The now famous Spiritual Exercises were written around 1523. They are a collection of Christian meditations and prayers written by St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was a Spanish priest, and the founder of the Jesuits.

He divided his exercises into four thematic "weeks" of different lengths, which are:

1) Human sin
2) Christ's life on earth
3) Christ's death on the cross
4) Christ's risen life

These contemplations are meant to be done over a period of 28 to 30 days. They were written to help grow closer to Christ by focusing on details of his life. The work was controversial in its day, and often St. Ignatius found himself in prison at the request of various Spanish Inquisitors.

This version of the work is cross-linked with the World English Bible.