People who know that I write about Ignatian spirituality sometimes ask me about the Spiritual Exercises. What are they? What do you do? What can you expect? I tell them what I know. Since I made a 19th annotation version of the Exercises a couple of years ago I’ve been able to speak from personal experience. But to be honest, the Exercises are hard to describe. I wished I had a good book to recommend to the curious, but I didn’t know of one.
So I wrote the book, and it was published last week. It’s called God Finds Us: An Experience of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.
I did my best to explain what the Exercises are like and what they are about. I draw on my own experience to spice things up, but the book isn’t about me. It’s about this wonderful prayer-retreat experience that has changed so many millions of lives. I love the Spiritual Exercises. There are many ways to make them. If you’ve thought about making them, or if you are just curious about them, you might want to take a look at God Finds Us. I’ll be sharing bits and pieces from the book over the next week or so.
Ordered! Jim Manney’s book on the examen is so excellent; I’m much looking forward to this one.
Kudos, Jim! Just passed along your book on the Examen to a student of mine.
“What are they? What do you do? What can you expect? ”
I think Fr. Aschenbrenner’s book was also written to answer these questions:
http://www.amazon.com/Stretched-Greater-Glory-Spiritual-Exercises/dp/0829420878
Fr. Aschenbrenner’s book is very good. I drew on it for my book, which reaches for a broader audience and has a somewhat more popular style. At least I think it does. Readers will decide.