Ignatian Examen: Not a test!

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I've written in the past about the importance of being aware of your soul and the state of it. One practice that can help you get a "soul checkup" is a form of prayer known as Ignatian examen. I love this kind of prayer because it can be lifelong and easily modified as you need. It can be done alone or in small groups; silently or out loud; written, spoken, unspoken. This is a great type of prayer to wrap up your day.

There are a multitude of variations, all based on St. Ignatius of Loyola, described in his book Spiritual Exercises.

My favorite variation is one we do with our confirmation students in small groups that we call "Highs and Lows."

1) Be aware of God's presence. We light a candle, we close our eyes, and breathe deeply before we go into the next steps.

2) Reflect on your high of the day, or the moment when you felt closest to God.

3) Reflect on the low of the day, or when you felt farthest from God.

4) Offer all of these to God.

5) Listen to God.

These questions can be varied, depending on what seems best to you and God at any given time. This is also a great lifelong prayer practice that can be done with children and adults. My favorite book describing this practice is Sleeping with Bread: Holding what Gives you Life.

As always, my prayer is that your prayer life continues to grow, deepen, and that you sense God more and more each day.

~Rachel