Men and women growing ever more free in Christ

“In the light of his heart’s response to the various calls of God and Christ, St. Ignatius asks us to transform our contemplation into action. The love wherewith Christ embraced his life and ours, along with the new and profound knowledge of Him, must be a source of constant choice and preference for what is best, thereby enabling us to fulfil the purpose for which we were created, making us increasingly free men and women”. With these words Fr. Pavulraj Michael S.J., Director of the Institute of Spirituality at the Gregoriana, concluded his address at the conference organised by the Institute for the Opening of the Ignatian Year. The Institute of Spirituality, preceded by the professorship of “Ascetic and Mystical Theology” in 1919 and formally established in 1958, saw a significant increase in enrolments over the past three years, passing from an average of 170 students in 2018 to over 220 in the following years. The Institute includes the Centre for Ignatian Spirituality, established almost a decade ago, whose courses can be taken by the students of the Institute.

 

Fr. Michael, which challenges has the health crisis posed and continues to poses to spiritual theology?

 “Spiritual theology has religious spiritual experience as its formal object of study. I think that this time of crisis entails embracing - on the basis of Charles Bernard’s affective theology (Cogitatio fidei) - the resonances and the reasons for the “Mystery of Trials” (cf. C.M. Martini) which touches on our connection and our relationship with the Thou, the total Otherness, of our Lord. It’s an invitation to embrace the horizon of His pedagogy of love, in fidelity with “the power made perfect in weakness” of which the Lord spoke of to the Apostle Paul (2 Cor 12:7-10). Therein we discover the ultimate meaning of the Lord’s fidelity, inviting us to receive, in the wisdom of His Plan, the everlasting novelty of His faithful and creative Love.

The questions that these times of hardship pose to spiritual theology are those of the believer of all times, called to live an authentic relationship of trustful faith. It is an ever more unifying and fecund relationship with the relational Thou of the Lord, which fortifies us in the certainty that truly “No one and nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Rom 8:35) and that “everything contributes to the good of those who love God” (Rom 8:28).”

 

 

In addition to the Licentiate and Doctoral degrees in Spiritual Theology, the Institute offers a one-year course on spirituality (Diploma in Spirituality) and a more specific one on Ignatian spirituality (Diploma in Ignatian Spirituality)...

 “A few years ago the Institute felt it would be appropriate to offer a one-year study programme on Ignatian spirituality providing a solid and qualified synthesis of Ignatian spirituality. Each student is thus given the opportunity to formulate his or her own original and creative synthesis, embracing Ignatius of Loyola’s charismatic contribution to the Society, to the Church and to the world through his pilgrimage to the service and praise of the Divine Majesty. This annual programme concludes with the attainment of the Diploma in Ignatian Spirituality. In order to broaden the scope of this academic offering, the Institute alternates the curriculum of the Diploma: one year the courses are offered in Italian, and the following year in English.”

Another distinctive proposal is the Training Course for Spiritual Accompaniment...

 “Each year, the Ignatian Spirituality Centre, which works in close collaboration with our Institute, offers Courses for the formation of Spiritual Accompaniers in three five-day sessions where participants can experience a theological and practical in-depth path of reflection on the theme. The purpose is to provide an ever-greater quality of accompaniment for personal growth. This accompaniment is achieved by means of a careful discernment process and cura personalis, enabling each person to progress more and more towards “the purpose for which he or she was created”, which is their “personal vocation” (cf. H. Alphonso, S.J.).”

 

The Ignatian Year was inaugurated on May 20 last, 500 years after the battle of Pamplona in which Ignatius suffered an injury that was to occasion his conversion. What is the significance of this celebration for the Society and for the Institute? 

 “We welcome this Year, instituted by the Superior General, Fr. Arturo Sosa S.J., that marks the 400th anniversary of the canonisation of St. Ignatius, which falls on 12 March 2022, with great joy and anticipation. In the Letter of Indiction Fr. Sosa states that the motto chosen for this new Ignatian Year is “Seeing all things new in Christ”, that it may lead to profound and intense conversion, reverberating thereafter in the concrete dimension of poverty and personal friendship with the poor and for helping the poor. 

In this spirit, I think that the Institute and the Society should seize this momentous occasion to heed the cries of the poor, of the marginalized, and of those whose dignity is disregarded. I believe that the Institute can respond to this call for a journey of ever greater ontological and substantial conversion through its specific contribution, with a view to developing authentic spiritual theology. May such a theology, ever more fully experienced in the style of the contemplativus in actione at the school of Father Ignatius, discern in each person the locus theologicus to be served and loved as we strive to build an ever more fruitful “Civilization of Love” - as fondly referred to by Pope Paul VI.”

This year also marks the 400th anniversary of the death of St. John Berchmans, a student at the Roman College on whose foundations the Gregoriana was established. How can the “way to holiness” be found through studies?

 “I think that responding to the challenge of how to experience and undertake a pilgrimage in holiness through studies entails to start by outlining the reality of holiness, knowing how it develops and is fulfilled within the perfect union with the Lord, as recalled in Lumen Gentium 50.

On April 10, 2014, addressing the Pontifical Gregorian University Community, Pope Francis reminded us that true theological study can only be fruitful if it is lived on one’ s knees, i.e. immersed in deep and contemplative prayer. This allows us to fulfil and fully incarnate that which is delivered to us by the second annotation of the Exercises, according to which “it is not much knowledge that fills and satisfies the soul, but the intimate understanding and relish of the truth.” Thus contemplative studies become effective and fruitful. According to the known motto contemplari et contemplata aliis tradere (Summa theologiae II, q. 188, a. 6.), contemplative studies bring to maturity the innermost fruit of an authentic relationship with the relational Thou of the Lord, that comes to us in Revelation and Tradition, thereby substantiating our most intimate hope after having “sanctified Christ the Lord in your hearts” (1 Peter 3:15)”.