The Jesuits

The Jesuits  are the biggest order in the Catholic Church, founded by St Ignatius Loyola in 1540.  Pope Francis is a Jesuit, and although he is the first Jesuit pope, the order has always been at the service of the pope, to go where the need is greatest.

Over the last 470 years the greatest need has been to educate young people in the faith. Worldwide, Jesuit institutions educate around two million young people in 65 countries. In Britain we have ten Jesuit schools (state and private) and two university colleges.

St Ignatius stated the order’s aim as the improvement in living and learning for the greater glory of God and the common good, and we still hold to this today.

The Jesuit Institute produces a range of resources, inspiration, training and conferences for those working in Jesuit schools and welcomes approaches from other Catholic schools.

As well as schools the Jesuits in Britain run parishes and centres promoting Ignatian spirituality. The Spirituality of St Ignatius is an accessible pathway to God which focuses on finding God in all things. It is a way to pray, an approach to making decisions, and a practical guide to everyday life. You can find out more about Ignatian spirituality on our website.

The Jesuit Institute offers this pro forma as an aid to prayer for different key stages.

Our Soundcloud account offers several very popular audio versions of the Examen specially for use in school assemblies:

For a short film on Christian decision-making please go to our YouTube channel

Central to the Ignatian pathway to God is the Examen prayer, which helps us find God in our daily life. Here is a simple version:

YES, here I am Lord, to have a few minutes’ quiet time with you. It is good to be here and to think a bit about my day

THANKS for all the day has been and for all your gifts.  These are the moments that come to mind when I think about saying thank you

I’M SORRY for the moments of selfishness and unkindness and any other times when I did not manage to be your hands Jesus, your feet, your eyes, your love, your compassion, for the people around me.

PLEASE give me a nudge if there was something you were trying to tell me today when I wasn’t paying attention! And promise you’ll be with me all through tomorrow too.  Amen

Thinking Faith, our online journal, is very popular with RE teachers. Of particular interest is our series exploring the Beatitudes through the medium of children’s films. We’ve chosen eight films – from classics to recent award-winners – through which school-age children can gain a better understanding of each of the eight blessings imparted by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.