Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life

Have you heard about the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola?
The Spiritual Exercises are designed to help people experience a deepening understanding of God in their daily lives and learn how to see God’s grace active in their everyday lives.

Do you sense that God is calling you to enter this lengthy spiritual journey? But you have responsibilities of employment and family.
If so, consider the Retreat in Daily Life. “A person who is involved in public affairs or necessary business but educated and has ability may take an hour and a half each day to perform the Exercises. To such a person the director can explain the end for which human beings are created…” (19^th Annotation).

Let us make a comparison. In the full Exercises, the retreatant would go to a retreat house for thirty days. He or she would be praying three, four, or five times during the day and would be seeing the director once a day to talk about how his or her prayer is going. The director will reflect back to the retreatant what God is doing in the retreatant’s life. In this kind of retreat, God’s graces come tumbling upon one another. In the Retreat in Daily Life, the retreatant would not leave home or go to work. He or she would use the regular time which has been set aside for one’s daily prayer and would see the director once a week. When a grace is received, the retreatant can put that grace into practice that very day. A retreat of this nature usually lasts about 30-36 weeks.

How will a person know if he or she is ready for such a retreat? Such a person has a habit of praying quietly each day, using the Scriptures as a starting point for one’s praying. The person can start with 15-20 minutes of prayer and gradually find an hour for one’s prayer. While the person is praying, the person asks himself or herself: Is God calling me to pursue this deeply spiritual journey? Persons who would like to try this are recommended to pray daily with the Scriptures. The gospel reading of the day is a good place to start; in this way, the person can also speak about insights or graces with anyone else who has been at Mass that day. For a way of praying, the following four steps are recommended:

After reading the passage,
1. Ask: What does the passage mean?
2. Ask: What does the passage mean to me?
3. Ask: How do I feel about what I have read?
4. Address one’s thoughts and feelings to God.
It is also helpful to keep a record of one’s prayer; we call this “journaling,” after the person has prayed, it is good to write down the thoughts and feelings which were experienced during the prayer.

It’s a well known fact that we need exercise to maintain our physical health. St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) recognized the need for exercise in order to maintain our spiritual health as well.

If you would like more information on doing the Spiritual Exercises in a Thirty Day Retreat, click here.

For more information about the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life, please contact Diane Schefers.