Topic guide
The Daily Examen: a Catholic guide
A complete introduction to the Ignatian prayer of reviewing your day with God through gratitude, honest attention, mercy, and hope.
Updated 3 Sep 2026 · 10 min
The short answer
The Daily Examen is an Ignatian prayer for reviewing your day with God. Become aware of God's presence, give thanks, ask for light, revisit the day's particular moments and inner movements, respond with honesty, and look toward tomorrow. It is not merely a search for faults or a timed technique; it is a flexible prayer of relationship, attention, gratitude, repentance, and hope.
What is the Daily Examen?
The Daily Examen is a prayer associated with Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the Ignatian tradition. It helps a person review lived experience with God instead of treating prayer as something separate from ordinary work, relationships, choices, gratitude, and struggle.
The Examen includes moral honesty, but it is wider than a list of failures. You notice gifts, emotions, desires, resistance, encounters, decisions, and places where you moved toward or away from love. The purpose is not perfect self-analysis. It is to receive the day truthfully and become more available to grace.
What are the five movements of the Examen?
Different Catholic and Jesuit guides phrase the prayer differently, but the same basic movements appear repeatedly. Move through them attentively rather than rushing to complete a formula.
- Presence: become aware that you are before God and ask for the grace to see the day truthfully.
- Gratitude: name particular gifts rather than forcing a general feeling of thankfulness.
- Review: revisit concrete moments, conversations, choices, and inner movements.
- Response: give thanks, ask forgiveness, receive mercy, and notice what calls for repair.
- Tomorrow: bring the next day to God and ask for the grace needed for one faithful step.
Can you pray a short Examen at the end of the day?
Yes. A brief Examen can be sincere when time or energy is limited. Pause, name one gift, revisit one moment that remains active within you, respond honestly to God, and ask for one grace for tomorrow. Four minutes may be a helpful invitation, but it is not a spiritual requirement or a promise about how long everyone should pray.
On another evening, one part may need longer. If a memory reveals serious harm, a need for Confession, or a practical responsibility, do not force it into a neat closing. Write down the next appropriate action and seek the human or sacramental help the situation requires.
How is the Examen different from examination of conscience?
The Examen reviews the whole day and your response to grace. An examination of conscience focuses more specifically on thoughts, words, actions, and omissions in the light of the Gospel, especially when preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
They overlap. The Examen may reveal a sin to confess, and an examination of conscience may awaken gratitude. Keeping their purposes distinct prevents the Examen from becoming only fault-finding and prevents Confession preparation from remaining too vague to name what must be confessed.
What do consolation and desolation have to do with it?
The Examen can reveal patterns of spiritual consolation and desolation. Consolation tends toward deeper faith, hope, love, freedom, and generous action. Desolation tends toward darkness, discouragement, isolation, mistrust, and withdrawal from the good. These movements are not identical with pleasant and unpleasant moods.
Notice direction and fruit over time. A difficult truth can lead toward freedom, while easy relief can lead away from responsibility. The Examen helps you observe without pretending that one feeling proves what God wants.
How should a beginner start?
Choose a repeatable time, perhaps before bed, and begin with five to ten unhurried minutes. Use the same five movements for a week. If you become distracted, return to one concrete moment rather than trying to reconstruct every hour.
End with a simple prayer: thank God for one gift, ask mercy for what needs healing, and entrust tomorrow to God. Consistency matters more than an impressive emotional experience.
Where Soulv fits
The prayer comes first; the app remains optional.
Soulv can help you put one moment, pattern, or next step into words after the Examen. It does not perform the prayer for you, determine the meaning of an inner movement, or replace Confession and human accompaniment. One text reflection is free each rolling month, with no account required.
Common questions
Is the Daily Examen required for Catholics?
No. It is a respected Ignatian form of prayer, not a universal obligation. Catholics may use it when it helps them grow in attention, gratitude, repentance, and faithful response.
How long should the Examen take?
There is no required duration. A focused short Examen can be fruitful, while another day may need more time. Let the structure serve attentive prayer rather than turning the clock into the goal.
Can the Examen replace Confession?
No. The Examen is personal prayer. When sacramental forgiveness is needed, Confession takes place with a priest who hears the confession and gives absolution.
What if I notice only negative things?
Begin with one specific gift, however small, and ask for light rather than forcing positivity. If review repeatedly becomes harsh, obsessive, or despairing, simplify the practice and discuss it with a prudent priest, spiritual director, or appropriate professional.
Sources and review
Reviewed by Karen Minasyan on Sep 3, 2026.
- The Ignatian Examen — Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. The purpose, flexibility, and principal movements of the Ignatian Examen.
- The Daily Examen — IgnatianSpirituality.com, a service of Loyola Press. The Examen's history and its use as a regular prayerful review of the day.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Acts of the Penitent — The Holy See. The distinct role of examination of conscience in preparation for sacramental Confession.
- Soulv: Catholic Reflection — Soulv on the Apple App Store. Soulv's current reflection features, intended uses, and stated limits.