Chapter IV

However, we must bear in mind that membership of a religious Order does not necessarily secure all those advantages, and that in the same Order they are _obtained by different persons in very different degrees_. The chief requisite to obtain them is to be a fervent religious. The more generous one shall show himself to God, says St. Ignatius, the more generous he shall find God towards him, and the more fit shall he daily be to receive in greater abundance His graces and spiritual gifts. The rapidity of our spiritual progress is not like that of travellers in a ship on the sea, all of whom advance at the same rate, whether they are walking or sitting or lying down; but our progress is like that of men travelling on a highroad, each of whom has his own rate of advancement according to his own efforts.

Thus St. Aloysius, St. Stanislaus and St. John Berchmans advanced further in a few months than most religious do in many years.

While we have perhaps broken strong bonds in tearing ourselves away from home and kindred, let us not be attached to little things; a slender silken thread is enough to keep a bird from gaining its liberty, and thus a little trifle may prevent us from soaring aloft to higher regions of sanctity. God fully deserves the love of our whole hearts, which are too small to be divided between Him and the things of earth.

Let us examine ourselves during this retreat, and see whether we are drawing all the profit we should from the rich treasury of our religious vocation.

THE THIRD MEDITATION
On Indifference to Creatures

The third part of the Foundation: “_It is therefore necessary that we should make ourselves indifferent to all created things, in so far as it is left to the liberty of our free will to do so, and is not forbidden; in such sort that we do not for our part wish for health rather than sickness, for wealth instead of poverty, for honor rather than dishonor, for a long life rather than a short one, and so in all other things, desiring and choosing only that which most leads us to the end for which we were created._”

_1st Prelude._ Imagine you see bright Angels standing before the throne of God, waiting to be assigned as guardians to new-born infants; they are perfectly indifferent to take charge of rich or poor children in any part of the world.

_2nd Prelude._ Ask for a like spirit of perfect indifference to all creatures, caring for God alone and His holy will.

_POINT I._ Let me ask myself sincerely: am I now fully convinced that I am in this world for no other end than to praise, reverence and serve God, and thereby to save my soul? that I must use creatures only in as far as they conduce to this end? This is right and just, it is highly useful for me; it is necessary, the one thing necessary;—all else is vanity; it passes away in a short time.

“The world’s a stage, and men are only players,
They have their exits and their entrances.”

_POINT II._ What prevents me from always living up to that conviction? The reason is that I allow myself to be influenced by various predilections and aversions, by my likes and dislikes for certain things. If I were perfectly indifferent, as the Angels are, whose will has perfect control over all their affections, then I would choose on all occasions only what God wills, as far as His will would be known to me. Can I acquire such an indifference? I cannot help feeling an inclination to like or dislike certain things; for it is an effect of the fall of man that our passions often rebel against the spirit. But I can control these promptings to a great extent, and with God’s grace, acquire considerable power over their movements.

To strengthen this habit of control over my various inclinations is the purpose of the present meditation: that is meant by making myself indifferent to all created things.

And still St. Ignatius wisely adds: “In as far as they are allowed me and not forbidden”; lest the uninstructed might imagine that they might lawfully allow disorderly sentiments to arise within them without at once driving them away.

How can I make myself indifferent? By considering the evils connected with the things to which I am inclined, and the good to be derived from those disliked.

_POINT III._ Let me consider in detail some principal objects to which a man is not naturally indifferent, but he may with God’s grace make himself so.

1. _A long life or a short life._ For all I know, my eternal salvation may be much better secured if I should die soon than if I live yet many years. It was so with many persons, who were holy in their youth and were afterwards perverted. Therefore the Book of Wisdom says: “He pleased God and was beloved, and living among sinners he was translated. He was taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding and deceit beguile his soul” (iv, 10, 11). What a blessing it would have been for a Luther or a Henry VIII to have died young. As I do not know what is best for me, I ought in all reason to leave it all to God’s disposal, and make myself indifferent to a long life or a short life.

2. _Health or sickness._ In comparison with the salvation of my soul the enjoyment of health during this life is of slight importance; and common sense would bid me readily to resign the latter to secure the former. Now God alone knows when this is necessary. We read of a virtuous man in England, who made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas a’ Becket to be cured from blindness. He was heard, and returned rejoicing to his home. But he found soon after that the free use of his sight led him into many new temptations. So he returned to the same shrine and begged the Saint that, if it were for his greater spiritual good to be deprived of sight, this might be done rather than that he should fall into mortal sin. The Lord worked this second miracle to show what was really best for him.

3. _Riches or poverty._ The young man whom the Saviour invited to sell all and give to the poor and then follow Him had not the courage to answer the call, because he was very rich. And Jesus remarked it was difficult for a rich man to save his soul. It is then very wise not to care for riches, but to make one’s self indifferent on this point.

4. _Honor rather than dishonor._ History is full of examples of men who were virtuous while in an humble station, and who, after being raised to honors, became proud; now a proud man is odious in the sight of God.

5. _And so of all other things._ Let me ask myself whether there is any point on which I am not indifferent, and then consider how I may bend my mind in the opposite direction; then pray earnestly to our Lord and His Holy Mother to gain indifference to all created things.

_POINT IV._ Let me consider what will be the good effects of attaining such indifference. They will be:

1. Considerable increase in virtue; for thus my will becomes conformable to the will of God: I thus practise faith in His providence, and confidence in His paternal care of me.

2. Security from many dangers of sin, to which I should have been exposed if I had persisted in controlling my own fortunes.

3. Quiet of mind in the happy thought that God, to whom I abandon myself entirely, will dispose all for the best: “For we know that to them that love God all things work together unto good” (Rom. viii, 28). “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee” (Ps. 54). “My children, behold the generations of men, and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded” (Ecclus. ii, 11).

On the other hand those who are not indifferent to the things of earth live in constant agitation of mind, restless in the pursuit of fancied blessings, and disappointed when they fail to obtain them; and, what is still worse, frequently exposed to the danger of sin, sometimes of grievous sin, in their eagerness to obtain their desires, or in their reluctance to do their duty.

_Colloquy._ Pray earnestly, both during the meditation, when proper desires are aroused in your heart, and especially at the conclusion of the meditation, that you may totally detach your affections from all things created, and obtain the grace of indifference to all creatures.

THE SECOND DAY

We have now fully understood the end, or purpose, of our creation, which is to praise, reverence and serve God and thereby save our souls. We must next consider what will be the result if we freely refuse to live for that end, and prefer to do our own will in opposition to the will of God. The Lord is not going to prevent us from doing so; He will not interfere with the exercise of our free will. Were a child, in the fervor of its first Communion, most earnestly to beseech God to let it die young rather than live to commit a mortal sin, He would no doubt give it additional graces to avoid sin, but He will not control the child’s freedom. Every one of us must carve out his own future by his own free choice. We know what we have to do to make that future sovereignly happy; and we are now to consider prayerfully what evils threaten us if we refuse to do it. For this purpose we will now study certain historical facts, and see how other persons have fared.

FIRST MEDITATION
On Sin

This exercise affords a favorable opportunity to explain the ordinary process of meditation, which consists in applying to a chosen subject our three intellectual faculties, the memory, the understanding and the will, as shall now be shown in detail.

_Preparatory prayer_, as usual.

_1st Prelude._ Let me imagine I behold the scene which Christ described saying: “I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven” (St. Luke x, 18).

_2nd Prelude._ I ask the grace to understand how severely God has punished the sins of others, so that I may conceive an intense dread and horror of sin, especially of my own sins.

_POINT I._ Consider the first sin we know of, that by which the angels fell. Apply to it: 1. The _memory_, recalling the facts. They were created by the same Lord that made me, and for the same end, to praise, reverence and serve Him, and by this means to attain eternal bliss. They, like me, were put to a trial of their obedience; they were free to serve or no, as they chose.

A multitude of the angels refused to obey: they sinned. These were cast out of Heaven into Hell, and punished with the direst woe forever.

2. _The understanding_ takes in the striking points of analogy between their history and that of man: If they were so severely punished, what must man expect when he imitates their rebellion? What a dreadful evil sin must be, since a good and just God hates it so. Their great number did not save the angels, nor will the number of bad men be a protection; all men are like a little dust before the infinite God. Man’s excellence is below that of the angels, in power, in knowledge and in all natural gifts. They sinned but once; perhaps I have sinned repeatedly. What must I think of myself? of my past? of my future?

3. _My will_ is gradually moved by these and similar considerations to detest sin, to dread sin, to detest myself if I have sinned, to beg God to spare me. I must stir up my will to hate sin more and more, to protest to God my hatred of it, my self-reproach: “Spare me, Oh Lord, according to the multitude of thy mercies.”

_POINT II._ Consider the sin of our first parents. 1. _My memory_ recalls the facts. They were created by the same God and for the same end as I; they were loved by Him and placed in a garden of delights, in Paradise, destined to enjoy the vision of God forever. They were free. God allowed Satan to tempt them, as He allows him to tempt me: “The serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat” (Gen. iii, 4-6). They were in consequence cast out of Paradise, condemned to more than nine hundred years of toil and suffering, and to death, and all the evils that have befallen them and their posterity have been the punishment of sin.

2. _My understanding_ must weigh these facts and reason on them, so as to realize the boundless evil of rebelling against our sovereign Lord and Master. It is not only the words of God but even more His deeds that show us what He is and how He acts. His severity in punishing sin in creatures for which He had shown such generous love exhibits the utter abomination He has for moral evil.

3. I must stir up _my will_ to detest that same evil, to dread my own weakness which exposes me to sin again, to regret my past offenses, and to form strong resolutions for the future, praying earnestly for God’s help.

_POINT III._ St. Ignatius bids us consider a third sin, namely that of some person who has gone to Hell for one mortal offense. St. Liguori, in his little book “On the Commandments and Sacraments,” narrates a number of what he calls “Melancholic Examples,” of persons who appeared after death, and said they were damned for some one or more mortal sins which they had not properly confessed. One is the case of a woman, who had been reputed to be very devout, so much so that after her death her body had been treated with the greatest veneration. But the day after her burial she appeared to the Bishop of the place as if laid on a blazing fire, and she told him that she was damned on account of a mortal sin of thought she had concealed in confession.

1. _The memory_ must recall the facts; it matters not whether they are well authenticated or not, since the doctrine is certain that one mortal sin unpardoned is enough to damn the soul.

2. _The understanding_ reasons on the case, so as to realize vividly the sad results of dying in sin.

3. _The will_ is thus stirred up to hate sin as the greatest of all evils, and to avoid it at any sacrifice, according to the warning of Christ: “If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole body be cast into hell” (St. Matth. v, 29).

_Colloquy_ with Jesus dying for my sins upon the Cross, begging for grace to repent of all past sins, and to make strong resolutions against future offenses.

SECOND MEDITATION
On One’s Own Sins

It is well to remark here that, 1. The fact that St. Peter was forgiven did not prevent him from mourning for his sin all the rest of his life; 2. Many persons repine excessively under afflictions because they forget that they have deserved much worse by their sins; 3. The Saints mortified themselves severely for small faults; 4. This meditation is congenial to humble souls, like the Publican, but painful to the Pharisee; 5. The least we can do is to detest our sins heartily and to atone for them.

_1st Prelude._ Imagine you stand before God like the humble Publican, saying: “O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

_2nd Prelude._ Beg for an intense grief and confusion for your sins.

_POINT I._ Briefly recall to memory the series of your sins, from your early years, through childhood, boyhood, youth, through subsequent periods of your life, noticing successive places of abode, various occupations, companions, etc.

_POINT II._ Study to understand the evil of your sins, considering:

1. _Every species of sin has its own peculiar vileness_; for instance, lying is so odious that its very name is offensive, stealing is still worse, so that one caught in a theft is disgraced for life, gluttony is disgraceful, pride is odious to God and man, envy is mean, profanity is provoking to the great and holy God, deceit is despicable, vanity is ridiculous, impurity lowers a man beneath the brute, etc.

2. _Every sin is an insult to God._ When a person insults his equal, he incurs his displeasure and deserves punishment; more so when he insults his superior; and the offense is the greater in proportion as the party insulted is more distinguished and the offender lower in comparison. Now consider how great is God, who is insulted, compared to man, who insults Him:

a. The meanness of man. What is one man compared to a thousand men, to a thousand thousand, or million men? Like a little gnat flitting in the sunshine. And what are a million men compared to the one thousand five hundred millions of men now inhabiting the earth? And what are all these together compared to all the former and the future generations? And what are all men compared to the Angels of God?

And what are all creatures compared to the Creator Himself? Less than a drop of water compared to the vast ocean. What then am I compared to God? And yet, if I have ever sinned, I have put myself above God, my will above His will. If then I have often sinned, what punishment have I not deserved?

b. See the meanness of the body of man, which corrupts all it uses, and needs constant care to keep it from becoming insupportable, even to itself. See how death degrades it, how even sickness degrades it. And the soul of man: see how it is ever inclined to conceive and foster evil thoughts and desires, how it prompts to evil words and actions; so that St. Ignatius, who had been a proud soldier, when he came to know himself better, looked on himself as a running ulcer flowing with corruption. And yet in sinning, this vile being, man, rises up to insult God.

c. On the other hand consider the greatness of God, by comparison with the littleness of man: compare His power with man’s weakness, His knowledge with man’s ignorance, His eternity with man’s short span of life, His bounty with man’s selfishness, etc.

_POINT III._ I will arouse my will to detest my sinfulness, indignant against myself, and wondering that God continues to bear with me, to favor me, to have His Angels protect me, the earth support me; and He forbids all men to injure me, commands them to love me.

_Colloquy_ with my crucified Lord, begging His mercy and His pardon.

CONSIDERATION
On the Confession of the Retreat

The direct purpose of the first days of the retreat is to purify the soul of all guilt of sin and all attachment to sin. For this purpose the Sacrament of Penance is the most efficient means, and the confession of sins is an integral part of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.