Ignatius Publishes the Spiritual Exercises

1548

Ignatius of Loyola's short handbook of meditations on the life of Christ appeared in print after years of manuscript circulation. The Exercises drilled Jesuit novices through weeks of guided prayer and self-examination. They would shape the interior lives of Catholic reformers for the next four hundred years. The Exercises' systematic progression became the model for Catholic spiritual formation, influencing meditation practices that persist in secular contexts today.