Learning from prayer

This way of life brought him to the edge of despair, tormented as he was by guilt.  But gradually he began to see that this was the work of the Tempter.  So he gave up his self-punishing exercises.  He was discovering for himself that the acceptance of the Lord is total, the forgiveness of the Lord is free, not bought with self-inflicted penances. 

Sitting in his cave by the banks of the Cardoner river, Iņigo prayed.  The fruits of his meditation laid the foundations for his Spiritual Exercises.  He then put his own hard-won experience to work and sought to help others in interpreting the ways of the Lord for themselves.