IGNATIAN EXERCISES
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
Each year I offer the Ignatian Exercises From September through May.
About the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, developed the Spiritual Exercises, one of the enduring treasures of Christian faith and devotion. This journey of prayer was written in the 1500’s, but it has continued to bear spiritual fruit across the centuries. The Exercises primarily consist of praying with Scripture, where we are invited to let God inspire our imagination so that we encounter Jesus though the gospel stories.
The Exercises begin with prayers that help us know that we are deeply loved by God. With the love of God as our foundation, we are able to face into our sin and experience deep grace and forgiveness. Then we pray through the life of Jesus using gospel stories: His birth and childhood, His public ministry, His passion, His resurrection and the new life we are offered.
Through the Exercises, many people encounter Jesus in a profound way, finding their love for Jesus increased, with a deep desire to serve Him with joy. The Exercises are also a school of discernment, where we let desire for God lead us as we offer our lives more completely to Him.
how Does The Ignatian Exercises work?
I provide the opportunity to pray through the Exercises each year in San Francisco and online via video conference. I use the 19th annotation version in which people pray through the Ignatian Exercises over the course of 9 months. There are nine half-day retreat experiences over the course of the nine months, which include video teachings by Bill Zuelke of Soul Formation. A small group of others praying the Exercises will join you at these retreats, creating a rich time of learning and sharing how God has been at work in our prayers.
Also included are nine one-on-one retreat direction sessions with me in between the half-day retreats. These provide a place to share more personally about your experiences, to celebrate God’s work in your life, ask questions and help you go deeper in prayer.
Pray The Spiritual exercises starting in fall 2024
I will be leading the Ignatian Exercises this year starting with the first group meeting at the end of September. I will be offering in person groups in San Francisco as well as remote group via video conference. Warm-up prayers are available to begin praying in July. You can find further details in my flyer.
Ignatian exercises for your Group Starting?
If you have a group of at least 3 people interested in praying the Ignatian Exercises, please contact me and I can consider forming a group cohort for you. This group could be in-person or remote and could start in the Fall or at a date we work out together.
Ok, I’m interested. what can I do?
Contact me to begin a conversation about whether the Ignatian Exercises are a fit for you at this time. I also have some warm-up prayers you could try, to help you decide whether you want to do the full Exercises.
“I cannot recommend the Ignatian Exercises enough. The months of doing the Ignatian Exercises with Dale and my cohort were some of the most rich and growth-filled months of my life. The Exercises as Dale leads them are an unforced rhythm of grace, a patient habit that bears fruit over time, a discipline of devotion. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who is even slightly considering it.”
“I did not realize until I began the Ignatian Retreat what a stern, finger-pointing view of God I had. As I participated in the retreat and prayer exercises, I gradually came to know and love more and more our loving, compassionate, patient God - to know Jesus as friend. What began as something I felt the burden of making time for, became something I didn’t want to miss out on and began to seep into more and more parts of my day and life - being with Jesus and experiencing His love and grace.”
“Praying through the Spiritual Exercises over these last 9 months helped me to start a spiritual journey from my head to my heart. I had no idea how out of shape my imagination muscles were or how they could help me experience a more personal interaction with Jesus. In the face of questions, frustrations and doubt, sometimes presence is simply enough. And many times that is one thing the Exercises gave me: a very visceral sense of Jesus’ presence.”