The "Just Soul"
On 1st November 1615 Mary Ward received a spiritual insight that is known as the ‘Just Soul’, an understanding about how she and her sisters should live out their vocation.
Who we are
We have as our inspiration Mary Ward and her Companions. This intrepid pilgrim of the 17th century is a woman for our times, a woman of immense courage and great love.
Charism and spirituality are the unique gifts and spirit we inherited from our foundress, shaping how we experience God, live our mission, and serve the world around us.
Every religious congregation has a spirituality that reflects the vision of its founder; this is known as its Charism.
For us, this charism comes from Mary Ward (1585–1645), a woman of great courage and deep love, who desired to found an apostolic congregation for women modeled on the Society of Jesus. At the heart of our spirituality are the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, one of the most influential spiritual texts ever written.
The Spiritual Exercises, born from Ignatius’ own profound experience of God, teach us to recognize the inner movements of the Spirit. By listening with attentiveness to God’s desires for each one of us, we enter into a unique relationship with our Creator and learn to “find God in all things.” At the same time, this encounter impels us to respond in mission, offering ourselves in love to the service of God and others.
The Constitutions of the Congregatio Jesu are those of the Society of Jesus. In them, our members find inner strength and a way to live solely for the greater glory of God.
To live Mary Ward’s charism today is to be “contemplatives in action”, ready for universal mission, open to all good works, and guided by justice, sincerity, and lightness of spirit.
Mary Ward brought a feminine perception and expression to Ignatian spirituality, opening new possibilities for women in the life and mission of the Church. Her spirituality remains one of relatedness, wholeness, and discerning attentiveness to the Spirit, so that each person may use her gifts to make a difference for good.
From this living encounter with Jesus, we continue to embody Mary Ward’s vision: to love, to serve, and to find God in all things.
As a young woman desiring to put God at the center of her life and respond to his call, Mary Ward was introduced to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. These became foundational for her spirituality. The Exercises offered her a way to contemplate the life of Jesus, grow in intimacy with him, and discern the way forward for herself and her Institute.
At the heart of Mary Ward’s spirituality is friendship with Jesus which gives meaning, inner peace, and real joy in life and expresses itself in loving action and service. She realized that the way forward for her Institute was not in the enclosure but in living the Gospel message in daily life by attending to the needs of her times. In 1611, she was given the insight to ‘take the same of the Society’, that is the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) founded by St. Ignatius. Mission in response to God’s love was at the heart of her way of life and that of her Institute.
Mary Ward wrote of the freedom she found ‘to refer all to God’ in what is known as ‘ The Just Soul.’ She described this interior knowledge and intimacy with God as ‘a fountain and best disposition for a soul to be in’. Her spirituality is grounded in God’s love for each person and seeks to impart an integral sense of sincerity and justice, freedom and joy. It is her own understanding of living the Ignatian way of ‘finding God in all things.’
Mary Ward brought a feminine perception and expression to Ignatian spirituality that opened up to women the radical insight of how to wholeheartedly embrace the life and mission of the Church. Her spirituality is one of relatedness, wholeness, and finely tuned awareness to the inner movements of the Spirit so that people will make a difference for good wherever they can apply their particular gift. From this living encounter with Jesus, we continue to embody her vision to this day.
As a young woman, Mary Ward was introduced to the Spiritual Exercises, which became foundational for her life. Through them, she grew in intimacy with Jesus and discerned the way forward for herself and her companions. In 1611, she received the enlightenment to “take the same of the Society”—to embrace the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus as the basis for her own Institute.
Mary Ward believed women should not fear to take new paths in the service of the Church. Attentive to the Spirit and courageous in love, she envisioned a form of religious life that would be apostolic rather than enclosed, seeking to live the Gospel message by responding to the needs of the times.
At the heart of her spirituality is friendship with Jesus, which brings meaning, peace, and joy, and finds expression in loving action and service. She described this inner freedom and intimacy with God in her teaching on the Just Soul, which she called “a fountain and best disposition for a soul to be in.” This understanding inspired her to “refer all to God” with sincerity, justice, freedom, and joy.
Prayer and practical service
Each member is invited to nurture a contemplative heart in the midst of action – to listen deeply, to discern wisely, and to act courageously. We believe that spiritual depth and practical service belong together. We seek to accompany others on their journey toward wholeness and freedom.
A heritage of courageous love
Since 4 November 2025, the two branches of Mary Ward’s Institute are officially and legally One. IBVM and CJ now shape their future together as Congregatio Jesu.
