Dear Educate Magis community,

In 2016, we shared with you a story about Ignatian Prayer for Children and Adolescents; a story whose origins can be traced back to 1998 when Father Leonardo Nardin SJ started working at a school of Escolapias and began to adapt St Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises to the needs of children aged 6 to 17; and a story that flourished with the systematic implementation of this method at Inmaculada school of Santa Fe, Argentina, in 2009. For further details see https://www.educatemagis.org/blogs/la-oracion-ignaciana-para-ninos-ignatian-prayer-children-adolescents/

Back then, we felt that we had planted a tiny mustard seed; today, 12 years later this tiny seed seems to have turned into a robust, large tree-plant for the greater glory of God. So many things have happened since 2016 that we would love to share this brief update with you.

– Many workshops have been organised since then, in person and virtual due to the pandemic. They have been attended by authorities, teachers, catechists and parents from different schools in Argentina and outside the Southern Cone, as far as Mexico and Santo Domingo. As a consequence of that, now a large number of Jesuit schools have adopted the Ignatian Prayer for Children and Adolescents with very good results;

– The IP blog in Spanish http://oracion-ignaciana.blogspot.com/ has reached 24,800 visits and the praying sheets, videos and PPTs have been downloaded thousands of times;

– In 2018, Father Nardin SJ finished writing the “Handbook on Ignatian Prayer for Children and Adolescents” in Spanish. It was published by PPC Publishing House by the end of the same year. In this handbook, Father Nardin describes not only the requirements to be taken into account by the school authorities who want to implement the IP but also the different Ignatian Prayer steps. You can also find 94 prayer guides divided by school forms. He is currently working on a handbook especially aimed at adolescents;

– In order to go beyond the borders of the Spanish-speaking world, an English version of the blog has been created. You are cordially invited to visit it at https://ignatian-prayer.blogspot.com/?view=snapshot. Here you will find information, testimonials, and also the full version of the handbook translated into English and saved as a PDF file ready to be downloaded;

– Nathalie Raymond, a French woman discovered this method of praying in March 2020 while she was in Buenos Aires. She felt the need to contribute to make this method better known in the French-speaking world and, therefore, she has created this webpage about the Ignatian Prayer for Children in French. You can visit it at https://cequedieuditauxpetits.com/

– Father Nardin SJ has been invited to deliver talks on Ignatian Prayer for Children and Adolescents on many occasions; the latest being in this series of conferences organized by Instituto de Ciencias de Guadalajara, Mexico. By clicking on this link you will have access to his conference in Spanish https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVJ5BOmRnyQ

– Finally, in order to increase the visibility of Ignatian Prayer for Children and Adolescents, an Instagram account has just been created to publish news in English and Spanish. The name is Oración Ignaciana para Niños.

It is amazing to see the mysterious ways in which our Lord works. He – and only He – knows how far this will go. We leave the outcome out to Him who always knows better. We want to thank you deeply for having contributed to the dissemination of the Ignatian Prayer. If we work so hard to spread the word about it, it is because we feel that this practice has changed the lives of many people and has transformed the environment at every school where it has been practiced, not only among children but also among us, adults, who have rediscovered the joy of praying once again like children… because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.