Ignatius present even greater difficulties.
The sentence structure and the limping Spanish used by St.
The consequence is that a terminology is developed which is not readily understood except by those who are familiar with the Exercises. Thus the words "annotation," "composition," "election," "deliberation," "deliberate," and others are used, though their meaning does not correspond to the sense in the Spanish original. Words of Latin origin are simply transferred to the translation. As a result, this practice has been the source of many errors. Thus determinar is translated as "determine," and affección as "affection." Even if these English words represent the meaning of similar words in modern Spanish, this may not be true of the language of St. The most dangerous source of error is the use of an English word, similar to the Spanish and derived from the same Latin root. In this case, a literal translation often fails to render the true meaning, and at times has no meaning at all. Furthermore, emphasis is not so easily shifted to words or phrases in such a way that the meaning is changed.īut these translations also labor under great difficulties, and this seems to be especially true of the Exercises.
There is less danger, too, in these translations of interpretation and of substituting the translator's ideas for the meaning of the original. Such translations have the great advantage of enabling one to see almost at a glance what the original form of expression was. There is no dearth of translations into English, all more or less literal. I fear, however, that our English translations have not kept pace with the progress of modern scholarship in this matter. A comparison of a good modern commentary with the Directory would establish this. At present we know more about the Exercises than was known shortly after the death of St.
The work has gone on increasing from his day. By his letters, and by his scholarly translation and commentary on the Exercises, he infused new life into their study. In the restored Society of Jesus the initiator of this work was Father John Roothaan. If proof of this is desired, the five volumes of the Collection de la Bibliothèque des Exercices afford ample evidence. Many years of study have been devoted to investigating whatever concerns this great work. The volume on the Exercises in the Monumenta Historica Societatis Jesu 1īears eloquent witness to this. Much research has been carried on with regard to the Spiritual Exercises of St.
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