Affections and Resolutions; Third Part of the Meditation.
Meditation excites good movements in the will, or affective part of our soul, such as love of God and of our neighbour, desire of Paradise and glory, zeal for the salvation of souls, imitation of the life of Our Lord, compassion, admiration, joy, fear of God’s displeasure, of judgment and of Hell, hatred of sin, confidence in the goodness and mercy of God, confusion and regret for our past evil life. It is in these affections, or others like them, that your spirit must pour itself forth and extend itself as much as possible. And if you would be helped in this, take the first volume of the Meditations of Dom André Lapilia, and look at his preface; for there he gives the way to expand the affections well. You will find this also, and more fully, in the second part of the Treatise on Prayer by Father Arias.
Nevertheless, Philothea, you must not dwell so much upon these general affections as to fail to turn them into particular and specific resolutions for the amendment of your life. For example, the first word that Our Lord spoke upon the Cross will, I suppose, kindle in your soul the desire to imitate Him in forgiving injuries and loving enemies. Now, I say that this is little, unless you further add a particular resolution, in some such manner as this: Well then! I will no longer take offence at such and such harsh words that this or that person, my neighbour, or my servant or maidservant, says of me; nor at such and such contempt as I receive from this one or that one: on the contrary, I will say and do such and such a thing to soften the spirit of one, or to win the heart of another. It is thus, Philothea, that you will correct your faults in a short time; whereas, by general affections, you would do so only slowly and with difficulty.
Meditation excites good movements in the will, or affective part of our soul, such as love of God and of our neighbour, desire of Paradise and glory, zeal for the salvation of souls, imitation of the life of Our Lord, compassion, admiration, joy, fear of God’s displeasure, of judgment and of Hell, hatred of sin, confidence in the goodness and mercy of God, confusion and regret for our past evil life. It is in these affections, or others like them, that your spirit must pour itself forth and extend itself as much as possible. And if you would be helped in this, take the first volume of the Meditations of Dom André Lapilia, and look at his preface; for there he gives the way to expand the affections well. You will find this also, and more fully, in the second part of the Treatise on Prayer by Father Arias.
Nevertheless, Philothea, you must not dwell so much upon these general affections as to fail to turn them into particular and specific resolutions for the amendment of your life. For example, the first word that Our Lord spoke upon the Cross will, I suppose, kindle in your soul the desire to imitate Him in forgiving injuries and loving enemies. Now, I say that this is little, unless you further add a particular resolution, in some such manner as this: Well then! I will no longer take offence at such and such harsh words that this or that person, my neighbour, or my servant or maidservant, says of me; nor at such and such contempt as I receive from this one or that one: on the contrary, I will say and do such and such a thing to soften the spirit of one, or to win the heart of another. It is thus, Philothea, that you will correct your faults in a short time; whereas, by general affections, you would do so only slowly and with difficulty.