What Is the Examen?

The Daily Examen is a nightly prayer of self-examination — your spiritual GPS. Without it, you can't become aware of habitual patterns, can't discern the movements of spirits in your day, and can't prepare for Confession. It is one of the four Paradigm of Ascent elements. Dan Burke does it every night before bed. (Ep 641, 444)

To appreciate the full significance of this teaching, it helps to situate it within the broader framework of the Catholic spiritual tradition. The great masters of the interior life — Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales, and Ignatius of Loyola — each brought their distinctive charism and experience to bear on questions like this one. Their convergent testimony, spanning centuries and diverse vocations, gives this teaching a depth and authority that goes far beyond any single author's perspective.

Understanding "what is the examen?" requires attending to both its doctrinal foundations and its practical implications. The Catholic tradition insists that authentic spiritual knowledge is never merely theoretical — it must be tested in prayer, refined through experience, and ultimately verified by its fruits in the life of the soul. This is why the Church's greatest teachers on the spiritual life are not only theologians but saints — men and women who lived what they taught, and whose writings carry the authority of verified experience.

At the same time, the tradition is careful to anchor experiential testimony in sound doctrine. The Doctors of the Church do not simply report their own experiences; they interpret those experiences in light of Scripture, the Fathers, and the Church's magisterial teaching. This integration of experience and doctrine is one of the defining characteristics of Catholic spiritual theology, and it is what gives the tradition its remarkable combination of depth and reliability.

The richness of the tradition becomes apparent when we listen to the voices of the masters themselves. Each brings a distinctive perspective to this teaching, yet all converge on its essential truth.

St. Thomas Aquinas writes:

31. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. ORIGEN; After this testimony, Jesus is seen coming to John, not only persevering in his confession, but also advanced in goodness: as is intimated by the second day.

(Source: catena_aurea_john.txt)

St. Teresa of Avila writes:

Dominic, and either of them, having first administered the sacrament of penance and confession to our most dearly beloved sister Teresa of Jesus, mother of the nuns of S. Joseph’s, to release her from any vow she may have made, or to commute it as to them it shall seem.

(Source: book_of_foundations.txt)

St. John of the Cross writes:

Such confessors as these, not satisfied with con- sidering all his sorrows to flow from past sins, compel him to retrace his whole life, and to make frequent general confessions, putting him on the rack anew. They do not understand that this is not the time for such acts; it is now the day of God’s purgation, when they ought to leave him alone, comforting.

(Source: ascent_of_mount_carmel.txt)

St. Francis de Sales writes:

Yea, all that is done in the Church has its exterior and inte- rior.

(Source: 03_catholic_controversy.txt)

St. Ignatius of Loyola writes:

When the day of assault came, Ignatius made his confession to one of the nobles, his companion in arms.

(Source: autobiography_oconor_1900.txt)

The Church Fathers writes:

The Catechism (PD) writes:

Lesson 13--On the Sacraments in General Lesson 14--On Baptism Lesson 15--On Confirmation Lesson 16--On the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Ghost Lesson 17--On the Sacrament of Penance Lesson 18--On Contrition Lesson 19--On Confession Lesson 20--On the Manner of Making a Good Confession Lesson 21--On Indulgences Lesson 22--On the Holy Eucharist Lesson 23--On the Ends for which the Holy Eucharist Was.

(Source: baltimore_catechism.txt)

St. Thomas Aquinas writes:

ORIGEN; As there was a connection between the other sacrifices of the law, and the daily sacrifice of the lamb, in the same way the sacrifice of this Lamb has its reflection in the pouring out of the blood of the Martyrs, by whose patience, confession, and zeal for goodness, the machinations of the ungodly are frustrated.

(Source: catena_aurea_john.txt)

The Church's doctrinal tradition provides authoritative grounding for this teaching. Proposition T3.M.004 (sententia_certa) states:

Mary was endowed with a singular fullness of grace from the first moment of her existence, surpassing the grace given to any angel or saint. The angelic salutation "full of grace" signifies a unique and superabundant plenitude of sanctifying grace befitting the Mother of God.

• Aquinas: ['The Blessed Virgin had a greater fulness of grace than any other saint; for the nearer a thing is to its cause, the more it receives of the...
• Fathers: ['Hail, thou that art full of grace!

Additionally, proposition T3.M.012 (de_fide) affirms: The veneration given to the Blessed Virgin Mary — called hyperdulia, a degree of honour above that given to other saints (dulia) — is fitting, proper, and in accord with Christian faith. It is essentially distinct from the worship of latria, which is due to God alone.

For the engaged learner, understanding "what is the examen?" opens a path to deeper prayer and more fruitful cooperation with grace. The sources cited above show that this is not abstract theology but a lived reality that has shaped the spiritual lives of countless saints and ordinary Christians across two millennia.

The practical challenge is to take this teaching into one's own prayer and daily life. This might begin with reflective reading of one or more of the sources quoted above, followed by prayerful consideration of how this teaching applies to one's current spiritual situation. The tradition consistently emphasises that spiritual growth comes not from accumulating information but from allowing truth to penetrate the heart through prayer, sacramental life, and faithful practice.

As St. Francis de Sales reminds us, the devout life is possible in every state — what matters is not extraordinary circumstances but extraordinary love applied to ordinary duties. This teaching invites precisely that kind of response: a deepening of one's relationship with God through understanding and practice, sustained by the rich resources of the tradition.