Chapter V

Having now understood what efficiency is attached to a good retreat, we naturally ask ourselves _what we must do to secure these precious results_. We must:

1. Enter seriously into that deep recollection which is the proper atmosphere for a retreat, avoiding during it all unnecessary intercourse with the outside world.

“God and I” should be the only objects of my thoughts; all else is a hindrance to perfect success.

2. We must diligently apply our mental powers to master the truths proposed to us; for that purpose St. Ignatius bids us occupy ourselves during a full hour in each of the meditations or contemplations assigned. He adds that, “in time of desolation, the exercitant, in order to go against the desolation, and to overcome the temptation, must always remain a short time beyond the full hour, so as to accustom himself, not only to resist the enemy, but even to overthrow him” (Ann. 13).

3. In the 5th Annotation the Saint says: “It will much benefit him who is receiving the Exercises to enter upon them with a large heart and with liberality towards the Creator and Lord, offering all his desires and liberty to Him, in order that His Divine Majesty may make use of his person and of all he possesses according to His most holy will.” He says elsewhere: “The more liberal one shall show himself towards God, the more liberal he shall find God towards him, and the more fit he shall daily be to receive in greater abundance His graces and spiritual gifts” (Rule 19).

4. Both during the meditations and at all other times of prayer, great fervor should be employed to obtain from the Lord those copious graces which He has in store for us, and which He desires to bestow; but it is a general law of His providence that they must be eagerly asked for, and to the best of our power deserved by our efforts and co-operation.

If these means are diligently employed, we can indulge a quiet confidence of great results; for the Lord does not invite us to a rich banquet without providing for the full satisfaction of His guests.

THE FIRST DAY

The first day of the retreat is mainly devoted to what St. Ignatius calls “_The Principle and Foundation_.”

Christ bids us act like “a wise man that built his house upon a rock,—and it fell not because it was founded on a rock” (St. Matth. vii, 24). The truth now considered is the rock on which the whole structure of our spirituality is to be built. Bartoli, in his life of St. Ignatius, narrates that a learned Doctor of the University of Paris, Martin Olave, used to say that one single hour spent in meditating on this foundation had taught him more than long years of theological studies. Such too has been the experience of many others. Father Everard Mercurian spoke of this foundation as alone sufficient to effect the most astonishing changes in a soul, by uprooting all its earthly affections and directing its desires to God alone.

THE FIRST MEDITATION
On the End of Man

The first part of the Foundation is: “_Man was created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul._”

To begin any of our meditations well, St. Ignatius bids us stand, for the space of a _Pater Noster_, one or two paces from the place at which we are to meditate, and with our mind raised on high, consider how God looks down upon us, and then adore Him with an act of reverence and self-humiliation.

Then follows the _Preparatory Prayer_, which is also the same for all the meditations. It is to ask our Lord for grace that all the acts of our memory, our understanding and our will may throughout the meditation tend directly to the service and praise of the Divine Majesty.

_1st Prelude._ Imagine your Blessed Saviour appears before you, looking lovingly on you and saying: “My son, I am now going to teach you the first truth in the spiritual life.”

_2nd Prelude._ Beg that you may understand this truth as the Saints have understood it.

_POINT I._ Consider the words, “_Man was created._”

1. “_Man._” What is man? Compared to God, man is a mere nothing, like a little gnat flitting in the sunshine; yet among material things man is a masterpiece, endowed with the most wonderful powers and potentialities. Man is like a musical instrument, from which the Divine Spirit can draw the most exquisite harmony, as He has done from millions of saintly souls. But if not responsive to His touch, it gives out harsh and false sounds, marring the harmony of God’s world. A man may live like an Angel, or like a demon or like a brute animal.

2. Man was “_created_,” that is, made out of nothing, for so was the world; now even a savage understands that the thing made belongs to the maker. Therefore I belong to God; He can do with me and require of me what He pleases.

_POINT II._ Consider what God requires of man. If God has made man for a purpose, He certainly requires of him to work for that purpose. But God can do nothing without a purpose, a purpose worthy of Himself; His wisdom requires that. Now He alone is worthy of Himself; therefore He directed all things to Himself, as the Book of Proverbs says: “The Lord hath made all things for Himself” (xvi, 4).

It is not that God needs any creature; for being all perfect He is self-sufficient; but right order requires that He make all His creatures tend to Him.

How then must all creatures tend to God? By glorifying Him; that is by _praising, reverencing and serving God_.

1. _Praising God._ To praise God is to show forth and proclaim His excellence. The Psalms are full of such praises; for instance Psalm 116: “Praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise Him all ye people.” We must not live then to exalt ourselves, or to get others to praise us, but render all honor to God, to whom it all belongs.

2. _Reverencing God_, worshipping Him, as we do when we pray. Thus the Angels in Heaven ever do, crying out; “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty” (Ap. iv, 8). Thus we put statues of Angels on the altar to express our reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. Thus we should express our reverence for God whenever we speak to Him in prayer. How do I pray habitually? With what reverence of bodily posture and of mental attitude? We should thus make our meditations practical.

3. _Serving God._ To serve another is to do his bidding; we are then created to be ever at the disposal of God, to obey Him whenever He makes known His will: “If you love me, keep my commandments,” He says.

_POINT III._ Consider the further consequences of our praise, reverence and service of God; “_And by these means to save his soul_,” that is to attain eternal happiness.

The good God has so wisely and bountifully ordained all things that by glorifying Him we glorify ourselves and reach the fulfilment of all our desires. But by refusing to glorify Him we degrade and utterly ruin ourselves.

Now we are made free to do the one or the other. This freedom is a wonderful gift, a glorious gift in one way, making us like to God and capable of securing our own bliss forever, with God’s grace, of course: but on the other hand putting on us a terrible responsibility. No other power on earth can control a man’s liberty. When St. Agnes, a mere child of 13 years, refused to do wrong, the whole power of the Roman Empire could not bend her will; on the other hand, the influence of the holiest education cannot make a child virtuous without its free co-operation.

Can a man then, by refusing to serve God, deprive the Creator of the glory that he was intended to render Him? Certainly not; but he can freely choose to glorify the goodness of God by faithful service, thus securing at the same time perfect happiness for himself, or choose to glorify God’s justice by his eternal punishment.

_Colloquy_ with God Almighty, my Creator, and with Christ, my Redeemer; that I may do my full duty and secure eternal bliss.

THE SECOND MEDITATION
On the End of Creatures

The second part of the foundation says: “_And the other things upon the face of the earth were created for man, and to help him to attain the end for which he was created. Whence it follows that man must make use of them in so far as they help him to attain his end; and in the same way he ought to withdraw himself from them in so far as they hinder him from it._”

The task of the exercitant is three-fold:

1. Intellectual: he must strive to understand the truths proposed correctly, clearly and fully;

2. Practical: he must apply the truths to his own conduct;

3. Prayerful: so as to obtain aid from Heaven to succeed in both these respects.

_The Preparatory Prayer_ is the same as in the first meditation. It is so too in all the following meditations. It will not be necessary to remind the exercitant of this in the subsequent exercises.

_1st Prelude._ Imagine you behold our Dear Lord before you, who says: “My son, I will now teach you the second truth of the spiritual life.”

_2nd Prelude._ Grant, O Dear Lord, that I may understand it fully and learn from it how to improve my conduct.

_POINT I._ Consider these words: “_The other things upon the face of the earth are created for man_:” and man for God. Here is a clear exhibition of God’s wisdom; the inanimate is for the vegetable world, the vegetable for the animal, and all for man; inferior things are for the real good of superior ones. I am not then created for material enjoyment: _Ad majora natus sum_, “I am born for greater things,” I must not degrade myself by the perverse gratification of my animal nature.

_POINT II._ Consider the words: “_And in order to attain the end for which he was created_.” How do the other things aid man to attain his end? In various ways.

Some things need only be considered to raise man’s heart to God and prompt him to reverence the Divine Majesty. “The heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declares the work of his hands,” etc. (Ps. 18).

Other creatures are for the use of man, as food, drink, clothing, etc. Others are to be endured, that he may practise submission to God’s holy will; such as excessive heat and cold, sickness, death, etc. Others are to be abstained from, as was the forbidden fruit in Paradise.

Everything thus becomes for man a stepping stone to Heaven.

_POINT III._ “_Whence it follows that man must make use of them in so far as they help him to attain his end; and in the same way he ought to withdraw himself from them in as far as they hinder him from it._”

Consider how this rule may be observed or violated. For instance, (a) In our use of food and drink. The relish attached to the use of them is good as a means to promote our health; but under its influence excess is often committed, by which health may be injured, disease contracted and life shortened. Am I always blameless in this respect?

(b) Sleep may be excessive and lead to the neglect of duty.

(c) The study of nature, of the sciences and the fine arts may greatly promote the glory of God and indirectly the good of souls, and it may be wrong to neglect it; but it may also be abused; it is only a means, and must not be made an end in itself, to the neglect of our true end.

(d) Such too is the reading of literature or of the news of the day.

(e) Such is our intercourse with superiors, our brethren and outsiders. The bee gathers honey, the spider poison from the same plant.

_Colloquy_, asking grace to use all things wisely.

CONSIDERATION
On the End of the Religious Life