Jump to Any Step (10 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 10 · Week 2, Day 1 (Second Contemplation & Senses)
St. Ignatius of Loyola · Exx. 110–126, 264–265

The Second Contemplation: The Nativity & Application of the Five Senses

Walking the ninety-mile road from Nazareth to Bethlehem, making yourself a poor little unworthy servant in the cave to tend to Joseph, Mary, and the Infant Jesus, and praying with the Five Senses.

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1–20 · 2 Corinthians 8:9

Luke 2:1–20 (NIV)
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to their own town to register. 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Read Luke 2:1–20 slowly. Stand a step or two from your place of prayer for the space of an Our Father, considering how God our Lord looks upon you (Exx. 75). Reverence Him, kneel or sit, and pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

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

The Preludes

First Prelude · The Narrative (Exx. 111)

Call to mind how from Nazareth Our Lady went out, about nine months with child, seated on an ass, and St. Joseph and a servant girl, leading an ox, to go to Bethlehem to pay the tribute which Caesar imposed on all those lands.

Second Prelude · Composition of Place (Exx. 112)

See with the imagination the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem—considering its length and width, and whether this road is level or through valleys and over hills; and likewise looking at the place or cave of the Nativity, how large or small, how low or high, and how it is arranged.

Third Prelude · Asking for What I Desire (Exx. 113)

Ask for an interior knowledge of our Lord, Who for me has become man, that I may more love Him and follow Him.

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

How to Pray the Nativity & The Evening Application of the Five Senses

Pray the first three rounds (See · Hear · Watch, Exx. 114–116) during your main prayer period, and use the fourth round (The Five Senses, Exx. 121–125) as your quiet evening contemplation:

Round 1 · SEE the Persons & Become a Poor Little Servant (Exx. 114)

Look at Our Lady, St. Joseph, the servant girl, and the Infant Jesus after His birth.

Here Ignatius gives one of his most beloved instructions in the entire Exercises: “making myself a poor little and unworthy servant, looking at them, contemplating them, and serving them in their needs, as if I found myself present there, with all possible homage and reverence.”

Step right into the cave. Fetch clean straw or water for Joseph; hold a lantern for Mary; kneel beside the manger. Then reflect on yourself to draw some profit.

Round 2 · HEAR What They Are Saying (Exx. 115)

Observe and listen to what they are saying: Joseph knocking on doors in Bethlehem and being turned away; his quiet words of comfort to Mary as they find shelter in the rock-cave; Mary whispering to her newborn Child; the shepherds arriving out of breath to tell what the angels sang in the fields. Reflect on yourself to draw some profit.

Round 3 · WATCH What They Are Doing — And Why (Exx. 116)

Watch their actions: traveling in the cold, laboring, looking for shelter and finding none—“that our Lord may be born in extreme poverty, and that after so many labors; after hunger, after thirst, after heat and after cold, after injuries and affronts, He may die on the Cross; and all this for me.”

Let those last four words sink into your chest: and all this for me. Reflect to draw some spiritual profit.

Evening Prayer · Application of the Five Senses (Exx. 121–125)

After praying Repetitions during the day (Exx. 118–120), Ignatius teaches a contemplative evening prayer that requires almost no thinking—simply resting your Five Senses on the Nativity scene:

  • 1. Sight (Exx. 122): Gaze slowly on the faces in the cave, serving them in their needs.
  • 2. Hearing (Exx. 123): Listen to the breathing of the Infant, the rustle of straw, the quiet words of Mary and Joseph.
  • 3. Smell & Taste (Exx. 124): Smell and taste in spirit “the infinite fragrance and sweetness of the Divinity, and of the soul, and of its virtues” radiating from that poor stable.
  • 4. Touch (Exx. 125): With the touch of the imagination, embrace and kiss the rough stone floor and manger where the Infant Jesus lies, and where Mary and Joseph walk and sit.
Step 4 · Friend to Friend & Looking Back (15–20 Minutes)

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Kneeling beside the manger, speak to the newly incarnate Lord, or to Mary and Joseph, as a friend and servant. Thank Him for choosing extreme poverty from His very first hour on earth for your sake. Close with 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

If you are praying the Exercises in daily life (19th Annotation), spend a second full day on the Incarnation and Nativity—doing your Repetition (Exx. 118) by going straight back to the cave as a poor servant, and praying the Application of the Five Senses (Exx. 121–125) on the second day.

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 110–126, 264–265)
[114] First Point. The first Point is to see the persons; that is, to see Our Lady and St. Joseph and the maid, and the Infant Jesus after His birth, making myself a poor little and unworthy servant, looking at them, contemplating them, and serving them in their needs, as if I found myself present there, with all possible homage and reverence; and after that to reflect on myself in order to get some profit. [116] Third Point. The third, to look at and consider what they are doing, as journeying and laboring, that our Lord may be born in extreme poverty, and that after so many labors; after hunger, after thirst, after heat and after cold, after injuries and affronts, He may die on the Cross; and all this for me: then reflecting to draw some spiritual profit. [121] The Fifth Exercise will be to bring the five senses to bear on the first and second Contemplations.
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