497 part iv: meditations for weekly retreats pitch and putrid sulfur, while the unjust will howl in pain like mad dogs.”243 Therefore, considering these punishments and torments protect yourself with all your strength against impurity, for nothing is more swiftly punished with infernal torments, nothing is more swiftly condemned. And do not think that God, or the help of the Blessed Virgin, or the intercession of some patron saint would keep you after death from the punishments reserved for the most insolent flesh, unless you guard yourself from them by avoiding the way leading to hell, atoning for past sins, and avoiding future sins. 1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. MEDITATION VII ON THE VIRTUE OF POVERTY 1. You should make the most careful meditation with regard to this virtue. For the better hidden the desire and love of possessing is, the more intently it should be tracked down, revealed, and eliminated. Consequently, ask yourself whether you are emotionally attached to a certain thing, even if the possession of it was approved. Just as the great and numerous lawfully possessed material goods are least harmful to many people; to you, on the contrary, even the smallest thing can cause great damage if you passionately seek or get attached to it. For many it is a matter of honor to possess many things; while in your case, a religious bound by the vow of poverty, the longing even for the necessary things, such as some clothing, has to be curbed and reproved. As far as those things contrary to poverty that you most clearly see that you possess, think that they are nothing other than snakes, which shall swiftly bring ruin to you and to your Order. 243 Cf. IC, Bk. I, Ch. 24, § 3. In this quotation, St. Stanislaus used two different words than in the original text, and he also added the word “infernal” that was implied by the context; cf. IC crit. ed., p. 371 (footnotes “d-d,” “e,” “f,” “g”).
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