Exercises, Spiritual

(exercitia spiritualia), a title given by Romanists to certain exercises held under the leadership generally of a confessor (magister exercitiorum), for spiritual edification. They consist, generally, in alternate meditations and prayers at regularly appointed hours, with seclusion, mortification, etc. These exercises are practiced both by clergy and laity, especially before communion, and as preparatory to the great Church festivals. Especially before ordination to the priesthood, such exercises are not only commended, but required of candidates. The most elaborate form of the exercises is that of Ignatius Loyola. His method received the approbation of the pope, and Alexander VII granted, in a brief dated October 12, 1657, full absolution to all, whether priests or laymen, who should submit to them for eight days in the houses of the Company of Jesus. These exercises consist in alternate meditations, readings, oral prayers, and self-scrutiny, as special preparation for the reception of the sacraments of penitence and communion. In case of there being several persons exercising together, silence is recommended as a duty. The new missions established by the Jesuits and Redemptorists make use of these exercises, transforming the work of sanctification into a dead mechanical action. — Herzog, Real- Encyklop. 3:289; Aschbach, Allg. Kirchen-Lex. 2:707; Ferraris, Promta Bibliotheca, 3:916 sq. See Bellecius, Medulla asaeseos seu exercitia Sancti Patris Ignatii (new ed. by Westhoff); and the articles SEE JESUITS, and SEE LOYOLA.