The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-08-24
no Prepare tlle Soul.

Wh6re, during retreat, the WOAIO
shines bright from almost any angle
you look at it.
To Prepare the Soul.
had hoped to be able to give you
in detail the subjects discussed at the
retreat, but they cover such vast
range of Catholic philosophy, that 1t is
out of the question for me to try it.
The basis of them all seems to be
what is known as the spiritual exer-
cises of st. Ignatius. Simplifying this,
might say that the object of the
retreat is Ito prepare the soul and
properly dispose it to lay aside all in
ordinate affection and then to inquire
and discuss how God would have it
set it's life in order to gain eternal
salvation" To this purpose all the
lectures of the retreat lead. And in
the manner of giving these lectures
the greatest psychological wisdom is
shown. Pure logic is the plan of the
Jesuits. They waste but little time in
rhetoric, and yet Father Kuhlman is
one of the most Interesting men L
have ever heard in discourse. He tells
the retreatants to take off their coats
everywhere except in chapel, to
stretch their legs and make them
selves easy and comfortable. He then
sits in front Of them and proceeds.
During the entire course of his Z
or Is lectures a mouse could be heard
running across the floor. The magic
of his reasoning is overwhelming. He
usually lays the foundation of the lee
lures by asking the question, why
am 1 in the World % He tells why. ac-
cording to Catholic philosophy, and
then builds structurally beautiful
series of arguments on the human
duty, of praising, reverencing and
serving God. The purpose of the
period of silence demanded to be OBJ
served is to enable each retreatant to
scrutinize the state of his soul, to
examine his conscience carefully and
to mediate upon certain eternal
truths which in nearly all religions
relate to the important business of
salvation.
Quarter of Century Ago in Brittany.
The retreat as an institution in its
present form began in Brittany,
France, about $50 years ago. 1t is an
evolution of Christian effort to main
tain interest in the message of Jesus,
In the early ages of the church,
Catholics invented the camp meeting,
an institution now used almost ex-
clusively by Protestants. Thousands
of them would meet outdoors annual
ly to inquire into their spiritual con-
dition and to get nourishment and re-
freshment for the same. In later
times, and even now, what are called
great work.
Founder of the Order.
In the sixteenth century. Ignatius
Loyola, a Spanish nobIeman, was
wounded so badly in the service of his
country that he became unfit for the
life of a soldier. He retired, as a
hermit, to the Cave of Mauresa,
where he spent a month meditating
upon his spiritual condition as we'll as
upon his future duty. He concluded
that instead of serving the king of
Spain he would serve the King of
Kings, and planned the organization
of a militant legion under the name
of the Society of Jesus-commonly re-
ferred to as the order of Jesuits. The
intention of this legion was the propa-
CATION of the faith and the advance
ment of Christian frontiers. They are
not monks, as some people suppose;
they are spiritual soldiers. They are
probably the most powerful organiza-
ton in the Christian world, mum bers
considered.
1t takes 20 years to prepare the
mind of Jesuit for holy orders. Some
times it requires more, according to