This session presents an introduction to the Ignatian review of God’s presence in your life called the examen. It begins with some introductory remarks, a guided traditional examen and some suggestions for adapting the examen using your imagination. It then presents an adapted version of the examen using imaginative imagery, which you will be asked to select. Finally, it offers some concluding remarks.

So, before beginning, please decide whether you would rather be in a garden, watch the wind blowing through a tree or traveling on a river during the adapted version of the examen presented in this session.

To be in a garden, please click here.
To watch the wind in a tree, please click here.
To travel on a river, please click here.

Then, create a physical space conducive to listening and prayer. This place should be inviting, both for personal prayer and for the sustained listening necessary to this session. With this in mind:
— Ensure that the seating is comfortable, even using cushions of the floor if you prefer.
— Establish a focal point in the room near where you are sitting, such as a candle or a religious icon.
— Make certain that the light in the room is not too bright without it becoming too dim.

When you are ready, play the MP3 file you downloaded and allow yourself to relax into the exercises it presents. You will need between 31 and 34 minutes to complete this session.

After completing this session, you may find it helpful to repeat the prayers you used in this session or approach options you did not use. This will help you develop your own particular way of praying the examen.

To download all the examens from this session (and two other variations), please click here.

James C. Swonger engineered the sound for all these recordings.
To learn more about him and his career, please click here.

The resources on this page are compressed using the Zip File Format. After downloading these materials, please double-click the files to restore them as folders containing the appropriate information.

To return to the “Marking the Way” page, please click here.