Mystical spiritual practices have interested me for over 10 years. The Jesuits have been my subject for a few months. Here are some of my notes below.
Who would like this post?
- Those looking for a purely Christian based meditation techniques completely void of Eastern religious traditions.
- If you are an Intuitive type and know things for sure, but often cannot explain how you are absolutely certain about some things.
- Devout Catholics with an intellectual interest. The Jesuits are the Catholic intellectuals.
- If you are into any sort of Meditation practice, and you are exploring some of the more proven Christian meditative traditions that have stood the test of time.
Founding Fathers of the Jesuits
Ignatius of Loyola
He was a Basque from the Northern parts of Spain, in the Pyrenees mountains on the border of France. He was a soldier before becoming a priest. Many of his Spiritual Exercises were adaptations of Garcia de Cisneros spiritual exercises, which, in turn were based upon "Brothers of the Common Life," apparently a work of devotion of the time emphasizing simplicity.
Francis Xavier
He was a Basque, like Ignatius was. He was an Evangelist throughout Asia, and especially in India. He is considered one of the greatest missionaries. He met Ignatius and Peter Faber during his studies at the University of Paris.
Peter Faber
He was a Frenchman, formally, Pierre LeFevre. Perhaps his major contribution was his approach to people. He did not engage in disputes or arguments, but was was looking for a conversion from the heart in dealing with people.
General Notes on the Order
- The order was founded on September 27, 1540
- The main focuses of the Order:
- Education
- Intellectual Research
- Cultural Pursuits
- The Order's Motto
- Shortened: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam
- Full Form: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem
- For the greater glory of God, and for the salvation of humanity
- Symbol contains IHS, apparently a transliteration of the Greek form of the first three letters of the word Jesus. Strange thing, since I think the Greek transliteration is "Iesous." Perhaps there is some historical explanation on transliterations.
- The most famous modern philosopher who was a Jesuit was Pierre Teihard de Chardin.
- Strange naming of the order
- They call themselves the "Society of Jesus," and all written names of Jesuits I have noticed have the title "SJ" appended to the end of their names.
- This strikes me personally as strange. At the origins of the Order, there was some debate as to the presumptuousness of this name for an order. It is like, you never name your child "Jesus." Or like the names of some of the American style churches like "Christian Church," or "The Church," the presumptuousness is just a bit odd, and you wonder what type of person could possibly make such as suggestion or proposal.
Spiritual Exercises
This is the meat of the Jesuit approach to life. The exercises are also encouraged for lay persons, and not just for priests. So, anyone can do them. Many organizations have used these techniques outside of the Jesuits and outside of the Catholic Church, apparently.
The ideal program is a 28-30 day retreat in a quiet peaceful environment. However, there are variation on the theme for lay persons with busy schedules, and can be done over a period of a few months or two years.
Some major themes of the retreat:
- Usually done under the guidance of a Spiritual Director
- Discern the will of God in one's life
- Personal commitment to follow Jesus, no matter what the cost
- Major Aims:
- Development of Discernment
- Development of making choices and decisions separate from inordinate attachment
- Discernment is a mystical path and moves toward mystical union with God.
- A repeated theme: Finding God in All things
- Doing the Examen:
- 10-15 minutes
- Asking for help from God
- Gratitude reflection
- Pray with 1-2 strong interior movements (emotions, intuitions, feelings) focus
- Rejoice and ask forgiveness
Resources
These are the ones I have personally found. They are listed in order of priority for the reader of general interest.
The Ignatian Adventure, by Kevin O'Brien
A good resource if you intend on doing some or all of the exercises. I downloaded a copy to Kindle and I am reading it to supplement my current stack of books on meditative techniques.
I browsed quickly through this book and it appears to be a straight-forward practical application focusing on the Examen part of the Spiritual Exercises.
This website has tons of resources, articles, links, and documents related to the Spiritual Exercises.
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