Each of the major religious families in the Catholic Church, like the Benedictines, Franciscans, and Dominicans, has a distinctive way of following the Risen Christ and responding to the Holy Spirit. Jesuit spirituality is rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and the mystery of finding God in all things.

The items below should help introduce you to Jesuit Spirituality and help give a sense of its contours or distinguishing characteristics.

"We are created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save our souls... Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created."
The Spiritual Exercises

Before he was to be founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola was a war-wounded soldier.  The year 1521 found him recovering at his home in northern Spain from grave injuries suffered during the battle of Pamplona.  Those many months of convalescence proved to be a journey of healing not just for his body but also his soul.  Ignatius documented his conversion experience in letters, an autobiography and the Spiritual Exercises.  They would become the foundations of Ignatian spirituality.

This spirituality is deeply rooted in becoming more aware of what is happening in your daily experience – finding God in all things. You can then begin to discern where the spirits of light or darkness may be trying to lead you.  We become more aware of God’s presence in our lives and more attentive to God’s desires rather than our own.

St. Ignatius had mystical experiences that gave him an understanding of the importance of the Trinity—Three Persons in One God—Father, Son and Spirit.  He was also committed to laboring with Jesus Christ carrying the Cross.  Ignatius understood that God is an active God, ever at work in people’s lives. We are called to be attentive to this active God and promptly respond.

These are some of the hallmarks of Ignatian Spirituality. It is expressed in the arts, forms of prayer, interreligious dialogue, the Spiritual Exercises and the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus written by St. Ignatius and approved by Pope Paul IV in 1558.  The Spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola animates all the works of the Society of Jesus—schools, parishes, centers of social justice, mission work, and spirituality centers—AMDG—to the Greater Glory of God.

PRAYER FOR GENEROSITY
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.
St. Ignatius Loyola

SUSCIPE
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, understanding, my entire will,
all that I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Do with it as you will.
Give me only your love and your grace:
that is enough for me.
St. Ignatius Loyola

NOTHING IS MORE PRACTICAL...
Nothing is more practical than finding God; that is,
falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are
in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect
everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in
the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you
will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and
gratitude. Fall in love; stay in love, and it will decide
everything.
Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

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