ABSTRACT
How can such a little book have such an impact? Perhaps it is because the aim of the book is to point beyond itself. It puts the individual directly in touch with God; indeed, the heart of the retreat dynamic is the exchange between the director and the retreatant around the retreatant’s personal experience of God. As Ignatius says, “For, what fills and satisfies the soul consists, not in knowing much, but in our understanding the realities profoundly, and in savoring them interiorly” (2). The Spiritual Exercises also takes adaptation seriously, making flexibility the heart of the principles guiding the
director. Its spirituality addresses whole persons in their various contexts and encourages personal responsibility for their own spiritual growth. “Making the Exercises” is costly, not only in time but, more importantly, in commitment. Prayer is to spill over into daily life and daily life is to feed prayer, with contemplation and action as two faces of the same reality.
