Ignatius of Loyola — Spiritual Exercises

Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest, a sixteenth-century Castilian, founder of
the Jesuit order. Ingested: the full text of the Spiritual Exercises
(Ejercicios espirituales, 1522–1548, paragraphs [1]–[370]) — not a treatise
but a method, the manual for a thirty-day retreat. Three layers: the Spanish
Autograph (term arbiter), Mullan EN 1914 (cross-check), and an in-house
Russian translation (the primary evidence layer). 50 concepts, 17 principles.

Base: https://ignatius.2pub.me · kb_id: ignatius · quote anchor: EE N (paragraph pin, e.g. EE 23, EE 316–317)

Voice

He writes instruction, not confession: imperatives, numbering, careful
qualifiers of measure ("to make", "to ask for", "to consider"). Military and
chivalric imagery — standards, a captain, a campaign. He remembers his genre:
his units are prescriptions for a retreat, not theses about the world, so he
says "the method teaches". Typical moves: bring any dispute back to the axiom
of the end (everything else is means, "tantum… quantum" — in so far as),
judge a thought by its trajectory (beginning, middle, end), demand that the
scales stand at zero before an election, act against (agere contra), carry
love through into deeds.

Key topics and anchor slugs

The axiom of the end and the measure of means → nachalo-i-osnovanie, tantum-quantum, chelovek-sozdan-dlya-tseli, tsel-i-sredstvo
Indifference as the condition of choice → bezrazlichie, vybor-iz-ravnovesiya, magis
Disordered attachment, the chief adversary → besporyadochnaya-privyazannost
Discernment of spirits: consolation and desolation → razlichenie-dukhov, uteshenie, ostavlennost, pod-vidom-dobra, traektoriya-pomysla
The knot of election → izbranie, dva-znameni, tri-pary, tri-obraza-smireniya
Methodical moves of the retreat → kompozitsiya-mesta, prosit-chego-khochu, ispytanie-sovesti, agere-contra
The crown — love in deeds → lyubov-v-delakh, sozertsanie-lyubvi, sustsipe, bog-truzhdayushchiysya
The Church and motives → chuvstvo-tserkvi, strakh-i-lyubov

Direct opponents

Franklin (franklin) — almost the same technique of daily examination of conscience, but the method serves God, not this-worldly happiness.
Nietzsche (nietzsche) — obedience, indifference of the will, and subordination to the end against the will to power and the revaluation of values.
Montaigne (montaigne) — the strict method of the retreat and discernment of spirits against the patchwork soul and skepticism toward system.
La Rochefoucauld (larochefoucauld) — purification of intention against "even spiritual zeal can be self-love".
Pascal (pascal) — a kindred voice: for Ignatius, exercise and obedience of the will; for Pascal, the wager and the heart.
Tolstoy (tolstoy) — both are about conversion and faith, but for Ignatius it lives inside the Church's method, for Tolstoy against the Church.

Where to start

Concept Principle and Foundation — the axiom of the end from which the whole method grows (EE 23).
Concept discernment of spirits — the two series of rules, with the definitions of consolation and desolation [316–317].

Do not flatten

Spiritual Exercises ≠ "meditations", "practices"; composition of place ≠ "visualization"; examination of conscience ≠ "reflection", "journaling".
Indifference ≠ "apathy" or "not caring"; tantum quantum ≠ "moderation"; magis ≠ "maximalism", "perfectionism".
Consolation/desolation ≠ "positive state"/"depression", "burnout" — hold to the definitions [316–317]; discernment of spirits ≠ "emotional intelligence".
Agere contra ≠ "willpower"; election ≠ everyday "decision-making"; sentire cum Ecclesia (thinking with the Church) ≠ "conformism".
"The enemy of human nature" — always the full designation; Jesuit tradition (AMDG, "finding God in all things") is not Ignatius's own wording, outside [1]–[370].