Ignatius, a Basque from Loyola in the north of Spain, is the founder of the Roman Catholic religious order known as the Society of Jesus, or "Jesuits".
Something of an adventurer in his youth he enjoyed the swordplay and loose living common for young noblemen of his day.

While trying to drive away an attack by French at Pamplona in northern Spain, he was wounded in the leg. He was sent back home to Loyola. During his convalescence he had a conversion experience. When recovered he set off on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On the way he stopped off at Manresa (near Barcelona) and spent many months in anguished reflection and prayer. The fruit of this period was his 'Spiritual Exercises'. Something of an attempt to help others avoid the pitfalls he had fallen into. His aim was to inspire the retreatant with enthusiasm to follow Christ, our Lord.

The Spiritual Exercises:
Ignatius developed a programme of prayer and reflection on life, based on the life of Christ, in which the person doing his Exercises looks at how best to serve God in his or her life. The Exercises introduce the retreatant to various ways of praying - using scripture in imaginative contemplation, meditating upon one's own life. The Scripture follows the life of Christ from birth to passion and resurrection. The retreatant, in meditating upon these scriptural stories, allows the life of Christ to interplay with his/her own life. One of the basic aims of the Exercises is to help the retreatant more clearly see how our daily life can see us under the influence of good or negative forces. The Exercises have often been termed a school of Discernment.

The full programme of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius takes about a month on a full-time basis, and nearly a year if done part time in daily life. However, many people take a retreat of about a week's duration, which may touch on some of the themes of the Spiritual Exercises. St Beuno's also offer the full Exercises over three, ten day periods.

The term 'retreat' covers a much broader range of subjects than just the Spiritual Exercises. Sometimes it is a time away from the normal routine, perhaps in a place of quiet, where a person can take some time to reflect and pray and take stock of life.

What is really important for me?
What should I do?
Where are you God?
Who am I?

Often there is someone to talk to on this time away, a spiritual guide or director. Individually Guided Retreats are where the person sees a guide daily to see how things are going and how to proceed most fruitfully. Most retreats at St Beuno's are made in silence to help focus the prayer and stay away from the daily distractions such as TV, radio, computer, mobile phone etc. which we too often fill every waking moment.

On the other hand there are many group retreats where people talk of life, pray together and often hear talks by the retreat director. These are not currently offered on St Beuno's programme, though can sometimes be arranged for groups.

An on-line history of Ignatius is available: www.ignatiushistory.info/