Charisma

CharismaThe power of St. Ignatius charisma of Spiritual Exercises is great. It spread all over the world. Pope Paul III confirmed the Spiritual Exercises in 1548 with these words: "We approve, praise, and favor with the present writing the aforesaid instructions and Exercises and all and everything contained in them, and We earnestly exhort all and each of the faithful of both sexes everywhere to employ instructions and Exercises so pious and to be instructed by them." (Pastoralis officii).

Spiritual Exercises are a gift of the Holy Spirit to Church. The first to participate in them was St. Ignatius who’s baptismal name was Iñigo. Iñigo as a lay person gave spiritual exercises to others before he graduated theology and was ordained a priest when he took the name of Ignatius. The Program Iñigo also consists mainly of lay people. The Program Iñigo's charisma is to help others to come to the life of grace and discern their personal vocation in God in the prayerful environment of Spiritual Exercises. Once we have discerned our own personal vocation, we may help others on their inner journey to their personal vocation. Thus our prayer and our life become one through a deeper knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and our personal vocation in Him.

Iñigo in contemplation

Iñigo stayed in the cave in Manresa about one year. He was sorry for all his sins, and he prayed over the mysteries of Jesus' life. Thus he was the first to go through spiritual exercises under the direction of our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. He recorded the instructions and insights and later wrote a book Spiritual Exercises. This book has been used for centuries by many who wanted to know and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Today the cave is nicely maintained and is part of the Jesuit church. At the entrance to the cave angels hold the inscriptions with sentences taken from the book Spiritual Exercises written by St. Ignatius in Spanish.

The left angel carries the inscription:

I seek the inner knowledge of the Lord who for my sake became a man so that I may love him and revere Him ever more.

The right angel carries the inscription:

Christ calls everyone under His standard, and on the other side Lucifer under his.