Essay 1 - Theory of The Spiritual Exercises

DD8981J Spiritual Exercises Theory
Essay One: First Week

Andrew McDonald 201720171
Why do the theorists say that the First Week meditations require the most adaptation?
Difficulties in the First Week

A retreat director who attempts to guide the First Week of Ignatius of Loyolas Spiritual Exercises
as presented in the text is likely to encounter great difficulties if they do so literally. Viewed at a
surface level the Exercises of the First Week are intended to bring the exercitant to a realisation
of their own sinfulness and of Gods mercy. The three main Exercises invite the exercitant to
contemplate the cosmic and historic dimension of sin (First Exercise), their own personal history
of sin (Second Exercise), and finally the incredibly vivid contemplation on hell (Third Exercise).
Joseph Hitter speaks for many of us when he admits, at first sight they seem to belong to a
school of intimidation.1 Ignatius reasoning in the Fifth Exercise that the fear of the pains may
help me not to come into sin reinforces the overall impression that fear rather than love is the
main motivator. Gerard Hughes illustrates the distorted relationship with God that such an
impression could lead to with his ironic image of Uncle George who demands love from
nephews and nieces with the threat of torture.2 Hughes is right to say that such fear would be
crippling and certainly not aim at the quality of love response that Ignatius had in mind. It is clear
that the Exercises of the First Week require adaption in order to embrace the heart of Ignatius
intention.
The Aim of the Exercises

One cause of the difficulty I have described arises from viewing individual exercises in isolation
from the overall sweep of the Spiritual Exercises. The Exercises are integrated in nature. They are
intended to flow from one to the other, inviting the exercitant into an increasing awareness of
Gods love and grace and a corresponding decision to love, reverence and serve God our Lord.3
This point is taken up by Hitter when he concludes that the exercises of the first week have as
1 Michael Hitter, The First Week and the Love of God., Way Supplement, no. 34 (1978): 26.
2 Gerard Hughes, The First Week and the Formation of Conscience, The Way Supplement, no. 24 (1975): 8.
their ultimate aim to prepare the exercitant...to make the oblation set out at the end of the exercise
on Christ the King.4 The self-offering or oblation Hitter refers to takes place at the beginning of
the Second week, when the exercitant is invited to prayerfully devote themselves to an imitation
of Jesus the universal Lord in order to be of greater service and praise. It is obvious from the
text that Ignatius considers Gods infinite goodness rather than wrath as the motivating factor
for laboring with Christ.5
Therefore the images of the First Week, with their focus on sin, shame and forgiveness are not
intended as an end in themselves. Ignatius is not inviting us to squirm like naughty children
facing the discipline of a capricious and violent divine schoolmaster. Against the backdrop of
cosmic and personal sin, we are invited to see ourselves (to borrow imagery from Ignatius time)
as shamed knights who have been pardoned and welcomed back into the service of our rightful
King.6 Of course the image of the shamed knight within a feudal society is one quite removed
from us, so while serving to illustrate Ignatiuss intention it also underscores our need for
contemporary adaption.
The Dynamic of Conversion

This leads us to the dynamic of conversion that is both engendered and anticipated throughout the
Exercises of the First Week. Conversion, Michael Ivens pointed out, does not result from
intellectually knowing the content of the Exercises but from appropriating what we know about
God at a deeper level, for conversion is the reorientation of the self on the level of mind and
heart.7 Nor does transformation and conversion occur simply as a result of recognizing ourselves
as sinners, but as sinners loved by God. Howard Gray reminds us the grace of the First Week is
not to know my sins but to know the mercy of God.8 One danger of an undiscerning application
3 Spiritual Exercises, Annotation 23 in David L. Fleming, Draw Me Into Your Friendship/The Spiritual Exercises:
A Literal Translation And A Contemporary Reading (Saint Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996).
4 Hitter, The First Week and the Love of God., 29.
5 Spiritual Exercises, Annotations 97, 98.
6 Spiritual Exercises, Annotation 74 in David L. Fleming, Draw Me Into Your Friendship.
7 Michael Ivens, The First Week: Some Notes on the Text, Way Supplement, no. 48 (1983): 4.
8 Howard Gray, Dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises Lecture 3: Dynamic, Graces, Direction - YouTube, n.d.,
accessed 1 March 2017.
of the Exercises in this First Week is that the exercitant may become fixated on their sins, or on
earning Gods forgiveness, rather than being open to the genuine grace of mercy. Ivens highlights
Ignatius intention for the First Week when he explains that the exercitant is not asked to pray for
Gods mercy, rather, the exercitant is invited to open themselves to Gods mercy.9 These insights
from both Ivens and Gray encourage contemporary retreat directors not to insist exercitants do
the exercises by the book but to ask whether they are experiencing the progressive grace and
becoming aware of what Ignatius is asking them to be?10
The Art of Adaption

Theorists such as Ivens, Hitter, Hughes and Gray encourage directors away from a wooden or
literal application of the Exercises towards a faithful interpretation of the Exercises. A faithful
interpretation is one that will recognise the cosmic and historic dimension of sin, the personal
dimension of sin, and the consequences of sin. This movement from the universal to the personal
is necessary if we are to become aware of how our own disordered tendencies are in contrast to
our created purpose.11 But this movement must ultimately open us to the God who loves us, who
as Ignatius says in the final colloquy, has not let me fall and has always had so great pity and
mercy on me.12
When adapting the Exercises of the First Week inspiration and direction need to come from the
colloquys, for it is from them that we discover the grace of the Exercises.13 Both Gray and Ivens
draw our attention, for example, to the colloquy of the First Exercise when the retreatant
contemplates Christ on the cross. The exercise begins with a preparatory prayer for the grace to
experience shame and confusion at myself14 and colloquy concludes by asking, What have I
done for Christ...15 Both of these petitions on their own could cause the exercitant to fall into
9 Ivens, The First Week: Some Notes on the Text, 8.

10 Gray, Dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises Lecture 3: Dynamic, Graces, Direction - YouTube.
11 Spiritual Exercises, Annotations 1, 23.
12 Spiritual Exercises, Annotations 71.
13 Gray, Dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises Lecture 3: Dynamic, Graces, Direction - YouTube.
despair or self-loathing. At the heart of the prayer however is the figure of Jesus, who in the
words of Ignatius from life eternal is come to temporal death, and so to die for my sins.16
Phrases such as this one provide insights as to which scriptures a director may fruitfully point the
exercitant in order to contemplate the richness of Gods love for us.17 It is not for the
contemporary director to evade the challenging and painful subject of sin, but to bring the
exercitant into a life-giving and healthy fear that arises from a growing receptivity to Gods
goodness.18
16 ibid.
17 Both Gray and Ivens associate Ignatius prayer with Philippians 2:6-11, but we could also consider
Colossians 1:1922, Psalm 51, John 3:1621, Luke 15:1132
18 Hughes, The First Week and the Formation of Conscience, 14.
Bibliography
Fleming, David L. Draw Me Into Your Friendship/The Spiritual Exercises: A Literal Translation And
A Contemporary Reading. Saint Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996.
. What Is Ignatian Spirituality? Kindle Edition. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2008.
Gans, George E. Ignatius of Loyola: Selected Exercises and Selected Works. The Classics of Western
Spirituality. New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1991.
Gray, Howard. Dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises Lecture 3: Dynamic, Graces, Direction -
YouTube, n.d. Accessed 1 March 2017.
Hitter, Michael. The First Week and the Love of God. Way Supplement, no. 34 (1978): 2634.
Hughes, Gerard. The First Week and the Formation of Conscience. The Way Supplement, no. 24
(1975): 614.
Ivens, Michael. The First Week: Some Notes on the Text. Way Supplement, no. 48 (1983): 314.
. Understanding The Spiritual Exercises. Herefordshire: Gracewing, 1998.
Leeuwen, Hans van. Sin and the First Week in Our Actual Faith. Review of Ignatian Spirituality, no.
107 (2004): 113.

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DD8981J Spiritual Exercises Theory

Essay One: First Week

Difficulties in the First Week

The Aim of the Exercises

The Dynamic of Conversion

The Art of Adaption

9 Ivens, The First Week: Some Notes on the Text, 8.

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