Jump to Any Step (15 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 15 · Week 2, Day 5
St. Ignatius of Loyola · Exx. 158–160, 273

Departure from Nazareth & Baptism in the River Jordan

Christ taking leave of His Mother at age thirty, stepping down into the muddy waters of the Jordan among sinners, and hearing the Father’s voice from heaven: ‘This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.’

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:13–17 · Luke 3:21–22 · Mark 1:9–11

Matthew 3:13–17 (NIV)
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21–22 (NIV)
21When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:9–11 (NIV)
9At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Read Matthew 3:13–17. Stand a step or two from your place of prayer for an Our Father (Exx. 75), reverence the Lord, and pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

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

The Preludes

First Prelude · The Narrative (Exx. 158, 273)

Call to mind how Christ our Lord, having completed thirty hidden years in Nazareth, takes leave of His Blessed Mother and walks south to the River Jordan to be baptized by John among the crowd of repentant sinners.

Second Prelude · Composition of Place

See first the threshold of the house in Nazareth as Jesus says farewell to Mary; then see the hot, dusty banks of the lower Jordan River, crowded with tax collectors, soldiers, and ordinary people wading into the water.

Third Prelude · Asking for What I Desire (Exx. 104)

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 Baptism in the Jordan (See · Hear · Watch)

After the intense self-examination of Day 4 (Two Standards and Three Pairs), Ignatius returns us to contemplating the person of Jesus across the days of His public ministry (Exx. 158–161):

Round 1 · SEE the Persons (Exx. 106, 273)

  • See Jesus at the door of the Nazareth house embracing His Mother after thirty years under her roof, setting out alone with only a staff and cloak.
  • See the long line of sinners waiting on the banks of the Jordan—weary, ashamed, hungry for a fresh start—and see Jesus standing right in line with them, refusing to stand apart on a pedestal.
  • See John the Baptist, clothed in camel’s hair, looking up in shock as the sinless Lamb of God steps into the water before him.
  • Reflect on yourself: What does it mean to you that Jesus begins His public work not by condemning sinners from above, but by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the muddy water?

Round 2 · HEAR What They Are Saying (Exx. 107, 273)

  • Hear John’s protest of humility: “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”
  • Hear Jesus’ quiet answer: “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”
  • Then, as Jesus rises praying from the water (Luke 3:21), hear the heavens tear open and hear the voice of the Eternal Father speaking over Him—and in Him, over every son and daughter adopted in Christ: “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”
  • Reflect on yourself: Notice that Jesus has not yet preached a single sermon, healed a single leper, or cast out a single demon—and already the Father is completely pleased with Him. Can you sit in that same love today before you accomplish a single task?

Round 3 · WATCH What They Are Doing (Exx. 108, 273)

  • Watch Jesus sink beneath the waters of the Jordan—prefiguring His burial—and rise with the Holy Spirit resting upon Him like a dove.
  • Watch how all Three Persons of the Trinity (the Father’s voice, the Son in the water, the Spirit descending) are present here, just as They were at the Incarnation.
  • Reflect on yourself: Everything Jesus does for the rest of the Gospels flows from this rooted identity as the Beloved Son. When you try to serve others out of striving or proving yourself, you burn out; when you sit in the Father’s love first, receive it, and distribute it, you become a rooted tree by living water.
Step 4 · Friend to Friend & Looking Back (15–20 Minutes)

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Speak to Christ rising from the Jordan, or to the Father whose voice still speaks over you. Ask for the grace to live today not for the Father’s love, but from it. Close with an Our Father (and if helpful, the Triple Colloquy of the Two Standards/Three Pairs, Exx. 159).

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

In your Repetition or evening Application of the Five Senses, feel the cool water of the Jordan around your ankles, see the light on the water as Jesus comes up praying, and rest for ten minutes simply hearing the Father’s voice: “Thou art My beloved son; in thee I am well pleased.”

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 158–160, 273)
[158] First Contemplation. For the Fifth Day, the First Contemplation will be on the Departure of Christ our Lord from Nazareth to the River Jordan, and How He was Baptized (Mat. iii). [159] Note. This First Contemplation will be made once at midnight, and survival again in the morning, and two repetitions on it at the mass and vespers hours, and before supper bringing the five senses to bear on it; Prefixing to each of these five exercises the Preparatory Prayer and the Three Preludes, according as all has been explained in the Contemplations on the Incarnation and on the Nativity, and finishing with the three Colloquies of the Three Pairs, or according to the Note which follows the Three Pairs. [273] OF HOW CHRIST WAS BAPTIZED (Matthew iii, 13-17.) First Point. First: Christ our Lord, after having taken leave of His Blessed Mother, came from Nazareth to the River Jordan, where St. John the Baptist was. Second Point. Second: St. John baptized Christ our Lord, and wanting to excuse himself, deeming himself unworthy to baptize Him, Christ says to him: "Do this for the present, for so it is necessary that we fulfill all justice." Third Point. Third: The Holy Spirit came upon Him and the voice of the Father from heaven affirming: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."
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