Magis Ignatian Spirituality Programs

Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality

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“We must desire and choose only what is most helpful for us to reach the end for which we are created.”

— Ignatius of Loyola

Magis is a Latin word for what is most. St. Ignatius believed that we are all called for a purpose or end in life for which we are created. In order to reach this fullness we choose what is magis, most likely to lead us to that end.

Magis is a network of spiritual directors in the San Antonio, Texas region who are trained to accompany others in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in Daily Life (known as the Annotation 19 format). The network fosters the ministry of the Spiritual Exercises by providing opportunities for training, continuing education, facilitating retreats and fellowship among spiritual directors. Magis provides workshops and retreat opportunities for persons wishing to enrich their spiritual life from an Ignatian perspective. Several members of the network facilitate Ignatian-themed retreats to groups and parishes. We also provide weekend silent-directed retreats.

Ignatian Retreats & Parish Programs

We offer many Ignatian retreat and workshop opportunities.

Offered through the Department of Continuing Education, these short retreats based on the principles of Ignatian Spirituality. They are appropriate for someone who would like to “test the waters,” before making a longer-term commitment.

Ignatian Twilight Retreats – These retreats are given over 3 workday evenings. They are aimed at giving busy working people a chance to take a retreat. They include dinner, a presentation, an opportunity to do personal reflection and materials to take home and reflect upon.

Abundant Life Retreats – These are 3-day (completely) silent directed retreats. Each retreatant is assigned a spiritual director, who meets with them 4 times throughout the weekend. The spiritual director tailors the prayer assignments after each session, to the individual needs of the retreatant. The content is an adaptation of the “preparation days” used to prepare someone to pray through the full Exercises of St. Ignatius. These silent directed retreats are usually attended by people who have experienced “preached or semi-preached” retreats.

Parish Programs – We offer retreat opportunities for groups and parishes. Members of the Magis team offer introductory programs (4-6 sessions or days of reflection) in parishes. These are “preached” retreats in the sense that there is a presentation of themes from Ignatian spirituality, but also opportunities for those who attend to meet with a spiritual director on site. Parishes have booked these programs as advent or Lenten preparation programs. These retreats have the potential to expand into “Armchair Retreats” which provide short-term spiritual direction (with no preaching) on a weekly basis for Advent of Lent. Parish programs are offered through the Department of Continuing Education at Oblate School of Theology.

Matching Service

Our focus is to bring the full spiritual exercises in daily life (Annotation 19) to San Antonio and the surrounding area. This format accommodates the schedule of those who are not able to take off time from family or work commitments to pray through a 30 day retreat. Instead a spiritual director meets weekly on an individual basis for approximately 18 months.

Matching Service – Find an Ignatian Spiritual Director. For those who want to pray through Annotation 19. Potential retreatants are encouraged to make an appointment with the “matcher,” who interviews them in order to discern whether the person is ready for the Exercises, the type of spiritual director who could best help them, and to explain the process and time commitment involved. The matcher keeps a roster of potential Ignatian spiritual directors, or refers them to other directors in the area. The matching service filters out people who need basic, foundational spiritual direction, before undertaking the full Spiritual Exercises. She refers them to directors who have graduated from St. Peter upon the Water, or other reputable training centers.

Ignatian Spiritual Director Training

Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola: Training Program for Experienced Spiritual Directors.

St. Ignatius of Loyola believed that we can find God in the events of our daily life. This course is intended for those who have sensed a call to guide others who desire to make the Spiritual Exercises.

Spiritual directors are trained to have a thorough knowledge of Ignatius’ original text of the Spiritual Exercises, as well as an understanding of the culture in which the Spiritual Exercises were founded. When they are certified, they can accompany others without having to rely on “canned” or pre-designed formats of the Spiritual Exercises.
Because they know the original text, spiritual directors are able to adapt the Exercises to fit the contemporary needs of each retreatant. This is especially important when spiritual directors are accompanying people from other Christian denominations.
This program is taught at a graduate level, so students are expected to develop both directing and graduate research skills through assignments and supervision.

The primary focus is to develop the skills for directing in daily life, using the original text of the Exercises. To maximize the development of these skills each session will consist of a lecture and practicum in the form of a role play or case study. This first year of weekly study will be followed by a second year of supervised directing of the Exercises in Daily Life.

This course can be taken to complete 9 hours of graduate credit hours. These can then be applied towards the Master of Arts in Spirituality. Alternatively, spiritual directors who do not wish to receive these graduate hours, may complete the program to receive a certificate.

Pre-requisites: An applicant must be a spiritual director, trained at a recognized center, who has completed the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in a personally directed setting such as a 30 day retreat, or in Daily Life. This program will begin in August of 2018. For more information about the application process, please call us at (210) 341-1366, ext. 306, or email magis@ost.edu