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Secondly, when a secret sin is made known to some one, in order that he may help the sinner to rise out of his sin, provided that he has good grounds or probable reasons for thinking that he will be able to help him.

(5) An oath which terminated in the thought of a creature without passing beyond it to the Creator, would be an act of idolatry.

(6) I.e. some erroneous opinion or teaching in a matter of faith or morals.

Of Deeds

Taking for the subject matter the ten commandments, and the precepts of the Church, and things commended by superiors, whatever transgression is committed under any of these three heads is a greater or lesser sin, according to the greater or less importance of the matter. By things commended by superiors I mean, for example, Bulas de Cruzadas (7) and other indulgences, e.g. those for the peace of Christians, obtainable by confessing and receiving the most holy Sacrament; for there is no little sin in acting, or in causing others to act, against such pious exhortations and recommendations of our superiors.

(7) Fr. Rickaby, S.J., says that a Bula de Cruzada, 'procurable in Spain, is a grant of indulgences and a relaxation of the Friday abstinence, on condition of a small payment, which formerly, as the name implies, was devoted to the war against the Moslem, but now goes to the upkeep of Spanish churches.'

Method of making the General Examination:

it contains five points.

The first point is to give thanks to our Lord God for the benefits we have received.

The second, to ask grace to know our sins and to root them out. The third, to demand of the soul an account, hour by hour, or period by period, from the time of rising down to the present examination, first of thoughts, then of words, lastly of actions, in the same order as has been explained in the Particular Examination. The fourth, to ask pardon of the Lord God for the faults.

The fifth, to purpose amendment with His grace. Our Father. (8).

(8) This examination ought to be made every night. If we refer our act of contrition and purpose of amendment to our

next confession, it will secure us against a danger in frequent confessions of making too light of what is an essential point in the Sacrament of Penance, viz. contrition. This practice is much to be commended.

1

GENERAL CONFESSION AND COMMUNION

He who of his own accord (9) wishes to make a general confession will find among many other advantages three special ones in doing so at this time [i.e. at the time of the Exercises].

The first, although he who confesses every year is not obliged to make a general confession, nevertheless by making one he will gain much more profit and merit on account of the greater actual sorrow he will have for the sins and wickedness of his whole life (10).

The second, since in the time of these spiritual Exercises a man gains a much more intimate knowledge of sins and their malice than when he is not devoting himself so entirely to interior matters; so now in virtue of this increased knowledge and sorrow he will find greater profit and merit than from former confessions.

The third is, that having made a better confession and become better disposed, he will consequently be found better prepared and more fit to receive the Most Holy Sacrament, the reception of which is not only a help against falling into sin, but also a great means to preserve and increase grace.

This general confession will be best made immediately after the Exercises of the First Week (11).

(9) I.e. out of devotion, not of necessity or obligation. A general confession is said to be of obligation, when previous confessions have been bad; of devotion, when they have been good.

(10) Those who make an annual retreat will often find it helpful to make a general review from the last annual or general confession, at least of their more notable sins and negligences. To be always going back over the sins of a whole life would not be advisable, nor should it be permitted without necessity or some good reason.

(11) Because then the retreatant will be likely to make it with better dispositions and more profit (Directory xvi). If, however, as may sometimes happen, his conscience urges him to make it earlier, it is best to allow him to do so in order that his mind may be more free to apply itself to the meditations. But at the same time it will often be well to defer absolution

till the end of the Week, when the penitent will perhaps desire to add something further to his confession, and will at all events have had his contrition deepened, and his purpose of amendment strengthened, by the meditations he has made.

THE FIRST EXERCISE

is a meditation with the three powers of the soul (1) upon the first, the second, and the third sin (2). It contains in itself, after a preparatory prayer and two preludes (3), three principal points (4) and a colloquy.

(1) I.e. the memory, the understanding, and the will. How they are to be used is explained in the several points of this meditation, which is to serve as a model for their use in all the others. See Directory xiv. 2, 3; and Additional Notes C, p. 208; I, § 1, p. 227.

(2) The first sin is that of the rebel angels, committed in heaven; the second, that of our first parents, committed in the state of innocence before the fall; the third, that of a soul after the fall, subject to concupiscence and ignorance, yet preserving still the freedom of its will. So vast and far-reaching is the subject of this meditation!

In the first point our thoughts are directed chiefly to spiritual sins, and especially to the sin of pride. In the second we see the working of that threefold root of evil of which S. John speaks (1 S. John ii. 16),' the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.' In the third we may contemplate any particular sin to which we are ourselves most prone. Each of these points might well furnish matter for a separate meditation.

(3) After a preparatory prayer, etc. This preparatory prayer and the two preludes which follow are only a preparation for the meditation, and should not occupy more than three or four minutes.i

(4) Three principal points (puntos principales), or as Fr. Roothaan translates the words puncta capitalia. S. Ignatius calls them principal points, not in contrast with others of less importance, for there are no others; but either because they are of primary importance in entering upon the consideration of sin, or because each of them is capable of subdivision into several subordinate points. Thus we might divide the first point, the sin of the angels, as follows, (i) the creation and end of the angels, (ii) their probation and fall, (iii) the consequences

and punishment of their rebellion; making these the three points of a separate meditation. And the same course may be followed with the two other principal points, the sin of our first parents, and the sin of some one soul now in hell. Indeed, the outlines given by S. Ignatius for the two Exercises on sin contain each of them ample material for several meditations, and it will often be found advantageous thus to divide them. See Additional Note H, p. 221.

The preparatory prayer is to ask God our Lord for grace that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be ordered purely to the service and praise of His divine Majesty (5).

(5) This preparatory prayer is the same before every meditation, and should never be omitted. In it, besides asking for divine help without which all our efforts would be in vain, S. Ignatius would have us earnestly protest before God that we · come to our meditation not to receive consolation or for any motive of self-interest, but purely for the service and praise of His divine Majesty. To enter upon prayer in this spirit of detachment and self-surrender is one of the great secrets of making it well, as also of persevering in times of dryness and desolation. To this preparatory prayer we may well add the Veni Creator, or some other prayer, inviting the help of the Holy Spirit, Who is our Guide and Teacher in all our spiritual actions.

Intentions refers to that purity of motive which has just been mentioned; actions to matters of outward bodily posture, the observance of the ten Additions, etc.; operations to the exercise of the faculties of the soul.

The first prelude is a composition (6), seeing the place. Here it is to be observed that in the contemplation or meditation of a visible object, as in contemplating Christ our Lord, Who is visible, the composition will be to see with the eye of the imagination the corporeal place where the object I wish to contemplate is found. I say the corporeal place, such as the Temple or the mountain where Jesus Christ is found, or our Lady, according to that which I desire to contemplate. In a meditation on an invisible thing, such as the present meditation on sins, the composition will be to see with the eyes of the imagination and to consider that my soul is imprisoned in this corruptible body, and my whole compound

self in this vale [of misery] as in exile amongst brute beasts; I say my whole self, composed of soul and body (7).

(6) The composition of place is an act of the imagination by which we represent to ourselves the place where what we are about to meditate upon takes place. If, however, the subject of our meditation is something abstract and invisible, we should make use of some corporeal object as a symbolic representation, as is done in this first Exercise on sin.

The object of this prelude is to restrain the wanderings of the imagination by binding it down to some definite picture which illustrates the subject of the meditation, and may often of itself suggest helpful considerations and pious affections. Those who cannot thus work with their imagination, as indeed many cannot, should pass over this prelude lightly; it is just an expedient which some may find helpful, others not. In any case there must be no straining of the mind. See Directory xiv. 4-7.

(7) My whole self. I am to think of myself; to apply all to myself. Consider how true an image of our fallen condition this is, and how well calculated to arouse that sense of shame and confusion which is the principal fruit we are to seek for in this meditation. Here, at the very outset, we are made to feel the degradation of our nature, the ruin and misery that sin has brought upon it. The body, formed to be immortal, is now mortal and corruptible, and, instead of being obedient to the soul, has become, as it were, a prison-house in which the soul is not only confined and hindered in all its intellectual and spiritual operations, but afflicted also with all sorts of trials and temptations. Moreover the whole man, body and soul together, finds himself no longer in paradise, where once he exercised dominion over the other creatures, using them as creatures were meant to be used, but an exile driven forth to consort with the brutes that perish (cf. Dan. iv. 33; S. Mark i. 13). Certainly this prelude alone might afford abundant matter for a meditation in which we might begin to see ourselves as we truly are in our fallen and lost condition.

The second prelude is to ask of God our Lord that which I wish and desire (8). The petition ought to be according to the subjectmatter, i.e. if the contemplation is on the Resurrection, to ask for joy with Christ in His joy; if it be on the Passion, to beg for sorrow,