_POINT II. Such devotedness to God requires detachment from all creatures_; this detachment is not itself perfection, but it is a necessary condition to attain this entire devotedness, in which perfection consists. We must act like the man who had found a treasure hidden in a field, who to secure it _went and sold all he had_ to buy that field; and like him who, to buy the precious pearl, _went and sold all he had_ (St. Matth. xiii, 44-46). We must be detached. Our hearts are so narrow that we cannot give a part of them to one object without detracting from our love for another, except only if we love the former solely for the sake of the latter. Thus we should love all for God. Therefore we start on the road to perfection by leaving all things to follow Him. It must not prevent us from taking interest in many things, else we become wooden saints. With a St. Ignatius, a St. Francis Xavier, a St. Catherine of Sienna, etc., we must cherish eager desires of many projects, but only in as much as they promote God’s glory and the salvation of souls. _POINT III. In particular the study of perfection requires constant efforts_: 1. To adorn our soul with more and more virtue, 2. To correct our faults, 3. For this purpose, to labor earnestly at our particular examen, our confessions, 4. To direct our spiritual readings and meditations to the purposes of the illuminative way, returning to the purgative way if there arises some special need of it. Keep weeding, planting, binding. The chief point in this triduum is to see whether we have been of late seriously laboring at the acquisition of perfection as we now understand it: in particular whether we are attached to any creature so as to retard our progress, or habituated to commit any faults, which must be corrected; also how we profit by our Holy Communions, our meditations, etc., so as to promote steady progress in virtue. _Colloquy._ Ask for the special graces of which you see a present need. MEDITATION III Christ the Model of Perfection _1st Prelude._ See Christ carrying His cross, and saying: “_If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me_” (St. Matth. xvi, 24). _2nd Prelude._ Ask for grace to follow Christ faithfully.