HSE6 – Ignatian Prayer – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Podcasts


Ignatian Prayer – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck and Kris McGregor explore the Call of the King meditation in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Asking for grace in prayer should flow from openness rather than self-centered wants. The Ignatian approach begins with presenting one’s heartfelt desires to God, but with a readiness to let Him transform those desires. This requires humility, silence, and listening before speaking. He draws on Mary’s “fiat” as the model attitude, showing how prayer is not about control but about receptivity to God’s will. Fr. Wieck also introduces the forgotten word “depromptitude,” describing it as spiritual pliability—a readiness to move where God leads, like clay in the potter’s hands or a dancer yielding to the lead.

There is also the colloquy, St. Ignatius’ method of intimate dialogue with Christ or a person of the Trinity at the close of prayer. Far from being channeling, it is a simple and personal conversation, shaped by what has been contemplated in scripture. Imagination plays a role by adding “flesh to the skeleton” of the Gospel stories, helping them come alive without changing their core truth. This imaginative engagement is meant to draw the soul beyond itself into God’s life, fostering deeper relational trust and healing. The fruit of Ignatian prayer is not in imagined details but in being drawn more fully into the life of Christ, allowing one’s identity to be found within Him rather than apart from Him.


Discerning Hearts Catholic Reflection Questions:

  1. How do I bring my desires before God—with open hands, or with an attitude of control?
  2. In what ways can I cultivate Mary’s “fiat” spirit of surrender in my daily prayer?
  3. Do I take time to quiet myself and listen before asking for grace?
  4. Where might God be inviting me to grow in flexibility and readiness, like clay in the potter’s hands?
  5. How do I experience the colloquy as a personal conversation with Christ or the Trinity?
  6. What role does imagination play in helping me enter more deeply into the Gospel scenes?
  7. Am I willing to let God reshape or redirect the desires I bring into prayer?
  8. How do I recognize the fruits of prayer in my life, especially in being drawn closer into Christ’s life?

Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE5 – Our Identity & Relationship in Christ – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Podcasts

Our Identity & Relationship in Christ – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck unpacks the “principle and foundation” that grounds Ignatian spirituality. The Spiritual Exercises, he explains, are five forms of prayer—examination, meditation, contemplation, vocal, and mental—that dispose the soul to let go of false attachments and discover God’s will. At the core is the truth that we are created by God with a purpose: to praise, reverence, and serve Him. This insight shifts the focus away from self-invention and self-fulfillment toward God as the center of our existence. Like clay in the hands of the divine potter, we are continually being shaped and sustained by God’s love.

Praise, reverence, and service form a dynamic path of relationship with God. Praise begins in joy at the gift of life, reverence acknowledges God’s otherness that makes true love possible, and service embodies love through self-giving. Identity is not found in what we achieve or how others see us, but in being God’s children, loved and formed in Christ. Focusing on the heart of Jesus rather than our failures brings freedom and joy, allowing us to live in mercy and draw others into that same relationship. We are called to pray daily for the grace to reorient life toward God’s purpose of praising, reverencing, and serving Him.


Discerning Hearts Catholic Reflection Questions:

  1. How do I recognize that my life is created and sustained by God each day, rather than something I create on my own?
  2. In what ways am I still clinging to attachments that prevent me from freely seeking God’s will?
  3. How can I practice praise more consciously, rejoicing in the gift of life and God’s presence today?
  4. Do I approach God with reverence, remembering He is wholly other, and letting that awareness deepen my love for Him?
  5. Where in my daily life is God inviting me to serve with joy, even in small and hidden ways?
  6. How can I let Christ’s Sacred Heart reorient my focus from my sins and weaknesses toward His mercy and love?
  7. What steps can I take to root my identity in being God’s beloved child rather than in achievements or others’ opinions?
  8. How might I allow myself to be “clay in the potter’s hands,” surrendering to God’s ongoing work of shaping me?
  9. In what concrete ways can I love my neighbor with the love of Christ that I have first received?
  10. Am I willing to pray daily for the grace to praise, reverence, and serve God as the principle and foundation of my life?

Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE4 – St. Ignatius, A Man of the Church – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Podcasts


St. Ignatius, A Man of the Church – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck and Kris McGregor reflect on St. Ignatius of Loyola’s deep trust in God’s presence through Scripture, the Church, and creation. Hearing the Word of God can stir the imagination in ways that simple reading may not, inviting us into a more living encounter with Christ. Ignatius himself modeled this attentiveness by discerning God’s guidance through his Church, even in challenging or imperfect circumstances. His obedience to Church authority—rooted in the conviction that Christ speaks through it—shaped the Jesuits’ special vow to serve under the Pope’s mission. For Ignatius, this fidelity was not blind, but grounded in the belief that the Holy Spirit animates the Church as a “hierarchical mother.”

He turns to modern struggles with confusion, criticism, and division fueled by social media and rapid communication. It’s important to discern when the Church is speaking authoritatively in matters of faith and morals, and when leaders are merely offering personal opinions. Using the image of Odysseus tied to the mast, he likens fidelity to Church teaching as the sure safeguard against the alluring “sirens” of cultural voices that distract from God’s truth. Ignatius also perceived God’s sustaining love in creation, finding in even the smallest details of nature a doorway into divine mystery.


Discerning Hearts Catholic Reflection Questions:

  1. How do I allow God’s Word to move from my intellect into my heart through prayerful listening and imagination?
  2. When I hear the Church’s teaching, do I recognize Christ’s voice speaking through her?
  3. How do I respond when faced with confusion or division in the Church today?
  4. Am I willing to trust and follow the Church’s guidance even when it challenges my own preferences?
  5. In what ways can I practice discernment between authoritative Church teaching and personal opinions of leaders?
  6. Where in creation do I notice God’s sustaining presence and love?
  7. Do I allow cultural “sirens” to pull me away from Christ, or do I remain tied to the mast of the Church’s faith and morals?
  8. How can I foster a spirit of patience and docility when the Church deliberates on complex issues?
  9. What does it mean for me personally to “feel with the Church” in the spirit of St. Ignatius?
  10. How does the principle and foundation of the Spiritual Exercises invite me to see all things in relation to God?

Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE3 – The Charism and Gift of St. Ignatius – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Podcasts


The Gift of Charism – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck begins by situating St. Ignatius’ spiritual exercises in the context of Ignatius’ life and mystical experiences, noting that knowing his background helps one understand the gifts God entrusted to him for the whole Church. He recounts Pope Benedict’s view that certain charisms, such as Ignatius’, are so close to the heart of the Church they will endure. While the classic 30-day retreat is ideal, Fr. Wieck explains that Ignatian principles can still deeply shape one’s prayer life without a formal retreat. He likens Ignatius’ insights to removing “spiritual cataracts,” granting clarity in perceiving God’s work. Drawing on Fr. Hugo Rahner’s image of a triptych, he describes the first panel as “God above”—the ever-greater Trinity—highlighting Ignatius’ profound devotion to each divine person and his transformative Cardoner River experience, which gave him a symphonic vision of truth and instilled reverential awe and loving humility toward God.

The second panel centers on Christ, the God-man—Ignatius’ “Creator and Lord”—who perfectly manifests the fullness of God and mediates our relationship with the Father. Fr. Wieck emphasizes the importance of encountering Jesus in Scripture through Ignatius’ meditations and contemplations, entering into biblical scenes to understand what Jesus and those around Him experienced, rather than starting with self-reflection. This method personalizes prayer through “colloquies,” intimate dialogues with Christ or the saints. He notes that everything Jesus does reveals the Trinity, inviting us into the divine exchange of self-giving love. Such prayer fosters trust in God’s will, freeing us from our “puny grasp” on life and leading to deeper joy and flourishing beyond what our own plans could achieve.


Discerning Hearts Catholic Reflection Questions:

  1. How can learning about St. Ignatius’ life and mystical experiences help you better receive the gifts God has given through his spirituality?
  2. In what ways might you bring elements of the Spiritual Exercises into your daily prayer, even without a formal retreat?
  3. How do you personally experience “reverential awe” before the ever-greater God in your prayer life?
  4. When was the last time you prayed distinctly to each Person of the Trinity, and what happened in your relationship with God as a result?
  5. How does reflecting on the Cardoner River experience inspire you to seek deeper clarity in discerning God’s truth?
  6. What steps can you take to grow in loving humility, recognizing that you are not God yet are deeply loved by Him?
  7. How might entering into a Gospel scene as if you were there change the way you relate to Jesus?
  8. What is one area of your life where you need to release your “puny grasp” and trust the Father’s will more fully?
  9. How can you practice receiving yourself and others as a gift, in imitation of the Trinitarian self-giving love?
  10. What might God be inviting you to see or do differently when you view all of Jesus’ actions as revelations of the Trinity?

Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE2 – The Gift of Charism – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Podcasts


The Gift of Charism – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck reflects on how St. Ignatius’ deepening relationship with God transformed him from a self-focused seeker of sanctity into a man whose identity became rooted in serving others. Ignatius’ spiritual growth involved a shift from personal ambition to openness—allowing the graces he received in prayer to bear fruit in the lives of those around him. His life mirrors the pattern of saints like Catherine of Siena, whose contemplative encounters with God led naturally into acts of service. Fr. Wieck highlights that true transformation involves a movement from interior conversion to active love, not through personal projects, but through discerned response to God’s promptings.

Fr. Wieck also emphasizes Ignatius’ fidelity to the Church, particularly through the story of his forced departure from the Holy Land, which shaped his path toward religious life. He speaks of Ignatius’ commitment to reform from within—helping Catholics rediscover Christ through the Spiritual Exercises. The exercises are not merely techniques but encounters with the living Christ who calls each soul to deeper surrender. Fr. Wieck warns against reactionary spiritual motives and instead invites listeners to focus on the heart of Jesus. By pruning distractions and growing in holy detachment, we become more available for God’s mission, living out our vocations with clarity and authentic zeal.


Discerning Hearts Catholic Reflection Questions:

  1. How is God inviting me to move from self-focus to a life poured out in love for others?
  2. In what ways do I experience the graces of prayer as something to be quietly received rather than immediately shared?
  3. Am I willing to let God direct how and when I share spiritual gifts, or do I take initiative without discernment?
  4. Do I approach my daily responsibilities with anxious striving, or with a Marian spirit of receptivity and cooperation with Jesus?
  5. How do I respond when God’s will comes through imperfect human authority, as Ignatius experienced in the Holy Land?
  6. Is my spiritual energy rooted in reaction against something, or drawn from love for Christ and His Church?
  7. What areas of my life need “holy pruning” so that my actions bear lasting fruit for God’s Kingdom?
  8. How might I be called to share in Christ’s thirst for the salvation of souls through my vocation?
  9. Do I view the Church as the place where God forms and purifies me, even when that’s uncomfortable?
  10. How is Jesus inviting me to deeper intimacy so that my zeal flows from union with His heart?

Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE1 – Introduction – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts


Introduction – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

In this first episode, Fr. Anthony Wick joins Kris McGregor to explore the personal journey that led him to discover and embrace the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Drawing from his upbringing on a Montana farm, the influence of his Jesuit-formed father, and his own experiences with retreats and education at the St. Ignatius Institute, Fr. Wick recounts how Ignatian spirituality gradually drew him toward religious life. Despite early resistance and a desire for marriage and family, he found himself captivated by Ignatius’ approach to prayer, discernment, and inner freedom. A pivotal moment came when a Jesuit friend suggested he spend time at the Casa Alverà in Rome, a house of discernment that helped clarify his vocation.

The conversation highlights how St. Ignatius’ own life was transformed through suffering, especially during his convalescence after being wounded in battle. Reading the lives of Christ and the saints, Ignatius began to notice the different effects that thoughts had on his spirit. Some left him empty while others filled him with joy. This observation became the basis for his discernment of spirits, a foundational principle in the Spiritual Exercises. Fr. Wick explains how Ignatius’ mystical experiences in the cave at Manresa laid the groundwork for this practical and deeply personal spiritual tool. He also shares how discovering his own patron saint, St. Anthony of Egypt, helped confirm his call and opened his heart to the flourishing that comes with finding one’s true spiritual father. The episode invites listeners to explore which saints may have chosen them and to pursue those interior stirrings that lead toward deeper relationship with Christ.


Discerning Hearts Catholic Reflection Questions:

  1. When you reflect on your own spiritual journey, can you identify moments when God reoriented your plans toward something deeper?

  2. What inner responses do you experience when considering the lives of the saints—do any leave you especially consoled or stirred?

  3. Have you ever noticed different spiritual “fruits” from your thoughts or desires, as St. Ignatius did during his convalescence?

  4. What does it mean to you that the saints might choose us, rather than the other way around?

  5. How has your understanding of spiritual fatherhood or motherhood shaped your prayer life and discernment?

  6. In what ways might God be inviting you to surrender inordinate attachments or self-centered plans?

  7. Which particular saints have helped you flourish in your spiritual life, and how have they guided your path?

  8. How can you begin or deepen a habit of prayerfully listening to God through the charism of a particular spiritual tradition?


Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE13 – Contemplation to Attain the Love of God, pt. 2 – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

Contemplation to Attain the Love of God, pt. 2 – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck and Kris McGregor continue this series centered around the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In part two of our conversation, Fr. Wieck discusses contemplation to attain the love of God.

An excerpt from the conversation:

“I feel like in my own prayer too, I don’t know how to do this well, I don’t claim to have mastered this, but one thing I do know how to do is to ask God for the grace. Help me to let go, help me to open up the pores of my being to be saturated in your love, Lord. I know that I get off track, I know I don’t see well, I know I tend to… But I ask that you clear my soul. I ask that you purify my heart. I ask that you open up every pore of my soul to receive more of you, to bask in that, help me to hold the gaze of you, Heavenly Father. Help me to bask in that. I don’t know how to pray as I ought. And yet, I know that you want to open up these crevices, these shafts within me.

And so, I’m asking you to do exactly that. And as the Lord gives us that grace, we’ll be so grateful to the Lord. We won’t pump our chest about being spiritual and be like, wow, Lord, you’re amazing. I asked this prayer and you’re responding to it. You’re allowing me to surfeit myself in your blessings, to be just surfeited in them, to be overwhelmed in them, to be inundated with your blessings. I don’t think we know how to do that as we ought, and I find that consoling though, that that too becomes a gift from God to allow us to enter into this experience. That was just the first point I’ve only touched on in the contemplation to obtain divine love. That’s worth its own prayer, obviously, but that’s the riches and the depths of this prayer.”


Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at the White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE12 – Contemplation to Attain the Love of God, pt. 1 – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

Contemplation to Attain the Love of God, pt. 1 – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck and Kris McGregor continue this series centered around the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In part one of our conversation, Fr. Wieck discusses contemplation to attain the love of God.

An excerpt from the conversation:

“So the mission comes, I first need to enter into a relationship which is initiated by God. And from that, I discover my identity and then I am sent out. So it’s being drawn, allowing myself to be drawn in to the heart of Christ. And there there’s a purification that goes on for me. There’s a restoration in me. There’s a receiving the gracious of God, knowing myself as his beloved child, and now leaning into the mission and spreading that joy, spreading that new life, the life of Christ that overwhelms me, that amazes me, that strikes me.

St. Paul did exactly that, he allowed himself to be drawn into the loving heart of Christ, filled with that love of God, he began to spread it. But it wasn’t that project for him, you know, a project to spread the gospel, a project that he kind of calculated how things would be. And so he was a very efficient apostle. No, he was an efficacious apostle because he knew first and foremost, he was called to be conformed to Christ. So he does speak about all the sufferings and the beatings and the imprisonments and the shipwrecks and things that he underwent for God’s sake, the experiencing that the life of Christ and the death of self, more and more life of Christ as he died to himself. So that’s meant to be our experience too, but it’s being drawn into the experience of Jesus. Our faith is intimately relational, and hence we discover identity and then our mission forth to draw others into that same experience of relationality. And profound being drawn in, cleansed, strengthened, made whole.

That’s why it’s so important that we can take a look at this great gift of the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius, because it really can help the average person can. Because if it’s truly this gift, this great grace from God, it’s meant to help build up the church as a whole, isn’t it?”


Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at the White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE11 – Rules of the Second Week – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts


Consolation, Desolation, and Rules of the Second Week – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck and Kris McGregor continue this series centered around the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Fr. Wieck discusses consolation, desolation, and how they impact the Second Week Rules for discernment.

An excerpt from the conversation:

“The first week had 14 rules, and this second week only has eight. So, he says that it’s proper to God and his angels in their movements to give true spiritual gladness and joy. So Satan can’t give us true spiritual gladness and joy. That makes sense. And so it’s only God who can take away all sadness and disturbance, which the enemy brings on.

The evil spirit is always going to fight against this spiritual gladness and true consolation, bringing apparent reasons, subtleties, continual fallacies using false reasonings to get me off track. We hear a resonance to the first rules of our first week. Second of the eight, it belongs to God, our Lord, to give consolation to the soul without preceding cause. This is a little bit trickier.

So if I am reading a book that I really like, it’s very inspiring, a great author, and I’m starting to feel really inflamed with the love of God in consolation. That’s because I’m, there’s a cause in involved, and that is I’m reading a book, or I have some good friends who are coming tonight. ‘They’re going to come visit me. I’m so excited. I haven’t seen them in years!‘ And so there’s a preceding cause. I’m feeling really grateful to the Lord, feeling warm. I am coming back from an amazing encounter or spiritual direction session. I’m feeling really buoyant, a consolation with a cause, which is a good thing.

But only God can give consolation without a preceding cause that, sometimes, God just gives me a consolation with no particular reason and He just … I’m just overwhelmed and filled. This happened to Saint Ignatius so many times in his life, he began to lose some of his eyesight from all of his tears of joy. So a consolation without cause can only come from God. The evil spirit can’t do that.

So whenever cause comes into … whenever a consolation with a cause, so from reading or from an encounter, from something that happened, the good spirit will use that to the opposite means of the evil spirit. So the good spirit will use that consolation of the soul to profit it, to help it grow and rise in the praise and service of God.”


Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at the White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there. 

HSE10 – Consolation and Desolation – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

Consolation and Desolation – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck and Kris McGregor continue this series centered around the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Fr. Wieck discusses consolation, desolation, and the ways the Enemy can strike our weak points.

An excerpt from the conversation:

“So we have this ability, again, to overcome these evil spirits. And when that spirit’s nagging me to think badly about a person, to gossip about them, to whatever it is, I need to make a show of strength and say, “I’m not going there.” I need to have a holy violence, even Jesus says. “The violent bear it away,” says Flannery O’Connor. That only the violent will make it to heaven, meaning I stand up to that, their holy violence, like, “No, I’m not doing that. I’m not giving into that temptation,” that whatever, maybe a sexual temptation. Say, “I’m not going there. I’m not going to allow this to plague me. I’m not going to watch this anymore. I’m exiting out. I’m shutting off my computer. I’m shutting off this program. I’m not going to flip through channels and see how much I can justify. I stand up against that evil spirit.”

He says, if you don’t do that, if you don’t stand up against this evil spirit as he nags me into doing something, if I have fear or I lose heart, there’s no beast so wild on the face of the earth as the enemy of our human nature and following out his damnable intention with so great malice. So the enemy of the human nature, that’s so interesting, isn’t it? It speaks to the Catholic view of human nature that’s very positive. But the enemy of human nature has damnable intentions, totally wants us under his standard. He wants us in hell with him. He’s declared war, Revelations 12, “Against all the offspring of the woman,” whom you and I are. That’s the one way he can get back at God, is to destroy his handiwork and to get his handiwork to commit one unrepented mortal sin that will damn them for eternity. So we need to stand up to those temptations towards evil there in that when we’re nagged into doing such a thing like that.”


Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger).  Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at the White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there.