Chapter II (1)

_To prepare for such a review_, we should consider those sins especially which are more likely to be committed by religious. In mentioning them we shall follow the order of the Decalogue.

_The First Commandment_ regards the worship of God. Under this head come wilful distractions or negligences in prayer, which may spoil considerable parts of our spiritual exercises; disrespectful handling of holy things, and the unworthy reception of the Sacraments. This last sin is of course rare among religious, but very grievous if it should occur; for it bears the guilt of sacrilege.

_The Second Commandment_ requires the observance of our vows. The vow of poverty is violated when a religious disposes of any temporal goods without permission of his superior, acting as if it were his own property. That of chastity attaches to the violation of the sixth and ninth commandments the additional guilt of sacrilege. The vow of obedience is violated when a religious refuses or neglects to do what he is commanded to do under obedience, or does what he is thus forbidden.

_The Third Commandment_ is not likely to be violated by religious.

_The Fourth Commandment_ obliges subjects to reverence and obey their superiors when they mean to impose an obligation of conscience; and they must be supposed to mean it when the good of souls or the glory of God requires them thus to use their authority. A precept of obedience in virtue of the vow is rarely imposed; but commands in matters of some importance derive from the natural law power to oblige any subjects to obey their lawful superiors, independently of any vow. If serious consequences are likely to follow from the violation of the command, the sin may be grievous.

_The Fifth Commandment_ says: “Thou shalt not kill,” and forbids all wilful injury to another’s or to one’s own body. Of course religious are not likely to injure others violently; but this commandment may be violated in many other ways. One may neglect his own health or injure it by indiscretion in the use of food and drink, thus bringing on diseases by which many a life is shortened. A superior or an infirmarian may neglect the proper care of sick or delicate persons, a pastor or teacher that of school children, etc. Injury done to the souls of others by scandal, or bad example, may also be considered under this commandment; and there are very many ways of giving scandal.

The Fifth Commandment also forbids quarrelling, unreasonable anger, hatred and revenge. A religious teacher, for instance, must be careful that, when obliged to punish children, he does not allow himself to be prompted by passion; and revenge is totally opposed to the spirit of Christ.

_The Sixth Commandment_ forbids any act of impurity wilfully committed; and it has this peculiarity that it admits of no slight matter, but the sin is always grievous when the impure pleasure is sought or admitted with full knowledge and full consent.

_The Seventh Commandment_ forbids stealing and all injustice done to others in their material possessions. The religious state is a strong protection against these sins; still it does not make them impossible. It may happen that a religious does not fulfill all the conditions of a contract; as for instance, when a teacher neglects his class or some of his pupils, so that these do not really get the value of the tuition charges.

_The Eighth Commandment_ enjoins both truthfulness and regard for another’s good name. A lie is never allowed, and mental reservations must not be used but for good reasons, lest human intercourse lose the charm and security of mutual confidence.

Any lessening of another’s good name without sufficient reason is sinful, and it is doubly so when the accusation is false; even a rash judgment or suspicion is wrong, yet it may be mistaken without being rash. The great rule is: “See thou never do to another what thou wouldst hate to have done to thee by another” (Tob. iv, 16).

_The Ninth and Tenth Commandments_ forbid sinful thoughts and desires in matters forbidden by the Sixth and Seventh Commandments. On this point St. Ignatius remarks that when an evil thought is promptly dismissed, there is merit, not sin; and if it returns again and again and is always resisted, there is more and more merit. But a venial sin is committed when one listens to the evil suggestion so as to dwell a little on it, or to admit some carnal delight, or to be somewhat negligent in rejecting it. A grievous sin supposes that the thought or desire is fully consented to.

THE THIRD MEDITATION
On Eternal Loss

_Remarks_: The purpose of the first days of the Exercises being to inspire an intense and lasting hatred of sin, it is highly proper that we should meditate on the principal punishment of sin, the eternal loss of the soul, the pains of Hell. Many Saints have been led to Heaven by the road of fear, some religious Orders acknowledge this as their chief spirit. No one can afford to do without the fear of God; we should all nourish it; so that, if ever our love of God should be too weak to keep us from sin, the fear of Hell may restrain us. We descend into that abyss in thought at present, that we may not hereafter be cast into it in reality.

_1st Prelude._ Imagine you see in the center of the earth a vast ocean of fire, in which are plunged countless souls condemned to eternal punishment.

_2nd Prelude._ Beg earnestly from your Sovereign Lord for an intense and abiding fear of those awful sufferings and for a firm purpose of never sinning again.

_POINT I._ Recall to memory what we know of Hell; in particular:

1. That its existence and its dreadful nature are as clearly revealed in Holy Writ as any truth whatever. For instance, Christ said: “If thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee with one eye to enter into the kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. For every one shall be salted with fire” (St. Mark ix, 46, 48). Then there is the parable of Dives and Lazarus (St. Luke, xvi, 19-31).

2. That Hell awaits all those who die in mortal sin, whatever they may have been in life, religious or seculars, bishops or priests.

3. That vast multitudes go there: “Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat” (St. Matth. vii, 13).

Many who were supposed to be holy. See St. Liguori, “Melancholy Examples.”

Many who had begun well, as Judas had.

4. That I am in danger, as long as I live, of sinning mortally, of dying in sin and losing my soul. Perhaps some are in Hell through my fault.

_POINT II._ _What are the sufferings of the body in Hell_?

All the senses will be tormented, as for their gratification God has been offended. Chiefly the sense of touch, and that by the horrible torture of fire: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (St. Matth. xxv, 41), “Which of you can dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Is. xxiii, 14).

God showed St. Teresa in a vision the place the Devil had prepared for her in Hell. She narrates it thus: “I was one day in prayer, when I found myself in a moment, without knowing how, plunged apparently into Hell. I understood that it was our Lord’s will that I should see the place which the devils kept in readiness for me, and which I had deserved by my sins. It was but a moment, but it seems to me impossible that I should ever forget it, if I were to live many years. The entrance seemed to be by a long and narrow pass, like a furnace, very low, dark and close. The ground seemed to be saturated with water, mere mud, exceedingly foul, sending forth pestilential odors and covered with loathsome vermin. At the end was a hollow place in the wall, like a closet, and in that I saw myself confined. All this was even pleasant to behold in comparison with what I felt there” (Coleridge, “Life of St. Teresa,” Vol. I, p. 133). “She says,” Father Coleridge adds, “she cannot describe what she felt. There was a fire in her soul. She suffered unendurably in her body. All that she had suffered in diseases, or in what Satan had been allowed to inflict upon her, was as nothing in comparison; and she saw there was to be no intermission, no end to the pain. But the pains of the body were as nothing to the pains of the soul. She describes the anguish as a sense of oppression and stifling in the soul, all the while tearing itself to pieces with remorse and despair.”

_POINT III._ _What are the sufferings of the soul?_

1. _The memory_ will recall the abundance of graces, by which salvation could so easily have been secured; the example of companions who were innocent or sincerely penitent, who are now in Heaven; the soul’s own goodness and happiness at the time of its first Communion and at other periods of its life.

2. _The understanding_ will then fully realize that one thing alone was necessary while on earth, that life was given to work out salvation, that all the rest was vanity, that all illusions are now dispelled, and there is no happiness to be found by the creature except in God; there is only total disappointment, absolute loss of all satisfaction; and this pain of disappointed love will then be greater than all the other sufferings.

3. _The will_ then will desire only God, for the love and possession of whom all its nature longs, because it was made for Him alone. Therefore the soul will hate its own perverseness with a sovereign hatred, and curse itself in its absolute despair.

4. The soul will always have present to its mind _the awful sentence_ pronounced by the Supreme Judge: “Depart from me into eternal fire.” “Eternal”: What, in comparison, are days, or nights, or months, or years of suffering? Ever in pain, ever in despair; no end, no hope of an end or of any mitigation.

_Colloquy_ with Jesus crucified, dying for our sins; with Mary, the refuge of sinners.

THE THIRD DAY

THE FIRST MEDITATION
A Preparation for Death

_1st Prelude._ A captain of infantry had been ordered by his general to lead his company at the first dawn of light the next morning up a neighboring hill where the enemy had just planted a masked battery. To spend the intervening night he had a log cabin allotted him. He felt it was a dangerous task assigned him, as he was likely to be shot while ascending the hill at the head of his men. Yet he faltered not, for he was brave. But before lying down to rest, he lit a candle, pulled out his prayer book, and knelt down to prepare himself for a good death.

Imagine that God gives you the present hour to prepare for your own approaching death.

_2nd Prelude._ O Lord: give me the grace of making to-day a thoroughly good preparation for death.

_POINT I._ _It is absolutely certain that I shall die_, it is only a matter of more or less delay; “It is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebr. ix, 27). “Dust thou art and into dust thou shalt return” is the sentence pronounced on me, as on all men. No sensible man doubts this, yet many try to forget it, and live as if the sentence were not for them. O my Lord God! I will not be so foolish; and I accept with humility the sentence of death. I have deserved it, and I will suffer it in punishment and expiation of my sins.

_POINT II._ _All the circumstances of my death are very uncertain._ 1. _The time._ No one but God can assure me of another day of life. Many are at this moment in vigorous health who will be dead to-morrow. I may be one of them: “If thou shalt not watch, I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I shall come to thee” (Apoc. iii, 3). A thief comes when least expected. Many are sick for a time and yet expire suddenly before they realize their danger. Even many of the Saints were called away in the middle of their most important careers: St. Francis Xavier when on the point of entering China, St. Thomas Aquinas before he could finish his Summa of Universal Theology, St. Bonaventure during the General Council of Lyons, etc. Am I ready? Was I ready at any hour of last year?

2. _The place_ may be anywhere; we cannot find a spot secure against the shafts of death.

3. _The manner_; It may be sudden, whether from a latent disease which we never suspected, or from any of the multitudinous accidents so common in the modern rush of life.

Or it may be preceded by weeks of suffering in an unconscious or semi-conscious condition. Even when the danger is known to others, it is often hidden from the patient. My Lord God! I humbly submit beforehand to all the circumstances Thou hast determined shall attend my death, to all its physical and mental sufferings, to its sudden stroke or lingering approach. Only grant me the grace of being well disposed when it shall arrive. Make known to me, I pray, what sacrifices I must make that I may be well prepared.

_POINT III._ _What shall be my sentiments when death is nigh?_ Some rejoice at its approach; like St. Paul, they wish to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Many are horrified when it comes, and wish in vain that they could live their lives all over again. Now is the time to prepare, then it will be too late. Many again, even good Christians and religious, would then wish to make some more or less important changes before expiring. Now is the time to make them.

I have seen a novice dying most joyously, with these words on his lips: “I know I am going to Heaven.” I have seen a religious priest, who had led a pious and zealous life, bursting into tears on his deathbed, explaining that he now realized how much more he could have done for God and the good of souls, and how bitterly he regretted his former negligences. And yet he was a model pastor of souls. What shall be my sentiments?

_Colloquy_ with Jesus and Mary, begging earnestly to know now what is still wanting to me, that I may provide in good time; “O Lord! make me know my end—that I may know what is wanting to me!” (Ps. 38).

THE SECOND MEDITATION
On the Particular Judgment

_1st Prelude._ Imagine that your soul has left your body and is now to be judged by Christ.

_2nd Prelude._ Ask earnestly that you may understand all things now as you shall then, and that you may act accordingly.

_POINT I._ _Consider when that judgment will take place_: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and, after this, the judgment” (Hebr. ix, 27). Human tribunals delay trials to take evidence; not so God. One moment we may be sinning or meriting, the next moment we are judged for it. No warning is given beforehand, as for a college examination. The rich man of whom Christ said that he was going to build new barns, saying to his soul: “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thy rest, eat, drink, make good cheer,” was rebuked by the Lord, saying: “Thou fool, this night they will require thy soul from thee” (St. Luke xii, 16-20).

Be ever ready. Make frequent acts of perfect contrition. Make every confession as if it were to be the last of your life.

_POINT II._ _Consider the persons present_: 1. _The soul_; Father Gaudier, S. J., describes it thus: “It receives a novel manner of knowing, without the body, by which its entire life is represented to it at a glance. It thoroughly understands what is the nature of created things, its own present condition and the new aspect of things; and it sees itself naked, solitary and deserted by all, with nothing but its good and bad works, in the presence of its Judge. Hence arises a very different view of its own concerns and all created and external things from what it had before. Besides, its will is changed; for all love of created goods is vanished, and in its stead there is a most powerful impulse towards God as its last end. This tendency, now that the hindrance of the body is removed, urges it most forcibly to this union” (Introd. ad Solid. Perfect., p. 196).

2. _Christ_ is now manifested to the soul. He is the God who condemned to eternal woe the rebel angels, Judas, and all who are in Hell, and who has rewarded all the Saints with eternal bliss. As man, He is now going to examine what fruit the soul now before Him has produced. No other parties can well be expected to be present, except, perhaps the Guardian Angel and an evil spirit, ready to execute the sentence.

_POINT III._ _Consider the account to be rendered_, of every thought, word, action and omission from the first dawn of reason till the last breath. Even good works may contain many imperfections, as St. Paul explains by this comparison. “Other foundation no man can lay but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is” (I Cor. iii, 11-16).

The examination will embrace all the Commandments of God and of the Church, the duties of one’s state of life, the proper use of one’s talents, one’s opportunities, etc.

a. There are _two consoling thoughts_ in this matter.

1. The religious vows probably act as a second Baptism, cancelling all former debts. St. Thomas attributes this effect to the perfect dispositions of the person making them. If this is the reason, then it would seem that the renewal of vows may have the same effect, whenever it is made with equally good dispositions.

2. Whatever has once been forgiven remains forgiven. Merit when lost may return, but forgiven sins do not return.

b. Yet there are _two classes of sins that may well cause anxiety_.

1. Those of which we have never truly repented, perhaps because we were too proud to admit we were to blame, and laid the blame on others instead.

2. Those sins which we have very often confessed, but which we have made no serious efforts to avoid in future, perhaps because we had no real contrition for them.

_POINT IV._ _The sentence_ will be just what is deserved; for a judgment is not an act of mercy, but of the intellect seeing the truth of things and pronouncing accordingly: “I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will lay upon thee all thy crimes. My eye shall not spare, neither will I show mercy” (Ezech. vii, 8, 9). “Then will he (the Son of man) render to every man according to his works” (St. Matth. xvi, 27).

If a mortal sin be there, all is lost: “If a just man shall turn away from his justice and shall commit iniquity—he shall die in his sin, and his justices which he hath done shall not be remembered” (Ezech. iii, 20).

The sentence will be final, because there is no appeal to a higher tribunal, and we can no longer merit a change: “The night cometh when no man can work” (St. John ix, 4).

The sufferings of Purgatory come to an end, but merit neglected to be acquired can never more be gained.

We may well exclaim with St. Magdalene de Pazzi: “It is a terrible thing to have to stand before the judgment seat of God.”

_Colloquy._ Ask to understand all things now as you shall realize them at the judgment.

CONSIDERATION
On Purity of Conscience

The main purpose of the first part of the Spiritual Exercises, or what St. Ignatius calls the first week, is to purify the soul from all stains of sin, and to strengthen it against all temptations to sin in future. Of course mortal sin is the principal evil to be destroyed, it is the greatest evil in the world. Since the religious life is essentially the way of perfection, it presupposes the destruction of mortal sin; being the way of the counsels, it supposes the observance of the Commandments.

Yet it is quite proper that religious in their yearly retreats should review the Exercises of the first week, the meditations regarding mortal sins and the fear of the Lord, not so much to obtain pardon of sins committed, as to strengthen their resolutions and to take precaution against committing sins in the future. In fact, as a rule, religious do not commit mortal sins; and, although they must be constantly on their guard against temptations,—because, while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak,—yet it is a consoling truth that they rarely fall so low. A religious that frequently commits mortal sins lives far below the normal standard of his state of life. He is indeed greatly to be pitied, and is in serious danger of becoming a reprobate. Of course no one should ever be discouraged, but such a person should arouse himself to fervent prayer and vigorous exertions; he is walking on the brink of the precipice.

Whoever has come to the present part of the Spiritual Exercises is supposed to have conceived an intense horror of mortal sin. But we ought not to be satisfied with attaining this first degree of purity of conscience; we ought to strive seriously to attain the second degree, or to confirm ourselves in the same; that is, we ought also carefully to avoid the commission of all deliberate venial sins. We must distinguish between two kinds of venial sins, the deliberate and the indeliberate. Both kinds suppose that, while committing them, we are aware that we are doing something which God forbids, or omitting what He commands; else we do not really displease Him. But the sin is deliberate when we fully notice the evil, and do it nevertheless with full consent of our free will; else it may be called indeliberate. Indeliberate sins will escape from time to time even very virtuous persons, owing to our unruly passions and the weakness of the human will in consequence of Adam’s sin and of evil habits.

Each of such faults, singly considered, could be avoided; for whatever cannot be avoided at all cannot be laid to our blame; but all cannot be avoided together. Thus a beginner may be able to pronounce correctly every word on a page of his reader, but will not proceed far without making some mistakes.

So we cannot avoid all indeliberate venial sins a long time together, unless God give us an extraordinary grace to do so.

But with the ordinary grace of God a virtuous person may avoid all deliberate venial sins. For this purpose we must first of all convince ourselves of the great evil contained in every wilful offense of God; for by such offense a poor mortal puts his will above the will of his Creator and Lord. This evil is so great that no creature, nor even all creatures united, could by their own power fully atone for it.

This becomes more evident when we consider some examples of the severe punishments inflicted by the Lord on those guilty of such offences. Thus when King David had committed an act of vanity by ordering an enumeration of all his subjects to see how great a monarch he had become, which seems to have been only a venial sin, the Lord sent to him the prophet Gad, to give him the choice between three punishments, namely three years of famine, three months of flight before his enemies or three days of pestilence on his people. He chose the pestilence, and it carried off seventy thousand men (I Paral. xxi).

Moses for a venial fault was refused the honor of leading the Chosen People into the promised land, which would have been a fitting crown of all his labors. His sister Mary, for some murmuring against her brother, was stricken with a leprosy and humiliated before all the people. In fact, leprosy is a striking figure of the effect of venial sin on the soul; for it disfigures the soul without depriving it of life. If a visible leprosy were usually the effect of wilful venial sin, men would be as anxious to avoid such an evil as they are now to escape that bodily plague.

Then there are the pains of Purgatory to be considered, which are deserved by venial sins; they are worse than any pain known to us in this life. For, as St. Thomas remarks, they are different in kind: the fire of Purgatory is not created for the service and comfort of man, but for his punishment and torture. The examples of its duration which have been made known by revelations to saintly souls are proofs of the terrible evil such offences are in the sight of the just, all-holy God. Father Faber, in his “All for Jesus” says: “In the revelations of Sister Frances of Pampeluna, we find that, among some hundreds of cases, by far the greater majority suffered 30, 40 or 60 years” (pp. 394, 395).

There results besides from venial sins a still worse consequence than any transitory suffering, namely that they expose us to the danger of committing mortal sins and losing our soul for eternity. This happens in two ways, naturally and supernaturally.

1. It is _natural_ for man, when he does a good or a bad act, to become thereby more inclined to do the same again under similar influences and circumstances; thus habits are contracted of virtue and vice. The commission of venial sins therefore inclines the soul to sin more readily thereafter, and to sin, not only oftener, but also more grievously; and thus venial often lead to mortal sins. This is not theory only, but the teaching of constant experience. For instance, a religious has acquired great purity of conscience, he is a model of modesty; but he begins to neglect his rules, he gets accustomed to glance rather freely at indelicate objects, he becomes habituated to indulge his curiosity. Still he would shrink from anything impure. But his imagination becomes more indelicate, his passions less restrained, wilful venial sins multiply and grievous falls may follow sooner than he expected. Mortal sins themselves may become habitual, and who can tell where the evil will end? Even if only one mortal sin were thus brought about, the evil is the greatest of misfortunes. But this growing habit is likely to get still worse.

2. _Supernaturally_ a similar process is going on. By every act of virtue we obtain, along with the merit, additional actual grace to merit more; but when we sin, we fail to obtain this new accession of grace; and thus it becomes less likely that we shall do better next time. We may thus lose more and more grace by repeated venial faults; and in face of an unusually strong temptation, we may be so weak as to yield assent. No one becomes very bad on a sudden; but many gradually lose their virtue and become reprobates. History is full of such examples, and daily experience ought to be a constant warning against such danger.

But even if there were no danger of mortal sin (which is, of course, a false supposition) a religious has a special reason to avoid all deliberate sin in the fact that he has been made a favorite disciple of the Blessed Saviour. When he wantonly offends the Lord, he deserves to some extent the reproach originally addressed to the Chosen People, and afterwards applied to Judas: “If my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him. But thou a man of one mind, my guide and my familiar, who didst take sweetmeats together with me; in the house of the Lord we walked with consent” (Ps. 54). We would not willingly grieve or insult a friend; and is not Jesus our dearest and most devoted friend? Certainly it ought to be one of the principal resolutions of the retreat to strive earnestly and unceasingly to avoid all deliberate sins.

THE THIRD MEDITATION
To Excite Perfect Contrition

It is highly proper that we should not conclude this first part of the retreat without striving earnestly to arouse within our hearts a deep sorrow for all our sins, and that for the most perfect of motives, namely because by them we have offended God, who is infinitely good in Himself and infinitely bountiful to us. For this purpose we are going to spend this hour of meditation in considering various manifestations of the Divine goodness.

_1st Prelude._ Imagine you behold the return of the Prodigal Son, whom his aged father clasps most affectionately to his heart.

_2nd Prelude._ Ask earnestly for an intense love of God and a perfect contrition for all your sins.

_POINT I._ Consider the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which the Lord Jesus Himself has given us a most striking picture of the goodness of our Heavenly Father. We may read to advantage the whole parable (St. Luke xv, 11, etc.), but chiefly xv, 20-24: “And rising up he came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion; and running to him fell upon his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, I am not now worthy to be called thy son. And the father said to his servants: Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; because this my son was dead and is come to life again, was lost and is found; and they began to make merry.”

Not a word of reproach, no limit to the pardon, only expressions of happiness, and solicitude to restore the boy’s honor. Thus does God act with sincere penitents.

_POINT II._ As the feast prepared is to-morrow’s Holy Communion, we will consider in the next place how Christ _prepared_ His Apostles for their Communion. “Before the festival day of the Pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, and that he should pass out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

“And when supper was done—he rises from supper, and layeth aside his garments and having taken a towel, girdeth himself, etc.” (St. John xiii, 1-5).

The washing of the feet is the image of the Sacrament of Penance, in which Christ washes away our sins in His sacred blood. What a wonderful invention of His infinite love: And how we ought to love Him, in return, instead of offending Him by sin. Elicit an act of contrition.

_POINT III._ Consider that other manifestation of Divine love, the institution of the Blessed Sacrament: “Whilst they were at supper Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye and eat, this is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins” (St. Matth. xxvi, 26-28).

Could we conceive any greater love than that Christ should feed us with His own sacred body and blood? And yet, when we sin, we turn against Him, as when a serpent bites its benefactor who warms it in his bosom. My God, pardon me! My God, I love Thee above all things! I am most sorry for having offended Thee!

A consoling fact like the following may give us a more sensible appreciation of the favor granted us in the reception of Holy Communion. On All Saints Day, 1612, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez had received the Blessed Sacrament with his brethren, when the good Lord showed him in a sensible manner His presence in the hearts of all those who had just communicated, so that he beheld the Saviour resplendent with glory, whole and entire in each of the religious (Life of Bl. Alph. Rodr. by a Lay-brother, p. 82).

_POINT IV._ Imagine you visit a church or chapel at midnight. Jesus Christ is there then, as at every hour of night and day. He is praying for you to His Heavenly Father, because he loves you, and He knows you need abundant graces to lead a worthy life. It was when Blessed Margaret Mary was adoring Him in her convent chapel that Jesus appeared to her on the altar pointing to His Sacred Heart, and saying: “Behold the Heart that has loved man so much, and I receive nothing but coldness in return.” He longs for love; and certainly we did not love Him when we sinned. O my Jesus! I wish to love Thee. I detest my sins.

_Colloquy_ with our dear Lord, protesting to Him that I love Him sincerely with my whole heart and soul, that I am most heartily sorry for having offended Him, because He is infinitely amiable, begging that I may love Him more and more.

THE FOURTH DAY

Now that we have freed our souls from every sinful affection, Christ comes to offer Himself to lead us on, that by following Him we may establish the Kingdom of God in our own souls and in the souls of others. The study of the end of man was the foundation of a good life, the study of the following of Christ is the foundation of a perfect life.

FIRST MEDITATION
The Kingdom of Christ

_1st Prelude._ Imagine you see Christ going from town to town, announcing the Kingdom of His Father.

_2nd Prelude._ Ask for grace to understand the call and to follow Him with a generous heart.

_POINT I._ Consider this parable: God has chosen a most noble Catholic prince, endowed with all the virtues that conciliate the esteem and love of every good and brave man; and He has appointed him to put down all the enemies of Christ, to establish the Kingdom of God in all countries, and make the Lord reign supreme over all mankind. He is the greatest of heroes, accomplished in person, magnetic in influence, beyond any mortal that has ever appeared on earth.

This King issues a call to all Catholic warriors (for in this parable only warriors are spoken of) inviting them to rally under his standard. They are going to fight for the grandest, holiest and dearest of all causes. He promises them certain victory, no one of his followers shall perish unless it be through his own fault. Yet it will be a strenuous campaign, full of hardships and fatigue for all concerned. But the King himself will ever be in the midst of his soldiers, in the thickest of the fight, sharing in their hardships and privations, so that no one will be expected to toil and endure more than the leader; and each one shall share in the victory in proportion to the sacrifices he shall have made in the holy cause.

What should a brave warrior answer to such an appeal? The promises may appear to be excessive, impossible; but they are so in the parable only, not in the real facts figured by it.

_POINT II._ Now consider the application to the reality signified. The Son of God Himself is that King, nobler and grander than any mere human genius or hero, who has truly come into this world to establish the Kingdom of God, and who is accomplishing this appointed task.

He calls upon all men, women and children to follow Him in His contest against God’s enemies; not that He needs their aid, but that they may share in the glory of the victory.

For this purpose all must, in some measure, share His labors and His sacrifices; but He will ever be by their side, and endure more than any of them. Every one will share in the magnificent rewards in proportion to his generous exertions.

What answer should every generous heart make to such an appeal from his great, good God, his sovereign Lord and Saviour? “To-day, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts” exclaims the Psalmist (Ps. 94).

_POINT III._ Those who wish to show greater affection, and to signalize themselves in the King’s service, not only will offer their whole persons to labor, but will also act against their own sensuality, and say: “Eternal Lord of all things, I make my oblation with Thy favor and help, in the presence of Thine infinite goodness, and in the sight of Thy glorious Mother, and of all the Angels of Thine Heavenly court, protesting that I wish and desire, and that it is my deliberate determination (provided only it be for Thy greater service and praise) to imitate Thee in bearing all insults and reproaches, and all poverty, as well actual poverty as poverty of spirit, if only Thy Divine Majesty be pleased to choose and receive me to this life and state.” As Jesuits, we are certainly called to this close imitation of Christ. We must, not only faithfully resist all temptations to sin, but also generously follow our King in sacrificing lawful pleasures, trampling upon worldly honors, upon self-esteem and bodily comforts, leading mortified lives, as worthy companions of Jesus.

_POINT IV._ That war against Satan and against human depravity has been going on for nineteen centuries. Millions have been following Christ to victory, and are now reigning with Him in Heaven. Our time is come; we too must make our choice. Our King has said: “He who is not with me is against me,” “No man can serve two masters” (St. Matth. vi, 24). Let us offer ourselves to be the generous and faithful followers of our Blessed Saviour, imitating Him on earth that we may follow Him into the glory of Heaven.

What sacrifices in particular can I offer Him?

_Colloquy._ Beg earnestly for light and grace to understand and follow the example of Christ.

SECOND MEDITATION
On the Incarnation

Here St. Ignatius begins what he calls the Second Week of his Exercises, in which he bids us study how the great King leads us in the grand enterprise of establishing the Kingdom of His Father, by considering His coming on earth, His nativity, His childhood and His private life. The main purpose all along is to make us know Him more intimately, love Him more ardently and follow Him more faithfully. This following consists in making ourselves more and more like to Him: “Whom he (God) foreknew he also predestinated to be made comformable to the image of his Son” (Rom. viii, 29). By this conformity to Christ we make God reign in our hearts and prepare ourselves to enter into His Heavenly Kingdom.

In this and the following exercises a change is made in the process so far followed; namely, instead of recalling the facts to memory in the body of the meditation, we now recall them in a special prelude, put before the two usual ones. Then in the points we do less reasoning; we rather look on and behold the event as it were passing before our eyes, noticing in particular the persons, their words and their actions, and dwelling on the thoughts and the sentiments which they suggest to our minds. From the fact that we behold rather than reason, these exercises are usually called _contemplations_, rather than _meditations_, though the name is of little importance, provided the process be well understood.

_1st Prelude._ Recall the facts to mind, as they are related by St. Luke (i, 26-38).

_2nd Prelude._ Imagine you see the face of the earth, as it was at that time, inhabited by diverse races of men, civilized and barbarian, all steeped in vice and rushing on, a vast torrent, into the abyss of Hell. In the little town of Nazareth the Virgin Mary at prayer, and God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost looking down from Heaven upon the varied scene.

_3rd Prelude._ Beg fervently that you may understand this mystery, and may learn from it to know your King, Christ, more clearly, love Him more ardently and follow Him more faithfully.

_POINT I._ _Study the scene_ as it was before the descent of the Angel, noticing the persons, with their words and actions.

1. _The human race_, in a great variety of conditions: some rich, others poor; some learned, others ignorant; some refined, others rude; some suffering, others rejoicing; talking of wars and of pleasure, adoring idols; but nearly all rushing on, like a vast torrent, into Hell.

2. Then consider the _chaste Virgin Mary_, praying for the coming of the Messias, lowering herself in her own mind, thinking of her littleness before God. Thus the poet tells of a drop of water saying to itself: “how little I am in the vast ocean around me;” and at that moment a shellfish swallowed the drop, and it lay hardening in the shell, and it became the choicest pearl that ever shone on a queenly diadem. So was Mary chosen in her humility.

3. Consider the _three Divine Persons_ looking down from Heaven upon the scene below, seeing the mass of moral corruption, yet, instead of sending down avenging fire or a new deluge of water to punish the guilty race, pitying its sad condition. The Son of God steps down from His throne, and casts Himself at the feet of His Heavenly Father, offering Himself to assume our mortal nature and to atone for our sins.

Here is the first step of our King, lowering Himself: _Exinanivit semetipsum_: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man” (Phil. ii, 7). We are to imitate Him, to be made like to Him. This is our first lesson; let us learn it well: we must be humble.

_POINT II._ The Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary to announce her selection as the Mother of God. He comes, not to the mighty city of Rome, to its gilt palaces and learned scholars; the things of earth are very small in the sight of God. He comes to an unknown little town in a despised country, to a poor maiden, unknown to the world.

_Listen to the words spoken_: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.” Mary is too humble to realize that such words could be suitable to her: “She was troubled at his saying.” But the Angel explains and dispels her fear. He adds: “Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the most High.” Now her Virgin heart is alarmed; so precious is the jewel of virginity in her sight. “How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the Angel answering said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Thus reassured, she understands that such is the will of God; her answer beautifully expresses her humility: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.” She does not say: behold then the future queen of Heaven and earth, but the handmaid of the Lord. Jesus has associated her with Himself making her, here and all through life, the model of every virtue.

Her example is like that of the Redeemer: humility, humility.

_POINT III._ After her consent had thus been expressed, God, who always respects the free will of men, formed in her womb, from her virgin blood, the body of her Divine Son: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (St. John i, 14). As when he formed the body of Adam out of the slime of the earth, He breathed into his face the breath of life; so now He created the soul of Christ, and united it at once with the embryonic body to build it up to the perfection of manhood, and at the same moment God the Son assumed this humanity into substantial union with His Divine Person.

This is the second step in the career of our King, again a species of self-annihilation: _Exinanivit semetipsum_. It is also an example of His love for men, of His boundless zeal for their salvation and glorification. He stooped down to earth in order to raise man to Heaven.

_Colloquy_ with the Lord incarnate:—gratitude, love; promise to follow Him, to humble self, to labor for the good of souls. Ask for the help of Mary. Our Father—Hail Mary.

CONSIDERATION
On the Imitation of Christ

The main truth that St. Ignatius inculcates, both in the meditation on the Kingdom of Christ and in all the subsequent portions of his Exercises, is that man must be perfected by imitating Christ, by making himself like to the Son of God made man, according to the words of St. Paul: “Whom God foreknew he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. viii, 29).

The intense love of God, which the Saint conceived during his retreat at Manresa, prompted him to make himself as like to Christ as, with God’s grace, was possible; and the zeal for the salvation of souls, which he learned from the example of Christ, urged him to form a band of men like to himself, or rather like to the God-man, a select band to be, as it were, a bodyguard of the Divine King in the holy warfare, undertaken to establish the Kingdom of God. This is the spirit of the Society of Jesus, and of all religious Orders, and to some extent of all who wish to attain perfection. For this purpose the principal means to be used is the study of the life of Christ, which is to be the chief occupation of the exercitant during this and the following days. It is not a work of human skill, but one of the direct influence of the Holy Spirit; He alone can produce in the heart of man the supernatural likeness to the Son of God. As He sanctified St. Ignatius, so He sanctifies all those who faithfully and generously perform these exercises.

We may, in some respects, compare the process of sanctification to the work of a painter who produces an exquisite likeness of a distinguished personage on his canvas. The first outlines of the supernatural likeness of a child of men to the Son of God are traced by the Divine Artist in the Sacrament of Baptism. The infant’s soul receives the precious impress as the unconscious canvas receives the colors, without its own co-operation. Yet already then the difference is immense between a mere child of earth and an adopted child of God. But very much remains to be accomplished by the Holy Ghost before the likeness is perfected. And this increase of sanctification is the most important work that is being done on earth from generation to generation: “For the perfecting of the Saints—for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. iv, 12).

Most of this further sanctification is to be produced by the Holy Ghost in our hearts with our co-operation: He teaches us how to _make ourselves_ like to Christ, while He aids us to do it. For His teaching does not consist in simply suggesting to us what we must do, as we teach a child its Catechism; but He acts as does a music teacher with his pupils, who makes them constantly practise what they are learning. It is by their own efforts that they are to acquire the art. So the Spirit of God makes us like unto Christ by helping us to act as Christ did, to practise the virtues of which He has given us the example. In this consists the sanctification of the soul, in the imitation of Christ.

How Christ acted during His whole career, from His incarnation to His ascension, this is the study of the second, third and fourth weeks of the Exercises. We will here call attention to some of the characteristic traits of His life on earth.

1. His conduct was diametrically opposed to that by which Adam and Eve had forfeited their original happiness. They had aspired to rise above their own condition and become like unto God. For the Devil had said: “God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. iii, 5). Christ, on the contrary, while being God, stooped down and made Himself man; and He continued lowering Himself more and more, becoming the poorest child on earth, born in a stable, laid upon straw, “a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people” (Ps. 21), condemned to a shameful death, and, as a criminal, crucified with thieves. If then we wish to be like Christ, we must practise humility.

2. Another characteristic trait of Christ’s conduct is seen in the means He used to establish the Kingdom of His Father. He could have made the colossal power of Rome His tool to effect that purpose, or have employed the wisdom of the philosophers or the elegance of the writers of that classic age. But instead He used ignorant and timid men, and first gathered into His fold the poor and despised of the earth, as St. Paul expressed it: “For see your vocation, brethren, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but the foolish things of the world hath God chosen that he may confound the wise, and the weak things of the world hath God chosen that he may confound the strong, and the base things of the world, and the things that are contemptible hath God chosen, and things that are not, that He might bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in His sight” (I Cor. i, 26-29).

Must we then, to imitate Christ, cast all human learning to the winds? By no means; but we must understand that merely natural means cannot produce supernatural effects, that all the learning and all the power of the world cannot save or sanctify a soul. And therefore we must trust in supernatural means. As to the natural means, Christ did not need them to accomplish His purpose; but we must use all the means, natural and supernatural, that God puts at our disposal; yet remembering all along that we must put our main confidence in the supernatural, in the help of grace, which is secured by the imitation of our King.

We must then ever keep our eyes upon Him, study His example, and reproduce His virtues in ourselves. It will often happen that to act thus we must do things which seem foolish in the eyes of a worldly wisdom, as when St. Francis Borgia resigned his office of viceroy, in which he was doing so much good, to hide himself in the religious state; or when the Seven Holy Founders of the Servites of Mary gave up all their riches to become poor like Christ.

A beautiful illustration of the way in which we are to imitate the Saviour is given us in the Book of Judges, where Gedeon and his three hundred followers rescued their people from oppression by means apparently most unwise, yet fully successful because they obeyed God with heroic fidelity. Gedeon was designed by Divine Providence to be a type of Christ. Jesus is our Gedeon, and we can learn how we must follow Him by studying the story of Gedeon in Holy Writ.