_Colloquy_ with Jesus, my loving Saviour; with Mary, the Mother of Sorrows; pleading for pardon, protesting my love and my boundless gratitude. THE EIGHTH DAY So far we have followed our King, Jesus Christ, through His humiliations, labors and sufferings from His incarnation to His cruel death; we must now follow Him in His glorified life. There too He is still our leader, by whose side we must triumph, as we have fought by His side. We must now rejoice with Him. For joy at His exaltation is worship; and at the same time it encourages us to follow Him generously and lovingly and to persevere to the end. Such is the purpose of the Fourth Week of St. Ignatius’s Exercises. THE FIRST MEDITATION On the Resurrection of Christ _1st Prelude._ The soul of Christ, accompanied by the holy souls from Limbo, comes to the tomb. He arises glorious. The holy women come to annoint the body. “He is not here.” Christ appears to His Blessed Mother, to the penitent Magdalen, to St. Peter, to the devout women. _2nd Prelude._ Behold the glorified body of the Saviour, as He arises from the tomb. Imagine the scene. _3rd Prelude._ Ask to rejoice with Him for His own sake, and to be thereby encouraged to suffer like Him. _POINT I._ Behold the scene of His resurrection. First see the lifeless body, with its gaping wounds and discolored flesh. In union with the blessed souls, adore it. Then as Christ’s soul enters it, behold how it is transformed. How different He is now from “the man of sorrows”! His sacred countenance beams with happiness. Recall His former transfiguration on Mount Thabor: “His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as snow.” On His head there is still a crown, but no more of thorns, but now one of glory. His sacred wounds are in His hands and feet and in His side, but they drip no more with blood, but pour forth rays of light. Bow down in loving adoration, and in spirit humbly kiss His feet, and adore your sovereign Lord. Ask Him to bless you, and to strengthen you to follow in His footsteps. _POINT II._ Imagine you see the blessed souls proceed, in company with Christ, to visit the cross, on which He expiated the sins of the world. Adore the cross, and kiss it lovingly. Bow down and kiss the spot on which He was nailed to the tree. Next, retracing the way of the cross, meditate lovingly on His various sufferings.