The following text is to aid you in continued meditation on the Two Standards.

A Meditation on Two Standards: The one of Christ, our Commander-in-chief and Lord; the other of Lucifer, the mortal enemy of our human nature.

Prayer. To ask of God our Lord the grace that all my intentions, actions, and works may be directed purely to the service and raise of His Divine Majesty.

First Prelude. How Christ calls and wants all men beneath His standard; and how Lucifer, on the contrary, wants all men under his.

Second Prelude. Picture a vast plain covering all that region of Jerusalem, where the supreme Commander-in-chief of the good is Christ our Lord; another plain in the region of Babylon, where the evil chieftain is Lucifer.

Third Prelude. To ask for knowledge of the deceits of the evil chieftain and help to guard myself against them, and for knowledge of the true life which the supreme and true Captain shows, and for the grace to imitate Him.

First Point. To imagine the evil chief of all the enemy is seated in the center of that vast plain around Babylon, on a great throne of fire and smoke, a horrible and terrifying sight.

Second Point. To consider how he issues a summons to countless demons and how he scatters them, some to one city and others to another, throughout all the world, not missing any provinces, any places, any states in life, nor even any single person.

Third Point. To listen to the harangue which he makes them, and how he spurs them to ensnare men and to bind them in nets and chains; he commands them to first to tempt men with a lust for riches -- as he is accustomed to do in most cases -- that they may more easily come to the empty honor of the world, and then move onto unbounded pride. The first step in his snare is riches; the second, that of honor; the third, that of pride; and from these three steps satan leads on to all the other vices.

Now, in a like manner, we are to imagine as to the supreme and true Captain, Who is Christ our Lord.

First Point. To consider how Christ our Lord takes His stand in a lowly place, in that great plain around Jerusalem, and that He is attractive and gracious to behold.

Second Point. To consider how the Lord of the entire world chooses so many persons -- Apostles, Disciples, etc., -- and sends them throughout all the world spreading His sacred doctrine among men of every state and condition.

Third Point. To listen to the discourse which Christ our Lord makes to all His servants and friends whom He sends on this expedition, charging them to seek to help all men; first, by encouraging them to embrace poverty of spirit, and -- & if it should please His Divine Majesty, to choose them for it-- also to embrace actual poverty; secondly, to encourage them to desire insults and contempt; because from these two things come humility. So then there are three steps; the first, poverty opposed to riches; the second, scorn or contempt opposed to worldly honor; the third, humility opposed to pride. And from these three steps let them lead men to all the other virtues.

I will now speak with Our Lady, and I will ask her to obtain for me the grace from Her Son and Lord that I may be received under His standard: first in the most perfect spiritual poverty, and – should it so please His Divine Majesty to choose me - also in actual poverty; secondly, in bearing reproaches and offenses, thus imitating Him more perfectly, provided only that I can suffer them without sin on the part of any other person, or displeasure to His Divine Majesty. Afterwards I will say the “Hail Mary.” I will ask the Son to obtain for me the same graces from the Father, and I will then recite the “Anima Christi” I will also ask the Father to grant me the same graces, and I will say the “Our Father.”