Padre Dehon e gli esercizi spirituali di sant’Ignazio
Father Dehon and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Summary/Abstract: Spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola has inspired many saints and founders of religious congregations. Among them there was also Fr. Leon Dehon, the founder of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He touched on the way of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius thanks to his numerous contacts with Jesuit Fathers. Among them Fr. Dehon had professors, collaborators, friends, as well as spiritual directors. Fr. Dehon was fascinated by the personality and spirituality of St. Ignatius. He undertook the Spiritual Exercises in the most important moments of his religious and priestly life: when he began his study in the college in Hazebrouck and when he entered the French Seminary of Saint Claire in Rome, when he was searching his religious vocation as a diocesan priest and in the first years after he had founded the Congregation, before the first General Chapter and before his perpetual vows. As a mature priest and religious, Fr. Dehon undertook the Spiritual Exercises when he was celebrating the 25th anniversary of his priesthood and before he left the cradle of the Congregation – the College of St. John. The exercises were not without influence on the spirituality of Fr. Dehon and on his spiritual life. We can find an echo of several meditations or contemplations offered by St. Ignatius in the spirituality of Fr. Dehon and in the spirituality of his Congregation. The traces of the Exercises can be also found in both his decisions and his teaching directed to his brothers in religious life and to the laity.

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