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Spiritual Exercises — Ignatius of Loyola

Written work · Essential works

Spiritual Exercises

Ejercicios espirituales

Retrato de Ignacio de Loyola
byIgnatius of Loyola

It is not a book to be read but a manual for the person who gives the exercises to another. It is organised in four 'weeks' of flexible length: sin and mercy; the life of Christ and the choice of a state of life; the passion; the resurrection and the 'contemplation to attain love', which culminates in the prayer 'Take, Lord, and receive'. It is framed by the Principle and Foundation, the annotations, methods of examination and prayer, the rules for the discernment of spirits, for distributing alms, on scruples and 'for thinking with the Church'. Its novelty lies in a pedagogy of inner freedom: learning to recognise consolation and desolation in order to choose without disordered attachments.

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Editions and translations · 12

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Authorship note

Authentic work. It grew out of notes taken at Loyola and Manresa (1521–1523) and was reworked during his studies and first Roman years. The so-called Spanish Autograph survives, a copy corrected in his own hand; in 1548 Paul III approved two Latin versions (André des Freux's 'Vulgate' and the 'Versio prima'), and the Vulgate was printed in Rome that same year.

Editions and translations

Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.

English

  • The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius

    Loyola University Press / Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992

    Translation: George E. Ganss

    ISBN 9780829407280

    View in store · Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, Boston College (Jesuit Sources)

  • The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius: A Literal Translation and a Contemporary Reading

    Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1978

    Translation: David L. Fleming

    ISBN 9780912422312

    Texto bilingüe literal y paráfrasis contemporánea.

    View in store · Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, Boston College (Jesuit Sources)
  • The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius — Ignatius of Loyola

    The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

    Loyola Press, 1968

    Translation: Louis J. Puhl

    ISBN 9780829400656

    Traducción basada en el estudio del Autógrafo (1951).

    Buy the book · Amazon (amazon.com)View in store · Loyola Press (editorial)
  • The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius — Ignatius of Loyola

    The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

    Image Books (Doubleday), 1964

    Translation: Anthony Mottola

    ISBN 9780385024365

  • The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola

    P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1914

    Translation: Elder Mullan

    Traducción del Autógrafo; dominio público, en CCEL.

Latín

  • Exercitia spiritualia

    Antonio Blado (Roma), 1548

    Translation: André des Freux (versión Vulgata)

    Editio princeps, aprobada por el breve Pastoralis officii.

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Français

Deutsch

Other works by Ignatius of Loyola

Sources

  • Ignacio de Loyola. Obras. Transcripción, introducciones y notas de Ignacio Iparraguirre, Cándido de Dalmases y Manuel Ruiz Jurado. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1991 (5.ª ed.). ISBN 9788479140342.

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