[B.] St. IGNATIUS of LOYOLA Presentation: The ... - St. Gaspar Bertoni

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2.] The other is complementary: the “immediate access” to the Holy Spirit,
that is proper to this Contemplation of the Fourth Week in order to arouse love. In this second
suggestion the fervent believer basks in the presence of the Risen Lord in that period of
expectancy of the Day of the Pentecost of Divine Love. In this view, through the obedience of
faith in the presence of revealed mystery, God “works” within, ”descends and dwells” within
the Apostolic Missionary.
a.] God lives and works and exists within all of creation. All that “is”,
is a pledge of that which the Lord wishes to bestow further. The transcendent Divinity of the Risen
Lord is He who maintains in being and in life all of creation. Ignatius seeks for this realization for
us in the presence of the Risen Lord, in His Spirit, which is Love.
b.] In this way, the habitual response of the believer from now on in
his spiritual and apostolic life will be that of living fully his own call to the Resurrection as an
Apostolic Missionary. He will be further motivated to seek and to find the divine will, both for the
experience of consolation, as well as for the discovery of God in all of creation. The reflection, in
this case, that occurs within the fervent believer is intended to be a deeper experience of the
Risen Lord. This becomes the proper activity of the Apostolic Missionary who wants to give back
to God all that he has received - and with interest, serving him as would St. Paul in his Apostolic
Mission.
2. The Meaning behind St. Ignatius’ Choices of the Mysteries of the Risen Lord
a. As is noted in the Third Week of the Exercises, there are detailed instructions for
all seven days. There are clear indications also on how to dedicate oneself to the prayer of the
week, in distributing the matter that would correspond to each one of these seven days [cf. SE #
208]. When it comes to the Fourth Week, however, this detail is missing, and there is only a
general allusion to the detailed method of the previous week [cf. SE # 226]. As a result, to guide
the Fourth week, St. Ignatius - with clear dependence, and some creativity - has suggested 14
separate mysteries of the Risen Lord [cf. ## 299-312] - most of which are contained in Sacred
Scripture and a few of which are not. These contemplations have as their goal that of an
intensifying of love - for the Lord and commitment to His service.
b. The 14 Mysteries of the Risen Lord are the following:
1- Appearance to May [non-biblical - [cf. the “Carthusian” source];
2- To Mary Magdalen [Mk 16:1-6, 9];
3- To the three Mary’s [cf. Mt 28:8-10];
4- To Peter at the Monument [Lk 24:12, 34];
5- To the Disciples going to Emmaus [Lk 24:13-35];
6- To the 11, Thomas being absent [Jn 20:19-23];
7- The 11, Thomas being present [Jn 20:14-29];
8- To the seven Disciples, fishing [ Jn 21:1-17];
9- To the Disciples on Tabor [ t 28:16-19];
10- To the 500 [1 Co 15:6];
11- To St. James [1 Co 15:7];
12- To Joseph of Arimathea [non-biblical -cf. “the Carthusian” source];
13- To Paul and the Patriarchs in the Descent [1 Co 15:8, 7];
14- The Ascension [Ac 1:3-4, 9-11].
c. St. Ignatius then presents these 14 ‘mysteries’ of the apparitions of the Risen
Lord for the contemplation of the retreatant. His method of procedure is quite orderly: