As a parting advice, S. Ignatius says: "Implore of the Blessed Virgin, through her Son, and, afterwards, through the Son, of His Divine Father, the grace to be enrolled under Christ's banner of poverty and ignominy, and to prove true to it to the death" (a).

COMPENDIUM.

I. Consider the object of the war waged by these two captains. Lucifer has but one object-to rob you of heaven, and consign you to eternal perdition.

On the other hand, Jesus looks solely to God's glory, and man's salvation. "He came to seek out, and to save that which had perished."

Wherefore you ought to follow Him by working out your own salvation, and by seeking, also, the salvation of others. You should be impelled to adopt this course. 1. By the deadly hate which Lucifer bears towards you, ever inciting him to work your ruin. 2. By the example of Christ, who, to rescue you from hell, suffered every torment, even unto death. 3. And, finally, by the intrinsic excellence and utility of zeal for our neighbour's salvation.

II. Consider how different are the arms used by these two captains in this campaign. To destroy the souls of men, Lucifer makes use of pleasures, riches, and honours. Jesus, on the other hand, employs mortification, poverty, and humility, to save these self-same souls. Who is there, then, that will not reject the first, when he knows they are meant for his destruction? And who is there that will

(a) In lib. Exercit. ad finem hujus meditat.

not eagerly grasp the arms of Jesus, when he knows that they open for him a path to a glorious victory— whose end is heaven?

III. Consider the different habits of those two captains. Lucifer, seated on his throne of fire, with proud and stern look, calls out to his followers : Come, let us rejoice; let us be filled with riches ; and let no one gainsay our pre-eminence." Jesus, on the other hand, sits down humbly, while sweetly and mildly He invites each one "to deny himself," "to carry his cross," and to "place himself in the lowest place". Which of the two is the more likely to make you happy? If you follow Lucifer, there will ever be a torture within your heart-a restlessness —a worm that will never die—a something that will make you unhappy in time, and miserable for eternity. But, if you follow the standard of Jesus, peace, consolation, and spiritual joy will be your reward. And won't you?

LECTURE.

On the object of the Exercises of this day.

S. Ignatius in proposing for our imitation the example of Jesus Christ, would teach us, that we ought to employ ourselves in God's service without regard to circumstances-caring neither for adversity, nor poverty, if it needs be; neither caring how or where our life is to be spent. Now, S. Ignatius takes us one step higher, and by means of the meditation on the two standards, would have us indifferent even to the apostolic life, wherein we attend not only to our salvation and perfection, but

also to that of others; and to the means by which God shall be pleased that we reach the highest degree in this noble vocation.

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To attain this, the saint suggests to us those three great motives which touched us so during the meditation, and which the more we think on them will the more excite us and spur us on to adopt generous resolutions. The first (1), is the rage of Satan, who thirsts for the destruction of our souls. Wherefore, S. Ignatius paints him for us in vivid colours "as in the vast plains of Babylon, seated on a throne of fire, surrounded by thick smoke, whilst stand around him an innumerable crowd of demons. Some he despatches to work evil all through the world, having regard neither to any city, nor to any place, nor to any person whatsoever; and, with words of fierce hatred, he imposes on them to lose no opportunity of laying snares for the souls of men to entrap them, and precipitate them into the eternal abyss."

It is horrible to see how "hell enlarges her soul and opens her mouth without any bounds" to swallow down so many millions of souls. Truly it breaks one's heart, to see how solicitous is the evil one, how many are the arts, and the wiles, and the stratagems he uses to destroy them, and how mockingly he tramples upon the necks of us—the fools whom he has seduced and betrayed. And shall we quietly endure that so many souls, redeemed by the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, temples of the Holy Ghost, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, should fall in crowds into hell? Ah! we should, indeed, be ashamed that the devil would have a greater care for the ruin of man, than we for his

salvation. And what answer shall we give to God when he questions us on this point?

2. Let the next motive to incite us be the example of Christ, who, in order to procure the eternal salvation of souls, became man, suffered so much, shed so much of His Precious Blood, and endured so cruel a death. He invites us to co-operate with Him in saving souls; and to encourage us to do so, and to prove to us the price they cost Him, He shows to us the ropes that bound Him, and the scourges, and the nails, and the lance, and the cross whereon he poured out his life's Blood. And such and so great is His desire to rescue souls from hell, that He once said to S. Bridget that He was ready to suffer it all over again, and much more if necessary, to save even a single soul. Wherefore, S. Ignatius paints Him to us, as beautiful in appearance and amiable of aspect, standing in the pleasant plain of Jerusalem with His chosen apostles and His other servants, whom He would send throughout the world to bear His holy and saving doctrine to men of every rank and condition, and to strive, by all means in their power, to be a help to all". Ah! he must, indeed, have a heart of stone, who, on seeing this example of Jesus, is not moved with zeal for his neighbour's salvation.

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3. The third motive is the sublimity and the utility of the apostolic life. As far as its sublime nature goes, it is so great that it makes us the coadjutors of God. "For we are God's coadjutors" (a), says the apostle; and, therefore, S. Dionysius exclaims, "that the most divine of all divine works is to

(a) 1 Cor. iii. 9.

co-operate with God in the salvation of souls." And what shall we say of its utility? If, for a glass of water given to a poor person, God promises so rich a reward—what, I ask you, will be the reward He shall give to him who has so often, and so many times dispensed the Blood of Jesus Christ in the sacraments? What reward will He give to him who has snatched so many souls from hell, and brought them back to repose in His loving bosom?

§ II.

From what has been said you may see how fitting it is, that if God calls you thereto, you should embrace an apostolic life; or, if you should already have embraced it, should strive to attain, therein, the highest point of perfection. And here you must reflect that, to enrol yourself under the standard of Christ does not merely imply that you have abandoned the standard of Lucifer; for that you are already supposed to have done, after the meditation on the Reign of Christ. But the intention is, that you should follow your captain more closely than ever-more perfectly-more generously-and by the same plan, and with the self-same arms, which your leader employs. This meditation on the two standards, gave to S. Ignatius the idea of the Society of Jesus, which, in itself, is nothing else than an apostolic institute, and a most exact copy of the Life of the Redeemer.

II. The second fruit, which we ought to gather from this meditation, is an esteem, a love, and an ever-increasing desire of slights, of poverty, and other afflictions; for, since Jesus Christ, who was