such a recitation soon becomes mechanical[76]; the prayers, phrases
and words which it buries deep in the mind, even wandering,
necessarily become fixed inhabitants in it, and hence occult and
stirring powers banded together which encompass the intellect and lay
siege to the will, which, in the subterranean regions of the soul,
gradually extend or fortify their silent occupation of the place,
which insensibly operate on the man without his being aware of it, and
which, at critical moments, unexpectedly rise up to steady his
footsteps or to save him from temptation. Add to this antique custom
two modern institutions which contribute to the same end. The first
one is the monthly conference, which brings together the desservans
curés at the residence of the oldest curé in the canton; each has
prepared a study on some theme furnished by the bishopric, some
question of dogma, morality or religious history, which he reads aloud
and discusses with his brethren under the presidency and direction of
the oldest curé, who gives his final decision; this keeps theoretical
knowledge and ecclesiastical erudition fresh in the minds of both
reader and hearers. The other institution, almost universal nowadays,
is the annual retreat which the priests in the diocese pass in the
large seminary of the principal town. The plan of it was traced by
Saint Ignatius; his Exercitia is still to-day the manual in use, the
text of which is literally,[77] or very nearly, followed.[78] The
object is to reconstitute the supernatural world in the soul, for, in
general, it evaporates, becomes effaced, and ceases to be palpable
under the pressure of the natural world. Even the faithful pay very
little attention to it, while their vague conception of it ends in
becoming a mere verbal belief; it is essential to give them back the
positive sensation, the contact and feeling. To this end, a man
retires to a suitable place, where what he does actively or passively
is hourly determined for him in advance - attendance at chapel or at