Letter XXIV. To the Fathers and Brothers at Coimbra

Rome, May 7, 1547.

May the grace and eternal love of Christ Our Lord ever favour and help us. Amen.

Through the letters of Master Simon and Santa Cruz I continually receive news of you all, and God knows, from Whom all that is good proceeds, the great consolation and joy I experience when I hear how He helps you in the study of letters as well as of virtue, the good odour of which encourages and animates many even in other parts very distant from your land. And if this should bring joy to every Christian, on account of the common obligation imposed on all to love the honour of God and the good of His image redeemed with the blood and life of Jesus Christ, great and special reason is there that I should rejoice in Our Lor 4, who am so much obliged to keep you within my soul with special affection. For all this may our Creator and Redeemer be for ever blessed and praised, from Whose infinite liberality spring all good and all grace; and may He deign every day to open up yet more the fountain of His mercies, that He may increase and carry forward what He has begun in your souls. And I have no doubt, so supreme is He in goodness, so supremely liberal of His gifts, and of that eternal love which makes Him more eager to grant us our perfection than we are to receive it, that He will do it; for if it were not so Jesus Christ would not Himself incite us to that which we can receive from His hands and no other, when He says: Perfecti estote sicut pater vester coelestis perfectus est. a So that on His part He is ready, provided that on our part there are ready vessels of humility and desire to receive His graces, and provided He sees us making good use of the gifts received, and praying for it with industry and diligence.

And in this matter I will not refrain from spurring on even those of you who run. For I can say without any doubt that you will need to strive after great things in learning and virtue, if you are to satisfy the expectations of many, not only in your own native country but in other parts, who see the help and interior and exterior training given to you by God, and rightly look for an exceptional result. Hence it is that no mediocre result would meet the obligation you have of doing well. Consider what

Google is your vocation, and recognise that what in others is not little would be so in you. For not only has God called you de | tenebris in adynirabile lumen suum, et transtulit in regnum filii dilectionis suae. a as He has called all the faithful, but in order that you might the better be preserved in innocence of life, and be bound by a closer love to the spiritual things of His service, He has deigned to take you out of the perilous gulf of this world, so that your conscience should not be troubled amid the storms that are continually raised by the winds of desire, now of wealth, now of honours, now of sensible delights, or, if they are acquired, by the fear of losing them.

Besides what I have said, another reason why He has called you is that these abject things might not engross your understanding and your love, and distract and scatter them on every side, but that you might concentrate yourselves and be turned in one direction, being occupied in that alone for which God created you, which is His honour and glory, your own salvation and the succour of your neighbour.

And although all institutions of the Christian life tend to this object, still God has called you to this one in particular in which, not in any general way, but with the oblation of your whole life and all your energies, you are asked to make a continuous sacrifice of yourselves to the glory of God

Google and the salvation of your neighbour, co-operating towards it not only with example and earnest prayer, but with all other external means, which His divine providence has created that we may the better help one another. Hence it is not difficult to understand how noble, indeed how royal, is the mode of life you have adopted; for not only amongst men, but even amongst angels no nobler kind of life can be imagined than that of glorifying God, and of drawing all creatures to Him so far as they are capable of that attraction.

Ponder well, then, this your vocation that on the one hand you may render abundant thanks to God for a benefit so great* and on the other you may beg for that special assistance which will enable you to correspond, and to equip yourselves with great courage and diligence. For these are very necessary that you may attain the ends you have in view; while you may recognise as decided enemies of your object sloth, and tepidity, and weariness of study, and of other profitable exercises undertaken for the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

As an example let each one set before himself not those who are inclined to do less, but the most eager and the most strenuous. Do not allow the children of this world to excel you in seeking temporal things with more solicitude and diligence than you seek those that are eternal. Let it be a matter of shame to you if they rush to death more promptly than you to life. Hold yourselves in little esteem if a courtier serves more diligently to gain the favour of an earthly prince than you for that

Google of a heavenly monarch, and if a soldier for the glory of victory and a little booty makes better preparation and fights more bravely than do you for the victory and triumph over the world, the devil, and your own selves, together with the gaining of the eternal kingdom and glory.

So, for the love of God, be neither remiss nor tepid; for, as it is said, “Si arcurn frangit intentio, animum remissio”; a whilst on the contrary, as Solomon declares, “Anima laboranthim impinguabitur.” b Strive to keep yourselves holy and discreet that you may progress in the study of letters and of virtue. For in both the one and the other an intense act is worth a thousand that are remissj and what a slack person does not reach in many years a man who is diligent will often attain in a short time. In matters of learning it is easy enough to see the difference between the earnest and the negligent; and the same is also true with regard to overcoming the passions and weaknesses to which our nature is subject, and acquiring virtues. For it is certain that those who are remiss* through making little effort against themselves, attain true peace of soul or the entire possession of a virtue either very late or not at all, while the strenuous and diligent in a very short time make great progress, both in the one and in the other.

Moreover experience shows that such contentment as it is possible to attain in this life is found not in those who are negligent, but in the fervent in the service of God. And naturally so; for by endeavouring to overcome themselves, and to destroy self-love, they dig up with it the roots of the passions and all troubles, while by acquiring habits of virtue, they come naturally to act with ease and joy in conformity with them.

In the same way with regard to God, that most merciful of Consolers, they prepare a man to receive His holy consolations, ‘ quia vincenti dabo manua absconditum' a The contrary is the cause of endless trouble during life, since it prevents the removal of their cause, which is self-love, and puts an obstacle in the way of divine assistance. These considerations should be a great inducement to you to labour hard in your praiseworthy tasks, for even in this life you would feel the advantage of holy fervour, not only in the perfection of your souls, but even in the contentment you would find in this present existence.

But if you consider the reward of the life eternal, as you should often do, St. Paul will easily persuade you, 4 quod non sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quae revelabi - tur in nobis' b For 4 quod momentaneum (est) et leve tribulationis nostrae, supra modum ( in sub -

Umitate asteruum gloriae pondus operatur in wbis). a

And since this is the lot of every Christian that honours and serves God, you will understand how great will be your Crown if you correspond to your Institute, which is not only to serve God in yourselves but to draw many others to His service and honour. Of such Scripture says, 4 quod, qui alios ad justitiam erudiunt, fulgebunt sicut stellae firmamenti in per - tetuas aetermtates” b; and this must be intended to mean those who endeavour to do their duty diligently, whether afterwards when they come to use their weapons, or before when they prepare them. Certainly it does not suffice to interpret it merely of works, inasmuch as they are good in themselves, for Jeremias tells us, 4 quod maledictus qui opus Dei facit negligenter '; c and St. Paul, 4 quod in stadio multi currunt, sed unus accipit br avium" d and that is whoever should work well; and 4 quod non coronabitur nisi qui legitime certaverit,’ e which again teaches the lesson of hard work.

But above all I would wish that you should be

Google animated by the* pure love of Jesus Christ, and the desire of His honour, and of the salvation of the souls that He has redeemed; for in this Society you are His soldiers with a special title, and with a special pay. I say ‘ special,* because we have something in addition to the many payments that are common to all, which compels us with all our might to procure His honour and service. His pay is all that by nature you are, all that by nature you possess; for He has given you yourselves, and He preserves your being and life, and all the parts and perfections of your soul and body, as well as all gifts from without. His pay is also the spiritual gift of His grace which He has bestowed upon you with such liberality and benevolence, and which He continues to bestow, even when you are recalcitrant and rebellious. His pay is the ineffable gift of His glory which, without any benefit to Himself, He keeps for you ready and prepared, imparting to you all the treasures of His blessings, so that by eminent participation of His divine perfection you may be that which He is by essence and nature. His pay is, lastly, t;he whole universe, and everything, corporal or spiritual, that is contained in it; for He has placed within our ministry not only all that is beneath the heavens, but also that most sublime court of His own, without omitting any of the celestial hierarchies, ‘ qui omnes sunt adminis - tratorii spiritus propter eos qui hereditatem capturi \ sunt / a And as if in themselves all these different kinds of pay did not suffice, He has made Himself our pay, giving Himself as a brother in our flesh, as the price of our salvation on the Cross, as the food and the companion of our wanderings in the Eucharist. Oh! how worthless a soldier must he be for whom such an accumulation of pay does not suffice to make him toil for the honour of such a Prince I For certain it is that in order to compel us to desire it, and to procure it with the greater promptitude, His divine Majesty has willed to impart to us those inestimable and costly benefits, parting in a certain manner with His most perfect enjoyment of those gifts that He may make us participate in them, and taking upon Himself all our miseries that from them He 'may shield us; electing to be sold that we may be redeemed, dishonoured that we may be glorified, poor that we may be enriched, accepting death in the midst of so much ignominy and torment that we may be given eternal and happy life. Oh! how very, how exceedingly hard and ungrateful must he be who fails with all this to recognize the obligation under which he lies to serve Jesus Christ with all diligence and to labour for His honour.

If, "then, you recognize this obligation in yourselves, and desire to give yourselves to promoting His honour, you are certainly living in times when it is necessary to show your desires by deeds. Find if you can a spot where the Divine Majesty to-day is honoured, where His immense greatness is venerated, where His wisdom and infinite goodness are known, where His most holy will is obeyed. See, rather, and see it with sorrow, how much His Holy Name is everywhere ignored, despised, blasphemed; the teaching of Jesus Christ is rejected, His example is forgotten, the price of His Blood is in some measure lost amongst us, because there are so few who avail themselves of it. Consider, also, your neighbour as an image of the most Holy Trinity, capable of receiving His glory to Whom the whole universe ministers, a member of the body of Jesus Christ, redeemed with so much suffering on His part, so much ignominy, so much blood. Consider, I repeat, the great misery in which he finds himself, in such utter darkness of ignorance, such great tempests of inordinate cravings, and vain fears, and other passions, combatted by such a host of enemies, visible and invisible, with danger of losing, not mere wealth or temporal life, but the eternal kingdom, and eternal happiness, and of falling instead into that intolerable misery of eternal fire.

To sum up in a few worcfe I say that if you consider aright how great is our obligation to promote the honour of Jesus Christ and the salvation of our neighbour, you will recognize how fit and just it is that you should be prepared for every effort and endeavour to make of yourselves efficient instruments of the divine grace for that end, the more since in these days the single-minded workers are so few, qui non quaerant quae sua sunt sed quae JJm X* Therefore must you increase your

IOI endeavours to supply what others fail to perform, for to you God gives a special grace in this your vocation and purpose.

•What I have so far said to awaken those that may be sleeping, and to spur on those who may be lagging or loitering along the road, must not be so understood as to constitute a plea for falling into the opposite extreme of indiscreet fervour. For spiritual sickness proceeds not only from chilling causes, such as tepidity, but also from heated x causes, such as excessive fervour. Rationabile obsequium veslrum* says St. Paul; because he knew the truth of that which the Psalmist says: Honor regis judicium diligit, id est, discretionem; b and that which is prefigured in Leviticus in the words: In omni opere tuo offeres sal, c And as St. Bernard says: The enemy has no more efficacious means of depriving the heart of true charity, than by inducing to practise it incautiously and not in accordance with spiritual reasonableness. The saying of the philosopher, Ne quid nimis / must be observed in all things, even in justice itself, as you read in Eccl.: Noli esse justus nimium. e When that moderation is not observed good is turned into evil and virtue into vice; and thence follow many difficulties quite contrary to the intention of such over-zealous persons.

The first is that they cannot serve God for very long; on the contrary, as with a horse that has been over fatigued in the first stages, they cannot complete his journey, and so it often becomes necessary that others should occupy themselves in ministering to them.

The second is that what is gained with too much precipitation is often not preserved; for as Scripture says: Substantia festinata minuetur. a Not only does it evaporate, but it is also the cause of a fall: qui festinus est pedibus offendit. b And when such a man falls, the higher he has attained, the greater will be his danger, for nothing will stop him until he reach the foot of the ladder.

The third is that thus no care is taken to avoid overloading the vessel; so that, although it is dangerous to leave it empty, for then jit is the more easily tossed by the storm of temptation, yet it is still more dangerous so to overload it that it sinks.

It sometimes happens that while crucifying the old man the new man is also crucified; and hence through mere weakness it becomes impossible to practise virtue. With that excess, as St. Bernard says, four things are lost: corpori effectus, spirktd affectus, proxinti exemplum, Deo honor. 0 From which he concludes (that whosoever thus ill-treats the living temple of God is sacrilegious and guilty of all that I have said.

St. Bernard says that example to our neighbour is lost because the breakdown of one, and the scandal that must follow, spreads the same scandal amongst others. For that reason the same St. Bernard calls such people destroyers of concord, enemies of peace. Indeed the example of the fall of one deters many, and cools their ardour in spiritual advancement; while as to themselves they run the risk of pride and vainglory, preferring their own judgment to that of all others, or at least assuming rights which are not theirs, making themselves judges of their own affairs, when the only rightful judge is the Superior.

Besides these there are still other objections such as loading themselves with weapons to such a degree that they can no longer make use of them, as did David with the armour of Saul, and applying the spur instead of the bit to a steed that is naturally fiery; considerations which compel us in all this matter to,use discretion, moderating the practise of virtue between the two extremes. St. Bernard wisely warns us: Bonae voluntati non semper ere - dendum est, sed refrenarida, sed regenda est, maxime in incipiente. a So that he who desires to be good to others should not be bad to himself: qm enim sibi nequam cui bonus ? And if discre-

Google tion should seem to you to be a rare bird and difficult to secure, supply at least its absence by obedience, whose counsel will be safe. Let him who is inclined to follow his own opinion hear the words of St. Bernard: Quod si quid sine voluntate et consensu pa&ris spirituals fit, imputabitur vanae gloriae, non mercedi. a And let him remember quod scelus idolatriae est non acqmesCere, et peccatum ariolandi non obedire t b as says the Scripture. Hence, in order to follow a middle course between the extreme of tepidity and that of indiscreet fervour, confer about your affairs with your Superior, and be guided by obedience. And if you have a great desire for mortification, satisfy it rather by curbing your wills and subduing your judgments under the yoke of obedience than by weakening your bodies and afflicting them without due moderation, especially now during the years of study.

I should be distressed if on account of what I have here written you should come to, think that I disapprove of all that I have been told about some of your mortifications. For I know that saints have committed these and other like saintly follies to their advantage, and that they help to overcome oneself and to acquire greater grace, especially at the beginning. Still for those who have acquired more command over self-love I hold that what I

OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA 105 have written about bringing oneself to the golden mean of discretion is the better thing. (Tjet us then not depart from obedience, which I earnestly recommend to you, together with that other virtue, and compendium of all the rest, which Jesus Christ prizes so highly as to call it His own special precept: “Hoc est praedeptum meum, ut diligatis in - vicem” a J Nor must you only preserve union and unbroken affection among yourselves, but you must extend it to all, and endeavour to enkindle in your souls earnest desires for the salvation of your neighbour, estimating the value of each soul by the price it has cost, which is the blood and love of Jesus Christ. Thus, by on the one hand acquiring learning, and on the other growing in fraternal charity, you may render yourselves worthy instruments of the divine grace, and co-operate in this noblest of all works, the bringing of His creatures to God as their last end.

Moreover, do not imagine that you are useless to your neighbour during the period that is occupied by study. For besides the advantages that you yourselves derive, as well-ordered charity demands — “Miserere animae tuae timens Deum”* — you serve your neighbour in many ways to the honour and glory of God.

First, by your present work, and the intention with which you adopt and dispose everything for

106 LETTERS AND INSTRUCTIONS his good. For when soldiers busy themselves in procuring arms and ammunition for an enterprise that is contemplated, it cannot be said that the labour is not for the service of their prince. And even if death came to cut short the labour of anyone before he had begun to give himself to the direct service of his neighbour, he would not on that account have failed in serving him through the work of preparation. But besides this intention we should offer ourselves every day for our neighbour, for if God deigns to accept our offering, the oblation would be no less a help to our neighbour than would preaching or hearing confessions.

The second way is to make yourselves altogether spiritual and good; by doing this, you will be better fitted when the time comes to make your neighbour such as you are yourselves. For God wills that the method observed in material generation should be proportionately the same in the spiritual. Philosophy and experience teach you that for the generation of a man, or of any other animal, besides the general causes such as the heavens, another immediate cause or agent of the same species is required, whose form will be looked for in the offspring. Thus it is said that Sol et homo generant hominem * In the same manner, in order to implant in others the form of humility,, patience, charity, etc., God wills that the immediate cause which He uses as an instrument, such as the preacher, or confessor, should himself be humble, a “The Sun and man generate a man.’*

_ Digitized by v^ooQle patient and charitable. Consequently, as I have just said, by yourselves advancing in virtue you greatly serve your neighbour, because a good habit of life makes an instrument not less, rather more fitted to confer graces on others than does great knowledge; though the perfect instrument needs both the one and the other.

The third way of helping him is the example of a good life. As to this, as I have already said, the good odour of your example spreads into and edifies other places beyond your native land; and I can only hope that the Author of all good will continue and increase His gifts to you, so that while you advance in perfection every day the holy influence and edification that proceeds from it may also grow, without any seeking of your own.

The fourth way of helping your neighbour, which is very far-reaching indeed, consists in holy desires and prayers. And although study does not leave you time to devote yourselves to very long prayers, still it is possible to meet this desire by turning your work into one continuous prayer, undertaking it solely for the service of God. But about these and other similar matters you have those with you with whom you can confer in private. Indeed for the same reason much that I have written might well have been omitted; but as I write so seldom I have wished on this occasion to derive consolation for myself in your company by writing at some length.

For the present no more; except that I pray God our Creator and Redeemer that* as He has been lo8 LETTERS AND INSTRUCTIONS pleased to grant so much grace by calling you, and giving you an efficacious will to desire to employ yourselves entirely in His service, so He may deign to continue and increase His gifts in all of you„ that you may persevere with constancy and advance in His service, for His great honour and glory and the help of His holy Church.

From Rome,

Yours in Our Lord,

Ignatius.

Notes on the text

• a Matt. v. 48: “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” a I Pet. ii. 9; Coloss. i. 13: “Out of darkness into his wonderful light, and has transferred you into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” a “If strain breaks the bow, slackness breaks the mind.’*

• b Prov. xiii. 4: 44 The soul of them that work shall be made fat.” a Apoc. ii. 17: “because to him that overcomes I will give hidden manna.”

• b Rom. viii. 18: “that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.” a II Cor. iv. 1 7: “That which is it at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.”

• b Dan. xii. 3: “Because those who instruct others to justice shall shine as the stars of the firmament for all eternity.”

• c Jer. xlviii. 10: “Because cursed is he that doth the work of God negligently.”

• d I Cor. ix. 24: “Because many run in the race, but one receives the prize.”

• e II Tim. ii. 5: “he only is crowned who strives lawfully.”

• H a Hebr. i. 14: “Who are all ministering spirits, sent to minister to those who are to receive the inheritance.” a Phil. ii. 21: “Who seek not their own but the things of Jesus Christ,” a Rom. xii. i: “Your reasonable service.’* b Ps. xcviii. 4: “The king’s honour loveth judgment,” that is, discretion.

• c Lev. ii. 13: “In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.” d “Nothing to excess.”

• • Eccl. vii. 17: “Be not over just.” a Prov. xiii. u: “Substance got in haste shall be diminished.”

• b Prov. xix. 2: “He that is hasty with his feet shall stumble.”

• c " Efficiency to the body, devotion to the spirit, example to our neighbour, honour to God.” a “Good will is not always to be trusted, but it is to be curbed and ruled, above all in a beginner.”

• b Ecclus. xiv. 5: “He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good?” a “Whatever is done without the will and consent of the spiritual father shall be accounted as vainglorious, not meritorious.”

• b I Reg. xv. 23: ‘‘The sin of witchcraft is to rebel, and the crime of idolatry to refuse to obey.” a Joan. xv. 12: “This is my commandment, that you love one another.”

• b Ecclus. xxx. 24: “Have pity on thy own soul pleasing God.”