It is a little-known fact that St. Ignatius of Loyola envisioned the Spiritual Exercises as a guide — or even a prayer blueprint — for young people.
So says Rev. Ryan Duns, S.J., department chair and associate professor of theology, who over the past year has gathered the pieces needed to launch a first-of-its-kind academic minor at Marquette centered on Ignatian spirituality.
The biggest piece of the puzzle? A way for busy college students to be guided in Ignatius’ contemplative exercises, which require a sizable time commitment.
“I didn’t know how we were going to accomplish it, but I knew we were going to do it,” says Father Duns. “Like St. Ignatius, we knew we wanted to give the gift of the exercises to our young adults.” The Spiritual Exercises encourages intentional, daily prayer and the practice of discernment. “Sometimes, I think we forget what our students are capable of. We tend to think they wouldn’t be ready to receive the exercises,” says Father Duns, “when in actuality, they most certainly are.”
This practice of faith in action — an imaginative, inquisitive set of exercises centered on prayer, meditation and dialogue — lays out a pathway of spiritual progress that St. Ignatius journeyed through himself. St. Ignatius documented his experience and his emotions from dwelling in Scripture and wanted to share the exercises with others so that they could benefit from such practice, too.
And these exercises are the heart of the required course work offered in the new minor seeking to shape students into leaders of integrity. Students will not only take a course on the history of the Spiritual Exercises, they’ll participate in a yearlong retreat of the exercises, too — a course designed to be welcoming to students from all backgrounds and walks of life.
The exercises also play a key part in a much larger vision to create a strong culture of discernment on Marquette’s campus.
The Ignatian Leadership and Discernment minor
The inspiration to combine existing course work and new offerings to form the minor came from Marquette’s strategic plan for 2031, “Guided by Mission, Inspired to Change.” To help ensure students truly thrive, Marquette is strengthening and creating experiential learning opportunities for students — including experiences that “train them in Ignatian discernment” and help them envision a hope-filled future.
Students will start taking the exercises and other innovative courses this fall.
While theology and religious studies majors may choose the topic as a concentration, it’s a proper minor accessible to any interested student.
And, perhaps most importantly — the Spiritual Exercises will now be an elective option for any student who wants to engage in contemplative thinking and pursue understanding themselves more deeply.
A supporting gift
It’s that charge that drew theologian-turned-entrepreneur Remington Tonar, Arts ’09, to support the minor for the next five years with a $50,000 gift. Father Duns says the support will be used to provide impactful end-of-year, offsite retreats and bring influential guest speakers to campus to interact with students.
Tonar, co-founder of Cart.com, a leading e-commerce and supply chain fulfillment company, says his theological study as a Marquette undergraduate made him a more effective business leader. “It also enabled me to become a more thoughtful citizen, father and friend,” he says.
Historically, individuals turn to the exercises with motivations of drawing closer to God, deepening the relationship they have with themselves and their faith, discerning a large decision or vocational direction, or seeking spiritual guidance — especially during times of hardship. Ideally, Father Duns envisions students taking the exercises in their junior year, when they have a stronger sense of who they are and can meaningfully raise vocational questions.
“As someone discerning the priesthood, I’m looking forward to a better understanding of what it means to discern God’s plans for me.”
Ronan Barron, rising junior
For rising senior Abby Lamkins, a communications student with a theology minor, the opportunity to spend her next year with a small, dedicated cohort looking inward and exploring what her faith looks like was an experience she couldn’t pass up. “For me personally, I wanted to do the exercises as a way to grow my relationship with God and have accountability for my faith and prayer life.”
Lamkins is diving headfirst and taking the exercises as she begins an accelerated degree program for her master’s in public service next school year. “It’s just unique — to get to dive deeper into Jesuit teachings and apply that to our lives in a meaningful way,” she says.
The 19th annotated retreat — known as a retreat in daily life
So, what does it feel like to participate in the Spiritual Exercises? “Traditionally, they unfold over 30 days,” Father Duns says. Yet even in the 16th century, Ignatius foresaw that people would struggle to be away on a retreat for a month.
“He realized a signature feature of the exercises was their adaptability. A one-month experience could be stretched out over a year,” Father Duns says. This is known as the 19th annotation, one of numerous notes St. Ignatius appended to his original writing.
Centuries later, that foresight allows faculty to adapt the exercises to busy schedules and curate the experience over two semesters.
Tristen Yang, a rising junior triple-majoring in economics, English and theology, shares his enthusiasm for the new courses: “I’m excited. I’ve heard much about the Spiritual Exercises and hope that the experience helps me appreciate mystery more.”
Brought up in Catholic education and taught by Jesuits in high school, Yang says that his theology classes help him envision how he, and others in his life, can make personal and spiritual progress in the face of individual challenges. “These courses help me realize we can continue to grow despite our struggles,” he says.
Spiritual guidance and a culture of discernment
As homework, students are asked to integrate a new routine into their day-to-day life, setting aside time each day for prayer — morning, evening, and over the lunch hour, if they can. In daily pockets of time, they read assigned or suggested Scripture, meditate and contemplate. Retreatants will grapple with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ throughout the year.
“The simplest way of looking at the exercises is to look at one’s placement within the history of the world and salvation history. To realize one’s need for a savior, and to recognize that the savior meets us in our daily lives as a companion,” shares Father Duns.
“Friendship with Jesus, however, comes at the cost of the cross,” says Father Duns.
Ronan Barron, a rising junior majoring in biocomputing (an engineering field) and theology, adds that learning through dialogue, reflection and prayer is unique to Marquette.
“As someone discerning the priesthood, I’m looking forward to a better understanding of what it means to discern God’s plans for me. The exercises focus on the life of Jesus and growing in love for Him, and there’s no better role model that shows us how to do the Father’s will than Jesus.”
The way forward is together
Methods in Ignatian Innovation course
Ignatian spirituality is known as faith in action and its followers as contemplatives in action. It’s a relational faith where individuals are called forward to be with and for people in community and dynamically dialogue with one another.
This especially collaborative and “learning-by-doing” ethos is brought to life within Methods in Ignatian Innovation, a course developed by Marquette’s entrepreneurial, innovation and makerspace hub on campus, The 707 Hub. The course is an elective students can take to fulfill the leadership part of their Ignatian Leadership and Discernment minor — it is also a part of the Marquette Core Curriculum.
At the hub, entrepreneurship and innovation are about more than just creating a startup. While some students do form companies, everyone learns how to think, overcome, problem solve, lead, brainstorm, hustle, tell stories, work in teams and create like an entrepreneur.
Methods in Ignatian Innovation is not a lecture-based note-taking class. It is an active class; a ‘doing’ class — it is experiential learning. Though a series of workshops, guest speakers and hands-on activities, students work in groups to develop not just a mindset or a skill set but a complete way of being to enable them to Be The Difference. It is “Innovation for the Greater Good.”
Patrick Monahan, director of innovation at the hub, collaborated on the course with several faculty members — including Drs. Conor Kelly and Joshua Burns of theology, and Dr. Edward Blumenthal of biological sciences. He also partnered with Duns during his development of the course, and the idea of bringing innovative and experiential Ignatian-based learning to campus shone as a shared objective. “We became kindred pilgrims in this endeavor,” says Monahan.
Two cohorts will start in the fall with no more than eight students in a group. Father Duns and Rev. Cathal Doherty, S.J., associate professor, will co-lead one cohort, and Brigid Kinsella-Alba, assistant director of mission engagement, will lead the other.
According to Father Duns, most people tend to receive the exercises one-on-one — even Jesuit priests. Marquette’s model will ask students to meet in small groups to share their interior life and emotional responses to Scripture in a group setting — creating a sort of shared confidence. “The idea is we’re helping to create persons who will be strong in integrity and in sharing their vulnerabilities,” says Father Duns.
Other required courses beyond the exercises include the life and teachings of St. Ignatius taught by Rev. James Pribek, S.J., assistant vice president for mission and ministry; the aforementioned history of the Spiritual Exercises; credits of Ignatian Leadership and Discernment courses, as well as electives, which can include an internship.
“Ignatian spirituality provides a proven framework for introspection and transformation,” says Tonar. “We live in a noisy world. The barrage of information is constant, and it’s rare that we find time for prayer.”
In a course and minor meant to promote self-awareness, both Tonar and Father Duns see the value in guiding students to be individuals who think deeply about their life trajectory, the way they interact with others, how they make their decisions, how they manage businesses, and more. “There are few things more practical than self-awareness,” says Tonar.
Echoes Father Duns, “Our young people deserve the chance to go through the exercises.”
