Among natural qualities in man generosity is the noblest, among the supernatural virtues it is the highest, because it is the most Godlike. Charity, the love of God, and of the neighbor for the love of God, is the most perfect virtue, and generosity is the perfection of charity. The highest manifestation that God has made of Himself is twofold, the creation and the incarnation with all its consequences. He created to pour out happiness on other beings, all manners of good things on created natures; He became incarnate to bestow _Himself_ on them; and He did so even after they had forfeited their primal destiny. Thus too a man by the practice of generosity gives of his own to others, by supernatural generosity he gives himself entirely to God and to others for the sake of God. When we give to our neighbor what we owe him, we practise the virtue of justice; when we give to God the honor we owe Him, we practise the virtue of religion, which is a species of justice; but we practice the virtue of generosity when we give more than the Lord demands of us, and thereby we more closely resemble God, on whom we have no claim and who yet gave us all we have. The proper esteem, as well as the practice of this virtue, is taught us by the grand mysteries on which we meditate to-day. In fact these lessons have been excellently learned by the followers of Christ throughout all the ages of Christianity. See how His Apostles, to a man, gave their whole lives and finally shed their blood, as Jesus had done, for the honor of God, and the salvation of souls. The same was done by thousands of other followers in after generations and is continued to be done till the present day. Countless solitaries of both sexes, and monks and nuns and missionaries among the heathens have left all things and thus imitated the generosity of the Redeemer. Sacrifice for the same glorious cause is written large over the history of the Church in every age and every land. It is this spirit of generous sacrifice that we must to-day rekindle in our hearts. We should not now ask ourselves merely, as we did properly some days ago, is there any sacrifice I _am bound_ to make if I want to save my immortal soul? but, at the sight of Jesus mocked and scourged, and crowned with thorns and dying like a criminal upon the cross, and all this for my sins, let me ask myself generously, “what sacrifices _can_ I make to God to show my gratitude?” These sentiments aroused in St. Ignatius, as under the guidance of the Holy Spirit he performed the Spiritual Exercises at Manresa, an ambition beautifully expressed in the motto he selected for his Society _Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam_, “For the Greater Glory of God.” For he became so enraptured with the love of Christ that he longed only to sacrifice himself entirely for the honor of God, and to rally around him a generous band of men who should be aglow with the same Divine enthusiasm.