What are the Spiritual Exercises?
The Spiritual Exercises were created by a former Spanish soldier, Ignatius of Loyola, in the sixteenth century and have been in continual use since then. The Exercises grew out of Ignatius’ personal experience as a man seeking to grow know God and to discern God’s will. He kept a journal as he gained spiritual insight and deepened his spiritual experience. He added notes to these as he directed other people and discovered what “worked.” Eventually Ignatius gathered these prayers, meditations, reflections, and directions into a carefully designed framework which he called “spiritual exercises.” The TI curriculum holds as closely as possible to Ignatius’ original work.