IGNATION EXERCISES

The Spiritual Exercises are a program that uses meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola to help people deepen their relationship with God through Jesus Christ. They grew out of St. Ignatius of Loyola's personal experience as he was seeking to grow in union with God and to discern God's will. He kept a journal as he gained spiritual insight and deepened his spiritual experience. He added to those notes as he directed other people and discovered what worked. Eventually Ignatius gathered these prayers, meditations, reflections, and directions into a carefully designed framework of a retreat, which he called Spiritual Exercises.

For centuries the Exercises were most commonly given as a directed retreat of 30 days in solitude using the supplied materials and meeting with a spiritual director frequently. In recent years, there has been a renewed emphasis on the Spiritual Exercises as a program for laypeople. One of the most common ways of going through the Exercises now is a retreat in daily life which involves a nine month long program, using the same materials, with assigned daily prayer and weekly meetings with a spiritual director.

Maurie Ockerman offers this program for those seeking it at COR. Additionally Christ Our Redeemer also offers a group version of the Spiritual exercises, where the same meditations are used as in the individual program, but those taking the program meet as a class and share their spiritual experiences with others who are also praying their way through the program. The Exercises have been adapted in many other ways to meet the needs of modern people.

See more at www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer

Ignatian Exercises Coordinator

Maurie Ockerman 850.897.1463

[email protected]