St Ignatius of Loyola and His Love for the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today we celebrate the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, a man who allowed God to transform a proud soldier into a humble pilgrim. While much is said about his spirituality of discernment and his search for the greater glory of God (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam), one beautiful aspect of his life is his deep and tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

During his conversion at Loyola, Ignatius was captivated by the lives of Christ and the saints. But it was Mary who gently led him to her Son. When he laid down his sword before the statue of Our Lady at the shrine of Montserrat and spent the night in prayer, he was not merely giving up his weapons; he was placing his entire life under Mary's care. From that moment, he chose to fight no longer for earthly glory, but for the Kingdom of God.

Ignatius saw Mary as the perfect disciple—one who listened, discerned, trusted, and surrendered completely to God's will. In the Spiritual Exercises, he often invites retreatants to contemplate the life of Christ through Mary's eyes. He believed that anyone who walks with Mary will inevitably be led to Jesus.

Our world often admires power, success, and recognition. Mary teaches us humility, availability, and quiet faith. Ignatius reminds us that true greatness is found not in what we achieve for ourselves, but in how faithfully we respond to God's call.

As we honour St Ignatius today, let us ask for two graces: the grace to discern God's will in every decision, and the grace to entrust our lives to the loving guidance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May she, who formed the heart of Jesus, also shape our hearts into faithful disciples who seek only the greater glory of God. Amen.

St Ignatius of Loyola's devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was profound, though it was expressed in a Christ-centred and contemplative way rather than through extensive Marian writings. His love for Mary is evident in the key moments of his life, in the Spiritual Exercises, and in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Here are some important references:

1. The Vigil before Our Lady at Montserrat (1522)

One of the defining moments of Ignatius' conversion took place at the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat, where he made a night-long vigil before the statue of Our Lady.

In his Autobiography (§17), dictated to Fr. Luís Gonçalves da Câmara, Ignatius recounts that:

• He confessed his sins.
• He laid aside his sword and dagger before the altar of Our Lady.
• He spent the entire night in prayer "after the manner of a knight."

This symbolic act represented the end of his worldly ambitions and the beginning of his life as a soldier of Christ under Mary's patronage.

"He hung up his sword and dagger on the altar of Our Lady."

This remains one of the most significant Marian moments in Ignatian spirituality.

2. The Vision at La Storta

Although the famous vision at La Storta is centred on Christ carrying the Cross, Ignatius had already placed himself under the care of Mary before receiving this grace. His desire was always to be presented by Mary to her Son.

His spirituality consistently understands Mary as the one who leads every disciple to Christ.

3. The Spiritual Exercises – The Contemplation on the Incarnation

Perhaps the richest Marian text in Ignatius' writings is found in the Spiritual Exercises (Exercises 101–109).

Ignatius invites retreatants to contemplate:

• The Holy Trinity looking upon the world.
• The Angel Gabriel visiting Mary.
• Mary's free response to God's invitation.

He asks the retreatant to imagine:

"See Our Lady and the Angel who salutes her."

Mary is presented as the model of listening, discernment, freedom, and complete surrender.

4. The Nativity Meditation

In the contemplation on Christ's birth (Exercises 110–117), Ignatius asks the retreatant to:

See Mary.

• Watch her caring for the Child Jesus.
• Observe Joseph serving them.
• Enter personally into the mystery.

His emphasis is not merely historical but relational—he wants the retreatant to know Jesus through Mary.

5. The Resurrection Appearance to Mary

Although the Gospels do not explicitly mention it, Ignatius includes a contemplation in the Fourth Week of the Spiritual Exercises (Exercise 299):

"The first apparition of Christ after the Resurrection was to Our Lady."

He explains:

"Though Scripture does not expressly mention it, it is taken as understood."

This reveals Ignatius' deep confidence in the intimate relationship between the Risen Christ and His Mother.

6. The Suscipe Prayer

Although the famous prayer does not mention Mary directly,

"Take, Lord, receive all my liberty..."

its spirit mirrors Mary's own Fiat:

"Be it done unto me according to your word." (Luke 1:38)

Many Jesuit writers see the Suscipe as living Mary's total surrender.

7. The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus

Ignatius instructed Jesuits to cultivate devotion to Our Lady.

Among his recommendations:

• celebrate Marian feasts with solemnity;
• honour the Blessed Virgin in Jesuit houses and ministries;
• encourage Marian devotion among the faithful.

He regarded Mary as the Mother and Patroness of the Society.

8. Daily Marian Devotion

• Witnesses who lived with Ignatius testify that:
• he prayed frequently before images of Mary;
• he often invoked her during important decisions;
• he celebrated her feasts with great devotion;
• tears frequently came to his eyes while praying.

Fr. Pedro de Ribadeneira, one of his earliest companions and biographers, records that Ignatius had an exceptionally tender love for the Blessed Virgin.

Ignatian Marian Spirituality in One Sentence

For St Ignatius, Mary is the first disciple who teaches us how to hear God's call, discern His will, say "yes" without reserve, and lead others to Jesus.

A Beautiful Reflection from Ignatian Tradition

Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., the 28th Superior General of the Jesuits, beautifully summarised Ignatius' Marian spirit:

"To Jesus through Mary; with Mary we learn to know, love and serve Christ more perfectly."

Though not a direct quotation from Ignatius himself, it faithfully captures the Marian heart of Ignatian spirituality.

Suggested Sources

St Ignatius of Loyola, The Autobiography, §§11–21 (Montserrat and conversion).

St Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises, especially Exercises 101–109, 110–117, and 299.

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus.

Pedro de Ribadeneira, S.J., Life of St Ignatius of Loyola.

Joseph A. Munitiz, S.J., The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius: A New Translation and Commentary.

David L. Fleming, S.J., Draw Me into Your Friendship: A Literal Translation and Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises. These works offer valuable insights into how Ignatius' devotion to Mary shaped his spirituality and the mission of the Society of Jesus.

- Fr Olvin Veigas, SJ

30 July 2026

St Ignatius of Loyola - A documentary film by Bishop Robert Barron

Jesuit Quiz

 Jesuit Quiz

NOVENA TO ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA IN THE LIGHT OF THE YEAR OF HOPE

The Commission for ‘Service of Faith’ is happy to share with you the Novena to St Ignatius of Loyola based on the theme of the Jubilee Year, ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. The booklet proposes a theme for each day, drawing matter for reflection and prayer from the writings of St Ignatius. Links are also provided to YouTube for some relevant hymns with easy access. They will be useful for small communities that do not have at hand the resources or time to adapt them. We are very grateful to Frs. Ajay D’Silva for preparing the novena prayers, Jossie D’Mello and Jerome D’Souza for the roof reading and editing, and Sch. Denver Pushpam for adding hymns and appropriate pictures. 

“Man can live forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope.”

Hope never disappoints. Optimism disappoints, but hope does not! We have such a need, in these times which appear dark. We need hope! We feel disoriented and even rather discouraged, because we are powerless, and it seems this darkness will never end. We must not let hope abandon us, because God, with his love, walks with us. “I hope, because God is beside me”: we can all say this. Each one of us can say: “I hope, I have hope, because God walks with me.” He walks and he holds my hand. God does not leave us to ourselves. The Lord Jesus has conquered evil and has opened the path of life for us. 

Christian hope is expressed in praise and gratitude to God, who has initiated His Kingdom of love, justice, and peace. … It will truly be a celebration if we welcome Jesus, the seed of hope that God sets down in the furrows of our individual and community history. Every “yes” to Jesus who comes, is a bud of hope. Let us trust in this bud of hope, in this “yes”: “Yes, Jesus, you can save me, you can save me.” If we are to become the people and the Church God dreams of us becoming, this must change. We need hope. After all, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. Hope is the one thing you can’t buy, but that will be given to you freely if you ask. Hope is the one thing people cannot live without. What we read today walks and talks with us tomorrow. We truly do become what we read. I hope this book walks and talks with you so much that God fills your whole mind, your whole body, and your whole soul with hope. I hope you feel proud to be Catholic. We are a people of hope. And our future is even brighter than our past. How will you bring hope to others today?

The Commission for ‘Service of Faith’ has prepared this brief Novena to St Ignatius based on the theme of the Holy Year, ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. The booklet proposes a theme for each day, drawing matter for reflection and prayer from the writings of St. Ignatius. Links are also provided to YouTube for some relevant hymns for easy access. They will be very useful for small communities that do not have at hand the resources or time to adapt them for use. 

HOPE IN THE SPIRIT OF ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

Day 1: Hope That Heals

Introduction: St. Ignatius referred to himself in his autobiography as ‘the pilgrim’. ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ is the theme of the Holy Year, suggested by Pope Francis.  We are all called to be ‘pilgrims of hope’. In a world beset with violence, hatred, strife, suffering and despair, the Lord invites us to be witnesses of hope and bearers of hope, even ‘hoping against hope’ as Abraham did. Through the intercession of Ignatius, let us pray for this grace for ourselves and for the whole Society and for the Church at large. 

Today, let us reflect on ‘Hope that heals’…

Hymn: In the Lord is my Hope (WJL A 53)

Scripture: Romans 5:3 – 5

Psalm:

The Lord is my salvation, He is my light

1. The Lord is my light and my help, 

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life, 

before whom shall I shrink?

2. When evil-doers draw near

to devour my flesh,

it is they, my enemies and foes, 

who stumble and fall. 

3. Though an army encamp against me 

my heart would not fear; 

though war break out against me,

even then would I trust. 

A reading from the Autobiography of St. Ignatius:

[2] Here he felt quite unwell. All the doctors and surgeons who were summoned judged that the leg ought to be broken again and the bones reset, saying that because they had been badly set the other time, or it had gotten broken on the road, they were out of place, and this way he could not mend. And once again this butchery was gone through; during it, as in all the others he underwent before or after, he never said a word nor showed any sign of pain other than to clench his fists tightly. [3] Yet he kept getting worse, not being able to eat, and with the other symptoms that usually point to death. When St. John’s day came, because the doctors were far from confident about his health, he was advised to confess; he received the sacraments on the eve of St. Peter and St. Paul. The doctors said that if he did not feel any improvement by midnight, he could be taken for dead. It happened that this sick man was devoted to St. Peter; so Our Lord deigned that he should begin to get better that very midnight. His improvement proceeded so well that some days later it was judged that he was out of danger of death. [4] And his bones having knit together, one bone below the knee was left riding on another, which made the leg shorter. The bone protruded so much that it was an ugly business. He could not bear such a thing because he was set on a worldly career and thought that this would deform him; he asked the surgeons if it could be cut away. They said that it could indeed be cut away, but that the pain would be greater than all that he had suffered, because it was already healed and it would take a while to cut it. And yet he chose on his own to be tortured, though his elder brother was shocked and said that he himself would not dare to suffer such pain but the wounded man bore it with his wonted endurance. [5] After the flesh and excess bone were cut away, remedial measures were taken that the leg might not be short; ointment was often applied, and it was stretched continually with instruments that tortured him for many days. But Our Lord kept giving him health; and he felt so well that he was quite fit except that he could not stand easily on the leg and had perforce to stay in bed. 

Reflection: St. Ignatius' healing from a battle wound led him to a profound spiritual awakening. In his autobiography, he describes how during his convalescence, he experienced deep interior movements that led him to choose a life of service to God. This transformation exemplifies how God's grace can heal and redirect our lives. 

Moments to Ponder:

As pilgrims of hope, our interior pilgrimage is from darkness to light and from death to life. Could you recall any one experience of inner healing or transformation in your life in the recent past? What was your inner disposition while working towards inner healing?   

Prayers:

Lord, we pray for Your holy Church throughout the world. May the Church, inspired by the spiritual legacy of St. Ignatius, always seek the “greater glory of God.” As Ignatius reformed his own life and founded a missionary order, may we too be part of the Church’s constant renewal. Help Church leaders embody the humility and discernment Ignatius showed after his conversion. May the Spirit continue to guide the Body of Christ in faith, hope, and love.

We pray for Pope Leo XVI that he may continue to shepherd the Church with wisdom and compassion. Inspired by St. Ignatius’s teachings, may he always seek to “find God in all things” and lead with discernment. Grant him the strength to remain faithful to Christ’s mission in the face of worldly pressure. Bless all bishops, priests, and deacons with humility; may they serve with a heart rooted in prayer and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Loving Father, we pray for all religious orders, especially the Society of Jesus. May their members reflect the zeal and discipline of St. Ignatius, who formed a company of men on fire for Christ. Just as Ignatius and his companions took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, may today’s religious renew their commitment to holiness and service. Give them the grace to be contemplatives in action—serving the world while grounded in deep prayer. Strengthen their fraternity and mission for Your glory.

Concluding Prayer: O God, who for the greater glory of Your name, by means of Blessed Ignatius, did reinforce Your Church militant with a new army, grant that by his aid and through his example, we so fight on earth as to be worthy to share his crown in heaven. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: Noble Knight or It’s all about a cannonball (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF4dHgstOSw)

Ten Elements of Ignatian Spirituality

Ignatian spirituality is one of the most influential and pervasive spiritual outlooks of our age. There’s a story behind it. And it has many attributes. 

1. It begins with a wounded soldier daydreaming on his sickbed.

Ignatian spirituality is rooted in the experiences of Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556), a Basque aristocrat whose conversion to a fervent Christian faith began while he was recovering from war wounds. Ignatius, who founded the Jesuits, gained many insights into the spiritual life in the course of a decades long spiritual journey during which he became expert at helping others deepen their relationship with God. Its basis in personal experience makes Ignatian spirituality an intensely practical spirituality, well suited to laymen and laywomen living active lives in the world.

More about Ignatius Loyola (A)

2. “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

This line from a poem by the Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins captures a central theme of Ignatian spirituality: its insistence that God is at work everywhere—in work, relationships, culture, the arts, the intellectual life, creation itself. As Ignatius put it, all the things in the world are presented to us “so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.” Ignatian spirituality places great emphasis on discerning God’s presence in the everyday activities of ordinary life. It sees God as an active God, always at work, inviting us to an ever-deeper walk.

3. It’s about call and response—like the music of a gospel choir.

An Ignatian spiritual life focuses on God at work now. It fosters an active attentiveness to God joined with a prompt responsiveness to God. God calls; we respond. This call-response rhythm of the inner life makes discernment and decision making especially important. Ignatius’s rules for discernment and his astute approach to decision making are well-regarded for their psychological and spiritual wisdom.

More about Call and Response (B)

4. “The heart has its reasons of which the mind knows nothing.”

Ignatius Loyola’s conversion occurred as he became able to interpret the spiritual meaning of his emotional life. The spirituality he developed places great emphasis on the affective life: the use of imagination in prayer, discernment and interpretation of feelings, cultivation of great desires, and generous service. Ignatian spiritual renewal focuses more on the heart than the intellect. It holds that our choices and decisions are often beyond the merely rational or reasonable. Its goal is an eager, generous, wholehearted offer of oneself to God and to his work.

More about the Spirituality of the Heart ©

5. Free at last.

Ignatian spirituality emphasizes interior freedom. To choose rightly, we should strive to be free of personal preferences, superfluous attachments, and preformed opinions. Ignatius counseled radical detachment: “We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.” Our one goal is the freedom to make a wholehearted choice to follow God.

6. “Sum up at night what thou hast done by day.”

The Ignatian mind-set is strongly inclined to reflection and self-scrutiny. The distinctive Ignatian prayer is the Daily Examen, a review of the day’s activities with an eye toward detecting and responding to the presence of God. Three challenging, reflective questions lie at the heart of the Spiritual Exercises, the book Ignatius wrote, to help others deepen their spiritual lives: “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ?”

More about the Daily Examen (D)

7. A practical spirituality.

Ignatian spirituality is adaptable. It is an outlook, not a program; a set of attitudes and insights, not rules or a scheme. Ignatius’s first advice to spiritual directors was to adapt the Spiritual Exercises to the needs of the person entering the retreat. At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is a profound humanism. It respects people’s lived experience and honors the vast diversity of God’s work in the world. The Latin phrase cura personalis is often heard in Ignatian circles. It means “care of the person”—attention to people’s individual needs and respect for their unique circumstances and concerns

.8. Don’t do it alone.

Ignatian spirituality places great value on collaboration and teamwork. Ignatian spirituality sees the link between God and man as a relationship—a bond of friendship that develops over time as a human relationship does. Collaboration is built into the very structure of the Spiritual Exercises; they are almost always guided by a spiritual director who helps the retreatant interpret the spiritual content of the retreat experience. Similarly, mission and service in the Ignatian mode is seen not as an individualistic enterprise, but as work done in collaboration with Christ and others.

More about Collaboration (E)

9. “Contemplatives in action.”

Those formed by Ignatian spirituality are often called “contemplatives in action.” They are reflective people with a rich inner life who are deeply engaged in God’s work in the world. They unite themselves with God by joining God’s active labor to save and heal the world. It’s an active spiritual attitude—a way for everyone to seek and find God in their workplaces, homes, families, and communities.

10. “Men and women for others.”

The early Jesuits often described their work as simply “helping souls.” The great Jesuit leader Pedro Arrupe updated this idea in the twentieth century by calling those formed in Ignatian spirituality “men and women for others.” Both phrases express a deep commitment to social justice and a radical giving of oneself to others. The heart of this service is the radical generosity that Ignatius asked for in his most famous prayer:

Lord, teach me to be generous.

Teach me to serve you as you deserve;

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labor and not to ask for reward,

save that of knowing that I do your will.

What is Ignatian spirituality?

Ignatian spirituality is based on the life and experience of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th century Basque saint and soldier whose profound conversion came after a cannonball shattered his knee while in battle. 2021 marks the 500th anniversary of this moment. As Ignatius recovered in bed and read about the life of Christ and the saints, he was moved to transform his life from one of vanity and pride to one of service and love. John O’Malley, SJ and Tim O’Brien, SJ recently wrote an article about how Ignatian spirituality was “constructed” over time as Jesuits gained access to the writings and records of Ignatius and other early Jesuits. While Ignatius himself may not recognise some of the “Ignatian” terms we use today, he would, I think, recognise the spirit behind what we call Ignatian spirituality.

Much of the Ignatian spiritual tradition comes from Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, and some from the Jesuit “way of proceeding”. It is a spirituality but also a worldview and a God-view. Here are five primary contributions of Ignatian spirituality and some sub-contributions from each of them, encompassing a large part of what this spiritual tradition is about.

1 Principle & Foundation

Let’s begin with Ignatius’ Principle and Foundation (P&F), found at the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises. The P&F lays out our purpose in God, and really the purpose for everything. I’ve unpacked a contemporary translation of this, but I’d like to share the literal translation so we can get a sense of Ignatius’ mind.

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.

From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it.

For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.

Let’s examine the three points the the P&F lays out: participation in God’s Project, the use of created things, and indifference or detachment.

Participation in God’s Project

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

We are called to participate in God’s Project for the world. Louis Savary paraphrases our purpose as “Bringing all creation together into one magnificent conscious loving union.” In different words, Ignatius says we are to “praise, reverence, and serve God” and save our soul. At first this can seem like a relationship of servitude toward God, but really, these three actions are responses to a love-relationship. And what is salvation other than union with God and God’s creation?

• Praise is a love-response borne out of gratitude. We glorify God in order to share and participate in God’s ongoing creation (love is always generative). Praise is a natural response to gratitude. It’s the tremendous gratitude expressed as a response to a gift of love.

• Reverence is another word for awe and wonder. It’s that dropping to your knees because you’re in the presence of Love itself – not in an I’m-not-worthy kind of way, but because you realise you’re standing before love incarnate.

• Service is not the same as servitude. Rather, it’s a call to collaborate, work with, and serve God by sharing the divine love with others. It’s a way we share and participate in God’s ongoing creation. It’s again a response. We serve God when we love neighbour, when we use our gifts and talents, and when we make choices that align with God’s Project. Christian service is a response to divine love by sharing divine love.

Read more about these three terms in this post. The Ignatian term for our participation in God’s project or dream for the world is co-labouring. We work side by side with God in the building of the kingdom. We are valued for our contribution. A collaborative relationship is not one of servitude.

The Use of Created Things

And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.

Ignatius tells us that all created things exist to serve our purpose. What are the “things” God gives? Not just physical possessions, but our talents, relationships, interests, career, family, etc. God is saying, “Here, I’m offering you these things, these gifts. Use them in ways that help you love better.” So we have to ask ourselves, What is my response to these gifts? Notice how response is an important part of Ignatian spirituality? God gives us gifts and we must respond.

How are these gifts helping me grow as a loving person? If I can see all things as gift then I can see the Giver: I can find god in all things.

Indifference / Detachment

From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it.

For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.

Ignatian indifference means I am not clinging to any one gift. I am holding things lightly. I am able to ask myself how the things in my life are helping me in my purpose and then ask, What do I need to let go of? Ignatian indifference encompasses freedom and adaptability. Freedom is holding things lightly. Adaptability is asking the question, What helps me and what doesn’t? And then letting go of what doesn’t.

2 Discernment

While the Principle & Foundation lays out our purpose and reminds us of how God presents gifts to us, Ignatian discernment is about our response to those gifts. It integrates indifference with a way to listen to God’s voice. When we can more clearly hear God’s voice we can make better decisions. Ignatius offers 22 “rules for the discernment of spirits“. These insights, drawn from his own experience, help us discern the movements of the good spirit (God) and the evil spirit (not God) in our life. It calls us to pay attention to our interior feelings, emotions, and other movements. We experience two primary modes which Ignatius calls consolation and desolation. Here are excerpts from Ignatius’ definitions:

Consolation

“The soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord.”

“…every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all interior joy which calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one’s soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.”

Note that this describes a spiritual movement toward God.

Desolation

“Darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the unquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to want of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord.”

This is a spiritual movement away from God.

Through these movements we can discern which voices and promptings may be coming from God and which may not. This can help us make better life decisions.

The Examen

The Examen prayer is a prayerful review of the last 24 hours. It can tune us into how our daily choices—big and small—and our use of God’s gifts, contribute to our growing closer in union with God and creation (our purpose). It can help us examine movements of consolation and desolation throughout the day as well as our spiritual freedom and adaptability. In other words, the Examen helps us be aware of the value of our lived experience, our interior feelings, the movement of God, and how we make decisions on a day to day basis.

There are many variations to the Examen. Here are Ignatius’ original five steps to it:

1. Recognise blessings and thank God.

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your review.

3. Review the day.

4. Ask for forgiveness.

5. Amend to live tomorrow anew.

3 Contemplation In Action

Another important element of the Ignatian way of seeing the world is that we are called to be contemplatives in action. In other words, prayer affects how we live; how we live affects our prayer. It’s a way of proceeding through life. We stop our work and action, rest from it, reflect on it in the context of prayer (like the Examen), and then we return to our work and action in the world, changed by our prayer and reflection.

The Examen has this pattern of contemplation in action built right in. We bring our day into our prayer and review it. We look at it for signs of God, of consolation and desolation, and we notice and see what the good or evil spirits may have been trying to tell us through our experiences and feelings. And at the end of the prayer we consider how, based on our prayer and insight, we will live tomorrow differently. Our prayer affects how we live. And then how we live is brought back to prayer, and so on.

4 The Creator Deals Directly with the Creature

Ignatius states this explicitly in the Spiritual Exercises. We do not need an intermediary in order to access God and be in relationship with God. I can speak to God directly, God can speak to me directly, and God speaks through all my life experiences, feelings, relationships, and prayer. This connectedness to God has much to do with discernment, which is about listening. It often takes time to learn how to discern the voice of God, which is why a spiritual director can be helpful as you sift through the voices of your daily experience and prayer life. This big Ignatian teaching reminds us that God is intimately involved and active in our lives.

5 Methods of Prayer

Finally, Ignatian spirituality offers us several methods of prayer, including the Examen and imaginative prayer (sometimes called Ignatian contemplation). Ignatius taught that since the Creator deals directly with the creature, then the Creator can speak through our imagination and even our memory. There are lots of resources to learn about this kind of prayer.

Bringing it Together

Everything begins and ends with gift (we find God in all things).

All we do is a response to those gifts.

We are invited to respond by collaborating with God with freedom and adaptability.

Therefore we use the things in our lives for that purpose alone. We detach ourselves from things that don’t serve that purpose.

We discern the voice of God as part of that collaboration through our lived experience, feelings, the Examen, prayer, scripture, consolation, and desolation…

We respond to that voice found in prayer by taking action.

This is essentially the Principle & Foundation stated in different words. We’ve come full circle. And Ignatian spirituality is a circle of gift and response. It may seem like a one-way relationship with God. But Ignatius recognised that there is truly no way to repay God’s generosity, nor does God expect it. This is why our response is freely given – there is no coercion. True love, Ignatius says, is a mutual exchange of gift and response, gift and response.

Prayer service on the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola

Sign of the Cross

Introduction  

Welcome, everyone, to our evening prayer service on the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius, also known as Iñigo, was born in the Basque country of Spain in 1491. Just a year later Christopher Columbus found America.  Initially Inigo worked in the treasury of the palace of Castilla in Spain but the situation made him to fight as a soldier and his life took a profound turn at the age of 30 when he was terribly wounded in the battle of Pamplona against the French. During his long recovery, he read about the life of Christ by Hugo Kartusian and the life of saints by Ludolph of Saxony, which led him to realize his true calling: to devote himself entirely to God and not to work of earthly kings but to the heavenly King.

With the same dedication he had shown in his treasury and military career, Ignatius embarked on a spiritual journey. He spent a year in retreat in the caves of Manresa and seeking spiritual guidance at the monastery at Montserrat in Spain, which made him to embark on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Jerusalem.

Back in the home country, Ignatius was a nothing but a restless soul to share his spiritual experiences with others as a layman. His intense zeal and passion raised suspicions among the Spanish Church authorities, resulting in multiple interrogations and imprisonments. This landed Ignatius not on a pulpit of a church but in the prisons of Inquisition. Having spent 42 days in the prison, he quickly understood that the mantle of a priest will fix this issue with Church authorities. This made him to study theology beginning with Latin at the age of 36! 

In 1528, Ignatius moved to Paris to continue his studies. Six years later, in 1534, he and six companions including St Francis Xavier, St Peter Faber and others devoted themselves under the leadership of Ignatius at the service of God and His Church. 

It was soon suggested that they form a regular religious order, leading to the establishment of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1540, with Ignatius serving as the first Superior General until his death in 1556. The Jesuits quickly took on the challenge of the Reformation, a difficult task given the weakened state of the Church at the time with Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and King Henry the VIII taking the Church into different directions. Ignatius emphasized approaching this mission “without hard words or contempt for people’s errors.” 

The charisma of St Ignatius of Loyola still continues to inspire today the 14,000 Jesuits world over serving 105 countries and thousands of collaborators and millions of beneficiaries through their educational, pastoral, spiritual, social, health and media apostolates. We are, indeed, glad to have with us today dear fathers, sisters and brothers today. We pray that St Ignatius of Loyola may continue to bless us, inspire us to have a heart larger than the world to do everything for God’s greater glory.

Hymn – Deera Yoda

Reading from the Scripture 

Now let us listen to a Gospel passage taken from Matthew 16: 24:26

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

Reading from the Autobiography of St Ignatius of Loyola – Fr Ashwin

Ignatius was known for his ability to inspire friendship and was blessed with deep spiritual insight. Shortly after his conversion, he wrote the Spiritual Exercises, a structured retreat program that guides participants through a journey of spiritual growth. This program has been followed by many, both Catholics and non-Catholics, ever since.

Let’s listen to a short description about the clarity that St Ignatius received in his early stages of his life as pilgrim at the river Cardoner in Manresa. This excerpt is taken from the autobiography of St Ignatius as he had dictated to Gonzales de Camara in 1554.

“One day he went to the Church of St. Paul, situated about a mile from Manresa. Near the road is a stream, on the bank of which he sat, and gazed at the deep waters flowing by. While seated there, the eyes of his soul were opened. He did not have any special vision, but his mind was enlightened on many subjects, spiritual and intellectual. So clear was this knowledge that from that day everything appeared to him in a new light. Such was the abundance of this light in his mind that all the divine helps received, and all the knowledge acquired up to his sixty-second year, were not equal to it.

From that day he seemed to be quite another man, and possessed of a new intellect. This illumination lasted a long time. While kneeling in thanksgiving for this grace, there appeared to him that object which he had often seen before, but had never understood. It seemed to be something most beautiful, and, as it were, gleaming with many eyes. This is how it always appeared. There was a cross near which he was praying, and he noticed that near the cross the vision had lost some of its former beautiful color. He understood from this that the apparition was the work of the devil, and whenever the vision appeared to him after that, as it did several times, he dispelled it with his staff.”

Reflections – Olvin

St. Ignatius of Loyola's experience at the Church of St. Paul marked a profound turning point in his spiritual journey. As he sat by the stream near Manresa, he experienced a deep enlightenment, gaining clarity on both spiritual and intellectual matters. This moment was transformative; from that day forward, everything seemed to him in a new light. This newfound understanding surpassed all the divine insights and knowledge he had received up to that point.

Ignatius described a vision he had during this time, which he initially perceived as beautiful and intriguing, likened to something gleaming with many eyes. However, while praying near a cross, he discerned that this vision was a deception, losing its beauty in the presence of the cross. He realized that it was a temptation from the devil. This realization led him to reject the vision whenever it reappeared, using his staff as a symbol of his resistance.

This experience resonates with Jesus' words in Matthew 16:24-26, where He calls His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. Ignatius' discernment and rejection of the deceptive vision reflect his commitment to this call, embracing the true light and rejecting what was false. This moment exemplifies the spiritual clarity and strength that come from true discernment and a deep connection with God.

Intercessory prayers 

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

1. For the Church and Pope Francis: Heavenly Father, we pray for Pope Francis and all the leaders of the Church. Grant them wisdom and strength as they shepherd Your people, inspired by the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

2. For the Superior General of the Jesuits Fr Arthuro Sosa and Jesuit Leadership: Lord, bless the Superior General of the Jesuits, all Jesuit provincials, and those who govern the Society of Jesus. May they be guided by the Holy Spirit in their leadership and continue to uphold the Ignatian charism.

3. For Vocations to the Society of Jesus and Religious Life: Gracious God, we ask You to inspire men and women to answer the call to the Society of Jesus and religious life. May St. Ignatius’ example ignite a fervent desire in their hearts to serve You wholeheartedly.

4. For Jesuit Lay and Religious Collaborators: Loving Father, we pray for all Jesuit lay and religious collaborators. May they continue to work together in unity and love, spreading the Gospel and serving others in the spirit of St. Ignatius.

5. For All Gathered to Celebrate the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola: Lord, we lift up all who are gathered here to celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius. May this celebration deepen our faith and inspire us to live out the Ignatian values in our daily lives.

Concluding prayer: - Together

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the life and teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola. As we conclude our time together, may his example inspire us to seek Your will with courage and love. Guide us in our daily lives to be instruments of Your peace and joy. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn  - Noble Knight

Angelus – 

Prepared by:

Olvin Veigas, SJ

July 31, 2024

Jesuit Nivas