Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius used at Manresa retreats
| Cradled among ancient oaks on the Manresa campus, Loyola Hall provides a comfortable, distraction-free environment for instruction in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. | |||
A retreat at Manresa is geared around the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Originally a 30 day retreat designed by Ignatius, the three-day Manresa retreat incorporates all of the elements of Ignatius' retreat into a practical exercise for every man.
Ignatius was born in 1491 into a wealthy family in northern Spain. As he matured, he became quite the ladies' man and, eventually, a soldier in the army of King Ferdinand. While recuperating from a leg injury he suffered in battle in 1521, a new desire to serve Jesus replaced his previous desire for earthly glory. After ridding himself of all vestiges of his family's wealth, he spent several months in a cave near Manresa, Spain. It was there that he prayed deeply, and reflected on the life and teachings of Jesus. He later developed the notes that he had carefully kept into a small book called "The Spiritual Exercises" that he used to lead others to a knowledge of God through meditation on the life of Jesus. It is these exercises that now guide each retreatant at Manresa House of Retreats in Convent, Louisiana, and in all such Jesuit retreat houses throughout the world. During the lectures in which the spiritual exercises are presented, each retreatmaster has leverage allowing for individual differences in style and personal experience, but all follow the core principles established by St. Ignatius almost 500 years ago. The following paragraphs do not even attempt to offer the spiritual depth and insight of Father Hacker's 11 presentations. Rather, they are but a brief outline of the topics he covered, at the recent July 18-21 retreat which were presented with scripture readings and followed up with hours of private contemplation by each retreatant.1. "God's gifts" Father Hacker instructed the retreatants to reflect on the question by St. Ignatius, "Where is God in your life?" 2. "How do we respond to God's gifts?" Father Hacker spoke about King David, and his great sins [2 Samuel 11]. He said that at the time this was a picture of a model sinner. He also noted that later [2 Samuel 12] , David was also a model repentant. 3. "We examine our conscience" Father Hacker said that in order to sin, it must be premeditated, intentional, evil, and we must act upon it. He said that if we have no serious sins it is a good idea to confess, "Bless me father, I have no serious sins to confess but I feel I need to improve in these areas..." 4. "Forgiveness" Father Hacker spoke about the forgiveness of Ignatius for the terrible faults of the 8 popes during his life. He spoke of the forgiveness of Jesus for Matthew, who was a tax collector - the #1 worst looked-upon occupation at the time of Christ. He also spoke about the prodigal son, and the forgiving father. 5. "Where we fit into God's plan" Sending His Son to earth to die for us was just the first part of God's plan; we are left to carry out His will. The more information we have about Christ and scripture, the easier it is to determine where we fit into God's plan. 6. "The call to follow Christ" Father Hacker said we need to examine how we are called to follow Christ. He explained in modern terms the culture of the days of Christ and how Peter, Andrew, James and John were called to be disciples. 7. "Our relationship with Christ" Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" [Mt 16:15] We have to decide who He is before we can determine who we are in relation to him. Father Hacker said that the closest way that we can show how God loves the world, is through our married love for our spouse. 8. "The greatest commandment" Father Hacker used the parable of the good Samaritan [Luke 10:30-37] to illustrate Christ's answer to the question when they tried to trap Him with the question "What is the greatest commandment?" [Mark 12:28-34] 9. "The Cross" Father used the example of St. Catherine, who walked from Siena to Avignon seven times before she was able to convince the Pope to go back to Rome, because Avignon was such an unholy place at the time. He also attributed the story of the room full of crosses [The Lamb, July 2002, p.6] to Catherine. He said that we all have - or will have - our own crosses to bear. 10. "The Resurrection" Father Hacker said that Jesus earned our salvation not in spite of his suffering but because of it and through it. But he said that without the resurrection, Christ's death does not make sense; the Resurrection changes the meaning of death for all of us. To end the lecture, he proclaimed enthusiastically "Jesus is alive, by golly! Alleluia!" 11. "The coming of the Holy Spirit" Father Hacker said that after the apostles were touched by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, they were bold to proclaim the word of Christ that they pass down to us today. He said that through Jesus, we have access to forgiveness, to the Father, and to salvation. He said the Holy Spirit has been passed down to us, who are now Christ's Church.
