From a schooling of desire to happiness.: the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola viewed against an Augustinian backdrop

In this text, we will examine the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius against the backdrop of Augustinian ethics by using selected passages showing the close affinity between the two mystics. Then we will seek to show how St Ignatius, describing his realization of the desires inhabiting every human being, proposes a pedagogical path very akin to the Augustinian ordo amoris and the distinction between bona utenda and bona fruenda, fully in keeping with the Principle and Foundation. Like the amores of St Agustine, the desires alluded to in the Exercises can make us better persons and more divine beings. Amor (St Augustine) and Desire (St Ignatius) are two catchwords that evoke the mystery of the search for the meaning of the human person. Between the desire and the act of will, there may be a great distance. But, in their common pedagogy towards happiness, through discernment, all desires and affections can be integrated into the same ordo amoris.