Dilexit Nos §128

¹²⁸ It should be recognized that the spirituality of Blessed Claude de La Colombière resulted in a fine synthesis of the profound and moving spiritual experience of Saint Margaret Mary and the vivid and concrete form of contemplation found in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola. At the beginning of the third week of the Exercises, Claude reflected: “Two things have moved me in a striking way. First, the attitude of Christ towards those who sought to arrest him. His heart is full of bitter sorrow; every violent passion is unleashed against him and all nature is in turmoil, yet amid all this confusion, all these temptations, his heart remains firmly directed to God. He does not hesitate to take the part that virtue and the highest virtue suggested to him. Second, the attitude of that same heart towards Judas who betrayed him, the apostles who cravenly abandoned him, the priests and the others responsible for the persecution he suffered; none of these things was able to arouse in him the slightest sentiment of hatred or indignation. I present myself anew to this heart free of anger, free of bitterness, filled instead with genuine compassion towards its enemies”.