What are The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius?

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius is a book, actually a manual, written by him for a person who will direct another in doing spiritual exercises. In the very first paragraph of his book, he writes: "…by this name of [s]piritual [e]xercises is meant every way of examining one’s conscience, of meditating, of contemplating, of praying vocally and mentally, and of performing other spiritual actions... For as strolling, walking, and running are bodily exercises, so every way of preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all the disordered tendencies, and, after it is rid, to seek and find the Divine Will as to the management of one’s life for the salvation of the soul, is called a spiritual exercise."

In the 21st paragraph, Ignatius states their purpose: “Spiritual exercises to conquer oneself and regulate one’s life without determining oneself through any tendency that is disordered.”

The particular exercises that he has proposed in his manual have become known as The Spiritual Exercises. And ordinarily a person who says he or she is going to “make the Exercises” means he or she is going to use those particular exercises found in the manual. However, Ignatius explains in his 18th paragraph that whatever exercises are used, they must be adapted or applied to the particular needs and circumstances of the retreatant. In doing so, he indicates that not all of the exercises he has put into his manual are for everyone. “…that should be given to each one by which, according to his wish to dispose himself, he may be better able to help himself and to profit.” Fr. David Fleming, S.J., observes: “Because the Exercises are a limited instrument through which God can work, we should be aware that this retreat method does not seem to suit everyone—sometimes because of a lack of appropriate talents, perhaps because of a certain personality makeup, or because God does not draw a person to respond through the structured method of these Exercises.”