The Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life

Short Program Description:

The “Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life” (SEEL) consists of a series of prayers, meditations, and reflections put together by St. Ignatius of Loyola out of his own personal spiritual experience. SEEL respects the uniqueness of each person and leads participants to a deeper relationship with God and others. Throughout the course of the academic year, Loyola University Chicago invites participants to daily prayer and weekly spiritual direction.

Program Goals/Intended Outcomes:

1. Deeper intimacy and connection to God.
2. Space for vocational discernment and affirmation of one’s calling.
3. Expanding sense of interior freedom in relationship to one’s understanding of self in the world.

How long does it take to complete the program?: Other

Further Details on Completing Program: This is often a year-long program, sometimes longer.

Total Program Length: On average, about 9 months.

Key University/Other Partners: External spiritual directors, Jesuit community

Funding Source(s): Endowment, operating budget, and participant contribution

Stipends Paid or Other Participant Benefits: Release Time

Lessons Learned:

It is helpful to have a wide range of directors.

Providing multiple resources provides participants with agency regarding those they choose to use. The two most used are the Bergan and Schwan series and My Life in God’s Project audio from Spiritual Grounding.

Assessment Data:

Each year, Mission Integration holds an alumni Advent prayer service. The number of alumni who return grows each year.

The most common gift for participants is a healthier understanding of and connection to God (through Jesus, Mary, etc.), and a better sense of how they want to pray.

Please Provide Any Other Information:

This program typically has 15-20 faculty/staff/administrators, 10-15 graduate students, and 10-15 undergraduate students. It is a profound way of giving people a primary encounter to Ignatian spirituality.