Step 13: Meditation on the Two Standards & Second Week Rules for Discernment

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5–11 · 2 Corinthians 11:14 · Luke 6:20–26

Philippians 2:5–11 (NIV)

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! ⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2 Corinthians 11:14 (NIV)

¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

Luke 6:20–26 (NIV)

²⁰Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²²Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. ²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. ²⁵Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

The Standard of Lucifer at Babylon (Exx. 140–142): The enemy’s three-step strategy to ensnare even good people: 1. Tempt to covet riches (security, possessions, control); 2. So that they come more easily to vain honor of the world (status, admiration, applause); 3. And from there to vast pride.
The Standard of Christ at Jerusalem (Exx. 143–146): Our Lord’s three-step path of freedom: 1. Spiritual poverty (and if God pleases to choose one, actual poverty); 2. Desire for reproaches and contempt (freedom from needing the world’s applause); 3. And from these two, true humility.
Second Week Rules for Discernment (Exx. 328–336): How the enemy disguises himself as an ‘angel of light’ (2 Cor 11:14)—bringing holy-sounding thoughts only to draw the soul subtly into his own net—and how to detect the ‘serpent’s tail’ by examining the beginning, middle, and end of the train of thought.

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Read Philippians 2:5–11 slowly. Stand a step or two from your place of prayer for an Our Father (Exx. 75), reverence the Lord, and pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

Step 2 · Orienting the Heart & Imagination (5 Minutes)

The Preludes

First Prelude · The Narrative (Exx. 137)

Consider how Christ calls and wants all beneath His standard, and Lucifer, on the contrary, wants all under his.

Second Prelude · Composition of Place (Exx. 138)

See a great plain embracing the whole region of Jerusalem, where the sovereign Commander-in-Chief of the good is Christ our Lord; and another plain in the region of Babylon, where the chief of the enemy is Lucifer.

Third Prelude · Asking for What I Desire (Exx. 139)

Ask for knowledge of the deceits of the rebel chief and help to guard yourself against them; and also for knowledge of the true life which the sovereign and true Commander sets forth, and grace to imitate Him.

Step 3 · The Body of the Exercise (30–40 Minutes)

How to Pray the Two Standards & Discern the ‘Angel of Light’

Ignatius asks us to pray the Two Standards carefully, contrasting the two camps point by point, and then applying his Second Week Rules for Discernment (Exx. 328–336):

Part 1 · The Camp of Babylon & The Three-Link Chain (Exx. 140–142)

Imagine the chief of all the enemy seated in that great plain of Babylon, as in a great chair of fire and smoke—horrible and terrifying in agitation and noise. Watch him summon his spirits and send them out to every city and state of life, leaving no one out.

Listen closely to the three-step address he gives them (Exx. 142) on how to trap human souls:

First, tempt them to covet riches (not necessarily illegal wealth—just the craving to accumulate, to secure ourselves, to build up visible resources and control so we feel self-sufficient).
Second, lead them to the vain honor of the world (once we have something—money, talent, spiritual reputation, bodily impressive form, leadership—we want to be admired, noticed, and respected for it).
Third, bring them to vast pride (the subtle belief that I am my own foundation). From these three steps he induces to all other vices.

Pause and reflect: Where in my own life do I see that exact chain (Security/Accumulation → Admiration/Status → Self-Sufficiency) trying to operate?

Part 2 · The Camp of Jerusalem & Christ’s Three Steps to Freedom (Exx. 143–146)

Now turn your eyes to the quiet, luminous plain around Jerusalem. See Christ our Lord in a lowly place, fair and gracious (Exx. 144). Watch how He chooses apostles, disciples, and servants, sending them throughout the world to spread His sacred doctrine among people of every state and condition.

Listen to the three-step address Christ gives His servants (Exx. 146)—the exact antidote to Babylon’s chain:

First, spiritual poverty—holding all things with open hands as a steward, not an owner—and if His Divine Majesty should be served and should want to choose them, no less to actual poverty.
Second, willingness to bear reproaches and contempt—being freed from the addiction to human praise, reputation, and looking impressive, because Christ Himself was misunderstood and counted as nothing.
Third, true humility—the quiet, unshakeable groundedness of a soul that has nothing to prove and nothing to protect, because God is its all.

Part 3 · Second Week Rules: Detecting the ‘Angel of Light’ (Exx. 328–336)

In the First Week, temptations are obvious sins. In the Second Week, once you genuinely love Christ, the enemy changes tactics: he transforms himself into an angel of light (Exx. 332). He begins by agreeing with your holy desires—inspiring grand, heroic, or hyper-spiritual fantasies—and then gradually twists them toward restlessness, comparison, impatience with your actual duties, or subtle pride.

Ignatius gives the master test in Rules 4, 5, and 6 (Exx. 332–334):

Watch the Beginning, Middle, and End of your thoughts: If a thought begins with something holy, watch where it lands. Does it end in deeper peace, humility, and love for the actual people God has given you? Or does it end in agitation, dissatisfaction with your vocation, secrecy, or lowering your soul? If it ends in turmoil or pride, you have just spotted the tail of the serpent (Exx. 334).

Step 4 · Friend to Friend & Looking Back (15–20 Minutes)

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Make a Triple Colloquy (Exx. 147): first to Our Lady, then to the Son, and then to the Father—asking in all three for the grace to be received under Christ’s standard: first in highest spiritual poverty (and actual poverty if His Divine Majesty is served and wants to choose you), and second in bearing reproaches and injuries so as to imitate Him more closely without any offense to another or sin of anyone. Close with an Our Father.

2. The Post-Prayer Examen of Prayer (15 Minutes · Exx. 77)

After finishing the Our Father, remain quiet for ten to fifteen minutes (sitting or walking slowly) to examine how your prayer went. Ask: Where did my heart feel warmed, expanded, drawn to trust, or moved to tears (consolation)? Where did I feel dry, distracted, defensive, or negotiating with God (desolation or resistance)? Write down two or three honest sentences in your notebook.

3. Repetitions & Carrying the Mystery Through the Day

Notice the merciful precision in Exx. 147: when Ignatius asks for the grace to bear reproaches and injuries like Christ, he adds the proviso “provided they can be suffered without the sin of any person and without displeasure of His Divine Majesty.” We never wish harm on anyone; we simply ask to be free from needing the world’s applause.

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 136–148, 328–336)

[142] The third, to hear the address which he makes to them, how he goads them on to lay snares and bind men with chains: and how he bids them first to tempt men to covet riches—as he is accustomed to do in most cases—in order that they may more easily come to the vain honor of the world, and then to vast pride. So that the first step shall be that of riches; the second, that of honor; the third, that of pride; and from these three steps he induces to all the other vices. [146] The third, to listen to the address which Christ our Lord makes to all His servants and friends, whom He sends on this expedition, recommending them to want to help all, by bringing them first to the highest spiritual poverty, and—if His Divine Majesty would be served and would want to choose them—no less to actual poverty; the second is, to a desire of reproaches and affronts; because from these two things humility results. So that there are to be three steps: the first, poverty as opposed to riches; the second, opprobrium or contempt as opposed to worldly honor; the third, humility as opposed to pride.

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