Mercy Center Presents
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
2022 - 2023
Program Information
Experience the full Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola from September 14, 2022 through May 24, 2023. You will be part of a group guided on the Spiritual Exercises by three experienced spiritual directors. During the retreat, you’ll be meeting in small groups and individually with your spiritual director. This profoundly transformative retreat experience takes place within a 100% online format.
- Start Date – September 14, 2022
- Daily Prayer
- Weekly online sessions on Wednesdays from 4-5pm PST.
- Monthly meetings with an assigned spiritual director.
- Ending Date – May 24, 2023
Although this retreat is traditionally done over 30 days at a retreat center, St. Ignatius, realizing this might not be possible for many people who desired to do the Exercises, made accommodations with what he called the 19th Annotation Retreat. It enables participants to experience the full exercises in daily life.
This is a powerful prayer experience that can change your life. You’ll learn a variety of prayer forms to help you listen more closely to God. You will develop a closer relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and you will grow in your faith. You will also learn the rules of discernment, a key process that Ignatius lays out to help people become clearer about where God may be calling them.
All this is done in weekly online gatherings with a small community that shares your commitment to prayer. You will also be assigned a spiritual director to meet with each month to explore more deeply where the Spirit is working within you during this retreat.
The Exercises begin on September 14, 2022 with an opening retreat and will end on May 24, 2023 with a closing retreat. A third mid-way retreat is scheduled for January 4, 2023. The three retreats will be held on Zoom from 4-7pm PST. Weekly sessions will be held on Zoom on Wednesdays from 4-5pm PST. Monthly meetings with an assigned spiritual director will be scheduled individually.
As a retreat participant, we will invite you to begin your prayer practice with 30 minutes of prayer each day, gradually increasing to an hour as the retreat progresses. Be willing to share your retreat and prayer experiences with your small group and, more deeply, with your director. Attend the weekly sessions and monthly meetings with your director, and keep a journal of your prayer experiences.
We know that the Holy Spirit is already at work planting the seed of desire in those for whom this retreat is timely. Know that you are in our prayers as you discern if this is the time for you.
Jean Evans, RSM
Jean Evans, RSM, is a Sister of Mercy from Burlingame. She studied spirituality at USF and the University of South Africa. She taught and ministered with young South Africans for many years. Jean trained in retreat direction at Loyola House Jesuit Center in Guelph, Canada.
Sharon Chiarucci
Sharon Chiarucci, is a spiritual director with many years’ experience in offering ongoing spiritual direction as well as during parish and Ignatian retreats. Sharon’s training in spiritual direction was through the Christian Spirituality program at Creighton University in Nebraska. She ministers in Hawaii where her home base is on Oahu. Sharon’s skills in spiritual direction are complemented by her ease at guiding retreatants in expressing their graced moments through art.
Barbara Jimenez
Barbara Jimenez, completed her training in spiritual direction at Mercy Center in 2002. She served as inner-city missionary among the urban poor and marginalized with InnerCHANGE in San Francisco and was involved in the training of Spanish speaking spiritual directors. Currently, Barbara’s ministry is primarily spiritual direction, supervision, and retreat direction. Barbara’s passion is to help people grow in understanding of their deep belovedness by God. She and her husband have two adult daughters, one with special needs.