Raising the Soul in Love: St Ignatius of Loyola and the Tradition of Mystical Theology

Abstract

This paper explores St Ignatius Loyola’s relationship to the medieval tradition of theologia mystica, especially in the Spiritual Exercises. Although the evidence is scanty, it is clear that the young Iñigo was acquainted with the methods and structures of Abbot García de Cisneros’ Exercitatorio de La Vida Espiritual during his extended stay at Montserrat and Manresa after his conversion of life. Commentators have disagreed over the extent of the influence of these writings on Ignatius’ later spirituality; however, this paper will explore the ‘family resemblances’ between the type of spirituality developed by Ignatius after his stay in Catalonia and the later medieval spirituality expressed in the Abbot’s work. In particular, the paper concentrates on one aspect of that work that has not received much attention: namely, the strand in Cisneros’ work that explores the late medieval tradition of theologia mystica, particularly as reworked from the writings of Jean Gerson (1363–1429), sometime Chancellor of the University of Paris. The paper argues that Gerson’s form of ‘affective Dionysianism’ shares much in common with the spirituality later developed by Ignatius, and will conclude with some final remarks as to how this helps us to understand the ‘mystical desire’ that lies at the heart of Ignatius’ project.

Keywords

• Ignatius Loyola
• mystical theology
• Montserrat
• Jean Gerson