The First Spiritual Exercises are a practical and transforming resource for individuals and groups.
As Ignatius began to sense the embrace of God’s love and the pattern of Jesus’ life in each person he was guiding, he structured these patterns into a retreat of some weeks. To this retreat were added useful teachings on the Christian faith and spiritual life.
When he clarified the art of discernment and decision making, he added these to the book he now named The Spiritual Exercises. The Exercises were further shaped when he gave them to his first companions in Paris and Venice. They were finally completed in Rome between 1539 and 1541.
The Spiritual Exercises are more than a book text. We cannot do them by reading them. We can only do them by doing them. Because they are made in active relationship with God, their effects last for our life. They are about grace habitually rippling through the ecology of my desires, relationships, and actions.
There are different forms of the Spiritual Exercises: the Full Spiritual Exercises given and received in 30 days in a silent residential retreat, the Full Spiritual Exercises for 30 weeks in daily life, and the First Spiritual Exercises flexibly, in short tastes and longer experiences, to individuals and groups with spiritual conversation, in daily life, in every ministry context and online.
God’s Field Hospital Exercises.
Pope Francis offered this image, ‘I see the church as a field hospital after battle. The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.’
God’s Field Hospital Exercises are a series of Ignatian spiritual exercises developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic by Michael Hansen SJ. They are ‘bite-sized’ spiritual exercises that can be prayed in 15minutes, individually or together, in person or online.
Whether you need healing, require extra support, or are seeking clarity, these exercises can meet you wherever you are. For more, visit: https://www.first-exercises.com
Feature photo by Miguel A Amutio on Unsplash