| rdfs:comment | - The Spiritual Exercises are divided into a series of four stages, which can be structured to be completed in four weeks, completing roughly one stage during each week. Daily instructions include various meditations and contemplations on the nature of the world, of human psychology as Ignatius understood it, and of man's relationship to God through Jesus Christ. Each week has accompanying prayers, visualizations, and reflections. The Exercises are divided into "four weeks" of varying lengths with four major themes: sin, the life of Jesus, the Passion of Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus. During each day of the Exercises, a typical exercitant prays with a particular exercise, as assigned by the director, reviews each prayer, and, following four or five periods of prayer, converses with the
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| abstract | - The Spiritual Exercises are divided into a series of four stages, which can be structured to be completed in four weeks, completing roughly one stage during each week. Daily instructions include various meditations and contemplations on the nature of the world, of human psychology as Ignatius understood it, and of man's relationship to God through Jesus Christ. Each week has accompanying prayers, visualizations, and reflections. The Exercises are divided into "four weeks" of varying lengths with four major themes: sin, the life of Jesus, the Passion of Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus. During each day of the Exercises, a typical exercitant prays with a particular exercise, as assigned by the director, reviews each prayer, and, following four or five periods of prayer, converses with the spiritual director of the retreat who helps the exercitant to understand what these experiences of prayer might mean. The goal of the Exercises is a deeper intimacy in one's relationship with God, so that one may live their life more closely aligned with God's Will for them. The primary goal of the first week of the Exercises is to identify, and rid oneself from what Ignatius calls “disordered affections”, or, anything that hinders an individual from doing God’s will. The intent is to purify the soul so that God may more directly speak to each human heart. St. Ignatius calls an individual to contemplate the greatness of the love of God for each human being. In understanding the greatness of that love, the hope is that one will realize how they have not been fully open to that love and will feel sorrowful for that. In that sorrow, one is consoled by the mercy and love of God, it is at this point that the Exercises challenge the exercitant to ask God for the grace to be free from disordered attachments so that one might whole heartedly respond to God’s Will. The focus of the second week is a contemplation on the life of Christ. In reading the scripture passages relating to the mysteries of the life of Christ, Ignatius invites the exercitant to place themselves within the scripture passage and move beyond observing the action to actually participating in the scripture. This will allow the exercitant to respond uniquely and to come alive within the scripture. Ignatius' hope is that in this form of prayer, an entire event of Jesus' life will come alive to the exercitant, and in this way the exercitant will be more able to choose to follow Christ. The third week of the Spiritual Exercises calls the exercitant to suffer alongside of Jesus. It is the intent that before the beginning of this week, the exercitant will desire to be by the side of the suffering Jesus, just as one would want to be by the side of a suffering friend. Ignatius asks the exercitant to pray for sorrow and shame because Jesus is suffering as a result of the sins of humans. The focus in this week is to ponder the intensity of Jesus' love for humanity, a love so intense that he suffered and died for the sins of humanity. The fourth week is the briefest of the series, and it is an invitation to share in the immense joy that Christ has through His resurrection. The hope is that the exercitant is willing to die in "individual and communal sinfulness" in hopes of rising to a new life with Christ. The "contemplation to attain love" is the culmination of the Exercises, and at this point, the exercitant should have a realization of the joyful love that God has for humanity and the exercitant should be inspired by that love to glorify God and to love others.
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