Thus graduated， an ordained and consecrated priest， first a vicar and then a curé desservant， the discipline which has bound and fashioned him still keeps him erect and presenting arms. Besides his duties in church and his ministrations in the homes of his parishioners， besides masses， vespers， sermons， catechisings， confessions， communions， baptisms， marriages， extreme unctions， funerals， visiting the sick and suffering， he has his personal and private exercises： at first， his breviary， the reading of which demands each day an hour and a half， no practical duty being so necessary. Lamennais obtained a dispensation from it， and hence his lapses and fall.[75] Let no one object that 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 preaching， telling his beads， litanies， orisons aloud， orisons in his own breast， repeated self-examination， confession and the rest - in short， an uninterrupted series of diversified and convergent ceremonies which， by calculated degrees， drive out terrestrial preoccupations and overcome him with spiritual impressions；immediately around him， impressions of the same kind followed by the contagion of example， mutual fervor， common expectation， involuntary emulation， and that overstrained eagerness which creates its object；with all the more certainty that the individual himself works on himself， in silence， five hours a day， according to the prescriptions of a profound psychology， in order that his bare conception may take upon itself body and substance. What-ever may be the subject of his meditations， he repeats it twice the same day， and each time he begins by "creating the scene，" the Nativity or the Passion， the Day of Judgment or Hell； he converts the remote and undefined story， the dry， abstract dogma， into a detailed and figured representation； he dwells on it， he evokes in turn the images furnished by the five senses， visual， audible， tactile， olfactory， and even gustatory； he groups them together， and in the evening he animates them afresh in order that he may find them more intense when he awakes the next morning. He thus obtains the complete， precise， almost physical spectacle of his aspirations； he reaches the alibi， that mental transposition， that reversal of the points of view in which the order of certainties becomes inverted， in which substantial objects seem to be vain phantoms and the mystic world a world of substantial reality.[79] -According to persons and circumstances， the theme for meditation differs， and the retreat is prolonged for a shorter or longer period.
For laymen， it generally lasts for three days only； for the Brethren of the Christian Schools it is eight days annually， and when， at the age of twenty-eight， they take their vows in perpetuity， it lasts thirty days： for the secular priests， it lasts a little less than a week， while the theme on which their meditations are concentrated is the supernatural character of the priest. The priest who is confessor and ministrant of the Eucharist， the priest who is the savior and restorer， the priest who is pastor， preacher and administrator - such are the subjects on which their imagination， assisted and directed， must work in order to compose the cordial which has to support them for the entire year. None is more potent； that which the Puritans drank at an American camp-meeting or at a Scotch revival was stronger but of less enduring effect.[80]