The spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius : $b adapted to...

POINT I. It is one of the infirmities of our fallen nature that we are constantly drawn down to sensual and other selfish gratifications; and, to rise heavenward in our desires, we need the exertion of ever renewed efforts. As truly as the clock needs repeated winding up, so the soul needs frequent remindings of the vital truths which cause our lives to be supernatural. For this purpose, St. Ignatius has wisely provided these semi-annual renovations of spirit. If we did not care to renew our spirit of fervor at the proper time, the Lord might do it for us by means far more painful than we imagine. Bitter afflictions brought on individual persons or upon entire bodies of men, even such as are favorites of God, are often intended by Him to purify them from moral stains. Thus, some years before the suppression of our Society, Father Paradiso was instructed by the Lord to inform Father Ricci, then our Father General, that the calamities which were going to overwhelm us were intended to renew the spirit of humility, of faith and piety in the whole Church. (See B. N.’s “The Jesuits and Their History,” Vol. II, Page 179.)

POINT II. Another reason for this semi-annual renovation of the spirit of fervor is that our life calls for men of uncommon virtue. The whole history of our Order proves this truth. Every generation of our members has had numerous heroes, conspicuous for their spirit of self-sacrifice. Every generation has had much need of solid virtue on the part of all its members to perform the difficult tasks imposed on them. For the present we are passing through a crisis in the world’s history, which calls for the most patient endurance of ills, and the most generous spirit of sacrifice, that can be expected from brave and faithful men supported by the grace of God. Such virtue as you shall need during your lifetime, if you do not want to disgrace the name you bear, can only be acquired by leading a life of prayer, and by the ever faithful performance of your duties, no matter what sacrifices they may require.

POINT III. The purpose for which we have entered on this career is well worthy of all the sacrifices it may demand of us. No grander purpose can be conceived. God Himself never holds out a higher aim than that which we are vowed to labor for, namely most perfect happiness for ourselves and for a countless multitude of other souls. In fact, the aim of our lives is identical with that for which the Son of God came down from Heaven, and toiled and suffered upon earth, namely the procuring of the greater glory of God; Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

We could not have entered upon this grand career if the Lord had not given us extraordinary graces to do so. He has deigned to make the sacrifices implied in it comparatively easy and full of consolations; and if only we keep up our trust in Him, He will make the rest of our lives flow on in the same even current of loving worship. They will not be lives of ease and earthly comforts; far from it. They will be successions of sacrifices, as was the life of Christ. But he rides smoothly along whom the grace of God carries onward, facile equitat quem gratia Dei portat; and we shall be cheered on at every step by the prospect of eternal bliss: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going they went and wept, casting their seeds; but coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves” (Ps. 125).