St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Spiritual Exercises, defines them as «in every way of examining the conscience, to meditate, to contemplate, to pray vocally and mentally, and other spiritual actions…For as strolling, walking and running are bodily exercises, in the same way the Spiritual Exercises prepares and disposes the soul, to remove from it all disordered inclinations. Therefore, it allows the soul to seek and to find the Divine Will in one’s life for the salvation of the soul.»
As members of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word, we want to imitate Christ in his retreat of 40 days in the desert, in order to empty ourselves and order our own lives according to God.
To do this, we want to know the depth of these Exercises and prepare ourselves to preach them with fruit generously providing the opportunity to preach them as the occasion arises. In the spiritual dimension, the Spiritual Exercises are one of the preferred apostolates actualized in our Religious Family.
“The Spiritual Exercises represent the way and particularly a valuable method to search and to find the image of God, in us, around us and in all things, so that to know His will and to put it into practice” (Benedict XVI).