2183 
 
- 
 

 
 
. 
 
 
PIOUS 
 
 RACTICES. 
 
 IN HONOR OF 
 
 ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, 
 
 Founder of the Society of Jesus, 
 
 ENRICHED WITH 
 
 MANY INDULGENCES BY POPE CLEMENT XIII. 
 
 
 Q % 
 
 COLLEGE OF THE SACRED 
 
 (JESUIT HOUSE OF STUDIES.) 
 
 WOODSTOCK, MD. 
 
 1881. 
 
 2 42 
 
 h TOIESTIC 
 
 hbrary 
 
 \ 
 
 
2J $3 
 95 
 
 COPYRIGHTED 
 
 By CHARLES PICCIRILLO, 
 1 88 1 . 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED AT 
 
 THE NEW YORK CATHOLIC PROTECTORY, 
 
 West Chester, New York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 
 
 St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the 
 Society of Jesus, should be ranked among those 
 apostolic men who have exercised the ministry 
 of salvation and taught the principles of holi- 
 ness.* Truly he was born to help men. God 
 taught him much, and from these heavenly com- 
 munications Ignatius composed his admirable 
 book of Exercises. This work is exceedingly 
 well fitted to direct souls in the paths of salva- 
 tion and perfection, f The clients of this great 
 Saint then look upon him as a mediator and a 
 patron in the important matter of eternal salva- 
 tion, and as a guide and pattern in the 
 dangerous paths of the spiritual life. The 
 
 * St. Bern. fer. 3, in die. Apost. 
 t H. R. Rota, to Greg. XV. 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 virtues of Ignatius, therefore, which are here 
 proposed for meditation, will be arranged in ac- 
 cordance with the three degrees of the spiritual 
 life. Hence, the Saint will be presented as a 
 bright model — first, in the purgative way; next, m 
 the illuminative ; and finally, in the unitive. At 
 the end some considerations will be added on the 
 Saint’s most precious death. Each meditation 
 will be accompanied by a prayer to St. Ignatius, 
 three of his practical sayings, an example, a 
 practice, and an aspiration to be made frequently 
 during the day. The meditations will be ten in 
 number, in memory of the ten months which St. 
 Ignatius spent at Manresa, amid great bodily 
 sufferings and heavenly joys of soul. These 
 meditations can be used for the ten Sundays, or 
 for the nine days preceeding the Saint’s feast ; 
 and for the feast itself, in order to secure his 
 powerful protection and obtain the grace to im- 
 itate, in some degree, his wonderful virtues. 
 The meditations will also serve to gain more 
 largely and surely the plenary indulgences, which 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 V 
 
 two Popes granted for the purpose of promoting 
 and spreading devotion to St. Ignatius. By the 
 brief “ Splendor P externa gloria” our most holy 
 Lord, Gregory XV., granted a plenary indulgence 
 to all the faithful, who, on the feast of St. Igna- 
 tius, after confession and communion, shall pray 
 for the Popes intention in a church of the 
 Society. 
 
 Clement XIII. graciously issued the following: 
 
 Decree. 
 
 Plenary indulgence of the ten Sundays in 
 honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola, at the audience 
 granted by the Holy Father, (January 27, 1767). 
 
 Moved by the humble prayer of Lawrence 
 Ricci, General of the Society of Jesus, our most 
 holy Lord, Clement XIII., kindly granted a 
 plenary indulgence for all their sins to all the 
 faithful, who, on ten consecutive Sundays be- 
 fore the feast of St. Ignatius, or on any other 
 ten Sundays of the year, shall, with true repent- 
 ance, confess their sins, go to communion, 
 
VI 
 
 preface. 
 
 make pious meditations, pray or perform other 
 Christian works in honor of the said Saint, and 
 for the glory of God, and shall devoutly visit a 
 church of the Society. This indulgence can be 
 gained on any one of the ten Sundays. His 
 holiness willed that this favor should hold good 
 for all time to come. 
 
 Given at Rome, in the office of 
 the Secretary of the Sacred Con- 
 gregation of Indulgences, on the 
 day and in the year of the afore- 
 said audience. 
 
 N. CARDINAL ANTONELLI. 
 
 S. Borgia, 
 
 Secretary to the Sacred Congregation 
 of Indulgences . 
 
DAILY PRACTICE. 
 
 — o^ e 
 
 1. Morning and evening to do all our actions, 
 direct all our affections in imitation of St. Igna- 
 tius. Offer them to God in union with the 
 Saint’s affections and merits. 
 
 2. Say, in honor of St. Ignatius, ten Our Fa- 
 thers, ten Hail Marys and ten Glory he to the 
 Fathers , or at least the Glory he to the Father ten 
 times to obtain some virtue. Say also the fol- 
 lowing Antiphon and prayer: 
 
 • Antiphon. 
 
 I came to cast fire on the earth, and what will 
 I but that it be kindled. 
 
 V. The Lord hath led the just man by right 
 ways. 
 
 R. And he hath shown him the Kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 Let us Pray. 
 
 O God, who to spread the glory of thy name, 
 didst, through St. Ignatius, strengthen thy mili- 
 tant Church with new assistance, grant us that % 
 
 i 
 
2 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 by his help and imitation of him, we may fight 
 our spiritual enemies here on earth, and be 
 crowned one day with him in heaven, who livest 
 and reignest with the Father in union with the 
 Holy Ghost, God forever and ever. Amen. 
 
 3. Make the meditation, or at least read it 
 attentively with what follows it. Comply with 
 the practice, and often during the day repeat the 
 ejaculation. 
 
FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 Purgative Way. 
 
 St. Ignatius, a pattern of true conversion, by 
 his ready, generous and lasting surrender of him- 
 self to God. 
 
 Point I. — Ready. — St. Ignatius had already 
 spent nearly thirty years of his life amid the 
 splendor of courts or the pomp and circumstance 
 of war. To prepare his soul to listen to the 
 voice of grace, God allowed a cannon-ball, 
 during the siege of Pampeluna, to speed on its 
 way and break the right leg of the warrior. 
 Confined to his bed by this event, Ignatius sought 
 some means to while away the slow-moving 
 hours. He asked for some of the light reading 
 of those times ; but Providence so arranged that 
 no book of the kind could be found in the 
 house. In place of romances, his friends brought 
 him a Life of Christ, and 4 4 Flowers from the 
 Lives of the Saints.” The reading of these 
 works was the dawn of salvation for the sufferer. 
 The grand virtues of the Saints stirred his soul 
 to its inmost depths. By comparison he saw 
 his own sins, and how good God had been towards 
 him. A contest arose in his heart between 
 
4 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 worldly pleasure and Christian virtue. Each 
 sought to win him to its own side. But said 
 Ignatius, if the Saints accomplished such won- 
 ders through the grace of God, why should not 
 I do as much with the same grace ? Hereupon, 
 he resolved to change his life, to atone for his 
 sins, and to imitate the bright examples of the 
 saints. Full of this thought he rose from his 
 bed and threw himself on the ground. There 
 in that humble posture he gave himself wholly 
 to God, promising never more to seek anything 
 in this world except God and his glory. This 
 noble determination sent a shudder through hell 
 itself. The evil spirits shook the house of Ig- 
 natius as with an earthquake, and split open its 
 walls. Still, it was then for the first time that 
 the repentant soldier tasted true peace and joy of 
 soul. 
 
 Blessed is he who promptly answers the call 
 of God, and makes a full offering of himself to the 
 divine majesty. Had Ignatius disregarded the 
 voice of the Lord, he would not be honored now 
 among the chosen saints of heaven : perhaps he 
 would be in torments among the lost. People 
 make light of God’s inspirations because they do 
 not consider the infinite goodness that sends 
 them, nor the infinite blessedness to which they 
 lead ; nor the infinite evil to which they expose 
 
FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 5 
 
 those who neglect them. “Thou knowest 
 not from whence he cometh or whither he 
 goeth."* You know not in what order God 
 intends to bestow on you his series of graces in 
 order that you may save your soul. Can you, 
 then, dare despise present graces, and promise 
 to yourself others in the future ? What folly ! 
 what rashness ! “ Dost thou know the order of 
 heaven, says God, and canst thou set down the 
 reason thereof on the earth ? ” f 
 
 Point II. — Generous . — To give up the world, 
 riches, honors, one's home, to embrace Gospel 
 poverty, mortification of the flesh, and the greatest 
 self-contempt was now the firm resolution of Ig- 
 natius. Immediately God “gave him a strong 
 conflict that he might overcome." % His elder 
 brother, seeing the wonderful change that had 
 taken place in Ignatius, suspected what he in- 
 tended to do. He therefore appealed to Ignatius 
 in the most feeling manner. “I beg of you," 
 said he with streaming eyes, “by our common 
 parents, by all our family interests, to look well 
 into what you are about to do. Do not adopt 
 any form of life that would brand the house of 
 Loyola with everlasting disgrace." On the other 
 hand, the evil spirit held up before his mind, the 
 
 * John, 3, v. 8. t Job, 38, v. 33. 
 t Wisdom, 10, v. 12. 
 
6 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 mockery and scorn which the world would heap 
 upon , him. People will attribute your new life 
 to cowardice, or to despair at the surrender of 
 Pampeluna. During this fearful conflict Ignatius 
 redoubled his prayers; he fasted, and, with many 
 tears, he sought God to help him. As in his first 
 danger, the Prince of the Apostles came to deliver 
 him, so now the Blessed Virgin, with her divine 
 Infant, appeared to him in order to strengthen 
 him in his holy purpose. This vision gave 
 Ignatius immense relief. It made an altogether 
 other man of him. In it he received such a gift 
 of chastity that until his dying day he never was 
 troubled with images or emotions contrary 7 to the 
 lovely virtue of purity. Eager to show his gra- 
 titude to our Lady, Ignatius went to visit her 
 celebrated shrine, at Montserrat. Giving his rich 
 clothes to a poor man, he dressed himself in sack- 
 cloth and girded himself with a cord. Thus 
 attired, he entered the church, hung up his 
 sword at the Blessed Virgin's altar, and in accor- 
 dance with knightly practice, spent the whole 
 night in watching and praying. It was the feast 
 of the Annunciation. Having made his confes- 
 sion, with extraordinary contrition, he went to 
 holy communion, bound himself by a vow of 
 perpetual chastity, gave himself again wholly to 
 God, and renewed his resolution to lead an 
 entirely different life.’ 
 
FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 7 
 
 Heroic magnanimity of Ignatius in overcome 
 ing so many difficulties, and in undertaking 
 such great and arduous things for God ! We 
 are terrified by the slighest obstacles — a futile 
 human respect keeps us back. No wonder that 
 we make no progress in the ways of God. “ The 
 sluggard willeth and willeth not. Every sluggard 
 is always in want. Desires kill the slothful ; for 
 his hands have refused to work at all. But he 
 that is just, will give, and will not cease.”* 
 
 Point III. — Constant . — Having once despised 
 the world, Ignatius guarded his heart v/ith all care, 
 lest any dust of that world should stain, or adhere 
 to him. For eleven years he never asked his rela- 
 tives for any relief in his poverty, he never wrote 
 to them, and having once received a package 
 of letters from home, while he was at prayer, he 
 threw them unopened into the fire. Some 
 years after his conversion He fell very sick, and 
 was obliged to return to his country. Such was 
 his reputation for sanctity even then, that the 
 entire clergy came in a body to meet him ; but 
 as soon as he could escape, refusing the hospi- 
 tality of his relations, he betook himself to the 
 public hospital and began to beg his living. 
 Such virtue produced great fruits. Such crowds 
 
 * Proverbs, 13 and 20. 
 
8 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 came to his instructions that no church could 
 hold them. He was obliged to preach in the 
 open fields ; people climbed trees, and got into 
 every available spot to hear him. Many gave 
 up their bad lives — dissensions were quelled — 
 enmities disappeared — laws were made to pro- 
 mote public morality — many good works were 
 begun and supported at the public expense. 
 
 Many reform their lives ; but how easily they 
 discontinue the undertaking ! Whence this 
 fickleness ? Former bad passions and evil desires 
 arise and entice. They are listened to. The 
 heart is no longer s raight before God : men be- 
 come double-hearted before God, and are in- 
 constant in their works. A double-minded man 
 is inconstant in all his ways. * Wherefore 
 4 ‘ watch ye and pray that ye enter not into temp- 
 tation.” f For not he that shall only begin, “ but 
 he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be 
 saved. ” J 
 
 JPrayer. 
 
 St. Ignatius, model and patron of true con- 
 version, the oblation which thou didst make of 
 thyself to God with such promptness, magnan- 
 imity and perseverance, was the beginning and 
 
 * James I, v. 8. t Matth. 26, v. 41. 
 
 t Matth. 24, v. 13. 
 
FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 9 
 
 progress of thy wonderful sanctity. I who have 
 rejected so many divine inspirations, who per- 
 severe so little in my purpose of a good life, and 
 am like a reed agitated by the wind, tossed 
 about by my disorderly affections, I fear lest my 
 pusillanimity and inconstancy be the cause of 
 my eternal ruin. How long shall I, dull of 
 heart, resist the Holy Ghost that calls me ? How 
 long shall I take counsels in my soul.* How 
 long shall I defer good works, or be inconstant 
 in performing them ? Help me, holy Ignatius, 
 in imitation of thee, to begin, though late, to 
 consecrate myself wholly and forever to God. 
 
 Relying on thy protection, I resolve and prom- 
 ise God that henceforward I shall seek nothing 
 but him and his glory. O God ! by the merits 
 and intercession of St. Ignatius, confirm what 
 thou hast wrought in me, that I may live faith- 
 ful to thee unto death. Amen. 
 
 Practical Maxims of St. Ignatius. 
 
 i. There are very few who know what God 
 would make of them, were they to deny them- 
 selves and give themselves into his hands, to be 
 elaborated by his divine skill and industry. That 
 you may rank in this small number, often say 
 with your whole heart : “ Lord what wilt thou 
 
 Ps. 12, V.*2. 
 
10 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 have me do ? ” * and do with the greatest care 
 whatever he shall bid you ! 
 
 2. Though you have a prospect of doing much 
 hereafter for God, do not neglect to do now 
 what you can ; otherwise you may lose the one, 
 and not get the other. Beware of this common 
 illusion. “ Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, 
 do it earnestly. 
 
 3. In dangers we should not rely much on 
 the virtue of beginners. It is like seed in Spring 
 time : it soon sprouts, but it also sometimes with- 
 ers away from mere contact with the soil. Those 
 who at the entrance of the spiritual life do not 
 shun dangers prudently, quickly stray from the 
 right road. “They became like the grass of 
 the housetops, which withered before it was 
 ripe.”! 
 
 Example. 
 
 The apartment in the Castle of Loyola, in 
 which St. Ignatius renounced the world and 
 consecrated himself to God, was held in great 
 veneration, and in course of time it was changed 
 into a chapel on account of miracles obtained 
 there and through the piety of the Saints own 
 family. The number of persons who went there 
 on pilgrimages was very great, especially dur- 
 
 * Acts, 9, v. 6. tEccli. 9, v. 10. 
 
 t Isaiah, 37, v. 27. 
 
FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 ing the feast of the’Saint and its octave. Some- 
 times there were more than fifteen thousand to 
 receive holy Communion in those eight days. — 
 Queen Mary, of Austria, the mother of Charles 
 II., to satisfy the devotion of the people as well 
 as her own toward the Saint, built a magnificent 
 church in his honor at Loyola, and enriched it 
 with many privileges and precious gifts. In that 
 church not only did many miraculously recover 
 their bodily health, but numberless conversions 
 were wrought and numberless spiritual favors 
 received. We mention here, briefly, two of the 
 latter. St. Ignatius there warned a man to con- 
 fess five mortal sins, which, through negligence, 
 he had left out in a previous confession. The 
 man complied immediately. Another man who 
 had a bad memory, could not recall his sins. 
 He invoked St. Ignatius, and immediately the 
 man saw all his sins as distinctly as if they were 
 written out before his eyes . — Bollandists . for 
 July. 
 
 Practice. 
 
 In imitation of St. Ignatius, resign your will 
 to God — and always endeavor to do what is 
 pleasing to him. 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 Through the intercession of St. Ignatius, con- 
 firm, O God, what thou hast wrought in us. 
 — Ps. 67, v. 29. 
 
12 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 St. Ignatius, a pattern of true penance, in the 
 chastisement of his body, in his interior morti- 
 fication, and in watchfulness over his heart. 
 
 Point I. — In the chastisement of his body. — Hav- 
 ing overcome the world, St. Ignatius wished to 
 unite himself more closely to Christ. He resolved, 
 therefore, to conquer self, and first of all, to bring 
 his body into subjection according to the words 
 of the Apostle: “They that are Christ's, have 
 crucified their flesh.' * For this purpose he quit- 
 ted Montserrat, and went to Manresa. Not far 
 from this town he found a cavern, in which he 
 took up his abode, and there he began his 
 course of penance. Under the kind of sack that 
 covered his body he wore an iron chain, hair- 
 cloth, and thorns. Every day he begged his food 
 frona door to door. He fasted entire weeks on 
 bread and water, except on Sundays, when he 
 allowed himself some herbs or vegetables, which 
 he sprinkled with ashes and clay. Every day, 
 too, he scourged himself severely at least three 
 times — he spent seven hours, one after the other, 
 on his knees in prayer, and the little sleep he 
 granted himself was taken on the bare ground. 
 
 Galatians, 5, v. 24. 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 F 3- 
 
 Once he abstained from food for three whole 
 days; at another time he prolonged this fast to 
 the seventh day — when he was found lying al- 
 most lifeless on the ground. People besought 
 him to lessen this excessive austerity ; but his 
 answer was : let me at least suffer a little that I 
 may attend to the important interests of my 
 soul. 
 
 Take you, also, this advice for yourself. 
 Suffer a little in this world in order to provide 
 for the eternal salvation of your soul. Your past 
 sins require this from you much more than from 
 Ignatius: your present rebellious concupiscences 
 call for the same. Endeavor to enable you 
 to say with the Apostle: 44 I chastise my body, and 
 bring it into subjection, lest I, myself, should 
 become a castaway/’* 
 
 Point II. — Interior mortification. — With the ser- 
 vants of Christ, bodily penance is employed as 
 a means to subjugate the disorderly affections of 
 the soul. 4 4 Those who are Christ’s have crucified 
 their flesh with the vices and concupiscences. ”f 
 Wherefore, Ignatius, in accordance with the words 
 of Christ: 44 If any man will come after me, let 
 him deny himself.” J In addition to corporal 
 
 * I. Cor. 9, v. 27 t Galat. 5, v. 24. 
 X Luc. 9, v. 23. 
 
PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 14 
 
 austerities, he gave himself with the greatest zeal 
 to the mortification of the soul. In the first part 
 of his life he was fond of the praises of men — he 
 used to pay great attention to cleanliness and 
 dress. To punish himself for these defects, he 
 •concealed the nobility of his family; he took no 
 care of his personal appearance; he mixed with 
 Xhe poorest and filthiest of men, and tried to im- 
 itate their manners. He never combed his hair, 
 and allowed his finger nails to grow immoderate- 
 ly. Nor did he, while leading this horrid kind of 
 life, grant his body anything that could please it 
 or lessen its affliction. Thus it was “he put 
 away from him the love of self, and of all that is 
 not God.” * 
 
 Blessed is he, who by self-denial, has entirely 
 cast off self-love, so*that the love of God alone 
 reigns in his heart. It is vain to hope for a true 
 love of God, unless we first drive out of our 
 hearts all love of self. You, who indulge your- 
 self and all your desires; who see no fault in con- 
 stant self-gratification; remember that if there is 
 no fault now, there will be presently. The devil 
 is cheating you, and exulting at your behavior. — 
 “If thou give to thy soul her desires, she will 
 make thee a joy to thy enemies. ”f 
 
 Process of his canonization. 
 
 t Eccli. 18, v. 31. 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 15 
 
 Point III. — Watchfulness over his heart . — With 
 corporal mortification and interior self-denial 
 Ignatius joined the closest scrutiny of heart, in 
 order to pluck and root out of it every evil pro- 
 pensity. “It shall not leave them root nor 
 branch/'* St. Ignatius was very remarkable for 
 this self-examination. At Manresa he began to 
 look into his conscience at noon and in the even- 
 ing. He weighed all his words and thoughts; he 
 investigated their occasions and causes, whether 
 internal or external, with the minutest care. 
 Though he was thoroughly master of himself, 
 and merely lent, but never gave himself, to the 
 things of this world, yet such was his watchful- 
 ness over his heart that every hour he examined 
 his conscience. He learned from the Holy 
 Ghost another kind of examen, which he called 
 the particular examen. The practice of this ex- 
 amen consists of selecting a vice or defect that 
 we wish to get rid of, or a virtue that we intend to 
 acquire. Then early in the morning we resolve 
 to resist the vice during the day — we try to fore- 
 see the occasions in which we may be exposed 
 to fall, and we take our precautions against them* 
 — About noon we inquire how we have passed 
 the morning; we mark our faults on a paper 
 
 Malach. 4, v. 1. 
 
i6 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 specially arranged for the particular examen, a 
 model of which can be found in Fr. de Palma’s 
 little treatise on this exercise. Then we com- 
 pare our examen, one day with another, to 
 see our progress. We beg pardon for our fail- 
 ures, and renew our good resolution. In the 
 evening, before retiring, we go through the same 
 process. This exercise, when faithfully carried 
 out, cannot fail to rid us of our defects. It is also 
 an immense assistance for the acquisition of vir- 
 tue. In this case, we choose the virtue which 
 we intend to acquire; resolve on it, and exam- 
 ine ourselves about it, as above. But this exercise 
 must be practised energetically. St. Ignatius 
 never stopped until he had secured his yirtue, or 
 rooted out his defect. In this way he made 
 daily progress in the interior life, and attained 
 high perfection, and extreme purity of soul. 
 
 Whoso shuns this care of his conscience 
 makes little account of spiritual progress. He 
 loves sin; “he would not understand that he 
 might do well.”* Silly mortal ! when the time 
 for judgment comes, there will be no room 
 for correction, but only for damnation. f En- 
 deavor, then, at present, by this twofold examina- 
 tion, namely the general and the particular, 
 
 Ps. 35, v. 4. 
 
 t St. Austin. 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 17 
 
 to uproot and destroy every defect that is in thee. 
 Build up, plant in thy soul all the virtues which, 
 according to thy position in life, God requires 
 of thee. 4 4 Let not your eye spare, nor be ye 
 moved with pity/’* 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Holy Ignatius ! admirable pattern of penance ! 
 When I consider thy great bodily austerities, thy 
 self-denial, and thy watchfulness over thy soul, I 
 feel ashamed of myself, and I blame myself 
 heartily for my contrary way of living. I seek 
 pleasure as though I had committed no sin. I 
 indulge my senses, my concupiscences that are 
 the instruments and causes of so many offences 
 against God. I am so blinded by my self-love 
 that I take no thought of satisfying divine justice, 
 to which I am so deeply in debt : rather I dare 
 provoke that same justice by committing new 
 sins. Oh holy patron ! have pity on my soul ! 
 obtain for me from God, the true spirit of penance 
 that I need so much, in order that I may bewail 
 my sins, punish myself for them as I should,* 
 constantly deny my evil inclinations, watch al- 
 ways over my heart, and destroy the poisonous 
 roots of sin, which still remain in my soul. 
 Amen. 
 
 Ezechiel, 9, v. 5. 
 
i8 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 1. Bodily mortification must not be so severe 
 as to hinder greater good, nor so slight as to 
 allow the flesh to grow insolent towards the 
 spirit. In his additions to his Spiritual Ex- 
 ercises, St. Ignatius assigns the following four 
 ends for bodily penance. First, to make some 
 due atonement for our past sins. Secondly, to 
 curb our present disorderly inclinations. Thirdly, 
 to obtain graces from God. Lastly, to reproduce 
 in ourselves Christ crucified. In these four 
 ways then, under the direction of your spiritual 
 guide, 4 ‘ bring forth fruits worthy of penance.”* 
 
 2. We should value more the abnegation of 
 our own will, than power to raise the dead. The 
 latter belongs to what are called gratia gratis 
 data , that is to say, graces which do not neces- 
 sarily suppose personal sanctity in their possessor, 
 and are given for the good of others. But self- 
 conquest benefits us in this life as well as in the 
 life to come. 
 
 3. To overcome our rebellious nature, it is good 
 to enter into ourselves, and inquire what we have 
 done, what we have to do, and what may happen 
 us. Meanwhile we should be ready for the future. 
 — Thus — “ Set your heart upon your ways, ’f 
 
 * Luke 3, v. 9. 
 
 t Aggeus 1, v. 27. 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 19 
 
 Example. 
 
 There can be no doubt that from his throne in 
 heaven, St. Ignatius looks down with special love 
 upon Manresa. There it is that he began his 
 spiritual campaign ; there was his school of heav- 
 enly wisdom, the See of his primitive church, 
 the witness of the many divine favors that God 
 was pleased to confer upon his servant. The 
 people of Manresa showed great charity to Igna- 
 tius whilst he lived among them ; and their 
 descendants vie with their ancestors in piety 
 toward their patron. Every spot that Ignatius 
 had anything to do with is now sacred in the 
 eyes of the Manresans. The cave in which he 
 spent ten months has become famous. The 
 earth and stones found in it are a cure for all 
 diseases. Over the marble altar of that cave is a 
 picture of Ignatius, in which he is represented as 
 looking intently on the Blessed Virgin and her 
 divine child, and learning, as it were, from them 
 what he is to write. Beneath this picture is the 
 following inscription : “ Here St. Ignatius com- 
 
 posed his Spiritual Exercises, which were after- 
 wards approved by Pope Paul III.” Not far from 
 the cave, in a church dedicated to our Lady, a 
 bundle of sharp thorns, that the Saint used to 
 wear around his body, is kept enclosed in his 
 
20 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 silver statue. God has wrought many wonders 
 by these thorns. In an old hospital of the place 
 is a chapel that was once the room of Ignatius. 
 It was in this room that he had the ecstasy, 
 which lasted for eight days. Over the altar of 
 this chapel there is a painting of the Saint look- 
 ing at the open heavens, and receiving from an 
 angel a banner inscribed with the name of Jesus. 
 — Bollandists for July . 
 
 Practice. 
 
 Besides your general examen of conscience 
 for every evening, practice the particular examen 
 on any defect that you find yourself falling into 
 oftenest. 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 “ Pierce, thou, my flesh with thy fear,” * O 
 God, that I also may repent and do penance. 
 
 * Psalm 1 1 8, v. 120. 
 
THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 21 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 St. Ignatius, a pattern of endurance in hi3 
 travels, in works of zeal, and under persecution 
 
 Point i .—In his travels . — In an ecstasy, God 
 made known to Ignatius that he had been chosen 
 to carry the divine name to the nations, to kings, 
 and to the sons of Israel ; and he showed the 
 Saint how much he would have to suffer for the 
 name of Jesus. Yet Ignatius received no distinct 
 intimation of any suffering in particular. How- 
 ever, his great love for our Lord led him to 
 Jerusalem with a view to bring unbelievers to the 
 light of the gospel, or at least to win the martyr's 
 crown. Worn to a skeleton with austerity, and 
 relying alone on Divine Providence, he reached 
 Palestine after many hardships on sea and on 
 land. Several times he visited, with the deepest 
 veneration and shedding many tears, the various 
 spots hallowed by the footsteps of Christ, immor- 
 talized by his bitter sufferings, and consecrated by 
 his blood. His soul overflowed with incredible 
 sweetness while he was performing these pious 
 pilgrimages, especially as our Lord himself often 
 appeared to him at these times. He desired to 
 spend the rest of his days in the holy places; — 
 but he was unable to obtain leave from the 
 
22 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Superiors in Palestine to satisfy his 
 longing. With a heavy heart, and amid the same 
 perils at sea as formerly, he returned to Europe. 
 There he devoted himself entirely to spreading 
 the fire of divine love in the cities of Italy, Spain, 
 and France. Finally, at Paris, God bade him 
 present himself with his companions to the Sov 
 ereign Pontiff, and offer his own and their 
 services for the holy ministry, either among un- 
 believers, or in Christian countries. The life 
 which Ignatius had led for so many years was so 
 laborious and so wretched in a human point of 
 view, that doctors of the Sorbon questioned 
 whether it were lawful for a nobleman to live in 
 such penury and abjection, even for the love of 
 God. But the Saint knew well what he was 
 doing. Our Lord often 4 ‘showed himself to 
 him cheerfully in the way, and met him with all 
 providence/' * 
 
 Perhaps we are afraid of the slightest labor 
 for our neighbor ; or to visit our Jesus Christ 
 in the tabernacle. Yet we can undergo fatigue 
 for the sake of recreation and pleasure. It is 
 only our steps for God that the angels reckon 
 in heaven : the others disappear altogether, or 
 they are numbered among our evil deeds, that 
 
 Wisdom 6, v. 17, 
 
THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 2 3 
 
 we may be punished for them. Therefore, 
 
 4 ‘ make straight steps with your feet.” * 
 
 Point II . — In works of zeal , — As the Roman 
 Rota observed, St. Ignatius did not consider 
 himself the friend of Christ, unless he loved and 
 cherished the souls that Christ redeemed. His 
 zeal brought him a plentiful harvest of toil, of 
 suffering, and of hatred on the part of men. 
 When he was starting for Jerusalem, he saw 
 that grievous sins were committed on board the 
 ship: wherefore, he rebuked the lustful offender# 
 with great force of language. These, conspiring 
 with the sailors, resolved to abandon their trouble- 
 some monitor on some deserted island. Ignatius 
 knew their intentions ; still, relying on God, he 
 continued to chide the sinners. As they were 
 nearing the island on which the Saint was to be 
 abandoned, an adverse wind arose, and blew the 
 vessel out to sea, so that his enemies had to carry 
 him, against their will, as far as Cyprus. 
 
 There was in Barcelona a nunnery that Igna- 
 tius brought to repentance and a regular life. — 
 This made some bad men of the place so angry 
 that they gave him a beating, from the effects of 
 which he was confined to his bed for three 
 months. As soon as he recovered, he was again 
 
 Heb. v. 21, 13. 
 
24 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 at his works of charity. His friends begged him 
 not to expose his life again : but his only answer 
 was : ‘‘Nothing better could happen to me than 
 to die for Christ and my neighbor.” 
 
 At Paris there was a young man who led an 
 immoral life. Ignatius wished to convert him. 
 One cold night in the depth of winter, Ignatius 
 plunged naked into a pond alongside the road 
 that the young man followed in going to his 
 pleasures. As soon as he saw the young man 
 4 approach, he cried out to him in a deep, solemn 
 voice : “ unfortunate man ! where are you going ? 
 Do you see the sword of divine justice suspended 
 over your head ? Go, enjoy your wicked delights. 
 I shall remain here in punishment for your sake, 
 until, by my suffering, I turn the wrath of heaven 
 away from you.” Struck by these unexpected 
 words, and by the great charity of Ignatius, the 
 young sinner was ashamed of himself. He re- 
 traced his steps and gave up for ever his evil 
 habits. 
 
 “Recover thy neighbor according to thy pow- 
 er,” * says the Holy Ghost. “If any man have 
 not care of his own, and especially of those of 
 his house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse 
 than an infidel.” f But above all spare no pains 
 
 Eccli. 29, v. 26. 
 
 1 1 Tim. 5, v. 8. 
 
THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 2 5 
 
 to recover the grace of God, if you have lost it; 
 and avoid in future all occasions of sin. “ Strive 
 for justice for thy soul, and even unto death fight 
 for justice.” * 
 
 Point III . — In persecutions . — The fervent exhor- 
 tations of Ignatius, his holy life, touched many 
 hearts. Remarkable changes of life, and con- 
 versions took place. These caused such a stir 
 that Ignatius was looked upon as a sort of en- 
 chanter, or magician. People said that he be- 
 witched men by his talk. He was often thrown 
 into prison for this reason. Plowever, his inno- 
 cence was proved every time, and he was always 
 honorably released. These trials did not prevent 
 persons from crowding around him. He taught 
 them the Christian doctrine and gave them some 
 spiritual exercises. Some compassionated him 
 at being put in jail. “Is a jail such a misery ? 99 
 said Ignatius. “ My greatest desire is to suffer for 
 Christ, more jails, manacles, chains, and so forth, 
 than there are in all Salamanca.” A learned 
 doctor hearing the Saint speak in this way, 
 admired the greatness of his soul, and his elo- 
 quence ; and when he reached his house his 
 exclamation was : “I have seen Paul in fetters.” 
 Every conversion was for St. Ignatius a source of 
 
 Eccli. 4, v. 33. 
 
26 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 new suffering and persecution. On the other 
 hand, new persecutions always brought him an 
 increase of zeal and of spiritual joy. 
 
 Let us blush at our pusillanimity. Not only 
 we cannot bear persecution for the defence of 
 virtue and piety, but we cannot tolerate a slight 
 mockery, a word of contempt. Human respect 
 drives us from the path of duty. O, henceforth 
 let us deem ourselves happy should it 4 ‘be given 
 to us for Christ not only to believe in him, but 
 also to suffer for him." * 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Magnanimous St. Ignatius ! I admire thy 
 vehement desire to suffer for Christ, which no 
 waters of labor or of persecution could extinguish. 
 “ Because thou wast acceptable to God it was 
 necessary that temptation should prove thee." f 
 Thou didst glory in tribulations, because thou 
 wast “ accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the 
 name of Jesus." J Faith teaches me what it 
 taught thee, namely, that tribulations are a 
 token of special love from God, and have for 
 scope to make us like unto God's Son in this 
 world, and in the next, sharers of his glory. My 
 
 # Philippians, I, v. 29. t Tobias, 12, v. 13. 
 
 Acts, 5, v. 4 1. 
 
THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 27 
 
 lack of love for God is the reason why I find it 
 hard to suffer for Christ, why I shun the cross 
 or bear it grudgingly. But if I refuse to be 
 Christ's companion in suffering, how can I presume 
 to share his society, and dwell one day with him 
 in his never-ending kingdom. Wherefore, I 
 beseech and implore thee, Holy Patron, to ob- 
 tain for me an ardent love for my God that in 
 imitation of thee “ I may never glory, save in the 
 cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.'’* 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 1. When God gives one many occasions for 
 suffering, he is preparing that person for high 
 sanctity. If, then, you wish to become very 
 holy, ask God to grant you such occasions. 
 “Because thou wast acceptable to God, it was 
 necessary that temptation should try thee," said 
 the angel to Tobias. 
 
 2. There is no fuel that so lights up the love 
 of God in a soul as the wood of the cross, which 
 Christ himself used at the sacrifice of his infinite 
 love. If, therefore, thou desirest to love God, 
 “ glory not, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Galatians, 6, v. 14. 
 
28 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 3. He who fears the world too much, will 
 never do anything notable for God. God alone 
 is to be feared ; the judgments of the world 
 should be despised. “If you had been of the 
 world, the world would love its own ; but be- 
 cause you are not of the world, but I have 
 choosen you out of the world, therefore the world 
 hateth you/' * 
 
 Example. 
 
 While Ignatius was ardently laboring for the 
 good of souls at Barcelona, without the slightest 
 fear, though persons there had carried their vio- 
 lence towards him so far as even to beat him severe- 
 ly, an event took place that made his holiness very 
 conspicuous. Two brothers were at law about 
 an inheritance: judgment was given. The one 
 who lost the suit was so overwhelmed with grief 
 and despair that, in a moment of strong tempta- 
 tion, he hanged himself in his own room. The 
 neighbors came in crowds to see the horrid sight. 
 As soon as he heard what had happened, Ignatius 
 too, ran to the house, cut down the dead body, 
 and ordered it to be laid on the bed. Then fall- 
 ing on his knees, he prayed to God with many 
 tears, for the salvation of that unfortunate soul. 
 
 John, 15, v. 19. 
 
THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 2 9 
 
 Wonderful to say ! while Ignatius prayed, and 
 all eyes were riveted in expectation on the corpse, 
 the wretched man opened his eyes, called for a 
 priest, made his confession, and then gave up his 
 soul to God. This miracle was reported through- 
 out the town and all over the country, and it ex- 
 cited everywhere the greatest admiration for 
 Ignatius . — Bollandists for July . 
 
 Practice. 
 
 Patience in adversity. Patience hath a perfect 
 
 work.* 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 May I never glory, save in the cross of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 * Tames, I, v. 4. 
 
 \ 
 
3 ° 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 FOURTH MEDITATION. 
 
 The Illuminative Way. 
 
 St. Ignatius a pattern of prayer in his applica- 
 tion to prayer, in the gift of contemplation, and 
 in the teaching of prayer. 
 
 Point I . — In application to prayer . — The im- 
 mense zeal which St. Ignatius felt for Christ and 
 his glory, was lit up in his soul by his application 
 to prayer. At the beginning of his conversion 
 he did himself much violence for the sake of 
 prayer. He remained seven hours every day on 
 his knees in prayer. Gradually, through the 
 assistance of God, he released himself from sub- 
 jection to the body, and then he attained such a 
 gift of prayer that as soon as he placed himself 
 in the divine presence, he was rapt up in God, 
 his heart glowed as in a fire, and his face was all 
 ablaze “from the conversation of the Lord.’ 7 * 
 During the whole day he felt such sweetness of 
 soul, he was so lost in God that a look at the 
 heavens, at the stars, on which he loved to gaze, 
 the sight of a flower, or of any object in nature, 
 no matter how trifling, spoke to him of God, 
 
 Exod. 34, v. 29. 
 
FOURTH MEDITATION. 
 
 3 1 
 
 filled his soul with delight, and absorbed him in 
 divine love. He undertook nothing of any con- 
 sequence, before consulting and begging the 
 favor of God. The slightest religious duty filled 
 him with an ardor that appeared exteriorly, 
 glowed in his eyes, and made him burst into 
 tears. Indeed, he wept so much in this way that 
 he injured his eyesight very seriously. Yet the 
 loss did not affect him in the least. His friends, 
 however, prevailed on him to ask God for power 
 to restrain his weeping. The prayer was heard, 
 for ever afterwards he had such a mastery over 
 his tears that he could withhold, or let them flow 
 at will. 
 
 Would that we had the habit of seeing God's 
 power, wisdom, and goodness in every created 
 object. This gift is obtained only by persevering 
 prayer. We pray heedlessly, our thoughts, our 
 hearts wander ; so that our Lord may say to us : 
 “ What ! could you not watch one hour with me ? 
 Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temp- 
 tation. ”* 
 
 Point II. — The gift of contemplation . — By 
 continually devoting himself to prayer, Ignatius 
 attained the highest excellence in that holy ex- 
 ercise. He frankly avowed that at Manresa he 
 
 Matth. 26, v. 40-41. 
 
3 * 2 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 learned more from God in an hour, than all the 
 learned men of the world could teach him. 
 During his contemplations in that blessed retreat, 
 he was often rapt in ecstasy. He saw our Lord 
 most clearly in the Sacred Host : he gained a 
 profound insight into the Incarnation, and other 
 Christian mysteries. When he recited the Creed, 
 the adorable Trinity, three in persons one in 
 essence, was manifest to him, so that he, a man 
 of no learning, did not hesitate to write a book 
 on that most august mystery. These visions so 
 strengthened Ignatius in the true faith that were 
 there no other proofs of Christianity, he would 
 not have hesitated to die for it merely on account 
 of what God taught him at Manresa. In those 
 raptures, which at times lasted from two even to 
 eight days, his countenance was lit up, rays of 
 light encircled his head, and his body was raised 
 from the ground. During them our Lord and 
 the Blessed Virgin appeared visibly to him, and 
 gave him instructions. Ever after this period 
 of his life, Ignatius enjoyed such union and 
 familiarity with God that those who knew him 
 intimately, considered his existence as an un- 
 broken contemplation and one uninterrupted 
 ecstasy.* Yet though possessing so high a 
 
 * James Alvarez de Paz, De vita Spir. Tom 3, lib. 
 
 2. c. 3. 
 
FOURTH MEDITATION. 
 
 33 
 
 degree of contemplation, whenever he intended 
 to pray, he prepared himself with as much care 
 as if he were wholly unpractised. 
 
 How different is our way of acting in this re- 
 gard ! We go to prayer without any preparation, 
 and full of distractions. What wonder that our 
 minds wander as long as our prayer lasts. 
 Before prayer or meditation, let us bring to mind 
 the subject upon which we are about to meditate, 
 or to pray. When praying we should place our- 
 selves before God with great faith and eargerness, 
 and ask him “to cause the light of his counten- 
 ance to shine on us.” * We should also watch, 
 and keep our mind from running to other 
 thoughts. “Before prayer, prepare thy soul: 
 and be not as a man that tempteth God.’f 
 
 Point III . — Teaching prayer . — God choose St. 
 Ignatius for the gaining of many souls, and to 
 direct them, mainly by his Spiritual Exercises, 
 in the way of salvation and perfection. Hence, 
 he led his servant through all the arduous paths 
 of the spiritual life ; he allowed him to be afflicted 
 with every form of scruple and temptation, so 
 that he might learn, by his own personal experi- 
 ence, the heavenly art of guiding souls amid 
 those dark and dangerous regions. At a later 
 
 Ps. 66, v. 2. 
 
 t Eccli 18, v. 23. 
 
34 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 period, St. Ignatius looked back on the origin and 
 stages of his conversion ; he reviewed its various 
 storms of temptation, and the serenity that came 
 after them ; and from what he there learned from 
 God, or from his own experience, he wrote out 
 instructions for praying and meditating with 
 profit to the soul. In the course of time he 
 enlarged this work, adding to it many useful 
 observations and directions, and he finally gave 
 it to the world under the title of “ Spiritual 
 Exercises ” It received the full approbation of the 
 Holy See. The book has been of the greatest 
 assistance to people of every age and class in 
 society for the choice of a state of life, for their 
 advancement in the Christian life and their perse- 
 verance in virtue. The Exercises of St. Ignatius 
 are looked upon as one of the chief means that 
 God has employed to correct the vices of the 
 world, and bring back the children of the church 
 to primitive fervor and discipline. Many would 
 wish to acquire the science of the saints, but at 
 no cost to themselves. Vain desire ! No one 
 ever learnt that science, until he did himself 
 violence, and practised what he intended to 
 learn. Nearly all the holy men that have lived 
 since the time of St. Ignatius found in his 
 Spiritual Exercises “that hidden manna which 
 
FOURTH MEDITATION. 
 
 35 
 
 no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it.”* 
 Would that you also would listen to the divine 
 voice, and enter the solitude of the Exercises to 
 hear the same voice more distinctly. Then, the 
 Holy Spirit would speak to your heart, and 
 teach you whatever is necessary for your salvation 
 and perfection. u Come ye to him and be en- 
 lightened. O taste and see that the Lord is 
 sweet.” f 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Holy patriarch Ignatius ! So admirable in the 
 practice and teaching of prayer, and for thy gift 
 of contemplation, look at my heart. It is dull, 
 heavy, weighed down with earthly affections, be- 
 cause, though God has invited me many times, I 
 have neglected to devote myself to prayer, that 
 fountain of every grace. My cowardliness, my 
 ungratefulness to God, deserve that he should 
 drive me from his face, that he should hide that 
 glorious face from me, since I have not known 
 the day of my visitation. O holy patron ! beg 
 pardon of God for me. Beseech him not to turn 
 away his face from me, or to hide his light from 
 my eyes, but rather to have mercy on me and 
 shed the light of his countenance upon me, when 
 I pray. I resolve to devote every day a certain 
 
 Apocal. 2, v. 17. 
 
 t Ps. 33, V. 6 9. 
 
3 ^ 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 time to prayer, to raise my heart to God by fre- 
 quent aspirations in the course of the day — that 
 in imitation of thee, I may always be united with 
 God on earth, and, through thy intercession, 
 merit to enjoy him for ever in heaven. Amen. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 1. By meditating carefully and diligently on 
 eternal truths, we can easily overcome the various 
 inclinations to evil in which our corrupt nature 
 abounds. If you do not experience this facility, 
 blame your negligence in meditation, and correct 
 it, ‘ ‘ I have thought on my ways ; and turned my 
 feet unto thy testimonies.”* 
 
 2. He, who in everything that he does, con- 
 stantly keeps God before his eyes, will not feel 
 less devotion in works of charity and obedience 
 than in prayer itself. Accustom yourself to this 
 exercise of the presence of God, and your heart 
 will rejoice ; “ I set the Lord always in my sight, 
 Therefore, my heart hath been glad.” f 
 
 3. Grant me, O my God, the gift of true 
 humility and of loving reverence in thy sight. 
 This was a common aspiration with St. Ignatius. 
 By it he constantly kept up an affectionate pres- 
 ence of God. “ Let us humble our souls before 
 
 Ps. 1 1 8, v. 59. 
 
 t Ps. 15, v. 8-9. 
 
FOURTH MEDITATION. 3 7 
 
 the Lord God and continue in an humble spirit, 
 in his service/’* 
 
 Example. 
 
 While Ignatius was going through his studies 
 he lost no opportunity to gain souls to God by 
 his Exercises. The following fact is a proof of his 
 zeal at that time. Once, in Paris, a nobleman 
 invited him, in fun, to play some game with. him. 
 
 ‘ ' I shall play with you, ” said Ignatius. ‘ ‘ But what 
 are to be the stakes,” said the nobleman, ‘'‘since 
 you have no money ?” ‘ ‘ The stakes will be, ” an- 
 
 swered Ignatius, ‘ ‘ that if you win, I shall serve you 
 for a certain number of days in whatever way 
 you choose ; but if I win, you will serve me as I 
 please.” “ Agreed,” said the nobleman. They 
 began the game. Ignatius knew nothing at all 
 about it ; still, with the help of God he won at 
 every turn. ‘ ‘ I am duly punished for challenging 
 you,” said the nobleman ; “ God is against me.” 
 When the game was over, Ignatius took the 
 loser, gave him the Spiritual Exercises for a few 
 days, and out of a man addicted only to sloth and 
 worldly pleasures, he made an earnest Christian 
 that feared God, and prepared for eternity. — Bol- 
 landisls for July . 
 
 Judith, 8, v. 16* 
 
3§ 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Practice. 
 
 W hen you go to pray, place yourself in God s 
 prensece, and do not allow your mind to wander 
 away to other things. 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 “Let my supplication, O Lord, come near in 
 thy sight, give me understanding according to 
 thy word/'* 
 
 FIFTH MEDITATION. 
 
 St. Ignatius, the pattern of true humility in his 
 knowledge of himself, in his love for humiliation, 
 and in his heavenly gifts. 
 
 Point I . — In his knowledge of himself . — Interior 
 humility consists in an abiding sense of our own 
 nothingness, and in a love for everything that can 
 lead us to contemn ourselves. This is the defini- 
 tion, which, by order of the Blessed Virgin, St. 
 Ignatius gave of that virtue when he appeared to 
 
 Ps. 118, v. 169. 
 
FIFTH MEDITATION. 
 
 39 
 
 St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi. In order that he 
 himself might reach this knowledge of his own 
 nothingness, he looked upon all his gifts in the 
 order of nature and of grace, as so many favors 
 done by God to an ungrateful man. He claimed 
 as his own, only nothingness, ignorance, error ; 
 a fountain of sin, and many actual sins. Think- 
 ing thus humbly of himself, he contrasted him- 
 self, first, with all mankind; then, with the count- 
 less multitudes of magnificent angels, and with the 
 infinite majesty of God. What are all creatures, 
 he would exclaim, when put alongside of the 
 Creator ? “ All nations are before God as if they 
 
 had no being at all, and are counted to him as 
 nothing and vanity." * How little I am, then, 
 before God ! What am I in his sight except dust 
 and ashes, corruption and worms, whether I con- 
 sider the loathsomeness of my body, or the foul- 
 ness of my soul, from which so many sins and 
 vices are constantly oozing ! These were the 
 humble sentiments that he entertained of himself, 
 and of all that belonged to him. In his own 
 eyes he deserved nothing but contempt, hatred, 
 humiliation, and all manner of chastisement. 
 He thought himself the least of mankind, and the 
 greatest pauper with respect to everything good 
 and holy. 
 
 * Isaiah, 40, v. 17 
 
 238 19 
 
40 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 You, who make so much of your talents and 
 deeds, what have you that you did not receive ? 
 And if you have received, why do you glory as 
 though you had not received it? * “Thy arro- 
 gance have deceived thee and the pride of thy 
 heart.”f Separate every precious gift of God from 
 your original and vile nothingness, from your 
 moral depravity, and you will clearly- see with 
 what good right God can say to you: “ Behold I 
 have made thee a little one among the nations, 
 very despicable among men/’J 
 
 Point II . — The love of humiliations, — St. Ignatius 
 laid down this law for himself which agrees 
 so well with his very low estimate of himself, 
 namely to abhor whatever the world loves, and 
 on the other hand, to desire with all his might 
 whatever the same world shuns. He set our 
 Lord, despised and made the last of men for our 
 sake, before his eyes, as his model in humiliation; 
 and he earnestly desired to be clothed with the 
 same garments as Christ, to suffer injuries, 
 mockery, and insult with him. When he fore- 
 saw that persecution, slander, and other similar 
 trials were to come upon him in any place, he 
 remained there with excessive delight. But when 
 he found people making much of him, he would 
 
 * I. Corinth. 4, v. 9. t Jerem, 49, v. 16. 
 
 t Jerem. 49, v. 15. 
 
FIFTH MEDITATION. 
 
 41 
 
 protest that he was the worst of sinners, and seek 
 to bring them to a like view of his character. 
 He did this chiefly when, by unanimous consent, 
 he was elected general of his own Society. He 
 ordered several ballots at the election, in order to 
 escape the burden; but the issue being always 
 the same, how could he refuse to comply ? Still 
 he put the matter entirely into the hands of his 
 confessor; he made to him a general confession 
 of his whole life so that he might judge him un- 
 fit to be general. Finally, in hospitals, among 
 beggars, and the lowest class of men, in his en- 
 tire way of living he sought with the noblest 
 magnaminity, means to trample on all vain, 
 worldly glory, as well as on himself. * 
 
 We, who commend ourselves so much, who 
 are so fretful and impatient when God brings 
 down our pride by some humiliation, disdain to 
 imitate Christ our Lord. He who clings to the 
 world and its laws, seeks honors and fame ; so 
 he who follows Christ despises the empty glory 
 of this world; and if he does not love, he at least 
 ought to bear patiently the injuries, insults and 
 contempt that accompany the livery of Christ. 
 “ For I have given you an example, that as I 
 have done to you, so you do also. ”f 
 
 * Bull of canonization. t John, 13, v. 15. 
 
42 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Point III . — In heavenly gifts. — The false goods 
 of this world foster pride; but spiritual goods, that 
 are heavenly gifts, promote humility in the soul 
 that gets them. Hence, in proportion to the 
 number of his heavenly gifts, Ignatius experi- 
 enced every day humbler sentiments in his soul. 
 Supernatural illuminations of the mind, visions, 
 ecstasies had grown familiar to him; but he 
 turned them all into new means of self abase- 
 ment. He looked upon himself as a house 
 threatening to fall, and that could not remain up- 
 right without supports: hence, “ the mercy of God/' 
 he would say, “holds me up by these means.’* 
 At other times he viewed himself as a broken 
 stick encased in the gold of divine graces and 
 surrounded by the gifts of God, instead of the 
 fire that he so much deserved. Again, he was 
 a horrid monster, combining so many sins with 
 so many mercies, such utter unworthiness witn 
 such crowds of heavenly favors. Once, when 
 raised from the ground in an ecstasy, and shin- 
 ing with light from heaven, he was heard ex- 
 claiming: “O God ! O God of infinite goodness ! 
 how do you still bear with me, so great a sinner ?*’* 
 Thus his daily increasing humility constantly 
 fitted him to receive greater spiritual gifts. 
 
 * Process of canonization. 
 
FIFTH MEDITATION. 
 
 43 
 
 Do you wonder at your being without any 
 spiritual treasure ; or do you find that God does 
 not listen to your prayers? Blame your pride 
 for all that. God allows us the use of his favors, 
 but he retains the glory of them for himself. You 
 arrogate to yourself that glory which belongs to 
 God alone, and therefore he leaves you bereft 
 of all heavenly goods, and humbles your pride : 
 for, “ God resists the proud, but gives his grace 
 to the humble/'* 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 St. Ignatius! glorious pattern of Christian 
 humility! thou didst know that away in the ages 
 of eternity God was never so glorified as when 
 his Son, for the glory of his Father, “ debased him- 
 self, taking the form of a servant — being made 
 the reproach of men, and the outcast of the 
 people." | Hence, although adorned so richly 
 with the gifts of heaven, thou didst, in imitation 
 of Jesus Christ, continually humble thyself un- 
 sparingly before God and men, and show the 
 greatest ardor for every kind of contempt ; so 
 hast thou given the highest glory to God. And 
 1, who by my origin am nothing, who am covered 
 over with the filth of sin. and full of pride, al- 
 
 * I Pet. 5, v. 5. 
 
 t Philippians, 2, v. 7; and Ps. 21, v. 7. 
 
44 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 though in utter poverty as regards spiritual gifts, 
 I have always dishonored the majesty of God ! 
 Wherefore, I am as hateful in the eyes of God 
 and of men as thou, O Saint Ignatius, wert dear 
 to them. Holy patron, do not reject my prayer ; 
 teach me true humility ; enable me to see how 
 wretched my soul is, that I may despise and hate 
 myself. I ask all this in order that henceforward 
 I may, by humility, self-contempt, and hatred 
 give as much glory to God as I have hitherto 
 given him offence by my pride. Amen. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 The following maxims were delivered by St. 
 Ignatius in an apparition to St. Mary Magdalen 
 of Pazzi : — 
 
 1. Interior humility consists in a constant 
 knowledge of our nothingness, and in a love of 
 everything that can bring us to despise ourselves. 
 — This humility is like a ladder with so many 
 rounds that one never gets to the topmost, es- 
 pecially, as by repeated acts the same steps have 
 to be gone up again and again. Hence, as long 
 as soul and body remain together, no one should 
 refrain from the practice of this virtue. 
 
 2. Exterior humility shows itself in words, ges- 
 tures and deeds. We ought to shun, as a blas- 
 phemy, any word that does not breathe humility. 
 
FIFTH MEDITATION. 
 
 45 
 
 Gestures contrary to humility should be avoided 
 with the same care as those opposed to purity. 
 Works that do not conform to humility are to be 
 avoided as a king would avoid dressing his son 
 and heir as a cow boy. 
 
 3. To the oil of humility we must add the 
 perfume of holy love. Then consider the glory 
 that acts of humility give to God, the great 
 works that humility performs and the advantages 
 that accrue to the humble soul. Thus humility 
 will be loved, and the soul, with all her might, 
 will seek to acquire it. 
 
 Example. 
 
 The wonderful humility of St. Ignatius stirred 
 up the wrath of the evil spirit against him. He 
 declared, by the lips of possessed persons, that he 
 had no worse enemy than St. Ignatius ; “ he has 
 as much humility as I have pride.” God exalted 
 his servant for that humility, and gave immense 
 power over evil spirits.* Crowds of people 
 could be cited out of whom the Saint drove the 
 devil, f We shall mention only one among 
 many, that was a triumph of the true faith over 
 heresy. At Ostrog, a town in Poland, a Calvinist 
 woman was possessed. Though knowing only 
 
 * Roman Breviary. f Raymand, Vol. 9. p. 134. 
 
46 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 her mother- tongue, she spoke Latin, German, 
 and Ruthenian with perfect ease. She re- 
 lated things that she had no natural means of 
 knowing, described events taking place at great 
 distances, and gave evidence of extraordinary 
 strength. The ministers of her religion for a 
 long time tried, but in vain, to expel the devil 
 from her. At last, they took her to the Rector of 
 the Jesuit college at Ostrog, and earnestly begged 
 of him, to say the prayers of the Church over 
 her, and free her from her wicked guest. The 
 Rector promised to do for them whatever he 
 could ; but first he reproached them for their 
 errors, and made the devil confess the falsity of 
 Calvinism. He next ordered a fast of three days, 
 and on the feast of our Lady’s Purification, in 
 the Church of the Society, which was crowded 
 with people, having repeatedly invoked the 
 names of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Igna 
 tius, he drove the devil out of the woman, 
 and forced him to acknowledge that he was 
 expelled by the power of Mary and Ignatius. 
 When the poor woman received her conscious- 
 ness she burst into tears of joy, and renounced 
 the errors of Calvin, while the by-standers # ex- 
 claimed : “Great is the Lord, and exceedingly 
 to be praised.”* Great is his mother ! great is 
 
 Psalm 47, v. I. 
 
SIXTH MEDITATION. 47 
 
 Ignatius ! The -only true religion is the Catholic 
 religion : — Marian Annals , 1627. 
 
 | Practice. 
 
 In accordance with the teaching of St. Igna- 
 tius, “ humble thyself in all things, and thou 
 shalt find grace before God. ” * 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 O God ! infinitely good God ! who still bear- 
 est with me who am such a sinner.f 
 
 SIXTH MEDITATION. 
 
 St. Ignatius a pattern of great, active and pro- 
 ductive confidence in God. 
 
 Point I. — Great confidence . — St. Ignatius, 
 having renounced the world and given himself 
 wholly to God, placed all his trust in him. It is 
 wonderful what hardships and contempt he had 
 to bear wherever he went. He was ill-treated, 
 
 * Eccli 3, v. 20. 
 
 t S. Ignatius in the process of his Canonization. 
 
48 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 thrown into prison, and suffered Everything short 
 of death.* But equally wonderful, amid all 
 these crosses and trials, were the serenity of his 
 soul, his perfect calmness springing from a 
 heroic reliance on God. He used to say that he 
 who forgets himself in order to serve God, has 
 God for his helper ; and God takes more care of 
 him than such a man could take of himself. 
 Wherefore, when slandered and thrown into 
 prison, he asked no one to defend or protect him. 
 When about to set out for Jerusalem he made 
 no provision for the journey, and when, as he 
 was going along, some friends obliged him to 
 take some money, he bitterly reproached himself 
 with want of trust in God, and was on the point 
 of throwing the money away ; on second thought 
 however, he gave it all to the poor. With the 
 same confidence, when reduced to the greatest 
 straits and harrassed by men, he undertook many 
 works of charity. Living in Rome in times of 
 great scarcity, and being asked how it was that 
 while rich people lessened their expenses, he 
 increased his own, though he had no income to 
 rely on. * 4 Don't fear ” was his answer, “ he who 
 feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies 
 of the field, will not allow those who work in 
 
 Roman Breviary. 
 
SIXTH MEDITATION. 
 
 49 
 
 the vineyard of the Church for nothing, to want 
 the necessaries of life.” Still he did not wish that 
 hope of this kind should encourage sloth. He 
 said: “we should do whatever lay in our power, 
 and that done we were to look upon ourselves 
 as unprofitable servants, and put all our hopes 
 in God.” 
 
 “Blessed is the man that hath not put his 
 trust in money nor in treasures.”* It is good to 
 confide in the Lord rather than to have confidence 
 in man. It is good to trust in the Lord rather 
 than to trust in princes, f They that fear the 
 Lord have hoped in the Lord ; he is their helper 
 and their protector. J If you rely on men “ lo, 
 thou trusteth upon a broken staff of a reed, upon 
 which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and 
 pierce it. ” § 
 
 Point II . — His confidence was active . — Though 
 the confidence of Ignatius in God was so great, 
 and though he had constantly wonderful proofs 
 of the Divine protection ; he still withal con- 
 sidered himself unworthy of being listened to by 
 God. He, therefore, used every means to pro- 
 pitiate the saints and make them his friends and 
 intercessors with God. In matters of importance 
 
 * Eccli. 31, v. 8. 
 t Psalm 1 1 7, v. 8-9. 
 
 { Psalm 1 13, v. II. 
 $ Isaiah, 36, v. 6. 
 
5 ° 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES, 
 
 he applied now to the saints, at another time to 
 the choirs of angels, to plead his cause before the 
 Queen of heaven. Again he would pray directly 
 to the Mother of God to urge his cause with her 
 Son. Finally, he would beseech Jesus Christ with 
 tears, not to look upon his sins, but on the merits 
 and intercession of so many of his servants, es- 
 pecially of his own mother, and to move his 
 eternal Father, and all the persons of the ever 
 blessed Trinity to grant his request. To his 
 prayers he added self-flagellations and long fasts 
 until he obtained what he asked. And when his 
 prayer was granted, he went the rounds again, 
 returning his thanks with the deepest and hum- 
 blest gratitude to the saints and angels, to the 
 Blessed Virgin, our Lord and the adorable 
 Trinity. 
 
 If, in consequence of our many sins, we do not 
 dare put firm trust in God, let us remember the 
 influence with him of his servants and friends in 
 heaven — what Mary can effect with her Son — the 
 power of Christ with his Father ; let us implore 
 their patronage by constant prayer, and if need 
 be, let us employ bodily penance, and then we 
 shall see the help of the Lord upon us. What 
 God s justice would refuse to our demerits, his 
 clemency will grant to so many intercessors. ‘ ‘We 
 
SIXTH MEDITATION. 5 1 
 
 have boldness and access with confidence by the 
 faith of him/'** 
 
 Point III . — Rewards of this confidence . — From 
 his very conversion he reaped, through the influ- 
 ence of the Blessed Virgin particularly, fruits of 
 this confidence in God. He was saved from the 
 many dangers, hardships and persecutions that 
 he met with. In his wants, the angels came 
 several times to his assistance. At one time, our 
 Lord himself, at another, his Blessed Mother 
 appeared to Ignatius, and promised him help and 
 special protection. Among those promises the 
 most celebrated is the one that was given in a 
 church not far from Rome. Ignatius had en- 
 tered it to pray, and, as was usual with him, he 
 was soon lost in ecstasy. Then the Eternal Father 
 appeared to him surrounded by a bright light, 
 and pointing to our Lord, who appeared also 
 carrying his cross, he praised Ignatius and his 
 companions, and said : “ I wish you accept him 
 
 as your servant.” Hereupon our Lord turned to 
 Ignatius, and taking him under his protection, 
 said : “ I wish you to serve me. I will help you 
 in Rome.” This promise caused Ignatius the 
 sweetest consolation. Addressing his compan- 
 ions, he remarked: “I don't know what is to 
 
 Ephes. 3, v. 12. 
 
PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 C2 
 
 m/ 
 
 happen in Rome : but this I do know, that what- 
 ever may happen, Jesus Christ will be favorable 
 to us.” He then related to them the foregoing 
 vision. 
 
 O how good is not our God to his servants ! 
 He is so kindly present to them — bestows on 
 them so much honor and joy — rewards them at 
 once and increases their joy. Blessed is the man 
 whorelies on the help and fidelity of God alone, 
 who works out his salvation in filial trust in him 
 — and who would consider it a sin to entertain a 
 shadow of doubt with regard to God’s sovereign 
 goodness. ‘ 4 Behold ! God is my Saviour, I will 
 deal confidently, and will not fear. ” * 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Admirable patriarch, St. Ignatius ! I know 
 now whence came thy unconquerable magnan- 
 imity in working and suffering for the greater 
 glory of God. It arose from thy filial confidence 
 in God. “For they that hope in the Lord shall 
 renew their strength — they shall run and not be 
 weary, they shall walk and not faint. ”f From 
 this I also learn why I am so weak, that in the 
 all important affair of salvation the slightest 
 difficulty frightens me, and makes me give up 
 
 Isaiah, 12, v. 2. 
 
 t Isaiah, 40, v, 3 1. 
 
SIXTH MEDITATION. 
 
 53 
 
 living a good life. All this weakness proceeds 
 from mv little confidence in God. The prom- 
 ises of God are, indeed, infallible, and the 
 earth is covered with his mercy: yet my hope in 
 God is not sufficiently strong. The more I rely 
 on my own powers and in the help of men, 
 the more I detract from the confidence that I 
 should place in God alone, the best of Fathers. 
 Lift up my heart, then, O holy patron, that it 
 may fix its refuge in God alone — that it may 
 hope, first for God; secondly, for his kingdom in 
 heaven ; thirdly, for suitable means here on earth 
 to earn that kingdom; and, lastly, that among 
 earthly goods I may seek only those that will help 
 me to obtain eternal posession of God. Amen. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 i. Confidence resting on the favor of men, or 
 on riches, is false. True confidence is that which, 
 the greater our penury or our difficulties, the 
 more it leans on God. St. Ignatius supported 
 this saying by the words of the Apostle: ‘‘But 
 hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man 
 seeth, why doth he hope for ? But if we hope for 
 that which we see not, we wait for it with 
 patience/’* 
 
 Rom. 8, v. 24-25. 
 
54 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 2. There is nothing miraculous in God’s help- 
 ing his servants who hope in him: it would be 
 a miracle were he to abandon them. His action 
 is based on his own promises: “Because he hoped 
 in me, I will deliver him. ... I will deliver 
 him, and I will glorify him.” * 
 
 3. Serve God with all care and zeal: entrust 
 all your interests and anxieties to him: “It is 
 easy for the Lord to save, either by many or by 
 few.”f 
 
 Example. 
 
 The following fact will bring out more fully the 
 fatherly providence of God in regard to his ser- 
 vants, and at the same time it will show that the 
 security and reliance of St. Ignatius were free 
 from rashness. When there was no money in 
 the house to meet the daily expenses, it happened 
 more than once that a stranger came to the 
 treasurer and putting into his hands a bag of 
 gold coin, instantly disappeared without saying a 
 word. One evening there was nothing to eat 
 or drink; nothing to make a fire the next day. 
 The following morning quite early, a lady sent 
 a l^rge cart-load of wood to the house. The door- 
 keeper went to put it in the cellar; but remem- 
 
 Psalm 90, v. 14-15. 
 
 t I. Kings, 14, v 6. 
 
SIXTH MEDITATION. 
 
 55 
 
 bering that he had left the house-door open, he 
 hastened back to shut it. What was his surprise 
 to find in the hall some bushels of wheat and 
 barrels of wine. No one could ever find out 
 who sent these presents. By deeds like these, 
 which often happened, God provided for the 
 wants of his servants . — Bollandists for July. 
 
 Practice. 
 
 Make acts of hope in God with all your heart. 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 “In thee, O Lord, have I hoped ; let me never 
 be confounded. ” * 
 
 * Psalm 30, v. I. 
 
5* 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 SEVENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 \ 
 
 The Unitive Way. 
 
 St. Ignatius, a pattern of most ardent love for 
 God, by his spiritual enlightenment, by his earn- 
 estness and the elevation of his thoughts. 
 
 Point I . — His spiritual enlightenment . — Charity 
 is a heavenly fire that illumines the mind, in- 
 flames the heart, and lifts the entire soul up to 
 God. The vast light which love for God conver- 
 ged upon the mind of Ignatius, is manifest from 
 the teaching scattered up and down his Exercises 
 with regard to meditation, to the discerning of 
 the actions of the various spirits, what paths are 
 safe, and what unsafe in the spiritual life. St. 
 Philip Neri considered him a master in the art 
 of directing souls, and in the science of the Saints; 
 for he often saw the countenance of Ignatius 
 radiant with heavenly light, and thence conject- 
 ured the fulness of light that possessed his soul. 
 Nor was this excellence of St. Ignatius astonish- 
 ing. God disengaged him from the senses and 
 showed him by himself, by the angels, the saints, 
 the Blessed Virgin, or even our Lord himself — 
 who were all, so to say, on familiar terms with 
 Ignatius — the power of the Creator, the infinite 
 
SEVENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 57 
 
 wisdom of the redemption, the order and purpose 
 of creatures, the efficacy of the sacraments, the 
 marvellous workings of divine grace in a soul, 
 and many other wonders of the same kind. 
 
 The wise ones of the world who style themselves 
 enlightened, but who measure withal everything 
 divine by the senses and human passions, deserve 
 rather to be called foolish and blind. 4 ‘The 
 sensual man perceiveth not the things that are 
 of the spirit of God/' * The Holy Ghost looks 
 for a heart free from all the defilements of the 
 flesh, and a mind cleaving to God with a lively 
 faith, before he communicates by charity those 
 teachings, that heavenly learning, which outstrip 
 our natural powers. “Blessed are the clean of 
 heart, for they shall see God.” f 
 
 Point II . — His earnestness . — The charity of God 
 was poured out in the heart of Ignatius by the 
 Holy Ghost, who was given to him. J As in the 
 case of the Apostles, a tongue of fire appeared, 
 and rested upon him, and he was filled with the 
 Holy Ghost. § Hence, frequently during day 
 and night, amid sighs and tears, he opened his 
 heart to God, particularly to our Lord on the 
 cross, or hidden in the Blessed Eucharist ; and 
 
 * I Corinth., 2, v. 14. 
 t Matt., 5, v. 8. 
 
 i Rom., 5, v. 5. 
 $ Acts, 2, v. 3. 
 
• 5 8 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 breaking forth into his usual exclamation, asking 
 still greater love for God, he would say : ‘ ‘Lord, 
 let me love thee, and for no other purpose than 
 to love thee more.” On occasions of this kind, 
 his affections grew so warm that he fainted, as it 
 were, and the only signs of life that he gave, were 
 a flushed countenance and violent beating of his 
 heart. It cannot be wonderful, therefore, that 
 no matter how pressed by business, as soon as he 
 invoked God, or heard the name of Jesus, his 
 face was lit up, his heart burned, he overflowed 
 with joy, and he dropped to rest in the embrace 
 of God, or of Christ. He once made, with great 
 candor, the wonderful declaration, that he could 
 not live by the sole powers of nature. Indeed it 
 was a common impression among those who saw 
 more closely the fires of divine love, amid which 
 he spent his days, that he lived his transfigured 
 life far more on divine charity than on natural 
 strength. “I live, now not I; but Christ liveth 
 in me/’ * 
 
 “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy 
 whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with 
 thy whole mind,”f says Jesus Christ. We do this 
 when, in comparison with him, we make no 
 account of all else; when, as St. Ignatius taught, 
 
 Galatians, 2, v. 20. 
 
 t Matt. 22, v. 37. 
 
SEVENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 59 
 
 we so employ the faculties of our soul in loving 
 God, that our memory recalls his love for us, and 
 his benefits to us; our mind reflects carefully on the 
 Divine perfections; our will loves those perfec- 
 tions — delights in them — desires eagerly to please 
 God, to do and suffer all things out of love for 
 God. Be ashamed of yourself in case your heart 
 is still far from such love for God. “Look, and 
 make it according to the pattern that was shown 
 thee” * in Ignatius. The above-mentioned ex- 
 ercise of your memory, understanding and will, 
 will kindle the fire of charity in your heart. “ In 
 my meditation a fire shall flame out.” f 
 
 Point III . — Elevation of his thoughts . — The 
 charity in which his soul abounded, so lifted Ig- 
 natius up to God, that he was able to say with 
 St. Paul: “Our conversation is in heaven.” J 
 Often while meditating on heavenly things, or 
 amid the sublime emotions of the Canonical 
 hours, his soul rushed to God with such vehe- 
 mence, that his body was all surrounded with 
 light, and raised from the ground. He would see 
 heaven open before him, gaze on its shining, 
 crowds of citizens, and distinguish their pecu- 
 liar glory. Our Lord frequently showed himself 
 to the Saint in the Blessed Eucharist, and ex- 
 plained to him the ineffable manner in which he 
 
 * Exodus, 25, v. 40. i Psalm 38, v. 4. 
 
 t Philippians, 3, v. 20. 
 
6o 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 at one and the same time dwells under the sacred 
 species and reigns gloriously in heaven. There 
 is a little book containing his visions and spiritual 
 illuminations, which he received at mass, during 
 a space of four months, while he was drawing up 
 the constitutions of his Society. He used to put 
 these favors in a sort of diary so as to foster piety 
 and keep a remembrance of them. Before his 
 death, however, he took care to destroy all writings 
 of the kind; a few leaves escaped his search, and 
 they form the little book in question. In it he 
 tells us, that he saw our Lord mediating for him 
 with the Father, the Blessed Virgin most lovingly 
 presenting him, her client, to her Son, and ap- 
 proving the Constitutions that he had framed. 
 Meanwhile, he, himself, was fired with divine 
 love, but so illuminating and sweet that he felt 
 himself most closely united to divine love, re- 
 ceived incredible light from it, and heard voices 
 and harmonies beautiful beyond all earthly ex- 
 pression. “At times,” the Saint writes, “so high 
 was I raised, such was the spiritual light vouch- 
 safed to me about God, his unity, the Trinity, 
 that there seemed to be nothing more for me to 
 learn. I knew, I felt, I saw. My knowledge 
 was so surprising, that I incessantly cried out 
 in admiration: What am I ? What do I merit? 
 How has this light come to me ? ” These, and 
 
SEVENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 6 I 
 
 many other wonders, are spoken of in the afore- 
 mentioned book, and more at length, in the au- 
 thentic inquiry made about Ignatius at Toledo.* 
 There is a shorter account of all these matters in 
 an illustrated work on the life of the Saint. Here 
 is one of its titles: “ He writes the Constitutions of 
 the Society of Jesus, and has, while doing so, 
 many visions of the Adorable Trinity, who be- 
 stow much light on him, and of the Blessed 
 Virgin, who gives her approbation to what he was 
 writing/' 
 
 Blessed soul ! so wonderfully one with God — 
 and happy in him, as far as one can be in this 
 world.— 1 “ God is not far from every one of us : for 
 in him we live, and move, and be/' f But our 
 soul, involved in earthly affections, “has forgotten 
 God, her Saviour, and has not remembered her 
 strong helper/' J Let us awake, then, and rise 
 out of the mire of our sins. Let us not love the 
 world nor the things that are in the world. § 
 Let us therefore love God, because God first hath 
 loved us. || 
 
 * See works of the Ven. Father Lancicius. Vol. 2, 
 opusc. 17, 
 
 t Acts, 1 7, v. 27-28. 
 t Isaiah, 17, v. 10. 
 
 $ I John, 2, v. 15. 
 || I John, 4, v. 19. 
 
6i 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Thy Seraphic love for God, O holy Ignatius, 
 condemns and puts to confusion my negligence 
 and lukewarmness in loving him. My heart 
 is so depraved that it loves earthly goods, and 
 even my vices and sins ; and has no care to love 
 the God, whom it was created to love. Thy 
 heart, whilst thou wert in this world, burned] 
 with a constant desire to enkindle in every one 
 a great love for God. Now that thou art in 
 heaven this desire must be far greater. I there- 
 fore offer thee my heart, that thou mayest cleanse 
 it from all disorderly affections, fire it every day 
 more and more with thy love, and teach it to 
 love God the Sovereign good. Whilst, in order 
 to obtain this grace, I use the words with which 
 thou wert wont to dedicate thyself wholly to God, 
 ask for me, I beg of thee, the favor of consecrat- 
 ing myself to God forevermore with all thy 
 fervor. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 i. If the blessed in heaven could grieve, they 
 would go into mourning as a sign of sorrow and 
 wailing for those who were once fervent in the 
 service of God, but afterwards fell into luke- 
 warmness. If you have grown languid in love 
 
SEVENTH MEDITATION. . 63 
 
 for God, you have grieved Jerusalem that nursed 
 you. * 
 
 2. We should watch constantly over the purity 
 of our hearts, and by frequent aspirations raise 
 them to God who is everywhere present : for 
 charity does not spring up in an unclean, but in 
 a clean heart, t 
 
 3. We should often visit the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, which is the guarantee and feeder of love. 
 The time immediately after holy Communion is 
 most valuable ; and should be entirely given to 
 God and to divine love ; for then God dwells in 
 us, and we in him. “He that eateth my flesh 
 abideth in me, and I in him.” J 
 
 Example. 
 
 God rewarded the love of St. Ignatius not only 
 by conferring on him the essential happiness of 
 heaven, which is man s chief blessedness ; but he 
 also granted him very great glory here on earth. 
 He had not yet reached the honors of canoniza- 
 tion when in Catalayud, a town of Aragon, in 
 Spain, an angel appeared to a pious Canon, who 
 delighted in having in his house fine paintings 
 of the founders of the various religious orders. 
 
 * Baruch, 4, v. 8. t I Timothy, 1, v. 5, 
 
 t John, 6, v. 57. 
 
PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 64 . 
 
 The angel presented himself as a stranger on his 
 travels Seeing that the portrait of Ignatius was 
 not in the Canon's collection, he offered to paint 
 it. His offer was accepted and he set to work. 
 A short while after he was summoned to dinner ; 
 but he refused to go, saying that his work was 
 going on well and he did not wish to leave it. 
 At the end of dinner the painter was again called, 
 and looked for everywhere ; but he could not be 
 found. He had disappeared, leaving a portrait 
 of St. Ignatius surrounded by rays of light, and 
 surpassing in beauty all the others possessed by 
 the Canon. This painting was afterwards sent 
 to Munebrega, and was there very much honored 
 by crowds of people. Many and great favors 
 were obtained by those who prayed before it to 
 St. Ignatius. Within the space of a month more 
 than a hundred miracles were wrought at Mune- 
 brega ; among them was the restoration to life of 
 a boy and a little girl, who had died sometime 
 previously . — Alphonsus Andrada, History of the 
 Picture of Munebrega, Madrid , 1669. 
 
 Practice. 
 
 With frequent acts of charity thou wilt love the 
 Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart.* 
 
 A.athew, xxvii, v. 57. 
 
EIGHTH MEDITATION. 
 
 65 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 Lord grant me to love thee, and for no other 
 object but to love thee more and more. — Si. 
 Ignatius. 
 
 EIGHTH MEDITATION. 
 
 St. Ignatius a pattern of zeal for souls in his 
 desires, his labors, and in the works he set on 
 foot for this purpose. 
 
 Point I . — His desires . — Zeal for souls is an 
 effect of charity, which makes one love God and 
 bring others to love him. The greater our love 
 for God, the greater will be our zeal. From the 
 beginning of his conversion, love for God burned 
 so ardently in his soul, that even in the night- 
 time he was found raised from the ground shin- 
 ing with light, and exclaiming amid sighs and 
 tears ; “Omy God ! O my Lord ! If men only 
 know thee, they would never sin.” At other times, 
 
66 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 raised from the ground in a kneeling posture, his 
 eyes dazzling with light, and his face uplifted to- 
 wards heaven, he would say : “ Dearest Jesus ! if 
 men only loved thee.” And as the bitter death 
 that the Son of God underwent for the salvation 
 of men, was always present to the mind of Igna- 
 tius, he used often to exclaim : “Would it were 
 in my power to die a thousand times a day, even 
 in the worst torments, for Christ and for the salva- 
 tion of one soul.” No wonder then that when 
 he was General of his Society, he led through 
 the streets a crowd of abandoned women whom 
 he had reclaimed, to a house where their virtue 
 would be out of danger. Whilst he was engaged 
 in this work some one remarked to him that he 
 was losing his time, because such women easily 
 fall back into their sins ; Ignatius answered 
 that he would consider himself amply rewarded 
 by merely preventing the sins that any one of 
 these poor creatures would commit in a night. 
 How wonderful, too, is not that assertion of the 
 Saint which the Tribunal of the Rota has so ex- 
 tolled, and which he made with so much earnest- 
 ness, viz : Were the choice given to me, I would 
 rather serve God here and save souls, in uncer- 
 tainty of eternal happiness, than die at this 
 moment in the full assurance of going to heaven. 
 
 If St. Ignatius preferred the salvation of others 
 
EIGHTH MEDITATION. 
 
 67 
 
 to his own certain and immediate happiness for 
 eternity, can we hesitate for our own eternal 
 salvatiofi to renounce our evil desires and con- 
 cupiscences, and to remove all obstacles to our 
 neighbors' salvation ? The chief object for which 
 we have to strive, is eternity. For “ all gold in 
 comparison of it, is as a little sand, and silver in 
 respect to her shall be counted as clay."* 
 
 Point II . — His labors . — The labors of St. Ig- 
 natius were not behind his vehement desires for 
 saving souls. From the first days of his conver- 
 sion he resolved to avoid no danger, to shrink 
 from no toil in trying to bring souls to God, and 
 to devote himself unceasingly, as long as his life 
 would last, to this most important work. He 
 kept his resolution wherever he lived. Hence, 
 when the process for his canonization began, so 
 many notable conversions of great sinners, aban- 
 doned women, Jews and heretics, were related 
 that every city in which Ignatius spent any time, 
 looked upon him as its apostle. Out of that 
 first resolve came that devotedness, which the 
 Holy Church calls remarkable, which led Ignatius, 
 at the age of three and thirty, for the purpose of 
 being more useful to souls, to study grammar 
 first, and afterwards philosophy and theology. 
 
 Wisdom, 7, v. 9. 
 
68 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Later on, he went over these studies again in 
 Paris, living, meanwhile, on alms, omitting none 
 of his practices of charity, humility and notifica- 
 tion, and having to bear ridicule, blows, and 
 imprisonment, during his labors for souls. How 
 often, too, did not the devil, as it were, foreseeing 
 the future, try to interrupt his studies ! When, 
 in the learning of the Latin grammar, he met 
 the verb to love , or any other word of the kind, 
 the enemy would direct his thoughts to God; at 
 other times, he would fill his mind with light, 
 and lay bare to him the hidden sense of Holy 
 Scripture. And all this was done in order to 
 draw off the mind of Ignatius from his books. 
 But the attempt did not succeed; it merely gave 
 Ignatius a new occasion to triumph gloriously 
 over himself. For, as soon as he saw the wiles of 
 the evil one, he cast himself at the feet of his 
 master, begging him in earnest to exact from him 
 every day, the same task as from the other stu- 
 dents, and to be punished like them, in word or 
 deed, when found guilty of any negligence in 
 the performance of duty. If St. Ignatius toiled 
 so ardently for the salvation of others, we can 
 imagine what we ought to undertake for our own 
 souls. In case we do not do much for them, it 
 is not our want of power, but of will we have to 
 blame. For grace is always at our door, and at 
 
EIGHTH MEDITATION. 6o 
 
 1 
 
 every moment we can gain new help through 
 prayer. Well, then, in order that God may not 
 have to condemn our error on Judgment Day, 
 when it will be to late to correct it, let us now, 
 at this very time, “ labor the more, that by good 
 works we may make sure our calling and elec- 
 tion.” * 
 
 Point III . — The works he established. — St. Igna- 
 tius “not willing that any should perish, but 
 that all should return to penance,” f instituted a 
 , religious order that should help to oppose idola- 
 try, Judaism, and heresy. That order was also 
 to restore piety among Catholics, to teach cate- 
 chism, to give retreats and missions, and to pro- 
 mote the frequent reception of the Sacraments. 
 To the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedi- 
 ence, usual in all religious orders, it adds a fourth, 
 whereby it binds itself to go on any mission, en- 
 trusted to it by the Holy See, without asking any 
 pecuniary means for the journey. All these are 
 works belonging to the Institute of Ignatius. 
 In conformity with this method of life, he sent 
 St. Francis Xavier to preach the Gospel in India, 
 and others for a similar purpose into various 
 parts of the world. At the same time, he opened 
 houses of education everywhere for the literary 
 
 II Peter, I, v. io. 
 
 t II Peter, 3, v. 9. 
 
70 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 and Christian formation of youth. He founded 
 the German College in Rome, and established 
 refuges for fallen women, or poor girls in danger, 
 and orphanages for children of both sexes. In- 
 deed, there was no end to the pious works that 
 his untiring zeal for souls made him undertake, 
 and carry on until the day of his death.* Truly, 
 as Pope Gregory XV. said, Ignatius was a man 
 very great for saving the elect of God. f He 
 was a new apostle, as the Rota styled him. He 
 had a soul larger than the world ; he went 
 through labors, founded institutions, reaped fruits, # 
 worthy of any apostle. 
 
 “ God gave commandment to everyone con- 
 cerning his neighbor.” J Therefore, everyone 
 should help his neighbor by the example of good 
 works, by timely advice, by assiduous prayer to 
 God. What of those, who, on the contrary, by 
 their bad lives, wicked example, scandalous 
 talk, far from gaining souls to Christ, lead them 
 to perdition? Says our Lord: 4 ‘ Wo, to that man 
 by whom the scandal cometh.” § 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Since thou, most holy patriarch, with so much 
 ardor, with such labors, and by so many insti- 
 
 * Roman Breviary, 
 t Eccli. 46, v. 2. 
 
 t Eccli. 17, v, 12. 
 
 § Matthew, 18, v. 7. 
 
EIGHTH MEDITATION". 
 
 71 
 
 tutions, didst seek to save all men, hear, I 
 beseech thee, the prayers which I suppliantly 
 address thee, in accordance with the wishes of 
 thine own heart. Lo ! “I have gone astray, like 
 a sheep that is lost.”* Seek thy wretched little 
 client, who is covered with the filth of many 
 sins, constantly harassed by the seductions of the 
 world, the snares of the devil, and in danger of 
 eternal damnation. Stretch out thy hands to me 
 in my poverty, f that I may rise out of the slough 
 of sin, and enter the path of salvation. Indeed 
 “ I know my sin, and my iniquity is always be- 
 fore me.” 1 I am sorry that I so often offended 
 my God, who is the Sovereign good. Obtain for 
 me, holy patron, that this sorrow may go on in- 
 creasing until my death, and that through thee, 
 I may derive mercy from God. “ Let thy hand 
 be with me to save me.’’ “ Help me and I shall 
 
 be saved. |j Amen. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 1. Were God to cast me into hell without 
 any fault of mine, my greatest pain would be, 
 not the tortures of the place, but to listen to the 
 blasphemies which are there uttered against God. 
 
 * Psalm, 1:8, v. 176. 
 t Eccli. 7, v. 36. 
 
 + Psalm, 50, v. 5. 
 
 || Psalm 1 18, v. 173, 1 1 7. 
 
72 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Learn from St. Ignatius to abhor openly all 
 offences against God, saying sincerely with him: 
 “I have hated and abhorred inquity.”* 
 
 2. In order that talents and other natural gifts 
 may do good, they must be governed by the in- 
 terior spirit, and draw from it all their force and 
 efficacy. For we are instruments of the Lord: 
 “ In his hand are both we and our words, and all 
 wisdom, and the knowledge and skill of works.” f 
 
 3. To gain souls to God, a circle of mutual 
 influence is required; namely, prayer mounting 
 up to God, and obtaining grace from him; and 
 patient action, descending to our neighbor. All 
 the art of gaining souls to God lies in this: “I 
 have labored in my groanings.” J 
 
 Example. 
 
 As formerly on earth, so now in glory, St. 
 Ignatius procures heavenly remedies for diseased 
 souls more readily than for diseased bodies. In 
 the year 1602, there was, at Gandia, in Spain, a 
 woman who led an immoral life with a young 
 man. At last, she began to desire to rise out of 
 her wretched state, but her bad habits made 
 fearful opposition to her holy purpose. In her 
 distress she implored the help of Ignatius. 
 
 * Psalm 1 18, v. 163. t Wisdom, 7, v. 16. 
 
 f Psalm 6, v. 7. 
 
EIGHTH MEDITATION. 
 
 73 , 
 
 Scarcely had she hung the Saint's portrait over 
 her bed, when she felt such disgust for the man 
 f she had hitherto loved so madly, that she could 
 not even bear the sight of him . — Bollandists for 
 July. 
 
 Practice. 
 
 Through the example of good works, 4 ‘let your 
 light so shine before men, that they may see your 
 good works, and glorify your Father, who is in 
 heaven.*" 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 St. Ignatius, let thy hand be with me to save 
 me; help me, and I shall be saved.f 
 
 Matthew, 5, v. 16. 
 
 t P$alm 1 18, v. 173, 1 17 
 
74 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 
 NINTH MEDITATION. 
 
 The heart of St. Ignatius was a pattern of in- 
 terior life towards God, towards himself, and 
 towards his neighbor. 
 
 Point I. — Towards God, — He who wants to 
 serve God must be an interior man — that is to 
 say, he must work far more with the interior 
 affections of his heart than by external action. 
 St. Ignatius taught this doctrine, and with sover- 
 eign perfection he directed his heart in accord- 
 ance with it in regard to God, to himself and 
 his neighbor. And first with respect to God. 
 For from the date of his conversion, he made 
 this a law for himself which he never afterwards 
 transgressed — namely, that thenceforward he 
 would seek only God and his greater glory. 
 Wherefore it never entered into his mind to offer 
 to God, as an expiation for his sins, a single one 
 of the rigid austerities which he then began to 
 practice: for he feared lest his own interests should 
 detract even one tittle from that greater glory. 
 Every hour indeed he looked into all his actions; 
 nor was he satisfied with merely avoiding faults 
 and performing some virtuous deeds during that 
 time. He also inquired, whether he could not 
 have served God better; nay, more, when he had 
 
NINTH MEDITATION. 
 
 75 
 
 several things to do, he always gave the prefer- 
 ence to what he thought would be more glorious 
 to God. The Rota compresses all this into the 
 following words: He burned with such love for 
 God, that he sought for him all day. He thought 
 of nothing else — desired nothing else — than to 
 please God, and do his adorable will. He 
 therefore put himself entirely in God's hands, and 
 determined to seek him even at the expense of 
 everything. All his thoughts, all his word sand 
 works were referred to God as to their end; they 
 were for God, for His honor and glory alone. 
 The saying: for the greater glory of God \ was a 
 watchword that was constantly on his lips. 
 
 “ God created all nations to his own praise, and 
 name and glory/’* In order, therefore, to cor- 
 respond fully with the end for which he is 
 made, every one should direct all his actions, 
 words and thoughts to God and to his greater 
 glory. Those who do not work for that end, 
 “their hope is vain, and their labors withou, 
 fruit, and their works unprofitable." f Therefore, 
 “whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you 
 do, do all to the glory of God." J 
 Point II . — Towards himself — “The greatest ob 
 
 * Deuteron, 26, v. 19. t Wisdom, 3, v. n. 
 
 1 1 Cor. 10, v. 31. 
 
76 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 stack to the rising of our heart to God, is self- 
 love/' said St. Ignatius, and therefore he reduced 
 the whole art of spiritual progress to this one 
 principle: Conquer thyself. Hence, his chief aim 
 was to restrain the emotions of the soul, and to 
 overcome every natural repugnance. By nature 
 he was of a bilious and ardent disposition ; yet 
 by constant self-resistance he became altogether 
 another man. Even physicians supposed that 
 he was of a cold, phlegmatic character, and con- 
 sequently made sad mistakes in their treatment. 
 This wonderful self-discipline gave him entire 
 command, as the Rota said, over all the move- 
 ments of his soul and body, and made them 
 dutiful servants of virtue and of God's greater 
 glory. But let us learn from the Saint himself 
 the foundations which he laid in his heart in 
 order to raise this temple of peace to the greater 
 glory of God. “ It belongs to God," he used to 
 say, “ to dispose of us. Whether he takes any- 
 thing from us or hurts us, or whether he gives 
 us something and caresses us, he is equally holy 
 and good. In both cases we should equally love 
 and praise that goodness and holiness. More- 
 over, as all things are to be loved and feared in 
 so far as God bids us love or fear them, our 
 heart has to direct its loves and fears, according 
 to this rule, without ever overstepping it, espe- 
 
NINTH MEDITATION. 
 
 77 
 
 dally as God shows such condescension as to be 
 honored and glorified by the little services which 
 we, his lowly creatures, render him .” — Would that 
 we established this law in our hearts : Would 
 that we were always so disposed and so resigned 
 towards God, whether he sends us good or evil, 
 as to seek only his glory, to please him and to 
 do his will. But if, contrary to his command, we 
 seek ourselves and satisfy our rebellious desires, 
 we can never be at peace with him, nor with our 
 own conscience. ‘‘There is no peace to the 
 wicked, saith the Lord/'* 
 
 Point III . — Towards his neighbor. — St. Igna- 
 tius spared no pains to win the good will of men 
 in order tq gain them over to Christ. He began 
 by studying the dispositions and character of 
 people with whom he had to deal, and then in 
 so far as it was allowable, he caught each one 
 with his own bait, as the saying goes. He 
 would put up with their harshness and arrog- 
 ance, accomodate himself to their silliness and 
 folly, bear with and overlook their rudeness and 
 insulting behavior, and yield to them in all 
 things as far as virtue would permit. When in 
 this way he had gained them over to himself, he 
 set to work upon them, and with slow and cau- 
 
 Isaiah, 48, v. 22. 
 
PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 78 
 
 tious management he gradually brought them to 
 a sense of duty and the practice of religion. 
 This holy artifice and the bright example of his 
 own sanctity reclaimed many from heresy to the 
 Catholic faith, or from a sinful to a good life, and 
 induced many also to despise everything earthly 
 and embrace the salutary counsels of Christ. 
 But his charity chiefly displayed itself where he 
 found the fuller image of Christ, namely, among 
 the poor and his own children, who had given 
 themselves up to his care and direction. He 
 was so devoted to the poor and the sick, to or- 
 phans and catechumens, to unfortunate women, 
 to girls in danger of losing their virtue, and 
 similar classes of persons, that everyone among 
 them looked up to him as to a most affectionate 
 parent. Towards his own children such was his 
 charity that he considered their temptations and 
 sufferings his own; and hence, he did everything 
 to console, direct, encourage and inflame them 
 with love for God. Nor in doing so did he 
 content himself with words alone ; he prayed and 
 fasted for them, and chastised his body in many 
 ways so as to obtain the necessary graces for 
 them. Hence, everyone thought himself the 
 child of his tears and sorrows. In this manner, 
 unto the greater glory of God, Ignatius was mide 
 all to all, that he might save all.* 
 
 I C01*. 9, v. 22. 
 
NINTH MEDITATION, 
 
 79 
 
 “This Commandment we have from God, 
 that he who loveth God, love also his brother/’* 
 “Therefore from love for God charity is patient, 
 kind, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to 
 anger, thinketh no evil, beareth all things. ” f 
 It tries to close hell and open heaven to all, in 
 order that the number of those loving God and 
 his greater glory should increase forever. Where- 
 fore 4 ‘to love ones neighbor as ones self is a 
 greater thing than all holocausts and sacri- 
 fices. x 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 In thy heart, O blessed Ignatius, that was so 
 upright with God, so severe towards thyself, so 
 overflowing with love for its neighbor, and always 
 so intent on the greater service of God, I see, as 
 in a mirror, the wickedness of my own heart, 
 and I am covered with shame at the sight. 
 God created my heart and loaded it with spirit- 
 ual gifts for his own glory ; and I have used 
 that heart’s affections and God’s favors to offend 
 him. While seeking myself and indulging my evil 
 desires, I am troubled in mind, drawn here and 
 there ; my conscience loudly upbraids me ; I am 
 not myself any more. Being, then, almost unable 
 
 *John, 4, v. 21. t Corinth. 13, v. 4-7. 
 
 + Mark, 12, v. 33. 
 
8o 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 to bear myself, how can I sympathise with my 
 neighbor, or patiently bear his defects. Here, 
 O holy patron, is a faithful description of my 
 heart. How different it is from thy heart. I lay 
 it before thee that thou mayest take pity on it. 
 Depraved as it is, I offer it to thee that thou 
 mayest renew a right spirit within it. So, that 
 like thee, it may seek only God and his glory — 
 that henceforward I may be at peace with God, 
 with myself and my neighbor, until through 
 thee I become a sharer forever in the glory of 
 God in heaven. Amen. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 1. For him who works with all possible dili- 
 gence a precious crown is laid up in heaven. 
 This crown is proportioned, not so much to the 
 good works we do, as to the fervor with which 
 we do them. God makes more account of our 
 dispositions than of our deeds. Therefore thou 
 shalt follow justly after that which is just.* 
 
 2. He who has a stubborn and fiery nature 
 should not lose courage in case he seeks to con- 
 quer that nature. Rather let him be assured 
 that one victory gained over himself, will be of 
 greater value before God than many victories 
 
 Dueteron. i 6 , v. 20. 
 
NINTH MEDITATION. 8 1 
 
 over an easy and peaceful nature. God has 
 given such a man a strong conflict that he may 
 overcome. * 
 
 3. In our dealings with men we ought to imi- 
 tate the angels. Though they dwell on earth for 
 our protection, still they never cease to love God. 
 Our conversation should always be in heaven.f 
 
 Example. 
 
 It was not only while living in this world that 
 St. Ignatius showed the most ardent charity for 
 his spiritual children. He has done the same 
 sin<& he went to reign with the blessed in heaven. 
 There dwelt in Barcelona a widow named Agnes 
 Pascual, with her son John, a young man of 
 eighteen. They assisted Ignatius in his need, 
 and had reaped much spiritual profit from his 
 direction and intercourse. When he left Bar- 
 celona for Paris, they, out of affection, accom- 
 panied him some miles. As they were about to 
 part, Ignatius embraced John, and gave him 
 some advice for the remainder of his life. But 
 the young man said: ‘‘You have done so much 
 for others that they have embraced a life of per- 
 fection, or have at least made great progress in 
 virtue. Why do you leave me so unfinished 
 
 Wisdom, 10, v. 12. 
 
 t Philip., 3, v. 20. 
 
82 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 and imperfect ? What will become of me in 
 your absence ? If you allow me, I shall follow 
 you wherever you go.” “ Take courage,” replied 
 Ignatius, “you will not want occasions for suffer- 
 ing and for working for God. When older 
 you will marry, and meet with many crosses that 
 will not allow you to give way to pleasure, or 
 neglect imploring the Divine assistance. But all 
 these trials will end in the salvation of your 
 soul.” Events justified the prediction. Some 
 years after John married, and had a large family. 
 He was not rich. He lent nearly all the money 
 he owned; his creditors cheated him, an<i left 
 him penniless. At this time Ignatius lived in 
 Rome, yet he saw everything that happened to 
 John. He wrote to him to console him, and 
 make him resign himself fully to God's holy will. 
 One day John rose before the dawn and went to 
 church. Ignatius was now dead, and John 
 prayed to him: “Holy father, who art now in 
 heaven, thou seest the sorrow and affliction that 
 have come upon me in accordance with thy 
 prediction. I need patience. I beg thee to 
 ask it of God for me — and also that according 
 to thy promise, everything may end well for me, 
 and that I may save my soul. ” While John was 
 praying thus he shed many tears. Suddenly 
 the entire church was brilliantly lit up. John 
 
NINTH MEDITATION. 
 
 83 
 
 heard delightful music, and saw a great crowd 
 of angels and saints in it. Among them was a 
 man of venerable mien, dressed as a priest about 
 to celebrate, who having adored the Blessed Sac- 
 rament at St. Eulalia's altar, was incensing it 
 with sweet smelling incense. Having done this, 
 as he was about to go away, he approached 
 John, who was in rapture at the whole vision 
 and overflowing ^vith joy. Recognizing St. Ig- 
 natius, John threw himself at his feet. The 
 Saint looked at him smilingly, and said: do you 
 remember me ? I have not forgotten you. Have 
 courage; everything will turn out well for you, 
 as I told you. He then gave John his blessing, 
 and vanished. Immediately John began to ex- 
 claim: O Father ! O holy Father Ignatius ! 
 Some priests, who were near, hearing these 
 words ran to John, and asked him what was 
 the matter. Weeping and sobbing, John told 
 them all that had happened. Ever afterwards, 
 the bare remembrance of the looks, words and 
 promise of Ignatius on this occasion gave John 
 the greatest relief and consolation in all his 
 trials. — Bartoli, Book I , n. 31. 
 
 Practice. 
 
 For the greater glory of God overcome your- 
 self in all things. 
 
84 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 “ Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy 
 name give glory."* 
 
 % 
 
 TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 The death of St. Ignatius was precious— in his 
 desire for it — in the sentiments attending it — in 
 the glory that followed it. 
 
 Point I . — His desires . — The more God shed 
 the light of his countenance upon Ignatius, 
 whether by interior illuminations or by visions 
 in which even our Lord himself treated him with * 
 sovereign affection, the stronger grew his desire 
 to see God as he is in himself, to be with Christ 
 and be released from the shackles of the body. 
 For this reason it was his habit to look up at the 
 starry firmament, to run over in his mind the 
 joys of heaven, to express his desires to the king 
 
 Ps. 1 13, v. 1. 
 
TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 85 
 
 of glory — to sigh and weep in order to show God 
 how eager he was, how ardently he longed for 
 him. He begged God to take compassion on 
 him and soon dismiss him in peace. Then cast- 
 ing his eyes on earth, he would be filled with 
 contempt for it and cry out : “ How vile the 
 earth seems to me when I look up at the 
 heavens ! ” When he heard anyone express a 
 wish to live long, or saw persons taking means 
 lest death should overtake them before the end 
 of this or that work, he would say : “ How can 
 we deceive ourselves with the hope of a long life, 
 and rob ourselves of the joy of a speedy death, 
 which God seeks to foster in us by hiding from 
 us the time at which we shall die.” Whenever 
 he became seriously ill, he would immediately 
 suppose that he was about to die, and that 
 thought would throw him into ecstasies, to the 
 great danger of his health. In those circum- 
 stances physicians used to forbid him to think 
 on heavenly subjects. Yet in all these burning 
 desires it was not an end of his labors, or en- 
 trance into eternal joys that he had in view ; for 
 he was so free from self-seeking that he was often 
 heard to declare that he could not live if he saw 
 anything not wholly divine in his heart. Where- 
 fore with the sincerest and purest love he looked 
 solely to God and his glory : for from his ex- 
 
86 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 traordinary insight into the divine goodness, he 
 knew that he could love and exalt his God with 
 far greater perfection in heaven than on earth. 
 
 We, poor exiles in this vale of tears, if we love 
 God with our whole heart, should imitate the 
 holy desires of Ignatius, and often exclaim with 
 the apostle: “ Unhappy man that I am, who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death ? ” * “I 
 have a desire to be dissolved and to be with 
 Christ, f ” Or with David: “ Wo is me, that my 
 sojourning is prolonged. My soul hath been 
 long a sojourner.” J “When shall I come and ap- 
 pear before the face of God ?” § Such desires are 
 very effective in withdrawing souls from earthly 
 affections and in imbuing them with heavenly 
 dispositions. “And every one that hath this hope 
 in him sanctifieth himself, as he also is holyi”|| 
 
 Point II. — The dispositions that accompanied it . — 
 To fully satisfy the desires of Ignatius, God made 
 known to him the hour of his death, and that he 
 would die as he had asked to do, namely, when 
 no one would expect it, so that visits of condo- 
 lence, and so forth, might not prevent him from 
 using all his time in preparing his soul. He 
 
 * Rom. 7, v. 24. t Ps. 1 1 9, v. 5-6. 
 
 t Philip, 1, v. 23. § Ps. 41, v. 3. 
 
 || I. John, 8, v. 3. 
 
TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 87 
 
 therefore arranged everything that concerned his 
 order, and wrote to some friends at a distance to 
 inform them of his approaching departure. After 
 that he went into retirement and gave himself up 
 to contemplation. During this holy exercise a 
 deadly fever came over him. Yet, though in- 
 wardly he was all on fire, there was nothing 
 apparent that could indicate an early death. He 
 seemed, indeed, weak and weary, but these symp- 
 toms, caused no anxiety to those he lived with, 
 him, or to his physicians. However, Ignatius 
 knew well that the Lord was coming. He re- 
 ceived holy communion, and secretly sent a 
 messenger to ask the Holy Father’s blessing 
 and an indulgence. He then spent the last 
 night of his life in sweet communing with God, 
 to whom he was hastening with all the energy 
 of his heart. Relying on what the physicians 
 had said, the people of the house were without 
 apprehension, and they ascribed his talking, 
 sighing and tears, to some of his accustomed 
 visions. Thus matters went on until up to the 
 last hour of his life. Then our Lord and his 
 Virgin Mother, with crowds of angels came to 
 receive his soul, and take it with them to heaven. 
 Directly he fixed his eyes on his Redeemer and 
 the Blessed Virgin, joined his hands, put on a look 
 of wonderful serenity, repeated the holy names of 
 
88 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Jesus and Mary, and fled from earth to rest in 
 the Lord. “ Precious in the sight of the Lord is 
 the death of his saints/' * 
 
 Everyone is anxious for the death of the just ; 
 few, however, prepare themselves for such a 
 death. Let filial fear and the love of God keep 
 us now from sin. Let us do now, diligently, 
 what at the hour of death we shall wish to have 
 done. Let us now familiarize ourselves with acts 
 of faith, hope, charity; ' desire to see God, and 
 resignation to his holy will ; so that habit may 
 enable us to elicit them with great fervor when 
 we are about to die. “ We shall reap what we 
 sow/'f 
 
 Point III . — Glory that followed his death . — 
 “ Whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify, ’’I 
 says the Lord. The glory, then, to which St. 
 Ignatius is raised in heaven, is measured by the 
 zeal which he always showed for glorifying God 
 most perfectly in himself and in all mankind. 
 We need not wonder, then, at the saying of one 
 who witnessed the entrance of Ignatius into 
 heaven, — namely, that he was brighter than the 
 sun, and no triumph could surpass his. One 
 of the sons of Ignatius being at the point of 
 
 * Ps. 1 15, v. 15. t Galatians, 6, v. 8. 
 
 t I. Kings, 2, v. 30. 
 
TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 89 
 
 death, was invited by his blessed father to follow 
 him to heaven. While the patient was describing 
 the splendor of his father's entrance into the 
 house of the Lord, suddenly he was seized with 
 such joy that he expired, and went to join him. 
 
 But to portray more clearly the glory of the 
 Saint with God, we must relate the vision of St. 
 Mary Magdalen, of Pazzi. It took place on De- 
 cember 26, 1559, and was given to her in order 
 that she might see how high St. Ignatius is in 
 heaven. First, she beheld the glory of St. John, 
 Apostle and Evangelist. She saw that God 
 took so much delight in his soul that there 
 seemed to be no one else in heaven. Next, she 
 was shown the glory of Ignatius, and she learned 
 that God was as well pleased with him as with 
 St. John. Whilst she was looking on and ad- 
 miring the equal glory of the two Saints, God 
 said to her : 4 ‘ The spirit of John and of Ignatius 
 was all one. The scope of each of them in all 
 his actions was love for God and for his neigh- 
 bor. It was with bonds of charity that they 
 drew souls to God." St. Mary Magdalen, then, 
 understood from God that his complacency in 
 the soul of Ignatius was renewed and increased 
 every time a soul is brought to him through the 
 direction and spiritual doctrine that the Saint has 
 left behind him on earth. Hence, in this same 
 
9 o 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 ecstasy the Saint was heard exclaiming : “ Of all 
 who live on earth there is no one whose spirit is 
 like unto that of Ignatius. For by the exercise 
 of interior acts he leads souls to salvation and 
 perfection, and teaches how pleasing such works 
 are to God. Thence springs a love which ren- 
 ders hard and bitter things sweet and easy, and 
 makes them be undertaken with the greatest 
 readiness.'’* If in heaven Ignatius enjoys the same 
 glory as the beloved disciple, because both loved 
 equally on earth, and thereby glorified God in 
 themselves and in others, do you, also, all your 
 actions out of a similar spirit for God and for 
 your neighbor. Glorify God in this way that 
 now and forever he may be well pleased with 
 yoti, and after this exile crown you with honor 
 and glory for all eternity. “ Love is the keeping 
 of laws, and the keeping of laws is the firm 
 foundation of incorruption. ”*j* 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 To beg the protection of St. Ignatius at the 
 hour of death. 
 
 How precious, O holy patriarch, was not thy 
 death in the sight of God., I congratulate thee, 
 
 Revelation of St Mary Magdalen, of Pazzi. 
 t Wisdom, 6, v. 19. 
 
TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 9 1 
 
 and I return the warmest thanks to thee, O holy 
 Redeemer, and to thy Virgin Mother, who most 
 lovingly were present with Ignatius when he was 
 dying. What kind of a death shall I die ? When 
 I shall be about to die, 4 ‘the devil will come 
 down unto me, having great wrath, knowing that 
 he hath but a short time/'* then truly I shall 
 be in need of most powerful protection. I im- 
 plore thy aid, holy patron. As a reward of thy 
 most ardent zeal for the safety of souls, which 
 mainly depends on the last moments of life, 
 God has granted thee special power to protect 
 thy clients at the moment of death, and allowed 
 thee often to encourage the dying by thy visible 
 presence. Therefore, I pray and beseech thee, 
 not to abandon me at that hour, nor to allow my 
 soul to go forth from the body burdened with 
 mortal sin. Grant that now, while I have time, 
 
 I may in the spirit of charity, glorify God by all 
 my works, and thus prepare myself for the final 
 combat, and merit to enter, after death, into joy 
 without end. Amen. 
 
 Maxims. 
 
 i. Were you now about to die, what mode of 
 life would you wish to have chosen — how would 
 
 Apocal., 12, v. 12. 
 
9 2 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 you like to have done each of your actions ? Act 
 in that way, and resolve always to do so. In his 
 Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius lays down this 
 maxim as a means to repel all the suggestions 
 of the devil, the world and our own passions : 
 “O death, thy sentence is good/'* 
 
 2. The devil, who is the father of lying, readily 
 holds out to you a long life so that you may 
 neglect the present. But if we are certain of the 
 present, we are entirely in . the dark as to the 
 future. How foolish then to overlook a present 
 certainty for a future uncertainty. “ I know not 
 how long I shall continue, and whether after a- 
 while my Maker may take me away.” f To stir 
 ourselves up to do good we should often repeat 
 the words with energy : Therefore while we have 
 time let us work good, J and so work it as if we 
 should die after each action ; that is to say, with 
 such an intention and fervor that no particle of 
 its good may be lost to us. “ Blessed is that ser- 
 vant whom when his Lord shall come, he shall 
 find so doing. ” § 
 
 3. There is another trick of the devil against 
 which we must guard with no less care. When 
 that deceiver sees a man serving God faithfully 
 
 * Eccli. 41, v. 3. 
 t Job, 33, v. 22. 
 
 t Galatians, 6, v. 10. 
 § Matt. 24, v. 46. 
 
TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 93 
 
 in a state df perfection, he tries to turn him away 
 from perfection, and bring him, little by little, 
 down to an easier kind of life. For this purpose 
 he holds up to his mind a form of life quite in 
 keeping with virtue, yet very different from the 
 state the man is now in. The devil clothes this kind 
 of life in colors so glowing and attractive that a 
 person not on his guard falls into the snare, and 
 carried away by a semblance of good, gives up 
 his own excellent state of life to follow that new 
 one. Again, in order to prevent us from doing 
 the good we might do, he fills us with a desire 
 for some greater good, which we shall never be 
 able to effect. He makes this latter look exceed- 
 ingly pleasant and easy, but meanwhile takes care 
 to make us abandon altogether the first good we 
 were doing. Then, changing his tactics, he 
 strives to keep us from doing that other good 
 by suddenly connecting with it some unexpected 
 annoyance, or exaggerating the natural difficulties 
 that attend upon it. “ Your adversary, the devil, 
 as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he 
 may devour, whom resist ye, strong in faith.” * 
 
 Example. 
 
 The following wonderful and instructive in- 
 cident happened in the year 1665, at Siclo, in 
 
 * L Pet. 5, v. 8-9. 
 
94 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 Sicily, to Father Jerome Zuccaro, a priest of the 
 Society of Jesus: — 
 
 Afflicted with frequent attacks of epilepsy, he 
 lost the use of his right arm, and had almost 
 daily hemorrhages. As he grew worse from 
 day to day, he saw that he would be of little 
 use in the society, and therefore, as he had not 
 yet made his solemn profession, he decided 
 to ask for his dismission from the order. He 
 tried to write to Rome, to the Father Gen- 
 eral for that purpose — but as soon as he began 
 to make the effort, his left hand also became stiff 
 and paralyzed. He dropped his pen, but kept 
 to his determination of seeking a release from 
 his vows. Not long after this, Father Zuccaro 
 was planning a panegyric on St. Ignatius, and 
 was reading the Saints life for that object. 
 Whilst thus engaged, he read of the kindness of 
 his holy Father towards his wavering sons. Full 
 of love for the holy Founder, Zuccaro ran to his 
 altar, and there, bursting into tears, he vowed to 
 St. Ignatius and to God, that however infirm, 
 he would remain in the Society rather than en- 
 joy health and riches in the world. A few days 
 passed on after this vow, and again came another 
 fit of epilepsy that brought the poor man to 
 death’s door. He then began to invoke St. Igna- 
 tius. Suddenly he beholds him before him, shin- 
 
TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 95 
 
 ing brightly, dressed in priestly robes, holding in 
 his left hand a vase of some kind of liquid, with 
 a twig in it, and looking very severe. With a 
 trembling voice Zuccaro said to him: “Best of 
 fathers ! I am your son. If you reject me, to 
 whom can I go for help in my present danger? ” 
 The Saint answered: “I do not acknowledge as a 
 son anyone who does not honor his father. 
 Jerome, on account of a slight suffering you made 
 little of the incomparable gift of vocation to a 
 religious life.” “It is so,” replied Jerome; “I 
 confess it. But you know what I have suffered. 
 You know that I repented; you are aware of the 
 vow by which I lately bound myself?” Then with 
 a sweet countenance, Ignatius said: “Take cour- 
 age; I shall see whether you are really my son, 
 or no. Do you remember the formula of your 
 vows ? ” Zuccaro repeated that formula, the 
 Saint suggesting every word. “ Now,” said Igna- 
 tius, “ I acknowledge you as my son. You are 
 near the end of your life — -you will die before 
 sundown.” “ And will you allow your son to die 
 without the Sacraments of the Church ? ” “ Not 
 
 at ally Though, by receiving viaticum and Ex- 
 treme Unction, you would have gained much 
 grace and lessened your purgatory, still the gen- 
 eral confession, which you lately made, is suffi- 
 cient to save you. However I give you your 
 
9 6 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 choice. If you wish to die now, your salvation 
 is sure. But if you choose to prolong your life, 
 you must spend it in promoting the glory of 
 God and the salvation of souls.” The sufferer 
 left the choice to Ignatius himself. “Choose 
 for me ” said he, “ what you know will be for Gods 
 greater glory.” “Very well, then,” answered the 
 Saint. “You will live some time longer; God so 
 wills. You will recover your health, too; but 
 remember to use that health as becomes a son 
 of mine.” He, then, lightly struck with the twig, 
 the head, hands, and feet of the patient, and 
 making the sign of the cross, anointed them with 
 the liquid from the vase, repeating as he did so, 
 the words: “ I will strike, and I will heal.” * Next 
 he bade him to offer up three masses, in 
 thanksgiving; one to the Holy Trinity, another 
 in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and the third 
 in his own honor. “For the three acts of virtue 
 which you have exercised in your illness,” con- 
 tinued the Saint, “God has granted you three 
 graces, namely, life and health — freedom until 
 the hour of your death from temptations against 
 Chastity; but they will return, and when they 
 do, they will be a sign that you are about to 
 die. Finally God gives you the assurance that 
 
 Deuteronomy, 32, v. 39. 
 
 J 
 
TENTH MEDITATION. 
 
 97 
 
 you are predestined to eternal glory.” Ignatius 
 then held out his hand to be kissed, and giving 
 the patient his blessing, said: “ May the Lord 
 bless you, and protect you from all evil, and 
 lead you to everlasting life.” The bystanders 
 saw the lips of Father Zuccaro moving, but 
 could not hear what he said. Suddenly he rose 
 from his bed saying: “ St. Ignatius has cured me.” 
 Before sunset, at which time he should have died, 
 guns were fired, bells rang out, and there was 
 immense festivity in the town in token of public 
 thanks to God and to St. Ignatius . — Bollandists 
 for July . 
 
 Practice. 
 
 Approach the Sacraments of penance and the 
 Holy Eucharist, as if you were to die immedi- 
 ately after their reception. 
 
 Ejaculation. 
 
 St. Ignatius ! shield me from the enemy of 
 my soul, and receive me at the hour of my 
 death. 
 
I 
 
 ASPIRATIONS 
 
 TO 
 
 ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, 
 
 Founder of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 Blessed Ignatius, man of God, to whom, 
 whilst thou wast praying, Jesus appeared, carry- 
 ing his cross, and said : I will favor thee in Rome 
 — intercede for me with that same Jesus, and beg 
 of him to take pity on me in life, in death, and 
 in eternity. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who in writing thy rules and 
 Exercises, as well as at other times, wast taught by 
 the Blessed Virgin, from whom thou didst learn 
 the practice of the particular examen, which thou 
 didst teach to others, and keep up thyself until 
 thy death, pray that I may become a good ser- 
 vant and a docile disciple for the Blessed Virgin 
 and for thee. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, among the wonderful graces 
 
ASPIRATIONS TO ST. IGNATIUS. 99 
 
 which thou didst obtain from the Holy Ghost ? 
 was a great share in the cross of Christ — so that 
 arduous and most mortifying difficulties, hostility 
 in every form, and open persecution were thy 
 inseparable companions during all thy life ; ob- 
 tain for me the grace to live on the cross, and 
 daily to grow in conformity to Christ. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who didst give thyself entirely 
 to God to be used as an instrument of his glory — 
 obtain for me, that I may always rejoice at being, 
 until death, an instrument to serve him. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who wast seen entering heaven 
 at the very hour at which thou didst expire in 
 Rome; obtain for me the happiness of entering 
 # that blessed kingdom with many titles to glory. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who didst see thy Society 
 covered with the mantle of the ever Blessed Vir- 
 gin, obtain for me to be received under that 
 same mantle, and to hide there forever. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, whose Society was seen by 
 St. Teresa gloriously triumphing in heaven; ob- 
 tain for me the happiness to behold and enjoy 
 that same triumph. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, whose sons — St. Francis Xavier, 
 the apostle of the Indies; Sts. Paul, John and 
 
100 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 James, the first fruits of martyrdom in Japan ; 
 St. Francis Borgia, that admirable pattern of 
 mortification and piety; St. Francis of Hieronymo, 
 and St. Francis Regis, men of such ardent and 
 invincible zeal for the saving of souls ; Saints 
 Aloysius Gonzaga and Stanislas Kostka, such 
 wonderful examples of innocence and penance; 
 and also the Blessed Alphonsus Rodriguez, so 
 deep in humility, the Blessed Peter Canisius, the 
 mallet of heretics; the Blessed John Berchmans, 
 so perfect a reproduction of Aloysius and Stanislas; 
 together with so many others, — were eminent for 
 sanctity and miracles — obtain for me, that helped 
 by their example, I may be their not unworthy 
 companion. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, through whom so many mag- 
 nificent churches have risen to God in various 
 parts of the world; obtain for me, who am the 
 temple of the Holy Ghost, that I may promote 
 the honor of God. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who wast seen scourging the 
 devil with a fiery scourge, when, by the lips of a 
 possessed person, he blasphemed Christ, obtain 
 ior me grace to overcome his power as thou 
 didst. 
 
ASPIRATIONS TO ST. IGNATIUS. 
 
 IOI 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who didst so often appear in 
 glory to thy clients, who didst defend, heal and 
 instruct them; refuse me not the help which I 
 need at present. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, whose Exercises have been 
 so honored by saints, so highly approved by the 
 Holy See, and have produced so much fruit 
 throughout the world; may- that fountain of 
 heavenly teaching never be closed to me. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who wast healed by St. Peter 
 appearing visibly to thee — who wast frequently 
 visited by Jesus and Mary; whom St. Philip 
 Neri saw shining with light, while still on 
 earth; who didst behold the Infant Jesus under 
 tfie Eucharistic Species; who didst spend eight 
 days in ecstasy; who, while praying, was often 
 raised from the ground, and didst hang shining 
 in the air, and wast then heard saying: “ O God ! 
 if men knew thee ! O God ! the love of my 
 heart;” obtain for me that similar zeal for God's 
 glory, and a like heavenly fire may always glow 
 in my heart, and never be quenched by earthly 
 affections. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who, while teaching others, 
 didst often say with sobs, “ In Christ alone, and in 
 
102 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 his cross is found true joy ; ” and at another time 
 didst say to St. Francis Xavier : “What will it 
 benefit a man to gain the whole world, and in- 
 jure his soul ?” — And again : “Conquer, conquer 
 thyself” — impress these lessons so deeply on my 
 mind, that I may derive from them fruits worthy 
 of a disciple of thine. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, whom thosfe that did not know 
 thy name, used to call “the Father who often 
 looks up to heaven, and speaks of God ; ” draw 
 away my mind from earthly thoughts, and fix it 
 upon those of heaven. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, to whom the Holy Ghost ap- 
 peared under the form of fire ; to whom were 
 divinely made known the treasures hidden under 
 the word God, as well as with what love and 
 reverence that name should be used ; beg of 
 God not to refuse to shed upon me also the 
 light of his countenance. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who didst praise a Sodality 
 established under the name of Divine Love, and 
 promise it thy assistance ; make my heart the 
 place of assembly, as it were, of all the hearts 
 that burn with love for God. 
 
ASPIRATIONS TO ST. IGNATIUS. IO3 
 
 Holy Ignatius, who art wont to bestow on 
 thy clients wonderful power over the devil, 
 great success in softening obdurate hearts, ar- 
 dent love for God, admirable tenderness towards 
 the young, the sick, the scrupulous, the dying 
 and the tempted; help me always, but chiefly at 
 the hour of my death. Obtain for me grace to 
 overcome myself in all things, to spend every 
 moment of my life in such a manner that the 
 last one, that is, the moment of my death, and 
 all my eternity, which will then begin, may be 
 for the honor of my great and glorious God. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, father of my soul, and worthy 
 of all veneration from me, I beg of thee, on my 
 knees before thee, as if I saw thee, not to cease 
 praying to God for me, that he may grant me 
 grace always to know his divine will with cer- 
 tainty, and to do it with all perfection. Amen.* 
 
 * Letters of St. Francis Xavier to St. Ignatius, Book 
 II., Letter 9. 
 
INVOCATIONS OF ST. IGNATIUS, 
 
 UNDER 
 
 TITLES GIVEN TO HDI BY EMINENT PERSONS. 
 
 c80e> 
 
 1. St. Ignatius, Founder of the Society of 
 Jesus. — Urban VII L ’, and other Pontiffs . 
 
 2. Thou, who didst receive wonderful instruct 
 tion from the Blessed Virgin, in writing the Exer- 
 cises and Constitutions. — Authors of his Life. 
 
 3. A man whose dignity has never been suffi- 
 ciently praised. — Paramo. 
 
 4. The father of all masters of the spiritual 
 life. — Ascanio Ordei. 
 
 5. A new mirror of holiness and prudence. — 
 Lewis of Granada . 
 
 6. The chief of new Apostles .-Alvaro Piranno . 
 
INVOCATIONS OF ST. IGNATIUS. 
 
 I0 5 
 
 7. Untiring opponent of heresy. — Paramo. 
 
 8. A great general opposed to Luther. — 
 Paramo . 
 
 9. A vessel of election for the conversion of 
 the world. — John Chanones . 
 
 10. A great pillar and light of the Church. — 
 Cardinal Paleotti. 
 
 11. Protector of the Apostolic Roman See. — 
 Council of Tarragona. 
 
 12. Successor of Paul the Apostle. — John 
 Chanones. 
 
 13. Second Captain, after the Apostles, of the 
 bark of the Church. — Alvaro Piranno . 
 
 14. Apostolic giant in holiness. — St. Francis 
 Xivier and John of Avila. 
 
 15. Master and leader in the faith — real mar- 
 tyr in a quiet life. — Barnahites . 
 
 16. Seventh angel of the Apocalypse veiled in 
 
io6 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 the cloud of heavenly protection. — Council of 
 Tarragona . 
 
 17. Equal to the holiest patriarchs of past 
 ages. — Cardinal Ludovisio . 
 
 18. In penance, another John Baptist — in 
 obedience, Abraham. — The same . 
 
 19. Temple of Peace. — Blessed John Texeda . 
 
 20. Reviver of the world. — Spanish Martyr - 
 
 ology. 
 
 21. Sun that scatters all the clouds of error. — 
 Council of Tarragona . 
 
 22. Bulwark of the Christian world. — Cardinal 
 
 Ludovisio . 
 
 23. Prop of learning and piety throughout the 
 world. — Council of Tarragona, 
 
 24. General treasure of the world. — Cardinal 
 
 Ludovisio . 
 
 25. Volcano of divine love . — Lewis of Valeniia . 
 
INVOCATIONS OF ST. IGNATIUS. IC7 
 
 26. Man full of the Holy Ghost and of heav- 
 enly wisdom. — Paul III \ — Augustine Manna . 
 
 27. Whom hell proclaimed its worst enemy. — 
 John Vega. 
 
 28. Third prop of the world after St. Dominic 
 and St. Francis. — Dominic Grov'ena , O. P . 
 
 29. Who still produces abundant fruit all over 
 the world by his Exercises. — Paul III 
 
 30. Who was great in name — greater in saving 
 souls — who had a soul bigger than the world. — 
 Gregory XIII. 
 
 31. Who taught St. Philip Neri the art of 
 prayer. — St. Philip Neri. 
 
 32. Whom the mother of God pointed out to 
 St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, as a master in 
 humility. — Si. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi. 
 
 33. Who always spoke of God’s glory, and 
 always sought it. — Breviary. 
 
ig3 
 
 PIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 34. Whose great praise it is to have for thy 
 son, Xavier, the father of a new world. — Breviary* 
 
 35. Whose glory it is to have been seen in 
 heaven as the equal of St. John Evangelist. — 
 St. Mary Magdalen 0/ Pazzi. 
 
 Holy Ignatius, honorable under many other 
 titles, pray for us. 
 
 1 
 

 

 
 
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