because they have no definite end in view. They apply themselves daily to prayer and spiritual reading, and frequently approach the Sacraments, but they do not advance. They neither overcome their faults nor acquire solid virtues. And the reason is that they are like men who merely walk to and fro in an aimless way, returning at last to the point from which they set out. They pursue their pious exercises as an end in themselves, merely to get through them and satisfy their consciences that they have done so, but without setting before themselves any definite end to be obtained by them. They make feeble half-hearted resolutions, but when the occasion for putting them into practice arises they forget them, or have not the will to carry them out. Thus, after many ineffectual. desires, they remain just what they were at the beginning. Others, on the contrary, keep the end clearly in view, and are always pressing on towards it. They look upon their spiritual exercises not merely as duties to be somehow got through, but as means to attain to a perfect victory over themselves in the mortification of their passions and the acquisition of solid virtues. It is these who make real progress in the spiritual life, and sometimes with such swiftness that they may be said to run and even to fly, rather than walk; according to the words of the Psalmist, 'I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou hast set my heart at liberty' (Ps. cxix. 32), and of the Prophet, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall 'run, and not be weary' (Isa. xl. 31).

Therefore in making these spiritual Exercises, let no one be content to go through them in a perfunctory aimless way; but let each endeavour to make progress like one who is on a journey with a definite end in view; or better still, as one who runs in a race, 'forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,' and pressing on 'toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus' (Phil. iii. 13, 14, R.V.).

Thus it is that S. Ignatius would have us enter upon the Exercises, with a serious purpose and an ardent desire to press forward in correspondence with the grace God may give us, and towards the end to which He calls us. Cf. Annotation V.

(5) To rid itself of all inordinate affections. An inordinate affection is one which is not directed ultimately to God, our true

end, but towards self or some other creature. It should be noticed that S. Ignatius does not speak here of sins, nor of sinful affections, but of affections which are merely inordinate, because (1) if these are got rid of, the roots of all sins, and a fortiori sins themselves will be destroyed; and (2) so long as inordinate affections remain in the soul they are a hindrance, as we shall see in the Second Week, to making a sound and good Election, and to attaining that state of perfection to which S. Ignatius desires to lead each soul according to its capacity. After it has rid itself of them. Till a soul has rid itself, or at least till it is really trying to rid itself, of all inordinate affections, it will have neither the light to see what is God's will for it, nor the courage and strength to embrace it and carry it out.

To seek is our part, to find is the gift of God, which will certainly be given to those who seek: 'seek and ye shall find’ (S. Matt. vii. 7).

With a view to the salvation of one's soul. The salvation here spoken of is not to be thought of merely as the soul's escape from damnation, but as including also its growth in grace in this life, and its perfection in the life to come. We are to seek by means of the Exercises so to order our life that we may attain to the highest kind and degree of spiritual perfection to which God may call us. See Additional Note B, p. 205.

It is with good reason that S. Ignatius speaks of the Exercises as preparing and disposing the soul. For we are not to think that all this can be accomplished in the short space of a single retreat. It is the work of a lifetime. We shall never have completely finished it so long as we are in this world. Always there will be some uprising of inordinate affections to be subdued, some further knowledge of God's will to be sought and found, some step onward of more complete correspondence and self-devotion to be taken, some more abundant entrance into life eternal to be won. But by the Exercises of a retreat the soul is to be prepared and disposed for all this, and then by daily exercises afterwards the work begun in retreat is to be secured and carried forward. This word of caution may be needed, especially by beginners, who, as soon as they feel the stirring of some good desires in retreat, are apt to think the victory already won, when perhaps the battle is only just beginning.

Still it is not to be denied that those who enter upon the

Exercises with their whole heart do often gain immense fruit and are carried forward a long way upon their journey. Indeed many have gone forth from a well-made retreat to live an altogether new and changed life, and, by the grace of God, have persevered and made progress in that new life to the end.

The director, therefore, should explain this first Annotation to the retreatant at the outset, pointing out especially these two things. First, that as the word Exercises implies, the retreatant is to be also an exercitant. He is to exert himself, using his own mental and spiritual faculties, illuminated of course and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, Whose help he must continually invoke. This admonition is especially necessary when the Exercises are given to a number of persons together. They must be warned not to be passive listeners only, but to remember that they have themselves to make their own meditation afterwards. Therefore each must be on the watch to gather up those points which seem to come specially home to himself, so that he may dwell upon them and turn them to his own spiritual profit by and by. Secondly, he should urge the retreatant constantly to bear in mind the twofold end or purpose of the Exercises, viz. that by their means he is to free himself from all inordinate affections, and when he has done so, to seek and to find the will of God in the ordering of his life with a view to the salvation and perfection of his soul. The director will do well to point out the chief kinds of inordinate affections which are likely to be a hindrance to the particular persons whom he is addressing.

II. He who gives to another the method and order (6) of meditating or contemplating ought faithfully to narrate the history (7) of the contemplation or meditation, merely running over the points with a brief or summary exposition: because when the person who contemplates, taking the true groundwork of the history, and discoursing and reasoning for himself, finds something that makes the history a little clearer or more deeply felt (8) (whether this happens through his own reasoning, or through the enlightenment of his understanding by divine grace), he thereby enjoys greater spiritual relish and fruit, than if he who gives the Exercises had fully explained and developed the meaning of the history: for it is not the abundance of knowledge which fills and satisfies the soul, but to feel and taste the matters interiorly.

(6) Method and order. Method refers to the way in which

the powers of the soul, the memory, the understanding, and the will are to be applied; order to the arrangement of the points of the several meditations and contemplations. For the distinction between a meditation and a contemplation see Additional Note O, p. 250.

(7) The history of the contemplation or meditation means the subject matter of it, whether it be historical in the strict sense, as in the Mysteries of our Lord's life, or some truth of a more abstract character, as in the meditations on sin, hell, death and judgment; for these also rest ultimately upon historical facts which underlie them as their foundation.

(8) Clearer or more deeply felt. The first of these words refers to the enlightenment of the intellect, the second to the movement of the affections.

This second Annotation is addressed solely to the director. He is to give the points of the meditations or contemplations briefly, with only a short explanation, leaving their further development to the retreatant. In the words of the Directory (viii. 1), 'It will be sufficient to point out as it were with the finger a vein of ore which' the retreatant may afterwards dig out for himself.' This is an important piece of advice. If the meditations are developed at length by the director, several disadvantages will result. First, the retreatant is likely to be too wearied to make his own meditation well, and will become merely a passive listener rather than an exercitant. Secondly, he may easily be too much dominated by the mind and personality of the director, who ought on the contrary to endeavour to respect the freedom of the retreatant, and to leave him as much as possible in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, as S. Ignatius says in this Annotation, it is what the retreatant discovers for himself in his meditation, by his own reasoning, or still better by the illumination and movements of divine grace, that will interest and help him most. In truth, paradoxical though it may sound, we are often helped most in a retreat when we are helped least. Even those who are unlearned and have little power of reasoning or discoursing with themselves will often make a better and more fruitful retreat if the points are only briefly given, provided they have a good will and earnestly desire to make spiritual progress.

The director, however, must use his discretion in acting upon this advice. He must endeavour to help each retreatant

according to his capacity and needs, entering into fuller explanations and developments with those who are dull or of little education; but still, even with these, trying to leave something for them to discover for themselves. Of course when a retreat is given to a number of persons together, the conductor must give the meditations at greater length, partly because he is expected to speak for half an hour or twenty minutes at the least, and partly because it is necessary to suggest more thoughts and applications than would be profitable for any one retreatant, in order that different points may meet the different needs of his several hearers. But, even in these cases, there can be no doubt that the lengthy addresses which have become customary among us are contrary to the wish and teaching of S. Ignatius, and may often be a hindrance rather than a help to the real success of a retreat.

Along with this Annotation the director should read Chapter viii of the Directory, and Suarez, De Relig., Lib. IX, cap. vi. 8.

III. As in all the spiritual Exercises that follow we make use of the understanding when reasoning, and of the will when exciting affections, let us take notice that in acts of the will, when we are conversing vocally or mentally with God our Lord or with His Saints, greater reverence is required on our part than when we make use of the understanding in reasoning (9).

(9) In the use of the understanding, we converse as it were with ourselves; in the acts of the will, we address ourselves to God. The work of the understanding is chiefly a preparation for prayer; but the acts of the will are prayer itself. Hence the need of greater reverence while we exercise them.

IV. Although four Weeks are assigned for the following Exercises, to correspond to the four parts into which they are divided: to wit, the first, which is the consideration and contemplation of sins; the second, which is the Life of Christ our Lord until Palm Sunday inclusively; the third, the Passion of Christ our Lord; the fourth, the Resurrection and Ascension, with the addition of three methods of prayer; nevertheless this is not to be so understood, as if each Week necessarily contained seven or eight days. For since it happens that in the First Week some are slower than others in finding what they desire, namely, contrition, grief, and tears for their sins; and likewise some are more diligent than others, and more agitated or tried by divers spirits, it is necessary