Module 1 / Jesuit Mission and History - Cura Personalis I - Instructor Resources - Research Guides at Saint Louis University Libraries

Readings for Module 1

These readings are required:

Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation Project - Timeline and Overview
*Please note that this is only the timeline and overview of the history of slavery at SLU. If faculty or students want to further explore the families and their stories via primary sources, please click on the full packet below, or visit https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/shmr/.

Chapter 1: The Jesuit guide to (almost) everything : a spirituality for real life by Fr. James Martin
The recommended reading is the first chapter of this book. The chapter is entitled 'A Way of Proceeding' and it is freely available for viewing in Overdrive Read using the above link. Simply swipe left or right on the page to read the chapter. Another option to advance to the next page is to click on the right edge of the current page. If you are interested in the entire book, a print copy is located in the Lewis Annex on level 3. BX2350.3 .M265 2010
Core student learning outcomes
The University Core Student Learning Outcomes define the essential educational outcomes expected of all who earn baccalaureate degrees at Saint Louis University — regardless of major or the college or school in which students are enrolled. These outcomes — and demonstrable evidence of student achievement of them — drive the faculty's development and revision of the University Core Curriculum.
SLU Mission Statement
The Mission of Saint Louis University is the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity.

Additional readings to explore:

The First Principle and Foundation
From the Spiritual Exercises [23] of Ignatius of Loyola
Mission Priority Examen
At the request of the Father General of the Society of Jesus all Jesuit universities have were asked to conduct a mission focused self-study to evaluate how they live the Jesuit Mission and Identity.
True Solidarity : The service of faith and the promotion of justice in American Jesuit higher education
Article by Peter Hans Kolvenbach in America Magazine (2001)
Pope Francis approves four priorities for the Jesuits’ next decade
Article by Gerard O’Connell in America Magazine (2019)
Seven Characteristics of Jesuit Colleges and Universities: How to Strengthen our Catholic and Jesuit Identity
Article in Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education publication (2012)
Jesuit Schools and the Humanities Yesterday and Today
By John W. O'Malley, S.J. From Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, Vol 47, no 1 (2015).

Challenges to Jesuit Higher Education Today
By Adolfo Nicolás, S.J. - Remarks for networking Jesuit Higher Education: Shaping the future for a humane, just, sustainable globe.
Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation Project - Core Curriculum Packet
The Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation (SHMR) Project began in 2016 as a joint initiative of the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province and Saint Louis University. Historically, the Jesuits’ Missouri Mission (later the Missouri Province) and Saint Louis University were essentially one institution, which shared resources and property—including human property. This research was compiled by Kelly L. Schmidt. Recommended citation:
Kelly L. Schmidt, “Augustine Queen and His Family,” Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project, 2021.
Some Basics about St. Ignatius Loyola
By Fr. Barton T. Geger, SJ, Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius by Louis J. Puhl (Translator); Saint Ignatius; John F. Thornton (Editor); Avery Dulles (Preface by)
ISBN: 0375724923
Publication Date: 2000-12-19
A reissue of a classic Christian text from the founder of the Jesuit Order. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyla is the core work of religious formation for members of the Society of Jesus, the single largest religious order within the Roman Catholic Church. For four and a half centuries in many thousands of editions in all languages, The Exercises have embodied fundamental spiritual principles essential to authentic Christian living. The mystical insight informing Ignatius's own relationship with God--which he distilled in The Exercises--is that the divine love of God is providentially present in all the details of our existence. Here Ignatius shows how the faithful can be joined to God in all things, according to the Jesuit motto, Ad majorem Dei gloriam, "For the greater glory of God."

Websites for Module 1

SLU’s Shared Mission
"The Shared Mission program offers an in-depth, community-based opportunity for faculty, staff, administrators and trustees of Saint Louis University. This foundational program opens the door for deeper participation in the wide variety of mission programs offered by SLU's Division for Mission and Identity. The ongoing formation of our community strengthens the Catholic Jesuit mission of the university, a mission steeped in over five centuries of history in the Ignatian tradition yet arguably more vital now than ever before."
Universal Apostolic Preferences
The Preferences give a horizon, a point of reference to the whole Society of Jesus.
The Examen – Daily Prayer and Reflection
St. Ignatius Loyola's Examen is an opportunity for peaceful daily reflective prayer. It invites us to find the movement of God in all the people and events of our day. The Examen is simply a set of introspective prompts for you to follow or adapt to your own character and spirit.
The Spiritual Exercises
The Spiritual Exercises are a compilation of meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius Loyola to help people deepen their relationship with God.
University Undergraduate Core
SLU’s new University-wide undergraduate curriculum will nourish SLU students’ minds, hearts, souls, and well-being, and guide them in discerning how to use their talents for the good of others and find God in all things.
JESUITS The Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project
The Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project is committed to a transformative process of truth-telling, reconciliation, and healing that, in conversation with the descendants of people held in bondage, acknowledges historical harms, seeks to repair relationships, and works within our communities to address the legacies of slavery that persist in the form of racial inequities today.
SLU Update on Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation Project
From Vice President of Diversity and Community Engagement, Sept. 2020
The “Olive” Video – a short history of Ignatius and the Jesuits
An animation based on the life of the founder of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius of Loyola, written, produced and narrated by Jason Kapell of the Fairfield University Media Center.
Saint Louis University Museum of Art (SLUMA)
The Saint Louis University Museum of Art (SLUMA) exhibits and collects works by modern masters, as well as displaying an extensive collection of Jesuit artworks and artifacts.