Jump to Any Step (36 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
Appendix · Contemplative Methods for Everyday Life · Step 36 · Carrying the Exercises into Daily Life
St. Ignatius of Loyola · Exx. 238–260

The Three Methods of Prayer (Including Slow Word-by-Word & Breath Prayer)

Three simple, portable ways St. Ignatius teaches us to pray for the rest of our lives—especially the Second Method (lingering over a single word of the Our Father as long as you find meaning) and the Third Method (praying one word per breath).

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:9–13 · Luke 11:1–4 · Psalm 119:103

Matthew 6:9–13 (NIV)
9“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Luke 11:1–4 (NIV)
1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
Psalm 119:103 (NIV)
103How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Read Matthew 6:9–13. Stand a step or two from your place of prayer for the space of an Our Father (Exx. 75), raising your mind on high to consider how God our Lord is looking upon you. Make a gesture of reverence, sit or kneel, and pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

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

The Preludes

First Prelude · Why Ignatius Gives These Three Methods

At the end of the four Weeks, Ignatius provides three simple, deeply contemplative ways to pray on any day of the year—especially when you want a quieter, less complex form of prayer than a full multi-scene Gospel contemplation.

Second Prelude · Composition of Place

See yourself sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus as the disciples did in Luke 11:1, saying: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Third Prelude · Asking for What I Desire

Ask for the grace that your vocal and silent prayers may never be mechanical, hurried words, but a living, relished communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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

How to Practice Ignatius’s Three Methods of Prayer Today

Try each of the Three Methods for 10–15 minutes today, paying special attention to the Second and Third Methods (which connect Ignatian spirituality directly to Lectio Divina and the monastic Jesus Prayer / breath prayer):

The First Method of Prayer · Ordering the Faculties & Senses (Exx. 238–248)

Rest quietly for the space of an Our Father before beginning. Then gently bring before God:

  • Your Three Powers of the Soul (Exx. 246): How am I using my Memory, my Understanding, and my Will in daily life?
  • Your Five Bodily Senses (Exx. 247): How am I guarding and using my eyes, ears, speech, taste, and touch—asking to imitate Christ our Lord in the use of all my senses?

Whenever you see a place where you fall short, pause for an Our Father and ask for grace.

The Second Method of Prayer · Tasting One Word at a Time (Exx. 249–257)

This is one of the greatest treasures of the Spiritual Exercises:

  • Kneel or sit in the posture where you find yourself most disposed. Keep your eyes closed, or fixed on one spot without letting them wander (Exx. 252).
  • Say the first word of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father.”
  • Stay on that single word for as long as you find meanings, comparisons, taste, and consolation in considerations pertinent to that word (Exx. 252). Do not move on to “Who art in heaven” until the word “Father” has yielded all its sweetness.
  • Rule 1 (Exx. 254): If you spend the entire hour on just one or two words of the Our Father, do not try to rush to finish the rest! At the end of the hour, simply say the rest of the Our Father in the ordinary way, and the next day begin at the exact word where you left off.

The Third Method of Prayer · One Word Per Breath (Exx. 258–260)

Here St. Ignatius teaches rhythmic breath prayer—almost identical to the ancient Hesychast practice of the Desert Fathers:

  • With each breath in and out, pray mentally only one word of the Our Father (or the Hail Mary, Anima Christi, or Suscipe).
  • Between one breath and the next, let your heart rest primarily on one of three things:
  • The meaning of that word, or
  • The Person to Whom you are speaking, or
  • Your own lowliness as compared with such great Highness.
  • Try it right now for five minutes with the Our Father or the Suscipe, breathing slowly:

(Breath 1) Our... (Breath 2) Father... (Breath 3) Who art... (Breath 4) in heaven...

Carrying the Spiritual Exercises Forward into Your Rule of Life

As you complete these 36 steps, how do you carry the fruit of the Spiritual Exercises forward every day?

  • Keep the Daily Examen (Step 3): 15 minutes every day noticing consolation, desolation, and where God is moving.
  • Keep the Morning Gospel Contemplation or Breath Prayer: Use the See · Hear · Watch method whenever you read the Gospels, or the Second / Third Method (one word per breath) during your pre-dawn silent watch.
  • Return Often to the Four Anchors:
  • The Colloquy at the Cross (Step 4: What have I done? What am I doing? What ought I to do?)
  • The Two Standards & Three Pairs (Steps 13–14)
  • The Three Manners of Humility (Step 23)
  • The Contemplation to Gain Love & Suscipe (Step 35: “Take, Lord, and receive... Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is enough for me.”)
Step 4 · Friend to Friend & Looking Back (15–20 Minutes)

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Close your journey through the Spiritual Exercises by praying the Our Father using the Second or Third Method (word by word, or breath by breath), followed by the Suscipe (“Take, Lord, and receive...”). Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam — For the Greater Glory of God.

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

You can return to any of the 36 steps on this site at any time—either walking through the whole sequence again in a new season of life, or opening a single mystery during Advent, Lent, Easter, or a quiet day of recollection.

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 238–260)
[252] The Second Method of Prayer is that the person kneel or sit, according to the greater disposition in which he finds himself and As more devotion accompanies him, keeping the eyes closed or fixed on one place, without going looking hither and thither, says Father, and stays on the consideration of this word as long time as he finds meanings, comparisons, relish and consolation in considerations pertinent to bias such word. And let him do in the same manner with each word of the OUR FATHER, or of any other prayer which he wants to pray in this way. [254] First Rule. The first Rule is that he will be for the space of an hour on the whole OUR FATHER, which finished, he will say a HAIL MARY, CREED, ANIMA CHRISTI, and SALVE REGINA vocally or mentally, according to the usual way. [255] Second Rule. The second Rule is that, should the person who is contemplating the OUR FATHER find in one word or in two so good matter for thinking and relish and consolation, let him not care to pass on, although the hour finishes on what he finds; the hour ended, he will say the rest of the OUR FATHER in the usual way. [258] The Third Method of Prayer is that with each breath in or out, one has to pray mentally, saying one word of the OUR FATHER, or of another prayer which is being recited: so that only one word be said between one breath and another, and while the time from one breath to another lasts, let him look static chiefly to the meaning of such word, or to the person to whom he recites it, or to his own lowliness, or the difference from such great highness.
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