by Francis X. Bolton
I probably first heard of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen at Brooklyn Prep. The idea that I did is reinforced by the fact that Jesuits at the time were supposed to practice — if practice is the correct word — the Examen twice a day: mid-day and in the evening.
The practice begins during their novitiate years when they are discerning if they have a vocation to serve in the Jesuit order. I don’t remember if, as a young teenager, I actually practiced the Examen. Nor, if I did practice it to some extent, that my focus was correct when I did so.
Ignatius felt that the Examen was a gift that came directly from God and that it enabled those who practiced it to see God working in and through them. The idea of examining one’s life was not new in Ignatius’ time, the early 16th century. Socrates is known for saying that the unexamined life is not worth living.
The late Father Danny Murphy, who retired from active ministry in Brooklyn when he was pastor of St. Saviour, once said from the altar that the most significant spiritual movement of the 20th century was the 12 Steps program. The fourth step calls for the member to make “a fearless and thorough moral inventory of themselves.”
While in high school, I read the 18th-century Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” And Burt Lancaster won Best Actor for his portrayal of Elmer Gantry in the film of the same name — granted, a scathing portrait of the revivalist movement.
The late Father Dennis Hamm, SJ, a Scripture professor at Creighton University in Omaha, wrote in an article in America magazine that it is “hard to motivate yourself to keep searching your experience for how you sinned.”
Ignatius’ focus is different. He tells us to begin by putting ourselves in the presence of God and then to review the events of the day — gratefully. Then we are to pay attention to the emotions associated with those events.
We should choose one event from the day and the feeling associated with it, and pray from it. You’ll likely choose a big feeling — positive or negative — which will necessarily be a significant one. Finally, look toward the next day. What are your feelings? Should you pray for help? For healing? For peace?
You can find the five steps online at IgnatianSpirituality.com, under the section titled “Ignatian Prayer.”
It also has a link to Father Hamm’s May 1994 America article entitled “Rummaging for God: Praying Backward Through Your Day.”
Francis X. Bolton is a parishioner at St. Saviour Parish in Park Slope.