THE EXERCISES
The first four days of the Thirty day exercises are done as Posts for the month of October 2013.
Day five continues here:
Preparatory prayer.
Ask of God the grace to devote to His glory and service all the powers and operations of your soul.
First prelude.
Represent to yourself the flames of hell and in the midst of the flames an innumerable multitude of fallen angels.
Second prelude.
As of God sentiments of shame and repentance, at the sight of these victims of sin. The angels only sinned once; but you, how often have you not committed even mortal sins?
Consider- The excellence of their being.
They were pure spirits, free from the bonds of a mortal body; the living images of the perfections of God; the first-fruits and most perfect work of the creation.
Their intelligence. What lights respecting God, creatures their own dignity! What wisdom, what breadth and depth of knowledge!
Their will. What innocence! What uprightness! What a powerful inclination towards good! What natural movements of heart towards God, their sovereign beatitude!
Their dwelling place, It is Heaven, where they do not yet see the Lord face to face, but where their life is to think of Him and to love Him. Their future destiny A few moments of trial, and God reveals Himself to their eyes without a cloud. They will be, through all eternity at the foot of His throne enjoying the happiness of seeing Him, of loving Him, and possessing Him with all the powers of their being. “They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house; Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleasures” (Psalm xxxii.9).
Their chief. Lucifer, the prince of the celestial hierarchy, and whose perfections are described by the Holy Spirit in Ezechiel; “Thou wast the seal of remembrance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God; precious stones were thy covering, gold was the work of thy beauty. I set thee on the mountain of God, and thou didst walk in the midst of stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day of they of thy creation until iniquity was found in thee” (Ezech. Xxviii. 12,-15)
O my God, what could'st Thou have added to magnificence of Thy gifts to these sublime intelligences? And what was wanting to them except to remain faithful to Thee?
No interval exists between the crime and its punishment; the justice of God strikes them like the thunderbolt. They are cast into the depths of hell, and in the midst of flames expiate through an eternity the crime of a moment.
What a terrible change in their whole being: in their intelligence, no thought but of crime. In their will no love but for evil. No other place to live but hell. In their ministry no other occupation that to pervert or torment souls. In their destiny, their end, supreme misery and that for eternity. O terrible fall! “How are thou fallen, O Lucifer!” (Is.xiv.112).
O my soul, tremble for thyself. If an angel is so treated, what will it be with man.
Reflect on this terrible vengeance of God. His justice has no regard to the number of the guilty; do not assure yourself by the number who sin like you. His justice has no regard for the dignity or excellence of the victims; do not trust to your dignity of rank in the world or the Church. His justice pays no regard to the services which the angels might render to His glory, if repentant and restored to grace; do not therefore comfort yourself by the though of the services you might render to Jesus Christ and His Church. His justice has no regard to the place which the angels had occupied until then in His friendship and in His heart; do not therefore assure yourself by the past mercies of our Lord. His justice strikes without pity and yet it is the first sin of the angels, and their only sin,. What will, then, become of you who can and ought to say with the prophet, My inequities are gone over my head! (Psalm xxxvii.5)
Kneel down with a crucifix. With the sentiments of humility, and repentance, which a great saint and doctor suggests to you.
“My God, Thou hast imprinted upon me Thy own adorable image, and for it I have substituted the frightful image of Satan. I see myself more horrible than Lucifer. He fell proudly, having no example of Divine vengeance before him; I, after beholding his chastisement, have sinned contemptuously. Lucifer was once established in innocence; I have often been restored to innocence. He rose up against Him who had bestowed upon him his being and created him; I have risen up against Jesus Christ who repaired my sin by suffering and dyeing for me on Calvary.” (St. Bonav)
The first four days of the Thirty day exercises are done as Posts for the month of October 2013.
Day five continues here:
Day Five:
Exercises on The Punishment of Sin
Sin punished in the rebel angels.Preparatory prayer.
Ask of God the grace to devote to His glory and service all the powers and operations of your soul.
First prelude.
Represent to yourself the flames of hell and in the midst of the flames an innumerable multitude of fallen angels.
Second prelude.
As of God sentiments of shame and repentance, at the sight of these victims of sin. The angels only sinned once; but you, how often have you not committed even mortal sins?
First Consideration.
The state of the angels before their sin.
Consider- The excellence of their being.
They were pure spirits, free from the bonds of a mortal body; the living images of the perfections of God; the first-fruits and most perfect work of the creation.
Their intelligence. What lights respecting God, creatures their own dignity! What wisdom, what breadth and depth of knowledge!
Their will. What innocence! What uprightness! What a powerful inclination towards good! What natural movements of heart towards God, their sovereign beatitude!
Their dwelling place, It is Heaven, where they do not yet see the Lord face to face, but where their life is to think of Him and to love Him. Their future destiny A few moments of trial, and God reveals Himself to their eyes without a cloud. They will be, through all eternity at the foot of His throne enjoying the happiness of seeing Him, of loving Him, and possessing Him with all the powers of their being. “They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house; Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleasures” (Psalm xxxii.9).
Their chief. Lucifer, the prince of the celestial hierarchy, and whose perfections are described by the Holy Spirit in Ezechiel; “Thou wast the seal of remembrance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God; precious stones were thy covering, gold was the work of thy beauty. I set thee on the mountain of God, and thou didst walk in the midst of stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day of they of thy creation until iniquity was found in thee” (Ezech. Xxviii. 12,-15)
O my God, what could'st Thou have added to magnificence of Thy gifts to these sublime intelligences? And what was wanting to them except to remain faithful to Thee?
The chastisement of the rebel angels.
No interval exists between the crime and its punishment; the justice of God strikes them like the thunderbolt. They are cast into the depths of hell, and in the midst of flames expiate through an eternity the crime of a moment.
What a terrible change in their whole being: in their intelligence, no thought but of crime. In their will no love but for evil. No other place to live but hell. In their ministry no other occupation that to pervert or torment souls. In their destiny, their end, supreme misery and that for eternity. O terrible fall! “How are thou fallen, O Lucifer!” (Is.xiv.112).
O my soul, tremble for thyself. If an angel is so treated, what will it be with man.
Reflect on this terrible vengeance of God. His justice has no regard to the number of the guilty; do not assure yourself by the number who sin like you. His justice has no regard for the dignity or excellence of the victims; do not trust to your dignity of rank in the world or the Church. His justice pays no regard to the services which the angels might render to His glory, if repentant and restored to grace; do not therefore comfort yourself by the though of the services you might render to Jesus Christ and His Church. His justice has no regard to the place which the angels had occupied until then in His friendship and in His heart; do not therefore assure yourself by the past mercies of our Lord. His justice strikes without pity and yet it is the first sin of the angels, and their only sin,. What will, then, become of you who can and ought to say with the prophet, My inequities are gone over my head! (Psalm xxxvii.5)
Prayer for Day 5
Kneel down with a crucifix. With the sentiments of humility, and repentance, which a great saint and doctor suggests to you.
“My God, Thou hast imprinted upon me Thy own adorable image, and for it I have substituted the frightful image of Satan. I see myself more horrible than Lucifer. He fell proudly, having no example of Divine vengeance before him; I, after beholding his chastisement, have sinned contemptuously. Lucifer was once established in innocence; I have often been restored to innocence. He rose up against Him who had bestowed upon him his being and created him; I have risen up against Jesus Christ who repaired my sin by suffering and dyeing for me on Calvary.” (St. Bonav)
