The Examen is a brief, structured prayer of review, traditionally made at the end of the day. Its classic form, from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola (1548), moves through a few simple steps: become aware of God's presence; give thanks for the day's gifts; review the hours just past, noticing where one felt drawn toward God and where one drifted away; ask forgiveness for the failures; and look ahead to tomorrow in hope.
Ignatius prized the Examen so highly that he told his Jesuits to keep it even when they had to let other prayers go. Its genius is attentiveness: it trains the soul to read the ordinary day as the place where God is actually met — not only in church or in Scripture, but in the texture of work, conversation, mood, and choice.
Born among the Jesuits, the daily Examen has spread far beyond the Catholic world. Protestants of many kinds have adopted it as a way of keeping short accounts with God and growing in self-knowledge, and it sits naturally beside older practices of evening prayer and self-examination across the traditions.