Examen

The Act Of The Presence Of God

In Ignatian spirituality, when you begin a prayer time you present yourself to God as if you are
stepping into the presence of a king. This is called the act of the presence of God.

1. Before you present yourself, you may want to sit or stand quietly and become aware of
God’s presence by meditating on Scripture or something about him.
2. You do your act of the presence of God by some act signifying that you acknowledge
yourself to be, in reality, relating to the God of the Universe, the Great One – YHWH.
Taking several steps forward, as if you are walking into a new “space”, standing at
attention, kneeling in adoration, raising one’s arms in silence, and/or bowing would all be
possible ways. Use your imagination…and use your body to express your inner
intention….
3. Once you have presented yourself, and are aware of his presence, ask the Lord, “How do
you see me? How do you feel about me?”
4. By faith, look up into the Lord’s face. What do you see?
5. In this way you may begin the time(s) you have set apart to be with your Lord in the
course of the day.

Examen

1) Do your act of the Presence of God. Become aware that all day long God has been
gazing at you with _____________. (As above, from the Act of the Presence.)
2) Reciprocity. In this step you ask God for the grace to behold him, and how he has been
present in your day.
3) Go back over all the moments of your day. In this technological age you can think of
this portion of the exercise like watching your day on a DVD player – but give God the
remote control, and say, “Lord, stop it when you want to. Show me where you were
communicating yourself to me and what you want me to notice.” (It is out of this that the
Jesuit sense of God in all things developed.)
4) Respond. This can be awe, gratitude, conviction (“Oh, I missed that! I didn’t see what
was happening”), etc.
5) Look to the period coming up. (That is, the coming afternoon, or the next day.) What
have you shown me, Lord, that I need to attend to as I follow you into this coming day?

Application of the Senses

Take one prayer period at the end of the day to remember and to savor: what did I feel, see, touch
­ or what touched me ­ that moved me during the course of the day? Savor how the Lord was
communicating with you.

Ardath Smith, CRM Staff Development and Care Team. 9.2009, 8.2015