+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

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O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

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St. Ignatius of Loyola: pray for us.

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Introduction

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St. Ignatius tells us that there are classes of people that summarise the different attitudes of the will before God. These three people have acquired well (by their honest work, by inheritance or donation) a large sum of money (10,000 ducats, which represents all the things we possess) but not by pure love of God (that is, they are disorderly attached to that). The three of them want to obtain salvation, all of them want to have peace of mind, and knowing that this disorderly attachment is an obstacle for sanctification, they want to get rid of the obstacle, but with different kinds of will, with different attitudes. Ignatius speaks of "money" (something material), because it is easier to discern attachments regarding natural and material things; but we can put any other example, any other thing that is very difficult to get detached from.

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Saint Ignatius now wants us to test our will. We need to know if we follow more our feelings than our intellect illumined by faith. It is a test of sincerity. In front of disorderly attachment, what can of will do I have?

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What is a disorderly attachment? It refers to whatever is less than God and stands in the way of His more perfect service and love.

 

Preparatory Prayer①: “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”.

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Composition of Place: Here it will be to behold myself standing in the presence of God, and all his Saints, that I may know and desire what is more pleasing to his Divine Goodness. It is a solemn composition of place, because the subject is very important: my soul before God and all his angels, Our Lady, Martyrs, Apostles, Virgins, and holy men and women of all ages. 

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Petition: It will be to beg for the grace to choose what is more for the glory of his Divine Majesty and the salvation of my soul.

 

Corpus of the Meditation

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I. The First Class of Men

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The first class of man would like to get rid of the thing he has a disorderly attachment to, but he doesn’t use the correct mean for achieving this end; so in reality, he doesn’t want to get rid of that to which he is disorderly attached.

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II. The Second Class of Men

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He wants to get rid of the disorderly affection but also wants God to allow him to retain the possession of the thing he is disorderly attached to. So, in reality, he doesn’t want to get rid of the disorderly affection.

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III. The Third Class of Men

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He wants to rid himself of the attachment; and he only wants to keep the thing or not, according to what God will show him to be the best for the service and praise of His Divine Majesty.

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He applies without hesitation the basic norms of the Principle and Foundation: the tantum-quantum rule, which measures the use or abstinence from creatures only by their utility to attain the end of man’s creation; and the rule of the counsels, which is not satisfied with a minimal service of God, but wants to do whatever is more helpful to salvation and more pleasing to the Divine Majesty.

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IV. Signs of Excessive Attachment

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How can I recognise to what thing I have disorderly affection? How can I recognise if I have disorderly affections? We are talking about an object that is not intrinsically sinful, but I am probably excessively attached to it. What are the signs that help me discover disorderly affections? Some of these are external and others can only be experienced internally.

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• If I am thinking about that object at times I should be free of such worry, like prayer, or studies; or if the amount of attention I give to the person, place, or thing is out of proportion to its objective value and importance; I may think that I have a disorderly affection.

• If I often lose peace of mind regarding what I have or do, then I am too attached to the object, person or practice, since an orderly affection, being orderly, produces tranquillity of mind which is the essence of peace.

• If I am always afraid of losing the use of some gift or possession, or if I feel dissatisfied with what I have, then I am disorderly attached to the object because the right kind of affection excludes such anxiety.

• If I often talk about my achievements just for the pleasure I get from being recognised, this is a sign of disorder.

• If I am inclined to envy others for some kind of talent they have and I don’t have, and actually their talent make them appear more important than my, this is a danger signal pointing to the need for greater self-control.

• If I tend to be jealous of what I have, slow to share it with others or fearful that others may obtain the same, then I am excessively attached to that creature, no matter how lawfully obtained or how holy the thing may be in itself.

• If I am afraid of performing a certain task because it demands some effort to overcome the difficulties –but not impossible to overcome-, then it is a sign of excessive attachment to my own comfort.

• If what I think falls under what different people may have different opinions, and I just insist on my own opinion, even when it is clearly wrong or irrational, then it is a sign of disorderly attachment to my own judgement.

 

So, what do we intend by doing this meditation? The title shows it clearly: “meditation on three classes of men, in order to embrace (choose) what is best”.

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Embracing what is best? What is the best? Detachment from creatures and trying to have the same disposition of will proper to the third class of men. Why? Because we want to become better disposed for pursuing holiness, we want to get rid of the obstacles present on the way to holiness.

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Such is the third class of persons that Saint Ignatius points out. Such is the class of persons that God expects us to be.

 

Colloquy

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My first dialogue should be addressed to our Lady, asking her to obtain for me from her Son and Lord the grace to be received under His Standard.

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• First in the highest spiritual poverty, and if the Divine Majesty be pleased to choose and accept me, even in actual poverty.

• Secondly, in bearing insults and wrongs, in order to imitate Christ better, provided only I can suffer these without sin on the part of another, and without offence to the Divine Majesty.

 

Then, I will say the Hail Mary

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My second dialogue will be with Christ, asking Him to obtain the same favors for me from the Father. Then, I will say, Soul of Christ.

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My third dialogue will be with the Heavenly Father, and I will beg Him to grant me the same graces. Then I will say the Our Father.

 

Note:

It should be noted that when we feel an attachment opposed to actual poverty or a repugnance to it, when we are not indifferent to poverty and riches, it will be very helpful in order to overcome the inordinate attachment, even though our nature rebels against it, to beg our Lord in this final dialogue to choose us to serve him in actual poverty. We should insist that we desire it, beg for it, plead for it, provided, of course, that it be for the service and praise of the Divine Goodness.

 

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Footnote:

① SE 46.