Magis is one of the more mysterious Ignatian terms. It’s a Latin word meaning “the greater, the excellent, the best.” It’s associated with restless striving to...

When You Think Someone Is Wrong

Spiritual Exercises Jim Manney

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...

Three Kinds of Humility

Spiritual Exercises Tim Muldoon

St. Ignatius, like many spiritual masters over the centuries, suggested that humility was a prerequisite for the spiritual life. In his Spiritual Exercises, he...

Contemplation to Attain the Love of God

Spiritual Exercises Marina Berzins McCoy

The Contemplation to Attain the Love of God is a kind of capstone of Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises. Sometimes it is phrased as “The Contemplation...

Magis

Spiritual Exercises James Martin, SJ

A few years ago, I was visiting a Jesuit college and speaking to an eager and enthusiastic undergraduate. Our conversation turned to the idea...

Ignatian Indifference

Spiritual Exercises Marina Berzins McCoy

Often, we think about freedom as freedom from interference from others, but St. Ignatius understood freedom differently. For him, human freedom is a freedom...

Ancient Roots of Spiritual Exercises

Spiritual Exercises Tim Muldoon

The French philosopher Pierre Hadot has studied the origins of spiritual exercises among Greek philosophers. There seems to be a straight line from Hellenistic...

Free at Last?

Spiritual Exercises Vinita Hampton Wright

There’s a meditation in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius called “Three Classes of People,” which is designed to help us understand our attachments....

The Ignatian Adventure in Oklahoma City

Spiritual Exercises Sophie Lorenzo

On February 17, 2017, hundreds of faithful in Oklahoma participated in a spiritual enrichment day titled “The Graces of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint...