The Two Standards

Ask God our Lord for the grace that all my intentions, actions and works may be directed purely to the service and praise of his Divine Majesty.

Imagine two camps: one near Babylon, where the chief of the enemy is; the other near Jerusalem, where Christ, the supreme leader of the good, is.

Ask to know the deceits of the evil leader, and to be kept from them; and to know the true life shown by the supreme and true Leader, and the grace to imitate him.

1. Imagine the chief of the enemy in that great plain of Babylon, seated on a throne of fire and smoke, horrible and terrifying.
2. Consider how he summons countless demons and scatters them through the whole world, leaving out no province, place, state of life or single person.
3. Hear his address to them: first tempt people with the desire for riches, so that they come more easily to the empty honour of the world, and then to great pride. From these three steps he leads them to every other vice.
4. By contrast, imagine Christ our Lord in the plain near Jerusalem, in a lowly place, beautiful and gracious.
5. Hear the address Christ gives his servants: that they help everyone toward spiritual poverty (and, if God wills, actual poverty), toward desiring insults and contempt, and so toward humility.