The Oblate attend to the ministry of the Word, particularly through the Spiritual Exercises. The Spiritual Exercises is a program for spiritual growth. Written and developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, these Exercises are a remarkable and effective means for the conversion of souls. The Oblates of the Virgin Mary have a great love for the Spiritual Exercises and always seek to promote them. They give the Exercises either as a privately-directed retreat, a preached retreat to a larger group, or in the form of parish missions, adapting them as needed. The Oblates renew their own personal familiarity with the Exercises through monthly days of recollection and annual Ignatian retreats.