The Daily Examen: Ignatius's Prayer, Step by Step

The daily examen is a short prayer, usually prayed at the end of the day, in which you look back over the day with God. In Ignatius of Loyola’s five steps you give thanks, ask for light, review the day, ask forgiveness and resolve to amend with God’s help. It takes about ten minutes, needs no book, and can be prayed anywhere.

The habit of looking back is older than Ignatius. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:23-24, KJV). “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord” (Lamentations 3:40). “Examine yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). The examen gives that old instinct a simple shape.

Where the examen comes from

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was a Basque soldier whose long recovery from a battle wound in 1521 led to his conversion. He went on to found the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. His Spiritual Exercises, a manual for a month-long retreat first published in 1548, includes two forms of self-examination.

• The particular examen, which focuses on one fault or one virtue, checked at midday and in the evening.
• The general examen, a review of the whole day in five points. This is the prayer usually meant by “the daily examen.”

Ignatius took it seriously. Jesuit tradition holds that he would let his companions shorten other prayer when they were busy or unwell, but not the examen.

In the twentieth century, Jesuit writers helped the examen reach a wider audience. George Aschenbrenner’s 1972 article “Consciousness Examen” argued that it was less about tallying sins and more about growing aware of how God is at work in ordinary life. Dennis Hamm’s short piece “Rummaging for God” (1994) offered a five-step version that many people now learn first.

The five steps, as Ignatius gives them

Paraphrased from the general examen in the Spiritual Exercises:

1. Give thanks to God for the benefits you have received.
2. Ask for grace to know your sins and to reject them.
3. Review the day, from the hour you rose to the present, hour by hour or period by period: first your thoughts, then your words, then your actions.
4. Ask forgiveness from God for your faults.
5. Resolve to amend, with God’s grace.

Ignatius closes with the Lord’s Prayer.

Notice the order. Thanksgiving comes first, before any look at failure. That is the examen’s quiet genius: you see your sins in the light of God’s goodness to you, not in isolation.

How to pray the examen tonight

Here is a plain version for beginners. Find a quiet few minutes, perhaps before bed. Sit still, and breathe slowly for a moment.

1. Remember God is here

Begin by acknowledging that you are in God’s presence. A short prayer helps: “Lord, you were with me today. Help me see the day as you saw it.” Some people pray a few breaths of the Jesus Prayer or Psalm 46:10 here; see the guide to breath prayer.

2. Give thanks

Name two or three specific things from today you are grateful for. Be concrete: the conversation at lunch, the light in the afternoon, a job finished. Small gifts count.

3. Walk back through the day

Go through the day slowly, from waking to now. Do not analyse yet; just notice. Where did you feel most alive, most at peace, most drawn toward God and others? Where did you feel restless, anxious, closed off? Ignatian writers call these movements consolation and desolation.

4. Face what went wrong

Where did you fall short? A sharp word, a task avoided, a person ignored. Name it honestly to God, without excuse and without drama, and ask forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).

5. Look toward tomorrow

Think briefly about tomorrow. What is coming? Where will you need grace? Ask for it, and resolve one small thing. Then close with the Lord’s Prayer.

Questions to carry into the examen

If the steps feel too open, a few questions can help:

• What am I most grateful for today?
• When did I feel closest to God? When did I feel furthest away?
• Where did I love well? Where did I fail to love?
• What am I carrying into tomorrow that I need to give to God?

For a longer set, the guide to Christian accountability questions includes the self-examination questions traditionally attributed to Wesley’s Holy Club.

Common difficulties

“I can’t remember the day”

That is normal at first. Start with the most vivid moment and work outwards. Over weeks you will find yourself noticing more during the day, which is part of the point.

“It becomes a list of failures”

Return to gratitude, and give it more time. Ignatius put thanksgiving first for a reason. The examen is not meant to make you anxious; it is meant to make you honest and grateful at the same time.

“I keep falling asleep”

Pray it earlier, sitting up rather than in bed, or after the evening meal. Some people pray a short version at midday too, as Ignatius did with the particular examen.

The examen across traditions

Though it is Jesuit in origin, the examen sits comfortably in many churches. The evening offices of Compline and Evening Prayer in Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran use include a confession that invites a short review of the day. John Wesley and the early Methodists practised daily self-examination. Reformed and Puritan writers commended regular examination before the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:28). The Orthodox tradition teaches watchfulness of the heart. The examen is one well-tested form of something the whole church does.

It also fits naturally into a rule of life, as the evening practice among the other spiritual disciplines, and it makes accountability conversations easier, because the noticing is already done.

How Ordo helps

Ordo is an iPhone app for keeping a rule of life with a few people. Each day asks for a written reflection, a response to the day’s scripture and a short check-in, about ten minutes in all. Many people find the written reflection works much like an examen set down on the page.

Reflections are held until everyone in your small, invitation-only group has written, and are then revealed together, so you write honestly rather than for an audience. Ordo follows the church year, offers the Daily Office and a breath prayer, and sends a formation letter at the close of each season. There are no streaks or guilt notifications. It is in beta on iPhone; join the waitlist.