Books

See below for a discussion of which Ignatian title may be right for you.

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Titles

	Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living Fr. Gallagher helps us understand St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Rules for Discernment and how their insights are invaluable for our spiritual growth today. By integrating the Rules and the experience of contemporary people, Fr. Gallagher shows the precision, clarity, and insight of Ignatius’s Rules. This book is for all who desire greater awareness of God's action in their daily spiritual lives, and is valuable reading for retreat directors, spiritual directors, priests, and counselors.	$17.95
	A Reader’s Guide to The Discernment of Spirits This Reader’s Guide arose from repeated requests for a tool to facilitate group and individual study of The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide to Everyday Living. For each chapter of The Discernment of Spirits, the Guide offers a synthesis, questions that highlight important points, case studies for the application of this teaching to daily life, and reflection questions for personal assimilation of the chapter’s content. Used in combination with The Discernment of Spirits, this Reader’s Guide assists groups in varied settings – parishes, formal classes, spiritual centers, and other gatherings of dedicated people – and individuals in personal study, “to begin applying the Rules to daily life” (from the cover of the Reader’s Guide).	$9.95
	The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for Our Lives Today This first book to introduce the examen prayer is also a rich resource for all spiritual seekers. The examen prayer is a transforming and ever-growing practice in Christian spirituality. Fr. Gallagher draws from real-life stories and his experience as a spiritual director to explain the core principles of the examen prayer: What is the examen and how can we begin to pray it? How can we adapt it to our individual lives? What are its fruits?	$16.95
	Spiritual Consolation: An Ignatian Guide for the Greater Discernment of Spirits What does God want for our lives? How can we assess when feelings, even pleasant ones, are signs that God is calling us in a particular direction? In Spiritual Consolation, Fr. Gallagher, a retreat leader and popular author of The Examen Prayer and The Discernment of Spirits, introduces us to the teachings of Ignatius of Loyola on this crucial question. Through the use of real-life examples and the Ignatian principles from the Second Rules, Fr. Gallagher shows how all of us, especially those with busy religious lives, can learn to hear and follow God's leading. This book is both the completion of Fr. Gallagher’s esteemed Ignatian trilogy and a provocative work in its own right.	$16.95
	An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According to the Spiritual Exercises In this guide for prayer with Scripture, Fr. Gallagher offers 40 practical, directed meditations for learning the Ignatian way to pray. This book is for those learning to pray with Scripture and for those who seek new depth in such prayer.	$11.95
	Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture The cornerstones of Ignatius of Loyola’s spiritual practice, meditation and contemplation are clearly explained in this simple guide to the Ignatian method with examples from the experience of practitioners and quotations from Catholic spiritual teachers. In the process, the deeper structure of the spiritual practice is illuminated, and advice about adapting it to individual needs is offered. Topics include methods of praying, struggles and growth, and the importance and role of grace. Individuals who desire to pray with scripture, spiritual directors, and all who teach prayer with scripture will benefit from the counsel in this resource.	$11.95
	Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to Christian Decision Making Every Christian has a mission. What’s yours? “Is it time to change jobs?” “Should I marry?” “Am I called to religious life?” Sooner or later, every thoughtful Christian asks such questions. For everyone ready to make the shift from “What do I want for my life?” to “What does God want for my life?” Fr. Gallagher offers this new book to help you in making spiritual sense of your major life decisions. Drawing from the timeless methods of Ignatius Loyola and richly illustrated with examples and stories, this book offers practical, profound wisdom for conforming your will to God’s will. Fr. Gallagher takes you through each step of the process, including recognizing God's infinite love; opening your heart to whatever God wants; making use of silence, the Eucharist, scripture, and spiritual direction; finding clarity (and what to do when you lack clarity); and understanding discernment as part of the greater spiritual life in Christ. While this book focuses on the major decisions such as marriage and career and vocation choices, the insights gained here can be adapted to other significant life decisions as well. Fr. Gallagher’s clear style makes this book an important resource for all who want to discover where God is leading them, as well as for spiritual directors, retreat directors, and counselors.	$15.95

Which Ignatian title is right for you?

You may already know which book or books are right for you. The following text is offered for those who may welcome additional information in making this choice. You may also listen to Fr. Tim explain the purpose of each book.

When you need short, practical exercises for young and old:
An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer

Group leaders who are looking for practical exercises for groups, including groups who may not have much experience in spiritual development, will want to acquire An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According to the Spiritual Exercises. This book features forty short (two-page) Ignatian meditations, including scripture passages, meditative keys for entering into the scriptural story, and guided questions for reflection. These exercises are also useful for individual reflection both for experienced persons and beginners: beginners will recognize and resonate with some of the evocative passages from scripture; those familiar with Ignatian teaching will appreciate the Ignatian structure of the guided questions.

When your life is at a crossroads:
Discerning the Will of God

If you are facing a turning point in life, you know how difficult it can be to try to hear God's will amid the noise of other people’s expectations and your own wishes. Ignatius of Loyola developed a series of exercises and reflections designed to help you in these times so that your decision can be one that conforms to God’s will for your life.Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to Christian Decision Making is a trustworthy guide to applying those reflections to your own particular circumstances. This guide, which does not require any prior knowledge of Ignatian spirituality, can be used by people of any faith, though some elements will be more directly applicable to Catholic readers.

When you want classic spiritual discipline to apply every day:
The Examen Prayer and Meditation and Contemplation

Individuals wanting to deepen their prayer lives using a spiritual discipline will find The Examen Prayer an important resource. The examen prayer is a powerful and increasingly popular practice for finding God’s hand in our everyday lives and learning to be receptive to God's blessings. This easy-to-read book uses stories and examples to explain what the examen is, how you can begin to pray it, how you can adapt it to your individual life, and what its benefits for your life can be. Highly practical!

A second favorite is Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture. Anyone familiar with Ignatian spirituality has heard about meditation and contemplation. In this volume, Fr. Gallagher explains what is unique to each practice, shows how you can profit from both at different times in your spiritual life, and reveals some of the forgotten elements (such as the preparatory steps and colloquy) and how the structure can be adapted to your particular spiritual needs.

Because The Examen Prayer draws from the experiences of everyday life, it can stand on its own as a guide to the prayer of examen. Those looking to begin their practice of meditation and contemplation, which for Ignatius is always based on scripture, may choose their own scripture passages or draw from the forty examples in An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer, mentioned earlier.

When you’re ready to move more deeply into Ignatian thought:
The Discernment of Spirits and Spiritual Consolation

Spiritual directors, directees, and others who want to understand the deeper structures of Ignatian thought have come to rely on The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide to Everyday Living, and Spiritual Consolation: An Ignatian Guide for the Greater Discernment of Spirits. The Discernment of Spirits leads us through Ignatius’s Rules for discernment, showing both their precise insight into the human soul and their ability to illustrate the real-life struggles of spiritual seekers today. As Fr. Gallagher writes, his practical goal is “to offer an experience-based presentation of Ignatius’s rules for discernment of spirits in order to facilitate their ongoing application in the spiritual life. This is a book about living the spiritual life.” Because it forms the foundation for so many other aspects of Ignatian thought, The Discernment of Spirits has become Fr. Gallagher’s bestselling book and has been the basis for a TV series.

Spiritual Consolation extends this same approach, interweaving stories and principles for a more profound understanding of Ignatius's Second Rules for discernment.

Begin Again: The Life and Spiritual Legacy of Bruno Lanteri