Jump to Any Step (8 of 36 · Click to Expand All 36 Days & Exercises)
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
Movement II · The Second Week (Illuminative Way) · Step 8 · Week 2, Prelude
St. Ignatius of Loyola · Exx. 91–100

The Call of the Temporal King & The Oblation to the Eternal King

The gateway into the Second Week: hearing Christ’s personal call—‘Whoever would come after Me, let him labor with Me’—and offering the Eternal King the desire to imitate Him even in poverty of spirit and bearing insults.

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:23–25 · John 12:26 · Revelation 3:20–21 · 2 Timothy 2:11–12

Luke 9:23–25 (NIV)
23Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
John 12:26 (NIV)
26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Revelation 3:20–21 (NIV)
20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.
2 Timothy 2:11–12 (NIV)
11Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Read Luke 9:23–25 and John 12:26. Stand a step or two from your place of prayer for an Our Father, considering how Christ the Eternal King looks upon you personally and invites you into His company. Pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

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

The Preludes

First Prelude · Composition of Place (Exx. 91)

See with the sight of the imagination the synagogues, villages, and towns through which Christ our Lord preached—dusty Galilean roads, fishing boats by the lake, simple stone houses.

Second Prelude · Asking for What I Desire (Exx. 91)

Here it is to ask grace of our Lord that I may not be deaf to His call, but prompt and diligent to accomplish His most holy Will.

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

How to Pray the Call of the King (Two Parts & The Oblation)

Ignatius asks us to pray this exercise twice on the opening day of the Second Week (in the morning and again in the evening) because it sets the key for every Gospel contemplation that follows:

Part 1 · The Parable of the Noble Human King (Exx. 92–94)

Place before your mind a human leader, chosen by God our Lord himself, so just, generous, and noble that all Christian princes and people reverence him. Hear this king speak to all his people, saying:

“It is my will to conquer all the lands of the infidel. Therefore, whoever would like to come with me is to be content to eat as I, and also to drink and dress, etc., as I; likewise he is to labor like me in the day, and watch in the night, etc., that so afterwards he may have part with me in the victory, as he has had it in the labors.”

Notice: this leader does not sit in a distant palace sending others to the front. He eats the same bread, wears the same cloak, works the same day-shift, and keeps the same night-watch. How would any generous heart respond to such a friend and leader?

Part 2 · Applying the Parable to Christ Our Eternal Lord (Exx. 95–96)

Now turn your gaze from the parable to Christ our Lord, the Eternal King, standing before the whole world and calling to each one in particular—calling to you by name—and saying:

“It is My Will to conquer all the world and all My enemies, and thus to enter into the glory of My Father. Therefore, whoever would like to come with Me is to labor with Me, that following Me in the pain, he may also follow Me in the glory.”

Notice what Christ’s ‘conquest’ is: He conquers sin, death, hatred, and alienation not by the sword, but by self-emptying love (kenosis), mercy, healing, and the Cross. Sit with His words addressed directly to you: “Come with Me... labor with Me.”

Part 3 · The Two Levels of Response — Duty vs. Love (Exx. 96–98)

Ignatius notes two ways of answering Christ’s call:

  • The First Level (Exx. 96): Every person of judgment and reason offers their whole person for the labor.
  • The Second Level — Persons of Greater Affection (Exx. 97–98): Those who want to show deeper love and distinguish themselves in all service of their Eternal King not only offer their labor, but go against their own sensuality and carnal and worldly love, praying the famous Oblation of the Eternal King (Exx. 98):
“Eternal Lord of all things, I make my oblation with Thy favor and help, before Thy infinite Goodness, and before Thy glorious Mother and all the Saints of the heavenly Court; that I want and desire, and it is my deliberate determination, provided only It be for Thy greater service and praise, to imitate Thee in bearing all injuries and all abuse and all poverty of spirit, and actual poverty, too, if Thy most Sanctissima Majesty wants to choose and receive me to such life and state.”

Read this prayer slowly. Notice the careful honesty Ignatius builds into it: everyone offers poverty of spirit and willingness to bear misunderstandings with Christ; and as to actual poverty, we say: “if Thy Majesty wants to choose and receive me to such life and state.” You do not leave your family or station on your own impulse; you place your desire in the King’s hands.

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

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Speak to Christ the King face to face. Tell Him where His call makes your heart leap with recognition (like Luke 9:23 echoing in you), and where your flesh or worldly attachments still hesitate. Repeat the Oblation (“Eternal Lord of all things...”) slowly as your closing prayer, followed by an Our Father.

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

Pray this exercise a second time before sleep tonight, letting the words “that I may not be deaf to His call, but prompt and diligent” sink quietly into your heart.

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 91–100)
[95] The first Point is that, if we consider such a call of the temporal king to his subjects, how much more worthy of consideration is it to see Christ our Lord, the Eternal King, and before Him the whole world, to which and to each one in particular He calls, and says: "It is My Will to conquer all the world and all My enemies, and thus to enter into the glory of My Father; therefore, whoever would like to come with Me is to labor with Me, that following Me in the pain, he may also follow Me in the glory." [98] Those who will want to be more affected and signalize themselves in all service of their Eternal King and Universal Lord, will not only offer their persons for the labor, but even going against their own sensuality and against their carnal and worldly love, will make offerings of greater value and of greater moment, saying: "Eternal Lord of all things, I make my oblation with Thy favor and help, before Thy infinite Goodness, and before Thy glorious Mother and all the Saints of the heavenly Court; that I want and desire, and it is my deliberate determination, provided only It be for Thy greater service and praise, to imitate Thee in bearing all injuries and all abuse and all poverty of spirit, and actual poverty, too, if Thy most Sanctissima Majesty wants to choose and receive me to such life and state."
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