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Nuptial Election and the Ignatian Exercises

Spiritus 18 (2018): 14–34 © 2018 by Johns Hopkins University Press During his youth, Ignatius of Loyola fantasized about romance and chivalry. According to Father Juan Alfonso de Polanco, a close friend and coworker, the young Ignatius indulged in “gambling, dueling, and romances with women.”1 Marriage was not on his radar. When his promising military career was cut short by a crippling injury, the battle-hardened soldier resolved to re-dedicate his vocation to Christ rather than the globalizing Spanish empire. From the religious and vocational conversion that began during his convalescence, and deepened during his experiences at Montserrat and Manresa, Ignatius discerned the core features of a transformative spiritual process that came to be known as the The Spiritual Exercises. The irrepresible dynamism of this spirituality soon gave birth to a major religious movement that evolved into the Society of Jesus. Within a few years intrepid Jesuit missionaries were trekking across India, China, Japan, South and North America. Ignatius’ thirtyday closed retreat, Spiritual Exercises, became spiritual boot camp for these celibate special-operation forces spearheading Catholicism’s world missionary work during the 16th and 17th centuries. What relevance could a spirituality forged within this religious crucible have for contemporary reflection on the vocation of marriage? Not much, apparently. In his extensive correspondence with women we do find Ignatius dealing with marital issues. However, his reflections can seem dated and, at times, diverging sharply from current perspectives. For example, addressing a marital separation that was causing political and ecclesiastical turmoil, Ignatius exhorts his confidant, Donna Joanna of Aragon, to submit herself to a husband who seems to be abusive: