THE FOURTH DAY
Now that we have freed our souls from every sinful affection, Christ comes to offer Himself to lead us on, that by following Him we may establish the Kingdom of God in our own souls and in the souls of others. The study of the end of man was the foundation of a good life, the study of the following of Christ is the foundation of a perfect life.
1stPrelude.Imagine you see Christ going from town to town, announcing the Kingdom of His Father.
2ndPrelude.Ask for grace to understand the call and to follow Him with a generous heart.
POINTI.Consider this parable: God has chosen a most noble Catholic prince, endowed with all the virtues that conciliate the esteem and love of every good and brave man; and He has appointed him to put down all the enemies of Christ, to establish the Kingdom of God in all countries, and make the Lord reign supreme over all mankind. He is the greatest of heroes, accomplished in person, magnetic in influence, beyond any mortal that has ever appeared on earth.
This King issues a call to all Catholic warriors (for in this parable only warriors are spoken of) invitingthem to rally under his standard. They are going to fight for the grandest, holiest and dearest of all causes. He promises them certain victory, no one of his followers shall perish unless it be through his own fault. Yet it will be a strenuous campaign, full of hardships and fatigue for all concerned. But the King himself will ever be in the midst of his soldiers, in the thickest of the fight, sharing in their hardships and privations, so that no one will be expected to toil and endure more than the leader; and each one shall share in the victory in proportion to the sacrifices he shall have made in the holy cause.
What should a brave warrior answer to such an appeal? The promises may appear to be excessive, impossible; but they are so in the parable only, not in the real facts figured by it.
POINTII.Now consider the application to the reality signified. The Son of God Himself is that King, nobler and grander than any mere human genius or hero, who has truly come into this world to establish the Kingdom of God, and who is accomplishing this appointed task.
He calls upon all men, women and children to follow Him in His contest against God’s enemies; not that He needs their aid, but that they may share in the glory of the victory.
For this purpose all must, in some measure, share His labors and His sacrifices; but He will ever be by their side, and endure more than any of them. Every one will share in the magnificent rewards in proportion to his generous exertions.
What answer should every generous heart make to such an appeal from his great, good God, his sovereign Lord and Saviour? “To-day, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts” exclaims the Psalmist (Ps.94).
POINTIII.Those who wish to show greater affection, and to signalize themselves in the King’s service, not only will offer their whole persons to labor, but will also act against their own sensuality, and say: “Eternal Lord of all things, I make my oblation with Thy favor and help, in the presence of Thine infinite goodness, and in the sight of Thy glorious Mother, and of all the Angels of Thine Heavenly court, protesting that I wish and desire, and that it is my deliberate determination (provided only it be for Thy greater service and praise) to imitate Thee in bearing all insults and reproaches, and all poverty, as well actual poverty as poverty of spirit, if only Thy Divine Majesty be pleased to choose and receive me to this life and state.” As Jesuits, we are certainly called to this close imitation of Christ. We must, not only faithfully resist all temptations to sin, but also generously follow our King in sacrificing lawful pleasures, trampling upon worldly honors, upon self-esteem and bodily comforts, leading mortified lives, as worthy companions of Jesus.
POINTIV.That war against Satan and against human depravity has been going on for nineteen centuries. Millions have been following Christ to victory, and are now reigning with Him in Heaven. Our time is come; we too must make our choice. Our King hassaid: “He who is not with me is against me,” “No man can serve two masters” (St.Matth.vi, 24). Let us offer ourselves to be the generous and faithful followers of our Blessed Saviour, imitating Him on earth that we may follow Him into the glory of Heaven.
What sacrifices in particular can I offer Him?
Colloquy.Beg earnestly for light and grace to understand and follow the example of Christ.
HereSt.Ignatius begins what he calls the Second Week of his Exercises, in which he bids us study how the great King leads us in the grand enterprise of establishing the Kingdom of His Father, by considering His coming on earth, His nativity, His childhood and His private life. The main purpose all along is to make us know Him more intimately, love Him more ardently and follow Him more faithfully. This following consists in making ourselves more and more like to Him: “Whom he (God) foreknew he also predestinated to be made comformable to the image of his Son” (Rom.viii, 29). By this conformity to Christ we make God reign in our hearts and prepare ourselves to enter into His Heavenly Kingdom.
In this and the following exercises a change is made in the process so far followed; namely, instead of recalling the facts to memory in the body of the meditation, we now recall them in a special prelude, put before the two usual ones. Then in the points we do lessreasoning; we rather look on and behold the event as it were passing before our eyes, noticing in particular the persons, their words and their actions, and dwelling on the thoughts and the sentiments which they suggest to our minds. From the fact that we behold rather than reason, these exercises are usually calledcontemplations, rather thanmeditations, though the name is of little importance, provided the process be well understood.
1stPrelude.Recall the facts to mind, as they are related bySt.Luke (i, 26-38).
2ndPrelude.Imagine you see the face of the earth, as it was at that time, inhabited by diverse races of men, civilized and barbarian, all steeped in vice and rushing on, a vast torrent, into the abyss of Hell. In the little town of Nazareth the Virgin Mary at prayer, and God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost looking down from Heaven upon the varied scene.
3rdPrelude.Beg fervently that you may understand this mystery, and may learn from it to know your King, Christ, more clearly, love Him more ardently and follow Him more faithfully.
POINTI.Study the sceneas it was before the descent of the Angel, noticing the persons, with their words and actions.
1.The human race, in a great variety of conditions: some rich, others poor; some learned, others ignorant; some refined, others rude; some suffering, others rejoicing; talking of wars and of pleasure, adoring idols; but nearly all rushing on, like a vast torrent, into Hell.
2. Then consider thechaste Virgin Mary, praying for the coming of the Messias, lowering herself in her own mind, thinking of her littleness before God. Thus the poet tells of a drop of water saying to itself: “how little I am in the vast ocean around me;” and at that moment a shellfish swallowed the drop, and it lay hardening in the shell, and it became the choicest pearl that ever shone on a queenly diadem. So was Mary chosen in her humility.
3. Consider thethree Divine Personslooking down from Heaven upon the scene below, seeing the mass of moral corruption, yet, instead of sending down avenging fire or a new deluge of water to punish the guilty race, pitying its sad condition. The Son of God steps down from His throne, and casts Himself at the feet of His Heavenly Father, offering Himself to assume our mortal nature and to atone for our sins.
Here is the first step of our King, lowering Himself:Exinanivit semetipsum: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man” (Phil.ii, 7). We are to imitate Him, to be made like to Him. This is our first lesson; let us learn it well: we must be humble.
POINTII.The Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary to announce her selection as the Mother of God. He comes, not to the mighty city of Rome, to its gilt palaces and learned scholars; the things of earth are very small in the sight of God. He comes to an unknown little town in a despised country, to a poor maiden, unknown to the world.
Listen to the words spoken: “Hail, full of grace,the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.” Mary is too humble to realize that such words could be suitable to her: “She was troubled at his saying.” But the Angel explains and dispels her fear. He adds: “Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the most High.” Now her Virgin heart is alarmed; so precious is the jewel of virginity in her sight. “How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the Angel answering said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Thus reassured, she understands that such is the will of God; her answer beautifully expresses her humility: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.” She does not say: behold then the future queen of Heaven and earth, but the handmaid of the Lord. Jesus has associated her with Himself making her, here and all through life, the model of every virtue.
Her example is like that of the Redeemer: humility, humility.
POINTIII.After her consent had thus been expressed, God, who always respects the free will of men, formed in her womb, from her virgin blood, the body of her Divine Son: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (St.Johni, 14). As when he formed the body of Adam out of the slime of the earth, He breathed into his face the breath of life; sonow He created the soul of Christ, and united it at once with the embryonic body to build it up to the perfection of manhood, and at the same moment God the Son assumed this humanity into substantial union with His Divine Person.
This is the second step in the career of our King, again a species of self-annihilation:Exinanivit semetipsum. It is also an example of His love for men, of His boundless zeal for their salvation and glorification. He stooped down to earth in order to raise man to Heaven.
Colloquywith the Lord incarnate:—gratitude, love; promise to follow Him, to humble self, to labor for the good of souls. Ask for the help of Mary. Our Father—Hail Mary.
The main truth thatSt.Ignatius inculcates, both in the meditation on the Kingdom of Christ and in all the subsequent portions of his Exercises, is that man must be perfected by imitating Christ, by making himself like to the Son of God made man, according to the words ofSt.Paul: “Whom God foreknew he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom.viii, 29).
The intense love of God, which the Saint conceived during his retreat at Manresa, prompted him to make himself as like to Christ as, with God’s grace, was possible;and the zeal for the salvation of souls, which he learned from the example of Christ, urged him to form a band of men like to himself, or rather like to the God-man, a select band to be, as it were, a bodyguard of the Divine King in the holy warfare, undertaken to establish the Kingdom of God. This is the spirit of the Society of Jesus, and of all religious Orders, and to some extent of all who wish to attain perfection. For this purpose the principal means to be used is the study of the life of Christ, which is to be the chief occupation of the exercitant during this and the following days. It is not a work of human skill, but one of the direct influence of the Holy Spirit; He alone can produce in the heart of man the supernatural likeness to the Son of God. As He sanctifiedSt.Ignatius, so He sanctifies all those who faithfully and generously perform these exercises.
We may, in some respects, compare the process of sanctification to the work of a painter who produces an exquisite likeness of a distinguished personage on his canvas. The first outlines of the supernatural likeness of a child of men to the Son of God are traced by the Divine Artist in the Sacrament of Baptism. The infant’s soul receives the precious impress as the unconscious canvas receives the colors, without its own co-operation. Yet already then the difference is immense between a mere child of earth and an adopted child of God. But very much remains to be accomplished by the Holy Ghost before the likeness is perfected. And this increase of sanctification is the most important work that is being done on earth from generationto generation: “For the perfecting of the Saints—for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph.iv, 12).
Most of this further sanctification is to be produced by the Holy Ghost in our hearts with our co-operation: He teaches us how tomake ourselveslike to Christ, while He aids us to do it. For His teaching does not consist in simply suggesting to us what we must do, as we teach a child its Catechism; but He acts as does a music teacher with his pupils, who makes them constantly practise what they are learning. It is by their own efforts that they are to acquire the art. So the Spirit of God makes us like unto Christ by helping us to act as Christ did, to practise the virtues of which He has given us the example. In this consists the sanctification of the soul, in the imitation of Christ.
How Christ acted during His whole career, from His incarnation to His ascension, this is the study of the second, third and fourth weeks of the Exercises. We will here call attention to some of the characteristic traits of His life on earth.
1. His conduct was diametrically opposed to that by which Adam and Eve had forfeited their original happiness. They had aspired to rise above their own condition and become like unto God. For the Devil had said: “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” (Gen.iii, 5). Christ, on the contrary, while being God, stooped down and made Himself man; and He continued lowering Himself more and more, becoming thepoorest child on earth, born in a stable, laid upon straw, “a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people” (Ps.21), condemned to a shameful death, and, as a criminal, crucified with thieves. If then we wish to be like Christ, we must practise humility.
2. Another characteristic trait of Christ’s conduct is seen in the means He used to establish the Kingdom of His Father. He could have made the colossal power of Rome His tool to effect that purpose, or have employed the wisdom of the philosophers or the elegance of the writers of that classic age. But instead He used ignorant and timid men, and first gathered into His fold the poor and despised of the earth, asSt.Paul expressed it: “For see your vocation, brethren, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but the foolish things of the world hath God chosen that he may confound the wise, and the weak things of the world hath God chosen that he may confound the strong, and the base things of the world, and the things that are contemptible hath God chosen, and things that are not, that He might bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in His sight” (ICor.i, 26-29).
Must we then, to imitate Christ, cast all human learning to the winds? By no means; but we must understand that merely natural means cannot produce supernatural effects, that all the learning and all the power of the world cannot save or sanctify a soul. And therefore we must trust in supernatural means.As to the natural means, Christ did not need them to accomplish His purpose; but we must use all the means, natural and supernatural, that God puts at our disposal; yet remembering all along that we must put our main confidence in the supernatural, in the help of grace, which is secured by the imitation of our King.
We must then ever keep our eyes upon Him, study His example, and reproduce His virtues in ourselves. It will often happen that to act thus we must do things which seem foolish in the eyes of a worldly wisdom, as whenSt.Francis Borgia resigned his office of viceroy, in which he was doing so much good, to hide himself in the religious state; or when the Seven Holy Founders of the Servites of Mary gave up all their riches to become poor like Christ.
A beautiful illustration of the way in which we are to imitate the Saviour is given us in the Book of Judges, where Gedeon and his three hundred followers rescued their people from oppression by means apparently most unwise, yet fully successful because they obeyed God with heroic fidelity. Gedeon was designed by Divine Providence to be a type of Christ. Jesus is our Gedeon, and we can learn how we must follow Him by studying the story of Gedeon in Holy Writ.
The Israelites in his day had been conquered by the Madianites and Amalekites, who were overrunning their land with a countless army, and destroying all they could not carry off. The Chosen People were reduced to a state of slavery and starvation. So they repented of their idolatry, and called upon the Lord forpardon and mercy. God sent them a savior in the person of the faithful Gedeon. This hero, encouraged by miracles, which he had seen, destroyed the altar and the grove of Baal, and then gathered together 32,000 men, trusting in God that with this small force he could defeat the vast number of the foes. But God told him his followers were too many; if they conquered, they would attribute the victory to their own prowess. He bade him choose only 300 of them, and promised Gedeon that with these alone he would gain a complete victory.
Now notice how this was accomplished; it was by means apparently most rash and foolish. The Scripture narrates it thus: “Gedeon divided the 300 men into three parts, and gave them trumpets in their hands, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said to them: I will go into one part of the camp, anddo you as I shall do. When the trumpet shall sound, in my hand, blow you also the trumpets on every side of the camp.—They began to sound their trumpets, and clap the pitchers one against another—And they cried out, The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon—And the Lord sent the sword into all the camp and they killed one another” (Judgesvii, 16-22).
The immense army of the foe was destroyed, and the country delivered by the 300 unarmed men. These had simply done what they saw their leader do, and God had done the rest. Christ is our Gedeon; we must simply do what He did, and God will do the rest: He will establish His Kingdom in our hearts, and byus, no matter how weak the instruments, effect the salvation of souls.
1stPrelude.Recall the facts to mind, by readingSt.Lukei, 1-20.
2ndPrelude.See the stable, with the Divine Infant lying on the straw in the manger, with Mary and Joseph kneeling in adoration.
3rdPrelude.Ask to understand how Christ has loved you, that you may love Him ardently and follow Him faithfully.
POINTI.Consider how Mary and Joseph received the order to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled there. Notice the persons, their words and their actions.
1.The pagan emperorwho ordered the census, no matter what was his motive, was an agent of Divine Providence to bring the Holy Family to Bethlehem. His order had been issued three years before; it arrived at Nazareth just at the right time for God’s purposes.
2.St.Josephbrings it home, knowing what inconvenience it would cause, but resigned to God’s will.
3.Mary, though she sees it comes at a most inopportune time, as far as man can judge, has only words and thoughts of cheerful submission to the voice of authority. Both prepare at once for the journey, and start as soon as possible.
POINTII.See the Holy Family arriving in Bethlehem.They have traveled five days, over 110 miles, Mary perhaps riding on an ass or in a rude cart, and Joseph leading the animal. Both now are dust begrimed and tired out, glad to get at last to the one inn of the town; but they are disappointed and find no room there to receive them. Follow them in imagination as they wander through the poorer streets, asking here and there for a night’s lodging, but refused at every door. Here now are the holiest persons that ever trod the earth, and see how the Lord allows them to suffer for our example of patience. And the Divine Child, how helpless: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (St.Johni, 11). Happy they, if any such there were, who spoke a kind word to them, even a word of excuse for a refusal; it must have brought a blessing. Do I always speak kindly to the poor? Do I render every service I can? God willed it all, that Jesus might be born in a stable, rather than in a comfortable cottage; laid on straw, rather than on a cushion. Our edification is all the greater on Christmas day. But their lot was hard. So too our sufferings shall be turned into joy.
POINTIII.Behold the stable, in which they have found a refuge. Cattle were there before them, and the floor is littered with their leavings. Mary and Joseph patiently tidy up a spot where they may rest, and collect the cleanest blades of straw to lay them in the manger, provident for the expected birth of the Divine Child.
There, during the night, Mary is miraculously delivered, and in an ecstasy of love and joy, presses theSon of God to her maternal breast. She tenderly wraps Him in the swaddling clothes she has brought along for the purpose, and reposes Him upon the straw of the manger, that she and Joseph may kneel before Him in humble adoration. Angels are there of course to honor the King of glory; but they appear not to the sight nor charm the ear with their Heavenly song, that all may be as desolate as possible. He came to share our poverty and our loneliness.
Meanwhile His glory is beginning to be manifested elsewhere. For a bright angel announces to the shepherds the birth of a “Saviour, who is Christ the Lord in the city of David,” and he adds: “This shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will” (St.Lukeii, 11-14).
He who came to assume our poverty made the poor His favorites; to them He was first revealed. If we wish to enjoy His favors, let us be satisfied with little, study rather with how little we can get along than how much we can acquire. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (St.Matth.v, 3).
The closest followers of Christ are known by their resemblance to Him. And how is He known? The Angel has proclaimed it: by His poverty: “And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.”
Colloquywith the Divine Infant, loving Him, thanking Him, begging for the spirit of poverty, humility; and with Mary and Joseph, begging of them to obtain for me these precious dispositions.