Thus faith makes the religious life most meritorious. _POINT III. Examine yourselves on the practical working of the spirit_ of faith in your daily life. Consider: 1. Whether you strive earnestly to practise the presence of God, by frequently remembering Him and honoring Him by some ejaculatory prayer; for instance, at the striking of the clock, or at the signal to begin or end an exercise. If in your own room, offer each new task kneeling to your loving Lord and His Holy Mother. 2. Do you visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently and lovingly, attend Mass devoutly, and receive Holy Communion daily, with proper preparation and thanksgiving? 3. Are you diligent in keeping your rules and docile to the directions of your superiors? Or do you criticise their orders, thereby showing that you fail to recognize in them the voice of God? 4. Do you treat all your brethren with generous charity, seeing in them so many images of Christ? Or do you take a merely human view of them, being very fond of some and cold towards others, as worldlings treat one another? Do you endeavor to benefit and console all those in need or in sorrow? The days of the renovation of spirit offer a golden opportunity to examine the motives of all our actions, valuing them all according to the teachings of faith. _Colloquy_ with our dear Lord, begging for much light and grace to lead a life of lively faith, and thus to be thoroughly renewed in spirit. MEDITATION IV The Interior Spirit Is Fostered by Hope _1st Prelude._ Recall the words of the Psalmist: “Trust in the Lord, and do good.... Delight in the Lord, and He will give thee the requests of thy heart” (Ps. 36). _2nd Prelude._ Ask for a lively confidence in the help of God to lead a holy and successful life. _POINT I. The virtue of hope inspires lofty aspirations._ All men must hope for such graces from God as will enable them to attain the ends to which they are called. But as religious, and as Jesuits we are certainly called to attain perfection for ourselves and abundant fruit in the souls of others. Unless a Jesuit aims at these two objects, he falls below the mark of his vocation; He is a spiritual abortion. All other aims are trivial in comparison. That we are called to this twofold success is declared by the second rule of the Summary; and therefore the words of Christ are meant for us: “I have chosen you and have appointed you that you should go and should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (St. John xv, 16). This lofty aim is the spirit of our vocation. It is fostered by the virtue of hope.