The interpretations of the ignatian examenin history : between morality and spirituality

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FACULTAD DE TEOLOGÍA

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DE ESPIRITUALIDAD

The Interpretations of the

Ignatian Examen in History:

Between Morality and Spirituality

Autor: Somy Mathew Mannoor, SJ

Director: Dr. Pascual Cebollada Silvestre, SJ

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FACULTAD DE TEOLOGÍA

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DE ESPIRITUALIDAD

The Interpretations of the Ignatian Examen in History:

Between Morality and Spirituality

Visto Bueno del Director

Fdo. Prof. Dr. Pascual Cebollada Silvestre, SJ

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cf. Ignatius of Loyola, Exercitia spiritualia S.P. Ignatii Loyolae, fundatoris Societ. Jesu, Prague: Typis

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Dedicated to St. Joseph,

the man of great silence and the patron of mystics

and in gratitude to Chachi, my mother: the first to teach me the lessons in morality and spirituality, and who continues to inspire me with her life.

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Abbreviations

AA. VV. Autores Varios/Various Authors

AHSI Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu Auto. Autobiography of St. Ignatius of Loyola

BAC Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid

BIHSI Biblioteca Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, Rome Canisii Beati Petri Canisii, Societatis Iesu: Epistulae et Acta, vols. 1-8 CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church

Chron. Polanci Chronicon vols. 1-6

CIS Centrum Ignatianum Spiritualitatis, Rome

Complementa Polanci Complementa, 2 vols.

Const. Constitutions of the Society of Jesus

DEI Diccionario de Espiritualidad Ignaciana DHCJ Diccionario Histórico de la Compañía de Jesús

Dir. Directorio de los Ejercicios espirituales

DSp. Dictionnaire de Spiritualitè, vols. 1-14

DT Diccionario de Teología

DTE Diccionario teológico enciclopédico

Ej. Esp./EE Ejercicios espiritualesde san Ignacio de Loyola

Epp. S. Ignatii Epistolae et Instructiones, vols. 1-12

EpSal. Epistolae Alfonso Salmeron vol. 1-2

Fabri Fabri Monumenta

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GC General Congregation of the Society of Jesus

GEI Grupo de Espiritualidad Ignaciana

GS Gaudium et Spes

Ignaziana Ignaziana: Rivista di ricerca teologica, [http://www.ignaziana.org] IHSI Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu

LG Lumen Gentium

Manresa Manresa: Revista de espiritualidad ignaciana

MHSI Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu, Roma

MI Monumenta Ignaciana

Nadal Epistolae H. Nadal vols. 1-4

ND Neuner - Dupuis, The Christian Faith NDCSp The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality NSCMD New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality Obras Obras de San Ignacio de Loyola, BAC maior, 2014

RfR Review for Religious

Sommervogel Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jesús, Carlos Sommervogel, vols.1-9

Sp. Ex. Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola

SpDi. Spiritual Diary of St. Ignatius of Loyola

UPCo Universidad Pontificia Comillas

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General Introduction

The examination of conscience has always been presented as an integral part of daily life, and yet there has not been any consensus on the way this is to be practiced. In the early formation period, this has been presented as part of preparation for confession, and in later years, the emphasis has been on the discerning aspect of it, almost denying any ascetical tone that could be given to it. The personal interest in this simple and yet effective practice aimed at growth in spiritual life emerged during the years of formation. Later, working on the theme of the Examen and discernment as the research paper of Licentiate helped me to look at it from close quarters. And the publication of a book titled

Understanding the Examen1 stimulated keener interest for an in-depth study on the theoretical presupposition of the Ignatian Examen.

Scope: We limit our work to the analysis of the daily five-point examen which would also include the Particular Examen since it is always taken up with the daily Examen. The scope of the work is to analyse and trace the varying interpretations over the centuries,

1_{Somy Mannoor,}_{Understanding the Examen: the Examen as a Daily Discernment}_{, Anand: Gujarat Sahitya} Prakash, 2014.

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on the crossroads of morality-spirituality. Our work would be mostly a historical study of the theme and so we deal with it chronologically, from Ignatius till the present day. We would be hoping to find the Ignatian roots of such multiple interpretations and possibly to highlight the recent preference for a spiritual discerning examen.

There have been studies done on the theme of the examination of conscience where the antecedence of Ignatius has been thoroughly analysed and the longstanding tradition prior to Ignatius is established.2 Our study, we hope, would be complementary in the sense that we study the post-Ignatian period. The focus of our research is the interpretations of the Ignatian Examen from the Founder to the present day.

Thesis: The Ignatian Examen, as presented in the Spiritual Exercises [Sp. Ex. 43], has been interpreted in more than one way over the centuries. From Ignatius down the centuries we can find spiritual writers proposing the Examen as a means to grow in perfection by getting rid of sins or to grow in union with God by observing the ‘movements of spirits,’ ‘interior movements’ that are active. Ignatius, in the Spiritual Exercises, presents the Examen in the First Week, as an exercise in the purgative stage [Sp. Ex. 43]. A closer look would reveal that this is not the only moment when he talks of the Examen; there are various occasions when the examen is employed, be it in the review of meditations [Sp. Ex. 77], in the rules of discernment [Sp. Ex. 336], or in the First Method of Prayer [Sp. Ex. 271]. While acknowledging that all these do not have the same implications of the Examen, we would like to study the daily examination of conscience, commonly known as the Examen, as a spiritual exercise that Ignatius visualized as a way to get rid of all attachments and then to seek and find the will of God [Sp. Ex. 1].

Our thesis is that the Ignatian Examen is better understood in the crossroads of Morality and Spirituality – the convergence of moral teachings and spiritual principles provide the ambit to situate the shift in the ways this spiritual exercise is understood today.

2_{See Adelson Araujo Santos,}_{“Mas él examinándolo bien…” (Au 27): el examen de conciencia en la}

espiritualidad ignaciana, Bilbao/Santander/Madrid: Mensajero/Sal Terrae/UPCo, 2016. He studies the philosophical and theological antecedents of the examen and looks at the influence of the examen in Jesuit formation.

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The Examen, when taken not in isolation of the First Week but in the totality of Ignatian spirituality, can be understood as an exercise of finding God in one’s daily events and therefore related to spiritual discernment.

Explanation: For centuries the Examen has been perceived as the close companion of those who look for perfection in spiritual life and often it is seen as a rigid method to evaluate the rightness/wrongness of one’s actions. In recent years, many tend to take a different approach in talking about this spiritual practice and prefer to call it as the ‘Consciousness Examen’ where the focus is on what happens prior to an action, where the spirit moves. These two visions of an ascetical practice do not (always) coincide in their affirmations and what is surprising is that both visions are based on the same text of the

Spiritual Exercises. However varied – and sometimes contradictory – may these interpretations be, they are representatives of a spirituality, both claiming originality and as authentically Ignatian.

During the course of the history of the Society of Jesus there have been Jesuits, in cultures and contexts so diverse, who offered this simple exercise as a means to make progress in spiritual life. Like their Founder, these spiritual masters too proposed the examen to people of simple faith – simple and uneducated persons or of weak constitution [Sp. Ex. 18] – in order to lead them to confess their sins or at other times to highly educated people who exerted influence and power – people engaged in public affairs [Sp. Ex. 19] – in order to lead them to choose what was of greater glory to God. The first companions of Ignatius profited much from the wisdom of the Pilgrim and shared this resource in their pastoral effort, in universities, with kings or queens, and in the formation of men who wanted to follow the footsteps of Ignatius, under the banner of the cross, as companions of Jesus. The examen has been presented as an indispensable part of the spiritual life, not only for those in formation but for all who desire to grow in familiarity with God.

The Examen is also proposed as part of an ascetical life where perfection in Christian virtues is attained through much abnegation and penances, and there are others who would insist that a mystic who seeks union with God through contemplation needs to practice the Examen faithfully. When Jesuits proposed the Examen to people of all kinds,

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they affirmed that a mystical union or an ascetical reach to God is possible, and they invariably evoked the Examen. How do they present such an Examen over such diverse contexts and what type of vision do they have when they put forward this spiritual practice? What are the underlying assumptions of such interpretations? How have the interpretations of the Examen of the Spiritual Exercises changed over the centuries? We will look for answers in our study by going over the past five centuries, starting with Ignatius himself.

Division of the Work

We will divide our work into six chapters, and, though much desirable, these sections are not necessarily in chronological order. Keeping in mind uniformity (with regard to the length of the chapters) we have divided them into thematical groups. The first chapter will be a global vision of spirituality as well as morality where we will trace the historical developments and their interrelations. This we hope will become a structure and mould on which the subsequent chapters will be built. In this first chapter we would like to demarcate the basic notions of conscience, consciousness, confession, morality, and spirituality which in turn become a theoretical structure for the rest of the work. Our hypothesis, as already stated, is that the Examen is best understood in the interplay of Spirituality and Morality.

In Chapter Two we will study the writings of Ignatius in order to have a clearer vision of the Examen, not just in the Spiritual Exercises but in other Ignatian corpus as well. Since there are existing studies done on the prehistory of the Ignatian Examen, we will deal here in passing the better-known sources – the Spiritual Exercises, the

Constitutions – and look in detail the Autobiography, Spiritual Diary and his vast correspondence. Here we will also deal with the writings of some of the First Companions. The writings of Jesuits who worked closely with the Founder and who shared personal relationship with him, we hope, would provide us with closer understanding of how the Founder’s spirit was perceived and shared by the very first generation of Jesuits.

In Chapter Three we hope to study the interpretations of various Jesuits in the first century of the Society of Jesus. The focus of this chapter would be what authors like

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Cordeses, Suárez, La Palma, La Puente or Alonso Rodríguez have to say on the practice of the Examen. We believe that their vision of this spiritual practice would highlight the role and importance of the daily Examen, especially since the corresponding period witnessed rapid growth of the Society of Jesus not only numerically, but in influence as well. The spiritual authors of this time also represent a period when Spanish spirituality enjoyed much admiration and acceptance. In the history of the Society of Jesus, the first sixty years have been crucial as a definite course was being ironed out and these authors would be representatives of a vibrant, defining period of Ignatian Spirituality.

In contrast, our Fourth Chapter will be a panoramic vision of what we can call a French era as we closely study Jesuits who talk of the Examen mostly in the 17th century. The striking feature of this era would be the dominance of the French in spiritual writings and it will be fascinating to analyse the way in which they approached the Examen. Among the authors, we have chosen as representatives, the majority would be classified under mystics and this we hope would throw open newer aspects of the Examen.

In Chapter 5 we will club together a large chunk of documents of the Society of Jesus – the General Congregations (GCs), Regulae, Letters of Fathers General – with the hope that our study could capture the mind of the Society. We look at the Regulae that contain all the regulations before the Constitutions came into effect with an idea that we can capture the official line of the Society even when the organizational structure was still lucid. The Ratio Studiorum and the Directorios 1599 are two important documents that we would want to analyse since they have, especially the latter, by and large changed the course of Ignatian spiritual history. The letters of Fathers General form another source in mapping the course of the Examen since Jesuit Generals address the Society on matters that concern the universal body and often they are aimed to rectify maladies that trouble a large number of Jesuits. There is no doubt that the General Congregations are the best official document that allow a glance into the inner life of the Society and so they take up a good part of our fifth chapter.

The course of the examen in the 20th Century onwards will be analysed in the Sixth Chapter and here we will take a look at a wide variety of sources like spiritual writings,

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discourses of Generals, other research material and so on. We believe that this period, loosely termed as 20th_{Century, would be crucial in our analysis for multiple reasons: strict}

scientific methods in research and the call for ‘aggiornamento’ in the Vatican Council II that changed life in the Church. We analyse here how the project of Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu and the subsequent availability of Ignatian sources – using scientific tools – initiated a new perspective of Ignatian spirituality and its possible influence in the interpretation of the Examen. Here we hope to trace the significant moments in the whole sequence of the chronology of the Ignatian Examen.

Methodology

Firstly, as a historical study on the course of Ignatian Examen, we hope to study as many authors as possible who could provide a better historical picture of the practice of the Examen. We have chosen the period from Ignatius until the present day for our research keeping in mind that there have been other studies done on the pre-Ignatian era where the philosophical presuppositions of the Examen have been studied. Since the focus of our study is mainly the interpretations of the Examen in the Society of Jesus, we have chosen only Jesuit authors even though there would be other writers who deal with the same theme. Though our focus here is the history of the interpretations, it is not an anthology on the Examen nor would it be an account of personal experiences of individual who practice the Examen. Neither would it be a pedagogy of this spiritual exercise3_{but rather our attention}

will be on documents that deal with Ignatian Spirituality or the history of the Society of Jesus. As such, the examen being one of the spiritual exercises, we cannot but refer to other related themes, as and when needed, to have clarity with regard to the practice of the examen.

We adopt a historical method for our work and thus we will be making use of the primary sources and original languages as far as possible. We would be relying on the

Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu as the main source for the writings of Ignatius as well

3_{See for example the Tesina of Sze Siong Chia,}_{The Ignatian Examen: A Historical Review and its}

Contemporary Applications, Madrid: UPCo, 2015. He has done a case study on the practice of the examen by Jesuits in formation in Spain.

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as most of the first companions, while, for rest of the authors, we use their writings in the original language, when they are in Spanish, Italian, English or French. Some of our sources, like the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, are documents meant exclusively for Jesuits while others are open to a wider public and for the same reason our research is not exclusively for Jesuits, but open to all. Besides offering an historical account, ours is also a work in spiritual theology where we would like to reflect on the theological and moral dimensions of this spiritual practice that was dear to Ignatius. Our hope is that this work will aid in a better understanding of this spiritual exercise.

Acknowledgments

This work is realized today thanks to the helping hand of many and I would like to recall them with gratitude. Though it would not be possible to name all those who have supported me in these years, I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions.

First and foremost, I express my deep gratitude to Prof. Dr. Pascual Cebollada Silvestre whose guidance, meticulous and patient corrections and timely suggestions have paved way for this thesis. I thank the professors of Universidad Pontificia Comillas for the help and encouragement that helped me immensely during these years. Particularly, I would like to thank Prof. José García de Castro for leading me to the rich resources of the Ignatian heritage and to Prof. Luis María García Domínguez as well as Prof. Manuel Revuelta for the time they have dedicated. While acknowledging the support of Fr. George Fernandes, S.J., the provincial of Jamshedpur Jesuit Province, I also thank the Spanish Jesuit Province for all the help. I am indebted to my family and friends for their wholehearted support in these last years.

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Chapter 1 Conscience, Confession and the Interplay of

Spirituality and Morality

1 Introduction

Spirituality undoubtedly is a new term which began to be employed largely in the beginning of twentieth century and yet in a short span it assumes a variety of notions. This polyvalent term is now not limited to Catholic or Christian ambit, but goes beyond to all religions and even to experiences that are not necessarily associated with religions. Traditionally spirituality has been associated with morality; it was talked in relation to moral theology. It is true that in recent times there is greater focus on the relation between spiritual theology and dogmatic theology and yet the relation with moral theology is crucial.1 In our study of the interpretations of the daily examen over the centuries, we would

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like to analyse the spiritual, the moral and the confessional contexts of Ignatius in order to understand his presuppositions better. This would serve as a backdrop against which we hope to present the interpretations of daily examen – the examen as a spiritual exercise on the crossroads of morality and spirituality.

In this chapter, we take a closer look at what is meant by the terms spirituality, morality, conscience and consciousness, and we hope to show how spirituality and morality are interrelated. We would like to set limit to what we understand by spirituality as the term could be interpreted in many number of ways. Our attempt here also would be to chart the separation of spirituality from theology, meanwhile also attempting to retrieve the connection between these two spheres of Christian theology. In order to achieve this, we will be relying on the existing studies on spirituality, morality and conscience.

Undoubtedly, the practice of confession is closely associated with morality, and we aim to trace the earliest association of these fields as well as to track the evolution of this important sacrament in the Church. The evolution of confessional practices in the Church has indeed marked a definite path for moral as well as spiritual life of faithful and in the following sections we would like to bring out such connections, which will serve as a launching pad for our study on the history of the Ignatian examen.

2 The Identity of Spirituality and Morality

The term spirituality evokes multiple meanings today, depending on the context and culture. Though, of late spirituality is the most sought-after topic, there is no uniformity in what is meant by it and many aspects tend to be covered by the term spirituality. Some would describe such fluid situation as follows:

resurgence in interest in spiritual practices characterizes contemporary spirituality. What classifies as a spiritual practice is also undergoing redefinition. Yoga, tai chi, meditation, chanting, spiritual reading, journaling, fasting, rituals, volunteering, almsgiving, the practice of non-violence, retreats, creative projects, recycling, mindful homemaking, vegetarianism, massage, physical exercise, riding public transport instead of driving a car, backpacking and simplifying one’s lifestyle all fall under the heading of spiritual practices […]. Often practices are tied to beneficial results experienced in one’s life, such as

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increased sense of self-esteem, lessening of anxiety, and the sense of contributing to the sustainability of the planet or the easing of another’s suffering.2

In the Church, there is keener interest post Vatican Council II and this recent phenomenon is attributed to multiple factors3_{and some point to the following reasons for the emergence}

of spirituality as the frontrunner:

the reason for the new interest are complex, cultural as well as theological, but the interest centred on the experience of the search for meaning, transcendence, personal integration and social transformation which engaged many people in the West in the aftermath of the world wars, the depression, the cold war, the theological and ecclesial upheaval of Vatican II, and the explorations of ‘inner space’ that the development of the human and personal sciences, especially clinical psychology and psychoanalysis, had unleashed. Although many people found resources for their spiritual quest in the mainline churches, an increasing number of people did not. They turned to eastern mystical religions, to mind-expanding drugs, to ‘new religious movements’, to occult practices, or to idiosyncratic synthesis of beliefs and practices. Others began to discover riches in the Christian tradition that had been underemphasized or even deliberately obscured for centuries, for example the mystical literature, monastic practices, retreats, personal spiritual direction, and various kinds of group spiritual practice which seemed to offer a more personal and authentic religious experience than did the routines of organized religion.4

By spirituality what is meant, then, is not just pious practices, but more of experience and lifestyles of group of individuals.

In the Christian understanding, then, spirituality would refer to the ways in which Christian beliefs are practiced: “Christian spirituality refers to the ways in which the particularities of Christian beliefs about God, the material world and human identity find expression in values, lifestyles and spiritual practices. Christian spirituality embodies a conscious relationship with God, in Jesus Christ, through the indwelling of the Spirit, in the context of a community of believers.”5_{Since the term spirituality is ambiguous and has}

undergone astounding expansion in the recent years, we would like to define what we mean by this.

2_{Valerie Lesniak, “Contemporary Spirituality,” in}_NSCMD_{, pp. 7-12, here p. 12.}

3_{Many identify a keener interest in spirituality starting from 1980s, not only in the Catholic Church but in} most churches. The reason for such interest are varied like spiritual maturation of Catholics since Vatican Council II, increased interest to integrate faith and life, biblical and liturgical renewal and so on. Cf. Sandra M. Schneiders, “Spirituality in the Academy,” in Theological Studies 50 (1989) pp. 676-697, here p. 676, especially footnote 1.

4_{Sandra M. Schneiders, “Christian Spirituality: Definitions, Methods, Types,” in}_NSCMD_{, pp. 1-6, here p. 3.} 5_{Philip Sheldrake, “Introduction,” in}_NSCMD_{, p. viii.}

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2.1 Etymology of the Term Spirituality

The Majority of scholars are of the opinion that the term ‘Spirituality,’ in its modern sense, derives from a French spiritualité and its usage began from the beginning of 20th century,6 and ever since came into usage in other languages.7 The first usage of it is reported in 17th century.8 Although spiritualité was used in French for devout life, it referred mostly to the teaching of some authors who were considered mystical and even not all orthodox.9 At first spiritualité was used for suspect mysticism and so it was used very rarely. However, the adjective spirituel was used along with similar expressions vie spirituelle, famille spirituelle, avancement spirituel, biens spirituels, guide spirituel, etc.10 In the first decade of the 20th century, spirituel began to be used abundantly and surnaturel was a frequent synonym for spiritual. “The outstanding present-day fact about SPIRITUALITÉ as a word

is that it is now used almost entirely as a synonym for either “VIE SPIRITUELLE” or “SCIENCE SPIRITUELLE” (apart from the basic designation of spiritual being or

spiritual qualities). Both SPIRITUALITÉ and VIE SPIRITUELLE – or equivalent expressions – are universally accepted as general terms covering ASCÉSE and MYSTIQUE as subdivisions.”11_{After a forgotten-existence for centuries, the term}

spiritualité came alive with two influential works Manuel de spiritualité of Auguste Saudreau (1917) and La spiritualité Catholique by Pierre Pourrat (1918-1928).12 The usage of the term ‘Spirituality’ became frequent in English after the translation of many works from French, especially the above-mentioned classics in spirituality.

6_{Cf. Aimé Solignac, “Spiritualité,” in}_DSp_{vol. XIV, pp. 1142-1160. The entry “Spiritualité,” is coauthored} by Aimé Solignac and Michel Dupuy, Solignac wrote the first part “Le mot et l’histoire,” while Dupuy wrote the latter part titled “La notion de spiritualité” pp. 1160-1173.

7_{The term}_{spiritualité}_{has possible Latin origin}_spiritualis_{. For a detailed study on this see Solignac,} “Spiritualité,” pp. 1142, 1150.

8_{Lucy Tinsley in her detailed study of the terms ‘spirituality and devotion’ in French, affirms that}_{spiritualitas} is not found in Vulgate, but developed later and yet is not present in old French. She concludes that this is a recent term. Cf. Lucy Tinsley, The French Expression for Spirituality and Devotion: A Semantic Study, Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1953, pp. 9ff.

9_{At one point their teaching was considered heretical and it was applied for people like Fenelon, Madame} Guyon, Marie de l’Incarnación. See ibid.

10_{Cf. Tinsley,}_{The French Expression}_{, pp. 268ff.} 11_{Ibid., p. 269.}

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On the other hand, Walter Principe is of the opinion that the earliest reference to spirituality could go back to Pauline writings. The word spirituality derives from the Latin word spiritualitas, an abstract word that is related to spiritus and spiritualis, which were employed to translate Paul’s pneuma and pneumatikos. In his earlier writings “spirit”

(pneuma) is opposed to “flesh” (Greek sarx; Latin caro), and “spiritual” (pneumatikos) is set over against either “fleshly” (Greek psychikos; Latin animalis) or animal.13 Later they are contrasted neither with “body” (Greek soma; Latin corpus) or “bodily” (Greek somatikos; Latin corporalis) nor with “matter” (Greek hyle; Latin materia). Thus for Paul, “the pneumatic or spiritual person is one whose whole being or life are ordered, led, or influenced by the “Spirit of God” (Greek PneumaTheou; Latin Spiritus Dei), whereas the person who is “sarkic,” that is “carnal” or “fleshly” or who is “psychic” or “animal,” is one whose whole being and life are opposed to God’s Spirit.”14_{For Paul, as it is clear, the}

opposition is not between the incorporeal and the corporeal or between the immaterial and material, but between two ways of life. From this we can conclude that one’s body and one’s psychic soul (Greek psyche; Latin anima) can, just like one’s spirit, be spiritual if led by the Spirit, and one’s spirit, mind, or will can be carnal if opposed to the Spirit. This Pauline sense of the term spiritualitas was in use until the 12th_{century when it was being}

used as opposed to corporalitas or materialitas. This changed the Pauline religious meaning, setting the atmosphere for a confused and divisive use which later gave rise to the great divide and spirituality having contempt for matter or body.15

A third possible origin of the term Spirituality draws on the word ruach, a term that denotes ‘spirit’ but also extends to ‘breath’ and ‘wind’ alluding to the Holy Spirit.16_The

Spirit is the source of life and hence the term Spirituality indicates life of faith – the aspect that motivates, sustains and develops life in general. It is, hence, not about mere ideas but

13_{Cf. ibid.}

14_{Ibid. See also Michel Dupuy “Spiritualité,” in}_DSp_{vol. XIV, p. 1161.}

15_{“The new meaning prepared for a later widespread view that confused spirituality with disdain for the body} and matter. Together with this philosophical meaning, the earlier Pauline view continued in authors such as Thomas Aquinas. Still further meanings appeared later: persons exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction were called the spiritualitas, or “lords spiritual,” as opposed to those exercising civil jurisdiction, the temporalitas, or “lords temporal”; next ecclesiastical property came to be called spiritualitas, and the property of the civil ruler temporalitas.” Principe, “Spirituality, Christian,” p. 931.

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about the way in which the Christian life is conceived and lived out. Spirituality theretofore is about what a person does with what they believe – it is the outworking in real life of a person’s religious faith.17

Spirituality can then be termed as a way of living out the encounter with Jesus Christ. “The term “Christian spirituality” refers to the way in which the Christian life is understood and the explicitly devotional practices which have been developed to foster and sustain that relationship with Christ.”18_{In other words}

Christian spirituality has to do with our way of being Christian, in response to the call of God, issued through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the life in the Holy Spirit who incorporates the Christian into the Body of Jesus Christ, through whom the Christian has access to God in the Creator in a life of faith, hope, and service” and

“Christian spirituality, therefore, is trinitarian, Christological, ecclesiological, pneumatological, and eschatological. It is rooted in the life of the triune God, centered on Jesus Christ, situated in the Church, ever responsive to the Holy Spirit, and oriented always to the coming of God’s Reign in all its fullness at the end of human history.19

There is no single Christian spirituality rather, there is one spirit and many spiritualities since ‘whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver.’ This is because the many spiritualities are results of interpretation of ‘our way of being Christian’ in specific historic contexts.

2.2 The Term Spirituality Through History

Historically Christian spirituality can trace its origin back as far as to the covenantal relationship between Yahweh and Israel where the people were convinced of the nearness and presence of God. In the New Testament Jesus proclaimed the nearness of God (Mk. 1:15) in a new way; it is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that all are liberated from sin and new life given (Rm. 6:3-11), and Christian spirituality is knowing this truth, having hope in what we know, and living according to that hope.20_{In the first centuries}

martyrdom provided an ideal means for union with God, for martyrdom was related to the

17_{Cf. ibid., p. 2.} 18_{Ibid., p. 3.}

19_{Richard P. McBrien,}_Catholicism_{(New Edition), New York: HarperCollins, 1994, p. 1020.} 20_{See ibid., pp. 1021-1022.}

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death and resurrection of Jesus – being witness to Christ and thus living the spirituality. Later years, on the face of the impossibility of martyrdom, two figures who contributed to the understanding of spirituality were Origen who suggested that a life of complete self-sacrifice was a kind of unbloody martyrdom, and Clement of Alexandria who talked of every death as a true martyrdom when approached with proper dispositions. 21 Against the backdrop of Gnosticism, Origen taught that the soul must struggle to uproot itself from the world in which it is buried by selfish desires, while Clement of Alexandria identified the summit of Christian consciousness in the knowledge of the God of love by loving as God loves.22

Monasticism, having its roots in the New Testament and that which called to live a life of ‘celibacy for the sake of the kingdom’ (Mt. 19:12) and living a life of poverty (Lk. 9:60), had a lasting effect in shaping Christian spirituality.23 Monastic life was considered as the continuation of apostolic life by persevering together in prayer, in the community of goods as well as in the breaking of bread. Such dedicated life along with the practice of consecrated virgins would lead up to the development of new monastic movement that held the view that “the soul finds union with God only in going beyond itself, by rejecting all particular knowledge and allowing itself to be absorbed totally in the knowledge of God, whose intra-Trinitarian life of love overflows in a stream of self-communicating goodness in creation.”24_{Around this period, the whole spiritual life was divided into three stages –}

the purgative, illuminative and unitive, categories that are used till today to refer to growth in spiritual life.

Prominent figures like Augustine of Hippo, John Cassian and Benedict of Nursia drew from this monastic tradition and taught authoritatively on spiritual matters. By teaching “spiritual discernment does not bring us knowledge of God in Christ so much as

self-knowledge in the light of Christ, the teacher of wisdom” Augustine gave a new

21_{See ibid., p. 1022.}

22_{Cf. ibid. Origen’s insistence that prayer, which involved the action of all three Persons of the Trinity, should} pervade the entire life of Christians.

23_{Antony of Egypt and other hermits who went into the desert to confront the devil sought to win over the} dark forces of evil through ascetic practices.

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direction to spirituality, while Cassian taught that the monk is not to seek anything beyond the Kingdom of God, and that only purity of heart will open mysteries of the Kingdom to him. He taught that Christian life is one of constant prayer wholly inspired by the Gospel.25 Benedict, the author of the Rule and regarded as the patriarch of Western monasticism, taught that observance and obedience as most important in the perfect following of Christ. Prudence and humanity form the core teaching, and he emphasized that common life was the basic of asceticism. Benedict’s interpretation that the divine presence is everywhere and, in every place, – and that this presence is most concentrated in the superior who mediates the will of God – marked much of spirituality of the subsequent centuries. Another key spiritual figure is Gregory the Great who’s works on faith and piety, especially Regula Pastoralis, influenced the Church definitively.26

Over the years, while the monasteries followed the ascetical ideal, austerity characterized by penitential practices became part of the spiritual life of laity as well. The spread of such monastic ideals among the laity would define the tenth and eleventh centuries and long pilgrimages and self-flagellation were the most common means of making reparation for sin or curbing one’s unruly appetites. It was the work of John of Fecamp that recommended quiet, meditative reading to induce unimpeded and undistracted thoughts about God. Contemplative prayer was gaining popularity and the Cistercian Order, as the renewed followers of the Rule of Benedict, made prominent the mystical element of Christian spirituality. Bernard of Clairvaux and William of St. Thierry – who regarded the soul as being the image of God – taught that a soul can be restored to perfection through contemplative life that conforms oneself to the Word of God.

In contrast to these developments, the mendicant orders, Franciscans and Dominicans to mention a few, brought a more realistic approach to poverty and service by being closer to the ordinary people: Dominic combined the best of monasticism with the best of the apostolic life, while Francis of Assisi insisted on the imitation of the life of

25_Ibid.

26_{This work, ‘Pastoral Norms’, was a practical treatise on the spirituality and ministerial skills required of} bishops and of all who have the care of souls. Gregory also advocated monastic type of life, following the Benedictine rules. See ibid., p. 1025.

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Christ in all its simplicity and poverty.27_{At the beginning of the fourteenth century, a wave}

of spiritual movement began in the Rhineland and the Low Countries that spread to other parts of the world, and whose main concern was the soul’s union with God, where the union was the zenith in contemplation.28

The medieval emphasis on reverence to relics, its emotionalism coupled with superstition paved way for Protestant movements, and a spirituality that gave importance to the uniqueness of the Christian believer’s relationship with God at the personal conscience. Luther’s insistence on faith and scripture would invariably change the course of spiritual life in the Church.29 In the counter reformation era, Ignatius of Loyola insisted on personal conversion through methods in prayer, where he also gave importance to contemplation in action, finding God in the world as opposed to earlier flight from it. It was also during this period that devotion to Mary and the saints, along with life of sacraments gained importance. The mystical way became prominent, especially in Spain with Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross and Ignatius of Loyola. In the following century, the development in spirituality in France centered on the life of Christ and saints, where mystics and missionaries were the models for spiritual life.30 Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary became prominent when a theology of heart – heart symbolising the overflowing love of God – came to limelight, especially with Jean Eudes and later with Mary Alacoque. This was also the time when efforts were made to take spirituality out of monasteries to the reach of ordinary people through emphasis on Christian life and everyday occupations.

27_{Two great theologians of these orders were the Dominican Thomas Aquinas who emphasized the} interrelation between contemplation and action – sharing with others the fruit of the contemplative life –, and the Franciscan Bonaventure, who reflected the principle of sacramentality of Assisi, saw the creation as a mirror reflecting the power, wisdom and goodness of God. See ibid., pp. 1026-1027.

28_{This emphasis on the interior life and complete abandonment can be found in Hildegard von Bingen,} Hedwig of Silesia as well as in the work The Cloud of Unknowing. Cf. ibid., p. 1028.

29_{Luther’s concern was to find a direct approach to God, one in which the individual is illumined by the} interior witness of the Holy Spirit, whereas the Catholic approach was that the relationship with God is a mediated one and there is no fully authentic Christian spirituality without the realization of an equal co-presence of fellow-believers with Christ. See Louis Bouyer, Introduction to Spirituality, New York: Desclée, 1961, p. 11. See also McBrien, Catholicism, p. 1029.

30_{Some of the well-known spiritual directors are Francis de Sales, Madame Acarie and Pierre Bérulle who} developed a personal approach to the life of prayer.

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Notwithstanding the negative developments around the suppression of many religious orders, nineteenth century provided the link between medieval and modern spirituality: while there were scientific and technological advances, developments in psychology and sociology there was also renewal in theology, liturgy, of historical studies and social ministry, all of which shaped the course of Christian spirituality.31 However, the last decades of this century saw spirituality being stagnant and hampered by the separation of spirituality from theology.

In the twentieth century, those spiritualities that were identified with charismatic individuals earlier, began to be associated with ‘schools’, i.e. they were identified with religious orders, and pluralism dominated the whole spectrum of theology and spirituality. What the history of Christian and Catholic spirituality makes clear in this era is its pluralistic character. At the beginning of the twentieth century pluralism was taken for granted because there were spiritualities, not a spirituality. And Catholic spiritual writings during the first half of the twentieth century reflected this ambivalent character of Catholic theology itself. 32 During this period, liturgical movements, renewed by historical and biblical studies, guided spirituality in a more Christocentric direction.33 Adolphe Tanquerey, through his manual of spiritual theology The Spiritual Life, and Garrigou-Lagrange with The Three Ages of the Interior Life exerted much influence on the course of spirituality prior to the Vatican Council II. Another figure, in stark contrast to these above, was ‘The Little Flower’ Theresa of Lisieux, who taught the world that sanctity is not achieved through extreme mortification, but through continual renunciation in small matters, and her simple yet practical spirituality had profound impact on the years that followed.

31_{During the French Revolution, many religious orders were suppressed and the period of Enlightenment} saw more secularization. In the second half of 19th_{century, many new apostolic congregations and lay} movements were started. Spirituality became more introspective and popular piety tended to became increasingly supernaturalism. Cf. McBrien, Catholicism, p. 1033.

32_{Cf. ibid., pp. 1034-1035.}

33_{McBrien identifies Columba Marmion and Charles de Foucauld as two key figures in such a renewal. For} Marmion, the Lord is not our distant judge but the source of love, affection, and sympathy, for he is truly human himself, and it is in the Eucharist that this action of Christ becomes effective. Foucauld gave importance to the following of Christ in the way of poverty and humility, who believed that to take the lowest place among humankind is to be close to Jesus. See ibid., p. 1035, 1037-1038.

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Around the middle of the twentieth century, the shift in the focus of spirituality was about God who shines through the universe (diaphany), rather than about God appears (epiphany). It was a spirituality oriented to the world, especially promoted by Teilhard de Chardin through The Divine Milieu. “We attain an experience of God not, as the traditional

ascetical manualists argues, exclusively through purgation, contemplation, and mystical union, or a kind of ‘meditation with closed eyes.’ Rather we encounter God by turning toward the things of the earth in love and reverence. The natural delight we take in life and in all that exists is the first dawn of divine illumination.”34_{The change from a negative to}

a positive attitude toward the world is also seen in the writings of Thomas Merton, Eugene Boylan, and the like. It was acknowledged that the universal vocation to holiness was for all baptized and not for a few, and Louis Bouyer insisted that spirituality is engaged wherever there is a personal relationship with God.35 The Vatican Council II, once and for all, laid to rest the assumption that spirituality is for priests and nuns alone when it said,

the Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and every one of His disciples of every condition […]. Indeed, He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their mind and all their strength and that they might love each other as Christ loves them […]. Thus, it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity.36

The post-conciliar era has been marked by intense liturgical renewal, deepening reverence for Sacred Scriptures, an increased striving for a personal experience of the Holy Spirit as well as a growing sense of equality of all members, shaping the contemporary spirituality.37

34_{Ibid., pp. 1038-1039.}

35_{“Spirituality is engaged wherever there is a personal relationship with God. Christian spirituality is engaged} where that personal relationship is grounded in God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ. Catholic spirituality is more deliberately ecclesial. The Word-made-flesh is proclaimed and encountered in the Church. It is not only the content of the Word that one finds in the Church, but the Word itself.” As quoted in ibid., p. 1041.

36_LG_40.

37_{It was at the post conciliar era that a greater consciousness of equality for women in the Church and in the} society at large began to take shape and gave rise to Feminist spirituality. Then came about liberation theology and spirituality.

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2.3 Use of Other Terms Over the Centuries

Having looked at what spirituality means etymologically and the changing significance of it over the centuries, we would like to clarify other terms employed often as synonymous with spirituality: ascetical and mystical theology as well as spiritual theology. We have seen that from St. Paul’s time, the pneumatikos (the spiritual one) was used to denote the harmonious unity that should exist between Christian doctrine and piety, taking inspiration from the New Testament – where doctrine means also life – theology was always spiritual theology.38 This same understanding of theology dominated the patristic era when it was held that

theology is not simply intellectual activity, it is also the object of love, inseparable from prayer. The meaning of ‘wisdom’ in St Augustine's teaching, or the ‘loving contemplation’ of St Gregory the Great, may represent the kind of theology which is never separated from love. The unity finds its supreme expression in the golden age of monastic theology, initiated by Gregory and Augustine and developed by Anselm and Bernard, in which true theology by definition must be spiritual.39

With scholastic theology, the term ‘theology’ itself began to be understood as intellectual speculation and later theology gradually dissociated itself from spiritual life.

In other words, the distinction between knowledge and love led to separation and even a divorce, and the great chasm between theology and spirituality continued to widen, and as a result, two theologies were developing – one that is scientific, theoretical and dry speculation; the other a pious, affective theology unrelated to solid theological doctrine. Megyer observes that

it would have been tautological to call theology spiritual; but from the end of the fourteenth century, the tension between religious knowledge and spiritual life stretched to the breaking point: The theologian became a specialist in an autonomous field of knowledge, which he could enter by the use of a technique independent of the witness of his own life, of its personal holiness or sinfulness. The spiritual man, on the other hand, became a dévot who cared nothing for theology; one for whom his own experience

38_{The evangelist John is called the theologian because he is the one who has contemplated the mystery of} incarnation and possessed the experience of faith upon which he reflected. Cf. Eugene Megyer, “Theological Trends: Spiritual Theology Today,” in The Way 21 (1981) pp. 55-67, here pp. 55-56. 39_{Ibid., p. 56.}

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ultimately became an end itself, without reference to the dogmatic content to be sought in it.40

Specialization in this era led to separation and often exclusion of one from the other.

Giovanni Battista Scaramelli is often termed as the one who formally divided the whole spiritual doctrine into ascetical and mystical in his works Direttorio ascetico and

Direttorio mistico, as until then spirituality was considered as that part of theology which dealt with Christian perfection. The contention is that until then spiritual theology had formed an organic whole but henceforth it was split into two compartments.41 Ever since the publication of Scaramelli’s Direttorio, ascetic theology dealt with exercises needed for perfection while mystical theology dealt with mystical union, the extraordinary states and its secondary manifestations.42 Though there is debate about how this division began, it is clear that from eighteenth century the separation was real and the distance between ascetical theology and mystical theology widened.

Another term that was being employed before this separation was Theologia mystica and authors dealt with the purgative way of beginners, the illuminative way of proficient, and of the unitive way of the perfect. They also spoke of infused contemplation and the extraordinary graces which sometimes accompany it, and such works dealt with experimental mystical theology, that is, of infused contemplation itself.43 Many authors around this period considered that ascetical theology treats of the purgative way of beginners who act under ex industria propria, while mystical theology begins with

40_Ibid.

41_{Though there are popular voices that fix the responsibility of such division on Scaramelli, it is an} inconclusive judgment according to Guibert. “Some sharp criticism has been stirred up by this division into two Directories, the one ascetical and the other mystical. From it some have tried to draw an argument making Scaramelli responsible for a regrettable dismemberment of spiritual theology […]. It seems scarcely deniable that the large circulation of Scaramelli’s two Directories and the high authority which they enjoyed have contributed much toward spreading among spiritual writers a division which is debatable […]. In any case he is not the author of the division. A full century earlier in 1655 the Polish Franciscan Chrysostom Dobrosielski explicitly used the division, including the attachment of the epithets “ordinary” and “extraordinary” respectively to the term “ascetical” and “mystical.” Joseph de Guibert,

The Jesuits: Their Spiritual Doctrine and Practice, A Historical Study, St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources,1986, pp. 417-418.

42_{See Pierre Pourrat,}_{Christian Spirituality}_{, 4 vols., London: Burns & Oates, 1922, especially vol. 1.} 43_{Cf. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange,}_{The Three Ages of Interior Life}_{, vol. 1, St. Louis: Herder Books, 1948,}

The interpretations of the ignatian examenin history : between morality and spirituality

The Interpretations of the

Ignatian Examen in History:

Between Morality and Spirituality

Autor: Somy Mathew Mannoor, SJ

Director: Dr. Pascual Cebollada Silvestre, SJ

The Interpretations of the Ignatian Examen in History:

Between Morality and Spirituality

Visto Bueno del Director

Fdo. Prof. Dr. Pascual Cebollada Silvestre, SJ

Dedicated to St. Joseph,

the man of great silence and the patron of mystics

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

General Introduction

Chapter 1

Conscience, Confession and the Interplay of

Spirituality and Morality

1

Introduction

2

The Identity of Spirituality and Morality

2.1

Etymology of the Term Spirituality

2.2

The Term Spirituality Through History

2.3

Use of Other Terms Over the Centuries