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.
