Immersion Course to Explore Ignatian Spirituality

The Center of Spirituality at the Cave of St. Ignatius, located in Manresa, Spain, is offering a unique opportunity for individuals to connect with the legacy of St. Ignatius of Loyola through a six-week course and retreat. From April 21 until June 2, 2013, participants in the “Ignatian Immersion Course” will engage in a comprehensive spiritual experience following the life and teachings of the founder of the Society of Jesus, at the site where Ignatius began forming the Spiritual Exercises.

The course, which has been offered twice previously, is organized by Jesuit Father Josep Sugranyes of Spain and Jesuit Father Joaqui Salord of Cambodia, who hope it will explore what role the original Manresa site plays for the international Ignatian family today.

Over the span of six weeks, participants will immerse themselves in the life of St. Ignatius through lectures, visits to other Ignatian sites — including Barcelona, Montserrat, Loyola and Javier — and group prayer. Personal study and self-reflection will play an integral role in the course’s method, along with ongoing dialogue directed at the integration of the program elements with each individual’s experience.

The Ignatian Immersion Course begins with an examination of St. Ignatius’s “Autobiography and Spiritual Journal,” followed by an 8-day individually guided Ignatian retreat. Other scheduled lectures include “A Mystagogical Approach to the Spiritual Exercises,” “In Touch with the Sources of the Ignatian Charism,” “The Society of Jesus as a Different Form of Religious Life and Pattern of a New Apostolic Enterprise,” and “Ignatian Theology and Spirituality for Today.” Featured lecturers hail from universities around the world, including Spain, Rome and India.

The course is open to the broader Ignatian family, including Jesuits, members of other religious institutions and laypeople and aims to provide inspiration for Christian living in the Church and contemporary society.

Email ignatiancourse@covamanresa.cat to request an application. Applications will be accepted until Dec. 15, 2012.