![]() These are not rigid stages for a retreatant to follow. Ignatius originally conceptualized the retreat as a one-month experience, so these weeks were merely approximations of time, always to be adapted by the director. ![]() There is a pattern to the Spiritual Exercises, consisting of four essential movements or “weeks,” each with its own spiritual gifts (Ignatius called them “graces”) and challenges. Over nearly five centuries, these same Exercises (i.e., guidance and instruction to retreat directors for helping another person make a spiritual retreat) have been passed down, person to person, in a chain of faith that has affected the lives of countless women and men. In reflecting on and writing about his spiritual journey, Ignatius became convinced that his experiences were to be shared for the good others - and that, in fact, particular practices of prayer, imagination, and self- abnegation would lead others along a similar spiritual road toward God and a deep sense of joy. When we speak of Ignatius “receiving” the Exercises from God, what we really mean is that he paid close attention to the way in which God led him, like a patient teacher, to growing faith and freedom. The experience of his own conversion led Ignatius to share what he learned with others and, eventually, refine his personal prayer journal into what we now call the Spiritual Exercises. Ignatius’ desire was to “help souls” and he engaged in spiritual conversation with almost anyone he met. ![]() He determined to leave the life of privilege to which he had become accustomed, and commended himself and all of his energies to serving God. Recovering from a battle wound over the course of many months, Ignatius spent hours contemplating his life’s purpose and the compelling examples set by saints such as Dominic and Francis. Ignatius, a Basque nobleman of the late 15th and early 16th centuries underwent a powerful spiritual conversion in his late twenties. Ignatius Loyola are a means of opening oneself to the work of God in one’s life.
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