Jesuit spirituality is rooted in the Spiritual Exercise of St Ignatius Loyola and the mystery of finding God in all things.

The items below should help introduce you to Jesuit Spirituality and help give a sense of its contours or distinguishing characteristics.

“We are created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save our souls. Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.”
(The Spiritual Exercise)

Before he was to be founder of the Jesuits, St Ignatius of Loyola was a war-wounded soldier. This year 1521 found him recovering at this home in northern Spain from grave injuries suffered during the battle of Pamplona. Those many months of convalescence proved to be a journey of healing not just for his body but also his soul. Ignatius documented his conversion experience in letters, an autobiography and the Spiritual Exercise. They would become the foundations of Ignatian spirituality.

This spirituality is deeply rooted in becoming more aware of what is happening in your daily experience – finding God in all things. You can then begin to discern where the spirit of light or darkness may be trying to lead you. We become more aware of God’s presence in our lives and more attentive to God’s desires rather than our own.

St Ignatius had mystical experiences that gave him an understanding of the importance of the Trinity – Three Persons in One God – father, son and Spirit. H e was also committed to laboring with Jesus Christ carrying the Cross. Ignatius understood that God is an active God, ever art work in people’s lives. We are called to be attentive to this active God and promptly respond.

These are some of the hallmarks of Ignatian Spirituality. It is expressed in the arts, forms of prayer, interreligiuous dialogue, the Spiritual; Exercise and the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus written by St Ignatius and a[proved by Pope Paul IV in 1558. The spirituality of St Ignatius of Loyola animates all the works of the Society of Jesus – schools, parishes, center of social justice, mission work, and spirituality centers – AMDG – to the Greater Glory of God.

Nothing is More Practical…
(spiritual legacy from Pedro Arrupe, SJ)

Nothing is more practical than finding God; that is,
falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are
in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, everything.