why the jesuits love adrienne

Here’s how I see it. When you read Adrienne von Speyr, you will be lead sooner or later to Ignatius of Loyola. When you read Ignatius and you are looking for living this contemplative action today, you might be lead sooner or later to Adrienne.

The blessings of this website is that you contact me. And many of you are Jesuit, either spiritually or actually.

Rev. Raymond Gawronski, S.J.

I love this because a Jesuit, Rev. Raymond Gawronski, S.J., introduced me to Adrienne. He was my dissertation director while I was at Marquette University and is now the director of spiritual formation at the St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, CO. You might recongize him from this DVD series on the Spiritual Exercises.

What I am seeing (anecdotally) is that Jesuit scholastics are introducing each other to Adrienne. And here’s the important point, she is helping them to be more Ignatian!

In her writings, we learn contemplative action grounded in scripture and raised high by the theology of prayer and the saints. May she continue to guide the Jesuits into ever deeper contemplation and action.

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Ignatius taught Adrienne this prayer:

CORPUS CHRISTI, adoro te tribus sub tuis formis,

Sub forma divina, simili deo patri,

Sub forma hominis, sacrificii et crucis,

Sub forma hostiae rotundæ, sine principio et fine.

Ubi es, est amor sempiternus,

Omni tanges quæ creavit pater,

Omnia quæ passus est filius,

Omni quæ vivificat spiritus.

Amorem tui cum gratia mihi dones, 

ac dives sum satis 

nec quidquam ultra posco.

Amen.

(from With God and With Men: Prayers, trans. Adrian Walker [San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1995], p. 50)

My translation:

BODY OF CHRIST, I adore you under your three forms,

under the form of God, equal to God the Father,

under the form of man, of sacrifice and of the Cross,

under the form of the round Host, without beginning or end.

Wherever you are, is love eternal,

all things that the Father created, 

all that the Son suffered,

all that the Spirit vivifies.

Give me your love with grace,

then I am rich enough

and wish for nothing further. 

Amen.