The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
A. M. D. G.
THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
OF
ST. IGNATIUS
ADAPTED TO AN EIGHT DAYS RETREAT
AND
SIX TRIDUUMS
In Preparation for The Semi-Annual Renovation of the Vows
All for the use of Jesuits only
By
Rev. CHARLES COPPENS, S.J.
B. HERDER
17 South Broadway
St. Louis, Mo.
1916
Copyright, 1916
by
Joseph Gummersbach
A RECOMMENDATION BY OUR REV. FATHER PROVINCIAL
Rev. Dear Father:
It gives me pleasure to say a few words in praise of the new book of Fr. Charles Coppens on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Any new power that will help us to use these spiritual arms of St. Ignatius more effectively deserves the hearty approval of every Jesuit. The volume is intended for the use of Ours only, and will be found of great service in conducting retreats or in giving the Triduums that take place twice a year before the renovation of vows.
The customary meditations are well arranged, are solid, and at the same time practical. The points are proposed very clearly so as to be readily remembered.
I bespeak for this volume the good will of all of Ours, and trust it may be of great help to a more effective giving of the exercises and be in the hands of all.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
A. J. Burrowes, S.J.
PREFACE
The Text of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, as translated into English from the Spanish Autograph, and edited for private circulation by Rev. John Morris, S. J., is printed in a small volume of only 125 pages. That little work contains all that the Saint composed in the Grotto of Manresa, and he never afterward wrote any additions to the text. But in explaining his Exercises to his first companions, and to others who made the retreat under his direction, he would adapt the details to their characters and the various circumstances. His followers did the same, without writing further additions or commentaries on the original text; they followed in their practice the traditional method as it had come to them from their saintly founder.
In the course of time, as was natural, considerable departures from the first process took place, some of which induced the danger of gradually losing the very spirit of the original Exercises. Among the learned men of our Society who labored most successfully to check such tendency, one of the most distinguished was the Father General John Roothaan, who in 1834 addressed a circular letter to all his subjects, earnestly warning them against this peril. At the same time he furnished them a masterly work on the original Spanish and Latin texts, which he accompanied with a most valuable commentary.
For those preferring a Latin guide book, whether in making the Exercises themselves, or in explaining them to others, no work is more commendable than that masterpiece of Father Roothaan. Still, both before and since its publication, many other editions of the Exercises and commentaries on the same have been printed, both in Latin and in various modern languages, with full approbation and warm commendations of the Superiors of the Society; and excellent reasons appear to exist why successive generations of Jesuits should continue their efforts to enrich this valuable literature. In particular the eight days retreat, which all our members perform every year, gains additional interest and impressiveness when a wider range is presented, affording a choice among a large number of approved guide books to direct them through this fertile region of spirituality.
The spirit permeating all of these must ever be the same, so too the main outline of the truths proposed and the general plan of the Exercises. Yet experience shows that there remains a wide room for variety in comments, suggestions and practical applications. Therefore, when the time for each one’s annual retreat comes round, there is shown by many Fathers an earnest desire for some late publication on the subject, that will lend new zest to the familiar solid doctrine. To satisfy such reasonable wishes is the chief reason why the present pages are modestly presented to his brethren by
The Author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE RETREAT
[Preparatory Consideration] [1]
[First Meditation—End of Man] [8]
[Second Meditation—End of Creatures] [12]
[Consideration—End of the Religious Life] [14]
[Third Meditation—Indifference to Creatures] [20]
[Second Meditation—One’s Own Sins] [30]
[Consideration—Confession of the Retreat] [33]
[Third Meditation—Eternal Loss] [37]
[First Meditation—Preparation for Death] [42]
[Second Meditation—The Particular Judgment] [44]
[Consideration—Purity of Conscience] [48]
[Third Meditation—To Excite Perfect Contrition] [53]
[First Meditation—The Kingdom of Christ] [57]
[Second Meditation—The Incarnation] [60]
[Consideration—The Imitation of Christ] [64]
[Third Meditation—The Birth of Christ] [70]
[First Meditation—The Flight Into Egypt] [74]
[Second Meditation—The Private Life of Christ] [77]
[Consideration—The Imitation of Christ’s Private Life] [81]
[Third Meditation—The Public Life of Christ] [87]
[First Meditation—The Two Standards] [91]
[Second Meditation—The Three Degrees of Humility] [94]
[Consideration—Temptations] [97]
[Third Meditation—Three Classes of Men] [102]
[First Meditation—The Sufferings of Christ in the Garden] [106]
[Second Meditation—Christ’s Sufferings Before His Judges] [109]
[Consideration—Generosity in the Service of God] [112]
[Third Meditation—The Death of Christ] [118]
[First Meditation—The Resurrection of Christ] [121]
[Second Meditation—Christ’s Ascension into Heaven] [124]
[Consideration—The Spirit of Love] [127]
[Third Meditation—Divine Love] [133]
INDEX TO TRIDUUMS
[Meditation I—On the Desire of Perfection] [138]
[Meditation II—In What Perfection Consists] [140]
[Meditation III—Christ the Model of Perfection] [143]
[Meditation IV—The Need of Prayer to Attain Perfection] [145]
[Meditation V—The Power of Prayer to Obtain Perfection] [148]
[Meditation VI—The Aid of Mary to Attain Perfection] [150]
[Meditation I—On the Vows] [153]
[Meditation II—On Renovation of the Vows] [155]
[Meditation III—What Kind of Men Does Our Vocation Require?] [157]
[Meditation IV—Christ Is Here to Help Us] [160]
[Meditation V—The Holy Ghost Sanctifies Us] [163]
[Meditation VI—Effects Produced by the Holy Ghost] [165]
[Meditation I—The Need of Frequent Renovations of Spirit] [169]
[Meditation II—Sin the Chief Hindrance to Our Progress] [171]
[Meditation III—Fidelity in Little Things] [174]
[Meditation IV—The Observance of Our Rules] [177]
[Meditation V—Zeal for Souls] [179]
[Meditation VI—Devotion to the Blessed Virgin] [181]
[Meditation I—The Purpose of this Triduum] [185]
[Meditation II—The Interior Spirit] [187]
[Meditation III—The Interior Spirit Fostered by Faith] [190]
[Meditation IV—The Interior Spirit Fostered by Hope] [193]
[Meditation V—The Interior Spirit Fostered by Charity] [195]
[Meditation VI—The Interior Spirit Fostered by the Holy Ghost] [198]
[Meditation I—Preparation for the Triduum] [201]
[Meditation II—The Field Ripe for the Harvest] [203]
[Meditation III—Fraternal Charity] [205]
[Meditation IV—The Spirit of Sacrifice] [208]
[Meditation V—Become Men of Prayer] [211]
[Meditation VI—The Vine and the Branches] [214]
[Meditation I—On the Vows] [217]
[Meditation II—The Vow of Chastity] [219]
[Meditation III—The Vow of Obedience] [222]
[Meditation IV—Strength of Character] [225]
[Meditation V—Co-operation with Grace] [227]
[Meditation VI—The Perfection of Our Actions] [230]
THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS
PREPARATORY CONSIDERATION
I
The days of the retreat are the most important in the year. 1. The most important for the Exercitant; for his principal duty and highest interest are the salvation and spiritual progress of his own soul: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” What would it profit any of us to convert even thousands, if he loses his own soul? And if any one imagines that his own salvation is already secured, and no longer needs his principal care, he is a very ignorant or a conceited man.
2. These days are the most important for the salvation of our neighbor; since, the more one becomes a man of God, as a good retreat tends to make him, the better he will do the work of God. And the salvation of souls is pre-eminently the work of God, not that of human talent or industry.
3. They are the most important for the glory of God; since the glory we render to God is in proportion to our holiness, the purity of our intentions, the ardor of our love and our other virtues; the increase of all of which is the direct purpose of the retreat.
II
The yearly retreat is important for all religious, whatever be the spiritual condition of their souls.
1. Those who are leading fervent lives are likely to receive during it special lights and graces enabling them to draw nearer to their Divine Lord; Amice, ascende superius, “Friend, come up higher.” The Holy Ghost is ever laboring at the sanctification of souls, of such especially as show themselves deserving of peculiar love by their faithful co-operation. Now this fidelity is most strikingly exhibited when we abandon all earthly cares to devote our whole hearts to the loving worship of the Lord, as we do in a retreat.
2. Such souls as are gradually allowing their fervor to cool amidst the distracting cares of an active life stand in special need of the Spiritual Exercises, to arrest their downward course.
When one runs down a hill, his descent is accelerated by his own weight, and he needs special help to avoid a serious fall. Such is the case of those who are losing their fervor, and a good retreat provides the remedy.
3. If any have unfortunately already lost their balance, and are hurrying along to destruction by the commission of serious faults, or by yielding to a no less dangerous tendency to tepidity, a good retreat is almost the only way of saving them from ruin. In connection with these thoughts it is well to reflect that some one of our annual retreats will be our last; it may be the present one. Many of those who made the retreat last year are now in eternity; and not a few of them saw no more reason then to expect so early an end than we do now.
III
It is very consoling for those who enter on these Spiritual Exercises to remember that their efficacy for good is far greater than men are apt to imagine; they are not merely human, but in some respects Divine; hence their extraordinary power to sanctify us.
1. These exercises are Divine in the truths they teach us; for they consist chiefly of meditations on the word of God; and the word of God is the seed of salvation: Semen est verbum Dei. It is not the learning of philosophers or scientists that brings us eternal life, but the teachings of Christ; and these are the power working in the retreat.
2. These Exercises are Divine in the principal director who conducts them; for in them the Spirit of God instructs and enlightens the soul of the exercitant and sanctifies it. The printed page containing these teachings, or the Father Master who explains them is not the chief power at work during the retreat, no more than the audible voice of Christ converted and sanctified the souls of His hearers. God speaks to our heart in the retreat, saying, “Hear, O my people, and I will speak.... I am God, thy God” (Ps. 49).
3. Not only the several truths considered during these days are the word of God, but the whole plan of these Spiritual Exercises is in a true sense Divine. For no one who is familiar with the facts of St. Ignatius’ life can believe that he had acquired, at the time when he produced this masterpiece of sacred wisdom, such knowledge of the spiritual life as it exhibits on every page. When he came to Manresa, he was a mere novice in spirituality. And in fact he himself always felt convinced that he owed these Exercises to Divine illumination. Thus, as Bartoli relates, “on one occasion the Saint confessed to Father Laynez that one hour of prayer at Manresa had taught him more concerning spiritual things than he could have learned from the instructions of the wisest doctors” (Life, I. p. 57).
The object which this unique book has accomplished was to reduce the direction of soul to a science, that bases on certain principles of faith an exact and positive method, which, guided by the rules prescribed, insures almost infallible success. Considering the circumstances in which it was written we cannot but attribute this work to superhuman aid. Hence its wonderful efficiency, testified to by countless witnesses, and continued in the experience of three centuries till the present day.
IV
Hence the high esteem in which these Spiritual Exercises are held by the best judges in such matters. For instance, when the learned Pope Leo XIII wished to select the best means by which he might prepare himself and his domestic prelates to gain the plenary indulgence of the jubilee year 1900, he had two of our Fathers conduct in his palace the Exercises of the retreat; and, at his advanced age of over 90 years, he attended in person nearly all the meditations. His successor, Pope Pius X, gave similar marks of his esteem for these Exercises. There exists in our society a venerable tradition, which seems to date back to the earliest years of the Institute, to the effect that St. Ignatius was specially assisted by the Blessed Mother of God in composing his unique masterpiece. The inhabitants of Manresa, some years after his death, embodied this tradition in a beautiful painting, which they placed in the cave, representing him as kneeling before the figure of the Blessed Mother and Child, with his eyes fixed upon her lips, and his right hand extended as if ready to write what she dictated to him.
Father Henry Watrigant, S. J., relates that this tradition has been confirmed at various times by well authenticated revelations. Thus he says: “The venerable Father Louis de Ponte narrates that, when in the year 1600 Ours entered on their annual retreat, his penitent, the venerable Marina de Escobar, also began her retreat; and the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and said that the Blessed Virgin Mary had been as it were the foundress of those Exercises, having instructed St. Ignatius to put them in that form.”
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
I
When we consider the conduct of men generally, we see at a glance that the lives of vast numbers of them are not in conformity with the truths we have been studying; and we are reminded of the words of Christ: “Wide is the gate and broad the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are that go in thereat. How narrow is the gate and straight the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it” (St. Matth. vii, 13, 14). Of course the way of salvation, owing to His preaching and His merits, is now much wider than when He spoke those words; but yet it appears to be, through men’s own fault, much narrower than it should be. What is the condition of religious in this respect? It is well worth while to examine what is the effect of our religious vocation on the most important of all our interests, the attaining of the end for which we were created. Now it is clear that the religious life offers many great advantages for that purpose.
1. We are created to praise, reverence and serve God. Now the religious life is entirely directed to these objects. 1. We are constantly employed in the promotion of the praise and glory of God: all our labors are directed to it; the place we live in, the occupations assigned us and all the circumstances of them are selected with a view of this purpose.
2. The reverence shown to God is continually fostered by a long succession of common and private prayers, Holy Masses, recitation of the Divine Office, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, etc., from morning till night, day after day, year after year, till death.
3. The service of God, the accomplishment of His holy will, is not confined to the observance of His Commandments and those of His Church; but, by adding the rules of the Order, the will of God is made known and accomplished in all the details of life.
Thus the religious is constantly occupied with the praise, reverence and service of God. His heart is not divided between different objects of his love: “He that is without a wife,” says St. Paul, “is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God; but he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided” (I Cor. vii, 32, 33).
The condition of mind in religious is like that of the Blessed Angels, who are busy with God and the things of God. It is like that of the Holy Family while it abode on earth; so that a religious house is a copy of the Holy House of Nazareth.
And all this is not to last for a little while only, but for a whole lifetime; for the religious vows give stability and permanence for all years to come.
Therefore this sacrifice is compared by theologians to a holocaust, the most perfect of the ancient sacrifices, in which, namely, the whole victim was consumed in the fire. Thus one religious is likely to do more than a number of seculars for the praise and reverence and service of God.
II
And by these means the religious easily saves his soul, thus attaining the second end for which he was created. The good Lord has promised this in so many words. For he said: “Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, shall receive a hundred fold and shall possess life everlasting” (St. Matth. xix, 29).
The hundred fold mentioned in this promise is not to be passed over lightly. For although it constitutes no portion of the eternal life of which we are speaking, still it is intimately connected with it. For it embraces a multitude of heavenly graces: a Divine protection in dangers, a peace of soul that the world cannot give; all of which make the attainment of eternal life far more easy than it usually is outside of the religious state.
With this prospect of eternal bliss for ourselves is united the special efficiency which the good Lord deigns to bestow on religious to procure the salvation of many souls. True, the exercise of the sacred ministry, with the sacramental power, is the ordinary channel of sanctification established by Christ in His Church; but there is a special efficiency in personal virtue to bring souls nearer to God; and the direct purpose and effect of the religious life is to increase personal holiness. The archenemy of man knows well who are the most successful in saving souls, and those he opposes with all his power. The fact that religious are more fiercely hated and opposed by the enemies of God, clearly shows that they produce more fruit in souls.
III
Of course the religious life has its hardships, it is a life of sacrifice; but that is its honor and its recommendation to a noble soul: “The kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (St. Matth. xi, 12). All the Saints have led lives of sacrifice, like their Divine Master: “Jesus said to His disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me” (Ib. xvi, 24).
To aid us in carrying the cross of the religious life cheerfully, let us reflect what magnificent prizes are held out to us.
1. There is the bright crown of virginity, with the distinguished privilege of more intimate union with Jesus in Heaven. “These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth” (Apoc. xiv, 4).
2. There is also the glory of being seated, with Christ, on the judgment seat, when He will come in His Majesty on the clouds of heaven: they are to judge the world, rather than to be judged. Thus at least the Venerable Bede explains the promise made by Christ to His Apostles, which for a parity of reason, he extends to religious: “Amen I say to you that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of His Majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (St. Matth. xix, 28).
3. Another most valuable advantage of the religious life lies in the protection it affords against dangerous temptations to sin. True, as long as we live upon earth we may fall from grace, and forfeit, through our own grievous fault, the rich store of merit so far accumulated and our right to eternal bliss: “He that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall,” writes the Apostle (I Cor. x, 12). The best a man can do is to surround himself with such securities as lessen the assaults from without and strengthen the will within him. And such is undoubtedly the religious life. Its vows of poverty, chastity and obedience cut off the fiercest assaults of man’s triple enemy, the world, the Devil and the flesh; and its constant practices of piety and mortification provide a copious supply of Heavenly assistance to resist temptations.
Therefore St. Bernard draws this consoling picture of religion: “It is a state,” he says, “in which man lives with more purity, falls more rarely, rises more promptly, walks more securely, is more frequently bedewed with celestial graces, sleeps more peaceably, dies with more assurance, passes more quickly through Purgatory, and is more richly rewarded.”
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.
I
Confession may be of three kinds: a general confession of one’s whole life, or a considerable portion of one’s life; the ordinary, or weekly confession; and thirdly the annual or semi-annual review, which is of rule in many religious institutions.
1. A general confession is obligatory if the preceding confessions have been badly made; it is useful at the age when a child has been fully instructed in its religious duties; when a person enters on a permanent state of life, and perhaps once more, when one approaches the portals of eternity. The anxiety entertained by some souls to repeat their general confessions over and over again is most unreasonable; it fosters scrupulosity and is injurious to spiritual progress.
2. In the ordinary, or weekly, confessions, which, in the case of religious, rarely include a mortal sin, earnest care must be taken that one or more real sins, recently or formerly committed, be confessed, so that matter be presented for absolution; and also that there be elicited an act of supernatural contrition for those sins, or at least for some one of them. Else the Sacrament would be invalid, for real supernatural contrition is one of its essential parts.
3. An annual or semi-annual review of the weekly confessions affords marked advantages, especially when it is made during the retreat: a. Faults are thus likely to be noticed which attracted little attention at other times. As when a ray of sunshine enters into a rather dark room, and reveals more dust on the furniture than was noticed before, so the Divine light of grace, entering the soul during the Exercises, discovers various defects of which there had been no clear perception. That is a good occasion to obtain pardon for them.
b. When our faults are thus seen together, they are apt to arouse more contrition, and thus secure more entire pardon.
c. Such a review gives us a clearer knowledge of ourselves and shows us what defects we should chiefly labor to correct.
II
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.