
The aim of this translation is to represent as nearly as possible, idea with idea, Spanish idiom with corresponding English idiom, Spanish sentence structure with English sentence structure, and the quaint forms of the original with the forms common at present.Įvery effort has been made to add nothing and to omit nothing.
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The result may appear a very free version, while as a matter of fact it is merely translating clearly and accurately into English. Frequently sentences must be broken up, and phrases must be made independent sentences. Even in modern Spanish, finite forms must be substituted for the constantly recurring gerunds used by St. To find the correct, corresponding English form means interpretation by considering the meaning in the context and in the opinion of the best commentators. It may stand for almost any kind of clause or phrase. It is vague and not very clear in the original, and becomes impossible in English. One of the chief difficulties in translation is the constantly recurring participial construction. If the long, loosely knit sentences of the Spanish original are retained in English, they make reading and understanding difficult, and turn people from the use and study of the Exercises. It is above all true of the Spanish of a Basque nobleman who had only the elements of an education when he wrote his book, and used an acquired language with little knowledge of its literary form. The modern Spanish sentence is very different from the English sentence, and this is even more true of sixteenth-century Spanish. 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.
