consist in a mere feeling, or sentiment, but in the will to please or
benefit the person loved, even at the cost of sacrifice on our part. For
instance, imagine two boys, coming home for vacation from a boarding
school, differing greatly in the manifestation of their affection for
parents and kindred, whom both were glad to meet again. One of them was
very demonstrative of his tender feelings; you would have thought that
his love for all was far greater than that of his less effusive brother.
After a few days however their father had a task for them to do which
required a little sacrifice on their part. Then the affectionate lad had
all manner of excuses to evade the trouble, without giving a thought to
his father’s needs, while his brother quietly volunteered to do the work
of both. His love was genuine; such should be our love for God.
A second remark of St. Ignatius is that love between two persons is
increased by the frequent interchange of kindly services. The more we do
for God, and the more we consider what He has done for us, the more
devoted we shall become to Him, and the more pleasing in His sight.
_1st Prelude._ Imagine you behold Jesus before you, looking benignly
down upon you as upon a loved child.
_2nd Prelude._ Beg fervently for an increase of love for Him.
_POINT I._ Recall to mind the principal benefits you have received from
God, from your birth till the present day, both those common to you and
all others, and particularly those peculiar to yourself, tracing the
wonderful ways in which a benign Providence has guided you to your
present state. Render hearty thanks to the Lord, and make Him the
following offering in return: “Accept, O Lord, all my liberty, accept my
memory, my understanding and my will. Thou hast given me all these
powers; I restore them all to Thee, and I deliver them entirely into Thy
hands that Thou mayest direct them. Only give me Thy love and Thy grace;
these are all I desire.”
_POINT II._ See how God is most intimately present to you, not only as
the water of the ocean is about a sponge, before it and behind, above
and below, right and left of it and within every pore, but He penetrates
your entire body and soul, and His delight is to be with the children of
men.
On your part resolve to keep yourself constantly in the presence of God,
cultivating the habit of thinking lovingly about God, speaking with Him
when not otherwise employed. This need not cause a strain of mind; it
only gives an excellent direction to our thoughts and affections, which
would otherwise be wasted upon useless or perhaps even unworthy objects.
Lovingly offer this resolution to your dear Lord, and ask Him to bless
and prosper it.
_POINT III._ Consider how God is unceasingly working for you, as a
loving father works for the support of his children. He causes the earth
to produce whatever you need for food and raiment and lodging; in far
distant climes He makes the fruits and the spices grow which are to
refresh and to cheer you. Resolve, in return, to labor strenuously for
whatever will promote the glory of God. The field of zealous labors for
the honor of God and the good of souls, the children of God, is vast and
varied. Christ bids us pray the Lord of the harvest that he may send
laborers into His harvest (St. Luke x, 2). Offer yourself to be a
devoted laborer, ask for toils and even hardships in this noble service.
See what special efforts you can make in this matter, and offer your
resolves to the Lord.
_POINT IV._ Every trait of goodness, whatever is amiable or admirable in
any creature, is but a faint reflection of an infinite perfection in the
Creator. A bright flower, a vast prospect, a noble deed, an affectionate
heart and a thousand other charms found on earth are able, each of them,
to raise our minds to the thought of the beauty, the grandeur, the
infinite loveliness of our dear Lord. Thus the sight of a pretty flower
sometimes threw St. Ignatius into an ecstasy of Divine love.
Resolve, that, whenever any charm on earth arouses your love or
admiration, you will take occasion from it to raise your heart to God,
and to elicit an act of love for Him who is the source and the pattern
of all that can duly delight the human heart.
_Colloquy._ Finish this last meditation of the retreat with a generous
consecration of yourself and of all you have to the love and service of
your dear Lord and Master, either in your own words or in those of St.
Ignatius quoted in the first point of this exercise, or in the loving
renovation of your religious vows.
THE END OF THE EIGHT DAYS RETREAT.
SIX TRIDUUMS
In Preparation for the Semi-Annual Renovation of the Vows
TRIDUUM A
MEDITATION I
On the Desire of Perfection
_1st Prelude._ Hear Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, saying to His
disciples: “Be ye perfect as also your heavenly Father is perfect” (St.
Matth. v, 48).
_2nd Prelude._ Beg for an earnest desire of perfection.
_POINT I._ _One great hindrance to attain perfection_ is the want of
desire to attain it, a want of proper appreciation of this exalted
privilege. This state of mind is:
1. _Very unreasonable, unwise._ It is like the deplorable disposition of
many college boys, whom we blame and despise, because they have not
sense enough to value their opportunity to acquire an education. Their
fault is palliated by their youth; they will be sorry afterwards. There
is no such excuse for religious. They ought to know better. Striving
after perfection is the main duty of their state.
2. _Very inexpedient for their happiness even in this world._
“The heart of man is made for God! nothing but God can make it happy,”
says St. Augustine. A lax religious is less happy than a fervent one; he
does not enjoy that peace of mind which the world cannot give; he
worries, frets at many things, unlike the fervent.
3. _Inexpedient for the next life_, causing immense loss of merit and
future glory, exchanged for trifles.
4. _Injurious to our neighbor_, whose salvation depends to a great
extent on our holiness.
_POINT II. A second hindrance to the attainment of perfection_ consists
in a want of confidence of attaining it. Some imagine that perfection,
desirable as it is in itself, is out of the question for them, they are
unworthy of aspiring to it. Now distrust of self is excellent, but we
must not distrust God, either His power or His love for us. God is not
like the man condemned in the Gospel who began to build and could not
carry the building to completion. He has invited us to aim at
perfection; for that is the nature of the religious life. We have
accepted His invitation; it is now for Him to furnish us copious means
to attain perfection. The die is cast; we are pledged to strive after
perfection, and God has pledged Himself to provide. Father Lallemant, so
enlightened in spiritual matters, has left written that the holiness to
which every Jesuit is called surpasses all imagination, and that, if any
one could see the amount of grace that God has prepared for each of us,
he would conclude they were destined for no less a Saint than an
Ignatius or a Xavier (Spiritual Doctrine, page 29).
We ought confidently to say with St. Paul: “I can do all things in him
who strengtheneth me,” _Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat_ (Phil. iv,
13), and with the Psalmist: “If armies in camp should stand together
against me, my heart shall not fear,” “_Si consistant adversum me
castra, non timebit cor meum_” (Ps. 26).
_POINT III. Some religious say they know not how to attain perfection._
The way is plain enough, if only we make up our mind to follow it. It
requires:
1. _The faithful observance of our rules_: whoever observes them
perfectly is a real saint. We all observe most of them; let us observe
all of them.
2. _Much good prayer_, performing our spiritual exercises faithfully and
fervently. In particular let us perform this triduum to the best of our
power.
What is required for this purpose?
a. Silence and recollection;
b. Earnest meditations;
c. Spiritual readings that speak to our hearts;
d. Careful examinations of our spiritual progress.
_Colloquy_ with our dear Lord, asking for a thorough renovation of
Spirit.
MEDITATION II
In What Perfection Consists
_1st Prelude._ See God enthroned in Heaven, and all the Saints lovingly
looking up to Him.
_2nd Prelude._ Beg grace to understand in what perfection really
consists.
_POINT I._ A thing is good if it answers fairly well the purpose for
which it is made; it is perfect if it answers that purpose as well as is
desirable. Thus a pen is perfect if it is every way suitable to write
with, a watch is perfect if it always keeps time. Now man is made to
love God; he is therefore perfect if he devotes himself entirely to the
love of God. That perfection consists formally in Charity is expressly
stated by St. Paul, who writes to the Colossians: “Above all things have
charity, which is the bond of perfection” (iii, 14).
To attain perfection, therefore, we must accustom ourselves to be
totally taken up with God and God’s interests, for God’s sake. This is
the main purpose aimed at by Father Faber in his excellent book “All for
Jesus.” Read for instance, pages 48, 49. Much of this may be in many men
merely sentimental, or poetical. To make it actual in us, real in our
conduct and the dispositions of our will, seeking God in all things, is
true sanctity. At this we must steadily aim. It is in fact the motto of
our Society: _Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam_, “To the Greater Glory of God.” A
perfect man is a man of one idea, the idea of the greater glory of God.
_POINT II. Such devotedness to God requires detachment from all
creatures_; this detachment is not itself perfection, but it is a
necessary condition to attain this entire devotedness, in which
perfection consists. We must act like the man who had found a treasure
hidden in a field, who to secure it _went and sold all he had_ to buy
that field; and like him who, to buy the precious pearl, _went and sold
all he had_ (St. Matth. xiii, 44-46). We must be detached. Our hearts
are so narrow that we cannot give a part of them to one object without
detracting from our love for another, except only if we love the former
solely for the sake of the latter. Thus we should love all for God.
Therefore we start on the road to perfection by leaving all things to
follow Him. It must not prevent us from taking interest in many things,
else we become wooden saints. With a St. Ignatius, a St. Francis Xavier,
a St. Catherine of Sienna, etc., we must cherish eager desires of many
projects, but only in as much as they promote God’s glory and the
salvation of souls.
_POINT III. In particular the study of perfection requires constant
efforts_: 1. To adorn our soul with more and more virtue, 2. To correct
our faults, 3. For this purpose, to labor earnestly at our particular
examen, our confessions, 4. To direct our spiritual readings and
meditations to the purposes of the illuminative way, returning to the
purgative way if there arises some special need of it. Keep weeding,
planting, binding. The chief point in this triduum is to see whether we
have been of late seriously laboring at the acquisition of perfection as
we now understand it: in particular whether we are attached to any
creature so as to retard our progress, or habituated to commit any
faults, which must be corrected; also how we profit by our Holy
Communions, our meditations, etc., so as to promote steady progress in
virtue.
_Colloquy._ Ask for the special graces of which you see a present need.
MEDITATION III
Christ the Model of Perfection
_1st Prelude._ See Christ carrying His cross, and saying: “_If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and
follow me_” (St. Matth. xvi, 24).
_2nd Prelude._ Ask for grace to follow Christ faithfully.
_POINT I._ Consider the consoling truth that _Christ has really made
Himself our guide_. He is such by word and example. We could not have a
nobler nor safer guide. He has led millions before us to the highest
happiness. In this text _He invites us to follow Him_. Let us thank Him
for this gracious offer and eagerly accept it. He is to us what the
Angel Raphael was to Tobias. True, Tobias could see the Angel, but he
did not know who he was; we cannot see Christ, but we know who He is and
how He has acted. Our Society undertakes to follow Him in all the
details of our lives. In this following consists perfection. We are
actually following Him; but how earnestly? how generously? Can we not
improve in many respects?
_POINT II._ Consider the words: “_Let him deny himself._” Christ denied
Himself: His ease, His health and life, His honor. In trying to follow
Him we made a good beginning when we left our parents and all earthly
possessions; to crown the work we must leave ourselves: _1st. Our ease_,
by hard work, without repining, with joy and perseverance. Many seculars
work much harder than we do, but many do so grudgingly. Not so Christ;
we must do like Him.
_2nd, Our health and life_, leaving all this in God’s hands, with proper
care indeed, but no solicitude. Oh, if we could die in His service! It
would be the greatest happiness. We may have that good fortune if we
never shirk any duty. _3, Our honor._ Christ willingly made Himself “A
worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people” (Ps.
21). The lowest on earth at first, He is now the highest in Heaven, and
He invites us to follow Him. When we experience loss of ease, of health,
of honor, how do we take it?
_POINT III._ Consider the words: “_and take up his cross_.” What is our
cross? It is not so heavy as Christ’s. Our cross is: _1st, Our daily
tasks_. Perform them faithfully, zealously, cheerfully. _2nd, Our
afflictions, sufferings, failures, disappointments._ Be patient, do not
despond: “Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof” (St. Matth. vi,
34). Trust in God: “No one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been
confounded” (Ecclus. ii, 11).
_3rd, Our passions_; we must keep them in check by unremitting efforts.
_4th, The conduct of others_: “Blessed are ye when they shall revile
you—Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven” (St.
Matth. v, 11). “The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us” (Rom.
viii, 18).
_POINT IV._ Consider the words: “_And follow me_.” Keep your eyes on
Jesus carrying His cross. Notice: 1. His exterior behavior. Do we
properly observe our rules of modesty? 2. His interior sentiments. Like
His Sacred Heart, is our heart at peace? Kind to all? Conformable to
God’s will? “Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am
meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls” (St.
Matth. xi, 29).
_Colloquy._ “Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shall go”
(St. Matth. viii, 19).
MEDITATION IV
The Need of Prayer to Attain Perfection
_1st Prelude._ See the Apostles around Christ, and saying: “Lord teach
us to pray” (St. Luke xi, 1).
_2nd Prelude._ Beg earnestly to become a man of prayer.
_POINT I. No perfection is attainable without much fervent prayer._ For
perfection consists in charity, the love of God, and this love is not
natural to man. Men naturally view everything as related to themselves,
to their earthly advantages of business, ease, pleasure, honor, etc.
Perfection substitutes God for self. This, being altogether
supernatural, requires much grace, and the ordinary means to obtain
grace is prayer.
Those who enter on the way to perfection must be trained to the pursuit
of it. All religious Orders use for this purpose a copious supply of
prayer. Our Society in particular has constant recourse to this means:
the long retreats, the yearly octiduums, the triduums, the daily
meditations, holy masses, holy communions, daily litanies, examinations
of conscience, the Divine Office, the beads, visits to the Blessed
Sacraments, etc. Most of these exercises are to be continued during
life.
By all this prayer we get to realize practically what worldlings know
only in theory: God’s love, mercy, majesty, holiness, justice, eternity,
providence, etc., His incarnation, the Blessed Sacrament, the power and
love of Mary, etc.
_POINT II._ _When are we men of prayer?_ When we have learned to refer
all things explicitly to God. Cardinal Bellarmin points out three
degrees of prayer:
1st, Some speak to God, but hear no answer, like the populace in the
street crying to a distant king.
2nd, Others receive some token that they are attended to, like men
admitted to an audience and allowed to file a petition.
3rd, Others converse with God and He with them; they hear more than they
say, and, like courtiers, can approach their Lord frequently. How is it
with us? Are we accustomed to turn to God readily, confidently,
lovingly? Some have the gift of prayer before they enter the novitiate,
some get it during their early years of religious life and ever increase
it, some partly lose it amid active duties, some get it at their
ordination, some during their third year of probation, while others
never acquire it to any great extent. It can be obtained by earnest
petition and fidelity in the practice of devout prayer.
_POINT III._ _What difference does it make in a man?_ He may be a
religious, but not a good one unless he becomes a man of prayer; nor is
he safe meanwhile. For one cannot lead the life of a fervent and
faithful religious unless he possess considerable command over his
passions, and he cannot maintain this self-mastery without much good
prayer. Yet he may do so without attaining the third degree of prayer.
But when he reaches that, he becomes a different man, a special friend
of God, enlightened, strengthened, not impeccable, yet pretty safe; a
powerful means for the salvation of souls. Such have been all the models
proposed by holy Church for our imitation.
_POINT IV._ _What chance have we Jesuits of becoming men of prayer?_ An
excellent chance. The third degree of prayer is a common gift of God in
our Society. It is the obvious tendency of our frequent retreats. The
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius aim directly to produce this fruit,
and the Lord has entrusted the direction of them to our Fathers, whose
duty it is to give them to priests and the laity, even to members of the
most contemplative Orders. Many of our ascetic writers exhibit this gift
in a conspicuous degree. Am I a man of prayer? What can I do to improve
in this important matter?
_Colloquy._ Earnest petition for the gift of prayer, and for light and
grace to take the proper measures to procure progress.
MEDITATION V
The Power of Prayer to Obtain Perfection
_1st Prelude._ Imagine you are listening to Christ at the Sermon on the
Mount while He says: “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall
find, knock and it shall be opened to you” (St. Matth. vii, 7).
_2nd Prelude._ Ask earnestly to obtain great confidence in prayer.
_POINT I._ _Prayer is a spiritual gold mine._ When gold is discovered on
a piece of arid land, the owners have at once at their disposal the
means of becoming very rich. Similarly the soul that begins to
understand the efficacy of prayer can obtain by its means a copious
supply of actual graces, by which Heaven and perfection are easily
secured. For Providence has so disposed that grace is readily obtained
by prayer, and some holy Doctors therefore call it the key to the
treasury of God. The riches of that treasury are inexhaustible. They are
intended for us and put at our disposal. It was by prayer that a St.
Aloysius, a St. Stanislaus and countless others became saints in their
childhood, that St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, etc., etc., were led
from a worldly to a holy life. All of us have the same means at our
disposal.
_POINT II._ _Listen to Christ’s own invitation and promises._
Read St. Matth. vii, 7-11, St. John xvi, 23, 24.
Notice that these promises do not suppose great virtue in him who prays.
For Christ addresses them to sinners, saying: “If you being evil know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father
who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (St. Matth.
vii, 11). We are most readily heard when we ask for spiritual favors.
This is clearly stated by the Saviour, for He says: “How much more will
your Father from heaven give _the good Spirit to them_ that ask him?”
(St. Luke xi, 13).
_POINT III._ Why are we not always heard in prayer? Because we do not
fulfil the required conditions. 1. We must ask what is really good for
us. For St. James writes: “You ask and receive not; because you ask
amiss, that you may consume it on your concupiscences” (iv, 3).
2. We must ask with great confidence. We go to draw the waters of grace
from a rich fountain, but the vessel of our confidence may be so small
that we can carry off but little. While the multitudes pressed upon
Jesus on all sides, one afflicted woman was cured because she touched
Him with great confidence; and He said: “Somebody hath touched me, for I
know that virtue is gone out from me.... But He said to her: Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole” (St. Luke viii, 46-48).
3. We must ask with proper reverence and attention.
For how could we expect God to mind our petitions if we do not attend to
them ourselves? If we pray thus He may say: “This people honoreth me
with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (St. Matth. xv, 8).
4. We must pray with perseverance, as Christ teaches by the parable of
the importunate man who came to ask for aid during the night, and
obtained it because he persevered in his importunity (St. Luke xi, 5-8).
5. We must pray with resignation to God’s will, as Christ Himself did in
His agony, saying: “My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass
from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (St. Matth. xxvi,
39). We must be full of confidence that no good prayer ever goes up to
Heaven which does not obtain a grace; but God knows best what grace will
benefit us most, and He deals with us as a loving father with his
children.
_Colloquy._ Ask eagerly for great confidence in the power of prayer.
MEDITATION VI
The Aid of Mary to Attain Perfection
_1st Prelude._ See the Blessed Virgin Mary in Heaven, surrounded by the
Saints of our Society.
_2nd Prelude._ Ask for a fervent devotion to her.
_POINT I. Consider what part God has assigned to her, in the salvation
and sanctification of mankind._
The first promise of the Redeemer referred to her as destined to crush
the serpent’s head. The work of the redemption began with her at the
Annunciation. At her voice Elizabeth and her child were filled with the
Holy Ghost. As through Mary Jesus was given to the world, so through her
He is given to His servants individually. As she was with Jesus all
through His life on earth, so Mary is ever ready to aid each one of us
all through our earthly pilgrimage. On Calvary all of us were committed
to her care in the person of St. John. In her company the disciples
received the Holy Ghost. She has been bodily taken up to Heaven to
intercede for us with the Lord, and to beckon us on to follow her. She
is daily co-operating for the sanctification of numberless souls through
her multifarious religious Orders and Congregations, her Rosary and
Scapular Societies and divers other Confraternities, etc., St. Liguori
and various other Doctors say that every grace given to men passes
through her hands and that a true child of Mary is never lost.
_POINT II._ _Consider what the Blessed Virgin Mary has been to our
Society in particular._ She appeared to St. Ignatius at Loyola, set the
seal on his conversion and freed him once for all from temptations of
the flesh; she made him her devoted Knight at Mont-Serrat; she aided him
in composing his Spiritual Exercises at Manresa; she received the first
vows of the little band at Montmartre on the feast of her Assumption.
She figures most conspicuously in the lives of all our Saints; of St.
Stanislaus, St. Aloysius, St. John Berchmans, St. Alphonsus, Blessed
Baldinucci, etc., etc. She has given us the direction of her Sodalities,
and by its means has helped us to promote piety and purity among
countless numbers of her clients. Thank her warmly for all she has done
in our favor, and ask an increase of sanctity for yourself and for all
your religious brethren.