graciously promised through St. Paul, who writes: “God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will
make also with temptation issue that you may be able to bear it” (I Cor.
x, 13). This truth is strikingly illustrated by the history of Job,
which is graphically told thus, in poetic language: “On a certain day,
when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was
present among them. And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my
servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and
upright man, and fearing God and avoiding evil? And Satan answering
said: Does Job fear God in vain? Hast thou not made a fence for him and
his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the work of his
hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth? But stretch forth
thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth
thee not to thy face. Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold all that he
hath is in thy hand, only put not forth thy hand upon his person.” He
thus allowed Satan to deprive Job of his possessions, but not to go any
further. We all know how Satan carried out this permission to the
letter, and took away in one day all that Job enjoyed, his sons and
daughters included, so that he exclaimed: “Naked came I out of my
mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither, the Lord gave, and the
Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased to the Lord so it is done,” and
he added with perfect resignation: “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (i,
6-22). Next, Satan obtains power from God to afflict Job in his health,
yet so as to spare his life; God controls all. “So Satan went forth from
the face of the Lord, and struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from
the sole of the foot to the top of his head. And he took a potsherd, and
scraped the corrupt matter, sitting on a dunghill. And his wife said to
him: Dost thou still continue in thy simplicity? bless God and die, and
he said to her: Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women; if we
have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive
evil? In all these things Job did not sin with his lips” (ii, 7, 8).
Such is the grand example of patience that Job gave for all subsequent
ages. After his trials were ended, the Lord rewarded him abundantly in
his wealth and in the excellence of his later children; “and Job lived
after these things a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children
and his children’s children unto the fourth generation, and he died an
old man and full of years.” In the New Law, in which we live, the
rewards of patience are far more precious than those here mentioned in
the case of Job; for “The sufferings of this time,” says St. Paul, “are
not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed
in us” (Rom. viii, 18). And St. James writes: “Blessed is the man that
endureth temptations; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the
crown of life which God hath promised to them that love Him” (i, 12).
IV
We must remember, however, that _not all our temptations are from the
evil spirit_. He is wicked enough to cause them all; but he need not do
so. Of course they never come from God; for St. James says: “Let no man,
when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God; for God is not a
tempter of evils, and He tempts no man. But every man is tempted by his
own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured” (i, 13-14).
As concupiscence belongs to our fallen nature, it cannot be altogether
suppressed; but its power can be very much increased or diminished; and
therefore the temptations it causes are to a considerable extent under
our own control. If a St. Aloysius, a St. Stanislaus and many other
chaste youths scarcely felt any rebellions of the flesh, it was due in
great part to the care with which they had from their early childhood
guarded the gates of their senses, their eyes, their ears, their touch;
and instead of flattering them, they had constantly mortified them in
various ways. On the other hand, very many persons allow themselves
liberties of an indelicate nature; these need not wonder why they find
it so difficult to lead chaste lives.
However, even the most mortified souls may be severely tempted to carnal
sins; thus we read of St. Anthony, that, even in his frightful desert,
he was one day assailed by such temptations; and when the victory was
won, he exclaimed: Lord where wast Thou when those vile images beset my
mind? And the Lord answered him: Anthony, I was in the midst of your
heart. But the danger of the sin is certainly much greater when a person
is, partly at least, the cause of such disorderly affections, when he
heaps fuel on the fire of concupiscence.
It is well to ask oneself in a retreat: have I anything to reproach
myself with in this respect? How do I habitually observe modesty of the
eyes in public and in private? Is my reading always proper and prudent?
Do I ever indulge indolence or excessive softness? am I perfectly
temperate in food and drink, and thus cautious not to arouse dangerous
passions? It is necessary to ask the Lord frequently and fervently:
“Lead us not into temptation”; but this will be of little avail if we
bring on temptations by our own laxity or imprudence.
THE THIRD MEDITATION
On the Three Classes of men
_1st Prelude._ Imagine you behold Christ before you, looking kindly upon
you, and saying: “My son, give me thy heart” (Prov. xxxiii).
_2nd Prelude._ Ask fervently for light to understand this gracious
invitation, and strength to comply with it generously.
_POINT I._ While this invitation is really addressed by our loving Lord
to every man, consider how differently it is responded to by various
classes of men.
_The first class_, which unfortunately is very numerous, turn a deaf ear
to this appeal. They are so taken up with the vanities or the pleasures
of the world, with the pursuit of riches or honor or friendships, that
they do not even stop to consider the call of grace. The turmoil of
their passions drowns the still voice of conscience, and they rush on to
the yawning abyss of eternal loss. Let me thank the Lord that He has
prevented me by His loving care from running along in this mad career.
_POINT II._ The second class of men listen to the Divine call,
appreciate its infinite condescension, fly from the allurements of the
grossest vices, and give their hearts to their Sovereign Master. Yet
they do not give their whole heart. A part of it is occupied by some
cherished creature, which they will not sacrifice to their loving Lord.
We read that when St. Sebastian was trying to convert a Roman nobleman,
named Croatius, he promised him a cure from a painful disease as soon as
he should receive Baptism; for Sebastian worked many miracles. But he
required as a necessary condition that Croatius should destroy all the
idols he had in his house. After the Baptism the convert complained that
his sickness was not removed. It was found that he had not destroyed one
little idol of gold, an old heirloom in the family; and only after this
also was given up was the cure obtained. Thus very many souls are kept
back from perfection by some cherished idol which they hesitate to
resign.
In the world some men are estimable citizens, honest, charitable, but
neglectful of religious duties; others are even practical Catholics,
except that they neglect Confession. All such are in evident danger of
dying in their sins and being lost forever; but passion blinds them to
their terrible danger. Among religious no great vice is common, but many
are held back from attaining perfection by some human attachment, or by
some evil habit, which they refuse, or hesitate to abandon altogether.
Is there any sacrifice that I know, or at least suspect, my dear Lord
asks of me? Is there any practice or habit of mine that may not please
Him? If a sculptor, carving an elegant statue, would find a flaw in the
marble that would disfigure the countenance, he might have to reject
that stone and choose another. The Divine Artist is forming my soul into
an image of Christ; happily, if He finds a flaw in my soul, He can
remove it, but He will not do so without my consent; or rather He will
not remove it Himself, but aid me to remove it. Is there such a flaw?
Are there perhaps more than one? Speak, O Lord, Thy servant heareth.
_POINT III._ _The third class of men_ to whom the Lord says, “Son, give
me thy heart,” answer promptly and generously: “O Lord! I wish to be all
thine”; “For what have I in Heaven? and besides Thee what do I desire
upon earth? For Thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away; Thou art
the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever” (Ps. 72).
But of course virtue does not consist in fine sentiments alone. Docile
to the invitation of Christ, we must so give Him our hearts that we are
willing to satisfy all His desires. “What shall I render to the Lord for
all the things that He hath rendered to me?” (Ps. 115).
I am now come to the end of the second week of the Exercises. Its main
purpose was the study of Christ’s private and public life, so as to make
myself like unto Him. This therefore is the proper time to examine
whether there is any trait of my Divine model which I am not yet
determined to reproduce in my own soul.
Here St. Ignatius introduces the election of a state of life for those
who have not yet entered on a permanent career; and from those who have
he expects a reformation of life. Now this is best accomplished by
comparing our own hearts with that of our Divine pattern, taking most
generous resolutions to remove all flaws and supply all deficiencies.
_Colloquy._ O my dear Mother Mary! I beg of thee to obtain for me from
thy Divine Son the grace of following His example in the practice of all
the virtues, doing whatever He may desire of me and that at any
sacrifice. Oh, dearest Lord! by Thy love for Thy Blessed Mother, obtain
for me, this precious grace from Thy Heavenly Father. And Thou, my
Supreme Lord and Master, God the Father, grant me this entire
devotedness at the prayer of Thy Divine Son.
THE SEVENTH DAY
Here we begin the Third Week of St. Ignatius’ Exercises; it is devoted
to the consideration of Christ’s sacred passion. These meditations, or
contemplations, are a tribute of love that we offer to our dear Lord;
and they are suggestive to ourselves of generous sentiments, and earnest
resolutions to practise even heroic virtue, in following our beloved
King to the height of His self-sacrifice. By the light and grace they
impart, they aid us to advance rapidly in the way of perfection.
We read in the Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude (p. 348) that she
beheld one day our Blessed Lord as He was after He had been whipped at
the pillar, covered with wounds, and she asked Him, tenderly: “Alas,
Lord, what remedy can we find to sooth Thy agonizing pains?” Our Lord
replied: “The most efficacious and tenderest remedy you can prepare for
Me is to meditate on My passion, and to pray charitably for the
conversion of sinners.” It is in this spirit that all the exercises of
this day should be performed.
THE FIRST MEDITATION
On the Sufferings of Christ in the Garden
_1st Prelude._ Read the 26th chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, from the
30th to the 57th verse.
_2nd Prelude._ Behold Christ prostrate in the prayer of His agony.
_3rd Prelude._ Beg grace to condole with Him and to suffer patiently and
generously.
_POINT I._ Consider Christ’s entrance into the garden.
_The persons_: Christ, my Saviour, goes to suffer for me. The fact then
regards me personally, I cannot be indifferent to its details. He
selects Peter, John and James to witness His agony. Thus the severest
trials come to God’s favorites. Christ has prepared them for this trial
of their faith by the vision of His glory on Mount Thabor. Thus He
provides special aids for special difficulties. All the Apostles have
been strengthened for the occasion by Holy Communion. A fall soon after
receiving Communion does not prove an unworthy Communion.
_The words._ Peter said: “Although all should be scandalized in thee, I
will never be scandalized.” Pride goes before a fall. “Jesus said to
him: Amen, I say to thee that, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me
thrice.” Christ saith to his Apostles: “My soul is sorrowful even unto
death.” We should not then be discouraged if we shrink from suffering,
and are saddened by them.
_The actions._ Jesus prepares for the conflict by betaking Himself to
prayer. I must do the same in trials.
_POINT II._ _The agony._ _The words_: “My Father, if it be possible, let
this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou
wilt.” It is then perfectly proper to pray for deliverance from the
cross; but we must ever add submission to God’s holy will: “Not my will
but thine be done.”
_The actions_: “He cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep.” We
are not then forbidden to seek for consolation from our fellow-men; but
we shall usually be disappointed; like Jesus, we must return to prayer.
He prayed again, “saying the self-same words.” We should not try to be
eloquent in prayer, but dwell on a few thoughts or sentiments. We can
have no better model of prayer than we have here before us. The Apostles
neglected their opportunity; hence their cowardice.
_POINT III. The treason of Judas. The persons._ The Son of God is meanly
betrayed by one of His own Apostles. How is the gold obscured! When
favorite souls fall away, they often fall the deepest. How did he come
to this? From small beginnings, by little thefts at first. One passion
left unchecked is enough to ruin the noblest character. All the passions
are in every one of us, and need constant watching.
_The words._ “Hail Rabbi.” What hypocrisy! “Friend, whereunto art thou
come?” Christ still loved the wretch, and kindly wished to bring him
back to his duty. That is the charity of my model. Is mine like His?
_The actions._ He receives the kiss of the traitor and shows no
indignation. Then Christ lets Himself be seized and bound like a
criminal, and He abandons Himself into the hands of His enemies,
recognizing in them the executers of His Father’s will. “Then the
disciples, all leaving him, fled”; and yet all of them had said with
Peter that they were ready to go with Him even to death. It is not
boasting, but praying we need.
_Colloquy_, thanking our dear Lord for His generous love for us, asking
that we may know and love Him better and follow Him more perfectly.
_Notice_ that the thoughts here expressed are only suggestions and need
not be entertained. The exercitant is apt to be most benefited by what
he discovers himself. And when a thought or sentiment strikes him, he
should dwell on it as long as it gives him devotion, and not hasten on
to other matters.
THE SECOND MEDITATION
On Christ’s Sufferings before His Judges
_1st Prelude._ Christ was dragged from court to court, everywhere loaded
with false accusations; but He opened not His mouth. He was dressed in a
fool’s garment, cruelly scourged and crowned with thorns, and bore all
patiently. Exposed to the sight of the multitude, He saw a robber
preferred to Him, was rejected by His people and condemned to the death
of the cross.
_2nd Prelude._ Behold Christ with His hands tied like a criminal,
standing before the tribunal of Caiphas.
_3rd Prelude._ My dear Lord, grant me deep sorrow for Thy sufferings and
for my sins, by which I have repaid Thy infinite love.
_POINT I. Christ is falsely accused._ Consider:
_The persons._ The judges presume to sit in judgment on Him who has
proved Himself to be the Son of God. Our sins, like theirs, are often
far more serious than we are willing to acknowledge to ourselves. We
blind ourselves. Caiphas did so by claiming that it was “expedient that
one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not”
(St. John xi, 50). This was true, but not in the sense the high priest
gave to it. Do I ever judge my neighbor unjustly? perhaps even my
superiors?
The witnesses little think how wicked their accusations are, leading to
the crime of deicide: “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity” (St.
James iii, 6). Meanwhile Christ is silent, to teach us how to suffer;
silence under accusations, true or false, is usually better than the
most eloquent defense. Isaias had predicted: “He shall be dumb as a lamb
before his hearers, and he shall not open his mouth” (liii, 7). He only
spoke when the honor of God required it, as when the high priest said:
“I conjure thee by the living God that thou tell us if thou be the
Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to them: Thou has said it.
Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the son of man
sitting on the right hand of the power of God and coming in the clouds
of Heaven. They answering said: He is guilty of death” (St. Matth. xxvi,
63-66). What injustice! This is often repeated to-day by those who hate
the Church; we must wait patiently for the time of its glorification.
_POINT II. Dressed in a fool’s garment, scourged, crowned with thorns._
Behold the humiliations, the cruel sufferings patiently endured by the
Redeemer, as an expiation of your own sins. Try to realize the details
of the torments heaped upon Him. That flagellation was borne to expiate
sins of the body. Do I practise bodily mortification enough? Soft
members are out of place in the mystic body of Christ. He is crowned
with thorns; do I look for honors and laurel crowns? He is decked in
mockery with a rag of purple; do I delight in vain display? Lord, make
me like unto thee.
_POINT III._ Pilate shows Him to the people: “_Ecco homo_,” “Behold the
man.” Let me observe Him well, noticing every indignity inflicted on
Him. His head crowned with thorns, His face defiled with spittle, every
visible portion of His sacred body livid with bruises and stained with
clotted blood: “A worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast
of the people” (Ps. 21), “Despised and the most abject of men, a man of
sorrows” (Is. liii, 3).
_The words_: “Give us Barabbas and take Jesus away.” How can I complain
when others are preferred to me? “Let him be crucified”; “His blood be
upon us and upon our children.” How fearfully has this curse been
carried into effect. Behold the whole Jewish race struck with spiritual
blindness for already nineteen centuries, in the midst of nations blest
with the light of faith. How this ruin of His nation must have grieved
the heart of the Redeemer. Pilate vainly tries to disclaim his
responsibility for the deicide: “I am innocent of the death of this just
man.” So we may deceive ourselves, wilfully. Am I always honest in my
pretences?
_The actions._ Pilate delivers Christ to be crucified. This is the price
paid for every soul, the death of Christ. How precious is a soul! The
blood of Christ is the atonement of sin; what a terrible evil is sin!
_Colloquy_ with Jesus, as He stands there condemned to an ignominious
death; indulging the sentiments aroused by the meditation.
CONSIDERATION
On Generosity in the Service of God
When we performed the meditation on the Kingdom of Christ, we imagined a
very noble prince, who, at the call of God, abandoned all other pursuits
to devote himself to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth,
and summoned all brave souls to rally under his standard for this
exalted purpose. We next considered that this parable was not a mere
creation of the fancy, but was a fit expression of a grand reality. For
such a noble prince did actually appear on earth, one far nobler than we
could have conceived possible, the Son of God Himself, come down to
establish the Kingdom of His Father in the hearts of men, and thus
prepare them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. At this summons we
resolved to follow Him, and we have really left all things for that
purpose, and our highest ambition now is to follow Him most closely by
making ourselves as like to Him as, with God’s grace, may be possible.
To accomplish this purpose, we have been studying His example, from the
moment of His incarnation, through His birth, childhood, His private and
His public life, till we have seen Him deliver Himself into the hands of
His enemies, submit to the most shocking indignities and torments; and
all this through love for us, paying the penalties of our sins in His
own Person, to save us from Hell and make us share His glory. The most
appropriate term to express all this devotedness is “boundless
generosity.” This is the most striking characteristic of our glorious
King.
As we are earnestly striving to make ourselves like to Him, we will now
consider the excellence of the virtue of generosity; and we do so by
preference on this day on which we are meditating on the sacrifices by
which Christ’s generosity was exhibited in the most impressive manner.
Among natural qualities in man generosity is the noblest, among the
supernatural virtues it is the highest, because it is the most Godlike.
Charity, the love of God, and of the neighbor for the love of God, is
the most perfect virtue, and generosity is the perfection of charity.
The highest manifestation that God has made of Himself is twofold, the
creation and the incarnation with all its consequences. He created to
pour out happiness on other beings, all manners of good things on
created natures; He became incarnate to bestow _Himself_ on them; and He
did so even after they had forfeited their primal destiny. Thus too a
man by the practice of generosity gives of his own to others, by
supernatural generosity he gives himself entirely to God and to others
for the sake of God.
When we give to our neighbor what we owe him, we practise the virtue of
justice; when we give to God the honor we owe Him, we practise the
virtue of religion, which is a species of justice; but we practice the
virtue of generosity when we give more than the Lord demands of us, and
thereby we more closely resemble God, on whom we have no claim and who
yet gave us all we have.
The proper esteem, as well as the practice of this virtue, is taught us
by the grand mysteries on which we meditate to-day. In fact these
lessons have been excellently learned by the followers of Christ
throughout all the ages of Christianity. See how His Apostles, to a man,
gave their whole lives and finally shed their blood, as Jesus had done,
for the honor of God, and the salvation of souls.
The same was done by thousands of other followers in after generations
and is continued to be done till the present day. Countless solitaries
of both sexes, and monks and nuns and missionaries among the heathens
have left all things and thus imitated the generosity of the Redeemer.
Sacrifice for the same glorious cause is written large over the history
of the Church in every age and every land.
It is this spirit of generous sacrifice that we must to-day rekindle in
our hearts. We should not now ask ourselves merely, as we did properly
some days ago, is there any sacrifice I _am bound_ to make if I want to
save my immortal soul? but, at the sight of Jesus mocked and scourged,
and crowned with thorns and dying like a criminal upon the cross, and
all this for my sins, let me ask myself generously, “what sacrifices
_can_ I make to God to show my gratitude?”
These sentiments aroused in St. Ignatius, as under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit he performed the Spiritual Exercises at Manresa, an ambition
beautifully expressed in the motto he selected for his Society _Ad
Majorem Dei Gloriam_, “For the Greater Glory of God.” For he became so
enraptured with the love of Christ that he longed only to sacrifice
himself entirely for the honor of God, and to rally around him a
generous band of men who should be aglow with the same Divine
enthusiasm.
This spirit of generosity, so characteristic of St. Ignatius, is clearly
manifested in the Constitutions which he drew up for the guidance and
the government of his Society. The whole spirit of his institute is a
spirit of generous devotion to the service of God and the good of men.
For instance, he wants his followers to be so little attached to their
country, or to any place whatever, that they shall be willing to go and
live in any part of the world where there is hope of God’s greater
service and the help of souls. They must leave father and mother,
sisters and brothers and whatsoever they had in the world. They must so
far resign their right to a good name as to allow all their errors and
defects to be manifested to their superiors. They are even urged to wish
to suffer reproaches, slanders and injuries, and to be treated and
accounted as fools, so as to resemble Jesus Christ, and in all things to
seek their greater abnegation and continual mortification. In the
exercise of low and mean offices they must be willing to be employed in
such as are more abhorrent to nature.
Certainly all these rules and practices suppose an uncommon degree of
generosity. And yet the Saint insists on them, and urges his followers
to labor constantly that no point of perfection which by God’s grace
they can attain in the perfect observance of his Constitutions, be
omitted by them. In all things they are to seek God, casting off, as
much as is possible, the love of creatures, that they may set all their
affections on the Creator.