Many books written about the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola are about doing, and, as a result, they can easily be perceived as checklists of things to accomplish in order to get the greatest benefit from the Exercises. By contrast, An Ignatian Pathway was written specifically to help readers enter into an experience with the Divine, an approach that amplifies the easily overlooked mystical dimension of Ignatian spirituality. In An Ignatian Pathway, Paul Coutinho, SJ, has collected more than 100 excerpts culled from all four weeks of the Spiritual Exercises, the Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, and especially his Spiritual Journal. Each entry is followed by a short meditation written by Fr. Coutinho. As a companion to the Spiritual Exercises, An Ignatian Pathway is an ideal resource for anyone who wants to experience and deepen the mystical and transforming graces in the Exercises, as well as for any “student” of Ignatian spirituality who desires a fuller and richer experience with God.

The General Introduction is an intellectual and spiritual biography that sketches the fascinating steps by which, largely through mystical favors from God, Ignatius reached his inspiring worldview, with everything in it ordered to the greater glory of God.

One of the key figures in Christian history, St. Ignatius of Loyola (c. 1491-1556) was a passionate and unique spiritual thinker and visionary. The works gathered here provide a first-hand, personal introduction to this remarkable character: a man who turned away from the Spanish nobility to create the revolutionary Jesuit Order, inspired by the desire to help people follow Christ. His Reminiscences describe his early life, his religious conversion following near-paralysis in battle, and his spiritual and physical ordeals as he struggled to assist those in need, including plague, persecution and imprisonment. The Spiritual Exercises offer guidelines to those seeking the will of God, and the Spiritual Diary shows Ignatius in daily mystical contact with God during a personal strugg;e. The Letters collected here provide an insight into Ignatius' ceaseless campaign to assist those seeking enlightenment and to direct the young Society of Jesus.

Ignatius of Loyola--knight and saint, mystic and ascetic, founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)--was one of the greatest figures in Western Christianity. This book, written by a psychiatrist-psychoanalyst who is also a Jesuit, is the first work to look behind the events, accounts, and documents of Ignatius' life and religious experience in order to enter and understand his inner world. W. W. Meissner writes compassionately about Ignatius' origins, early development, conversion, years of prayer and penance, mystical teaching and career, and finally his efforts to found and direct the Society of Jesus. Dr. Meissner not only places Ignatius' life against the background of the radical religious, social, and political upheaval of the sixteenth century but goes beyond this to explore the psychic and psychodynamic inner processes that transformed the man into the saint. Dr. Meissner discusses, for example, Ignatius' ordeals of body and spirit during his career as a soldier, his conversion experience, the evolution of his personality after conversion, his relationships with women, his lifelong struggles to overcome his aggressive, narcissistic, and libidinal impulses, and the psychology and pathology of his mysticism. The complex personality of this great saint and the profundity of his personal and spiritual struggles bring into focus significant questions about the complex interplay between human motivations and needs on the one hand and religious experience and spiritual motivation on the other. The book is not only a biography of a much-revered figure of the Roman Catholic Church but a unique contribution to both psychoanalysis and religious history.

"Ignatian Humanism puts into perspective our contemporary search for a spirituality that responds both to our search for meaning and desire for God." -John W. Padberg, S.J., director, Institute of Jesuit Sources "Modras integrates fascinating history, contemporary theology, and inspiring spirituality with consistent focus on central issues for our day." -Joann Wolski Conn, associate professor of religious studies, Neumann College "A stunning book! Modras has profiled a number of Jesuit thinkers and activists as role models for our time-revitalizing humanism as a model for moderns." -Leonard Swidler, professor of Catholic thought and inter-religious dialogue, Temple University Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, is one of a mere handful of individuals who has permanently changed the way we understand God. In this vividly written and meticulously researched book, Ronald Modras shows how Ignatian spirituality retains extraordinary vigor and relevance nearly five centuries after Loyola's death. At its heart, Ignatian spirituality is a humanism that defends human rights, prizes learning from other cultures, seeks common ground between science and religion, struggles for justice, and honors a God who is actively at work in creation. The towering achievements of the Jesuits are made tangible by Modras's vivid portraits of Ignatius and five of his successors: Matteo Ricci, the first Westerner at the court of the Chinese emperor; Friederich Spee, who defended women accused of witchcraft; Karl Rahner, the greatest Catholic theologian of the twentieth century; Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the scientist-mystic; and Pedro Arrupe, the charismatic leader of the Jesuits in the years following Vatican II.

In A Companion to Jesuit Mysticism, Robert A. Maryks provides thirteen unique essays discussing the Jesuit mystical tradition, a somewhat neglected aspect of Jesuit historiography that stretches as far back as the order’s co-founder, Ignatius of Loyola, his spiritual visions at Manresa, and ultimately the mystical perspective contained in his Spiritual Exercises. The volume’s contributions on the most significant representatives of the Jesuit mystical tradition—from Baltasar Álvarez to Louis Lallemant to Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle—aim to fill this lacuna in Jesuit historiography. Although intended primarily as a handbook for scholars seeking to further their own research in this area, the volume will undoubtedly be of interest to scholars and students of Jesuit studies more broadly.

Forgiveness is hard. But Jesus knows how much we need it. True forgiveness can be complicated because the pain of betrayal, loss, deception, and personal attack clings tightly to our emotions, memories, even our bodies. We may intend to forgive yet become stuck in our own mixed motives, others’ silence or anger, and the skewed stories we believe and tell about our lives. In The Ignatian Guide to Forgiveness, Marina McCoy delves into the principles of Ignatian spirituality and uses gentle honesty to lay out 10 steps toward forgiveness, including: • Sort out true desires • Honor anger while deepening compassion • Make friends with time • Create a new story • . . . and more. Each chapter offers stories, real-life steps to take, and a powerful prayer for healing Forgiveness is hard, but it’s also possible—with our “habits of mercy” and God’s abundant grace.