Ignatius Loyola experienced a profound mystical vision on the banks of the Cardoner river in northern Spain. He did not describe it any detail. He merely remarked in his autobiography that he learned more about God in the brief moments of this vision than he did in years of study and prayer. The vision seems to have opened Ignatius’ eyes to the presence of God everywhere. It’s what he was getting at in the Contemplation […]
The Ignatian phrase “Finding God in All Things” is like the mysterious verse of St. Paul’s: “pray without ceasing” (followed immediately in 1 Thessalonians by “In all circumstances give thanks”). You ask, “how is that possible?” and “what does that really mean?” There’s no pat answer to these questions, but this video has much insight into the incarnational quality of Ignatian spirituality that gives rise to the idea that we can find God in all things. Take […]
Fr. Robert Barron writes in America magazine’s new Books and Culture section about the response to his YouTube videos on the reasonableness of faith. The reaction, at least according to the comments, has been overwhelmingly negative. Most objectors show one one of four attitudes: scientism, ecclesial angelism, biblical fundamentalism, and Marcionism (distaste for the supposedly violent and unforgiving God of the Old Testament). Here’s what he says to critics who ask him how we know […]
Christ is at the center of Ignatian spirituality. Much of the Spiritual Exercises consists of meditations on the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. The first of these is a meditation on Jesus’ birth. In David Fleming’s paraphrase: To be able to enter into the deep-down stillness of this night, to be able to see this very human baby with all the wonder which comes from eyes of faith, to watch how Mary and […]
I wasn’t surprised to find out that the poet Billy Collins is a Jesuit alum (Holy Cross ’63). There’s a distinctly Ignatian tone in this quote: “I feel now that my sense of the spiritual is directly connected to my sense of wonder, my ability to be amazed by the fact of my existence in all its vital impermanence and by the spectacular environment I wake up to every morning. I am guessing that this […]
The List is a weekly feature highlighting something remarkable, offbeat, or otherwise noteworthy from the world of the Jesuits and Ignatian spirituality. Digital technology may not change the content of prayer, but it sure has expanded the forms of prayer. CDs, MP3 downloads, prayer websites, meditations in Flash–all these are a few clicks away. For the past decade, Creighton University’s online ministries project has been in the forefront of new technology. Its website offers many […]
Pedro Arrupe, head of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983, wrote one of the most moving reflections on suffering that I’ve ever heard. He suffered a massive stroke in 1981. He couldn’t speak and he could barely move. He wrote: More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. […]
“My City of Ruins” became both an elegy of grief and an anthem of hope in the months following the terror attacks on 9/11. It was the final song on Bruce Springsteen’s album “The Rising,” which was released not long after the attacks. The album, and especially “My City of Ruins,” spoke to pain of that time. It’s an Ignatian song because of the remarkable prayer at the end for the strength, love, and faith […]
Examen.me is a new website that offers several ways of praying online that draw inspiration from the Daily Examen, the one form of prayer that Ignatius Loyola considered indispensable. The site’s scripture examens are more like lectio divina prayer, but “its Prayer of Examen” is an online version of the classic Examen prayer. If you register with the site you can keep a prayer journal there. There’s more on the Examen right here at IgnatianSpirituality.com.
The List is a weekly feature highlighting something remarkable, offbeat, or otherwise noteworthy from the world of the Jesuits and Ignatian spirituality. The List this week features a website modestly titled Jesuit Stamps. It’s an amazing place containing images of thousands of stamps depicting Jesuits, Jesuit institutions, and “Jesuitica.” The site is the work of Peter Fennessy, SJ, a theologian who is now a spiritual director at Manresa Retreat House in Bloomfied Hills, Michigan. At right is […]
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