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meditation on those profounder Mysteries, descending from them to the contemplation of these sensible things, it finds in every one of them nourishment, and consolation, and fruit, because of the abundance of its love which makes every smallest thing, and even the slightest hints, to be of great value and to furnish matter for devotion and consolation.

5. In giving the Mysteries of Christ, the director ought to take them from the book of the Exercises at the end, where, as has been said above, they are arranged with their points. In the case of those who are more accustomed to meditate, it will suffice to dictate to them the points, or to give them in writing, just as they are there found, enjoining them to follow throughout the same form as on the first day. With others, however, who are less experienced, the director ought to go more into detail, fitting the preludes to the matter, and showing them how to set before themselves the persons with their circumstances and then their words and their actions, etc.

CHAPTER XXI

Of the hours for meditation, for spiritual reading, and for visiting the exercitant

1. If the exercitant seems to be fatigued, even though not excessively so, still, in order that he may be better able to hold out, it is expedient to give him some relaxation in the hours of meditation. In this case the midnight meditation may be omitted, the other four being retained.1

2. Also, in this and the following Weeks, after the meditations have been made, some book may be read for the remaining time, but of such a kind as will nourish piety rather than busy the intellect with novelties, e.g. passages from the works of S. Bernard, or Gerson on the Imitation of Christ, or Louis of Granada. If, however, the book selected contains any treatise on the Mysteries of Christ, it is better that the exercitant should not read those Mysteries upon which he will have to meditate hereafter, but only those upon which he has already meditated, or is going to meditate that same day.2

3. He should be visited by the director once at least each day, except during the time of the Election, when desolations and perplexities are wont to be more common, in which case a more frequent visitation may be necessary.

1 See Observation III, p. 95. 2 See Observation I, ib.

CHAPTER XXII

Of the Election, its importance, and the method to be observed in making it

1. In the whole of the Exercises there is no subject more difficult, or requiring greater skill and discretion, than the Election. For when engaged upon it the exercitant is exposed to a variety of spiritual movements, and often also to errors, because a man may not only be overcome by evil, but may often also be deceived by what appears to be good and right.

2. Therefore in dealing with this matter we must clearly understand and keep before our eyes the great importance of choosing a state of life. For if man, as rational, ought in all his actions to propose to himself an end agreeable to reason, and if a Christian ought to direct all that he does towards a supernatural end-if, I say, that ought to be done in each several action, how much more in choosing a state, upon which almost all the actions of our life depend, so that if the end itself be faulty, all that depends upon the end will necessarily be faulty also.

3. Furthermore, just as in the living body there are many members, yet not all the members, as S. Paul says,1 are eyes or feet, so in the body of the Church there must needs be various grades and states. And the author of this division and distribution is the Holy Spirit, to Whom it belongs to assign to each his proper place. Wherefore the Apostle says in the same chapter: There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. From which it is manifest, that as servants are appointed by their master each to his own work and office, so are men by God; and therefore a man ought not to hinder in himself that which God wishes to do in him and with him, but ought to serve Him faithfully, in whatever way His Majesty wills.

4. Then, too, a good Election conduces greatly to the attainment of our eternal salvation. For although God refuses no man the help necessary to his salvation, yet it cannot be doubted that He gives His grace, and light, and help, much more abundantly to those who have not thrust themselves into some state 1 1 Cor. xii. 12 sq. 21 Cor. xii. 4–6,

of life of their own will, but have chosen that which, after careful consideration, they have thought to be according to the divine good pleasure.

5. Lastly, if we choose to direct ourselves in such an important matter according to our own judgment and preference, we shall easily fall into very great and pernicious errors; but if we have followed the will of God, He as our Father and Creator will ordain nothing concerning us which is not useful and salutary, and indeed suitable and adapted to our needs, for He knows whereof we are made.

6. All this, and more to the same purpose, will be useful not only to the director for his guidance in this business, but still more to the exercitant, that he may see in what temper of mind he ought to approach so important a matter.

7. Therefore, to the end that some order may be observed in dealing with it, we shall first point out what sort of persons those who are admitted to the Election ought to be; secondly, what sort of persons those who direct them; thirdly, what are the matters with which the Election is concerned; fourthly, what rules are to be observed in making it; and fifthly, what is its order and procedure.

CHAPTER XXIII

What sort of persons those who are admitted to the Election ought to be

1. With regard to the first point, it is evident that not all are to be admitted to the Election of a state. For those whose state is already fixed, as married persons, or Religious, ought not to deliberate on this matter, but should only be assisted to strive after perfection, each in his own state, according to the measure of grace which God our Lord may give him. And even in the case of those whose state is not fixed, the Election is not to be given indiscriminately to all; see Constitutiones P. VII, cap. iv, lit. F, where it is said that it is to be given only to a few, and those of such a character that there is good hope that their spiritual progress will bring no ordinary measure of fruit to the glory of God. Therefore those who are incapable of this high perfection (such as fickle and inconstant persons who must on no account be admitted to the Election without previous testing), or those who evidently have unconquered passions, or bad habits which appear to be incorrigible, are not,

to be admitted, unless there should be such clear signs of special grace as to supply the lack of all else.

2. Secondly, in addition to good natural endowments and character, it is requisite that he to whom the Election is given should also himself desire it and ask for it. This is an absolutely necessary condition, and on no account ought the Election to be given without it, much less forced upon one who has no desire for it. For he who is in that condition will not only receive with suspicion whatever is said to him, and therefore will not be helped by it; but also there is this further reason, that the many and great difficulties which occur in making an Election, even when the will is good and fervent, will be much greater when it is languid and inert, and therefore incapable of overcoming them.

3. Thirdly, it is most expedient that he who enters upon the Election should endeavour to be free from every inordinate affection, and absolutely indifferent to all things, desiring this one thing alone, that he may follow the holy will of God, whatever he may discover it to be. And therefore if it should appear that he is too much inclined to riches, and too little to poverty, he would not be properly disposed, nor could a good issue be hoped for in the Election. For such a disposition, unfavourable to the more perfect way and inclined to the more imperfect, would bias the intellect to invent reasons in accordance with itself. And since, as is commonly said, whatever is received is received according to the measure of the recipient, it might easily happen that he would think that to be the will of God which is in fact his own will. He ought therefore, before making his Election, to attain to the third Degree of Humility,1 which is mentioned in the book of the Exercises, or at least to the second. The meditations on Two Standards, Three Classes, and others, of which we shall speak below, will help him to do this; and therefore he should be kept some time longer at these meditations, in order that, partly by his own efforts and partly by asking it of God with fervent prayers, he may little by little be brought to this equilibrium of mind. If, however, he should not attain to this resignation and indifference, the whole matter of the Election must be relinquished, and then, if it shall seem advisable, the rest of the Exercises should be continued in the hope that if possible they may bring him to a more mature 1 See Note 87, p. 119.

disposition, or after a short interval they should be brought to an end.

4. Fourthly, the best of all dispositions is that in which a man not only does not incline to the retention of earthly possessions, but as far as possible constantly endeavours to bend his will to that which is more perfect. For although in fact he is not going to choose the more perfect way, because perchance God does not call him to such a state, yet it will do him no harm, but rather very much good, to desire it; and accordingly in these Exercises the more perfect way is always set forth as what we should most desire and ask of God. S. Ignatius has a very noteworthy remark bearing upon this point in one of his writings,1 where he says that the director ought to endeavour to bring the exercitant into such a frame of mind that he shall be absolutely as ready to follow the life of the counsels as that of the precepts; nay, rather, so far as depends on himself, more inclined to the counsels, if that should be more pleasing to God; and he adds that more unequivocal signs are required for deciding that it is God's will that a man should remain in that state in which it is sufficient to keep the commandments, than that he should enter upon the way of the counsels, seeing that our Lord has so openly exhorted men to embrace the counsels, and declared the great dangers which beset the other state.

5. Lastly, there is that disposition which S. Ignatius enjoins in the same place, viz. that whoever is engaged in making an Election should preserve a state of entire inward recollection, and during the whole time of deliberation should close the doors of his senses and of his thoughts to every other thing, desiring to see and hear nothing which is not from above. What has just been said indicates two things: first, that the soul must not allow itself to be distracted by other thoughts, but should turn its whole effort and attention to this one thing alone, putting aside all other matters. And second, that in this deliberation it must admit no considerations which are not from heaven, i.e. none which savour of flesh and blood, or human and worldly respect, since everything ought to emanate from this one principle, viz. the desire of the glory of God and of fulfilling His will. This is that true cost of building the tower of which the

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1 This almost certainly refers to that early sketch of a Directory composed by S. Ignatius, of which I have given a brief account in the Note which follows the Preface to the Directory, p. 272.

• Annotation xvi. 3 See First Method of making an Election, p. 129.

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