Pt I ch. VI art. IV. Of the means of combating sloth in rising

ARTICLE IV.

Of the means of combating sloth in rising.

The observance of the following rules will enable us to persevere constantly in our resolution of rising promptly at the appointed hour. They refer to the precautions to be taken on the eve; the conduct to be observed at the hour of rising, and the manner of repairing our fault when we have been vanquished by sloth.

1. Precautions to be taken on the eve.

The first means to be employed against sloth is proposed to us by St. Ignatius; it is to determine in the evening, before retiring to rest, the hour at which we propose to rise the following morning; but our resolution must be firm, efficacious, and in some degree sacred, so that we should regard the breach of it as a real fault; it must be accompanied by an examen of the various pretexts and difficulties which self-love will be likely to invent when the time for rising arrives, for it is then that our sensuality rebels against our good resolutions of the preceding evening in order to nullify them. In the evening, therefore, before going to bed, let us arm ourselves against our own weakness by a firm and generous protestation, saying, for instance: ‘My God, I resolve to rise to-morrow at such an hour without a moment’s delay. I will not yield to any of the suggestions of sloth, but will rise in spite of the perspiration, the drowsiness, the headache, and the other trifling ailments that I may experience.’ The better to insure the fulfilment of this promise, we may occasionally bind ourselves by a temporary vow, obligatory under pain of venial sin, and not extending beyond a term of two, three, or at most eight days, not to remain in bed beyond the determined time. We cannot imagine what countless graces fidelity to such a resolution obtains for us, nor how powerfully it impels the love of God to assist us in conquering sloth. It is also very advantageous to place our good resolutions under the protection of the saints, to invoke them as witnesses of the engagements we take, and to protest that we consent to their becoming our accusers on the last day, should we fail in the observance of them. We may likewise select some saint or patron, promising him in his honour and with his aid to endeavour to conquer our sloth in rising. Having taken these wise precautions we may tranquilly retire to rest, and we shall soon learn their efficacy by experience.

2. How we must act at the time of rising.

The Holy Ghost Himself has taught us the second means of conquering our sloth. ‘At the time of rising be not slack.’ If we listen to ourselves, if we enter into a compromise with self-love, and stop to weigh the reasons which sensuality and sloth allege, we are already vanquished. Laziness will speedily triumph over us, enslave us, and lull us into an enervating and shameful repose. Let us then generously shut our hearts against the seduction of the senses if we would guard our virtue against the allurements of an effeminate indolence.

The moment we know the hour for rising has come, or that we hear the sound of the clock or bell, or the voice of the person charged to awaken us, we must obey with alacrity and without a moment’s delay. We must spring out of bed as expeditiously as if a venomous reptile had glided into it, or as if a dreadful conflagration had broken out in the house; for we may be convinced that the pleasure we experience in sleeping longer insinuates itself stealthily and sweetly into the heart, ‘but in the end it will bite like a snake.’ The seductive and perfidious heat of the bed is a spark capable, if not of enkindling the fire of concupiscence, at least of maintaining and fanning its flames. Let us beware, then, lest this pleasure ‘be transformed into a’ homicidal ‘serpent,’ and this spark consume our robe of innocence. Let us rise promptly: the least delay is fraught with danger.

As an incentive to the cheerful and diligent performance of this first act of the day, we may, immediately on awaking, represent to ourselves our Angel Guardian saying to us: ‘Arise quickly:’ and adding: ‘Thou shalt die’ to-day, ‘and not live’ any longer; ‘thou shalt give an account of thy stewardship.’ It is quite certain the charitable angel appointed to guard us in all our ways will not fail to incite and solicit us to quit our listlessness; for what are the remorse of conscience, the interior lights and the inspirations to rise promptly which we experience, if not the tender and salutary admonitions of this heaven-appointed Guide? The respect due to him, combined with the remembrance of an approaching death and judgment which may indubitably befall us this very day, is a powerful stimulus to conquer sloth. How many, in fact, have risen in the morning full of health and vigour and with a long life apparently before them, and yet, ere that same evening, have been summoned before their Judge?

Can we pretend to be exempt from a sudden death which has surprised so many others? Besides, should God preserve us in life would we not regret having neglected to consecrate to Him the first-fruits of the day? While, should our last hour toll, how bitterly would we not bewail having sacrificed the first moments of the day to self-love and sloth and thus sullied them by venial sin.

With what confusion shall we not hear the interrogation of the Divine Judge: ‘Where wert thou when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?’ We shall be compelled to answer: ‘I was lazily lolling in bed with my eyes weighed down with sleep.’ Let us then do now what must one day be to us a source of joy and consolation, instead of preparing for ourselves, by our negligence, a too tardy repentance.

3. How we should repair our fault when we have been vanquished by sloth.

The third means of correcting sloth is to inflict on ourselves some voluntary penance when we have yielded to its solicitations. This prompt and just retribution merits for us the grace of being more faithful to our promises, while it also accustoms us to a stricter vigilance in the observance of our resolutions. It is, moreover, a meet expiation for the offence offered to the Almighty.

In the imposition of those penances we should, by uniting discretion to fervour, choose such as are most compatible with our wants and the end we have in view.

‘At the time of rising are we not slack?’ Do we not ‘resemble the slothful man who turns in his bed as a door turneth on its hinges,’ being unable to leave it?

Are we not endowed with the fatal talent of inventing ‘excuses for our sins’ and making out pretexts to authorise our sloth? Are we resolved to employ henceforth the means of grace just taught us? How will we observe this resolution? It is an important affair which demands both courage and constancy. Let us then be generous; for if we completely succumb to sloth, God may send us a disease which will confine us to bed longer than we would wish.

‘How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? If thou arise not out of thy sleep,’ spiritual ‘want shall come upon thee, and poverty, as a man armed,’ shall seize thy soul. On the other hand, if thou art diligent in rising thou ‘shalt reap a rich harvest of virtue, and thy soul shall not experience indigence’ in spiritual gifts. If thou givest thy heart early to the Lord that made thee, and wilt pray in the sight of the Most High, He will fill thee with the spirit of understanding and He will direct thy counsels, ‘for they that in the morning early watch for me, shall find me,’ says the Lord. ‘Arise, therefore, thou that sleepest,’ that Christ ‘may enlighten thee’ during the hour of meditation, ‘for we ought to prevent the sun’ ‘to bless the Lord,’ and adore God in His House ‘at the dawning of the light.’