Before moving onward & upward into a series of wise, profound, provocative (and ever-so humble) ruminations which this spiritual travelogue will surely deliver, a few explanatory words regarding this business of Jesuit tertianship...
Tertianship, or third probation, is the final stage of Jesuit formation prior to professing final vows. It is my understanding (I'll surely comment a bit more first-hand in the months to come) that tertianship is, in many ways, a return to the experiences a Jesuit encounters at the beginning of Jesuit formation as a novice in the novitiate. As a Jesuit novice, one passes through two probationary periods. In Jesuit terms, probation is not a negative; rather, it is a period of deliberation in which an individual discerns (in a disposition of spiritual freedom) one's vocation as a Jesuit. The first probation occurs the first two or so weeks after one arrives at the novititate. The second probation is the two-year novitiate that follows. During this time, a Jesuit novice is immersed in prayer, study, and apostolic works. A major facet of this time is making the Spiritual Exercises, the thirty-day silent retreat created by St. Ignatius of Loyola.
So as to deflect reception of the Tolstoy Award for prolixity ("nothing a pair of scissors can't fix"), allow me to fast-forward through roughly nine years of Jesuit formation (First Studies, Regency, Theology).
Once ordained as a Jesuit priest (unless one discerns a vocation as a Jesuit brother), one usually spends a few years in full-time apostolic work and possibly further studies. For me, this has been a graced-filled, joyous, challenging five years at here at Holy Trinity parish in Washington DC as a parochial vicar (a fancy, technical term for assistant pastor).
Upon "completing" all of these stages of formation, a Jesuit enters the third, final period of probation: tertianship (from the Latin terce, for three). This occurs around fifteen or so years after having entered the Society of Jesus. For me, it'll be sixteen years (I'm a little sluggish). Tertianship is the third probationary period in preparation for final vows in the Society of Jesus. As mentioned above, the experiences during tertianship return a Jesuit to the formative experiences of novititiate: prayer, study, apostolic works, and making the thirty-day silent Spiritual Exercises a second time.
School of the heart... you might now appreciate the titling of this blog. Such an evocative phrase coalescing Ignatius' worldview and spirituality. Such a beautiful, compelling description for the emerging chapter of this journey.
Tertianship, or third probation, is the final stage of Jesuit formation prior to professing final vows. It is my understanding (I'll surely comment a bit more first-hand in the months to come) that tertianship is, in many ways, a return to the experiences a Jesuit encounters at the beginning of Jesuit formation as a novice in the novitiate. As a Jesuit novice, one passes through two probationary periods. In Jesuit terms, probation is not a negative; rather, it is a period of deliberation in which an individual discerns (in a disposition of spiritual freedom) one's vocation as a Jesuit. The first probation occurs the first two or so weeks after one arrives at the novititate. The second probation is the two-year novitiate that follows. During this time, a Jesuit novice is immersed in prayer, study, and apostolic works. A major facet of this time is making the Spiritual Exercises, the thirty-day silent retreat created by St. Ignatius of Loyola.
So as to deflect reception of the Tolstoy Award for prolixity ("nothing a pair of scissors can't fix"), allow me to fast-forward through roughly nine years of Jesuit formation (First Studies, Regency, Theology).
Once ordained as a Jesuit priest (unless one discerns a vocation as a Jesuit brother), one usually spends a few years in full-time apostolic work and possibly further studies. For me, this has been a graced-filled, joyous, challenging five years at here at Holy Trinity parish in Washington DC as a parochial vicar (a fancy, technical term for assistant pastor).
Upon "completing" all of these stages of formation, a Jesuit enters the third, final period of probation: tertianship (from the Latin terce, for three). This occurs around fifteen or so years after having entered the Society of Jesus. For me, it'll be sixteen years (I'm a little sluggish). Tertianship is the third probationary period in preparation for final vows in the Society of Jesus. As mentioned above, the experiences during tertianship return a Jesuit to the formative experiences of novititiate: prayer, study, apostolic works, and making the thirty-day silent Spiritual Exercises a second time.
All members before pronouncing final vows must complete a third year of probation, exercising themselves in the school of the heart... (t)he purpose of this probation is for each one, in concrete and personal contact with the things of the Society, to bring to completion a synthesis of spiritual, apostolic, and intellectual or technical formation, which makes for a fuller integration in the Lord of the whole personality, in keeping with the Society's objective as St. Ignatius described it: "that, since they have made progress, they may better help others to make spiritual progress to the glory of God and of our Lord."(From The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms, (Norms, Part V, 125)
School of the heart... you might now appreciate the titling of this blog. Such an evocative phrase coalescing Ignatius' worldview and spirituality. Such a beautiful, compelling description for the emerging chapter of this journey.
At this time God was dealing with him in the same way as a schoolteacher deals with a child, teaching him....(from A Pilgrim's Journey: The Autobiography of St. Ignatius, 27)
