On the Matter of the Meditations of the First Week NOTE P. On Contemplation' as used in the Exercises, and VII. Of requiring an account of the meditation 288 VIII. Of giving the meditations X. Of the manner of giving the Exercises to XI. Of the First Week in general XIII. Of the twofold Examination . XIV. Of the first Exercise of the First Week. 316 XXI. Of the hours for meditation, for spiritual reading, and for visiting the exercitant 315 XXII. Of the Election, its importance, and the method to be observed in making it XXIII. What sort of persons those who are ad- mitted to the Election ought to be 317 XXIV. What sort of person the director of him CHAPTER XXXII. Of prayer after the Election has been made 334 XXXIII. What the director should do when he INTRODUCTION THE Spiritual Exercises of S. Ignatius are intended primarily for use in times of retreat. More particularly their purpose is defined in the title: Spiritual Exercises whereby to conquer oneself, and order one's life, without being influenced in one's decision by any inordinate affection.1 To order one's life according to the will of God, that is the purpose which the retreatant is supposed to have in view. He comes into retreat either to consider the question of his vocation, and to choose accordingly a state of life, whether it be the ordinary life in the world, or the priesthood, or the Religious state; or to reform, if need be, and to order his life in a state already chosen and fixed; or simply to seek a renewal of fervour and to make progress in the life of grace. One or other of these objects must be the purpose of every retreat that is made according to the plan and method of S. Ignatius. The contents of the book fall into two classes. First, the Exercises properly so called, viz. the meditations, contemplations, examinations of conscience, and other methods of prayer. And second, a number of counsels and instructions explaining how the general course of the retreat is to be adapted to various classes of persons, or to individuals, according to their several capacities, circumstances, needs and dispositions, and in particular how the different Exercises are to be made, and the retreatant helped and encouraged in the difficulties he may encounter in the course of them. These instructions are addressed for the most part, though not exclusively, to those who give the Exercises to others. Indeed the whole book is primarily a manual for the use of directors of retreats it is not intended to be put into the hands of retreatants, except 1 This title does not appear on the first page of the book, but is placed after the twenty Annotations, which form a kind of introduction to the Exercises themselves. in cases where long study and experience has made them capable of using and applying it without external help and guidance. The meditations and contemplations are distributed into four divisions which S. Ignatius calls Weeks, each of which may be curtailed or extended according as the retreatant more quickly or more tardily attains its special fruit. Neither the retreatant, however, nor the director will find here meditations worked out and ready for use, but only the materials out of which they may be made, and directions for making them. For the most part only the subjects of the meditations are indicated, with references to the very brief points contained in The Mysteries of the Life of Christ our Lord, which will be found in their place towards the end of the book. Even in the few cases where the matter is given more fully, it is still only in outlines which will need to be developed and applied by the director. How this is to be done must be learnt from a close study of the text of S. Ignatius, and also of the commentary and longer Additional Notes which are here provided for its explanation and illustration. It is not enough that the book should be read through once, or even twice or thrice: long and minute study is necessary if its teaching is to be grasped both as a whole and in its parts. In places almost every word must be carefully weighed, and one part of the book compared with another so as to bring together all that bears upon any particular point; for the various parts of the book are not always placed by S. Ignatius in the order in which they may be required for use. For example, the two sets of rules for the discernment of spirits will often be required during the Exercises of the First and Second Weeks, though they are not printed till after the Fourth Week, almost at the end of the book; and certain notes and instructions which should be studied before entering upon each Week are not always placed at the beginning of those Weeks. What instructions are applicable to each Week, and when and how they are to be applied, may often be learnt from the Directory. Chapter xi. 5, 6, for instance, points out which of the twenty Annotations ought to be explained to the retreatant before he begins his retreat, and also when it is well to make use of the Admonition which stands just before the Foundation. Chapter xv. 8, 9 tells us when, and under what circumstances, the ten Additions, and especially the last of them, should be |