The Jesuit Examen

The examen is a fifteen-minute spiritual exercise that is aimed at divesting oneself of those inner movements of emotions, thoughts, and actions that took place prior to the moment of the examen. The examen is called the examination of consciousness by some Jesuit spiritual masters, because it is an opportune moment to bring to the fore those issues or experiences that lie in the depth of the heart for better understanding and spiritual appropriation of deep spiritual insights and disposal of anything that is inimical to becoming a true Jesuit.

Jesuits do the fifteen minutes examen twice in a day. Father Ignatius in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus urges the Jesuit never to neglect this spiritual exercise.