Apostleship of Prayer
THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA:
1491 – 1440MANRESA
The Spiritual ExercisesThe Spiritual Exercises is not a book simply to be read; it is the guide to an experience, an active engagement enabling growth in the freedom that leads to faithful service. the experience of Ignatius at Manresa can become a personal lived experience.
In the Exercises each person has the possibility of discovering that, though sinful, he or she is uniquely loved by God and invited to respond to His love. This response begins with an acknowledgment of sin and its effects, a realization that God's love overcomes sin, and a desire for this forgiving and redeeming love. The freedom to respond is then made possible through a growing ability, with God's help, to recognize and engage in the struggle to overcome the interior and exterior factors that hinder a free response. this response develops positively through a process of seeking and em bracing the will of God the Father, whose love was revealed in the person and life of His Son, Jesus Christ and of discovering and choosing the specific ways in which this loving service of God is accomplished through active service on behalf of other men and women, within the heart of reality.JERUSALEM TO PARIS
Leaving Manresa in 1523, Ignatius continued his journey to Jerusalem. His experiences during the months at Manresa completed the break with his past life and confirmed his desire to give himself completely to Cod's service, but the desire was still not clearly focused. He wanted to stay in Jerusalem, visiting the holy places and serving others, but he was not permitted to remain in that troubled city. "After the pilgrim realized that it was not God's will that he remain in Jerusalem, he continually pondered with himself what he ought to do; and eventually he was rather inclined to study for some time so that he would be able to help souls, and he decided to go to Barcelona". Though he was thirty years old he went to school, sitting in class beside the y young boys of the city to learn grammar; two years later, he moved on the university studies at Alcala. when he was not studying he taught others about the ways of God and shared his Spiritual Exercises with them. but the Inquisition would not permit someone without training in theology to speak about spiritual things. Rather than keep silent about the one thing that really mattered t him, and convinced that God was leading him, Ignatius left Alcala and went to Salamanca. the forces of the Inquisition continued to harass him until finally, in 1528, he left Spain entirely and more to France and the University of Paris.
To be continued
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