The spiritual exercises and the jesuit formation in the XVI century

Abstract

This study analyzes the Spiritual Exercises, which corresponds the Jesuit's first formation instrument, both because it was the first one formulated by Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, and with which he recruited the first fighters, as also by corresponds to the initial phase in the formation of the Jesuit, without which he can not become a member of the Society of Jesus. Spiritual Exercises were studied in this research in its singularity of pedagogical work, although in this perspective we do not fail to consider that the didactic product belongs to a totality within its historical context, such as the transformations of the social structure of XVI century Europe that determined the new man's formation of that period and which were affected and affected the New World. The Spiritual Exercises are inscribed in the movement of changes necessary for the new order of production of existence, which requires a less contemplative man, more active in the defense and propagation of the Christian faith, and above all Catholic. However, in the New World, more specifically in portuguese America, the practice of spiritual exercises encountered difficulties due to their wild environment, totally different from that of the colonizers.