Aquaviva and the Fathers-Assistant-such opinions as seem most opportune were adopted, arranged in regular order, and collected into this Directory. It is evident, then, that the authority of this book is very great, and that you should attach very considerable importance to such extracts from it as you will find scattered through the pages of the present work.

If you only know how to avail yourself of this, and of the work of S. Ignatius, following the closely connected method in which I shall place everything before you, I, on my part, promise you the happiest results from your Retreat.

INTRODUCTION TO THE RETREAT.

THE Spiritual Exercises of S. Ignatius consist in a Retreat of some days, during which the soul, removed from all intercourse with the world, and shut in from all worldly distractions and cares, is solely occupied in attending, after the method proposed by the saint, to the all-important business of salvation; and while bewailing the transgressions of the past, studies to repair them by a more perfect life in the future. That you may accomplish this purpose the more successfully, I shall place before you, by way of preface, some motives and counsels for your encouragement and direction, so as to enable you to perform during these eight days all that is most necessary in order to derive solid benefit from your Retreat.

§. I. Some motives for attending with diligence to the Spiritual Exercises.

In the opinion of the most competent judges the qualities which mainly affect the value of any exercise may be reduced to these three, viz.—its excellence, which wins for it our esteem; its utility, which creates within us a desire of it; and its necessity, whereby the will is impelled to embrace that which the intellect has already recognised as being in itself both useful and excellent.

I. Now, in the first place, the excellence of these

Spiritual Exercises may be deduced from this: Firstly, that they were inspired by God (a); secondly, that they were dictated by the most august Queen of Heaven (b); and thirdly, that they have not only merited the approval of, but have elicited the highest encomiums from the Holy See, which has recommended them with all the plenitude of its Apostolic authority to the practice of the faithful (c).

That this is so, is established by the Bulls themselves of the Sovereign Pontiffs; by the testimony of the auditors of the Rota, and of their Eminences the Cardinals of the Sacred Congregation of Rites; by the universal feeling and conviction of the Society of Jesus (d); and by the authority of men equally remarkable for sanctity and learning-the principal among them being the Venerable Lewis da Ponte, Lanciscius, Natalis, Rosignoli, and others—who not only fearlessly assert, but prove by solid arguments that these Exercises of S. Ignatius were inspired by God, enriched by the unction of the Holy Spirit, dictated by the Blessed Virgin Mary, and finally, "of his own certain knowledge," and without the change even of a single point, approved of, praised, and authorised by Pope Paul III. ; which approbation extends to each and everything contained in them-quoad omnia et singula in eis contenta.

Moreover, the Sovereign Pontiffs, as Alexander

(a) Lanciscius Opusc. 18, cap. 5, and Rosignolius in lib. "notizie memorabili dei essercizii spirituali," lib. 1, cap. 1. (b) Lud de Ponte in vita Marinæ de Escobar, lib. 1, c. 5, p. 2: Nataliz in lib. "conversatio cœlestis".

(c) Paul III. in the Bull "Pastoralis Officii," 31st July, 1548, and Julius III.

(d) Directorium Exercitiorum in prooemio, n. 2.

VII. and Benedict XIV., have attached to the due performance of these Exercises a Plenary Indulgence, "in order that by this largess of the heavenly treasures of the Church the faithful might be incited to apply themselves to a work so salutary and so pious (a). It is no wonder then that John Camo, Bishop of Belley, while studying this work of S. Ignatius should exclaim in amazement, "O volume, all golden, and more precious than any gem! O divine book, dictated by a special light from God: book which we can never sufficiently praise: book which contains hidden within itself the manna of the desert, the marrow of the cedars of Libanus, and the mustardseed of the Gospel." Is it possible to speak more emphatically in favour of the excellence of the Exercises?

Let this be for us a powerful incitement to perform them with all the fervour of our souls. For, if they have been dictated by God, and if he is accursed who does the work of the Lord negligently, those persons have just reason to fear, who go through the Exercises after a cold or tepid fashion, rejecting the medicine which possesses such efficacy to heal the diseases of their souls.

II. In the next place, authority, experience, and reason, clearly demonstrate the utility of this Spiritual Retreat. Firstly, as regards authority, I should be far too diffuse were I to cite the testimony of all those persons eminent for wisdom and sanctity who have lavished the highest praise on these Exercises.

(a) "Ut Christi fideles hac cœlestium Ecclesiæ thesaurorum elargitione ad vacandum salutari adeo pioque operi incitarentur." In bulla Alexandri VII., die 12 Octobr. 1657.

Of the very many whom I might quote I shall content myself with a few. S. Francis de Sales says of the Exercises, that "they are a holy method which the great servant of God, Ignatius of Loyola, introduced for the reformation of men's lives" (a). S. Charles Borromeo likewise says of them, "I have a splendid library; but it is comprised within the limits of one small book, from which alone I learn more than I could from all the other books in the world put together" (b). Pope Julius III. called the Exercises "salutary beyond measure, full of piety and of sanctity, and most useful for the spiritual advancement of souls" (c). And a great prelate styles them "hidden manna, the grain of mustard seed mentioned in the Gospel, the marrow of the cedars of Libanus, trifles in appearance, but of the greatest value in their effects" (d).

Finally, Blosius, Avila, Canisius, Strada, Suarez, and others quoted by Rossignoli call them a new school of Divine wisdom, the quintessence of ascetic doctrine, the most efficacious aid to attain in the shortest period of time to the highest degree of perfection, a most certain remedy for all evils, an armoury supplying weapons terrible to hell, and one of the most signal blessings which God has bestowed upon his Church in these latter days. In presence of such unexceptionable testimony, who will have the hardihood to deny the usefulness of the Spiritual Exercises?

Secondly, experience supports by facts what these

(a) Treatise on the Love of God, lib. 12, ch. 8. (b) Bartol. Life of S. Ignatius, lib. 1, num. 18. (c) In litteris confirmationis Exercit.

(d) Camus in Act. Sactor. ad diem. 31 Julii.