safeguard against relaxation and the
need of reform.
Point 3. — From the many advantages and excellences
of poverty it follows that we should have a great esteem
and love of it. As a child loves its mother, clings to
her and flies to her for protection, so should ever}^
Religious treat holy poverty ; should love it as a
mother 1 and regard it as the bulwark and fortress of
religious life against the attacks of the world, the flesh,
and the devil. If this love is sincere, we shall desire
to experience its effects and shall accept them with joy.
We shall be -sparing in the use even of those things
which are deemed necessary, and quit ourselves of
them as much as we can, whether in food, clothing,
lodging, or everything else. We shall fly from all
unnecessary exemptions and indulgences under the
pretexts of health, &c., and conform to the common
life, thereby cutting off* all causes of disedification and
occasions of uncharitableness. Let us seriously examine
ourselves on these points, and at once correct anything
in which we are wanting.
1 P. vi. Co?isi. SJ.
636 APPENDIX III.
4.— ON THE VOW OF OBEDIENCE.
How dear to the Sacred Heart of our Lord is the
virtue of obedience is clear from the example which He
has left us in His own mortal Life. He was obedient to
Mary and Joseph, to Pilate, and even to His very-
executioners ; but this obedience was subordinated to
the will of His Heavenly Father. His will was to do
what was well pleasing to Him always ; nay, it was
His meat and drink — so to say. He lived upon it. In
imitation of Him the saints have loved and cultivated
this virtue, and many at the call of God have bound
themselves by vow to observe it. For Religious it is
made one of the substantials of their calling. We will
then consider its nature and object, the motives of it,
and the means to be employed in order to practise and
perfect ourselves in it.
Point I. — By the vow of obedience we bind ourselves
to submit ourselves and our own will and judgment to
our Superior, as holding the place of God, or in some
religious bodies as the custodian and interpreter of the
Rule. This obedience extends not only to our actions
and exterior things, but it must embrace also our
judgment and will, which we conform to the judgment
and will of the Superior who occupies the place of
Christ ; nor must it stop when the things enjoined are
difficult or repugnant, or if the Superior be wanting in
prudence or other qualities, seeing that he holds the
place of Christ who cannot be mistaken, and who in
His providence will make good what is wanting in His
representative.^ How perfect is the sacrifice which we
offer to God by this vow is clear from the fact that we
1 St. Matt, xxiii. 3 ; Ephes. vi. 5.
ON THE VOW OF OBEDIENCE. 637
retain nothing of ourselves, but consecrate even the
noblest part of ourselves to God our Lord, which is our
judgment and will, so as to will only what He wills,
and judge all things as He judges them, as He is
pleased to make known to us by him whom He has
placed over us, namely, our Superior. And all this
must be done thoroughly, promptly, heartily, and in all
humility, without any excuse or murmuring, and in a
spirit of reverence and love.
Point 2. — The motives which should prompt us to
excel in obedience are: i. That thereby we imitate
most perfectly our Blessed Lord, for we make an
offering of our whole selves to God, whose will and
judgment we substitute in place of our own.
2. By this we avoid all error of will or judgment,
inasmuch as we conform them to those of the Superior
who is in the place of God over us, and who has to
answer to God for us.
3. We thus promote concord and charity, inasmuch
as our wills and judgments are all in harmony with
those of God as manifested in our Superior.
4. It is necessary not only for the good government
of the Order, but also for its efficiency and even for its
very existence, as reason shows. It is quite possible
that, from imprudence, or under the influence of some
tess well-ordered passion, or from misunderstanding, the
Superior may err in the command he gives, but even
then we shall not lose by our obedience, as the provi-
dence of God will not permit it, and will only turn the
occasion to our greater sanctification if we obey in a
spirit of faith and love, as if it was Christ Himself who
had enjoined what is commanded.
Point 3. — In order that we may acquire facility in
the exercise of this virtue, and that we may attain
some degree of perfection in it, we must cultivate a life
of faith, which will accustom us to look upon our
638 APPENDIX III.
Superior not as a mere man subject to faults like
ourselves, but as the representative and mouthpiece of
God, and with great simplicity to accept his orders as
the expressions of His will, even though we may be
blamed or penanced for faults of which we have not
been guilty.
We must also be practically indifferent as to the
country, the place, and the office which obedience may
assign us, looking upon it as the expression of the
Divine will, and in a spirit of holy confidence and
faith embracing it from the hands of God. Another
useful practice is to renew our vows frequently, more
particularly after Mass or immediately after Holy
Communion, with all the fervour we can command.
Finally, to make frequent acts of humility and self-
abasement and of thanksgiving to God for having called
us to serve Him and glorify Him in Religion by a life
of dependence.
Let us examine ourselves and see if our obedience
is always supernatural, by which alone it is rendered
easier the longer and older we are in Religion, and
without which, it is rendered more difficult as years
advance ; and our vocation is always in danger. Do we
condemn Superiors and their mode of government ?
Do we murmur or listen to the complaints of others ?
Let us remember that we live in times and in a country
in which we are exposed to special danger, when
independence is held as honourable, and where liberty
of speech is esteemed and praised. If we are faulty, let
us resolve to amend.
ON RELIGIOUS CHARITY. 639
5.— ON RELIGIOUS CHARITY.
If charity is necessary in all who profess to follow
our Lord, and if it is impossible to love Him unless
we also love our neighbour, how much more necessary
is it for those who are called to a> most close union with
Him and to a far more perfect imitation of Him than
others, by being called to a state of perfection in the
religious life ? Holy David exclaims : " Behold how
good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity," ^ and we may add, but how bad
and how sad it is when they are divided by discord.
When charity prevails in a community, the convent is
as the antechamber of Heaven, and life therein is a
foretaste of the happiness of our eternal home ; but
when charity is banished, it becomes somewhat worse
than a purgatory. Hence as Religious we are bound
in an especial manner to cultivate this virtue, and to
strive to attain its perfection in ourselves and to promote
it in others. To help us to do this, let us make the
present consideration, on its necessity, on its exercise,
and on the blessings attached to it.
Point I. — As to its necessity, our Blessed Lord has
insisted on it repeatedly and in the strongest terms.
We are to love our neighbour as we love ourselves —
nay, even as He has loved us : it is by this characteristic
that we are to be recognized as His own disciples, and
unless we love the brotherhood the charity of God is
not in us. Again, it is written, ♦* The soul that has
not charity dwells in the regions of death." This
charity is not to be confined to mere external cere-
monial, nor is its requirement satisfied by the avoidance
1 Psalm cxxxii. i.
640 APPENDIX III.
of giving offence. We must have a cordial love and
sincere desire of the good of others, we must speak
well and with respect of others, and in our conduct
must show deference and consideration in their* regard
at the sacrifice of our own convenience, anticipating
their wishes and providing for their comforts. And all
this charity is to be shown not only to those who are
our friends, but it must be extended to strangers, and
even, says our Lord, to our enemies and to those who
calumniate and persecute us.^ Such is the law imposed
upon all Christians by Jesus Christ, and on its fulfilment
will depend the salvation and degree of glory with
which it is to be rewarded.^
Point 2. — The motives to aim at the perfection of
charity are many and grave, (i) The manner in which
our Lord has impressed it upon His disciples. (2) He
has substituted our neighbours in place of Himself as
the objects of our love, and has transferred to them
His claims upon our charity. (3) They are the members
of His own Body, and like ourselves are vessels con-
secrated to His service and destined to share with us
in an eternal Kingdom. But as Religious there are
other powerful motives. (4) Our brethren have left
the world and have abandoned family and friends and
all things else to give themselves entirely to the praise
and service of God, and to the love of the Spouse of
our souls ; therefore they have a special claim upon our
love and gratitude. (5) By their profession they have
become the special objects of attack and of the malice
of our enemy the devil, the enemy of our human
nature, and of the world. Against them we are enlisted
together to fight, and if we would secure the victory,
we stand in great need of a close union in the bonds of
charity. (6) We are pledged to each other for the
attainment of one end, and that a noble one, and to be
1 St. Luke vi 28. 2 St. Matt. xxv.
ON RELIGIOUS CHARITY. 641
attained by one common means which is our Rule, and
by the exercise of the same virtues and the same
manners and customs ; from whence it follows that not
only should the exercise of charity be more easy to us,
but it is also the more necessary.
Point 3. — God rewards and blesses fraternal charity.
First, He promises forgiveness to those who practise
this virtue, and pledges Himself to deal with us as we
deal with our neighbour. ** But before all things have
a constant mutual charity among yourselves, for charity
covereth a multitude of sins."^ And again : " For with
what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and
with what you mete, it shall be measured to you
again." 2 He further declares that unless we have
charity, even though we speak with the tongues of men
and angels, and have faith enough to move mountains,
and distribute our goods to the poor through a philan-
thropic disposition, they will avail us nothing without
charity. 2 On the other hand, '' charity edifieth,"^ for
b}^ his meekness, patience, unselfishness, and humilit}^
the Religious gives edification and good example to all
his brethren, and diffuses, as it were, a pleasant perfume
through the whole community, and attracts others to
follow in his footsteps. ^ Where charity flourishes, there
also will be true joy and interior peace manifesting itself
also exteriorly. *5 Lastly, it secures religious fervour,
cheerfulness in God's service, and rapid progress towards
perfection.
Let us then examine ourselves seriously on our
dispositions and conduct in regard of this virtue. Do
we treat our religious brethren with great reverence,
patience, and forbearance ? Do we bhnd ourselves to
their faults and shortcomings, and observe only the
good that is in them ? Do . we anticipate them by
1 I St. Peter iv. 8. 2 st. Matt, vii. 2. '' i Cor. xiii.
* I Cor. viii, i. ^ Cant, i, 3. ^ Galat. v. 13, 22.
PP
642 APPENDIX III.
kindly offices ? Do we repress all inordinate affections
and aversions, and eschew all particular attachments,
the real enemy of fraternal charity ? Do we guard
against the- danger to which we are exposed by our
national bluntness and insular character ? In our
dealings with those of other nations, are we intolerant
of their manners and habits, or always ready to make
due allowance for them? Do we show a spirit of
kindness and hospitality to visitors ? Towards the sick
do we show great patience, and attend upon them with
tenderness, thoughtfulness, and care ?
As we may sin more easily and grievously in the
matter of charity, it is well to examine ourselves most
thoroughly, and to see in what we need to correct our
conduct in regard to it. Let us never forget the golden
rule, " To do to others as we would be done by."
6.— ON TEPIDITY IN RELIGION.
There is no vice against which the masters of
spiritual life inveigh more strongly than against this,
styling it "the abridgment of evil," "the mother of
hardness of heart," "the sepulchre of the soul," "a
slow poison," &c. It makes religious life unbearable,
turning all its duties into labours and heavy burthens,
and robbing the soul of all cheerfulness, hopefulness,
and consolation. It causes a loathing and nausea of
prayer and spiritual things, a repugnance to recollection
and mortification, and an inclination to seek relief in
dissipation and in the pleasures of sense, in idleness
and useless conversation. It is, however, to be care-
fully distinguished from the state of a soul which, for
its sanctification and for the promotion of God's glory,-
is allowed by Him to suffer from what St. Ignatius
ON TEPIDITY IN RELIGION. 643
describes as aridity and desolation of spirit, and which
arises from no fault of its own, but from the malice of
the devil^ either directly or indirectly.
Let us take this subject as useful for our considera-
tion.
Point I. — The origin of tepidity is generally to be
ascribed to a want of appreciation of and consequent
negligence and indifference in our spiritual duties,
especially in meditation and examination of conscience,
in neglecting the counsel of our Lord, Vigilate et ovate —
•'to watch and pray," whence the soul grows drowsy
and inactive, and lays itself open to temptation. Or
again, it frequently arises from natural activity and
undue effusiveness on outward things, or from a spirit
of laziness and a disposition to lose one's time in idle
and unprofitable conversations. It often also arises
from the indulgence of a morbid curiosity to see and
hear everything that passes, and to learn all the news,
and then to go about imparting it to others, by which
silence is violated, the spirit of recollection is wounded
or destroyed.
Point 2. — Among the many signs of tepidity we may
mention — the prayers and meditation are rarely made,
or by fits and starts, and always in a weary, heartless,
and slovenly manner ; examinations of conscience and
the particular examination are neglected or slurred over
in a perfunctory manner ; all one's duties are performed
out of habit or routine, and are prompted by mere
natural motives.
Violations of rules as not binding under sin, and
even deliberate venial sins are frequently committed,
and cause little or no qualms of conscience. The
company of those who are fervent, and whose conduct
is exemplary, is shunned, and the counsels and advice
of the spiritual director is avoided or ignored.
644 APPENDIX III.
Such are the chief signs of tepidity, by which we
may safely test how far we have cause to fear lest we
may be in that state.
Point 3. — What are the means to be adopted to-
correct it ?
1. We must seek out the roots of it in our souls.
These ordinarily will be inordinate affections to things
of earth in the shape of ease, pleasure, honour, or
health ; or dread of labour, pain, and humiliations. Let
us determine at all cost to eradicate them.
2. To acquire the grace necessary to do this we
must at once renew our fervour and fidelity in prayer
and meditation, and our exactness in the use of the
particular examination.
3. To dwell often upon the great truths and upon
the Passion and Death of our Blessed Lord.^
4. To "practise silence and fly from all distracting
occupations.
Let us examine how we stand with regard to this
tepidity, and beg God to protect us from falling into it.
End with " Our Father."
7.— ON COMMON LIFE.
St. John Berchmans was used to say, Vita communis
mea maxima mortijicatio," — '' Common life is my greatest
mortification ; " and certainly there is very much to
justify the saying ; for to observe common life strictly
and constantly, calls for sweet violence to self in
almost every action of the day, and involves the
exercise of humility, mortification, charity, and other
virtues, so necessary for all those who live in a
community. Common life is doubly necessary where
1 St, Augustine, in Psalm cvl. ; St. Gregory, in Job,
ON COMMON LIFE. 645
members are gathered from various countries, with
different temperaments, customs, manners and modes
of Hfe, and where the respective talents and tastes
are often very opposed. If regularity is not to give
place to disorder, if uniformity and union are to be
preserved, it is easy to see that common life must be
maintained at all cost, and that consequently whosoever
is incapable of observing it from one cause or another,
unless it be of a temporary character, is unfitted for
conventual or monastic life. In order then to impress
upon ourselves the importance and necessity of this
practice, as also to increase in ourselves the practical
love of it, we will consider the following points.
I. Lay persons who are striving seriously to
serve God, are frequently compelled to deliberate as
to what God's service or glory may require of them,
and are obliged often to act in doubt as to what may
be the Divine will, whereas the person consecrated to
God in religious life is subject to no such uncertainty,
having his rule of life in all its details clearly drawn out
for him. The rules and customs of his Institute, the
orders of Superiors, and the approved traditions of his
Order trace out the line of conduct which he is to follow
in every circumstance of his daily life. When a person
seeks admission then into any Religious Order, he
implicitly at least pledges himself to observe its rules,
customs, and traditions, and in honour, truth, and
justice, he is bound to be faithful to his engagements.
A primary notion of religious life is that uniformity
be observed in all things ; and hence in most Religious
Orders, this is insisted upon to such an extent as to
appear even ridiculous to persons in the world, and
a perpetual source of annoyance ; nor do we find any
exceptions to the regular observance of the letter
or spirit of the rule allowed even to those who
have grown old and enfeebled in Religion. Were
646 APPENDIX III.
it ^Otherwise, such an Institute would be regarded with
grave mistrust, as opening the door to relaxation of
discipHne, and as militating against the idea of com-
munity life.
2. By "common life" oydev and regularity are
secured. When all rise at the same time, perform
their religious exercises at the same hours, partake
of the same food, are present at the same recreations,
and retire to rest at a fixed time, then all goes on
smoothly and in an orderly manner: " By Thy ordinance
the day goeth on."^ As a machine whose several
parts are fitted together and work in harmony, fulfils
the end for which it was designed efficient^ and with
perfect satisfaction, so too a community, each of whose
members observes the rules and customs, attains its
end efficiently to the edification and satisfaction of all.
On the other hand, where common life is not observed,
where exemptions are permitted, or extras are allowed,
the whole community is, so to speak, thrown out of
gear, irregularity is introduced, and the community
may be compared to a machine in which one or more
of the wheels fails to move, or moves eccentrically,
and thus causes confusion, noise, or total disarrange-
ment, so that the end for which it was made is either
imperfectly attained or not secured at all.
3. By the observance of *' common life," fervour is
also secured. Where we find a community in which
the members are all animated by a spirit of recollection,
and all cultivate habitual union with God, there also
shall we find religious fervour ; there too, as a necessary
consequence, the rules and customs which are the
expression of God's will, will be kept ; discipline and
silence will be maintained, and habitual self-restraint
will be universal. But once let human nature be
allowed to assert itself, especially in regard to material
1 Psalm cxviii. 91.
ON COMMON LIFE. 647
comforts or bodily requirements, and at once the door
is opened to relaxation of discipline, to exemptions and
singularities ; self-restraint gives place to self-indulgence,
the religious spirit of mortification is supplanted by
the worldly spirit of self-ease, and in the same propor-
tion the spirit of fervour declines and dies out.
4 *< Common life " preserves and maintains C/^^nVj.
Where common life is adhered to, each Religious is a
source of edification to his brethren by his exemplary
regularity, he wins their admiration and respect and
consequently also their love. Thus religious charity is
promoted, each one preventing his brother in acts of
kindness and self-sacrifice : whereby we may justly say
that religious life becomes a kind of anticipation of our
heavenly home. On the contrary, when one is observed
to make light of rules and customs, to seek exemptions
from those things that are laborious or disagreeable to
flesh and blood, and thus to throw them upon others ;
when again he is not satisfied with the ordinary
provision made for his religious brethren, when he is
not content to bear the inconveniences which are
attached to his profession of humility, poverty, morti-
fication, and obedience, he not only becomes a source
of disedification, but also a cause of irritation, mur-
muring and discontent, and what is far worse, an object
of scandal ; for by his example he leads others to seek
for the same exemptions and indulgences. It is in
this manner that the spirit of the world is at present
trying to force its way into religious houses, and that
the love of self-ease, under the pretext of necessity, is
striving to oust the spirit of self-denial, which is
synonymous with the practice of the three essential
vows of Religion.
5. From a consideration of all these inestimable
advantages and blessings attached to common life, and
of the miseries attendant on its non-observance, we see
648 APPENDIX III.
the explanation why it is that the founders of Rehgious
Orders have without exception attached such import-
ance to it ; why in their General Congregations such
stringent regulations have so often been made regarding
it ; and why Holy Church has set such store upon it,
as to prohibit any violations of it by severe laws.
Such regulations are abundantly justified, by the
knowledge of the grave evils which are introduced
into a Religious Order when this common life is not
insisted on. For the letter as well as the spirit of
the rules, drawn up after severe penances and much
prayer by the founder, and approved and confirmed
by the Holy See, as the application of the Gospel and
the expression of God's will, for all those who have
really been called to observe them, are imperilled.
Again, all order and regularity is sacrificed, where
one is dispensed from one rule, one from another, a
concession is granted to one, is refused to another, who
probably stands in greater need of it, but whose spirit
of denial prompts him to decline it. The spirit of
laxity, self-indulgence, and worldliness imperceptibly
diffuses itself through a community, and the bad
example of one makes itself felt in many, who are
too easily influenced in a downward direction, to
the irritation, annoyance, and disgust of those who
see with sorrow the spirit of self-indulgence under-
mining the truly religious spirit of mortification and
self-denial.
Let us examine ourselves seriously on this important
subject, and see what are our dispositions with regard
to common life. Do we practically appreciate its
blessings and advantages ? Do we live in the
practical conviction of its necessity? Do we seek
exemptions on the pretext of health or any other
grounds, thus putting our bodily well-being before
our spiritual good, and the honest and generous
ON EXTERNAL MODESTY. 649
observance of our rules ? Have we any reason to
fear that by so doing we have furnished the occasion
for others to follow our example, thereby encouraging
the less fervent, and disedifying those who live up to
their profession, and honestly adhere to their engage-
ments ?
Let us see if this has arisen from want of self-
denial or from positive love of self-ease, or from an
imaginary necessity ; if so, let us sincerely regret it,
and if we value our religious vocation, let us at once
resolve to amend. Nunc dixit nunc ccspi, hac mutatio
dexUvcd Excelsi.
"Our Father."
8.— ON EXTERNAL MODESTY.
The world expects from those who are Religious
great self-control and modesty in their external deport-
ment, and is easily disedified and shocked when it does
not find it ; and with reason, for those who profess to
follow Jesus Christ, who are supposed to know Him
intimately, and to form themselves interiorly and
exteriorly after His example, should manifest it by
their modesty.^ This duty is more incumbent on those
who have a certain care of souls, and have by their
office to mix with people of the world, or are employed
in external works, such as teaching, visiting, &c.
Point I. — The rules of modesty conduce to the
acquisition of interior mortification and the promotion
of a spirit of recollection ; and furnish constant occasions
of exterior self-denial.
On the observance of them will much depend our
authority, our influence, and the reputation in which
1 Philipp. lY. 5.
650 APPENDIX III.
we shall be held by externs. On the other hand, by
neglect of them we expose ourselves to misinterpretation
and suspicipn, as also to many dangers and temptations
against our second vow, seeing that such negligence
opens the door to dissipation, curiosity, irregularity,
and aridity in spiritual duties. Moreover, it causes us
to look lightly upon our shortcomings and faults, and
thereby exposes us to the danger of falling into some
grievous sin, according to that of Ecclesiasticus, " And
he that contemneth small things shall fall by little and
little." 1 Above all, these rules are the great preserva-
tive of holy purity, as we have said, and consequently
should be held in great reverence and esteem : for who-
soever should presume to say that he entertained no
fear with regard to holy chastity, and therefore were to
make little of these rules, is very near his fall, and
cannot with impunity give full rein to his senses. This
is proved both by reason and by sad experience in
those who have thrown off the religious habit and have
gone back to the world.
Point 2. — The unbridled Religious, no matter how
great may be his accompHshments and learning, his
eloquence and zeal, will find all his efforts comparatively
useless unless he succeeds in winning the esteem and
respect of those amongst whom he labours : for no one
will have confidence in him or will treat with him on
matters concerning the salvation of his soul. On the
other hand, whoever practises the restraint imposed by
these rules, will, by the example which he gives of holy
modesty, win the confidence of others, and attract
them to him for counsel. He will edify others by his
humility in speaking of himself always with great
modesty, whilst of others he has nothing to say which
is not to their credit and in their praise ; by his pmdence
and discretion in refraining from trifling, loud laughter,
1 Ecclus. xix, I.
ON EXTERNAL MODESTY. 651
foolish jokes, and boisterous talking ; and by his
affability, which eschews all vulgarity and buffoonery,
whilst it attracts by its amiable and courteous manner ;
and by his self-restraint in the use of the senses, and in
the general composure which he manifests in all his
words and actions.
Point 3. — Let us, then, examine ourselves and see if
there is anything to correct in respect of our exterior
conduct.
Do we show modesty, humility, together with a due
religious gravity, in all we say and do ?
Do we indulge our curiosity by turning our eyes on
every side and try to see everything that passes, instead
of keeping them modestly cast down except when in
conversation with another ? Do we show the peaceful-
ness of our souls by preserving great calmness and
serenity of countenance ?
Are we cleanly and orderly in our habit and dress ?
Are we hurried and bustling in our movements when
there is no necessity for it, or, on the other hand, do we
lounge or dawdle ? Do we try to follow in all circum-
stances and on all occasions that counsel of St. Paul,
*' Let your modesty be known to all men, for the Lord
is nigh,"i and thus by our very presence inspire a spirit
of recollection and of reverence for God ?
End with " Our Father."
1 Philipp. iv. 5.
652 APPENDIX III.
g.—ON REMEDIES AGAINST TEMPTATIONS.
We may lay it down as a law of Divine Providence
that all of us will have to undergo temptations. God
has so ordered it lest we should fall into a state of
carelessness and negligence, or in order that we may
give proofs of our fidelity and love towards our Blessed
Lord. This is asserted by the Holy Spirit as well in
the Old as in the New Testament. Thus we read,
" Because thou wast pleasing unto God, it was neces-
sary that temptation should try thee,"^ and again,
"Coming to the service of God, prepare thy soul for
temptation," 2 and again, "Blessed is the man who
suffereth temptation,"^ &c. Wherefore it is necessary
that we should always be prepared and with arms in
our hands to resist them and overcome them.
First. Let us recall those words of St. Paul : " God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that which you are able, but will make also with
temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it."^ If
with one hand He permits trials, He assists us with the
other. Therefore let us turn to Him, and gratefully
thank Him for making us sharers in His Cross ; let us
conform ourselves to His most holy and adorable will,
and earnestly call upon Him for His help and protection.
Secondly. Let us cherish a tender love for the Most
Holy Virgin, Mother of God, and let us foster a filial
confidence in her as our most loving Mother also.
Thirdly. Let us when tempted humble ourselves in
the sight of God, calling to mind His many Divine
benefits and blessings in our regard, and also the " last
things." 5
1 Job xii. 13. « Ecclus. ii. i. ' St. James i. 12.
* I Cor. X. 13. 5 Ecclus. vii. 40.
ON REMEDIES AGAINST TEMPTATIONS. 653
Fourthly. Let us ask ourselves with Joseph, *' How
can I do this wicked thing and sin- against my God ? "i
How can I consent to this temptation, and thus offend
my Heavenly Father, who has loved and blessed me
so ? How rebel against my Creator, who has been so
generous in His favours to me, against my Redeemer,
who has died such a te'rrible Death for me, and has
purchased my liberty at the price of His Most Precious
Blood ?
Fifthly. When we find ourselves harassed with
temptations to blasphemy, or pride, or impurity, or
scrupulosity, or despondency, let us at once elicit an
act of the opposite, as of praise, humiHty, mortification,
or confidence in God. We find many such acts in
the Psalms of David, and elsewhere in the Sacred
Scriptures.
Sixthly. Above all let us remember that our best
weapons are prayer and the mortification of our
passions and inordinate inclinations.
Seventhly. Let us not look upon our temptations as
chastisements inflicted by God, though sometimes He
allows them as punishments for our negligences and
tepidity, but let us rather regard them as favours and
devices of His love, thereby to compel us to run to
Him for help, or to tr}^ our virtue and increase our
merit. Thus counsels St. James, " My brethren, count
it all joy when you shall fall into divers temptations,
knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience ; " -
and T(5bias, "This trial the Lord permitted that an
example might be given to posterity of His patience, as
also of holy Job."^
Eighthly. It is often an excellent thing to repeat
certain passages of the Sacred Scripture which cast
ridicule and contempt upon the devil, as, " How art
thou fallen, O Lucifer, to the earth, that didst wound
1 Genesis xxxix. 9. 2 st, James i. 2. 3 Tobias ii. 12.
€54 APPENDIX III.
the nations," 1 '' Begone, Satan, and adore the Lord thy
God," or, " Thanks be to God, who punishes thee for
thy perversity," and the like.
Ninthly. Lastly, it is always good and profitable to
make known our difficulties to a prudent director or
spiritual Father, and to expose to him our temptations,
that we may be aided by his advice and encouragement.
lo.^ON THE ORDINARY SOURCES OF OUR
FAULTS AND IMPERFECTIONS.
It may be well to review from time to time the
general sources from which flow those ordinary faults,
negligences, and imperfections which are more frequently
to be met with in religious persons and those who live
in communities.
I. The first source is negligence in spiritual exercisesy
and more especially in meditation. This is due mainly
to the non-observance of the Additions which St. Ignatius
lays down as the preliminaries of mental prayer, and
fidelity to which is the price we pay to secure the
special assistance of God. It also may be traced to a
general dissipation of mind and a forgetfulness of the
presence of God in the discharge of the duties of our
office. As regards the two examinations of conscience,
namely, the general and particular, they, too, are often
of little or no profit through a similar reason. We fail
in employing the industrial prescribed in the Spiritual
Exercises, and go through them in a spirit of routine,
and without heart or energy. Too often the same
apathy and want of earnestness spoils the fruit of our
other spiritual duties.
1 Isaias xiv. 12 ; Apoc. xii. 9. -
ON THE ORDINARY SOURCES OF OUR FAULTS. 655
2. Another not unfrequent origin of our faults is an
undue appreciation of and attachment to our excellence
and superiority. This self-esteem often insinuates itself
into the soul on occasion of success in our studies or in
preaching, or in the discharge of the duties imposed by
obedience ; and strangely enough it is generally found
in those who are least justified in laying claim to it.
Ordinarily it is accompanied by extreme sensitiveness,
and a secret craving for the good appreciation of others.
3. A third source of many faults is irritability, fretful-
ness under inconveniences, obstinacy in maintaining our
own opinion, and intolerance of that of others who may
differ from us. Wherever this is not repressed effectually,
it becomes also an occasion of many faults in others
with whom we have to live.
4. Another source of frequent sins against charity is
the inordinate affection for some and aversion for others.
Strange to say that these two generally go together,
and the result too commonly is to spoil the harmony
and union of a religious community, and to create
division.
5. A fifth origin of many faults is selfishness, which
causes us to look to our own bodily comforts, and to
seek self and our own interest, without any consideration
for the convenience of others. This may often arise
from an idea of our weakness or delicate state of health,
or from our age and the labours which we have under-
gone requiring some consideration.
6. A sixth danger to Religious is a want of simplicity
and ingenuousness in our conduct and conversation,
and a political mode of action savouring of hypocrisy
and dissimulation, and is an ignoble covering and
cloak of ambition. This in some Religious Orders
is rightly visited with the severest punishments as
tending to undermine the stability and existence of an
Order.
656
APPENDIX III.
7. The seventh source of faults is neglect of yeligious
discipline. If punctuality and silence flourish in a religious
house, then we may reasonably conclude that a spirit of
fervour flourishes also ; but where these are absent
there is too much reason to fear that tepidity prevails,
and that faults are multiplied.
8. The eighth source of many shortcomings is idle-
ness and loss of time. This is the origin of many faults,
both external and internal, and it is hard to reconcile
innocence of life with idleness in one who has given
himself to God by entering into Religion, where he is
more exposed to temptation from the devil and his own
corrupt nature.
9. The ninth source is reserve and aversion in regard
of Superiors. From this arise frequent murmurings
and complaints, misrepresentations of their conduct,
condemnations of their arrangements, mistrust, and
disobedience.
To one or other of these sources are to be attributed
nearly all the sins, offences, and negligences which
spoil our perfection and imperil the fervour of Religious.
Hence it is important to be alive to their first manifesta-
tion, and to repress them at once and not to delay until
it is too late. Principiis ohsta, sero medicina pamtur is a
safe and necessary principle if we mean to be serious in
our profession and to acquire perfection.
APPENDIX IV,
ORDER OF EXERCISES FOR A RETREAT
OF EIGHT DAYS.i
FIRST DAY.
ist Meditation. — On the End of Man.
2nd Meditation. — On the End of Creatures.
3rd Meditation. — On Indifference.
Consideration. — On Dissipation.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 20 ; iii. 9.
SECOND DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Three Sins.
2nd Meditation. — On our own Sins.
3rd Meditation. — On the Sin of the Christian,
Consideration. — On the necessity of Prayer.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 22 ; ii. 5.
THIRD DAY.
1st Meditation. — On Hell.
2nd Meditation. — On Death.
3rd Meditation. — On the Prodigal Son.
Consideration. — On Trials.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 23, 24.
1 It is supposed that each day, a repetition of one or more of the
meditations of the day will be made, for the space of an hour, by the
person making the Exercises.
QQ ■
658 APPENDIX IV.
FOURTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Kingdom of Christ.
2nd Meditation. — ^The Incarnation.
3rd Meditation. — The Nativity.
Consideration. — On HumiHty.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 7, 2 ; iii. 3, 13.
FIFTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — Flight into Egypt.
2nd Meditation. — The Hidden Life.
3rd Meditation. — The Baptism of our Lord.
Consideration. — On Mortification.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 33 — 38.
SIXTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — On Two Standards.
2nd Meditation. — On Three Classes.
3rd Meditation. — On Three Degrees of Humility.
Consideration. — Rules of Election.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 23, 27, 52.
SEVENTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Last Supper.
2nd Meditation. — The Agony in the Garden.
3rd Meditation. — The Scourging at the Pillar.
Consideration. — On Fraternal Charity.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. ii. 11, 12.
EIGHTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — The Crucifixion.
2nd Meditation. — The Death of Jesus.
3rd Meditation. — The Resurrection.
Consideration. — Contemplation on Divine Love.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 6 — 48.
EXERCISES FOR A RETREAT OF EIGHT DAYS. 659
A SECOND ORDER.
FIRST DAY.
I St Meditation. — On the End of Man.
2nd Meditation. — On the End of Creatures.
3rd Meditation. — On the End of the Christian.
Consideration. — On Prayer and Spiritual Duties.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 21.
SECOND DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Three Sins.
2nd Meditation. — On our own Sins.
3rd Meditation.— On Hell.
Consideration. — On Sanctity of Ordinary Actions.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. ii. 5 ; iv. 7.
THIRD DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Death.
2nd Meditation. — On Particular Judgment.
3rd Meditation. — On General Judgment.
Consideration. — On Mortification.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 14.
FOURTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — Conversion of St. Peter.
2nd Meditation. — On Kingdom of Christ.
3rd Meditation. — On Two Standards.
Consideration. — On Charity.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 32 — 56.
FIFTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Three Classes.
2nd Meditation. — On the Baptism of Christ.
66o APPENDIX IV.
3rd Meditation. — Our Lord tempted.
Consideration. — On Temptations.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 13; iii. 18.
SIXTH DAY.
I St Meditation. — The Sermon on the Mount.
2nd Meditation. — The Storm at Sea.
3rd Meditation.— The Miracle of the Loaves.
Consideration. — The Value and Use of Time.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 41, 39.
SEVENTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — On the Last Supper.
2nd Meditation. — On the Scourging at the Pillar.
3rd Meditation. — On the Crowning with Thorns.
Consideration. — On the Blessed Sacrament.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. ii. 11, 12 ; iv. i — 3.
EIGHTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Resurrection.
2nd Meditation. — The Ascension.
3rd Meditation. — ^Contemplation on Divine Love.
Consideration. — The Election.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iv. 16, 17.
A THIRD ORDER.
FIRST DAY.
I St Meditation. — On the End of Man.
2nd Meditation. — On the End of the Christian.
3rd Meditation. — On the Use of Creatures.
Consideration. — On the Duties of our State.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 1,6, 7.
EXERCISES FOR A RETREAT OF EIGHT DAYS 66c
SECOND DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Indifference.
2nd Meditation. — On Venial Sin.
3rd Meditation. — On our many Venial Sins.
Consideration. — On the necessity of Prayer.
•Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 9, 10, 15.
THIRD DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Purgatory.
2nd Meditation. — On Particular Judgment.
3rd Meditation. — On the Conversion of St. Peter or of
Magdalene.
Consideration. — On Fraternal Charity.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation^ bk. iii. 40, 41, 47.
FOURTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — On the Kingdom of Christ.
2nd Meditation. — On the Annunciation.
3rd Meditation. — On Visitation of our Lady. •
Consideration. — On Humility.
Spiritual residing. — Imitation, bk. iii. 23 — 25.
FIFTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Nativity.
2nd Meditation. — The Presentation.
3rd Meditation. — The Adoration of the Magi.
Consideration. — On Purity of Intention.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 36, 37.
SIXTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Flight into Egypt.
2nd Meditation. — The Hidden Life at Nazareth.
3rd Meditation. — The Baptism in the Jordan.
Consideration. — The Rules of Election.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation^ bk. iii. 34, 35.
66a APPENDIX IV.
SEVENTH DAY.
I St Meditation. — Two Standards.
'2nd Meditation. — Three Classes.
3rd Meditation. — The Institution of the Eucharist.
Consideration. —The Mass.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iv. 2 — 4.
EIGHTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — The Internal Sorrows of Jesus.
2nd Meditation. — His Exterior Sufferings.
3rd Meditation. — The Death of Jesus.
Consideration. — The Blessings of Suffering.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. ii. 12.
A FOURTH ORDER.
FIRST DAY.
ist Meditation. — The End of Man.
and Meditation. — The End of Creatures.
3rd Meditation. — Indifference.
Consideration. — Necessity, motives, advantages of
Indifference.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 31.
SECOND DAY.
ist Meditation.— On Three Sins.
2nd Meditation. — On our own Sins.
3rd Meditation. — Effects of Sin on the Soul.
Consideration. — On Neglect of the Duties of our State.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 20, 11.
EXERCISES FOR A RETREAT OF EIGHT DAYS. 663
THIRD DAY.
ist Meditation.— On Hell.
2nd Meditation. — On Death.
3rd Meditation. — On General Judgment.
Consideration. — On Eternity.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 49 ; iii. 48.
FOURTH DAY.
I St Meditation. — The Kingdom of Christ.
2nd Meditation. — The Incarnation.
3rd Meditation. — The Nativity.
Consideration. — Spiritual Poverty and Detachment.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 10, 11.
FIFTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Adoration of the Magi.
2nd Meditation. — The Hidden Life.
3rd Meditation.^Two Standards.
Consideration. — On Obedience to Superiors.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 4, 13, 18.
SIXTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — Temptations in the Desert.
2nd Meditation. — The Miracles of Jesus.
3rd Meditation. — The Sermon on the Mount.
Consideration. — Jesus our Model in the Use of our
Tongue.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 46 — 59.
SEVENTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — The Agony in the Garden,
and Meditation. — The Treason of Judas and Flight of
the Apostles.
664 APPENDIX IV.
3rd Meditation. — Condemnation of Jesus.
Consideration. — On Humiliations.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 56.
EIGHTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Death upon the Cross.
2nd Meditation. — The Resurrection,
3rd Meditation. — The Contemplation on Divine Love.
Consideration. — Review the Considerations of the
Retreat.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 47.
• ORDER OF EXERCISES FOR A FOUR
DAYS' RETREAT.
FIRST DAY.
ist Meditation. — The End of Man.
2nd Meditation. — The End of the Christian.
3rd Meditation, — The End of Creatures.
4th Meditation. — Mortal Sin.
Consideration. — On the Duties of your State of Life.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 21, 22.
SECOND DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Three Sins.
2nd Meditation. — On our own Sins.
3rd Meditation. — On the Heinousness of Sin in ]
Christian.
4th Meditation.— On the Pains of Hell.
Consideration. —The Life of Faith.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 24.
EXERCISES FOR A RETREAT OF FOUR DAYS. 665
THIRD DAY.
I St Meditation. — The Kingdom of Christ.
2nd Meditation. — Two Standards.
3rd Meditation. — Three Classes.
4th Meditation. — Public Life of Christ.
Consideration. — The Election.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 48, 49.
FOURTH DAY.
I St Meditation.-T-The Interior Sufferings of Christ.
2nd Meditation. — The Exterior Sufferings of Christ.
3rd Meditation. — The Crucifixion.
4th Meditation. — The Resurrection.
Consideration. — Perseverance.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iv, 16, 17.
SECOND ORDER.
FIRST DAY.
I St Meditation. — The End of Man,
2nd Meditation. — On Sin.
3rd Meditation. — On our own Sins.
4th Meditation.— On Hell.
Consideration. — On Institution and Practice of
Penance.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 30, 31.
SECOND DAY.
ist Meditation. — On Death.
2nd Meditation. — On General Judgment.
666 APPENDIX IV.
3rd Meditation. — The Return of the Prodigal.
4th Meditation. — The Kingdom of Christ.
Consideration. — The Mass and Communion.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 2, 11, 13.
THIRD DAY.
ist Meditation. — Two Standards.
2nd Meditation. — Three Classes of Men.
3rd Meditation. — The Sermon on the Mount.
4th Meditation. — The Last Supper.
Consideration.. — The Election.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 15, 25; ii. 6.
FOURTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Crucifixion.
2nd Meditation. — The Death of Jesus.
3rd Meditation. — The Burial of Jesus.
4th Meditation. — The Resurrection.
Consideration. — Reformation of Life.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. ii. 7, 8.
THIRD ORDER.
FIRST DAY.
ist Meditation. — End of Man.
2nd Meditation. — On Sin.
3rd Meditation. — On Death.
4th Meditation.— On Hell.
Consideration. — On the Duties of our State.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. i. 25 ; ii. 5.
EXERCISES FOR A RETREAT OF FOUR DAYS. 667
SECOND DAY.
I St Meditation. — The Kingdom of Christ.
2nd Meditation. — The Incarnation.
3rd Meditation. — The Nativity.
4th Meditation. — The FHght into Egypt.
Consideration. — On Fraternal Charity.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation^ bk. iii. 18, 19.
THIRD DAY.
1st Meditation. — Two Standards.
2nd Meditation. — Three Classes of Men.
3rd Meditation. — Three Degrees of Humility.
4th Meditation. — The Eight Beatitudes.
Consideration. — On Value and Use of Time.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 8 — 10.
FOURTH DAY.
1st Meditation. — The Scourging at the Pillar.
2nd Meditation. — The Crowning with Thorns.
3rd Meditation. — The Death of the Cross.
4th Meditation.— The Ascension.
Consideration. — The Election.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 12; iv. 16.
FOURTH ORDER.
FIRST DAY.
ist Meditation.— The End of Man.
2nd Meditation.— The Three Sins.
3rd Meditation. — Venial Sin.
4th Meditation. — Purgatory.
Consideration. — The Value and Use of Time.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 57.
668 APPENDIX IV.
SECOND DAY.
I St Meditation. — The Kingdom of Christ.
2nd Meditation. — The Nativity.
3rd Meditation.— The Hidden Life.
4th Meditation. — Two Standards.
Consideration. — The Election.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 57, 59.
THIRD DAY.
I St Meditation. — Three Classes of Men.
2nd Meditation. — Baptism in the Jordan.
3rd Meditation. — The Institution of the Eucharist.
4th Meditation. — The Agony in the Garden.
Consideration. — On Fraternal Charity.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 47, 49.
FOURTH DAY.
ist Meditation. — The Carriage of the Cross.
2nd Meditation. — The Death upon the Cross.
3rd Meditation.— The Ascension.
4th Meditation. — The Contemplation on Divine Love.
Consideration. — Resignation to the Divine Will.
Spiritual reading. — Imitation, bk. iii. 24.
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