Chapter II. Of meditation

1. Fob meditation, which is also called discursiye prayer, we must prepare the points on which we would meditate the eyening before, and observe exactly the rules St. Ignatius prescribes.

2. In the actual exercise of prayer we meditate on the subject we have chosen ; we draw conclusions from it ; we make reflections on the past, examine our present dispositions, and form resolutions for the future* We stir up the affections, encourage ourselves to persevere, and ask the assistance of Heaven. At times God makes known some truth to us, memory suggests others, the hour passes in recollection with but few distractions^ which do not last long. This sort of prayer belongs to the virtue of religion ; and when it is accompanied with purity of heart, it is the shortest and the surest way to arrive at the other gift of prayer.

3. In meditation, beginners ought to use the easiest discursive method, which is that of reasoning from the more to the less, or from the less to the more. For instance, if the highest angel fell, if a creature so perfect, free from concupiscence and the corruption of original sin, possessed of more grace than I shall ever have, unassailed by any temptation, nevertheless perished miserably, how fearful ought I to be of falling, whatever the degree of perfection I may have attained ! If God pardoned not a creature so noble, who might have be^i the o2 source of so much glory to Him, am I to expect that if I fall into His hands in a state of mortal sin He will pardon me 9