How We May Dwell Long in Meditation on One and the Same Thing; and a Very Profitable, Practical Method of Meditation by Descending to Particular Cases

IT remains for us to describe the method which we shall be able to use in order to continue a long time aspiring after the same virtue, since it is so important, as we have said. The common and ordinary means usually given for this is to endeavor to continue the same act and affection of the will, or return to reiterating and repeating it anew, as one gives a new tap to a hoop that it may not stop running or as one flings fresh fuel into the furnace, aiding ourselves to this end by the same first reflection that originally moved us to this affection and desire, repeatedly rousing the will therewith when we see that it is growing cold, saying with the prophet: Turn thou, my soul, unto thy rest, since the Lord hath blessed thee (Psalm cxiv. 7). Awake, my soul, and turn to thy repose; see how much thou art concerned in this, and how right and reasonable that thou shouldst do much for the Lord, to Whom thou owest so much. When the first consideration no longer suffices to move us, we must make use of another new consideration or pass on to another point. For this we should always bring different points ready prepared, so that when we have finished one which seems no longer to make any impression on us, we may pass to another and another that may move us afresh and prompt our aspirations to what we desire.

Furthermore, as here on earth, to avoid the repugnance that may be caused by continuing again and again the same dish, we are wont to dress it in different manners till it seems new and gives us a new appetite, so also to persevere a long time on one and the same thing in prayer, which is the food and sustenance of our soul, it is a good plan to dress it in different ways. This we can do sometimes by passing to another point and another consideration, as we just now explained; for every time that a person moves and actuates himself by a different motive or consideration on the same thing, it is like dressing the dish in another manner, and so it becomes as it were new. And even without any new motive or new consideration, the aspiration after the same virtue may be dressed in many ways. Thus, in dealing with humility a person may sometimes dwell on his self-knowledge of his own miseries and weaknesses, rousing shame and self-abasement for them; at other times he may dwell on desires to be despised and held in small account by others, making no account of the opinion and esteem of men, but taking it all for vanity; at other times he may be ashamed and blush to see the faults that every day he heaps up, and beg of God pardon and remedy for them; at other times he may return thanks that he has not been left to fall in other and graver matters. By this variation and difference we escape the loathing that is often caused by continuance of the same thing and are able readily and with relish to last out and persevere in exciting affections of one and the same virtue, whereby the virtue takes root and gets a better hold on the heart. For as every time the file passes over the iron, it takes off something, so every time we make an act of humility or of any other virtue, something of the contrary vice is worn away and got rid of.

Besides this, there is another way of persevering in meditation on one subject for many days—a very easy and profitable way; and that is by coming down to particular cases. The masters of spiritual life here observe that we must not be satisfied with drawing from meditation a general desire or purpose of serving God or of advancing and being perfect in general, but we must come down to that in which - we know that we shall be able to serve and please God better. Neither must we be content with eliciting a general desire of any particular virtue, as to be humble, obedient, patient, or mortified—for this desire or velleity of virtue even vicious people have, since virtue is a fair and honorable thing, of much profit both for this life and the next. It is easy enough to love and desire it in general, but in whatever virtue we desire, we must come down to particular cases. Thus, if we wish to attain a great conformity to the will of God, we must come down and conform ourselves to His will in particular cases: as in health, so in sickness; as in life, so in death; as in consolation, so in temptation. If we aim at attaining the virtue of humility, Wwe must come down to the particular, imagining particular cases, likely or possible to turn up, of our being despised and losing caste; and so of other virtues; for these occasions are more felt, and in them the difficulty of virtue lies; here virtue is proved and made to appear, and these are the means to gain it.

Our first instances should be taken from lesser and easier things; thence we may go on to things more difficult, things that we should feel more if they did occur. Thus we should go on and face them little by little, eliciting acts thereupon as if they were actually present till we find no obstacle in the virtue we are after, but have courage for everything, and the field is won. And when actual occasions present themselves, in these we should exercise ourselves first of all, disposing ourselves to bear them courageously and with profit, each according to his condition. A servant of God adds that in meditation we should always put before us something to do that very day; so far even as this do they wish us to descend to particulars in our meditation. This is one of the most profitable exercises that we can go through in meditation; for, as we have said, our meditation ought to be practical, or directed to action, to gain the virtue we desire and overcome all repugnances thereto. This is what soldiers do, who, before war, are wont to engage in jousts, tournaments, skirmishes, and the like exercises to be prepared and skillful for real war.

Cassian greatly commends this practice; so also do Plutarch and Seneca. They say it is very profitable to have your mind always engaged on the thought of trials and troubles; for as he who will think of nothing but pleasant eventualities weakens himself and has no staying-power and is quite upset when disagreeable things befall him, and turns to think of other things pleasant and agreeable; so he who is accustomed ever to be picturing to himself sicknesses, exiles, prisons, and all other adversities that can happen, will be more ready and wide-awake when they do come, and will find that such things strike more terror in the beginning than they do harm in the end. St. Gregory says well: “The missiles that are foreseen hit you less.” A blow does not hurt you so much when you were expecting it, and in thought had half got it down already, as when it catches you suddenly. It is clear that enemies frighten you more when they spring upon you suddenly than when you were on the lookout for them.

In the Life of our blessed Father Ignatius we read a marvelous example to this effect. One day that he was unwell, the doctor told him not to give way to sadness or any gloomy thoughts. Thereupon he began to think attentively within himself what occurrence could possibly happen to him so disagreeable and hard as to affect the peace and tranquillity of his soul; and having turned the eyes of his reflection over many things, one thing alone presented itself that he would most take to heart, and that was if by any chance our Society were broken up. He went on reflecting how long this affliction and pain would last, in case it happened; and he thought that, if it happened without any fault on his part, within one quarter of an hour of recollection and prayer he would be rid from that grief and recover his ordinary peace and cheerfulness, although the Society were dissolved like salt in water. This is a very good and very profitable prayer.

The Apostle St. James says in his canonical epistle: Is anyone sad among you? Let him pray (James v. 13). When you feel any sadness or discouragement, have recourse to prayer and you will find there comfort and remedy. This is what the Prophet David did: My soul refused to be comforted: I had recourse to God, and I found comfort (Psalm Ixxvi. 3-4). When he felt himself destitute of comfort, he had recourse to God and raised his heart to Him, and forthwith his soul was filled with joy and consolation: “This is the will of God; He wills it so. If God is satisfied, we are all satisfied.” As after the coming of the occasion and the distress it is a very good remedy to have recourse to prayer in order to bear it well and with advantage, so also it is very important to take this remedy by anticipation beforehand, so that the trouble may not afterwards strike us as something new, but as something easy and bearable.

St. Chrysostom says that one of the reasons why holy Job was so brave and constant in his adversities and affilictions was because he had anticipated them in the manner we have said, thinking of them beforehand and presenting them to his imagination and rousing himself to meet them as something that might well happen, as he himself says: The fear that I feared hath befallen me, and what I was afraid of hath come true. But if you are not fortified beforehand on this point and if even in desire you feel difficulty, what will it be in act? If, when you are at prayer and far from the occasion, you do not feel courage and strength to embrace this office or that practice or that hardship and affront, what will it be when you are away from prayer and confronted by the difficulty of the occasion and the work, and without the consideration and meditation of the example of Christ supporting and animating you? You much desired something at prayer, and afterwards when the occasion offered, you broke down; what would it have been if you had not anticipated it, and even at prayer had had no desire of it? “If he who makes resolutions often fails, what shall become of him who rarely or never makes any resolution?” (A Kempis.)

Herein we present abundant matter to enable one to last out and persevere in meditation on one subject and in the same affection many hours and many days, since the particular occasions that may offer and to which we may descend are countless, and there is much to do to bring yourself to face them all. And when you have come to that pitch that you fancy you feel in yourself courage and strength for everything, think not that all the work is done, but rather there is a long way to go, since there is a great gap between word and deed and between desire and execution. It is plain that execution is harder than desire, for in practice the object is present, but in desire, only the imagination. Thus it often befalls us that we are very fervent in prayer and fancy that there is no obstacle in our way, and afterwards, when the occasion offers, we find ourselves very far from what we thought.

Thus it is not enough that you feel in yourself those desires, but you must manage to make those desires so strong and so effectual as to reach to execution, for that is the proof of virtue. And if you see that your performances agree not with your desires, but that, when the occasion offers, you find yourself other than at meditation you thought you were, be confounded to think that your whole being goes out in desires; or to say better, that they cannot be true desires, but delusions and imaginations, since a very slight thing troubles and upsets you and makes you turn back. And as the smith, when the work does not turn out well, puts it back a second time into the fire to forge it anew, so you must go back to the furnace of meditation to forge those desires better, and stop not till the work agrees well with the desire and there is no fault to find with it.

But even when you have come to this, that you seem to take up well the occasions that offer, think not that the whole work is done; for in the same work there are many degrees and steps to mount, to reach the perfection of virtue. For the first degree it is necessary to practise yourself in taking up with patience all the occasions that offer. This is the first degree of virtue; suffer with patience, if you cannot with joy; and in this you will find enough to occupy your intention for some days, and even a good many. And when you have got so far as to suffer with patience all the occasions that offer, you have still a long way to go to arrive at the perfection of virtue; for, as philosophers say, the sign of one’s having gained the perfection of virtue is when one does the works thereof with promptitude, facility, and delight. See, then, whether you do the works of the virtue of humility, of poverty, of patience, and of the other virtues, with promptitude, facility, and delight; and thereby you will see if you have gained the virtue. See whether you rejoice as much under contempt and dishonor as worldly people do under honor and marks of respect, which is the rule laid down for us by our holy Father, drawn from the Gospel. See if you relish and rejoice in poverty of food and clothing and lodging, and in the worst things’ in the house being given you, as much as the covetous man in riches and abundance. See whether you rejoice in mortification and suffering as much as people of the world in ease and comfort. If we are to attain to this perfection in every virtue, we shall have plenty to think about, even over one virtue, for many days and perhaps years.