St. Ignatius, who started the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), was a 16th Century saint who had a major conversion experience while recovering from surgery. He wrote about his experiences of prayer, and called them "Spiritual Exercises." He designed the prayers as a 30-day "retreat," but added a 19th annotation at the end, saying, "If for reasons of business or family obligations, you can't go away for 30 days, you can do this retreat in 30 weeks."
When we begin this retreat in September, it corresponds to the liturgical calendar, so people pray with Ignatian Week III during all 6 weeks of Lent. The grace of Week III is to “accompany Jesus to his death,” and if that is not a grace we want to ask for, we pray for the grace to seek the grace! It tends to make Lent feel really long, but the fruits of that prayer are abundant, and Lent is never really the same afterwards. We have a strong sense of what Jesus goes through on his journey to Jerusalem and his crucifixion, and are blessed with experiencing with him great joy in the resurrection.
All four members of the Spiritual Direction Group I’m leading this year have made the Spiritual Exercises, and prayed with Jesus’ journey during Lent, so that prayer will no doubt be the foundation of their daily prayer and journaling during this year as well. They will also benefit from knowing something of the prayer of their sisters on this journey, as they do throughout the nine months of our gathering.
This group has been a particular blessing for all of us, because of how resonant each one’s prayer is with the others’. Three of the members have prayed together for two previous years, and the fourth member, who came this year, seems exactly “right” for the group. Open hearts abound. At the end of each session, people comment on how beautifully they hear one another and reflect God’s grace. The movement of God in what is shared and responded to is palpable, and it’s surprising how similarly God moves within each one. And although each one has been and still is in many different small groups, they comment on the quality of sharing and trust in this group.
I’m thankful for this structure that New College provides, which allows God’s presence to be felt and God’s spirit to be experienced so fully.