This is a guest post by Dawn Eden, author and blogger at The Dawn Patrol. In St. Ignatius Loyola’s Suscipe, the prayer for perfect charity that appears toward the end of his Spiritual Exercises, we find important clues to the nature of the saint’s own spiritual journey: “Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, [...]
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At our parish on Mother’s Day, we have a tradition of honoring all women, whether they biologically have children or not. I am always deeply moved by this tradition, because it allows us to honor women who “mother” even if they do not have children of their own. As all women stand in our parish, [...]
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Every time the story of Ignatius Loyola is told, the teller of the tale mentions that he was a soldier and that he was wounded in battle. But then the speaker hurries on to what happens next–his conversion during his year-long recovery from terrible battle wounds. Writer Dawn Eden thinks we should pause a moment [...]
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I’ve been thinking about Ignatius’s Presupposition lately. This is a ground rule for the Spiritual Exercises that he puts right at the beginning of the book. It’s about the relationship between the spiritual director and person making the retreat. To assure better cooperation between the one who is giving the Exercises and the exercitant, and [...]
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The radical change in Ignatius’s conversion story—his stark change from military man to extreme follower of Christ—intrigues young adults. I cannot count the number of times that a retreatant has approached me on a Charis retreat to find out more about this part of Ignatius’s story. As I share it with them, I often find [...]
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One of my greatest joys in life is journeying with those in their 20s and 30s in my work with Charis Ministries, and even more specifically, sharing with them the gifts and joys of Ignatian spirituality. At the beginning of every Charis retreat, we take the time to share St. Ignatius’s story. I am always [...]
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How would you depict something as abstract as the Examen prayer? That was the challenge for artists vying for a commission to make a statue of St. Ignatius for Fairfield University. The winning idea came from New York artists Joan Benefiel and Jeremy Leichman. Their statue, “Examen,” was unveiled this week, picture above. Two identical [...]
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Sunday is the big day–the feast of St. Ignatius. I decided to end our month-long IgnatiusFest by posting my favorite Ignatius video. The amazing story of Ignatius has been told many times, but rarely as well as in this production from the Fairfield University Media Center. The narrator is a stuffed Spanish olive. Really. (Click [...]
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Ignatius Loyola, writing to a Jesuit who hesitated to work in the king’s court, fearing for the safety of his soul: My own opinion is that even the argument based on your personal safety is not relevant. Obviously if our religious profession has no other purpose but to ensure our security, and if we were [...]
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What do you like about Ignatius and Ignatian spirituality? Here’s a sampling of some responses here and on our Ignatian Spirituality page on Facebook. Add your own reflections in the comments. Carol Voss: The freedom to explore and stretch the talents I have been given all AMDG, the knowledge that something is NOT just my [...]
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