“Examen” is a Spanish word meaning “exam”. “Examen” is the title of the unique tool for spiritual discernment that St. Ignatius of Loyola devised and placed strategically in his book Spiritual Exercises (originally in Spanish). The Daily Examen, adapted for prayer outside the retreat, is no ordinary examination. It specifically addresses our fundamental spiritual orientation: Where have I evidenced God’s touch in the hours just passed? We judiciously explore our day for traces of divine interventions and our responses to them. We evaluate our experiences. We reframe our lifestyles. We stir up our spiritual consciousness and are gently ushered into prayer. Thus, the Examen is a process by which we assess our ‘spiritual quotient’ – SQ, rather than our IQ. The Examen, in a word, is a quest, not a test, to “find God in all and all in God.”
The Examen is like stepping into the customized shoes of Saint Ignatius in order to walk the spiritual pathway and reach the spaces where we can find God. It essentially raises our consciousness – opens our interior eyes – so that we can discern (with depth vision) God’s presence “in all things” – to “find” God in the complexity our being.
This book contains a vast collection of tried and tested adaptations of the Examen Prayer, drawing on the “perspectives and practices” of Jesuit scholars and other practitioners of Ignatian spirituality. It helps us in responding to our “quest-ion” in creative ways. It offers styles of praying the Examen that are innovative and user-friendly at the personal and community levels for Jesuits and non-Jesuits. It can be adapted for use by people of other faiths as well.
- Title: Perspectives and Practices of the Ignatian Examen
- Author: Hedwig Lewis, SJ
- Publisher: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Anand
- Pages: 236
- Price: Rs 225
