According to the method of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

The Institute of the Incarnate Word offers the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola to lay people to help them grow more deeply in their spiritual life. The Spiritual Exercises do this by helping the retreatants (that is, those who perform the exercises), in the words of St. Ignatius, to “overcome themselves” and then teach them how to conform their will to the will of God.



Throughout the Spiritual Exercises, participants will receive tools to help them discern God's will in their own lives. This makes the exercises especially useful, though not exclusively so, for those discerning their vocation.