The phrase, “wellsprings of grace,” aptly describes the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the focus of this study as it applies to the Sisters of St. Joseph. According to Thomas Corbishley, S.J., few books, apart from the Bible, have influenced Christians more than these Exercises, transforming an exercitant into a steadfast companion and disciple of the Lord. Their success lies in the simple fact that ‘they do what they set out to do.’ The individual becomes a power of one. Those who generously cooperate with their graces are charged with a mandate to become ambassadors for Christ (Rom. 1:17). They build up a culture of love one person at a time in the sacrament of the present moment. This fact cannot be overstated. Mary Gordon, the well-known writer and occasional critic of the Catholic Church, notes that “even if Jesuits had disappeared, Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, which he wrote to help the members focus their inner lives, would be a monument in discernment and insight.” As a reference book, Wellsprings of Grace systematically traces the influence of the Ignatian Exercises on the Sisters of St. Joseph in their identity and mission. No research prior to Wellsprings of Grace has identified and studied the sources from which the foundational texts of the Sisters of St. Joseph have emerged. These Ignatian Exercises have become the distinguishing mark of the Jesuits themselves: “When all is said and done,” writes Simon Ditchfield, “it is the Spiritual Exercises that encapsulate the distinctiveness of the Jesuits. It is not the only reason but the main reason.” Those who do these Exercises are likewise distinguished as new creations in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17).
