could be more generous than it actually is; and no less generosity is
seen when the rules descend to practical details. Consider, for
instance, the strict interpretation they put on the understanding of the
religious vows. They make poverty a total privation of the right to
dispose of anything at one’s will or discretion, neither allowing one to
give nor to receive, to lend nor to borrow any object whatever without
permission of the superior.
For the measure and the pattern of the vow of chastity nothing less is
proposed than the purity of the blessed Angels in Heaven. To protect
this virtue a Jesuit has to submit himself all the days of his life to
such careful surveillance as solicitous parents exercise over their
daughters, who are not allowed to go outside the house without
permission, nor, as far as circumstances allow, without the attendance
of a discreet companion.
It is especially with regard to the vow and the virtue of obedience that
generosity is carried to its highest perfection. Not only every command
of a superior is to be obeyed, but even every hint of his will is to be
complied with, every token of his wishes; and this is to be done
promptly, without excuse, without reluctance of the will, without
disagreement of the judgment. And in all these observances no one can
claim exemption or privilege on account of high offices formerly held,
on account of great learning or unusual ability or for any other
consideration.
With such precepts and examples before me, what can I do better than to
lead henceforth a life of constant generosity? Let me pause to consider
carefully and prayerfully what sacrifices in particular I can offer.
Speak, Lord! Thy servant heareth; there is nothing I will refuse. Give
me the grace of doing what Thou desirest, and ask what Thou wilt.
When our Divine Lord appeared to five of His Apostles after His
resurrection, He took St. Peter aside and asked him: “Simon, son of
John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea Lord, thou
knowest that I love thee; He saith to him: Feed my lambs—Feed my sheep.”
As if He had said: You cannot show Me your love better than by feeding
My lambs and My sheep. And thus we too cannot give to Christ a more
acceptable proof of our love than that of working for the salvation of
souls, the lambs and sheep for which He shed the last drop of His sacred
blood. How am I performing that holy task? The question just now is not:
am I doing my full duty in the exercise of the sacred ministry? but, can
I do any more than I have done so far, or than I am actually doing for
the good of immortal souls? Can I undertake any more work and remain
within the bounds of discretion? Or at least can I perform my tasks with
more care and devotedness? And can I pray more fervently to draw down
God’s blessing on my labors?
There is still another way in which we can successfully exercise our
zeal for souls, namely by praying and working for the increase of the
number of laborers in Christ’s vineyard. St. Matthew tells us that,
“Seeing the multitudes Christ had compassion on them, because they were
distressed and lying like sheep that have no shepherd. Then he said to
his disciples: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send laborers into his
harvest” (ix, 36-38).
Undoubtedly such prayers are daily going up to Heaven asking for more
sacred laborers, and in response God is constantly furnishing His Church
with new accessions to the number of her ministers. If our prayers were
more abundant and more fervent and our efforts more earnest, we could
obtain still more. Here too is room for more generous exertions.
THE THIRD MEDITATION
On the Death of Christ
_1st Prelude._ Christ carried His cross a weary way up the mountain,
falling repeatedly beneath it. Arrived at the top, He is despoiled of
His garments, and stands there a pillar of bleeding flesh. He is most
rudely nailed to the cross, which is next lifted up, and dropped with a
shock into its socket. His hands and feet are torn around the nails. He
exclaims: “Father, forgive them,” says to St. John: “Behold thy mother,”
exclaims “Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit!” and expires. His
sacred Heart is pierced.
_2nd Prelude._ Behold Christ hanging on the cross, amid the jeers of His
triumphant enemies. He is praying for us all.
_3rd Prelude._ Beg for a loving compassion for His pains and for a deep
sorrow for sin.
_POINT I._ Consider how Christ painfully carries His cross. He thus
shows us the one way to Heaven, that of suffering. There would have been
another way, that of innocence, by which the Angels had entered; but it
was closed by the sin of Adam and by our own sins. Now we must all
suffer, here or hereafter. The lookers on were of three classes: His
enemies, rejoicing; His friends sorrowing; the crowd, indifferent. It is
so to-day. The falls of Christ represent our moral falls; these must
humble, but not discourage us. He meets His blessed Mother: sufferings
bring us nearer to Mary. Condole with her.
_POINT II._ Christ is despoiled of His garments, that He may die in the
utmost poverty, in which He has also been born. His clothes cling to His
torn flesh, and are removed with no tender hands. He bleeds again at
every pore. He is rudely thrown down on the cross; watch the process of
the nailing, of the raising of the cross, of its dropping into the hole
with a rude shock, His sacred flesh tearing about the nails. He
exclaims: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” What
charity! What an example for us His followers! Again He speaks: “Woman,
behold thy son,” “Behold thy mother.” St. John, the only one of the
Apostles present, represented the Church; in his person we were all
commended to Mary by her dying Son, and we were bidden to hold her as
our Mother.
As Christ hung there on the cross, He viewed and read the hearts of all
men, for whom He died; He thought of me in person. He exclaimed:
“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!” and He expired. Let me
resign myself into the hands of God with humble, loving confidence. Let
me thank the Lord for His most precious death, repent of my sins, which
required such expiation, and pray that sinners may be converted.
Let me lovingly kiss the cross, and in spirit bend my head beneath the
stream of His sacred blood, to wash away my sins.
The sacred heart of Jesus is next pierced with a lance, to open that
sanctuary for me and for all sinners. Let me adore that Divine Heart,
and promise to love and honor it, and teach others to do the same.
_Colloquy_ with Jesus, my loving Saviour; with Mary, the Mother of
Sorrows; pleading for pardon, protesting my love and my boundless
gratitude.
THE EIGHTH DAY
So far we have followed our King, Jesus Christ, through His
humiliations, labors and sufferings from His incarnation to His cruel
death; we must now follow Him in His glorified life. There too He is
still our leader, by whose side we must triumph, as we have fought by
His side. We must now rejoice with Him. For joy at His exaltation is
worship; and at the same time it encourages us to follow Him generously
and lovingly and to persevere to the end. Such is the purpose of the
Fourth Week of St. Ignatius’s Exercises.
THE FIRST MEDITATION
On the Resurrection of Christ
_1st Prelude._ The soul of Christ, accompanied by the holy souls from
Limbo, comes to the tomb. He arises glorious. The holy women come to
annoint the body. “He is not here.” Christ appears to His Blessed
Mother, to the penitent Magdalen, to St. Peter, to the devout women.
_2nd Prelude._ Behold the glorified body of the Saviour, as He arises
from the tomb. Imagine the scene.
_3rd Prelude._ Ask to rejoice with Him for His own sake, and to be
thereby encouraged to suffer like Him.
_POINT I._ Behold the scene of His resurrection. First see the lifeless
body, with its gaping wounds and discolored flesh. In union with the
blessed souls, adore it. Then as Christ’s soul enters it, behold how it
is transformed. How different He is now from “the man of sorrows”! His
sacred countenance beams with happiness. Recall His former
transfiguration on Mount Thabor: “His face did shine as the sun, and His
garments became white as snow.” On His head there is still a crown, but
no more of thorns, but now one of glory. His sacred wounds are in His
hands and feet and in His side, but they drip no more with blood, but
pour forth rays of light. Bow down in loving adoration, and in spirit
humbly kiss His feet, and adore your sovereign Lord. Ask Him to bless
you, and to strengthen you to follow in His footsteps.
_POINT II._ Imagine you see the blessed souls proceed, in company with
Christ, to visit the cross, on which He expiated the sins of the world.
Adore the cross, and kiss it lovingly. Bow down and kiss the spot on
which He was nailed to the tree. Next, retracing the way of the cross,
meditate lovingly on His various sufferings.
At last accompany the Lord in spirit as He goes to visit and console His
Blessed Mother. There behold her still seated in the deepest affliction,
the Mother of Sorrows, plunged in an agony of grief, like that which had
made the Saviour exclaim: “Father, if it be possible let this chalice
pass from me.” When suddenly a soft radiance fills the room, and, as she
looks up, she sees before her the glorified form of her Divine Son.
Pause to share in her exceeding joy and love and gratitude. Remember
that thus your sufferings too will one day be exchanged for boundless
bliss.
_POINT III._ Consider how meanwhile the pious women were hastening, at
early dawn, on their way from the city to the tomb, carrying with them
precious ointments to embalm more perfectly the sacred body of their
Lord. They ask one another as they approach the sacred spot: “Who shall
roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And looking they
saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great” (St. Mark xvi, 3).
Thus it is that we often see difficulties before us, and we see no way
of escape; but a kind Providence brings us unexpected help: “I can do
all things in him who strengtheneth me” wrote St. Paul (Phil. iv, 13).
We should not be too timid when we work for the glory of God.
Still the holy women are not favored with the sight of the Saviour, but
they are sent by the Angel with a message to the Apostles; in due time
Jesus will reward their devotion. “And behold Jesus met them, saying,
All hail, But they came up and took hold of his feet and adored him”
(St. Matth. xxviii, 9). This favor was the reward of their loving
service. Oh! that we could serve the Redeemer as they did! We can do so
by honoring Him in the Blessed Sacrament, visiting Him there, adorning
His altars. We can also do it by serving the poor: “Amen, I say to you:
as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to
me” (Ib. xxv, 40).
The Lord has His own sweet way of encouraging us. Before appearing to
those pious women, He appeared first to St. Mary Magdalen, out of whom
He has cast seven devils; then He appeared to Simon Peter, who had
foresworn Him. Truly Christ had come on earth to save sinners; none of
us should ever despond.
_A loving colloquy_ with our dear Lord, adoring Him, congratulating Him
on His triumphs, in spirit embracing His sacred feet, begging for grace
to walk in His blessed footsteps till we too partake of His glory.
THE SECOND MEDITATION
On Christ’s Ascension into Heaven
_1st Prelude._ Read Acts, i, 1-11.
_2nd Prelude._ Behold the scene on Mount Olivet, Christ rising above the
crowd of His disciples, every one of whom looks lovingly upwards,
enraptured by the sight of His triumph.
_3rd Prelude._ Beg to rejoice for Christ’s sake, and to be encouraged to
follow your King faithfully to the end.
_POINT I._ Consider 1. _The Persons_: Christ, the former “Man of
Sorrows,” now the conqueror of death, the glorified Lord of Heaven. He
is still our King, leading the army of His followers into the Kingdom of
His Father. I must follow Him on earth, that I may follow Him into
Heaven. By His side stands His blessed Mother, how exultant now in His
triumph! There is the Magdalen, rapt in an ecstasy of joy; St. Peter,
St. John, all His dearest friends, rejoicing at the blissful vision.
2. _The actions._ Christ is ascending Heavenwards, going to take
possession of His Kingdom. All His disciples raise their eyes and their
hands towards His ascending form, and experience a foretaste of that
happiness which is to be their eternal reward.
3. _The circumstances._ Where does Christ ascend? In sight of Calvary.
When? But a few weeks after His dreadful death. So too will our trials
come to an early end, much earlier perhaps than we anticipate.
_POINT II._ Consider Christ’s entrance into Heaven amid the adoring and
exulting choirs of the entire angelic host, and proceeding to occupy the
most magnificent of all thrones, prepared for Him at the right hand of
His Father. Then began a bliss not less real than His sufferings had
been, with a joy ever ancient and ever new, and destined to last for all
eternity. Happy souls, redeemed by His sacred death, and purified in His
precious blood, are flocking in from every clime, and are received to
His loving embrace. What ecstasy! Shall I ever reach that goal? It is
destined for me. Jesus is the King whom I am serving. He knows me, He
loves me, He beckons me on.
_POINT III._ Look around that blissful abode. Who are there? All the
truly good of every generation. There, on that bright throne nearest to
Jesus is His Blessed Mother Mary, the queen of Heaven and earth, the
refuge of sinners, the help of Christians, my loving Mother. Kneeling in
spirit at her feet I will ask for perseverance in her service. There are
my blessed patrons, whom I have honored on earth, now ready to welcome
me to their happy company. Holy Saints of God, pray for me! There are
many blessed souls whom I knew in the days of their own trials on earth,
my parents and relatives and fellow-religious, and some perhaps whom I
have benefited in life, or after their death in Purgatory.
All look down on me with loving eyes, and bid me persevere and improve
further in fervor of life; for “The sufferings of this time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory to come, which shall be revealed in
us” (Rom. viii, 18).
_POINT IV._ Consider the words of the two Angels: “Why stand you looking
up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven shall so
come as you have seen him going into heaven.” For this second coming of
the Lord we must now prepare by active work. The days of the retreat
will soon be past, we must return to the daily drudgery of life; but we
must do so with a renewed spirit of genuine devotion. We must prepare
like the Prudent Virgins: “At midnight there was a cry made: Behold, the
bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him—And they that were ready went
in with him to the marriage” (St. Matth. xxv, 6-10).
_Colloquy._ Address our dear Lord lovingly, joyfully, congratulating Him
on His triumph, and begging for a generous spirit of sacrifice in His
service.
CONSIDERATION
On the Spirit of Love
The ultimate purpose of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, is to
make us serve God in the most perfect manner possible, and therefore in
the spirit of love, or charity: “Now there remain faith, hope, and
charity; these three, but the greater of these is charity” (I Cor. xiii,
13). Love is the most excellent homage that the creature can render to
the Creator. Behold the bee in the springtime issuing from its hive and
soaring afar over the sunny fields. It is in quest of honey: Honey is
all it cares for. It passes by the velvet pansy, the flaming tulip, and
lights with eagerness on the humble clover, because it finds honey
there. Thus too some men prize and seek nothing but riches, others only
honor, others pleasure, etc.
What can there be in this vast material universe that God would deign to
care for? It is love of the human heart. It is His delight to be with
the children of men, as He tells us in the Book of Proverbs: “My
delights to be with the children of men” (viii, 31). And what does the
Lord desire from men? He states it further on: “My son, give me thy
heart” (Ib. xxiii, 26); that is, of course, thy love; for the heart of
man is the emblem of love. Without love nothing has value in God’s eyes,
as the Apostle proclaims so eloquently in his First Epistle to the
Corinthians: “If I should distribute all my goods to the poor, and I
should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
me nothing” (xiii, 3). This charity is so pleasing to Heaven because it
comes from Heaven; it is Divine: “The charity of God is poured forth in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us” (Rom. v, 5). Of
course, our love of God is no benefit to Him, no more than the love of a
little child for its parents is any profit to them. The infant causes
any amount of inconvenience and trouble in the home. Its loving looks
and tender caresses are all it can give in return for the kindness shown
it; but this is sufficient in the eyes of affectionate parents. We are
like infants before the Lord, we can give Him nothing that He stands in
need of, all He desires of us is that we love Him; and this very love He
turns to our own advantage, for He rewards it most richly.
Besides this reward, there is another advantage derived from loving God,
namely that love lightens all burdens of life. Why does a young mother,
formerly rapped up in the pursuit of pleasure, now sit so patiently for
hours by the bedside of her ailing child, forgetful of all worldly
amusements,—except because she loves that infant. Love makes all efforts
pleasing; as Thomas à Kempis puts it: _Facile equitat quem gratia Dei
portat_, “He rides along with ease who is borne up by the grace of God.”
So if we are animated by the love of God, we rejoice in serving Him, we
hunger and thirst after justice. And this cheerful service on our part
vastly increases the love God has for our persons; “For God loveth a
cheerful giver” (2 Cor. ix, 7).
And thus by the practice of Divine love the bond that unites the human
soul with our Blessed Lord grows stronger and stronger. Therefore, while
the worldling sees nothing but hardships in the religious state, the
inmates of the cloister would consider it the saddest misfortune if they
were compelled to leave their happy homes and return to the world.
This love of God is that sacred fire of which Christ said: “I am come to
cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?” (St.
Luke xii, 49). It shone with a most refulgent light when, on the day of
Pentecost, the Holy Ghost appeared in the form of fiery tongues and
filled the minds and hearts of the disciples. And see how the Divine
love, then received, transformed the Apostles into new men. Before, they
had been very dull of comprehension, some of them asking the Saviour on
the day of His ascension whether He was then going to restore the
Kingdom of Israel; then they became at once the infallible teachers of
the world. Before, they had been cowardly men, locked up in the upper
room for fear of the Jews; then they were suddenly changed into heroes,
rejoicing, when they had been publicly whipped, that they were allowed
to suffer for the name of Jesus. All of them were glad to die for their
Lord. Countless martyrs were enkindled with the same fire of love; men,
timid women, little boys, tender maidens, astonishing the Pagans by
their heroic fortitude.
When the early persecutions were past, thousands of solitaries retired
from the allurements of the world, and were led by the spirit of Divine
love into frightful solitudes to spend their lives in penance and
prayer, thinking of God alone. Every subsequent age in the history of
the Church is replete with similar exhibitions of the love of Jesus.
Hundreds of thousands of Christians left home and country, and
sacrificed their lives to rescue from the hands of Pagans the tomb of
the Redeemer. Others, during the Ages of Faith, devoted their riches or
their personal labor to erect magnificent cathedrals, and provide a rich
supply of gold and silver vases, of precious vestments and ornaments for
the house of their beloved Lord.
When the charity of many had grown cold, the Blessed Saviour knew how to
rekindle its fires by means of the devotion to His Sacred Heart. He
appeared to His humble servant Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque, and said
to her: “Behold the heart that has loved men so much, and yet I receive
nothing but ingratitude in return.” The whole purpose of this beautiful
devotion is to elicit the love of human hearts for their loving Saviour,
so as to unite God and men together by the golden bond of love.
To promote this devotion Jesus has been liberal in His promises. For
those who practise it fervently He promised that He would be their
secure refuge during life and above all in death, that He would bestow a
rich blessing on all their undertakings, that by it tepid souls would
become fervent, and fervent souls would mount quickly to a high
perfection, that He would give to priests the gift of touching the
hardest hearts, that He would write in His sacred Heart the names of
those who would zealously promote this devotion and He would never allow
them to be blotted out.
It is conformable to the sweet ways of Providence to make the remedy of
an evil reach further than the disease. Thus, when our race had been
disgraced by the sin of Adam, God far more than repaired the harm done;
which makes holy Church exclaim with gladness: “Oh, happy fault, which
merited to have such a Redeemer!” And so it has been with the devotion
to the Sacred Heart. It was instituted by the Lord that men might learn
to appreciate more highly His love for us, and return Him a more ardent
love than was given Him before, to atone also for the coldness and the
sins of others, and to induce all to receive more frequently His Sacred
body and blood. It is truly wonderful how successfully all this has been
accomplished. Now millions of persons of all ages and conditions in
life, have formed the excellent habit of daily giving their first
thoughts to elicit an act of love for Jesus, and offering all their
actions and sufferings at the opening of each day for the intentions of
the Sacred Heart. And it is probably no exaggeration to say that, since
Christ’s desire of frequent Communions was whispered by Him to Blessed
Margaret Mary, the number of Holy Communions daily received has
increased, not only a hundred but a thousand fold.
And while such devout practices have thus multiplied beyond all
calculation, the main purpose of it all has been attained to a most
consoling extent. For while the age in which we live is becoming more
and more indifferent and often hostile to the Lord, His true friends
long more ardently than before to return to Him love for love, and to
induce countless souls to serve Him in the spirit of love. This spirit
no doubt animates our own hearts. It has now been enkindled anew in the
Spiritual Exercises; and it ought to be the dominant note in the new
life for which this retreat has been a preparation. Let us do our
utmost, with the help of Divine grace, to do all things henceforth in
the spirit of the love of God. This spirit of love is beautifully
expressed in the
HYMN OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER
My God, I love Thee! not because
I hope for Heaven thereby;
Nor because those who love Thee not
Must burn eternally.
Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me
Upon the Cross embrace!
For me didst bear the nails and spear,
And manifold disgrace,
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony,
Yea, death itself—and all for one
That was Thine enemy.
Then why, O Blessed Jesus Christ,
Should I not love Thee well?
Not for the hope of winning Heaven
Nor of escaping Hell;
Not with the hope of gaining aught,
Not seeking a reward;
But as Thyself hast loved me,
O everlasting Lord!
E’en so I love Thee, and will love,
And in Thy praise will sing—
Solely because Thou art my God,
And my eternal King.
Translation of E. CASWALL.
THE THIRD MEDITATION
On Divine Love
After our consideration on the value and excellence of Divine love and
its connection with the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are
now to meditate on some striking manifestations of God’s love for us,
and on various ways in which we can manifest our love for Him.