1536-08_SIS18(2008)_12_Kokkaravalayil 30-10-2008 13:39 Pagina 229 Studies in Spirituality 18, 229-244. doi: 10.2143/SIS.18.0.2033291 doi: © 2008 by Studies in Spirituality. All rights reserved. SUNNY KOKKARAVALAYIL SJ THE PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA AND THE JESUIT CONSTITUTIONS1 SUMMARY — The Principle and Foundation (PF) of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius (n. 23) puts in a nutshell the theme of the whole Spiritual Exercises, which includes the final end of human beings and the right attitude to reach that. According to PF, we, human beings are created to praise, reverence and serve God by means of which our souls are saved. The other things are created to help us to reach our goal. We are to use the other creatures in so far as they help us to achieve our end. Such a use requires of us an attitude of indifference toward all created things and the choice of that which is more conducive to attain our goal. This theme is not limited to the Spiritual Exercises, but pervades other writings of its author. In this article we enquire how far this theme is present in the Jesuit Constitutions, and whether PF can provide a key to a better understanding of the Constitutions. We find that the Jesuit Constitutions, besides referring numerous times to the terms typical of PF, are charged with the spirit of PF. The content of PF, which can appear to be an abstract spiritual principle, is weaved into the Constitutions to be lived in the day-to-day life of a Jesuit. This fact demonstrates that for St. Ignatius the final goal of the Jesuits is not distinct from that of all human beings, and that he wanted all Jesuits to adhere to the theme of PF in their life. Salvation of soul is the beatific vision or union with God, which union is possible already here on earth, at least partially, when we praise, reverence and serve God. The Jesuit Constitutions are a public manifestation of the graces which St Ignatius of Loyola received personally from God.2 The same is all the more true of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. ‘The entire itinerary of the [Spiritual] Exer- cises is interwoven with the theme of man’s final end, and of indifference to 1 Abbreviations used in this study are the following: Constitutions = Jesuit Constitutions; Exercises = Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola; fn = footnote; GE = General Examen; PF = Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises. 2 This was the response of Francis Xavier when he heard that the pope had approved the Formula of the Institute (the fundamental rule of the Society of Jesus), which he called ‘our 1536-08_SIS18(2008)_12_Kokkaravalayil 30-10-2008 13:39 Pagina 230 230 SUNNY KOKKARAVALAYIL whatever does not contribute to that end’,3 a theme which St Ignatius expresses concisely in PF (Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises, n. 23). Throughout the meditations and contemplations of the Exercises the theme of PF is vividly present. One may wonder whether this theme of PF is limited to the Exercises; or it is extended to the other writings also of the same author (St Ignatius) such as his numerous letters, spiritual journal, autobiography and the Jesuit Constitutions. Furthermore, how much does St Ignatius insist on the appli- cation of this theme in the practical life of the Jesuits? A general study of the Jesuit Constitutions, with these questions in mind, reveals that the theme of PF is fundamental not only to the Exercises, but to the Jesuit Constitutions as well.4 The Constitutions are not a pure code of law, rather they primarily provide guidelines for our discernment. They enshrine more spiritual principles to lead us into mission than mere legal norms. Along the path of divine service the Constitutions give us light and direction.5 The Exer- cises, particularly PF, provide the key by means of which we can understand the Constitutions. The Constitutions are written ‘to aid us to proceed better (…) along the path of divine service’ [134],6 and PF points to divine service as the end in our life and a norm for our activities. In the present study we attempt to reflect briefly on the theme of PF and to trace its unfolding in the Jesuit Constitutions. The subject matter of this study does not include the Formula of the Institute, the General Examen and the Complementary Norms of the Constitutions enacted or approved in the General Congregation XXXIV (5 January – 22 March 1995). More than two hundred and fifty times do we find in the Constitutions the typical phrases of PF such as ‘divine service’, ‘service of God our Lord’, ‘praise of God’, ‘reverence of God’, ‘that which is more conducive to the end’, ‘indifference’, ‘salvation of souls’, etc. The indirect references to the theme of PF in the Constitutions are even more. We will see in this study how this theme pervades the Constitutions, and how it forms the foundation on which the Constitutions are built. Rule and way of life’: see Antonio M. de Aldama, Iniciación al Estudio de las Constituciones, Rome: CIS, 1979, the reference is to the English translation by Aloysius J. Owen, The Con- stitutions of the Society of Jesus: An introductory commentary on the Constitutions, St Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1989, 3 fn. 10. 3 Hervé Coathalem, Ignatian insights, Taiwan 1971, 61. 4 Service of God, indifference, etc. are recurring themes in the writings of St Ignatius: eg., the letter to Teresa Rejadell on 18 June 1536, and that to the Jesuits in Portugal (on obedience) on 26 March 1553. 5 See André de Jaer, Together for mission: A spiritual reading of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus (trans. Francis C. Brennan), St Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2001, 16. 6 The numbers in square brackets refer to the numbers of the Constitutions. For the text of the Constitutions we depend on John W. Padberg (Ed.), The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and their Complementary Norms, St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996. 1536-08_SIS18(2008)_12_Kokkaravalayil 30-10-2008 13:39 Pagina 231 THE PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES 231 AN OVERVIEW OF THE PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION The text of PF runs as follows. Human beings are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by means of doing this to save their souls. The other things on the face of the earth are created for the human beings, to help them in the pursuit of the end for which they are created. From this it follows that we ought to use these things to the extent that they help us toward our end, and free ourselves from them to the extent that they hinder us from it. To attain this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, in regard to everything which is left to our free will and is not forbidden. Conse- quently, on our own part we ought not to seek health rather than sickness, wealth rather than poverty, honour rather than dishonour, a long life rather than a short one, and so on in all other matters. Rather, we ought to desire and choose only that which is more conducive to the end for which we are created.7 All the conclusions which unfold in the course of the Exercises are contained in PF, and it is upon this that the Exercises are based. That is why the content of this text is called the principle and foundation of the Exercises.8 The two-fold theme present in PF is man’s end on the earth (praise, reverence and service of God) and the attitude of indifference which the end demands regarding the created things (to use them in so far as they help man toward that end and to avoid them if they hinder man). These created things will include one’s forma- tion, human relationships, institutions, community life, skills, one’s own will, needs, ideas, decisions, inclinations, intentions, intelligence, physical appearance, places, and anything that is other than God and one’s own self.9 The PF is a condensed expression of St Ignatius’ vision of human beings and of the world. It bears witness to a deep mystical experience of his perception of the ultimate sense of human beings and other created things: human beings are to praise, revere and serve God, and they can make use of other created things to this end. All the earthly created things, including human beings, take their origin from God, and they reach fulfilment when they are totally embraced by the divine. ‘Glorifying, praising God means recognising God’s saving love, power and presence. (…) The real glory of God is our life. It is not what we speak, not 7 George E. Ganss (Ed. & trans.), The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992, 32. 8 Ibid., 149. 9 Karl Rahner, Spiritual Exercises (trans. Kenneth Baker), London: Sheed & Ward, 1973 (reprint), 19. 1536-08_SIS18(2008)_12_Kokkaravalayil 30-10-2008 13:39 Pagina 232 232 SUNNY KOKKARAVALAYIL even what we do, but what we are’.10 Thus praising God is to live in and respond to the presence and love of God, to make God’s life and love unfold in our own lives. The reverence of God is the sense of awe toward, and the attitude of total dependence on God. It is the result of our understanding that God is infinite mystery and wonder.