Happy Feast of St. Ignatius! He is one of my favorite Saints because he struggled so much to be holy. He was worldly, proud and very demanding but yet he turned his life over to God and became a very holy and influential man in the Catholic church. His writings and directions given to his followers, the Jesuits, were used to counter the effects of Martin Luther and John Calvin. Not only was he helpful to those of the Renaissance Era, there is a lot that we can learn from him, too. Here are three of my favorite teachings from St. Ignatius that, if lived, can help us to also become saints.
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Timeless Teachings from St. Ignatius
The Spiritual Exercises
By far, this is the most incredible contribution made by St. Ignatius. Intended to last for a full 30 days, the Spiritual Exercises (said to be given to St. Ignatius by the Blessed Mother) are to be done in silence with the help of a spiritual guide. By doing the exercises, a person is brought into communion with God to find out what the purpose is for their life.
Most people don't have 30 days to devote to silence and prayer, so groups, like Miles Christi, preach the Exercises to men and women over a weekend.
If you have never been on a silent retreat, don't worry, it is incredible. You owe it to yourself to participate in one of the most life-changing things the church has to offer. St. Ignatius proved himself a master of spirituality when he compiled these exercises.
The Daily Examen
When writing the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius said that the purpose of the Daily Examen is to "purify the soul and to aid us to improve our confessions". He advocated for both
- a particular examination of conscience, where time is to be spent reflecting on a particular sin or defect that one is trying to improve upon
- a general examination of conscience to be done at the end of the day to reflect upon our day, what was good and bad and to profess to amend ourselves for the next day
His Daily Examen includes the following 5 steps:
- Give thanks to God for favors received
- Ask for grace to know my sins and to rid myself of them
- Demand an account of my soul from the moment I woke up to the present time. I must go over the day and examine my thoughts, words and deeds.
- Ask pardon of God for my faults
- Resolve to amend myself with the help of the grace of God
When practiced daily, you can grow in virtue and holiness. It also helps to make your confession more fruitful because you begin to really spend time looking at all of the things you do wrong each day.
Ad Majorem dei Gloriam
This was St. Ignatius' motto and is Latin for "for the greater glory of God". St. Ignatius lived his life, after his conversion mind you, solely for God. He wanted others to do the same. Every action we take and every thought we have should be with this question in mind, "Is what I am about to do or think going to bring the most glory to God in this situation?"
Many times we do what we want to do or what is the easiest thing to do. We must stop and ask ourselves if this is really what God wants us to do. If we do this on a regular basis, we will definitely grow in holiness. Is God the center of my life? Do I do all things for the greater glory of God or for my ease and comfort?
As homeschooling mothers we already sacrifice a lot, now all we have to do is to follow this teaching from St. Ignatius and do all for the greater glory of God and we will be on the best track to a holy life.
St. Ignatius Unit Study
If you would like to learn more about St. Ignatius and the Renaissance, I've written a four week unit study that you can use with your kids. Written for grade school students, the whole family can be incorporated into learning geography, writing, reading comprehension, history, science and more all at the same time.