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01. The Presupposition & How to Enter the Exercises02. Principle and Foundation03. The Daily & Particular Examen04. Meditation with the Three Powers on the First, Second & Third Sin05. Meditation on Personal Sins & The Exclamation of Wonder at God’s Mercy06. Repetitions of the First & Second Exercises with the Triple Colloquy07. Meditation with the Five Senses on Ultimate Separation08. The Call of the Temporal King & The Oblation to the Eternal King09. The First Contemplation: The Incarnation10. The Second Contemplation: The Nativity & Application of the Five Senses11. The Presentation in the Temple & The Flight into Egypt12. The Hidden Life at Nazareth & Finding the Boy Jesus in the Temple13. Meditation on the Two Standards & Second Week Rules for Discernment14. Meditation on the Three Pairs of Men15. Departure from Nazareth & Baptism in the River Jordan16. Christ Fasting & Tempted in the Desert17. The Call of the Apostles & The Wedding at Cana18. The Sermon on the Mount19. Calming the Storm & Walking on the Waters20. Sending the Apostles, The Sinful Woman Forgiven, Feeding the 5,000, The Transfiguration & Preaching in the Temple21. The Raising of Lazarus & The Supper at Bethany22. Palm Sunday: The Humble Entry into Jerusalem23. The Three Manners of Humility24. Making an Election25. The Last Supper, Washing the Feet & The Agony in Gethsemane26. Betrayal, Arrest & The Night at the Houses of Annas and Caiaphas27. Christ Before Pilate & Before Herod28. The Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with Thorns & ‘Ecce Homo’29. Carrying the Cross & The Crucifixion30. The Descent from the Cross, The Burial & The Silence of Holy Saturday31. The Resurrection: Christ Appears to His Mother & to Mary Magdalene32. The Road to Emmaus, The Appearance to St. Peter & The Upper Room33. St. Thomas’s Confession & Breakfast by the Sea of Galilee34. The Great Commission & The Ascension of Christ Our Lord35. Contemplation to Gain Love36. The Three Methods of Prayer
Threshold · Preparation & Dispositions · Step 3 · The Daily & Particular Examen
St. Ignatius of Loyola · Exx. 24–44

The Daily & Particular Examen

The heartbeat of Ignatian spirituality: the five-step General Examen of Consciousness to notice how God has been present through your day, and the Particular Examen to uproot one specific disordered habit.

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: Psalm 139:1–6, 23–24 · Lamentations 3:40 · 1 Corinthians 11:28

Psalm 139:1–6, 23–24 (NIV)
1You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 23Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Lamentations 3:40 (NIV)
40Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:28 (NIV)
28Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Stand for the space of an Our Father to remember that God is looking upon you not as a harsh prosecutor, but as a loving Physician and Father. Make a gesture of reverence, sit quietly, and pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

Step 2 · Orienting the Heart & Imagination (5 Minutes)

The Preludes

First Prelude · Why We Examine the Day

Remember that for Ignatius, the Examen is so central that even if a person is too busy or exhausted to pray their full hour of meditation, they must never skip the fifteen-minute Daily Examen.

Second Prelude · Composition of Place

See yourself sitting at the end of the day beside Christ, reviewing the hours of your day together like two friends looking back over a journey they just walked side by side.

Third Prelude · Grace to Ask For

Ask for the grace to see your day through God’s eyes—recognizing His gifts with gratitude and your own blind spots or resistances without shame.

Step 3 · The Body of the Exercise (30–40 Minutes)

How to Pray the Five-Step Daily Examen (15–20 Minutes)

Walk through Ignatius’s five points from Exx. 43 slowly, using today (or yesterday, if praying at dawn) as your living text:

Point 1 · Give Thanks to God Our Lord for the Benefits Received

Never begin with your faults; always begin with gratitude. Let your mind rest on the concrete gifts of the last twenty-four hours: the breath in your lungs, a meal shared, a moment of quiet at 4:00am, a kind word from your spouse or a friend, strength for your work. Thank God specifically for three or four real moments.

Point 2 · Ask Grace to Know Your Sins and Cast Them Out

Ask the Holy Spirit for light so that this review is not mere self-analysis or neurotic scorekeeping, but a spirit-led noticing of where love flowed and where love was blocked.

Point 3 · Demand an Account of the Soul from the Hour of Rising to the Present Instant

Walk through the day hour by hour, or period by period, noticing three levels: first, as to thoughts (what imaginations, anxieties, or impulses arose, and did I consent to them or dismiss them?); second, as to words (how did I speak at home, at work, or in secret?); third, as to deeds (what did I actually do or leave undone?). Also notice: When today did my heart feel most expanded, peaceful, and connected to God (consolation)? When did I feel most drained, defensive, or closed in on myself (desolation)?

Point 4 · Ask Pardon of God Our Lord for the Faults

Where you see that you turned away from love, bargained with God, spoke sharply, or clung to self-reliance, bring that exact moment into the light of Christ’s mercy. Express honest sorrow without wallowing in self-reproach.

Point 5 · Purpose Amendment with His Grace (and Set Your Particular Examen)

Look ahead to the next twenty-four hours. Where will you most need God’s help tomorrow? If a recurring pattern stood out (for example, impatience, vanity, or negotiating with God over a personal attachment), choose that one thing as your Particular Examen (Exx. 24–31) to watch with the Lord tomorrow.

Step 4 · Friend to Friend & Looking Back (15–20 Minutes)

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Close by speaking directly to the Father or to Christ our Lord about what you just saw in your day, entrusting both your gratitude and your weakness into His hands. Pray the Our Father slowly.

2. The Post-Prayer Examen of Prayer (15 Minutes · Exx. 77)

After finishing the Our Father, remain quiet for ten to fifteen minutes (sitting or walking slowly) to examine how your prayer went. Ask: Where did my heart feel warmed, expanded, drawn to trust, or moved to tears (consolation)? Where did I feel dry, distracted, defensive, or negotiating with God (desolation or resistance)? Write down two or three honest sentences in your notebook.

3. Repetitions & Carrying the Mystery Through the Day

From this day forward through all four Weeks of the Exercises, keep this 15-minute Examen once or twice daily (around midday and before bed) as your anchor.

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 24–44)
[32] I presuppose that there are three kinds of thoughts in me: that is, one my own, which springs from my mere liberty and will; and two others, which come from without, one from the good spirit, and the other from the bad. [43] METHOD OF MAKING THE GENERAL EXAMEN OF CONSCIENCE It contains in it five Points. First Point. The first Point is to give thanks to God our Lord for the benefits received. Second Point. The second, to ask grace to know our sins and cast them out. Third Point. The third, to ask account of our soul from the hour that we rose up to the present Examen, hour by hour, or period by period: and first as to thoughts, and then as to words, and then as to deeds, in the same order as was told in the Particular Examen. Fourth Point. The fourth, to ask pardon of God our Lord for the faults. Fifth Point. The fifth, to purpose amendment with His grace. OUR FATHER.
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