What is a Year-end Examen?
Examen prayer was developed in 1522 by St. Ignatius of Loyola while he was recuperating from a serious injury. Believing that God is active in all the corners of our lives, he would be still with God through the moments of his day to pay attention to the movement of the Spirit of God within his soul. Examen is a spiritual practice typically done daily, which we encourage, but in addition, our Lifesprings’ community participates in an annual personal examen every December. SEE VIDEO BELOW!
Doing a year-end examen will help you:
- Prayerfully reflect on the events of the past year. Look for God even in the smallest details of your life. Sometimes we miss those. We look for him in the grand moments, but we don’t often look for him in a journey of pain or the seemingly mundane routines. For those who participated in our Monthly Examen listening groups, perhaps those reflections will prove useful to recall.
- Be more aware of what God has been and is doing in your life in transforming your soul to be more like Christ, which can lead to increased discernment and guidance for making choices in the year to come. Through Examen, we allow the Spirit to reveal where we might need healing, more rest, a particular spiritual discipline, increased sense of peace, increased confidence as you go through your day with God, and areas where greater trust in Him is needed.
Here is an instructional video to help you with your year end examen:
Here is a PDF document with step-by-step instructions on how to do a Year End Examen: