7. Ignatius at Manresa.

          Manresa is a little town not far from Montserrat. It is situated on the banks of Cardoner, a small river. Ignatius intended to stay there for few days but he ended up staying there over ten months. He received extraordinary graces at Manresa. He stayed often in a cave there and begged for his food. He used to spend much time in prayer and penance. He experienced tremendous joy as he came closer to God and wanted to do great things for Him. 

    As the days passed by he experienced great difficulties in his prayer. At times God would seem to be very far from him and at other times he experienced God’s closeness. The more he examined his past life, the less peace he experienced. He took some advice from the confessor but it did not help him much. He took up to fasting for weeks and that too did not give him peace. So he cried out to God in great agony. Finally, he received peace as he learnt to accept God’s mercy and decided to leave his past in the hands of God.

    Through these trials God was purifying him for great graces. He received a tremendous insight into the mystery of the Trinity and then an understanding of the mystery of creation. God also revealed to Ignatius the mystery of the Incarnation and of Our Lord’s presence in the Eucharist. God taught him all aspects of faith. Then God gave him a great illumination or light on the banks of the Cardoner. He was now a new man in a new world. He noted this experience in his diary as “everything seemed new”. He wrote in 1553, when he looked back to this event in 1522, “I penetrated all the mysteries of the Christian faith”. He saw everything as coming from God in Christ and everything as going back to God in Christ. The small book that he wrote at Manresa is known as “The Spiritual Exercises”.

( to be continued Chapter 8. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem)

 

"Placed with the Son"- A short biography of St.Ignatius--- Fr.Lawrence Dharmaraj 

(From the personal study notes under the guidance of late Fr.Maurice Dullard s.j)