A five-minute conversation with God before bed. Not an interrogation of your conscience, but a gentle review of where God was present in your day — and where you might have missed Him.
“For me, prayer is an uplifting of the heart, a glance towards Heaven, a cry of gratitude and of love in times of sorrow as well as of joy.” — St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul
The Daily Examen is a method of prayerful reflection developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century. He considered it the single most important prayer of the day — more essential than the Office, more important than meditation. When he told the first Jesuits that if they had to drop every other prayer, they should keep the Examen.
The original practice was simple: twice a day (midday and evening), pause and review what has happened, notice where God was present, give thanks, ask for forgiveness, and resolve to do better. It took five to ten minutes.
In the 20th century, Jesuit theologian George Aschenbrenner made a critical distinction: the Examen is not an examination of conscience (a moral inventory of sins) but an examination of consciousness (an awareness of God’s movements). The question is not primarily “What did I do wrong?” but “Where was God today?”
This shift transformed the Examen from a guilt-driven checklist into a contemplative prayer of awareness. It is the version practiced by most Catholics today.
People often confuse these, and the confusion matters.
An examination of conscience is a moral inventory, typically done before Confession. You review your actions against the Ten Commandments, the precepts of the Church, or another moral framework. It asks: What sins have I committed?
The Daily Examen is broader. It includes gratitude, awareness of God’s presence, discernment of interior movements (consolation and desolation), and an intention for tomorrow. It asks: Where was God today? Where was I drawn toward Him? Where did I resist?
The Examen includes moral reflection — you notice your failures — but it begins with gratitude and ends with hope. It is not designed to produce guilt. It is designed to produce awareness.
The Examen follows five movements. They are not rigid steps to execute in order but a natural flow of conversation with God. Here is how to pray them.
Settle into God’s presence. Take a breath. You are not alone — you are with the One who has been with you all day, even when you didn’t notice. A simple prayer: “Lord, You were here today. Help me to see.”
“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10
Review the day with gratitude. Not grand blessings — the small ones. The morning coffee. A kind word from a stranger. A moment of peace between meetings. The fact that you are alive and breathing. Ignatius put this first because gratitude is the posture from which everything else flows.
Try: Name three specific small gifts from today.
Walk through your day gently. Not as a judge reviewing evidence, but as someone flipping through photos with a friend. Where did you feel most alive? Where did you feel drained? Where were you drawn toward God — and where did you pull away? Pay attention to your emotions: they are data, not distractions.
Fr. Dennis Hamm, SJ called this “rummaging for God” — searching through the day for where He was hiding.
Give the day back to God — the flowers and the thorns. The kindness you showed, the patience you managed, the prayer you whispered. And also: the sharp word, the missed opportunity, the moment you chose yourself over someone else. Hand it all over. Thérèse said: “When I have nothing to offer, I give Him that nothing.”
If you notice a specific failure, don’t spiral. Simply say: “Lord, I’m sorry. I trust Your mercy.”
Set one small intention for tomorrow. Not a resolution to be perfect — one concrete, specific act of love. “Tomorrow I will speak gently.” “Tomorrow I will smile at the person who irritates me.” “Tomorrow I will pray before reacting.” This intention becomes the seed of your Morning Offering.
Thérèse called each small act of love a “flower.” What flower will you scatter tomorrow?
Pray the examen in the app. A guided nightly flow with gratitude, virtue review, spiritual state detection, and closing prayers matched to where you are. Sets your intention for tomorrow’s Morning Offering. Free on iPhone and Android.
Get the AppSt. Thérèse of Lisieux practiced the examen daily — the Carmelite Rule required it. But her attitude toward it was revolutionary.
As a young girl, Thérèse suffered from severe scrupulosity — an obsessive, paralyzing preoccupation with her faults. She was delivered from it during her “Christmas grace” of 1886 and never went back. The spirituality she developed was the exact opposite of anxious self-examination.
Where the rigorous tradition says “Count your faults and resolve to eliminate them,” Thérèse says:
“I am not disturbed at seeing myself weakness itself. On the contrary, it is in my weakness that I glory, and I expect each day to discover new imperfections in myself.” — St. Thérèse, Story of a Soul
Her examen was not “What did I do wrong and how will I fix it?” but “Where was I weak today, and how can I offer even that to God?” She told her novices: when you fall, don’t dwell on it. Come to Jesus like a child, say you’re sorry, and begin again. The child does not keep a ledger of stumbles.
This is the heart of the Little Way: the goal is love, not moral performance. Your weakness is not an obstacle to holiness — it is the raw material.
The examen tradition runs deep. Here is what four Doctors of the Church taught about nightly reflection.
“We should not be angry at ourselves for being angry, nor vexed at being vexed. When the heart has fallen, raise it gently.” His Introduction to the Devout Life teaches a particular examen — choosing one virtue to cultivate — with characteristic Salesian gentleness.
“Self-knowledge is the bread that must be eaten with every dish, however dainty.” But she warns: don’t become so absorbed in examining yourself that you forget to gaze at God. True self-knowledge comes from looking at Him, not at yourself.
When the examen feels dry and empty — when you feel nothing — John teaches that this is not failure. God uses spiritual dryness to purify. The absence of feeling is not the absence of God. Even desolation is data.
The most systematic Doctor on the nightly examination. He taught that morning meditation and evening examination are the two pillars of the devout life. He prescribed examining whether you kept your morning resolutions and counting specific faults.
Alongside the general nightly review, the Catholic tradition prescribes a particular examen — targeting one specific virtue or vice for sustained attention over weeks or months. St. Ignatius prescribed a tracking system. St. Francis de Sales recommended choosing one vice to combat. Both understood that scattered effort produces scattered results.
The practice is simple: choose one area of growth. Each morning, resolve to focus on it. Each evening, review: How did I practice patience today? When was I tempted to anger? What happened?
Here are thirteen virtues drawn from the Catholic tradition — seven contrary virtues (opposing the capital sins), three theological virtues, and three cardinal virtues:
Each virtue has a contrary vice, daily teachings from Thérèse’s life, and specific review prompts. For example, the virtue of Patience (opposing Anger) asks: “Was there a moment you stayed patient when you wanted to react?” Thérèse sat next to a sister who fidgeted constantly with her rosary and chose to hear it as “delightful music” offered to God.
Gratitude. Review. Flowers. Virtue. Offering. Set your intention for tomorrow — one small act of love.
Wake to YOUR intention from last night, alongside a prayer, a Scripture verse, and a Thérèse quote. Offer the day to God.
Small acts of love. A prayer, a sacrifice, an act of kindness, a patience borne in silence. Each one is a flower scattered before God.
Tonight’s examen reviews today’s flowers and sets tomorrow’s intention. The morning offering receives it. The cycle deepens.
Thérèse’s answer: “I think that little children are equally dear to their parents whether they are asleep or awake.” If it happens regularly, try praying earlier in the evening — after dinner, not in bed. Keep it to five minutes. Use a guided format (journal or app) to stay engaged.
If the examen produces anxiety rather than peace, something is wrong — not with you, but with how you’re praying it. The remedy: start with gratitude, not sin. Make God the center, not yourself. Francis de Sales said: “Do not be angry at yourself for being angry.” Thérèse said: offer your weakness and begin again. If the examen feels like a courtroom, you’re doing it backwards. It should feel like a conversation with a Father who already knows everything and loves you anyway.
St. John of the Cross teaches that spiritual dryness is not God’s absence — it is God working at a level deeper than feelings. The examen during dryness may feel empty, but it is perhaps the most honest prayer you offer. Thérèse, asked what she said to Jesus during such times, replied: “I say nothing — I only love Him.”
Vary the entry point. Some nights, start with gratitude. Some nights, start with a single strong moment and pray from there. The virtue focus keeps it fresh — choosing one area of growth transforms the review from a generic replay into a targeted conversation with God about something specific He is shaping in you.
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The Little Way app walks you through the examen step by step. It detects your spiritual state — consolation, desolation, after a fall, growing, struggling — and matches closing prayers to where you actually are. Choose a virtue focus from 13 virtues with daily teachings from Thérèse. Set your intention, and wake to it as your Morning Offering.
Free on iPhone, Android, and Apple Watch.
The Daily Examen is a method of prayerful reflection developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is a 5–10 minute prayer, usually prayed in the evening, that helps you notice God’s presence throughout your day through five movements: becoming still, giving thanks, reviewing the day, offering it to God, and setting an intention for tomorrow.
An examination of conscience is a moral inventory done before Confession — reviewing sins against the Commandments. The Daily Examen is broader: it includes gratitude, awareness of God’s presence, and discernment. It is an examination of consciousness (noticing God’s movements) rather than just conscience (cataloging faults).
Five to ten minutes is sufficient. St. Ignatius prescribed it twice daily, but most modern practitioners do it once in the evening. Consistency matters more than duration.
St. Thérèse said: “I think that little children are equally dear to their parents whether they are asleep or awake.” Try praying earlier in the evening, keeping it shorter, or using a guided format like a journal or app to stay engaged.
A focused examination on one specific virtue or vice over weeks or months. St. Ignatius prescribed it alongside the general examen. Instead of reviewing everything, you ask one targeted question: “How did I practice patience today?” This produces faster growth in specific areas.
Yes. The Little Way app includes a guided nightly examen with gratitude, flower review, virtue focus with 13 virtues and daily teachings from St. Thérèse, spiritual state detection, and closing prayers matched to where you are. It connects your evening examen to the next morning’s offering. Free on iPhone and Android.