This course offers new ways to pray and live and allows you to learn more about Ignatian spirituality. Hearts on Fire offers an engaging introduction over six weekly online sessions. It explores the Ignatian approach to Christian Spirituality, which is about Finding God in All Things and becoming ever-more aware of God amid our often full daily lives. Hearts on Fire also provides an introduction and some experience of some basic Ignatian ways of praying, including Imaginative Gospel Contemplation and the Examen of Consciousness.

2025 Dates

25 September, 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 October

Time

19h00-21h00

Investment

R1400,00 includes a manual

The theoretical and practical components of this training will equip you with the knowledge and skills to accompany others on their spiritual journeys. The course is offered from an Ignatian perspective but is designed to benefit individuals whose dominant spirituality is not necessarily Ignatian; i.e., it is open to people of all Christian denominations.

Experienced lecturers trained in Ignatian Spirituality, including Trevor Hudson, Russell Pollitt SJ, Annemarie Paulin-Campbell, Morongoa Selepe, and others, will teach the modules.

 A three-year course comprising 12 three-day online modules over the first two years, when students will participate in lectures, complete assignments, and engage in practical work. In the third year, the students will complete the practical requirement of 50 supervised hours of spiritual accompaniment.

What to expect

Attend a minimum of 80% of both the teaching modules and monthly supervision sessions.

Participate actively in the course by engaging in class.

Complete a minimum of 50 hours of practicum in spiritual accompaniment.

(The teaching team will stipulate the commencement date during the course.)

Complete the course (submit all learning journals, pass all assignments and submit a supervisor-approved log of practicum hours), having a good grasp of the theory and practice of spiritual accompaniment.

Make a 5-day or 8-day Ignatian silent directed retreat each year.

(There will be a discount on selected Jesuit Institute retreats over the next three years.)

2026 Dates

29-31 January

19-21 March

14-16 May

9-11 July

3-5 September

5-7 November

Requirements

Complete and submit the application form.

Attend personal spiritual accompaniment sessions. Click here for assistance in securing a spiritual accompanist.

Complete the Hearts on Fire course or an equivalent Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality offered by the Jesuit Institute South Africa by February 2026.

(A dedicated course will be run for applicants, if necessary.)

Investment

R30,000 / US$1890

over three years for tuition/supervision.

Excludes any online costs and books.

Partial bursaries and payment plans are available on application.

The next course will commence in January 2026, pending a sufficient number of applications.

This week-long group retreat within a parish or community setting introduces a number of Ignatian ways of prayer and experiencing Ignatian Spirituality in an African context. Participants are able to share something of their experience with others also making the retreat. Tsotsoletsa takes into account some significant issues such as dreams, ancestors and the sharing of our stories.

This course trains facilitators for the Tsotseletsa inculturated group retreat in daily life. It is offered in a modular format to enable people from around the country to attend. This is an introductory training in facilitating an Ignatian Parish retreat in a township context.

The Prayer Guide Training equips you as a prayer guide to accompany others on retreats in daily life as well as to facilitate a parish retreat. The emphasis is on training for one to one spiritual accompaniment on retreats. The course includes both theory and practice of basic listening skills and listening skills specific to spiritual accompaniment (including basic discernment of Spirits and listening for a person’s image of God).