Spiritual Exercises of St ignatius

The Spiritual Exercises are a compilation of meditation, prayers and contemplative practices developed by St Ignatius as a testament of God’s gentle persistent labouring in his life and to assist people to deepen their relationship with God and to discern God’s call in their lives, much as they had helped him.

FULL Spiritual Exercises in Silence over 33 Days

For those who desire to immerse themselves in the ‘Full Spiritual Exercises’, live-in retreats are offered by ‘Jesuit and Ignatian Spirituality Australia’ at Sevenhill JISA, College Road, Sevenhill. In this silent retreat, the exercitants meet once a day with their Director and engage in the methods and model of prayer provided by St Ignatius in his text, The Spiritual Exercises.

For further information or to make a booking, contact Sevenhill JISA, 08) 8843 5935 or email sevenhill@jisa.org.au

FULL Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life over 30+ Weeks

It is not always possible to set aside time for 33 days to make a silent retreat. For those who desire to focus on prayer and to deepen their relationship with God, one way of making the Exercises is through The Retreat in Daily Life. A person is able to live and work in their own environment and be guided by a spiritual director, either in person or online over a period of approximately 30+ weeks.

This in-depth prayer experience requires:

• A commitment to daily prayer practices, readings and/or meditations

• The Daily awareness Examen which is prayed at the end of each day

• Meet weekly with a spiritual director who acts as a guide and to share prayer experiences of the previous week

One of the gifts of this style of retreat is that our prayer and Spiritual Exercises can be integrated into our daily life as we continue to reflect, discern and grow through our individual experience of God in our day to day activities.

FIRST Spiritual Exercises

The ‘First Spiritual Exercises’ (FSE) combine the ministries of spiritual conversation and spiritual exercises, akin to the form of spiritual exercises given most frequently by Ignatius and his Companions to anyone of good will. They are a set of prayer exercises, structured in a four week program as a single, progressive and powerful experience of grace, developed around personal prayer at home and guided spiritual conversation in a small group that meets weekly.

Spiritual Exercises in Silent Individual Retreats

Individual silent retreats, of varying numbers of days, based on the Spiritual Exercises can be designed to meet individual needs and circumstances for those who desire to pay attention to and become more aware of the movement and action of God in their lives.

If you would like to make further enquiries about undertaking one of these options of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius or would like to have a further conversation, please contact a member of our team (details on the ‘Contact’ page), or send an email to: contact@ignatianheartspirituality.com