2nd Step - Campus Ministry Center, Lower Entrance | Illumination
Lord, open my eyes and ears to be more
honest with myself.
Today, what do I really want for myself?
We try to see everyday life through the eyes of love. We look to shine a light on our interior responses and the encounters that animate our daily experience. Sometimes love and light appear in the quiet whisper of our memories, thoughts and feelings. If we attune ourselves to look and listen, we may find love present within us, all around us, and speaking to us constantly. If we don’t bother to look, it will seem that there is nothing to be seen. Shine a light into your heart so that when you look back over the day you may be able to see love at work in all the things that happened.
The Walking Examen, a one-mile prayer journey around Fairfield University’s scenic campus, is based on a prayer method popularized by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, in the 16th century. The intention of the meditation is to invite participants to trust, allow and delight in God’s love through a five-step process of contemplation and presence.
The Examen walk, open to community members and visitors of all faiths, begins near the Egan Chapel plaza and continues toward Campus Ministry’s entrance on the lower level, and then winds its way through the fields and past the library toward the steps at the Mary Garden, Bellarmine Pond, and lastly the lawn of the Jesuit Community Center. Each step of the Examen is marked with a boulder and a plaque identifying the prayer prompt: Thanksgiving, Illumination, Examination, Contrition and Hope.
For more information visit The Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality