of
St. Ignatius of Loyola

TRANSLATED FROM

THE AUTOGRAPH

BY

FATHER ELDER MULLAN, S.J.

I.H.S.

NEW YORK



P.J. KENEDY & SONS

PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE

Facultatem concedimus ut liber cui titulusœThe Spiritual Exercises of St.
Ignatius of Loyola translated from the Autograph by Father Elder Mullan,
S.J., typis edatur, si iis ad quos spectat ita videbitur.

Franciscus Xav. Wernz

Praepositus Generalis Societatis Jesu


Nihil Obstat

Remigius Lafort, S.T.D.,

Censor


Imprimatur

John Cardinal Farley,

Archiepiscopus Neo-Eboracensis,

Neo-Eboraci


Die 25 Aprilis, 1914.


Imprimatur

Fr. Albert Lepidi, O.P.,

Mag. Sac. Pal.


Imprimatur

Joseph Ceppetelli,

Patriarcha Constantinop.

Vicesgerens

COPYRIGHT, 1914

BY P.J. KENEDY & SONS
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

APPROBATION OF THE LATIN TEXTS

The Exercises were offered for ecclesiastical censure at Rome. The text
submitted was not, however, the one which is here reproduced, but two Latin
translations, one in more polished Latin”since called the Vulgate
Version”and one a literal rendering. The opinions expressed on these
versions, as also the formal approval of Paul III, are given here, as
applying quite entirely to the text from which the translations were made.
_________________________________________________________________

VULGATE VERSION

We have read everything compiled in the volume: it has greatly pleased us
and seemed remarkably conducive to the salvation of souls.

The Cardinal of Burgos

We grant leave to print the work; it is worthy of all praise and very
profitable to the Christian profession.

Philip, Vicar.

Such holy Exercises cannot but afford the greatest profit to any one who
studies them. They should therefore be received with open arms.

Fr. Aegidius Foscararius,

Master of the Sacred Palace
_________________________________________________________________

LITERAL VERSION

We have read these Spiritual Exercises, They greatly please us and we judge
them worthy of being received and highly esteemed by all who practise the
orthodox faith.

The Cardinal of Burgos

We grant leave to print this work; it is worthy of all praise and very
profitable to the Christian profession.

Philip, Vicar.

As the Christian religion cannot long subsist without some spiritual
exercises and meditations”for the Psalmist says: In my meditation a fire
flames out”I think none more appropriate than these, which undoubtedly have
had their source in the study of the Scriptures and in long experience.

Fr. Aegidius Foscararius,

Master of the Sacred Palace
_________________________________________________________________

PAUL III, POPE FOR A PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE

The cares of the pastoral charge of the whole flock of Christ entrusted to
Us and Our devotion to the glory and praise of God impel Us to embrace what
helps the salvation of souls and their spiritual profit, and cause Us to
hearken to those who petition Us for what can foster and nourish piety in
the faithful.

So Our beloved son, Francis de Borgia, Duke of Gandia, has lately brought it
to Our notice that Our beloved son Ignatius de Loyola, General of the
Society of Jesus, erected by Us in Our beloved City and confirmed by Our
Apostolic authority, has compiled certain instructions, or Spiritual
Exercises, drawn from Holy Writ and from experience in the spiritual life,
and has reduced them to an order which is excellently adapted to move
piously the souls of the faithful, and that they are very useful and
wholesome for the spiritual consolation and profit of the same. This the
said Duke Francis has come to know by report from many places and by clear
evidence at Barcelona, Valencia and Gandia.

Hence he has humbly begged Us to cause the aforesaid instructions and
Spiritual Exercises to be examined, so that their fruit may be more spread,
and more of the faithful may be induced to use them with greater devotion.
And he has begged Us, should We find them worthy, to approve and praise them
and out of Our Apostolic goodness to make other provision in the premisses.

We, therefore, have caused these instructions and Exercises to be examined,
and by the testimony of and report made to Us by Our beloved son John
Cardinal Priest of the Title of St. Clement, Bishop of Burgos and
Inquisitor, Our venerable Brother Philip, Bishop of Saluciae, and Our Vicar
General in things spiritual at Rome, and Our beloved son Aegidius
Foscararius, Master of Our Sacred Palace, have found that these Exercises
are full of piety and holiness and that they are and will be extremely
useful and salutary for the spiritual profit of the faithful.

We have, besides, as We should, due regard to the rich fruits which Ignatius
and the aforesaid Society founded by him are constantly producing everywhere
in the Church of God, and to the very great help which the said Exercises
have proved in this.

Moved, then, by this petition, with the aforesaid authority, by these
presents, and of Our certain knowledge, We approve, praise, and favor with
the present writing the aforesaid instructions and Exercises and all and
everything contained in them, and We earnestly exhort all and each of the
faithful of both sexes everywhere to employ instructions and Exercises so
pious and to be instructed by them.

[Here follow regulations for the diffusion of the book, and then
confirmatory clauses.]

Given at St. Marks in Rome under the seal of the Fisherman, 31 July, 1548,
in the 14th year of Our Pontificate.

Blo. El. Fulginen.
_________________________________________________________________

PREFACE

THE present translation of the Exercises of St. Ignatius has been made from
the Spanish Autograph of St. Ignatius. The copy so designated is not indeed
in the handwriting of the Saint, but has a good number of corrections made
by him and is known to have been used by him in giving the Exercises.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was a man without any great pretensions to education
at the time he wrote this book. His native language was not Spanish, but
Basque. His lack of education and his imperfect acquaintance with pure
Spanish are enough to make it clear that a refined use of any language, and
more especially of the Spanish, or, in general, anything like a finished or
even perfectly correct, style is not to be expected in his work. Literary
defects he removed to some extent, perhaps, as he continued to use and apply
the book, but he is known never to have been fearful of such faults. His
corrections found in this text are clearly made with a view to precision
more than to anything else.

The Autograph of St. Ignatius was translated by Father General Roothaan into
Latin and was reproduced by Father Rodeles in his edition of the Spanish
text. But the original was not available to ordinary students. In 1908,
however, Father General Wernz allowed the entire book to be phototyped, and
in this way it was spread throughout the Society of Jesus in a large number
of copies. It is one of these which has been chiefly employed by the present
translator, who has, besides, made frequent use of the Manuscript itself.

After considerable study of the matter, it seemed best to make this
translation as faithful and close a reproduction of the Spanish text as
could be. To do so it was necessary at times to sacrifice the niceties of
style, but it was thought that those who would use the book would easily
forego the elegancies of diction if they could feel sure they were reading
the very words of St. Ignatius. Any other form of translation than the one
adopted could hardly be kept from being a partial expansion, illustration or
development of the original, and would therefore have proved, to some
extent, a commentary as well as a translation. This the translator has
earnestly sought to avoid, preferring to leave the further work of
commentary to another occasion or to other hands.

Another reason for aiming at absolute fidelity rather than style was the
fact that the Exercises are mostly read, not continuously for any time, but
piecemeal and meditatively. Literary finish would therefore not be much
sought or cared for in the book, but accuracy is. For this a certain neglect
of style seemed pardonable in the translation, if only the real meaning of
the writer could be made clear. Perhaps some may even find a charm in the
consequent want of finish, seeing it reproduces more completely the style of
St. Ignatius.

The process of translating in this way the Autograph text is not as simple
as it might seem. The first difficulty is to make sure of the exact meaning
of St. Ignatius. This is obscured, at times, by his language being that of
nearly 400 years ago and being not pure Spanish. Occasionally, in fact, the
Saint makes new Spanish words from the Latin or Italian, or uses Spanish
words in an Italian or Latin sense, or employs phrases not current except in
the Schools, and sometimes even has recourse to words in their Latin form.
To be sure, then, of the meaning, one must often go to other languages and
to the terms adopted in Scholastic Philosophy or Theology. The meaning
clear, the further difficulty comes of finding an exactly equivalent English
word or phrase.

In accomplishing his task, the translator has made free use of other
translations, especially of that of Father General Roothaan into Latin, that
of Father Venturi into Italian, and that of Father Jennesseaux into French,
and has had the use of the literal translation into Latin made, apparently,
by St. Ignatius himself, copied in 1541, and formally approved by the Holy
See in 1548.

Besides the last-mentioned Manuscript and printed books, the translator has
to acknowledge, as he does very gratefully, his obligations to the Very Rev.
Father Mathias Abad, Father Achilles Gerste and particularly Father Mariano
Lecina, Editor of the Ignatiana in the Monumenta Historica S.J., for aid in
appreciating the Spanish text, to Fathers Michael Ahern, Peter Cusick,
Walter Drum, Francis Kemper and Herbert Noonan for general revision of the
translation, and above all to Father Aloysius Frumveller for an accurate
collation of the translation with the original.

In conclusion, it is well to warn the reader that the Spiritual Exercises of
St. Ignatius are not meant to be read cursorily, but to be pondered word for
word and under the direction of a competent guide. Read straight on, it may
well appear jejune and unsatisfactory; studied in the actual making of the
Exercises, the very text itself cannot fail to yield ever new material for
thought and prayer.

ELDER MULLAN, S.J.

German College, Rome,

Feast of St. Ignatius, 1909.
_________________________________________________________________

CONTENTS

Approbation of the Latin Text

Preface

General Note

Prayer of Father Diertins

Annotations

Presupposition

First Week

Principle and Foundation

Particular and Daily Examen

General Examen

General Confession with Communion

Meditation on the First, the Second, and the Third Sin

Meditation on Sins

First Repetition

Second Repetition

Meditation on Hell

Note

Additions

Second Week

The Call of the Temporal King

Notes

First Day

The Incarnation

The Nativity

Notes

Second Day

Note

Third Day

Preamble to Consider States

Fourth Day

Two Standards

Note

Three Pairs of Men

Note

Fifth Day

Sixth”Tenth Day

Eleventh”Twelfth Day

Notes

Three Manners of Humility

Note

Prelude for Making Election

Matter of Election

Note

Times for Making Election

First Time

Second Time

Third Time

First Way

Second Way

Note

To Amend and Reform ones own Life and State

Third Week

First Contemplation

Note

Second Contemplation

Notes

Second”Fourth Day

Fifth”Seventh Day

Note

Eating

Fourth Week

First Contemplation

Notes

Contemplation to Gain Love

Three Methods of Prayer

First Method

Second Method

Third Method

Mysteries of the Life of Christ our Lord

Rules

Rules for Perceiving the Movements Caused in the Soul

First Week

Second Week

Rules for Distributing Alms

Notes on Scruples and Persuasions of the Enemy

Rules to have the True Sentiment in the Church

General Index
_________________________________________________________________

GENERAL NOTE

In the reproduction of the text in English:

1. No change whatever is made in the wording. The proper corrections,
however, of the two unimportant slips in quotation have been indicated in
italics.

It may be remarked in passing that the text of Holy Scripture is not seldom
given in the Spiritual Exercises in wording somewhat different from that of
the Vulgate. Such divergences have not been noted in this translation. It
will be remembered that, when the book was written, the Council of Trent had
not yet put its seal on the Vulgate.

2. The head lines and the rubrics have been kept as they stand in the
Manuscript. Where they were wanting, they have been supplied in italics.

3. Abbreviations have been filled out.

4. Wherever italics are used, the words in this character belong to the
translator and not to St. Ignatius.

5. In the use of small and capital letters, and in the matter of punctuation
and the division into paragraphs the practice of the copyist has usually not
been followed. Various kinds of type, also, are used independently of the
Manuscript.

6. As a matter of convenience, in citations from Holy Scripture, the modern
method by chapter and verse is substituted for that of the Mss. chapter and
letter. Besides, quotations are indicated by quotation marks in place of the
parentheses of the Mss.

Elder Mullan, S.J.
_________________________________________________________________

PRAYER

OF FATHER DIERTINS

ROUSE up, O Lord, and foster the spirit of the Exercises which Blessed
Ignatius labored to spread abroad, that we, too, may be filled with it and
be zealous to love what he loved and do what he taught! Through Christ our
Lord.

Amen.
_________________________________________________________________

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS

IHS
_________________________________________________________________

ANNOTATIONS

TO GIVE SOME UNDERSTANDING OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES WHICH FOLLOW, AND
TO ENABLE HIM WHO IS TO GIVE AND HIM WHO IS TO RECEIVE THEM TO HELP
THEMSELVES

First Annotation. The first Annotation is that by this name of Spiritual
Exercises is meant every way of examining ones conscience, of meditating,
of contemplating, of praying vocally and mentally, and of performing other
spiritual actions, as will be said later. For as strolling, walking and
running are bodily exercises, so every way of preparing and disposing the
soul to rid itself of all the disordered tendencies, and, after it is rid,
to seek and find the Divine Will as to the management of ones life for the
salvation of the soul, is called a Spiritual Exercise.

Second Annotation. [1] The second is that the person who gives to another
the way and order in which to meditate or contemplate, ought to relate
faithfully the events of such Contemplation or Meditation, going over the
Points with only a short or summary development. For, if the person who is
making the Contemplation, takes the true groundwork of the narrative, and,
discussing and considering for himself, finds something which makes the
events a little clearer or brings them a little more home to him”whether
this comes through his own reasoning, or because his intellect is
enlightened by the Divine power”he will get more spiritual relish and fruit,
than if he who is giving the Exercises had much explained and amplified the
meaning of the events. For it is not knowing much, but realising and
relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul.

Third Annotation. The third: As in all the following Spiritual Exercises, we
use acts of the intellect in reasoning, and acts of the will in movements of
the feelings: let us remark that, in the acts of the will, when we are
speaking vocally or mentally with God our Lord, or with His Saints, greater
reverence is required on our part than when we are using the intellect in
understanding.

Fourth Annotation. The fourth: The following Exercises are divided into four
parts:

First, the consideration and contemplation on the sins;

Second, the life of Christ our Lord up to Palm Sunday inclusively;

Third, the Passion of Christ our Lord;

Fourth, the Resurrection and Ascension, with the three Methods of Prayer.

Though four weeks, to correspond to this division, are spent in the
Exercises, it is not to be understood that each Week has, of necessity,
seven or eight days. For, as it happens that in the First Week some are
slower to find what they seek”namely, contrition, sorrow and tears for their
sins”and in the same way some are more diligent than others, and more acted
on or tried by different spirits; it is necessary sometimes to shorten the
Week, and at other times to lengthen it. The same is true of all the other
subsequent Weeks, seeking out the things according to the subject matter.
However, the Exercises will be finished in thirty days, a little more or
less.

Fifth Annotation. The fifth: It is very helpful to him who is receiving the
Exercises to enter into them with great courage and generosity towards his
Creator and Lord, offering [2] Him all his will and liberty, that His Divine
Majesty may make use of his person and of all he has according [3] to His
most Holy Will.

Sixth Annotation. The sixth: When he who is giving the Exercises sees that
no spiritual movements, such as consolations or desolations, come to the
soul of him who is exercising himself, and that he is not moved by different
spirits, he ought to inquire carefully of him about the Exercises, whether
he does them at their appointed times, and how. So too of the Additions,
whether he observes them with diligence. Let him ask in detail about each of
these things.

Consolation and desolation are spoken of on p. 170; the Additions on p. 22.

Seventh Annotation. The seventh: If he who is giving the Exercises sees that
he who is receiving them is in desolation and tempted, let him not be hard
or dissatisfied with him, but gentle and indulgent, giving him courage and
strength for the future, and laying bare to him the wiles of the enemy of
human nature, and getting him to prepare and dispose himself for the
consolation coming.

Eighth Annotation. The eighth: If he who is giving the Exercises sees that
he who is receiving them is in need of instruction about the desolations and
wiles of the enemy”and the same of consolations”he may explain to him, as
far as he needs them, the Rules of the First and Second Weeks for
recognising different spirits. (P. 177).

Ninth Annotation. The ninth is to notice, when he who is exercising himself
is in the Exercises of the First Week, if he is a person who has not been
versed in spiritual things, and is tempted grossly and openly”having, for
example, suggested to him obstacles to going on in the service of God our
Lord, such as labors, shame and fear for the honor of the world”let him who
is giving the Exercises not explain to him the Rules of the Second Week for
the discernment of spirits. Because, as much as those of the First Week will
be helpful, those of the Second will be harmful to him, as being matter too
subtle and too high for him to understand.

Tenth Annotation. The tenth: When he who is giving the Exercises perceives
that he who is receiving them is assaulted and tempted under the appearance
of good, then it is proper to instruct him about the Rules of the Second
Week already mentioned. For, ordinarily, the enemy of human nature tempts
under the appearance of good rather when the person is exercising himself in
the Illuminative Life, which corresponds to the Exercises of the Second
Week, and not so much in the Purgative Life, which corresponds to those of
the First.

Eleventh Annotation. The eleventh: It is helpful to him who is receiving the
Exercises in the First Week, not to know anything of what he is to do in the
Second, but so to labor in the First to attain the object he is seeking as
if he did not hope to find in the Second any good.

Twelfth Annotation. The twelfth: As he who is receiving the Exercises is to
give an hour to each of the five Exercises or Contemplations which will be
made every day, he who is giving the Exercises has to warn him carefully to
always see that his soul remains content in the consciousness of having been
a full hour in the Exercise, and rather more than less. For the enemy is not
a little used to try and make one cut short the hour of such contemplation,
meditation or prayer.

Thirteenth Annotation. The thirteenth: It is likewise to be remarked that,
as, in the time of consolation, it is easy and not irksome to be in
contemplation the full hour, so it is very hard in the time of desolation to
fill it out. For this reason, the person who is exercising himself, in order
to act against the desolation and conquer the temptations, ought always to
stay somewhat more than the full hour; so as to accustom himself not only to
resist the adversary, but even to overthrow him.

Fourteenth Annotation. The fourteenth: If he who is giving the Exercises
sees that he who is receiving them is going on in consolation and with much
fervor, he ought to warn him not to make any inconsiderate and hasty promise
or vow: and the more light of character he knows him to be, the more he
ought to warn and admonish him. For, though one may justly influence another
to embrace the religious life, in which he is understood to make vows of
obedience, poverty and chastity, and, although a good work done under vow is
more meritorious than one done without it, one should carefully consider the
circumstances and personal qualities of the individual and how much help or
hindrance he is likely to find in fulfilling the thing he would want to
promise.

Fifteenth Annotation. The fifteenth: He who is giving the Exercises ought
not to influence him who is receiving them more to poverty or to a promise,
than to their opposites, nor more to one state or way of life than to
another. For though, outside the Exercises, we can lawfully and with merit
influence every one who is probably fit to choose continence, virginity, the
religious life and all manner of evangelical perfection, still in the
Spiritual Exercises, when seeking the Divine Will, it is more fitting and
much better, that the Creator and Lord Himself should communicate Himself to
His devout soul, inflaming it with His love and praise, and disposing it for
the way in which it will be better able to serve Him in future. So, he who
is giving the Exercises should not turn or incline to one side or the other,
but standing in the centre like a balance, leave the Creator to act
immediately with the creature, and the creature with its Creator and Lord.

Sixteenth Annotation. The sixteenth: For this”namely, that the Creator and
Lord may work more surely in His creature”it is very expedient, if it
happens that the soul is attached or inclined to a thing inordinately, that
one should move himself, putting forth all his strength, to come to the
contrary of what he is wrongly drawn to. Thus if he inclines to seeking and
possessing an office or benefice, not for the honor and glory of God our
Lord, nor for the spiritual well-being of souls, but for his own temporal
advantage and interests, he ought to excite his feelings to the contrary,
being instant in prayers and other spiritual exercises, and asking God our
Lord for the contrary, namely, not to want such office or benefice, or any
other thing, unless His Divine Majesty, putting his desires in order, change
his first inclination for him, so that the motive for desiring or having one
thing or another be only the service, honor, and glory of His Divine
Majesty.

Seventeenth Annotation. The seventeenth: It is very helpful that he who is
giving the Exercises, without wanting to ask or know from him who is
receiving them his personal thoughts or sins, should be faithfully informed
of the various movements and thoughts which the different spirits put in
him. For, according as is more or less useful for him, he can give him some
spiritual Exercises suited and adapted to the need of such a soul so acted
upon.

Eighteenth Annotation. The eighteenth: The Spiritual Exercises have to be
adapted to the dispositions of the persons who wish to receive them, that
is, to their age, education or ability, in order not to give to one who is
uneducated or of little intelligence things he cannot easily bear and profit
by.

Again, that should be given to each one by which, according to his wish to
dispose himself, he may be better able to help himself and to profit.

So, to him who wants help to be instructed and to come to a certain degree
of contentment of soul, can be given the Particular Examen, p. 21, and then
the General Examen, p. 25; also, for a half hour in the morning, the Method
of Prayer on the Commandments, the Deadly Sins, etc., p. 125. Let him be
recommended, also, to confess his sins every eight days, and, if he can, to
receive the Blessed Sacrament every fifteen days, and better, if he be so
moved, every eight. This way is more proper for illiterate or less educated
persons. Let each of the Commandments be explained to them; and so of the
Deadly Sins, Precepts of the Church, Five Senses, and Works of Mercy.

So, too, should he who is giving the Exercises observe that he who is
receiving them has little ability or little natural capacity, from whom not
much fruit is to be hoped, it is more expedient to give him some of these
easy Exercises, until he confesses his sins. Then let him be given some
Examens of Conscience and some method for going to Confession oftener than
was his custom, in order to preserve what he has gained, but let him not go
on into the matter of the Election, or into any other Exercises that are
outside the First Week, especially when more progress can be made in other
persons and there is not time for every thing.

Nineteenth Annotation. The nineteenth: A person of education or ability who
is taken up with public affairs or suitable business, may take an hour and a
half daily to exercise himself.

Let the end for which man is created be explained to him, and he can also be
given for the space of a half-hour the Particular Examen and then the
General and the way to confess and to receive the Blessed Sacrament. Let
him, during three days every morning, for the space of an hour, make the
meditation on the First, Second and Third Sins, pp. 37, 38; then, three
other days at the same hour, the meditation on the statement of Sins, p. 40;
then, for three other days at the same hour, on the punishments
corresponding to Sins, p. 45. Let him be given in all three meditations the
ten Additions, p. 47.

For the mysteries of Christ our Lord, let the same course be kept, as is
explained below and in full in the Exercises themselves.

Twentieth Annotation. The twentieth: To him who is more disengaged, and who
desires to get all the profit he can, let all the Spiritual Exercises be
given in the order in which they follow.

In these he will, ordinarily, more benefit himself, the more he separates
himself from all friends and acquaintances and from all earthly care, as by
changing from the house where he was dwelling, and taking another house or
room to live in, in as much privacy as he can, so that it be in his power to
go each day to Mass and to Vespers, without fear that his acquaintances will
put obstacles in his way.

From this isolation three chief benefits, among many others, follow.

The first is that a man, by separating himself from many friends and
acquaintances, and likewise from many not well-ordered affairs, to serve and
praise God our Lord, merits no little in the sight of His Divine Majesty.

The second is, that being thus isolated, and not having his understanding
divided on many things, but concentrating his care on one only, namely, on
serving his Creator and benefiting his own soul, he uses with greater
freedom his natural powers, in seeking with diligence what he so much
desires.

The third: the more our soul finds itself alone and isolated, the more apt
it makes itself to approach and to reach its Creator and Lord, and the more
it so approaches Him, the more it disposes itself to receive graces and
gifts from His Divine and Sovereign Goodness.
_________________________________________________________________

[1] The word Annotation does not occur in the original after the first time.
The same is true of similar cases in the Mss.

[2] Offering is in St. Ignatius handwriting, correcting giving or
presenting, which is crossed out.

[3] May make use of . . . according is in the Saints handwriting,
correcting some word erased.
_________________________________________________________________

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

to conquer oneself and regulate ones life without determining oneself
through [4] any tendency that is disordered
_________________________________________________________________

[4] Without determining oneself through is in the Saints hand, the words
being inserted between life and tendency, the word without being cancelled.
_________________________________________________________________

PRESUPPOSITION

In order that both he who is giving the Spiritual Exercises, and he who is
receiving them, may more help and benefit themselves, let it be presupposed
that every good Christian is to be more ready to save his neighbors
proposition than to condemn it. If he cannot save it, let him inquire how he
means it; and if he means it badly, let him correct him with charity. If
that is not enough, let him seek all the suitable means to bring him to mean
it well, and save himself.
_________________________________________________________________

FIRST WEEK
_________________________________________________________________

PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this
means to save his soul.

And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that
they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.

From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to
his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to
it.

For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things
in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited
to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches
rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short
life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most
conducive for us to the end for which we are created.
_________________________________________________________________

PARTICULAR AND DAILY EXAMEN

It contains in it three times, and two to examine oneself.

The first time is in the morning, immediately on rising, when one ought to
propose to guard himself with diligence against that particular sin or
defect which he wants to correct and amend.

The second time is after dinner, when one is to ask of God our Lord what one
wants, namely, grace to remember how many times he has fallen into that
particular sin or defect, and to amend himself in the future. Then let him
make the first Examen, asking account of his soul of that particular thing
proposed, which he wants to correct and amend. Let him go over hour by hour,
or period by period, commencing at the hour he rose, and continuing up to
the hour and instant of the present examen, and let him make in the first
line of the G”””- as many dots as were the times he has fallen into that
particular sin or defect. Then let him resolve anew to amend himself up to
the second Examen which he will make.

The third time: After supper, the second Examen will be made, in the same
way, hour by hour, commencing at the first Examen and continuing up to the
present (second) one, and let him make in the second line of the same G”””-
as many dots as were the times he has fallen into that particular sin or
defect.

FOUR ADDITIONS

FOLLOW TO RID ONESELF SOONER OF THAT PARTICULAR SIN OR DEFECT

First Addition. The first Addition is that each time one falls into that
particular sin or defect, let him put his hand on his breast, grieving for
having fallen: which can be done even in the presence of many, without their
perceiving what he is doing.

Second Addition. The second: As the first line of the G”””- means the first
Examen, and the second line the second Examen, let him look at night if
there is amendment from the first line to the second, that is, from the
first Examen to the second.

Third Addition. The third: To compare the second day with the first; that
is, the two Examens of the present day with the other two Examens of the
previous day, and see if he has amended himself from one day to the other.

Fourth Addition. The fourth Addition: To compare one week with another, and
see if he has amended himself in the present week over the week past.

Note. It is to be noted that the first (large) G”””- which follows means the
Sunday: the second (smaller), the Monday: the third, the Tuesday, and so on.

G

G

G

G

G

G
_________________________________________________________________

GENERAL EXAMEN OF CONSCIENCE

TO PURIFY ONESELF AND TO MAKE ONES CONFESSION BETTER

I presuppose that there are three kinds of thoughts in me: that is, one my
own, which springs from my mere liberty and will; and two others, which come
from without, one from the good spirit, and the other from the bad.

THOUGHT

There are two ways of meriting in the bad thought which comes from without,
namely:

First Way. A thought of committing a mortal sin, which thought I resist
immediately and it remains conquered.

Second Way. The second way of meriting is: When that same bad thought comes
to me and I resist it, and it returns to me again and again, and I always
resist, until it is conquered.

This second way is more meritorious than the first.

A venial sin is committed when the same thought comes of sinning mortally
and one gives ear to it, making some little delay, or receiving some sensual
pleasure, or when there is some negligence in rejecting such thought.

There are two ways of sinning mortally:

First Way. The first is, when one gives consent to the bad thought, to act
afterwards as he has consented, or to put it in act if he could.

Second Way. The second way of sinning mortally is when that sin is put in
act.

This is a greater sin for three reasons: first, because of the greater time;
second, because of the greater intensity; third, because of the greater harm
to the two persons.

WORD

One must not swear, either by Creator or creature, if it be not with truth,
necessity and reverence.

By necessity I mean, not when any truth whatever is affirmed with oath, but
when it is of some importance for the good of the soul, or the body, or for
temporal goods.

By reverence I mean when, in naming the Creator and Lord, one acts with
consideration, so as to render Him the honor and reverence due.

It is to be noted that, though in an idle oath one sins more when he swears
by the Creator than by the creature, it is more difficult to swear in the
right way with truth, necessity and reverence by the creature than by the
Creator, for the following reasons.

First Reason. The first: When we want to swear by some creature, wanting to
name the creature does not make us so attentive or circumspect as to telling
the truth, or as to affirming it with necessity, as would wanting to name
the Lord and Creator of all things.

Second Reason. The second is that in swearing by the creature it is not so
easy to show reverence and respect to the Creator, as in swearing and naming
the same Creator and Lord, because wanting to name God our Lord brings with
it more respect and reverence than wanting to name the created thing.
Therefore swearing by the creature is more allowable to the perfect than to
the imperfect, because the perfect, through continued contemplation and
enlightenment of intellect, consider, meditate and contemplate more that God
our Lord is in every creature, according to His own essence, presence and
power, and so in swearing by the creature they are more apt and prepared
than the imperfect to show respect and reverence to their Creator and Lord.

Third Reason. The third is that in continually swearing by the creature,
idolatry is to be more feared in the imperfect than in the perfect.

One must not speak an idle word. By idle word I mean one which does not
benefit either me or another, and is not directed to that intention. Hence
words spoken for any useful purpose, or meant to profit ones own or
anothers soul, the body or temporal goods, are never idle, not even if one
were to speak of something foreign to ones state of life, as, for instance,
if a religious speaks of wars or articles of trade; but in all that is said
there is merit in directing well, and sin in directing badly, or in speaking
idly.

Nothing must be said to injure anothers character or to find fault, because
if I reveal a mortal sin that is not public, I sin mortally; if a venial
sin, venially; and if a defect, I show a defect of my own.

But if the intention is right, in two ways one can speak of the sin or fault
of another:

First Way. The first: When the sin is public, as in the case of a public
prostitute, and of a sentence given in judgment, or of a public error which
is infecting the souls with whom one comes in contact.

Second Way. Second: When the hidden sin is revealed to some person that he
may help to raise him who is in sin”supposing, however, that he has some
probable conjectures or grounds for thinking that he will be able to help
him.

ACT

Taking the Ten Commandments, the Precepts of the Church and the
recommendations of Superiors, every act done against any of these three
heads is, according to its greater or less nature, a greater or a lesser
sin.

By recommendations of Superiors I mean such things as Bulls de Cruzadas and
other Indulgences, as for instance for peace, granted under condition of
going to Confession and receiving the Blessed Sacrament. For one commits no
little sin in being the cause of others acting contrary to such pious
exhortations and recommendations of our Superiors, or in doing so oneself.

METHOD FOR MAKING THE GENERAL EXAMEN

It contains in it five Points.

First Point. The first Point is to give thanks to God our Lord for the
benefits received.

Second Point. The second, to ask grace to know our sins and cast them out.

Third Point. The third, to ask account of our soul from the hour that we
rose up to the present Examen, hour by hour, or period by period: and first
as to thoughts, and then as to words, and then as to acts, in the same order
as was mentioned in the Particular Examen.

Fourth Point. The fourth, to ask pardon of God our Lord for the faults.

Fifth Point. The fifth, to purpose amendment with His grace.

Our Father.
_________________________________________________________________

GENERAL CONFESSION WITH COMMUNION

Whoever, of his own accord, wants to make a General Confession, will, among
many other advantages, find three in making it here.

First. The first: Though whoever goes to Confession every year is not
obliged to make a General Confession, by making it there is greater profit
and merit, because of the greater actual sorrow for all the sins and
wickedness of his whole life.

Second. The second: In the Spiritual Exercises, sins and their malice are
understood more intimately, than in the time when one was not so giving
himself to interior things. Gaining now more knowledge of and sorrow for
them, he will have greater profit and merit than he had before.

Third. The third is: In consequence, having made a better Confession and
being better disposed, one finds himself in condition and prepared to
receive the Blessed Sacrament: the reception of which is an aid not only not
to fall into sin, but also to preserve the increase of grace.

This General Confession will be best made immediately after the Exercises of
the First Week.
_________________________________________________________________

FIRST EXERCISE

IT IS A MEDITATION WITH THE THREE POWERS ON THE FIRST, THE SECOND AND THE
THIRD SIN

It contains in it, after one Preparatory Prayer and two Preludes, three
chief Points and one Colloquy.

Prayer. The Preparatory Prayer is to ask grace of God our Lord that all my
intentions, actions and operations may be directed purely to the service and
praise of His Divine Majesty.

First Prelude. The First Prelude is a composition, seeing the place.

Here it is to be noted that, in a visible contemplation or meditation”as,
for instance, when one contemplates Christ our Lord, Who is visible”the
composition will be to see with the sight of the imagination the corporeal
place where the thing is found which I want to contemplate. I say the
corporeal place, as for instance, a Temple or Mountain where Jesus Christ or
Our Lady is found, according to what I want to contemplate. In an invisible
contemplation or meditation”as here on the Sins”the composition will be to
see with the sight of the imagination and consider that my soul is
imprisoned in this corruptible body, and all the compound in this valley, as
exiled among brute beasts: I say all the compound of soul and body.

Second Prelude. The second is to ask God our Lord for what I want and
desire.

The petition has to be according to the subject matter; that is, if the
contemplation is on the Resurrection, one is to ask for joy with Christ in
joy; if it is on the Passion, he is to ask for pain, tears and torment with
Christ in torment.

Here it will be to ask shame and confusion at myself, seeing how many have
been damned for only one mortal sin, and how many times I deserved to be
condemned forever for my so many sins.

Note. Before all Contemplations or Meditations, there ought always to be
made the Preparatory Prayer, which is not changed, and the two Preludes
already mentioned, which are sometimes changed, according to the subject
matter.

First Point. The first Point will be to bring the memory on the First Sin,
which was that of the Angels, and then to bring the intellect on the same,
discussing it; then the will, wanting to recall and understand all this in
order to make me more ashamed and confound me more, bringing into comparison
with the one sin of the Angels my so many sins, and reflecting, while they
for one sin were cast into Hell, how often I have deserved it for so many.

I say to bring to memory the sin of the Angels, how they, being created in
grace, not wanting to help themselves with their liberty to reverence and
obey their Creator and Lord, coming to pride, were changed from grace to
malice, and hurled from Heaven to Hell; and so then to discuss more in
detail with the intellect: and then to move the feelings more with the will.

Second Point. The second is to do the same”that is, to bring the Three
Powers”on the sin of Adam and Eve, bringing to memory how on account of that
sin they did penance for so long a time, and how much corruption came on the
human race, so many people going the way to Hell.

I say to bring to memory the Second Sin, that of our First Parents; how
after Adam was created in the field of Damascus and placed in the
Terrestrial Paradise, and Eve was created from his rib, being forbidden to
eat of the Tree of Knowledge, they ate and so sinned, and afterwards clothed
in tunics of skins and cast from Paradise, they lived, all their life,
without the original justice which they had lost, and in many labors and
much penance. And then to discuss with the understanding more in detail; and
to use the will as has been said.

Third Point. The third is likewise to do the same on the Third particular
Sin of any one who for one mortal sin is gone to Hell”and many others
without number, for fewer sins than I have committed.

I say to do the same on the Third particular Sin, bringing to memory the
gravity and malice of the sin against ones Creator and Lord; to discuss
with the understanding how in sinning and acting against the Infinite
Goodness, he has been justly condemned forever; and to finish with the will
as has been said.

Colloquy. Imagining Christ our Lord present and placed on the Cross, let me
make a Colloquy, how from Creator He is come to making Himself man, and from
life eternal is come to temporal death, and so to die for my sins.

Likewise, looking at myself, what I have done for Christ, what I am doing
for Christ, what I ought to do for Christ.

And so, seeing Him such, and so nailed on the Cross, to go over that which
will present itself.

The Colloquy is made, properly speaking, as one friend speaks to another, or
as a servant to his master; now asking some grace, now blaming oneself for
some misdeed, now communicating ones affairs, and asking advice in them.

And let me say an Our Father.
_________________________________________________________________

SECOND EXERCISE

IT IS A MEDITATION ON THE SINS AND CONTAINS IN IT AFTER THE PREPARATORY
PRAYER AND TWO PRELUDES, FIVE POINTS AND ONE COLLOQUY

Prayer. Let the Preparatory Prayer be the same.

First Prelude. The First Prelude will be the same composition.

Second Prelude. The second is to ask for what I want. It will be here to beg
a great and intense sorrow and tears for my sins.

First Point. The first Point is the statement of the sins; that is to say,
to bring to memory all the sins of life, looking from year to year, or from
period to period. For this three things are helpful: first, to look at the
place and the house where I have lived; second, the relations I have had
with others; third, the occupation in which I have lived.

Second Point. The second, to weigh the sins, looking at the foulness and the
malice which any mortal sin committed has in it, even supposing it were not
forbidden.

Third Point. The third, to look at who I am, lessening myself by examples:

First, how much I am in comparison to all men;

Second, what men are in comparison to all the Angels and Saints of Paradise;

Third, what all Creation is in comparison to God: (”Then I alone, what can I
be?)

Fourth, to see all my bodily corruption and foulness;

Fifth, to look at myself as a sore and ulcer, from which have sprung so many
sins and so many iniquities and so very vile poison.

Fourth Point. The fourth, to consider what God is, against Whom I have
sinned, according to His attributes; comparing them with their contraries in
me”His Wisdom with my ignorance; His Omnipotence with my weakness; His
Justice with my iniquity; His Goodness with my malice.

Fifth Point. The fifth, an exclamation of wonder with deep feeling, going
through all creatures, how they have left me in life and preserved me in it;
the Angels, how, though they are the sword of the Divine Justice, they have
endured me, and guarded me, and prayed for me; the Saints, how they have
been engaged in interceding and praying for me; and the heavens, sun, moon,
stars, and elements, fruits, birds, fishes and animals”and the earth, how it
has not opened to swallow me up, creating new Hells for me to suffer in them
forever!

Colloquy. Let me finish with a Colloquy of mercy, pondering and giving
thanks to God our Lord that He has given me life up to now, proposing
amendment, with His grace, for the future.

Our Father.
_________________________________________________________________

THIRD EXERCISE

IT IS A REPETITION OF THE FIRST AND SECOND EXERCISE, MAKING THREE COLLOQUIES

After the Preparatory Prayer and two Preludes, it will be to repeat the
First and Second Exercise, marking and dwelling on the Points in which I
have felt greater consolation or desolation, or greater spiritual feeling.

After this I will make three Colloquies in the following manner:

First Colloquy. The first Colloquy to Our Lady, that she may get me grace
from Her Son and Lord for three things: first, that I may feel an interior
knowledge of my sins, and hatred of them; second, that I may feel the
disorder of my actions, so that, hating them, I may correct myself and put
myself in order; third, to ask knowledge of the world, in order that, hating
it, I may put away from me worldly and vain things.

And with that a Hail Mary.

Second Colloquy. The second: The same to the Son, begging Him to get it for
me from the Father.

And with that the Soul of Christ.

Third Colloquy. The third: The same to the Father, that the Eternal Lord
Himself may grant it to me.

And with that an Our Father.
_________________________________________________________________

FOURTH EXERCISE

IT IS A SUMMARY OF THIS SAME THIRD

I said a summary, that the understanding, without wandering, may assiduously
go through the memory of the things contemplated in the preceding Exercises.

I will make the same three Colloquies.
_________________________________________________________________

FIFTH EXERCISE

IT IS A MEDITATION ON HELL

It contains in it, after the Preparatory Prayer and two Preludes, five
Points and one Colloquy:

Prayer. Let the Preparatory Prayer be the usual one.

First Prelude. The first Prelude is the composition, which is here to see
with the sight of the imagination the length, breadth and depth of Hell.

Second Prelude. The second, to ask for what I want: it will be here to ask
for interior sense of the pain which the damned suffer, in order that, if,
through my faults, I should forget the love of the Eternal Lord, at least
the fear of the pains may help me not to come into sin.

First Point. The first Point will be to see with the sight of the
imagination the great fires, and the souls as in bodies of fire.

Second Point. The second, to hear with the ears wailings, howlings, cries,
blasphemies against Christ our Lord and against all His Saints.

Third Point. The third, to smell with the smell smoke, sulphur, dregs and
putrid things.

Fourth Point. The fourth, to taste with the taste bitter things, like tears,
sadness and the worm of conscience.

Fifth Point. The fifth, to touch with the touch; that is to say, how the
fires touch and burn the souls.

Colloquy. Making a Colloquy to Christ our Lord, I will bring to memory the
souls that are in Hell, some because they did not believe the Coming, others
because, believing, they did not act according to His Commandments; making
three divisions:

First, Second, and Third Divisions. The first, before the Coming; the
second, during His life; the third, after His life in this world; and with
this I will give Him thanks that He has not let me fall into any of these
divisions, ending my life.

Likewise, I will consider how up to now He has always had so great pity and
mercy on me.

I will end with an Our Father.

Note. The first Exercise will be made at midnight; the second immediately on
rising in the morning; the third, before or after Mass; in any case, before
dinner; the fourth at the hour of Vespers; the fifth, an hour before supper.

This arrangement of hours, more or less, I always mean in all the four
Weeks, according as his age, disposition and physical condition help the
person who is exercising himself to make five Exercises or fewer.
_________________________________________________________________

ADDITIONS

TO MAKE THE EXERCISES BETTER AND TO FIND BETTER WHAT ONE DESIRES

First Addition. The first Addition is, after going to bed, just when I want
to go asleep, to think, for the space of a Hail Mary, of the hour that I
have to rise and for what, making a resume of the Exercise which I have to
make.

Second Addition. The second: When I wake up, not giving place to any other
thought, to turn my attention immediately to what I am going to contemplate
in the first Exercise, at midnight, bringing myself to confusion for my so
many sins, setting examples, as, for instance, if a knight found himself
before his king and all his court, ashamed and confused at having much
offended him, from whom he had first received many gifts and many favors: in
the same way, in the second Exercise, making myself a great sinner and in
chains; that is to say going to appear bound as in chains before the Supreme
Eternal Judge; taking for an example how prisoners in chains and already
deserving death, appear before their temporal judge. And I will dress with
these thoughts or with others, according to the subject matter.

Third Addition. The third: A step or two before the place where I have to
contemplate or meditate, I will put myself standing for the space of an Our
Father, my intellect raised on high, considering how God our Lord is looking
at me, etc.; and will make an act of reverence or humility.

Fourth Addition. The fourth: To enter on the contemplation now on my knees,
now prostrate on the earth, now lying face upwards, now seated, now
standing, always intent on seeking what I want.

We will attend to two things. The first is, that if I find what I want
kneeling, I will not pass on; and if prostrate, likewise, etc. The second;
in the Point in which I find what I want, there I will rest, without being
anxious to pass on, until I content myself.

Fifth Addition. The fifth: After finishing the Exercise, I will, during the
space of a quarter of an hour, seated or walking leisurely, look how it went
with me in the Contemplation or Meditation; and if badly, I will look for
the cause from which it proceeds, and having so seen it, will be sorry, in
order to correct myself in future; and if well, I will give thanks to God
our Lord, and will do in like manner another time.

Sixth Addition. The sixth: Not to want to think on things of pleasure or
joy, such as heavenly glory, the Resurrection, etc. Because whatever
consideration of joy and gladness hinders our feeling pain and grief and
shedding tears for our sins: but to keep before me that I want to grieve and
feel pain, bringing to memory rather Death and Judgment.

Seventh Addition. The seventh: For the same end, to deprive myself of all
light, closing the blinds and doors while I am in the room, if it be not to
recite prayers, to read and eat.

Eighth Addition. The eighth: Not to laugh nor say a thing provocative of
laughter.

Ninth Addition. The ninth: To restrain my sight, except in receiving or
dismissing the person with whom I have spoken.

Tenth Addition. The tenth Addition is penance.

This is divided into interior and exterior. The interior is to grieve for
ones sins, with a firm purpose of not committing them nor any others. The
exterior, or fruit of the first, is chastisement for the sins committed, and
is chiefly taken in three ways.

First Way. The first is as to eating. That is to say, when we leave off the
superfluous, it is not penance, but temperance. It is penance when we leave
off from the suitable; and the more and more, the greater and
better”provided that the person does not injure himself, and that no notable
illness follows.

Second Way. The second, as to the manner of sleeping. Here too it is not
penance to leave off the superfluous of delicate or soft things, but it is
penance when one leaves off from the suitable in the manner: and the more
and more, the better”provided that the person does not injure himself and no
notable illness follows. Besides, let not anything of the suitable sleep be
left off, unless in order to come to the mean, if one has a bad habit of
sleeping too much.

Third Way. The third, to chastise the flesh, that is, giving it sensible
pain, which is given by wearing haircloth or cords or iron chains next to
the flesh, by scourging or wounding oneself, and by other kinds of
austerity.

Note. What appears most suitable and most secure with regard to penance is
that the pain should be sensible in the flesh and not enter within the
bones, so that it give pain and not illness. For this it appears to be more
suitable to scourge oneself with thin cords, which give pain exteriorly,
rather than in another way which would cause notable illness within.

First Note. The first Note is that the exterior penances are done chiefly
for three ends: First, as satisfaction for the sins committed;

Second, to conquer oneself”that is, to make sensuality obey reason and all
inferior parts be more subject to the superior;

Third, to seek and find some grace or gift which the person wants and
desires; as, for instance, if he desires to have interior contrition for his
sins, or to weep much over them, or over the pains and sufferings which
Christ our Lord suffered in His Passion, or to settle some doubt in which
the person finds himself.

Second Note. The second: It is to be noted that the first and second
Addition have to be made for the Exercises of midnight and at daybreak, but
not for those which will be made at other times; and the fourth Addition
will never be made in church in the presence of others, but in private, as
at home, etc.

Third Note. The third: When the person who is exercising himself does not
yet find what he desires”as tears, consolations, etc.,”it often helps for
him to make a change in food, in sleep and in other ways of doing penance,
so that he change himself, doing penance two or three days, and two or three
others not. For it suits some to do more penance and others less, and we
often omit doing penance from sensual love and from an erroneous judgment
that the human system will not be able to bear it without notable illness;
and sometimes, on the contrary, we do too much, thinking that the body can
bear it; and as God our Lord knows our nature infinitely better, often in
such changes He gives each one to perceive what is suitable for him.

Fourth Note. The fourth: Let the Particular Examen be made to rid oneself of
defects and negligences on the Exercises and Additions. And so in the
Second, Third and Fourth Weeks.
_________________________________________________________________

SECOND WEEK
_________________________________________________________________

THE CALL OF THE TEMPORAL KING

IT HELPS TO CONTEMPLATE THE LIFE OF THE KING ETERNAL

Prayer. Let the Preparatory Prayer be the usual one.

First Prelude. The first Prelude is a composition, seeing the place: it will
be here to see with the sight of the imagination, the synagogues, [5]
villages and towns through which Christ our Lord preached.

Second Prelude. The second, to ask for the grace which I want: it will be
here to ask grace of our Lord that I may not be deaf to His call, but ready
and diligent to fulfill His most Holy Will.

First Point. The first Point is, to put before me a human king chosen by God
our Lord, whom all Christian princes and men reverence and obey.

Second Point. The second, to look how this king speaks to all his people,
saying:œIt is my Will to conquer all the land of unbelievers. Therefore,
whoever would like to come with me is to be content to eat as I, and also to
drink and dress, etc., as I: likewise he is to labor like me [6] in the day
and watch in the night, etc., that so afterwards he may have part with me in
the victory, as he has had it in the labors.

Third Point. The third, to consider what the good subjects ought to answer
to a King so liberal and so kind, and hence, if any one did not accept the
appeal of such a king, how deserving he would be of being censured by all
the world, and held for a mean-spirited knight.

IN PART 2

The second part of this Exercise consists in applying the above parable of
the temporal King to Christ our Lord, conformably to the three Points
mentioned.

First Point. And as to the first Point, if we consider such a call of the
temporal King to his subjects, how much more worthy of consideration is it
to see Christ our Lord, King eternal, and before Him all the entire world,
which and each one in particular He calls, and says:œIt is My will to
conquer all the world and all enemies and so to enter into the glory of My
Father; therefore, whoever would like to come with Me is to labor with Me,
that following Me in the pain, he may also follow Me in the glory.

Second Point. The second, to consider that all those who have judgment and
reason will offer their entire selves to the labor.

Third Point. The third, those who will want to be more devoted and signalise
themselves in all service of their King Eternal and universal Lord, not only
will offer their persons to the labor, but even, acting against their own
sensuality and against their carnal and worldly love, will make offerings of
greater value and greater importance, saying:

œEternal Lord of all things, I make my oblation with Thy favor and help, in
presence of Thy infinite Goodness and in presence of Thy glorious Mother and
of all the Saints of the heavenly Court; that I want and desire, and it is
my deliberate determination, if only it be Thy greater service and praise,
to imitate Thee in bearing all injuries and all abuse and all poverty of
spirit, and actual poverty, too, if Thy most Holy Majesty wants to choose
and receive me to such life and state.

First Note. This Exercise will be made twice in the day; namely, in the
morning on rising and an hour before dinner or before supper.

Second Note. For the Second Week and so on, it is very helpful to read at
intervals in the books of the Imitation of Christ, or of the Gospels, and of
lives of Saints.
_________________________________________________________________

[5] Synagogues is in the Saints hand, replacing Temples, which is crossed
out.

[6] It is doubtful whether these words are like me or with me.
_________________________________________________________________

THE FIRST DAY AND FIRST CONTEMPLATION

IT IS ON

THE INCARNATION

AND CONTAINS THE PREPARATORY PRAYER,

THREE PRELUDES, THREE POINTS

AND ONE COLLOQUY

Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.

First Prelude. The first Prelude is to bring up the narrative of the thing
which I have to contemplate.

Here, it is how the Three Divine Persons looked at all the plain or circuit
of all the world, full of men, and how, seeing that all were going down to
Hell, it is determined in Their Eternity, [7] that the Second Person shall
become man to save the human race, and so, the fullness of times being come,
[8] They sent the Angel St. Gabriel to Our Lady (p. 133).

Second Prelude. The second, a composition, seeing the place: here it will be
to see the great capacity and circuit of the world, in which are so many and
such different people: then likewise, in particular, the house and rooms of
Our Lady in the city of Nazareth, in the Province of Galilee.

Third Prelude. The third, to ask for what I want: it will be to ask for
interior knowledge of the Lord, Who for me has become man, that I may more
love and follow Him.

Note. It is well to note here that this same Preparatory Prayer, without
changing it, as was said in the beginning, and the same three Preludes, are
to be made in this Week and in the others following, changing the form
according to the subject matter.

First Point. The first Point is, to see the various persons: and first those
on the surface of the earth, in such variety, in dress as in actions: some
white and others black; some in peace and others in war; some weeping and
others laughing; some well, others ill; some being born and others dying,
etc.

2. To see and consider the Three Divine Persons, as on their royal throne or
seat of Their Divine Majesty, how They look on all the surface and circuit
of the earth, and all the people in such blindness, and how they are dying
and going down to Hell.

3. To see Our Lady, and the Angel who is saluting her, and to reflect in
order to get profit from such a sight.

Second Point. The second, to hear what the persons on the face of the earth
are saying, that is, how they are talking with one another, how they swear
and blaspheme, etc.; and likewise what the Divine Persons are saying, that
is:œLet Us work the redemption of the Human race, etc.; and then what the
Angel and Our Lady are saying; and to reflect then so as to draw profit from
their words.

Third Point. The third, to look then at what the persons on the face of the
earth are doing, as, for instance, killing, going to Hell etc.; likewise
what the Divine Persons are doing, namely, working out the most holy
Incarnation, etc.; and likewise what the Angel and Our Lady are doing,
namely, the Angel doing his duty as ambassador, and Our Lady humbling
herself and giving thanks to the Divine Majesty; and then to reflect in
order to draw some profit from each of these things.

Colloquy. At the end a Colloquy is to be made, thinking what I ought to say
to the Three Divine Persons, or to the Eternal Word incarnate, or to our
Mother and Lady, asking according to what I feel in me, in order more to
follow and imitate Our Lord, so lately incarnate.

I will say an Our Father.
_________________________________________________________________

[7] In Their Eternity is in St. Ignatius hand, replacing among Them, which
is cancelled.

[8] And so, the fullness of times being come is in the Saints hand, and
being crossed out.
_________________________________________________________________

THE SECOND CONTEMPLATION

IS ON

THE NATIVITY

Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.

First Prelude. The first Prelude is the narrative and it will be here how
Our Lady went forth from Nazareth, about nine months with child, as can be
piously meditated, [9] seated on an ass, and accompanied by Joseph and a
maid, taking an ox, to go to Bethlehem to pay the tribute which Caesar
imposed on all those lands (p. 135).

Second Prelude. The second, a composition, seeing the place. It will be here
to see with the sight of the imagination the road from Nazareth to
Bethlehem; considering the length and the breadth, and whether such road is
level or through valleys or over hills; likewise looking at the place or
cave of the Nativity, [10] how large, how small, how low, how high, and how
it was prepared.

Third Prelude. The third will be the same, and in the same form, as in the
preceding Contemplation.

First Point. The first Point is to see the persons; that is, to see Our Lady
and Joseph and the maid, and, after His Birth, the Child Jesus, I making
myself a poor creature and a wretch of an unworthy slave, looking at them
and serving them in their needs, with all possible respect and reverence, as
if I found myself present; and then to reflect on myself in order to draw
some profit.

Second Point. The second, to look, mark and contemplate what they are
saying, and, reflecting on myself, to draw some profit.

Third Point. The third, to look and consider what they are doing, as going a
journey and laboring, that the Lord may be born in the greatest poverty; and
as a termination of so many labors”of hunger, of thirst, of heat and of
cold, of injuries and affronts”that He may die on the Cross; and all this
for me: then reflecting, to draw some spiritual profit.

Colloquy. I will finish with a Colloquy as in the preceding Contemplation,
and with an Our Father.

THE THIRD CONTEMPLATION

WILL BE A REPETITION OF THE FIRST AND SECOND EXERCISE

After the Preparatory Prayer and the three Preludes, the repetition of the
first and second Exercise will be made, noting always some more principal
parts, where the person has felt some knowledge, consolation or desolation,
making likewise one Colloquy at the end, and saying an Our Father.

In this repetition, and in all the following, the same order of proceeding
will be taken as was taken in the repetitions of the First Week, changing
the matter and keeping the form.

THE FOURTH CONTEMPLATION

WILL BE A REPETITION OF THE FIRST AND SECOND

In the same way as was done in the above-mentioned repetition.

THE FIFTH CONTEMPLATION

WILL BE TO BRING THE FIVE SENSES ON THE FIRST AND SECOND CONTEMPLATION

Prayer. After the Preparatory Prayer and the three Preludes, it is helpful
to pass the five senses of the imagination through the first and second
Contemplation, in the following way:

First Point. The first Point is to see the persons with the sight of the
imagination, meditating and contemplating in particular the details about
them and drawing some profit from the sight.

Second Point. The second, to hear with the hearing what they are, or might
be, talking about and, reflecting on oneself, to draw some profit from it.

Third Point. The third, to smell and to taste with the smell and the taste
the infinite fragrance and sweetness of the Divinity, of the soul, and of
its virtues, and of all, according to the person who is being contemplated;
reflecting on oneself and drawing profit from it.

Fourth Point. The fourth, to touch with the touch, as for instance, to
embrace and kiss the places where such persons put their feet and sit,
always seeing to my drawing profit from it.

Colloquy. One has to finish with one Colloquy as in the first and second
Contemplation, and with an Our Father.

First Note. The first note is to remark for all this and the other following
Weeks, that I have only to read the Mystery of the Contemplation which I
have immediately to make, so that at any time I read no Mystery which I have
not to make that day or at that hour, in order that the consideration of one
Mystery may not hinder the consideration of the other.

Second Note. The second: The first Exercise, on the Incarnation, will be
made at midnight; the second at dawn; the third at the hour of Mass; the
fourth at the hour of Vespers, and the fifth before the hour of supper,
being for the space of one hour in each one of the five Exercises; and the
same order will be taken in all the following.

Third Note. The third: It is to be remarked that if the person who is making
the Exercises is old or weak, or, although strong, has become in some way
less strong from the First Week, it is better for him in this Second Week,
at least sometimes, not rising at midnight, to make one Contemplation in the
morning, and another at the hour of Mass, and another before dinner, and one
repetition on them at the hour of Vespers, and then the Application of the
Senses before supper.

Fourth Note. The fourth: In this Second Week, out of all the ten Additions
which were mentioned in the First Week, the second, the sixth, the seventh
and in part the tenth have to be changed.

In the second it will be, immediately on waking up, to put before me the
contemplation which I have to make, desiring to know more the Eternal Word
incarnate, in order to serve and to follow Him more.

The sixth will be to bring frequently to memory the Life and Mysteries of
Christ our Lord, from His Incarnation down to the place or Mystery which I
am engaged in contemplating.

The seventh will be, that one should manage as to keeping darkness or light,
making use of good weather or bad, according as he feels that it can profit
and help him to find what the person desires who is exercising himself.

And in the tenth Addition, he who is exercising himself ought to manage
himself according to the Mysteries which he is contemplating; because some
demand penance and others not.

All the ten Additions, then, are to be made with great care.

Fifth Note. The fifth note: In all the Exercises, except in that of midnight
and in that of the morning, the equivalent of the second Addition will be
taken in the following way:”Immediately on recollecting that it is the time
of the Exercise which I have to make, before I go, putting before myself
where I am going and before Whom, and summarizing a little the Exercise
which I have to make, and then making the third Addition, I will enter into
the Exercise.

THE SECOND DAY

Second Day. For first and second Contemplation to take the Presentation in
the Temple (p. 137) and the Flight to Egypt as into exile (p. 138), and on
these two Contemplations will be made two repetitions and the Application of
the Five Senses to them, in the same way as was done the preceding day.

Note. Sometimes, although the one who is exercising himself is strong and
disposed, it helps to make a change, from this second day up to the fourth
inclusively, in order better to find what he desires, taking only one
Contemplation at daybreak, and another at the hour of Mass, and to repeat on
them at the hour of Vespers and apply the senses before supper.

THE THIRD DAY

Third Day. How the Child Jesus was obedient to His Parents at Nazareth (p.
139), and how afterwards they found Him in the Temple (p. 140), and so then
to make the two repetitions and apply the five senses.
_________________________________________________________________

[9] As can be piously meditated is in St. Ignatius handwriting and is
inserted before seated.

[10] The place or cave of the Nativity is in the Saints hand, correcting
the inn, which is crossed out.
_________________________________________________________________

PREAMBLE TO CONSIDER STATES

First Preamble. The example which Christ our Lord, being under obedience to
His parents, has given us for the first state, -- which consists in the
observance of the Commandments”having been now considered; and likewise for
the second,”which is that of evangelical perfection,”when He remained in the
Temple, leaving His adoptive father and His natural Mother, to attend to the
pure service of His eternal Father; we will begin, at the same time
contemplating His life, to investigate and to ask in what life or state His
Divine Majesty wants to be served by us.

And so, for some introduction of it, we will, in the first Exercise
following, see the intention of Christ our Lord, and, on the contrary, that
of the enemy of human nature, and how we ought to dispose ourselves in order
to come to perfection in whatever state of life God our Lord would give us
to choose.
_________________________________________________________________

THE FOURTH DAY

MEDITATION ON

TWO STANDARDS

The one of Christ, our Commander-in-chief and Lord; the other of Lucifer,
mortal enemy of our human nature.

Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.

First Prelude. The First Prelude is the narrative. It will be here how
Christ calls and wants all under His standard; and Lucifer, on the contrary,
under his.

Second Prelude. The second, a composition, seeing the place. It will be here
to see a great field of all that region of Jerusalem, where the supreme
Commander-in-chief of the good is Christ our Lord; another field in the
region of Babylon, where the chief of the enemy is Lucifer.

Third Prelude. The third, to ask for what I want: and it will be here to ask
for knowledge of the deceits of the bad chief and help to guard myself
against them, and for knowledge of the true life which the supreme and true
Captain shows and grace to imitate Him.

First Point. The first Point is to imagine as if the chief of all the enemy
seated himself in that great field of Babylon, as in a great [11] chair of
fire and smoke, in shape horrible and terrifying.

Second Point. The second, to consider how he issues a summons to innumerable
demons and how he scatters them, some to one city and others to another, and
so through all the world, not omitting any provinces, places, states, nor
any persons in particular.

Third Point. The third, to consider the discourse which he makes them, and
how he tells them to cast out nets and chains; that they have first to tempt
with a longing for riches”as he is accustomed to do in most cases [12]”that
men may more easily come to vain honor of the world, and then to vast pride.
So that the first step shall be that of riches; the second, that of honor;
the third, that of pride; and from these three steps he draws on to all the
other vices.

So, on the contrary, one has to imagine as to the supreme and true Captain,
Who is Christ our Lord.

First Point. The first Point is to consider how Christ our Lord puts Himself
in a great field of that region of Jerusalem, in lowly place, beautiful and
attractive.

Second Point. The second, to consider how the Lord of all the world chooses
so many persons”Apostles, Disciples, etc.,”and sends them through all the
world spreading His sacred doctrine through all states and conditions of
persons.

Third Point. The third, to consider the discourse which Christ our Lord
makes to all His servants and friends whom He sends on this expedition,
recommending them to want to help all, by bringing them first to the highest
spiritual poverty, and”if His Divine Majesty would be served and would want
to choose them”no less to actual poverty; the second is to be of contumely
and contempt; because from these two things humility follows. So that there
are to be three steps; the first, poverty against riches; the second,
contumely or contempt against worldly honor; the third, humility against
pride. And from these three steps let them induce to all the other virtues.

First Colloquy. One Colloquy to Our Lady, that she may get me grace from Her
Son and Lord that I may be received under His standard; and first in the
highest spiritual poverty, and”if His Divine Majesty would be served and
would want to choose and receive me”not less in actual poverty; second, in
suffering contumely and injuries, to imitate Him more in them, if only I can
suffer them without the sin of any person, or displeasure of His Divine
Majesty; and with that a Hail Mary.

Second Colloquy. I will ask the same of the Son, that He may get it for me
of the Father; and with that say the Soul of Christ.

Third Colloquy. I will ask the same of the Father, that He may grant it to
me; and say an Our Father.

Note. This Exercise will be made at midnight and then a second time in the
morning, and two repetitions of this same will be made at the hour of Mass
and at the hour of Vespers, always finishing with the three Colloquies, to
Our Lady, to the Son, and to the Father; and that on The Pairs which
follows, at the hour before supper.
_________________________________________________________________

[11] Great is inserted, perhaps in. the hand of St. Ignatius.

[12] As he is accustomed to do in most cases is inserted in the Saints
handwriting.
_________________________________________________________________

THE SAME FOURTH DAY LET MEDITATION BE MADE ON

THREE PAIRS OF MEN

IN ORDER TO EMBRACE WHAT IS BEST

Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.

First Prelude. The first Prelude is the narrative, which is of three pairs
of men, and each one of them has acquired ten thousand ducats, not solely or
as they ought [13] for Gods love, and all want to save themselves and find
in peace God our Lord, ridding themselves of the weight and hindrance to it
which they have in the attachment for the thing acquired.

Second Prelude. The second, a composition, seeing the place. It will be here
to see myself, how I stand before God our Lord and all His Saints, to desire
and know what is more pleasing to His Divine Goodness.

Third Prelude. The third, to ask for what I want. Here it will be to ask
grace to choose what is more to the glory of His Divine Majesty and the
salvation of my soul.

First Pair. The first Pair would want to rid themselves of the attachment
which they have to the thing acquired, in order to find in peace God our
Lord, and be able to save themselves, and they do not place the means up to
the hour of death.

Second Pair. The second want to rid themselves of the attachment, but want
so to rid themselves of it as to remain with the thing acquired, so that God
should come where they want, and they do not decide to leave it in order to
go to God, although it would be the best state for them

Third Pair. The third want to rid themselves of the attachment, but want so
to rid themselves of it that they have even no liking for it, to keep the
thing acquired or not to keep it, but only want to want it or not want it
according as God our Lord will put in their will and as will appear to them
better for the service and praise of His Divine Majesty; and meanwhile they
want to reckon that they quit it all in attachment, forcing themselves not
to want that or any other thing, unless only the service of God our Lord
move them: so that the desire of being better able to serve God our Lord
moves them to take the thing or leave it.

Three Colloquies. I will make the same three Colloquies which were made in
the Contemplation preceding, on the Two Standards.

Note. It is to be noted that when we feel a tendency or repugnance against
actual poverty, when we are not indifferent to poverty or riches, it is very
helpful, in order to crush such disordered tendency, to ask in the
Colloquies (although it be against the flesh) that the Lord should choose
one to actual poverty, and that one wants, asks and begs it, if only it be
the service and praise of His Divine Goodness.

THE FIFTH DAY

Fifth Day. Contemplation on the Departure of Christ our Lord from Nazareth
to the River Jordan, and how He was baptized (p. 140).

First Note. This Contemplation will be made once at midnight and a second
time in the morning, and two repetitions on it at the hour of Mass and
Vespers, and the five senses will be applied on it before supper; in each of
these five Exercises, putting first the usual Preparatory Prayer and the
three Preludes, as all this was explained in the Contemplation of the
Incarnation and of the Nativity; and finishing with the three Colloquies of
the three Pairs, or according to the note which follows after the Pairs.

Second Note. The Particular Examen, after dinner and after supper, will be
made on the faults and negligences about the Exercises and Additions of this
day; and so in the days that follow.

THE SIXTH DAY

Sixth Day. Contemplation how Christ our Lord went forth from the River
Jordan to the Desert inclusive, taking the same form in everything as on the
fifth.

THE SEVENTH DAY

Seventh Day. How St. Andrew and others followed Christ our Lord (p. 142).

THE EIGHTH DAY

Eighth Day. On the Sermon on the Mount, which is on the Eight Beatitudes (P.
144).

THE NINTH DAY

Ninth Day. How Christ our Lord appeared to His disciples on the waves of the
sea (p. 145).

THE TENTH DAY

Tenth Day. How the Lord preached in the [14] Temple (p. 151).

THE ELEVENTH DAY

Eleventh Day. On the raising of Lazarus (p. 149).

THE TWELFTH DAY

Twelfth Day. On Palm Sunday (p. 151).

First Note. The first note is that in the Contemplations of this Second
Week, according to the time each one wants to spend, or according as he gets
profit, he can lengthen or shorten: if he lengthens, taking the Mysteries of
the Visitation of Our Lady to St. Elizabeth, the Shepherds, the Circumcision
of the Child Jesus, and the Three Kings, and so of others; and if he
shortens, he can even omit some of those which are set down. Because this is
to give an introduction and way to contemplate better and more completely
afterwards.

Second Note. The second: The matter of the Elections will be begun from the
Contemplation on Nazareth to the Jordan, taken inclusively, which is the
fifth day, as is explained in the following.

Third Note. The third: Before entering on the Elections, that a man may get
attachment to the true doctrine of Christ our Lord, it is very helpful to
consider and mark the following three Manners of Humility, reflecting on
them occasionally through all the day, and also making the Colloquies, as
will be said later.

First Humility. The first manner of Humility is necessary for eternal
salvation; namely, that I so lower and so humble myself, as much as is
possible to me, that in everything I obey the law of God, so that, even if
they made me lord of all the created things in this world, nor for my own
temporal life, I would not be in deliberation about breaking a Commandment,
whether Divine or human, which binds me under mortal sin.

Second Humility. The second is more perfect Humility than the first; namely,
if I find myself at such a stage that I do not want, and feel no inclination
to have, riches rather than poverty, to want honor rather than dishonor, to
desire a long rather than a short life”the service of God our Lord and the
salvation of my soul being equal; and so not for all creation, nor because
they would take away my life, would I be in deliberation about committing a
venial sin.

Third Humility. The third is most perfect Humility; namely, when”including
the first and second, and the praise and glory of the Divine Majesty being
equal”in order to imitate and be more actually like Christ our Lord, I want
and choose poverty with Christ poor rather than riches, opprobrium with
Christ replete with it rather than honors; and to desire to be rated as
worthless and a fool for Christ, Who first was held as such, rather than
wise or prudent in this world.

Note. So, it is very helpful for whoever desires to get this third Humility,
to make the three already mentioned Colloquies of The Pairs, asking that Our
Lord would be pleased to choose him to this third greater and better
Humility, in order more to imitate and serve Him, if it be equal or greater
service and praise to His Divine Majesty.
_________________________________________________________________

[13] Not solely or as they ought is a correction of not only, which is
crossed out. The correction is perhaps in the handwriting of St. Ignatius.

[14] In the is in the Saints hand, over a word erased.
_________________________________________________________________

PRELUDE FOR MAKING ELECTION

First Point. In every good election, as far as depends on us, the eye of our
intention ought to be simple, only looking at what we are created for,
namely, the praise of God our Lord and the salvation of our soul. And so I
ought to choose whatever I do, that it may help me for the end for which I
am created, not ordering or bringing the end to the means, but the means to
the end: as it happens that many choose first to marry”which is a means”and
secondarily to serve God our Lord in the married life”which service of God
is the end. So, too, there are others who first want to have benefices, and
then to serve God in them. So that those do not go straight to God, but want
God to come straight to their disordered tendencies, and consequently they
make a means of the end, and an end of the means. So that what they had to
take first, they take last; because first we have to set as our aim the
wanting to serve God,”which is the end,”and secondarily, to take a benefice,
or to marry, if it is more suitable to us,”which is the means for the end.
So, nothing ought to move me to take such means or to deprive myself of
them, except only the service and praise of God our Lord and the eternal
salvation of my soul.

TO GET KNOWLEDGE AS TO WHAT MATTERS AN ELECTION OUGHT TO BE MADE ABOUT, AND
IT CONTAINS FOUR POINTS AND ONE NOTE

First Point. The first Point: It is necessary that everything about which we
want to make an election should be indifferent, or good, in itself, and
should be allowed within our Holy Mother the hierarchical Church, and not
bad nor opposed to her.

Second Point. Second: There are some things which fall under unchangeable
election, such as are the priesthood, marriage, etc. There are others which
fall under an election that can be changed, such as are to take benefices or
leave them, to take temporal goods or rid oneself of them.

Third Point. Third: In the unchangeable Election which has already been once
made”such as marriage, the priesthood, etc.”there is nothing more to choose,
because one cannot release himself; only it is to be seen to that if one
have not made his election duly and ordinately and without disordered
tendencies, repenting let him see to living a good life in his election. It
does not appear that this election is a Divine vocation, [15] as being an
election out of order and awry. Many err in this, setting up a perverse or
bad election as a Divine [16] vocation; for every Divine vocation is always
pure and clear, without mixture of flesh, or of any other inordinate
tendency.

Fourth Point. Fourth: If some one has duly and ordinately made election of
things which are under election that can be changed, and has not yielded to
flesh or world, there is no reason for his making election anew, but let him
perfect himself as much as he can in that already chosen.

Note. It is to be remarked that if such election that can be changed was not
made sincerely and well in order, then it helps to make the election duly,
if one has a desire that fruits notable and very pleasing to God our Lord
should come from him.

THREE TIMES

FOR MAKING, IN ANY ONE OF THEM, A SOUND

AND GOOD ELECTION

First Time. The first time is, when God our Lord so moves and attracts the
will, that without doubting, or being able to doubt, such devout soul
follows what is shown it, as St. Paul and St. Matthew did in following
Christ our Lord.

Second Time. The second, when enough light and knowledge is received by
experience of consolations and desolations, and by the experience of the
discernment of various spirits.

Third Time. The third time is quiet, when one considers, first, for what man
is born”namely, to praise God our Lord and save his soul”and desiring this
chooses as means a life or state within the limits of the Church, in order
that he may be helped in the service of his Lord and the salvation of his
soul.

I said time of quiet, when the soul is not acted on by various spirits, and
uses its natural powers freely and tranquilly.

If election is not made in the first or the second time, two ways follow as
to this third time for making it.

THE FIRST WAY

TO MAKE A SOUND AND GOOD ELECTION

It contains six Points.

First Point. The first Point is to put before me the thing on which I want
to make election, such as an office or benefice, either to take or leave it;
or any other thing whatever which falls under an election that can be
changed.

Second Point. Second: It is necessary to keep as aim the end for which I am
created, which is to praise God our Lord and save my soul, and, this
supposed, to find myself indifferent, without any inordinate propensity; so
that I be not more inclined or disposed to take the thing proposed than to
leave it, nor more to leave it than to take it, but find myself as in the
middle of a balance, to follow what I feel to be more for the glory and
praise of God our Lord and the salvation of my soul.

Third Point. Third: To ask of God our Lord to be pleased to move my will and
put in my soul what I ought to do regarding the thing proposed, so as to
promote more His praise and glory; discussing well and faithfully with my
intellect, and choosing agreeably to His most holy pleasure and will.

Fourth Point. Fourth: To consider, reckoning up, how many advantages and
utilities follow for me from holding the proposed office or benefice for
only the praise of God our Lord and the salvation of my soul, and, to
consider likewise, on the contrary, the disadvantages and dangers which
there are in having it. Doing the same in the second part, that is, looking
at the advantages and utilities there are in not having it, and likewise, on
the contrary, the disadvantages and dangers in not having the same.

Fifth Point. Fifth: After I have thus discussed and reckoned up on all sides
about the thing proposed, to look where reason more inclines: and so,
according to the greater inclination of reason, and not according to any
inclination of sense, deliberation should be made on the thing proposed.

Sixth Point. Sixth, such election, or deliberation, made, the person who has
made it ought to go with much diligence to prayer before God our Lord and
offer Him such election, that His Divine Majesty may be pleased to receive
and confirm it, if it is to His greater service and praise.

THE SECOND WAY

TO MAKE A GOOD ANY SOUND ELECTION

It contains four Rules and one Note.

First Rule. The first is that that love which moves me and makes me choose
such thing should descend from above, from the love of God, so that he who
chooses feel first in himself that that love, more or less, which he has for
the thing which he chooses, is only for his Creator and Lord.

Second Rule. The second, to set before me a man whom I have never seen nor
known, and I [17] desiring all his perfection, to consider what I would tell
him to do and elect for the greater glory of God our Lord, and the greater
perfection of his soul, and I, doing likewise, to keep the rule which I set
for the other.

Third Rule. The third, to consider, as if I were at the point of death, the
form and measure which I would then want to have kept in the way of the
present election, and regulating myself by that election, let me make my
decision in everything.

Fourth Rule. The fourth, looking and considering how I shall find myself on
the Day of Judgment, to think how I would then want to have [18] deliberated
about the present matter, and to take now the rule which I would then wish
to have kept, in order that I may then find myself in entire pleasure and
joy.

Note. The above-mentioned rules for my eternal salvation and peace having
been taken, I will make my election and offering to God our Lord,
conformably to the sixth Point of the First Way of making election.

TO AMEND AND REFORM ONES OWN LIFE

AND STATE

It is to be noted that as to those who are settled in ecclesiastical office
or in matrimony”whether they abound much or not in temporal goods”when they
have no opportunity or have not a very prompt will to make election about
the things which fall under an election that can be changed, it is very
helpful, in place of making election, to give them a form and way to amend
and reform each his own life and state. That is, putting his creation, life
and state for the glory and praise of God our Lord and the salvation of his
own soul, to come and arrive at this end, he ought to consider much and
ponder through the Exercises and Ways of Election, as has been explained,
how large a house and household he ought to keep, how he ought to rule and
govern it, how he ought to teach and instruct it by word and by example;
likewise of his means, how much he ought to take for his household and
house; and how much to dispense to the poor and to other pious objects, not
wanting nor seeking any other thing except in all and through all the
greater praise and glory of God our Lord.

For let each one think that he will benefit himself in all spiritual things
in proportion as he goes out of his self-love, will and interest.
_________________________________________________________________

[15] It does not appear that this election is a Divine vocation is in the
Saints hand, correcting we can not say that this election is His vocation.

[16] Divine is added in St. Ignatius hand.

[17] I is added, perhaps in St. Ignatius hand.

[18] To have is apparently in St. Ignatius hand.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

THIRD WEEK
_________________________________________________________________

FIRST DAY

THE FIRST CONTEMPLATION AT MIDNIGHT IS

HOW CHRIST OUR LORD WENT FROM BETHANY TO

JERUSALEM TO THE LAST SUPPER INCLUSIVELY

(p. 152); and it contains the Preparatory Prayer, three Preludes, six Points
and one Colloquy.

Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.

First Prelude. The first Prelude is to bring to memory the narrative; which
is here how Christ our Lord sent two Disciples from Bethany to Jerusalem to
prepare the Supper, and then He Himself went there with the other Disciples;
and how, after having eaten the Paschal Lamb, and having supped, He washed
their feet and gave His most Holy Body and Precious Blood to His Disciples,
and made them a discourse, after Judas went to sell his Lord.

Second Prelude. The second, a composition, seeing the place. It will be here
to consider the road from Bethany to Jerusalem, whether broad, whether
narrow, whether level, etc.; likewise the place of the Supper, whether
large, whether small, whether of one kind or whether of another.

Third Prelude. The third, to ask for what I want. It will be here grief,
feeling and confusion because for my sins the Lord is going to the Passion.

First Point. The first Point is to see the persons of the Supper, and,
reflecting on myself, to see to drawing some profit from them.

Second Point. The second, to hear what they are talking about, and likewise
to draw some profit from it.

Third Point. The third, to look at what they are doing, and draw some
profit.

Fourth Point. The fourth, to consider that which Christ our Lord is
suffering in His Humanity, [19] or wants to suffer, according to the passage
which is being contemplated, and here to commence with much vehemence and to
force myself to grieve, be sad and weep, and so to labor through the other
points which follow.

Fifth Point. The fifth, to consider how the Divinity hides Itself, that is,
how It could destroy Its enemies and does not do it, and how It leaves the
most sacred Humanity to suffer so very cruelly.

Sixth Point. The sixth, to consider how He suffers all this for my sins,