Ignatian Spirituality
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"We must teach men that Jesus Christ exists:
and we, who have learned this,
must remember it...
all the time, every day, incessantly,
that we return to this Person of Jesus Christ,
who is at the centre of our lives,
who explains everything else,
because apart from Him,
I do not know what life is, nor what death is,
nor what we are, nor what God is.
We discover the meaning of destiny only in Jesus Christ.
He explains everything, and He is not an explanation.
He is Someone, Someone who loves,
who is present, who listens, who responds."
Fr. Roger TROISFONTAINES
SJ, friend of NDF (1967)
Mother Sainte Marie, guided by a Jesuit spiritual advisor, Father Julien Druilhet, and all the generations of Sisters after her, drew inspiration from the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), founder (1540) and co-author of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus.
Ignatius certainly wrote extensively: the ‘Pilgrim's Narrative’ (an autobiographical account dictated to his secretary), his Spiritual Diary and an abundant correspondence (one of the most important of the 16th century, comprising some 6,800 letters) bear witness to this.
He was also an immense missionary... who remained in Rome at the disposal of the Holy Father (4th vow of the Jesuits)... despite his great desire to remain in Jerusalem (pilgrimage 1523).
Through his own health problems (the aftermath of the cannonball in Pamplona in 1521) and a very long convalescence, Ignatius went from being a courtier devoted to socialising and military exploits to a wise and sagacious spiritual leader, attentive to the intricacies of the human soul, which he sought tirelessly to help. The stated goal of this method of human, spiritual and ecclesial structuring, known as the Spiritual Exercises, is precisely this: ‘to help souls’, that is, to teach each person to make decisive choices and to direct their life through discernment, an ancient and ever-new method based on the practice of contemplative prayer and the re-reading of daily life.
Such is also the spirituality and apostolic practice of the Sisters of Our Lady of Fidelity: orthopraxy in the service of youth, enriched by personal or liturgical prayer and nourished by life experiences; a profound spirituality that combines active and contemplative life... much more than a doctrine that remains a dead letter.
Here again, the Sisters of Our Lady of Fidelity follow Ignatius of Loyola, who, after serious trouble with the Spanish Inquisition, returned to school... at the age of 34, first in Spain and then at the University of Paris (1528-1535), where he attended classes at the Collège Sainte Barbe on Montagne Sainte Geneviève, sharing a flat with two young men who would become his first companions: Pierre Favre from Savoy and François-Xavier, the fiery apostle of the Indies...
A few years later, the first Jesuit colleges were established in the service of a lofty ideal of youth education. Many women's congregations over the centuries would be inspired by these educational practices, including our own congregation cf. NDF Educational Principles.
Educational principles of NDF.
In their virile concern for accompanying children and adolescents, people suffering personally and sometimes those left behind by society, the Sisters of Our Lady of Fidelity often reveal themselves to be masters of Ignatian spirituality without thinking too much about it or flaunting it. They practised effective charity rather than emotional charity, make no mistake! In this, they were in line with the social teaching of the Church.
To praise Mary's fidelity to God and to mankind,
and to bear witness to it, especially among young people deprived of affection
and in the educational tasks entrusted to her by the Church
through her Superiors.
(Constitution NDF No. 6)
For further information, please refer to the following links:
Introduction à la spiritualité ignatienne
Introduction à la spiritualité ignatienne
Centre spirituel ignatien belge "La Pairelle" (Namur)