Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

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CatholicSooner

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So for my bday, my wife bought me the subject book and also "An Ignatian Pathway: Experiencing the Mystical Dimension of the Spiritual Exercises"by Paul Coutinho

I’ve read that these two books are companions to one another so I had added them both to my amazon wish list.

But for anyone whom has read both of these books, what is the best way to read them? Read S.E. first and then Coutinho’s book? the other way around? together?

Just wanting some advice on how to get started. Thanks
 
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius is not really meant for us lay Catholics. It’s intended use is for a retreat master of the Jesuit Order who is very deeply immersed in the spirituality and has years of knowledge in its formation. At least that’s what I’ve always understood from researching it myself.
 
The “Spiritual Exercises” are not meant to be read, they are something you “do”.
Preferably with a spiritual director trained in Ignatian spirituality.

I am not familiar with the books you are talking about, so I can’t comment on their content, but as one who has done the “exercises” I can say that without a competent director, you won’t get much out of just reading the books.
 
SaintFrancis333 said:
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius is not really meant for us lay Catholics. It’s intended use is for a retreat master of the Jesuit Order who is very deeply immersed in the spirituality and has years of knowledge in its formation. At least that’s what I’ve always understood from researching it myself.
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From what I have read, they are very much open to lay Catholics
 
CatholicSooner said:
From what I have read, they are very much open to lay Catholics
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Yes,especially when the Exercises are done in the “19th annotation”, which stretches is over the course of 30 weeks, not 30 days. It is called the “retreat of everyday life” and Ignatius specifically wrote the 19th annotation because he knew, even 500 years ago, that most people could not leave their lives for 30 days.

The Exercises are life-changing. I pray that you find someone who can help guide you through them. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Peace! 🙂
 
CatholicSooner said:
From what I have read, they are very much open to lay Catholics
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Definitely open to lay Catholics, but they’re not really a do-it-yourself process. Having a director who can help you pay attention to what’s happening and help you navigate through any difficulties is a huge blessing.
 
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