The daily examen: five points, and what an evening page can hold

ARLing s. r. o. · 18 September 2026

The five points

The order matters, and the first one is not an accident. It begins with thanks for the benefits received, before anything is examined at all. Then comes the request for the grace to know and correct one's faults, which is a way of saying that the examination is not a private audit.

The third point is the review: go through the hours of the day and notice faults in deed, word, thought and omission. The fourth is to ask God's pardon, the fifth to consider amendment, which points the examen at tomorrow rather than at regret about today.

Why an evening page can carry three questions

A page with five headings and five sets of ruled lines turns a short prayer into a form to fill in. Our evening page carries three questions of our own instead, each with lines under it: what am I thankful for today, where did I meet God and where did I turn away, what do I want to do differently tomorrow.

They are not a replacement for the five points and we do not present them as one. It is a short editorial form, not an official text, and the five points as Ignatius set them out remain what they are. The first question holds the thanks, the second holds the review, the third holds the amendment, and the grace and the pardon are asked rather than written down.

What the page does about dates

An evening page belongs to a day, and a book that prints the date on it ages badly. Ours does not: the days are numbered 1 to 31, with no year and no weekday, and each morning page has a line for your own date. Days 7, 14, 21 and 28 are written for Sunday, so a start on a Monday puts them on real Sundays, and you can start on any day and start again after you finish.

The evening page sits at the end of each of those days, after the reading and the four steps of lectio divina in the morning. In the file it is a separate page with its own links, three of them on the first day.

What an evening page is not

It is part of a private aid to prayer, not a liturgical book, and it does not replace the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours or spiritual direction; no ecclesiastical approval is claimed. The three questions are ours and the book says so on the page itself.

Two more things we would rather say than have you find out: the headings, instructions and questions are our own editorial text prepared with the help of a language model and approved by the publisher, and no file of ours has been opened on a physical reMarkable, Kindle Scribe, Boox or Supernote.

Frequently asked questions

Where to look next

If you want to see an evening page before paying for anything, days 1 to 7 are a free sample on the Morning Quiet page at https://arling.sk/morning-quiet/, with no account and no e-mail address. The book is a digital download of three PDF files at 4.90 €, delivered as soon as the payment goes through. Our other titles set on the same page, including the ten printable puzzle books, are there as well.