scholarly journals Silent God in a Wordy World. Silence in Ignatian Spirituality

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (181) ◽  
Author(s):  
José García de Castro Valdés, S.J.

<p>The Society of Jesus is an apostolic religious order involved in many different activities and missions. Jesuits live far away from monasteries and strict contemplative life. Nevertheless, one of the most well-known peculiarities of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises is that a complete and absolute silence is required during the time of the retreat. Where and how should we place “silence” in the life of an Ignatian spiritual and mystical experience?</p>

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Michael Barnes SJ

This article considers the theme of discernment in the tradition of Ignatian spirituality emanating from the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). After a brief introduction which addresses the central problematic of bad influences that manifest themselves as good, the article turns to the life and work of two Jesuits, the 16th C English missionary to India, Thomas Stephens and the 20th C French historian and cultural critic, Michel de Certeau. Both kept up a constant dialogue with local culture in which they sought authenticity in their response to ‘events’, whether a hideous massacre which shaped the pastoral commitment and writing of Stephens in the south of the Portuguese enclave of Goa or the 1968 student-led protests in Paris that so much affected the thinking of de Certeau. Very different in terms of personal background and contemporary experience, they both share in a tradition of discernment as a virtuous response to what both would understand as the ‘wisdom of the Spirit’ revealed in their personal interactions with ‘the other’.


2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Mooney

AbstractThis essay examines the life of Ignatius of Loyola (c. 1491–1556), founder of the Society of Jesus [Jesuits], whose religious experience defined the contours of Ignatian spirituality. Through an exploration of foundational documents such as Ignatius's “autobiography,” the Spiritual Exercises, the Jesuits' Constitutions, and early Jesuit writings, this essay shows how the diversity of early Jesuit ministries – as spiritual guides, opponents of Protestantism, schoolteachers, and missionaries to lands outside Europe – can be subsumed under the single rubric of “apostolic mission.” Constitutive features of Ignatian spirituality impinging upon the Jesuit notion of and concrete practice of apostolic mission included the priority of prayer, the Trinitarian missio Dei, the positive embrace of creation and culture, a commitment to seek God in all things, go wherever others needed help, form them to help others, and choose ministries according to what most served the universal good. These principles, not always realized in actual Jesuit ministries, prove useful today for theorists and practitioners of Christian mission. Cet article examine la vie d'Ignace de Loyola (c. 1491–1556), fondateur de la Société de Jésus (Jésuites), dont l'expérience religieuse a défini les contours de la spiritualité ignatienne. A travers l'exploration de documents fondamentaux tels que la « biographie » d'Ignace, les Exercices spirituels, les Constitutions des Jésuites et les premiers écrits jésuites, l'article montre comment la diversité des premiers ministères jésuites – comme guides spirituels, opposants au Protestantisme, enseignants et missionnaires vers des terres hors de l'Europe – peut être rassemblée sous la rubrique unique de « mission apostolique ». Les traits constitutifs de la spiritualité ignatienne qui eurent des répercussions sur la notion et la pratique jésuite de la mission apostolique comprenaient la priorité de la prière, la missio Dei trinitaire, l'accueil positif de la création et de la culture, un engagement à chercher Dieu en toutes choses, à aller partout où il y avait besoin d'aide, à former à aider les autres, et à choisir les ministères en fonction de ce qui contribuait le plus au bien universel. Ces principes, pas toujours réalisés dans l'exercice des ministères jésuites, sont encore utiles aujourd'hui aux théoriciens et praticiens de la mission chrétienne. Dieser Artikel untersucht das Leben Ignatius von Loyolas (1491–1556), dem Gründer der Gesellschaft Jesu (Jesuiten), dessen religiöse Erfahrung die Konturen der ignatianischen Spiritualität bestimmt hat. Durch eine Untersuchung der Gründungsdokumente wie der ,,Autobiografie“ des Ignatius, der Geistlichen Übungen, der Konstitutionen der Jesuiten und früher jesuitischer Schriften zeigt dieser Artikel, wie die Vielfalt der frühen jesuitischen Dienste – als spirituelle Leiter, Gegner des Protestantismus, Lehrer und Missionare außerhalb Europas – unter der einen Rubrik ,,apostolische Mission“ zusammengefasst werden kann. Grundlegende Züge der ignatianischen Spiritualität, die das Verständnis und die konkrete Praxis der apostolischen Mission beeinflussen, schlossen den Vorrang des Gebets ein sowie die trinitarische missio Dei, einen positiven Zugang zu Schöpfung und Kultur, die Hingabe Gott in allen Dingen zu suchen, dorthin zu gehen wo andere Hilfe brauchten, sie auszubilden, damit sie anderen helfen können und jene Dienste zu wählen, die das höhere Gut am meisten förderten. Diese Prinzipien, die nicht immer in den aktuellen jesuitischen Diensten umgesetzt werden, erweisen sich heute als nützlich für Theoretiker und Praktiker der christlichen Mission. Este ensayo examina la vida de Ignacio de Loyola (c. 1491–1556), fundador de la Compañía de Jesús [jesuitas], cuya experiencia religiosa define los parámetros de su espiritualidad. A través de un análisis de documentos fundacionales, tales como la “autobiografía” de Ignacio de Loyola, los Ejercicios espirituales, Constituciones de la Compañía y otros escritos de los primeros tiempos jesuíticos, este ensayo señala cómo la diversidad de los ministerios de los jesuitas en su etapa inicial – directores espirituales, opositores del protestantismo, maestros de escuelas y misioneros a lugares fuera de Europa- puede clasificarse bajo la categoría de “misión apostólica.” Elementos importantes de la espiritualidad de Ignacio de Loyola que inciden en la noción y la práctica concreta de la misión apostólica jesuítica incluyen la prioridad de la oración, la missio Dei trinitaria, el aceptar la creación y la cultura, el compromiso de buscar a Dios en todas las cosas, ir a donde otros necesitan ayuda, proveer instrucción sobre cómo ayudar a otros y elegir ministerios que sean más beneficiosos para el bien universal. Estos principios, no siempre presentes en el ministerio actual de los jesuitas, hoy resultan útiles para los teóricos y prácticos de la misión cristiana.


Author(s):  
Kevin J. Wetmore

The historic Jesuit theater represents two centuries of didactic theater in which the Society of Jesus, following both the organizational instructions andSpiritual Exercisesof founder Ignatius of Loyola, used theater to inculcate virtue in both performer and audience member while teaching Latin, dance, poise, rhetoric, oratory, and confidence to the students who performed. Jesuit spirituality is inherently theatrical, and conversely Jesuit theater was intended to also be highly spiritual. The dramaturgy and scenography was spectacular and designed to draw audiences who would delight in them and learn the moral lessons the Jesuits hoped to teach while simultaneously drawing them away from a corrupt public theater. This essay considers Jesuit drama and theater in four key aspects: (1) Jesuit spirituality and performative practice; (2) the historic Jesuit educational theater of early modern Europe; (3) Jesuit drama in the missions outside of Europe; and (4) contemporary Jesuits involved in theater.


2021 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1707-1724
Author(s):  
Massimo Borghesi

When in October 2016 I started working on my book Jorge Mario Bergoglio. An intellectual biography I did not have the slightest idea of ​​the importance played by the figure and work of Gaston Fessard in the formation of Bergoglio’s thought. There was nothing to suggest that Gaston Fessard could be a relevant author for the intellectual formation of the future Pope. I was struck by the polar and dialectical model of thought that animated him, the possibility of harmonizing opposites, of inviting concepts to a common table that apparently could not be approached, because it places them in a higher plane in which they find their synthesis. This paradigm, of the Church and of the Society of Jesus as complexio oppositorum, finds its verification, according to Bergoglio, in the way in which the Jesuits have achieved the inculturation of the faith in the indigenous peoples of Latin America. Bergoglio rereads Ignatius in the light of a dialectical model. As he will say in one of the interviews he gave me on the occasion of the writing of my book: “In Ignatian spirituality there is always this bipolar tension”. It is certainly an original, uncommon reading of Ignatius’s thought. It is the ideal factor that allows us to explain why Bergoglio, when in 1986 he went to Frankfurt to write his doctoral thesis, chose the Guardinian essay dedicated to the polar opposition. When I concluded my volume on the intellectual biography of the future Pontiff in February 2017, one element, however, remained obscure. Where, from which author had Bergoglio drawn his polar model? Where did your antinomic reading of Ignatian spirituality come from? Not by Guardini discovered philosophically in 1986. Francis indicated the starting point of his intellectual formation. The reading of Fessard’s La dialectique des Exercices spirituels de saint Ignace de Loyola, published in 1956, is the work that “ had a great influence “ on him. It is the work that clarifies Bergoglio’s antinomian thought, his subsequent ideal encounter with Guardini’s philosophy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-402
Author(s):  
Terence O’Reilly

The recovery of important historical texts in the last half century has provoked a reevaluation of the features of Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises that have been described as “mystical” (especially their contemplative dimension and their implicit pneumatology), inviting us to reconsider the history of their composition and first reception, including the relationship between the spirituality of Ignatius to which they give expression, and the teachings of the illuminists or alumbrados. This article furthers this discussion by examining criticisms directed against the Spiritual Exercises during the last decade of Ignatius’s life by two Spanish Dominicans, Melchor Cano and Tomás de Pedroche, who found parallels between the Exercises and the theology of the illuminists. These criticisms were serious enough to affect the received interpretation of what we now call the mystical aspects of the Exercises leading up to its codification in the Official Directory of 1599, particularly regarding the place, if any, of contemplation in the lives of the laity, the role of consolation in prayer, and the experience of direct divine guidance.


1984 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. McCoog

And touching our Society be it known to you that we have made a league–all the Jesuits of the world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practices of England–cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us and never to despair of your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun, it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted, so it must be restored.The Jesuit mission to England so proudly announced by Edmund Campion in 1580 was a venture hesitantly undertaken by the Society of Jesus. There was careful, prayerful discernment not only before Father General Everard Mercurian decided in its favour but also throughout its subsequent growth and development. According to the Formula of the Institute, in a sense the Jesuit rule, the purpose and goal of the Society was twofold: the salvation and sanctification of both the individual Jesuits and of their fellow men and women. The entire thrust of Ignatian spirituality was the consideration of the first in so far as it advanced the second. Ignatius urged that all the ordinary practices and customs of religious life be considered in the context of the apostolate and either executed or modified in so far as they advanced the order’s goals. Because of the stress that Ignatius had placed on the Society’s works, he was reluctant to prescribe any universally binding spiritual practices. Indeed, among the wide powers granted to the General in the order’s Constitutions was that to grant dispensations ‘in particular cases which require such dispensation, while he takes account of the persons, places, times, and other circumstances.’


1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver P. Rafferty

In an Apostolic Constitution, dated 8 May 1881, Pope Leo XIII sought to regulate the relationship between diocesan bishops and religious orders. In the words of Herbert Vaughan the Papal pronouncement ‘sums up and ends a recent controversy on matters of discipline affecting the working of the Church in Great Britain’. Romanos Pontifices represented a personal triumph for Vaughan. He had assiduously campaigned at Rome to have the freedom of religious orders restricted, and their operations subject to the supervision of the local bishop. The Pope’s document directs that members of religious orders may not open a house in any diocese without the explicit permission of the bishop. Nor, in future, would it be possible for a religious congregation to convert existing institutions to other use without the consent of the episcopal authorities. The ruling of the document was an adjudication affecting all religious orders, and demanded complete obedience to all its details. The only religious order mentioned by name was the Society of Jesus. It, too, was to be subject to this ordinance in spite of its claims to be exempt from such interference in the running of its affairs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 297
Author(s):  
Virginia Raquel Azcuy

RESUMEN: Este artículo busca socializar algunos resultados de una investigación teológica, realizada con la mediación del método cualitativo y el enfoque del estudio de caso, que se propuso abordar el testimonio de un conjunto de mujeres laicas pertenecientes a la primera Comunidad de Vida Cristiana de adultos en Chile o vinculadas con ellas por medio de los Ejercicios Espirituales. La investigación ha sido realizada en el marco del Centro Teológico Manuel Larraín – Pontificia Uni­versidad Católica de Chile/Universidad Alberto Hurtado, como parte del programa Teología de los signos de los tiempos. Este texto busca profundizar la relación entre algunos contenidos de verdad propuestos por el Concilio Vaticano II –la Iglesia, la renovación de la vida religiosa, los laicos y el servicio a los pobres– y la vida de la Iglesia, en concreto, de una iglesia local. La lectura incluye una perspectiva de género por ser las mujeres un sujeto eclesiológico emergente en el posconcilio y contribuye a una exploración de la recepción conciliar desde este foco de atención. En el marco de la creciente colaboración entre jesuitas y laicos en la Compañía de Jesús en las últimas décadas, se propone una reflexión teológica a partir de his­torias de vida en relación con la experiencia y la transmisión de la espiritualidad de los Ejercicios. Los relatos elegidos muestran la interrelación existente entre el acompañamiento en los Ejercicios Espirituales por parte de jesuitas y laicos o laicas, las Comunidades de Vida Cristiana (CVX), el Centro de Espiritualidad Ignaciana (CEI) y diversas obras apostólicas. SUMMARY: This article seeks to facilitate some results of a theological research that was proposed to address the witness of laywomen belonging to the first Adult Christian Life Community in Chile and other women linked with them through Spiritual Exercises. This research was carried out through qualitative method and case study approach. It has been undertaken as part of the program Theology of the signs of the times, within the framework of Manuel Larraín Theological Center-Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Alberto Hurtado University. This text looks for a deepening between the relationship of certain elements of truth proposed by the Second Vatican Council –Church, the renewal of religious life, laity and the service to the poor– and the life of the Church, particularly the local Church. The reading includes a gender perspective because women can be considered as an emerging ecclesiological subject in the post-Vatican II and it helps to explore the reception of this council from this point of view. It is proposed a theological reflection, based on life histories in relation to the experience and the transmission of the spirituality of the Exercises, within the framework of the growing collaboration between Jesuits and laity in the Society of Jesus in the last decades. The chosen narratives show the interrelation between the spiritual accompaniment offered by Jesuits and laity in the Spiritual Exercises, the Christian Life Communi­ties (CLC), the Center of Ignatian Spirituality (CEI) and various apostolic works. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Leandro Lente de Andrade ◽  
Marcos Roberto de Faria

Tendo em vista a dimensão educacional dos jesuítas na Europa e a expressiva ação dos homens de preto nas terras além-mar, marcando por mais de dois séculos o período colonial brasílico, o artigo analisa dois documentos do fundador da ordem religiosa Companhia de Jesus, Inácio de Loyola: a Autobiografia e os Exercícios Espirituais; e, também, as cartas dos primeiros jesuítas em missão na América portuguesa do século XVI. Nesse sentido, é tomada a característica pedagógica jesuítica do exemplo. A Autobiografia é interpretada como uma obra elaborada com a finalidade de expor um exemplo a ser seguido e, portanto, norteadora do modus procedendi jesuítico. Os Exercícios Espirituais como fruto dessa pedagogia, como um manual de imersão mística possibilitando a conversão e a alteração radical na conduta moral, religiosa e prática do exercitante por meio do autoexame. Assim, os missionários pioneiros reproduzem a fundamental importância da ação exemplar como meio de ensino. No entanto, o embate com os maus exemplos dos colonos e do clero secular parecem desfavorecer as investidas dos padres, fazendo com que o desafio da conversão do gentio tenha dificuldades além das relações entre jesuítas e nativos.EXAMPLE PEDAGOGY: Loyola's autobiography and Missions in 16th century Portuguese AmericaABSTRACTConsidering the educational dimension of the Jesuits in Europe and the expressive action of the men in black in the lands beyond the sea, marking for more than two centuries the Brazilian colonial period, the article analyzed two documents of the founder of the religious order Company of Jesus, Ignatius of Loyola: the Autobiography and the Spiritual Exercises; and also the letters of the first Jesuits on mission in Portuguese America of the sixteenth century. In this sense, the Jesuit pedagogical characteristic of the example is taken. The Autobiography is interpreted as a work elaborated with the purpose of exposing an example to be followed and, therefore, guiding the Jesuit modus procedendi. The Spiritual Exercises as a result of this pedagogy, as a manual of mystical immersion enabling the conversion and radical change in the moral, religious and practical conduct of the exerciser through self-examination. Thus, the pioneer missionaries reproduce the fundamental importance of exemplary action as a means of teaching. However, the clash with the bad examples of settlers and secular clergy seems to disadvantage the priests' onslaughts, making the challenge of the conversion of the gentile difficult beyond relations between Jesuits and natives.Keywords: Jesuits. Pedagogy of the Example. Autobiography. Spiritual Exercises. Letters. Missions.PEDAGOGÍA DEL EJEMPLO: la autobiografía y las misiones de Loyola y las misiones en América Portuguesa del siglo XVIRESUMENTomando en cuenta la dimensión educativa de los jesuitas en Europa y la expresiva acción de los hombres de negro en las tierras más extremas del mar, marcando por más de los siglos el período colonial brasilero, el artículo analiza dos documentos del fundador del orden religioso Compañía de Jesús, Ignacio de Loyola: la Autobiografía y los Ejercicios Espirituales; y también las las cartas de los primeros jesuitas en misión en la América portuguesa del siglo XVI. En ese sentido, se toma la característica pedagógica jesuítica del ejemplo. La Autobiografía es interpretada como una obra elaborada con la finalidad de exponer un ejemplo a seguir y, por lo tanto, orientadora del modus procedendi jesuítico. Los Ejercicios Espirituales como fruto de esta pedagogía, como un manual de inmersión mística posibilitando la conversión y la alteración radical en la conducta moral, religiosa y práctica del ejercitante por medio del autoexamen. Así, los misioneros pioneros reproducen la fundamental importancia de la acción ejemplar como medio de enseñanza. Sin embargo, el embate con los malos ejemplos de los colonos y del clero secular parece desfavorecer las embestidas de los sacerdotes, haciendo que el desafío de la conversión del gentil tenga dificultades más allá de las relaciones entre jesuitas y nativos.Palabras clave:Jesuitas. Pedagogía del Ejemplo. Autobiografía. Ejercicios Espirituales. Cartas. Misiones.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 07-25
Author(s):  
José Alexander Pinzón Rivera

Resumen: El presente artículo tiene por objeto estudiar desde el punto de vista histórico y arquitectónico el proceso de construcción de las primeras sedes para el colegio e iglesia de la orden de la Compañía de Jesús en la antigua Villa de San Bartolomé de Honda. Se responde a tres aspectos en concreto, el lugar que ocuparon inicialmente estas dos edilicias, su posterior traslado a un espacio más dinámico a orillas del río Gualí en 1746. Al final, se presentan los sucesos que dieron pie al cambio de uso de este complejo arquitectónico por Fábrica de Aguardientes; primero a partir de la expulsión de la orden religiosa del territorio de la Nueva Granada y luego por la desaparición física de la edificación por causas naturales en 1805. ___Palabras clave: Honda, colegio, iglesia, jesuitas, arquitectura colonial, fabrica de aguardientes. ___Abstract: This article aims to study from the historical and architectural point of view the historical and architectural point of view the construction process of the first venues for the school and the church of the Order of the Society of Jesus in the old town of San Bartolome de Honda. It addresses three aspects in particular, the place originally occupied by these two buildings, then transferred to a more dynamic bank of the Gualí river in 1746. In the end, the events that gave rise to the change of use of this architectural complex by the Aguardiente Factory are shown. First, from the expulsion of the religious order of the territory of Nueva Granada and then by the physical disappearance of the building due to natural causes in 1805. ___Keywords: Honda, school, church, Jesuits, colonial architecture, aguardiente factory. ___Recibido: 06 de septiembre de 2015. Aceptado: 28 de octubre de 2015.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document