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

1. Our life is, or at least ought to be, so very supernatural that it needs an uncommon amount of grace to lead it properly. Now the ordinary condition that God requires to impart His grace is prayer, not so much long prayer as good prayer. If we pray well, we shall undoubtedly receive much grace.

2. Our days are filled up with distracting occupations, so that long hours pass in worldly cares or with profane objects of thought, whose natural tendency is to engross our hearts with worldly affections, and turn them from the Creator to the creature. Prayer, fervent prayer, is the most efficient means to counteract this tendency. Without it we soon lose sight of our highest interests and commit at least venial sins.

1. We have the Holy Ghost, who helps us to pray, crying in our hearts “Abba, Father” (Gal. iv, 6). He is certainly ever ready to help us to become men of prayer; for we Jesuits are called to this, since it is our vocation to teach others how to pray, and thus to form spiritual men.

2. We possess a most perfect system of prayer, given us through St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises. This has been a most rich and inexhaustible source of spirituality, as is shown in the works of our writers, and the lives of our Fathers, Scholastics and Brothers through all the periods of our history.

3. All we need to become men of prayer ourselves is diligent application to its practice. To obtain distinguished success in any art or science we need special diligence and a sort of enthusiasm in the practice of that pursuit. He who earnestly wishes to become a man of prayer,—and we ought all to desire this,—should make it his special ambition to perform all his spiritual exercises to the best of his power, and constantly to ask the Lord for the gift of prayer. What is my conduct in this respect? Am I really in earnest to acquire that science of the Saints? What improvements am I going to make in this matter?

Not our duties, as is the case with most worldlings. For, although, as we have stated before, our outward duties are apt, to some extent, to turn our minds and hearts from God to creatures, enough time for prayer is left us to repair our spiritual strength day by day, provided we perform our meditations, examinations of conscience, etc., with becoming fervor. In fact, our outward labors, if animated by the proper intention, which our spiritual exercises constantly inspire, will be helpful to bring us nearer to God, just as bodily labor helps the food to promote bodily health. But what hinders us from becoming men of prayer is:

1. Indolence, which manifests itself in various ways. We may not prepare the points of meditation over night with proper diligence, or neglect to call them to mind before falling asleep and again at rising in the morning. We may fail to rise promptly and neglect the morning visit to the Blessed Sacrament. We may assume a listless posture during meditation and at other times of prayer, etc.

3. Neglect of direct conversation with God while He is giving us an audience. Prayer supposes that we speak to Him, by acts of adoration, humility, thanksgiving, petition, contrition, intercession, etc. We need not say many things but yet we should speak earnestly all along the time of the exercise, often repeating the same sentiments.