The spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius

by Saint of Loyola Ignatius; Charles Coppens

1st Prelude. Imagine you hear Christ saying: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another” (St. John xiii, 35).

2nd Prelude. Ask grace to realize fully the importance of practising fraternal charity.

POINT I. Consider our strict obligation to observe fraternal charity.

1. Without it there is no sanctifying grace in the soul. St. John writes: “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death. He that hateth his brother is a murderer” (St. John iii, 14-15).

2. Christ has chosen this commandment as distinctly His own: “A new commandment I give unto you. Love one another as I have loved you” (St. John xiii, 34), and again: “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you” (ib. xv, 12).

3. He makes its observance the distinctive mark of His disciples: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (ib. xiii, 34).

4. Without a delicate fraternal charity many religious communities would contain some very unhappy members. And our Society in particular has always shown the greatest solicitude to protect and foster this virtue.

POINT II. How may fraternal charity be violated?

Among religious, violations of charity are not so often committed by actions as they are among seculars, but they are not seldom committed by word or thought. St. James writes: “In many things we all offend. If any man offendeth not in word, the same is a perfect man” (iii, 2), and again: “The tongue no man can tame, an unquiet evil, a deadly poison” (ib. 8). By calling it a deadly poison, he clearly indicates that the tongue is often the cause of grievous wrong. Now wilfully to inflict a grievous wrong on a neighbor is a grievous sin. But even when the wrong done is of less moment, it is always sinful to some extent. Charity is violated in many ways.

1. By needlessly saying in the hearing of another words that give him pain; and that whether he be our equal or our inferior, and still more if he be our superior.