THE SIXTH DAY
After we have meditated on the Kingdom of Christ, His self-annihilation, His private life and His zealous labors, we must now consider the plots and efforts of the archenemy Satan, who opposes Him at every point. For life is a continuous warfare: “The life of man upon earth is a warfare,” says Job; and in every war there are of course two opposing forces.St.Augustine in his celebrated work on “The City of God,” compared together the working of those conflicting powers, the impersonations of virtue and vice, of humility and pride.St.Ignatius here proposes a similar parable, for the purpose of discovering the plots and snares of Satan to ruin souls, contrasting them with Christ’s plans and labors to procure their eternal happiness.
1stPrelude.The figure under which the two opposing forces are presented bySt.Ignatius is that of two armies encamped, the one near Babylon, the city of confusion, as the name signifies; the other near Jerusalem, that sacred city of peace. In the former camp Satan is seen elevated on a throne of fire and smoke, his countenance horrible to behold. He is surroundedby countless demons, whom he is instructing how to compass the ruin of souls. In the other camp the Blessed Saviour stands humbly in the midst of His followers, Angels and men, His countenance beaming with kindness, while teaching them how to gain all hearts for virtue and happiness.
2ndPrelude.Imagine you behold these two camps with their respective leaders.
3rdPrelude.Ask for light to understand the treacherous schemes of Satan, that you may oppose them in yourself and in others, and may lead all to obey Christ.
POINTI.Study the special features of Satan’s camp.
1. It is near Babylon, where the tower of Babel once stood, to signify the pride and the confusion which Satan ever labors to stir up in the hearts of men. He is elevated on a throne, to denote the ambition he arouses in all to rise above their fellows. The throne consists of flames, ever restless, and smoke, darkening the mind of his miserable dupes. His monstrous features reflect the ugly vices of his heart.
2. Listen to his address: “Go into every country, every province, every city, town and hamlet, enter into every house, and tempt every man, woman and child to grasp for the good things of this world. Most of them are easily enticed to the greed of money and riches, the accumulation of which seems to them reasonable and proper.
“When they become rich, tempt them to the ambition of honor, by which they are puffed up with self-esteemand the spirit of independence of God.” This spirit is the very essence of pride, and the subversion of the moral order. The world is full of minds independent of God; they are the conquests of Satan. Beginning with what appears proper enough, they are gradually led to the abyss of sin.
3. The demon understands full well that the temptation is to be adapted to each one’s character. With many there is from the beginning an inordinate love of honor and distinction; these may at once be assailed on their weak point and more rapidly led into pride. Others are more readily allured by the bait of pleasure; they may first be tempted by innocent amusements, then by more inordinate enjoyment, till they cast off all restraint, loving self to the contempt of the Creator, which is but another form of pride.
POINTII.Now consider the opposing camp.
1. There behold the gentle Saviour, not enthroned, but humbly standing in the midst of His followers, as it were an equal to the least. His serene countenance is lit by a genial smile, inspiring all with love and confidence;
“Beautiful above the sons of men, grace is poured abroad in thy lips—Thou hast loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath annointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Ps.44).
2. Listen to the instructions He gives to His Angels and the human ministers of His mercy. He says: “Go ye into the whole world, to every country, every province, every city, town and hamlet, enter every house, and induce every man, woman, and child tolabor for their eternal happiness, by the practice of self-restraint and moderation in all their desires; let all be satisfied with a decent competency of wealth, detaching their hearts from earthly possessions, so as to acquire poverty of spirit, and to be ready to embrace even actual poverty, if the spirit of God should be pleased to lead them to that perfection. Induce them next to willingness to be slighted, even despised, so as to resemble Me more closely. The result will be true humility, which is the root of all the virtues.”
Colloquy, first with your Mother Mary, asking her to obtain from her Divine Son, true poverty of spirit, and willingness to become actually poor, if God should wish it. Then ask the Saviour through His love for Mary, as man, to obtain these graces for you from His Heavenly Father. Lastly ask the Father to grant you the same through His love for His Divine Son. This triple colloquy is a powerful prayer.
1stPrelude.Imagine you behold Christ, who says to you: “My son, I will now show you the highest point of perfection to which I desire you to aspire for the present.”
2ndPrelude.Speak, O Lord, Thy servant heareth. Give me the grace of generously complying with Thy invitation.
POINTI.The first degreeof virtue, also called the first degree of humility, consists in such a disposition ofheart, such firm attachment to our good Lord, that nothing in the world, not even the danger of death, can make us even deliberate about committing a mortal sin. This degree is necessary for all men, it is the habitual state of all good Christians. Weakness or passion may sometimes cause them to fall; but they soon rise again, and return to this state of mind. It is in fact simply the application of the words of Christ: “If thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire” (St.Markix, 42). Let us thank God that we have attained this degree at least; but let us also consider whether any passion is so unrestrained within us as to expose us to a serious fall. No man is safe as long as he lives; some make a sad failure in the end. They fare like the vessel that came from the New World with loads of gold and silver on board, and was wrecked in sight of the Golden Gate, the harbor of San Francisco, while its sailors were answering the hurrahs of welcome rising from the crowd of spectators on the shore.
POINTII.The second degreeconsists in such an habitual state of mind that we would rather do or suffer anything, even rather die, than enter into deliberation about committing even a wilful venial sin. This degree supposes considerable indifference to the good things or the evils of this world. It is the habitual state of fervent religious; they may be surprised into venial sins, but they rarely commit them with full deliberation. Let us try to establish ourselves firmly in this degree; and if we find difficulty in this, let us praymost earnestly for help, and do ourselves violence. “The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (St.Matth.xi, 12). We should not rest satisfied till, by prayer and efforts, we have confirmed ourselves in this degree.
POINTIII.The third degreeconsists in such devoted attachment to our Blessed Saviour that we wish to be like Him, to be in suffering and forgotten, or even despised by men, as He was; so that, where duty does not require the contrary, we wish, even without a view to any reward, to share His afflictions, for no other reason than because Christ, our dearest friend and Sovereign Lord endured the same.
Thus when a member of a decent family is in a dying condition, all the other members abstain from feasting or attending pleasure parties; so too, because our Lord led a poor and humble life, enduring intense hardships and sufferings, we wish to bear a share in His afflictions.
As an accomplished artist takes great delight in practising his art, in which a beginner finds only labor and difficulties, so those derive most happiness from the practice of virtue who have attained in it uncommon proficiency. The sentiments of this third degree are beautifully expressed in the Prayer ofSt.Xavier,“O Deus: ego amo te,”etc. (page 132).
The colloquyis three-fold: 1. Begging the Blessed Virgin to obtain for us from her Divine Son the grace of frequently eliciting acts of this third degree. 2. Begging our Divine Lord to ask this grace for us from His Heavenly Father. 3. Begging our HeavenlyFather to grant us the same, through the love He has for His Divine Son.
In the meditation on the Two Standards we studied the manner in which the evil spirit tempts the souls of men, leading them from apparently innocent beginnings to total independence of their Creator. We must now consider the subject of temptations in further detail.
Why does the Devil hate men?Because he hates God, and as he cannot injure God, he wreaks his vengeance on God’s images and children. Now man is created in the image of God, and all men are, or at least are destined to be, elevated to the dignity of children of God. Besides, they are intended to occupy in Heaven the thrones which the evil angels have lost. Therefore Satan envies them, and wants to ruin them by every means in his power. The chief means is mortal sin, by which a man joins in with the tempter in rebelling against his Sovereign Lord. If Satan cannot succeed in leading us into mortal sin, he will strive to impair at least the beauty of the soul by venial sin, and worry it to deprive it of the peace of God.
God allows all this to happen that man may be further ennobled by his victories over temptations and be more richly rewarded; also that the power of the Lord may be more and more manifested, when Heenables so weak a being as man to triumph over such powerful spirits. Thus Providence draws good out of evil, and the wisdom, power, and goodness of God are glorified, virtue is perfected in infirmity (IICor.xii, 9), and the free creature is exalted. This is beautifully explained in the book of Tobias: “Thy counsel is not in man’s power. But this every man is sure of that worshippeth thee, that his life, if it be under trial, shall be crowned; and if it be under tribulation it shall be delivered, and if it be under correction, it shall be allowed to come to thy mercy: because after a storm, thou makest a calm, and after tears and weeping thou pourest in joyfulness. Be thy name, O God of Israel, blessed forever” (iii, 20-23).
All must expect to be tried by temptations; for the Lord assures us: “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent bear it away” (St.Matth.xi, 12); now our indolence tempts us to shirk this violence. Our Blessed Saviour allowed Himself to be tempted, and we are to be made like unto Him: “The disciple is not above his master” (ib.x, 24). Those who aim at a closer resemblance to their Divine Master must expect to be more violently tempted; and therefore Ecclesiasticus warns us: “Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation. Humble thy heart and endure” (ii, 1). In fact those who please God must be tempted; the two things are inseparable, as the Angel explained to Tobias: “Because thou wast acceptableto God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee” (xii, 13). Read the lives of the Saints, and you will not find one who had not to endure severe temptations, fromSt.Paul and the other Apostles down to the latest Saint.
God will not allow us to be tempted above our strength, as He has graciously promised throughSt.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” (ICor.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, andtook 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,” saysSt.Paul, “are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed inus” (Rom.viii,18). AndSt.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).
We must remember, however, thatnot 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; forSt.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 aSt.Aloysius, aSt.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 ofSt.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.
1stPrelude.Imagine you behold Christ before you, looking kindly upon you, and saying: “My son, give me thy heart” (Prov.xxxiii).
2ndPrelude.Ask fervently for light to understand this gracious invitation, and strength to comply with it generously.
POINTI.While this invitation is really addressedby 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.
POINTII.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 whenSt.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.
POINTIII.The third class of mento 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 sogive 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.
HereSt.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.