The Role of Feelings in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises

Abstract

The article analyses the role of feelings in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola in the context of teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The author emphasises that both sources treat a man in an integral way, taking into account all spheres of a human being, including human psyche and its needs, feelings and desires; the feelings are dealt with from the perspective of spiritual discernment and moral appraisal. The author, on the one hand, argues with the attempts of psychology to appropriate the notion of feelings and, on the other hand, objects to neglecting human emotions by spirituality. Referring to the Catechism, the author stresses that „the concept of the ‘feeling’ belongs to the Christian heritage” and that feelings are „natural ingredients of a human psyche” and „constitute a transitional area and provide a link between a sensory life and a spiritual life”. According to the author, if we make use of what the Spiritual Exercises and the Catechism teach us about feelings, we will avoid unnecessary controversial disputes devoted to such topics as psychology and spirituality or spiritual consolation and therapeutic assistance. Both spirituality and psychology are integral parts of a human life. The attempts of confronting psychology and spirituality are pointless and harmful to persons looking for personal development, including spiritual development. Every kind of pedagogy, regardless of anthropology assumed as its basis, should treat a human being in an integral way, taking into consideration all his spheres, including emotional and spiritual ones.