Journaling with St Ignatius: From diary to discernment

Image by Gillian Hugo, Rome, 2023

Source: Jesuit Institute, South Africa

Many people keep journals to record events, process emotions, or understand life's challenges. For St Ignatius of Loyola, journaling served a deeper purpose. It became a way for him to listen attentively to God.

Ignatius' Spiritual Diary, written in 1544 and 1545, is one of the most personal spiritual documents we have. Instead of listing daily events, he wrote about his inner experiences as he tried to understand God's will, especially when deciding about the vow of poverty in the early Society of Jesus. He paid close attention to emotions such as comfort, tears, peace, joy, resistance, doubt, and clarity, realising that these indicated the Holy Spirit's leading.

The diary is notable not only for what Ignatius went through but also for how carefully he attended to his inner experiences. He often looked back on them, searching for patterns rather than single moments. Over time, he learned to tell which feelings brought him closer to God and which ones pulled him away. His diary became a way to notice how God was active in his life, and from that he made decisions about what he would do. For him, it was not just a list of events.

This offers an important lesson for contemporary journaling practices. Most people write about what happened or how they felt. Ignatius encourages and invites intentional inquiry: Where did I feel most alive today? What made me feel tired? Where might God have been present in my experiences? These questions can turn journaling into a spiritual practice, rather than just a way to reflect.

Ignatian journaling also emphasises honesty. Ignatius did not hide his confusion, doubts, or changing emotions. In fact, in his diary, he carefully recorded when he was moved to tears. He trusted that God could be encountered within his inner complexities, which led to the principle of finding God in all things. This shows us that our journals do not have to be perfect. They can be places where we meet God in our joys, fears, disappointments, and hopes.

In today's context, people journal for mindfulness, therapy, or self-growth. These practices, like Ignatius', focus on self-awareness. However, Ignatian journaling goes beyond this, moving from self-understanding to the development of a relationship with God. It asks not just, "What am I feeling?" but also "What is God doing in this moment in what I feel?"

In our busy and distracted world, St Ignatius' Spiritual Diary reminds us that attentive awareness is a spiritual practice. Whether we write a few lines each night or reflect more deeply once a week, our journals can become special, meaningful places to notice God's still presence and places to sense the call to love and serve God more fully.