Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola

[anonymousguy]

What did St. Ignatius of Loyola teach regarding using imagination in spiritual exercises?
Did he teach that imagination should be used when:

1. praying? (if so, can you give an example of what you would imagine when praying?)
2. meditating? (if so, can you give an example of what you would imagine when meditating?)
3. reading the Bible? (if so, can you give an example of what you would imagine when reading the Bible?)
4. or for other spiritual exercises? (if so, what were spiritual excercises were they?)

Also, if he taught that imagination should be used when praying and when meditating, what is the difference between praying and meditating?

 

[LSK]

I have always been taught that when I am praying, I am speaking to God and when I am meditating I am listening for His guidance.

I have also been taught to use my imagination when meditating by trying to put myself into the scripture passage I am reading, or to let the feelings of what I am reading become as real for me as possible.

The 11th Step of the 12 steps of AA are very similar to the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. The suggestion there is to use the Prayer of St. Francis, to read a line and then stop and think of five ways in which I can put that line into practice.

Last night, during Adoration, after I had done a decade of the Rosary, I read more out of Rod Bennett’s book Four Witnesses. I was at the part written about Nero and the persecutions of the first members of our Church. After I finished reading it, I tried to imagine what it would be like for this safe, pampered middle-aged woman to have to practice her faith in secret for fear of being made to wear animal skins and thrown into a pit of wild dogs. Would I be willing to be a Catholic Christian if it meant my death.

I ended that meditation with a prayer asking to be united with those early saints, those thousands of nameless martyrs who made it possible for me to Adore the Christ in a beautiful, safe, little Adoration chapel in Modesto, California. I still feel in a state of profound gratefulness today as I write this - so please forgive me if I sound overly sentimental.

 

[mercygate]

I seem to have misplaced my link, but if you grope around on the Internet, you can find online editions of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Exercises include the “recipe” for meditating using the five senses. A key part of each meditation in the Exercises is “the composition of place” in which you attempt to bring to the imagination as vivid and real an image of the scene as you can.

Some people consider the Ignatian technique most suited to the young – and that may be true. Sometimes, though no longer young, I still find it helpful when I am stagnating in a dry period.

 

[LSK]

mercygate:

I seem to have misplaced my link, but if you grope around on the Internet, you can find online editions of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Exercises include the “recipe” for meditating using the five senses. A key part of each meditation in the Exercises is “the composition of place” in which you attempt to bring to the imagination as vivid and real an image of the scene as you can.

Some people consider the Ignatian technique most suited to the young – and that may be true. Sometimes, though no longer young, I still find it helpful when I am stagnating in a dry period.

I agree, Mercygate. Us ‘old folks’ can avail ourselves of this technique and have some wonderful prayer time as a result!

 

[jimmy]

anonymousguy:

What did St. Ignatius of Loyola teach regarding using imagination in spiritual exercises?
Did he teach that imagination should be used when:

1. praying? (if so, can you give an example of what you would imagine when praying?)
2. meditating? (if so, can you give an example of what you would imagine when meditating?)
3. reading the Bible? (if so, can you give an example of what you would imagine when reading the Bible?)
4. or for other spiritual exercises? (if so, what were spiritual excercises were they?)

Also, if he taught that imagination should be used when praying and when meditating, what is the difference between praying and meditating?

I don’t know what St. Ignatius of Loyola said, but St. John of The Cross discouraged using your imagination to picture it. He allows for it to be used by a beginer who is just begining in the spiritual journey, but his view is that they hinder a souls journey to God.

 

[LSK]

I am about to actually do the spiritual exercises as a 30 day in home retreat as part of the formation for becoming a Marian Catechist. I would love some feedback from someone who has done the retreat.