At the beginning of his spiritual exercises, the Pope asks for inner silencePope makes his spiritual exercises for 2024Pope Francis and the members of the Curia are going to spend almost a week on retreat at the Vatican, doing spiritual exercises. But what exactly is this?
If when we hear the words "spiritual exercises" we think of sport, we are not missing the mark. The objective of this type of retreats is to bring the retreatant closer to Christ through a spiritual effort with a clear method.
However, the best way to explain them is to go to the person who devised them: St. Ignatius of Loyola. In his work "Spiritual Exercises", the saint defines them as "every way of examining the conscience, of meditating, of reasoning, of contemplating, every way of preparing and disposing the soul, to remove all disordered affections (attachments, selfishness...) in order to seek and find the divine will".
On the website of the Jesuits of Spain explain that "the Spiritual Exercises are similar to internal gymnastic exercises that help us to expose ourselves to God's action and to assume his call to live the fullness of life that he offers us".
The original spiritual exercises
This "table of exercises" can be adapted to the circumstances of each person. Thus, from the original approach of a 30-day retreat, one can move on to exercises that last between four and eight days, and can even be done from home in a very modern "online" modality. But the essential thing is to dedicate time to personal prayer with Christ, seeking to have a face-to-face encounter with Him.
St. Ignatius of Loyola considered of great importance the spiritual accompaniment (by a priest, who preaches the meditations) and silence during the retreat. So much so, that it is customary not to have conversations during the days of retreat, in order to favor interior recollection.
For the month-long retreats, the founder of the Society of Jesus divided the weeks into four stages. In the first of these, the participants are invited to reflect on Creation and their condition as creatures called into existence by God. In the second week, the meditation will delve into the birth of Christ, to pass in the penultimate stage to the mystery of his Passion. Finally, the last week is dedicated to the Risen Jesus.
For times of prayer, St. Ignatius recommended an outline that begins with an introductory prayer to place oneself in the presence of God. Then, the usual thing to do is to meditate on a scene from the Gospel, trying to imagine it and become an active character. Then, the founder of the Society of Jesus invited to a conversation with God in order to apply to one's life what the Holy Spirit inspires.
Converting to Christ
In spite of the great amount of time devoted to reflection, the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises do not intend to remain theoretical. On the contrary, the idea is that the participants draw clear and practical resolutions that will help them to draw closer to God and to live the Gospel.
St. Ignatius wanted that, through meditations and times of prayer, the soul be exercised and live a moment of real conversion. Along these lines, the Pope Francis said in 2014 that "those who live the Exercises in an authentic way experience the attraction, the fascination of God". Thanks to this, the Holy Father continued, one returns "transfigured to ordinary life" and carries "with him the perfume of Christ."
Through examination of conscience, meditation and reading, the soul gradually trains itself to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, discarding inspirations that do not come from Him and favoring intimacy with the Lord.
With this in mind, it makes perfect sense for the Pope and the other members of the Curia to take advantage of the first days of Lent to carry out these spiritual exercises. For this reason, the Pontiff will not carry out any audience or public act throughout this week and will resume his schedule on Friday afternoon, February 23.
