thousandfold, the difficulties which frighten them away from the pursuit of virtue. For they voluntarily put away from them that consoling unction which would have lightened their labours; that grace is withdrawn from them which would have sustained them in their hour of trial; the hope of reward which would have made even difficulties pleasant, is greatly diminished; and God, on the contrary, pours bitterness into the cup of their pleasures, hedges their path with thorns, and places in their way those self-same dangers which they had vainly endeavoured to escape. Who, then, will turn a deaf ear to the call of God, inviting him to work out his salvation by those means which He has appointed for him?

THIRD POINT.

Reflect upon the happiness of those who belong to the third class, and who eagerly embrace those means of salvation which God has marked out for them, and which are, consequently, the most opportune of all to reach the desired goal. These look solely to the service of the Lord: perfectly indifferent to all means, they are always on the watch for indications of God's will; and no sooner do they discover them, than they apply themselves promptly to put them into execution. Theirs is no half-hearted compliance with the wishes of their Creator; they make no compacts between Nature and Grace, but they generously rush forward towards greater perfection, treading those paths only which God points out to them.

But the great happiness which afterwards falls to their lot may be concluded from this, that (1) they enjoy

the sweetest consolations even in this life, because of the affluence of heavenly favours showered down upon them, and which in some degree emulate the four privileges of the glorified bodies, namely, a clearness of intellect in discerning heavenly truths; agility in flying to the performance of good works; subtlety of memory in representing to themselves heavenly images; and a certain impassibility of mind, which is the result of the continual restraint which they place upon their passions.

(2.) They are frequently inundated with such torrents of heavenly delights that, unable to understand how it is, as it were intoxicated, they abandon themselves to holy transports of love, until, overpowered by them, they exclaim: Enough, O Lord, enough; I am unable to endure more.

(3.) God watches with a special Providence over these, His generous servants, loving them as His very dear children, and as the pupil of His eye, and makes everything turn out to their advantage.

The fruit of this meditation is not only a firm resolution to serve God, by imitating Christ in whatever state, or (in the state already chosen) in whatever degree of perfection He shall be pleased to assign to us; but moreover, to labour with all our might to do so by those very means which He shall point out, without placing any limits to the operations of His grace.

AFFECTIONS.

O God, my Lord and my Judge, I fear Thy judgments exceedingly. Alas! what answer can I give, when you summon heaven and earth as witnesses against me. Thou shalt charge me in those words,

"Judge between me and my vineyard. What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it?" (a). I called this soul to a high degree of perfection; I pointed out the way to attain it, and supplied the means in abundance, and yet it refused to obey. Your soul ought to be holy, because of its exalted condition. You might have made it holy, even through the efficacy of the Exercises; and yet, When I looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes." Ah! my God, what answer shall I give to such accusations!

I tremble, and with reason, when I reflect on this terrible pronouncement : Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required; and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more" (b). Oh, what a misfortune would be mine if this Book of the Exercises, which is calculated to prove for me a ladder wherewith to climb to heaven, should on the contrary serve but to precipitate me into hell! But no, O Lord! it shall never be so. Behold me entirely and resolutely determined to execute your command, by using only those means which you shall be pleased to point out to me. I abhor the wickedness of those men of the first class who, content with the gratification of their own desires, will adopt no means to work out their salvation. I detest the imprudence of those of the second class, who will employ only some of the means. But I ardently long for the happiness of those who belong to the third class, and who, with brave, generous hearts, proclaim themselves ready to adopt all the means which you shall point out to them.

Here we should fervently implore of the Blessed Virgin, to ask her Divine Son to obtain for us from His Eternal Father all the graces of which we may stand in need.

COMPENDIUM.

I. Reflect on the sinfulness of those of the first class who, when urged by God to abandon sin, and be converted, promise to do so, but never carry that promise into effect. Woe to them! for God shall say to them, "Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant". You knew that you ought to be converted, and yet you would not. Your sin is, therefore, the greater: and the greater, also, will be your condemnation.

II. Consider the imprudence of those of the second class, who are convinced of the necessity of conversion, and resolve, in consequence, to amend their lives, but only by such means as please themselves. Oh, what a grievous loss they suffer thereby!

For they lose, (1.) The fruit of the Exercises and an innumerable number of graces. (2.) They fall into very many defects; into a state of almost continual tepidity; and, oftentimes, even into a state of perdition. (3.) They rob themselves of the helps that grace would confer on them to be strong and constant in the path of virtue.

III. Think over the happiness of those who belong to the third class, who, by availing themselves of all the means which God places at their disposal to enable them to attain to perfection: (1.) Do attain to it in a very short time; (2.) Persevere with constancy in the practices of a perfect life; (3.) And have as their reward, even in this life, an overflowing torrent

of heavenly delights ever pouring in upon their souls.

CONSIDERATION.

On the Three Degrees of Humility.

S. Ignatius desires that, "before we apply ourselves to the matter of electing a state, we should so dispose our souls as to be sure of gathering from our meditations none other than the genuine doctrine of Jesus Christ; and, with this end in view, he would have us employ the entire of this day in reflecting, with all the earnestness of which we are capable, upon the three following degrees of humility" (a). And this is, simply, in conformity with the dictates of common sense; for, to make a proper choice, one's mind must be free not only from every sinful, but even dangerous, attachment, and must be perfectly indifferent to all things. But since our corrupt nature tends towards what is evil, rather than towards what is good, this stage of indifference can never be reached, unless we cultivate within us a constant yearning after that which is most perfect; and to cultivate this blessed yearning in the most perfect degree possible, is the object of the present consideration on the three degrees of humility.

I. "The first degree of humility consists in submitting one's-self, without the slightest reserve, to the law of God; so that we should refuse the empire of the entire world, and be prepared even to sacrifice our lives rather than voluntarily violate any command

(a) In lib. Exercit., nota. 3a, ante tres gradus humilitatis.