Chapter I: Ignatian

THERE are certain preliminary considerations which should be borne in mind by those who use, or teach others to use, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.

First, as to the book itself, it was not meant to be put into the hands of retreatants or others, nor were the exercises to be given indiscriminately to all. The book stands in a class by itself; it is not to be compared with, or used as, such books on the spiritual life as Scupoli's Spiritual Combat, à Kempis's Imitation of Christ, St. François de Sales's Introduction to the Devout Life, etc. It is a text-book to be used by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, themselves steeped in both the letter and spirit of it, in giving public or private retreats to all classes but mainly to those who were seeking to know and follow their vocation. This last constitutes and determines the essence of the book. The Saint himself writes to Fathers Laynez and Salmeron whom Paul III had appointed to be his theologians at the Council of Trent, 'When giving the exercises . . . I should take care to give to all in general the meditations on the first week, and no more, unless it be to a few persons who wish to arrange their lives by the methods of the elections' (Letter xx. 177, Letters of St. Ignatius Loyola, selected and edited by the Rev. A. Goodier, S.J., 1914). The Directory, drawn up for the guidance of those giving the exercises, gives the same advice, and adds that copies of the book may only be given 'with much discrimination,' and with the permission of the

Provincial, to those 'who desire it, and seem likely to make good use of it' (Spiritual Exercises, edited by Fr. Longridge, Directory I. vii., p. 278; IX. vii., p. 293). As P. Bernard writes, 'The exercises are not a manual of perfection but a manual of election,' and Fr. Rickaby, 'The end of the Spiritual Exercises is such amount and quality of self-denial as shall bring you to do the work given to you by obedience or by Providence, wholly, steadily, intelligently, courageously, cheerfully. We make retreats either to find out our vocation or to enable us better to do the work of our vocation' (Waters that Go Softly, chap. xi. 90). 'The exercises,' writes P. Pottier, 'were composed above all for souls who, already keeping the Commandments, desire to advance in the way of perfection' (Le P. Louis Lallemant et les grands spirituels de son temps, ii. 141). And P. Léonce de Grandmaison, 'The Spiritual Exercises see before all a concrete case: their end is to place a man, who is free to dispose of his life and who is well endowed for the apostolate, in a state in which he may discern clearly and follow generously the appeal of God' (Art. in Recherches de Science Religieuse, December 7th, 1920).

The fact that the Exercises can now be obtained by anyone does not lessen the need there is of warning against a general, indiscriminate use, but rather increases it. It is not a book to be recommended to everyone, or in fact to anyone who has not the necessary knowledge required for a profitable use of it. Every priest should read it, study it as he would a scientific treatise, and, above all, meditate it, for he will not only find abundant fruit for his own soul, but invaluable aid in dealing with the souls of others. Novice masters and mistresses ought to know it by heart, and, adapting it to the spirit of their own institute, impart their knowledge individually with the care upon which St. Ignatius insists.

A second point concerns the methods of prayer given in the Exercises. So many, even amongst those who write or give direction upon the subject, seem to be unaware that what is known as the ' Ignatian method of mental prayer ' is but one of several which the Saint gives (A. Brou, in St. Ignace, Maître d'Oraison, enumerates seven), and, further, that this particular method was not intended for general use, and is, indeed, unsuitable for ordinary folk. This fact requires some emphasis, since the majority of people may roughly be divided into two classes, those who know nothing of mental prayer and those who are vainly struggling with a method which was not meant for them.

The essentially Ignatian method was intended primarily for those who might be thought to have a vocation to the Society or for deepening the realisation of what their vocation meant, as in the case of those in the third year of the novitiate. But the Saint's mind with regard to meditation in general is clearly expressed in such letters as those to Sister Rejadella in 1536 and to Fr. Brandon. To the former he writes, ' All meditation, where the understanding works, fatigues the body. There are other meditations, equally in the order of God, which are restful, full of peace for the understanding, without labour for the interior faculties of the soul, and which are performed without either physical or interior effort.' Replying to Fr. Brandon's questions about the prayer of scholastics of the Society, he says that they must not be overburdened with meditations, but that two very simple, short, but frequently repeated exercises are to be required of them : one of loving attention to God and the other of offering all their works to our Lord (Letters of St. Ignatius, vol. ii., Madrid, 1875, Appendix, p. 560). Such became naturally the tradition of the Society, so that Fr. Gagliardi could write, ' It is characteristic of our prayer that it does not depend upon a rule determined and invariable, for that is proper to beginners' (Gagliardi, De plena cognitione Instituti S.J., de oratione, i. 7), and St. Francis Borgia, writing to the Provincial of Aragon, speaks of the Exercises as a good guide for beginners, but adds that 'others may use other methods of prayer . . . for the leadings of the Holy Spirit are diverse, as are also the talents and the minds of men' (Archives Romaines, S.J.).

In view of these facts it is not so surprising to find that neither the book itself nor the particular 'Ignatian' method seems to have been much used in the earliest days of the Society. M. H. Bernard, in his Essai historique sur les Exercises spirituels de S. Ignace, writes that St. R. Bellarmine 'does not seem to have been distinguished by a scrupulous fidelity to the prescriptions of the Exercises,' and in the Libro de la Oracion mental of Padre Melchior de Villanueva, published in 1608, they are not mentioned, the author being entirely dependent upon older writers. Alphonsus Rodriguez, having spent four years in the Society, relates that he had once made the exercises of the first week (A. de Yussal : Un maître de la vie spirituelle, le Père Alphonse Rodriguez in Études, February 3rd, 1917, p. 199). P. Gil Gonzales, in the course of an official visit in Andalusia about 1583, says that 'The use of giving the exercises is very rare ; where it is conserved, the results are mediocre.' (For a brilliant review of the whole subject see H. Bremond, Histoire littéraire du Sentiment Religieux en France, vol. viii., pt. iv., c. l., to which I am much indebted.)

I have no intention of belittling the 'Ignatian' method, the suggestion would be absurd, but merely of pointing out why it should not occupy a place for which it was not intended, and as it has done, largely through ignorance of the freedom in prayer which St. Ignatius himself advocated and of the many other methods which are more suitable for the average man or woman. 'Just in proportion as the book of the exercises is intended for use in a Retreat, and has its value largely from the sequence of subjects that it offers, it is less likely that St. Ignatius would have insisted on one method of meditation during " daily " meditation had he foreseen that custom coming to hold the position which it does ' (Fr. Martindale, S.J., in The Month, July 1930).

A further point may be noted, that is, the Saint's peculiar use of the terms ' meditation ' and 'contemplation,' in which he does not follow the usual definition and distinction made by St. Thomas, who says that meditation is a process of reasoning, a discursive deduction from the principles of truth, whilst contemplation is a simple, instinctive vision of truth. Père Lallemant puts the distinction very forcibly in the words, ' To meditate upon Hell is to see a painted representation of a lion ; whilst by contemplation upon Hell, the living lion stands before you.' St. Ignatius, at times, seems to use both terms indiscriminately, but considering both his nature and the end which he has in view, it would seem likely that his own idea of what ' meditation ' meant would be well expressed in Père Libermann's definition, ' The prayer of meditation is a sensible application of the mind to a supernatural truth in order to convince ourselves of it and to be brought to love it by the help of Divine grace.' For much as St. Ignatius wills the use of the intellect, yet he reminds us of the dangers of overstraining the mind, and would have us reflect only that we may be led to affective prayer, for, as he says in the second Annotation, ' it is not abundance of knowledge that fills and satisfies the soul, but the inward sense and taste of things.'

We may say, then, that he uses the term ' meditation ' in the ordinary sense, 'to think about,' 'to reflect upon,' whilst by ' contemplation ' he does not mean, as most ascetical and mystical writers do, either

'acquired' or 'infused' contemplation, which belongs to the higher stages of prayer, but usually 'to look at,' 'to look on,' 'to be a spectator of' some Mystery of our Lord's life which the memory and imagination vividly reconstruct, as in the directions for the first Contemplation upon the Nativity, in which we are to see, consider, hear and reflect upon all that, in this Mystery, concerns our Lord 'so recently become Incarnate.'

But when, in the middle of the Second Week, we come to the decisive and peculiarly Ignatian meditations on the Two Standards and the Three Classes designed to prepare the soul for the election of a state of life, we find the word 'Consideration' in the 'Preamble to the consideration of states of life.' The use of this term is made clear in the preamble, in which we are told that now that we have considered our Lord's example in some of the Mysteries of the Infancy 'we will begin, while going on with the study of His life, at the same time to investigate and beg grace to know in what life or state His Divine Majesty is pleased to make use of us. And therefore, by way of some introduction to this business . . . we will see the intention of Christ our Lord and contrariwise that of the enemy of human nature, and how we ought to dispose ourselves to come to perfection in that state of life, whatever it may be, which God our Lord shall grant us to choose.' The Meditations, then, upon the Two Standards and the Three Classes are actually a consideration of the two facts, God and myself; everything that has been done so far has now come to a decisive point in which I have to consider what I must do since God wills it, and how.

St. Ignatius gives no less than seven methods of mental prayer, including the examen, and so far from being, as the uninformed have said, insistent upon wooden methods and inflexible rules to which he would bind all, he goes further, as we have seen, and allows, even to Jesuits, the widest possible latitude in their prayer. One thing alone does he insist upon, and that rightly – that men need to be taught how to pray, a lesson no less needed to-day than in his time. But even so, the teaching given is to depend upon the varying characteristics, etc., of the individual soul, and for this reason he gives these seven methods so that the ignorant may find a way in which they may walk safely, and that others may find refreshment at times by turning from one method to another (Directory, xxxvii. 13, Longridge, p. 343).

The First Method of Prayer

Upon the Commandments (sobre Mandamientos)

' Suitable for those who are poorly educated or illiterate : each Commandment should be explained to them, and so to each of the mortal sins, the Commandments of the Church, the five senses and the works of mercy' (Annotation 18), ' the which method of prayer is to give form, manner and exercises, how the soul should prepare herself and advance in them, and that the prayer may be acceptable, rather than to give any form and manner of praying' (Three methods of Prayer).

The double reference to 'form and manner' seems at first ambiguous, but what is meant is that this is a particular method of mental prayer, with its special exercises, rather than a form of vocal prayer. Further, this method is designed to a particular end, i.e. a clearer knowledge of self and of one's sins, a deeper penitence and a seeking of grace to amend one's life, to the greater glory of God, all of which is asked for in the preparatory prayer.

Assuming, then, that a person has been instructed in such manner as is contemplated in the Eighteenth

Annotation, this method of prayer consists of three parts : I. The Preparation. II. The Body of the Prayer. III. The Colloquy.

I. The Preparation, which is to be the same before all the methods. This consists of two Preludes :

(1) To consider what I am going to do. ' To let the mind repose a little, either sitting or walking, as shall seem best, considering meanwhile whither I am going and for what purpose.'

(2) A preparatory prayer, ' as in this manner, to ask grace of God our Lord that I may know wherein I have failed regarding the Ten Commandments ; and likewise to ask grace and aid to amend myself in future, begging for a perfect understanding of them, the better to keep them, to the greater glory and praise of His Divine Majesty.'

II. The Body of the Prayer consists in a consideration of the subject chosen, e.g. the Ten Commandments, the Commandments of the Church, the seven Deadly Sins and their contrary Virtues, the powers of the soul, the five senses, the works of mercy, etc.

In the first case, where the subject chosen is the Ten Commandments, each one is to be considered separately for the space of three Our Fathers and three Ave Marias, with the object of discovering how it has been kept or broken, pardon being sought for each failure. The time spent on each Commandment will vary, as when a man ' finds he has no habit of sinning, it is not necessary to stay on it so long.' On concluding the reflection, accusation and begging for grace, an end should be made by

III. The Colloquy with God our Lord according to the subject matter. A colloquy is a familiar, intimate, loving conversation, as of a child with its father, summing up in the freest acts of prayer what has gone before.

The same order is to be observed whatever the subject of the meditation may be, the only difference being in the treatment of the subject. These may be noted :

1. On the seven Deadly Sins, ' the matter here is of sins, which are to be avoided, whereas before it was of Commandments, which are to be kept. . . . The better to know the faults committed on the seven Deadly Sins, let their contraries be considered, and so, the better to avoid them, let the person propose and take care with holy exercises to acquire and keep the seven Virtues contrary to them.'

2. On the powers of the soul, Memory, Understanding and Will. The Saint gives no directions here ; what is evidently intended is the consideration of how the three great powers of the soul have been used or abused, the endeavour to understand and appreciate their functions that we may use them aright.

3. The meditation on the five senses will be made in the same manner, but St. Ignatius adds the following direction : ' Whoever wishes in the use of his senses to imitate Christ our Lord, let him commend himself in the preparatory prayer to His Divine Majesty : and after the consideration of each sense let him say one Our Father and one Hail Mary. And whoever wishes in the use of his senses to imitate our Lady, let him commend himself to her in the preparatory prayer, that she may obtain him grace of her Son and Lord to this purpose ; and after the consideration of each sense let him say one Hail Mary.'

It will be obvious that this method is something more than an examen of conscience, although it is more like one than other methods of mental prayer. But it will be noted that St. Ignatius centres attention on the positive side of the subject : ' the Commandments which are to be kept, ' ' the Virtues contrary to the seven Deadly Sins, ' the use of the senses by our Lord and His Mother. The meditations are to be upon what God wills and loves and on what Christ does, so that 'in His light' we may see our sins and ever turn to Him for pardon and grace.

What indeed could be made of such subjects may be seen in Raymund Lull, Art of Contemplation, where Blanquerna, meditating on the Commandments and Vices by the exercise of the Memory, Understanding and Will, rises to sublime heights of prayer.

'Blanquerna remembered in the Gospels the answer that Jesus Christ had given concerning the Commandments and he was fain to contemplate these with the Divine Virtues of God. And he said these words to his Will, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, for thou art commanded thereto by the Goodness, Greatness and Eternity of God." . . . When Understanding had comprehended the argument which Memory recalled and related to him, he was conscious of the many times that he had failed to comprehend the Virtue, Truth and Glory of God, that the Will through Faith should have greater merit. And since to the Understanding in its totality has been given as great a commandment as to the Will, therefore the Understanding exalted itself in all its power to comprehend the Virtue, Truth and Glory of God, and besought forgiveness because through ignorance it had gone astray' (Professor Peers's translation, chap. ix. ; vide also chap. xiii.).

This method would be of great value if used in teaching the Faith to ignorant people, which, indeed, is the idea St. Ignatius had in mind, for teaching alone bears little fruit; it is by prayer that conviction comes and the will is moved to action. Fr. Polanco says that this method is particularly appropriate for those who wish to put their resolutions into practice, and we are told that St. Francis Xavier so taught his converts to use it that they might persevere, and that at times the matter of the examen might form the subject of their meditation. In the case of instructing illiterate people, very largely ignorant of Christian verities, the Commandments might well be taken as a basis on which practically the whole Faith could be made to rest. Beginning with ' I am the Lord thy God,' a clear and simple instruction would be given on the Oneness, the Supremacy and Majesty of God, the contrast of man's nothingness, and the Absolute claim of God upon his love and service. The person would then be shown the method of considering this for himself, a pattern meditation might be made, and then he would be told to make a similar prayer for a certain time every day until the next instruction. If necessary, brief points of such meditations might be given him, and at the next meeting he should be questioned as to how he had made his prayer. Such a plan, carefully worked out and designed to the capacities of the individual, would be actually the giving of the exercises in the way St. Ignatius intended, and would be worth infinitely more than the pious talks which are often all that is done in this way during pastoral visitation, or the mere instruction on Catholic doctrine, culled from a text-book, which often forms almost the whole preparation for Confirmation, without giving the persons concerned anything to do themselves which will influence their hearts and wills.

The Second Method of Prayer

is by studying the meaning of each word of the prayer. This method is a great advance upon the first, and, indeed, if all the methods were placed in order of degrees of prayer, would come after the elaborate method designed mainly for the exercises themselves, as that may be more strictly termed meditation, whilst this leads directly to affective prayer. The prayer begins in the same way as the first method, the preparatory prayer being made to the Person to whom the prayer is addressed.

Then 'kneeling or sitting, as he may find himself more disposed and as greater devotion accompanies him, keeping his eyes shut or fixed on one place, without moving them hither and thither, he says "Father," and rests on the consideration of this word for so long a time as he finds meanings, comparisons, relish and consolation in considerations belonging to such a word.' So for the allotted time of prayer the Our Father, Hail Mary or any other prayer, psalm, portion of Holy Scripture is to be gone through, care being taken that 'if the person who is studying the Our Father finds in one word or two very good matter for thought and relish and consolation, let him not trouble to go further on' - advice given by all spiritual guides. It reflects, indeed, the older tradition of prayer, as taught by the earliest monks, who founded their prayer on the psalms, responses, lessons, etc., of the Divine Office.

The prayer ends with the recitation of the Hail Mary, Creed, Anima Christi, and Salve Regina, 'vocally or mentally, in the customary manner,' and a colloquy with the Person 'to whom he has prayed in a few words, asking for the virtues or graces of which he feels himself to have greater need.' What could be simpler? Many a soul who from lack of proper instruction has wearied herself to no purpose struggling with elaborate methods, and overwhelmed with the cumbrous meditations so often recommended, might begin to pray well at once if she were simply told, 'Just kneel or sit down and think of God and of what you intend to do. Ask our Lord and Mary to help you to pray well for His glory. Then very slowly say the Lord's Prayer, thinking quietly and simply of each word, drawing out the meaning of it, tasting its sweetness, dwelling on it or on a phrase such as "Thy Kingdom," "Thy Kingdom come," "Thy will," "Thy will be done," for as long as you can with profit, and then passing on. Let your whole self pray, i.e. be lifted up to the thought of God. Father, our Father – my Father – O Father infinite – eternal, loving – bountiful – I love Thee, I adore Thee, look on me, Thy child – Thy child – God’s child – what love of Thine for me . . . etc.’ To whom is not such most real prayer possible ? Of such prayer the Abbot Isaac says, ‘ This prayer of the “ Our Father ” contains all the fulness of perfection . . . it raises those who familiarise themselves with it to that prayer of fire which passes all human language ’ (Cassian, Conferences, I. ix. 25), and St. Teresa tells us of certain persons well known to her who, being unable to meditate, were yet raised in contemplation whilst reciting the Paternoster. In Cassian, too, may be read that wonderful eulogy of the use of the versicle ‘ O God, make speed to save me, ’ of which the Abbot Isaac declares that the soul which repeats and meditates upon it continually will arrive at the beatitude of the poor in spirit whose is the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. loc. cit., chap. xi.).

A Third Method of Prayer

will be by rhythmical beats, oracion por compas, or as in the first version of the Exercises, per intervalla.

This is less a method of mental prayer than one of reciting vocal prayers with care and devotion. It will be found particularly useful in times of aridity, when all prayer seems distasteful and it is practically impossible to meditate. I shall have more to say on this state in a later chapter; here it will be sufficient to note that almost the only remedy is to say vocal prayers for a time.

As given by St. Ignatius, the method begins as before, the body of the prayer consisting of a mental recitation of the Our Father, Hail Mary, or other vocal prayers, ' one word only being said between one breath and another,' whilst one dwells on

(a) The meaning of the word,

(b) The Person to Whom one is speaking,

(c) Or to one's own lowly estate,

(d) Or to the contrast between such high estate and such lowliness of our own.

We have here, as elsewhere in the Exercises, the recognition of the fact, of greater importance than is often realised, of the interdependence of soul and body and the consequent need of using both in our devotion. It is with our whole being that we are to pray, 'in order to obtain from God,' says Pascal, 'the exterior must be joined to the interior . . . kneeling, etc. . . . To expect aid from the exterior (that is, the prevenient grace of the dispositions of prayer) is to be superstitious; not to unite it to the interior is to be proud' (Pensées, éd. Havet, xi. 3 bis).

Another method of prayer, not Ignatian, but suggested by his rhythmical method and by that English devotion, the Jesus Psalter, composed by Richard Whitford, which was so popular in the sixteenth century, and which is very useful as a form of ejaculatory prayer which may be said at any time, is to use the Holy Name as a sort of melodic refrain, linking up acts of praise, prayer and petition. Thus :

'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, I adore Thee. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, I love Thee: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, have mercy upon sinners: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Thy Kingdom come,' etc. The prayers should be recited melodically as it were, the acts of adoration, etc., being uttered as they come into one's mind. There is hardly any situation in which it could not be used, and invalids, those suffering from sleeplessness, those who have to walk much in busy streets, etc., would find it invaluable for preserving the sense of the Presence of God and that atmosphere of the supernatural world which is so great a shield against temptations and distractions.

The Fourth Method

The Application of the Senses

According to St. Ignatius, this method is to be used as a means of going over and renewing meditations, especially the ' Contemplations on the Life of our Lord which have been made in the accustomed way, except in one case, the exercise on Hell, to which the application of the senses is alone given. Probably the most profitable use of it outside the exercises would be for those who are very familiar with the Mysteries of our Lord's life and who are tending toward affective prayer. Less instructed folk, too, who cannot make much use of the three powers of the soul, might well profit by making it before the Crib, the Rood or some picture. The exact manner of this application will depend upon the subject chosen for meditation. The Saint gives two examples which are sufficiently explicit. The exercise on Hell is made as follows :

After the usual preparatory prayer, which is ' to ask grace of God our Lord that all my intentions, actions and operations may be directed purely to the service and praise of His Divine Majesty,' we have the

First Prelude, which is to see with the eyes of the imagination the length, breadth and depth of Hell.

Second Prelude, to ask for what I desire . . . an intimate sense of the pain that the damned suffer, so that, if through my faults I become forgetful of the love of the Eternal Lord, at least the fear of pains and penalties may be an aid to me not to give way to sin.

First Point : to see with the eyes of the imagination those great fires, and those souls as it were in bodies of fire.

Second Point : to hear with the ears lamentations, howlings, cries, blasphemies, against Christ our Lord and against all His Saints.

Third Point : with the sense of smell to smell smoke, brimstone, refuse and rottenness.

Fourth Point : to taste bitter things, as tears, sadness and the worm of conscience.

Fifth Point : to feel with the sense of touch how those fires do touch and burn souls.

The meditation ends with the Colloquy with Christ our Lord, in which we bring to memory the souls that are in Hell : give thanks that we are not with them, and recall God's mercy and kindness towards us in having patiently allowed us to live so long in order that we might repent ; ending with an Our Father. The use of this method in the Exercises does not occur again until the Second Week, in which begin the Contemplations on the Mysteries of our Lord's Life, where it is to be used in the evening hour of mental prayer. St. Ignatius entitles it, ' The Fifth Contemplation will be to carry the five senses over the first and second contemplation,' which have been upon the Incarnation and Nativity. The usual preparation being made,

' The first point is to see the persons with the sight of the imagination, meditating and studying in particular their circumstances, and gathering some fruit from the sight.

' The second, to hear with the hearing the things that they say, or may say, and reflecting within oneself to gather thence some profit.

' The third, to smell and taste with the sense of smell and taste the infinite fragrance and sweetness of the Godhead, of the soul and its virtues, and of everything, according to the Person one is contemplating, reflecting inwardly and gathering profit from thence.

' The fourth, to touch with the touch, as for instance to embrace and kiss the place where such persons tread and sit, always contriving to gather fruit from thence.'

A colloquy is then made with the Holy Trinity, our Lord or our Lady.

The first and second points need no comment, but on the third it may be well to add a word. As I walk in my garden I see with sentiments of pleasure and interest the vari-coloured flowers, I rejoice in the lights and shadows among the trees, I hear the song of birds and the hum of bees, all this culminating in something higher, more subtle than mere sense appreciation. My mind, imagination, my inner self is, say on a spring day, exalted, filled with an æsthetic joy of life, or on a calm summer evening with a repose, a sweetness which refreshes both soul and body. I taste, as it were, that something which is spring or evening summertide. Or the same sense use of the imagination is kindled whilst reading a book; I follow, say, the traveller pushing his way through dark forests or over mountain ridges; every sense responds to his hardships, endeavours, dangers; or again, in memory of bygone travels, I hear the far-off thunder of the sea upon a coral reef, recall the indescribable but subtly tasted atmosphere of the mangrove-guarded banks of a tropical river, or live again evenings spent by a camp fire, listening to a native chanting some old legend of his tribe.

Now all this is nothing else but an application of the senses of the imagination and is as rightfully employed, and with profit, in mental prayer. An example may best serve to make this method clear.

Subject : The Crucifixion.

First Point : see Jesus crucified – loving me – dying for me. See His Five Wounds from which flow the price of my salvation. His Sacred Heart opened to receive me – burning with Divine love, offered to the Eternal Father.

See and gather in my mind and heart the virtues of this Mystery – infinite love, patience, tenderness, generosity, etc.

See the Compassionate Mother – learn with her a tender compassion for Jesus suffering. See Mary Magdalene – intense, adoring love of the Queen of Penitents.

See St. John, wrapped in the Divine Mystery, adoring, uniting himself in love with his Lord. Gather fruit from this Tree of Life and those who are beneath it.

Second Point : Hear the Seven Words from the Cross. The prayerful silence of Jesus.

The loud cry with which He commends His soul to the Eternal Father.

His inward words to me.

Third Point : ‘O taste and see’ the Hidden Godhead, the sweet virtues of the human soul of Jesus. The Sacred Humanity, so dear to God, to itself, to us. The Saviour’s choices, poverty, suffering, contempt, thirst, dereliction, the Cross.

‘Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.’

‘So longeth my soul after Thee, O God.’

Fourth Point : Touch the wood of the Cross, the sacred ground upon which falls the Precious Blood, the hem of Mary’s garment. Feel and desire as Jesus and Mary felt and desired.

Colloquy : Pouring out my heart to Jesus – offering Him to the Eternal Father – compassionating with Mary.

Any of the Mysteries of our Lord’s life may be treated in the same way, some quite easily, others perhaps only after some practice of the method.

The Fifth Method

Commonly known as the Ignatian Method

It would be impossible, within the limits of so elementary a volume as this, to treat with the fulness it deserves this, the most elaborate method of mental prayer which has ever been constructed. Moreover, so much more attention has been given to it than to other methods that it is unnecessary to give more than a sufficient outline of it, and to indicate its characteristic features.

The Method

I. Preliminary Preparation, to be made overnight. Choose and read over the subject. Re-read it and select one or two points for meditation, choosing those which contain the grace you are most in need of. The following questions addressed to the subject-matter will suggest answers which will serve as a guide on the morrow. Who ? What ? Where ? By what aids ? Why ? How ? When ? For whom ? With what love ? With what fruit ? Not more than three of these should be used, the main object being to concentrate on the particular fruit we desire to gain from our prayer.

A glance should also be taken at the Composition of Place, easily seen by asking, Who speaks or acts ? Where and with whom ?

Before going to sleep the mind should be fixed for a moment on (1) the hour we intend to rise (this will soon make an alarm clock unnecessary!) : (2) the points of our meditation. This must be brief; any prolonged attention is to be avoided as likely to over-excite the intellect or imagination and so prevent sleep. If we wake during the night we should quietly recur to our subject, ' not giving place to other thoughts ' (2nd Addition of First Week). Fr. John Morris, S.J., in dealing with this preparation for mental prayer, answers an objection which often exists in the mind. ' It is quite a mistake to suppose that a meditation goes better when the subject is new and untouched. It is just the reverse. A repetition is often far more fruitful than the meditation when first made. Old and familiar subjects are better than new ones ; and the more thorough the preparation has been, the better the meditation will be ' (Instructions to Novices, p. 16).

II. Introduction to the Act of Prayer.

To rise at once, to lift the mind and heart in an act of adoration of God, to dress quietly but briskly, avoiding all slothfulness and fixing the mind on the Composition of Place, Him Whom we shall meet there and the grace we desire, are practices which will go far to ensuring a good prayer. Haste, solicitude, dissipation of mind, are always dangerous, and never more so than during those early moments of the day in which its whole tone is set.

III. The Meditation Proper.

' Standing a pace or two before the place where I am to make my contemplation or meditation ' (3rd Addition of First Week), for the duration of a Paternoster the mind is raised to God, before Whom we ' make a reverence or gesture of self-abasement, ' Fr. Roothan advising the making of five short, fervent and generous acts here, of faith in the presence of God, of adoration, of contrition, an offering of our memory, understanding and will, and a petition for help, that ' all my intentions, actions and operations may be ordered purely to the service and praise of Thy Divine Majesty.'

(a) The First Prelude, which consists in briefly recalling to mind the subject and points chosen.

(b) The Second Prelude, the Composition of Place. ' Seeing the place ' (St. Ignatius), ' to go there ourselves ' (Fr. Roothan), ' to picture to oneself, and, as it were, to see with the eyes of the imagination the place' (The Directory).

Several authors, of whom St. Teresa (Way, chap. xxviii. 4) is one, give the advice that it is better to make the composition of place interiorly, i.e. as taking place within ourselves, rather than transporting, as it were, the mind to some distant scene, which requires more effort and may lead to overstraining the imagination. This, in some cases, is undoubtedly true, but it is clear that St. Ignatius would have the composition of place as clearly 'localised' as possible, although, at the same time, as may be seen by his reference to our Lord 'so lately made Man' (First Contemplation on the Incarnation), it is to no mere historical past he would have us recur, but to the living present, the 'state' no less than the 'act,' as Bérulle would say (vide Part II., chap. vi.).

The composition of place, write Mons. Howley in his valuable study Psychology and Mystical Experience, is 'the pedagogic process of "picturing out" applied to spiritual things . . . the conversio ad phantasmata of the schoolmen used as a spiritually educative process. Until we strive to picture out our conceptions, they remain vague, shadowy, indistinct, notional, with but feeble energising force to affect our volitions' (op. cit., p. 467). With this may be compared St. Thomas's 'We cannot know God directly, but we can argue to His existence and nature from creatures by abstraction and negation. But intellectual ideas thus formed in the mind are not really understood by the intellect unless it represents them to the imagination; it "turns to images," convertit se ad phantasmata, so that it may behold the universal in the particular, wherein alone it has real existence' (Summa Theol. I. lxxxiv. 7).

(c) The Third Prelude, asking for (1) an interior, i.e. supernatural knowledge of our Lord; (2) that we may love Him more dearly; (3) and follow Him more nearly. The time given to this part of our prayer should not be more than five minutes.

IV. The Body of the Meditation.

This consists of the application of the memory, understanding and will to the subject before us.

The memory brings forward the subject and, as it were, hands it over to the understanding which reflects upon it, enters into it, regards it from this side and that, seeking, above all, the meaning which it has for oneself, the especial lesson contained, the particular demand it makes. As the practical conclusion becomes apparent, we may ask :

What, in respect of this, have I done hitherto ?

What shall I do from to-day ?

What obstacles shall I encounter ?

What means must I take ?

So we come to the exercise of the will which, moved by the understanding, turns to God in acts of various virtues suggested by the consideration, the particular resolution, and the colloquies. In placing the work of the three powers of the soul in this logical order it must not be thought that they are kept distinct from one another, no acts of the will, for instance, being made until the meditation proper is concluded. On the contrary, any thought which moves the will should at once be put into prayer, for the whole object of the reflection is to produce this. ' The more acts of the will there are interspersed amid the work of the understanding, and the longer and more fervent they are, the better the meditation is being made ' (Morris, op. cit., p. 37).

' When we meditate, we do not pray ; when we pray, we do not meditate ; to reason explicitly and to pray explicitly are two things irreconcilable at the same moment.' But ' of the meditation is born the desire, and of this springs the prayer . . . the effort of the will, in mental prayer, gathers up all those sentiments (faith, hope, charity, confidence, humility, etc.) in order to concentrate itself in a simple unity, in the act of desire and petition; act double in appearance, but in reality as truly one as the flight of a bird by the double action of its wings in one single balanced movement; an act which may be repeated a hundred or a thousand times' (Paulot, L'Esprit de Sagesse, pp. 276, 284).

The resolution is of the utmost importance, for, as Fr. Morris says, ' the object of our meditation is not simply to spend an hour devoutly and meritoriously; our prayer is made that we may purify our souls, that we may clothe them with virtues, that we may amend our lives, that we may strengthen ourselves in our vocation, that we may guard ourselves against temptations, that we may do all our actions perfectly, that we may correspond with the grace of God, and please Him in all things.'

It must be practical, particular, adapted to our present state, something to be done the same day and be rooted in distrust of ourselves together with a great confidence in God.

The colloquies are the fervent outpourings of the heart to God, our Lord and His Mother, the Saints and Angels ' after the fashion of St. Augustine's Soliloquies and many parts of his Confessions ' (Rickaby, Spiritual Exercises, p. 176). ' A colloquy is properly made by speaking, as a friend speaks to his friend, or as a servant speaks to his master, at one time asking some favour, at another time accusing oneself of some wrong done, at another communicating all one's affairs and asking counsel in them ' (St. Ignatius, Exercises). In making them, the desire of the heart is more important than words, and in them we should always beg for grace to keep our resolutions, and may add petitions and general intercessions as we will.

Following the meditation, St. Ignatius would have a quarter of an hour spent on the reflection, which may be made sitting or walking about. The object of the reflection is ' to look and see what success I have had in my contemplation or meditation ; and if it has gone badly, I will look into the cause whence the failure proceeds, and so having looked into it I will be sorry, purposing amendment for the future ; and if it has gone well, I will return thanks to God ' (Exercises, Fifth Addition of the First Week).

Fr. Roothan insists strongly on the necessity of the reflection, both that we may learn how to meditate and also profit by meditation. It is largely due to a neglect of this practice, he thinks, that so many go on making daily meditation without any serious amendment of life, and adds that often when a meditation has been a failure, or apparently so, the reflection supplies the loss.

Now even if we admit, as is the case, that a great deal of the difficulty of this method would soon be overcome by anyone of goodwill and courage, that the various divisions and acts would soon become automatic, the fact remains that it is only practically possible for those who have a certain aptitude, time and freedom from worldly affairs. And as I have already said, it was not intended for all, but only for those who are able to make the exercises in full, a very different thing even from what we call a ' long retreat.' Valuable as it is, especially when aided by the Additions and Annotations provided in the Exercises, to be especially studied by priests, there is no doubt that the average cleric, much more the layman or woman, will do better to choose a simpler method, Ignatian or otherwise.