The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola are a month-long program of meditations, prayers, considerations, and contemplative practices that help Christian faith become more fully alive in the everyday life of contemporary people. They are a way for everyone to seek and find God in their workplaces, homes, families, and community.

What St. Ignatius called “weeks” of the Spiritual Exercises, are actually Gospel themes. The one making the Spiritual Exercises spends approximately one week on each of these four themes: God’s Mercy, My Sin / God’s call to me in Christ / Sharing in the Cross of Christ / The Resurrection. There are two ways of experiencing the Full Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius–making a 30 day enclosed retreat and making the retreat in the flow of daily life (19th Annotation retreat). Both can be very profound and life changing experiences according to the needs and generosity of the individual.

The purpose of the Spiritual Exercises, writes Ignatius, is to facilitate the movement of God’s grace within us “so that the light and love of God inflame all possible decisions and resolutions about life situations.”