From “Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment” by J. Brent Bill
One of my favorite stories is that of St. Ignatius. Born in Spain in the early fifteenth century, the young Ignatius was no model of sainthood. Ignatius was pompous and obsessed with desire to win glory on the battlefield. Rejecting his father’s wish for him to become a priest, Ignatius went on military adventures. During one battle, a cannon ball shattered his leg. While recovering in Loyola, he asked for books about romance and chivalry. Instead, he received books on the love of Christ and the lives of saints. While reading, he discovered that his old dreams of romance and adventure left him unsettled and unhappy. The saints, in contrast, seemed serene even in horrible circumstances. With a shift of spirit, he felt called to a higher life of devotion to God and later wrote Spiritual Exercises. Now considered a spiritual classic, his book uses a four-week systematic review of our personal spiritual lives to train the soul. They are considered a pilates for piety.