St. Ignatius’ Synodality and the Spiritual Exercises

Introduction

The term “synodality” does not appear in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. However, a closer look at the method and dynamics of the Exercises reveals some key aspects of a spirituality that sustains synodality. The Synod on Synodality initiated by Pope Francis has prompted a re-reading and revisiting of the fundamental Christian sources, revealing several insights that contribute to the emergence of a spirituality oriented in this direction. In this article we will look with fresh eyes at the Spiritual Exercises to see if they contain a spirituality of synodality.

The Synod on Synodality emphasizes three terms: “participation,” “communion” and “mission,” as set out by the International Theological Commission in the document “Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church” (SLMC).[1] Synodality is an essential dimension of the Church, which is synodal in a constitutive and not an incidental way.[2] This vision was present in the early Church, but over the centuries other concepts have assumed greater prominence. Vatican II, in the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium (LG), restored an ancient model of the Church, that of the pilgrim people of God.

Chapter 4 of SLMC, entitled “Conversion to Renew Synodality,” emphasizes the need to acquire a new consciousness of being Church. It is not enough to know conceptually that the Church is synodal; a further and more important step needs to be taken: Christians have to feel that they are being synodal,[3] that is, actively participating in the life of the Church. The acquisition of a new consciousness requires an appropriate spirituality that shapes it.[4] The spirituality emerging from the Exercises has the potential to generate such a consciousness in those who engage with them, provided they agree to enter their spirit wholeheartedly.

We will describe this path in three sections, without being exhaustive. First, we will highlight the method of the Exercises. Second, we will present the Ignatian way of recognizing personal charisms. Finally, we will comment on some basic aspects of the “Rules for Thinking and Feeling with the Church” (in Latin, Sentire cum Ecclesia) of the Spiritual Exercises (SpExx).

The method

In the first contemplation of the second week, that on the Incarnation, the Exercises invite the exercitant to contemplate the Trinity in order to hear “what the three divine persons are saying, namely, ‘Let us bring about the redemption of the human race’” (SpExx 107). The dialogue between the persons of the Trinity is the model for the method of the Exercises. Fr. Pedro Arrupe, who was Superior General of the Jesuits, clearly understood Ignatius’ Trinitarian inspiration,[5] “Each of the persons is not ‘in itself,’ nor does it belong to itself except inasmuch as it is simultaneously related to and gives itself to the other two. The being of each of the three persons is pure and complete ‘ecstasy’ (i.e. going forth, self-giving), a vital impulse toward the other two.”[6] The contemplation of the Trinity in dialogue provides the framework for dialogue to be used throughout the Exercises.

Various authors, including Roland Barthes,[7] identify a four-level structure in the Exercises.[8] In the first, the text of the Exercises engages with the one who during the retreat “gives to another a way and a plan” (SpExx 2).

The interlocutors of the second level of dialogue are the one directing and the one making the Exercises. Here mutual trust is needed, as specified in SpExx 22: “It must be presupposed that a good Christian must be readier to defend than condemn a neighbor’s statement.” The same text also states that when what is said is unclear, clarification must be sought rather than jumping to hasty conclusions or judgments. The one who gives the Exercises is neither an instructor nor a teacher, but a person who faithfully gives or transmits what he or she has previously received. In this sense, the one who gives the Exercises “accompanies” the spiritual journey of the exercitant.

At the third level, the dialogue is between the exercitant and God. The exercises can involve words, prayers, images, conversations, and even silence. The exercitant turns to God, and waits for a response from God.

At the final level of dialogue, it is God who “speaks” to the exercitant through signs and interior movements that God initiates. The exercitants dispose themselves to actively engage with such movements of consolation or desolation, peace or disturbance, light or darkness (cf. SpExx 316-317). The retreat director does not interfere with the process, but, in the interest of objectivity, remains “in the center like the pointer of a balance” (SpExx 15). This allows the director to perceive what God may be communicating to the exercitant.

The fourfold conversation described above can also be defined as a fourfold exposition in the form of a conversation. To start, the giver of the Exercises faithfully narrates the narrative to be meditated on or contemplated (cf. SpExx 2). In prayer, it is the Gospel narrative that brings Jesus to the exercitant, and the exercitant in turn, moved by what is being contemplated, narrates his or her story to Jesus and the other actors in the Gospel scene. The fourth narrative takes place when the exercitant narrates to the one giving the Exercises what has been experienced in prayer.[9]

The “Rules for the Discernment of Spirits,” contained in the Exercises, do not explicitly mention community discernment. However, when Ignatius’ first companions who had made the Exercises directed by him met in Rome in 1539 to deliberate on the future of the group, they practiced discernment as a group.[10] From making the Exercises they had learned the essential elements of a spiritual conversation: attentive listening to the Spirit in prayer and the clear intentionality of the motions of the Spirit (involving spiritual consolation and desolation).[11] During that deliberation, the first companions practiced spiritual conversation. A similar method of spiritual conversation has been proposed for the synodal journey of the Church.[12]

The role of charisms: ‘Contemplation to attain love’

One of the earliest examples of synodality in the Old Testament is found in Numbers 11:16-30 (cf. Exod 18:21-26; Deut 1:9-18). The Israelites are in the desert and complaining because they have no meat to eat. Moses calls out to the Lord. In response to Moses’ cry, the Lord asks him to gather 70 elders of Israel into the tent of meeting, where he will inspire them with the power of the Spirit. Once they are gathered, the Spirit descends on them and they prophesy. At this very moment, a young man runs to Moses and reports that Eldad and Medad, the elders remaining in the camp, have also received the spirit and are prophesying. Joshua pleads with Moses to stop them. “But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them’” (Numb 11:29).

A similar episode is recounted in Mark’s Gospel (9:38-41). In response to John’s telling him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop,” Jesus replies: “Do not stop him, for no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me: whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:38-40).

The two episodes mentioned above make us realize that God grants special gifts to whomsoever God wills. Rather than for personal benefit alone, they are given for the common good, to build up the community of the Church. The gifts, given to one or many, in different forms, come from the same source, the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are aimed at building up the Church, and Paul calls them “charisms” (cf. 1 Cor 7:7; 12:4-11; Rom 12:6-8; cf. also LG 12).[13]

By virtue of baptism, “God furnishes the totality of the faithful with an instinct of faith – the sensus fidei – which helps them to discern what is truly of God. The presence of the Spirit gives Christians a certain familiarity with divine realities, and a wisdom which enables them to grasp those realities intuitively” (SLMC 56). This is a potentiality that Christians should exercise in order to perceive and receive what is truly of God. This is where Ignatian insight, as outlined in the “Contemplation to Attain Love” (Contemplatio ad amorem: SpExx 230-237), is apposite.

Contemplation in Ignatius’ sense consists in recalling to memory all the benefits received: “Creation, redemption [habitual grace] and particular gifts [actual grace].”[14] Remembrance leads the exercitant to discern or recognize God’s gift to him/her, how God dwells in him/her and how God works for him/her. The exercitant is invited to seek the “interior knowledge” of God’s self-giving, indwelling and working, and should reflect on these realities with deep affection. Recognition leads to deep gratitude as the exercitant realizes that he or she does not deserve any of these graces: everything is gift, given freely. This realization fills the exercitant with joy and humility. Accepting these gifts with gratitude, knowing that they are undeserved, the exercitant is moved to respond with a prayer from the depths of his or her heart, saying, “Take, O Lord, and accept all my freedom, my memory, my intellect, my will, all that I have and possess. You have given them to me; to you, O Lord, I give them back. All is yours: dispose of it entirely according to your will. Give me only the love of you, together with your grace, that is enough for me” (SpExx 234).

Cultivating attention to the gifts of the Holy Spirit involves remembering benefits received, recognizing them as gifts and being grateful. The grace that the exercitant seeks at the beginning of the Contemplation to obtain love is “[…] so that, recognizing Him entirely, [I] may in all things love and serve the divine Majesty” (SpExx 233). Thus, the ultimate goal is to love and serve God in all things, that is, to use the gifts for the common good or for the sake of the Church. The process of building up the Church begins with recognizing the gifts received from God and putting them at the service of others. The grace sought is to find God “in all things,” including in others. In learning to perceive, appreciate and receive God’s gifts, one also realizes that God acts similarly with others, and that they too are called to put their gifts at the service of others, of the Church. As seen in the two Scripture passages above, jealousy and competition can arise in those who do not see that the gifts given to others come from God’s generosity. The Contemplatio ad amorem helps the exercitant to perceive and welcome God’s gifts in oneself and in others and to put them joyfully at the service of others to build up the Church (cf. Phil 4:4-9).

The fourth point of the Contemplatio ad amorem takes on special significance when considering charismatic gifts. It states: “I observe how all goods and gifts descend from above: for example, my limited power descends from that sum and infinity of power above, and so does justice, goodness, mercy, and so on, as the rays descend from the sun, waters from a fountain ” (SpExx 237).

In the Exercises Ignatius takes care not to speak explicitly about the Holy Spirit after the unpleasant encounters he had with the Inquisition in Salamanca.[15] However, authors such as Juan Chechon Chong have called the fourth point of the Contemplatio ad amorem an “Ignatian Pentecost.”[16] He argues that the statement that “all goods and gifts descend from above” is an allusion to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Ignatius calls them “particular gifts” (SpExx 234) and lists some of them in SpExx 237. When the Holy Spirit bestows charismatic gifts on the faithful, the risk is that they will go unnoticed if the faithful have not acquired the ability to recognize them. In this sense, the spirituality of Contemplatio can foster the development of a synodal consciousness.

‘Sentire cum Ecclesia’

The Exercises were composed at a time when the heresy of alumbradism was widespread in Spain, and Martin Luther was abandoning the Roman Church. Ignatius was met with accusations from those who suspected him of being an alumbrad. In fact, his teaching has some affinity with the central position of the alumbrados (cf. SpExx 15).[17] Ignatius diverged from them, however, in that while they devalued the role of the Church and its sacraments, he vigorously affirmed his own orthodoxy, inserting at the end of the Exercises the “Rules for thinking with the Church” (Sentire cum Ecclesia: SpExx 353-370), which are primarily concerned with preserving the unity of the Church.[18]

In the following paragraphs we will consider only those “Rules” that contribute to a spirituality of synodality.

Listening

The first section of this article dealt with a dialogic method of making the Exercises. Listening and speaking are essential components of this method. While relationships within the Trinity serve as a model for conversation, the first rule (SpExx 353) outlines the quality of listening. It speaks of “obedience” to Mother Church. This “obeying,” following a way of understanding the Latin verb ob-audire, could be taken as implying listening. How, then should one listen? “Putting aside all judgment of our own, our minds must be willing and ready.” A superficial reading of this statement might lead one to adopt an uncritical attitude.

However, Ignatius asks only that we set aside our own judgment and listen with an open mind. Setting aside one’s own judgment provides the key to right listening. We often tend to have a pre-judgment about the other person, which could be positive or negative. When the pre-judgment is negative, one closes one’s mind and does not listen. When the pre-judgment is positive, the opposite happens: one naively accepts everything the other person is saying. Setting aside one’s own judgment is not the same as not having one’s own, but rather choosing to listen without prejudice, whether positive or negative. This setting aside or emptying of self is the indispensable humility required to really listen. After listening, one can apply one’s critical judgment to evaluate what has been said. Thus, one should not go wrong in listening.

Misunderstandings and misconceptions often occur because of a lack of proper listening. When one does not understand what has been said, the right thing to do is to ask for clarification (cf. SpExx 22). What should one do when one disagrees with what the other person is saying, or does not consider what the other person is saying as something coming from God, especially if he or she is in a position of authority? A conversation needs to be initiated, analogous to what Ignatius writes about regarding discovering God’s will. How the latter should be done is outlined succinctly in an instruction that Ignatius wrote to the members of the Society on December 1, 1554, which is entitled “The Method of Dealing with Superiors.”[19] St. Ignatius wants the superior’s attention to be drawn to details that he may have ignored or overlooked and to outline one’s position conditionally rather than definitively. In this way, the whole process of listening and speaking becomes a participatory process.[20]

Praise

Rules 2 to 9 begin with the verb “praise,” and rules 11 and 18 contain it. The list of items to praise includes: confession, receiving the Eucharist, frequent attendance at Mass, hymns, psalms, long prayers, canonical hours, religious vows, saints’ relics and their veneration, prayers to the saints, making the Stations of the Cross, pilgrimages, indulgences, jubilees, crusades, the lighting of candles, fasts and abstinences, internal and external penances, the decorating and erecting of churches, veneration of what images represent, the precepts of the Church, the approval of the arrangements of superiors, the traditions of the elders, positive and scholastic theology, and reverential fear of God.

The list is long. What is the rationale behind this practice of praising? In the list there appear elements that Erasmus and some Protestants condemned and ridiculed. Many practices belonging to popular religious practices of the day are described.[21] Charisms belonging to the traditional Orders appear. The canonical hours, which in Ignatius’ time were generally recited in choir, are present. The saint had requested for the Society an exemption from celebrating them in choir, but he praises the practice. The fact that one excludes something from one’s way of proceeding does not make it bad. Ignatius’ reasons for excluding certain practices were apostolic. In essence, he praises all that is good, because all good descends from above (cf. Mark 9:38-41; Jas 1:17; SpExx 237); he promotes a positive attitude toward all good, whether objects, practices or people. A positive attitude does not necessarily imply adoption, but recognition of all that is good in the Church. The disposition to recognize the good in others and to praise it opens the way for dialogue and conversation, even when the other may be viewed as an opponent. If one starts from perceiving and affirming the good in others, one is on the way to creating communion, but focusing at the outset on differences divides.

The much-repeated “praise” is to be understood in keeping with the praise of God that appears in the “Principle and Foundation” (cf. SpExx 23), that is, as an expression of respect filled with appropriate reverence. It is not mere flattery or an act aimed at winning the favor of influential people out of self-interest (cf. SpExx 364: rule 12). The best biblical image of such praise is David’s dance before the ark of the covenant. Having laid down his royal garment, he danced naked, that is, in full freedom, stripping himself of all self-importance (cf. 2 Sam 6:14-22).[22] Only such selfless praise opens the way for true dialogue.

Starting with praise is the Ignatian way of creating communion in the Church. Ignatius refers all the good he perceives to a single source, God. Failure to recognize the gifts of others and failure to rejoice in the good they do for the edification of the Church gives rise to jealousy, competition and rivalry, and ultimately to divisions in the Church and society at large. Ignatius recognizes the same Spirit at work “in Christ our Lord, the bridegroom, and in the Church his bride […] who governs us and guides our souls to salvation” (SpExx 365). Applying this principle, he saw no contradiction between hierarchical gifts (received through the laying on of hands) and charismatic gifts, because both descend from the same source. Church ministers have the responsibility to recognize the charismatic gifts of the baptized and to promote them for the good of the Church (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, nos. 4 and 9).

Hierarchical and militant church

For Ignatius, the Church is mother and bride of Christ. The saint also uses the adjectives “hierarchical” (SpExx 353; 365) and “militant” (SpExx 352). Notice how he consistently uses the expression “hierarchical Church” and not “hierarchy of the Church.” The latter expression refers to the governing authority in the Church, necessary as in any organization, while the hierarchical Church includes the entire people of God. Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, former Superior General of the Society of Jesus, gave the following explanation of the hierarchical Church: “The divine grace that is given to the world is mediated by each believer, of high and low rank, according to each one’s life and place. Each person, as a member of the Church, exercises a responsibility in the work of salvation.”[23] Pope Francis interprets the Ignatian expression “hierarchical Church” as the “holy and faithful people of God.” To think and feel within the Church is to be in the midst of this people. It is an experience of the whole people of God, pastors and faithful together.[24]

This hierarchical Church is also militant. The expression “militant Church” might evoke a militaristic image of the Church, because of its participation in wars there have been part of its history. Erasmus applied the image of a miles (“soldier”) to the Christian in his work Enchiridion militis christiani (1501). For him, the miles is one who engages in spiritual, not physical, combat, following the apostle Paul’s teaching in 2 Tim 2:3 and Eph 6:13. This interpretation was prevalent when Ignatius was composing the Exercises. According to Fr. Federico Lombardi, the militant Church of the Rules is a Church that lives and walks in the world, engaged in the struggle between good and evil.[25]

Although the journey of the Exercises is a personal one, in the contemplation of the “Call of the Eternal King” Christ addresses himself to “all and to each one in particular” (SpExx 95). All are called, together, to participate in Christ’s mission to “subdue […] the whole world and all adversaries.” The communal dimension of the mission reappears in the election. Ignatius writes, “It is necessary that everything on which we wish to make an election should be indifferent or good in itself, and that it should be approved of by our Holy Mother, the Hierarchical Church” (SpExx 170). One makes an election to serve God within the Church community. In more recent times, the image of the Church as the pilgrim people of God has gained currency. “Moving forward in the world” is a common element of being a miles and being a pilgrim. “The pilgrim Church is missionary by its very nature” (Ad Gentes, no. 2). To be a member of the hierarchical Church implies being an active member of the body of the Church, participating in the life of the Church, walking together with others in fulfilling the mission of the Church.

Conclusion

The Spiritual Exercises do not provide a full set of tools for a spirituality of synodality. Yet, if one looks at them with fresh eyes in the light of the Synod on Synodality, one realizes that they lead the exercitant to discover essential elements needed to forge a synodal consciousness. The dialogical method used in the Exercises opens one to the awareness of what is involved in being an active member of the Church. Learning to recognize one’s own gifts and those of others creates an awareness of being in communion with all the baptized and an awareness that charisms are at the service of the common good. And finally, answering the call of Christ the King to follow him fosters the awareness of being on mission and of ordering all one’s decisions in the service of the Church for the greater glory of God.[26]

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32009/22072446.0823.10

[1].       Cf. International Theological Commission, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, March 2, 2018, no. 70 a. Henceforth we will cite this document as SLMC, followed by the relevant paragraph number.

[2].       Cf. C. Peña García, “Sinodalidad. Profundizando en la recepción eclesial del Concilio Vaticano II”, in Manresa 94 (2022) 317.

[3].      “It is not enough to have a synod, one must be a synod.” So said Pope Francis, addressing the prelates of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on July 5, 2019.

[4].       Cf. Subgroup Spirituality of Synodality, “Towards a Spirituality of Synodality” (www.synod.va/en/highlights/towards-a-spirituality-for-synodality.html).

[5].       P. Arrupe, L’ispirazione trinitaria del carisma ignaziano, February 8, 1980 (www.raggionline.com/saggi/ignaziana/arrupe/arrupe_ispirazione_trinitaria.pdf).

[6].       Ibid., 86.

[7].       Cf. R. Barthes, Sade, Fourier, Loyola, Milan, SE, 2022.

[8].       Cf. S. G. Arzubialde – J. García de Castro, “Introducción”, in El “Autógrafo” de los “Ejercicios espirituales”, Bilbao, Mensajero, 2022, 84-86.

[9].       Cf. P. R. Pinto, “Parables in the Spiritual Exercises: An Exercise in Storytelling”, in Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection 86 (2022/3) 238-239.

[10].     Cf. J. Giménez Meliá, “La Sinodalidad, un modo de sentir con la Iglesia. La ‘experiencia sinodal’ de Ignacio de Loyola y sus primeros compañeros”, in Manresa 94 (2022) 332.

[11].     Cf. A. Sosa, Letter to all major superiors, “Discerning in common universal apostolic preferences. The Third Stage in the Conference of Major Superiors”, September 20, 2018 (https://tinyurl.com/mwk479mb).

[12].     Cf. Synod of Bishops, Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality, Appendix B, 8 (https://tinyurl.com/2csjnz24).

[13].     Cf. T. Witwer, I carismi nella Chiesa e la grazia della vocazione, Rome, Gregorian & Biblical Press, 2012, 78f; 115.

[14].     Ibid., 85f.

[15].     Cf. V. Codina, A Silent Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Ignatian Exercises, Barcelona, Cristianisme i Justícia, 2016, 5.

[16].     Cf. J. Chechon Chong, “La Contemplación para Alcanzar Amor (230-237), El Pentecostés Ignaciano”, in Manresa 72 (2000) 233-303.

[17].     Cf. V. Codina, A Silent Presence…, op. cit., 10f.

[18].     Cf. F. Lombardi, “Le Regole per avere l’autentico sentire nella Chiesa militante”, in Ignaziana 25 (2018) 48.

[19].     Cf. W. J. Young (ed), Letters of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Chicago, Loyola University Press, 1959, 390-392.

[20].     Cf. P. Endean, “Ignatius and Church Authority”, in Way Supplement 70 (1990) 76-90.

[21].     Cf. V. Codina, Ignacio Ayer y Hoy, Bilbao, Mensajero, 2020, 186.

[22].     Cf. P.-H. Kolvenbach, “The Rules for Thinking, Judging, Feeling in the Post-Council Church”, in Review of Ignatian Spirituality (CIS), no. 35, 2004, 23.

[23].     Ibid., 21.

[24].     Cf. E. Royón, “Cosa ha detto papa Francesco ai gesuiti?” in Civ. Catt. 2016 III 513; F. Lombardi, “Le Regole per avere l’autentico sentire”, op. cit., 53f.

[25].     Ibid., 46.

[26].     A longer version of this article was published in Ignaziana 34 (2022) 123-134 (www.ignaziana.org/en/indice.html).