Copyright: © 1998 Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. This document may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes with credit and mention of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site http://www.worship.ca/ as the source.
Pneuma is a journal on spiritual direction and
formation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Canada. Rev. Douglas W. Giles, M.A., M. Ed., is an ELCIC pastor who lives in
Cold Lake, Alberta. He edits Prayers for Mission published via the ELC-Canada List Server.
Over the years I have contracted with the retreatants for a 30-week period where they are obligated to spend one hour in prayer five days a week and to attend a eucharist, no matter the denomination, for each of those thirty weeks. I make no charge for this adventure; the Holy Spirit has rattled my cage and I dare not put a fee between the retreatants and God. In any event, I am on pension and can afford to be magnanimous. The retreat seems somewhat popular. To date, I have taken ten people through the prayer experience, including a United Church minister, a United Church organist, an artist, two Lutheran pastors, and a number of lay people. At the time of this writing, I am on week 27 with a local Anglican priest, and I have three people waiting to begin a new sequence.
In this paper on adapting Ignatian prayer to Lutheran parishes, I want to give an introduction to the work of Ignatius of Loyola, speak on prayer as presented in the Scriptures, and conclude with some comments on the "Exercises" themselves. Above all else, the focus of the "Exercises" is on prayer. Luther and Paul urge us to the importance of prayer in the life of faith:
I am . . . compelled to pray every . . . day, even aloud, and whenever I happen to be prevented by the press of duties from observing my hour of prayer, the entire day is bad for me. Prayer helps us very much and gives us a cheerful heart, not on account of any merit in the work, but because we have spoken with God and found everything to be in order.(1)
Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.(2)
The Man
Ignatius was born Inigo Lopez de Recalde near the end of the fifteenth century at his ancestral castle of Loyola in the Basque province of Guipuzcao, in the midst of the Pyrenees Mountains. This son of nobility became a known womanizer and beer hall brawler. Later he would develop the reputation of a fierce and courageous soldier. At the age of 30, while defending a castle from French attack, a cannon ball shattered his leg. The leg had to be reset twice and part of the protruding bone sawed off. As the vain Inigo did not want to have a twisted limb, he insisted on being put on the rack to stretch his leg.
While convalescing at Loyola in 1521, he read two books: the "Life of Christ" by the Carthusian Ludolph of Saxony in the Spanish translation of the Franciscan Ambrosio de Montesinos, and the "Flos Sanctorum," a Spanish version of the short lives of the saints, "Legenda Aurea," written by a Dominican friar and containing a preface by a Cistercian. I¤igo was thus introduced to the medieval devotional literature of the Franciscan, Carthusian, Dominican, and Cistercian schools of thought.(3) He read these works with the chivalric devotion of a frontline soldier confined by idleness. The wounding, capture, rehabilitation, and exposure to the devotional literature of the age was the platform for Inigo's conversion. Yet, he was basically uneducated -- ignorant of the means of grace and to the subtleties of faith.
In 1522 Inigo went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This gave him the opportunity to take stock of what he truly needed. It wasn't enough to desire to serve; he had to have the tools. He lacked a formal education so in 1524, on his return from Jerusalem, he went to school in Barcelona where he was not with men his own age but with boys of age ten and up. Lacking even the basics, he had to learn Latin with children.(4) His initial lack of education did not impede his drive for excellence. Later he studied at the great universities of the time at Alcala, Salamanca, and Paris.
In 1534 he founded, with six associates, the Society of Jesus, known today as the Jesuits. He was ordained in 1537, and in 1539 travelled to Rome to seek papal approval for the new order.
The church of the sixteenth century was ripe with revolution, reformation, and change. It is a mistake to point to Martin Luther as the only, or even the first, vehicle of reformation in this period. The church of Rome had been in turmoil for two centuries or more. Among the major upheavals within the church was a widespread spiritual movement sometimes called the Devotio Moderna.
The Devotio Moderna was a mixture of educated sophistication and down-to-earth practicality. In a world before the printing press, or at least a world that had not yet fully utilized the inexpensive and powerful resources that the printing press had to offer, learning was often a matter of rote. The movement developed complex ways of saying the rosary and a wide variety of prayer-formulas all originally culled from the "Primer," one of the most popular books of the time.(5) The "Primer," much like -- and in the same tradition as -- Luther's "Small Catechism," contained little drills for preparing for confession and communion as well as scores of other useful lists including preparation of conscience from the Seven Deadly Sins, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, etc. These elements would be learned through small series of exercises, much like today's children learn to spell through the process of spelling bees. Spiritual rebirth, or at least reinforcement, was thereby obtained by a variety of these exercises. Some, like the examens (counting the previous day's acts of virtue and sins), were simply extensions of methods set out in the "Primer."(6) Generally this process was called meditation.
Meditation was an exercise which had many permutations and combinations, and it involved pausing at numerous points in the exercise to practise use of the faculties of the mind, memory, imagination, and will on holy matters. Ignatius called this contemplation: that point in prayer where, when reflecting on Scripture, the retreatant is struck by some particular affect that moves him/her to tears, to joy, to regret, etc. The dynamic, however, is not entirely emotive. Emotions in and of themselves are highly suspect and have meaning only if they point to some greater truth. Nevertheless, the process of meditation is obviously an exercise that could be completed only by people who could read and were literate. It, therefore, tended to be practised in groups gathered in and round particularly devout religious houses or groups of unusually well-educated urban clergy.(7)
Members of the Devotio Moderna had a positive passion for self-organization, a mania for "system" and "method." Long before Ignatius' day -- and still in his time -- the influence of these strong-minded spiritual reorganizers, working inside the religious orders, had the effect of a reformation movement with the power of a revolutionary force. Devotees felt passionately that the church was grossly over-organized, its religion ultra-formalist and superficial. Paradoxically, and not without a touch of irony, these elitist literates felt that they were sent by God as reformers to bring a religion of grass-roots spontaneity, depth, and simplicity to the faith. Some extremists talked of casting the dead husks of catholic institutionalism on the fire and rebuilding the church on the movement; however, the moderate majority sought to reeducate and transform the existing church militant. Extensive evangelistic operations led the devotees to systematize their methods of spiritual instruction.(8) Ignatius was very much a child of the Devotio Moderna. On leaving his sickbed he travelled to a great Observant Benedictine centre, Montserrat. After that visit he began, at Manresa, to draft 'exercises' for himself.
Ignatius, like many leaders of the movement, produced some occasional, practical spiritual writings but no real treatises. He displayed the typical mania for 'method' and 'exercise.' Everything is categorized and put into easily memorized formulas. Thus, for instance, the "Exercises" has three types of exercitants. Examinations of conscience are to be made twice a day in one or other of five ways. Our thoughts come from three sources or categories of sin by which evil attacks. There are three suggested ways of praying. Meditation must exercise in turn the three faculties of the mind. The exercise of imagination must, in turn, use the five senses. Penances are of three kinds and have three purposes. Prayer of asking must go to God by the proper channels in heaven.(9) All of this takes some learning. The process is a thirty-day undertaking and has come to be known as the Ignatian "Spiritual Exercises."
Though Luther most certainly would not have used this terminology, Ignatius' "Spiritual Exercises" might well have been written as a method for praying the "Small Catechism" or perhaps the "Large Catechism." Ignatius does not wander from the Word, does not deviate from the directive given in Matthew 22:35-40, and does not lose sight of the goal to listen to what God truly has to say. As with Luther, Ignatius' didactic revelations of the Word revealed in the Scriptures did not win him favour in Rome. He was imprisoned more than once by the Spanish Inquisition: listening to the Word and obeying the will of God does not, necessarily, always support what a church hierarchy would demand of its pastors, priests, or baptized faithful.
Prayer as Listening
Praying in a way that is meaningful, providing devotional depth to our life of faith, can sometimes be difficult. There are many reasons for this: perhaps we are afraid to let God know who we really are; possibly we fear exposing our weaknesses; perhaps we don't really believe the terrible things we have done or thought can be forgiven; possibly we don't believe in our need for healing or the necessity of forgiveness; perhaps we do not know how to approach God in our very human state with our very human problems; or, possibly we think God is too important or busy to listen to our pettiness. Our need to pray -- our ability to listen to God-- can be crippled in many ways. Yet any reason or excuse we use to deny ourselves the possibility of grace is denying God the possibility of affecting the miracle which Christ so wants to work in us.
Sometimes the problem may simply be finding a place to start. One such place can be to compare our reactions to God in prayer with our reactions to other people and the people in our own lives. I know that someone comes to mean something only if I first let myself look and listen to what they are really saying or to what they are really trying to communicate. I know that someone else cannot mean anything to me if I am so focused on my own moods and problems that I am blinded to their needs and concerns. Nor can others mean anything if they are simply the object of my moods and emotions. I cannot even begin to relate to someone until I take the time to listen to them or make the effort to observe them in action.
In the same way, meaningful prayer develops only when I listen to God and look at God in action. Only then can I begin to understand who Christ really is. Only then can I react to Christ in a way that demonstrates understanding rather than exhibiting emotive narcissism. No method, no pastor, and no amount of effort will enable me to pray until I am first willing to listen. Of this we can be sure: God wants to talk to us, wants to guide us, and wants to comfort us. Yet God cannot be heard if we do not listen.
Prayer was a major element in our Lord's life. Two powerful instances of prayer in scripture are found, respectively, in John and Matthew. John makes a beautiful statement of faith in chapter 17. After celebrating the supper with his disciples, Jesus withdraws to the garden and prays in turn for himself, for his disciples, and for the whole church. On the brink of his very death, Jesus' concern is for those whom he leaves behind. It is one thing to die beaten and broken, but it is quite another to be beaten, broken, persecuted, and -- at the same time -- offer prayers for those near to you, even for those who have abandoned and persecuted you.
The passage in Matthew is found in 6:9-13 (cf. Lk.11:2ff) and is known to us as the Lord's Prayer. Here Jesus teaches us to always acknowledge the greatness and holiness of God. He teaches us to submit ourselves to God's will so that we may know God's reign. He teaches us that our daily needs, even the bread on our table, are neither too small nor too trivial for God to care. He teaches us to ask God for forgiveness for all the wrongs we have committed. We are reminded that to the degree we are willing to forgive others, to that same degree we are ourselves forgiven. Finally, we are taught to rely and trust in God to deliver us from the hurtful or evil influences which envelope us in our daily lives.
There are many examples of Jesus active in prayer. Whether it is the celebration of life's cycles, in crisis, at crossroads, or on the verge of commitment, prayer informs the decisions he makes and dictates the path he takes. He prays hours at a time, sometimes the whole night through (Lk. 6:12; Lk. 9:18; Mk. 1:35; Mk. 6:45). He prays at his baptism (Lk. 3:21), at worship (Lk. 4:16; Mk. 1:21; 6:2), at the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28). He prays in solitude and silence at Caesarea Philippi while he considers what people think of him (Lk. 9:18). He prays when confronted with major decisions: all night, on a secluded mountain top before he chooses the twelve (Lk. 6:12). He prays before immense undertakings: before embarking on his preaching ministry at Capernaum (Mk. 1:35-38). He prays for the benefit of others: in the boat on the Sea of Galilee (Mk. 4:39); in preparation of his own departure (Jn. 14:16); in intersession for another like Simon that his faith might remain strong (Lk. 22:32). He prays in times of great significance: after feeding the multitude (Mk. 6:45). He prays in times of no significance: in the routine of daily life, in homes, at table, before meals, at home celebrations (Mk. 14:22-26). He prays when distressed or troubled (Mk. 14:32). He prays at times of great crisis (Mk. 15:34). It is Jesus' own example of prayer that prompts the disciples to ask him how to pray.
Of prayer we learn that certain difficulties can be overcome only by prayer (Mk. 9:29). We learn that whatever we ask will be given according to our faith in prayer (Mk. 11:24-25). We learn that prayer is not to become a spectacle, or something with which solely to demonstrate our piety or faithfulness (Mk. 12:40). We learn that the most productive prayer is prayer made in seclusion in simple, straightforward language (Mt. 6:6f).
We learn that prayer should be the expression of our whole person. We must be honest and authentic in acknowledging our faults. Yet personal anxiety is a hindrance to faith; therefore, everything must be submitted to God in prayer (Mt. 6:34). We are to ask, seek, and knock (Mt. 7:7-8), for a holy God is more likely to give than even the best of human fathers.
Mere words will win us nothing -- to say we are Christian does not mean that we are. Only a conforming will and a contrite heart will be accepted (Mt. 7:21). We cannot compel God to grant us anything: all that we receive is received through unmerited and unconditional grace (Mt. 20:1-16). We must desire communion, that is, communication with the Lord. The business of our worldly tasks should not nor cannot distract us from this (Lk. 10:40-42). We are to trust and have faith rather than seek proof (Mt. 16:1-4).
The teaching of Jesus is that God will respond to need expressed in the prayer of faith, particularly when seeking the reign of God and desiring to know the will of the Lord. All that is needful will be added. As children ask their father and are not rebuffed for asking, so we are to approach God with all our questions and concerns (Mk. 10:15).
Christ establishes two significant elements regarding methods of prayer. First, prayer is even now to be offered to him, as it was offered to him when he walked the earth in the flesh (Mt. 8:2; 9:18). Just as Jesus then insisted on faith (Mk. 9:23), tested sincerity (Mt. 9:27-31), uncovered ignorance (Mt. 20:20-22), and sinful presumption (Mt. 14:27-31) in those who petitioned him, so he does today in the experience of those who offer prayer to him. Secondly, prayer to the Father is now also to be offered in the name of Christ (Jn. 14:13: 15:16; 16:23f.). To pray in the name of Christ is to pray as Christ himself prayed. We are compelled to pray to the Father as the Son has made God known to us. For Jesus, the true focus in prayer is the Father's will. Here then is the basic characteristic of Christian prayer: a new access to the Father which Christ secures for us, and prayer in harmony with the Father's will because it is offered in Christ's name.
By his own example, Jesus taught his disciples the duty and manner of praying (Jn. 14:23). Prayer should be humble before God (Lk. 18:10-14) and before people (Mt. 6:5-6; Mk. 12:40). Prayer should come from the heart rather than the lips (Mt. 6:7), trusting in God's goodness (Mt. 6:8; 7:7-11). We should be insistent to the point of perseverance, never losing heart (Lk. 11:5-8; 18:1-8). Prayer is heard if it is made with faith (Lk. 21:22) in the name of Jesus (Lk. 18:19-20; Jn. 14:13-14; Jn. 15:7) and asks for only what is good: for instance, the Holy Spirit (Lk. 11:13), forgiveness (Mk. 11:25), the salvation of our persecutors (Lk. 23:46) and, above all else, the coming of the reign of God and deliverance at the time of the final crisis (Lk. 21:36). This is also the essence of the Lord's Prayer.
By Christ's own example, prayer is a personal response to God's presence. Although we must approach prayer reverently and with a listening heart, it is God who speaks first. In prayer we acknowledge the divine presence and in gratitude respond to God in love. The focus, never on ourselves, is always on God and on what God does.
That God speaks first is the fundamental truth which makes prayer possible. God has been concerned for us long before we became concerned for ourselves. God desired to communicate with us long before we desired to communicate with God. God speaks to us continually, self revealing by various modes: through Jesus Christ the Word; through the sacraments the Lord gave the church; through the church itself, the extension (body) of Christ in the world (because we are joined together in Christ, God speaks to us through other people); through the visible creation which forms the physical context of our lives (creation took place in Christ, and is another form of God's self-revelation); through the events and experiences of our lives; and, through the Scriptures, another real form of God's presence. All such elements are God's modes of communication.
The "Exercises"
The revelation of the Word through the Scriptures is the concern of the "Exercises." Our response to God's initial move is to listen to what God is saying. This is the fundamental stance throughout the "Exercises." They begin with the Word of God as revealed in the Scriptures and lead back into that very same Word. Within the context of the "Exercises" there is no purpose nor task outside of this fundamental attitude.
The overall theme under which the "Spiritual Exercises" function is that "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The goal is the future, outside of oneself, in God. And this future goal shapes and qualifies the entire work within the "Exercises." Within the context of the "Exercises" a paradox is established: in order to be truly free, one must be willing to give up control, which is ultimately in the hands of God.
We are confronted by several challenges when adopting the Ignatian "Spiritual Exercises" to a Lutheran context. The first is one which recognizes that a thirty-day retreat is generally not possible for either the parish pastor or the baptized faithful. The contingencies of call, work or family make the commitment to the required time block almost impossible. Ignatius himself provides an answer to this challenge within the context of the "Exercises." Annotation 19 reads: "A director may want to help a retreatant of talent and proper disposition through the full exercises, but carried on in the face of normal occupations and living conditions for the extent of the whole retreat."(10) Of course, providing the possibility and developing a program are entirely two different matters. Yet, once again, the solution is to be found among the writings of the Society of Jesus. John Veltri's "Orientations"(11) has broken the way through to new possibilities. As well, Jacqueline Syrup Bergan and Marie Schwan's series entitled "Take and Receive," which contain the books "Love," "Forgiveness," "Birth," "Surrender," and "Freedom,"(12) have taken what might otherwise be a complicated theological program and put it into language more appropriate for the late 20th century. What was once a thirty-day exercise is now a thirty-week program. What constituted five to six hours of prayer a day is now one hour of prayer five to six days a week.
However, this is only one of the many challenges. The second major difficulty is one of theology, or at least, the theological terms used to express the one eternal truth. There are many words and phrases found in Roman Catholic theology which may prove to be more a stumbling block for some Lutherans than an avenue to greater understanding of one's faith. In fact, the very words "spiritual" and "spirituality" are ones which raise many questions. This is not without good reason, but one must get beyond the aversion of certain words and attempt to capture the meaning and principles that are operative. Thus, it would be consistent with Ignatius' intent to understand the "Spiritual Exercises" as "Listening" or "Scriptural Prayer Exercises" for those vigilant about the connotations of the word "spiritual."
The third major difficulty is one of applicability. The "Spiritual Exercises" of St. Ignatius have grown and matured in the context of the church as experienced by its clergy. Some of the understandings, the language, and assumptions presume that the "Exercises" will be given in a cloistered milieu. Yet, the truth that is to be found in the "Exercises" which goes beyond the cloister is precisely a value which Lutherans can applaud: strict adherence to gospel principles, the need always to return to the Word, and the belief that such principles may also have applicability to the faithful outside of the ordained ministry.
So it is that "spiritual freedom" is the goal of the process of the "Spiritual Exercises." And this process has its purpose in the conquest of self and the regulation of one's life in such a way that no decision is made under the influence of any inordinate attachment. Expressed in another way, it can be said that spiritual freedom exists in those moments when a person is so filled with love for Jesus that all the desires of the heart and the affectivities, the thoughts, the decisions, and the actions that flow from these desires are oriented to God's service and praise. And only through God's work and the communication of love by God can this spiritual freedom be attained. Therefore, the prayer guide must permit the Creator to deal directly with the directee and the directee directly with his/her Creator and Lord. Attainment of this intimate communication is the sole purpose of such listening prayer.
--------------------
End Notes
(1) Martin Luther, "Treatment of Melancholy and Despair," November 30, 1531 ("Table Talk," LW 54:15).
(2) Ephesians 6:16-18.
(3) Institute of Jesuit Sources, "Saint Ignatius of Loyola: The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus," trans. by George E. Ganss, S.J. (St. Louis: St. Louis University, 1970), 13.
(4) Terry Matz, "Ignatius of Loyola." [http://www.catholic.org/menu.html], July 31, 1996.
(5) J.C.H. Aveling, "The Jesuits" (New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1981), 82.
(6) Ibid., 83.
(7) Ibid., 84.
(8) Ibid., 86.
(9) Ibid., 88.
(10) David L. Fleming, S.J., "A Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises -- A Companion to St. Ignatius Text" ( St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1976), 9.
(11) John Veltri, S.J., "Orientations -- Vol. 1: A Collection of Helps for Prayer" (Guelph: Loyola House, 1979). John Veltri, S.J., "Orientations -- Vol. II: Annotation 19" (Guelph: Loyola House, 1981).
(12) Jacqueline Syrup Bergan and Marie Schwan, "Love -- A Guide for Prayer,"1985 (1993); "Forgiveness -- A Guide for Prayer," 1985 (1993); "Birth -- A Guide for Prayer," 1985 (1991); "Surrender -- A Guide for Prayer," 1986 (1993); "Freedom -- A Guide for Prayer," 1988 (1995). Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press.
--------------------
Bibliography
Cusson, Gilles. "The Spiritual Exercises Made in Everyday Life: A Method and a Biblical Interpretation." St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1989.
English, John J. "Spiritual Freedom -- From an Experience of the Ignatian Exercises to the Art of Spiritual Direction." Guelph: Loyola House, 1973.
Wickham, John. "The Communal Exercises -- A Contemporary Version of the Spiritual Exercises in a Communal Form." Montreal: Ignatian Centre of Spirituality,1988.