Acatamiento: Living in an Attitude of Affectionate Awe—An Ignatian Reflection on the Unitive Way

In his Spiritual Diary of February 27, 1544, Ignatius penned the word acatamiento to summarize his basic attitude toward God. Using the word with increasing frequency in succeeding days, he seems to have considered it as signifying the beginning of a new phase in his spiritual journey. Translated as "affectionate awe," this word sums up the creature's fundamental relationship to the Creator, the God who is both immanent and transcendent. This paper first speculates on what acatamiento meant for Ignatius as a new direction in his mystical path. Next it puts it into dialogue with the Spiritual Exercises, and then examines both in light of the preceding western mystical tradition, notably around three staples of that tradition: lectio divina, the threefold way, and affective piety toward the human Jesus. The essay concludes with a few words about the value of the idea of acatamiento for contemporary spirituality.