fight against his temptations and sins, the two spirits act upon him in precisely contrary ways, the desolation and temptation coming now from the devil, and being signs that he is trying to hinder his progress; whereas, if he will but have courage to persevere, he may confidently hope before long to experience the true peace and consolation which the good spirit will inspire. Then as the fourth Rule is explained to him, the exercitant will find there an exact description of his present state of desolation and temptation, and will learn that what he is suffering from is nothing exceptional or abnormal, but only what might be expected when a man begins to turn to God in earnest, and it ought therefore to be welcomed as a sign that the Exercises are having their proper effect, and that the Spirit of God is working in his heart and conscience. On the other hand, he will learn from the third Rule what are the signs and characteristics of that true spiritual consolation which he may confidently hope to experience if he perseveres. Next, using the fifth and following Rules to the eighth inclusive, the director may explain to the exercitant how he ought to behave himself while the time of desolation lasts. From the ninth, he may instruct him about some of the principal causes from which desolation arises, or reasons for which God permits it. Lastly, explaining the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth, he will be able to unmask the wiles of the enemy, and to point out the right method of meeting and overcoming them. In these Rules the director will find all that he needs for the instruction and encouragement of one who is in desolation and temptation. If, on the other hand, he should have to deal with one who is in a state of consolation, which is described in Rule three, he will find useful advice in the tenth and eleventh Rules, and in the fourteenth of the twenty Annotations. RULES FOR THE SECOND WEEK In the first of these Rules S. Ignatius speaks of true joy and spiritual gladness, i.e. of true consolation, and how it always comes from God and His holy angels, while the devil is always fighting against it, trying to involve the soul in sadness and to disquiet it by suggesting doubts and deceptions. But since there is a false consolation produced by the devil, as well as the true consolation which comes from God and the good angels, we need to know how to distinguish the one from the other. This is the purpose of the following Rules. If the soul finds itself in a state of consolation without any preceding cause that is perceptible or known to us, i.e. without any object that could cause it being presented to the will through the senses or the intellect, then we may be sure that the consolation comes from God and is true and real; for God only has this power of entering the soul in secret and moving it directly and immediately. If, on the other hand, there is a precedent cause for the consolation in some object presented to the senses, the imagination, or the intellect, then we must distinguish. It may come either from the good angel or from the evil, and we shall need some further tests to discriminate and judge from which it comes (Rule III). S. Ignatius gives us two tests or methods of deciding this question. The first consists in observing the contrary ends which the good and the evil spirits have in view. The good angel instils consolation into a soul in order that it may increase and ascend from good to better; the devil, on the contrary, that he may draw it onward to his own wicked and malicious designs (Rule III). In applying this test, however, we must remember that it belongs to the devil, transforming himself into an angel of light, to enter with the devout soul, i.e. to begin by suggesting thoughts which are conformable to the dispositions of the devout soul, and to come out by himself, i.e. to end by suggesting his own evil thoughts (Rule IV). Therefore we must be very careful to observe whether the whole course and train of the suggested thought is good, or whether from a good beginning it ends in something bad or distracting, or less good than that which the soul had previously determined to do; or leaves the soul weakened, disquieted, perturbed, bereft of the peace and tranquillity it enjoyed before; for if that is so, it is a sure sign that what seemed in the beginning like a light from heaven and a true spiritual consolation is not really such, but comes from our enemy the devil (Rule V). Then in the sixth Rule S. Ignatius tells us that when we have in this way discovered the trail of the serpent, we ought to examine carefully the whole course of the suggested thoughts, from their apparently good beginning to their final issue, trying to unravel the plot by which the enemy has robbed us of the spiritual sweetness and peace we were enjoying and has brought us over to his own evil purpose, in order that by the experience and knowledge thus gained we may be on our guard another time. In the seventh Rule the saint gives us a second method of discerning which of the two spirits is acting upon us. It consists in observing not so much the end or result of their respective working, as the manner of their coming, whether, that is, they enter the soul gently or with a shock of disturbance. When the good spirit touches a well-disposed soul it always does so quietly and gently, as a drop of water enters into a sponge ; while the evil spirit touches it sharply, and with noise and disturbance, as when the drop of water falls upon a rock. So that whenever a well-disposed soul finds itself violently agitated and thrown into confusion by any suggestion that comes to it, it may be sure that that suggestion is from the evil spirit; and on the other hand, when such a soul is moved gently and peaceably towards good, it is a sign that the movement is from the good spirit. Lastly, when there is consolation without any preceding cause, though there is no deception in it, since it proceeds and can proceed only from God, as has been explained in the second Rule; nevertheless we ought carefully to examine and distinguish the time itself of the actual consolation from the time following, in which the soul continues fervent and feels the remains of the divine favour and consolation lately received; for in this second period it often happens that we mingle with the divine visitation something of our own thoughts, or even suggestions which come from the devil. What S. Ignatius means is that we must carefully distinguish the time of the original inspiration in which the soul was passive, receiving light and consolation from God only, from the subsequent period in which it begins to mingle with that light something of its own thoughts and activity. For these additions and developments are not equally to be trusted. They may come from ourselves, or be prompted either by the good or the evil spirit, and therefore they will need to be examined in the light of the Rules given above. And we must beware of acting upon them impulsively before this examination has been made (Rule VIII). |