Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola
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The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, (written within 1522-1524) are a brief set of meditations, prayers and mental exercises, available in various book formats, designed to be carried out over a period of 28 to 30 days. The book is approximately 200 pages long. They were written with the intention of enhancing and strengthening one's faith-experience in a manner that has distinctly Roman Catholic aspects.
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[edit] Typical methodology and structure of the Exercises
Ideally these Exercises were designed to take place in the setting of a secluded retreat, during which those undergoing the exercises would be focused on nothing other than the Exercises. At the same time, in his introductory notes, Ignatius provides a model for completing the Exercises over a longer period without the need of seclusion. The Exercises were designed to be carried out while under the direction of a spiritual director. The original aim of their authorship appears to have been for use as the key component of the Catholic religious order of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits', novitiate program. As such they are a required component of the Jesuit novitiate training program, that usually takes place during the first year of a two year novitiate. Still, though their history, other Catholic lay people are known to occasionally undergo these Exercises. When lay people undergo the Exercises, this is usually under the guidance of a spiritual director who is a member of the religious order of Jesuits. In contemporary experience, more and more lay people and non-Catholics are becoming both retreatants and directors of the Exercises.
Within the Exercises, daily instructions include various meditations and contemplations on the nature of the world, of human psychology as Ignatius understood it, and of man's relationship to the God of Jesus Christ. The Exercises is divided into "four weeks" of varying lengths with four major themes: sin, the life of Jesus, the Passion of Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus. During each day of the Exercises, a typical retreatant prays with a particular exercise, as assigned by the director, reviews each prayer, and, following four or five periods of prayer, reports back to the spiritual director of the retreat who helps them to understand what these experiences of prayer might mean to the retreatant. The goal of the Exercises is to reflect upon their experiences and to understand how they might apply to his (or her) life.
[edit] Theological teachings of the Exercises
[edit] Some historically contextual aspects of the Exercises
The teachings conveyed via the exercises appear to reflect the prominent Catholic views of the 1500's, during which time they were written. Such teachings include support for the Crusades, prayers for the intercession of Mary, unquestioning and absolute obedience to one's religious superiors, and an implied antagonism towards Islam. (One of the exercises describes the physical location of all evil in the world to be located "in the region of Babylon",though since this is also the home of the "Whore of Babylon" in Revelation, this may be nothing more than a traditional designation, while the physical seat of all goodness is located "in the region of Jerusalem".)
[edit] Implied antagonism of Islam within the Exercises
The implied antagonism of Islam that can be found in the exercises may be the result of the historical context in which they were written. Ignatius of Loyola was a Spaniard, in a Spain that had only been finally and fully liberated from centuries of Muslim rule in Ignatius' own lifetime. During these tumultous times, it can reasonably be said that the single greatest military conflict raging throughout Europe was the centuries old contest for military and spiritual supremacy between Islam and Christianity.
[edit] Spiritual viewpoint of the Exercises
The Exercises are perhaps a reflection of some of the personal inner deliberations through which Ignatius once went during his own lifetime. They include considerations regarding humility, selflessness for the sake of the religious life, reflection upon one's tendency to fall into sin, the view that the human soul is continually drawn in two directions: both drawn towards Godliness, and at the same time tempted towards selfishness and baseness. Consistent with Roman Catholic theology, the Exercises make numerous references to the belief that man's highest purpose is to glorify God, and not one's self. Accordingly they provide several illustrations of how one might best be able to refrain from satiating one's lower desires and instead how one might find a means to redirect one's energies towards the fulfillment of one's higher purpose in life.
[edit] Modern applications of the Exercises
To this day, the Spiritual Exercises remain an integral part of the Novitiate training period of the Roman Catholic religious order of Jesuits. Also, many local Jesuit outreach programs throughout the world offer retreats for the general public in which the Exercises are employed.
Beginning in the 1980s, Protestants have had a growing interest in the Spiritual Exercises. There are recent (2006) adaptations that are specific to Protestants that emphasize the exercises as a school of contemplative prayer.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Anthony Mottola, Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. Image (1964), ISBN 0-385-02436-3.
